All-white N.J. wrestling team says lynching photo of black dummy was meant ‘innocently

By Scott Kaufman/Raw Story

Eight members of a Phillipsburgh, New Jersey high school wrestling team were banned from the state tournament and suspended for three days each after a photograph of them “lynching” a black wrestling dummy wearing a rival school’s t-shirt.

The students, who are white, surrounded the black wrestling dummy dressed in a Paulsboro High School t-shirt. According to the 2010 census, 36.7 percent of residents of Paulsboro, New Jersey are African-American, compared to only 7.5 percent of Phillipsburgh.

Attorney Scott Wilhelm, speaking on behalf of the students, said that “[w]hen we spontaneously set the scene and posed for the photograph, our sole purpose was to promote school spirit and portray our wrestling team as victor over two of our archrivals — Paulsboro High School and Kittatinny High School, and not for any other purpose.”

Wilhelm insisted that the dummy was not meant to represent a person of any particular race: “The inanimate figure in the photograph is a wrestling dummy, which is owned by the Phillipsburg High School, and is used in our daily practices, and is used by most high school wrestling teams.”

“It is our understanding,” Wilhelm said, “that the dummies are manufactured in only dark leather. In outfitting the wrestling dummy, we did not give any thought to the physical appearance of the dummy as anything other than an unidentified, generic wrestler – clothed in a Paulsboro T-shirt over a Kittatinny [High School] singlet. Likewise, our dress was standard wrestling uniforms, and our poses were not premeditated, but rather, spontaneous gestures without any forethought.”

According to Wilhelm, the students’ minds were “clouded” by their recent success in a tournament, but now understand that others may have found their celebration offensive, “however innocently intended.”

One Paulsboro wrestler, Zach Richard, told a CBS 2 reporter that there was nothing “innocent” about it, saying “I think they knew what they was doing.”

The Executive Director of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA), Steven Timko, said that the photograph “violates the principles of good sportsmanship and is a flagrant violation of the NJSIAA Sportsmanship Rule.” It demonstrated a “fundamental disrespect” for opponents and used “violent imagery that has no place in high school sports.”

Watch a report on the incident from CBS 2 below.

Four Facts About New Jersey’s Economy Chris Christie Won’t Talk About At The Republican Convention Tonight

By Pat Garofalo/Think Progress

The first real night of the 2012 Republican National Convention will close tonight with a keynote address by Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ). Christie has become a conservative darling for his blunt speaking style and his open willingness to berate public servants.

“I’ll be talking about the New Jersey experience and what that means for the country,” Christie said while previewing the speech. “If [listeners] say I like the vision he’s laid out for the country and for his party for the next four years, then I will have done the job for my party and my country.”

However, the “New Jersey experience” under Christie has been anything but rosy. Here are some key economics stats to know before Christie hits the stage tonight:

– New Jersey ranked 47th in the nation in GDP growth in 2011. [Bureau of Economic Analysis]

– The Garden state’s unemployment rate of 9.8 percent is fourth highest in the nation, trailing only Nevada, California, and Rhode Island. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]

– New Jersey lost 12,000 jobs last month, the most in the country. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]

– The state ranked 44th in personal income growth in 2011. [Bureau of Economic Analysis]

Christie has focused on cutting taxes for millionaires (while blocking a millionaires’ surtax), slashing social spending, and opposing plans to help New Jersey’s workers. He’s cheered the firing of public sector workers and scuttled important infrastructure projects on false pretenses.

Finally, he’s handed out a record number of corporate handouts, while getting little for it in terms of job growth. And for this, he’s been rewarded with a huge speaking slot at the Republican convention, from which he will likely proclaim Republican economic ideology a stunning success.