NationStates Jolt Archive

This happened in Colorado Springs at Peterson AFB.

I always thought President's day was, first, to honor Washington and Lincoln, both of whom had their birthdays in February and, second, to honor all the presidents, past and present.

Whether you like Obama or not, he is the President and due respect for that reason.

And to the nasty little man who said "they're not going to have no black man on the window where he shops" - shop elsewhere.



Photo of Obama is taken down at Peterson

February 13, 2009 - 6:09 PM
TOM ROEDER
THE GAZETTE
President Barack Obama's picture was removed this week from a Presidents Day sign at the Peterson Air Force Base commissary after customers complained that the image did not fit the holiday commemorating the birthdays of past presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

The head of the local NAACP and a commissary employee say it was blatant racism.

The picture of the first black president accompanied a sign near the entrance listing the government-run military grocery store's operating hours on for Presidents Day. The store will be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Employees took the sign down after customers complained that the holiday wasn't about the current president, according to the Defense Commissary Agency, which oversees the base grocery stores.

Rosemary Harris, president of the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said something more sinister was afoot.

"It bodes poorly for the progress that we hoped we would see in this country; we might have taken one step forward but we see many steps being taken backwards," she said Friday.

A cashier at the commissary who did not want her name used said pictures of past presidents, including George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, have accompanied the Presidents Day closure sign.

One customer, a military retiree, objected this year because of Obama's race, the cashier said.

"He said they're not going to have no black man on the window where he shops," the cashier said.

The commissary agency disputed the cashier's story, saying no past presidents have had their picture displayed with the holiday message.

They said four customers had complained that Presidents Day is to honor Washington and Lincoln, not Obama, causing the agency to remove the Obama image.

"The customers stated it is inaccurate to associate other presidents with this holiday and asked that we remove President Obama's photo from the flier," the agency said in a statement.

The commissary came up with a new, less controversial notice.

"The one presently posted is titled Washington's Birthday and has no photos," the agency said.

Harris isn't buying it, and said she wants Obama to again greet shoppers.

"To me it doesn't matter if its racism or politics," Harris said. "It's probably some of both."

-

Why is this news?

Why is this news?

Why is anything news?

Why is anything news?

But did you see what Britney Spears is doing?

Why is this news?

Because racism sells, it gives both blacks and whites something to squeam and cum over.

Because racism sells, it gives both blacks and whites something to squeam and cum over.

Yes, because racism isn't something that people actually have to deal with in the real world. :rolleyes:

Yes, because racism isn't something that people actually have to deal with in the real world. :rolleyes:

Did I say that? No.

Peterson Air Force Base? Are you sure this didn't take place at

FO-ORRRRRRRRRRRRRRT SUM-TERRRRRRRRR?

i dont see why its racism. not that it couldnt be, just that there is no reason to assume it.

it could be anti-liberalism or anti democratism. it could be a legit complaint about the nature of the holiday--easily decided by whether or not they have put up pics of sitting presidents in the past.

Whether you like Obama or not, he is the President and due respect for that reason.

I wonder, did you have that same attitude this time last year?

I've always thought that 'President's Day' was a non-event for most people with the exception maybe of car salesman and furniture retailers. The NAACP is maybe trying to make a mountain out of a molehill, here.

I've also thought that 'President's Day' should be split back into 'Washington' and 'Lincoln's' Birthdays. Those men deserve to be commemorated, whereas some of the other past Presidents don't really deserve the commemoration. Reagrdless, it should be noted that judgement of the office's current holder should really be withheld until he does something worth either commending or deriding.

Peterson Air Force Base? Are you sure this didn't take place at

FO-ORRRRRRRRRRRRRRT SUM-TERRRRRRRRR?

At least I have freedom!

Why is this news?

because this the military and it is beginning to over riding Obama.

The military just vetoed the executive order about closing Gitmo and is vetoing the stimulus package.

Well, like it or not, he is President. And it is President's day. So people have to get over it.

I mean, I can sort of vaguely see the argument that if someone had been complaining about Joe Biden being president and having his mug on the whatever, and someone had complained about that, then it wouldn't be news.

But on the whole, the fact that anyone is making a fuss is sort of racist.

Yes, because racism isn't something that people actually have to deal with in the real world. :rolleyes:

And yet it is overplayed and overestimated by media and political zealots.

because this the military and it is beginning to over riding Obama.

The military just vetoed the executive order about closing Gitmo and is vetoing the stimulus package.
They are?

And yet it is overplayed and overestimated by media and political zealots.
It is?

Personally, I wish we could just go back to commemorating Washington and Lincoln's birthdays on, you know, their birth days.

That said, even if it were just Lincoln's birthday, and not some BS generic day that somehow implies neither he nor Washington are important enough to get their own days and at the same time that somehow the office of the president is worth a holiday, I still think it would be appropriate to put up a poster of the first black president alongside a poster of Lincoln.

They are?


Yep Ive just been called back to service for quelling the anticipated domestic resistance.

It is?

Yes, it is. Look up how groups like ADL and SPLC raise giant piles of money by inflating the threat of the KKK and other such groups (nevermind combined KKK membership in the US is estimated to be around 6,000 people) or claiming that people who protest illegal immigration are the same as people who hate immigrants (which they probably sometimes are), or by claiming that some dudes that paint swastikas on Jewish graves are the threat of a New Holocaust.

They're disgusting profiteers who feed on fear.

Yep Ive just been called back to service for quelling the anticipated domestic resistance.
Oh, I see. Well, I'd better adjust our plans then.

Yes, it is. Look up how groups like ADL and SPLC raise giant piles of money by inflating the threat of the KKK and other such groups (nevermind combined KKK membership in the US is estimated to be around 6,000 people) or claiming that people who protest illegal immigration are the same as people who hate immigrants (which they probably sometimes are), or by claiming that some dudes that paint swastikas on Jewish graves are the threat of a New Holocaust.

They're disgusting profiteers who feed on fear.
Hahahahahaha!! Good one! I almost fell of my chair laughing. :D

So the only argument you can make is OMG I LAUGHED? Pathethic.

Yep Ive just been called back to service for quelling the anticipated domestic resistance.

Actually, that I do believe.

I tell people that things are very much worse than they suspect, or can suspect, and they don't believe me.

But then I talk to people who realize that they have put themselves on the 200th floor of a building and set fire to the bottom. They always thought they would have at least 150 floors between them and the fire before they got burned, but the now realize that the contractor was also a liar, and the flames are like 40ft below.

So the only argument you can make is OMG I LAUGHED? Pathethic.
When you post an argument, I'll address it. Comedy just gets laughs.

And yet it is overplayed and overestimated by media and political zealots.

Or dismissed and underestimated by some media forces and political zealots. :wink:

The following is from an old post, but it still rings true:

African American men are more than twice as likely to be unemployed as white males and make only 75 percent as much a year. They’re nearly seven times more likely to be incarcerated, and their average jail sentences are 10 months longer than those of white men. In addition, young black males between the ages of 15 and 34 years are nine times more likely to die of homicide than their white counterparts and nearly seven times as likely to suffer from AIDS.


In terms of annual median income, black men earned less than three-quarters of what white men earned ($34,443 vs. $46,807), roughly a $12,000 gap. Black women made 87 percent of what white women made and $5,000 less than black men ($29,588 a year).


Further evidence of discrimination comes from more complex and detailed comparisons of earnings of blacks and whites, or males and females. Even after adjusting for characteristics that affect earnings (such as years of education and work experience), these studies typically find that blacks and women are paid less than their white male counterparts.


Unemployment was highest among black men – 9.5 percent compared to 4.0 percent for white men – a 5.5 percentage point gap. Black women experienced an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent, 4.4 percentage points above the 4.1 percent of their white counterparts.


Poverty, much like unemployment, also tends to affect blacks, especially those under 18, at a higher rate than whites; nearly 25 percent live below the poverty line, three times the percentage of whites. Of blacks under 18, 33.5 percent lived in poverty compared to 10 percent of white youths.


Homeownership among blacks is substantially lower than among whites (47.9 percent compared to 75.8 percent) and they’re three times more likely to get high-priced mortgage loans (54.7 percent of blacks vs. 17.2 percent of whites).


Blatant discrimination is a continuing problem in the labor market. Perhaps the most convincing evidence comes from "audit" studies, in which white and minority (or male and female) job seekers are given similar resumes and sent to the same set of firms to apply for a job. These studies often find that employers are less likely to interview or offer a job to minority applicants and to female applicants.


In 1995, white males held 97 percent of senior management positions in Fortune 1000 industrial and Fortune 500 service industries. Only 0.6 percent of senior management were African American, 0.3 percent are Asian and 0.4 percent are Hispanic. Little change has occurred in these numbers since 1995.


In 1995, African Americans held only 2.5 percent of top jobs in the private sector and African American men with professional degrees earned only 79 percent of the amount earned by their white counterparts. Comparably situated African American women earned only 60 percent of the amount earned by white males. Little change has occurred in these numbers since 1995.


Some sources:
National Urban League’s THE STATE OF BLACK AMERICA 2007 (Executive Summary, pdf) (http://www.nul.org/publications/SOBA/Executive%20Summary/2007SOBAEXCSUMMARY.pdf)
Affirmative Action Review: Report to the President (1995) (http://clinton2.nara.gov/WH/EOP/OP/html/aa/aa04.html)
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Job Patterns For Minorities And Women In Private Industry (http://www.eeoc.gov/stats/jobpat/jobpat.html)
Census report: Broad racial disparities persist (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15704759/)
Poverty trends by race (http://www.bsos.umd.edu/socy/vanneman/socy441/trends/povrace.html)

And, while open membership in the KKK may be relatively low, racism is still very active in the marketplace. Check out these studies:
Race at work (http://www.princeton.edu/~pager/race_at_work.pdf) (pdf)
Discrimination in Low-Wage Labor Markets: Evidence from an Experimental Audit Study in New York City (http://paa2005.princeton.edu/download.aspx?submissionId=50874) (pdf)
Discrimination against racial/ethnic minorities in access to employment in the United States: Empirical findings from situation testing (http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/migrant/papers/usempir/)
Culture, Information, and Screening Discrimination (http://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/jpolec/v104y1996i3p542-71.html)
The Use of Field Experiments for Studies of Employment Discrimination: Contributions, Critiques, and Directions for the Future (http://ann.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/609/1/104) (pdf)

I particularly draw your attention to Race at work (http://www.princeton.edu/~pager/race_at_work.pdf) (pdf) which is easy to read and profound in its implications:

Among the findings are that "blacks are only slightly more than half as likely to receive consideration by employers relative to equally qualified white applicants." (p.3)

And, a "white applicant with a felony conviction appears to do just as well, if not better, than his black counterpart with no criminal background. These results suggest that employers view minority applications as essentially equivalent to whites just out of prison." (p. 6)

Yes, it is. Look up how groups like ADL and SPLC raise giant piles of money by inflating the threat of the KKK and other such groups (nevermind combined KKK membership in the US is estimated to be around 6,000 people) or claiming that people who protest illegal immigration are the same as people who hate immigrants (which they probably sometimes are), or by claiming that some dudes that paint swastikas on Jewish graves are the threat of a New Holocaust.

They're disgusting profiteers who feed on fear.

Yeah, what good have the Anti-Defamation League or the Southern Poverty Law Center ever done?

Especially compared to great heros like Ron Paul!

:rolleyes:

i dont see why its racism. not that it couldnt be, just that there is no reason to assume it.


One customer, a military retiree, objected this year because of Obama's race, the cashier said.

"He said they're not going to have no black man on the window where he shops," the cashier said.

For starters...

In 1995, white males held 97 percent of senior management positions in Fortune 1000 industrial and Fortune 500 service industries. Only 0.6 percent of senior management were African American, 0.3 percent are Asian and 0.4 percent are Hispanic. Little change has occurred in these numbers since 1995.


Yeah, lawyers really fell down on this one. Not saying that they were equally bought off, but it would seem to me that any property interest in a company which was held in trust removing a controlling vote with respect to the board should be discounted, not charged at a premium.

Keep banging the drum tho'.

Here's my very simple question. What'd they do last year?

Yeah, what good have the Anti-Defamation League or the Southern Poverty Law Center ever done?

Especially compared to great heros like Ron Paul!

:rolleyes:

Morris Dees actually runs the KKK. Why do you think their leader wears a hood?

He's Cobra Commander, too.

Though it would seem to me that there is the massive class action of all time predicated on control premium.

Obviously, given the state of the law - Van Gorkom - you can't really get to the directors and management. But since there is no proxy which is passed thru to the actual owners and a management fee charged, rather than a discount given, there has to be some sort of remedy in respect of what happened.

Obviously, it comes down to a question of fact. But I think it passes 12 b)6 scrutiny - or whatever you crazy kids are calling it these days.

Could make IN RE Sept 11, 2001 look like a joke.

Here's my very simple question. What'd they do last year?
Apparently-
A cashier at the commissary who did not want her name used said pictures of past presidents, including George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, have accompanied the Presidents Day closure sign.

Obviously, it comes down to a question of fact. But I think it passes 12 b)6 scrutiny - or whatever you crazy kids are calling it these days.


The hell?

The hell?

It's been half a decade since I looked at the rules, so I very well may be completely off base.

Wasn't that the one that said failure to state a cause of legal action?

I'm not about to look them up tho.

It's been half a decade since I looked at the rules, so I very well may be completely off base.

Wasn't that the one that said failure to state a cause of legal action?

I'm not about to look them up tho.

failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted, FRCP 12(b)(6) yes. What's that have to do with the thread?

failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted, FRCP 12(b)(6) yes. What's that have to do with the thread?

Yeah, that's the one. Nothing really to do with the thread. Just thinking out loud.

I'll try and keep it to my inside voice in future. :p

'President's Day' is either A: for Lincoln and Washington or B: for all the 'good' presidents like [Insert Dogmatic Republican President Here] and [Insert Orthordox Liberal President Here]. Anybody else, like Grover Cleveland - GTFO of my holiday!

Since Obama isn't A and it's too early to tell for B then no... I don't think he should be celebrated for presidents day anymore then... Chester Arthur; that is to say, not at all.

Of course, my reply implies I think the NAAC is not nothing more then a attention whore and this is not a load of crap. The opposite could not be more true. :P

The following is from an old post, but it still rings true:

Differences in wealth do not imply elaborate discrimination.

P.S.

African-Americans have been poorer than whites since they have been brought to the country, and until the 1960s many places had laws against them getting ahead. I don't think that it's too surprising that they're still poorer.

Another interesting thing is that African-Americans whose families have been freed by Civil War are poorer (to this day!) than those manumitted before the war and those are poorer than those whose ancestors immigrated as free men (as some did in the 20th century). I don't think racism can explain that as a theory - after all, it's not possible to know by looking at a guy whether his grand-grandmother was a slave and discriminate on that basis.