Dec

31

2006 The Year In Race and Racism: Been There Done That List

Filed Under Black/African American Issues, Interracial Relationships, Media Praises and Critiques, Original Essays and Analysis, Race and Racism, Uncategorized | 16 Comments

Editor’s Note: The women of Racialicious asked what the big trends in race and pop-culture were in 2006, and I thought I would respond with my own post.? I came up with a list on my own, and then I went and read the comments section on their blog to see what others were saying.? Based on those comments I added one more thing to my list, but I was in agreement with several of the commenters over there.

Rather than judging “hot” trends, I thought it would be useful to take a past, present, and future perspective, focusing what topics? were out of fashion in 2006, what topics were? most popular, and what topics I think are going to be predominant in 2007.? ? I have decided to divide the list into three parts–1)The? Been There Done That List of Unfashionable? Racial Issues 2)The I’m So Hot I’m on Fire List of The Most Fashionable? Racial Trends? 3)The I’m About To Catch On Fire List of Racial Trends.? ?

The? Been There Done That List of Unfashionable? Racial Issues

This represents? a? few of the topics that? lost steam in 2006.? Just like flare leg jeans, they just don’t have the appeal that they once did.? We? just didn’t hear about them in 2006 and probably won’t for a while.

1) Multiracial People and the Mixed Race Movement:? This topic? has fallen off dramatically.? It was a hot issue? for most of the 1990s, and kept it’s steam for quite? some time, but the articles about Tiger? Woods and Mariah Carey just aren’t? “cool” anymore.? The only? related topic that was still discussed in ‘06? was transracial adoption.? I can’t pinpoint the exact reasons we don’t hear about this as much, but it just seemed to disappear.

2) Pro-Diversity Rhetoric: In 2005 when the affirmative action cases were in front of the Supreme Court, we got to hear fairly extensive arguments about why racial and ethnic diversity had educational value, but not in 2006.? I found very few articles on the subject.? ? Why is? this topic? out of fashion?? Diversity has been abandoned by the left and the right.? For the left, diversity and multiculturalism didn’t do a good job at addressing racism and discrimination, and on the right,? there is a sense that? we have already achieve diversity and social equality.? There is also a tremendous subconscious fear among many white Americans that the changing immigration patterns will make them a numerical minority.? (This is also why I think Latinos are going to become white in the next 20-30 years.? It will allow whites to maintain our numerical advantage.)

3) Media Depictions of African American Life:? In general, I think Black American culture? was “out of style” this year.? I know it is passe to say an entire subculture? is “out of style,” but when it comes to media, the number shows or albums depicting anything serious or realistic? about African American life were? nearly non-existent.? Even those very stereotypical 1990s “hood” movies (which purported to say something about Black life even though they didn’t say much)? are gone.? Moreover, Black families were also in short supply (the exceptions being What About Chris? and The Pursuit of Happiness).? We did see dramatic depictions of Black American characters, but those characters seemed to be depicted in predominantly white settings (especially the workplace), and their representations were not intended to reflect the experiences of African Americans.

What do you think?? What race related? subjects are “out of style”?

Dec

29

Bunch-O-Links 12/29/06

Filed Under Bunch-O-Links, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

1. With all of the graft corruption, poverty, ethno-religious conflict, and other problems in Nigeria, what does the Nigerian government do–try to send gays and lesbians to prison. Click on the link; Rod has the details.

2. Mirror on America has a nice long post on marriage.? This is the periannal debate, especially as it relates to Black American women.

3. Moksha asked me about this Washington Post article? from the “Being a Black Man Series.”? Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to provide a long response, but I did read it, and I liked it.? My sense it that we need to emphasize men’s non-monetary contributions to childrearing.? Unfortunately, even liberal sociologists seem to forget that fathering is more than holding a steady job.? ? When you combine race and poverty, the image is even worse, and I think this article? did a decent job challenging some of the stereotypes about poor black fathers.? ? If I were to give an extended discussion of this article,? my views would similar to this? post over at Blackprof.

4. “No whites or Germans Need Apply.” This post is about an ad on Craigslist from a couple who did not want a “white or German” nanny.

Dec

28

Taxes and Race

Filed Under Politics, Race and Racism, Sociology, Uncategorized | 15 Comments

This essay is about the election of Deval Patrick in Massachusetts.? Patrick is? the second Black Governor elected in the United States, and that is certainly a newsworthy subject.? However, what caught my eye wasn’t this general subject but? the discussion in this paragraph:

What presents a particular challenge to the meaning Patrick’s election are the survey’s responses on policy issues, based on race. African-Americans mentioned crime, education, and jobs as by far their top three priorities. The top three for Latinos were education, crime, and jobs, followed closely by immigration. The top three for Asian-Americans were education, jobs, and healthcare.

But for white residents, the top three were education, taxes, and health care.

The showstopper is taxes.

“Taxes” has become a code word for “we got ours, forget the rest of you all.” “Taxes” avoids real discussion of white privilege. “Taxes” avoid s how old-line white families were able to transfer wealth and property during slavery. “Taxes” avoid s recognizing how white families, whether old-line or new immigrants, were able to experience a 20th century of upward mobility through home ownership and quality public education while black people needed, but did not get federal protections from voting, housing, and job discrimination until the 1960s. And after only a brief moment in historical terms, remedies such as affirmative action, even voluntary affirmative action, are about to become history.

This author is not the first person to make a connection between race and taxes in the political landscape.? I also found a best selling book Chain Reaction by Edsall and Edsall, which connects race and taxes as part of the neoconservative agenda.?

I don’t have a strong opinion on the issue, and I haven’t read the book mentioned above, but I the think difference in priorities by race needs further exploration.

Dec

23

Say something nice…..

Filed Under Uncategorized | 25 Comments

Until, I put up my next post, which will be in a couple days.? I wanted to start a thread in honor of the holiday, where we all say something nice about about other bloggers and commenters. SO let the nice comments begin.

Dec

22

Duke Rape Charges Dropped

Filed Under Sexuality and Heterosexism, Sociology, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

I just saw this on Yahoo.? The lesser charges remain, but the rape charges are dropped.? I’d like to take some time to give a longer response to this whole scenario, and I will do so when I get a little more time.? Unfortunately, I cannot leave comments open for discussion because too many white supremacist and misogynist comments are left on this subject, but for now check out the link above.

Dec

21

Erase Racism Carnival is Up at Christina Downlaoded

Filed Under Race and Racism, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Go check it out!!? This is also good because Christina has been able to pull in some new folks.

Dec

21

Serious Question for Everyone

Filed Under Serious Questions, Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Ok, now I’m back from a self imposed 2 day hiatus.? I had to grade papers on Tuesday, and yesterday I had to turn all that stuff in.? The end of the semester is always crazy.? I have about a? week and a half? to read student papers, which are in total of about 600 pages when you add them all together.? Some of them are really interesting, but it seems like every semester there is a “hot topic” that about 10 people write their papers on.? This? semester the hot topic was women in the media and all of the variations on that subject, including a few on masculinity.?

I’d like to thank everybody? for keeping up the discussion in the Facebook thread, I’ll jump into the mix soon.

It’s been a while since I? put up one of those serious questions for y’all, so I thought a holiday question would be fitting given the time of year.? ? So here goes. What are your favorite holiday traditions? What great ideas for holiday traditions do you have to share with others?

Dec

18

Organized White Supremacist or Racist College Student on Facebook?

Filed Under Race and Racism, Uncategorized | 50 Comments

Yeah another one of those fun quizzes.? Actually this is what happens, when I don’t have time to write a fabulous post.? ? Over the past month I have been collecting racist quotes? from various sources.? Then I juxtipose them with quotes directly from white supremacist message boards.? (If anyone wants to help me out, I’m thinking about doing “White Supremacist or Lou Dobbs” for my next quiz.) Have at it…..

  1. “I’m sick of hearing people whine about white people being the all powerful and bad, and pushing the minorities down. I’ll target the black community because their speakers are the loudest.Please notice that I said BLACK and NOT African American! Going by History N whatnot apparently we all came from Africa, so why does the darkest group get to keep the name to themselves? Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson are the loudest black speakers out there, and they’re always harping on how black people everywhere are oppressed, and don’t receive the same rights that white people get. As far as they’re concerned the white man might as well be the devil. If Black people and other minorities are so against segregation then why are they the only ones with specifically racial holidays?! I’ve never seen a date on a calendar marked “National white day!” or “Caucasian Heritage Month,” because if something like that came up it would get beat down and racial flags would be getting thrown left and right. So going by this apparently it’s ok to be black, or hispanic, or Indian, or any other minority, but if you’re white you’re bad news?”
  2. “This is a group dedicated to bring together white people of all walks under the unifying banner of caucasian pride. We’re not hate-mongers, we’re not racists, and we’re not bigots. We’re white men and women proud of who we are and who our ancestors were. So stand tall and proud! Look at history, we have a whole lot to be proud of!”
  3. “This group is dedicated to our rich European culture and the accomplishments of our people. This group is about PRIDE, not hate/power. I created this group to break the stereotypical belief that White (European) PRIDE is “evil” and “racist”. Society looks down on you if you are white and PROUD. Well forget that, we have an awful lot to be proud of and we are not afraid to express it! If you are PROUD of your European heritage then this is the place to be.”
  4. “If you are offended by the right to free speech, or if you feel the White people should not have a voice in this country or if you think our right to Freedom Of Speech should be taken away, then this group is not for you. The NAAWP is an organization that stands up for those people who have been discriminated against, more especially due to race. We have undertaken the responsibility of being the voice of America, neither influenced nor intimidated by the laws and rules against us. If this offends you, then please honor our right to privacy by not continuing any further.”
  5. “I do not agree with slavery, and if giving you money can help ease the pain of your ancestors then you really have problems. And how did we get the slaves to America? They were sold to us by other Africans. Im sick of people trying to make white people feel bad for our pasts. Do Australians have to feel bad because their ancestors were British criminals, or Germans because of the NAZIs? No, but whites have to feel bad because our ancestors fucked up. Im tired of hearing about how the member of this group are closed minded. Try opening your eyes and you’ll see what we’re talking about.”
  6. If we had WET(white entertainment television) …we’d be racists.? If we had a White Pride Day… you would call us racists.? If we had white history month… we’d be racists.? If we had an organization for only whites to “advance” our lives… we’d be racists. If we had a college fund that only gave white students scholarships…you know we’d be racists.? In the Million Man March, you believed that you were marching for your race and rights. If we marched for our race and rights…you would call us racists.”

Dec

17

Please Don’t Forget About The 8th Erase Racism Carnival

Filed Under Race and Racism, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

We had a little glitch last month, but were back in business for December.? This will be the 8th Carnival, and it will be hosted at Christina Downloaded.? For more information about the Carnival and its history, you can click here.

Submissions to the Carnival can be sent through this blog carnival link.? The deadline is the 17th, and the Carnival will go up on the 20th.

Dec

15

Florida Botches Another Execution

Filed Under Sociology, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

I don’t have much time to write, in-depth about this, but apparently Angel Diaz? didn’t go peacefully.? This is the second time that Florida has had a case like this.? In 1997 another death row inmate, Pedro Medina,? caught on fire while being electrocuted.? In both cases,? some are? people arguing that these men experienced no pain (I’m curious how that is determined.).? No matter what your view of the death penalty, I think we can all agree that Florida needs to rethink this.

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