Essay Eighty-Three

The state of affairs with MultiCultClassics Minutes…

• Add Kimberly-Clark to the growing list of companies downsizing. The diaper manufacturer plans to lay off 6,000 workers and shut down 20 factories. That’s a shitload of diapers, man.

• The country's biggest direct marketing group has created a Do Not Contact list to remove deceased people from telemarketing, email and direct mail efforts. So you won’t receive any more dinnertime phone calls from salespeople for your dearly departed Granny. However, credit issuers are still willing to sign her up for a new MasterCard. Charging custom rims with your dead Granny’s credit card: priceless.

• Lately, it seems like Ohio wants to become the Racist Capital of the Midwest. Recent adventures involve intimidation moves targeting Hispanics. The drama started when a Hispanic man allegedly sexually assaulted a 9-year-old White girl. Since then, the rape suspect’s predominately Hispanic neighborhood has been victimized by hate efforts including arson and Ku Klux Klan visits. It’s interesting to note the Buckeye State’s motto is, “With God all things are possible.” Wonder what the Almighty One is thinking right now.

• Somali workers at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport faced discrimination, according to the EEOC. After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the airport workers experienced racial bias in the forms of revised security clearance tests, inappropriate supervisor remarks and termination. Georgia’s state motto reads, “Wisdom, justice, and moderation.” Perhaps it means justice in moderation.

• Hate crimes in New York have decreased since 2000 by about 44 percent. It should be noted, however, that overall crime has reduced during the same time period. Last month’s Howard Beach episode involving a group of White men beating a Black man with a baseball bat was New York’s 125th hate crime for the year. That works out to roughly 20 per month. I Love NY.