Tag Archives: white people

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Stop Discounting Women …


Stop Discounting Women-Women Are Not Worth Less Banner

Dear Carmen,

Stop Discounting Women

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Take the I Am Not Worth Less pledge to help make sure our Senators stop discounting women’s voices and women’s paychecks today.

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Women get short-changed every day. We’re paid less than men. We struggle to afford child care. As we age, we’re at greater risk of poverty. Women need real economic security — good jobs with fair pay, decent child care and a secure retirement. Because when women thrive, so do our families, our communities and the economy.

Advocating for common-sense policy solutions to help women and their families in these difficult economic times is essential. That’s why we’re launching a new public awareness effort — Stop Discounting Women. Our goal is to educate and mobilize the public to help bridge the economic inequalities women face.

And the first target of our effort is to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act! With the rallying cry “Women Are Not Worth Less,” we are launching a major social media campaign and continuing our national advocacy to ensure immediate action on the Paycheck Fairness Act in September.

Join us! Take the I Am Not Worth Less pledge to help make sure our Senators stop discounting women’s needs and women’s paychecks!

The Senate must act swiftly when it returns to work in September to make certain that women get the equal pay they deserve. The Paycheck Fairness Act would deter wage discrimination by closing loopholes in the Equal Pay Act and bar retaliation against workers who disclose their wages to coworkers. The House already has passed the bill and now we need the Senate to do the same.

Women are not worth less — it’s time for our Senators to stop discounting women’s paychecks! Pledge to help pass the Paycheck Fairness Act now.

Thank you for continuing to stand up for equal pay. Together, we have come a long way for women, and we won’t rest until we finish the job.

Fatima Goss GravesSincerely,

Fatima Goss Graves
Vice President for Education and Employment
National Women’s Law Center

P.S. The wage gap has tremendous economic consequences for women. Please donate today to support our fight for fair pay legislation and all of our important work on behalf of women and girls.

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Muslim until proven Christian


Is Barack Obama a Muslim?

No.

He’s a Christian. Nevertheless, that question has been a background whisper to the right-wing narrative about Barack Obama even before he became a candidate for president — Obama made his announcement almost a month after the false InsightMag.com report that he attended an Indonesian madrassa as a child.

That whisper became more of a shout in the past week after some thoroughly depressing polling was released showing that disproportionately large percentages of the American public either believe (contrary to established fact) that the president is a Muslim, or are unsure (in spite of intense media scrutiny) of which faith he adheres. This can’t be seen as anything but a huge victory for the right, which has, for the better part of three years, made sure to take every opportunity to use “Obama” and “Islam” in the same sentence. Sometimes it’s more explicit, like when Franklin Graham proclaims that Obama was “born a Muslim.” Other times it’s slightly less explicit, like when the Washington Times‘ Jeffrey Kuhner — who was editor of InsightMag.com when it made the false Obama-madrassa claim — callsObama a “cultural Muslim” and the Times Photoshops a star and crescent onto his face.

Either way, the end goal is the same — to portray Obama as different, dangerous, “other.”

Given that they’ve worked so hard at fostering this image, one would think that the release of polling showing that more and more Americans buy into their bogus storyline would be cause for celebration. That, however, is not the case, as the right is eager to disown responsibility for this bigoted line of attack and place it squarely on Obama’s shoulders.

Stephen Hayes suspects that the Muslim rumor persists because of Obama’s “outreach to what he calls the Muslim world.” Rush Limbaugh claims Obama hasn’t been “obvious” about his Christianity, while Glenn Beck faults the president for practicing “a Christianity that most Americans just don’t recognize.” Byron York wrote a blame-the-victim masterpiece for the Washington Examiner in which he traced responsibility for the Muslim falsehood all the way to Obama’s memoir, Dreams from My Father.

The logic is amusing — the default setting for most people is to think Obama is a scary Muslim, and it’s his responsibility to convince them otherwise. In practice, the argument is devious. These right-wingers give the appearance that they’re rebutting the false Muslim rumor, but at the same time forward it by attacking Obama for doing things that make him seem like a Muslim. They absolve themselves of responsibility while reaping the benefits of smearing their ideological adversary.

But it’s not just the president who’s getting a bad shake. Implicit in this smear is that being a Muslim is an undesirable trait, something to be feared and loathed. And that has the potential to make difficult the lives of American Muslims.

One need not look any further than the ongoing, increasingly ludicrous row over the Park51 Islamic center — currently suffering under the ignominious “Ground Zero mosque” misnomer. After weeks of Fox News and the rest of the right-wing media blithely lumping Muslims together with terrorists, Nazis, and enemies of the state, the protests against Park51 have taken on a virulently xenophobic character, with protesters holding signs with slogans like: “Islam = Hate”; “Islam = terrorist”; “Islam = Killing.”

But if we’re going by the right wing’s rules, then that’s the fault of Muslims for not sufficiently proving they’re not all hateful, murdering terrorists.

Simon Maloy is a Research Fellow at Media Matters for America.

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In the Senate, where does immigration politics end and racism start? (via Anderson Cooper 360)


David Gewirtz | BIO AC360° Contributor Director, U.S. Strategic Perspective Institute What does it say about our current congressional leadership when senators from South Carolina, Kentucky, and Arizona appear to be giving serious consideration to repealing the Constitutional amendment that gave citizenship to slaves? To me, it’s just another way to say, … Read More

via Anderson Cooper 360

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This is not about Ground Zero …This is about America

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Over the last week we’ve heard a lot from DFA members around the country asking for action to protect the rights of religious freedom for all Americans and I couldn’t agree more.

I don’t get upset much. I mean, I get ticked off at Republicans and Democrats (and at really bad customer service!), but that’s why I work with you at DFA. Because when we get upset, we don’t stew in it and hope it goes away. We do something about it.

The controversy around the building of a Muslim Community Center at 51 Park in New York City should upset all of us. It definitely upsets me. Shortly after the tragedy of the 9/11 attacks, much of this country came together. But there were a number of other, smaller tragedies occurring all over the country as a result of the attacks. People who “looked like terrorists” were victims of harassment, intimidation, and outright violence.

That includes me, and every member of my immediate family in different instances. My response was to protest the coming wars. My family did something different, though. They started going to Mosque. It did more than renew their faith — it provided a sense of community and safety during a very dark time for us. But for the last nine years, at least, people have been trying to block the construction of mosques all over the country.

Now, let’s be clear, the subject of the highest profile Muslim structure, 51 Park in New York City, will have a basketball court and a culinary school. Two floors will have a prayer room. The other eleven will host movie nights, performances, group dinners, etc — it’s basically a Muslim YMCA, open to everyone. These moderate Muslims are doing everything we could ask of them. They’re trying to build a bridge in the communities they live in, trying to show the world that Muslims are cool and interesting and diverse, and proving that being a Muslim does not equal being a terrorist.

But they’re being thrown under the bus by our elected leaders, egged on by some of the ugliest elements of the right-wing. Well-intentioned leaders of the Democratic Party are getting caught up in the fray as well, some of them seeking to find common ground with an implacable opposition. It’s not helping.

This isn’t just a Manhattan problem. Right now, there is opposition to mosques in Staten Island, Brooklyn, Southern California, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Illinois, and dozens of other locations across our nation. Where would they move? If public pressure can be brought to bear to take down the most high-profile Muslim community center in liberal NYC, then these other places don’t even have a chance, Ground Zero connection or not.

Frankly, this isn’t about Ground Zero. This is about America. This is about freedom. This is about people and there seems to be no place that Muslim people can go without being harassed.

The harassment has to stop, and that starts with you and me.

I think most people agree that Muslims have the right to worship. But these efforts to harass Muslims are based in fear, prejudice, and ignorance. Removing a community center doesn’t solve these problems. But talking about religious freedom — really engaging people — can open people’s minds, and blunt the prejudice.

I pledge to do it myself.

I pledge today to stand up for religious freedom right now. We cannot wait another day to defend the rights of all Americans to worship if they want, where they want, and when they want. I will not wait for the conversation to come to me; I will start the conversation now. Please join me in making the pledge to fight for our universal American values of acceptance and respect for religious freedom.

I need you, in your community, to have those challenging conversations with people you know.

Take the pledge right now.

It’s time to be pro-active in support of the values that define what we stand for and who we are as Americans. After you take the pledge, please follow up and share the conversations you’ve had. I think we’ll all find them inspiring to share.

-Arshad

Arshad Hasan, Executive Director

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Tell Congress: Let students earn citizenship


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Tell Congress:

Our broken immigration system needs reform now. Pass the DREAM Act as a step towards comprehensive immigration reform.

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Today, thousands of young immigrants who were brought here at a young age are waiting for the DREAM Act to have a chance to go to college. Sign this petition to Congress to give them the opportunity they deserve:

Our broken immigration system needs reform now. Pass the DREAM Act as a step towards comprehensive immigration reform.

Click here to add your name to this petition and send it to your Representative and Senators.

The DREAM Act would allow students who are undocumented to earn their citizenship. These students have worked hard for years in the hopes of going to college, furthering their educations, and making a difference in the world. But our broken immigration system makes that impossible.

The DREAM Act is one step toward a fair and just immigration policy, and an important one. Congress should pass it immediately. Please join me in taking action today.

Thank you,
Marissa Graciosa
Reform Immigration FOR America