Daily Archives: June 20, 2012

The Hays administration building displays a poster designating the school district as “No Place for Hate,” as deemed by the Anti-Defamation League. The designation has been sullied after a recent vandalism spree that included racial statements directed toward a black teacher.

A black teacher who was the victim of a racially charged weekend vandalism spree at Hays High School is criticizing school administrators’ slow response and says it was not an isolated incident.

After teaching science at Hays High for the past four years, Wanda Murphy says she no longer feels comfortable at Hays CISD. She tendered her resignation two months before the May 19 incident, in which two Hays High freshmen are accused of writing the “Nigger” and “Welcome to Hell” and drawing a pentagram on her door.

They also changed the room number to 666 and left urine on the door after they slipped out of a dismissal line during Saturday school, similar to detention, school officials said.

The teens, whose names were not released, were detained on campus two days later and were charged with three state jail felonies: burglary of a building, graffiti of a public school and criminal mischief of a public school, the sheriff’s office reported.

Murphy said she was on her way to work the afternoon of the incident when she received a phone call from a colleague who was already on campus, alerting her to the damage. She said she believes school administrators tried to keep the racially charged information quiet.

“They didn’t handle it,” she said. “My principal did not show up until 1:30 the next afternoon, and he didn’t bring law enforcement with him.”

Murphy is one of only a handful of black employees at Hays High and one of 16 black educators districtwide.

In the aftermath of this new incident, she said the Hays CISD administration moved her departure date ahead two weeks, though she said she discovered this when she was denied access to her classroom files and campus email address. Savoy said the teacher told administrators she would not be returning to work the final week of school; she was not asked to leave.

The district did not publicly address the vandalism until the media learned of it from students and other community members.

The students who were detained, according to Murphy, were identified using video surveillance cameras at the school. She said one student is white, the other Hispanic.

They are both students in her class.

The teens, both 14, committed several other acts of vandalism around the school, according to Savoy. The damage included a fire extinguisher being discharged in a science lab in another hallway, graffiti in several hallways that was not racially offensive, and the concession stand at the baseball field being burglarized.

“Inside the concession stand,” Savoy said, “the students are accused of knocking over equipment and destroying most of the food and condiments.”

Hays County District Attorney Sherri Tibbe is said to be considering whether to add hate crime to that list, bumping up the charges to third degree felonies.

In addition to being detained by law enforcement and facing criminal charges, Savoy said each student has also been assigned the maximum penalty allowed under the Hays CISD student discipline code – immediate placement at the disciplinary alternative campus and possible expulsion.

Hays CISD Superintendent Jeremy Lyon said the district will not tolerate this type of offensive behavior. He is conducting a full investigation into the incident and any larger issues that may come to light because of it, according to Savoy.

“We will not tolerate actions or attitudes that are contrary to the safe, inclusive, respectful environment we strive to achieve,” Lyon said.

At the May 21 Board of Trustees meeting, the same day the two 14-year-old high school students were detained for racially charged vandalism, the Anti-Defamation League recognized Hays CISD for all 22 campuses and the district as a whole earning the “No Place for Hate” designation.

“We’re serious about being a ‘No Place for Hate’ district and we’re proud of that distinction,” said Lyon. “It doesn’t mean we won’t have an incident or issues, but it means there is no place for bigotry or hateful and hurtful speech or actions in Hays CISD.”

Related stories:

• Hays High students accused of possible hate crime on campus 05/25/2012
• Hays High not yet hateless 05/30/2012
• Hays freshman arrested for making bomb threats on campus 02/9/2012

http://haysfreepress.com/2012/06/01/hate-crime-teacher-says-racially-charged-vandalism-not-isolated-incident/#ixzz1yOcG276m

The best friend and co-worker of the woman accused of murdering a Publix employee said Arunya Rouch was harassed and subjected to a racial slur while on the job.

Renee Pallante, testifying at Rouch’s murder trial, said Tuesday that Gregory Janowski argued with Rouch often while they worked together at the supermarket.

"He said he was going to get that chink fired," Pallante said.

Rouch, 44, is charged with shooting Janowski at point blank range on March 30, 2010, at the Tarpon Springs Publix where they both worked.

"They were calling her a chink in the back room and telling her to do her ninja moves on people," Pallante said. "Teasing her, saying she looked like a boy with her new haircut," she said. Rouch is of Thai descent.

The testimony was part of the defense strategy to show that Rouch was in a stressed state of mind the day she was fired from her job and allegedly killed Janowski five hours later.

The defense called a psychiatrist to the witness stand. Dr. Karl Jones told the jury he was convinced that Rouch lost her understanding of right from wrong when Publix terminated her.

"She started to think about dying and also about killing someone. She said she couldn’t stop the thoughts," Jones said. He testified that Rouch suffered from a form of post traumatic stress disorder brought on by months of tormenting and abuse from Janowski.

Jones said he believed that after Rouch shot Janowksi to death, she was determined to commit "suicide by cop." That’s a term used to describe someone attacking police with the intention of getting shot to death.

Prosecutors didn’t buy it. During cross-examination, they asked Jones if he could explain why Rouch fired three shots at police before officers returned fire, shooting Rouch four times.

"That’s pretty clear that she wanted to shoot the police, isn’t it?" said Fred Schaub, a Pinellas/Pasco county assistant state attorney.

"It’s also clear that she wanted the police to shoot her, too," Jones responded.

Earlier in the day, state attorneys showed jurors a sequence of Publix surveillance video. Prosecutors contend that Rouch is clearly visible entering the store carrying a green shopping bag. They say she was hiding a handgun underneath. Rouch had just shot Janowski minutes earlier, according to state attorneys, and was looking to kill more people.

Police are seen in the video entering the front door of the store as panicked customers run in the opposite direction. Rouch would end up with four gunshot wounds from police after she tried to kill them, law enforcement said. The shootout was not shown on video.

Defense attorneys asked Judge R. Timothy Peters to dismiss all charges on grounds that prosecutors failed to present enough evidence.

Schaub told the judge there was overwhelming proof of Rouch’s guilt, especially her killing Janowski while he was in his car.

"He sat unprotected. Four shots. That’s premeditation. One shot. Two shot. Three shot. Four shot," Schaub said, using his hand to demonstrate how the gun was fired. "She got a firearm. She got boxes of ammunition. She got three rounds or clips or magazines," Schaub argued.

The judge dismissed the motion.

Rouch told the judge she would not take the witness stand. However, her husband Thomas took the stand on her behalf on Wednesday morning.

During a break in testimony, prosecutors informed the judge that Thomas Rouch was being unfairly informed about the proceedings in court. As a witness, Rouch’s husband is supposed to be isolated from the testimony. The judge said he took the complaint under advisement.

Peters also scolded attorneys for both sides, saying they were quibbling too long about witnesses and that he didn’t want to waste the jury’s time.

Closing arguments in the case could begin Wednesday.

http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/witness-murder-victim-used-racial-slur#ixzz1yO7Tv3yd

And the hate just keeps on coming.

A radio talk host based in Arizona referred to President Obama last week as “the first monkey president.”

Barbara Espinosa made the remark on her show, “Hair on Fire,” after a caller described Obama as a communist with “rabbit ears.”

“Well, I don’t call him ‘rabbit ears,’ I call him a monkey,” she told the caller. “I don’t believe in calling him the first black president, I call him the first monkey president….I voted for the white guy, myself,” referring to Obama’s 2008 opponent, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)

I thought when you played the dozens that the person being insulted needed to be in the room and given a chance to offer a pithy comeback. After all, this is a game, right?

There has always been name calling in politics and there is scarcely any black American who would be surprised to learn that someone would call Obama names, but the level of disrespect not just for this president, but for the office of the President of the United States (POTUS) has reached a new low.

A visiting reporter violated protocol last week by asking the president rude, pointed questions before Obama had finished his remarks and without being recognized. Last June, MSNBC contributor Mark Halperin said the president was “kind of a dick” for taking Republicans to task publicly.

And who can forget Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) for shouting out “You lie!”at President Obama as he delivered his health care address to Congress in 2009?

According to CNN, Wilson’s outburst may have gotten the most attention, but it wasn’t the only protest by Republicans during the speech, noting that Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, wore a sign around his neck that read, “What bill?” And when Obama asked Republicans to share their health reform ideas with him, a small group raised up a stack of papers above their heads.

A listener who identified himself only as “Joe,” took Espinosa to task last week (listen here) and asked if name calling was necessary to illustrate a point.

“You know, I’m not saying their ideas are right, but how about citing them intellectually instead of calling names? I have to say to you, the few things I just heard, they’re insulting. I mean, straight up insulting, and I think anyone listening would feel the same way.”

Espinosa was not chastened, later saying her remarks were constitutionally protected.

With freedom of speech, however, comes a responsibility to use judgment in one’s choice of words. It’s not a license to be rude, denigrating, destructive, or to incite ill will or harm.

Apparently, though, that doesn’t count when it comes to POTUS – or at least this particular one.

“I argue that any votes Obama gained due to his race in the general election (in 2008) were not nearly enough to outweigh the cost of racial animus, meaning race was a large net negative for Obama,” Stephens-Davidowitz, a Ph.D candidate in economics at Harvard University, who conducted research on the effect of “racial animus” on voting patterns, said in a 53-page report.

While other factors, including a staggeringly bad economy and U.S. involvement in two wildly unpopular wars, helped propel him to the presidency, candidate Obama still lost 3 to 5 percentage points in the national popular vote, Stephens-Davidowitz estimated.

Further, he said, that number could grow even more and hurt Obama’s chances in November.

“Quantifying the effects of racial prejudice on voting is notoriously problematic. Few people admit bias in surveys,” Stephens-Davidowitz wrote in an op-ed column in The New York Times. “So I used a new tool, Google Insights, which tells researchers how often words are searched in different parts of the United States.”

“The conditions under which people use Google — online, most likely alone, not participating in an official survey — are ideal for capturing what they are really thinking and feeling. You may have typed things into Google that you would hesitate to admit in polite company. I certainly have,” he wrote for The Times. “The majority of Americans have as well: we Google the word ‘porn’ more often than the word ‘weather.’”

He looked at research queries that included racially-charged language, including racist jokes and hate literature. He used data from 2004-2007 for a measure not directly influenced by feelings toward Obama. From 2008 onward, Stephens-Davidowitz said, “‘Obama’ is a prevalent term in racially charged searches.”

As a result, all these negative characterizations of and attacks on Obama are reinforcing subconscious racism and making it easier for some to vote against him – or perhaps not vote at all.

http://atlantablackstar.com/2012/06/20/monkey-president-the-obama-hate-just-keeps-on-coming/

A professional soccer player from Colombia claims ticket-takers at a Montreal metro station refused to let him ride the subway because he spoke to them in English.

Miguel Montano, a midfielder with the Montreal Impact, claims he was the victim of a “racist” language-based incident involving transit employees and filed a complaint.

The 20-year-old Impact reservist started by calling Montreal a racist city as he described the incident on social media — but he later backpedalled, and apologized if he offended people.

The incident occurred as Montano and another Impact player, French-born Hassoun Camara, were riding the metro Wednesday morning.

Montano, who doesn’t speak French, attempted to buy a subway ticket in English and was allegedly rebuffed by employees, who told him that he needed to speak French and his money was returned to him.

Furious, Montano took to Twitter and wrote about the incident in a pair of tweets.

“They are so racist in Montreal,” he wrote in Spanish. “They didn’t want to sell me a ticket to let me in the metro because I don’t speak French.”

He later added that the ticket-taker told him: “‘If you live in Montreal, you need to speak French.’ I spoke to him in English and he said NO (in) French and he gave me back my cash.”

Montano filed a formal complaint. Several hours after the incident, as the story appeared in the media, the soccer player toned down his attack on the city.

Montano said in the later tweets that he had experienced an unacceptable situation that made him very angry, and that’s what prompted him to write his comment. He apologized if he offended anyone.

“Montreal is not a racist city,” he added.

The Impact, in their inaugural season in Major League Soccer, confirmed the “unfortunate incident” on the metro.

The club said that while Montano spoke no French, Camara is actually from France and he also witnessed the incident. The club said in a statement that Camara has also filed a complaint with the authority for discriminatory behaviour.

A spokeswoman for the authority confirmed it will investigate after receiving a formal complaint. Spokeswoman Marianne Rouette said there’s a zero-tolerance policy for racism and transit employees know it.

As for the complaint about language, Rouette said the transit system is governed by the province’s French Language Charter.

That means no public employee is forced to speak any language other than French, although many employees happen to be bilingual or multilingual and can choose to speak other languages, she said.

In Quebec, tensions over a perceived increase in the use of English in the workplace — and decline of French — have been simmering over the past year.

It began with people who can’t speak French being named to key federal positions in Ottawa. That was followed by a series of news reports about companies, in Montreal, hiring senior executives who can’t speak French and forcing the rest of the staff to switch meetings to English.

But the issue reached its emotional peak when, in the midst of that climate, the Montreal Canadiens hired for the first time in decades a coach who couldn’t speak French. That interim coach, Randy Cunneyworth, has since been replaced.

But one vocal Montreal group says the metro incident has more to do with race — not language.

Fo Niemi, an anti-racism advocate, said in an email that visible minorities are often treated dismissively by transit workers.

“We often hear of this kind of treatment which goes beyond language, it is about the attitude towards public transit users from racialized persons,” said Niemi, the executive director of the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations. Niemi says there have been other complaints in the past about rudeness but they have gotten little attention.

The authority says it’s not sure how long an investigation might take.

Montano has played in Montreal since last August, when he was loaned to the club, and was re-signed in December to play for the new MLS outfit.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/soccer/impact-player-claiming-racism-at-hands-of-montreal-transit-employee/article4356202/?cmpid=rss1

UEFA charged the German football association on Tuesday after anti-discrimination monitors reported seeing a neo-Nazi banner at a European Championship match against Denmark.

UEFA said the charge of "improper conduct" of its fans related to the display of "inappropriate banners and symbols."

The case was opened based on reports by monitors from the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) fans’ network, which UEFA appointed to help combat racism and offensive flags, chants and behavior in Euro 2012 stadiums.

"FARE can confirm that one of our observers reported a neo-Nazi banner in the German section at the match vs. Denmark in Lviv on Sunday," the group said in a statement.

Fans in the Arena Lviv in Ukraine were also responsible for "inappropriate chanting" and setting off fireworks, UEFA said in a statement.

UEFA rules make national associations responsible for their fans’ actions inside stadiums.

German fans have now provoked UEFA charges after all three of the team’s matches at Euro 2012.

Portugal players were pelted with crumpled paper balls during the teams’ first match in Lviv. UEFA fined the German association 10,000 euros ($A12,441).

After Germany played the Netherlands in Kharkiv, Ukraine, UEFA opened a case for fans setting off fireworks and throwing more paper balls. UEFA has not yet published a ruling.

UEFA said its disciplinary panel will deal with the latest case on Saturday.

Germany beat Denmark 2-1 to advance to a quarterfinal match against Greece on Friday, in Gdansk, Poland.

http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=204477

Two Duffry Rovers players have been handed eight-week bans by the Wexford GAA county board, after referee Brendan Martin highlighted racist comments directed at dual-star Lee Chin in his match report following a recent SFC game against Chin’s football club Sarsfields.

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Chin, a wing back on the Wexford senior football side, is reported to be extremely upset and disappointed by the incident.

Wexford chairman Diarmuid Devereux said: “Lee Chin is a Wexford man, born in Wexford, living in Wexford, educated in Wexford and working in Wexford. Racism is something that will not be tolerated within Wexford GAA.”

Sarsfields chairman Ger Halligan is hoping to bring a motion to next year’s Congress aimed at stamping out racial abuse.

He said: “We are in the process of working with other clubs to draft a motion to our county board and hopefully to Congress to deal with the issue of racism in the GAA and have something enshrined into the rulebook.

“We support Lee in this matter. As far as we are concerned the matter has been dealt with and the issue is closed. Lee has a couple of important games with the county U21 hurlers and senior footballers in the coming weeks and we wish him the best of luck.”

Chin is expected to start Wexford’s Leinster SFC semi-final against Dublin on Sunday week and has been named at right half forward on the U21 hurling team to face Kilkenny tonight.

http://www.sportsnewsireland.com/gaa/113392/

Rodney King, whose brutal beating by Los Angeles police in 1991 ignited protests and riots, was found dead Sunday in his swimming pool from apparent drowning at the age of 47. King’s beating symbolized an infringement upon civil rights; specifically it was an example of racially motivated police misconduct and brutality. The recording of the tragic incident on camera exposed an ugly departure from the principle of “equal justice under the law,” a tenet proudly inscribed on the U.S. Supreme Court building, and espoused by our nation’s forefathers. The Rodney King beating, while unfortunate and tragic, opened the doors to a more profound understanding of inequality in our justice system.

King had been drinking and speeding over 100mph, and refused to pull over after hearing wailing police sirens. On parole for a robbery conviction, King feared that if he pulled over, he would be arrested for violating his parole. Fifteen officers, all of whom were white, converged upon King in patrol cars. Three of the officers approached King and tazed him with a stun gun, kicked him, and ferociously hit him more than 50 times with wooden batons.

The officers initially were criminally charged with assault with a deadly weapon and use of excessive force, only to be acquitted later. This verdict bred anger and rage, particularly among minority groups, some whom felt that this was a confirmation that the judicial system was riddled with racial inequality. Ultimately, the officers were retried for federal charges of civil rights violations and two of them were found guilty.

Justice was eventually served, but only after rigorous pressure from civil rights groups and activists, minority groups, and others.

Were it not for the video age, which made it possible for a bystander to record the Rodney King beating, investigations illuminating the role of prejudice in the justice system may never have been conducted. Although we have made strides towards accountability in our justice system, there still remains institutional racism.

War on Drugs’ Impact on Minority Imprisonment

The War on Drugs began in 1979 and continues today to the detriment of African Americans. Aside from the fact that its success in combating drugs remains questionable, sentencing is much harsher for possession of those illicit drugs most commonly used by African Americans.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, since 1970, drug arrests have increased from 320,000 to approximately 1.6 million. Drug offenses, furthermore, account for over half (51%) of the federal prison population, which is a 20-fold increase since 1980.

African Americans account for more than 80% of those convicted of federal crack offenses, because they are generally in the lower socio-economic strata, and crack cocaine is much cheaper than powdered cocaine. A first offense of 28 grams of crack cocaine possession carries a mandatory minimum 5-year sentence, while it takes 500 grams of powdered cocaine (which is used more frequently among Caucasians and is also more expensive) to receive the same sentence. Crack and powdered cocaine are pharmacologically the same, and extensive research by the United States Sentencing Commission has confirmed that the differences between the substances have been exaggerated to such a degree that does not justify vast discrepancy in sentencing.

African Americans are also more prone to be arrested for Marijuana possession, although they are less likely to use the substance than Caucasians. Marijuana remains illegal in many states and is classified as a schedule I drug, a classification assigned to drugs that have a high potential for abuse.

From 2004 through 2008, African Americans were arrested for marijuana possession at double, or sometimes even triple the rate that whites were arrested in 25 of the largest counties in California. A report by the Drug Policy Alliance concluded that this occurred because of patrolling practices by the police, in which police systematically “fish” for arrests in low income neighborhoods where African Americans and Latinos primarily reside. They disproportionately search vehicles and people in these areas, with the goal of finding contraband to make an arrest.

In New York City, around 50,000 people annually are arrested for marijuana possession, with African Americans comprising approximately 50% of the arrests, and Caucasians approximately 15% of arrests. This, in spite of the fact, that African Americans are less likely to use marijuana than Caucasians.

While the sheer numbers of arrests for possession and the large proportion of minorities affected are alarming, the methods used in obtaining these arrests, specifically in New York City, are even more alarming. The “Stop and Frisk” law in New York City allows officers to stop and frisk individuals that look “suspicious”. Their “suspicion” may have possibly been motivated by prejudice, since the tactic was used to stop nearly 700,000 men last year, most of whom were African American and Hispanics, yet only 10% were found guilty of a crime. New Yorkers, fearing that the policy enables racial profiling, orchestrated a protest this past Sunday against the “Stop and Frisk” law.

All of this may explain the conundrum that five times as many Caucasians are using illicit drugs, yet African Americans are sent to prison at 10 times the rate of Caucasians. The tragedy is that conviction and/or imprisonment for these illegal drugs lead to a criminal record, thereby only exacerbating the problem of unemployment in the African American community.

Public Defenders Not Able to Provide Effective Legal Representation

Eddie Joe Lloyd served 17 years in Michigan prison for a murder and rape he didn’t commit. DNA evidence later exonerated him and led to his release in 2002.

Public defenders work on the behalf of indigent defendants, whom are otherwise incapable of affording an attorney. Approximately 25% of African Americans and Hispanics are living in poverty, which explains why they are the greatest recipients of the public defense system. In fact, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), 77% of African Americans are forced to use the public defense system, making them the largest demographic dependent on this system.

Public Defenders are shouldering heavy workloads. According to the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA), many public defenders have felony caseloads of 500 or more, whereas the nationally recommended standard, as prescribed the National Advisory Commission (NAC), limits attorneys to 150 felony cases per year. Moreover, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) found that in 2007, 15 of the 19 reporting state public defender systems exceeded NAC’s recommended standards for caseloads by 27, handling approximately a median of 300 cases.

As a result, many public defenders are overworked, which hinders their ability to provide effective representation. A shortage of time to sufficiently research, plan and prepare cases for their clients has been attributed as a reason for why indigent defendants are significantly more likely to enter into plea bargains than those whom hire private attorneys. The need to turn over cases rapidly due to time constraints and to avoid trial against the behemoth State power is one that is troubling. Public defenders may be encouraging a hurried guilty plea by a defendant who is otherwise innocent, but simply concedes out of fear and confusion stemming from the complex legal system.

Underfunding of public defender programs is also a serious concern. The government has been generous in funding the upkeep and creation of new prison facilities, but has neglected to be nearly as generous in their funding of public defenders, the very people that can stand in the way of a guilty verdict that sends people to these prison facilities. The lack of funding seriously impedes the ability of public defenders to tap into tools such as training, investigators, and experts, which could make or break a case.

The State of Michigan, which ranks 44th nationally in per capita spending for lawyers for indigent criminal defendants, is a poster child for the broken public defender system. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Michigan’s Campaign for Justice attributed underfunding of the public defender system to the refusal by judges to spend money for investigators and other experts, and to the improper training received by public defenders. They emphasized that wrongful imprisonment is a serious repercussion of underfunding of the public defender system, specifically referring to the case of Eddie Joe Lloyd (an African American) who spent 17 years in prison for murder he didn’t commit.

“Our tax dollars are being spent to send the wrong people to prison,” said ACLU lawyer Robin Dahlberg in reference to the broken public defender system.

These groups believe that perhaps thousands of innocent people have been wrongfully imprisoned due to lack of adequate funding for training, research, experts, and investigators. Of course, this means that African Americans and Hispanics disproportionately fall victim to an underfunded public defender system, thereby offending due process.

In an adversarial process, defense attorneys must have adequate time, training, and tools to conduct their jobs. When there is a mismatch, and the prosecution has much greater resources and funding, this has the potential of undermining fairness and impartiality, both of which are central to our justice system.

Institutional racism is alive and well. Our pernicious drug laws coupled with a broken indigent defense system are leading to criminal injustice against minorities. Reform is needed in the arenas of sentencing laws, police racial profiling, and funding for indigent defense programs. Accountability isn’t limited to the average citizen; it extends to those whom we entrust to keep order and administer justice.

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/life-line-healthful-habits-made-simple/2012/jun/20/institutional-racism-aftermath-rodney-king-beating/

A church sign is getting some attention for the message it’s sharing with drivers.

The pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church says the phrase "Ultimate Racism: Abortionists Target Black Babies" to education people about abortion.

"I cannot be silent and just say that’s somebody else’s problem or I’m not dark enough to care about that issue. I can’t do that," Pastor Patrick Dye said. "This is the crime of America."

Dye put up those words last Thursday. He says the ‘abortionists’ include, but are not limited to, Planned Parenthood.

"Planned Parenthood purposely locates in minority communities," Dye said. "The Planned Parenthood clinic is located at the edge of a white community, but right there within walking distance of the housing project on Forest Drive and Two Notch Road."

Dye assumes the clinic’s location is in part responsible for attracting African-American patients.

A Planned Parenthood spokesperson says the average patient is a white female between the ages of 18-24 who is looking for birth control. They say race is not a factor and they don’t intentionally target black babies.

DHEC has data showing in 2010 that black women in Richland County were almost three times as likely to have an abortion. But, just because more black women were likely to have abortions that year does not necessarily mean that population was targeted, nor does it mean that Planned Parenthood is responsible for that percentage.

"For those who don’t agree, I hope it would get them to thinking, considering the issue, and being willing to have an open heart and open mind to say, ‘What is it I need to know?" Dye said.

In the last 5 years, Dye says he’s had about 12 abortion-related messages on that sign.

Planned Parenthood says it tries to provide affordable and accessible health care and because of that, has clinics in many low-income areas.

An e-mailed statement says: "[Planned Parenthood] believes in helping all individuals, regardless of gender, race or sexual orientation, make informed decisions about their reproductive health care."

http://www.kltv.com/story/18835025/church-sign-ultimate-racism-abortionists-target-black-babies