Confessions of an African-American albino

Marlon Brown

Marlon Brown is not unlike the vast majority of educated, ambitious and twenty-something African-American men.

He excelled at school, gained a degree in political science followed by a Masters, and now works as a budget and policy analyst for the State of Michigan.

What makes him stand out is that he is an albino.

He says around the age of five or six he started asking his parents why he looked different. "They explained I was African-American but I my skin wasn't the normal pigmentation," says 27-year-old Brown, who was born in Detroit but raised in suburban Michigan. "They taught me my albinism made my special and unique."

But Marlon Brown is not alone. Albinism is a rare, genetically inherited condition that affects roughly 17,000 in the United States. Those with the condition have a lack of pigmentation in the hair, skin and eyes and the vast majority are visually impaired.

Brown, who is an only child, says it was his parents' positive outlook and their desire for him to succeed that gave him a good start.

But he admits children have a knack for being cruel and he did get teased, they would come up to him and ask why he didn't look like his parents. "Kids would call me Powder, Whitey and Casper," he says.

From high school onwards there was gradual improvement and general acceptance, Brown says. "Although I'm not sure if this was reflective of me and my talents or that society is becoming more open, I probably think it's a combination of both," he says. "When I meet albino children I tell them the most difficult time is before they are 12-years-old."

There are a handful of African-American or black albinos who have gained notoriety such as stand-up comedian Victor Varnado, musician "Yellowman" and models Shaun Ross and Diandra Forrest, which has inadvertently raised the profile of the condition.

For some albinos the biggest hurdles are social and cultural. The issue of "being black in white skin" complicates their racial and cultural identity.

In an article in Marie Claire magazine, albino Kenosha Robinson, writes, "Growing up in Jackson, MS, I gravitated toward white people. It felt natural, I suppose, because I looked like them. While my cousins got black baby dolls for Christmas, mine were always peaches and cream. Once, during playtime in elementary school, one of the black girls told me I couldn't join her group. My doll, she said, was the wrong color."

Brown says he has never had a problem trying to figure out who he is and it has not crossed his mind to "try to pass at white."

"I have never had any issues with racial identity" says Brown, who has recently married a woman he describes as a "caramel complexion" African-American. "I was brought up in a black church, grew up listening to Motown and was active in black student groups at college."

Brown, an accomplished musician, who plays the trombone and piano, says he is still heavily influenced by gospel and jazz and performs in a Jazz Ensemble and plays at his church.

He admits even with his African-American facial features, he is sometimes mistaken for a white man. He recalls a time during his freshman year at college in an English Honors class when he and a group of other students were discussing Kozol's book Savage Inequalities. He says one of the students said, "I wish we had an African-American student in the class so we could get their viewpoint," says Brown, who has blond hair and blue eyes.

His biggest challenge has been his health, especially because his albinism means he is visually impaired. "My concern is how strong my eyes will be as I get older and what technological advances will be available in the future to help my sight," says Brown, who has worn prescription glasses since the age of five.

His lack of skin pigmentation means he is susceptible to sunburn and skin cancer, whenever the sun is out he has to "wear sun cream, baseball hats and take really good care of his skin."

Despite his setbacks, Brown has a high self-esteem and a positive attitude. "I don't live life thinking I'm an albino" he says. "Every person has to get to a place where they accept who they are".

He is fiercely ambitious and his ultimate goal is to run for political office. Brown has served an intern for U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, and Congressman John Conyers. He has also worked in the Delaware Senate and for Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon.

In 2008, he ran in the Democratic primary for the Michigan House of Representatives. As a first-time candidate, he received a just eight percent of the vote, but he says the exposure paid dividends.

"One of the best things about being an albino is people remember me, which is great, because my goal is to forge a career in politics," Brown says. With his determination and inner confidence there is a good chance he will become one of the few, if not only, African-American albino politician.

3 Common Car Dealer Tactics Hitting Consumers Hard

By LISA STARK

A car often can be one of the biggest purchases a person will ever make, and consumer groups say buyers are easily taken advantage of by unscrupulous car dealers.
That's why they are pushing for more regulations, and the Federal Trade Commission is hosting an all-day meeting on the topic on Thursday.
A car dealer's tactics can start the moment a driver pulls up at the dealership, according to Ray Lopez, who was a car salesman for 35 years.
"It's all a matter of the psychological games that we play," he said.

1. Yo-Yo Financing
One of the biggest games is "yo-yo financing," which occurs when a dealer is so eager to close the sale that he sends a buyer home with the car before the financing is secured.
"The person's already been driving the car, has already fallen in love with the car," Lopez told ABC News. "But when the financing falls through, the dealer calls back with bad news: Pay more money or return the car."
Lakeeta Johnson, a single mom from St. Louis, said it happened to her. Three weeks after a dealer handed her the keys to a Jeep Liberty, he called and demanded it back.
The dealer kept the car Johnson traded in and her deposit.
"I walked through the door with $2,500 and a truck to trade-in," she said. "I ended up with nothing."
Johnson is now suing the dealership to get back her old truck and the $2,500 deposit.
Cases like Johnson's may not be uncommon. According to the Center for Responsible Lending, one in eight buyers making less than $40,000 a year has been a victim of yo-yo financing. For people making less than $25,000, it's one in four.
"It's outrageous and shouldn't be done," said Jack Fitzgerald, a long-time auto dealer. He told ABC News that buyers should never leave with a car unless the deal is final.
"Don't take delivery of a car if you don't have a signed contract," said Fitzgerald.

2. Interest Rate Markups
Another one of the car dealer tactics is what critics call a hidden markup. That's when a dealer jacks up the interest rate on a car loan, without telling the buyer they have raised the rate quoted by the lender.
It's perfectly legal, and dealers argue that's markup covers their costs related to security and servicing the loan.
But the Center for Responsible Lending says interest-rate markups cost consumers nearly 26 billion dollars a year in "unneeded, excessive charges."
Consumers are advised to shop around for a loan, they may be able to get a better deal from a bank or credit union.

3. Add-Ons
Another trick car salesman use is selling expensive add-ons such as line paint sealant or fabric protection.
"All new cars come from the factory with paint sealant and fabric protection," Lopez said. "So, if you hear that, walk away."
The bottom line is that consumers need to do their homework before they walk into a dealership. They also need to be prepared to walk out and never look back.
"The moment you turn around, ca-ching, they know they've got you now," Lopez said.

Tips from the National Automobile Dealers Association:
Top 4 things to do before going to the dealership:      1. Based on your needs and budget, determine a realistic price range for the vehicle you are considering to buy.      2. Know the difference between financing and leasing.      3. Know your credit record.      4. Compare annual percentage rates (APR) from other lending sources such as banks, finance companies and credit unions.
Top 4 things to do while visiting the dealership:      1. Stay within the price range you can afford.      2. Negotiate your finance arrangements and terms.      3. Understand the value and cost of optional products such as extended service contracts, credit insurance or guaranteed auto protection. If you don't want these products, don't sign for them.      4. Read the sales contract carefully before you sign it.

Mayor Dave Bing: Detroit Financial Crisis Means Concessions Vital To Avoid State Takeover

DETROIT — Detroit Mayor Dave Bing on Wednesday urged municipal unions to accept wage cuts and Michigan leaders to pay the city millions stemming from a decade-old tax agreement, saying Detroit needs the money to avoid an emergency financial takeover.

The city faces a $45 million cash shortfall by the end of its fiscal year in June, Bing said in a TV and radio address. If Detroit doesn't fix its fiscal problems, the state could appoint a financial manager to make sweeping changes.

Bing's administration has said Detroit has an accumulated deficit about $150 million in its $3.1 billion annual budget.

"Simply put, our city is in a financial crisis and city government is broken," Bing said. "That's not new. That's not an opinion. That is a fact. I promised when I ran for this office that I'd tell you the truth, even when it wasn't pretty or popular. The reality we're facing is simple. If we continue down the same path, we will lose the ability to control our own destiny."

A state law passed in March gives state-appointed financial managers more power when fixing the finances of municipalities and school districts. Michigan already has emergency managers in place in the Detroit public school system as well as the cities of Pontiac, Ecorse and Benton Harbor.

In his address, Bing repeated his call for unionized workers to accept a 10 percent wage cut, a 10 percent increase in employee payments for health insurance and changes in work rules. He said the worker concessions would save Detroit $40 million for the fiscal year.

"This is not an attack on labor or our dedicated employees," he said. "The private sector, including the auto industry was forced to accept tough cuts to survive."

Bing also wants $220 million from the Legislature and Gov. Rick Snyder that stems from a tax agreement with the state. Bing said the state failed to keep a bargain to maintain state revenue sharing in exchange for the city's cut in income tax rates a decade ago.

Snyder, a Republican, said he remains committed to reviving Detroit's fortunes, in cooperation with Bing, a Democrat elected in a nonpartisan race. Snyder said he continues to seek to avoid the appointment of an emergency financial manager for the city of 713,000 "if at all possible."

"I have consistently said that as we work to reinvent Michigan, the city of Detroit must thrive," Snyder said. "Mayor Bing and I have worked closely over this past year and I remain supportive of the city's efforts to resolve its financial problems."

One member of the city's legislative delegation criticized talk of an emergency manager as premature without Bing and his aides first carrying out a systematic review and overhaul of the city's operations.

"I will go further by adding that any intimation of that need is also reckless," said Democratic state Rep. Maureen Stapleton.

Bing, a former business executive and NBA star, announced immediate steps to speed up repairs on warehoused buses, canceling furlough days for bus mechanics and having them work "nearly around the clock" to increase the fleet size and overcome chronic long delays. He said he also was taking steps to speed up repairs to broken streetlights while moving toward a spinoff of the lighting system.

Jim McTevia, a Michigan business turnaround specialist, said he believes Bing can fix the city's budget crisis.

"He just needs the legal basis, whether it's an emergency manager or a consent decree," McTevia said.

Detroit's troubles are well-known. Between 2000 and 2010, a quarter-million people packed up and moved away. Public school enrollment this fall is roughly 66,000 students, down from 104,000 only four years ago. City officials have put the Detroit unemployment rate as high as 28 percent, more than three times the national average. Run-down houses in all-but-abandoned neighborhoods have sold recently for four figures.

Some say that before an emergency manager is considered, other steps need to be taken, such as layoffs, department consolidations and outsourcing.

McTevia said the mayor seems to be doing his part, and it's now up to the other parties to come together to pull Detroit back from the brink of an outside takeover.

"If they're not willing to do it, the decision is going to be taken out of their hands," McTevia said.

___

Associated Press writer Jeff Karoub contributed to this story.

Man charged with burning cross in driveway

CHRIS OLWELL / News Herald Writer

PANAMA CITY — A recent cross burning at the home of a Panama City mixed-race couple does not signal the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan; it was the symptom of something understandable to anyone who’s ever been afraid of losing someone.

LB Williams, a 50-year-old black man, his wife of nearly seven years Donna Williams, who is white, and their bi-racial daughter found a cross burning in their driveway Nov. 4. Their grandchild was home too.

“When I saw that cross burning, I was scared to death,” Donna Williams said. “I was terrified…we all were.”

They called police and reported it. Her grandbaby still reports seeing fires outside the house, even when there are none. There’s a scar burned into the driveway in the shape of a cross, she said.

“It started out as a hate crime [investigation] based on the information that we had at the time,” said Sgt. Jeff Becker with the Panama City Police Department.

It was odd though; the investigator told Donna Williams that whoever left this symbol of hate and fear to burn in the driveway probably didn’t want to damage the lawn or burn down the house.

Two days later, Donna found a note taped to the front door and the side entrance of the house. She paraphrased:

“They were watching us, I assumed me and the kids, and that I better not leave that [N-word],” Donna Williams said. The note was signed “KKK.”

This was another odd development.

“When did the KKK start supporting black and white, interracial marriages?” she asked.

Police thought so too. On Monday, LB Williams admitted to setting the fire and posting the notes, according to the arrest affidavit charging him with two felonies: domestic violence stalking and exhibits that intimidate. He did it, he said, so she wouldn’t proceed with the divorce she filed for.

It started clicking for Donna Williams a few minutes after she found the notes. The handwriting wasn’t exactly the same, but it was close enough that she recognized it. It wasn’t a hate crime, but a love crime. But for days, her husband denied involvement in both incidents.

It’s hard to know what was going through LB Williams’ head, and he couldn’t be reached to answer the question. He was released from the Bay County Jail Tuesday with no bond. His daughter said he had left his cell phone at the house.

The cross and the notes were the desperate acts of a desperate man, Williams said. Police agreed. The fact that Williams was released from jail on two felonies without any bond might be a good indication of the danger he poses to the community (though he’s not allowed to go home, a standard condition of bond in domestic violence cases).  

“He truly is a good man. He doesn’t drink, he doesn’t do drugs and he works like a dog,” Donna Williams said. “We just can’t be together.”

Read more: http://www.newsherald.com/articles/cross-98405-driveway-panama.html#ixzz1duo5VgmM

Few Minority Teachers In Classrooms, Gap Attributed To Bias And Low Graduation Rates

Minority students will likely outnumber white students in the next decade or two, but the failure of the national teacher demographic to keep up with that trend is hurting minority students who tend to benefit from teachers with similar backgrounds.

Minority students make up more than 40 percent of the national public school population, while only 17 percent of the country's teachers are minorities, according to a report released this week by the Center for American Progress.

"This is a problem for students, schools, and the public at large. Teachers of color serve as role models for students, giving them a clear and concrete sense of what diversity in education--and in our society--looks like," the report's authors write. "A recent review of empirical studies also shows that students of color do better on a variety of academic outcomes if they're taught by teachers of color."

Using data from the 2008 Schools and Staffing Survey, the most recent data available, researchers found that more than 20 states have gaps of 25 percentage points or more between the diversity of their teachers and students.

California yielded the largest discrepancy of 43 percentage points, with 72 percent minority students compared with 29 percent minority teachers. Nevada and Illinois had the second and third largest gaps, of 41 and 35 percentage points, respectively.

In a second report, the CAP notes that in more than 40 percent of the nation's public schools, there are no minority teachers at all. The dearth of diversity in the teaching force could show that fewer minorities are interested in teaching or that there are fewer minorities qualified to teach.

"Increasing the number of teachers of color is not only a matter of a philosophical commitment to diversity in career opportunities. Teachers of color provide real-life examples to minority students of future career paths," the researchers write. "In this way, increasing the number of current teachers of color may be instrumental to increasing the number of future teachers of color. And while there are effective teachers of many races, teachers of color have demonstrated success in increasing academic achievement for engaging students of similar backgrounds."

This large discrepancy between minority teachers and minority students can be attributable to low graduation rates among many minority groups, according to the report. While high school graduation is a minimum requirement for the teaching profession, just over half of black, Latino and Native American students finish high school. College entrance and completion rates are similarly low -- with only 56 percent of black students and 64 percent of Latino high school graduates going on to college. Less than half of both black and Latino students finished college in 2007.

In addition, the high cost of college also drives many minority students away from pursuing higher education.

In an August Huffington Post report, Enrique Murillo, a professor of education at California State University, San Bernardino, said the disparity "has created a cultural and linguistic gulf" that especially hurts students who take English as a second language. Murillo is also commissioner of the California Student Aid Commission and executive director of Latino Education and Advocacy Days.

"There's so few of us in general in the educational pipeline, so the pool is really small," Murillo told HuffPost. "It stems from the overall crisis in Latino education. The main crux here is that there's a mismatch between school and home, and Latino educators are bridge builders that help close that mismatch."

CAP's paper reports several case studies of initiatives that aim to increase teacher recruitment and retention among those groups, including Teach for America and The New Teacher Project-Fellowship Programs.

Among the center's recommendations for closing the teacher-student diversity gap:

• Increasing federal oversight of and increased accountability for teacher preparation programs. This is the first step in ensuring that minority teachers emerge from teacher preparation programs with the skills needed to be effective teachers. The federal government can also take the lead on requesting programs to report on diversity efforts.
• Creating statewide initiatives to fund teacher preparation programs aimed at low-income and minority teachers.
• Strengthening federal financial aid programs for low-income students entering the teaching field.
• Reducing the cost of becoming a teacher by creating more avenues to enter the field and increasing the number of qualified credentialing organizations.
• Strengthening state-sponsored and nonprofit teacher recruitment and training organizations by increasing standards for admission, using best practices to recruit high-achieving minority students, and forming strong relationships with districts to ensure recruitment needs are met.

FAMU band leader drummed out in wake of death linked to hazing

By Tom Watkins, CNN

updated 7:50 PM EST, Wed November 23, 2011

Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion, 26, became ill and died Saturday night.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• "Oh my God, I warned them," mother of band member says
• But band officials "act like they don't know," she adds
• She says that son's harassment was mental and verbal, that others were paddled
• School officials did not immediately respond to calls

(CNN) -- The president of Florida A&M University moved Wednesday to dismiss the school's longtime band director in the wake of last weekend's hazing-linked death of a drum major in the school's famed marching band.

"The reason for this intended employment action is based upon your alleged misconduct and/or incompetence involving confirmed reports and allegations of hazing with the Department of Music and the 'Marching 100,'" President James H. Ammons said in a letter to Julian E. White.

The letter, which was marked "confidential," notified White that he was being dismissed effective December 22 and placed on administrative leave with pay effective immediately. The letter, which gave White 10 days to respond to Ammons, was provided to CNN by the university.

White, who had led the 420-member band since 1998, did not return a call from CNN.

"Wow," said Felicia Fabre, the mother of another band member who, she said, had also been hazed. She said she had mixed emotions about the dismissal. "I believe that he did the best that he could," she told CNN in a telephone interview, adding that White had appeared sincere about trying to stop the hazing. "I think that it goes further than just him. He had people working under him that need to be held just as responsible."

But Berlinda Johnson, whose 18-year-old son is a band member whom she did not want to identify by name for fear of retribution, praised White. "Any time I alerted him to an issue, Dr. White was always responsive," she told CNN. She blamed section directors for setting the tone that allowed hazing to occur, despite White's efforts to halt it. "I do not think he had the support that he needed," she said.

Johnson accused a section leader of having hit her son in the back when practices first began last summer, and said that was just the beginning. "I reported maybe four to five incidents," she told CNN. "They need to interview each member of the band, no matter how long it takes. This is not a witch hunt, this is about getting things under control."

Her son loves band, she said. "but this year, freshman year, was not a fun year for him," she said.

Wednesday's dismissal comes four days after band members returned to their Orlando hotel following Saturday's game. There, Robert Champion, 26, "reportedly threw up in the parking lot and started complaining of not being able to breathe," the sheriff's office said in a release. Champion was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

"The investigation indicates that hazing was involved in the events that occurred prior to the 911 call for assistance," Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said Tuesday.

His death was not the first incident linked to hazing within the marching band, and school officials were well aware of the abuse, Fabre said.

"Oh my God, I warned them," she said, adding that she had met with band officials at the Tallahassee school after her son told her he too had been hazed. "I went to them and told them, 'God has blessed you with so much prestige and so much honor, and if you don't do anything, it will take just one incident to bring your world down.' "

Fabre's 20-year-old son, Marcus, plays alto saxophone in the band and was among a number of musicians who were being maltreated, she said. "My son told me he was mentally and verbally hazed; he was not physically beat, but that's because he doesn't allow that kind of thing.

"My son always stood up for himself -- he would say, last year when he was a freshman, they were picking on another freshman's sister and he had to stick up for her. These students are very disrespectful towards one another."

For some, the abuse went beyond verbal and psychological to include paddling, she said.

Fabre said she met with and e-mailed band staffers about her concerns over what she saw as pervasive hazing. "I addressed them to the leadership and they act like they don't know -- they say if students don't address it, then there's nothing they can do. If students aren't willing to stand up and say there's something going on, there's no one they can prosecute."

Marcus Fabre declined to speak to CNN, his mother said. "He's just not ready to talk," she said. "He's just not ready to go to that next level yet."

She forwarded to CNN a copy of an e-mail she sent in August to Ralph Turner, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and band director White, in which she described an incident one of her son's classmates said he had seen. "He ... witnessed the same section leader ... choke the same student and held his neck up in this choking manner. This was done in a remote corner where he thought that he could not be seen by others. I could go on with horror stories, but I won't. Students do not report these acts because they are in fear of being ostracized."

"I have spoken to Dr. White on many occasions -- he listened and said it would be addressed," Fabre wrote. Though band members must sign an anti-hazing agreement, the practice continues, Fabre said. "It's not the band staff that does it, it's the section leaders, upperclassmen, the students that they've chosen to be in leadership," she said.

Calls to the school's spokeswoman, Sharon Saunders and to Turner were not immediately returned.

On Wednesday, Gov. Rick Scott sent a letter to Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey asking the department to join the investigation "to assure that the circumstances leading to Mr. Champion's death become fully known, and that if there are individuals directly or indirectly responsible for this death, they are appropriately brought to justice and held accountable."

Authorities have not said what happened to Champion. A spokeswoman for the Orange County Medical Examiner's Office said Wednesday that the autopsy had not been completed and that no cause of death was available.

Under Florida law, any death that occurs as the result of hazing is a third-degree felony.

After the incident, President Ammons suspended band performances and said he will convoke a task force "to determine if there are any unauthorized and questionable activities associated with the culture of the Marching 100."

"The purpose of this review is not to establish culpability of individual band members in this particular case, but rather to determine whether there are patterns of behavior by the band -- or members of it -- that should be addressed at the institutional level," he said.

Ammons acknowledged that at least 30 band members were let go this semester because of possible involvement in hazing.

But that wasn't enough, according to Fabre. "My prayer is there will be no cover-up," she said. "They need to get the mess out of their band and start new."

She likened the hazing incidents to gang initiations and said they were carried out in secret. "Not like street thugs, but here, if you want to be accepted, then you got to go through it."

Fabre said the incidents were "like a generational curse that needs to be broken" and held out hope that Champion's death would result in the end of hazing. "Someone has got to break the cycle," she said.

The Marching 100's motto lays out "qualities to live by," including "highest quality of character" and "dedication to service."

In 2009, the band represented Florida in the parade for President Barack Obama's inauguration.

Pat Robertson On Mac And Cheese: 'Is That A Black Thing?'

The Huffington Post

Pat Robertson appeared confused about macaroni and cheese while hosting "The 700 Club" Wednesday on the Christian Broadcasting Network following a clip of host Kristi Watts interviewing former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. In the clip, Watts asked Rice what dish she had to have at Thanksgiving. "It's mac and cheese," Rice said.

Watts clapped. "Sister, that is my dish, that is the one thing I can rock," she said.

"But only once, once a year," said Rice.

Following the clip, Robertson asked, "What is this mac and cheese? Is that a black thing?"

"It is a black thing Pat. Listen: and you guys, other people, the world needs to get on board with macaroni and cheese," said Watts. "Christmas and Thanksgiving -- we have to have macaroni and cheese, and it trips me out that you don't."

"I really don't, I don't, and I have never," said Robertson while the two laughed.

Robertson, 81, said recently that President Barack Obama has a Muslim "inclination" because of his upbringing in Indonesia. He also recently said that divorcing a spouse with Alzheimer's disease is justifiable because the disease is "a kind of death."