Today is the 40th anniversary of Robert F. Kennedy’s death at the hands of Palestinian immigrant Sirhan Sirhan. A Google News search for Kennedy and Sirhan turns up about 295 results.

A Google search for Kennedy and Sirhan and immigrant…turns up about 21.

Sirhan Sirhan emigrated to the United States in 1956, and was a fanatical Palestinian nationalist, although he was raised as a Maronite Christian, and was a citizen of Jordan. His crime is an obvious example of the “dark side of diversity.” Here’s what Peter Brimelow said about him in the Afterword to Alien Nation.

For example, Jacquie Miller in the Ottawa Citizen worried—all too presciently, for what it is worth—that “phrases can be plucked out of Brimelow’s book that, shoved only slightly out of context, provide ammunition[for the inevitable charge of racism] She instanced my references to high black crime and Laotian welfare rates. Miller also felt that the “credibility” of my account of Robert Kennedy’s ludicrous underestimate of Asian immigration resulting from the l965 Act (p. 78) somehow suffered from what she described as “a typical slur”: my adding that “tragically, Robert Kennedy himself was to be assassinated by an immigrant counted by the INS as Asian.”

My first reaction to this sort of thing, of course, is incredulity. I believe truth should be an absolute defense, as it is in libel law. Laotians do have disproportionately high welfare rates etc. And I said “tragically.” didn’t 1’

Still, I recognize a problem. There is no point in repelling readers, at least those who show Ms. Miller’s symptoms of open-minded ness.

The problem, however, is not easily resolved. The truth, we are told after all, shall set us free. And it is precisely because of the media’s flinching from facts that many Americans are unaware of the immigration dimensions of major contemporary public policy dilemmas . It is because Americans are never reminded of the Jordanian origins of Kennedy’s assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, that they don’t think to put him at the head of a list of infamous immigrants to counter the immigration enthusiasts’ silly ploy of reeling off, in place of argument, the names of distinguished immigrants. In fact, many Americans can’t think of a list of infamous immigrants at all—another example of the one-way nature of the immigration debate.

The LA Times reprints an article by Steve Lopez, in which he interviews Juan Romero, who as a young busboy at the Ambassador Hotel, comforted the dying Kennedy, and actually manages to put a pro-immigration spin on it.

Juan was convinced he was supposed to find a way to express the hope Kennedy represented for him, but he couldn’t find the words.

During the debate over California’s Proposition 187, he felt that people were taking one look at his brown skin and figuring him for a freeloader. He wanted to scream that the ballot initiative was proof we needed another Kennedy, but he couldn’t find a stage.

Marvin Arrington is a black judge in Fulton County , Georgia who last week asked all the whites present, (mostly lawyers and staff) to leave his courtroom so he could give a Bill Cosby style stemwinder to the blacks present, (mostly defendants.) This caused some controversy, and it reminded me of some of the attitudes of the Old South, with the colors reversed.

Fulton judge repeats talk given to black-only audience

By STEVE VISSER

[Send him mail]
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
April 3, 2008

Fulton County Judge Marvin Arrington, who last week asked white people to leave his courtroom while he chastised black defendants, on Thursday delivered much the same message to anyone who wanted to hear it.

“We have insanity going on in the black community,” he said to the courtroom as TV news crews filmed his spiel. “If we don’t say something, the infrastructure of this community is going to collapse. It will be like living in the wild, wild west.

Arrington, 67, stepped into controversy last week when he asked whites to leave so he could lecture defendants about turning their lives around. The judge soberly noted that the whites were mostly lawyers and staff. He said almost all of his defendants in Fulton County are black.

He thought he would be more effective if he did it before a black-only audience which he said was unfortunate because it caused people to focus on his method rather than his message. Civil society, he said, depends on heeding the message.

The judge apologized if he offended any whites but said he was just trying to do some good. He ticked off a list of crimes to help illustrate why he was delivering a message to African-American youth.

The first one he mentioned is the kind of hate crime that doesn’t get mentioned in the national press, much:

Arrington said a white man and a white woman were buying crack cocaine near Christian City in South Fulton County when they got into a dispute with the black vendor over the price. The dealer wanted $20 for the rock, the male buyer wanted to pay $15.

“He (the dealer) said, and I quote, ‘I get tired of you crackers,’ and he shot the fella in the head. The girlfriend said, ‘Why would you do that?’ And he said, ‘We don’t need no witnesses,’ and shot her in the head,” Arrington recalled. A security guard investigated and the gunman killed him. Three deaths, the judge said, in 20 minutes.

Interesting story, and he’s saying some very sensible things. But remember, the main point of this story is that Marvin Arrington is a black judge–see his website for photos.(I was surprised to see a judge with a personal website, but it turns out that Superior Court Judge is an elective office in Georgia.) Read the AJC story and see if there’s anywhere it actually says that he’s black.

Oh, you can tell–if a white judge ordered the courtroom to be cleared of white so he could lecture blacks, it would be a much different story.

This is the kind of story where they frequently add the phrase “who is black” to someone’s name, but they haven’t done so here. It does say things like:

African-Americans in positions of authority have an obligation to speak out to young people who are on the path to becoming street thugs before they turn into killers, Arrington said.

But hey, white people say things like that, too. (There have been several complaints about it.) Congratulations to Judge Arrington for saying these things, and negative congratulations to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for obscuring the issue again.

This story, via Tim Blair, is the sort of thing that’s always good to hear:

Police: Teen makes mistake of trying to rob former U.S. Marine - San Jose Mercury News

Bay City News Service
Article Launched: 03/27/2008 10:39:20 AM PDT

SANTA ROSA - A boy in his mid-teens learned Wednesday afternoon that it is not a good idea to try to rob a former U.S. Marine at knifepoint, even if the former Marine is 84 years old, police said today.

Santa Rosa police Sgt. Steve Bair said that’s what happened around 2 p.m. in the 1600 block of Fourth Street. The elderly man was walking with a grocery bag in each arm when the boy approached him with a large knife, Bair said.

The boy said, “Old man, give me your wallet or I’ll cut you,” Bair said. The man told the boy he was a former Marine who fought in three wars and had been threatened with knives and bayonets, Bair said.

The man then put his bags on the ground and told the boy that if he stepped closer he would be sorry. When the boy stepped closer, the man kicked him in the groin, knocking him to the sidewalk, Bair said. The ex-Marine picked up his grocery bags and walked home, leaving the boy doubled over, Bair said.

The man reported the attempted robbery to police 45 minutes later.

Bair said the teen is described only as 15 or 16 years old. Anyone with information is asked to call the Police Department.

The teen is “described only as 15 or 16 years old?” I realize that the unnamed ex-Marine is 84, but if he can see well enough to kick him in the groin, he can see well enough to see if he’s white, black, Hispanic, or Asian. It’s the first thing that people notice, sometimes before they notice if they’re talking to a man or a woman, and it’s the primary means of identification for policeman looking for a suspect. Chalk up another one for the AP Stylebook.

More here–with different details of his age and service, but still no details of the teenager.

Richard Widmark died yesterday–he was 93, and I didn’t know he was still alive. His first memorable role was as the psychotic killer Tommy Udo in Kiss Of Death, (1947) who commits a shocking murder while laughing like a maniac.

But another movie he made probably couldn’t be made today. It was called Panic In The Streets, (1950) and he starred as Dr. Clint Reed, a uniformed officer of the United States Public Health Service.

Here’s the plot:

One night in the New Orleans slums, vicious hoodlum Blackie and his friends kill an illegal immigrant who won too much in a card game. Next morning, Dr. Clint Reed of the Public Health Service confirms the dead man had pneumonic plague. To prevent a catastrophic epidemic, Clint must find and inoculate the killers and their associates, with the reluctant aid of police captain Tom Warren, despite official skepticism, and in total secrecy, lest panic empty the city. Can a doctor turn detective? He has 48 hours to try.

That  movie couldn’t be made today,  even though the infectious  illegal immigrant is the victim.  It is considered officially hateful to suggest that immigrants carry disease, although since the US is approximately the richest, cleanest, and healthiest country in the world, it only makes logical sense the outsiders aren’t as healthy as Americans.

Nowadays, movies about disease tend to blame the US Government for inventing it, spreading it, or covering it up–just like Jeremiah Wright does.

Update to Important Element Missing From The Description Here:

The words Black or African-American don’t appear in this story,but now the suspect is described as “The suspect is described as a male with a medium-to-dark complexion…” which is useful, as long as you know that they’re talking about an African-American, rather than George Hamilton.

At the upper right of the two sketches, you’ll find a little note by the police artist saying “B/M,” meaning “Black/Male. “ That’s because the first question a police artist asks is “What color is the suspect?”

Police Searching for SW Houston Sexual Assault Suspect
Last Edited: Wednesday, 27 Feb 2008, 2:57 PM CST
Created: Wednesday, 27 Feb 2008, 2:22 PM CST
Houston police release composite sketches of a serial sexual assault suspect on Feb. 27.
FOX 26 News

Houston Police has released composite sketches of a man suspected of several sexual assault cases in southwest Houston dating back to Sept. 27.

Three of the four reported assaults took place at the 9300 block of Dairy View Lane. The first incident at that location took place on Sept. 27 while the second incident took place on Jan. 20. The most recent incident at the Dairy View location took place Feb. 19.

Another sexual assault was reported on Dec. 26 at the 9400 block of Dairy Ashford on Dec. 26.

In all the reported incidents, adult women were assaulted in the parking lot of an apartment complex.

The Feb. 19 assault took place inside the apartment of the victim as she was sleeping. The woman was awakened by an unknown male intruder who smothered her face with a pillow. She tried to escape but was overpowered by the suspect who punched her in the face. The man ran out of the apartment after the alleged assault took place.

The suspect is described as a male with a medium-to-dark complexion between 24 and 30 years of age, standing approximately 6-0 and weighing between 150 and 180 pounds.

The man has a slender build, is clean-shaven. He was dressed in a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt with dark pants.

This is a rapist who’s been climbing balconies and assaulting women in the Houston area:

Madden said workers at his complex posted letters after the attack warning tenants to lock their doors and windows and to contact the leasing office if they had questions.Police said victims the describe the man as 24- to 30-year-old, about 6 feet tall and 150 to 180 pounds, slender and clean-shaven. He usually wore dark-colored clothing, including a hooded sweatshirt or a turtleneck.

Do you think that if they could see that he was clean-shaven, they could tell what color he was? And do you think that that might help women know who to watch out for, and police who to suspect? I’m pretty sure the victims noticed, and I’m pretty sure they told the police. (There’s always a space for it on the form.) It’s even likely that the police told the Houston Chronicle, but that’s where it stopped.

Perhaps we should send the Houston Chronicle a copy of the Hardy Boys Detective Handbook, which included, when I read it in 1968, the technique of describing a suspect, starting from the top down, and not omitting any vital details like this. If the Hardy Boys could explain it to a ten-year-old, perhaps the J-school graduates on the Chronicle staff can grasp it without too much difficulty.

Police said the man, who may live in the area, is apparently motivated by the sexual assault. The only reported theft occurred during the Sept. 27 attack when he took a few small items.

“There’s enough there that we’re looking at that it could possibly be the same person,” Lt. Mike Waterwall, with the Houston Police Department’s sex assault unit.

The victims are 22 to 32, police said, and included an Anglo woman, a Hispanic woman and two black women.[Houston apartments tighten security after sexual attacks | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle, February 28, 2008]

I suppose they were willing to identify the races of the various victims, if not the suspect, as a way of showing that even if he was a vicious rapist, at least he wasn’t racially profiling.

A blog item [reappropriate » Blog Archive » Did Clinton Defend a Child Rapist? ] alerted me to this Newsday story with a much more Hillary-friendly headline:, An early look at how Clinton deals with crisis, in which they describe Hillary’s “blame the victim” strategy, typical of lawyers who defend rapists:

…her defense strategy - attempting to impugn the credibility of the victim, according to a Newsday examination of court and investigative files and interviews with witnesses, law enforcement officials and the victim.

Rodham, records show, questioned the sixth grader’s honesty and claimed she had made false accusations in the past. She implied that the girl often fantasized and sought out “older men” like Taylor, according to a July 1975 affidavit signed “Hillary D. Rodham” in compact cursive.

Echoing legal experts, Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson says the senator would have been committing professional misconduct if she hadn’t given Taylor the best defense possible.

“As she wrote in her book, ‘Living History‘ Senator Clinton was appointed by the Circuit Court of Washington County, Arkansas to represent Mr. Taylor in this matter,” he said. “As an attorney and an officer of the court, she had an ethical and legal obligation to defend him to the fullest extent of the law. To act otherwise would have constituted a breach of her professional responsibilities.”

Seen as an aggressive defense

Rodham, legal and child welfare experts say, did nothing unethical by attacking the child’s credibility - although they consider her defense of Taylor to be aggressive.

“She was vigorously advocating for her client. What she did was appropriate,” said Andrew Schepard, director of Hofstra Law School’s Center for Children, Families and the Law. “He was lucky to have her as a lawyer … In terms of what’s good for the little girl? It would have been hell on the victim. But that wasn’t Hillary’s problem.”

The victim, now 46, told Newsday that she was raped by Taylor, denied that she wanted any relationship with him and blamed him for contributing to three decades of severe depression and other personal problems.

“It’s not true, I never sought out older men - I was raped,” the woman said in an interview in the fall. Newsday is withholding her name as the victim of a sex crime.

With all the anguish she’d felt over the case in the years since, there was one thing she never realized - that the lawyer for the man she reviles was none other than Hillary Rodham Clinton.

“I have to understand that she was representing Taylor,” she said when interviewed in prison last fall. “I’m sure Hillary was just doing her job.”[An Early Look At How Clinton Deals With Crisis, By Glenn Thrush, February 24, 2008]

What irks me, as usual, is that there’s no mention of race. I have a feeling, from the story, that everyone involved is (a) the same race, (victim and criminal are distantly related) and (b) white, but race is the most important thing in any story like this, especially in the South, and it’s the one detail Newsday should not have withheld. You would think that Newsday had never heard of the Scottsboro Boys, the Duke Rape Hoax, or To Kill a Mockingbird.

Hillary’s book also leaves it out, but the Newsday reporters actually interviewed the victim and the accused, so they presumably were looking at them and could see what color they are.

There’s a food recall caused by a slaughterhouse’s use of what are called “downer cattle”--cows that at some point after arriving at the slaughter house became unable to walk. These may not be good to eat, which is why it’s a health concern, but it also involves animal cruelty, in that workers at the slaughterhouse were videotaped using cruel methods to try to force the cattle to their feet.

A reader asked us if immigration was involved in this case, since as we know, the media wouldn’t say if it were, and the answer is “probably.” Throughout the United States, meatpackers have been replacing American workers with Mexican workers.As Brenda Walker has written, Mexicans are more given to cruelty towards animals than Americans are. And the workers charged with animal cruelty are named Daniel Ugarte Navarro, 49, of Pomona, Calif., and Luis Sanchez, 32, of Chino.

Unless the Mexican Consul shows up to defend them, the press is unlikely to refer to or ask about their immigration status, but we keep being told that slaughterhouse work, now that wages have been cut drastically, is work Americans won’t do.

Former slaughterhouse workers charged - A California prosecutor filed animal cruelty charges Friday …
Political Gateway

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif., Feb. 15 (UPI) — A California prosecutor filed animal cruelty charges Friday against two former employees of Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture shut down the Chino, Calif., slaughterhouse last week after a video from the Humane Society of the United States showed slaughterhouse workers at the Southern California facility forcing disabled cows to their feet using sticks, electric prods and water hoses.

San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos said five felony counts of animal cruelty and three misdemeanor counts were filed against Daniel Ugarte Navarro, 49, of Pomona, Calif., and three misdemeanor counts against Luis Sanchez, 32, of Chino.

“It doesn’t matter whether the mistreated animal is a beloved family pet or a cow at a slaughterhouse,” Ramos said in statement. “Unnecessary cruelty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent allowed by law.”

USDA issued a statement Friday in support of the charges. “It is regrettable that these animals were mistreated and I am encouraged and supportive of these actions by the San Bernardino District Attorney in response to this mistreatment,” Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said.

 After a plot against the life of  one of the cartoonists was discovered, Danish papers reprinted the cartoons of two years ago. And Muslims in Denmark are re-rioting. But look at the the headline on this piece. “Danish” youths, for God’s sake! This is the International Herald Tribune version of a Reuters story, but the headline is the same in many other papers:

Danish youths riot for sixth night - Print Version - International Herald Tribune
Reuters
Saturday, February 16, 2008

COPENHAGEN: Gangs of rioters set fire to cars and garbage trucks in northern Copenhagen on Friday, the sixth night of rioting and vandalism that has spread from the capital to other Danish cities, police said on Saturday.

Five youths were arrested in the capital on Friday after 28 cars and 35 garbage trucks were burned, Copenhagen police duty officer Jakob Kristensen told Reuters.

Danish media said arrests in other towns brought to 29 the number of people police were holding.

Scores of cars and several schools have been vandalised or burned in the past week. Police could give no reason, but said that unusually mild weather and the closure of schools for a winter break might have contributed.

Police arrested two Tunisians and a Dane of Moroccan descent on Tuesday for planning to kill a cartoonist who drew one of the cartoons printed in a Danish newspaper two years ago that roused a storm of protest in Muslim countries.

Fifteen Danish newspapers reprinted his drawing on Wednesday in protest against the alleged murder plot.

Several hundred Muslims gathered in central Copenhagen on Friday to protest against publication of the cartoon. Most Muslims consider depictions of the founder of Islam offensive.

Social workers said the arrests, the reprinting of the cartoon and protests against its appearance might have fuelled the riots.

Publication of the cartoons two years ago led to protests and rioting in Muslim countries in which at least 50 people were killed and three Danish embassies attacked.

In October police arrested more than 400 people in Copenhagen after demonstrators evicted from a youth centre earlier in the year tried to occupy a new building.

(Reporting by Kim McLaughlin, editing by Tim Pearce)

This is a special category of our “Not Reporting On Race” class of stories, where the body of the story actually contains the relevant information, but the headline is off in outer space.

In this case the relevant information is that it’s not Danish youths full of Carlsberg and akvavit and the traditions of their Viking ancestors who are rioting, but rather immigrant Muslims, are stone cold sober, but inflamed with Muslim religious hatred.But there’s no way to tell that from the headline.

A young man shot a bunch of people at Northern Illinois University, and then shot himself. I’ve already found a story identifying his race. And why is the gunman’s race mentioned? Because he’s white.

The man, who shot up to 18 people, was armed with a shotgun and pistol. He was described as a young white male dressed all in black.Gunman goes berserk in classroom - World -Sydney Morning Herald February 15, 2008 - 10:18AM (Australian Time, this is about now our time)

As you might expect, Northern Illinois University students are required to be unarmed and defenseless at all times–here’s the official policy:

3-1.5 Dangerous Weapons:

1.5a Possession, use, sale, or distribution in any residence hall, building, or grounds under university control of: fireworks, firearms, shotguns, rifles, hand guns, switchblade knives, any type of ammunition, explosives, and all other serious weapons.

1.5b Misuse of martial arts weaponry, BB guns, pellet guns, clubs, knives, and all other serious weapons.

Students who wish to bring firearms to the campus must obtain written permission from the chief security officer of the university. Firearms must be stored at the University Security Office except with written permission of the chief security officer of the university. At no time will any of the above dangerous weapons be allowed in the university residence halls.

[Student Code Of Conduct (PDF)]