by Didi Martinez, Julia Ainsley and Laura Strickler, NBC News FREMONT, Neb. — Big-city mayors may be complaining about the economic impact of an influx of migrants, but the residents of a small city near Omaha can’t decide how they feel. Fremont, Nebraska, population 27,000, has three massive meat-processing plants. As young locals leave in …
Tag Archives: racism
Updates on Robinson Statue, Dirty Dancing
by Kevin Burton Wichita police have arrested 45-year-old Ricky Aldrete for multiple crimes, including the theft and destruction of a bronze Jackie Robinson statue, according to published reports. Page 7 reported on the story after Major League Baseball stepped forward to pay for replacing the statue, (MLB To Replace Vandalized Robinson Statue, Feb …
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MLB To Replace Vandalized Robinson Statue
by Kevin Burton From something heinous, comes something great in Wichita. And who knows how far it will go? The Statue of Jackie Robinson which was stolen Jan. 25 from McAdams Park in Wichita was found broken beyond repair and burning in a trash can at nearby Garvey Park Tuesday. But yesterday …
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Racist Oklahoma Officials Caught On Tape
by Corky Siemaszko NBC News (McCurtain County is in the Southeast corner of Oklahoma, bordering Texas and Arkansas.) The governor of Oklahoma has called for the resignations of the sheriff and other top officials in a rural county after they were recorded talking about “beating, killing and burying” a father/son team of local …
OKC Bombing “Surreal” 28 Years Later
by Kevin Burton A bomb blast that killed 168 people in Oklahoma City 28 years ago today, reverberates still. My wife Jeannette worked at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building for the department of Housing and Urban Development for 5½ years from 1983 to 1989. Six years after she relocated to Wichita, that …
Quibbles And Bits: Leftovers And Hoops
by Kevin Burton For most people, but not for me, today is Black Friday. To me it should be National Leftovers Day. There is a leftovers day, Nov. 29. Leftovers Day should be a holiday falling on the Friday after Thanksgiving every year. If you are hosting you have your own leftovers. If …
Disco Tunes That Rockers Can Tolerate
by Kevin Burton Found another story last week on the animosity toward disco from rock and rollers in the 1970s. This one contained a little surprise. The story was under the headline, “Surviving the 70s: 12 disco songs even rock fans enjoy.” It was written by Greg Brodsky on the Best Classic bands …
“The Immigrant” Didn’t Fit John Lennon
by Kevin Burton For about three minutes and fifty seconds a tidy story unfolds from the pen of lyricist Phil Cody and the voice of the great Neil Sedaka. Attempt to read between the lines though and you have a mess on your hands, especially with Sedaka dedicating the song to ex-Beatle John …
A Farewell To Everyday People?
by Kevin Burton Sly Stone’s spot-on cultural signpost “Everyday People” topped the American charts 53 years ago. But where is that message today? The song is brilliant in its simplicity. Sung partially to the rhythm of a children’s rhyme, it contains a message even a child can understand. “The song takes some …
American Emigration Over The Years
by Kevin Burton It is conventional wisdom in the United States that a US passport is the prized possession. It would be foolish to downplay the benefits of American citizenship to many who live here. But for some it may be wise to at least look into what some other places may have …