O Tempora, O Mores! (February, 2008)

Another Apology

On January 7, New Jersey followed Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia in issuing an apology for slavery. The resolution of regret passed overwhelmingly in the assembly (59-8) and senate (29-2). A first for a Northern state, the resolution expresses “profound regret for the wrongs inflicted by slavery and its aftereffects in the United States of America.” Among these supposed aftereffects are: “the overt racism of hate groups . . . the subtle racism encountered when requesting health care, transacting business, buying a home, seeking quality public education and college admission, and enduring pretextual traffic stops and other indignities.” New Jersey, according to the resolution, was particularly wicked because it had one of the largest slave populations in the North and, in 1846, was the last Northern state to abolish slavery. New Jersey also regrets that it did not ratify the Thirteenth Amendment until January 1866, a month after it had gone into effect.

The apology, like those issued by other states, includes no provisions for reparations. “This resolution does nothing more than say New Jersey is sorry about its shameful past,” says Assemblyman William Payne, a Democrat who sponsored the measure. [Tom Hester, Jr., New Jersey Apologizes for Slavery, AP, Jan. 7, 2008.]

Betrayal

In 2006, Congress passed the Secure Fence Act, which requires the federal government to build 854 miles of a double-layer border fence on the US-Mexico border. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under Secretary Michael Chertoff has never been enthusiastic about the fence and has built just a few miles of it. Thanks to Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, Mr. Chertoff may no longer need to worry about thwarting the will of the American people single-handedly. In December 2007, Sen. Hutchison attached an amendment to a $555 billion Senate spending bill that explicitly leaves fence-building up to the discretion of the secretary of homeland security.

Critics say that if the House accepts the Senate’s amendment the fence is as good as dead. Steve Elliott, president of the conservative activist group Grassfire.org, says that “DHS would not be required to build fencing in any particular location — and the double-layer mandate is totally gone.” Chris Simcox, president of the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps, says, “Congress truly pulled the rug out from under us while we were doing our last-minute holiday shopping, deceiving the American people and only showing goodwill to the 12 million lawbreakers living among us.” [Joe Murray, U.S. Senate Turns Back On Border Fence, Bulletin (Philadelphia), Jan. 2, 2007.]

No Hate Crimes

On Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2007, Sarah Kreager, a 26-year-old white woman, got on a Baltimore city bus, along with her boyfriend, Troy Ennis. Several blacks were on the bus, and prevented the couple from sitting in various seats. They eventually found a seat in the back, but a group of young blacks began pestering them. Accounts of what happened next vary. Miss Kreager says a black teenaged girl told her to move. When she refused, the girl attacked her, and six boys and two more girls joined in. They kicked and punched her, shouted racial insults, and eventually dragged Miss Kreager off the bus. The blacks broke several bones in her face. They also beat her boyfriend, but not as badly.

One of the nine blacks arrested for the assault, 14-year-old Britny Carter, says Miss Kreager asked for the beating when she spat on a girl who was making fun of her because she had a black eye. Miss Carter says none of the blacks who beat Miss Kreager used racial slurs, and that the victim’s race was irrelevant. Monalisa Carter, Britny’s mother, says, “It wasn’t a hate crime. That’s so untrue. I did not raise her that way. Britny is not a racial person. She has white friends, black friends; she gets along with everybody.”

Prosecutors evidently agree. Margaret T. Burns, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office, says the blacks face charges of aggravated assault and malicious destruction of property, but that her office will file no hate crime charges. The Maryland Transit Administration Police Force, which judged Miss Kreager to be in danger and put her in the witness protection program, concluded that although racial insults were used, it was only a fight over a seat.

Less than a week after Miss Kreager’s assault, another gang of blacks attacked two white men, Patrick Green and Robert Rothe, as they got on a bus in south Baltimore. The blacks used racial slurs, but MTA police say it was just a “common assault.” [Kelly Brewington, Gus G. Sentementes and Michael Dresser, Interviews Raise Questions About Race’s Role in Bus Attack, Baltimore Sun, Dec. 8, 2007. Sumathi Reddy, Hate Crime Charges Rejected, Baltimore Sun, Dec. 29, 2007. Surveillance Photos Released In Bus Attack, WBAL-TV, Dec. 13, 2007.]

Failing in Oz

One of former Australian Prime Minister John Howard’s last changes to immigration procedure before he was turned out of office in December 2007 was to establish a new citizenship test. Its 20 questions cover Australian history, values, and way of life, and require “competence” in English.

More than 10,000 would-be Australians have taken the test since it went into effect on October 1, and 2,311 — about 20 percent — have failed. That’s too many for Australia’s non-white lobby. Stepan Kerkyasharian, president of something called the New South Wales Anti-Discrimination Board, wants a test that is less Australian. “Let’s have a test that’s practical, that basically finds out whether someone knows enough about the political system,” he says. “It shouldn’t be a test of culture but a test of knowledge. I’d like to see a citizenship test which is easy to administer, easy to take part in, not sort of couched in high-level English terms, and a test about the political system in Australia and what every day life in Australia is about, not about what happened 20 years ago in some cricket match.”

Sam Afra, chairman of the Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria, agrees. He says the new test “discriminates,” and keeps lawful migrants from becoming citizens. “The news that 20 per cent of applicants are failing the test confirms our fears that the test would exclude people who would otherwise make a tremendous contribution to Australia,” he says. Presumably he wants a test anyone can pass.

During the campaign, the Australian Labor Party, which won the December elections, promised to keep the test, but Immigration Minister Chris Evans now says he will review it. Many think he plans to gut it or even scrap it. [Ethnic Groups Want Citizen Test Changed, Sydney Morning Herald, Jan. 2, 2008.]

Oh, to be in England

James Young is a 71-year-old Scottish great-grandfather who drives a taxi in Dundee, Scotland. On February 9, 2007, he picked up Jane Ross, the wife of former Labour MP Ernie Ross, and her daughter, Karen Girolami. The women were talking about local parents having trouble finding spots for their children in top secondary schools, when Mr. Young cut in to say it was all the fault of the “Pakis.”

“We were both shocked on hearing the word being used so blatantly,” said Mrs. Girolami. Mr. Young told them he probably shouldn’t use that word because his daughter had told him it wasn’t proper. When Mrs. Girolami suggested that perhaps he should say “Asian,” Mr. Young said, “It doesn’t matter where they come from because Pakis are Pakis, Chinkies are Chinkies, darkies are darkies.”

Mrs. Girolami was appalled. “It was at that point I wanted to get out of the taxi. I could see mum was tense, and I said I wanted to get out because I didn’t want to get into an argument with the driver.” They got out before reaching their destination, and Mr. Young wished them a pleasant day as they paid the fare. Mrs. Girolami called the police to report Mr. Young’s “racism.” Officers came to Mr. Young’s home later that day and arrested him on charges of “breach of the peace with racial aggravation” and put him in a cell for 12 hours.

In December — nearly a year after his arrest — Mr. Young went on trial in Dundee Sheriff Court and was quickly acquitted. The magistrate, Sheriff Maxwell Hendry, said that while “the actions of the accused were undoubtedly embarrassing, annoying and inappropriate,” they did not constitute a breach of the peace. “I am so glad this is over,” said Mr. Young. “It has been hanging over my head for a long time. I was panicking for a while that it would go against me, but finally common sense has prevailed and I can get on with my life.”

The Crown Prosecution Service, which received a great deal of criticism for bringing the case, refused comment except to say that it “takes all complaints with a racial element extremely seriously.” [Lindsay McIntosh, ‘Racism’ on Trial . . . Or a Hammer to Crack a Nut?, Scotsman (Edinburgh), Dec. 13, 2007.]

Oh, Not to be in England

A new study from the University of Sheffield predicts that in 2020 Leicester will be the first British city to get a non-white majority. It will be followed by Birmingham in 2024, and Slough and Luton soon afterwards. London will still be majority white in 2026, but eight of its 33 boroughs will have non-white majorities. In all, a dozen British towns and cities will be majority non-white in 30 years. Leicester was 71 percent white in 1991 but an influx of Indians and Africans has already reduced that figure to 59.5 percent. In Birmingham, it is Pakistanis who are moving in.

Sukhvinder Stubbs, head of the Barrow Cadbury Trust, which commissioned the study, says, “Regardless of future immigration patterns, it is just a matter of time until cities such as Birmingham become plural. Even if we prohibited another single soul from entering the country, the trends have already laid root.” [Mathew Hickley, White Britons Will Be a Minority In a Dozen Towns Within 30 Years, Daily Mail (London), Dec. 24, 2007.]

BNP Ballerina to Wed

In 2006, Simone Clarke of the English National Ballet made headlines when it was learned that she was a member of the “racist” and “fascist” British National Party (BNP). Miss Clarke says she joined after she went online and read its manifesto, and found she agreed with its positions on “mass immigration, crime and increased taxes.” Leftists and so-called “anti-racists” tried to get the National Ballet to fire Miss Clarke but it kept her on, saying it does not dictate political views. On January 12, 2007, about 40 people protested outside the theater where she danced in “Giselle.” BNP member Richard Barnbrook led a counter-protest, saying at the time, “I don’t normally go to the ballet but I’m going to support Simone Clarke. I’m supporting her freedom of expression.” He presented her with roses after the performance. Mr. Barnbrook went on to defend Miss Clarke against charges of racism, pointing out that she had a daughter with fellow dancer Yat-Sen Chang, who is half-Chinese and half-Cuban.

Mr. Chang and Miss Clarke broke up shortly afterwards, and she is now engaged to Mr. Barnbrook, the BNP’s candidate for mayor of London. “We’ve been going out for over nine months — I’m surprised the media haven’t found out before,” he says. [Andy McSmith, BNP’s Ballerina is Engaged to Party’s Mayoral Candidate, Independent (London), Dec. 20, 2007.]

Diversity Uber Alles

In 1996, Californians voted for Proposition 209, which put an end to race- and sex-based admissions preferences at state universities. Since then, University of California (UC) campuses have become less “diverse” — meaning there are fewer blacks and Hispanics, but more Asians. In fact, there are now more Asians than whites in the UC system. Hundreds more Asians than whites attend prestigious UC-Berkeley, and Asians outnumber whites two to one at UC-Davis.

University administrators have been trying to get around Prop. 209 for years. Their latest scheme would lower the minimum GPA for admission to 2.8 from 3.0, where it has been for 40 years, and ditch the requirement that applicants take the SAT. Board of Admissions Chairman Mark Rashid says the new system would “make a better and more fair determination of academic merit by looking at all the students’ achievements.” Translation: more leeway for admitting poorly qualified blacks and Hispanics.

Ward Connerly, the black man who led the fight for Prop. 209 and for similar measures around the country, used to sit on the UC Board of Regents. “This appears to be a blatant attempt to subvert the law,” he says of the new proposal. “Subjective admissions standards allow schools to substitute race and diversity for academic achievement.” [Defining Diversity Down, Wall Street Journal, Jan. 9, 2007. Matt Krupnick, UC Seeks Info on Asian Students, San Jose Mercury News, Nov. 24, 2007.]

Fertility Rises

In 2006, the US lifetime fertility rate hit 2.1 for the first time since 1971, making it the only industrialized country at replacement level. France is almost there, with a rate of 2.0. Fertility in the US went up in every age group from 2005 to 2006, the biggest jump coming among those 20 to 24 years old. Hispanics have the highest rate — at 2.9 — followed by blacks at 2.1 and Asians at 1.9. Whites had the lowest rate — 1.86 — but were more fertile than whites in almost any other country.

The US rate hit a high of nearly 3.8 in 1957 during the baby boom, but it fell sharply through the 1960s and 1970s after the introduction of birth control pills, and as more women started working. The rate dipped below replacement level in 1972 and hit a low of 1.7 in 1976, but started rising in the late 1970s. It climbed steadily through the 1980s, and hovered just below replacement level during the 1990s. Throughout this period, the US population grew rapidly because of immigration.

Experts say Americans use birth control less frequently than other Westerners, are more religious, and generally believe that women can both work and have children. [Rob Stein, U.S. Fertility Rate Hits 35-Year High, Stabilizing Population, Washington Post, Dec, 21, 2007.]

Babel, USA

According to the Census Bureau, nearly 43 percent of Californians speak a language other than English at home. In Los Angeles, the number is 53 percent, and several cities in Southern California have an even higher percentage: East Los Angeles (90 percent), El Monte (83 percent), Santa Ana (82 percent), Alhambra (70 percent), Oxnard and Garden Grove (67 percent), and Glendale (64 percent). The most common language is Spanish, but there are also enclaves of Korean, Thai, Hmong, Russian, and Armenian-speakers. In the Los Angeles Unified School District, more than 265,000 ESL (English as a Second Language) students speak 91 different languages. Nearly 20 percent of the country as a whole speaks a language other than English at home. [Anna Gorman and David Pierson, Report Says California is Linguistically Diverse, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 16, 2007.]