Words Can Trigger Change: Reader's Comments on Racism

We'd like to thank one of our reader's for the following comment:


"I am glad to see that SOMEONE is putting this incident into perspective, citing all the reasons why self-defense is normal, particularly in an environment such as this one. Racism is rampant on campus(es) and it is rampant in the community at large--regularly and frequently practiced not only by "hicks" but by so-called "educated" professionals--doctors (especially), proprietors, landlords/"ladies" (particularly), "human" service agencies and on and on. In fact, I wonder sometimes if some of these very same people aren't active members of the KKK chapter you refer to. There is a goulash of bigotry, with the some of the same bigots showing up in different capacities (sometimes where there is a direct conflict of interest. This is why the problem of racism is never really addressed in earnest in the Pioneer? Valley, despite the false perpetuation of the area as, per capita, one of the most progressive, intellectual, intelligent enclave of thinking and community-minded individuals. Hah!

Hampshire county is the only place where I have been called a nigger to my face (twice); it is the only place where I had a doctor repeatedly use a perjorative term designed to defend during a visit and laughed with delight when I let on that I was onto what he was doing? it is the only place where I have been repeatedly attacked, trounced and trashed, i.e. libel, 5th degree verbal assault by an MD, verbal assault by two officers on two different occasions (with other bigots "hungry for my head" as well in attendance as well). For all their progressive IDEAS and declarations, residents of the Valley are remarkably silent when it comes to really championing civil rights or human rights.

I think the arrest and charging of Mr. Vassell with the crime of self-defense the SAME public outcry and outrage that the attack involving the Jena Six in Lousiana sparked, followed by the support of THOUSANDS marching for all over the country. I don't see or hear anything from Al Sharpton. THE INSANITY IN THIS VALLEY HAS GOT TO STOP. People here have got to stop letting those who perpetuate racism and racist acts blow their own horn about how progressive, tolerant and educated (and all the other euphemisms used) while the casualties keep piling up.Maybe the "sleeping giants" at the NAACP can be roused to action. And what action or involvement has the Human Rights Commission taken to date? Are they just puppets and handmaidens of the ones crowing about how "tolerant" they are? Dr. Martin Luther King--who daughters atteneded college in this area-- would backflip in his grave if he knew how lazy and lackadaisical the "talented tenth" are in this bastion of education--as would Dr. DuBois. MAKE MORE NOISE!!! The spotlight on civil and human rights crimes is regularly shone on every other place--Darfur, Kosovo, So Africa, Holyoke, Springfield--EXCEPT HERE."

Let's keep this dialogue going. NAACP. Human Rights Comission, and other organizations should be contacted and activated. They will be more inclined to do so if there is more public outcry and more written from the perspective of Mr. Jason Vassell. Public gatherings are powerful tools and words can be as well. Keep the pressure on!

Video Shot in South Africa: Racist Acts on the Rise

In the Bluewall Cafeteria at UMass-Amherst several white students laughed when the South Africa story was covered on the wide-screen TV in the eating area:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7268519.stm

What motivated the students to laugh? We can't really say. Ignorace, surely. Lack of an ability to place oneself in the shoes of another, surely. But it goes beyond that: the story was framed by CNN as if a little joke was misinterpreted. "The four white students were making a fake reality show! Of course!"

The camera flashed through crowds of protestors (flashed is key -- they didn't want to ask any of the black and brown people offended by the video any questions) as if to say, "look at how this little misunderstanding led to all of these people getting so hot-headed." The protests were muted, framing anger without a voice. "No reason, no thought", the CNN cuts implied, "they just want to be mad at something."

CNN coverage, as we continue to see in mainstream media, looked only at the situation from the perspective of the four white students. Instead of interviewing the women in the video, CNN read the white students' apologies. None of the thousands of South Africans enraged by the video were interviewed. No effort at looking at a continuum of racism was made. They interviewed a few white professors who said they were upset by the images instead. And now they are even questioning Mandela's life-long fight for equality -- "see he didn't really get anything done." That is what is implied: "The riots that broke out in South Africa in protest of racial abuse on Wednesday, almost 16 years to the day that Nelson Mandela walked free from prison, have revealed just how distant the former president's dream of a Rainbow Nation remains from reality." (Yahoo News Writer, Alex Perry)

These incidents are pointing at a dramatic increase in racism on university campuses (U.S. and worldwide), and the poor coverage is a direct relfection on continued, biased reporting that mainstreanm media presents.

And we don't have to go far to see that: look at the way the local papers are covering Jason Vassell's attack -- "'Victim' stabs two" is one title (do they really have the audacity to make a pun here?), and the Boston Globe seemed to go at all costs to avoid the racism inherent in the stabbing incident (http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/02/21/attacks_rowdiness_rattling_many_at_umass_amherst/). And what about the Collegian?

"With candles in hand, approximately 35 students braved the cold weather last night for a two-minute vigil to show their support for former University of Massachusetts student Jason Vassell, while raising awareness about recent hate crimes on campus.

Excuse us: two minutes? Can you reduce the power of the gathering a little more please? Braving cold weather. How about starting with the powerful ideas and issues that the speakers were adressing? How about framing the story around the ideas and the injustice that motivated the gathering?

The moral in all of this: we need to keep the pressure on ignorant, hateful, racist actions and the way mainstream media is representing/reframing them.

Is UMass providing enough information to students?

Yesterday, someone left a "threatening" note (graffiti?) in a men's room in Bartlett Hall. Classes continued on and people were urged to report "suspicious behaviour."

Today, another "update" was posted on the umass.edu webpage:

"Alert: This is a follow-up to the campus alert issued Wednesday regarding the threatening message found in Bartlett Hall. UMass Police continue to investigate, but do note that the time frame included in the threat has passed. The university is open for regular business today and classes are being held. While conducting your day-to-day campus business, please be alert and report any unusual activities to the police. If you have any information that may identify anyone involved in this incident, call the police at 545-2121. To provide anonymous information in this case, contact the police at 577-TIPS (577-8477) or go to www.umass.edu/umpd/About_Us/Anonymous_Witness"

What immediately jumps off the page is reference to a TIME FRAME, offered up by the writer of the men's room note.

Our question: if the author of the violent note implied a time frame for some kind of violent act, shouldn't buildings have been evacuated? Shouldn't people know about this "time frame" so they can choose if they want to be in the building? Further, if there is a "time frame" the university should close: it shows intent and given the context (Virginia Tech, Illinois, and a dramatic increase in violent crime on the UMass campus).

Our message to UMass officials: let us know when there is a threat and give us details. It is your responsibility to inform us. When you have a threatening note with a time frame mentioned, you owe it to the student body to inform and disseminate the information.

Vigil for Jason Vassell Tonight in Southwest (UMASS)

Last post we re-framed the UMass hate crime/attack/stabbing incident from the perspective of Jason Vassell:

two white men kick in Mr. Vassell's window, insult him, verbally threaten him, call him "nigger", and break into his building. They proceed to beat him and break his nose. These are two racist, hateful individuals who have shown that they are not affriad to break a window, break into a building, and beat a man. And there are two racist attackers vs. one student. Two vs. One and they have already broken several laws without any remorse, and they proceed to cause bodily harm with the intent to murder -- just as the words they shouted proove. The victim, Jason Vassell, sees that the beating will not stop unless he defends himself in some way. He uses the only thing he has on him tht might prevent them from killing him. Though he acted in self-defence, he is the first one to be arrested and now Jason Vassell is on trial for attempted murder.

What can you do? Head to the Malcolm X center in Southwest Residential Area, tonight, Wedesday Feb 27th. If someone could post the time of the meeting as a comment that would be helpful.

Perspectives on UMass-Amherst Hate Crimes

Amherst, MA -- We would like to re-frame this public, online discussion around the hate crimes that ocurred at UMass on February 3rd, 2008 and not the names/concepts that legal system uses (they become the default/norm terms that mainstream media uses to report the incident). We want to put YOU, the reader, in Mr. Vassell's shoes, just for a brief moment. When we talk about, write, or work from the idea of Jason Vassell as an "attempted murderer" who stabbed two men with a dangerous weapon ("allegedly" in self-defense), the events quickly transform. The tone automatically points to Mr. Vassell as a culprit and not a victim.

And when we work from Mr. Vassell "allegedy" defending himself against only one attacker and not two (especially when the incident report cites two racist attackers) the events take on a different character (even though they shouldn't). Further, we would like to emphasize the point that agressive, blatant acts of racism and hatred instigated this incident.

According to the Amherst Gazette, "the incident was sparked at 4 a.m. when two women visiting Vassell’s dorm opened a window and found a man’s face pressed against the window staring back at them. When Vassell asked the man (allegedly Bowes) to explain himself, the man went into a ‘loud tirade of racial invectives and violent threats directed at Vassell,’ the report states. Vassell then told him to go away, but instead of leaving, the man allegedly began kicking the window. The women then left the room and the police were called. While waiting for the police to arrive, Vassell called a friend for support, the committee claims. When Vassell opened the door to let his friend inside, Bosse and Bowes also entered the lobby. One of the men then assaulted Vassell, breaking his nose, the report said. Following this, Bosse and Bowes were stabbed."

The re-frame is in order: a man is staring into your window, utters "a loud tirade of racial invectives and violent threats directed at Vassell"/you; starts kicking in your window; you see he is with another individual or maybe you knew there were two racist, angry men together the whole time; you are in the middle of small-town Western Massachusetts surrounded by some towns that still have an active KKK; you are on a campus where police constantly harass you and where you don't have a sizeable community or an in-tact response system if "something goes down" because of the lack of "minority" students on campus...

Continuing... the two men who called you all kinds of names that white people have been calling you and your ancestors for 500 years have now broken into your building; the two white men who told you they wanted you dead are now illegally inside of your home and are breaking your nose. You have been beaten and nobody is able to stop the two white men. It appears you might just die as those two white men hoped. WHAT DO YOU DO? It is 2 crazy white dudes vs. you, a student, whose window and nose were just kicked in. You let them beat you until you die? Or do you fight back, do you use the object you have in your pocket just in case "something goes down" in the middle of nowhere, where cops will arrest you for looking at someone the wrong way or for just being somewhere "at the wrong time"? I think the answer is obvious: you fight back. And what happens? You are the first one to get arrested, you are put on trial for murder, the legal system forgets it was 2 vs. 1, forgets that two ignorant white hicks from kkk-ville New Hampshire, just over the state line, had kicked your window in and beaten you silly.

Now you have to explain why you couldn't have just "taken on" the one white guy without stabbing him. You have to explain that there were two racist hicks and not one. You have to explain why you defended yourself to people who don't understand what it means to be in a school that is 90% or more white, that allows its police force to constantly harass you, that does nothing to make you feel comfortable on a campus with a bizarre geographical position and increasing racial tension (see Haloween costume incident), close to NY and Boston, but still in the middle of nowhere. Meanwhile, you are on trial for murder, and the money to pay for this legal system that put you in this position is running out.

Hate Crimes at UMass: What you can do

This was just posted on the ipetitions.com website by a group of UMass students and professors. You can sign the petition by going to the site:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/justiceforjason/

"On Sunday, February 3, 2008, Jason Vassell, a twenty-three year old African American student at the University of Massachusetts, was arrested and charged with two counts of assault with intent to murder and two counts of aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. These charges stem from an altercation that Jason had with two white men, who were on campus for no legitimate purpose and provoked the confrontation by smashing Jason's window and repeatedly referring to him as a "nigger." Although Jason never left the dormitory, he was the only one charged at first. While one of the perpetrators, Jonathan Bowes, was recently charged with two hate crimes and disorderly conduct, the other white man, Jonathan Bosse, has not been charged as of yet.

Jason Vassell, who has no prior criminal record and is a widely respected member of the UMass community, is currently being charged with a felony, though he was attacked in his own home by outside intruders, who put Mr. Vassell and fellow UMass students at risk.

We call for the excessive charges against Mr. Vassell to be reconsidered."

UMass-Amherst Stabbing

Due to the pending trial we have decided to remove all posts regarding the recent stabbing of a UMass student. We will re-post and continue to cover the incident at a later time.

Fun Fundraiser for Local Soup Kitchen (with great food and music!)

We just received this email, originally written by Hwei-ling Greeney (the town's incredibly active selectoboard member!), from one of our readers. A great cause, a great dinner, and they have even organized a concert! A fundraiser at its finest! We plan on attending!

"The question of eat or heat this winter has been such a dilemma in the minds of many guests of Not Bread Alone. I hope you will join me for the 2nd Annual Soup & Song event to raise funds for the new Wednesday meal program that we began last November. The new program, which has been in the works for over a year, fills an essential need in the community.

Until now, there has been NO hot meal served anywhere in the Amherst area
on Wednesday evening. We are glad that we are now able to fill this hole, as well as the stomachs of our hungry Wednesday evening guests. Your presence at the Soup & Song benefit event this Saturday, February 9, 2008 at the First Congregational Church of Amherst will be so cherished.

An All You Can Eat dinner with homemade cornbread and five varieties of
delicious and wholesome soup --- chili,vegetarian chili, clam chowder, spicy blackeye pea soup, and curry lentil soup --will begin at 5:00 PM.

Following dinner, Sarah Pirtle – the Valley’s best
folk singer will begin the benefit concert at 7:00 PM.

The cost of the concert which includes the meal is very reasonable: $5
for children and $10 for adults in advance.

Tickets can be purchased at A. J. Hastings or Food for Thought Bookstore.

Hope to see you this Saturday at 5:00 for dinner and
7:00 for concert at First Congregational Church of Amherst, 165
Main Street, Amherst (next door to the Black Sheep Café).

The snow date is Sunday, February 10."

Not Bread Alone Soup Kitchen