Take a tour of Racist Town Paris Texas, Courtesy Of The Pittsburgh Post-GazetteCategory: Social Issues
Article added by: RB Riddle
They tried to slip this one past me, I almost missed it in the light of the Jena 6 situation. After all of the nooses found hanging around Pittsburgh; I figured I'd rewind it back to this article that was featured in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. - - Paradise Gray
Take a Tour of Racist Town Paris Texas
Take a tour of Racist Town Paris Texas, Courtesy Of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
They tried to slip this one past me, I almost missed it in the light of the Jena 6 situation. - Paradise Gray
After all of the nooses found hanging around Pittsburgh; I figured I'd rewind it back to this article that was featured in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Find a proud and simpler culture in Paris, Texas read the headline in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette in a story written by a person named "Malecia El-Amin" for the The Dallas Morning News
Post Gazette.com
Post Gazette Article
It seems innocent enough, a small southern town named after Paris France making an appeal for tourism from people who live in "America's Most Livable City" Pittsburgh, PA.
The problem is that Pittsburgh's black community was not even considered when doing the math that led to that distinction. We couldn't have been, as a black man who has lived in 3 of Pittsburgh's many "HOOD's" and neighboring communities (The Hill, Wilkinsburg and The North Side), I know first-hand that Pittsburgh's black residents were not even a thought in the back of the mind of Places Rated Almanac. Invisible Men as described by Erving Dyer in his Pittsburgh Post Gazette articles and blogs: Post Gazette
Post Gazette Article
Unfortunately for Mayor Ravenstahl (who reacted with glee and posted up billboards all over the City proudly proclaiming "Welcome To Pittsburgh, PA America's Most Livable City!") The University Of Pittsburgh's Racial Demographics: Differences and Disparities Study (www.crsp.pitt.edu http://www.crsp.pitt.edu/demographics.html ) came out a few weeks later and proved beyond a shadow of a doubt what we already knew. Pittsburgh's African American residents have it worst than any other black communities in America. The Immaculate Deception was over! The members of the One HOOD Coalition were Livid at the insult of suggesting that Pittsburgh was "The Most Livable City In America" in the first place. We organized a press conference at The Kingsley Association to raise the question that everyone seemed to avoid: "Most Livable For Who?"
For Malecia El-Amin, The Dallas Morning News and The Pittsburgh Post Gazette to print such a marvelous account of the City of Paris, Texas without seemingly doing any research into it's recent past, let alone the disturbing racist legacy of this town is a insult to our intelligence and a slap in the face (as if going to Google.com isn't easy enough).: To some in Paris, sinister past is back. It seems that Paris Texas was home to an infamous fairgrounds where they used to lynch and burn black men while thousands of white people cheered and celebrated.
While some may argue that it was in the past we should just forget about it, what of the story of Shaquanda Cotton? Before The Jena 6 case went national, there was the case of 14 year old Shaquanda Cotton who was convicted of "Assault on a public servant" March 2006 in Paris, Texas after she shoved a school Hall monitor before the start of the school day. The teacher's aide blocked her from going to the nurse's office (a place that Shaquanda had permission to be) to take her medicine. The 58 year old woman was not seriously hurt, nonetheless, 14 year old Ms. Cotton, a person never in trouble with the law, was sentenced to 7 years in prison by the same judge who gave a 14 year old white girl probation after being convicted of arson for burning down her family's home 3 months earlier.
After intense national pressure Shaquanda Cotton was released from a Texas prison on March 21, 2007 after serving a year. Contrast that with the story of a 19 year old white man who according to the Chicago tribune was convicted of "criminally negligent homicide" after killing a 54 year old black woman and her 3 year old grandson with his truck, he was sentenced in Paris, Texas to probation and required to send the victims family a card every Christmas!
But the Post Gazette, Malecia El-Amin and The Dallas Morning News would have us believe that Paris, Texas is such a great place to visit with no mention of the racism, the unjust judicial system nor the terrorism towards black people in the mix. The next stop from Paris, Texas must be Jasper on the KKK Terror tour!
Media Literacy 101:
Be careful of the media that you consume (read, hear, watch), Research everything yourself and take nothing at face value. (Including what I write).
Media (TV, radio, magazines, video games, commercials, videos, the Internet ) is used to shape and form "public opinion" and is created by extremely skilled, spin masters who are very capable of controlling people by manipulating information.
It is important to know and question things such as media ownership and who funds the source of the the information that you consume. Apply critical thinking to detect propaganda, bias, censorship and misrepresentations that are programmed 24 hours a day for the consumption of an unsuspecting public.
Half truths, omissions, lies and deception are at the foundation of set ups, such as the elaborate ones used in the cases of Mumia Abu-jamal and the Jena 6.
You are what you eat, be careful of what you consume by way of your eyes and ears too, not just of what you put into your mouth!
Paradise Gray
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*Paradise Gray is a featured guest columnist on ThugLifeArmy.com
Paradise Gray is a former member of the hip hop / rap group X-Clan and is also an activist with meaningful messages. We thank him for his continued support and contributions to ThugLifeArmy.com
This article originally appeared on ThugLifeArmy.com
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Take a Tour of Racist Town Paris Texas
Posted By: RB Riddle
Web: http://www.thuglifearmy.com
Contact: e-mail
| About the Author: |
| Paradise Gray is a former member of the hip hop / rap group X-Clan and is also an activist with meaningful messages. We thank him for his continued support and contributions to ThugLifeArmy.com |
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