Showing posts with label Orlando. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Orlando. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Magic seek a soul
One must seriously question whether the Orlando Magic have a soul, much less a beating heart, because not even a rat, a donkey, whupped dog, or even a proverbial dead horse would accept the kind of beating handed out to them by the Celtics. No spark of life for the first three games. Too little too late.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Orlando: Most Violent City for Homeless People
Already named as third meanest city in the nation towards homeless people, a new study finds Orlando ranks first in Fl for violence towards homeless persons.
Maybe part of pandemic of violence comes with using the phrase "the homeless" which consigns those without housing to subclass of subhuman status. For god's sake, please try to write "homeless people."
There but for the grace of God...
[orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-homeless-survey-orlando-082009,0,2385963.story
OrlandoSentinel.com
Homeless: Orlando could be the most violent metro area in Florida, survey finds
By Willoughby Mariano
Sentinel Staff Writer
August 20, 2009
The nation's third "meanest" city for the homeless may also be the state's most violent toward them, say survey results being released today.
Forty-six percent of homeless people questioned in Orlando and Orange County in an ongoing local survey said they were physically attacked in the past four years by someone they thought was not homeless — well above Florida's average of 27 percent, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless.
The same organization last month ranked Orlando as the third "meanest" city in the country, behind Los Angeles and St. Petersburg. A coalition report released earlier this month said that in 2008, Florida led the nation in violence against the homeless for the fourth year in a row.
This year alone, at least two homeless men have been slain in Orange County.
"To me, the statistics are shocking. It shows the problem is much worse than we thought," said Michael Stoops, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless.
Orange County's results in this most recent survey are preliminary. There were 35 Orlando respondents and 1,350 statewide. However, in Orange Osceola and Seminole counties there are about 3,800 homeless people at any given time, according to the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida.
The network is in the midst of a more extensive local study that aims to survey 650 homeless people. It plans to release results this fall.
Here's more about the coalition's survey, and what it means.
How was the survey conducted?
Homeless people were interviewed in a dozen metropolitan areas across Florida. Participants were asked a series of questions, including whether they were treated well by people who were not homeless, whether they would report a crime, what they think of police officers, and details on who attacked them and when.
Orange County's results are not included in the official statewide survey results because the local numbers are preliminary. Stoops said he expects the area's final results to be similar to the early count.
What's in the survey?
The survey suggests Florida's homeless have a mixed opinion of police. Statewide, 43 percent said police were helpful or somewhat helpful to the homeless, but only 21 percent reported their most severe attack to police or other authorities.
Palm Beach County came in second to Metro Orlando, with 34 percent of respondents saying they were attacked by someone they didn't think was homeless.
Volusia and Flagler had the lowest percentage, at 15 percent for both counties combined.
What isn't in the survey?
The coalition's survey does not ask what weapons were used, how respondents protect themselves or how severe the injuries were.
Answers to these questions could be helpful to local policymakers, who may want to assess what strain these attacks place on local social services and find ways to improve overall safety, said Cathy Jackson, executive director of the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida. Those questions are part of the local group's larger survey.
Do the results match daily reality?
Orlando's homeless are no strangers to violent attacks.
Ora James Light, 51, was killed April 13, and suspect Tyler Sturdivant, 18, is in jail awaiting trial on charges of second-degree murder and robbery with a firearm.
At the time, investigators said that homeless people are regularly victims of violence.
Joel Boner, 30, was stabbed 15 times July 22 while at his campsite in Ocoee. John Hawthorne, 19, faces a second-degree murder charge and is out on bond awaiting trial.
In addition, at least two other murder victims this year were last listed as "transient" in county records.
Deadly violence is rare. Orlando's homeless typically worry about theft or robbery.
"They say, 'I have nowhere safe to sleep and I am afraid someone is going to steal my things,'" said Jackson.
Willoughby Mariano can be reached at 407-420-5171or wmariano@orlandosentinel.com.
Maybe part of pandemic of violence comes with using the phrase "the homeless" which consigns those without housing to subclass of subhuman status. For god's sake, please try to write "homeless people."
There but for the grace of God...
[orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-homeless-survey-orlando-082009,0,2385963.story
OrlandoSentinel.com
Homeless: Orlando could be the most violent metro area in Florida, survey finds
By Willoughby Mariano
Sentinel Staff Writer
August 20, 2009
The nation's third "meanest" city for the homeless may also be the state's most violent toward them, say survey results being released today.
Forty-six percent of homeless people questioned in Orlando and Orange County in an ongoing local survey said they were physically attacked in the past four years by someone they thought was not homeless — well above Florida's average of 27 percent, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless.
The same organization last month ranked Orlando as the third "meanest" city in the country, behind Los Angeles and St. Petersburg. A coalition report released earlier this month said that in 2008, Florida led the nation in violence against the homeless for the fourth year in a row.
This year alone, at least two homeless men have been slain in Orange County.
"To me, the statistics are shocking. It shows the problem is much worse than we thought," said Michael Stoops, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless.
Orange County's results in this most recent survey are preliminary. There were 35 Orlando respondents and 1,350 statewide. However, in Orange Osceola and Seminole counties there are about 3,800 homeless people at any given time, according to the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida.
The network is in the midst of a more extensive local study that aims to survey 650 homeless people. It plans to release results this fall.
Here's more about the coalition's survey, and what it means.
How was the survey conducted?
Homeless people were interviewed in a dozen metropolitan areas across Florida. Participants were asked a series of questions, including whether they were treated well by people who were not homeless, whether they would report a crime, what they think of police officers, and details on who attacked them and when.
Orange County's results are not included in the official statewide survey results because the local numbers are preliminary. Stoops said he expects the area's final results to be similar to the early count.
What's in the survey?
The survey suggests Florida's homeless have a mixed opinion of police. Statewide, 43 percent said police were helpful or somewhat helpful to the homeless, but only 21 percent reported their most severe attack to police or other authorities.
Palm Beach County came in second to Metro Orlando, with 34 percent of respondents saying they were attacked by someone they didn't think was homeless.
Volusia and Flagler had the lowest percentage, at 15 percent for both counties combined.
What isn't in the survey?
The coalition's survey does not ask what weapons were used, how respondents protect themselves or how severe the injuries were.
Answers to these questions could be helpful to local policymakers, who may want to assess what strain these attacks place on local social services and find ways to improve overall safety, said Cathy Jackson, executive director of the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida. Those questions are part of the local group's larger survey.
Do the results match daily reality?
Orlando's homeless are no strangers to violent attacks.
Ora James Light, 51, was killed April 13, and suspect Tyler Sturdivant, 18, is in jail awaiting trial on charges of second-degree murder and robbery with a firearm.
At the time, investigators said that homeless people are regularly victims of violence.
Joel Boner, 30, was stabbed 15 times July 22 while at his campsite in Ocoee. John Hawthorne, 19, faces a second-degree murder charge and is out on bond awaiting trial.
In addition, at least two other murder victims this year were last listed as "transient" in county records.
Deadly violence is rare. Orlando's homeless typically worry about theft or robbery.
"They say, 'I have nowhere safe to sleep and I am afraid someone is going to steal my things,'" said Jackson.
Willoughby Mariano can be reached at 407-420-5171or wmariano@orlandosentinel.com.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Orlando 1; 1st Amendment 0; Still Pissed Off in O'Town
As recounted in a previous post, the City of Orlando has made it a crime with penalties including incareration for panhandling on city streets if done outside of restricted areas, measured in a few square feet and bounded by blue paint.
This amounts to a patently unconstitutional violation of free speech in a public forum and protected by the first amendment to the Constitution.
From the syllabus to the USSC decision: "1. An airport terminal operated by a public authority is a non-public forum, and thus a ban on solicitation need only satisfy a reasonableness standard. Pp. 677-683.
(a) The extent to which the Port Authority can restrict expressive activity on its property depends on the nature of the forum. Regulation of traditional public fora or designated public fora survives only if it is narrowly drawn to achieve a compelling state interest, but limitations on expressive activity conducted on any other government-owned property need only be reasonable to survive. Perry Education Assn. v. Perry Local Educators' Assn., 460 U.S. 37, 45, 46. Pp. 677-679."
(emphasis added)
Public sidewalks by definition have to receive consideration as public forums thus protecting people exercising their right to free speech by asking for $.
For Jesus' sake people, feed the hungry.
[For you have been a refuge to the poor,
a refuge to the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the rainstorm
and a shade from the heat.
- Isaiah 25:4]
[There is no dispute that the Hare Krishnas' activities are protected by the First Amendment. Rather, the constitutional dispute is over the character of the airport itself.
If an area is not a "public forum," the Government is not constitutionally obliged to accommodate speech or other activities that would have full constitutional protection on a street corner, for example.] Emphasis added
http://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/11/nyregion/supreme-court-to-review-soliciting-at-3-big-airports.html
This amounts to a patently unconstitutional violation of free speech in a public forum and protected by the first amendment to the Constitution.
From the syllabus to the USSC decision: "1. An airport terminal operated by a public authority is a non-public forum, and thus a ban on solicitation need only satisfy a reasonableness standard. Pp. 677-683.
(a) The extent to which the Port Authority can restrict expressive activity on its property depends on the nature of the forum. Regulation of traditional public fora or designated public fora survives only if it is narrowly drawn to achieve a compelling state interest, but limitations on expressive activity conducted on any other government-owned property need only be reasonable to survive. Perry Education Assn. v. Perry Local Educators' Assn., 460 U.S. 37, 45, 46. Pp. 677-679."
(emphasis added)
Public sidewalks by definition have to receive consideration as public forums thus protecting people exercising their right to free speech by asking for $.
For Jesus' sake people, feed the hungry.
[For you have been a refuge to the poor,
a refuge to the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the rainstorm
and a shade from the heat.
- Isaiah 25:4]
[There is no dispute that the Hare Krishnas' activities are protected by the First Amendment. Rather, the constitutional dispute is over the character of the airport itself.
If an area is not a "public forum," the Government is not constitutionally obliged to accommodate speech or other activities that would have full constitutional protection on a street corner, for example.] Emphasis added
http://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/11/nyregion/supreme-court-to-review-soliciting-at-3-big-airports.html
Monday, May 11, 2009
"Justice" in Orlando, FL: Where Can a Homeless Person Pee?
Orlando bills itself as the City Beautiful.
Yes, we have many beautiful aspects--unless you find yourself homeless in Orlando. Then, you'd find yourself subject to constant arrests and harassment in the name of enforcing city ordinances.
Then we become the City Mean.
Consider the sad cases of Roosevelt Richardson, incarcerated 123 times ove 10 years for the crimes of: "panhandling and other petty crimes such as loitering, urinating in public and trespassing." (Full story below.) That averages out to over once a month for TEN years.
While we all agree having people pee in public violates the sense of decency if not threatening the entire social order, where can a homeless person pee?
Many businesses open to the public violate the provision of the FL Administrative Code which states such must allow members of the public to use restrooms of the establishment, thus they patently violating the law.
While murders in Orlando have increased dramatically--even as the Orlando Sentinel keeps a scorecard--our POlice protect us from panhandlers. Holy misplaced priorities, Batman.
I'd rather give someone a dollar rather than get killed. Hey even if they use it for beer, I figure they need 1 to cope.
Speaking of druthers, Richardson has his: ["I'd rather be walking the streets hungry than full in the jail," Richardson said.]
Will have to dust off my constitutonal law book to check but feel fairly certain the US Supreme Court ruled that the constitutional right to free speech included the rights of Hare Krishnas top ask for $ from people.
By extension, people in America have the constitutional right to ask other people for $.
Given the lack of drug treatment programs, affordable housing, and freaking JOBS please remind President Obama that "infrastrucure includes PEOPLE, which look invisible to us but all had mothers and fathers and maybe siblings.
Get involved in your community; Jesus said to feed people to get into heaven: "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in…" (Matthew 25: 35, 36)
[Used without permission under Fair Use doctrine because this story deals with an issue of national import: homelesness]
orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-most-arrested-051109,0,3935678.story
OrlandoSentinel.com
Jail's 'frequent flier' has been in and out 123 times
Bianca Prieto
Sentinel Staff Writer
At any given time, Rosevelt Richardson is almost certainly at one of two places -- in the Orange County Jail or on an Orlando street corner.
They're hardly his favorite two hangouts. They're just the ones he knows best.
"I've put myself in a rut, and I don't know how to get out of it," Richardson said. "I'm tired of this."
How could he not be? During the past 10 years, Richardson has checked in and out of the county jail 123 times, or about once a month. And right now, he's checked in -- for stint 124. Richardson sits in jail, disappointed with himself but with one inescapable distinction: No one has been booked into Orange County's jail more during the past decade than he has.
Richardson, a 59-year-old homeless panhandler, heads the list of "frequent fliers," the most-booked inmates since 1999, according to jail records surveyed by the Orlando Sentinel.
The group of the county's top 10 fliers is made up mostly of transients who have smiled, cringed, glared and frowned for 836 mug shots. All are men. Most are black.[emphasis added]
Almost all of their arrests are for panhandling and other petty crimes such as loitering, urinating in public and trespassing, records show. Sprinkled throughout the hundreds of arrests are some violent crimes and drug charges.
"In general, a lot of people who come in and out of the jail are people who are homeless or mentally ill," jail spokesman Allen Moore said. "Because of their life circumstances, they get in a position where they violate city or county ordinances [and are arrested]."
On a recent weekday, Richardson pulls up a chair in a barren interview room at the jail. The skeptical look on his face shows through his salt-and-pepper beard and extends to his bald head and eyes. He doesn't yet understand why he would be of any interest to a reporter. He's surprised -- almost pleased -- to learn he's at the top of the list. This time he's here for violating probation on a prior trespassing and panhandling case.
The room echoes as he answers questions about why he can't stay out of jail.
"Because my income is panhandling," Richardson says. said. And in Orlando, that's illegal.
Arthritis invaded Richardson's joints a few years ago, making it nearly impossible for him to do the only trade he knows: migrant field work. He dropped out of school in sixth grade to follow the fields to pick oranges, cucumbers, watermelons and tomatoes, he said.
He fathered four children but left his family when his youngest son was 6 months old. Richardson said he hasn't spoken to them since he left their Gainesville home in 1986.
His small stature, which earned him the street nickname "Shorty Kellem," doesn't help him get work in day-labor jobs. But this time, he hopes a judge will help him get on his feet by ordering him to a work-release program.
"I don't know how to get out of this cycle," said Richardson, explaining that he has to start over every time he's released from jail. "It's wearing me down."
Although life may appear easier behind bars -- the guarantee of three meals a day, a roof over his head and a warm bed to sleep in -- he says he doesn't want to be there.
"I'd rather be walking the streets hungry than full in the jail," Richardson said.
He has past felony convictions on drug charges but says he has been clean for the past four years.
Recurring arrests are hardly limited to Orange County, though its frequent fliers are more prolific than those in some counties. The most-arrested person in Osceola County is Martin Luther Wagner (59 times during the past decade), according to the Osceola County Jail. Wagner also has arrests in Orange County, records show.
In Lake, No. 1 is Thomas Cleveland Bass (52 times). Seminole and Volusia counties were unable to compile similar statistics.
Each time Richardson is picked up by police and hauled off to jail, he loses his few possessions.
When he returns, they have either been tossed out or stolen by other homeless people, who need it, he said. All he owns are the clothes he wore to jail. His identification card expired on his birthday, April 28, so now he doesn't even have that.
"The little stuff I did have is gone," Richardson said.
At the Coalition for the Homeless on West Central Boulevard, clients are offered lockers for a small fee paid by the week or the month. If the rent is not paid, the items are tossed, spokeswoman Muffet Robinson said.
Occasionally, coalition workers will receive a letter or call from the jail asking them to keep the items until the locker renter is out of jail.
"They do what they can to work with the guys," Robinson said. "But we are not a storage facility."
Almost half of the men in the group list the coalition as their home address, according to public records. Privacy policies do not allow the coalition to confirm whether the men are clients.
"It's all trash and litter to most of us, but to them it's their stuff," said Jim Wright, a sociology professor at the University of Central Florida who works with the homeless.
"It must be frustrating as all get out ... when you get arrested and it all disappears."
Although Richardson has grown accustomed to the in-and-out routine, he said he wants change.
Meanwhile, he plans to serve the rest of his several-month sentence.
If anyone is looking for him, he said: "Oh, I'm not hard to find. Just check the jail."
Anthony Colarossi and Gary Taylor of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Bianca Prieto can be reached at bprieto@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5620.
Copyright © 2009, Orlando Sentinel
Yes, we have many beautiful aspects--unless you find yourself homeless in Orlando. Then, you'd find yourself subject to constant arrests and harassment in the name of enforcing city ordinances.
Then we become the City Mean.
Consider the sad cases of Roosevelt Richardson, incarcerated 123 times ove 10 years for the crimes of: "panhandling and other petty crimes such as loitering, urinating in public and trespassing." (Full story below.) That averages out to over once a month for TEN years.
While we all agree having people pee in public violates the sense of decency if not threatening the entire social order, where can a homeless person pee?
Many businesses open to the public violate the provision of the FL Administrative Code which states such must allow members of the public to use restrooms of the establishment, thus they patently violating the law.
While murders in Orlando have increased dramatically--even as the Orlando Sentinel keeps a scorecard--our POlice protect us from panhandlers. Holy misplaced priorities, Batman.
I'd rather give someone a dollar rather than get killed. Hey even if they use it for beer, I figure they need 1 to cope.
Speaking of druthers, Richardson has his: ["I'd rather be walking the streets hungry than full in the jail," Richardson said.]
Will have to dust off my constitutonal law book to check but feel fairly certain the US Supreme Court ruled that the constitutional right to free speech included the rights of Hare Krishnas top ask for $ from people.
By extension, people in America have the constitutional right to ask other people for $.
Given the lack of drug treatment programs, affordable housing, and freaking JOBS please remind President Obama that "infrastrucure includes PEOPLE, which look invisible to us but all had mothers and fathers and maybe siblings.
Get involved in your community; Jesus said to feed people to get into heaven: "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in…" (Matthew 25: 35, 36)
[Used without permission under Fair Use doctrine because this story deals with an issue of national import: homelesness]
orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-most-arrested-051109,0,3935678.story
OrlandoSentinel.com
Jail's 'frequent flier' has been in and out 123 times
Bianca Prieto
Sentinel Staff Writer
At any given time, Rosevelt Richardson is almost certainly at one of two places -- in the Orange County Jail or on an Orlando street corner.
They're hardly his favorite two hangouts. They're just the ones he knows best.
"I've put myself in a rut, and I don't know how to get out of it," Richardson said. "I'm tired of this."
How could he not be? During the past 10 years, Richardson has checked in and out of the county jail 123 times, or about once a month. And right now, he's checked in -- for stint 124. Richardson sits in jail, disappointed with himself but with one inescapable distinction: No one has been booked into Orange County's jail more during the past decade than he has.
Richardson, a 59-year-old homeless panhandler, heads the list of "frequent fliers," the most-booked inmates since 1999, according to jail records surveyed by the Orlando Sentinel.
The group of the county's top 10 fliers is made up mostly of transients who have smiled, cringed, glared and frowned for 836 mug shots. All are men. Most are black.[emphasis added]
Almost all of their arrests are for panhandling and other petty crimes such as loitering, urinating in public and trespassing, records show. Sprinkled throughout the hundreds of arrests are some violent crimes and drug charges.
"In general, a lot of people who come in and out of the jail are people who are homeless or mentally ill," jail spokesman Allen Moore said. "Because of their life circumstances, they get in a position where they violate city or county ordinances [and are arrested]."
On a recent weekday, Richardson pulls up a chair in a barren interview room at the jail. The skeptical look on his face shows through his salt-and-pepper beard and extends to his bald head and eyes. He doesn't yet understand why he would be of any interest to a reporter. He's surprised -- almost pleased -- to learn he's at the top of the list. This time he's here for violating probation on a prior trespassing and panhandling case.
The room echoes as he answers questions about why he can't stay out of jail.
"Because my income is panhandling," Richardson says. said. And in Orlando, that's illegal.
Arthritis invaded Richardson's joints a few years ago, making it nearly impossible for him to do the only trade he knows: migrant field work. He dropped out of school in sixth grade to follow the fields to pick oranges, cucumbers, watermelons and tomatoes, he said.
He fathered four children but left his family when his youngest son was 6 months old. Richardson said he hasn't spoken to them since he left their Gainesville home in 1986.
His small stature, which earned him the street nickname "Shorty Kellem," doesn't help him get work in day-labor jobs. But this time, he hopes a judge will help him get on his feet by ordering him to a work-release program.
"I don't know how to get out of this cycle," said Richardson, explaining that he has to start over every time he's released from jail. "It's wearing me down."
Although life may appear easier behind bars -- the guarantee of three meals a day, a roof over his head and a warm bed to sleep in -- he says he doesn't want to be there.
"I'd rather be walking the streets hungry than full in the jail," Richardson said.
He has past felony convictions on drug charges but says he has been clean for the past four years.
Recurring arrests are hardly limited to Orange County, though its frequent fliers are more prolific than those in some counties. The most-arrested person in Osceola County is Martin Luther Wagner (59 times during the past decade), according to the Osceola County Jail. Wagner also has arrests in Orange County, records show.
In Lake, No. 1 is Thomas Cleveland Bass (52 times). Seminole and Volusia counties were unable to compile similar statistics.
Each time Richardson is picked up by police and hauled off to jail, he loses his few possessions.
When he returns, they have either been tossed out or stolen by other homeless people, who need it, he said. All he owns are the clothes he wore to jail. His identification card expired on his birthday, April 28, so now he doesn't even have that.
"The little stuff I did have is gone," Richardson said.
At the Coalition for the Homeless on West Central Boulevard, clients are offered lockers for a small fee paid by the week or the month. If the rent is not paid, the items are tossed, spokeswoman Muffet Robinson said.
Occasionally, coalition workers will receive a letter or call from the jail asking them to keep the items until the locker renter is out of jail.
"They do what they can to work with the guys," Robinson said. "But we are not a storage facility."
Almost half of the men in the group list the coalition as their home address, according to public records. Privacy policies do not allow the coalition to confirm whether the men are clients.
"It's all trash and litter to most of us, but to them it's their stuff," said Jim Wright, a sociology professor at the University of Central Florida who works with the homeless.
"It must be frustrating as all get out ... when you get arrested and it all disappears."
Although Richardson has grown accustomed to the in-and-out routine, he said he wants change.
Meanwhile, he plans to serve the rest of his several-month sentence.
If anyone is looking for him, he said: "Oh, I'm not hard to find. Just check the jail."
Anthony Colarossi and Gary Taylor of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Bianca Prieto can be reached at bprieto@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5620.
Copyright © 2009, Orlando Sentinel
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Orlando: Black babies born next to boiler room
[Jeff Kunerth | Sentinel Staff Writer
July 11, 2008
Dr. Alfred L. Bookhardt began his career as a physician in the 1960s, when blacks were barred from practicing at Orlando hospitals or joining the American Medical Association.
A belated apology for past discrimination by the American Medical Association is a small consolation for 79-year-old Alfred L. Bookhardt, a black physician who arrived in Orlando in the days of segregation.
"He feels it's necessary for an apology, but it's way too late for him. Being denied membership affected his lifestyle, his livelihood, his status and the opportunity to grow," said his wife, Ola Bookhardt.
The association Thursday apologized on its Web site for "its past history of racial inequality toward African-American physicians, and shares its current efforts to increase the ranks of minority physicians and their participation in the AMA..."
...At the same time the AMA was denying Bookhardt membership, Orlando hospitals were barring black doctors from joining their staffs and separating black patients from whites. At Orange Memorial Hospital -- now Orlando Regional Medical Center -- the black ward was in the basement next to the boiler room, and women having babies were placed next to men with tuberculosis.
"They went to Orange Memorial, where they were relegated to the basement with boiler pipes to deliver their children," said Geraldine Thompson, director of the Wells'Built Museum of African American History. "Many children were delivered in the elevator."]
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-ama1108jul11,0,3220532.story
July 11, 2008
Dr. Alfred L. Bookhardt began his career as a physician in the 1960s, when blacks were barred from practicing at Orlando hospitals or joining the American Medical Association.
A belated apology for past discrimination by the American Medical Association is a small consolation for 79-year-old Alfred L. Bookhardt, a black physician who arrived in Orlando in the days of segregation.
"He feels it's necessary for an apology, but it's way too late for him. Being denied membership affected his lifestyle, his livelihood, his status and the opportunity to grow," said his wife, Ola Bookhardt.
The association Thursday apologized on its Web site for "its past history of racial inequality toward African-American physicians, and shares its current efforts to increase the ranks of minority physicians and their participation in the AMA..."
...At the same time the AMA was denying Bookhardt membership, Orlando hospitals were barring black doctors from joining their staffs and separating black patients from whites. At Orange Memorial Hospital -- now Orlando Regional Medical Center -- the black ward was in the basement next to the boiler room, and women having babies were placed next to men with tuberculosis.
"They went to Orange Memorial, where they were relegated to the basement with boiler pipes to deliver their children," said Geraldine Thompson, director of the Wells'Built Museum of African American History. "Many children were delivered in the elevator."]
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-ama1108jul11,0,3220532.story
Ban anything offensive, even historic pictures
"I still feel that if anyone finds it offensive, it should not be displayed," the Orlando Sentinel quoted city commissioner Daisy Lynum as saying in reference to a photo of a barefoot black caddie holding the golf bag for a white golfer, a picture displayed in restaurant of renovated city owned golf course, Dubsdread.
A later report had this quote. "They say it (photograph) is a part of history," Lynum said, "but so is lynching and killing. Do we keep those pictures on display?"
Yes, Ms. Lynum, places like the Black Holocaust Museum have as an exhibit on Strange Fruit - Lynching in America so the terrible history of racism shall instruct us on how to treat our fellow humans.
Yes, blacks could not then legally golf on the course, but hopefully picture shows a black man making some coin caddying. It also shows dependency of upper class white culture on black workes: waiters and washers, caddies and domestic employees.
A later report had this quote. "They say it (photograph) is a part of history," Lynum said, "but so is lynching and killing. Do we keep those pictures on display?"
Yes, Ms. Lynum, places like the Black Holocaust Museum have as an exhibit on Strange Fruit - Lynching in America so the terrible history of racism shall instruct us on how to treat our fellow humans.
Yes, blacks could not then legally golf on the course, but hopefully picture shows a black man making some coin caddying. It also shows dependency of upper class white culture on black workes: waiters and washers, caddies and domestic employees.
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