I heard about one of these incidents a few months ago, but I didn't know that there was another one.
It doesn't surprise me given the amount of racism there is in this city. The big controversy around here is Mayor Funkhouser's (mayor of KCMO) stubborn backing of a woman he nominated for the park's board who has connections to the Minutemen. This controversy has been raging all over the newspapers, TV, radio and local blogs. The NAACP, La Raza, and other groups have cancelled plans to hold their concentions in Kansas City. The Minutemen have announced plans to have their convention in KC, but so far haven't been able to find a venue. If their plans solidify, I plan to make this news known to Anti-Racist Action activists in the Midwest. Even if the ARA folks don't show up, the Minutemen will get protested by plenty of locals.
Kansas City's racism problem was brought home to me the other day when I was talking to this young guy about zines. He told me that he had moved from suburban Lee's Summit (featured in the NY Times) to the city of KCMO and was loving the city. He said that the teenagers in the burbs make a big show about being down with hip hop, bit as soon as they get drunk at parties they start mouthing all kinds of racist crap.
I've also gotten a few comments on my blog from African-American professionals who have moved to KC from the coasts. They complain about the "nice" racism that pervades Kansas City, especially on the job. One person commenting on the blog was an African-American woman IT professional who related her headaches trying to find jobs in all white IT departments around here.
Chuck