Source: The Grio
The family of Trayvon Martin a black teenager killed by a neighborhood watch captain say the 911 tapes of the incident, released on Friday, prove George Zimmerman did not act in self-defense.

On one of the tapes, Zimmerman is heard telling dispatchers he sees a suspicious person who appears to be “up to no good” or “on drugs or something.”

“These a**holes always get away,” he adds.

Zimmerman is asked by the dispatcher if he is following the person, and when he indicates he is, the dispatcher says “we don’t need you to do that.”

LISTEN: Trayvon Martin 911 tapes uncut (Warning: Contains adult language)

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On subsequent tapes, a neighbor can be heard telling the dispatcher he sees people “wrestling on the ground” outside and that he heard gunshots. On another, a voice can be heard screaming for help as a neighbor describes the scuffling outside to the dispatcher.

The 17-year-old from Miami was returning to his father’s fiancee’s home in Sanford, Florida, from the store, carrying an ice tea and candy, when the confrontation took place. Zimmerman told police Martin was the aggressor, and that he feared for his life before he fatally shot the teen in the chest.

So far, Sanford police have declined to arrest Zimmerman, saying witness accounts corroborate his story. But Martin’s family and a growing number of observers are demanding an arrest, saying Martin was a victim of racial profiling. Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee has disputed that, and earlier this week told the Miami Herald the 911 tapes would prove that race played no factor in the shooting, since when asked by the dispatcher to describe the race of the person he was following, he said he didn’t know. In fact, the tapes show he told the dispatcher the person he was pursuing “looks black.”

For the full story Click Here.

Literally.

The cover is tri-fold, featuring one “power” panel – the one you’ll actually see on newsstands – and two foldout panels.

Rooney Mara (of Girl With The Dragon Tattoo), Mia Wasikowska, Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chastain landed the coveted “power” panel.

Black actress Adepero Oduye (of Pariah) is featured on the second foldout alongside Elizabeth Olsen (the third famous sister) and Shailene Woodley.

And finally, on the last foldout is Mission: Impossible star Paula Patton next to Felicity Jones, Lily Collins and Brit Marling.

The magazine has done this almost every year. In the past, Zoe Saldana, Rashida Jones, Rosario Dawson, Kerry Washington, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Lopez, Angela Bassett, Will Smith, Samuel L. Jackson and Don Cheadle have all been pushed “to the right” so as not to be seen on newsstands, probably in hopes that a “white-washed” cover will result in more sales. See ‘em all here.

We would waste our breath on this subject matter, but we did that back in 2010: Vanity Fair’s Young Hollywood Issue Features No Women Of Color

See the whole cover below:

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Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepherd were highly upset on The View when they discussed the recent controversy of a Norcross elementary school giving 3rd graders slavery themed multiplication and division problems.

The Norcross school is Beaver Ridge Elementary.

One of the questions wanted the 3rd graders to figure out how many beatings “Frederick” would get if he was beaten twice a day for a week.

What are your thoughts on the racist math questions? Check out Whoopi and Sherri’s reactions below.

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Editor-in-Chief Eva Hoeke first attempted to rectify the situation with a half-ass apology, saying that “the choice of words was meant as a joke” (which only further upset readers and fans).

She then took to Twitter to try and correct her actions, writing: “1. Don’t publish bad jokes in the magazine 2. Don’t pretend as if a bad joke is good. Sorry guys. My bad.”

After that, she promised there would be a correction in the next issue. But it was all too late.

In a press release today, Eva Hoeke revealed that she has quit her job. She wrote:

“I realize that my first reaction through Twitter, in which I indicated that it was a joke, has been an incomplete description of what me, and also the author of the article, meant. The term ‘niggabitch’ came from America and we solely used it to describe a style of dress. Because of the enormous pressure through social media I was tempted to promise amendment regarding the language in future issues of Jackie. Apart from that I also offered an rectification. I have now come to the conclusion that rectification is not the right solution. I regret that I have taken a stand too quickly regarding an article in Jackie — which moreover had no racial motive at its basis. Through the course of events, me and the publisher have concluded that because my credibility is now affected, it is better for all parties if I quit my function as editor-in-chief effective immediately. After putting my heart and soul into for Jackie for eight years, I realize that these errors — although not intented maliciously — are enough reason for leaving.”

Jackie Magazine also noted that “this word is used in America as slang” – which is partially true. So whose fault is this? If we wouldn’t know a derogatory word in Dutch, are they responsible for knowing one in English?

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UPDATE: Editor Quits After Calling Rihanna Racial Slur In Magazine (Read More)

The English translation read: “She has street cred, she has a ghetto ass and she has a golden throat. Rihanna, the good girl gone bad, is the ultimate n***ab***h and displays that gladly, and for her, that means: what’s on can come off. If that means she’ll be on stage half-naked, then so be it. But Dutch winters aren’t like Jamaican ones, so pick a clothing style in which your daughter can resist minus ten. No to the big sunglasses and the pornheels, and yes to the tiger print, pink shizzle and everything that glitters. Now let’s hope she won’t beat anybody up at daycare.”

Rihanna got wind of this and naturally took to Twitter to express her outrage and disgust. She wrote to the Editor-in-Chief of the magazine Eva Hoeke:

“@evajackie I hope u can read english, because your magazine is a poor representation of the evolution of human rights! I find you disrespectful, and rather desperate!! You ran out of legit, civilized information to print! There are 1000′s of Dutch girls who would love to be recognized for their contributions to your country, you could have given them an article. Instead, u paid to print one degrading an entire race! That’s your contribution to this world! To encourage segregation, to mislead the future leaders to act in the past! You put two words together, with the intent of abasement, that made no sense…”N***A B***H”?!….Well with all respect, on behalf of my race, here are my two words for you…F**K YOU!!!”

Eva attempted to apologize via the magazine’s Facebook page:

“First: thanks for all your responses. We are of course very fed up over this and especially very shocked. However I’m glad that we’re engaging in a dialogue on this page — not everybody does that. Thanks for this. Other than that I can be brief about this: this should have never happened. Period. While the author meant no harm — the title of the article was intended as a joke — it was a bad joke, to say the least. And that slipped through my, the editor-in-chief’s, fingers. Stupid, painful and sucks for all concerned. The author has been addressed on it, and now I can only ensure that these terms will no longer end up in the magazine.

Furthermore I hope that you all believe there was absolutely no racist motive behind the choice of words. It was stupid, it was naive to think that this was an acceptable form of slang — you hear it all the time on tv and radio, then your idea of what is normal apparently shifts — but it was especially misguided: there was no malice behind it. We make our magazine with love, energy and enthusiasm, and it can sometimes happen that someone is out of line. And then you can only do one thing: apologize. And hope that others wish to accept it.

From the bottom of my heart I say it again: we never intended to offend anyone. And I mean that.

Regards,
Eva Hoeke”

We have no words.

UPDATE: Editor Quits After Calling Rihanna Racial Slur In Magazine

Earlier this week, Rihanna encountered a racist hotel guest while over in Portugal. She revealed details of that incident on Twitter, as well. READ HERE!

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Pop quiz–Can you name at least two current black action stars, excluding Will Smith and Denzel Washington?  Or the last time you saw an interracial couple on the big screen where the storyline didn’t revolve around the color of their skin and/or didn’t end as tragically as a Shakespearean play? Columnist J.F. Sargent at humor site, Cracked.com explores some of the racial and sexist stereotypes Hollywood  just can’t seem to let go of.  Even with a black man as president, mainstream audiences aren’t comfortable or just don’t care to watch black actor/actresses unless we are in certain supportive roles: the sidekick, the BBF (Best Black Friend), or the domestic (The Help).  The author states:

So how does this play out in real movies? Black characters end up in supporting roles, instead of being well-developed characters. They’re just there so we can “judge the other (white) characters by how they treat them.” In other words, we certainly don’t root for racist characters, and we’ll boo racist stereotypes. But our open-mindedness usually stops at the point of actually paying to see a black leading man. Other than Will Smith.

Read rest of article HERE

What say you readers?  Which tired racial stereotypes should Hollywood retire? Express your thoughts in comment section below.

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Racism is still very well alive today and is constantly roaring it’s ugly head in the media and fashion.

After Nivea told us to “re-civilize” ourselves using their products, Italian Vogue wants us to wear “Slave” earrings which are “inspired by Africans brought to America during the slave trade.” Yes, you read that correctly.

The earrings are large gold hoops (pictured to the right), which would seem normal if they weren’t named “Slave Earrings.”

Who the h*ll over at Vogues marketing department thought this was OK?

As a black person do you feel offended and as a black woman would you purchase these earrings?

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Oh, tell me fashion bible, what exactly is a slave earring? Are there ships and sickles involved? No? Then how can, as you’ve written, a “circular shape” recall the greatest violation of human rights in history?

Yup, that’s right folks. Vogue Italia seems to believe hoop earrings are so vintage, they’re “slave”-like. Simple, oversized hoop earrings. The ones all kinds of women wear. But, at 70 words long, let’s just assume this article is void of research.

And to make matters worse, as if they anticipated the backlash, Vogue included a disclaimer in the article, giving reason to why us readers would be so wrong if we, ya know, actually thought that by “slave”…they meant “slave.” They wrote: ”If the name brings to the mind the decorative traditions of the women of colour who were brought to the southern Unites States during the late 18th century” – it does -”[then] the latest interpretation is pure freedom.”

Riiight. Freedom. From an earring. Shut up, Vogue, you’re not chronicling a women’s movement.

Backpedaling as best they could, Vogue has since changed the title to “Ethnic Earrings” because it seems they believe those words to be synonymous, which is even more sad.

Check out some of Vogue’s slave selections:

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Post-Racial America, ladies and gents!

Unsurprisingly, the internet uproar got back to the folks at the company and the ad has been pulled. An apology appeared on the company’s Facebook page just one day after scans hit the net: “Thank you for caring enough to give us your feedback about the recent “Re-civilized” NIVEA FOR MEN ad. This ad was inappropriate and offensive. It was never our intention to offend anyone, and for this we are deeply sorry. This ad will never be used again. Diversity and equal opportunity are crucial values of our company.”

Good for them for listening this time, but the greater issue remains. You see, while we have started to get to a place where Black women have a bit more room to wear their natural, in locs and in braids and be considered “civilized” enough for workplace acceptance, a Black man who isn’t clean-shaven with a close cropped hair cut doesn’t enjoy the same freedom.  While a White man would probably face some challenges at work for wearing hair down to his shoulders and a scruffy beard, he’s not subject to the same scrutiny based on how his natural hair looks as it grows naturally from his head.

The idea of an Afro as a radical or unkempt hairstyle is pretty ridiculous. This is how Black hair grows and looks if it isn’t cut or whipped into submission. It’s amazing to see that we are still required to turn the volume down on who we are in order to make White folks feel more comfortable; also troubling is how easily it is that which we may consider to be beautiful or simply normal can be disregarded as ‘uncivilized’ by someone else. Furthermore, where was the ad with a White guy looking like Zach Galifianakis or a long-haired hippie?

Every time some racially insensitive ad comes out, we always ask “Are there Black people working there?” To be honest, there very well may have some Black hands involved in this nonsense (there was at least one person aware: the handsome model who posed for the picture in the first place); remember, it was Hampton University - not a White school – that prohibited its business students from wearing braids of any sort. We can be just as vigilant as anyone when it comes to enforcing Eurocentric standards of decorum and appearance on ourselves.

Our men deserve to have more grooming options than ‘dark Caesar, light Caesar or bald’ and we should make it quite clear to Nivea and anyone else that our hair is not inherently uncivilized. Shame on the folks responsible for this ad and for those continue to perpetuate the standards that would make a man with an Afro and beard seem like some sort of threat to social graces and norms.

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The version of this campaign targeting African-Americans features the added tagline “re-civilize yourself” to the already condescending “look like you give a damn.” This wording is accompanied by an image of a well-groomed Black man holding what is supposed to be his own head with an Afro and a beard, his “un-civilized” self.

The imagery coupled with the words offends me on several levels. For one, the implication that wearing an afro or beard is uncivilized is terribly ignorant. Dr. Cornel West, who sports a very prominent Afro and beard, is one of America’s foremost thinkers. You can disagree with his personal politics all you want, but you can hardly call him uncivilized.

Secondly, being clean-shaven is not an option for all of us. Like many African-Americans, my skin keloids and close shaving of the face and head is not always a good idea. It can create in-grown hairs which result in bumps for the average person, but can be permanent for those of us that keloid. This is not to say we can’t be NEAT or well groomed, but that crew cut standard is not universal. Many Black people I know wear their hair long to prevent (or even cover) keloid scars.

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Thirdly, one of the ads targeted at white men features a man with a low-cut beard. It’s edged up but not clean. Why was this not a viable option for ads targeting Black men?

I get that advertisers rely on extremes to make their point in the 30 seconds that they have our attention, but this attempt to reach Black men was just lazy. Below is how they targeted the “general population.” There is no “re-civilize yourself” tag for them. They just look smooth and ready for work or play.

Furthermore, the Black man in the ad looks like he is holding a lifeless, decapitated head. It’s a jarring, violent image that would seem more befitting in a Mortkal Kombat game. But maybe that’s exactly what they were trying to say. “Finish Him.” Conform or be killed. Isn’t that what “civilized” nations do?

Lastly, for the women who insist this isn’t racist (there are many of you out there saying that it isn’t) and are happy to have another ally in the crusade to get your men to be neater, consider this. If the ad were for a woman’s grooming product featuring a straight-haired black woman holding her severed, afro-sporting head, getting ready to hurl it down aisle sixteen at Target celebrating her new self, would you feel civilized?

Let me know on Twitter @JLBarrow

UPDATE: Nivea’s parent company, Beiersdorf USA, emailed us this statement to Adweek apologizing for the ad:

“We are deeply sorry for a recent ‘Re-civilized’ Nivea For Men ad. This ad was inappropriate and offensive. Diversity and equal opportunity are crucial values at Beiersdorf and we do not tolerate insensitivity. It was never our intention to offend anyone and for this we are deeply sorry. This ad will never be used again. Beiersdorf, as a company, represents diversity, tolerance and equal opportunity. Direct and indirect discrimination must be ruled out in all decisions and in all areas of the company.“

Evidently, Questlove took exception to this ad as well: