Friday, November 8, 2019
The main reason I began watching HBO's new series, Watchmen, was because I heard the show incorporated the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre as a central part of its narrative. (And, I should add, I'm a fan of comic-book-noir television series.) The show is set in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in an alternative present where descendants of the Massacre receive reparations — you know right there it's an alternative reality — and an underground group of white supremacists is waging war on the city's black population and the police.
The Tulsa Race Massacre is one of many horrifying chapters in this country's racist history. It is made that much more shameful by the fact that it has been purposely omitted from our historical narrative, as have many similarly horrific events. The 1898 Wilmington Massacre was misrepresented for decades as a victory of whites over a black uprising, when it was spoken of at all. The more recent 1968 Orangeburg Massacre was largely ignored and misrepresented by the contemporary press and has been little spoken of since.
I didn't know about the three events until recently. I would feel more ashamed of my ignorance of these and, I'm certain, other examples of large scale, racially motivated violence, except that I can't really blame myself for not knowing about what has been blacked out of the historical record. That being said, I willingly accept the collective guilt and shame for the white, "history is told by the winners" rendition of history which has glossed over, misrepresented and left out some of the greatest outrages perpetrated against minority groups in this country.
I have been working to remedy my ignorance for at least a decade. I posted about the Wilmington Massacre last year when I stumbled on a mention of it and did some research. Watchmen was my link to the Tulsa Race Massacre. I only learned of the Orangeburg Massacre a few days ago by chance when I was reading some biographical information on one of my favorite newspaper columnists.
Below are brief summaries of the three incidents with links to more complete histories.
The Wilmington Massacre, 1898
In the late nineteenth century, Wilmington was the largest city in North Carolina and home to a large, reasonably affluent and educated black populace. The state's Republican Party, which at the time deserved the label "the Party of Lincoln," had joined with the Populists to form the Fusion Coalition. By 1894, the Fusion party had taken the governorship and every other statewide office. Blacks served in local and state governments.
Tags: The Wilmington Massacre , The Tulsa Race Massacre , HBO's Watchmen , The Orangeburg Massacre , Eugene Robinson , Image
Thursday, November 7, 2019
This week's Skinny looks at the political dynamics here in Arizona surrounding the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump's Ukrainian shakedown, noting Sen. Martha McSally doesn't have any kind of response whether Trump's quid-pro-quo was a legitimate use of presidential power.
CNN is among the news outlets trying to get McSally to let the American people know where she stands—and, true to form, McSally is dodging another tough question. From yesterday's report:
Several Republicans have avoided answering questions about whether it's OK for Trump to ask Ukraine to probe his rivals.Kinda reminds me of Brave Sir Robin...
One, Sen. Martha McSally of Arizona, took the long route — around the Capitol and around parked cars — to avoid cameras. Her aide stepped in front to say: "No comment."
Tags: McSally , impeachment , Republicans , CNN , Ukraine , Arizona , politics , Image
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Wednesday, November 6, 2019
Tags: Claytoonz , comics , politics , whistleblower , Image
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
Hundreds of Tucsonans filled the patio of Hotel Congress on Tuesday evening to watch Democratic Regina Romero claim victory in Tucson's mayoral race.
After a high-energy performance from local band Santa Pachita, the results showed Romero with a commanding lead over independent candidate Ed Ackerley and Green Party nominee Mike Cease.
Romero, who had represented Ward 1 for 12 years, launched her campaign to replace Mayor Jonathan Rothschild after he announced he would not seek a third term. She had 56 percent of the vote, compared to Ackerley's 40 percent and Cease's 4 percent.
“As important and historic as this night is, let me tell you what excites me tonight,” Romero told the crowd. “The people of Tucson have said loud and clear that it’s time to take our city to the next level of progress and prosperity, that we’re ready to act boldly on climate, they we believe in fighting for social and economic justice for all Tucsonans. Regardless of what differences of opinion we have, we will always be one Tucson. Somos uno.”
Romero will be Tucson’s first Latina mayor. Congressman Raúl Grijalva was in attendance to introduce Romero, saying the night’s results “reflects who we are as a city.”
“It sends a wonderful message across not only the state of Arizona, but across this nation, that Tucson is part of the change in this country,” Grijalva said. “That Tucson believes in issues. That Tucson looks beyond their noses about what the future should be for themselves, their children and the generations to come.”
Romero's fellow Democrats had a good night, sweeping the council races. Ward 1 candidate Lane Santa Cruz, a former aide in Romero’s office, had 58 percent of the vote against Republican Sam Nagy and Green Party candidate Matthew Smith.
“It’s been so important for me during this campaign, having been born and raised here, that we build capacity with our young people, because they’re going to carry us into our future,” Santa Cruz said. “That’s been a big part of our campaign, it’s one of the things I’m going to keep pushing in the office, making sure that we have youth voices leading from the ground up.”
Incumbent Ward 2 councilman Paul Cunningham won another term, capturing 60 percent of the vote against Republican Ewart Williams and Green Party candidate William Peterson.
“We made history tonight, but it’s a part of a start of a history,” Cunningham said. “Tonight in Kentucky, the governor is now a Democrat. Tonight in Virginia, the state Senate is now Democrat. One year from tonight, the White House will be Democrat … This was our dry run, this was our rehearsal. I want to put the conservatives on notice, to quote my friend Ricky Bobby, we’re coming for you, alright?”
Ward 4 candidate Nikki Lee, who previously ran a campaign for a state representative seat, won 57 percent of the vote against Republican Mike Hicks and Green Party candidate Cara Bissell.
“I’m excited to work with this amazing group of people and continue to move Tucson forward, so thank you,” Lee said.
“Tonight’s results affirm that Tucsonans are ready for bold leadership that will take our city to the next level of progress and prosperity,” Romero said in prepared remarks. “At a time when our national politics have been sown with division, Tucsonans remain united by our shared desire to promote a safe, just, and sustainable city that provides economic opportunity for our families and future generations. This movement is open to everyone—whatever your background, whatever your party, whoever you voted for—let’s work together! We will always be one Tucson—somos uno.”
Meanwhile, Prop 205, aka the Sanctuary City initiative, is going down to defeat, with 71 percent of voters rejecting the proposal, which would have limited the ability of local police to inquire about immigration status and prevented federal law-enforcement agents from working with Tucson police unless they signed an agreement that would likewise limit their ability to inquire about immigration status.
In the Tucson City Council races, all the Democrats were safely ahead of Republican candidates. In Ward 1, Democrat Lane Santa Cruz had captured 58 percent of the vote against Republican Sam Nagy and Green Matthew Smith. In Ward 2, Democratic incumbent Councilman Paul Cunningham had 60 percent of the vote against Republican Ewart Williams and Green William Peterson. And in Ward 4, Nikki Lee had 57 percent of the vote against Republican Mike Hicks and Green Cara Bissell.
But none of them are going to see a pay raise. Prop 409, which would have raised salaries for council members, was also headed to defeat, with 60 percent of the voters rejecting it.
On Nov. 5, the board unanimously approved the policy which will use the General Fund to pay for capital infrastructure projects in the county, including roads in unincorporated areas.
It is a policy similar to one already being utilized in Maricopa County, and will be used by the county administrator to craft a recommended budget each year.
The Pay-As-You-Go plan (PAYGO) will provide $10 million next fiscal year for road repair, along with an additional $16 million of Transportation Department funding. Several other county departments, like the wastewater department, already use PAYGO plans for their infrastructure needs.
The majority of PAYGO funds will be used for road repairs and will later primarily fund projects identified in the Integrated Infrastructure Plan.
Funding for PAYGO will come from a percentage of growth in the overall county tax base and from recapturing a portion of the taxes no longer needed to pay off bonds, while also reducing the combined county property tax rate over time.
The Board of Supervisors voted to apply 60 percent of the tax base increase to PAYGO when the county’s annual budget is being crafted. They are also directing the county administrator to reduce the primary tax rate to provide relief for the remaining 40 percent of growth in the tax base.
The county anticipates that the amount of money needed to pay off its bond debts will decline significantly in coming years, and so the tax rate needed to pay off debts can be reduced year-over-year, declining to zero in ten years.
“This PAYGO plan will provide us the funding to make sure our critical infrastructure is maintained and that we’re meeting the needs of a growing population, while at the same time providing tax relief to county taxpayers. It is a win-win plan that still gives the board the flexibility to determine funding priorities every year,” said County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry in a release.
To learn more about the PAYGO plan, see Huckleberry's memo to the board here.
Tags: roads , infrastructure projects , PAYGO , Board of Supervisors , Pima County , Image
The 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results are out. The standardized tests, given to a national sample of 4th and 8th grade students, are considered by people across the educational spectrum to be the most accurate assessment we have of student achievement in reading and math. That doesn't mean they should be taken as gospel, but they succeed at their assigned task far better than the high stakes — and highly prepped and highly gamed — state tests, which should only be taken seriously when sprinkled with copious grains of salt.
Some takeaways from the 2019 NAEP:
• The national results aren't encouraging.
• The Arizona results are somewhat better.
• The white-minority gap is shrinking.
• The educational inequality is growing.
• Trump's queen of education, Betsy DeVos, hearing achievement is at a standstill and schools are starving for funds, replied, "Let them eat choice."
Let's break it down.
The National Center for Education Statistics administers and analyses the NAEP. According to associate commissioner Peggy Carr, "Over the past decade, there has been no progress in either mathematics or reading performance, and the lowest-performing students are doing worse."
The math and reading achievement scores have been basically flat since 2009. Actually, they've been flat since Bush's No Child Left Behind began in 2002, when the president and the Congress decided the answer to our educational problems is testing students within an inch of their lives. Students had been making measurable progress since 1972, a period which is often thought of as the bad old days of education. We were dubbed a "Nation At Risk" because of our terrible schools, and we had to do something to fix it. What we did was turn our schools into test-prep and test-taking factories, which stalled whatever educational progress we had been making before NCLB.
Arizona, however, has done better than the nation as a whole. The state's test scores are still either at the national average or slightly below, but they have been creeping upward while the nation's haven't budged.
Why are Arizona's scores improving? No one knows. Some people say it shows money in education isn't all that important. Others say it's our dedicated teachers. Still others say our growing charter school sector is upping the state's education game. The state Department of Education says, think how much better we'd be doing if we had enough funding.
Me, honestly, I have no idea why the state scores are on an upward trajectory, other than it's a good thing.
Tags: National Assessment of Educational Progress , Betsy DeVos , Math scores , Reading scores , High stakes tests , Image
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Monday, November 4, 2019
