13 of The Most Racist Moments of 2014

This post could easily be filled with the dozens of instances of Black people who were shot and killed by police under questionable circumstances — shootings that often could have been prompted by racist fears or preconceptions held by the police officers. We have decided to leave those shootings in a separate category. Consider this a list of racist moments that doesn't include police killings of Black people. Arizona State Fraternity Suspended After Racist MLK Party Mocking Black People January 2014 An Arizona State University fraternity prompted national outrage by celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday by holding a party mocking Black people. After the party, the university suspended Tau Kappa Epsilon and said it would take action against the individuals involved. The fraternity encouraged guests to attend its “Black Party” by wearing hoodies, baggy basketball jerseys, bandanas and sagging pants, and then post photos of themselves on social media with the hashtags #blackoutformlk, #ihaveadream and #mlkparty. At the party, students drank from cups made out of hollowed-out watermelons. Racist Reactions to Richard Sherman Rant January 2014 During the exciting moments after Seattle's NFC championship victory, cornerback Richard Sherman went on a rant on national television during an interview with Fox's Erin Andrews, loudly calling himself "the best corner in the game" and belittling the skills of 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree. Sherman has always been a compelling, passionate player, but the reaction to his statements, with white people all across the media using words like "thug" to describe the Stanford graduate, was clearly inspired by racism. Sherman said as much himself in his reaction to the reaction: “To those who would call me a thug or worse because I show passion on a football field ... don’t judge a person’s character by what they do between the lines,” Sherman wrote in the column posted on mmqb.com. “Judge a man by what he does off the field, what he does for his community, what he does for his family. But people find it easy to take shots on Twitter, and to use racial slurs and bullying language far worse than what you’ll see from me. It’s sad and somewhat unbelievable to me that the world is still this way, but it is. I can handle it.” Noose at Ole Miss February 2014 Members of a white fraternity at the University of Mississippi hung a noose on a statue of James Meredith, the first African-American student at Ole Miss. Just days later, a Black female student was accosted by white males in a pickup truck, who doused her with a cup of alcohol while one of them screamed "black n*gger!" Cliven Bundy April 2014 After drawing the admiration of conservatives across the nation for his stand against the federal government over grazing fees, Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy drew even more attention with his views on race. Bundy told reporters that when he drove by a public-housing project in North Las Vegas, he saw “at least a half-dozen (Black) people sitting on the porch, they didn’t have nothing to do.” “Because they were basically on government subsidy, so now what do they do?” he added in comments first reported by the New York Times and later seen on video. “They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton. “I’ve often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton and having a family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy? They didn’t get no more freedom. They got less freedom.” Racist Easter Eggs Plague Virginia Neighborhood April 2014 Easter Sunday egg hunts in one Virginia neighborhood were suddenly interrupted when a family discovered racist notes inside eggs in their yard. Families in the West End neighborhood were outraged when it was discovered that an anonymous person, or possibly group, filled their yards with racist notes inside Easter eggs. One egg revealed a message that read, “Diversity white genocide.” Another egg discovered later read, “Mass immigration and forced assimilation of non-whites into our lands is genocide.” Donald Sterling Rant April 2014 L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling was caught on tape telling his biracial girlfriend not to bring any Blacks to his games. It all started when his girlfriend, V. Stiviano, posted a picture of herself with basketball icon Magic Johnson on Instagram. After Sterling saw the photo, he unleashed his racist rant. “You can sleep with . You can bring them in, you can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it on that … and not to bring them to my games," he said. Racists Tweets Follow Bruins’ Loss on Goal by Black Player May 2014 Boston has long had a reputation for racial intolerance, and it reared its head again following the 4-3 overtime loss by its hockey team, the Bruins, to the Montreal Canadiens. Black Montreal player P.K. Subban scored the winning goal and Boston fans blew up Twitter with tweets such as these: – That stupid n***** doesn’t belong in hockey #whitesonly – F*** YOU N***** SUBBAN YOU BELONG IN A F****** HOLE NOT AN ICE RINK – SUBBAN IS A F****** PORCH M***** NH Police Commissioner Calls Obama 'that f*****g n****r' May 2014 Robert Copeland, 82, an elected member of the three-person police commission that oversees the police department in the New Hampshire town of Wolfeboro, where former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney owns a home, loudly called President Barack Obama “that f*****g n****r” in a crowded restaurant and then refused to apologize for it. In a letter he wrote, Copeland acknowledged that he used the word. “I believe I did use the ‘N’ word in reference to the current occupant of the Whitehouse (sic),” Copeland wrote. “For this, I do not apologize — he meets and exceeds my criteria for such.” Slapping Cook County Judge June 2014 White business owner David Nicosia attacked Arnette Hubbard, a 79-year-old Black Cook County judge in Illinois, slapping her in the face, spitting on her and called her “Rosa Parks,” after becoming angry because she was smoking near him outside the Daley Center in Chicago. He was subsequently arrested by sheriff’s deputies and charged with four counts of aggravated battery and a hate crime. Danny Ferry 'Got Some African in Him' September 2014 Bruce Levenson, part owner of the Atlanta Hawks, announced that he would sell his $300 million stake in the team after an investigation uncovered an email in which he complained that the team drew an "overwhelmingly Black audience." Danny Ferry, the Hawks' general manager, was then heard assessing player Luol Deng, currently with the Miami Heat: "He's a good guy overall. But he's not perfect. He's got some African in him. And I don't say that in a bad way, but he's like a guy who would have a nice store out front but sell you counterfeit stuff out of the back." Russian Soccer Coach Igor Gamula: 'We've Got Six of the Things' October 2014 Talking to reporters, Igor Gamula said that his Rostov football club had "enough dark-skinned players" and "we've got six of the things" when asked in a postmatch news conference about rumors the club would sign a player from Cameroon. Gamula also made what he called a "joke" about the Ebola virus. He apologized three days later after Rostov's African players threatened to go on strike. In Disgusting Diatribe, Comedian Artie Lange Harasses ESPN’s Cari Champion on Twitter November 2014 Cari Champion, the host of ESPN’s show First Take, was the unfortunate target of several tasteless, offensive and demeaning tweets by comedian Artie Lange. Lange’s perverse comments were racist, sexist and completely insensitive to rape victims. This is a sample: "Here's the scenario I'm using to jerkoff to chick on First Take I'm T. Jefferson & she's my slave. She beats the sh*t out of me & runs free." Racist ‘I Hate Ni**ers’ Tweet Mars Patriots’ Announcement of 1 Million Followers November 2014 Showing again that racism is alive and flourishing, a New England Patriots’ fan took the opportunity on the announcement of the team becoming the first NFL franchise to reach 1 million followers to express his contempt for Black people by superimposing on the back of a Patriots jersey, “I Hate Ni**ers.” Worse, the Patriots sent an automated response thanking the racist for his support.

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