Racism

CNN reports: Controversial former Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Wednesday called former President Barack Obama’s birth certificate a “phony document” in an interview on CNN. “No doubt about it, we have the evidence, I’m not going to go into all the details, yeah, it’s a phony document,” Arpaio said on “Cuomo Primetime.” Arpaio announced Tuesday that he is running for the …

The Washington Examiner reports: Republican Joe Arpaio, a close ally of President Trump and former sheriff known for his provocative approach to combatting illegal immigration, is running for Senate in Arizona. The 85-year-old Arpaio could shake up the late August Republican primary in a critical open-seat race to replace retiring Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. Trump pardoned Arpaio last summer, sparing …

The New York Times reports: According to six officials who attended or were briefed about the meeting, Mr. Trump then began reading aloud from the document, which his domestic policy adviser, Stephen Miller, had given him just before the meeting. The document listed how many immigrants had received visas to enter the United States in 2017. More than 2,500 were …

USA Today reports: The city of Memphis sold two public parks containing Confederate monuments to a nonprofit Wednesday in a massive, months-in-the-planning operation to take the statues down overnight. The City Council unanimously approved the sale of Health Science Park, home of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, and its easement on Fourth Bluff Park, home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, …

The Kansas City Star reports: Three men accused of plotting to bomb a western Kansas mosque say their rights are being violated by the exclusion of jurors from more politically conservative areas. Attorneys for the three men say in documents filed in federal court in Wichita that the jury selection procedure is discriminatory and “excludes rural and conservative jurors.” When …

Bloomberg reports: A divided U.S. Supreme Court let President Donald Trump’s travel ban take full effect while legal challenges go forward, handing him a major victory and suggesting the court ultimately will uphold the restrictions, Bloomberg News reports. Trump will now be able to bar or restrict entry by people from six mostly Muslim countries, even if they have a …

The NBC affiliate in Des Moines reports: Controversial commentary from two local radio employees at a high school basketball game in northern Iowa is going viral — and has resulted in their firing. A video clip from a boys basketball game between Forest City High School and Eagle Grove High School was posted to Facebook Sunday night. It contains racist …

The New York Times reports: Mr. Trump’s falsehoods about the “Access Hollywood” tape are part of his lifelong habit of attempting to create and sell his own version of reality. Advisers say he continues to privately harbor a handful of conspiracy theories that have no grounding in fact. In recent months, they say, Mr. Trump has used closed-door conversations to …

Politico reports: The leader of the Navajo Nation said Tuesday that President Donald Trump used an ethnic slur when he called Sen. Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas” during a White House event honoring Native American veterans. Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye told CNN that the president’s injection of a political attack during a ceremony honoring Navajo code talkers was “uncalled for.” “This …

Trump just attacked Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas” at a White House event honoring the elderly surviving members of the Navajo Code Talkers, who were recruited by the Marine Corps during World War II to deliver messages that the Japanese were unable to translate. “You were here long before any of us were here. Although we have a representative in Congress …

So this just happened: An attorney for Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore seemed to suggest Wednesday that MSNBC host Ali Velshi’s “background” might help the TV journalist understand why the Republican nominee would date underage women. “Culturally speaking there’s differences. I looked up Ali’s background, and wow, that’s awesome that you have got such a diverse background, it’s really cool …

Salon reports: “Black crime” was no longer just a racist tag for far-right websites Monday, after Sebastian Gorka started talking about “black African gun crime” on Sinclair Broadcast stations. Gorka, a former White House adviser for President Donald Trump, said during a town hall-style event produced by Sinclair that action was needed to curb gun crime among “black Africans.” “Our …

Media Matters reports: The Hilton El Conquistador in Tucson, AZ, has canceled plans to host an upcoming “immigration conference” by the white nationalist group VDare. It is the third time this year that VDare has unsuccessfully attempted to schedule a conference. VDare runs a racist website that’s been heavily criticized by civil rights groups for pushing white nationalism. According to …

The Arizona Daily Star reports: Saying the president can’t erase facts, a federal judge on Thursday rejected a bid by former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to have all record of his criminal conviction wiped out. Susan Bolton said she already dismissed the criminal contempt case against Arpaio following the decision by President Trump to issue a pardon. That saved …

The Associated Press reports: Hertha Berlin nodded to social struggles in the United States by kneeling before its Bundesliga home game on Saturday. Hertha’s starting lineup linked arms and took a knee on the pitch, while Pal Dardai’s coaching staff, general manager Michael Preetz, club officials and substitutes took a knee off it before playing Schalke. “Hertha BSC stands for …

Talking Points Memo reports: In 2004, a bipartisan coalition of Alabama leaders moved to eliminate sections of the state constitution mandating school segregation and poll taxes. They assumed it’d be an easy feat — until Roy Moore got involved. Democrats and Republicans led by then-Gov. Bob Riley (R) worked together on an amendment to remove language in the state constitution …

Yesterday Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire drew gasps on social media when it posted a Columbus Day video which depicted Native Americans as literal bloodthirsty cannibals who were saved from their own savagery by kindly Christopher Columbus, who bestowed literacy, science, and “not-scalping” upon them. Shapiro at first defended the clip as merely clumsy satire, but this afternoon he has reversed. …

Mediaite reports: To celebrate Columbus Day this year, right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro’s website posted a video apparently excusing ethnic genocide by depicting Native Americans as cannibals and savages who weren’t tamed until white Europeans came to America and took their land. The Daily Wire’s animated video begins with a caption that sarcastically reads, “The North American indigenous people are a …

Newsweek reports: John Oliver gave an elaborate—and sometimes stinging—explanation as to why statues of Confederate leaders should not remain standing Sunday night. The British comedian dedicated the large majority of his HBO comedy show Last Week Tonight to a comprehensive history lesson about the divisive monuments that critics say celebrate America’s dark past. “If the Confederacy was not about slavery, …

USA Today reports: Amid criticism over Vice President Mike Pence’s truncated visit to an NFL game Sunday, President Donald Trump said the trip was “long planned” in a tweet Monday. Pence’s trip on Air Force 2 — which doesn’t take into account logistics on the ground like Secret Service — cost about $242,500, according to an estimate from CNN published …