Essay 262

MultiCultClassics Minutes for the First Sunday of the Last Month…

• Acquitted Murder Inc. rap mogul Irv Lorenzo planned to attend church services with a juror from the case. “[The juror] really moved me,” Lorenzo admitted. “She gave me a hug [and] said, ‘We love you. I wasn’t going to let anything happen to you.’” Look for the juror’s church choir to record a demo soon.

• The Michigan Supreme Court approved a new rule prohibiting the selection of jurors based on race, sex, religion or nationality, “even in cases where the purpose would be to achieve balanced representation.” So much for being tried by a jury of your peers.

• Howard Dean is hollering again, this time over the political issues surrounding immigration. “Once again, the Republicans created problems so they think they can come in and solve them,” Dean bellowed, arguing the GOP will use immigration to divide voters in the next election. Gee, there’s another example of the keen political mind that inevitably failed to win a bid for the presidency.

• Better look both ways at least twice before crossing the street if you’re Hispanic and living in Southern states. Hispanic pedestrian deaths are highest in the South, with Mississippi recording 4.72 fatalities per 100,000 Hispanics. A CDC study conducted in the late 1990s showed pedestrian death rates for Hispanics in four Atlanta counties were almost 6 times higher than for non-Hispanic Whites and more than 2.5 times higher than for Blacks. Which ultimately proves again the benefits of being White in America.

• Wal-Mart treated a Black customer poorly, and it will minimally cost the retailer about $50,000 per year. A representative from a roofing company went to a Wal-Mart store in Florida to pick up $13,600 worth of gift cards for employees. Reginald Pitts, who is Black, was accused of trying to pass a phony check and interrogated by sheriff’s deputies — despite first showing plenty of IDs and having an accounting supervisor call Wal-Mart to confirm the check was fine. “I keep going over and over the incident in my mind,” Pitts said. “I cannot come up with any possible reason why I was treated like this except that I am Black.” Wal-Mart apologized and claimed it will investigate the matter. Meanwhile, Pitts’ company, which usually buys about $50,000 worth of gift cards per year, has taken its business to Target.