Send OUT the Clowns!

Stopping Hate in Mainstream Media: What You Can Do
Folks, I want to make you aware of an opportunity to take a stand against hatred and racial bias in the media. The social justice organization Color of Change.Org is currently running two campaigns that are of paramount importance in showing opposition to racial backlash, hatred, and bias.

One campaign is a petition to call upon CNN head John Klein to fire Lou Dobbs for his repeated displays of anti-immigrant/anti-Mexican propaganda and for his equally racially divisive and inflammatory pot-stirring insistence that President Obama is not an American citizen. Freedom of speech is one thing, hate speech is another. Intentionally inciting hatred and fanning the flames of racial division is a dangerous, destructive practice that does nothing to bring about the kind of productive, candid, honest dialogue about race this country desperately needs right now. Dobbs's actions are completely unacceptable from someone who claims to be a journalist working for a mainstream news organization like CNN that boasts it is "America's most trusted name in news."
Dobbs has been stoking the flames of racial fear and paranoia for far too long, and he, along with CNN, must finally be held accountable for it. If Dobbs wishes to continue along those lines then let him continue at Fox News where that kind of behavior is expected and where barely veiled and often blatant racism, sexism, homophobia, and hatred is the order of the day.

The second campaign is a petition calling upon advertisers of the Glenn Beck show to cease sponsorship of his program. As you may know Beck (along with Dobbs and many, many other right wing commentators and politicians) has been intensifying efforts to project his own racism onto people of color. We saw it most recently with Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and now we are seeing it in Beck's latest outrageous attacks against Barack Obama in which he is claiming that Obama is a "racist who hates white people." Again, this is not free speech, it is hate speech If Beck chooses to continue spewing hatred that is his choice; however, we as consumers and American citizens have the right to counter his actions by hitting him where it really hurts: his wallet.

The battle to maintain one’s dignity and sanity in the face of so much bigotry and bias is often overwhelming, and the temptation to throw up our hands in defeat becomes just as overwhelming. However, there really is much we can do, and simply taking a moment to go to a website to sign a petition and let your voice be heard is one of the easiest and simplest ways to make a difference. I hope you'll take a few moments to sign both petitions and take this important stand against hate in the media. Please inform your friends, families, and anyone else who respects peace and justice.

Dobbs petition: http://www.colorofchange.org/dobbs/?id=1876-937345

Beck petition: http://www.colorofchange.org/beck/?id=1876-937345