TOBUDIMEXTHE GREAT CONSTRUCTION GROUP, OPERATINGIN POLAND
BOARD OF DIRECTORSMANAGEMENT Subject:About your construction of a Wall between Poland and Belarus Demand:Stop earning blood moneyStop your cooperation with forced deportations, pushbacks andmistreatment of refugeesStop your cooperation with the violation of one of the most elementaryhuman rights!
Dear Board of DirectorsDear Management Sometimes reality seems worse than the most creepy horror movie.Not because horror movies can’t be frightening, but because they are just for amusement and not real, although made very realistic. But when you read and see actings in the real world, especiallyfrom politicians and their partners in crime, you realize that here arereal people involved, who really suffer and with them their families andother loved ones.That is the moment, that it is really freezing around me and others, who seekfor elementary justice. And you, board of directors and management, have violated the most elementary human rights by constructing a Wall between Poland and Belarus.The proof is in your own declaration, under P/S, before my notes. SHAME TO YOU! Because you know completely well the aim of this Wall:To prevent warstricken and hunted refugees to seek for a safe homeby building a Wall on the outskirts, the outer borders of the EU borders!Because that’s the aim of the Polish government [1] and you know thatfull well! ELEMENTARY RIGHTS Every human being has the right to ask for asylum, as written inthe Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 18 ofthe EU Charter of Fundamental Rights [2], but all the Polish government did was putting an armyon her border, not only preventing refugees, trapped between Belarusand Poland to enter the EU and ask for asylum, but also treatingthem very badly [3] and using evil and forbidden practices likepushbacks [4], such as was described in an Human Rights Watch Report ””DIE HERE OR GO TO POLAND”BELARUS’ AND POLAND’S SHARED RESPONSIBILITY FOR BORDER ABUSES [5] YOUR COOPERATION WITH HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES So I refer to illegal pushbacks of the Polish government, that doesn’t and didn”t care about the fact, that refugees nearly were freezing to death [6],that refugees actually DID die in that no mans land between Polandand Belarus [7], a government that also mistreated refugees [8] and whatis your role? Not only you are supporting the government in theie evil ways by constructingthis Wall of Death and Despair, and earning Blood Money, you even have the nerve only to care about the environmental value of the Bialowieza Forest!I quote you [SEE UNDER P/S]”We understand the emotions that surround the issue of the construction of the wall on the border between Poland and Belarus, in particular, in the Białowieża Forest section; therefore, our representatives consulted the local governments on 26 January 2022. The meeting was attended by military representatives, heads of five gminas located within the development project area, forest district representatives and the Staroste of the Hajnowski Poviat.”
And don’t get me wrong:I also care for and value the great value of the Bialowieza Forest as avery important primeval forest [9], but I value human lives more andwhen people are dying in that forest I think everyone should valuetheir lives in the first place. But you don’t care, because in your declaration [see under P/S]NOT A WORD ABOUT THE REFUGEES, WHO SUFFERED IN THEBIALOWIEZA FOREST, BECAUSE OF THE POLISH GOVERNMENT,WHICH DENIED THEM THEIR HUMAN RIGHTS! DEMAND I have referred to the great Injustice and the atrocities, done by the Polishgovernment to desperate refugees, mentioned in the Human Rights report andin a Statement of Amnesty International [10] Also I mentioned your supportive role and the Blood Money, you earn with yourconstruction of this Wall. I don’t know how many letters you have received to protest against yourpractices.I presume, not many and perhaps I am unimportant in your eyes, representingno government or great organisation. But that doesn’t matter, because each Voice counts. And trillion drops of water form an Ocean. Get back on your Path of Evil, because more protests will come. This is only the Beginning. You have chosen your Side. Change your construction of this Wall of Death, or else youwill be condemned by men or women of justice and in each case,by History.
Kind greetings Astrid EssedAmsterdamThe NetherlandsEurope P/S
On 25 January 2022, the Border Guards handed over to the contractors the construction site for the construction of the 186-kilometre wall on the border between Poland and Belarus. The contractor of the wall in the Białowieża Forest section is Budimex. The company makes every effort to ensure that works are carried out professionally and with respect for residents and the environment. Budimex will carry out works on the 100-kilometre section, and the border zone along the Białowieża Forest accounts for less than 40% of its length.
We understand the emotions that surround the issue of the construction of the wall on the border between Poland and Belarus, in particular, in the Białowieża Forest section; therefore, our representatives consulted the local governments on 26 January 2022. The meeting was attended by military representatives, heads of five gminas located within the development project area, forest district representatives and the Staroste of the Hajnowski Poviat.
During the meeting with the representatives of local governments, we confirmed that we have extensive experience in implementing projects in diverse environments. We carry out construction work, for example, in protected areas, including Natura 2000 areas in many places in Poland. The warehouses used to store our construction materials are and will be neutral for the environment. Our compliance with strict environmental standards is confirmed by numerous certificates – our construction sites have been issued with more than 100 BREEAM or LEED sustainable building certificates.
Although the contract does not require us to do so as a contractor, there will be external environmental supervision of the entire project. We understand that the Białowieża Forest is extremely valuable, and we want to work with respect for its ecosystem. The team assigned to the project has the highest level of competence to perform this task.
The works on the wall, transport and storage of raw materials will be carried out in accordance with the best construction and environmental standards. Our plan includes:
securing the soil with double and triple isolation to prevent leakage,
the use of spill kits,
covering and securing construction equipment repair points,
securing fuel tanks,
sorting and securing waste points,
preparation of separate points for hazardous waste,
fencing and monitoring of the area.
Our works will be carried out during the day, and the planned truck traffic at the construction location is several vehicles per hour. Upon completion, all roads will be restored to their original condition or will be improved.
Works on the entire project will take just six months. We are also on the list of strategic companies from a defence perspective. Therefore, we have a duty to act for the benefit of the country in the event of special situations from a security point of view. We responded in the same way to the calls for the construction of temporary hospitals or the completion of road and rail works after other general contractors had abandoned their contracts.
Our aim is to perform the contract through transparent subcontractor selection rules while respecting the interests of local communities and the environment. We make every effort to minimise the inconveniences for the residents and take into account the needs of the natural forest environment.”
Poland has started building a wall along its frontier with Belarus aimed at preventing asylum seekers from entering the country, which cuts through a protected forest and Unesco world heritage site.
The Polish border guard said the barrier would measure 186km (115 miles), almost half the length of the border shared by the two countries, reach up to 5.5 metres (18ft) and cost €353m (£293m). It will be equipped with motion detectors and thermal cameras.
Poland has accused Belarus’s president, Alexander Lukashenko, of deliberately provoking a new refugee crisis in Europe by organising the movement of people from the Middle East to Minsk and promising them a safe passage to the EU in revenge for the sanctions Brussels has imposed on his authoritarian regime.
Thousands of asylum seekers, mainly from Syria, Iraqi Kurdistan and Afghanistan, were caught attempting to cross the frontier and were violently pushed back to Belarus by Poland’s border guards, and hundreds of families were trapped in the forest between the two countries in the midst of a frigid winter.
At least 19 people have died since the beginning of the border standoff between Poland and Belarus. Most of them died of exposure to freezing temperatures.
The humanitarian emergency reached its peak in November when Belarusian authorities escorted thousands of asylum seekers to the Polish border. Dozens of refugees told the Guardian how Belarusian troops gathered groups of up to 50 people and cut the barbed wire with shears to allow them to cross.
“The construction of the barrier on the Polish-Belarusian border has started,” said a statement from the Polish border guard on Twitter. “It is the largest construction investment in the history of the border guard.”
The cost is approximately 10 times the whole budget of Poland’s migration department this year.
The news has raised human rights concerns among aid workers and charities worried that refugees fleeing conflicts and starvation will not be able to apply for asylum, and there are also environmental concerns. “This money could be used to build and launch [an] effective and humane migration, reception and asylum policy,” said a spokesperson for Ocalenie Foundation, which supports refugeesliving in Poland. “No wall in the history of the world stopped migration. Also, it would be a disaster for the nature in Białowieża area.”
The Białowieża forest world heritage site, on the border between Poland and Belarus, is an immense range of primary forest including conifers and broadleaved trees. It is home to the largest population of European bison.
Anna Alboth, of Minority Rights Group and a member of Grupa Granica, a Polish network of NGOs monitoring the situation on the border, said: “Walls are dividing, not protecting. The decision about building such a wall on the Polish-Belarusian border is not only lawless but also brings a risk of irreversible harm to the environment, in one of the most rich natural places of Poland and the whole of Europe.
“Instead of spending money on walls and private companies, it should be spending on developing a migration policy that prioritises human rights and safety of the people on the move, local people, animals and nature.”
A border guard spokesperson, Anna Michalska, told Poland’s PAP news agency that the “intention is for the damage to be as small as possible”. She said: “Tree felling will be limited to the minimum required. The wall itself will be built along the border road.” Contractors would only make use of existing roads, she said.
Last year Warsaw’s rightwing government quadrupled the presence of border guards and military personnel in the area, creating a two-mile deep militarised zone, and built a razor-wire fence, in a show of force unknown in the country since the end of the cold war. Dozens of checkpoints were placed along the perimeter of the so-called red zone, which is inaccessible to aid workers and journalists.
Last week Poland’s supreme court condemned the government for preventing reporters from accessing the area. Judges in Warsaw said the ban was incompatible with Polish law and that “there is no justification for admitting that this particular professional group represents a threat to steps taken”.
END OF THE ARTICLE
[2]
Article 14
1. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
The right to asylum shall be guaranteed with due respect for the rules of the Geneva Convention of 28 July 1951 and the Protocol of 31 January 1967 relating to the status of refugees and in accordance with the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Treaties’).
On the outskirts of the Białowieża forest – which bestrides the border between south-east Poland and Belarus – a group of seven Iraqi Kurds make their weary way towards the Polish hamlet of Grodzisk.
The latest miles of their journey have been from Belarus – crossing back and forth twice, deported after their first and second attempts. Now a third time: through sub-zero temperatures, across the primeval forest’s marshy terrain. Among them are two children: an eight-month-old girl and a two-year-old boy. When we came upon them, they were afraid to get up off the ground and begged us not to call the police, whispering: “They’ll kill us.”
The infant was still, though not asleep. They looked like waxen figures, their faces blank, though one woman’s face was covered in bruises.
This is one group among the thousands of migrants trapped in a perilous purgatorial terrain between Belarus and Poland, as gateway to the European Union, where they seek refuge and asylum. That gate has slammed shut, claiming eight known migrant lives so far. Poland’s rightwing government has secured parliamentary authority to build a Donald Trump-style wall the length of its frontier with Belarus, and meanwhile patrols the territory with a force of some 17,000 border police reinforced by military personnel.
The Polish government argues that it is a deliberate policy by Belarus to undermine the EU’s south eastern border by encouraging refugees to pour in. The government has also established a two-mile militarised zone adjacent to the frontier, from which medical services, volunteer aid workers and reporters are banned. Crystal van Leeuwen, a medical emergency manager with Médecins Sans Frontières, told the Guardian last week that NGOs must urgently gain access to the secure zone for migrants’ claims and international protection to be respected.
The migrants are part not only of the exodus in flight from war and other tribulation where they began their journeys – across the Middle East and Africa – but also pawns in a game between Belarus and Poland. Many are lured by Belarusian travel bureaux, controlled by the authoritarian government of Alexander Lukashenko, which, as middlemen, organise trips from the Middle East to Minsk, promising passage to the EU.
The Iraqi Kurdish group is from Duhok, near the Turkish border. It is the scene of intense recent intra-Kurdish fighting, and Turkish strikes against the Kurdish PKK organisation. The mother of the children, 28-year-old Amila Abedelkader, said that the group was lured to Belarus by a travel agency that would arrange travel by plane from Istanbul to Minsk, and access to the Polish border.
Migrants are charged €15,000-€20,000 when they reach Belarus. Airport photos show their arrival wearing shorts and T-shirts, clearly unaware of the temperatures awaiting them. They are then installed in state hotels managed by the regime, from which officially assigned buses and even taxis transfer them to the Polish or Lithuanian border.
Belarusian border guards then shove them past the fence. “Some migrants we saw had their faces sliced with barbed wire,” says volunteer aid worker Katarzyna Wappa. “We have amateur films showing how the Belarusians drive the migrants forward. The border guards stand there with snarling attack dogs in full battle gear.”
Abdelkader says her group had made their first crossing into Poland in early October, but were forced back by guards. Trapped between borders, they were given nothing to drink or eat. “The Polish guards caught us and pushed us back. They said: ‘Go back to Belarus.’ And the Belarusian soldier said: ‘No, no go back to Poland.’ When the water was all finished, my brother asked Polish soldiers for some water to drink. Every day we asked about water. They say: ‘No, no.’” The guards refused to supply milk for the baby. The migrants drank rainwater or from puddles.
This was their third attempt. Whether they have since been successful is unclear.
But every morning we receive news on WhatsApp from people held in the border guards’ cells. Bulletins such as: “Yesterday a family and their sick son staying with us were taken by the police back to the border.” And: “We are so frightened of going to the border because my baby is too small. Please help us.”
Back home in the nearest town of Hajnówka, Wappa says: “We are creating a network, trying to do what we can, but it’s too much to bear. People are dying in the forest and the Polish state offers no help apart from bringing in more troops, rounding them up, and deporting them back to no man’s land. And if we reach those people, what can we give them? A flask of tea, some warm clothes, then leave them in the darkness and cold?”
In the forest last week, volunteers found Mustafa, a 46-year-old man from Morocco, taken in by a volunteer named Mila. Speaking Spanish, Mustafa told us: “As I made my way through the forest, I saw a man lying on the ground. I don’t know if he was alive or dead. I walked two nights until I could go no further. I was walking at night, trying to sleep during the day. I was in a vacuum.
“Belarusian soldiers beat people,” he continued. “They beat me in Belarus. There are gangs that stand behind the army and attack us. They beat you, take your money, and split it 50-50, part for the gangs, part for soldiers. This border is like a river of death. What are you to do? Where to go, I do not know.” Mustafa’s fate remains in the balance.
Once on the Polish side, migrants are tracked down by border guards, police, army, and territorial defence forces; in the Hajnówka region, practically every second car on the road belongs to law enforcement officers. Others have darkened windows – either protecting or smuggling the migrants.
“We’re in a parcelled-off, isolated world,” adds Kamil Syller, initiator of the Green Light project, which aims to put green lights in windows to signify homes where refugees can find help, discreetly, and not be handed over to the police.
At the Mantiuk Hospital in Hajnówka, a boy from Somalia tells how he watched his two brothers freeze to death. “It’s impossible to say where it happened,” he says.
“Apparently he’s losing contact with reality,” say the doctors. “He often asks: ‘But where am I?’” The refugees who reach the hospital receive professional medical care, yet the hospital is patrolled by border guards, and as soon as someone’s health is restored, guards take them back to the border and leave them in the forest.
Medics on the Border, a group of doctors with an ambulance, operates in the “open” areas, but are not allowed in the off-limits zone. Asked how they can be of help, they say: “We need passes to the zone,” says Jakub Sieczko, a paramedic. “But this is impossible.”Advertisement
“We have no access to the off-limits zone,” says a Polish Red Cross workerfrom the border area. “We can’t hand over aid packages ourselves.”
Syller says that the refugees are freezing, succumbing to hypothermia and shaking from fear and cold. “The children are having reactions similar to epileptic attacks. The suffering and terror here can only remind you of wartime,” he explains.
Wappa feels that she is “witnessing scenes like out of a war, but at least in a war things are clear. “This is worse, because here half the society denies what’s going on. They think it’s all a big sham, that there are politics behind it. People say of the refugees: ‘Why did they even leave home and why take their children?’”
This land is steeped in dark history of flight and deportation. And there are few reminders so cogent as in the village of Narewka, where a row of houses from before the second world war is adorned with enlarged photographs of the Jewish residents who lived here until the Holocaust.
The pictures show people posing in their finest clothes: an elderly couple, an Orthodox family, a girl in a polka-dot dress with bows in her hair, a sophisticated lady wearing a cap.
Now, past those houses in memoriam for Jews deported from here, military and police vehicles pass, carrying migrants for deportation.
END OF THE ARTICLE
[4]
PUSHBACKS ARE FORBIDDEN ACCORDING TO ARTICLE 19.EU CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS Article 18
Article 19 Protection in the event of removal, expulsion or extradition 1. Collective expulsions are prohibited. 2. No one may be removed, expelled or extradited to a State where there is a serious risk that he or she would be subjected to the death penalty, torture or other inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
”Polish pushback practices are also in violation of article 19 of the Charter and Protocol 4 of the ECHR, which both state unequivocally that collective or mass expulsions of aliens are prohibited” HUMAN RIGHTS WATCHPOLISH LEGISLATION AND VIOLATIONOF EU LAW A CHAPTER FROM THE HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT”DIE HERE OR GO TO POLAND”BELARUS’ AND POLAND’S SHARED RESPONSIBILITY FOR BORDER ABUSES https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/11/24/die-here-or-go-poland/belarus-and-polands-shared-responsibility-border-abuses
”On the outskirts of the Białowieża forest – which bestrides the border between south-east Poland and Belarus – a group of seven Iraqi Kurds make their weary way towards the Polish hamlet of Grodzisk.
The latest miles of their journey have been from Belarus – crossing back and forth twice, deported after their first and second attempts. Now a third time: through sub-zero temperatures, across the primeval forest’s marshy terrain. Among them are two children: an eight-month-old girl and a two-year-old boy.”THE GUARDIANON THE FROZEN FRONTIERS OF EUROPE WITHTHE MIGRANTS CAUGHT IN A LETHAL GAME
”This is one group among the thousands of migrants trapped in a perilous purgatorial terrain between Belarus and Poland, as gateway to the European Union, where they seek refuge and asylum. That gate has slammed shut, claiming eight known migrant lives so far.”
THE GUARDIANON THE FROZEN FRONTIERS OF EUROPE WITHTHE MIGRANTS CAUGHT IN A LETHAL GAME
”“At least 10 people, including a one-year-old child, have died at the EU’s Eastern borders in recent weeks. Today the European Commission is bringing in measures which undermine rights and normalize the dehumanization and suffering of people at the EU’s borders.” AMNESTY INTERNATIONALEU ”EXCEPTIONAL MEASURES” NORMALIZE DEHUMANISATION OF ASYLUM SEEKERS’1 DECEMBER 2021
In response to today’s proposals from the European Commission which would allow Latvia, Lithuania and Poland to derogate from EU rules, including by holding asylum-seekers and migrants at the border for 16 weeks with minimal safeguards, Eve Geddie, Director of Amnesty International’s European Office said:
“The arrival of people at the EU’s borders with Belarus is entirely manageable with the rules as they stand. Today’s proposals will further punish people for political gain, weaken asylum protections, and undermine the EU’s standing at home and abroad. If the EU can allow a minority of member states to throw out the rule book due to the presence of a few thousand people at its border, it throws out any authority it has on human rights and the rule of law.
“The current situation at the EU’s borders with Belarus is being used by some countries as an excuse to weaken protections of asylum-seekers and push their anti-migrant agenda. Holding asylum seekers in detention for four months, without the protection standards required by international law, is normalising de facto unlawful detention at the EU’s external borders.
“Asylum rules should be upheld, not allowed to be side-stepped by countries via so-called exceptional measures. Amnesty International is alarmed that the proposal will violate people’s rights, and exacerbate the humanitarian crisis at borders while continuing to expose the EU to further internal and external manipulation and blackmailing.
“While Lukashenka’s mistreatment and instrumentalization of migrants and asylum seekers is deplorable, he is exploiting the EU’s own tendency to treat people at their borders as a threat.
“At least 10 people, including a one-year-old child, have died at the EU’s Eastern borders in recent weeks. Today the European Commission is bringing in measures which undermine rights and normalize the dehumanization and suffering of people at the EU’s borders.”
END OF STATEMENT
POLAND-BELARUS REFUGEE CRISIS/LETTER TO THE EU/EU’S HUMAN OBLIGATIONS AGAINST THE REFUGEES
Een Koerdische familie uit Irak wacht met zestien leden uit drie generaties op de grenswachten. Al acht keer werden ze teruggestuurd naar Wit-Rusland, waarbij ze klappen kregen en door honden gebeten werden. Foto Wojtek Radwanski / AFP
Voertuigen die zich nabij de grens begeven worden streng gecontroleerd. Foto Marko Djurica / Reuters
Achtergebleven spullen van migranten in de bossen. Velen van hen krijgen met geweld en intimidatie te maken. Foto Marko Djurica / Reuters
Ondertussen proberen hulporganisaties de migranten waar mogelijk te helpen. Hier sorteert een Poolse vrijwilligster gedoneerde kleding in een brandweerkazerne. Foto Kacper Pempel / Reuters
Activisten van de Poolse ngo Grupa Granica houden foto’s omhoog van gestrande migranten, met de oproep hen hulp te bieden. Foto Marko Djurica / Reuters
Oekraïense nationalisten houden borden en flares omhoog in protest tegen de komst van migranten voor de Poolse ambassade in Kiev. Foto Sergei Supinsky / AFP
Medici verzorgen een gewonde migrant, terwijl anderen verderop door de Poolse politie worden ingerekend. De Poolse premier Mateusz sprak onlangs van „een brute schending van onze oostelijke grens (…) de ergste in dertig jaar”. Foto Woitek Radwanski / AFP
Migranten drommen samen om noodpakketten te ontvangen van de Wit-Russische krijgsmacht. Foto Stringer / EPA
Een migrant draagt zijn ontvangen noodrantsoen weg van het uitdeelpunt van het Wit-Russische leger. Veel migranten verblijven in het grensgebied onder erbarmelijke omstandigheden. Foto Stringer / EPA
Poolse militairen en politieagenten staan rechts paraat langs de grens met Wit-Rusland, terwijl links migranten te zien zijn in hun geïmproviseerde kampementen.
POLAND-BELARUS BORDER CRISIS/LETTER TO THE EU/”EU’S HUMAN OBLIGATIONS AGAINST THE REFUGEES, WHO ARE TRAPPED BETWEENTHE POLAND-BELARUS BORDER”
TO MRS Y JOHANSSONEU COMMISSIONER FOR HOME AFFAIRSRelating her responsibility for Migration and Asylum Subject:The Poland Belarus crisis on migrants:Eu’s obligations regarding universal human rights
Dear Mrs Johansson,[When you are pressed with time, just read the last piece”EU’s obligations”]
I am greatly concerned about EU’s recent attitude against refugees, who are trapped in the border between Poland and BelarusFirstly the EU waited months after months and allowing Poland to close andmilitarize its borders against those refugees, thus violating their right on asylum,violating their universal human rights by letting them try to survive in the freezingcold and, to add insult to injury, pushing them back from the border, fully knowing that push-backs are against International Law. [1]As a consequence, at least thirteen refugees died. [2]Instead of immediately demanding of Poland, to refrain from violatinghuman rights and giving those refugees entrance to Poland, all the EUdid was express solidarity with Poland and also denying the refugees their right to asylum:I quote from the statement from EU president, mrs von der Leyen, from 8th november 2021:”Finally, the Commission will explore with the UN and its specialised agencies how to prevent a humanitarian crisis from unfolding and to ensure that migrants can be safely returned to their country of origin, with the support of their national authorities.” [3] That’s inhuman. In her report ”Die Here or Go to Poland”, Human Rights Watch wrote among else:”Polish authorities should immediately halt all summary returns and collective expulsions to Belarus and stop all abuse by Polish officials of migrants. The government of Poland should also immediately allow humanitarian and other civil society organizations access to the area currently restricted under the state of emergency order for the purposes of saving lives. Journalists and other monitors should also be permitted access.” [4]Poland is a EU member and should apply toEU rules, among else consolidated in the Charter’for Fundamental Rights of the EU Union [5],in which the right to asylum is granted [article 18] [6] and pushbacks are forbidden [article 18, article 19,EU Charter of Fundamental Rights] [7] As long as Poland is an EU member, Poland has to conduct according toEU rules!And it is the EU task to remember Poland of its obligations. PROPOSAL OF THE EU COMMISSION FROM1 DECEMBER 2021 Not only that has not happened, now the EU Commission did proposals in the favour of Poland.Latva and Lithuania taking ”exceptional measures”I refer to the recent Statement from 1 december 2021, calling for measures of an ”of an extraordinary and exceptional nature” [8] According to my information from Amnesty International,EU Commission proposals ”normalize dehumanisationof asylum seekers” [9] Amnesty International writes among else: ”“The arrival of people at the EU’s borders with Belarus is entirely manageable with the rules as they stand. Today’s proposals will further punish people for political gain, weaken asylum protections, and undermine the EU’s standing at home and abroad. If the EU can allow a minority of member states to throw out the rule book due to the presence of a few thousand people at its border, it throws out any authority it has on human rights and the rule of law.
“The current situation at the EU’s borders with Belarus is being used by some countries as an excuse to weaken protections of asylum-seekers and push their anti-migrant agenda. Holding asylum seekers in detention for four months, without the protection standards required by international law, is normalising de facto unlawful detention at the EU’s external borders.” [10]
That’s clear language and I have nothing to add to this
EU’S OBLIGATION
Summarizing:
During the Poland-Belarus crisis on migrants,
all the EU really did was to express solidarity
with Poland, thus encouraging Poland in it’s
unlawful policy of denying the right to asylum and
practising illegal pushbacks and, to add insult
to injury, letting vulnerable refugee freezing in the cold,
without adequate provisions.
With this the EU has violated her own rules of
humanity, right to asylum and the prohibition
of pushbacks.
So it’s time, the EU acts again in accordance with it’s own Charter and Laws and not proposing ”extraordinary
measures” [11] which violate it’s own rules.
So I call the EU to require from Poland to admit the
refugees and give them a proper asylum procedure,
according to human rights and stop pushing them back.
Of course Belarus bears responsibility too for the
existing situation [12], but that doesn’t excuse
the EU from practising their own rules of
humanitarian protection of refugees, which is formally established in the EU Law.
Return to your own Laws and Charters, EU and stop
dehumanizing refugees.
That’s all I ask.
Kind regards
Astrid Essed
Amsterdam
The Netherlands
NOTES[1]
HUMAN RIGHTSHUMAN RIGHTS WATCH REPORT”DIE HERE OR GO TO POLAND”BELARUS’ AND POLAND’S SHARED RESPONSIBILITY FORBORDER ABUSES
”I have spoken to Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė and Latvian Prime Minister Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš to express the EU’s solidarity and discuss with them the measures the EU can take to support them in their efforts to deal with this crisis.”
”’Finally, the Commission will explore with the UN and its specialised agencies how to prevent a humanitarian crisis from unfolding and to ensure that migrants can be safely returned to their country of origin, with the support of their national authorities.”
The instrumentalisation of migrants for political purposes by Belarus is unacceptable.
The Belarusian authorities must understand that pressuring the European Union in this way through a cynical instrumentalisation of migrants will not help them succeed in their purposes.
I have spoken to Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė and Latvian Prime Minister Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš to express the EU’s solidarity and discuss with them the measures the EU can take to support them in their efforts to deal with this crisis.
I am calling on Member States to finally approve the extended sanctions regime on the Belarusian authorities responsible for this hybrid attack.
Vice-President Schinas, in coordination with High Representative/Vice-President Borrell, will travel in the coming days to the main countries of origin and of transit to ensure that they act to prevent their own nationals from falling into the trap set by the Belarusian authorities.
The EU will in particular explore how to sanction, including through blacklisting, third country airlines that are active in human trafficking.
Finally, the Commission will explore with the UN and its specialised agencies how to prevent a humanitarian crisis from unfolding and to ensure that migrants can be safely returned to their country of origin, with the support of their national authorities.
[4]HUMAN RIGHTSHUMAN RIGHTS WATCH REPORTSUMMARY”DIE HERE OR GO TO POLAND”BELARUS’ AND POLAND’S SHARED RESPONSIBILITY FORBORDER ABUSES
Article 18 Right to asylum The right to asylum shall be guaranteed with due respect for the rules of the Geneva Convention of 28 July 1951 and the Protocol of 31 January 1967 relating to the status of refugees and in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community. CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION https://www.europarl.europa.eu/charter/pdf/text_en.pdf
[7] Article 18 Right to asylum The right to asylum shall be guaranteed with due respect for the rules of the Geneva Convention of 28 July 1951 and the Protocol of 31 January 1967 relating to the status of refugees and in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community. CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION https://www.europarl.europa.eu/charter/pdf/text_en.pdf
Article 19 Protection in the event of removal, expulsion or extradition 1. Collective expulsions are prohibited. 2. No one may be removed, expelled or extradited to a State where there is a serious risk that he or she would be subjected to the death penalty, torture or other inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION https://www.europarl.europa.eu/charter/pdf/text_en.pdf
”Notwithstanding any changes to Polish law, Poland’s pushbacks without due process violate EU law including the Charter of Fundamental Rights.[25] The Charter guarantees the right to asylum and standard international refugee law practice, under which any expression of intent to seek asylum should promptly be forwarded to the competent authorities for assessment based on the person’s individual grounds for seeking asylum.[26]”
Polish pushback practices are also in violation of article 19 of the Charter and Protocol 4 of the ECHR, which both state unequivocally that collective or mass expulsions of aliens are prohibited.[28]
The Commission is today putting forward a set of temporary asylum and return measures to assist Latvia, Lithuania and Poland in addressing the emergency situation at the EU’s external border with Belarus. The measures will allow these Member States to set up swift and orderly processes to manage the situation, in full respect of fundamental rights and international obligations, including the principle of non-refoulement. The proposal follows the invitation by the European Council for the Commission to propose any necessary changes to the EU’s legal framework and concrete measures underpinned by adequate financial support to ensure an immediate and appropriate response in line with EU law and international obligations, including the respect of fundamental rights. The measures, based on Article 78(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, will enter into force after their adoption by the Council. The European Parliament will be consulted. The measures will remain in force for a period of 6 months.
Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas, said: “In the past weeks, we have managed to bring the EU’s collective weight to bear in face of the hybrid attack directed at our Union. Collectively, the EU made clear that attempts to undermine our Union will only solidify our solidarity with one another. Today we are giving living manifestation to that solidarity: in the form of a set of temporary and exceptional measures that will equip Latvia, Lithuania and Poland with the means needed to respond to these extraordinary circumstances in a controlled and swift manner and to operate in conditions of legal certainty.”
Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, said: “Although the EU’s intense efforts have brought rapid results, the situation remains delicate. Today, to protect our borders, and to protect people, we are giving flexibility and support to Member States to manage this emergency situation, without compromising on human rights. This should allow the Member States in question to fully uphold the right to asylum and align legislation with EU acquis. It’s also time limited and targeted. To make our response to hybrid threats future-proof, we activate the EU’s formidable diplomatic and legal capacity, to apply sanctions and persuade third countries to stop flights. We will soon propose a reform of the Schengen rules. Making progress now on the Pact on Migration and Asylum is essential.”
Provisional measures proposed
The measures included in this proposal are of an extraordinary and exceptional nature. They will apply for a period of 6 months, unless extended or repealed, and will apply to non-EU nationals who have irregularly entered the EU from Belarus and are at the vicinity of the border or those who present themselves at border crossing points. The main elements of the proposal are:
Emergency migration and asylum management procedure at the external borders:
The 3 Member States will have the possibility to extend the registration period for asylum applications to 4 weeks, instead of the current 3 to 10 days. The Member States may also apply the asylum procedure at the border to process all asylum claims, including the appeal, within a maximum of 16 weeks – except where adequate support for applicants with particular health issues cannot be provided. In doing so, well-founded claims and those of families and children should be prioritised.
Material reception conditions: Member States focus reception conditions on the covering of basic needs, including temporary shelter adapted to the seasonal weather conditions, food, water, clothing, adequate medical care, and assistance to vulnerable persons, in full respect of human dignity. It is important that Member States ensure close cooperation with UNHCR and relevant partner organisations to support individuals in this emergency situation.
Return procedure: Member States concerned will be able to apply simplified and quicker national procedures including for the return of people whose applications for international protection have been rejected in this context.
All procedures carried out in line with this proposal must respect fundamental rights and specific guarantees provided for by EU law, including the best interests of the child, emergency health care and needs of vulnerable people, the use of coercive measures and detention conditions.
Practical support and cooperation:
Support from EU agencies: EU agencies stand ready to help the Member States on request. The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) can help register and process applications, ensure screening of vulnerable people and support the management, design and putting in place of adequate reception. Further Frontex support is available for border control activities, including screening and return operations. Support from Europol is also available to provide intelligence to counter smuggling.
Continued cooperation: The Commission, the Member States and EU Agencies will continue their cooperation, including an obligation on the Member States to continue reporting relevant data and statistics via the EU Migration Preparedness and Crisis Management Network.
The Commission will regularly reassess the situation and may propose to the Council to prolong or repeal these provisional measures.
Next steps
Article 78(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU states that after consulting the European Parliament, the Council may adopt provisional measures for the benefit of the Member States concerned. This happens by qualified majority vote. Once agreed by the Council, in view of the urgency of the situation, this Decision should enter into force the day after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU.
Background
Since the summer, the Lukashenko regime and its supporters have initiated a hybrid attack on the EU, especially Lithuania, Poland and Latvia, which have experienced an insidious new threat in the form of the instrumentalisation of desperate people.
In October 2021, the European Council invited the Commission to propose any necessary changes to the EU’s legal framework to respond to the state-sponsored instrumentalisation of people at the EU’s external border with Belarus. Article 78(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides for the adoption of provisional measures in emergency migratory situations at the EU’s external borders.
Today’s proposal is the latest in a series of coordinated EU actions that include: targeted measures for transport operators that facilitate or engage in smuggling; diplomatic and external action; stepping up humanitarian assistance and support for border and migration management.
This proposal is in line with the comprehensive approach set out in the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. It complements the Schengen Borders Code and the upcoming Schengen reform, in which the Commission intends to propose a permanent framework for addressing possible situations of instrumentalisation that may still confront the Union in the future.
Financing of this proposal will be accommodated within the budget of the existing EU funding instruments under the period 2014-2020 and 2021-2027 in the field of migration, asylum and border management. Where exceptionally necessary, if the situation aggravates further, the flexibility mechanisms within the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 could be used.
In response to today’s proposals from the European Commission which would allow Latvia, Lithuania and Poland to derogate from EU rules, including by holding asylum-seekers and migrants at the border for 16 weeks with minimal safeguards, Eve Geddie, Director of Amnesty International’s European Office said:
“The arrival of people at the EU’s borders with Belarus is entirely manageable with the rules as they stand. Today’s proposals will further punish people for political gain, weaken asylum protections, and undermine the EU’s standing at home and abroad. If the EU can allow a minority of member states to throw out the rule book due to the presence of a few thousand people at its border, it throws out any authority it has on human rights and the rule of law.
“The current situation at the EU’s borders with Belarus is being used by some countries as an excuse to weaken protections of asylum-seekers and push their anti-migrant agenda. Holding asylum seekers in detention for four months, without the protection standards required by international law, is normalising de facto unlawful detention at the EU’s external borders.
“Asylum rules should be upheld, not allowed to be side-stepped by countries via so-called exceptional measures. Amnesty International is alarmed that the proposal will violate people’s rights, and exacerbate the humanitarian crisis at borders while continuing to expose the EU to further internal and external manipulation and blackmailing.
“While Lukashenka’s mistreatment and instrumentalization of migrants and asylum seekers is deplorable, he is exploiting the EU’s own tendency to treat people at their borders as a threat.
“At least 10 people, including a one-year-old child, have died at the EU’s Eastern borders in recent weeks. Today the European Commission is bringing in measures which undermine rights and normalize the dehumanization and suffering of people at the EU’s borders.”
NOT AN INNOCENT DUTCH FAIRY TALE TRADITION, BUTA DUTCH RACIST TRADITION FROM THE 19TH CENTURY, THECENTURY OF SLAVERY, COLONIALISM AND WHITE SUPREMACY THEORIES!
AND THIS WAS WHAT SLAVERY MADE OF A PROUD MOORISH TRADITION:A PICTURE OF A MAN, THOMAS HEES, WITH HIS SLAVENAMED THOMAS [AFTER HIS MASTER]THE SLAVE, PROBABLY ORIGINATED FROM NORTH=AFRICA, WEARSMOORISH DRESSTHE SAME WAY ”BLACK PETE” WAS IMAGINED AS A SERVANT OFSINTERKLAAS, REFERRING TO THE SUBMISSIVE POSITIONOF BLACK PETE AND THE RACIST SLAVERY CHARACTER OFTHE BLACK PETE TRADITIONSEE AN ARTICLE IN DUTCH ”SWART IN NEDERLAND” [IN ENGLISHBLACK IN THE NETHERLANDS], WITH A DESCRIPTION OF SOMEBLACK SERVANTS, OFTEN SLAVES, IN THE 17TH, 18TH CENTURY”REPUBLIC OF THE UNITED NETHERLANDS”, FROM 1818 THEPRESENT KINGDOM OF THE NETERLANDSINTERESTING IS, THAT THE ARTICLE ALSO DESCRIBES BLACKPEOPLE IN MEDIEVAL NETHERLANDS, BUT THOSE WEREDIPLOMATS, AMBASSADORS, SINCE DUTCH BLACK TRADE SLAVERYDEVELOPED IN THE 17TH CENTURYTHE CONCEPT OF ”BLACK RACE” BEING INFERIOR DEVELOPEDFROM THAT PERIODhttps://bukubooks.wordpress.com/swart/
SEE A PICTURE OF BLACK PETE AS THE SERVANT OFSINTERKLAAS AND YOU SEE THE COMPARISON WITHTHE MOORISH SLAVE
This year, Sinterklaas’ arrival on November 17 was greeted by protests against Black Pete in 18 cities across the Netherlands [Eva Plevier/[Reuters]https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/zwarte-piet-black-pete-dutch-racism-full-display-181127153936872.htmlBLACKFACE BLACK PETE IS A RACIST TRADITION, THAT HASTO GO AND IS ALREADY ON THE RUNUN HAS CONDEMNED IT, DUTCH SHOP KEEPERS ARE REPLACINGHIM BY OTHER COLOUR PETES AND MANY SCHOOLS HAVESAID GOODBYE TO BLACKFACE!
606 × 618Images may be subject to copyright. Find out moreDER STURMER AND THE DUTCH TELEGRAPHESAJAS EN AFFRYIE LOOK DOWN ONTHE NETHERLANDS AND THE SOCALLED”ETERNAL JEW” ON THE WORLDWHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE…..https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_St%C3%BCrmer
May the fight against Black Pete racism continue!And thanks to all who contribute to this fight! Astrid Essed
THE DUTCH RACIST BLACKFACE TRADITION/GOODBYE TOZWARTE PIET [BLACK PETE]/DANGER OF FASCISMThis is a longread about a racist caricature and the threat of fascismin the NetherlandsWarning:The American ”Father Christmas” Santa Claus and the Dutch”Sinterklaas are two different Fairy Tale Figures, although Santa Clausis derived from the Medieval Dutch ”Sinterlklaas”So the Dutch Feast of ”Sinterklaaas” [5 december] is not Christmas Feast!https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_NicholasINTRODUCTIONPART I/BLACK PETEPART II/THE FACE OF FASCISMINTRODUCTIONDear Readers,How would you react, when you saw, in nowadays 21st century, a steamboat, navigatingon sea, river or channel, throwing its anchour, and an old, solemn white man with abeard and a mitre, a Bishop, holding his Entrance [”Intocht”in Dutch] in the city or village with as his servant a black guy in an old fashionedMoorish costume, speaking with an odd accent, with a strangelooking Afro hairpiece, big fat red lips, strange golden [slave like] earrlngs, running around, screaming, kicking, oddly laughinhand for the rest looking very stupid?You guess already?It’s the Dutch Sinterklaas [Dutch for Saint Nicholas] Feast and it isyearly enjoyed at 5 december.Several weeks before, there is the Entrance or Arrival [In Dutch:Intocht] of Sinterklaas, a National Sinterklaas Intocht [Entrance] andlocal Entrances.I hope, that you’ll be embarassed and indignant, recognizing a caricatureof black people?Then we are talking business…..Because not only this ”Zwarte Piet” [Dutch for Black Pete] [1]is an embarrasment, he is, of course, not really black, but a black paintedfigure, like the former American ”Blackface” in movies…..[2]I refer to the annual Dutch Sinterklaas Feast [Dutch for Saint Nicholas], at5 december.Several weeks before, there is the Entrance or Arrival [In Dutch:Intocht] of Sinterklaas, a National Sinterklaas Intocht [Entrance] andlocal Intochten [Entrances].YOU GUESS ALREADY WHAT POINT I WANT TO MAKE:Today I want to talk with you about ”Zwarte Piet”a not so nice Fairy Tale Creature, who happens [and for my concern:”happened”] to be the black helper of ”Sinterklaas” orSt Nicolaas [Saint Nicholas] [3], whocomes from Spain each year, giving the children presents andsweet candies, at least, when they are obedient……[4].When they are naughty, they get nothing……Traditionally, naughty children are being ”punished” by ”Zwarte Piet”[from now on for my English readers ”Black Pete], getting no presentsat all, but are being put in a sack and been brought to Spain.HAHAHA, that’s the tradition, which could be nice, isn’t it?Were it not, that that whole ”Black Pete” figure stems from a racist traditionfrom the 19th century, the century of slavery, racist supremacist theoriesand fanatical colonialism.PART IBLACK PETEBACKGROUND/ORIGINS OF THE RACIST BLACK PETE”Blackface” Black Pete [Zwarte Piet] at first appeared in 1850 in a book bythe Dutch teacher J. Schenkman, titled ”Sint Nikolaas en zijn Knecht” (“Saint Nicholas and his Servant”), [5], but there are signs that Black Peteoperated earlier in the 19th century and was called ”Pietermanknecht”(Dutch for Pete my Servant] [6]Be as it may:Crucial to the story is, that Black Pete was depicted asblack, which meant in the 19th century racist times:Inferior.A servant of the white man [woman]And that was the main problem with the Blackface tradition:Picturing black as inferior didn’t originate out of nothing:It stemmed from the beginning of the transatlantic slave trade andthe 17th, 18th, 19th slavery in the America’sRacism developed and reached its absolute lowest pointin the 19th century, when slavery, fanatical colonialismthe great West European colonial Empires originated from the 19th century]and race supremacy theories from ”white over black”developed.Against this background black meant”inferior ”race”, a servant, ridiculous, stupid and also aggressive,because ”Black Pete” was putting naughty children in a bag, draggingthem to Spaionm, where ”Sinterklaas” and Black Pete came from.Black Pete was dressed ridiculously:In a so called ”Moorish costume” ,which was mainly based onthe paintings of white masters in the Netherlands,picturing themselves with servants or slaves dressedin Moorish clothes, [see the photo’s in my article].So imaging Black Pete like that, symbols, seen in the lightof slavery, a subordinate role. Inferiority of ”race”And Black Pete not only was dressed in that costume in the 19th century, but sticked to it untill now, 2018, the 21st century!This is no innocent folklore, but downright racism, because throughthe 19th century and a great deal of the 20th century, Black Pete remained”funny”, ”stupid”, ”agressive” and most of all:A servant.Moreover it stroked, that Black Pete spoke with a strangeSurinamese like accent [but not real Surinamese: Suriname orDutch Guyana is an ex colony of the Netherlands with ahistory of slavery and it lies in South America, north of Brasil][7]While ”Sinterklaas” spoke the Dutch language correctly from themoment he first came from Spain and set footin the Netherlands with his steamboat!In a colonial and later post colonial society, which had developedinstitutional racism [8] the Figure of Black Pete helped to confirma negative inmage of black people in general, consciously or, andthat’s worse, subconsciously. [9]Admitted, during the second half of the 20th century and nowadays,the strange accent with which Zwarte Piet spoke [in contrary with Sinterklaas] is gone, but the other strereotypes, slave earrings,fat red lips, a strange Afro hair piece, stupid behaviour and especiallythe black skin of course, still remain.Blackface/GolliwogSimilarities with the racist caricature of Black Pete wereGolliwog [in Great Britain] [10] and in the USA, Black Face charactersin theatres and films [11], both also originated in the 19th century [12]Although Golliwogs and Blackface stereotypes have not completelydisapeared, they are on their retour and at least most modernpeople acknowledge the racist character and peopole maintainingGolliwog or Blackface are being pointed as backward and racist.[13]In the Netherlands however, anti Black Pete protests still cause a storm.More about that in a minute.But first about the sillty arguments of the Black Pete defenders:BLACK PETE DEFENDERS:ABLACK PETE WAS NOT AN INVENTIONOF JAN SCHENKMAN, HE ALREADY WAS A COMPANION OF SINTERKLAAS MEDIEVAL TIMESNow some defenders of Blackface Zwarte Piet go out of their way to prove, thatSinterklaas also in the Medieval Netherlands was accompanied by black men, or black ghosts, or whatsoever. [14]Maybe, maybe notOpinions differ [15]But so what, if he already existed in the Middle Ages!The point is not, whether before the 19th century there was[perhaps] a black companion of Sinterklaas.Point is the RACIST CARICATURE Black Pete has become fromthe 19th century untill now!And that’s the reason of the protests, not whether there was some black ghostor companion in the Middle Ages.Because to put things clear:The concept of ”race”, especially the black race inferior to the”white race” is an invention from the 17th century, the periodof transatlantic slavery and slavery in the America’s [16]The horror period of slavery in the America’s, which lastedat least 300 years, provided the patterns of black ”inferiority”So Black Pete was a product from that background:Black Pete being subordinate to the white Sinterklaas andBlack Pete being stupid and inferior because of hisblackness.BLACK PETE DEFENDERSBBLACK PETE IS BLACK, COMING FROM THE CHIMNEYBlack Pete defenders argue, that there is nothing stereotype orracist to the Figure Black Pete, sincwe his blackness stems fromcoming out of the chimney. [17]Now that may be the explanation for the [possible] black companionsof Sinterklaas in the Middle Ages in different European countries [18],but, again, that was in the Middle Ages and has nothing to do withthe racist caricature of the 19th century Black Pete.And it is utter nonsense to allege, that the nowadays racistcaricature became ”black”, coming from the chimney.Or does ”coming out of the chimney” means, that someonegets an Afro hairpiece, silly golden earrings, fat lips, a Moorishdress and and all black skin?It would have been more convincing, when such a figure hadtraces of soot in his face, as the way opposers of theracist Black Pete caricature want to reform the character now.In the socalled ”roetveegpieten” [in English ”soot faced Petes”, seeone of the photo’s at the article]CONSEQUENCES OF BLACK PETE RACISMDISCRIMINATION AND TEASINGBlack Pete defenders always refer to the traditionSinterklaas/Zwarte Piet [Black Pete] as a Feastfor Children.But nothing is less true:Because during Sinterklaas time, black childrenare being teased [and were teased]with the appearance of Black Pete, not only callingthem ”Zwarte Piet” [Black Pete], but also ”stupid”, ”ugly”,”dirty” and more demeaning words. [19]And to my opinion and many other protesters of Black Pete,a children’s Feast is only a children’s Feast, if ALL childrenbenefit from it!PROTESTS AGAINST BLACKFACE BLACK PETEThere’s much to say about the protests and demonstrationsagainst the racist caricature Black Pete and I am not going to mentionthem all [that would fill a book], but a brief overview:Although there were decennialong protests against Black Pete, in 2011there was a real breakthrouigh, when a group of five black artists,among else Quincy Gario and Kno’ledge Cesare [Jerry Affryie], protestedat the Grand Entrance of Sinterklaas in Dordrecht, holding a T shirtwith the text ””Zwarte Piet is Racism”, met police brutality andwere arrested. [20]But police brutality didn’t prevent people from protesting!Protest organisations against Black Pete racism were founded,like Kick Out Zwarte Piet, which organizes the annual antiBlackface Black Pete demonstrations! [21] From 2011 peaceful anti Black Pete protesters were metby fierce police brutality.I can’t recall all incidents here, but one horror exampleare two different arrests of one of the Kick Out Zwarte Piet leaders,Kno’ledge Cesare [who also protested at Dordrecht in 2011and met police brutality too], one in Gouda and the otherin Rotterdam.See Youtube films under note 22 Massarrests of peaceful anti Black Pete protesters took place,also accompanied with police violence.[23] See for more information under note 24 THREATS Every society struggles with changes of behaviour and tradition,so it is not strange, that a majority of Dutch people didn’t see the point, felt [sometimes] offended because they wrongly thought of being accused of racism [it is the caricature that’s racist, notnecessarily the people, who love Zwarte Piet. That dependsof their behaviour and remarks regarding the subject], andstood behind the Fairy Tale Figure of their youth. Yet it’s interesting to see, that although Black Pete defendersargued, that Black Pete is ”only a Feast for children”, many Dutch adults were very upset about any criticism of ZwartePiet [Black Pete] and sent furious reactions and even death threats to people, who opposed Zwarte Piet, likeAnouk, a popular singer and the Dutch children’s Ombudsman,who wrote a very critical report about Zwarte Piet, emphasizing,that the Figure of Black Pete leads to discrimination anda low self esteem of black children. [25]If it is ”only a Children’s Feast”, why then all the fuss? Even worse:When the opposers of Zwarte Piet were black, they receivedracist threats as death threats, like happened to TV presentatorand now politician Sylvana Simons and other black Zwarte Piet protesters.[26] SO AGAIN:If this is all about a Children’s Feast, why all this fuss?Why all those violent threats and even racist attacks? Is it not clear, that especially those racist attacks reveal whatmoves many Black Face defenders most:Racism?Is that not a clear proof, that what they defend is a racisttradition also?Because, again, why else black children are being teased,sometimes very maliciously, with being ”dirty” and ”stupid” as Black Pete [27], giving them a low self esteem, as they themselves testimony. [28] And not only their testimony:The Dutch children’s Ombudsman wrote a very critical report about Zwarte Piet, emphasizing,that the Figure of Black Pete leads to discrimination anda low self esteem of black children. [29] BIZARRE AND A BIT OF FUN”BLOKKEERFRIEZEN” [IN ENGLISH: FRISIANS, WHOBLOCK THE HIGHWAY] In the fight for keeping Black Pete it can’t be bizarre enough.After the announcement, that the National Grand Entrance ofSinterklaas [there are a lot of local Entrances too, but this oneis sponsored by TV and broadcasted] would take place in the small Frisian town Dokkum, the organisation Kick Out Zwarte Piet announced [in the Netherlands one doesn’t have to ask permission to demonstrate, but has to announce it to themayor of the city, who can only forbid or limit the demonstration,when there is a danger of disturbing the peace] its anti Black Pete demonstration and agreements were made with the major.However, pro Blackface people heard that and a localbusinesswoman, Jenny Douwes, incited people onFacebook to protest against it.This resulted in a dangerous b;lockade of the highwayon the place the busses with the anti Blackface protesterswere approaching Dokkum.Result:The demonstration didn’t take place, for on the last momentythe mayor forbid it out of fear for clashes between pro and antiBlackface groups.In fact, the major was especially afraid for the coming of neo-nazi’s, who would use the pro Blackface cause for their owndirty agenda.But the ”Blokkeerfriezen” [the roadblocking Frisians] hadto face Court and were convicted because of violations of the right on demonstration [30]BIZARRE, Blocking a road to defend Blackface…. So far are people prepared to go….. CHANGES But since we are not longer living in the 19th century with fervent colonialism, slavery and white supremacy ideas, changesin the Figure of Blackface Zwarte Piet are inevitable, despite alldeath threats, hatespeeches and a road blockade.You see it already in the steets:A growing number of children go to the Grand Entrance ofSinterklaas as soot faced Petes or sometimes as they are.See the foto’s at this article.But also the colour of Pete is changing.You see a growing number of soot faced Petes, accompanyingSinterklaas. A growing number of schools have said ”Goodbye” to Black Pete and allow only soot faced Petes. [31]High profile store ”De Bijenkorf” has Golden Petes from 2015[32]The big supermarkets react in varying way.The ”zak” of Sinterklaas[”zak” in English: bag, where the candies or presentsare hidden en is believed, that ”Black Pete” is puttingnaughty children in to bring them to Spain, whereSinterklaas and Pete live] is mostly not imaged withBlack Pete anymore, but with Sinterklaas himself.Some supermarkets change the colour of Black Pete,but most of them offer a variety of colours, including black. The grocery chain Lidl is the only one reported to have completely eliminated images deemed racial caricatures. They will have coloring pictures that children may color as they choose. [33]However, like most developments, changes are going faster andearlier in the big cities than in smaller towns and villages.Thus the areas of North and South Holland and Utrecht have seen the most change, while Drenthe, Friesland, and Zeeland, the least. [34]CHANGESCHILDREN’S OMBUDSMANI already mentioned the report of the children’s OmbudsmanSeptember 30, 2016, suggesting that Zwarte Pete be “stripped of discriminatory or stereotypical characteristics.” Otherwise children’s rights for fair treatment and protection from discrimination may be violated. “The figure of Zwarte Piet can contribute to bullying, exclusion or discrimination, and is therefore contrary to the [International Convention on the Rights of the Child],” the report continued. “Many [children of color] who experience discrimination in their daily lives say that it’s worse around Sinterklaas time.” And further, “Several Black children found the typical characteristics and buffoonish behavior of Black Pete to be ‘negative and discriminatory against people with dark skin.’” These characteristics “must be changed so children of colour do not experience any adverse effects, and every child feels safe” during Sinterklaastijd. [35]I also mentioned, that following the report the Children’s Ombudsman received dozens of angry reactions and numerous threats. [36]Again:If it is about ”just a Children’s Feast”, why then all those hysterical reactions?BLACK PETE GOES INTERNATIONAL!UNCONDEMNATION OF BLACK PETEThe fight against the racist caricature Black Pete is supportedinternantionally and at an important level.The United Nations!The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discriminationwrote a report, issued in 2015, demanding from the Dutch governmenta change in the racist features of Black Pete [37]I quote from the report:” While the Committee understands that the tradition of Sinterklaas and Black Pete is enjoyed by many persons in Dutch society, the Committee notes with concern that the character of Black Pete is sometimes portrayed in a manner that reflects negative stereotypes of people of African descent and is experienced by many people of African descent as a vestige of slavery, which is injurious to the dignity and self-esteem of children and adults of African descent. ”Another quote:” Considering that even a deeply-rooted cultural tradition does not justify discriminatory practices and stereotypes, the Committee recommends that the State party actively promote the elimination of those features of the character of Black Pete which reflect negative stereotypes and are experienced by many people of African descent as a vestige of slavery. The Committee recommends that the State party find a reasonable balance, such as a different portrayal of Black Pete and ensure respect of human dignity and human rights of all inhabitants of the State party. The Committee further recommends that the State party ensure non-discrimination in the enjoyment of freedom of expression and association, and that attacks on protesters be effectively investigated and duly prosecuted.” [38]Earlier, in 2013, Verene Shephard, a Un official, wrote the Dutch governmentwith the same sort of critics about Black PeteI quote from the letter:” The character and image of Black Pete perpetuate a stereotyped image of African people and people of African descent as second-class citizens, fostering an underlying sense of inferiority within Dutch society and stirring racial differences as well as racism. During the celebration, numerous people playing the Black Pete figure blacken their faces, wear bright red lipstick as well as afro wigs. The Black Pete figure is to act as a fool and as a servant of Santa Claus. The Black Pete segment of Santa Claus celebrations is experienced by African people and people of African descent as a living trace of past slavery and oppression, tracing back to the country’s past involvement in the trade of African slaves in the previous centuries. Reportedly, a growing opposition to the racial profiling of Black Pete within the Dutch society, including by people of non-African origins, is to be noticed. However, it is also alleged that no response has been given to associations defending the rights of African people and people of African descent in the Netherlands, which are asking for dialogue on this issue.”[39]Clear language, as well from the UN report as the letter of mrs Verene Shephard!PART IITHE FACE OF FASCISMInvoke a terrifying internal and external enemyTEN STEPS TO CLOSE DOWN AN OPEN SOCIETYhttps://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-wolf/ten-steps-to-close-down-a_b_46695.htmlSo we have seen backward stupidity, threaths, racist or not,road blockades and hateful stuff on social media.But it can be worse, when the Hand of fascism reveals itself:One of the main characteristics of fascism is creatingscapegoats or ”enemies” of the people orthe State.Another side is violence.And both showed itself in a horror way:DEMONISING LEADERS OF KICK OUT ZWARTE PIET:THE TELEGRAPH ARTICLE/GHOSTS OF THE PASTNot long ago [november 2018], extreme right wing and pro Pete journalist Weird Dukwrote a malicious article in the Dutch paper ”The Telegraph”,titled ”The danger of a radical agenda”, thereby demonisingthe Kick Out Zwarte Pete movement, accusing the leaders tobe ”dangerous” and ”extreme” [40]But the worst thing was the photo at the article, picturingMitchell Esajas and Kno’ledge Cesare [Jerry Afriyie] assinister figures, looking down at a peaceful Dutch landscapewith mills and dark clouds as the foreboding of a catastrophe. [41]This horror photo is going back in Time, when – in Nazi Germanyof the thirty years- Jews were portrayed equally.I mention here especially a drawing of a Jew, looking downon a world Globe, which reminds of the Telegraphimage of Mitchell Esajas and Jerry Affriyie, looking downon the Netherlands……And it is not out of the blue, that I make this comparisonin regard to the Telegraph:For the Telegraph has a bad reputation in the past, havingcollaborated with the nazi German occupation in theNetherlands in the Second World War!See under note 42 an antisemitic article in the Telegraphfrom 1942.I quote a passage [first in Dutch]
Jood is en blijft Duitsland’s vijand, of hij nu uit
Portugal, of kersvers uit Jeruzalem, al dan niet voorzien
van een Nederlandse pas of identiteiotskaart, hier verzeild is geraakt’
Translated In English:
”Jew is and remains the enemy of Germany, whether he
set foot in the Netherlands, coming from Portugal, or
newly arrived from Jerusalem, whether or not
in the possession of a Dutch passport or identity card.”
SO
Apparently, the Telegraph has learned nothing from the past……
FASCIST AGRESSION AGAINST PEACEFUL BLACK PETE
DEMONSTRATORS
The hateful article was only the beginning:
During the Entrance of Sinterklaas, which takes place in several
cities and towns [the National Entrance, which also is broadcasted
on TV, was in Zaanstad, North Holland], there were anti Black Pete
protests in at least 18 cities across the Netherlands and while the
Black Pete protesters were peaceful, a bunch of fascist thugs attacked
the protesters in several cities with eggs, bananas and beer cans and what was
still worse [and the reason why I call them ”fascist thugs”], some brought
Hitler salutes and uttered racist insults. [43]
You can see photo’s of the agressive fascist gangs at my article.
Especially in Eindhoven and Rotterdam, pro Pete gangs were very
agrressive. [44]
In Nijmegen en Zwolle, anti Black Pete demonstrations were cancelled , after mayors said they could not guarantee protesters’ safety. [45]
These are very dangerous developments, because
succeeding in violence, although there were
arrests too [46] fascist thugs get confidence and
will enlarge their street operations, which
leads to as well more fascist power as intimidation
of their opponent.
And the very fascist streetoperations is a direct
threat to black migrants and other migrants’
of colour.
Combined with the two fascist political parties,
the PVV [Party for Freedom] of G Wilders and the Forum for Democracy of Thierry Baudet [47]
EPILOGUE
THE MANY FACES OF FASCISM
Evidently not all pro Black Pete supporters are racists, nor
are all pro Black Pete supporters, who attacked the Black Pete
supporters fascists.
Some indeed were ”asos” [anti socials], like prime minister Rutte stated. [48]
But that’s not the point here.
The whole thing lies in the fact, that fascists
have made the Black Pete question to their cause,
because this seemingly ”innocent” Sinterklaas
Feast with Black Pete is an easy way to reach many
people, since the majority of the Dutch still valuates
”Zwarte Piet” [49]
So not only politically, but also by means of
a Feast, fascism gradually creeps into Dutch society.
Like a poison snake.
Fascism is:
Extreme, hierarchic State control with a dominant
Leader.
Exclusion of all people, who are ”foreign” and thus, according to fascists, don’t belong to
the ”Pure Nation [Pure ”race”, here of course
the ”white race”]”, whether they are Jews or black people.
Fascism stands for intimidation and terror and that was exactly what fascists did with the attacks on
peaceful Black Pete protesters!
And fascism is always seeking for a scapegoat,
an ”enemy”, who operates inside the ”Pure Nation”
as a sort of fifth colonne. [50]
And what suits Dutch white [of course there is fascism in other parts of the world too with different ”scapegoats”] facists better than pick up black people and other people of colour, who are already being discriminated and often treated as secondhand civilians.
And the best of it:
In order to win those Dutch people overr, who don’t want to
be openly racist, that socalled ”innocent Children’s
Feast ”Sinterklaas’is the best way to attack black people, since the most Black Pete protesters are black
[although there are many white allies to in
the fight against Zwarte Piet]
So that explains the sudden fascist interest in
Black Pete.
But there is more to worry about than the link
fascism-Zwarte Piet, since almost certainly
Zwarte Piet is going to dissapear.
Because fascism is multitasking!
Directed against refugees [who mostly are black
or of colour], black people and people of colour
in general, Jews [although somewhat hidden because of
the past], Roma [”gypsies” a pejorative term for Roma]
But they are also anti EU ,anti the governmental ”elite’
and against the detoriation of the health services in
the Netherrlands.
And that seeming diversity, sometimes with
some thruth in it [as their objections against the
governmental elite and their seeming worries
about the detoriation of the health services in
the Netherlands]
But the binding element is their racist hatred and
extreme law and order mentality.
To fight fascism in word and deed, that is
the task that lie ahead of us.
Before it is too late.
Astrid Essed
NOTES[1]WIKIPEDIAZWARTE PIET [TEXT IN ENGLISH]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zwarte_Piet[2]WIKIPEDIABLACKFACE/FILMhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackface#FilmORIGINAL SOURCEWIKIPEDIABLACKFACEhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackface[3]WIKIPEDIASAINT NICHOLAShttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas[4]SEE UNDERLYING BACKGROUND ARTICLE ABOUTTHE DUTCH ”SINTERKLAAS”BUT FIRST:WARNING::IN THIS ARTICLE THERE IS A CONFUSIONBETWEEN THE AMERICAN FATHER CHRISTMAS [SANTACLAUS]] AND THE DUTCH ”SINTERKLAAS”, SINCE THE ARTICLESUGGESTS, THAT ”SINTERKLAAS” IS A SORT OFFATHER CHRISTMAS, OR A DUTCH FORM OF CHRISTMASCELEBREATION.THAT IS NOT TRUE:THE AMERICAN ”SANTA CLAUS” IS DERIVED FROMTHE DUTCH [AND EUROPEAN] FAIRY TALE FIGURE ”SINTERKLAAS”’ GOOD GIVER OF PRESENTS [ALSO IN DIFFERENT EUROPEAN COUNTRIES]AND ”SINTERKLAAS” IS DERIVED AGAIN FROM THE HISTORICAL FIFURE”SAINT NICHOLAS”, HISTORICALLYA BISHOP FROM MYRA IN ANATOLIA [WHAT IS NOW TURKEY], WHO LIVED INAND ABOUT 270 UNTIL 343]SEE ALSOWIKIPEDIASAINT NICHOLAS/VENERATIONS AND CELEBRATIONShttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas#Veneration_and_celebrationsSOURCEWIKIPEDIASAINT NICHOLAShttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_NicholasSO THE ”SINTERKLAAS” CELEBREATIONS EXISTED ALREADYIN THE MIDDLE AGES, SOMETIMES ACCOMPANIEDBY A BLACK PAINTED FIGURE [A SORT OFTIJL UYLENSPIEGEL [EULENSPIEGEL]-KNAVE, NOT BLACK PETE ASA RACIST CARICATURE, SINCE THE CONCEPT OF RACISM[IN THE SENSE OF THE WHITE ”RACE” SUPERIOR OVER THEBLACK ”RACE”] WAS AN INVENTION FROM THE 17TH CENTURY, WHENTHE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVETRADE FLOURISHED IN EUROPEANLANDS.WIKIPEDIATILL EULENSPIEGELhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Till_EulenspiegelNOW YOU CAN READ THE BACKGROUND ARTICLEBACKGROUND ARTICLEINFORMATION ABOUT ”BLACK PETE””Mark Mardell explains the festive customs in the Low Countries that prompt an ethical debate – from Sinterklaas the noble Santa Claus figure, to his mischievous minstrel sidekick Zwarte Piet (Black Pete).”HISTORY EXTRAA CHRISTMAS CONTROVERSERYhttps://www.historyextra.com/period/a-christmas-controversy/[5]”In 1850, Amsterdam-based primary school teacher Jan Schenkman published the book Sint Nikolaas en zijn Knecht (“Saint Nicholas and his Servant”), the first time that a servant character is introduced in a printed version of the Saint Nicholas narrative.”WIKIPEDIADEVELOPMENT AND DEPICTION IN THE 19TH ABND 20TH CENTURIEShttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zwarte_Piet#Development_and_depiction_in_the_19th_and_20th_centuries ORIGINAL SOURCE WIKIPEDIAZWARTE PIET https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zwarte_Piet [6] ”In 1833, an Amsterdam-based magazine made humorous reference to “Pietermanknecht” in describing the fate that those who had sneaked out of their houses to attend that year’s St. Nicholas celebrations were supposed to have met upon their return home.”WIKIPEDIADEVELOPMENT AND DEPICTION IN THE 19TH ABND 20TH CENTURIEShttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zwarte_Piet#Development_and_depiction_in_the_19th_and_20th_centuries ORIGINAL SOURCE WIKIPEDIAZWARTE PIET https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zwarte_Piet[7]SURINAM OR IN COLONIAL TIMES ”DUTCH GUIANA]SURINAM IS INDEPENDENT SINCE 1975!WIKIPEDIASURINAM (DUTCH COLONY)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surinam_(Dutch_colony)[8]WIKIPEDIAINSTITUTIONAL RACISMhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutional_racismDUTCHVIEW.COMRACISM IN THE NETHERLANDS: TALKING ABOUT THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM25 OCTOBER 20917https://dutchreview.com/culture/living-in-the-netherlands/racism-in-the-netherlands/AL JAZEERASYLVANA SIMONS: RACISM IS ACCEPTEDIN THE NETHERLANDS18 JANUARY 2017https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/01/sylvana-simons-racism-accepted-netherlands-170118095205530.html”Perhaps for outsiders, it does not take much to recognize that the figure of Black Pete—with his black face, big red lips, curly hair, and inherently subordinate position next to Sinterklaas—is a caricature borne out of the Netherlands’ colonial past. The Netherlands, however, is ill-equipped to deal with the colonial past or recognize its present day legacy.
School curricula do little to educate the population about the country’s “Golden Age”; the appalling exploits of the Dutch East and West India Company and the Dutch slave trade fill very few pages in the history books of primary and high schools. Ninsee, the one institution that has worked to raise awareness about the history and legacy of slavery outside of formal education, recently saw its state subsidies cut so drastically that it had to close.”
https://www.astridessed.nl/dutch-elections-2017pvv-in-power-or-notterror-reign-or-freedom/ [9]DUTCHVIEW.COMRACISM IN THE NETHERLANDS: TALKING ABOUT THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM25 OCTOBER 20917https://dutchreview.com/culture/living-in-the-netherlands/racism-in-the-netherlands/[10]WIKIPEDIAGOLLIWOGhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golliwog[11]WIKIPEDIABLACKFACEhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackface[12]”The golliwog, golliwogg or golly is a black fictional character created by Florence Kate Upton that appears in children’s books in the late 19th century and usually depicted as a type of rag doll. It was reproduced, both by commercial and hobby toy-makers as a children’s toy called the “golliwog”, and had great popularity in the UK and Australia into the 1970s. The doll is characterised by black skin, eyes rimmed in white, clown lips and frizzy hair.”WIKIPEDIAGOLLIWOG https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golliwog ”Blackface is a form of theatrical make-up used predominantly by non-black performers to represent a caricature of a black person. It has been considered a racially insensitive representation of blackness by the African American community. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereotypessuch as the “happy-go-lucky darky on the plantation” or the “dandifiedcoon“.WIKIPEDIABLACKFACEhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackface [13] WIKIPEDIAGOLLIWOG https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golliwog WIKIPEDIABLACKFACE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackface [14] Pete is Black because he travels through the chimney. There is a lot of controversy regarding this explanation. People who oppose Black Pete assume that this is just a lame excuse to cover up his real being. If you look at the other giftbringers in Europe however you will find that this explanation is used everywhere to explain the blackness of these midwintercreatures. This is a perfectly reasonable explanation for the fact that Black Pete is much older that most people think and that this was said about predecessors (e.g. the Black Klazen (Nicholasses) and the figures with hides and horns) that did exist in the Netherlands before 1850 and also that Black Pete is very closely tied to these other giftbringers and has a common origin. ”
The Sint en Pieten Gilde clearly shows that Black Peter was not invented by Schenkman
Nowadays it is often assumed that Black Pete is more or less a creation of the schoolmaster Jan Schenkman who wrote a book in 1850: St. Nicholas and his servant. Furthermore, one assumes that he and his illustrators were inspired by paintings of luxurious pages, black lackeys in the service of nobles in Europe. By starting from this lineage and not being critical with regard to the accuracy of this assumption, historically correct ways of portraying Zwarte Piet are wrongly interpreted as racist. The introduction of the Grand Entrance in the village or city, the country of origin: Spain and the Servant are often attributed to Jan Schenkman, making his book seem a blueprint for the current St. Nicholas Feast. However, he didn;t invent the Grand Entrance, the home country of Spain and Zwarte Piet. He has been however the one who added the arrival by steamboat. Click here or on the green colored title above to read the document. The text is now available in English as well. There are some typing errors but it will certainly give you lots of info and an extensive list of sources.
Introduction
Black Pete is an important figure for the Dutch Sinterklaas celebrations on December 5th. Much controversy surrounds the figure of Black Pete (Zwarte Piet). The biggest problem lies in the fact that people can’t say: I don’t agree with you in an acceptable way. On both sides this is accompanied by insults, cursing each other out, silencing people or worse. Some claim that Zwarte Piet is racist, but this claim is far too strong, considering his origins, history, and practices. Most people do not know the cultural back story that this tradition is set in. The very negative judgement on Black Pete is based on incomplete and incorrect information about the celebration and the figure of Black Pete. This leads to conclusions that do not take into account the Dutch and European history of the celebrations that play an important part in Black Pete. This history is ignored as if it never took place. The approach from colonialism and slavery usually doesn’t leave any room for this other history to be considered and suggestions for change take the form of forced obligation that should have no place in this discussion. Some antipete groups are quick to put the label of racist on anyone who doesn’t agree with their statements or is critical about the claims that are made and the sources that are used. This attitude is wrong and harmful. Even more because information provided on Black Pete is too often incorrect and incomplete.
Traditions of original inhabitants.
Most likely there is room for improvement where his looks are concerned for negative associations to go away seeing as he does look a lot like blackface now apparently to people who are not familiar with the custom and it’s history. Changing Black Pete and the direction this should take, should take into account the feelings of all people affected by this change and their respective history. To claim that Pete is racist without taking anything else into account even denying other explanations of the character are incomplete and can therefore never be “the truth”. This seems to be completely lost in the urge to get Black Pete on the agenda and this is not right. Also people should take into account the many changes Black Pete has undergone both in behaviour and appearance. The current Black Pete is not the Black Pete of peoples youth (even though the connection with our ancestors is apparent and should stay that way!) A lot is changed already and people should be aware of that. Also people should get themselves acquanted with the whole history of Black Pete and not focus solely on one aspect, take it out of context and put it under a looking glass. This complete history should be told to children also! It is very important that all of the information should play a role in the discussion between the pro’s and anti’s. It is very important to consider that he is part of the tradition of the indigenous peoples of this region, regardless of other influences that may have had an effect on him in some cases! It should also be noted that this doesn’t affect Black Pete as a whole and it isn’t factual to make these claims as a generalisation. This means at least that he should not be destroyed or changed beyond recognition, just because people do not understand or like the tradition. The black colour is an important and original element. This is 2014 and it may be expected for all people to take this into consideration regarding this issue.
On this website the right to protest against Black Pete is supported. This also goes for the right of others to disagree with certain claims that are made by anti-Black Pete groups. Racism is something that should be eliminated from society. Extremist views and violence surrounding this issue from both the pro- and the antiside are strongly opposed. Working towards a solution is the goal.This site provides information on the origins and history of this character. Many people seem to think thatZwarte Piet was introduced only 150 years ago, but this is not true. Black Pete, or the companion of Sinterklaas, dates back to pagan times. When the church wanted to wipe out the pagan traditions, they added the character of Sinterklaas. This pagan character (Zwarte Piet) became the companion of Saint Nicholas. In the Netherlands, as well as in the whole of Europe, Sinterklaas (aka Santa Claus) is accompanied by an (often black) helper. His appearance varies from country to country, but he can (usually) be recognized by four distinctive characteristics: 1. His masquerade (of which the simplest form is a black face) 2. His chain 3. His bag or basket (sometimes filled with coals). In the Netherlands, the sweets (pepernoten) and presents are in the bag. 4. His switch (roe) also hides and horns are often seen.
Overlap in appearance, conduct and character
The overlap that is visible in the black face between the historical Black Pete figures and the current Black Petes sticks out here. In the review of what Blackface is we will also address overlap in his conduct and character. It is important that people are aware of this when trying to interpret the figure. Clinging rigidly to a one-dimensional explanation for the current Black Pete is both incomplete and wrong. Changing Black Pete to a figure that doesn’t look like blackface should take into account the importance of the figure being unrecognizable, history and the symbolism of black and white in the celebration. The nightly visit from Black Pete and the fact that his face is invisible in the night, is a crucial part of the celebration. Who doesn’t stand by the front door and is sure that he sees Black Pete disappear in the night right after the doorbell has rung or a heavy knockin was heard and the bag with presents stands at the door! This being able to/not being able to see Black Pete is very important!
Through the chimney
Pete is Black because he travels through the chimney. There is a lot of controversy regarding this explanation. People who oppose Black Pete assume that this is just a lame excuse to cover up his real being. If you look at the other giftbringers in Europe however you will find that this explanation is used everywhere to explain the blackness of these midwintercreatures. This is a perfectly reasonable explanation for the fact that Black Pete is much older that most people think and that this was said about predecessors (e.g. the Black Klazen (Nicholasses) and the figures with hides and horns) that did exist in the Netherlands before 1850 and also that Black Pete is very closely tied to these other giftbringers and has a common origin. The chimney explanation is used for Schmutzli (Zwitserland), for Befana (Italy) and for Pere Fouettard (France), and for Knecht Ruprecht (Germany).
The Reformation
During the reformation, the Sinterklaas tradition was attacked by the church. The people, however, kept celebrating. This means that the absence of Sinterklaas and Black Pete in drawings and paintings can also be attributed to this. Some people see this as evidence that black Black Petefigures didn’t exist before 1850, but there is much valuable information available to contradict this belief.The heavy rattling with chains and bells, knocking on doors which is spoken of in many old Dutch texts refers to the fact that there were certainly figures going around around December 5th in the same manner as we remember Black Pete. This website tries to gather this information and make it available, so everyone can form their own opinion.
[15]”’The Saint Nicholas tradition contains a number of elements that are not ecclesiastical in origin.[8][9] In medieval iconography, Saint Nicholas is sometimes presented as taming a chained devil, who may or may not be black. However, no hint of a companion, devil, servant, or any other human or human-like fixed companion to the Saint is found in visual and textual sources from the Netherlands from the 16th until the 19th century””WIKIPEDIAZWARTE PIET/ORIGINShttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zwarte_Piet#OriginsORIGINAL SOURCEWIKIPEDIAZWARTE PIEThttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zwarte_PietPete is Black because he travels through the chimney. There is a lot of controversy regarding this explanation. People who oppose Black Pete assume that this is just a lame excuse to cover up his real being. If you look at the other giftbringers in Europe however you will find that this explanation is used everywhere to explain the blackness of these midwintercreatures. This is a perfectly reasonable explanation for the fact that Black Pete is much older that most people think and that this was said about predecessors (e.g. the Black Klazen (Nicholasses) and the figures with hides and horns) that did exist in the Netherlands before 1850 and also that Black Pete is very closely tied to these other giftbringers and has a common origin. ”
BLACK PETE HISTORY WEEBLY.COMBLACK PETE: HISTORY OF THE CHARACTERhttps://blackpetehistory.weebly.com/[18]”Pete is Black because he travels through the chimney. There is a lot of controversy regarding this explanation. People who oppose Black Pete assume that this is just a lame excuse to cover up his real being. If you look at the other giftbringers in Europe however you will find that this explanation is used everywhere to explain the blackness of these midwintercreatures.”
BLACK PETE HISTORY WEEBLY.COMBLACK PETE: HISTORY OF THE CHARACTERhttps://blackpetehistory.weebly.com/[19]””They would call me Zwarte Piet, or you are dirty just like Zwarte Piet. You are only good to be Zwarte Piet.”
Until then, he thought the Sinterklaas festivities were just about fun and collecting sweets.
“I was a child and not politically aware, but I realized we played this dress up with this character who is dumb, who is silly, who doesn’t know much, who needs someone to lead the way, who keeps messing up, who is looking very ugly, and then realising that I am the butt of the joke, I was 12 years old when I realised it.”
As all the children gathered, I remember the feeling of anticipation in the school hall. It was November and I had recently started primary school. All of a sudden, there was a loud banging on the door. I remember looking around and seeing the terror on the other children’s faces when the doors flew open and several grown men stormed into the hall with their faces completely “blacked up”. The terror soon made way for joy when the men starting throwing candy around, but I was left in total confusion. These grown men with blacked-up faces, afros and big red lips were talking to me in broken Dutch and trying to make me smile by prancing around like a clown.
I remember wondering why they were trying to look like my father, and why they were acting so silly. My father was a smart man, a grown-up. These grown men in blackface were acting like misbehaving children.
It became even more confusing when St Nicholas himself entered. The tall, old, white man dressed like the pope was treated with the utmost respect by my teachers, who had been laughing at the blacked-up men that they referred to as Zwarte Pieten – Black Petes.As soon as St Nicholas entered, the Black Petes calmed down and silently followed his orders. I couldn’t understand the strange power that St Nicholas had over these grown men who had moments before seemed uncontrollable.
At that moment, I remember a creeping feeling that something about this was wrong. I knew that Black Pete’s behaviour was wrong and I knew the way St Nicholas was treating Black Pete was wrong, but I did not understand why. I looked around and saw the smiles of the other children and teachers, and thought the only explanation must be that I was the one who was wrong. From that moment onwards, I never thought to question Black Pete again. The acceptance and enjoyment of the tradition became a measure for how Dutch I was, and since Dutch culture was the only culture I knew, I was petrified to be excluded from it.Last week, Amsterdam’s mayor made a statement that finally validated my creeping feeling by proposing a change of image for Black Pete. The proposed makeover follows a local court ruling that the depiction of Black Pete is, in fact, racist. The court determined that the character was “a negative stereotype of black people”. Soon after, the council of Amsterdam filed an appeal against the verdict arguing that the stereotype of Black Pete wasn’t negative.I grew up in a middle-class environment in The Hague where I could count all the people of colour on one hand. Racism was never that overt; perhaps because there weren’t that many of us, so we were not considered a threat. If any negative stereotyping occurred in my presence, it was always quickly followed by “but you’re different”. As a child, I was never sure if I should speak out against the negative stereotypes of black people being lazy, dirty or dumb because I was still afraid of being excluded. My silence came hand in hand with a pang of guilt for not sticking up for my own.And then there were the seemingly positive stereotypes about black people being better at singing, dancing or sports, the example often being the black players in our national football team. I remember feeling proud when such remarks were made by white folks because that meant we had worth. What I did not yet understand was that a positive or romanticised stereotype strips a person of their humanity by denying them individuality in the same way that a negative one does. As noted by policy officer Izalina Tavares, all the Black Petes have the same name, the same face and the same characteristics. They are interchangeable.
If I, as a person of colour, had to be taught that positive stereotypes are just as dehumanising as negative ones, and therefore racist, it is not surprising that a vast majority of Dutch people truly believe that there is nothing racist about Black Pete. He is loved by young and old, he’s funny, he’s giving, he’s athletic. Wouldn’t anyone want to be associated with these traits?
And yes, he can be childish, silly, and even a bit thick at times but we love him in spite of this, so no harm done, right? Wrong. As artist Bianca Berendshas written, research shows that stereotypes contribute to low self-esteem in children of colour and perpetuates the idea of white culture being superior to black culture, which in a multicultural environment will undeniably affect society as a whole.
The main problem is a lack of education on Dutch slavery and colonialism. I was taught in great detail the atrocities that were committed in the British empire, how the Americans dehumanised their African slaves and how racism in Germany led to the Holocaust. Never did we have one history lesson teaching us about the severity of Dutch conduct in Surinam, the Dutch Caribbean, Indonesia or South Africa. Perhaps if this schooling was there, Dutch people would find it easier to connect Black Pete with our history of slavery and racism.
The legacy of slavery and colonialism has preserved structural racism, so for many people of colour it is impossible to disconnect Black Pete from this legacy. Black Pete is a symbol of this legacy and as long as a post-racial society is still a utopian idea, the opposition of Black Pete is completely legitimised.
END OF THE ARTICLE
NEW ARTICLE:
”Stephanie and Abdirashid tell about their experiences with the national blackface tradition Black Pete (“Zwarte Piet”). Both of them have been teased and called Black Pete (Zwarte Piet). “I have a terrible history with Black Pete”, Abdirahman reflects before sharing a painful story of his father being called Black Pete by children in a busy mall while no one intervened to defend him. Stephanie: “Oh you don’t need paint”,children kept calling his father Black Pete at 5 minutes in a mall, people around him didn’t say anything. Stephanie, a ‘plus size’ model, shares her painful experiences as well:
“Besides the fact that is has the same image as Golliwog and blackface and stuff it is rooted in slavery. But also, people don’t understand why it really hurts, and it really hurts. When children see me walking down the street they will tell me I am Zwarte Piet, I am Black Pete. During the 5th of December when Sinterklaas takes place I think twice about wearing red lipstick because people will look at me and think about or even tell me I look like Black Pete. It needs to stop it really needs to stop.”
Dutch Children’s Ombudsman Receives Black Pete Threats
The Dutch ombudsman for children, Margrite Kalverboer, has received dozens of angry reactions and threats after she stated in her report that Black Pete in its current form is in conflict with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Discussions with children showed that the image of Black Pete can be hurtful and can contribute to bullying. Children should not be negatively affected by the annual feast of St. Nicholas, therefore Black Pete should be altered, says the children’s ombudsman. Ard van der Steur, the minister of justice, has condemned the threats.
More:
https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2016/09/30/tientallen-bedreigingen-voor-kinderombudsman-om-zwarte-piet-a1524199HERE THE REPORT OF THE KINDEROMBUDSMAN:IN DUTCH ”KINDEROMBUDSMAN: ZWARTE PIET VRAAGT OM AANPASSING”IN ENGLISH:”CHILDREN’S OMBUDSMAN: BLACK PETE DEMANDS ADAPTATION”REPORT IN DUTCH:https://www.dekinderombudsman.nl/ul/cms/fck-uploaded/20160930%20Standpunt%20over%20Zwarte%20Piet.pdfUNDERLYING ARTICLE MISTAKENLY REFERSTO SINTERKLAAS [SAINT NICHOLAS] AS TOA ”CHRISTMAS CHARACTER”:BUT:The American ”Father Christmas” Santa Claus and the Dutch”Sinterklaas are two different Fairy Tale Figures, although Santa Clausis derived from the Medieval Dutch ”Sinterlklaas”So the Dutch Feast of ”Sinterklaaas” [5 december] is not Christmas Feast!”These bans on Zwarte Piet have not come easily. As the movement against the character has grown, so too has organized white supremacy in favor of him. Journalists have received death threats for writing about Zwarte Piet and anti-blackface activists have survived violent attacks. This November, an article in the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf accused Esajas of being funded by George Soros—a common anti-Semitic smear that often pops up in white supremacist conspiracy theories.”NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC.COMTHE NOTORIOUS CHRISTMAS CHARACTERIS DIVIDING A COUBNTRY6 DECEMBER 2018https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/12/black-pete-christmas-zwarte-piet-dutch/[26]”The images of a black Dutch TV presenter’s face super-imposed on the hanged bodies of victims of a lynching are too nauseating to look at. And yet a video featuring the mocked-up pictures has been widely circulated online here.…………”But it was her criticism of the traditional festive character known as Black Pete that unleashed a backlash of death-threats and misogynistic, racist abuse, which quickly escalated from unpleasant to outright shocking.”BBC,COM NEWSDUTCH RACE HATE ENGULFS PRESENTER SYLVANA SIMONS25 NOVEMBER 2016https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38089469UNDERLYING ARTICLE MISTAKENLY REFERSTO SINTERKLAAS [SAINT NICHOLAS] AS TOA ”CHRISTMAS CHARACTER”:BUT:The American ”Father Christmas” Santa Claus and the Dutch”Sinterklaas are two different Fairy Tale Figures, although Santa Clausis derived from the Medieval Dutch ”Sinterlklaas”So the Dutch Feast of ”Sinterklaaas” [5 december] is not Christmas Feast!”These bans on Zwarte Piet have not come easily. As the movement against the character has grown, so too has organized white supremacy in favor of him. Journalists have received death threats for writing about Zwarte Piet and anti-blackface activists have survived violent attacks. This November, an article in the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf accused Esajas of being funded by George Soros—a common anti-Semitic smear that often pops up in white supremacist conspiracy theories.”NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC.COMTHE NOTORIOUS CHRISTMAS CHARACTERIS DIVIDING A COUBNTRY6 DECEMBER 2018https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/12/black-pete-christmas-zwarte-piet-dutch/[27]‘”They would call me Zwarte Piet, or you are dirty just like Zwarte Piet. You are only good to be Zwarte Piet.”
Until then, he thought the Sinterklaas festivities were just about fun and collecting sweets.
“I was a child and not politically aware, but I realized we played this dress up with this character who is dumb, who is silly, who doesn’t know much, who needs someone to lead the way, who keeps messing up, who is looking very ugly, and then realising that I am the butt of the joke, I was 12 years old when I realised it.”
Until then, he thought the Sinterklaas festivities were just about fun and collecting sweets.
“I was a child and not politically aware, but I realized we played this dress up with this character who is dumb, who is silly, who doesn’t know much, who needs someone to lead the way, who keeps messing up, who is looking very ugly, and then realising that I am the butt of the joke, I was 12 years old when I realised it.”
Dutch Children’s Ombudsman Receives Black Pete Threats
The Dutch ombudsman for children, Margrite Kalverboer, has received dozens of angry reactions and threats after she stated in her report that Black Pete in its current form is in conflict with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Discussions with children showed that the image of Black Pete can be hurtful and can contribute to bullying. Children should not be negatively affected by the annual feast of St. Nicholas, therefore Black Pete should be altered, says the children’s ombudsman. Ard van der Steur, the minister of justice, has condemned the threats.[37]THE NEW YORK TIMESUN URGES THE NETHERLANDS TO STOP PORTRAYALS OF”BLACK PETE” CHARACTER28 AUGUST 2015https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/29/world/europe/zwarte-piet-netherlands-united-nations.htmlTEXT
UNITED NATIONS — A United Nations committee has urged the Netherlands to get rid of Black Pete, a popular children’s character who has long been portrayed in early winter by white people in blackface makeup, usually with exaggerated red lips and gold hoops in his ears.
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination wrote in a report issued Friday that “the character of Black Pete is sometimes portrayed in a manner that reflects negative stereotypes of people of African descent and is experienced by many people of African descent as a vestige of slavery.” It urged the Netherlands to “actively promote the elimination” of the racial stereotyping.
The Dutch government responded by dismissing the idea of banning the character, but said it would promote a discussion, however “uncomfortable,” about racism.
The Dutch are already reinventing the way they portray the controversial character, said Lodewijk Asscher, minister for social affairs and employment. “At the school of my own children, the Petes last year were orange,” he said.
The figure of Black Pete — Zwarte Piet, in Dutch — accompanies St. Nicholas in early December. In parades in nearly every city and village, St. Nicholas — almost always a white man in a red suit — arrives on horseback, while Pete, his servant, walks alongside distributing candy.
Black Pete is fodder in a pitched culture war within Dutch society, with antiracism activists denouncing the racial stereotypes and others insisting that the figure represents a harmless tradition, according to which Pete’s skin is darkened by soot from sliding down chimneys with gifts.
Mr. Asscher spoke carefully, saying he understood the hurt feelings on both sides, including those who “fear they are losing their tradition.”
“We must realize that changing an old tradition takes time,” the minister said.
Social media users engaged in a debate more unruly than uncomfortable in response to the United Nations report. On Twitter, critics called the tradition a “disgrace.” Others described the United Nations report as an example of “racism against the Dutch.”
The emotional debate around this one character is part of a broader argument about the limits of multiculturalism in Dutch society.
17. While the Committee understands that the tradition of Sinterklaas and Black Pete is enjoyed by many persons in Dutch society, the Committee notes with concern that the character of Black Pete is sometimes portrayed in a manner that reflects negative stereotypes of people of African descent and is experienced by many people of African descent as a vestige of slavery, which is injurious to the dignity and self-esteem of children and adults of African descent. The Committee is concerned about the discriminatory effect of such portrayals, which may convey a conception at odds with the Convention. The Committee is furthermore concerned at reports that citizens seeking to peacefully protest against such portrayals have been denied authorization to conduct such protests at a meaningful time and place and have been subjected to violent attacks and other forms of intimidation, which have not been adequately investigated. (arts. 2, 5 and 7). 18. Considering that even a deeply-rooted cultural tradition does not justify discriminatory practices and stereotypes, the Committee recommends that the State party actively promote the elimination of those features of the character of Black Pete which reflect negative stereotypes and are experienced by many people of African descent as a vestige of slavery. The Committee recommends that the State party find a reasonable balance, such as a different portrayal of Black Pete and ensure respect of human dignity and human rights of all inhabitants of the State party. The Committee further recommends that the State party ensure non-discrimination in the enjoyment of freedom of expression and association, and that attacks on protesters be effectively investigated and duly prosecuted.
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CERD/Shared%20Documents/NLD/CERD_C_NLD_CO_19-21_21519_E.pdf ‘[39]LETTER OF UN OFFICIAL VERENE SHEPHARD [AND OTHERS]TO THE DUTCH GOVERNMENT The character and image of Black Pete perpetuate a stereotyped image of African people and people of African descent as second-class citizens, fostering an underlying sense of inferiority within Dutch society and stirring racial differences as well as racism. During the celebration, numerous people playing the Black Pete figure blacken their faces, wear bright red lipstick as well as afro wigs. The Black Pete figure is to act as a fool and as a servant of Santa Claus. The Black Pete segment of Santa Claus celebrations is experienced by African people and people of African descent as a living trace of past slavery and oppression, tracing back to the country’s past involvement in the trade of African slaves in the previous centuries. Reportedly, a growing opposition to the racial profiling of Black Pete within the Dutch society, including by people of non-African origins, is to be noticed. However, it is also alleged that no response has been given to associations defending the rights of African people and people of African descent in the Netherlands, which are asking for dialogue on this issue.UNITED NATIONSOFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGHCOMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTSMANDATES OF THE CHAIR RAPPORTEUR OF THE WORKING GROUPON PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT: THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON THE FIELD OF CULTURAL RIGHTS: THE INDEPENDENT EXPERT ON MINORITYISSUES: AND THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON CONTEMPORARY FORMSOF RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA AND RELATEDINTOLERANCEhttps://spdb.ohchr.org/hrdb/23rd/public_-_AL_Netherlands_17.01.13_(1.2013).pdf[40]THE TELEGRAPH ARTICLE [IN DUTCH]”HET GEVAAR VAN EEN RADICALE AGENDA”[IN ENGLISH]”THE DANGER OF A RADICAL AGENDA”https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dr3879aXgAAr4io.jpg[41]THE TELEGRAPH ARTICLE [IN DUTCH]”HET GEVAAR VAN EEN RADICALE AGENDA”[IN ENGLISH]”THE DANGER OF A RADICAL AGENDA”WATCH THE SINISTER PHOTO OF THE TWOLEADERS OF KICK OUT ZWARTE PIET, MITCHELLESAJAS AND JERRY AFRIYIE, LOOKING DOWNON THE PEACEFUL NETHERLANDS WITH THE MILLS….SEE ALSO THE PHOTO’S AT MY ARTICLEhttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dr3879aXgAAr4io.jpg[42]SEE THE ANTISEMITIC ARTICLE AT THE TELEGRAPH FROM1942https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dr6R29_X4AMcV1s.jpg:largeA PASSAGE[FIRST IN DUTCH]”Jood is en blijft Duitsland’s vijand, of hij nu uit
Portugal, of kersvers uit Jeruzalem, al dan niet voorzien
van een Nederlandse pas of identiteiotskaart, hier verzeild is geraakt”
TRANSLATED IN ENGLISH:
”Jew is and remains the enemy of Germany, whether he
set foot in the Netherlands, coming from Portugal, or
newly arrived from Jerusalem, whether or not
in the possession of a Dutch passport or identity card.”SEE THE ARTICLEhttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dr6R29_X4AMcV1s.jpg:large43]”This year, Sinterklaas’ arrival on November 17 was greeted by protests against Black Pete in 18 cities across the Netherlands. Around 40 people were arrested, primarily counterprotesters supporting Zwarte Piet, who attacked anti-racist demonstrators with eggs and bananas, and in some places, Hitler salutes.”AL JAZEERAZWARTE PIET: BLACK PETE IS ”DUTCH RACISM IN FULL DISPLAY”27 NOVEMBER 2018
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/zwarte-piet-black-pete-dutch-racism-full-display-181127153936872.html”Supporters of Black Pete attacked several protesters in Rotterdam, where activists had hung a banner reading “Black Pete is Racism” from the city’s Erasmus Bridge.…..…..”Football supporters in Eindhoven threw eggs and beer cans at police and anti-Pete protesters.”REUTERSFESTIVE FUN OR RACISM? DUTCH ”BLACK PETE” ROW GETS VIOLENT18 NOVEMBER 2018
” Prime minister Mark Rutte has described the angry mobs who attacked people demonstrating against the blackface Zwarte Piet tradition at this year’s Sinterklaas processions as ‘asos’ or anti-socials, but failed to explicitly condemn the violence. ‘It is a serious matter because everyone has the right to protest, it has to be possible,’ Rutte told reporters in The Hague. ‘We can’t let anti-social elements stop that.’ Rutte went on to downplay the problems, pointing out that the main procession in Zaandijk, had gone off well. ‘So you see, it can be done,’ the prime minister said. ‘But in a couple of places there were problems because football hooligans were waiting to cause trouble.’
TOTHE DIRECTOR OF THE ACADEMIA NAZIONALE DI SANTA CECILIAMR R. GIULIANI Subject:Your barring out from class of students from East Asia, over coronavirus concerns
Dear Mr Giuliani, From different reliable newspapers I’ve learnt, that you recently have singled out students from East Asia, barring them from class because of your concerns about the coronavirus. [1]This was the mail you sent to all 160 teachers, adding that students concerned would also receive a mandatory doctor’s visit.[2]I quote:”“Dear colleagues, because of the well-known events relating to the Chinese epidemic, the lessons of oriental students (Chinese, Korean, Japanese etc.) are suspended, as well as others who have come from the countries concerned.
“The conservatoire’s doctor will visit them all on Wednesday 5 February at 2pm. Only those who pass the visit will be readmitted. In the meantime, absence will be considered absence due to illness. Please let them all know, make sure they’re free on 5 February at 2pm, and remind them to bring the booklet. Best regards.” [3]
In Italian [I quote source]
”Care Colleghe e cari Colleghi, a causa delle ben note vicende legate all’epidemia cinese, sono sospese le lezioni degli studenti orientali (cinesi, coreani, giapponesi ecc.), nonché di altri che provenissero dai Paesi interessati. Mercoledì 5 febbraio alle ore 14 il medico del Conservatorio provvederà a visitarli tutti. Solo quelli che passeranno la visita potranno essere riammessi alla frequenza. Nel frattempo l’assenza sarà considerata assenza per malattia. Siete pregati di avvisarli tutti, di convocarli per il 5 febbraio alle ore 14, e di ricordargli di portare il libretto. Cordiali saluti”. Firmata dal direttore, Roberto Giuliani.” [4]
If this is not right, I challenge you to send me denying evidence, vut I think evidence is overwhelming, that this actually happened.
The reason why I wrote ” If this is not right”, is that, to my view, it is hardly to believe, that now, in the 21st century, a director of such a prestigious music institute as the Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia,
has sent a message like this!
It is like travelling through history, and well landing in one of the most backward periods. at the nineteen century, the time of racist superiority theories, which included all sort of sick prejudices against people of Asian descent.
You, mr Giuliani, should be ashamed of yourself!
However I am pleased to learn, that you has been criticised by colleagues after your racist email regarding the ”oriental” [your word for among else Chinese, Korean, Japanese students] students. [5]
YES, RACIST, MR GIULIANI!
You should be ashamed of yourself!!
ADDITION
It is unbelievable, that I have to explain, why your mail is not only racist and dangerous, but also, excuse me for the word: stupid.
The Coronavirus is (official name COVID-19] broke out in 2019 in Wuhan, a Chinese city. [6] So people, who live in Wuhan or have recently visited Wuhan, are risk factors.
This has NOTHING to do with ethnicity or descent!
When you and I were visiting Wuhan, or living there, we both being not Chinese, was the risk that we were infected or could infect other people a reality.
That applies to everyone who lives there or visited the regio, Chinese or not!
Chinese, Japanese and Korean students, living in Italy have no more chance to infect other people that you and I.
However, Europeans, who lived in Wuhan or recently visited the city, are a real danger.
So it has nothing whatsoever to do with ethnicity, being Asian or not, but with the recent presence in Wuhan.
From a director of a prestigious conservatory might be expected, that he understands this
That is the stupid side of your mail.
But since I can’t believe that a conservatory director is ”stupid”, your
mail is especially racist, singling out Chinese, Japanese and Korean students, because in their country of origin [or that of their parents or grandparents] there was a dangerous virus outbreak!
Not to speak about Japanese and Korean students, since they have no connection whatsoever with China or Chinese cities!
Especially your language use ”oriental students” [7] convinces to me of your racism.
Again, you should be ashamed of yourself!
DANGEROUS!
Yes, I am not done with you yet!
Because apart from racist, your mail is dangerous, especially seen in the light of recent outbreaks of racism and xenophobia in Italy! [8]
Because since you are an educated and respected director of a prestigious conservatory, people look up to you and find in hateful, racist mails like yours a confirmation for their xenophobia and an encouragement to go on with racism.
EPILOGUE
As a director of a high profile conservatory you have a special and moral responsibility to advance civilization and culture.
One of the aspects is to cherish and promote the ideals of Liberte, Egalite and Fraternite [9], for especially music is a cultural Road to unite people.
What you did is to divide people and that is a destructive Path.
So I hope you have learnt something of the just criticism on your
racist mail and never do it again.
Eventually racism leads to chaos, destruction and Evil.
ROME — The prestigious Santa Cecilia music school in Rome on Wednesday singled out students from East Asia, barring them from class over coronavirus concerns.
The students learned of the move in a message from the conservatory’s director, Roberto Giuliani, sent to faculty members, who forwarded it by email and WhatsApp to those affected.
The message — which used the term Oriental, an adjective considered derogatory when used to describe people —asked East Asian students not to show up for at least a week “due to the well-known events related to the Chinese epidemic” and to undergo medical examinations before readmittance.
The announcement caught many students by surprise. Authorities had yet to confirm a single case of the virus in Italy.
For 25-year-old South Korean voice student Yoonseo Kim, the only possible explanation for the suspensions was racism.
“My friends don’t want to leave their homes because they’re afraid — of racism, of stares, of bad words,” she added. “It’s normal now.”
Shortly after the announcement, discriminatory comments appeared online, according to social media posts reviewed by The Washington Post.
The school asked affected students to leave classes shortly after the announcement went out, and staffers later stopped them in the lobby to bar them from entering the building, said one student, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. Several students described being mocked as they left the building by non-Asian students, who covered their faces in imitation of face masks and laughed.
“I was frozen. I couldn’t talk,” said 23-year-old South Korean student Sumin Hwang.
Giuliani said in an interview Friday that he never meant to discriminate and that students found to have used racially motivated insults would be punished. The school, he said, was inherently international and dedicated to students from abroad. He had in hand a message from a Chinese student who appeared to support the suspension order.
The required medical checkup, which the school would provide, he said, was supposed to help those without full access to the public health system.
Despite the controversy, the suspensions have not been lifted.
The episode underlined concerns East Asian communities around the world have expressed in recent weeks as misinformation about the new coronavirus spreads, fueling stereotypes and discrimination. In one instance, widely circulated footage of a woman drinking bat soup provided supposed evidence that Chinese eating habits had allowed the virus to spread. The video — which was not even filmed in China — has since been debunked by fact-checking groups.
In Malaysia, an online petition that appeared to blame the spread of the virus on China’s supposed “unhygienic lifestyle” and called for a ban on Chinese visitors garnered more than 400,000 supporters within days.
In France, those facing discrimination took to social media — using the hashtag #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus, “I’m not a virus” — to push back against stereotypes.
“Institutionalized racism can easily be triggered by narratives of crisis,” said Aleksandra Lewicki, a senior lecturer in sociology at the University of Sussex in Britain.
Discrimination tied to the coronavirus is “reminiscent of the way Muslims have often had to explain themselves after terrorist attacks,” she said.
Some experts have also drawn parallels to the 2003 SARS outbreak that spread from China to countries including Canada and the United States, along with an attendant rise in discrimination against Asian minority communities.
At the time, Canadian lawyer Avvy Go represented Asian Canadians whose landlords were trying to evict them because of the virus, or whose employers were seeking to reduce their working hours.
“We are [once again] seeing a lot of stigmatization and misinformation about the source of the virus,” she said, citing messages on WhatsApp and other platforms “telling people not to go to some of the local Chinese supermarkets,” along with “outright racist, hostile comments online.”
In recent days, nearly 10,000 Canadians signed a petition to temporarily ban some Chinese Canadian students from classrooms.
But much more so than in 2003, officials and members of the public are pushing back. A local school board swiftly rejected the petition.
Chinese diplomats have urged the international community to fight stigmatization. After Italy declared a state of emergency on Friday in the wake of its first two confirmed cases of the coronavirus, the Chinese Embassy in Rome asked the government to focus on the prevention of “episodes of intolerance” and to “protect the legitimate rights of Chinese citizens and communities in Italy.”
“We are [once again] seeing a lot of stigmatization and misinformation about the source of the virus,” she said, citing messages on WhatsApp and other platforms “telling people not to go to some of the local Chinese supermarkets,” along with “outright racist, hostile comments online.”
In recent days, nearly 10,000 Canadians signed a petition to temporarily ban some Chinese Canadian students from classrooms.
But much more so than in 2003, officials and members of the public are pushing back. A local school board swiftly rejected the petition.
Chinese diplomats have urged the international community to fight stigmatization. After Italy declared a state of emergency on Friday in the wake of its first two confirmed cases of the coronavirus, the Chinese Embassy in Rome asked the government to focus on the prevention of “episodes of intolerance” and to “protect the legitimate rights of Chinese citizens and communities in Italy.”
In Milan, Italian media outlets reported that groups of mothers were pushing for their children to be separated from Chinese students at school.
In Venice, Chinese tourists reported being spat upon.
At the Santa Cecilia music school, some Italian students said they were considering a strike in support of their classmates from abroad.
“We want to show solidarity with colleagues who were arbitrarily denied the very important right to study,” said Francesco Campora, 26, a student at the school.
For some of the suspended students, that might not be enough.
“I used to love Rome,” said Sumin Hwang, one of the students told to stay home. “For two days now, I’ve been thinking of moving.”“I cannot stay in a place that hates us,” she said.
Chinese people in western countries where there have been cases of the Wuhan coronavirus have said they have been the target of racist abuse as paranoia mounts over the outbreak.
In Italy, the European country with the highest annual number of Chinese tourists, the confirmation of two confirmed cases – a couple who arrived in Milan from Wuhan on 23 January on a lunar new year holiday – coincided with incidents of xenophobia and calls to avoid Chinese restaurants and shops.
Roberto Giuliani, the director of the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, one of the oldest music institutes in the world, was criticised by colleagues on Wednesday after telling students from China, Japan and South Korea not to come to class until after a doctor had visited their homes to ensure they have not contracted the virus.
La Repubblica published a photograph on its website showing a cafe near the Trevi fountain in Rome with a sign outside saying “all people coming from China” were barred from entering.More than 300,000 Chinese people live in Italy and 5 million visited in 2018.
“Unfortunately, one of the inevitable impacts of this illness is xenophobia,” Marco Wong, a local councillor in the Tuscan town of Prato, home to a large Chinese population, told the Guardian.“Parents aren’t sending their children to school if there are Chinese classmates and people are writing on the internet not to go to Chinese shops and restaurants. There is also a lot of fake news spreading – for example, an audio of an Italian guy claiming that he is in Wuhan and that he knows of a secret laboratory where this virus was created.”
Fears over the coronavirus have affected Chinese populations in other countries, too. On Wednesday, the mayor of Toronto condemned racism against Chinese-Canadians, and there have also been reports of anti-Asian racism in the UK.In France, Chinese residents have been sharing their experiences using the hashtag #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus (I am not a virus). One young woman calling herself Forky wrote on Twitter: “Not all Asians are Chinese. Not all Chinese were born in China and not all have been there. An Asian who coughs doesn’t have the #coronavirus. Insulting an Asian because of the virus is like insulting a Muslim because of the bombings.”
There has been particular criticism of a front-page headline on the Courrier Picard, a local newspaper: “Alerte Jaune” (Yellow alert).
One man told France TV he had been approached while buying vegetables in a supermarket in Strasbourg by a woman who demanded what nationality he was and “if I had the virus”. He added: “I wouldn’t say what happened was racist, but it was a strong prejudice.”
Sacha-Lin Jung, a representative of the Association of Chinese Residents in France, told BFMTV: “People are refusing to be served by Asian people in shops … a woman was thrown off a train because she was Asian and so it was obvious she was carrying the virus. This adds to the racism and stereotypes about the Chinese that already exist.”
On Friday, Italy declared a state of emergency that will be in place for six months. It will spend an initial €5m on trying to prevent the spread of the virus.
Matteo Salvini, the leader of Italy’s far-right League, seized on the panic to plug his anti-immigration message and attack rivals in government. “Every day dozens of flights arrive in Italy from China: we need checks, checks and more checks,” he said.
Other episodes reported in Italian media include two Chinese tourists being spat at by a group of children in Venice, and three Chinese tourists being insulted in a restaurant in Turin.
One tourist was reportedly prevented from entering Pompeii’s archaeological park, another was insulted on a train, and a Chinese boy playing in a football match near Milan was told by an opponent: “I hope you get the virus too.”There have been long queues in chemists across the country to purchase face masks. Roberta Siliquini, a former president of Italy’s higher health council, told the Guardian the paranoia was unsurprising even if it went “beyond logical sense”.
“In Italy, we have a strange relationship with immigration but also with health aspects – it’s a country in which people don’t want to be vaccinated against measles but they are scared of a Chinese person standing 50 metres away,” she said. “And while it is very possible that we could import cases of this virus, we have one of the most efficient control systems in the world.”
Tests carried out on two Chinese tourists onboard a cruise ship in the port city of Civitavecchia were negative, the cruise company, Costa Crociere, said in a statement.• This article was amended on 31 January 2020 because an earlier version understated the number of Chinese people living in Italy. That figure is more than 300,000, not more than 30,000 as an earlier version said.
Rome’s prestigious music conservatoire is facing criticism for its decision to suspend all “oriental” students, as Italy’s first two cases of coronavirus are confirmed.One of the oldest music institutes in the world has suspended all “oriental students” over concerns surrounding coronavirus, in a move that has been heavily criticised by teachers – notably for its choice of language.
An email was sent to all 160 teachers at Rome’s Santa Cecilia Conservatory, adding that students concerned would also receive a mandatory doctor’s visit.
The message (translated from Italian), signed by director Roberto Giuliani, reads: “Dear colleagues, because of the well-known events relating to the Chinese epidemic, the lessons of oriental students (Chinese, Korean, Japanese etc.) are suspended, as well as others who have come from the countries concerned.
“The conservatoire’s doctor will visit them all on Wednesday 5 February at 2pm. Only those who pass the visit will be readmitted. In the meantime, absence will be considered absence due to illness. Please let them all know, make sure they’re free on 5 February at 2pm, and remind them to bring the booklet. Best regards.”The move comes as two cases of coronavirus are now confirmed in Italy – the first in the country since the outbreak in Wuhan, China.
[3]
”The message (translated from Italian), signed by director Roberto Giuliani, reads: “Dear colleagues, because of the well-known events relating to the Chinese epidemic, the lessons of oriental students (Chinese, Korean, Japanese etc.) are suspended, as well as others who have come from the countries concerned.
“The conservatoire’s doctor will visit them all on Wednesday 5 February at 2pm. Only those who pass the visit will be readmitted. In the meantime, absence will be considered absence due to illness. Please let them all know, make sure they’re free on 5 February at 2pm, and remind them to bring the booklet. Best regards.”OUTRAGE AS ITALIAN CONSERVATOIRE BANS ALL ”ORIENTAL” STUDENTS OVER CORONAVIRUS FEARS31 JANUARY 2020 https://www.classicfm.com/music-news/santa-cecilia-bans-oriental-students-coronavirus/
[4]
”Care Colleghe e cari Colleghi, a causa delle ben note vicende legate all’epidemia cinese, sono sospese le lezioni degli studenti orientali (cinesi, coreani, giapponesi ecc.), nonché di altri che provenissero dai Paesi interessati. Mercoledì 5 febbraio alle ore 14 il medico del Conservatorio provvederà a visitarli tutti. Solo quelli che passeranno la visita potranno essere riammessi alla frequenza. Nel frattempo l’assenza sarà considerata assenza per malattia. Siete pregati di avvisarli tutti, di convocarli per il 5 febbraio alle ore 14, e di ricordargli di portare il libretto. Cordiali saluti”. Firmata dal direttore, Roberto Giuliani.”AMID VIRUS FEARS, SANTA CECILIA SHUTS OUT ASIAN STUDENTS31 JANUARY 2920https://slippedisc.com/2020/01/amid-plague-fears-santa-cecilia-shuts-out-its-asian-students/TEXT
The following message has been sent to 160 teachers at Rome’s Santa Cecilia Conservatory:
Dear colleagues and dear colleagues, because of the well-known events related to the Chinese epidemic, the lessons of the Oriental students (Chinese, Korean, Japanese, etc.) are suspended as well as others who have come from the countries concerned. The conservatory doctor will visit them all on Wednesday 5 February at 2.00 pm. Only those who pass the visit can be readmitted to attendance. In the meantime, absence will be considered absence due to illness. Please advise them all to convene on February 5 at 2 pm, and remind them to bring the booklet. Best regards. Signed by the director, Roberto Giuliani.
Care Colleghe e cari Colleghi, a causa delle ben note vicende legate all’epidemia cinese, sono sospese le lezioni degli studenti orientali (cinesi, coreani, giapponesi ecc.), nonché di altri che provenissero dai Paesi interessati. Mercoledì 5 febbraio alle ore 14 il medico del Conservatorio provvederà a visitarli tutti. Solo quelli che passeranno la visita potranno essere riammessi alla frequenza. Nel frattempo l’assenza sarà considerata assenza per malattia. Siete pregati di avvisarli tutti, di convocarli per il 5 febbraio alle ore 14, e di ricordargli di portare il libretto. Cordiali saluti”. Firmata dal direttore, Roberto Giuliani.Just like medieval times. Or even German occupation.
We hear that many teachers are appalled, both at the exclusion and at the language of the message.The Korean students feel particularly aggrieved as their country has barely been affected by the coronavirus. [5] ”Roberto Giuliani, the director of the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, one of the oldest music institutes in the world, was criticised by colleagues on Wednesday after telling students from China, Japan and South Korea not to come to class until after a doctor had visited their homes to ensure they have not contracted the virus.”
”The message (translated from Italian), signed by director Roberto Giuliani, reads: “Dear colleagues, because of the well-known events relating to the Chinese epidemic, the lessons of oriental students (Chinese, Korean, Japanese etc.) are suspended, as well as others who have come from the countries concerned.”
[8] ”In Italy, the European country with the highest annual number of Chinese tourists, the confirmation of two confirmed cases – a couple who arrived in Milan from Wuhan on 23 January on a lunar new year holiday – coincided with incidents of xenophobia and calls to avoid Chinese restaurants and shops.”………”La Repubblica published a photograph on its website showing a cafe near the Trevi fountain in Rome with a sign outside saying “all people coming from China” were barred from entering.”……..“Parents aren’t sending their children to school if there are Chinese classmates and people are writing on the internet not to go to Chinese shops and restaurants. There is also a lot of fake news spreading – for example, an audio of an Italian guy claiming that he is in Wuhan and that he knows of a secret laboratory where this virus was created.” ………..
Matteo Salvini, the leader of Italy’s far-right League, seized on the panic to plug his anti-immigration message and attack rivals in government. “Every day dozens of flights arrive in Italy from China: we need checks, checks and more checks,” he said.
Other episodes reported in Italian media include two Chinese tourists being spat at by a group of children in Venice, and three Chinese tourists being insulted in a restaurant in Turin.One tourist was reportedly prevented from entering Pompeii’s archaeological park, another was insulted on a train, and a Chinese boy playing in a football match near Milan was told by an opponent: “I hope you get the virus too.
ITALIAN TEXT Un cartello scritto in cinese e in inglese per invitare chi arriva dalla Cina a non entrare è stato affisso questa mattina davanti a un bar davanti a Fontana di Trevi, in via del Lavatore, accanto ad un hotel. “A causa delle disposizioni internazionali di sicurezza, a tutte le persone provenienti dalla Cina non è permesso di entrare in questo posto. Ci scusiamo per il problema”, dice il cartello che poco dopo è stato rimosso.
“Ignobile il cartello affisso e poi rimosso dalla vetrina di un bar a Fontana di Trevi nella giornata di oggi” commenta Marco Palumbo, consigliere del Pd capitolino. “La situazione già seria, diventa davvero grave. Comprensibile la paura del contagio, inaccettabile però pensare ad una discriminazione razziale in un momento così delicato e dove le persone dovrebbero essere semmai rassicurati e aiutate. Alimentare il panico affiggendo cartelli di divieto appellandosi a ‘disposizioni di sicurezza’ fai da te e non dichiarate ufficialmente da nessun organo di governo è gravissimo e rammenta quei funesti cartelli affissi sulle vetrine delle botteghe negli anni più bui del Novecento” conlude
Sul caso interviene anche Raggi. “Stop psicosi e allarmismi. Ascoltiamo solo indicazioni e pareri delle autorità sanitarie. #Coronavirus”. Lo scrive su Twitter la sindaca di Roma.
Mentre gli altri negozianti della zona prendono le distanze dall’iniziativa. “Ci dissociamo da quanto accaduto. E’ un cartello forte che è una pessima pubblicità per il nostro quartiere di Trevi” sottolinea la proprietaria del negozio di pelletteria di fronte al bar accanto all’osteria Trevi.
“Ci dissociamo da quanto accaduto. E un cartello forte che è una pessima pubblicità per il nostro quartiere di Trevi”. Lo ha detto la proprietaria del negozio di pelletteria, che fa parte dell’associazione commercianti Trevi, di fronte al bar su cui era affisso il cartello che vietava l’ingresso a persone di nazionalità cinese.
“I commercianti – ha sottolineato il presidente dell’associazione, Fabrizio Patrizi – prende le distanze dal cartello e dal suo contenuto ma siamo oggettivamente preoccupati della situazione. Il turismo cinese è abbondantemente presente a Trevi e non abbiamo ricevuto alcuna informativa dalle autorità su come comportarci e cosa fare. Al 90 per cento i due turisti cinesi, positivi al coronavirus, sono passati da Trevi. Non chiediamo rassicurazioni ma informazioni, tipo ‘utilizzate le mascherine’. Il rischio di psicosi è facile. Noi stiamo navigando a vista. Il pericolo che c’è nel rione Trevi è maggiore che a Tor Tre Teste”.
Preoccupata anche la proprietaria di un ristorante della zona. “Certo non facciamo bella figura, ma come dobbiamo fare? – ha affermato – Non si sa che giri abbiano fatto queste due persone, non mi sento di dissociarmi completamente da quel cartello. Ci sono persone che possono entrare da me e stare due o tre ore. Io un po’ di paura ne ho”.
END OF ITALIAN TEXT
[9]
YOUTUBE.COMLUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: ODE AN DIE FREUDE
Reacties uitgeschakeld voor Racism, coronavirus and an Italian conservatory/Letter to the director
WOMAN SHOT AND KILLED BY POLICE OFFICER IN HER OWN HOME/POLICE VIOLENCE IN THE USA!/ANOTHER INNOCENT VICTIM
A makeshift memorial outside the home of Atatiana Jefferson on Monday. Jefferson was fatally shot by a Fort Worth police officer early Saturday morning. (Jake Bleiberg/AP)
ATATIANA JEFFERSONONE OF THE COUNTLESS VICTIMS OF US POLICE BRUTALITYATATIANA JEFFERSON, REST IN PEACE
Aaron Y. DeanCreditTarrant County Sheriff’s Office
AARON Y DEAN, THE POLICE OFFICER, WHO SHOT AND KILLED ATATIANA JEFFERSON
” Oscar’s killing is personal because his death offends the fundamental principles of justice, every notion of dignity and the idea that through those threads, all of our lives are connected. As human beings, we are responsible for each other. His death means that we must work for his justice. ” ABOUT OSCAR GRANT, ANOTHER BLACK VICTIM OF US POLICE BRUTALITY https://www.amnestyusa.org/another-year-another-unarmed-black-man-killed-by-police/
Police violence in the USA [1] is very depressing and not only shows an amount of deep structural racism [most victims are black men and sometimes blach women too], but also the insane trigger happiness of many policemen.As I say, not only black people are being deadly shot, white people too [2]But the problem is that reading the percentage of victims, black people are over representated.According to Amnesty International five times more than white people! [3]And almost in the most cases the same story:Police officers are confronted with black men, who are deadly shot, because the police officer tought they were wearing a gun, while in reality it was something innocent like a mobile phone…………[4]This can happen once, or two times, but when it happens each time again [while the police officer is heavily armed and can easily defend himself] it is no ”incident” anymore, but a form of racism, whether it is conscious or subconscious.It happens too many times!Besides:Investigations show, that there is a disproportionate fear to see criminality in black people, especially tall black men and black men in general [5]There are so many examples of police violence against black people!See under note 6Depressing and good, that movements like”Black lives matter” [7] is protesting continually.
But the other officer who responded with Mr. Dean said she could only see Ms. Jefferson’s face through the window when Mr. Dean fired, according to the warrant, and Chief Kraus has defended her right to have a gun in her own home.” [21]And even IF she had a gun in her home, what seemed to be the case [22] since when that is a problem?According to the second amendment of the USA constitution [23] any American inhabitant has the right to bear a weapon!Besides, even the police chief, Kraus, had defended her right to have a gun on her home! [24] Is it not shocking, readers, that a person is not safe in his or her own house? With right the NAACP [25] gave the following statement: ”UNACCEPTABLE! The acts of yet another “trained” police officer have resulted in the death of #AtatianaJefferson. Gun downed in her own home. If we are not safe to call the police, if we are not safe in our homes, where can we find peace? We demand answers. We demand justice.” [26]
CHARGED WITH MURDER End now, the good news is, that Aaron Y Deal, the white police officer, who shot Atatiana Jefferson in her own home, is being charged for murder. [27] I personally wonder whether the cop really is going to be convicted, but if he is, I don’t hope it is such a mockery of justice, like in a similar case, shortly ago, in which a white female police officer shot a black man, Botham Jean, in his own home, pretending [I don’t believe her] that she believed it was her own apartment and that Jean was a burglar [as if it is justified to shoot and kill any burglar, who comes in your home, but that’s apart from this] [28]She was merely convicted to ten years prison. [29] A mockery of justice, according to me and many others. But in the Netherlands it is not at all different: In 2013 a Dutch police officer, who shot the 17 years old Rishi Chadrikasing [from Surinamese-Indian descent], who was running away [the officer wrongly stated that Rishi was a ”treath” to him, despite the fact, that he was running away!], was acquitted for fatlly shooting Chadrikasing.I called the sentence ”license to kill” [30]
EPILOGUE The police killing of the innocent Atatiana Jefferson, in her own home, shows another day in hell for black people in the USA.Because they are not safe!Black men bear the greatest risks-being seen as dangerous, even when they only show their ID, it mysteriously changes in a gun-but also black women are not safe, even not in their own home.And the fact that a female police officer kills a black man in his own home, telling a nonsense story, that she thought it was her own home and is only convicted to ten years prison [31], just shows how sick the American society still is!
Reason for me to write this piece [see also my comment on ABC News below].And in memory to Atatiana Jefferson and all black and other people, who were victims of police killings. But we are determined to fight on.Untill Justice is done! NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE!
HORRIBLE! Though I don’t know the facts yet, it seems to me like an extrajudicial ezxecution! Not only clearly the policeman did not identify himself as police, or shouting ”police” [he has to show his card too], even if he did, and it was a situation which required shooting, he still had the obligation to shoot in the air first [if there was no imminent threath and then on a less vulnerable part of her body! Police violence against black people in the US is shocking. Mostly is the excuse, that the person ”bearec arms” and to see later it was just a mobile or identity card he wanted to show! But also white people are subject to police violence. So in general: Not only racism, but also trigger happy behaviour is the root of many police deaths. THIS HAS TO BE STOPPED!/RIGHT NOW!/https://www.astridessed.nl/… Astrid Essed
Two new studies have revived the long-running debate over how police respond to white criminal suspects versus African Americans.
In the U.S., African Americans are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police than white people. For black women, the rate is 1.4 times more likely.
That’s according to a new study conducted by Frank Edwards, of Rutgers University’s School of Criminal Justice, Hedwig Lee, of Washington University in St. Louis’s Department of Sociology, and Michael Esposito, of the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. The researchers used verified data on police killings from 2013 to 2018 compiled by the website Fatal Encounters, created by Nevada-based journalist D. Brian Burghart. Under their models, they found that roughly 1-in-1,000 black boys and men will be killed by police in their lifetime. For white boys and men, the rate is 39 out of 100,000.
In fact, people of color in general were found more likely to be killed by police than their white counterparts.
The study was published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, or PNAS, a journal that recently drew controversy for publishing another study on police killing disparities. That study, led by Michigan State University psychology professor Joseph Cesario, published on July 22, found that violent crime rates and the racial demographics of a given location are better indicators for determining a police killing victim’s race.
Many people ask whether black or white citizens are more likely to be shot and why. If you live in a county that has a lot of white people committing crimes, white people are more likely to be shot. If you live in a county that has a lot of black people committing crimes, black people are more likely to be shot.
The two studies are just the latest salvos in a long-running debate over whether police violence towards African Americans is better explained because of racial prejudice or because black people are really violent enough to justify extra police force. The Cesario study, with its focus on crime rates, seems to fall in the latter camp. Both rely on media-generated police shootings data—Cesario’s uses databases produced by The Washington Post and The Guardian.
Several academics have challenged Cesario’smethodology, namely his decision to “sidestep the benchmark” of using population to calculate racial disparity. It has been questioned whether using population is an appropriate benchmark in these kinds of analyses: Critics of this technique believe that population-benchmarking is flawed because it assumes black and white people have an equal likelihood of encountering police. (An example of population-benchmarking is, as Cesario’s study explains, stating: “26% of civilians killed by police shootings in 2015 were Black even though Black civilians comprise only 12% of the U.S. population. According to this 12% benchmark, more Black civilians are fatally shot than we would expect, indicating disparity.”)
The study was published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, or PNAS, a journal that recently drew controversy for publishing another study on police killing disparities. That study, led by Michigan State University psychology professor Joseph Cesario, published on July 22, found that violent crime rates and the racial demographics of a given location are better indicators for determining a police killing victim’s race.
Many people ask whether black or white citizens are more likely to be shot and why. If you live in a county that has a lot of white people committing crimes, white people are more likely to be shot. If you live in a county that has a lot of black people committing crimes, black people are more likely to be shot.
The two studies are just the latest salvos in a long-running debate over whether police violence towards African Americans is better explained because of racial prejudice or because black people are really violent enough to justify extra police force. The Cesario study, with its focus on crime rates, seems to fall in the latter camp. Both rely on media-generated police shootings data—Cesario’s uses databases produced by The Washington Post and The Guardian.
Several academics have challenged Cesario’smethodology, namely his decision to “sidestep the benchmark” of using population to calculate racial disparity. It has been questioned whether using population is an appropriate benchmark in these kinds of analyses: Critics of this technique believe that population-benchmarking is flawed because it assumes black and white people have an equal likelihood of encountering police. (An example of population-benchmarking is, as Cesario’s study explains, stating: “26% of civilians killed by police shootings in 2015 were Black even though Black civilians comprise only 12% of the U.S. population. According to this 12% benchmark, more Black civilians are fatally shot than we would expect, indicating disparity.”)Instead of using population, Cesario analyzed variables such as the race of the police officers, crime rates, and the racial demographics of locations where police shootings happened in 2015. From that, he derived that black and Latino victims of police killings were more likely to have been shot by black and Latino cops, and that ”might not be due to bias on the part of Black or Hispanic officers, but instead to simple overlap between officer and county demographics.” The problem with this, as Princeton professor Jonathan Mummolo, explained on Twitter, is that it still rests on the assumption that black and white officers encounter black civilians in equal numbers, or in even temperaments—which they don’t.
The problem with this, as Princeton professor Jonathan Mummolo, explained on Twitter, is that it still rests on the assumption that black and white officers encounter black civilians in equal numbers, or in even temperaments—which they don’t.
What do the recent mass shootings tell us, if anything, about this?
There’s also something to be said for what the victims were doing when the cops shot them. Cesario points out that, “The vast majority—between 90 percent and 95 percent—of the civilians shot by officers were actively attacking police or other citizens when they were shot”—and that there were more white civilians who were committing such attacks when police killed them than were African Americans. In fact, white people were more likely to be armed when police killed them, as Cesario’s study acknowledges—“if anything, [we] found anti-White disparities when controlling for race-specific crime,” reads the study.
The three most recent mass shootings—in Gilroy, California; Dayton, Ohio; and El Paso, Texas—represent extreme examples of armed white men on the attack, but looking at them through the lens of Cesario’s findings is still revealing. Police shot two of the perpetrators, killing one of them. Connor Betts, the shooter who killed nine people and injured 27 more on August 4 in Dayton, was stopped by police bullets less than a minute after his attack began. Police fired at the Gilroy shooter, Santino Legan, but he ultimately succumbed to self-inflicted wounds. Patrick Crusius was arrested “without incident” after killing 22 people and injuring dozens more in El Paso.
In only one of these cases did police actually shoot and kill an armed white suspect who was on the attack: Betts in Dayton. Even that case is murky, though. Betts wore a mask, hearing protection, and body armor—his race was likely not apparent from a distance, and the entire melee happened very quickly. But even if one interprets the fact that police shot at two of those three shooters as evidence of the “anti-White disparity” Cesario mentions, one could also argue that it takes whites committing large-scale acts of terror with automatic weapons for police to respond in the same way that police have responded to, say, a teenager walking away-from-police-while-black.
What do the recent mass shootings tell us, if anything, about this?
There’s also something to be said for what the victims were doing when the cops shot them. Cesario points out that, “The vast majority—between 90 percent and 95 percent—of the civilians shot by officers were actively attacking police or other citizens when they were shot”—and that there were more white civilians who were committing such attacks when police killed them than were African Americans. In fact, white people were more likely to be armed when police killed them, as Cesario’s study acknowledges—“if anything, [we] found anti-White disparities when controlling for race-specific crime,” reads the study.
The three most recent mass shootings—in Gilroy, California; Dayton, Ohio; and El Paso, Texas—represent extreme examples of armed white men on the attack, but looking at them through the lens of Cesario’s findings is still revealing. Police shot two of the perpetrators, killing one of them. Connor Betts, the shooter who killed nine people and injured 27 more on August 4 in Dayton, was stopped by police bullets less than a minute after his attack began. Police fired at the Gilroy shooter, Santino Legan, but he ultimately succumbed to self-inflicted wounds. Patrick Crusius was arrested “without incident” after killing 22 people and injuring dozens more in El Paso.
In only one of these cases did police actually shoot and kill an armed white suspect who was on the attack: Betts in Dayton. Even that case is murky, though. Betts wore a mask, hearing protection, and body armor—his race was likely not apparent from a distance, and the entire melee happened very quickly. But even if one interprets the fact that police shot at two of those three shooters as evidence of the “anti-White disparity” Cesario mentions, one could also argue that it takes whites committing large-scale acts of terror with automatic weapons for police to respond in the same way that police have responded to, say, a teenager walking away-from-police-while-black.
The limitations of the data
Another way to determine whether racial bias is a factor is by examining police behavior when their target is unarmed and not on the attack. This is what University of Nebraska at Omaha criminology professor Justin Nix examined in his 2017 study on police killings. Nix’s research, which Cesario cites often in his own study, also focuses on police shooting-killings in 2015, when police killed nearly twice as many white people that year (495) than they did black people (258). But 15 percent of the black people police killed that year were unarmed, compared with just 6 percent of white people who were unarmed when killed by police. The study also found that 24 percent of African Americans and 32 percent of other non-white racial groups were not attacking police officers when they were killed, compared to 17 percent of white people. This was interpreted as “preliminary evidence of an implicit bias effect,” against African Americans and people of color.
Nix, however, is cautious about deriving any firm conclusions from his own findings or Cesario’s because the data on police shootings in general is too limited. The FBI finally launched its database on police-involved shootings just this year, which is why researchers rely on databases created by journalists. And even the subset of data that academics have been working with—police shooting fatalities—have their own range of limitations.
Cesario declares in his press release that “violent crime rates are the driving force behind fatal [police] shootings,” but Nix says that is “pretty strong language in light of the limitations,” especially if looking at when police deploy lethal force at the local level.
“I don’t think the conclusions are warranted based on their analysis,” said Nix. “You can’t restrict the data to just fatal shootings. Another problem is that when doing these bird’s-eye views, you lose nuance from city to city. Policing is a local thing and there’s no reason to believe that everything is the same across the board.”
For example, Nix would want numbers not only on how many times a police officer shoots their weapon, but every time they draw their gun. “You need a benchmark that says how often they were in certain circumstances where they could have shot but did not. That gets us closer to the likelihood of racial bias.”
Nix recently updated his analysis on police shootings using fatal and non-fatal shootings from the 47 largest metros from 2010 to 2016, using a dataset produced by VICE. That analysis found wide variation between the cities—in St. Louis, 16.8 percent of police shootings were fatal; in Phoenix, 51.9 percent were; and, in Tampa, all three of its police shootings were fatal.
[4] ”On the video, one of the officers is heard yelling, “Gun, gun, gun”. Police officials initially told local media that Clark was found with a “tool bar” on him, but later clarified that he was only holding a phone.”
”Young Black men are stereotyped as threatening, which can have grave consequences for interactions with police. We show that these threat stereotypes are even greater for tall Black men, who face greater discrimination from police officers and elicit stronger judgments of threat.”
Edited by Jennifer A. Richeson, Yale University, New Haven, CT, and approved January 24, 2018 (received for review August 22, 2017)
Significance
Young Black men are stereotyped as threatening, which can have grave consequences for interactions with police. We show that these threat stereotypes are even greater for tall Black men, who face greater discrimination from police officers and elicit stronger judgments of threat. We challenge the assumption that height is intrinsically good for men. White men may benefit from height, but Black men may not. More broadly, we demonstrate how demographic factors (e.g., race) can influence how people interpret physical traits (e.g., height). This difference in interpretation is a matter not of magnitude but of meaning: The same trait is positive for some groups of people but negative for others.
Abstract
Height seems beneficial for men in terms of salaries and success; however, past research on height examines only White men. For Black men, height may be more costly than beneficial, primarily signaling threat rather than competence. Three studies reveal the downsides of height in Black men. Study 1 analyzes over 1 million New York Police Department stop-and-frisk encounters and finds that tall Black men are especially likely to receive unjustified attention from police. Then, studies 2 and 3 experimentally demonstrate a causal link between perceptions of height and perceptions of threat for Black men, particularly for perceivers who endorse stereotypes that Black people are more threatening than White people. Together, these data reveal that height is sometimes a liability for Black men, particularly in contexts in which threat is salient.
“When you deal with the police, you must be careful. You are big and they will automatically see you as a threat.” — Charles Coleman, Jr. (6′4″ Black attorney/writer), quoting his mother
Charles Coleman, Jr. evoked his mother’s warning when he wrote about Eric Garner, an unarmed man choked to death by police. Garner was both Black and 6′3″ tall. Coleman highlights the perils of “occupying a Black body that is inherently threatening,” arguing that tall Black men receive disproportionate attention from police officers (1). This argument evokes the “black brute” archetype, which portrays Black men as apelike savages who use their imposing physical frame to threaten others (2, 3). Although Black men face stereotypes of aggression and threat (4⇓–6), tall Black men may find themselves perceived as especially threatening.
The idea that height has negative consequences contrasts with previous psychological research on height in men, which argues that taller is better. Research finds that tall men seem healthier, more intelligent, more successful, and more physically attractive (7⇓–9). Tall men also stand a greater chance of being hired (10), making more money (11, 12), gaining promotions (13, 14), and winning leadership positions (7, 15).
However, this research almost exclusively explores perceptions of White men (Table S1), who are already positively stereotyped as competent and intelligent (16, 17). On the other hand, Black men are negatively stereotyped; they are seen as hostile, aggressive, and threatening (e.g., refs. 17⇓⇓–20) and are associated with guns (4, 5). For Black men, height may be more often interpreted as a sign of threat instead of competence.
Thus, being tall may not be inherently good or bad for men. Instead, the accessibility of other traits, such as competence and threat, may influence how people interpret height. Classic work in social psychology demonstrates similar effects: Whether a target is initially described as “warm” or “cold” changes how people interpret the target’s other traits (e.g., intelligent, industrious) (21). Considerable research demonstrates that Black men are specifically stereotyped as physically threatening and imposing (22, 23). For this reason, height may impact judgments of threat more strongly for Black men than for White men.
The Present Research
In three studies, we test whether taller Black men are judged as more threatening than shorter Black men and than both taller and shorter White men. We first examined whether New York City police officers disproportionately stopped and frisked tall Black men from 2006 to 2013 (study 1). We then investigated whether height increases threat judgments more for Black men than for White men by manipulating height both visually (study 2) and descriptively (study 3).
Cultural Stereotypes Pilot
Before conducting these three studies, we first conducted a pilot examining participants’ knowledge of cultural stereotypes, testing whether participants endorse knowledge of stereotypes that tall Black men are seen as especially threatening and tall White men are seen as especially competent. Results showed that cultural stereotypes of threat are increased by tallness more for Black targets than for White targets and, conversely, that cultural stereotypes of competence are increased by tallness more for White targets than for Black targets. Full reporting for this pilot is provided in Pilot Study: Cultural Stereotypes About Height and Race; a graph summarizing the results is shown in Fig. S1.
Results
Study 1: New York Police Department Stop-and-Frisk.
In 2013, Judge Shira Scheindlin of the Federal District Court in New York ruled that the New York Police Department’s (NYPD’s) stop-and-frisk program was unconstitutional because of its clear history of racial discrimination (24). Black and Hispanic people faced disproportionate odds of being stopped by police officers, despite the fact that this “racial profiling” was ineffective. In study 1 we tested whether tall Black men were especially likely to be stopped by NYPD officers.
Before analysis, we cleaned the dataset and made three restrictions. (i) We only used data for non-Hispanic Black and White males, avoiding issues with different distributions of height in the population (i.e., Hispanics are shorter than non-Hispanics; women are shorter than men). (ii) We restricted our data to include only people between 5′4″ and 6′4″. This range in height includes over 98% of Black and White males and prevents outliers (particularly those created by clerical errors) from influencing our results. (iii) We restricted our data to include only people of weights between 100 and 400 lb to prevent outliers created by clerical errors.
Recent work demonstrates that young Black men are perceived as taller and more threatening than young White men, controlling for actual height (22). To account for the alternate explanation that police officers simply perceived Black men as taller than White men (25), we analyzed only cases in which suspects provided photographic identification, which almost always lists height alongside other information that cannot be guessed or estimated, such as date of birth (thus making it highly probable that officers record the listed value for height, rather than estimating it) (26). These restrictions left us with 1,073,536 valid targets for analysis.
The stop-and-frisk dataset is large and includes numerous potential dependent variables. For our analysis, we focus on police officers’ decisions to stop individuals, as this decision is made before any interactions with police, making it more reliant on person perception (27). We recognize the potential issue of flexible analyses and partly address this issue by estimating standardized effect sizes for many variables, which allows comparison of the relative magnitude of effects (especially given that the sample size is large enough to allow accurate estimation of effect size).
We accounted for target weight and the interaction of height and weight to isolate height as a predictor (12). Furthermore, to address an ecological explanation for race effects (28), we nested our data within precinct (to account for variability in geographical factors such as crime rate and land value), included precinct-level felony rates (from 2005–2013), and also included a variable in which officers report whether the stop was made in a high-crime area. Finally, because some research suggests that only young Black men are stereotyped as threatening (29), we include age and the interaction between height and age in our model.
Ratio of Black to White stops.
Under stop-and-frisk rules, police officers had the authority to stop anyone they deemed suspicious or threatening. If tall Black men seem especially threatening, then the ratio of Black to White stops (i.e., how many Black men are stopped per White man) should increase with height.
Accounting for precinct-level felonies, weight, age, and perceived local crime, height still showed a meaningful main effect, B = 0.079, t(1,073,526) = 23.98, P < 0.001, 95% CI [0.070, 0.085]. At 5′4″, police stopped 4.5 Black men for every White man; at 5′10″, police stopped 5.3 Black men for every White man; and at 6′4″, police stopped 6.2 Black men for every White man. These results suggest that taller Black men face a greater risk of being stopped than shorter Black men.
Notably, the ratio of Black to White stops was also greater for heavier men, B = 0.041, t(1,073,526) = 11.80, P < 0.001, 95% CI [0.035, 0.048]. At 115 lb, police stopped 4.5 Black men for every White man; at 175 lb (the average weight in the dataset), police stopped 5.2 Black men for every White man; and at 235 lb, police stopped 5.7 Black men for every White man. Finally, height and weight interacted, B = 0.047, t(1,073,526) = 15.71, P < 0.001, 95% CI [0.041, 0.053], such that each 1-SD increase in weight increases the standardized effect of height by 0.047. Because weight estimates were not provided on photograph IDs (hereafter, “photo IDs”), we interpret these results with caution.
We also found effects for other variables in the model. Unsurprisingly, areas with more crime, as reported by police and captured in precinct-level data, exhibit higher ratios of Black to White stops. The ratio of Black to White stops was also larger for younger men. Interestingly, height and age interacted, such that height’s effect on the ratio of Black to White stops was larger for older Black men. See Table S2 for the full coefficients and a replication of results with both photo and verbal IDs included.
Discussion.
Study 1 demonstrates that tall Black men receive disproportionate attention from police officers. During 8 y of NYPD’s stop-and-frisk program, tall Black men were particularly likely to face unjustified stops by police officers, and these patterns were not explained by biased height estimates (since officers received photo IDs).
In the next two studies, we test whether these results might be explained by an interaction between race and height, such that tallness primarily increases perceptions of threat for Black men and primarily increases perceptions of competence for White men.
Study 2: Manipulating Height with Perspective.
We experimentally manipulated height and race to test whether they interact to influence judgments of threat and competence. To manipulate height, we took photographs of 16 young men—eight Black and eight White—from two perspectives: above the target and below the target. These different perspectives naturalistically manipulated the experience of encountering someone who is tall or short. A manipulation check indicated that perspective significantly influenced participants’ free response estimates of target height, b = 1.78, F(1, 427) = 16.42, P < 0.001, 95% CI [0.91, 2.65], such that targets that were looking down were perceived as taller [mean (M) = 71.6 in.] than targets that were looking up (M = 69.8 in.). See Method for a more detailed description of the perspective manipulation.
Participants rated 16 photographs for adjectives describing both threat and competence. Then, because we expected judgments to depend on participants’ individual beliefs about Black and White people, we assessed participants’ beliefs that Black people are more threatening than White people. We predicted that stronger beliefs about Black threat (BaBT) would increase participants’ tendency to identify tall Black men as especially threatening. We also tested the complementary hypothesis that stronger BaBT might make tall White men seem especially competent. We preregistered these predictions at https://aspredicted.org/465w9.pdf. We also previously conducted another study with a nearly identical design; the results of this study are detailed in Previous Iteration of Study 2.
Race, height, and racial stereotypes.
To test whether those with higher BaBT would judge tall Black men as especially threatening, we fit a three-way multilevel model predicting threat with race, height, and BaBT. This analysis yielded an expected two-way interaction between target race and BaBT, b = 0.19, F(1, 437) = 61.40, P < 0.001, 95% CI [0.14, 0.23], such that those higher in BaBT rated Black men as more threatening relative to White men. Importantly, this analysis also yielded the key three-way interaction, b = 0.15, F(1, 2,081) = 10.97, P = 0.001, 95% CI [0.06, 0.24]. No moderating effect of participant gender emerged (Fig. 1).
For Black targets, the two-way interaction between height and BaBT was significant, b = 0.12, t(833) = 3.67, P < 0.001, 95% CI [0.06, 0.19]: Those higher in BaBT saw tall black men as especially threatening. For White targets, this two-way interaction was not significant, b = −0.03, t(834) = −0.83, P = 0.41, 95% CI [−0.09, 0.04]. These results suggest that the predictive utility of BaBT is moderated by height for stereotype-relevant targets (Black men) but not for stereotype-irrelevant targets (White men). See Additional Analyses for Study 2 for BaBT main effects by race and height.
Although BaBT captures the endorsement of stereotypes about threat and not competence, we nevertheless tested for a three-way interaction with competence ratings. We found an expected two-way interaction between target race and BaBT, b = 0.16, F(1, 459) = 70.27, P < 0.001, 95% CI [0.11, 0.20], such that those higher in BaBT rated White men as more competent relative to Black men. We also found a three-way interaction, b = 0.12, F(1, 1,097) = 7.52, P = 0.006, 95% CI [0.03, 0.20], such that BaBT predicted competence especially strongly for tall White men. Participant gender did not moderate effects. This interaction is further broken down statistically (Additional Analyses for Study 2) and graphically (Fig. S2).
Suppressed height effects.
Height did not increase threat for White men, nor did it increase competence for Black men. However, our pilot study revealed main effects of height on stereotypes of both competence and threat. One possible explanation for this null finding is that, for judgments of tall White men, perceived competence suppressed gains in threat, and, for judgments of tall Black men, perceived threat suppressed gains in competence. Because we found significant race by height interactions for both threat and competence at mean levels of BaBT, we were able to conduct Sobel mediations using the entire sample to test these hypotheses.
For White targets, we found a negative indirect effect of height on threat, ab = −0.04, z = −4.30, P < 0.001; being taller makes targets seem more competent and thus less threatening. Once this indirect effect was accounted for, height no longer decreased threat for White men, b = −0.05, t(1,406) = −1.40, P = 0.16. Conversely, for Black targets, we found a negative indirect effect of height on competence, ab = −0.09, z = −6.07, P < 0.001; being taller makes targets more threatening and thus less competent. Notably, once this indirect effect was accounted for, height increased perceived competence for Black targets, b = 0.09, t(1,406) = 2.75, P = 0.006, suggesting that height may be beneficial for Black men in contexts that sufficiently nullify concerns about threat (e.g., the corporate boardroom).
Discussion.
Study 2 experimentally demonstrates that height amplifies threat for Black men and competence for White men, particularly for perceivers who endorse beliefs that Black people are more threatening than White people. Study 2 also found indirect negative effects of height on competence for Black men and threat for White men.
Study 3: Manipulating Height with Descriptions.
Although the photographs from study 2 have naturalistic validity, they may also confound height with intimidation (30). We address this concern by manipulating height with text vignettes (e.g., “As you approach each other, you can see that he is very short/quite tall”) and manipulating race with standardized photographs. See Textual Descriptions of Height Used in Study 3 for text descriptions of height.
Participants rated 16 targets on the same threat and competence adjectives used in study 2. They then completed the BaBT scale. As in the previous experiment, we predicted that those higher in BaBT would make especially strong threat judgments for tall Black men and especially strong competence judgments for tall White men. We preregistered these predictions at https://aspredicted.org/sp3aj.pdf.
Race, height, and racial stereotypes.
We again fit a multilevel model predicting threat with race, height, and BaBT. We replicated the key findings of study 2; those higher in BaBT rated Black men as more threatening relative to White men, b = 0.15, F(1, 374) = 30.83, P < 0.001, 95% CI [0.10, 0.20], and this effect was especially large for tall Black men, b = 0.16, F(1, 1,548) = 9.04, P = 0.003, 95% CI [0.06, 0.27]. Participant gender did not moderate effects (Fig. 2).
We also replicated the competence results of study 2: Those higher in BaBT rated White men as more competent relative to Black men, b = 0.11, F(1, 320) = 20.36, P < 0.001, 95% CI [0.05, 0.17], and this effect was especially large for tall White men, b = 0.10, F(1, 1,518) = 3.78, P = 0.052, 95% CI [−0.00, 0.20]. No moderating effect of participant gender emerged. See Additional Analyses for Study 3 for the breakdown of both the threat and competence interactions.
Discussion.
Study 3 addressed stimuli concerns from study 2 and again demonstrated that, for those higher in BaBT, tall Black men seem especially threatening compared with short Black men and both short and tall White men.
General Discussion
In three studies, we showed that taller is not always better; although tall White men may benefit from increased perceptions of competence, tall Black men are burdened with increased perceptions of threat. We first revealed that NYPD police officers stopped tall Black men at a disproportionately high rate (study 1). We then demonstrated that, for perceivers who endorse stereotypes that Black people are more threatening than White people, tall Black men seem especially threatening (studies 2 and 3).
Previous research has amply demonstrated that people may interpret traits and behaviors as positive or negative depending on the accessibility of other concepts. For example, a classic study revealed that a target’s ambiguous actions are negatively evaluated when participants are first primed with hostility-related traits (versus kindness-related traits) (31). Racial stereotypes alter the accessibility of traits during person perception, which influences how people interpret other traits—in this case, height. For people who already perceive Black men as threatening, height confers extra threat.
Our findings have important implications when considered alongside recent research demonstrating that young Black men are perceived as taller and more muscular than young White men of equivalent size, which causes them to also seem more threatening to non-Black participants (22). The present findings suggest that the negative consequences of these biased height perceptions (i.e., increased threat perceptions) hinge on how strongly the perceiver believes that Black people are threatening (thus interpreting height as a sign of threat).
Height may also interact with more subtle cues of race, such as Afrocentric features (32, 33), and the effect of height may be determined by contextual cues. Once we controlled for perceived threat in study 2, taller Black men were actually perceived as more competent than shorter Black men. When competence is clearly more relevant than threat, Black men may also benefit from height. Alternately, Black men may also benefit from height if they possess other traits that reduce threat, such as babyfacedness (34).
More broadly, these results highlight the importance of intersections between social categories and physical traits. Just as social categories such as race, gender, age, and socioeconomic status intersect in important ways with each other (35, 36), so too do they influence the impact of physical factors such as height (37), weight (38), babyfacedness (34), and facial attractiveness (39).
We recognize that our findings do not necessarily generalize to perceptions of women. We limited our targets to men because police profiling and threatening stereotypes both target Black males. However, future research should investigate whether the same race–height interactions apply for women. Previous work indicates that White women enjoy at least some of the same benefits of height as White men (7), but no work to date has investigated the effects of height for perceptions of Black women.
We also recognize the potential role of weight in perceptions of threat. Consistent with others’ previous work (22, 25), our stop-and-frisk analyses suggest that weight also plays a key role in judgments of suspicion. Because of accuracy concerns about the weight estimates, which may have been biased (22), and the relatively large effect size of height, we chose to focus on height; however, future work should further investigate how height and weight combine with categories such as race and gender to influence judgments.
Being tall is often discussed as a wholly good trait, so much so that Randy Newman wrote a satirical song that lists reasons why “short people got no reason to live.” However, height means something different for Black men: Height amplifies already problematic perceptions of threat, which can lead to harassment and even injury. When Charles Coleman, Jr.’s mother told him that he “was big and they would automatically see [him] as a threat,” she eloquently summarized what we empirically showed—for Black men, being tall may be less a boon and more a burden.
Method
The University of North Carolina Institutitional Review Board (IRB) approved studies 2 and 3 as well as the pilot study. Participants in these studies indicated consent electronically and received debriefing at the end of the studies. Study 1 did not use human subjects and required no IRB approval.
We combined 8 y of publicly available data (2006–2013) documenting the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk program. These data include information about every person stopped as part of the program, including race, age, gender, height, weight, and whether the person was frisked, searched, arrested, or issued a summons. Notably, we only analyzed stops in which officers received photo ID, ensuring the relative accuracy of the reported height and age (26).
We cleaned the data by filtering cases with clear errors (i.e., a large number of people had ages of 99 y or higher, or birth years of 1900). We also restricted the dataset to non-Hispanic Black and White males. By focusing on non-Hispanic Black and White males, we minimized problems of distribution: Adult Black and White males have nearly identical means and distributions of height (40).
Study 2.
Participants and design.
Two hundred participants (73% White, 6% Black, 42% women, Mage = 36 y) completed a 2 × 2 [Target Race: Black, White by Target Perspective: Looking Down (Tall), Looking Up (Short)] within-subjects study. With n = 200 at level 2 and n = 16 at level 1 and a subject slope variance of 0.39, we had ∼88% power to detect a small cross-level interaction (41).
Materials.
Creating stimuli to manipulate height and race.
To create stimuli, we photographed 16 male students from the University of North Carolina. Eight students were White, and eight were Black. We photographed each student from two perspectives: looking up and looking down. We intended to manipulate perceived height: If someone is looking down on you, they are likely taller, but if they are looking up at you, they are likely shorter. This perspective manipulation allowed us to manipulate height in a within-subjects design, addressing both power and stimulus sampling issues (42). In particular, our attention to stimulus sampling reduces the likelihood that our effects were driven by the traits of a particular photograph and minimizes the possibility that small variations in luminance or target size explain our effects (42). See Fig. 3 for examples of stimuli.
To check whether our manipulation of height actually worked, we predicted the estimated height of each target by target perspective. The analysis revealed a main effect of target perspective on estimated height, b = 1.78, F(1, 427) = 16.42, P < 0.001, 95% CI [0.91, 2.65], such that targets who were looking down were perceived as taller (M = 71.6 in.) than targets who were looking up (M = 69.8 in.). We found no main effect of race, b = −0.39, F(1, 427) = 0.80, P = 0.37, 95% CI [−1.26, 0.48], although we did find a race by perspective interaction, b = 1.77, F(1, 2,322) = 4.12, P = 0.043, 95% CI [0.06, 3.48], such that perspective had a larger effect for Black targets. Simple main effects show that Black looking-up targets were perceived as 1.3 in. shorter than White looking-up targets, b = −1.27, t(899) = 2.05, P = 0.041, 95% CI [−2.49, −0.05]. The difference between Black and White looking-down targets was not significant, b = 0.49, t(3,018) = 0.80, P = 0.42, 95% CI [−0.72, 1.72].
BaBT.
Participants answered questions adapted from the General Social Survey (gss.norc.org/). We used these questions because they are less confounded with political beliefs than other scales (43) and directly target stereotypes of Black threat. Participants provided their attitudes toward Black, Hispanic, and White people on seven-point bipolar scales for “nonviolent/violent,” “nonthreatening/threatening,” “nonaggressive/aggressive,” and “not dangerous/dangerous.” Questions about Hispanic targets were included to decrease the focus on Black and White targets and reduce the effect of social desirability on responses.
To create an index variable representing participants’ BaBT, we subtracted participants’ attitudes about White targets from their attitudes about Black targets to capture the relative difference in participants’ attitudes (believing Blacks are more violent than Whites) rather than their overall attitudes (believing people are generally violent regardless of race). Then, we averaged the four difference scores together.
Procedure.
Participants rated 16 photographs of college-aged males on five traits: competent, likable, attractive, threatening, and aggressive. These photographs were counterbalanced, such that each target was seen by half of the participants as looking up and by the other half as looking down. The first item captured competence, and the last two items captured threat. We initially included “likable” and “attractive” as competence items but removed them as suggested by reviewers and the editor; this change did not influence our results. Participants also estimated the height of each target, in inches. After completing these ratings, participants completed the BaBT scale.
Analytic strategy.
We again accounted for between-participant variance by using hierarchical linear modeling, with responses nested within participants. We allowed slopes to vary for both race and perspective manipulations to provide a more precise model and allow cross-level interaction with BaBT.
Study 3.
Participants and design.
Two hundred eight participants (75% White, 10% Black, 61% women, Mage = 38 y) completed a 2 × 2 (Target Race: Black, White by Described Height: Tall, Short) within-subjects study. This study sought to replicate the three-way interaction of study 2 with stimuli that more specifically manipulate height. With n = 208 at level 2 and n = 8 at level 1 and a subject slope variance of 0.28, we had ∼90% power to detect a small cross-level interaction (41).
Materials and procedure.
To manipulate race, we used 20 Black male and 20 White male faces from the Chicago Face Database (44). These faces were chosen based on age; all targets were between 21 and 29 y old. To manipulate height, we described an encounter with each target in which the target was either taller or shorter than the participant. Participants rated eight targets using the same competence and threat items as in study 2. Participants then completed the BaBT scale. The analytic strategy was identical to that of study 2.
Preregistration Details.
We note a few points of discrepancy between our preregistrations and the presented results. (i) The study 2 preregistration did not include the specific hypothesis that people higher in BaBT would judge tall White men as especially competent. (ii) The study 3 preregistration notes the inclusion of BaBT as a potential moderator but does not explicitly state the specific hypotheses. (iii) The specific traits used in the “competence” and “threat” composites were not listed in the preregistrations. END OF ARTICLE
Five years after the rise of Black Lives Matter, activists are still protesting. But national attention to police misconduct has waned.
It’s been nearly five years since several high-profile incidents of police violence spurred racial justice protests in Ferguson, Missouri, and chants of “black lives matter!” began to echo across the country.
The deaths of several black men and women, including Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Sandra Bland, Freddie Gray, Alton Sterling, and Philando Castile, drew national attention to issues of race and policing and spurred on demands for police reform.
But recent developments in two high-profile cases raise questions about whether police violence is still a flashpoint issue — or if national attention to the problem has faded.
In early May, a previously unreleased video recorded by Sandra Bland, the black woman whose 2015 death in a Texas jail cell sparked protests, emerged. The video showed Bland’s perspective of the traffic stop that led to her arrest, and it contradicted policeclaims that she posed a threat to the officer who pulled her over. Bland’s family and others have since demanded that the investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death be reopened.
About a week later, the disciplinary hearing for Daniel Pantaleo, the NYPD officer accused of recklessly using a department-prohibited chokehold on Eric Garner, kicked off in New York City. Garner, an unarmed black man, died in 2014 shortly after being restrained by Pantaleo, and officers failed to immediately render first aid. Video of his arrest, and his gasps of “I can’t breathe,” became a rallying cry for activists.
Pantaleo, who is still employed by the NYPD, was not indicted by a grand jury in 2014, but he’s now facing a department trial that could result in him losing his job as an officer. Several new details about the case have been revealed to the public, including the fact that a police lieutenant texted a different NYPD officer that Garner’s death was “not a big deal,” and that another officer inflated charges against Garner when filling out an arrest form after the man died.
The new revelations in both the Bland and Garner cases are striking — yet they arrive at a time where national anger over police violence doesn’t seem to be as strong as it was when their deaths occurred.
More recent police shootings and incidents of police brutality still draw local attention and activist outrage, but they often fail to attract the same level of public attention they did from 2014 to 2016. At the federal level, the Trump administration has halted efforts to enact police accountability measures. And years into racial justice activists’ fight for structural reform, many of the systems that shield officers from accountability remain in place. In short, it appears that public interest in these problems is waning, along with the momentum to push for police reform — even as the need for these changes remain.
Black and brown Americans still suffer from police violence
The Washington Post has been tracking fatal police encounters since 2015, and for the past four years, the database has found that roughly 1,000 people have died in police shootings each year. So far, 363 people have been killed by police in 2019 alone, according to the Post database.
Even now, these shootings continue to disproportionately affect black Americans. A 2018 article in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health found that while roughly half of police shooting victims are white, young black Americans and Native Americans are disproportionately likely to be killed in a police shooting.
And as Vox’s Dara Lind and German Lopez have previously reported, significant racial disparities have also been seen in federal data and other media-compiled databases of shootings, like the Guardian’s Counted project, which ran from 2015 to 2016.
Black people are also more likely than whites to be exposed to arrests and traffic stops that could potentially escalate into violent encounters.
But recent police violence incidents and shootings haven’t dominated headlines or spurred calls for federal investigations and demands for national police reform efforts in the same way they did three or four years ago. And while some stories that center on the deaths of unarmed black men — such as the fatal 2018 shooting of 22-year old Stephon Clark in his family’s Sacramento, California, backyard — continue to go viral, they tend to fade from public view more quickly, even as activists on the ground continue their protests.
“Police violence — beatings, Taserings, killings — and criminal justice reform more broadly were arguably the leading domestic news storyline during the final two years of the Obama administration,” Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery wrotelast year. In 2018, he added, “the issue has all but vanished from the national political conversation.”
That trend has been noticed by other writers, like the Week’s Bonnie Kristian, who recently wrote that part of the problem may be that public opinion of police has improved among some groups:
Indignation about police misconduct and calls for reform were fading among the white majority by early 2016, as I wrote here at The Week at the time. Polling in late 2015 showed white Americans found police more trustworthy after 18 months of notorious police custody deaths and resultant protests. Already it was becoming evident that cases which once would (and should) have provoked national controversy were increasingly met with desensitization and indifference outside of local protests.
In 2017, a Gallup poll showed that public confidence in police was back to its historical average, with 57 percent of those polled saying they had “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in police compared to 52 percent in 2015. This was largely driven by shifts among white Americans, with more people expressing confidence in police in the 2015-17 period than from 2012 to 2014 (61 percent to 58 percent). During that same time confidence in police fell among black Americans, going from 35 precent in 2012-14 to 30 percent in 2015-17.
Black Americans are also significantly less likely to view police “warmly” when compared to white Americans.
There could be several reasons for the change in the national discussion of policing, but one factor stands out in particular: the election of President Donald Trump.Trump’s election and presidency has consumed a significant amount of media attention and public discussion, leaving little space for discussions of policy issues like police reform.
The Trump administration has also effectively halted federal momentum on policing reform. Under former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Trump administration announced it would review old police reform agreements between the federal government and police departments and also stop entering into new ones.
In cities like Baltimore and Chicago, the Justice Department went so far as to attempt to intervene in ongoing reform efforts, arguing that reform agreements would hamper effectiveness and morale of police officers.
Lack of police accountability is still very much a problem
In recent years, several of the most high-profile cases of police violence have ended with officers not facing charges or not being convicted. This is largely due to longstanding legal standards giving officers wide latitude to use force.
It is possible the continued dismissal of police misconduct cases by police departments or the legal system — especially in incidents caught on video — has created a sense of futility, or discouragement, among some people who were first exposed to police violence incidents back in 2014.
While some officers involved in police violence are never indicted, in other cases, like the case of Michael Rosfeld, a former East Pittsburgh officer who fatally shot 17-year-old Antwon Rose in 2018, officers faced trial but were not convicted. Convictions remain very rare in police shooting cases, and officers who are given prison time for their involvement in shootings is rarer still.
In fact,the only acknowledgement of wrongdoing often comes in the form of settlements given to the families of police-shooting victims. But these settlements, which usually arrive after lawsuits (and in some cases aren’tgiven), are far from the systemic reform that activists and families of victims have demanded.
And because these protections largely hinge on if an officer had a “reasonable” belief that he or others were in danger rather than if a threat was actually expressed, the result is that some police misconduct or excessive force is shielded from prosecution. Efforts to change that standard have emerged in states like California, but no laws have yet to be passed.
There are other longstanding practices within police departments that make accountability for police misconduct, abuse, and fatal shootings a challenge. A 2016 New York Times report and 2017 Washington Post investigation found that officers who were fired from departments for misconduct or criminal behavioroften go on to be hired by other departments or are rehired by the same agency that dismissed them. And tracking officer misconduct, or viewing body camera footage of a police shooting, remains difficult for the public.
Public attention has waned, but activists continue to push for reform
Though police violence and lack of accountability remains a very real problem, Americans in general simply seem less interested in hearing about it — which makes it more difficult for activists and politicians to push through tangible reforms.
However, that doesn’t mean people have given up. Instead, groups seem to be putting more of an emphasis on pushing for structural change from within.
The police reform-oriented Campaign Zero and the Movement for Black Lives have outlined detailed policy plans aimed at policing, but they have also demanded changes to education systems and the economy and joined a larger set of groups making up the anti-Trump “resistance.”
Other groups are seeking to boost black political engagement in the upcoming election and things like the 2020 census in an effort to force politicians to address black voters’ concerns about racism and police accountability.Activists say their fight for justice is as urgent now as it was five years ago, and that while systemic policy change may still be a work in progress, their movement has had an impact. “Since we started using the hashtag #blacklivesmatter, since the jump start of this current iteration of the Black Liberation movement, I know the world has transformed,” Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Network, wrote in a 2018 HuffPost op-ed. “I know the world is changing.” END OF ARTICLE NEW REPORT IACHR:
[15] [WARNING ABOUT WIKIPEDIAWIKIPEDIA MAY NOT BE THAT ACCURATE AND SINCE THIS TRAGIC NEWS HAS HAPPENED RECENTLY, MAYBE NOT ALL THE WRITTEN FACTS ARE THAT ACCURATE/RELY MORE ON YOUTUBE, ABC NEWS AND OTHER NEWSSOURCES I MENTION HERE] WIKIPEDIAKILLING OF ATATIANA JEFFERSON https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Atatiana_Jefferson
During a news conference on Sunday afternoon, Fort Worth Police Lt. Brandon O’Neil said the officer who opened fire on Jefferson never identified himself as a police officer.
“What the officer observed and why he did not announce ‘police’ will be addressed as the investigation continues,” O’Neil said.
The NAACP released a statement on Twitter calling the fatal shooting of Jefferson “UNACCEPTABLE!”
“The acts of yet another ’trained’ police officer have resulted in the death of #AtatianaJefferson Gun downed in her own home,” the NAACP wrote. “If we are not safe to call the police, if we are not safe in our homes, where can we find peace? We demand answers. We demand justice.”
James Smith, a neighbor, said the shooting unfolded after he called the non-emergency police number to report seeing the lights on and the front door open at Jefferson’s home. He said police arrived at the home around 2:30 a.m. without activating their lights and sirens.
“I called my police department for a welfare check,” Smith told WFAA. “No domestic violence, no arguing, nothing that they should have been concerned about as far as them coming with guns drawn to my neighbor’s house.”
Hearing the gunshot shocked him, he said.
“I don’t know what went on in that house, but I know she wasn’t a threat,” Smith said. “I’m still kind of broken and shocked. They tell me I shouldn’t feel bad. But I feel bad cause had I not called the police department, she would probably still be alive today.”
Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt said Jefferson’s “understandably heartbroken” relatives told him that Jefferson and her nephew were playing video games when they heard noises outside.
“She went to investigate at the window. An officer was on the other side who shouted commands and before she had a moment to respond, he shot her to death,” said Merritt, who also represents the family of Botham Jean, a 26-year-old black man shot to death in September 2018 by white former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger, who mistook Jean’s apartment for her own and wrongly suspected he was an intruder.
The Fort Worth Police Department did not release the name of the officer.
O’Neil said police received a call at 2:25 a.m. to respond to the home on East Allen Avenue. He said two officers arrived at the house at 2:29 am. and parked near Jefferson’s home, but not in front of the residence. He said the officers walked around the back of the house, and that one of the officers observed a person through the rear window of the home and opened fire.
Body-camera footage released by the department shows the officer approaching a rear window of the home with his gun drawn. The officer sees the woman through the window, shouts, “Put your hands up, show me your hands,” and fires one shot.
The video seems to confirm the officer never identified himself as police before he opened fire.
The front door appears open in the body-camera footage, but a screen door looks to be closed in front of it. The officer doesn’t appear to knock.
Responding officers entered the home, located the shooting victim and began providing emergency care.
Jefferson died at the scene.
“An 8-year-old male, Ms. Jefferson’s nephew, was inside the room during this time,” O’Neil said.
O’Neil declined to answer questions from reporters, saying Police Chief Ed Kraus is scheduled to hold a news conference about the shooting on Monday.
He said the officer who shot Jefferson is scheduled to be interviewed on Monday by the department’s Major Case Unit investigators.
A firearm was recovered from the woman’s home, but police did not say where the gun was found in the house. The investigation is ongoing.
The officer, who’s been with the department since April 2018, has been placed on administrative leave.
Merritt set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for Jefferson’s funeral. As of Sunday afternoon, more than $81,000 had been raised.
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price released a statement saying the Police Chief Ed Kraus and his command staff “are acting with immediacy and transparency to conduct a complete and thorough investigation.”
She said the case will be turned over to the Tarrant County District Attorney Law Enforcement Incident Team to investigate the incident further.
“Writing a statement like this is tragic and something that should never be necessary,” Price said in her statement. “A young woman has lost her life, leaving her family in unbelievable grief. All of Fort Worth must surround Atatiana Jefferson’s family with prayers, love and support.” END OF THE ARTICLE OF ABC NEWS
Aaron Dean, the officer who shot Ms. Jefferson in her own home, resigned hours before he was charged with murder.
Days after a woman was fatally shot by the Fort Worth police, the officer who fired one bullet through her bedroom window when responding to a call from a concerned neighbor was arrested and charged with murder.
Although the circumstances have varied, it was yet another example of a white officer killing a black civilian, raising nationwide questions about policing practices and racial profiling. The shock of Saturday’s shooting further strained the relationship between residents and the Fort Worth Police Department.
The woman who was killed, Atatiana Jefferson, had been up late playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew, according to the family’s lawyer. She was shot by an officer, Aaron Y. Dean, who was standing in her backyard with a flashlight and a gun. He resigned on Monday, hours before the police chief had planned to fire him.
Here is what we know about the shooting and its aftermath:
Aaron Dean was released from jail and is not cooperating
Mr. Dean, who had been placed on administrative leave before he resigned, has not answered questions from investigators, said Ed Kraus, the interim police chief.
He was arrested without incident in his lawyer’s office on Monday and released from the Tarrant County jail later that night after posting a $200,000 bond. His lawyer has not responded to calls seeking comment, but he told the local NBC television station that Mr. Dean is sorry and that his family was in shock.
Mr. Dean joined the department in April 2018, one month after completing his classes at the police academy, and the only notable entry in his personnel file was for a traffic accident, Chief Kraus said.
Officer Manny Ramirez, the president of the Fort Worth Police Officers Association, said Mr. Dean had never been the subject of an investigation and was “very shaken up” by the shooting.
Fellow police officers condemned the shooting
Chief Kraus grew emotional this week as he described how the killing would undoubtedly erode the trust that he said officers had worked to build with the people they serve.
“I likened it to a bunch of ants building an ant hill, and somebody comes with a hose and washes it away,” he said. “They just have to start from scratch.”
Chief Kraus said he had spoken to scores of officers who all said they supported the quick move to arrest Mr. Dean and charge him with murder.
Officer Ramirez said he and other officers had been dumbfounded as to why Mr. Dean pulled the trigger. Mr. Ramirez added that there was “no way to explain” his actions.
Atatiana Jefferson wanted to attend medical school
Ms. Jefferson, 28, sold medical pharmaceutical equipment from home while studying to apply to medical school. She had earned a degree in biology from Xavier University of Louisiana in 2014.
Ms. Jefferson was a loving aunt who would play basketball and video games with her nephews, her sister Amber Carr said. She had recently moved in with her mother, who had health problems — and learned about her daughter’s shooting while in a hospital.
The police were responding to a neighbor’s call
One of Ms. Jefferson’s neighbors, James Smith, had called a nonemergency line at 2:23 a.m. on Saturday to express concern that the doors of Ms. Jefferson’s house had been open for several hours.
“I haven’t seen anybody moving around,” he told the dispatcher in a calm voice. “It’s not normal for them to have the doors open this time of night.”
Mr. Smith’s niece later said that he was upset with how the police responded, and that he had never suggested a burglary was taking place.
Chief Kraus said the call was relayed to the two officers who responded as a call for an “open structure,” a vague classification that could mean anything from an abandoned house to a burglary in progress. It was not a welfare check, in which case officers would often knock on the house’s doors or call inside.
A gun was found on the floor of Ms. Jefferson’s bedroom near the window. When Ms. Jefferson heard noises coming from outside, she had taken a handgun from her purse and pointed it toward the window, her 8-year-old nephew told officials, according to an arrest warrant released on Tuesday.
But the other officer who responded with Mr. Dean said she could only see Ms. Jefferson’s face through the window when Mr. Dean fired, according to the warrant, and Chief Kraus has defended her right to have a gun in her own home.
“It makes sense that she would have a gun if she felt that she was being threatened or that there was someone in the back yard,” he said at a news conference on Tuesday. YOUTUBE.COMCOP SEEN SHOOTING, KILLING WOMAN IN HER OWN HOME/ABC NEWS
YOUTUBE.COMWOMAN SHOT AND KILLED BY POLICE OFFICER IN HER OWN HOME
”During a news conference on Sunday afternoon, Fort Worth Police Lt. Brandon O’Neil said the officer who opened fire on Jefferson never identified himself as a police officer.
“What the officer observed and why he did not announce ‘police’ will be addressed as the investigation continues,” O’Neil said.” ABC NEWSTEXAS COP NEVER IDENTIFIED HIMSELF AS POLICE BEFORE FATALLY SHOOTING ATATIANA JEFFERSON IN HER OWN HOME: OFFICIAL13 OCTOBER 2019 https://abcnews.go.com/US/officer-bodycam-shooting-killing-woman-home/story?id=66237208
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YOUTUBE.COMWOMAN SHOT AND KILLED BY POLICE OFFICER IN HER OWN HOME
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”When Ms. Jefferson heard noises coming from outside, she had taken a handgun from her purse and pointed it toward the window, her 8-year-old nephew told officials, according to an arrest warrant released on Tuesday.”
Jefferson’s nephew told the authorities that while playing video games they heard noises outside the window. Jefferson took her gun from her purse and pointed it at the window, before she was shot. The nephew’s account was used as the basis for the arrest warrant.
”A gun was found on the floor of Ms. Jefferson’s bedroom near the window. When Ms. Jefferson heard noises coming from outside, she had taken a handgun from her purse and pointed it toward the window, her 8-year-old nephew told officials, according to an arrest warrant released on Tuesday.
But the other officer who responded with Mr. Dean said she could only see Ms. Jefferson’s face through the window when Mr. Dean fired, according to the warrant, and Chief Kraus has defended her right to have a gun in her own home.” THE NEW YORK TIMESWHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE FORT WORTH POLICE SHOOTING OFATATIANA JEFFERSON15 OCTOBER 2019 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/15/us/aaron-dean-atatiana-jefferson.html
[22] ”A gun was found on the floor of Ms. Jefferson’s bedroom near the window.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
SECOND AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
https://constitutionus.com
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But the other officer who responded with Mr. Dean said she could only see Ms. Jefferson’s face through the window when Mr. Dean fired, according to the warrant, and Chief Kraus has defended her right to have a gun in her own home. THE NEW YORK TIMESWHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE FORT WORTH POLICE SHOOTING OFATATIANA JEFFERSON15 OCTOBER 2019
The acts of yet another “trained” police officer has resulted in the death of a person of color. If we are not safe to call the police, if we are not safe in our homes, where can we find peace? We demand answers! We demand justice! #AtatianaJeffersonpic.twitter.com/ZGBsgIdUCg
UNACCEPTABLE! The acts of yet another “trained” police officer have resulted in the death of #AtatianaJefferson. Gun downed in her own home. If we are not safe to call the police, if we are not safe in our homes, where can we find peace? We demand answers. We demand justice.
Aaron Dean, the officer who shot Atatiana Jefferson, resigned on Monday, hours before he was booked on murder charges.
In the days since a black woman was fatally shot in her Fort Worth, Texas, home by a white police officer performing a welfare check, calls for police accountability have been nonstop in a community whose trust in law enforcement has already been shaken by other police shootings and the death of Botham Jean in nearby Dallas.
Local authorities have moved quickly in their response, saying that they have every intention of taking action against the officer who fired through a home window, killing 28-year-old Atatiana Koquice Jefferson on October 12 as she stood in her bedroom with her 8-year-old nephew, who she had been playing video games with.
A neighbor had called a non-emergency police line minutes before saying that he wanted someone to make sure that Jefferson and her nephew were okay after seeing their open door so late in the evening. When police arrived, they walked around the outside of the home instead of announcing themselves at the front door, and one officer fired his weapon at a window shortly after entering the home’s backyard, striking and killing Jefferson in the process.
On Monday, the Fort Worth Police Department announced that Aaron Dean, the officer who shot Jefferson, had resigned from the department hours before he would have been terminated. That same evening, Dean was booked into the Tarrant County Correction Center on murder charges. He was later released on a $200,000 bond.
The police department has attempted to show residents that it is taking Jefferson’s case seriously and that it understands the fury her death, as yet another example of a black person being killed by law enforcement, has ignited in Fort Worth and nationally.
“To the citizens and residents of our city, we feel and understand your anger and your disappointment and we stand by you as we work together to make Fort Worth a better place for us all,” Fort Worth Police Sgt. Chris Daniel said during an evening press conference on October 14.
Dean, who was hired in August 2017 and became an officer nearly a year later in April 2018, is currently not cooperating with the investigation into the shooting and has not answered questions from investigators, interim Fort Worth Police Chief Ed Kraus told reporters earlier on Monday.
Kraus also said he has asked the FBI to look into the shooting for possible civil rights violations, adding that Dean would have been fired by the police department on Monday for failing to follow its policies on use of force and deescalation, and for unprofessional conduct. Police previously said that they plan to submit the camera footage and other evidence to the Tarrant County District Attorney at the end of the investigation.
The department says that despite Dean’s resignation, it will continue its internal investigation as if he were still an officer. Dean’s record will also show that he was dishonorably discharged from the department.
“None of this information can ease the pain of Atatiana’s family, but I hope it shows the community that we take these incidents seriously,” Kraus told reporters.Jefferson’s family, meanwhile, has criticized the fact that Dean was allowed to resign and has maintained calls for an independent investigation into the shooting, saying that they want justice through an “independent, thorough, and transparent process.”
“Fort Worth has a culture that has allowed this to happen,” Lee Merritt, a lawyer representing Jefferson’s family, said over the weekend. “There still needs to be a reckoning.”
The shooting of Jefferson in her own home has drawn national attention
At around 2 am local time on October 12, a neighbor of Jefferson’s called a non-emergency hotline, saying he was concerned about an open door at the woman’s residence and wanted to make sure she was okay. According to a statement released by the Fort Worth Police Department on Saturday, officers arrived at the home at around 2:25 am to respond to an “open structure call” and, after seeing the open door, walked around the perimeter of the residence.
The department said that while doing so, officers saw a person inside standing near a window. “Perceiving a threat the officer drew his duty weapon and fired one shot striking the person inside the residence,” police said.
That person was Jefferson, who was shot while standing in a bedroom. After firing, officers entered the home and began providing emergency aid, but the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
The department also released body camera footage of the shooting, showing what happened outside of Jefferson’s home as well as the residence itself, which had a door open and the lights on inside. The video shows two officers walking around the outside of Jefferson’s home, looking into screen doors before walking into the backyard. Moving toward a closed window on the first floor, one of the officers, who has since been identified as Dean, quickly points a flashlight at it before drawing his weapon.
Dean then yells, “Put your hands up! Show me your hands!” before firing a shot less than a second later, seemingly while in the middle of repeating his commands. At no point in the released video do the men clearly identify themselves as police officers.
In addition to the statement and the body camera video, the police department also released edited footage of a firearm officers said they found at the residence, but it did not offer any additional information about where Jefferson was in relation to it or if the weapon was ever visible to the officers. Texas is an open-carry state and state residents are allowed to possess and carry firearms with few restrictions.
The initial release of the image immediately drew criticism, with observers arguing that the department was attempting to suggest that Jefferson’s weapon was relevant to her death. The police department later said that this was not its intention.
“Nobody looked at that video and said there was any doubt that this officer acted inappropriately,” Kraus later told reporters. “I get it. We’re trying to train our officers better.”
The shooting has left Fort Worth’s black residents devastated
Jefferson’s shooting, which is the seventh local police shooting involving a civilian since June 1 according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, has left the area’s black residents angered and confused. Community members say the shooting proves they cannot call the police for assistance.
“The Fort Worth police murdered this woman. They murdered this woman in her own house,” said Rev. Michael Bell, a local pastor who joined a group of community leaders for a Saturday press conference. “And now, African Americans, we have no recourse. If we call the police, they will come and kill us. And we know that.”
A similar fear was echoed by James Smith, the neighbor of Jefferson’s who called police after noticing the open door and lights at her home, saying he was concerned about Jefferson and her 8-year-old nephew. “I’m shaken. I’m mad. I’m upset. And I feel it’s partly my fault,” he told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on October 12. “If I had never dialed the police department, she’d still be alive.”
In audio of Smith’s call released by the police department on Sunday, the man can be heard telling a police operator that the doors of the home had been open since 10 pm Friday and that he was concerned because he did not see any movement in the house.“I don’t know what went on in the house, but I know that she wasn’t a threat,” Smith later told reporters.
The shooting of Jefferson, who was born in Dallas and graduated from Louisiana’s Xavier University in 2014 with a biology degree, has quickly drawn comparisons to the 2018 shooting of Botham Jean, a 26-year-old black man fatally shot by former off-duty Dallas officer Amber Guyger as he ate ice cream in his apartment.
Lee Merritt, a local civil rights attorney who represents Jean’s family, is also working with Jefferson’s relatives. He said the weekend shooting is yet another example of black people being unable to live safely in their own homes.
“You didn’t hear the officer say ‘gun, gun, gun,’ you didn’t hear him — he didn’t have time to perceive a threat,” Merritt told reporters on Saturday. “That’s murder.”
“We expect a thorough and expedient investigation,” he added. A GoFundMe created by Merritt on behalf of Jefferson’s family was posted on October 13 and had collected more than $210,000 by Tuesday morning.
Before the shooting, Merritt says that Jefferson, who was called “Tay” by her loved ones, was playing video games with her nephew. The boy was in the bedroom with her when the shooting occurred, and stayed at the homes as Jefferson,who worked in pharmaceutical equipment sales and was saving money for medical school,was helping take care of the home for her sick mother, who was in the hospital at the time of the shooting.
Merritt says that when she went to the bedroom window on Saturday morning, Jefferson was concerned after hearing noise outside, adding that she was likely worried about the possibility of a prowler or burglar being near the home.
“Law enforcement has not said that she wielded a weapon,” Merritt told the New York Times on Sunday. “Also, it wouldn’t matter because that’s her home.”
Speaking to CNN that same day, Merritt said that while Jefferson’s family has spoken to local police, they want an independent agency to take over the investigation into the shooting. “We don’t think that Fort Worth police should be investigating it on their own,” he said.
The police department and city officials are working to show that they take Jefferson’s death seriously
On Sunday, the Fort Worth Police Department held a brief press conference to discuss the shooting but offered little new information about what transpired in the early morning hours of October 12.
The agency largely stuck to a prepared statement, saying that it shared the “very real and valid concerns” raised by local residents and Jefferson’s family.
“The tragic loss of life has major ramifications for all involved, especially the family of Ms. Atatiana Jefferson. We have communicated with the family and have shared our serious and heartfelt concern for this unspeakable loss,” Fort Worth Police Lt. Brandon O’Neill said.
The department did not answer questions about why it released information about a gun in Jefferson’s home and also declined to answer questions about the exact nature of the “threat” perceived by the officer.
However, the department did confirm some previous statements already made by Merritt and Smith, noting that Jefferson’s nephew was in the room with her when the shooting took place and that the officer who shot the woman did not identify himself as law enforcement before firing.
“What the officer observed, and why he did not announce ‘police,’ will be addressed as the investigation continues,” O’Neil told reporters.
On Monday, however, the department gave several additional updates, likely in an effort to mitigate concerns that the agency would protect Dean from punishment.Along with announcing Dean’s resignation, Police Chief Kraus said he regretted that the department shared images of the firearm in Jefferson’s home, saying she had every right to possess it.
“We’re homeowners in the state of Texas,” he said. “I can’t imagine most of us — if we thought we had somebody outside our house that shouldn’t be and we had access to a firearm — that we wouldn’t act very similarly to how she acted.”
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price has also issued several statements, including an open letter on Monday where she said that the city was “heartbroken” at Jefferson’s death. Price also denounced the initial images of a weapon in Jefferson’s home, and apologized to Jefferson’s family and to James Smith, saying that his call about his neighbor should have never culminated in her death.
In the wake of the shooting, Price says she has asked the city’s manager to hire a “third-party panel of national experts to review the police department. Everything from top to bottom.”
“Justice is critical here — but it will not bring back the life of a young woman who was taken too soon,” Price added in the letter. “This is a pivotal moment in our city, and we will act swiftly with transparency.”
Jefferson’s death has been compared to the 2018 murder of Botham Jean
News of Jefferson’s death, which comes less than two weeks after Amber Guyger was convicted of murdering Jean and sentenced to 10 years in prison, adds to already intense attention to policing in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
In recent months, Dallas residents have voiced several concerns about the Dallas Police Department, concerns that were only intensified by evidence revealed during Guyger’s trial and by the October 4 death of Joshua Brown, a black man who testified against Guyger last month. The Dallas Police Department has condemned speculation that its officers were somehow connected to Brown’sdeath, saying that the man was killed in a drug deal gone bad.
According to the Washington Post’s Fatal Force database, Jefferson is one of at least 709 people who have been killed by police since the start of 2019. The database notes that 32 women have been killed by police officers this year; five of those women were black.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, members of Jefferson’s family said that it was “inconceivable and confusing” that the woman was shot by police in her home. “It’s another one of those situations where the people that are supposed to protect us are actually not here to protect us,” Amber Carr, Jefferson’s older sister, told NBC Dallas-Fort Worth, adding that she was concerned about the training given to officers.
More concerns about the shooting were raised on Sunday evening as hundreds of people gathered for a rally and vigil on the same street as Jefferson’s home. “Systemic oppression has created risks for black people to be killed,” one attendee, Michelle Anderson, told local reporters. “We talk about state-sanctioned violence — it has always been a culture for black people. So no, it’s not about the training issue.”
Similar concerns have also been raised by national politicians, including several Democratic presidential candidates who shared Jefferson’s story on social media over the weekend.
“Being Black in your own home shouldn’t be a death sentence,” Sen. Kamala Harris tweeted on October 13. Sen. Elizabeth Warren said the shooting showed the urgent need for police reform and “federal standards for the use of force.” Sen. Bernie Sanders, meanwhile, called for a federal investigation into the shooting. Former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke also weighed in on the latest high-profile police shooting in his home state, saying that people “must demand accountability and promise to fight until no family has to face a tragedy like this again.”
Jefferson’s family and community say they intend to do just that and will push to hold the department accountable for the shooting as the Fort Worth Police Department’s investigation continues.But the family also acknowledged that accountability will not erase the pain and trauma that the shooting has caused. “You want to see justice, but justice don’t bring my sister back,” Carr told reporters on Saturday before breaking down into tears.
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”On September 6, 2018, off-duty Dallas Police Departmentpatrol officer Amber Guyger entered the Dallas, Texas, apartment of Botham Jean and fatally shot him. Guyger said that she had entered the apartment believing it was her own and that she shot Jean believing he was a burglar.[1][2] The fact that Guyger, a white police officer, shot and killed Jean, an unarmed black man, and was initially only charged with manslaughter resulted in protests and accusations of racial bias.[3][4][5] On October 1, 2019, Guyger was found guilty of murder.[6] The next day, she received a sentence of ten years in prison” WIKIPEDIAMURDER OF BOTHAM JEAN https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Botham_Jean [29]
CNNAMBER GUYGER GETS TEN-YEAR MURDER SENTENCE FOR FATALLY SHOOTING BOTHAM JEAN3 OCTOBER 2019
It was one particular event that took place at De Balie (that was brought to my attention on Saturday) which began a closer look for me at the centre and made me question whether I wanted to speak there. I explain my position . I hope to return to #Amsterdam soon.
For those asking “Why cancel your appearance over one event”: 1. That “one event” was bad enough 2. That event inspired a closer look at the centre & what it represents 3. Only white people can play “free speech” & “debate all ideas” game. I am not white. This is not theoretical
Reacties uitgeschakeld voor Egyptian feminist Mona Eltahawy fights Islamophobia/Cancels her talk in the Islamophobic debating centre De Balie, Amsterdam
Since September 2015 until August 2018, we have managed to save each and every one of these people, giving them a chance to reach dry land after embarking on one of the most dangerous voyages of their lives at sea.
A rescue helicopter leaves after evacuating a mother and her new born baby following their rescue with other nearly 300 migrants off the coast of Libya. AFP
Personnel from LifeBoat, right, and the Migrant Offshore Aid Station, left, assist refugees aboard a vessel that will take them to the Topaz-Responder and, ultimately, to Europe, on Nov. 22, 2016.
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! has more than 100 genuine shrunken human heads in its museums! The Jivaro tribes of South America would take the heads of fallen enemies, remove the skin whole, and shrink it to the size of a fist! Ripley’s Believe It or Not! founder Robert Ripley acquired his first genuine human shrunken head in Lima, Peru, in 1923.
RIPLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT! HAS MORE THAN 100 GENUINE SHRUNKEN HUMAN HEADS IN ITS MUSEUMS! THE JIVARO TRIBES OF SOUTH AMERICA WOULD TAKE THE HEADS OF FALLEN ENEMIES, REMOVE THE SKIN WHOLE, AND SHRINK IT TO THE SIZE OF A FIST! RIPLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT! FOUNDER ROBERT RIPLEY ACQUIRED HIS FIRST GENUINE HUMAN SHRUNKEN HEAD IN LIMA, PERU, IN 1923.
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![This year, Sinterklaas' arrival on November 17 was greeted by protests against Black Pete in 18 cities across the Netherlands [Eva Plevier/[Reuters]](https://ci4.googleusercontent.com/proxy/qLUdgKklTlULxQyNy5AQoIpowBBHLE--Ju3-DRCkNk5CR-Pbx07PeSwoFshhlBvTwfrkX-vgDPHHniOKy_E8jGavwTy9ur0b4hcboNKzT6ST3e4mans_apYmWkEF3LsN8RU17Zw0P4a803cGpRjL0X6D8DMqRh3SQSJU-y2rF7_pv_t87OVnPs9hthK2NJXtTl6OKTdLIpVLnNXEPKbt-IjWHyvkx2xkuHZJRXs_-PQGYwf2WpI1Ikdb6KKpnwcREFqpUhZrwW5ZKT9roIY4MYNxAx-ORK71Oc7zGg7Q2U6-F3EafxTGW9iAaN9RKc6SE2PG05LKMKRtPNclPl7WTDFMzlQMp73SU6BkUIF7AgEI4j5iYhRp7FEsKAgSIgt6E1vnHA=s0-d-e1-ft#https://ecp.yusercontent.com/mail?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fmritems%2Fimagecache%2Fmbdxxlarge%2Fmritems%2FImages%2F2018%2F11%2F27%2F1b6c60dc8c13474eb7011f4619d10b04_18.jpg&t=1544460037&ymreqid=589c4cb3-4a95-3e35-1ce9-c3009801e100&sig=XsRl9OaClWXQdHUMuLcSpQ--~C "Zwarte Piet: Black Pete is 'Dutch racism in full display'")
Tegenstanders van Zwarte Piet bij de landelijke intocht van Sinterklaas op de Zaanse Schans. © ANPPROTESTS AGAINST BLACKFACE!
. I hope to return to 
A rescue helicopter leaves after evacuating a mother and her new born baby following their rescue with other nearly 300 migrants off the coast of Libya. AFP
