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"The three young men were the best the nation had to offer. Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner were roaring into their 20s as tyranny was being challenged in the southeast quadrant of the United States... "On the night of June 21, 1964, the three young men were pulled over by a local sheriff's officer near Philadelphia, Miss. The trio was reportedly beaten by some 19 men of the Klan. For good measure, the gentlemen shot Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner and buried their bodies in a hole that had been dug prior to the attack... "Ronald Reagan willfully chose to launch his 1980 campaign in Philadelphia, Miss., as a sign of his foul intentions for the national GOP. This launch venue of the former Hollywood actor warmed the hearts of the Klan as it set blacks' teeth on edge... "Some 40 years after the crimes, Mississippi authorities arrested the first person ever charged with murder in the case, Edgar Ray Killen. The 79-year-old preacher reportedly organized and led the gang that ambushed and murdered the three young men. What took so long?" Read the rest of "Mississippi Justice--Partial and Delayed" here.
More Light... ...on MARGARET KIMBERLEY America is governed by one party rule, the press does not dare provoke that one party, the opposition party is afraid to oppose, the wealthy are getting wealthier by using the national treasury as their private piggy bank, civil liberties are under assault, workers think themselves lucky to earn starvation wages at Wal-Mart, and the man nominated to become the chief law enforcement official in the land has put in writing that torture is not such a bad thing after all. Margaret Kimberley, "Banana Republic U.S.A." [online: web], cited 13 Jan. 2005, para 2. URL: http:/ Click here to read all of "Banana Republic U.S.A."
...and on TIM WISE Consider the common charge of conspiratorial paranoia hurled at any person of color, for example, who dared to point out the racially-disparate voter purging that took place in Florida in 2000, or in various places in 2004. White reality is privileged at every turn, so that if whites say something is a problem, it is, and if whites insist it isn't, then it isn't. Those of us who are white remain thought of as sober-minded, and never as given to underestimating the extent of racism, making a molehill out of what is, in fact, often a mountain, or playing our own race card, the denial card, which far and away trumps whatever pallid alternative people of color may occasionally find in their own decks. In other words, privilege is not merely about money and wealth. It is not merely something that attaches when one is born with the proverbial silver spoon in one's mouth. Rather it is the daily psychological advantage of knowing that one's perceptions of the world are the ones that stick, that define the norm for everyone else, and that are taken seriously in the mainstream. Tim Wise, "Race to Our Credit," [online: web], updated 6 Jan 2005, cited 13 Jan. 2005, paras. 10-12. URL: http:/ Click here to read the rest of "Race to Our Credit"
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Featured Pieces from the "Other Works" SectionA peek inside WHEN RACE BECOMES REAL
Table of Contents
A listing of authors and anthology chapter titles Review Excerpts
Clips from reviews Book chapter excerpt
"Jasper, Texas Elegy" Audio Clips on NPR
Links to selected authors reading chapter excerpts on NPR Bernestine in Literary Journals
"The Old Wink and Nod"
Why bother with the facts when it's so easy to keep believing the hype? "Murder and the Reasonable Man"
Mix evidence and prejudice with a jury, then stir. "Heat"
Sun isn't the only thing that sets stuff on fire. "The Tutu"
You're never too young to learn the hard lessons of desire. Bernestine in Other Anthologies
"Bearing Witness"
When the thing you most fear finally happens, then what? "White Friends"
Some of my best friends are white. Some aren't. "Take Me to the Water"
A piece of Texas fiction...or is it? Bernestine's Magazine Articles
South African Safari
In 1998 we saw the Garden of Eden. "The New South Africa: Warm and Welcoming"
Five years ago, reality hadn't yet trumped hope. |
