I wish to say here, as a very lucky man who is married to an extremely talented, intelligent, self-aware muslim woman of asian descent, that any white person on this list who thinks they know what being on the receiving end of racism is like, is... in the vernacular...

... packed with excrement (excuse my french).

And I truly don't care what "Webster" has to say about what racism is. Racism is in the eye of the beholder - in this case, Ms. Hakeem, the Green Party endorsed candidate for Mayor of Minneapolis.

To excuse, out of hand, any statement or experience by someone who reports that they are experiencing racist behavior is merely making excuses for the idiocy of most white folks when it comes to dealing with strong minded people of color. Racism won't diminish or end until white folks _believe_ people of color when they shine the light of justice on institutional racism. We should be proud of a candidate that stood up for herself instead of second guessing what she feels or experiences.

It's outrageous and belittling behavior and has know place in a city that supposedly values diversity.

She did what she needed to do and in the process, moved an influential organization (Minnesota Women's Press) to look more closely at how they treat women of color. You should be proud and supportive of her. Speaking truth to power is NEVER easy, and to have another candidate (besides Natalie Johnson Lee) who does so with ease, confidence and conviction shows massive growth of the local Green Party.

Farheen Hakeem rocked on this one, as she has done thus far in her campaign. Would that the two generic, stadium peddling, focus group pandering DFLers running for Mayor had the same guts, self-awareness and conviction.

Eric Oines
Lind-Bohanon
North Minneapolis

"One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means."
~ Martin Luther King Jr., Agitator


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