Evergreene Digest A Journal of Progress for the Rest of Us

• Yearning for an America that's gone
• Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America

Leonard Pitts, Jr., Miami Herald | FL

Submitted by Evergreene Digest Contributing Editor Ken Mitchell

The numbers are in.

Thanks to a new CBS News/New York Times poll, we now have a statistical picture of the tea party movement. There are few surprises.

It turns out that not quite 20 percent of Americans are tea party supporters. They tend to be white, Republican, male, over 45 and wealthier than the rest of us. Fifty-seven percent hold a favorable opinion of George W. Bush. And where most Republicans describe themselves as ``dissatisfied'' with Washington, tea partiers are apt to use a different term. They say they're angry.

It is a telling word, especially in light of another survey, this one from the University of Washington's Institute For the Study of Ethnicity, Race & Sexuality. That poll offers strong evidence that, contrary to the denials of tea party enthusiasts, President Obama's race plays a big role in their outrage. Indeed, researchers found a significant correlation between racial resentment and tea party zeal.

TTT's Andy Driscoll and Lynnell Mickelsen talk with a few local Native activists and city officials about Indian life in the urban core and prospects for a prosperous future.
Archived broadcast

Andy Driscoll, Truth to Tell, KFAI-FM | MN

May is American Indian Month. This may or may not be a meaningless exercise (why just one month to recognize the contributions and issues facing many of our communities of color?), but the Native community here is making the most of it with plans for the American Indian Cultural Corridor, an Indian Health Fair (even as we're broadcasting) April 28, and a Parade of Nations Walk April 30.

But those events are just part of life in the city for our Native Americans brothers and sisters - some good, some far too challenging for many to survive the poverty and racism that still mitigates against tribal cultures' attempts to remain sovereign and self-sufficient.

Guests:
• Laura Waterman Wittstock (Seneca) - Writer/Consultant; Retired Executive Director, Migizi Communications; Co-Producer/Host, First Nations Radio (Sundays on KFAI)
• Gary Schiff - Minneapolis City Councilmember, Ward 9
• Michael Goze (Ho-Chunk) - CEO, American Indian Community Development Corporation (AICDC) 
• Justin Kii Huenemann (Navajo) - President/CEO, Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI)

• An Orange County OB/GYN came home to find a FedEx package with a racial obscenity inside.
• A woman in New Paltz told me that even though she wasn't racist, she was afraid President Barack Obama's election would mean the "wrong element" of black people can mess with the rest of us.
• A minister in Newburgh told me of workers who showed up at their jobs one day to find racist notes in their lockers.

Steve Israel, Times Herald-Record | NY

Submitted by Evergreene Digest Contributing Editor Ken Mitchell

"You know what's wrong with this country today?" a guy says to me in the locker room of an Orange County fitness center. "It's run by blacks and women."

After I caught my breath, I said the first thing that came to my mind: "Man, do I disagree with that."

As he silently walked away, I realized this was the fourth time in the past few months that I had confronted racism.

More...

• Arizona has often been referred to as "ground zero" of the nation's immigration fight.
• On SB 1070, Arizona Governor Says She Will Do The ‘Right Thing So That Everyone Is Treated Fairly’
• Sheriff Arpaio's Abuse Of Power

Benjamin Armbruster and others, Think Progress

Arizona has often been referred to as "ground zero" of the nation's immigration fight. It's the state where a nine-year-old girl and her father were shot and killed by anti-immigrant Minuteman vigilantes this past summer. It's the place where the brutal murder of a prominent rancher led politicians to blur the line between dangerous drug cartel operatives and undocumented workers. It's also home to "Hispanic-hunting" Sheriff Joe Arpaio.