Hatewatch Tweets
Hatewatch is managed by the staff of the Intelligence Report, an investigative magazine published by the Alabama-based civil rights group Southern Poverty Law Center.
Haitian Catastrophe: For Racists, a Good Laugh
In Haiti, tens of thousands of earthquake victims are dead, with at least one official estimating the number could reach half a million when the full, horrifying effects of Tuesday afternoon’s earthquake in the island nation are finally known.
In Arkansas, Billy Roper figured that made for a pretty amusing joke. So the former high school teacher and current head of the neo-Nazi White Revolution group today announced a food drive he called “Nutrition for Neutering.” “Yes,” Roper’s White Revolution website said, “you can get started on the ground floor with this charitable effort to provide one can of nonperishable food to each and every Haitian citizen affected by the earthquake who agrees to be sterilized.”
Roper’s charming post, featuring a photo of castration shears, goes on to say that if those citizens then go for nine months without producing children, he will send them a can opener. “Physical evidence of the castration process should be mailed by the applying food aid recipients to Barack Obama,” he adds.
For most Americans, the sight of the catastrophe in Haiti provoked an outpouring of sympathy and support for the victims. Early reports suggest that most structures in the island’s capital city of Port-au-Prince were damaged or destroyed. Men, women and children are wandering the streets with horrific injuries, and the cries of trapped victims still are emanating from underneath tons of rubble.
But Billy Roper and those with similar ideas — characters like the sterling defenders of the white race who populate the loathsome Stormfront.org, the world’s largest white supremacist Web forum — are not like most Americans.
Just have a listen to some of the voices on Stormfront:
• “Money showered on simians is wasted.” — “Karl von Muller”
• “F*ck Haiti. …. I’m fed [up] to the core with hearing of Haiti and how we must help these ‘poor’ abominations to [sic] humankind.” — “Iberian88”
• “Negroes left to their own devices turn everything into a pest hole.” — “Herr Leutnant”
• “Nature left to its own devices will clear itself of the blight.” — “AngelEyez”
And on the web page of the Council of Conservative Citizens — a group that has described black people as a “retrograde species of humanity” — a report on Haiti was illustrated with an engraving of a white man being hanged by blacks, presumably in Haiti.
Most of these comments are far beyond the pale of what most Americans, of any race, felt when they heard news of the Haitian tragedy. But it wasn’t only neo-Nazis who said ugly things. Some of the most astounding comments came from people in the ostensible mainstream — people like radio heavyweight Rush Limbaugh.
To Limbaugh, President Obama, in calling for Americans to open their hearts and their wallets to the plight of the Haitians, is interested in nothing but political gain. “This will play right into Obama’s hands,” Limbaugh said on his Wednesday radio show. “He’s humanitarian, compassionate. They’ll use this to burnish their, shall we say, ‘credibility’ with the black community – in the both light-skinned and dark-skinned black community in this country.” Anyway, Haiti “has been run by dictators and communists.” It produces “zilch, zero, nada.” And Obama is asking “people who have lost their jobs because of his policies to donate.”
“Besides,” the millionaire broadcaster added later in his show, “we’ve already donated to Haiti. It’s called the U.S. income tax.’
For his part, Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson said on Wednesday’s “700 Club” on the Christian Broadcasting Network that the Haitians had brought it all on themselves. “They were under the heel of the French… . And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, ‘We will serve you if you will get us free from the prince.’ True story. And so the devil said, ‘OK, it’s a deal.’ … [E]ver since, they have been cursed by one thing after another.”
Robertson, who once blamed the 9/11 attacks on abortionists, feminists and others, didn’t mention how he knew this to be a “true story.”
on January 14th, 2010 at 5:30 pm
I’ll just disregard the comments of hate group websites. What else is new? As for Limbaugh’s comments: since he is the de facto leader of the Republican party, I would like different members of the conservative congressional leaders to be approached and asked if they will repudiate his words and call him out for them. In the past, they have always folded and refused to criticize their King. Will they now?
on January 14th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
Honestly…hate is the cause of the destruction of us all.
on January 14th, 2010 at 9:11 pm
That Billy Roper is simply deplorable, saying such things. Amazingly, the man actually thinks he can get elected President of the United States in 2012. His campaign website is http://www.nationalistpartyofamerica.com/, which gives no hint of his anti-black views. He does, however, veer off into anti-Semitism quite a few times while explaining his “party platform”, including making references to the debunked “kosher food tax” conspiracy theories. I guess he’s trying to follow in Kevin MacDonald’s (start-a-new-bigoted-third-party) footsteps.
Great work, SPLC, and make sure to keep exposing the truth about this Roper character; he’s been trying to pass himself off as a “mainstream”, respectable politician, but is is everything _but_ respectable.
on January 14th, 2010 at 10:09 pm
Who has time to listen to the ignorance of any and all hate groups?. Those of us who were raised to treat people of all races with respect, find racist, hate groups and the like, laughable because of clear absurdity, falseness and/or foolishness. They will one day fall on thier knees in supplication begging their god for mercy.
on January 14th, 2010 at 10:10 pm
How sad. I thought christians believe that all men are created equal. How can anyone with half a brain or half a heart believe that the color of ones skins makes them better than anyone else.
It is because of attitudes like this that we Americans are hated around the world.
I don’t want to believe that the founding fathers had this in mind when they talked about freedom of speech. I hope these people are justly dealt with when they finally meet the almighty.
on January 15th, 2010 at 12:06 am
These people, from Limbaugh to Robertson and all the bottom feeders in various supremacy, racist, KKK groups are despicable.
on January 15th, 2010 at 2:51 am
Ah yes….typical white nationalist behavior- write stuff like this and then tell the public that “it’s about pride in one’s own culture, not hate.” They then continue spending the remaining 99% of their time posting crap like that on forums, when their not saying it to one another in their closed meetings. Of course that ratio really shouldn’t be much of a surprise- how can they truly be proud of European culture when in fact they are not European culturally, and generally know virtually nothing about European history save for…uh…VIKINGS!! YEAH!!! VIKINGS!! HAIL ODIN!!! HURRRRRRRR!!!
Roper’s suggestions are odd though. I’m guessing he hasn’t bothered to check Haiti’s fertility rate, but I don’t see how it is somehow harming “white folks” in America. The fertility of black women in the US has been dropping; this trend may be true of Haiti and other Carribean countries as well. There is no reason to assume that developing nations have endlessly rising fertility rates.
As for Mr. Limbaugh’s comments, and partially addressing those of Roper- if Hatian families have more kids it is most likely due to the poverty, as children are a form of social security. This is stuff you learn in high school- and rocket scientists like Limbaugh say that public high schools have been dumbed down(if that were true I’d hate to see what Limbaugh’s school was like). And why would Haiti be so poor…hmmm…could it have anything to do with American economic policies towards Latin American countries, which argue for privatization(often the condition of loans), encourage the growth of sweat-shop industry, and so on? Limbaugh, not known for fact checking, ought to start checking the labels of clothes some time- Haiti has certainly produced a lot in that respect, and he is the beneficiary of their misery.
on January 15th, 2010 at 2:54 am
The rejoicing of the neo Nazis at the misfortune of the non whites, if anything, resembles the Palestinians’ dancing and celebrating after 9/11 terrorist attacks. Of course, I pay no mind to neo Nazis, because vast majority of them are nothing but cowards who hide behind their computer screen. SPLC keeps on repeating how various skinheads gangs have committed 40 murders in the past 25 years. Please, in comparison to them, Mexican Mafia and MS 13 have been responsible for deaths that range in several thousands during the same time frame. An average American is more likely to die from being run over by a car driven by an illegal alien, than at the hands of a neo-Nazi.
And as for those who despise Haiti and Haitian people, it’s not just whites who do so. Dominican republic has an institutionalized “anti-Haitianismo” policy towards the Haitians who (mostly illegally) cross the border in search of work. The most extreme example of this anti-Haitianismo was the Parsley massacre in 1937, where Dominican army slaughtered 30,000 Haitians living in DR. The fact that overwhelming majority of Dominicans are either black or mulatto themselves, and thus don’t look much different from Haitians, doesn’t seem to bother them. Likewise in neighboring islands of Turks and Caicos, there has been mounting anger of the local residents towards the Haitian migrants who flock their cities and towns. And that’s despite Turks and Caicos having a 95% Afro-Caribbean population, just like Haiti. And anti Haitian sentiment is widespread in many other Caribbean islands as well. So rest assured people, the view of Haiti as a parasitical mooch is not something that’s restricted to white folks. A few years ago my good friend from work, who’s African-American by the way, was nearly bled dry with a lawsuit filed against him by an illegal alien from Haiti. He was driving in a busy street at downtown New York, where he was visiting relatives, when a Haitian guy appeared out of nowhere and was struck by his car. For nearly a year my friend was dragged through a court and was forced to spend thousands of dollars in legal fees, until the surfacing of a liquor store security camera footage that showed the Haitian “victim” chasing on foot after my friend’s car for half a block, then standing by as the car stopped for red light, and finally lunging himself at the car when it commenced driving at green light. The lawsuit was thrown out, but after such a harrying experience my friend hasn’t been the same. Although this incident happened over 4 years ago, whenever he mentions the words “Haiti” or “Haitians”, he still does so with a venom in his voice, like it’s an obscenity.
on January 15th, 2010 at 8:44 am
I Specifically listened for limbaughs responce thr morning after the earthquake in Haiti. The comments in the the above article quoted by limbaugh is completely accurate. I recorded the first 20 minutes of his show. Whee is the FCC IN ALL OF THIS?? Don Imus was forced off the air for comments he made, and his show was never the same. Lou Dobbs, of CNN fame, was forced to retire and end his contract early due to his behavior on the air, and how bad it was making CNN look.
Limbaugh and his “EIB” radio network, is owned by him. Still, he needs the other stations (the network) to be a nationally syndicated radio network. Hey “media matters” (activist group) he is your next target.
on January 15th, 2010 at 9:03 am
First up, this post has turned me on to some pretty vile ways of thinking that I thought would be beyond any human worth their salt. I’ve had the misfortune of debating racists but they usually draw the line somewhere. Not these disgusting cowards. Vile stuff.
Second up, I’ve not been around this place long but I get a sense that a few people are apologists for that kind of behaviour, like the person above and although they’re not as stupid as to expound idiotic racist ideas, they tread pretty close to them in their defence of indefensible words and actions.
Such as going, with regards to some Arab celebration of 9/11, “WELL THEY DID IT” which is as pathetic as it is irrelevant to the plight of Haiti and then pointing out that some other folks, who aren’t white, are also bigots and don’t like Haitians. As if that somehow proves a point, which is doesn’t.
That is the trouble with sites like this, they educate me a great deal but I have to put up with them attracting apologists for hate, bigotry and ignorance.
on January 15th, 2010 at 9:28 am
Those who wallow in the filth of their Hate shall surely destroy themselves . . . what we must do is make sure they do not take us along!
on January 15th, 2010 at 9:38 am
Emmett: Quit posting your bigotry here; you’re not welcome.
Michael: I agree with you 100%. If anything, what Limbaugh said about Haiti was _much_ worse than anything Don Imus ever said. Imus joked about losing a basketball game; Limbaugh is joking about an earthquake that led to the loss of over 100,000 lives. And to add insult to injury, he is not even apologizing; when a woman called into his show to object to his Haiti comments, he called her a “bigot” with “tampons in [her] ears”. That comment, together with his original racist comments about Haiti, makes Don Imus sound like Mr. Rogers.
I detect a bit of media bias here. Imus (generally regarded as liberal) was fired for making racist and sexist comments, but Rush Limbaugh (a right-wing conservative) can make comments that are just as offensive, if not more so, on a weekly basis and there are no consequences for him whatsoever. Whoever said that the mainstream media had a liberal bias is off their rocker. Oh wait, it was Rush Limbaugh himself who said that.
SPLC: How about starting a Dump Limbaugh petition and encouraging people to boycott his sponsors, as you did with Lou Dobbs, and as Color of Change did with Glenn Beck? There is a list of his sponsors here: http://www.examiner.com/x-448-.....-thousands
on January 15th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Emmett said,
on January 15th, 2010 at 2:54 am
Although this incident happened over 4 years ago, whenever he mentions the words “Haiti” or “Haitians”, he still does so with a venom in his voice, like it’s an obscenity.
—
Then he’s racist. He’s taking the actions of one person as representative of millions.
on January 15th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
Really- do such hateful comments even need to elicit any form of rebuttals? These people clearly have no feelings or moral sense of what empathy even means.
Attention needs to be directed towards Limbaugh’s comments for he is, unfortunately, a mainstream figure for a very influential party.
on January 15th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
Since I realize that mentioning specific organizations,etc is inappropriate on this forum (& most of you could find a worthy one on your own anyway) I would like to underline the fact that canned foods are great but remember that clothing, blankets and common OTC medicines and bandages are needed also. Blankets should, of course be wrapped in plastic and labeled very simply, but clothing should be labeled in a manner that requires little effort on the part of emergency workers to determine what they are.
Such as “adult female shoes, size 6″ or “child’s shirts sizes 2-5″. This slight extra effort allows a great deal less expenditure of effort & a greater level of speed in delivery to victims. using white plastic bags and dark marker saves time on YOUR part to find a method such as paper stickers to mark items. Saving time & energy on the part of emergency workers is vital at this point.
Even though insects are a problem please do not send pressurized items such as insecticide or antiseptics. Plastic eating utensils are also needed as are can openers & other things around the house that you would not realize until you had no house and lived in a “tent shelter”.
on January 16th, 2010 at 12:08 am
To Daniel Hoffman Gill,
I merely stated that the neo Nazis’ rejoicing at the tragedy in Haiti RESEMBLES the Arabs’ celebration of 9/11. Where exactly did you see me condoning their appalling behavior? And you certainly do not have to take my word for it, when I compared numbers of murder victims of ethnic gangs. Just look up the official crime statistics and see for yourself. And if anyone was offended at Limbaugh’s “both light skinned and dark skinned black community” comment, it’s probably because they missed Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid’s gaffe about Obama being “light skinned” and “not speaking with a Negro dialect except when he wants to.”
on January 16th, 2010 at 12:44 am
I took a look at the CCC website to see that picture of of whites being lynched by blacks. I can assure you that it is indeed a depiction of Haitian uprising (and not “presumably” as the report said), because I remember seeing it in a PBS documentary about Haiti’s history some years ago. And no, I don’t agree with 97% of what CCC says, especially when it comes to race. And I certainly don’t believe that just being born a certain color makes a person pre-programmed to kill, rape or commit any other crimes. As for Pat Robertson’s “Haitians’ deal with the devil” remark, he was obviously talking about the Haitian voodoo. Or more precisely, he was referring to the Bois Caiman voodoo ceremony that took place in 1791, in which black slaves prayed for the slaughter of the white people in Saint Domingue (as Haiti was then known), and which marked the beginning of the Haitian uprising against the French. It’s interesting to note how Haiti itself was founded upon hatred of the Haitian blacks towards whites. After defeating the French army, the leader of the slave revolt Jean Jacques Dessalines ordered his men to massacre all the white people that they can get their hands on. Men, women, children – made no difference. Out of 36,000 white residents, 25,000 were killed. The other 11,000 were lucky enough to escape to the Louisiana Territory. After ethnically cleansing the whites, Dessalines proclaimed Haiti a “black republic” and the Haitian constitution explicitly forbade whites from ever settling or owning land in Haiti. Hmmm. That sounds a lot like… intolerance. In comparison, when U.S declared its independence from Britain, it was never proclaimed “white republic”. Today Haiti is lionized as “the first ever black nation” and the Haitian revolution is called “the only successful slave revolt”, but all the lauding ends at that. Almost nothing good has resulted for Haitians from the Haitian revolution. Sure, they got rid of their white masters. But they still continued to be slaves, it’s just that their new masters were their fellow blacks, starting with Dessalines who called himself “Jacques I, Emperor of Haiti” and his successors. Not to mention the life for overwhelming majority of Haitians has been that of misery since the very foundation of their nation in 1804. So why would SPLC include Rush Limbaugh in a company with the genuine racist scum? Is it because he said “we’ve already donated to Haiti. It’s called the U.S. income tax”? From I read in books, more than half of Haiti’s budget consists of handouts from U.S, Europe, Japan and some other countries. And that was even before the earthquake When U.S donates money to Haiti (or any other nation), where does it come from? Our tax dollars, of course. I guess even when a conservative radio host states the facts, but doesn’t put his words gently or P.C enough, he will earn himself an honorable mention on SPLC’s website. And why exactly is Rush Limbaugh disparaging Haitian production capabilities an issue? The last time I checked, Haiti’s main exports were coffee beans and mango fruit. In today’s 21st century world, such an achievement truly does add up to “zilch, zero, nada.”
on January 16th, 2010 at 9:38 am
I have a question,in my country of canada my taxes since 2006 have sent $200,000,000 to haiti with a further $300,000,000 to be given to them by 2011.Now we are giving even more money to them.My question is where the hell did all the money we sent them go?Its obvious that the government of haiti is lining their pockets at the tax payers expence.When we complain of things not getting done here in canada and social programs being eliminated,the excuse is that they dont have the money for it.And now I know why.Im very sorry fro the disaster that has befelled haiti but I want my tax money to go 1st and formost to those in need in my country,then send aid to others.Now if you want to call me racist,so be it because it seems that if one doesnt hold a politically correct stance,that is what they are deemed even if they are not racist.
on January 16th, 2010 at 10:40 am
Emmet the problem with YOUR racist rant is that while the ‘Mexican Mafia’ and other criminal organizations murder many it is not done as part of a racist policy and because of ones ethnicity or race.
Accidently being run over is far more likely to occur at the hands of a drunken redneck than those of an ‘illegal alien’.
on January 16th, 2010 at 5:13 pm
I think that the hate from these people is an outrage. Being from south florida where there are a number of Haitians, I feel there is a strong out pouring of compassion towards the struggling nation and towards the people here and also there. The lack of empathy is shocking and should be acknowelged and dealt with. It just shows a complete lack of character.
on January 16th, 2010 at 10:48 pm
On an Amazon forum about Holocaust -denying, I told the Hitler lovers that I find them to be scum-bags and would not respond to them personally but indirectly. They are Judeophobes , with that driving their infirmed arguments, so that rather than answering their drivel, I find their self-hate makes for their psychology and their hate of Jews as the real issues one should discuss. We can overcome their arguments about Zygon gas and the crematoria, but since it is their pathology that drives them, that is the issue.
My friend there, a Jewish lady , Rachel says for us to use Judeophobia rather than anti-Semitism.
What , my friends, do y’all state about this?
Limbaugh-pathological,eh?
Lord Griggs
on January 17th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
It seems as just in the UK we have our own terrible, idiot racist trolls, you have plenty too, who frequent places they clearly disagree with just to air their backward, bigoted attitudes.
on January 17th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
We need a cogent, clear essay on the political ecology of this catastrophe in Haiti. Political ecology is an academic discipline that reveals the links, processes, and patterns between human activities and the nonhuman environment. In the case of Haiti, 200 years of political, economic, and social turmoil have led to the LACK of infrastructure, the lack of a civil society, and shoddily built physical structures all over. An earthquake is an earthquake. The reason why this is a catastrophe is because the human-built environment was not resilient, the social systems were not resilient, and the agrifood system was not reslilent. Much of this lack of resiliency stems from the political economic history of the country, and the U.S. has played a major role in ensuring that Haitian democracy did not have a chance to organically grow. The U.S. deposed Aristide; thanks to NAFTA, cheap U.S. agricultural products were dumped on Haiti, thereby forcing out smallholder farmers. The farmers who could no longer make a living in the countryside migrated to the city of Port-au-Prince, and other cities, which was never built to hold as many inhabitants as it has had recently. These former farmers went to work as dirt-cheap labor for multinational corporations making clothes in factories. This story has played out all over developing nations across the world where people of color have been displaced off their lands and economically forced into cities in deplorable conditions. The writer “JC” wants his Canadian tax money back. Please study the political economy of Haiti. The monies have gone to international NGOs, who, while perhaps well intentioned, have effectively replaced or prevented a healthy Haitian civil society and public sector from growing up. The devil of such catastrophes is in the details. People ignorant of geography, history, politics, and the like might accuse me of blaming the U.S. for what has happened, but that would be a simplistic claim. What I am saying is that the consequences of 80 years of paying reparations to France (in the 1800s), of years of home-grown corruption periodically in its 200 years, of U.S. occupation (in the early 20th century), and of U.S.-led coups against democratically leaders (in the 20th century), all have long-term consequences that have congealed and coalesced in the single moment on January 12, 2010, when the North American and Caribbean plates moved past each other and manmade structures toppled onto living, breathing brothers and sisters of ours. Every developed nation, particularly France and the United States, has a moral obligation and a duty to help the Haitians as much as is possible to have a voice, to feel empowered, and to nurture and establish their own form of true democracy.
Please, people, whenever you make a complaint about how your rich nation is helping a poorer one, please look into history before you open your mouths. Good sources of information are democracynow.org, Naomi Klein’s book “The Shock Doctrine,” LinkTV, Human Media, the Nation magazine, Pacifica Radio, KPFK.org in Los Angeles, and others.
God bless all those affected by the earthquake in Haiti.
Sincerely,
Kelly
on January 17th, 2010 at 11:04 pm
The catastrophic destruction by earthquake in Haiti is really so bad that any decent person has to feel sorry for the victims. However, on the issue of sub-poverty misery under which Haitians have been living for a long time one should NOT jump to any quick “political” statement or explanations. When one of your readers made an “excuse”
for the fact that women in Haiti bear too many children, by
saying “……that children are a form of social security..”, I had to react and say that that is the bigest propaganda lie
invented by those who thrive on exploiting these unfortunate poor people ! They have too many children because they have NO access to family planning mathods,
birth control and ecucation – since the rich vultures thriving on the misery of poor people do everything possible to provide them with these necessities. So, wake up the decent and brave citizens of US and the World, and start
bringing the “rich-bitches” , who control the monetary system of the Globe, to the courts of justice ( as Michael Moore was suggesting ), and only then, poor people will learn that it is better to have fewer children they can take care of, lthan have many who will be used as child slave labourers and used for perverted sex of the rich. Dan K.
on January 17th, 2010 at 11:20 pm
I work my tail off to support my family and give them the best life possible and we have a government who is insistent on giving millions to cesspools like Haiti. Can anyone name a black country that is not a disaster? How much money do we send Africa just so they can spread AIDS faster? The best possible thing for Haitians is to severely curtail reproduction. If anyone has a better solution I would like to hear it. Sending money has never worked, decreasing their numbers will definitely not hurt them.
on January 18th, 2010 at 12:32 am
First off Emmet, I don’t remember the majority of Arabs celebrating on 9/11. In fact, while they are not Arab, the Iranians had spontaneous demonstrations of solidarity with the US in response. Thank you George W. Bush for quickly screwing that up.
Next, as for your claims about atrocities in Haiti, I don’t think it’s much of a surprise that atrocities occurred during an uprising. Hell, just decades later the very civilized British would begin a bloody march throughout India, China, and Southeast Asia. In fact the atrocities you mention here were quickly overshadowed by the atrocities committed against American natives as the country expanded Westward. And if you are going to turn this into a black and white thing, you could go into the 20th century and read about this thing called “World War I”. And yes, as you might have guessed from the title, this war had a sequel, with arguably unprecedented violence in the form of the Holocaust and Operation Barbarossa.
on January 18th, 2010 at 3:15 am
It’s sad to see so many people following Limbaugh’s agenda. What most fail to realize is, when you are poor, you don’t have the far to fall and it’s easier to deal with than someone rich. When you are rich, you have a long way to fall, and it’s hardier to deal with if you’ve never been poor. This will cause a severe psychological blow.
If you look at Worldfocus.org there are videos there of Haiti before the earthquake. Yes, sadly, people were eating mud (dirt and water) cookies. Yes, sadly, people were chopping down trees to use as charcoal for cooking. No one stepped in! Without the trees, this has caused severe weather patterns not just in Haiti, but, other Caribbean islands. The UN has been there for years for security – this haven’t changed anything either. And yes, there’s the dispute between Haitians and Dominicans from Dominican Republic. ***Most of it has to do with what’s happening here in the U.S. “jobs Americans don’t/won’t do.” Haitians in Dominican Republican – children born are stateless, meaning, they are not given citizenship.
I am glad SPLC has brought this to the forefront. It’s sad this country is going backwards with racism, and all the other social ills that no developed country should be proud of.
In fact, I’ve been looking for another country to move to, however, looking at the blogs from other countries, seems there is not many countries out there that like Americans. Yes, I looked at the blogs because the tourists blogs doesn’t tell the full story.
I hope no one gets angered by this statement, but, the way things are going, we have always been able to travel to other countries freely, I hope the day doesn’t come when we will need visas to travel to any/all other countries.
on January 18th, 2010 at 3:59 am
You know, it’s more than the comments made about the Haitians, and Obama, he made a degrading remark about women, “Tampons in the ear…”
It’s not like he said ‘ear muffs, or ear plugs.’ Had he made a remark about ‘hearing aids,’ this would have been offensive to the disabled.
Now, it’s no secret that it is women that use tampons during her monthly menstrual cycle – do men use them for any purpose? From my viewpoint and experience most men prefer not to buy these for women.
on January 18th, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Skinnyminny wrote:
“Had he made a remark about ‘hearing aids,’ this would have been offensive to the disabled.”
Funny you should mention that, skinnyminny. Rush Limbaugh IS clinically deaf and wore a hearing aid for a while, I believe, until he had a cochlear implant surgery.
You’d think that he’d be more considerate and avoid making such offensive comments about women, minorities, and people with disabilities, anyway.
How would HE like it if people started calling in and making fun of his (former) deafness, or his pilonidal cyst, or his weight issues, or his cigar smoking, or his recent hospital visit, etc., on the air, I wonder?
on January 18th, 2010 at 2:35 pm
Yeah Ryan, Haiti is the reason why you aren’t more successful. DAMN THEM!!!
on January 18th, 2010 at 6:04 pm
Kelly – thank you for that erudite and eye-opening essay!
Of course, the extremists such as Pat Robertson, Limbaugh and those diarrhea-brains at Fox News would be too lazy to read as much as you have gifted us with and too simple-minded to understand the comprehensive exposition you have laid out before us.
With Admiration,
JAY
on January 18th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
Dear Ryan J. Murdough,
I will start off by calling a spade a “spade” and what you wrote is plainly RACIST for all to see. Thanks for indicting yourself.
“Ryan J. Murdough said,
on January 17th, 2010 at 11:20 pm
I work my tail off to support my family and give them the best life possible and we have a government who is insistent on giving millions to cesspools like Haiti. Can anyone name a black country that is not a disaster? How much money do we send Africa just so they can spread AIDS faster? The best possible thing for Haitians is to severely curtail reproduction. If anyone has a better solution I would like to hear it. Sending money has never worked, decreasing their numbers will definitely not hurt them.”
on January 18th, 2010 at 9:49 pm
If a male boss/co-worker made these comments to a female employee, this would end up in court. IMHO this should fall under the some medical statute – meaning, these feminine products are a necessity for women. Imagine a woman not having these products during her monthly menstrual cycle, or after giving birth!
With respect to the comments about Haiti’s overpopulation and no regards to limits of children they have. This is an issue that can be disputed one way or another. For one, most are of Catholic religion – from my understanding, they are taught against abortion, much like Latin America. Further exploration into this hypocritical matter, does not the BIBLE say “be fruitful and multiply,” yet, isn’t this a practice within some Mormon religious sects?
What I don’t understand is why, for the life of me, it’s always a racial issue when it comes to women having multiple children. Isn’t this a fact, that in the Arab world, example, Palestine, this is what also happens? How about Asia, isn’t this what happens in India? How about Egypt, there a thousands, if not, millions of homeless children under the age of 18. Based on what I came to learn, this is not a ‘black’ thing.
Now, for the other side of the coin, what about the people complaining about abortion? Same as some of these populated areas, there may not be family planning, birth-control, yet, there’s always back-alley abortions, or homemade remedies to cause such.
My stand on the issue, I try to stay neutral, because there’s always a cause and effect. I try to live my life as, I am responsible for my own actions, and what I do in the past can certainly have a way of paving my future.
on January 18th, 2010 at 10:38 pm
This whole article is about such sick people. The remarks these people make are so outlandish it is hard to believe someone could be so cruel. The comments made by Limbaugh and Robertson do not surprise me, they just disgust me.
on January 19th, 2010 at 9:34 pm
Do you wonder why the international community has such contempt for the US today?
on January 19th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
To Ryan J Murdough:
Yes, Ryan, there are many black countries/territories that are decently off and not in a mess- these include Barbados, Bermuda, Cape Verde, Botswana , the Bahamas and Greneda and Antigua, with decent economies and functional civil societies. AIDS, moreover, is not just a black or African problem- India, China, the former Soviet Union and Southeast Asia also suffer from a high percentage of AIDS sufferers, so by your argument I suppose they should stop reproducing as well so as not to bother the rest of us.
Honestly, it’s your choice whether or not you want to give to Haitians , but these people, who have suffered a natural disaster that was NOT their fault need compassion, not your contempt.
On the other hand, I’m sure if the earthquake victims were white, English-speaking Protestants, you wouldn’t be giving your sanctimonious ‘those people should pull themselves up by the bootstraps’ line. Heaven help people like you who think they know all there is to know about a people by looking at their skin color.
on January 20th, 2010 at 9:40 am
More hate directed at Haiti in the past week:
“Bubba the Love Sponge Clem”, a radio shock jock from Florida, has made comments that make both Limbaugh and Robertson sound compassionate. See more at http://blogs.tampabay.com/medi.....ments.html
-”Haiti ought to tap the hooker market to get things back on track…Haiti is just in shambles…they need a cleansing. Maybe half a million Haitians that will end up not being around tomorrow…it’s a cleanse.”
-”Had your grandpa built that little mud hut a little bit stronger, it probably wouldn’t have caved in on you now, would it?”
-”I say f— Haiti”
In addition to Clem, there was also Jonah Goldberg (a right-wing extremist who has also defended historical colonialism in Africa). He has also previously made racist comments such as “[i]t is scarcely the same thing to put a man on the moon as to put a bone in your nose”. In addition he has claimed to be in the “frog-bashing business” and has called for the “total destruction of France”. I’m quite suprised the SPLC hasn’t taken this guy to task more often for his extreme bigotry.
Anyway, on the topic of Haiti, Jonah Goldberg said that Haiti has a “poverty culture” and claimed that “Haiti will never get out of grinding poverty until it abandons much of its culture.”
The Haiti-Haters just won’t stop, unfortunately.
on January 20th, 2010 at 9:41 am
In my last post, I forgot to post the link to Jonah Goldberg’s Haiti comments, so here it is:
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201001200002
on January 20th, 2010 at 8:12 pm
Jeje,
You are correct! However, no one wants to take to task the absurd prices that is being charged for utilities throughout the Caribbean and Latin America – for instance, electricity can costs a minimum of $150.00 a month, and that’s not running electricity all day. What we pay for things here are cheap, they pay 2-3x’s what we pay for things here.
Before the tourists came in to most of these poor countries, most of its residents were happy, but poor to our standards. It’s the tourists and speculators running up prices on land, housing….that the citizens can’t afford. Yet, we complain here in the states if they have, what we consider too large a family in one house. One thing is for sure, they know how to get along, here in the states, we try to destroy and breakup families by imposing our culture and lifestyle on people.
For the comments about Haiti needs to stand on its own feet, and they are tired of spending their tax dollars. Well, let’s look at this a little, see http://www.usaid.gov/locations.....ntry/Haiti **according to this written in 2008, about 100k Haitians were hired to build/rebuild infrastructure, oh, there’s also a pix showing Haitians at work, they grow Mangoes…..in addition, it stated it was training for disaster relief. Now, the radio show host made claims about mud huts – he needs to question who taught these people how to build their homes.
So again, to say that these countries are just to poor – people need to question why these poor folks are being charged obscene amounts of money for the basic necessities.
on January 20th, 2010 at 9:23 pm
@Emmet: Imagine that, an enslaved people murdering their oppressors… Unimaginable. How dare they.
on January 21st, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Be nice to Emmet. He recently learned that Russia is not a white racial paradise. That breaks the heart of many an American racist.
on January 22nd, 2010 at 6:18 pm
Average births per female in Haiti are 4.8.
Procreating with no possible means of supporting such procreation is lunacy.
Even the UN believes Haitians can’t govern themselves, they want it to go into a trustee arrangement.
on January 22nd, 2010 at 10:31 pm
Joe,
Perhaps you should know, this is not the only country on earth that experience the same, with average births. Also, maybe you should do more research to discover that it’s not just the Haitians that are responsible for their plight. I can assure you, that some of the clothing that you are wearing was probably made in Haiti.
You think Haiti is in such bad conditions, maybe you should take a look at some of our OT (overseas territories) such as Puerto Rico, Guam, Micronesia (Guam), American Samoa – yes, there are some areas that look like shanty towns.
I bet you didn’t know that in Guam, there’s a village that doesn’t deal with money (currency). That’s right, they use stones (rocks) as a form of money. Although it’s “our” territory, Americans still need permission to enter the village!
on January 23rd, 2010 at 12:13 pm
To steven.So Im a racist for saying enough is enough?My country since 2006 has given Haiti $200,000,000 with another $300,000,000 going to them by the end of 2010,now another $143,000,000 is on its way to them.This is overkill when my own government claims they have no money to fix roads here,or get affordable housing here.Haiti has been given enough of my tax money.They should have used it wisely and they didnt.Wanting to end their taking advantage of canada’s kindness isnt racist.but of course if 1 isnt politically correct and gives in then thats what their deened
on January 23rd, 2010 at 6:40 pm
I thought that the racists would be happy about the devastating Haiti earthquake. What in the hell is wrong w. some ppl? Gloating @ the misery of the poorest country in the entire Western Hemisphere. The very notion is hateful. The only thing I can think of for such glee is that these ppl were not raised right. What kind of parent would teach, by word & example, that such negativity was acceptable even preferable to the notion of treating others like they would like 2 B treated. They need 2 B sent 2 Haiti & dropped into the rubble for about a wk. or more & see how they like it. They usually claim they are for a white “Christian” nation. Well, they should drop the ref. 2 Christ as they r anything but Christian.
on January 23rd, 2010 at 10:08 pm
Now, now, JC, I wouldn’t call you a racist. That’s for you to decide who and what you are. But, I will venture to say, you wouldn’t be able to walk a quarter-mile in the Haitians shoes.
I can bet, you wouldn’t be able to survive in their condition. Better yet, let’s see you do the math – and here I am using figures published in 2004;
a Haitian female works 10 hr days, 6 days a week, at $3 a day. Now, if she has children, tuition is $1.42 a week, doctors visit $3-5, rent $7.10 a week, breakfast-lunch-dinner $0.62 a day each, can milk $3.08, antibiotics is 3 weeks pay, 2 buckets water & 2 bars soap $0.37, bus fare is $0.37, Now if they didn’t receive remittances they’d be worse off don’t you think? Now with the earthquake, prices have tripled, for instance, $26 a gallon.
Another thing you should take note of, the Dominicans don’t want them in their country, nor does the U.S. want them in this country. Now, ask yourself, what would you do if you were in their shoes? Why are you blaming the Haitians or their country for money that your country is sending? As a ‘taxpayer’ if I was angry as you are, I would let my fingers do the tapping to see where this money is going, instead of pointing fingers and voicing my displeasure without at least trying to find out what the MSM is not telling you.
on January 24th, 2010 at 12:49 pm
You make a good point skinnyminny,but again,if they are not willing to stand up to their governments corrupt wage practices,thats not my problem.And you are right as well that if I had to subsist on such a small wage,I wouldnt be able to do so,but I would do whatever I could to legally correct that injustice,not sit around and complain about said injustice while expecting others to give me a handout.
on January 24th, 2010 at 12:55 pm
this is to the comment by mountaingirl08,#1 Im an athiest,and #2,I take no glee in the suffering of those in haiti.If they are indeed the poorest country,then they made themselves that way.How can a country claim poverty when in the past 10 years they have been given over 2 billion dollars?Again I reiterate,its not my problem that their government is corrupt and they refuse to stand up to them.Bill gates has over 10 billion dollars in cash alone,not including property and he doeant claim poverty because he was wise with his money.
on January 24th, 2010 at 10:33 pm
Okay JC, I take it that you haven’t taken my advice. But, that’s what advice is – gives you the option to decide what you’re going to do.
You make a good argument. However, the argument is one-sided. The people of Haiti have had embargoes placed on them. They owed substantial amounts of debt – that’s why people were outraged and asked for the country’s debt to be forgiven.
Aristide tried to set ‘wage laws’ but they were abolished. There are some rich Dominican families that own a lot of businesses in Haiti as well as in DR that employs Haitians – e.g. the Sugar companies (from sugar canes). There’s also Andre Apaid, a Haitian-Lebanese that had (not sure how many now) 15 sweat-shops in Haiti. Just google Andre Apaid Group 184.
Now, you question why the Haitians won’t stand up to their government – how can they do this if they suffer some of the worse human rights abuses from the government that’s suppose to protect them? No offense, but, that’s like asking Iranian citizens, Saudi citizens to stand up against their government!
Again, just a few years ago, Haiti was denied aid. I’m not an expert on foreign policy, I don’t personally know any Haitians – however, people were more accepting of the El Salvadorans when faced with “almost” the same fate. I’d also like to add, Cubans faced a similar fate, they are now accepted in our society. I don’t think the MSM is telling us what we should know – yet, notice how foreigners seem to know more about our politics and laws than we do as citizens our own country?
on January 26th, 2010 at 11:48 am
This doesn’t seem to fit into the same category per se, but there are some people on the far right who are now claiming that the US Government secretly caused the earthquake in Haiti. These are the same tinfoil-hatters who claimed that 9/11 was an inside job. One of these people is radio host, pastor and former presidential candidate Chuck Baldwin, who is also a 9/11 truther and a supporter of armed militia groups:
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.co.....00126.html
on January 28th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
Mason,
Good point! Great you are pointing this out, about conspiracy theorists! It needs to be brought to the table about these guys, because this is one of the reasons there are so many problems in our society.
on January 29th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
Mexican congress member racist comments against Haitians in his radio show http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/estados/74578.html
on January 30th, 2010 at 7:14 pm
Javier,
I believe it without having to go to the site you’ve provided. I recall Mexico’s president saying, “jobs that even blacks won’t do!” I also recall Mexico defending the right to it’s cartoon that offends/make fun of black people. In addition, I saw a program on teevee that showed the indigenous blacks in that country are not accepted into the mainstream, it looked like they were on a reservation, speaking a language other than Spanish.
I believe if Mexico didn’t have PEMEX, they’d be similar to Haiti. In fact, as of today, there are families that don’t have running utilities am I right?
As far as racists comments against Haitians, it’s not shocking in light that Mexico makes racists comments against all nationalities – “gingo and wetta” sound familar?
on February 4th, 2010 at 3:27 pm
PERHAPS IT IS THE NEO-NAZIS THAT NEED STERILIZATION!
on February 4th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
our problem is not so much racist as it is skin pigmentation.as i recall afew years ago some haitians come ashore in fl.on a homemade raft,they were rounded up like cattle and sent back risking death .but in most cases people of a lighter hue gets to remain regardless of their race
on February 5th, 2010 at 8:53 am
I posted a recording of Mr. Limbaugh’s comments on my facebook page and was shocked to lose some friends because of it. They maintained that Rush did not say those words even with an actual audio tape of his comments attached. I asked if they would listen to the tape. They refused. They said Rush Limbaugh said he did not say those hateful, mean things and that was good enough for them. This, for me, is the REALLY scary part. Blind loyalty.
on February 5th, 2010 at 11:52 am
It is ironic that there is such a backlash at Limbaugh’s comments considering the politicizing of hate as an asset to villify political opponents practised on this site.
Limbaugh unquestionably politicized Haiti in an attempt to enigrate Obama.
But it seems that nobody can hear or has any reading comprehension , considering that his remarks are morphed into an assumption that he is against helping Haiti.
He said dont contribute through the gov’t. , your tax money is already doing that.
And he DID NOT say dont contribute privately.
His point was that PRIVATELY was his preference , because the gov’t. is inefficient and his preference is always private (in this case charities) than gov’t.
Rush’s comment on this :
” It’s just an absolute disaster. The aid finally starting to trickle in now after about six days, but it’s still very, very slow. The situation on the ground is unimaginable. I don’t even want to describe to you the things that I have read with the vermin, the rats, I don’t even want to go there. This is just unbelievable. It’s unimaginable and for anybody to report that I said don’t donate is absurd, and these people know it. The people who are making a big deal out of this, are themselves politicizing this for the express purpose of discrediting me, somebody they feel is a top-line conservative spokesman.
They are constantly trying to discredit people like me, rather than debate us on issues. Nobody here ever said don’t donate. We just pointed out you already contribute to the government with your income taxes. If you want to donate above and beyond that, go through a charity that’s constantly on the ground in Haiti, or the Red Cross, if you want to go that route or whatever. Nobody said do not donate, which is what is being reported. ”
And here’s an actual video response explaining his position – conservative , but not “dont donate” – just “dont donate through the gov’t.” .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcP7R5a1HNA
on February 5th, 2010 at 6:47 pm
Dave,
I still have an issue with Limbaugh inserting himself/opinions in areas he has no business in. I personally don’t think he is that intelligent. However, I think he is a loud-mouthed bully leading people who are looking for guidance and information.
I still disagree that he is telling people what to do! Nothing has helped Haiti due to greed, corruption…http://www.haitiinnovation.org.....ving-badly ***this has a list of missionaries in Haiti – the comments are even better. The argument was American missionaries (charities) expect the Haitians to be grateful that they are there, yet, they are not really helping, but want the Haitians to just convert to Christianity – The other side says Haiti’s problems are because they don’t practice Chrisitianity- then there’s arguments that missionaries come with their comforts of home and not afraid to show they are better than Haitians.
Also try http://www.thirdworldtraveler......Haiti.html – here, it will somewhat explain why there are so many kids (overpopulation) – it talks about how Haitian forces will break into a home and rape all female occupants – one case a 68-year-old grandmother was raped then they forced the grandmother’s grandson to rape her – so again, you have all these people jumping in on the bandwagon, making comments when they really don’t know this country or what’s happening there. If they would learn the politics, history…they would find that it’s not all due to their own doing – we have, what I’d like to say, some of the things happening on the African continent in our own backyard.
And yes, I hear other politicians say, “blacks can’t run a country…” That is true, given all the interference from other countries, as well as, other countries tending to let the corrupt officials carry on unscathed – why?
on February 5th, 2010 at 7:24 pm
Responding to VAREZ:
“Limbaugh unquestionably politicized Haiti in an attempt to enigrate Obama.” – This is a very interesting turn of phrase: “ENIGRATE”
. . . and the fact that you defend Rush Limbaugh’s remarks about Haiti . . .
The more you write, the more obvious it is what your stand is on race relations.
Responding to DANIEL MCCOY:
Thanks Daniel – for showing that the hypocrisy of the people on the other side of the aisle often reaches the extent of a kind of “blind religious fanaticism” . . . which is why certain people here continue to defend Rush Limbaugh’s despiccable remarks about the Haitian tragedy and some people here continue to insinuate that President Obama is “not a real American”.
Best Regards,
JAY
on February 6th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
Jay , I believe that our biggest problem today is lack of education , specifically reading comprehention.
If you read my comments , you are free to disagree , but at least logically dissect them and
point out what/why you do.
Instead , you choose a point I made unflattering to Limbaugh , which you dont even realize is the case , and harp on a typing omission of the “d” in the word “denigrate” , which you also dont realize is the case , and define my position on race relations based on “you defend Limbaugh” .
It is sad that this is the level of debate we entertain today – slowly re-read my response and listen to the Limbaugh audio.
Though his “style” and purposeful choice to raise eyebrows is unfortunate , it is beyond me how one could come away with the assumption that he is a racist , is against aiding Haiti , and that any who point this out are racists as well.
True racism and extremism is a horrific and sad reality , and throwing these words around at any who make less than politically correct comments at times (ie; I HATE Harry Reid , but I cannot call him a “racist” for his Obama comments) do a disservice to the cause of focusing on true racism and extremist by diluting/lowering the bar dividing
the two.
In other words , if Limbaugh , and Reid , are these things based on their comments , and grouped in with nazi’s , skinheads , racists , etc -
Well gee then , they really must not be so bad?
Choose your accusations carefully.
And read my post again.
Limbaugh DID NOT say dont contribute to the tragedy in Haiti .
HE SAID DO IT PRIVATELY AND NOT THROUGH THE GOVERNMENT – GOOD ADVICE.
on February 6th, 2010 at 6:52 pm
“there are some people on the far right who are now claiming that the US Government secretly caused the earthquake in Haiti. These are the same tinfoil-hatters who claimed that 9/11 was an inside job.”
Mason , how different are you from these nuts if you attribute the “far right” to them?
Maybe the far , far right , and the far , far left.
Conservatives , who I am sure you are referring to , clearly do not subscribe to any of this crap , and certainly weren’t the ones circulating the garbage that Bush planted a bomb under the dike in Louisiana.
The continuous concept here of attempting to smear an opposing political bent by associating them with extremists is getting pretty old by now.
on February 6th, 2010 at 8:10 pm
Who is a real American????
on February 7th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
Dave,
Here’s a fair question for you, why are you picking on Mason?
I like reading Mason’s comments.
on February 8th, 2010 at 12:08 am
Dave:
The reason why I said far right is because Chuck Baldwin (along with his ideological buddy, Alex Jones, who has advanced similar theories and also suggested that Israeli doctors might be harvesting organs from Haitian children) is definitely far-right. Baldwin and Jones are not far-left or any kind of left, for that matter; I think pretty much everybody would agree with that. Also, Baldwin frequently describes himself as a conservative. He has never called himself a liberal. I was not saying that all conservatives agree with Baldwin, simply that _some_ of the more extreme people on the far right (including Baldwin, Jones, and their followers) do.
on February 8th, 2010 at 10:36 am
“I was not saying that all conservatives agree with Baldwin, simply that _some_ of the more extreme people on the far right (including Baldwin, Jones, and their followers) do.”
Thanks for pointing that out Mason , because if one was to poll Conservatives in general , the “teabaggers” , etc. , very few of the them would be found to hold extremist
points of view.
Most are not racially or radically motivated , but rather opposed to the present Administration’s taxation , spending , and Socialist leanings.
The reality is , whether we like to admit it or not , we are not “pure Capitalists” – while Capitalism is the system proven to best serve the people , a bit of Socialism is always a realistic necessity to smooth out the edges of Capitalism , which by its very nature tends to leave some out , and also to ensure that necessities flow unobstructed.
But the question is , just how much is needed , and the Conservative consensus is that Obama goes WAY too far in that direction.
nazi’s , racists , ultra-conspiracy nuts?
The bulk of Conservatives are disgusted/amused by these rather than one of them , and grouping them together as if it’s one integral group is a completely inaccurate assumption.
Where is Limbaugh’s assumed racism when a Conservative minority person is running or elected , and how can that be ignored when labelling him?
If Obama was a tax cutting , free market , oil drilling Conservative , Limbaugh would be supporting and praising him to no end.
on February 8th, 2010 at 6:30 pm
In reply to VAREZ:
“If Obama was a tax cutting , free market , oil drilling Conservative , Limbaugh would be supporting and praising him to no end.”
- No. I’ve got two words in reply to your assertion: Michael Steele.
“nazi’s , racists , ultra-conspiracy nuts?
The bulk of Conservatives are disgusted/amused by these rather than one of them , and grouping them together as if it’s one integral group is a completely inaccurate assumption.”
- No. I USED TO BE a Conservative, Limbaugh-believer and I know for a fact that behind closed doors and among themselves a most (if not all) who subscribe to the Tea Baggers / Limbaugh / Fox News view of the world are motivated (at least in part) by Racism – whether it’s outright hatred & fear of “the dark races” or some form of rationalized “Social Darwinism”.
. . . and as for your “poll”, I’m quite sure that if you polled the Nazi’s in 1930′s Germany – they would not have considered themselves “extremists” . . . and CONJECTURE about some IMAGINED poll is not the same as actually conducting one.
JAY
on February 8th, 2010 at 11:00 pm
I’ve noticed the MSM didn’t talk too much about Rep. John Murtha – I will not bother to look at the news for a few days. I tried to look at the news, yet, I’ve notice they were giving Sarah Palin more news time than Rep. Murtha.
No offense to anyone, but, she (Palin) reminds me of Peggy Hill from the cartoon “King of the Hill,” as far as looks. I’m not a Palin fan, but, I will watch her if she had a debate with Atty. Gloria Allred, Judge Judy – other than that, I feel like I am being talked to like I’m in Preschool. Ugh, I can’t stand it!
on October 8th, 2010 at 1:39 am
@ Dan
Look, I’m all for donating to Haiti. But La Eme never kills because of race? Research before you speak, La Eme uses their street gangs such as Florencia 13 and Los Avenidos 13 to drive out the area of Blacks, Asians, and any others. Do some research on these gangs and what went down and is an ongoing battle in the greater Los Angeles and Southern California area. This is all done to make La Eme the exclusive drug profiteer.