**Activism Update**
The Multiracial Activist – The Boondocks, a racist comic strip that lashes out at biracial identity and interracial marriage is under fire from the interracial/biracial community. See below for relevant links:

TMA press release:

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) – In the same week that President Clinton called racial profiling "morally indefensible," the American Civil Liberties Union launched a special website to Arrest the Racism by ending discriminatory traffic stops on our nation's highways.

The new website http://www.aclu.org/profiling/index.html?d80 features several interactive elements to focus public attention on the practice of racial profiling. They include:

Just last week, the ACLU issued a new report on the problem — Driving While Black: Racial Profiling On Our Nation's Highways — that cited statistics gathered by the ACLU in the course of legal challenges in several states, and media stories from around the nation in making the case that skin color is being used as a substitute for evidence and a ground for suspicion. The new ACLU report can also be found on the special web site.

"This is not about rogue police officers, it's about a rogue policy," says Ira Glasser, Executive Director of the ACLU. "And we say to our leaders in law enforcement: don't mend it, end it."

A leading advocate for ending racism and protecting due process under the law, the ACLU is a nationwide, non-partisan organization dedicated to defending and preserving the Bill of Rights for all individuals through litigation, legislation and public education. Headquartered in New York City, the ACLU has 53 staffed affiliates in major cities, more than 300 chapters nationwide, and a legislative office in Washington. The bulk of its $35 million annual budget is raised by contributions from members — 275,000 strong — and gifts and grants from other individuals and foundations. The ACLU does not accept government funds.

**State Update**
Recently, the Alabama Senate voted in favor of an amendment to the state constitution to repeal the ban on interracial marriage which is still enforced in some rural locales in Alabama. The Alabama House approved the amendment in April. The voters of the state will get their say on the amendment on October 12. Last year, the voters of SC lifted their ban.

For more information on interracial marriage see:

**Local Update**
Fairfax County, VA – Fired Sheriffs Deputy, Robert Cutts who was dismissed by Sheriff Carl R. Peed for exposing the departments tolerance of racism towards interracial marriages and lack of response to other racist activities filed suit along with two other deputies in U.S. District Court on May 14th seeking damages of $45 million for the Department's failure to stop the racist actions of supervisors and coworkers of the three deputies.

The complaint is online at: https://www.multiracial.com/government/cuttsshabazzbell.html Background information on the case is available online at: https://www.multiracial.com/issues/issues-fairfaxcountydeputies.html Readers are encouraged to write or call the Sheriff's Office and demand that the racism stop and that the fired deputies be reinstated immediately. Details are included in Special Alert 11 https://www.multiracial.com/newsletter/specialalert11.html. A closed-door Civil Service Commission hearing, which is separate from the lawsuit, has been scheduled for July 6 to review the Deputies' request to be reinstated.

**Information/Interview Requests**
The Multiracial Activist received the following requests:

PBS WEB SITE LOOKING FOR LOVE STORIES

In conjunction with a major PBS series airing later this year, Web Lab is creating a Web site called "American Love Stories" at http://www.pbs.org/lovestories.

If you — or someone you know well — is in a relationship that bridges major differences, please consider submitting a story. Whether the differences are race, ethnicity, religion, age, financial background — or something else — we want to hear from you!

If you write a story, please think about the questions below. They're guidelines, not a checklist, so don't feel you have to answer them all:

check out: http://www.pbs.org/lovestories for more info.

Please help us out by sending this message far and wide! We think these are important issues and we hope you do too. Thanks.

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From: Leah Ginsberg
To: racial_politics@hotmail.com
Subject: I thought you might be able to help
Date: Mon, 21 Jun 1999 11:30:12 -0400

My name is Leah Ginsberg. I am writing an article for a national women's magazine on interracial and intercultural couples, and I thought you could help me find couples who would like to participate. Let me start by saying this will be a completely POSITIVE article.

Here are the details: I'd like to talk to 10 or more couples (dating, living together, and/or married with or without children). For the purposes of our article, they should be heterosexual, between the ages of 22 and 45 and reside in the NYC area. (The latter is necessary because they will need to attend a professional, weekend photo shoot in NYC, should they take part in the article).

Initially I would call the women

—it would be from their point of view since it's a women's magazine, but of course, the men are free to have in put—and get their stats (how long they've been together, what they do, etc.) and have them tell me a little bit about their relationship. Then they would send me a photo (not one for publishing, just to put a name and story with a face. I'll return the photo when we're finished).

After I get the intial stories and photos, I will submit them to my editor who will then choose the 8 stories that work best for the magazine. I will interview those women in more detail. The final product will be in the women's words, and she will be called to have it fact-checked (basically read back to her) before it is published. There will also be a photo shoot, which both the man and the woman, and if they have kids, the kids, will need to participate in (but that's the fun part!)

Thanks,

Leah Ginsberg

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If you are interested in participating in the PBS project visit the link provided to participate. If interested in the interview and photo shoot, email me directly and I'll forward your information on to Ms. Ginsberg.

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Sincerely,

James A. Landrith, Jr.
Editor & Publisher,
The Multiracial Activist
https://www.multiracial.com/