Feature Archives

After the past eight years, environmental racism has gotten worse in Bayview Hunters Point, according to independent reports. While things have not improved for the residents, reports show a pattern of racism inflicted on the Hunters Point community. The reports include the original Human Rights Commission Report "The Unfinished Agenda", the Grand Jury Report, the report on "Environmental Justice" by the San Francisco State University Journalism Department, UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, and the New Human Rights Commission Report on "Environmental Racism". Read more...

Grand Jury Report | SF State Report | Unfinished Agenda | More indendent reports

Special Coverage: The US and Israel withdrew from the UN World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (UNWCAR) in Durban, South Africa, 8/31-9/7. This marks the third WCAR conference that the US has boycotted. The non-participation by the US in the WCAR is disturbingly telling, as Arab-Americans now face dangerous tides of racism; One man has been murdered in AZ, and Palestinian and Jewish children face taunts and threats in Bay Area schools. Read a summary of the final declaration of the UN World Conference Against Racism, adopted 9/8.

A report from special correspondent Lorenzo Komboa Ervin details why thousands of people took to the streets in an anti-government march during the conference. In Oakland, a rally and march were held in solidarity with protests in South Africa. Speakers from N'COBRA, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and the Nation of Islam spoke truth about white supremacy and racism in the US. Photos: 1 | 2 | 3

Black Radical Congress statement on the UNWCAR
MADRE coverage
South Africa Indymedia

On March 8 2001, students and teachers from all around the Bay Area rallied at Sproul Plaza at UC Berkeley and then marched through town to urge a reinstatement of affirmative action programs in the UC system. Apparently some looting occurred; the majority peacefully demonstrated. Some stores locked their doors. Watch a video of the rally, read the list of speakers and planned events.

Wielding a sledgehammer, Native American justice activist James Cosner smashed a life-size statue of Christopher Columbus in front of dozens of witnesses at City Hall in San Jose, California on March 8th. As marble chips flew, Cosner shouted "Genocide! This man murdered us!" Details

11/30/2001:As the US military buildup continues around and in Afghanistan, some recent enlistees in the US armed forces are now applying for conscientious objector status, and one retired army officer questions the so-called "war on terrorism." Read an excellent interview with a former drill instructor on the military, propaganda and social control from 1988.

Meanwhile, hundreds of hate crimes have been committed in this country against Arabs, Muslims, Sikhs and anyone seen as resembling a "terrorist." On Sept 29, an Arab-American man was shot to death in his convenience store near Fresno. The man, Abdo Ali Ahmed, had received numerous death threats before being shot by an unknown assailant. Relatives and friends believe he was killed because of his ethnicity. In SF, when a hate crime was committed against a local business in the Mission District. Read about a teach-in on 10/27. See photos 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Since 9/11, thousands of people in the Bay Area have come together to mourn the loss of life, to protest the US going to war and our loss of civil liberites, and to create Hate-Free zones in our communities. More info: Middle East Children's Alliance | Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee. See Oakland youth of color speak out against racist scapegoating in Stronger Than Bombs

Middle Eastern activists confront the racism and being marginalized in the peace movement. "Instead of just feeling sorry for us and only wanting to go on the street and scream that you are fighting for us, please I beg of you to come visit some of us, talk to some of us, and if you can learn of our history ... Involve us, don't fear us." More Anti-war News includes the 12/5 international student strike against the war; a Sonoma Valley info leaflet; reports on suffering Afghanis and the continuing American media blackout; audio 1 | 2 from Fresno; a 12/9 debate on labor and the war; and panel and multi-media exhibit against the war on 12/11.

Tributes to the work and life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. took place throughout the Bay Area this past week. Events included a demonstration against the war and racism in downtown SF on Jan 16, the day after MLK's birthday. See photos. On the observance of his birthday, hundreds of school children and community members met up with labor, Free Mumia, and peace activists to march in the rain from Caltran to Civic Center to honor and represent the legacy of his non-violent work for justice. Read more

Some alternative responses to the enduring nature of racism in the U.S. address outrageously disproportionate minority incarceration rates and the Black Panthers' platform.