Tag Archives: Racism

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The Ali Shuffle, The Ropodope:, Or Random Thoughts of The Week of The President

I’m just wondering what it’s been like to be the Commander-in-Chief over the past week. 

Obviously it takes a special person to be president of these United States.  I’m reminded of Seth Meyers’ comments at the White House Correspondence dinner the other night when he talked about how Michelle Obama looks even better today than she did during inauguration; while the president was looking a bit aged.  Said Meyers’ to The President, ‘If your hair gets any whiter the Tea Party is going to endorse it!”

With crazy gas prices, Gaddafi Gate, two wars, budget deficits and ‘birther’ bashing led by ‘The Donald’, President Obama has definitely been taking some lately.  But like Sugar Ray Leonard in Leonard/Hearns 1, and Jordan in the 4th quarter of a pivotal playoff game, Obama put some work in that dazzled supporters and critics alike!  He proved once again that in the world of politics, sometimes it only takes a little to turn shit into sugar.  Just a few days revised this President’s potential legacy from pre-lame duck to WFT just happened.

Let’s start from the beginning.

Thursday April 29, 2011:

Obama releases long form birth certificate:

Though I was initially conflicted by this decision, I can’t help but believe that the ends justify the means.  While most Americans understood that the birther movement was a ridiculous play on race, and that Donald Trump was behaving like an idiot, some gullible yet well meaning citizens may have started to believe it was an issue.  The rules of basic propaganda are that if one repeats a lie long enough many will take it for truth.  The media gave coverage as if it were possibly legitimate.  And so as to not allow it to continue to be a distraction the administration put it to rest – thus shutting the mouths of birthers for good.  Now the question of citizenship and conspiracy of his mother in 1961 (I know it sounds ridiculous doesn’t it) are permanently put to rest.

The Obamas visit Tuscaloosa:

Unlike the previous presidential initial reaction to Katrina, Obama got to Alabama pretty quickly after one of the most devastating tornados in our nation’s history.  The Midwest has experienced tornados, storms and lots of flooding.  Unfortunately this is not new to us.  But what has happened in The South last week is on another level.  When I saw the footage of the tornado that hit Alabama, it seemed as if it were actually alive as it reeked what seemed like intentional angry destruction.  It’s expected that federal dollars will be given to aid with the rebuilding of these devastated communities.  But having The President’s presence there so quickly was encouraging to many.  He showed himself to be in touch with the suffering of his citizens.

April 30, 2011: Obama roast Trump at Correspondence Dinner:

I can’t get over the timing of this event.  ‘The Donald’ was brashly on television trying to perpetrate a fraud with this certificate thing.  He even threw in some racial basketball and affirmative action shots to boot to question the president’s intelligence.  Unfortunately on a typical day, the president can’t just respond to some reality TV hack whose major decisions have to do with evaluating the job performances of Little John, Hulk Hogan and Gary Busey.  But on this once yearly occasion the president is free to get off on anyone he chooses, and still remain presidential.  And as long as it’s funny it rocks.  The fact that Trump was arrogant enough to show up and get some of that in person was classic.  The President straight got in him unapologetically.  And the truthfulness of his remarks made it even more hilarious.  I thought of Sergeant Waters’ comment on “A Soldier’s Story” to Peterson after Peterson smarted off at him in the barracks.  “Peterson!  I ain’t forgot cha boy.  I’m going outside and wait for you geechie!  And when you come out, I’m gonna whoop yo Black White Southern Ass.  Let the whole company watch too!  You need to learn respect for these stripes!”  Needless to say, Obama beat that ass … in front of the whole company of the same people Trump previously spouted off in front of, the press.

 

On top of that he got it from Seth Meyers too!

May 1, 2011: Obama leads military in killing Bin Laden from the Situation Room of The White House while pre-empting Trump’s show:

Is this karma at the utmost or what?  And while I doubt that it was purposely timed to cut The Donald’s balls in the ratings department, I do know it to be ironic at least.  Even with all of the information and misinformation coming to the forefront regarding details of the actual mission, one thing is for sure;  The administration was able to keep this operation completely under wraps with no leaks whatsoever as to what was going on.

And to think that in the final days of the mission the president in addition to doing all of the things mentioned earlier, also had time to stop in to film an episode with Oprah as her last guest of her 25th and final season.  So for all the smack The Donald and his birther friends talked during the last few weeks/months, the way Americans see it now,  the president was indeed doing more than playing basketball.

As was it just me or did anybody else noticed how he just  sashayed down the walkway of the podium with the swagger straight from Chicago’s South Side to announce Bin Laden’s death?

The only thing left for Obama was to quote Shaquille O’Neal:  “Hey Kobe  Donald, tell me how my ass taste!”

Finally as we hear from the right some of the cowardly remarks trying to give much of the credit to former President Bush:  While this is certainly no middle finger towards the former president, I do have to say is this.  The Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl.  Aaron Rodgers was the MVP.  You can try to give it to Brett Favre if you want to but that dog just won’t hunt.   Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rove; none of them dudes have been in on the action for years now.  And while they were hopelessly looking in caves, Obama and his leadership team caught Bin Laden sleeping in a luxury compound. 

Since 9-11 this most notorious terrorist could have been named Osama Bin Missing.  And politics aside, The Obama administration didn’t have to roll with Mission Accomplished, or fake stories like Jessica Lynch or that criminal fakery that happened with Pat Tillman to rally Americans.  With no intent to deceive the American people the results now speak for themselves.  The president had his hands on this entire operation for the last several months.  And if he were wrong it would surely have cemented his legacy as a massive failure.  As it stands now, he will forever go down in history as the president that took out the mastermind of the worst terrorist event in the history of our nation.  Game, set match!

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Radical Conservatives Throw Rocks, and Hide Hands, But Karma and Chickens Come Home Eventually

In the wake of the tragic and cowardly shooting that took place in Arizona over the weekend, it didn’t take long for many conservatives to begin the quick process of separating themselves from any and all possible contributions of motivating this heinous crime.

One of my conservative Facebook friends posted this hours after the shooting:

Here’s a wild and wacky idea – instead of linking the tragedy in Arizona to the Right or Left and trying to score political points off of it, why don’t we have a little sympathy for the victims and hope they fry the psychopath who did this?

I get what he was trying to say.  Media can be quick to make connections and jump to conclusions when it comes to sensationalizing a story like this one.

In fairness however, there has been some pretty tough talk and violent rhetoric in recent years from certain segments of the population.  I can recall in the last presidential election from many McCain/Palin campaign outings where several supporters would shout rants like, “Off with his head!” when it came to then Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama.  I remember that initially team McCain/Palin and their handlers as well as many right-wing pundits dismissed these types of comments as being harmless.

Personally, I felt that while the Republican candidates didn’t literally desire to see harm come to then Senator Obama (some may find that debatable) at the very least the Republicans understood very well that a large portion of their energized voter base were extreme right wingers who held their guns, confederate flags, and racism as close to their hearts as they did their bibles.  They didn’t want to turn off that block by confronting them.  Eventually McCain had to make some concessions after his poll numbers begin to drop due to these radicals.

Since the new President got into office, the rhetoric has continued, except there has also been some action behind it.  To give a few examples:

In August Gregory Lee Giusti was arrested for threatening the life of Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her support of health-care reform.

Rep. Brad Miller of North Carolina was also threatened. Imagine that, supporting a health-care bill can get one killed!

In addition in months past, Rep. John Lewis and Emmanuel Clever were called niggers and Rep Barney Frank a faggot.

Some white supremacist fool even shot a security guard at the Holocaust Museum.

A questions being asked now, is whether rhetoric via talking heads and even some of the politicians themselves are contributing to the shootings.  Most who believe so don’t mean it in some literal sense as if someone like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh or Sarah Palin pulled the trigger themselves or hypnotized the murder into committing these heinous acts.  Rather an understanding that with the desperation that comes with hard economic times bring about the tendency of needing someone to blame.

Advertisers know in marketing their products successfully, one common theme is finding the right endorser.  This helps the product to generate a following.  This is why Gatorade and American Express hired Tiger Woods years ago.  The thinking is they can pay him $100 million dollars to represent the merchandise because just by his name being attached to it, Americans and beyond would purchase the product – not because it’s a superior product, but because Tiger at least says he drinks it.  We know this and yet psychologically we fall for it anyway.  Not all the time, but enough to make a killing.  (no pun intended)

In the months leading to the 2008 Presidential elections, I often listened to black radio.  DJs such as Tom Joyner and Michael Baisden used their influence with listeners to promote voter registration.  They went on and on everyday as to why this election was so important after 8 years of George W Bush.  As a result, many who normally would not have bothered to take an intense interest in the election did so with anticipation and excitement.  The minority vote was epic, as was the vote of the youth.  The combination changed the results of the election.

Of course the right has always had their talking heads too.  According to Bernard Goldberg, Rush Limbaugh makes a cool $33 million a year to galvanize his listeners.  So the evidence is there to suggest that there are varying voices regardless of the rhetoric that Americans find influential.  Of course the same could be said about politicians themselves.

With this as a backdrop, I noticed soon after the Tucson shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, and 17 others (6 fatally) including a small child and a federal judge, there were many connections being made to the suspect perhaps being influence by the rhetoric via radio, television or political figures like Sarah Palin.  Equally true was that many conservatives made a point to distance themselves as far away from shooter Jared Loughner.  This was the epitaph of my Facebook friend mentioned at the beginning.  My personal feelings on the matter cause me to take a broader approach that I started by mentioning the radio personalities and product sponsors.  I think the best way to view this intelligently is to take a look at ‘like’ circumstances and gauge  reactions to similarities based on deductive reasoning and hard-core facts.  From that I come up with a list of questions to ask so that you can reflect based on your knowledge and experience of being an American.

1) Do we have military men as well as FBI monitoring websites of hate mongers, religious zealots, and most definitely Muslim extremist?  Does the government and it’s citizens believe it’s worth monitoring?

2) Were groups like the Black Panthers targeted by the FBI because of both their rhetoric and arsenal of weapons in times past?

3) If for example, Nation Of Islam Leader Minister Louis Farrakhan used something similar to Sarah Palin’s cross hairs map to target a section of someone’s district politically saying we need to target and ‘get rid’ of that person, and some black guy named Abdullah X shot a public servant in point-blank range along with a group of people similar to what Loughner did, would the Minister be able to separate himself as easily as you see Palin, Beck, and Limbaugh doing now?  Would it sit right with you as the Minister explains that Abdullah committed this dastardly wicked deed of his own volition, and was never involved with The Nation at all?  Or would you be comfortable with the FBI tearing through the offices of Farrakhan ripping every single computer to look for further possible threats, to destroy his organization.

I believe most readers who answer truthfully know the answers to these questions.  With that being said, regardless of what Loughner’s motivation stemmed from in all of it’s destructive glory and varying degrees, the ability for many Caucasians on the right to smoothly separate themselves from these criminals is quite astounding to me;  Impressive really.  From Abraham Lincoln, to the Kennedys, MLK, and so on, the story of the lone and weird spaced out anti-social vagabond gunman is one that never seems to get old does it?  It’s as if saying those very words instantly sanitizes them from the mere thought of consideration.

‘Oh no!  No responsibility on MY part!  I didn’t kill those people! I don’t subscribe to such vicious violence!  Why I never!  This is obviously a sick individual who perhaps needed help but certainly couldn’t possibly be spurned on by anything I said.”

I think our culture, our advertising and marketing departments, the hundred of millions of dollars being spent on campaign adds, say something else.

What it says is at the very least, as a nation we cannot continue to throw rocks, hide our hands, and then act with a pompous holy shame when the results of those words, those signs and pictures,  the seeds that are being planted come back with strange fruit hanging on the vines.  It is simply idiotic to suggest that people want to be leaders, have listeners, gain an audience, carry a local or national message to the hearers, win support, and take credit for such when an election is won but not when a fool goes off and does something reprehensible.

Regardless of the true motivations of one individual, it’s time that we start to re-think and carefully consider what kind of nation we are allowing ourselves to be.  And by all means don’t be surprised if we stay on this course when the future brings more of the same.   This denial and self protective attitude of embraced ignorance is long past its prime.

Is that lesson ready to be learned by those in denial of this?  I doubt it.  I just saw an article that Rep. Joe Wilson’s  words,‘You lie,” that infamous unprecedented disrespect against President Obama statement is now being engraved on….wait for it….. the AR-15 assault rifle. Oh yea they are only printing a certain amount so that they can be a ‘collectors item’.  Folks, that is as subtle as an assault rifles bullet being shot straight at our leader and anyone who supports him.  I mean, really?  “You lie,” engraved on an assault weapon?  And what segment of the population do you think they are targeting for this beast of a weapon? And again I ask what would the nation say if Muslims were engraving AK-47s with the words “Mission Accomplished”, “Jihad!” or “White Devil?”

Take in the brevity of this.  The engravings for the AR-15 is not the target of some guy from around the block.  We are talking about the current President of these United States of America!  Good old fashioned home-grown terrorism right within our midst.  Unfortunately many conservatives thinks that’s OK.  And yet… they stand poised and ready to distance themselves from the next shooter.

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In Job Hunt, College Degree Can’t Close Racial Gap *From The New York Times

 

December 1, 2009

In Job Hunt, College Degree Can’t Close Racial Gap

Johnny R. Williams, 30, would appear to be an unlikely person to have to fret about the impact of race on his job search, with companies like JPMorgan Chase and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago on his résumé.

But after graduating from business school last year and not having much success garnering interviews, he decided to retool his résumé, scrubbing it of any details that might tip off his skin color. His membership, for instance, in the African-American business students association? Deleted.

“If they’re going to X me,” Mr. Williams said, “I’d like to at least get in the door first.”

Similarly, Barry Jabbar Sykes, 37, who has a degree in mathematics from Morehouse College, a historically black college in Atlanta, now uses Barry J. Sykes in his continuing search for an information technology position, even though he has gone by Jabbar his whole life.

“Barry sounds like I could be from Ireland,” he said.

That race remains a serious obstacle in the job market for African-Americans, even those with degrees from respected colleges, may seem to some people a jarring contrast to decades of progress by blacks, culminating in President Obama’s election.

But there is ample evidence that racial inequities remain when it comes to employment. Black joblessness has long far outstripped that of whites. And strikingly, the disparity for the first 10 months of this year, as the recession has dragged on, has been even more pronounced for those with college degrees, compared with those without. Education, it seems, does not level the playing field — in fact, it appears to have made it more uneven.

College-educated black men, especially, have struggled relative to their white counterparts in this downturn, according to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate for black male college graduates 25 and older in 2009 has been nearly twice that of white male college graduates — 8.4 percent compared with 4.4 percent.

Various academic studies have confirmed that black job seekers have a harder time than whites. A study published several years ago in The American Economic Review titled “Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal?” found that applicants with black-sounding names received 50 percent fewer callbacks than those with white-sounding names.

A more recent study, published this year in The Journal of Labor Economics found white, Asian and Hispanic managers tended to hire more whites and fewer blacks than black managers did.

The discrimination is rarely overt, according to interviews with more than two dozen college-educated black job seekers around the country, many of them out of work for months. Instead, those interviewed told subtler stories, referring to surprised looks and offhand comments, interviews that fell apart almost as soon as they began, and the sudden loss of interest from companies after meetings.

Whether or not each case actually involved bias, the possibility has furnished an additional agonizing layer of second-guessing for many as their job searches have dragged on.

“It does weigh on you in the search because you’re wondering, how much is race playing a factor in whether I’m even getting a first call, or whether I’m even getting an in-person interview once they hear my voice and they know I’m probably African-American?” said Terelle Hairston, 25, a graduate of Yale University who has been looking for work since the summer while also trying to get a marketing consulting start-up off the ground. “You even worry that the hiring manager may not be as interested in diversity as the H.R. manager or upper management.”

Mr. Williams recently applied to a Dallas money management firm that had posted a position with top business schools. The hiring manager had seemed ecstatic to hear from him, telling him they had trouble getting people from prestigious business schools to move to the area. Mr. Williams had left New York and moved back in with his parents in Dallas to save money.

But when Mr. Williams later met two men from the firm for lunch, he said they appeared stunned when he strolled up to introduce himself.

“Their eyes kind of hit the ceiling a bit,” he said. “It was kind of quiet for about 45 seconds.”

The company’s interest in him quickly cooled, setting off the inevitable questions in his mind.

Discrimination in many cases may not even be intentional, some job seekers pointed out, but simply a matter of people gravitating toward similar people, casting about for the right “cultural fit,” a buzzword often heard in corporate circles.

There is also the matter of how many jobs, especially higher-level ones, are never even posted and depend on word-of-mouth and informal networks, in many cases leaving blacks at a disadvantage. A recent study published in the academic journal Social Problems found that white males receive substantially more job leads for high-level supervisory positions than women and members of minorities.

Many interviewed, however, wrestled with “pulling the race card,” groping between their cynicism and desire to avoid the stigma that blacks are too quick to claim victimhood. After all, many had gone to good schools and had accomplished résumés. Some had grown up in well-to-do settings, with parents who had raised them never to doubt how high they could climb. Moreover, there is President Obama, perhaps the ultimate embodiment of that belief.

Certainly, they conceded, there are times when their race can be beneficial, particularly with companies that have diversity programs. But many said they sensed that such opportunities had been cut back over the years and even more during the downturn. Others speculated there was now more of a tendency to deem diversity unnecessary after Mr. Obama’s triumph.

In fact, whether Mr. Obama’s election has been good or bad for their job prospects is hotly debated. Several interviewed went so far as to say that they believed there was only so much progress that many in the country could take, and that there was now a backlash against blacks.

“There is resentment toward his presidency among some because of his race,” said Edward Verner, a Morehouse alumnus from New Jersey who was laid off as a regional sales manager and has been able to find only part-time work. “This has affected well-educated, African-American job seekers.”

It is difficult to overstate the degree that they say race permeates nearly every aspect of their job searches, from how early they show up to interviews to the kinds of anecdotes they try to come up with.

“You want to be a nonthreatening, professional black guy,” said Winston Bell, 40, of Cleveland, who has been looking for a job in business development.

He drew an analogy to several prominent black sports broadcasters. “You don’t want to be Stephen A. Smith. You want to be Bryant Gumbel. You don’t even want to be Stuart Scott. You don’t want to be, ‘Booyah.’ ”

Nearly all said they agonized over job applications that asked them whether they would like to identify their race. Most said they usually did not.

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Whats Wrong With The NBA?!!! And Where The Hell Is David Stern!??

Donald Sterling

This story confirms my belief that if Rush Limbaugh had ownership in a team that the African-American and Latino players who play in that league would not buck a paycheck by America’s favorite racist.  The man pictured here Donald Sterling, owner of the Los Angeles Clippers.  He just paid out the largest fines for a federal housing discrimination suit in this nation’s history.  Seems The Donald doesn’t like to rent to African-Americans and Latinos. 

This has been a long standing issue for Sterling.  And what gets me is the overwhelming silence around the league, including the NBA Players Association.  What is most telling is the likes of NBA Czar David Stern not having one word to say about this owner in a league which is probably the most diverse in all of professional sports.  This is the same David Stern who changed the dress code policy of players so that they don’t turn off sponsors with a ‘thug look.’    This is the same owner who fines and suspends players with the quickness for ‘off the court’ actions that hurt the image of the NBA whether convicted or not.  This is the same David Stern who fines the likes of Mavericks owner Mark Cuban at the drop of a hat for merely speaking out on what he thinks will make the league better.  Whether the commish agrees with Cuban or not, the very fact that he doesn’t hold the line in terms of some of his comments regarding league business, officiating etc. Cuban has racked up fines in the millions.

This owner discriminates to the point of having the United States Department of Jusice in his mix and there is complete silence from the NBA offices in New York.   So what gives?

In a strong way it reminds me of the NFL.  With the exception of Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams being fined for flipping the bird to fans, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell refuses to fine or suspend Oakland Raiders coach Tom Cable for breaking the jaw of one of his assistants.  Again, the same commissioner who reserves and often takes advantage of the right to suspend players for things they are accused of without any unlawful convictions.  It looks like when it comes to keeping the natives in line, sports commissioners are great at drawing a line in the sand.  But when it comes to the owners they rarely feel the need to get involved. 

Roger Goodell’s policies are hypocritical to say the least.  But David Stern should be ashamed of himself.

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Carter Debate Sets Blog Ablaze!

Since CNN was kind enough to share my blog as a link to their story yesterday I received quite a bit of feedback from readers on both sides.  Passions ran pretty hot but one question in particular prompted me to respond.  That was the question by my blogging friend Jim Thornber.

“If I disagree with you, must it be racially motivated, or could it simply be that I disagree with you? You are African American and I’m not. So what? If you disagree with me, does that mean you don’t like white people?

Is it possible for me to disagree with President Obama simply because I disagree, or must there be, in you opinion, some inkling of racism mixed in there? Just wondering.”

I would like to answer my friend Jim’s question.

Jim, you ask a great and wonderful question.  One I am happy to answer.

Let me frame it this way.  You are indeed correct that they call me African-American and that they call you white.  It is also true that as an African-American I disagree with other African-Americans all the time.  I have disagreed with liberal and conservative African-Americans in politics and in media.  I disagreed with Kanye West and Serena Williams over the last few days.  I don’t consider myself racist by any means towards African-Americans.  So the short answer to you my friend is, “No.”  Certainly in this great nation of ours you have the right to disagree with black folks for whatever reasons your principles compel.  However, you are not the person I was talking about in my post.  You are not the person Carter was referring to in his comments.

The people we are talking about started making their voices known after Obama won the democratic nomination.  When it became apparent that he had a chance to win the presidency, folks like Sara Palin got the racial party started when she said that Obama was not an American like she and her followers are.  (code language to be sure) This continued with congregant rants during town hall meetings and speeches by Sen. John McCain when folks shouted things like, “He’s a Muslim!, or “Off with his head!”  Americans mind you. 

The people we are talking about are like the guy in Florida who had on the T-Shirt that said, “Nigger please! It’s called the White House,” during the election.

The people we are talking about joined and increased numbers for hate groups.  They bought guns and assault rifles at an alarming rate, so much so that places like Wal-Mart ran out of ammunition.  The people I am talking about get their que from Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity to name a few.  These guys fan the flames of racism like no other.  Then quickly hide their hands as if they did nothing.

I am talking about are the ‘birthers’ who questioned the president’s citizenship as yet another reason to attempt to delegititimize him and his holding the office.

Jim let me tell you.  I had occasion since the election to visit a couple federal buildings since January.  When I see that picture of President Obama it trips me out.  I saw all of the election results and the inauguration.  But seeing that picture of the president in that official federal format is still quite unbelievable to me.  I am so serious when I say that.  Well likewise many other American can’t wrap their brains around it either.  But it affects them differently.  I may say, “Wow!  Unbelieveable.”  They may say “WTF?! Oh hell no he ain’t my president.” 

With that as a backdrop here is where I agree with Carter.

I argue that race is what made Joe Wilson comfortable making his remarks.  Certainly I knew that Bush was lying about 9-11 being related to Iraq.  I was not unique.  Other House members knew this.  They knew it would cost billions of dollars and thousands of American lives and yet while he made those speeches neither of them thought it righteous to shout the man down and call him a liar. 

I didn’t agree with a lot of what Bush did.  I didn’t watch most of his speeches because I felt they were mere lies and propaganda.  But I’ll tell you what.  If the man while he was president walked in the room I’m standing up and giving him the honor the office is due.  I’m addressing him as ‘sir’ and ‘Mr. President.’

If you’re not familiar, and I am sure you remember some of my blogs before that detailed some of the pictures and cartoons that have been put on the internet.  For example, one show the president dressed in Muslim garb while the first lady totes an assault rifle as they fist bump one another.  Another show the front lawn of The White House with watermelons planted abroad.  Another depicted the president as a witch doctor.  Yet another show two police standing over a dead monkey they had shot.  The police then make references to the stimulus package.  I could go on but you get my drift.  We got wind of these pictures as politicians on the right passed them around to each other in email.  Each time they were caught they claimed, “What me, a racist?” 

The same people who create and promote these cartoons and caricatures are the same people who believe these stereotypes.  These are the same people who tried to turn out the healthcare town-hall meetings.  These are the people who are making the most noise;  not people like you who may or may merely disagree and take the president to task intelligently.

These people are like the ones who sent Rep. Scott of Georgia a letter saying,

“To: NIGGA DAVID SCOTT / You were / You are / And / You shall forever be a nigga!” It added, “The Ethiopian cannot make himself white.” 

As far as Joe Wilson goes, we have enough evidence of his own work and words where he fits the description of a racist.  As Maureen Dowd wrote in a recent column:

“The congressman, we learned, belonged to the Sons of Confederate Veterans, led a 2000 campaign to keep the Confederate flag waving above South Carolina’s state Capitol and denounced as a “smear” the true claim of a black woman that she was the daughter of Strom Thurmond, the ’48 segregationist candidate for president.

But let me say this.  Let’s say Wilson isn’t a racist for the sake of argument.  He feels comfortable in doing what he did because he knows that he comes from a constituency of people who believe that his actions were justified.  He like McCain/Palin early in the campaign against Obama rode the racist base with as much momentum as he could muster.  McCain later backed off and tried to quell that base when it became bad press but by then he couldn’t close that barn.  Republicans know full and well that a large part of their base is racist and furthermore they are easy to scare and rile up.  These politicians at best play on the hatred and fears of such people.  It’s a strategic easy sell.  The Right is not willing to challenge or risk losing that base.  So at the very least they are ‘accessories to racism’ if they don’t personally agree.  What you see now is a result of said tactics.  Carter, a white man from Georgia no less, is merely calling them out for who and what they are.  I happen to agree with him.

Finally, I understand that many are fatigued at the mention of racism.  I fit that description as well.  I am often reluctant to even discuss this because most won’t even admit that there is still a problem.  (Just read some of the comments on yesterday’s post.)  Others are perfectly comfortable saying, “Sure racism exists,” as long as we don’t address anything specific that happens.  If cops shoot a black man in the back shouting the “N” word many whites and a few conservative blacks will say, “Hold on now, this doesn’t necessarily mean its racist.” 

Look, I am not trying to lecture you on race Jim.  I know you are a better man than that.  I am answering your question still believe it or not.  The healthcare debate for you and others like you who may disagree is different from the rants going on out there.  I have a few issues I disagree with the president about.  I expected to when he won the office.  I expect that of any president.  Who am I?  Still my behavior is in tact. 

People like you are not the ones drawing the pictures, carrying guns into meetings, calling the president ‘Hitler’ and ‘socialist.’  In the healthcare debate the name ‘socialist’ is the new ‘nigger.”  People like you are not keeping their children from class because they don’t want the president to ‘put his agenda on them.’   This is a different breed and they are making the most noise.  They get the most media coverage. 

These  people don’t disagree with the president.  They hate the president for who he is.  They feel the country is slipping from their control and, “My God Obama is going to help lazy black people get healthcare.  Pretty soon we are going to have to swim with them and then they will sleep with our women.”  Trust me it always goes back to that.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  If white Americans want people like me to stop talking about racism, all they have to do is police themselves and other whites who step out of line.  Check those who speak lies and promote hateful stereotypes.  But unfortunately I don’t see the rage in white folks in trying to do that.  They rather I just shut up and be glad slavery is over at least.   

People can call Carter ‘peanuts’ or whatever.  That’s certainly easier to do than to grapple with what the man is saying. 

What is that saying about “De-Nile” not being merely a river in Africa?

Well anyway, I hope I answered your question Jim.

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Former President Keeps It Real!

Former President Carter tells NBC Nightly News that racism has surfaced in opposition to President Obama.

Former President Jimmy Carter is keeping it real here.  Unlike many others who would like to act as if the majority and intensity of the opposition of now President Obama is not racially motivated.  It absolutely is! 

This is why Joe Wilson was comfortable saying what he said.   This is why he has raised over a million dollars since. This is why teachers, principals and parents, (especially in the South) kept their kids away from school for a ‘stay in school and be responsible and accountable’ speech from the president of the United States.  This is why there has been such an uproar in the town hall meetings and folks have said things like, “I want my country back.”  They just can’t wrap their brains around a black man being in charge. 

Too bad as a nation we are not addressing this head on while we have yet another opportunity.

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Maureen Dowd Breaks It Down!

Pretty much what I have been saying all along!  Dowd gives us a little history on the Southern Senator.

Boy, Oh, Boy

9/13/2009

WASHINGTON

The normally nonchalant Barack Obama looked nonplussed, as Nancy Pelosi glowered behind.

Surrounded by middle-aged white guys — a sepia snapshot of the days when such pols ran Washington like their own men’s club — Joe Wilson yelled “You lie!” at a president who didn’t.

But, fair or not, what I heard was an unspoken word in the air: You lie, boy!

The outburst was unexpected from a milquetoast Republican backbencher from South Carolina who had attracted little media attention. Now it has made him an overnight right-wing hero, inspiring “You lie!” bumper stickers and T-shirts.

The congressman, we learned, belonged to the Sons of Confederate Veterans, led a 2000 campaign to keep the Confederate flag waving above South Carolina’s state Capitol and denounced as a “smear” the true claim of a black woman that she was the daughter of Strom Thurmond, the ’48 segregationist candidate for president. Wilson clearly did not like being lectured and even rebuked by the brainy black president presiding over the majestic chamber.

I’ve been loath to admit that the shrieking lunacy of the summer — the frantic efforts to paint our first black president as the Other, a foreigner, socialist, fascist, Marxist, racist, Commie, Nazi; a cad who would snuff old people; a snake who would indoctrinate kids — had much to do with race.

I tended to agree with some Obama advisers that Democratic presidents typically have provoked a frothing response from paranoids — from Father Coughlin against F.D.R. to Joe McCarthy against Truman to the John Birchers against J.F.K. and the vast right-wing conspiracy against Bill Clinton.

But Wilson’s shocking disrespect for the office of the president — no Democrat ever shouted “liar” at W. when he was hawking a fake case for war in Iraq — convinced me: Some people just can’t believe a black man is president and will never accept it.

“A lot of these outbursts have to do with delegitimizing him as a president,” said Congressman Jim Clyburn, a senior member of the South Carolina delegation. Clyburn, the man who called out Bill Clinton on his racially tinged attacks on Obama in the primary, pushed Pelosi to pursue a formal resolution chastising Wilson.

“In South Carolina politics, I learned that the olive branch works very seldom,” he said. “You have to come at these things from a position of strength. My father used to say, ‘Son, always remember that silence gives consent.’ ”

Barry Obama of the post-’60s Hawaiian ’hood did not live through the major racial struggles in American history. Maybe he had a problem relating to his white basketball coach or catching a cab in New York, but he never got beaten up for being black.

Now he’s at the center of a period of racial turbulence sparked by his ascension. Even if he and the coterie of white male advisers around him don’t choose to openly acknowledge it, this president is the ultimate civil rights figure — a black man whose legitimacy is constantly challenged by a loco fringe.

For two centuries, the South has feared a takeover by blacks or the feds. In Obama, they have both.

The state that fired the first shot of the Civil War has now given us this: Senator Jim DeMint exhorted conservatives to “break” the president by upending his health care plan. Rusty DePass, a G.O.P. activist, said that a gorilla that escaped from a zoo was “just one of Michelle’s ancestors.” Lovelorn Mark Sanford tried to refuse the president’s stimulus money. And now Joe Wilson.

“A good many people in South Carolina really reject the notion that we’re part of the union,” said Don Fowler, the former Democratic Party chief who teaches politics at the University of South Carolina. He observed that when slavery was destroyed by outside forces and segregation was undone by civil rights leaders and Congress, it bred xenophobia.

“We have a lot of people who really think that the world’s against us,” Fowler said, “so when things don’t happen the way we like them to, we blame outsiders.” He said a state legislator not long ago tried to pass a bill to nullify any federal legislation with which South Carolinians didn’t agree. Shades of John C. Calhoun!

It may be President Obama’s very air of elegance and erudition that raises hackles in some. “My father used to say to me, ‘Boy, don’t get above your raising,’ ” Fowler said. “Some people are prejudiced anyway, and then they look at his education and mannerisms and get more angry at him.”

Clyburn had a warning for Obama advisers who want to forgive Wilson, ignore the ignorant outbursts and move on: “They’re going to have to develop ways in this White House to deal with things and not let them fester out there. Otherwise, they’ll see numbers moving in the wrong direction.”

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Eric Holder Was Right!

When it comes to the subject of race, overall we are a nation of cowards.

As the “fellas” gather today to have a cold one at The White House, we see yet another police officer acting as if he is GOP member when it comes to sending emails.  But of course, just like the rest of them claims he is not a racist and while naming off the fact that they have a colored TV at home.   I don’t know what some people feel racist is, but the words jungle monkey seemed to roll off Officer Justin Barrett’s his fingers rather easily and often.  And how do you think he conducts his business when it comes to deciding who to stop, search and interrogate on a daily basis? 

This is what most black men are talking about.  What happened to Gates happens in some form or another every day to other black men.   And yet so many are squabbling over this incident trying to dissect it as if it didn’t have any racial reasoning.  Gates outwardly admitted that he had racial feelings, the officer added the two black men element in his police report, not the third party neighbor call, and apparently it was the officer who asked Gates to go outside before he arrested him, because he couldn’t do so in the home. 

Colin Powell said what I have been saying all along:

“I think in this case the situation was made much more difficult on the part of the Cambridge Police Department,” Powell said. “Once they felt they had to bring Dr. Gates out of the house and to handcuff him, I would’ve thought at that point, some adult supervision would have stepped in and said ‘OK look, it is his house. Let’s not take this any further, take the handcuffs off, good night Dr. Gates.’ “

My whole thing is that while most will admit that race is a problem in our country, when it comes to specifics many refuse to admit it on the spot.  Racism is cool to talk about as long as there is some ethereal element to it not pointing out the guilty or to speak on the abuse of the innocent.

And just think of the Republicans.  It seems that one of these email incidents happen every other week.  But supposedly some people act as if we are in some post racial society because we have a president of African descent.  Whatever

Add to that… as the meeting approaches between Obama, Gates and Crowley we actually have politicians fussing about what kind of beer is being served.  What is everything marketing these days?  This again proves that beer is easier to talk about than race or this picture.  I am amazed at time with the lack of real talk in America.

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What’s Wrong With The GOP? An Abiding and Undying Love of it’s Racist Hearts

How about an unwillingness for Conservatives to rid the party of their racist colleagues.

See this is what I’m talking about.  Folks, especially these right wing folks are just so damn selective when it comes to their “moral outrage.” 

A guy walks into the Holocaust Museum and kills a security guard, and none of these folks are outraged.  The culprit a notorious white supremacist is not being charged as a terrorist.  They don’t care about that either. 

Oh but Sarah Palin and David Letterman… that’s enough to cause a riot – and yet THIS pic doesn’t even cause a stir…. among these folks who mostly claim Christianity!  You shame the name of Christ and everything he stood for.

I’ve always said that if you want black folk to stop talking about racism, police yourselves and check the ignorant pe0ple within your ranks when they bring this crap around.  But that ain’t gonna happen is it?

Give me a break!

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Sub Prime ~ The New Jim Crow?

A good friend of mine used to work in the financial lending industry.  We used to argue about black people getting turned down for loans or paying higher interest rates than whites with identical credit.  He didn’t think it happened.  When I showed him some reports showing it to be true, he was shocked because he believed making money was more important than racism even to a racist.  Well, that’s not always true.

Just ask realtor/Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling who has had a long standing reputation for not renting or selling his Beverly Hills properties to African-Americans. 

And now I read that the NAACP is suing Wells Fargo and HSBC for giving sub-prime rates to blacks with identical credit to their white counterparts.  I disagree with the woman in this article.  She did NOT have to sign these papers.  She should have backed out of the deal.