LA Civil Rights leaders launch campaign against KFI Radio but has the movement lost its way? Tuesday, December 05, 2006 7416 Reads Click To Comment 90 Prints 153 Sent

Deborah Gabriel

LA Civil Rights leaders square up to KFI Radio Tennie Pierce - race discrimination award has highlighted racial tensions in the LA community We will no longer tolerate racial abuse under the guise of free speech and to grab ratings. Lita Herron, President of Youth Advocacy Coalition Yesterday Civil Rights groups in Los Angeles launched a campaign against KFI Radio for ‘inciting racial divisions’ but a teacher from Miami says the movement has lost its way, chasing news headlines and losing sight of the major issues. KFI incurred the wrath of the Los Angeles African American community when it took exception to the now vetoed $2.7million compensation settlement granted to 51 year old black fire fighter Tennie Pierce over racial discrimination. KFI encouraged their listeners to send cans of dog food to the City Council in protest on the John and Ken Show. But KFI are accused of inciting racial divisions and: “repeatedly target[ing] African American leaders for ridicule and abuse.” At a conference yesterday, the President of the Los Angeles Civil Rights Association (LACRA) and Youth Advocacy Coalition (YAC)urged the black community to turn the tables and send cans of dog food to KFI Radio instead. Lita Herron, President of the Youth Advocacy Coalition said that the campaign is designed to send a clear message that the black community: “will no longer tolerate racial abuse under the guise of free speech and to grab ratings.” Tennie Pierce was awarded $2.7 million in racial discrimination settlement after white colleagues mixed dog food into his spaghetti and said that he had endured racial slurs, insults and derogatory remarks. David Wellman, a sociologist who testified on Pierce’s behalf said: “The association of a black man and dog food resonates with the deep historical roots of slavery and the corresponding dehumanization.” But when photos surfaced of Pierce engaged in pranks, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa vetoed the settlement. The move was criticised by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People who spoke of: “systematic racism” at the LA fire department. Yesterday, African American Assistant Chief Douglas L Barry was named as the new Acting Chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department after the resignation last week of Chief William Bamattre over the incident. Douglas Barry will take up his post on January 1.

Has the Civil Rights movement in America lost its way? In many cases black Americans are distracted by relatively minor issues and lose focus of the major ones… Emil Harper, A Teacher from Miami The LACRA and YAC campaign comes in the wake of public outrage over Seinfield star Michael Richards who launched a tirade of racist abuse at four black men who heckled him at a comedy show. On Friday Richards agreed to apologise in person to the four men in front of a retired judge, who will determine whether compensation should be considered. Richards apologized on Rev. Jesse Jackson’s radio show, apologized to Rev. Al Sharpton and on Dave Letterman’s Late Show. But many African Americans are sceptical of the apologies, believing that Richards is not genuinely sorry and is only trying to salvage his career. Commenting on the events, Emil Harper, an African American teacher from Miami who has been paying close attention to race relations in the USA told Black Britain that Richards was “an ignorant man” who “mentioned the lynchings in his verbal abuse for his own sake... that was to prop up his own frail ego which was threatened. He lashed out at them in the fastest way possible.” But Harper said that although it is fact that slavery took place on American soil creating psychological scars that will never heal, he believes that: “They can and have been forgotten or ignored,” and only seem to be revealed: “when it benefits the black in question.” Black Britain asked Harper’s opinion on the apparent rise in racial tensions in LA and concerns by civil rights leaders over racial divisions. He told Black Britain that many of the gains won by Civil Rights leaders in the past had been lost, because African Americans have: “forfeited many of the rights and liberties that the Civil Rights and the Black Power Movements achieved. Sold out sounds harsh, but never the less it is true.” Using the recent events in LA as an example, Harper told Black Britain: “In many cases black Americans are distracted by relatively minor issues and lose focus of the major ones… our black leaders have been accused of following the news headlines” Harper concluded the interview by saying that he believes race relations between blacks and whites in America are “At a standstill,” because of the increasingly larger role played by other races.

About Deborah Gabriel Deborah Gabriel is a journalist, author and lecturer with a keen interest in social justice, equality, race and identity. The former Colourful Network editor has written articles for a variety of publications and currently lectures in journalism at Birkbeck, University of London. She is the author of Layers of Blackness: Colourism in the African Diaspora and has featured in several radio and TV programmes on the subject of skin bleaching. In addition to writing syndicated columns, she is also founder of ‘People with Voices’, a new social enterprise that focuses on journalism training and news publishing.

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