Some domestic and foreign observers would say so. But there is an increasing number of voices that dispute this. Recent polls have shown that while almost 90% of Brazilians say their society is racist only 10% admit having any racial prejudice. The lyrics of a song believed demeaning to blacks have provoked a national debate about racism and freedom of expression.

By Rosemary Gund

The most complete scientific-journalistic study about racism in Brazil was conducted just last year by the major newspaper Folha de São Paulo and the Institute of Research Datafolha. Some of the results were very surprising: while 89% of Brazilians said they believe there is racism in the society, only 10% admitted they were prejudiced; but 87% manifested some sort of prejudice by agreeing with racist statements or admitting having had discriminatory behavior in the past.

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By Josh Robin

The governor responded Wednesday to some very heated language used by hip hop mogul Russell Simmons to describe his stance on the Rockefeller drug laws.

Speaking out on NY1's "Inside City Hall" Tuesday, Simmons said Eliot Spitzer is failing to live up to promises to reform the state's strict drug laws. Political reporter Josh Robin filed the following report.

“I'm very disappointed in the governor. I should say that the hip hop is getting ready to get in his ass,” Russell Simmons said on Tuesday night’s “Inside City Hall.”

Simmons says Governor Eliot Spitzer as a candidate talked a good game about reforming the Rockefeller drug laws.

But 14 months after inauguration, some feel cheated.

"He promised all of us that he would do something about this prison reform issue,” said Simmons.

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Team would assess trends, programs

By David Abel

Leaders in the black community urged lawmakers at a Beacon Hill hearing yesterday to create a state commission to examine the "social status" of black men in Massachusetts.

They called on lawmakers to pass a bill that would appoint 21 people to study trends among African-American men, assess existing programs for blacks, and propose new ones to benefit black men.

"There are many people in the Commonwealth who are struggling, but I don't think there's much debate that there's a particular segment of our population who is really, really reeling for a host of reasons," said Senator Dianne Wilkerson, who proposed the bill.

Those who testified before the Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities included Harvard law professor Charles J. Ogletree Jr., Councilor Chuck Turner, and Ron Odom, whose son, 13-year-old Steven, was shot to death in Dorchester in October.

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I wrote an article a few months ago about sagging pants and their history and meaning. I spoke to children, teens and adults who were walking around with sagging pants and many of them had no particular reason or purpose for doing it other than "My friends do it so I do it, it’s cool." Currently, many city and state officials are trying to take action and institute laws against this style of dress and establish fines for anyone exercising their right to choose this style of dress. Some say the style is offensive, it’s rude, it’s a gay thing, a black thing, it’s disrespectful, even an open invitation for sex.

Some have taken the word SAGGIN and turned it around to say NIGGAS. Is this another way to change the focus and make it a label for black culture?

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The status of race relations in America has long been debated and often comes to the fore during Black History month. Here, noted Northwestern University sociologist - and former Army specialist - Charles Moskos offers his thoughts. He is the coauthor of All That We Can Be: Black Leadership and Racial Integration the Army Way (Basic Books, 1997). He draws on the U.S. Army's experience for lessons to improve race relations in the broader society.

Race relations have been termed the "American dilemma." One American institution, however, contradicts the prevailing race paradigm. It is an institution unmatched in its level of racial integration and its broad record of black achievement. It is the only place in American society where whites are routinely supervised by blacks. It is the U.S. Army.

Noting the generally good race relations in the Army is not turning a blind eye to real problems. The Army is not a racial utopia. Black and white soldiers are just as susceptible to interracial suspicion and resentment as members of a civilian society are. The Army is not immune to the demons that haunt race relations in America.

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SAN DIEGO, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Studies of lesbian and gay couples reveal some key factors that may promote healthier relationships in straight couples, a U.S. psychologist says.

Psychologist and researcher Robert-Jay Green of the Rockway Institute and of Alliant International University in San Diego says the studies of lesbian and gay couples found that the homosexual couples had flexibility about gender roles and an equal division of parenting and household tasks.

In a series of studies Green conducted with Michael Bettinger and Ellis Zacks, lesbian couples were found to be emotionally closer than gay male couples who, in turn, were found to be emotionally closer than heterosexual married couples.

"It all comes down to greater equality in the relationship," Green said in a statement. "Research shows that lesbian and gay couples have a head start in escaping the traditional gender role divisions that make for power imbalances and dissatisfaction in many heterosexual relationships."

Heterosexual couples could learn from gays couples about sharing housework and childcare, using softer communication in conflict and having more nurturing behaviors toward one another and their children, the researchers conclude.

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San Francisco NAACP in Crisis Meeting calls for "Marshall Plan"

by Rochelle Metcalfe

2008 promises to be hot in the City! The exodus of Blacks has become a major issue; so much so that Reverend Amos Brown, Senior Pastor Third Baptist Church, and President San Francisco NAACP called an emergency meeting on Sunday December 23, at the church to address the critical subject!

Earlier last year, Mayor Gavin Newsom issued a press release that stated his concerns over the declining African American population in the City, appointed the African American Out-Migration Task Force and Advisory Committee, which after several months of study, filed recommendations for the retention and attraction of African Americans in San Francisco.

Scientists Debate the Question After Experiment Makes Fruit Flies Bisexual: It's All in the Smell

By Marcus Baram

Is there a switch that turns you gay? That's the startling question raised again by a recent experiment in which scientists said they were able to turn on and off homosexual behavior in fruit flies.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago said they discovered what they call a "gender blind gene," or GB, in male fruit flies. A mutation in this GB gene spurred the males flies to start courting other males, as well as females.

When researchers strengthened neural synapses in the brain, the male flies were attracted, rather than repulsed, by the smell of other male flies.

"We put the males together, and they did to each other what they do when they're interested in a female: They approach her, sing her a song, lick her ... and mount her," researcher David Featherstone told ABCNEWS.com.

"They treated other males exactly the way they would treat other females. We put male flies in a chamber with males and females, and they were attracted to both with equal frequency."

Earlier this year, prominent Maryland civil rights crusader Elbridge James, stepped up to defend the rights of gay people. Challenging convention, Elbridge believed that black society need not be homophobic. In a ground breaking move, he committed the Maryland Black Family Alliance to embrace the gay black community. His decision represented a sea change for African American civil rights establishment.

Elbridge's bold, ground breaking  move has begun to pay dividend for gay people of color. Notably, Rev. Al Sharpton's organization recently decided to support a bill in Arizona which would provide equal rights to gay people. Elbridge has shown leadership, foresight and courage. Hopefully more African American rights organizations will follow Elbridge's lead.

This is a black man that Gay America needs to get to know. Mr. James graciously agreed to an interview with GBMNews. You will find him to be thoughtful and refreshing man.

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When I was a boy of about 12 or 13 years of age, I remember meeting a young man who was probably old enough to be my father. I recall this man as being very kind, handsome and generous. He was highly respected and a much valued contributor in our church. This man, whom I shall call “Alan”, was extremely charismatic and had made a point of volunteering huge amounts of his personal time with the boys from my class.

He used to provide us with transportation to and from local sporting events and oftentimes took us to the movies on Saturday evenings to see films like “Enter the Dragon” and “Cooley High”. Admittedly, I loved being in Alan’s company. He made me feel special.

He had this knack for saying the dumbest things and making you laugh, and since I was being brought up in a single parent home, I welcomed his attention. Gradually, our situation evolved into one where we spent more and more time alone. I would come by his home on Saturday afternoons to help him wash his car or truck, and was elated when he paid me well to do so.

I had clearly taken a shine to this man and I wanted him to fill the role of my absentee father. Indeed, it seemed like things were going in that direction. I remember him referring to me as his “son” from time to time, and whenever he did that, I couldn’t have been happier. It never occurred to me to wonder why a man in his early thirties whom was neither married nor had a girlfriend, wanted to spend so much time with a boy in his pre-teens…but I found out in due time.

My name is Priscilla Wilson. I am an African American graduate student at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. I am conducting a research study on African American men WHO ARE OR HAVE BEEN IN THE PAST on the DL, or African American men who identify as men who sleep with men (MSM). The purposes of the study are:

1. To gain first-hand knowledge and information about the down low or MSM from the point-of-view of African American men.
2. To give African American DL men or MSM an opportunity to discuss and clarify the many factors (truth and fictitious) that surround the DL men or MSM
3. To determine the positive and negative impact being on the Down Low has on African American men.
4. To examine African American men and women's attitudes about same-sex relationships and determine how these beliefs contribute to men being on the down low.

This study will give African American men a voice to discuss the everyday struggles they experience in an environment where your privacy will be safeguarded. Participants will be interviewed by phone on audiotape and will be asked to give a pseudonym to protect your privacy. There are limited avenues where men can talk about what they are going through. This study at a major university will discuss African American DL and MSM and how society, religion, family, and the pressures African American men encounter pertaining to their sexual identity to may contribute to living on the DL.

If you are interested in the study, please click the link on the art panel above where you will find a permission/informed consent form, which explains the study in further detail and gives you an opportunity to consent or refuse to participate, along with other instructions. Participation in this study is voluntary.

Thank you for your time.

Priscilla Wilson Student, University of Alabama

By Benoit Denizet-Lewis

Four years ago, I wrote a story about black men who have sex with men but don't identify as gay—or even, in many cases, as bisexual. Instead, they adopted the label Down Low and formed a vibrant but secretive subculture of DL parties, DL Internet chat rooms (Thugs4Thugs, DLBrothas), and DL sex cruising areas (parks, bathhouses). Some of the Down Low guys I met were married but had covert sex with men, while others who claimed the label only had sex with men but considered themselves much too masculine to be gay. Most equated gayness with effeminacy—and, to a lesser extent, whiteness. From their perspective, to be an effeminate black man (a "punk," a "f*ggot") is to not really be a black man at all.

This essay came to me after reading a short article in an urban magazine which spotlighted the question of black comedians in drag. It raised the point about what these images represent relative to how greater America, as in white America, sees us and our role in perpetuating black stereotypes.

The article spotlighted Dave Chappelle and his recent epiphany, and how he dealt with his choice when confronted with the prospect of wearing a dress in the name of comedy. The article also spoke on Tyler Perry and the Madea series. This article is what started the idea that follows as I decided to look at how the black gay community explores gender roles and identity.
 
This ultimately led to the question of black men and homophobia, and the extreme: men living on the DL.

By Solomon Moore

About one in every 31 adults in the United States was in prison, in jail or on supervised release at the end of last year, the Department of Justice reported yesterday.

An estimated 2.38 million people were incarcerated in state and federal facilities, an increase of 2.8 percent over 2005, while a record 5 million people were on parole or probation, an increase of 1.8 percent. Immigration detention facilities had the greatest growth rate last year. The number of people held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities grew 43 percent, to 14,482 from 10,104.

The data reflect deep racial disparities in the nation’s correctional institutions, with a record 905,600 African-American inmates in prisons and state and local jails. In several states, incarceration rates for blacks were more than 10 times the rate of whites. In Iowa, for example, blacks were imprisoned at 13.6 times the rate of whites, according to an analysis of the data by the Sentencing Project, a research and advocacy group.

But the report concludes that nationally the percentage of black men in state and federal prison populations in 2006 fell to 38 percent, from 43 percent in 2000. The rates also declined for black women, while rates for white women increased.

By Leslie Fulbright

San Francisco imprisons African Americans for drug offenses at a much higher rate than whites, according to a report to be released today by a nonprofit research institute.

In a study of nearly 200 counties nationwide, the Justice Policy Institute found that 97 percent of large-population counties have racial disparities between the number of black people and white people sent to prison on drug convictions.

The institute, which is based in Washington, D.C., and researches public policy and promotes alternatives to incarceration, says whites and African Americans use illicit drugs at similar rates. But black people account for more than 50 percent of sentenced drug offenders, though they make up only 13 percent of the nation's population.

San Francisco locks up a higher percentage of members of the African American community in drug cases than any other county in the study. In the county, 123 people out of every 100,000 are sent to state prison each year for drug offenses. Of those, whites are incarcerated at a rate of 35 per 100,000 white people, while blacks are incarcerated at a rate of 1,013 per 100,000 black people.

"It is not that San Francisco is sending a lot of people to prison for drug offenses, it is that the people they are sending are black," said Jason Ziedenberg, executive director of the institute. "An average citizen who uses drugs in San Francisco has a pretty low chance of going to prison, but if you are African American, the chances are fairly high."

By Darryl D. Smith

Some call it an epidemic. Others call it a freedom of expression. Some just don't care. Wearing sagging pants has become the norm for many young African American men, whichever side of the issue they take.

Sagging, as defined by Wikipedia, is "a fashion trend for wearing pants below the waist to expose one's boxers, practiced by males." Sagging has been linked to prisons, where some inmates were not given a belt to hold up their pants.

Walking around Grambling State University's campus today, one can almost instantly see a male student wearing sagging pants.

One freshman is content with his style of dress, which includes sagging.

"I don't like my shorts above my knees," said Justin Woodard.

The reaction to the sagging pants fashion is mixed.

"It's a freedom of dress," said Kimberly Monroe, a Grambling State senior. "You should be able to wear what you want to wear."

Tiffany Wells, however, disagrees — somewhat.

"It's cute to a certain extent," the junior said. "If it's too low where I can see your underwear, then that's not attractive. I like more of the Kanye West type."

One freshman doesn't like the style at all.

"I think it's sloppy and trifling," Jiordelysah Lewis said. "It's a bad image of our black men."

This past Thursday (Nov 15th), something that most of us Mobilians couldn’t phantom happened in our city. According to local reports, a 14 year old African American girl went to her locker between classes , to prepare for the next class period and found a note sliped in her the locker that reads. “To: you, From: me” and went on to say “Its black ppl (people) like you that make me sick and I don’t like you…. I want you to leave now and go to a skool (school) with your ppl (people).” (Mobile Press) School officals decline to comment on camra.

At the bottom of the letter was a drawing of a tree with a noose hanging from a limb and the inscription “Whites Only”. The student name is Kenyaitta Hackworth who’s on a track scholarship of the prestigious private catholic all white school, ST. Paul. About 100 students stood outside in the courtyard to show support of their fellow classmate Kenyaitta. Student Government Association President Carmen Chambers spoke to the media on behalf of her peers before leading the group in prayer Thursday morning.( Associated Press)

The top administrator of the school, Marty Lester did not comment on camera but instead directed all questions to the Mobile Police Department. He did give a written statement that says, "The act of one person does not define our school."

By DAVID N. GOODMAN

DETROIT (AP) — In another blow to the Motor City's tarnished image, Detroit pushed past St. Louis to become the nation's most dangerous city, according to a private research group's controversial analysis, released Sunday, of annual FBI crime statistics.

The study drew harsh criticism even before it came out. The American Society of Criminology launched a pre-emptive strike Friday, issuing a statement attacking it as "an irresponsible misuse" of crime data.

The 14th annual "City Crime Rankings: Crime in Metropolitan America" was published by CQ Press, a unit of Congressional Quarterly Inc. It is based on the FBI's Sept. 24 crime statistics report.

Black Americans are upset and disgruntled. Here’s what black people say, according to a recent poll by Pew Research Center, only 1 in 5 blacks say that things are better for them than 5yrs ago. In 1984 2 in 4 said that it was better 5yrs earlier. Less than half feel things will get better, as opposed to 57% in 1986.

Here’s why blacks feel the way they do:

• In creasing crime rates
• Unemployment and mortgage foreclosures
• Shrinking wealth
• Jena Six
• Noose hanging around the country

Pew survey also noted that race relations have showed very little change.

• 1 in 4 whites see blacks favorably, compared to 17% in 1990.
• 27% blacks see whites favorably, which remains constant.

However, the survey went on for several more paragraphs, including talks of wealth decline and how African Americans have think that they have progressed economically. If you want to read more Http://www.usatoday.com


Source: USATODAY.COM

Name calling even in jest is not nice. It often leads to hurt feelings and emotional scarring. Take for instance in Louisiana. In Houma, LA, a white state lawmaker who is in a run off election called a civil rights veteran “Buckwheat” (a racial stereotype in the late 30’s and early 40’s.)

The Democratic white lawmaker has since been urge to leave office by the NACCP, who also told voters not to vote for her. Carla Blanchard Dartez, acknowledge the incident and said that she was just ending the conversation with the veteran civil rights leader Hazel Boykin. By saying, “Talk to you later, Buckwheat!”

Rep Carla Blanchard Dartez, accredited Hazel Boykin for actually helping her gain votes.

Mrs. Dartez could not be reached for comments nor has she apologized to Hazel Boykin personally. Mrs Dartez has no intention of dropping out of the race, according to reports



Source: Associated Press