Pediatric Anesthesiologist Spews Racial Insults on her Facebook Page

We're not sure what Dr. Michelle Herren was thinking when she wrote the following on her social media account (image at linked site due to copyright restriction)

"doesn't seem to be speaking too eloquently here, thank god we can't hear her! Harvard??? That's a place for "entitled" folks said all the liberals! Monkey face and poor ebonic English!!! There! I feel better and am still not racist!!! Just calling it like it is!"

next to a picture of Michelle Obama, but we're pretty sure it wasn't "My punctuation abuse and racial slurs will SURELY reflect well on my place of employment, Denver Health Medical Center, Children's Hospital Colorado or my assistant professorship at CU's School of Medicine."

The good news for Dr. Herren?  It seems that her employers aren't overly concerned with the racist nature of her message either!  As of today, she's still listed as an employee of Denver Health Medical Center, despite the fact that her opinion of black children certainly would serve as a cause for alarm for any parent entrusting her with their child's literal life during a surgical procedure.

If you would like to contact Denver Health Medical Center to express your concerns about this oversight, here's their contact information.

When contact by phone for an explanation by a local journalist, Dr. Herren claims she didn't know comparing a black woman to a monkey is racist.  (We will now pause for everyone over the age of 14 to roll their eyes in unison.)

While Doctor Herren is in hiding from the outrage she's generated, she might need some reading material.  We recommend the Linguistic Society of America's explanation of ebonics.  She might also choose to avail herself of Mrs. Obama's highly impressive C.V.


In any case, we hope that she either has a change of heart, makes a public apology and puts her money where her mouth is, with the donation of time and services to something serving the black community, or that the hospital and the medical school choose to let her go.  

Trump Goes After The First Amendment

With a 140 character flourish, our President Elect has reminded us that, during his campaign, he set the first amendment squarely in the sights of the second. At the time, his target was legitimate and highly respected journalists from various newspapers across the country.

This morning, he suggested that anyone who burns the flag should 'lose citizenship' (has he ever read Man Without a Country?   That doesn't work) or spend a 'year in prison'.

While his hyperbolic nature often flares up in his tweets, the underpinnings of this remark need to be taken seriously by anyone who has more than a passing regard for the bill of rights.

Burning the flag falls firmly in the category of free speech, however distasteful or, literally, inflammatory, it may be.  It is decided case law, Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989), which overturned a full 48 restrictions on burning the flag in state laws.

His threat, although entirely unenforceable, also plays fast and loose with the 8th amendment, which prevents cruel and unusual punishment.   Stripping a human of American citizenship is not legal short of voluntary consent of the citizen, and should horrify us (and if it doesn't, really, read Man Without a Country).    Any amount of time of confinement for flag burning has fascist overtones that should make our stomachs turn.

In 7 weeks, Donald J. Trump will 'solemnly swear' to the best of his ability to 'preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Hasn't he just declared, in one of his infamous pithy phrases, that he prefers to do precisely the opposite?  

Dr. Tom Price Named as Secretary of Health and Human Services

At first blush, Tom Price doesn't seem like a horrible choice for Secretary of Health.  Unlike his compatriot DeVos, nominated as Secretary of Education, he actually has experience in the appropriate field,  as a practicing physician.   

In the last several years, he has been a loud voice opposing the Affordable Care Act, and wishes to see it abolished, no doubt to the detriment of the more than 11 million people who have signed up for insurance policies under the exchange.  The disabled and chronically ill are particularly vulnerable to such an abolishment.

He's also an outspoken opponent of safe pregnancy termination, a rather counterproductive argument for any physician,  and also an outspoken opponent to equal rights protections to the LGBTQ community.

As disabled persons, women and the LBGTQ community, stand to suffer on a Trump administration, it is worth noting that the man who will be setting the tone for health care of our entire nation for the next several years is an advocate of medical harm to both all three of these groups of individuals.  

Black Church Defaced With Racial Slurs

photo from Twitter

Liberty Missionary Baptist Church, of Evansville, Indiana, a church founded by freed slaves in 1865 and which is the oldest black church in a town with only 13% black residents, found their church doors, church van, and an outside rubbish bin defaced with comments such as "Kill all Koons".  

The vandalism  occurred on Thanksgiving Day, while parishioners were inside serving a Thanksgiving dinner to 300 visitors of different ethnicities in need, as is their holiday tradition.  

Threatening Message Left on Door of Black Church

Islamic Center Receives Letter with Death Threats.

Savannah, GA -The Islamic Center of Savannah received a handwritten  letter that states that Trump "will do to you what Hitler did to the Jews.   It is identical copy of a letter that has popped up in mosques in California.  

photo by Damian Trujillo
NBC Bay Area 

         To the Children of Satan, 

                  You muslims [sic] are a vile and filthy people.  Your mothers are whores and your fathers            are dogs. You are evil.  You worship the devil. But your day of reckoning has arrived.

                  There's a new sheriff in town --.  [sic] President Donald Trump [sic]. He's going to                      cleanse America and make it shine again. And, he's going to start with you Muslims.  He's                   going to do to the muslims [sic] what Hitler did to the jews [sic].  You Muslims would be wise to         pack your bags and get out of Dodge. 

                 This is a great time for patriotic Americans. Long live President Trump and God bless the           USA

                                                                                  Americans for a Better Way 

A search for "Americans for a Better Way" does not lead to a website for any specific organization, although the name is similar to a name of a SuperPac "Americans for a better way forward".  

Islamic Center of Savannah Receives Threatening Letter

Trump Voter calls Black Employees Servicing Her "Animals"

photo by Jessie Grady 

Chicago, Il  -According to customers and staff  of a Michael's craft store, a white woman went on a racist, profanity filled tirade lasting nearly 30 minutes, after a black employee made the standard offer of a reusable bag for a small fee at the cash register.

The black women assisting her remained calm and professional, according to the white woman who filmed the incident via her phone the night before Thanksgiving.

The ten minute plus video, which is highly uncomfortable to watch, shows a white woman in her mid thirties progressively becoming more irate, screaming and yelling, and begins to shout at the black cashier across the counter, "You're an animal...you're an animal!"  

She also added the remark, "You are not going to give me a liberal lesson about who is and is not a human!  And tell me who to vote for!"  apparently apropos of nothing, and occasionally took a breath to state that the filming woman's husband was either cheating on her, or non existent, and that her baby was 'stealing' things.

"Shits" and "damns" liberally sprinkle the tirade despite the manager's pained requests for language and volume modulation due to the presence of the children.


She continues to refer to how she voted for Trump, to the bemused chuckles of fellow shoppers.   At the end of the video you can hear a customer off camera say, "They need to call an ambulance [unintelligble]  I feel sorry for her."

While there is no doubt that the woman is emotionally uncontrolled, there is no evidence presented in the video of intractable mental illness.

The woman ultimately left prior to police arrival.

We're sure Michael's would be interested in the woman's identity; if her picture is recognized you can contact them at (773) 327-7127.

Angry Woman at Michael's Store Cries Discrimination 

It's Been a Long Week, Everyone

The editorial team needed a break before jumping back in with both feet.  We promise that we have read each of your messages and emails (and were truly touched by some).

The news keeps coming in fast and furious, more race based physical assaults, more cars and homes defaced by crudely painted swastikas.    200 Nazis held a conference right outside our Capitol and Nazi-saluted while chanting Donald Trump's name.

It is a surreal period in American history and is only going to get.....weirder.....so....hang onto your hats, folks.  We'll be here for you, writing, compiling, fact checking, calling local police departments for clarification, and not sleeping or eating that much.  

We do want to confirm for those who have asked, while we acknowledge a much broader disregard for civil liberties and a free and open democracy illustrated in the media (particularly, the treatment of legitimate journalists such as the New York times and the constant companion of Trump's children, who are allegedly in charge of the 'blind trust' running his considerable holdings), we are, choosing for now to focus on those assaults on human identity, whether it be race, ethnicity, orientation, religion, gender identity, etc.

~The Editor

Jeff Sessions, in the wake of a 40 year racist career, becomes the Attorney General

Jeff Sessions, 1986

1986 was a good year to be a Republican.   Reagan had just won re-election in 1984 with a sweeping and never before or since matched, 525 electoral votes, and carrying 49 out of 50 states.  Reagan's down home rhetoric for prayer in schools, against environmental protection, against safety nets, against the use of illegal drugs, against the poor and marginalized had struck a chord with the American people.  

He had just signed the Immigration Control and Reform Act, making it amongst other things, illegal to knowingly hire illegal immigrants, but also granted amnesty to 3 million undocumented Americans.

And in a quiet Judiciary Committee, a young Jeff Sessions, then a 39 year old lawyer from Alabama, stood ready to defend his appointment to a federal judgeship by the wildly popular President.

The committee heard that he used racist rhetoric regularly, including the 'n-word'  to describe black colleagues.   They heard that he thought the Ku Klux Klan weren't so bad (at least until he found out the local chapter imbibed in marijuana, what Sessions found to be their compelling character flaw.)   They heard his pointed opposition to civil rights groups, including the NAACP.

from the New York Times

The committee returned their verdict, 10-8, against the appointment.

30 years later, the man a group of Reagan-era senators deemed too racist to be a judge, will now sit as the most powerful prosecutor in the United States of America.

As Attorney General of Alabama, Sessions worked to defund the Gay-Straight Alliances in his state universities.  The US District Court found against him and his clear violation of the 1st Amendment in 1996.   He voted against the Matthew Shepherd Act, voted against the repealing of DOMA, and tried in both 2004 and 2006 to prohibit equal marriage rights as a Constitutional Amendment.

Sessions has been a vocal opponent of any immigration reform that provides a path to amnesty for any undocumented immigrant, including the DREAM Act, which provides temporary protections to young people who came to the United States as children, even, as infants.

More recently, in the wake of the infamous 'Grab her by the pussy' recording, Sessions defiantly insisted to reporter that it was not, in fact, sexual assault, to touch a woman's genitals without her permission.  (For the record, Sessions is entirely wrong on this.)  Later he tried to back track, claiming he was misrepresented in the heat of a chaotic campaign environment.  

In January 2017, Loretta Lynch will leave the position of attorney general, and her office, which has made it a mandate to root out incidences of race based criminality, and leave it in the hands of a man who is on record as using contemptible language about black men, opposing protections for the entirety of the LGBTQ community, opposing organizations interested in protecting human rights, opposing non-racist legislation to improve America's immigrant situation.  

Lynch and Sessions

If you wish to protest this appointment, contact your senator by phone to express your disapproval.


10 Things to Know about Senator Jeff Sessions

In Trump's GOP, Sessions goes from Fringe to Prime-Time

Sessions Urges Colleagues to Oppose DREAM Act Amnesty

It's not Clear if Trump Attorney General Sessions Thinks Grabbing a Woman by the Crotch is Sexual Assault

Jeff Sessions Could Overhaul Department he's Skewered

White students harass Hispanic Students with Racist Rhetoric

Snyder, Tx -

Archer City High School
Photo from Facebook

White students from Archer City High School donned false beards and chanted and held signs stating "Build that Wall!" at their opponents from Fort Hancock High School during a volleyball tournament.

Fort Hancock Independent School district borders Mexico, and its student population is 97% Hispanic.  83% of the Archer City High students are white, and only 9% are Hispanic.

More alarming, C.D. Knobloch, the Archer City superintendent delivered this 'apology' after the fact.

In my opinion it is stemming from the presidential election.If we hadn’t had that election last week, this wouldn’t have happened. Our students are not racists. It’s as simple as that.

Mr. Knobloch, your students are racists.  And in your defense of them, you indicate yourself to be one as well.   You are racists, and racism-apologists.   Saying you are not in the face of blatant contradictory evidence does little to assure people you wish to truly handle the problem.  

White Texas Teens Chant Build That Wall At Hispanics During Volleyball Match

Rutgers Professor Taken for Psych Evaluation After Anti-Trump Tweets

Kevin Allred
Photo by Bill Denver

Professor Kevin Allred made the undeniably tasteless tweet the day after Trump won the election.   If I see any Trump bumper stickers on the road today, my brakes will go out and I’ll run you off the road. While The Trump Effect does not condone threatening traffic related violence, it surely is among the more tame remarks made in the election cycle with Trump supporters frequently threatening to shoot and lynch the President or Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as recently as during the Trump election victory speech.

He also posed a question first in his class and later on his twitter feed; would people care more about gun control if more white people were the victims of gun violence?  A student complained.

Several hours later, Professor Allred found himself taken into custody by campus police and delivered unwillingly to Bellevue psychiatric hospital, where doctors took only two hours to deem the concern absurd and discharge him forthwith.

Lower Courts have generally given a fairly wide berth to social media posts and the 'true threats' exception to free speech.    Given the fairly obvious vagueness of the 'target', the limitation of twitter as a platform to really explain one's actual thoughts, and that the threat would put the writer in just as much harm's way as his alleged targets, it seems patently obvious that this would fall under 'tasteless and protected speech' rather than a 'true threat'.

This particular incident gives us pause for two reasons  1.  Trump has made it clear that he wishes to curtail the 1st amendment  and  2.  The Fraternal Order of Police threw their support behind Trump, and the Rutgers University Police Department are members of that union.  

Rutgers University Professor Taken for Psych Eval

Woman Has Car Vandalized; Racist Note Included Gratis

Damage to Nicki Pancholy's car
Photo from Twitter

Milpitas, California-Nicki Pancholy, a native Californian of Indian descent, likes to hike up local Mission Peak for personal reflection time.  When she is outside, she wears a bandana to protect her sensitive skin from the sun, due to a medical condition.

Nicki Pancholy
photo from Twitter

November 14, Monday, she returned from her hike to find her car windows smashed in, her purse stolen, and a note under the windshield reported to read, "Hijab wearing bitch, this is our nation, now get the fuck out."  
While it really isn't relevant to the nature of the attack, it is worth noting that Pancholy's bandana does not in any way resemble a hijab or other religious headgear, as noted to the left, where she shares a photo on Twitter of how she tied it on her head.  

This is Our Nation; Now Get the F-- Out

Swastikas Painted on Homes and Cars in Diverse Neighborhood

Swastikas in Danbury, Ct
Photo from Danbury Patch

Danbury, CT-  Police in Danbury are investigating a series of incidents in which swastikas were inscribed on homes, business and private property, as recently as this past weekend, November 12-13.   The neighborhood is described as ethnically diverse, and one of the targets was a Catholic Charities location.









Danbury is not unfamiliar with racial prejudice or white supremacists.     The Ku Klux Klan maintained a presence there in the 1980s after a resident, black science teacher, Dimples Armstrong, wrote a teacher's handbook on the KKK.   Race riots in the still largely segregated high school broke out, and the KKK publicly burned crosses on lawns.


While those white supremacists may have been shamed into the shadows in the intervening 30 years, it is clear that they feel empowered to once again step into the forefront of American consciousness.

Swastikas Painted On Danbury Home

College Student Assaulted by Trump Supporters

Columbus, OH- Brittany Daughenbaugh was assaulted in the early morning hours of Thursday November 11 by two men, one wearing an eponymous campaign sweatshirt, the other a "Make America Great Again" hat.

"Don't you worry, honey," she quotes one of the men as saying to her, before knocking her to the ground "President Trump says this is ok."

Daughenbaugh was treated at a local emergency room for bruises to her face and ribs and a minor concussion.   She shows her bruises below in a social media post.  

Facebook photo Brittany Daughenbaugh

Bexley detective John Kim took the police report, and noted the bruises on Daughenbaugh's face as well as the medical records from the hospital, and then was forced to defend Daughenbaugh's account and medical evidence when she was accused of making up the story for attention, stating officers photographed her bruises and collected evidence, and were 'absolutely' treating it as a legitimate complaint. 
Daughenbaugh is a 3rd year pre-med student at Capital University.

Capital Student Attacked by 2 Trump Supporters

Muslim Immigrant Family Targeted with Hateful Note

Amar Samel and his wife Muna Abdalla, found a hateful note taped to their front door when he returned home after midnight following his father's death.   The note had been left while his wife and children were home by themselves.  It read "You can all go home now. We don’t want [Expletive] and terrorists here. #Trump."

The Iowa City police department compounded the problem by improperly refusing to come to the home for a statement or to retrieve evidence.   When Iowa City's Gazette reached out to the city's police chief, Bill Campbell, he decried the lack of action and immediately assigned a detective to the case, but unfortunately, the evidence that could have been retrieved has been compromised.

Amar and Muna are exemplary of the American dream.  They emigrated here from Sudan in 2010, became citizens a year ago, and have four children in Iowa public schools.  They both maintain employment in the city, and have recently purchase a house through the non profit organization Habitat for Humanity.  

They are the kind of people that have made America great all ready.  

We should be so very ashamed.

Hateful Note Taped to Door of Iowa City Family

WV Non Profit Director Fired; Mayor Faces Calls to Resign

In the wake of some truly racist social media behavior, one Trump voter has lost her job, and a mayor from her county is in hot water.  

It's no secret that Trump's election has emboldened the most racist amongst us to say some remarkably awful things.  Traditionally, though, those in political limelight or elected position know to pull their punches on social media.   That's not been Trump's style, and apparently Pamela Taylor, now former Director of Clay County Development Corporation, thought she had the clout to take a page out of Trump's book by posting,

Photo credit WSAZ News

It will be refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady in the White House. I'm tired of seeing an ape in heels.

Not to be outdone in either racism, or a complete inability to understand that the internet is both public and forever, OR the disrespect of the comma, the Mayor of Clay, West Virginia, Beverly Whaling, responded in the comments, "Just made my day Pam".  


After a public outcry, Ms. Taylor has been terminated from her job, claims that she is going to sue for slander (we hope her attorney can gently educate her on the leading premise of slander, which that if it's TRUE, it's not slander) and claims she's gotten death threats (and if THAT is true, seriously, people, cut that out right now).    

Ms.  Whaling is facing calls for termination, although since she's an elected official it's unclear that there's a path to terminate her.  Perhaps she'll have the grace to resign?    

Non Profit Director and Mayor under Fire after Facebook Post

Threatening Racist Letters Hand Delivered to Minority Household

A home in Natick MA found two messages delivered to its mailbox and driveway over the course of 36 hours.  The first message outright threatens murder.  The second message seems to imply some sort of retribution, referencing a previous unknown event.  

Pictures by Andrew Provost

                1st Image:   Small fella Maple 8 1st WARNING

                 2nd Image:  HEY LOOSER SHORTIE We have just cleared the White House off                                                      niggers!!!! Do not bring niggers in our neighborhood - You fuck latinos now                                        you fuck niggers. We will Kill Them.   Natick is strictly white.   1 Warning.

                3rd Image:   Mr. Andrew, This is a serious warning.  Natick has zero tolerance for black                                           people.   All the neighborhood is complaining about the in and out of these                                           people these days.   We tolerate the latinos now you are going total black. This                                     trash belong to Dorchester.  We have reclaimed our country back by selecting                                       Trump and now you are messing up everything. Our kids and pets are scared to                                     death.  This is the 2nd warning.   You do not want what happened on Elm St                                         yrs back to happen to your house ??????  Please make sure to get rid of those                                       trash before a third warning,.  Concerned Neighbors.

Natick Police Investigating Possible Hate Crime

Church Advertising Spanish-Language Service Vandalized

Silver Spring Episcopal ChurchPhoto from NBC Washington

Our Savior Episcopal Church, Silver Spring, Md, found its banner advertising a Spanish-language service was vandalized with graffiti reading "Trump Nation. Whites Only."  The same wording was found on a wall in the church's garden.

While we commend the culprits for not misusing apostrophes, we do issue a polite request.  Please, show your faces.    Explain to the class how your racism has a home in the United States of America.
Silver Spring Church Vandalized with Pro-Trump Racist Message

Face of White Nationalist Movement Named as Chief Counselor To Trump Administration

Steven Bannon
photo from Breitbart News

In an apparent attempt to compromise between establishment Republicans, and his anti-establishment, racist base, Trump announced his Chief of Staff pick tonight.  People were waiting to see if it was going to be Reince Priebus, former chairman of the RNC, and Republican insider, or Steve Bannon, who engineered Trump's campaign, and has a C.V. we'll dip into in a moment.  Trump selected both, in an unusual move that will pit two different groups of people against each other in the Trump inner circle.

Steven Bannon is well associated as the director of the online presence of the Alt Right, group, a white, separatist nationalist group of individuals that more or less represent the modern version of the KKK.  They long for a whites only Christian America, and are not ashamed or shy of their beliefs.

While the Alt Righters themselves have no particular formal structure, they use social media to get their message out, and Bannon's Breitbart News, for which he serves as the executive chief of staff, is their public mouthpiece.  

His personal history includes anti-semitic statements, wife beating and other charges of domestic abuse.

Riebus's title is Chief of Staff, and Bannon's, "Chief Strategist".  Interestingly enough, Trump's press release listed Bannon's name first.

While we certainly don't know for a fact what Bannon's goals in the inner circle will be, we can cautiously assume that a man who believes in white nationalist superiority does probably not have multicultural America's best interests at heart.

Holocaust Expert Suspended by High School

Mountain View High School
Picture from Wikipedia

Frank Navarro is a high school politics teacher in Mountain View, California.  You may know him as a Mandel
Fellow for the US Holocaust Memorial Museum,  or a 40 year Holocaust scholar who has studied at the International Center for the Study of the Holocaust in Jerusalem. 

He is uniquely and imminently qualified to comment on the political elements that led to Hitler's rise, and how, and why, the cultural environment in Germany permitted it to happen.

He is also qualified to observe how a great number of those political happenings of 1930s Germany mirror those of 2016 USA, and to observe the number of ways in which comparisons can be drawn between Hitler's and Trump's rise to power.  

Frank Navarro
picture by Deanne Fitzmaurice

Mr Navarro led a classroom discussion at Mountain View High School, of said parallels on Thursday, November 11.   By the middle of the day he was suspended from his position and asked to leave school property, after a presumably Trump-supporting parent emailed the administration to complain.

The administration, perhaps aware that they've misstepped, have all ready invited to Mr. Navarro to return this Monday, but have yet to issue a public apology for their error in judgement.

The Trump Effect has reached out to Mountain View High School and Mr. Navarro and will update with commentary if it receives a response from either party.

Trump lesson drawing Hitler parallels costs Bay Area teacher

High School Students Disciplined after Harassing Black Peer

Ladue Horton Watkins High School
Photo by Christian Gooden, St. Louis Post

Two Ladue Horton Watkins High School students in St. Louis, MO were facing internal consequences after shouting at black peers that they had to 'sit at the back of the bus' in the light of Trump's election.

The school investigated and released the follow statement via the PA system.

Good Afternoon Ladue High School Community:
In light of the recent election and the weekend ahead, I felt it important that we take this opportunity to reaffirm who we are, and what we stand for as a larger community.
1201 South Warson is one of the few places that we have an opportunity to learn, laugh, study, and work together.  You may be surprised to learn that we are one of the most diverse school districts in the state of Missouri.  This diversity--racial, ethnic, and economic--is a source of our strength.  It is what makes us who we are.
At the same time, the larger issues of social inequality, systemic and institutionalized racism that are impacting our nation—impact us in a very direct and meaningful way. 
Regardless of your political ideology, we embrace one another’s race and ethnicity.  We embrace one another’s family background, heritage, language, culture, and gender identity. 
We embrace one another because it is a core value of our humanity.  We are one school.  We are one community. 
Today, over the weekend and when you return to school, I encourage you to be kind and caring towards one another.  We cannot change the world, but we can control our own actions, and how we choose to treat our fellow students. 
In the words of Dr. King, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”
We will protect and take care of each other.  We will work towards justice.  We will stand as one community. 

While the message is certainly uplifting and inclusive, it doesn't make mention of the issue which spawned the incident, or the inciting factor of the President Elect.

We encourage schools to be fierce and brave.  Make your stand.  Now is not the time to hide behind political neutrality.  This is not an issue of political identity but of human and American identity.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/education/two-ladue-horton-watkins-high-school-students-disciplined-after-racial-incident-on-bus/351236035 

Swastikas Found on Restroom Walls in Maryland Middle School

Photo from Bethesda Magazine

In another incidence of racist graffiti, this time at Westland Middle School in Montgomery County, school officials once again responded appropriately to the level of violence and hate inherent in crimes of this nature, with a notification to parents and police. 

Dear Students, Parents and Guardians,I want to share with you information about an event that took place at Westland.  I am sending you this letter to give you the facts and to assure you that we are addressing this incident.One of our boys’ bathrooms was vandalized with multiple images of swastikas drawn in ink pen, in pencil and with glue stick. Once we were informed about the images we immediately secured the location, contacted the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) and contacted the Montgomery County Public Schools office of school support and improvement.  After appropriate documentation by our staff and by the police our building services staff removed the vandalism.We are very saddened by this incident.  This type of behavior will not be tolerated.  Once the culprit(s) are identified, consequences will be administered in accordance with the MCPS Student Code of Conduct.We will continue to work closely with police, as well as MCPS security, on this investigation.   If you have further questions, please call the school at 301.320.6515.Sincerely,          Alison L. SerinoPrincipal

The Trump Effect is sobered by the awareness of the fact that middle school students are generally in the age range of 11-13.    They are still children, certainly not capable of racial or ethnic hate in their own right; they have learned these notions at home, from their parents, or from unsupervised access to hate sites on the internet.  

Swastikas Drawn on Wall at MD Middle School

"Whites Only" Scrawled on Stall Door of High School Bathroom

Photo from ABC 7 Eyewitness News

Warren Township High School students found the phrase "White's [sic] Only" scrawled in a girls' restroom.  The school was quick to respond with a statement, also reporting that in addition several copy cat incidences of graffiti popped up shortly thereafter.

Dear WTHS Parents:
Below is a follow up on the email which was sent home earlier in the day today regarding racially insensitive graffiti in washrooms.
Some students at our Almond Campus who were feeling very concerned organized a sit-in after 5th period today in our library hallway. During 6th period, Mr. Keeley used this as an opportunity to hold an impromptu student meeting and hear their concerns. Approximately 200 students participated. The Administration plans to follow up with groups of students and parents to further investigate these concerns.
Additionally, three "copycat" examples of the graffiti were also found on washroom stalls at our O'Plaine campus on Thursday. The graffiti was immediately removed and our Deans and the Gurnee Police are investigating these incidents as well.
We are asking parents to please communicate with their children on the critical role of tolerance and an appreciation of diversity in our lives. We also ask that you remind them to please report any information they have about inappropriate conduct to the school administration as soon as possible.
Thank you.John AhlgrimSuperintendent of Schools

Kudos to Warren Township for not dismissing this as a 'joke' or a 'prank' as with recent events The Trump Effect has reported, but taking it seriously.

Racist Message Found in Suburban High School Bathroom

Middle School Teacher Threatens to have his Students' Parents Deported

A substitute phys. ed teacher was recorded threatening the sixth grade students he was teaching with the deportation of their parents, and their placement in foster care.   When one of the children questioned how he would find them he responded

"I got your phone numbers, your address, your mama’s address, your daddy’s address. It’s all in the system, sweetie. And when they come and there’s an illegal, they gotta go!"

Several children's families filed a complaint with Los Angeles Unified School District, and they reported to the local news agency reporting on this teacher that they were told by the District the teacher had been terminated.

As of yet this teacher's name has not been made public.
Teacher Caught on Audio Telling Students their Parents would be Deported

photo from San Jose Unified School District

High School Student Hands out "Deportation Letters" to Minority Students

A Shasta High School student handed out 'deportation letters' to minority classmates the day after Donald Trump's win, and defended the behavior as a joke, a sentiment echoed by the school district.

Once again, The Trump Effect encourages schools to identify this behavior for what it is.  It is not a 'prank' or a 'joke'.  It is real life, real time, discrimination and targeting directly linked to the President Elect.  Don't minimize it and don't sweep it under the rug.

High School Student Hands out Deportation Letters

Screengrab courtesy KRCR News Channel 

Senior Fellow of designated hate group selected by Trump to assist in his 100 day transition team

Ken Blackwell of the Family Research Council, designed a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, has been tapped to help Donald Trump transition in his first 100 days as POTUS.  (He also serves on the board of the NRA.)

For the unitiated, Family Research Council exists to target and hurt gay people, and for little other reason.  They have been a strong voice of hate and violence in the United States for a long time.

Rest assured, this means that Trump intends to target the rights of the LGBTQ community in the United States, and he intends to make it a top priority for his administration.

Trump Taps Ken Blackwell to Lead Domestic Transition Team

Children harassed and prevented from going to class by fellow students

A twelve year old girl was prevented from accessing her locker, along with other students who intentionally formed a human wall to prevent minority students from getting to their destinations at DeWitt Junior High School.  The specific student, who is Hispanic in heritage, was told to go back to her country and that Trump would make America great again.

Another student of Asian ethnicity was threatened with deportation by fellow students.

The school seemed to respond in irritation to parents who took to the media with their complaints.

While under normal circumstances, most would agree that school disciplinary situations should be handled privately, this sort of overt racism and harassment is directly connected to our President-Elect and deserves the full, shining light of the first amendment upon it.  

DeWitt Junior High Students Formed Wall to Block Minorities

Photo from Lansing State Journal

High School Students Post "Colored" and "Whites Only" Signs above Water Bubblers

A high school in Jacksonville, Florida is investigating after water fountains were found marked with "White" and "Colored" hand made signs.

Laureen Ricks of the DCPS made the statement "[...]It appears to be a prank [...]" which leaves The Trump Effect scratching its head.    To the best of our knowledge, no one is claiming that the school codified bubblers by color of its skin, so obviously the signs are not legitimate.

That does not, however, negate the seriousness of the issue to the point that it can be downgraded to a 'prank'.  "Pranks" require shenanigans, not a targeted reminder of a recent time in history in which our Black brothers and sisters were segregated, targeted, and murdered for the crime of being Black.

Investigation underway after 2 racist signs posted above water fountains at Florida high school

Photo from Action News Jax

Middle School students shout "Build That Wall!" during school lunch

Royal Oak Middle School students in Detroit shouted "Build that Wall!" at their peers of color.  A very courageous and thoughtful 12 year old discreetly recorded the event on her phone and sent the video to her mother, who shared it via social media.

These are children aged 11-13 who have heard this hateful language and rhetoric from their parents, at home.  

Progress generally requires what is called a generational shift.   Unfortunately, hate and prejudice is passed on just as easily.  

Royal Oak Middle School Students chant 'Build that wall'

Direct link to video

Here's your mail, sir, and some racism!

A fellow at Harvard Medical School filed a complaint with the USPS when he heard a postal worker verbally accost a Hispanic man in Cambridge, MA, telling him to leave "Trump Land".  

The Trump Effect extends its thanks to Yarden Katz, who spoke when it would have been so easy to say nothing.

Postal Worker assaults Hispanic man

Gas the Jews! In 2016

photo by Dan Glaun

A small mountain in western Massachusetts was found covered with pro Trump and anti-semitic graffiti, including statements such as "Gas the Jews" and "Kill all the niggers"

Racist, anti-Semitic and pro-Donald Trump graffiti found on Mount Tom

Author of Arizona SB 1070 Named To Trump's Transition Team

The architect of Arizona's SB 1070, aka the "Show Me Your Papers" law, has been named to the President Elect's transition team.

Kris Kobach, in addition to writing one of the most racist laws to grace the books of a US state in modern times, also served as a keynote speaker at a white supremacist conference last year, in case you're worried he doesn't have any hobbies.

A bit of GOOD news:  as recently as this week, courts struck down voting laws written by him in various states, designed to disenfranchise the poor and the people of color.

Kris Kobach with his BFF Ted Nugent

dailykos.com/story/2016/11/10/1595617/-The-architect-of-the-most-racist-law-in-modern-American-history-has-been-named-to-Trump-s-team

Threatening letter sent to faculty and students

Police are investigating after Texas State University faculty and students received an internal memo describing how faculty and messicans [sic] would be tarred, feathered, and interred in concentration camps amongst other lovely sentiments.

http://www.kvue.com/news/local/hays-county/texas-state-police-investigating-trump-vigilante-fliers/350690961

Entirety of Letter

Our children are emboldened and threatening their peers of color

Two children in Silverton High School were suspended after taunting their peers of color with threats of deportation during a pro-Trump rally staged by a group of likeminded students.

At least the administration of the school had the common sense to handle it.

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/education/2016/11/09/students-suspended-after-threats-pro-trump-rally/93568094/

Trump Rally at Silverton HIgh School, photo by Naseem Rahka

The American Taliban is uniting to overturn legal protections of our gay brothers and sisters

One of the most well known Christian hate groups in the US, the National Organization for Marriage,  has all ready slapped together their plan for stripping American citizens of hard fought for constitutional rights.  (i won't say earned, because we ALL have them by birthright, but some of us had to fight to get them).

If you don't mind giving a hate group clicks, here's the source.

And if you prefer to be a bit more conservative with your clicky-goodness, here's a third party link.  http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2016/11/10/anti-lgbt-christians-are-already-working-to-undo-marriage-equality/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

Pride Flags Lit Afire

photo courtesy WHEC

Greg Ventura had his rainbow flag lit afire the day following the elections.  Local PD are calling it a hate crime.


http://www.rochesterfirst.com/news/local-news/pride-flags-are-being-burned-in-rochester

Make American Mug Again

Muslim college students at two separate universities report being robbed and viciously assaulted by Trump supporters. The Washington Post reports on both attacks, which left the victims frightened and injured.  

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/11/10/women-in-hijabs-on-2-campuses-say-they-were-attacked-by-men-invoking-donald-trump/

The KKK Announces a Parade in Trump's Honor

Straight from the horse's mouth, the Ku Klux Klan announced a parade in support of their newly elected leader, Donald Trump.

While I hate to give the website clicks, here is the direct link so you can ascertain veracity.  If you would just as soon not give them the clicks, Snopes.com covers it here

directly from the KKK's website