Heeding Heather Heyer: Civil rights worker advocate, killed when a “White Nationalist” attacked a peaceful civil rights rally

Heeding Heather Heyer: Civil rights advocate, killed when a “White Nationalist” attacked a peaceful civil rights rally

Photo by Reuters

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From theguardian.com : “Woman killed at Charlottesville far-right rally was civil rights activist
“Heather Heyer, 32, a legal assistant from Virginia, was one of 20 people struck by vehicle driven into a crowd of counter-protesters
“The woman who died when a car rammed into a group of people protesting against a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville was named on Sunday as Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old legal assistant with a law firm in Virginia, who repeatedly championed civil rights issues on social media.
“Heyer, whose Facebook cover photo read: “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention”, worked for the Virginia law firm Miller Law and regularly drew attention to cases of police malpractice and racism, as well as posting her support for Bernie Sanders in his presidential campaign.
“A friend from childhood, Felicia Correa, who launched a crowdfunding page and said she was speaking for Heyer’s mother, who was not ready to speak in public, said: “She died doing what was right. My heart is broken, but I am forever proud of her.”

“Her boss at the law firm said she had attended Saturday’s counter-demonstration to send a clear message to neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan sympathizers that people in her hometown abhor their views. She was “a very strong, very opinionated young woman” who “made known that she was all about equality”, Alfred Wilson told Reuters.
“However, it was testimony to the bitterness of the local situation that among scores of tributes to Heyer’s principles and courage, several people posted comments laying equal blame on the anti-racist and civil rights groups as on the neo-Nazi and far-right groups whose planned rally they were demonstrating against.
“Heather Heyer: ‘She died doing what was right’
“ “The crowdfunding page to raise money for her family has already far exceeded its $50,000 target, with almost 3,000 people donating within 11 hours, many leaving tributes describing her as a hero. Sheryl Hodge wrote: “We are so sad and outraged. We will not let Heather go in vain.” George Christos said: “Very sad that our country continues to see this hatred and that a young life was lost as a result.”
“Her friends were organising a candlelit vigil in her memory on Sunday night.
“Heyer came from Greene County, one of the smallest counties in Virginia, where she graduated from William Monroe high school – motto “Every child, every chance, every day” – and kept in touch with her alumni from the class of 2003. The school was originally founded from money left by William Monroe, an 18th-century immigrant from England, to provide free education for white children, but it now posts a firm commitment on its website against discrimination “on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age in its programs and activities”.

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Netizens aghast at racist slur by BBC show -by filipinoscribe.com

filipinoscribe.com Mark Pere Madrona reports how netizens are aghast over racist remarks against Filipino children by a stand-up comic in a BBC show, at “British actress jokes about Filipino children on BBC show” at filipinoscribe.com/2013/06/17/british-actress-jokes-about-filipino-children-on-bbc-show.

UP CMC student 2012-12727 echoes opinions and ideas by netizens as reported in said blogpost, and writes: “This is not the first time that a foreigner has made an “accidental” quip about Filipinos on a public medium. One might recall Alec Baldwin’s “Filipina mail order bride” joke on David Letterman’s show, which caused an uproar for the insinuation that Filipinas allow their sexuality to be exploited and extorted for money. By doing this, Baldwin ridiculed, cast aspersions on, and degraded Filipinas for their sex and their race–that is to say, his comment was misogynistic through sexual objectification, as well as racist. It was unintended and probably said at the spur of the moment, but such things that are said usually lie in one’s subconscious before they get out. Baldwin’s situation was either that, or it was an attempt at randomness that came out badly. Furthermore, Baldwin has been in show business for a very long time, and he ought to have already known how to guard his words and be more discerning of what he said before a national audience.

“Canadian actress Katherine Ryan recently made a similar mistake on the BBC game show “Mock the Week”, an improvisational comedy show akin to the CBS’ “Whose Line is It Anyway?”. The prompt for a joke in one segment was “unlikely lines from a cosmetics commercial”, and she gave this line: “We don’t use any of our products on animals. We use Filipino children.” By saying the line, she ridiculed and degraded Filipino children by their race–and it is made even worse by the fact that her specific subjects are defenseless and have done nothing to earn such a comment. Those fortunate children struggle against obstacles to living their life fully, such as a lack of access to education, cases of abuse in some families, even child labor. That their hardships were belittled and mentioned in what was meant to be a humorous manner is tasteless and insensitive.

“The fact that the error was committed overseas by a foreign celebrity makes no difference. xxx (S)he had made light of the painful and very real struggles of an innocent group of people, some of whom might have no idea what her words mean. It is an ethical mistake anywhere. I hope Miss Ryan, like Alec Baldwin before her, would be more careful with what she says next time and recognize her responsibility as a public figure–even if it is on an improvisational comedy show.” Written by 2012-12727 using Mark Pere Madrona’s report and amplifying ideas and opinions of other netizens.