#racialprofiling

[decadentqueentidalwave]

More than half of disabled Black people in the USA will be arrested by the time they reach their late 20s, compared to 28% of disabled white people.

- Source

[tubbsmccracken]

Today, we honor and remember #BreonnaTaylor, whose life was tragically cut short. On what would have been her birthday, we celebrate her memory and continue to seek justice in her name. Breonna's spirit remains a beacon of strength and resilience.

[nosferatu-roberteggers]

Hello, sorry if this question is too heavy, you’re free to ignore it if you do not wish to answer or you can use DMs to answer privately. I was just curious, because a friend of mine told me you thought Bram Stoker was antisemitic. I was just wondering what led you to believe that?

I’ll answer this publicly because I keep forgetting how whitewashed “Dracula” has become in the public opinion thanks to social media.

The only issue I take with this ask is the wording. It’s not “me” who says so, the “Other” in “Dracula” being a metaphorical Jewish non-white immigrant coming to the East to conquer and infect the pure blood of innocent white British women with his disease is one (if not the most) popular interpretations of the novel, amongst scholars because of the historical context (late 19th century) in which the novel was written.

Daniel Pick, “Terrors of the night’: Dracula and ‘degeneration’ in the late nineteenth century” (1988): “The novel provided a metaphor for current political and sexual political discourses on morality and society, representing the price of selfish pursuits and criminal depravity. The family and the nation, it seemed to many, were beleaguered by syphilitics, alcoholics, cretins, the insane, the feeble-minded, prostitutes and a perceived 'alien invasion' of Jews from the east who, in the view of many alarmists, were feeding off and ‘poisoning’ the blood of the Londoner.”

Carol Margaret Davison, “Britain, Vampire Empire: Fin-de-Siècle Fears and Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (2004) : “One of the more important contributions to Dracula scholarship in recent years has been the examination of Bram Stoker's bloodthirsty Count as a stereotypical Jewish figure. […] Adapting Royce MacGillivray's claim that Stoker created in Dracula 'a myth comparable in vitality to that of the Wandering Jew, Faust, or Don Juan' (518), I would maintain that while the aristocratic figure of Count Dracula uniquely combines all three figures, he represents the apogee in the development of the vampiric Wandering Jew in British Gothic literature.”

Judith Halberstam and Jack Halberstam; “Technologies of Monstrosity: Bram Stoker's "Dracula’” (1993): “Dracula, I thought, with his peculiar physique, his parasitical desires, his aversion to the cross and to all the trappings of Christianity, his blood-sucking attacks, and his avaricious relation to money, resembled stereotypical anti-Semitic nineteenth-century representations of the Jew. Subsequent readings of the novel with attention to the connections in the narrative between blood and gold, race and sex, sexuality and ethnicity, confirmed my sense that the anti-Semite's Jew and Stoker's vampire bore more than a family resemblance. The connection I had made began to haunt me; I uncovered biographical material and discovered that Stoker was good friends with, and inspired by, Richard Burton, the author of a tract reviving the blood libel against Jews in Damascus. I read essays by Stoker in which he railed against degenerate writers for not being good Christians. My conclusions seemed sound, the vampire and the Jew were related, and monstrosity in the Gothic novel had much to do with the discourse of modern anti-Semitism.”

This is the height of Colonial Britain, with colonial tensions between European nations rising (and exploding in World War I). Rudyard Kipling “The White Man's Burden” (1898) was published one year after “Dracula”; where is stated the white man has the moral obligation and duty to civilize the “non-white barbarians”. Sort of how the “White British heroes” put an end to the “non-white Jewish immigrant” reign of terror in the novel.

Robert Eggers is aware of this, as he has discussed in interviews, explaining he had no interest in adapting any of this: “My works tend to be less intentionally politically charged, and that was also something that was not necessarily front of mind for me. I think there's a lot of criticism about "Dracula" and Murnau's film, about this Other from the East coming in. But that's not what excites me about the story.

I think that what ultimately rose to the top, as the theme or trope that was most compelling to me, was that of the demon-lover. In "Dracula," the book by Bram Stoker, the vampire is coming to England, seemingly, for world domination. Lucy and Mina are just convenient throats that happen to be around. But in this "Nosferatu," he's coming for Ellen. This love triangle that is similar to "Wuthering Heights," the novel, was more compelling to me than any political themes.”

By making his adaptation a strigoi lover folktale, where everything Orlok does is connected to Ellen herself (and not “world domination”), Eggers removed the antisemitic plot of the “Reverse Colonialism panic” subtext of the book.

[randomvideosicantletgoof]

[trash-panda-kitty]

Minnesota didn’t suddenly become a “fraud hotspot.”

The federal government just decided to make it one.

Here’s what’s actually going on.

The Minnesota Crackdown: Racial Profiling Dressed as Fraud Enforcement

Because When the President Hates the Governor, the Community Gets Raided

By the time Kristi Noem opened her mouth at that cabinet meeting, the script was already written.Minnesota wasn’t suddenly “on the radar.”It was hand-selected.And everyone knows why.

The president has been publicly feuding with Governor Tim Walz for quite some time.A Somali community he already targets is concentrated in that state.And a small, low-yield fraud investigation has now been inflated into a national spectacle.

The result is exactly what it looks like. Minnesota is being dragged into a federal crackdown because the president has a score to settle.

There’s no mystery here. Just motive, power, and timing.

The Numbers They Don’t Want You to Look At

The whole justification for this new surge is Operation Twin Shield, the immigration fraud review USCIS announced in September.

Here are the real numbers.

More than 1,000 cases reviewed.275 marked with “suspected fraud or ineligibility indicators.”42 referred to ICE.4 arrests.Zero charges filed so far.

That’s not a crisis.That’s not a wave.That’s not even a ripple.That’s a bad Tuesday at any administrative agency.

But guess what sounds a lot scarier than “four arrests with no charges”?

“Fifty percent fraud.” Even if it makes no sense.

Which brings us to the next part.

The Cabinet Meeting Where The Mask Slipped

Kristi Noem sat there, cameras rolling, and declared that DHS was “shifting its attention to Minnesota.”

She then claimed, without providing and evidence, that “about 50%” of Minnesota’s visa cases were fraudulent.

Then she went after Walz personally, calling him “an idiot” and suggesting he either let the fraud happen or wanted it to happen.

This wasn’t a policy briefing.It was a political hit delivered on live television.

No data.No sourcing.Just a number pulled from somewhere between imagination and convenience, designed to justify sending ICE into the Twin Cities.

If this were actually about fraud, the focus would be on individuals.Instead, the target is an entire state, and a specific governor.

The President’s Own Words Tell You Exactly What This Is

Let’s be extremely clear about the rhetoric coming from the top.

Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked Somali immigrants in Minnesota. Recently he said they “contribute nothing”, and that he does not want them in the country. He announced he is ending Temporary Protected Status for Somali migrants in the state. He posted that “Somali gangs are terrorizing the people” and demanded they be sent “back to where they came from.”

This isn’t coded language.This isn’t “tough on crime.”This is a specific ethnic community being singled out by name, in public, by the president.

And when he tells DHS to “look into Minnesota,” and DHS immediately announces an enforcement surge in Minnesota that explicitly focuses on Somalis, it is not subtle.

The policy follows the rhetoric.The target matches the insult.The geography matches the grudge.

The Part They Won’t Say Out Loud

AP confirms what’s actually coming.Federal authorities are preparing an immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota focused on Somali immigrants without legal status in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area.

Here’s the factual twist.Most Somalis in Minnesota, around 95%, are U.S. citizens.

Which means a crackdown framed around “Somali immigrants” inevitably sweeps far beyond the very small group who could legally be targeted.

There is no way to carry out an operation like this without creating fear among citizens, lawful permanent residents, TPS holders, and mixed-status families.

It doesn’t matter if that’s the intention or the collateral.The effect is the same.

And when local officials and advocacy groups call this racial profiling, they’re not speaking metaphorically. They’re describing the practical impact. An entire community being treated as suspect because of nationality.

The Feud Driving The Fire

The president’s attacks on Walz haven’t been quiet.They’ve been consistent, personal, and escalating.

He’s accused Walz of incompetence, corruption, and letting Minnesota be “taken over.”He’s mixed anti-Somali rhetoric with direct insults toward the governor.He’s made Minnesota a foil, the “failed state” he uses to showcase his version of strength.

When a president decides a governor is an enemy, the state becomes a stage.When that state has a large Somali population the president publicly antagonizes, the community becomes a proxy.

This is not a coincidence.It is a political escalation disguised as an enforcement action.

The Consequence On The Ground

Families who have lived in Minneapolis for decades are suddenly questioning whether they will be stopped, questioned, or surveilled.Citizens are bracing for raids.Mosques are preparing for increased presence of federal agents.TPS holders are unsure whether their protections will evaporate before the courts can intervene.

When the federal government names your nationality, your governor, and your city in the same breath, the message is unmistakable.

It doesn’t matter what the policy memo claims.The fear is real.The target feels real.And the intent, whether political or punitive, barely needs translation.

The Real Story

This isn’t about fraud.It isn’t about visas.It isn’t about national security.

It’s about power.It’s about retaliation.It’s about turning a community into a political stage prop.

A president attacks a governor.A president attacks Somalis.DHS announces an operation that just happens to target Somali immigrants in that governor’s state.ICE prepares to surge into Minneapolis.The justification doesn’t match the data.The rhetoric matches the target.

That’s the whole story.And it’s happening in public, with cameras rolling, just daring anyone to call it what it is.

The Minnesota Crackdown: Racial Profiling Dressed as Fraud Enforcement

Because When the President Hates the Governor, the Community Gets Raided

[dinosaur-ears]

Remember how DEI had to be stopped because the administration called it racial discrimination? Friendly reminder that that same administration went to court for their right to racially profile people for their concentration camps.

[afriblaq]

In the 1950s, Clyde Kennard applied at Mississippi Southern College, now the University of Southern University

[bowlby4]