Jan

30

When Whites Vote For Whites….

Filed Under Black/African American Issues, Race and Racism | 7 Comments

Bill, the super persistent troll, whose comments I won’t let through left a gem yesterday. Since the comment was hilarious, I had to respond to it. Bill claimed that “Whites exposed to blacks on a regular basis wont vote for them. 75% of whites voted against Obama in SC. 2. Blacks vote ethnocentrically. More than 4 out of 5 blacks voted for Obama in SC.”

I had to chuckle. So when whites votes for whites, it’s because they were “exposed to blacks,” and when blacks vote for blacks, it’s ethnocentrism? It’s all black people’s fault–blacks control elections and they control white people.

This is such a typical racist white statement. According to Bill, Whites are not ethnocentric, not racist, just reacting to those intolerable blacks. On the other hand, blacks who vote for a black candidate are just voting their own group’s self interest. Gee, we all know that whites never promote their interest of whites. LOL!! And, we all know that blacks always choose the black candidate over the white candidate, which is of course, why most blacks voted for Al Sharpton last election and why Hillary Clinton lead among blacks until about a month ago. LOL!!

Jan

29

Colorblindness, Inarticulate Reporters, and Race

Filed Under Black/African American Issues, Media Praises and Critiques, Original Essays and Analysis, Race and Racism, Sociology, Uncategorized | 20 Comments

No one outlines the contours of contemporary racism better than Eduardo Bonilla-Silva. In his book Racism Without Racists, he discusses in depth the key elements of contemporary racism. However, he goes well beyond beliefs to discuss the rhetorical practices of contemporary colorblind racism. One of the rhetorical styles of contemporary racism he identifies is “rhetorical incoherence.”

Because the new racial ideology in America forbids the open expression of racially based feelings, views, and positions, when whites discuss issues that make them feel uncomfortable, they become almost incomprehensible.

In the interviews used in his study, many people who were otherwise articulate people, had difficulties discussing racial issues. In particular, Bonilla-Silva notes that questions about personal relationships with blacks, intermarriage, and self segregation.

I was reminded of rhetorical incoherence and inarticulateness, this weekend as I listened to reporters discuss the Presidential election. I watched a discussion between 3 white reporters on MSNBC–two white women and one white man. Since this is 24 hour cable news, and they had to provide instantaneous commentary on the South Carolina Democratic primary, I expected them to have a few little stumbles. However, the two women reporters were very inarticulate, especially when the subject turned to whether or not race should/did matter in contest between Clinton and Obama. One reporter kept tripping over her words, and seemed very unsure of herself. She ended several comments with “you know what I mean,” and the other woman reporter would jump in with a yes. Any person familiar with TV and radio commentary knows that a reporter shouldn’t end her commentary with, “you know what I mean?” If a person has to say this repeatedly, then maybe that person isn’t making sense, and of course, one of the rules of being a reporter is “if you make a mistake just go on. ” In all honesty, I didn’t know what this reporter meant. She was vacillated back and forth between the “race doesn’t matter perspective” and the “black voters are turning to Obama perspective,” which is clearly a contradiction. What was clear to me was that this inarticulate reporter, with the help of her colleague, was going on self edit mode. She was trying to please two groups of people-those who say race doesn’t matter and those who say race does matter.

I’ve noticed this phenomenon all over the TV–many otherwise articulate people cannot talk about race in an intelligent manner. Some of it is the general ignorance people have about race. Most people, especially whites, also don’t seem to have clear parameters for discussing race in a true interracial context. Like nearly every reporter I have observed discussing race over the past few weeks, it was clear that the reporter above did not know the distinction between racial identity and racial ideology/issues. Moreover, like most people I hear discuss race, she was unable to make a distinction between “should racial issues/identities matter” and “do racial issues/identities matter.” This is, of course, one of the central problems with colorblindness. Maybe in an ideal world where race was never invented race wouldn’t matter, but we don’t live in that world. If I’m being totally honest, I prefer a forthright, articulate racism over inarticulate, double speak racism. It is often refreshing to know exactly where someone stands on race rather than having to watch an individual’s behaviors to see if words match deeds. I felt this way while watching this reporter. In fact, I was actually happy when she moved on to the next subject and her verbal skills improved. I was tired of trying to figure out what she was saying, and I was tired of watching her embarrass herself.

I don’t want to be too harsh on this lone reporter because I guarantee that, if you are paying close attention, you will see rhetorical incoherence from many people. You’ll notice it in classrooms, in interpersonal discussions, on blogs, and in many different areas where discuss of race occurs. Be prepared to see it often in this Presidential race.

Jan

28

Serious Question…About Gender and Honorary Blackness/Whiteness

Filed Under Serious Questions | 33 Comments

Apparently, Toni Morrison is endorsing Barack Obama.? What makes this interesting (according to the AP, anyways)? is that Morrison is being credited with? giving Bill Clinton the label as the first black? President.? For all of Bill’s alleged love of Black people, I don’t think that people, especially black people, feel that Hillary Clinton is in anyway remotely black.

This got me thinking.?

Putting the Clinton’s aside, for a second, do you think there is a gender difference in how African American Blacks relate to whites.? Let me be more specific–do you think that white women or white men are more likely to be accepted as “honorary blacks?”? I’ve heard arugments both ways from black people in my social circles, but I’m curious what others think.

Personally, I think there are big gender differences in whites willingness to view blacks as “honorary whites”–I think black men are much more likely to get honorary white status than black women.? I have a hard time articulating why I think this in 2 sentences or less.? Broadly speaking I think it is related to the double discrimination that black women face, but I think there are other reasons, which we could expand on in the discussion.

What do you think about gender differences in honorary whiteness/blackness?? What about Asians, Latinos, and American Indians and honorary racial status; are their gender differences for these groups as well?

Jan

26

Mitt Romney, Son of a Mexican Immigrant

Filed Under Politics, Xenophobia and Immigration | 15 Comments

I knew nothing about this, so pardon me if this is old news. It’s quite interesting in light of Romney’s harsh anti-immigrant stance.

It reminds me of an episode of the Sopranos where one of the mobsters is reminiscing about his ancestor, who fled across the border from Canada in order to escape a murder charge. He wraps up the story: “But now, they oughta build a wall!”

From The Washington Post

Mitt Romney’s father, George — the late former governor of Michigan and onetime presidential candidate — was born in the state of Chihuahua, in northern Mexico. Three generations of Romneys lived there, starting with Mitt Romney’s great-grandfather, who helped found one of several Mormon colonies in that country in about 1885. Some of those Mormons, including Romney’s great-grandfather, who had several wives, were seeking refuge in Mexico from a recent anti-polygamy law in the United States.

But in 1910 the Mexican Revolution broke out, and in 1912 rebel commanders threatened to pillage the Mormon colonies. Five-year-old George and his parents fled back to the United States.

[...]

Romney lauds the contribution of legal immigrants and reserves his condemnation for illegal immigrants. The circumstances of his own forebears’ passing back and forth are somewhat murky, but it has never been proved they crossed illegally. At the time, there were fewer rules to obey.

In “The Story of George Romney” (1960), biographer Tom Mahoney says a fellow Mormon obtained permission from Mexican President Porfirio Daz for Romney’s great-grandfather and other Mormons to establish colonies. But some commentators have said that Mexico did not permit polygamy at the time, and that the new colonists had promised to be law-abiding.

“If true, [Mitt Romney's great-grandfather] then knowingly arrived in direct violation of Mexican immigration law,” Henry Fernandez, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, writes in his blog.

Among the reasons legal and illegal immigrants come to the United States today is to escape persecution and strife.

Since George Romney’s parents were American citizens, having been born in the United States, they had a legal right to return. But it was easier said than done. The Mormons negotiated with the revolutionaries for safe passage for the women and children to reach El Paso by train. The men took to the desert on horseback, rebuffing armed attack, and crossed into New Mexico.

From El Paso — does this sound familiar? — the Romneys made it to Los Angeles. Mitt Romney’s grandfather worked as a carpenter. The family was so large that the Romneys had trouble finding affordable housing, and some landlords refused to rent to them.

They and their fellow Mormon refugees were “the first displaced persons of the 20th century,” George Romney later said.

Jan

25

What is this?

Filed Under Sociology | 16 Comments

I saw this last week, and I felt compelled to take a picture. Can you tell what this is?

stupid-stroller.png

Jan

24

Has Bill Clinton Ever Heard of Black Women? Are White Women Just Women?

Filed Under Black/African American Issues, Gender and Sexism, Media Praises and Critiques, Original Essays and Analysis, Politics, Race and Racism, Sociology | 15 Comments

Here’s the AP article, which begins with this statement (The link was broken.? Here it is again.),

“Bill Clinton said Wednesday he expects blacks to vote for Barack Obama and women to vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton, and the dynamic may cause his wife to lose the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary Saturday.”

The article (and Clinton) should have said something like this,

““Bill Clinton said Wednesday he expects black men and women to vote for Barack Obama and white women to vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton, and the dynamic may cause his wife to lose the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary Saturday.

Quite frankly, if Hillary and Bill Clinton would not have been so aggressive and underhanded in their criticisms of Barack Obama, they would have maintained their lead with black men and women. Remember they were ahead with black voters. Now, I give the Obama campaign credit for making their case to black voters, but over the past few weeks from the Clinton campaign has been ruthless. Obama’s folks have gotten a few jabs in, but I feel like we’re reliving the ruthless tactics of the Republicans of the past decade (i.e. Karl Rove)–only this time it’s Democrats. If Clinton had continued to speak to the issues rather than allowing her surrogates (including Bill Clinton) to make off the wall comments about Obama, she would have kept black supporters.

Jan

23

My Big Announcement…I’m Pregnant With Twins

Filed Under Family Issues, Gender and Sexism, Original Essays and Analysis, Pregnancy and Childbirth, Race and Racism, Sociology | 69 Comments

In case you haven’t noticed, my blogging has been lighter than usual since October. Well the main reason for that has been because I’m pregnant. I told my co-bloggers, so they would think I was abandoning the site, and I’m really grateful for the work they have done. Lyonside is the Godess of comment moderation and Atlasien’s posts have really added great dimension to the site.

Now that I’m in just out of month 4, I’m finally happy to report that my life doesn’t revolve around the fear of throwing up on strangers. For a while, from months 2-4, I was battling morning sickness, and the usual first trimester sleepiness. I’m still concerned about a few things like the fact that at almost 19 weeks I weigh the same as I did when I got pregnant. In fact, one of the most fascinating things about pregnancy is the way it has altered my eating habits and my metabolism. When I was in the throws of morning sickness, for some unknown reason the more unhealthy the food the more likely it was to stay down. I’ve never eaten so many McDonald’s Big Mac’s in my life. What’s even funnier is the fact that I ate that kind of food and lost 6 pounds. I felt like I couldn’t possibly eat enough food to maintain my weight, and I was even more shocked when I read that I was supposed to eat 2600 calories a day (300 extra calories per fetus). I’ve always been a person who loves eating and food, and by medical standards I’m in the overweight category, but suddenly, I didn’t want to eat, and these two little fetuses were performing liposuction on my thighs and butt. My husband kept joking about the fact that I had the incredible shrinking booty, which he thought was bad and my mother and brother thought was great. (Now, there’s a cultural difference if there ever was one–West African ideas about booty beauty and White American ideas about booty beauty.) Fortunately, I’ve gained my 6 pounds back, but I seem to be stuck right at the same weight. I promise I’ll write more about this since it really seems to be the one issue that is bothering me the most–I keep wondering how I’m going to gain 30 lbs in 20 weeks.1

Of course, I’m going to write about the pregnancy because there are so many juicy issues. The gender issues are obvious, but other issues like body image (which I alluded to above), medicalization, racism, and the rampant classism/materialism that surrounds birth and children. I already have some good stories to tell already, so be prepared.

  1. For those who don’t know the weight gain recommendation for twins is higher, but the doctors also seem to be all over the place in what they suggest. My OBGYN suggested a 44lb weight gain for a woman of my height who is of average weight. Since I’m overweight, she suggested 30-35 lbs. [back]

Jan

22

Bill You Gotz to Chill!!

Filed Under Uncategorized | 7 Comments

Yesterday, South Carolina representative Jim Clyburn, who is the house majority whip, told CNN Bill Clinton has got to chill. Apparently, Bill Clinton has been getting a little too feisty with Obama and has made some criticisms that Clyburn thinks are innappropriate.

While I’m sure others were focusing on the substance of Clinton’s attacks, my first reaction was geeze Hip Hop has become really mainstream. When the House Majority Whip invokes EMPD, you know Hip Hop is an integral component of contemporary American culture.

For those who don’t know, here’s the EMPD video for the song, “You Gotz to Chill.” I’m dedicating it here to my homeboy (not) Bill Clinton.

This has got to be one of my favorite Hip Hop songs of all time. Where are Eric and Parrish these days?

Jan

17

Overheard Yesterday in a Restaurant…”I Want to Be White”

Filed Under Original Essays and Analysis, Race and Racism, Uncategorized, Xenophobia and Immigration | 48 Comments

In the comments section of this post on marriages between whites and Latin@s, there is a newly revived discussion about Latin@s and race.? It reminds me of a real conversation I overheard just yesterday.? I was sitting in a restaurant, which was almost empty.? My waitress was Latina, most likely of Mexican or Central American descent.? Since I was sitting in the back, I was near the kitchen area.? The young white woman, who appeared to be the manager, sat at the table behind me.? The Latina waitress came up to the white woman manager and started discussing her (the? Latina’s)? children.? I suppose this was a continuation of a previous conversation, but here’s what I heard.

The waitress: My children are white. LOL!

The manager: Yes, they are very light.

The waitress: Well, my husband is very light.

The manager: Yes, he’s very white looking.

The waitress: I want my kids to be white.

The manager: Well, they are light, and you are pretty light too.? Look your just a shade darker than me, and I’m Irish.

The waitress: Well, I want to be white, too.

Oh how I wanted to interject myself in the conversation, and I know that they knew I heard all of this.? I sat there and debated about whether or not to keep my mouth shut, and I decided that I wouldn’t say anything.? But the tone of the conversation was very interesting and depressing.? It was as if the Latina waitress was trying to fit in by asserting the whiteness of her children, and the white manager was trying to give affirmation that she and her children could be white.? They both were placing whiteness as something that was superior and something that you strive for.? I’m not the least bit surprised that these two women felt that way, but I am a little surprised that they were so open about that conversation.? I guess they felt that I was white, so I must approve of it.? Of course, since I didn’t say anything, I? gave ? my tacit approval to the whole discussion.

I? don’t know about the children, but the woman who was my waitress, much to her chagrin, would have had a difficult time passing for white.

I should have said something like, “Well, there’s nothing special about being white.”? What’s even more ironic is that I was deeply concentrating on my African American sociology syllabus and I had several books sitting on the table that reflected this.? Their discussion helped me to lose that concentration, and soon after, I left.

This is one of those times when I am reminded of a strange aspect of white privilege–this conversation would have never occurred if these two women did not presume that I was white.? This is why I cringe and laugh everytime I hear whites proclaim that they don’t hear people make racist comments.? Most of the whites (and those who aspire to whiteness) I know prefer to make their racist comments in front of other whites.

Jan

16

Crime in Dekalb County and How it Gets Discussed

Filed Under Class Classism and Economic Inequality, Race and Racism, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

I had a minor panic this morning when I heard the news. Two off-duty police officers ambushed, shot and killed in a neighborhood not too far from mine; the gunmen still on the loose. Six schools completely shut down to make sure the gunmen aren’t hiding in them.

My neighborhood is an “in between” area when it comes to crime. If things were just a little bit worse, we’d need burglar bars; as it is, we have an alarm system and use it religiously.

Atlanta has a rising murder rate when most other large cities have a declining rate. The official spin is to blame resettled New Orleans gangsters, but I don’t buy that, since we have plenty of native Atlantan criminal issues already. It’s completely insane. To me, the issues and solutions are clear. Immediate criminal justice needs have to be addressed, and our leaders are not addressing them. Here are a few of those needs, and how I see their impact on day to day living.

Gun control. Georgians love guns almost as much as Floridians. A good friend of my husband’s was recently shot and killed in a botched mugging. They did nothing to provoke it; the gun just went off in the killer’s hand. Don’t tell me this would have happened with a knife… My ex-roommate was also shot in the chest a few streets away in a different incident. Amazingly, he recovered with almost no damage.

Community policing. Speaking of that particular neighborhood, there used to be a beat cop there. He knew all the locals. The small business owners loved having him around. The beat cop knew which of the homeless people were harmless or helpful, and which ones caused trouble and stole things. He was reassigned and not replaced, and crime got a lot worse there, including the murder of my husband’s friend.

More 911 operators! Last year I was out gardening in my yard when I saw a pickup truck stop at a corner. A couple got out and started arguing loudly. Then the man began savagely beating the woman’s head with his fists. I called 911, so did my husband from another phone. I wish we could have done more to stop it, but that goes back to “gun control”… the danger of getting involved is getting shot. No one at 911 responded to us, not even after five minutes of holding. My husband had managed to flag down a police officer who was driving by and gave them the description, but by then it was too late and the couple had driven off, the woman getting back into the car with the man voluntarily (or under threat).

More police. Dekalb County has too few police covering too much area. They’re also underpaid and demoralized. They need to be paid better and also held to a higher standard, which brings us to…

Less police corruption and more transparency. Perhaps things have gotten a little bit better here. It would be hard to get worse, what with sheriffs assassinating each other.

I don’t believe in using the phrase “race is not a factor,” as race is a factor in every aspect of American society. However, this kind of violent crime touches all residents. Dekalb County is very diverse. Middle and upper-class African-Americans and others can minimize many of the effects of the crime; the people who suffer most are the working-class people, mostly African-American, or else recent immigrants and refugees (e.g. Mexican, Liberian, Burmese), trapped in nasty roach-infested apartment complexes, working three jobs while desperately trying to avoid the crazed thugs running wild with guns.

I see clear solutions — I’m not talking about addressing root causes here, just the symptoms, so less people get shot and killed in the near-term — but some people are obviously invested in muddying the waters. Here’s a recent reaction to the police shooting from the AJC blog.

When police die, where are activists?
By Steve Rose | Wednesday, January 16, 2008, 10:25 AM | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Today is one those days that I could do without. I got in the car and as I headed down the road, I heard the radio report where two police officers in DeKalb County were shot and killed this morning. I guess its a sharp reminder that no one is immune from all this crazy violence.

My first thought was how ironic it is that it happened in DeKalb County. I would guess those people who demanded all the investigations of police-related shootings and the police have a common bond now.

I wonder if theyll show up, with their agenda-ridden activism, to support the families and fellow officers of these two officers.

I doubt it.

This is such a deluded statement. To give some context, there were a lot of activists protesting the death of Kathryn Johnston in neighboring Fulton County in 2006, and the reason should be obvious. Narcotics officers burst through her doors with a no-knock warrant, shot down the 88-year old African-American woman, then planted marijuana to cover up their mistake and make her look like a drug dealer! They might have gotten away with it if not for all the media attention. Dead grandmothers who live in bad neighborhoods are the kind of disempowered people who desperately need activists representing them. Police officers don’t need activists in the same way, and the parallel is ridiculous. Yes, they face a lot of labor issues, but can an activist help them track down a pair of cop-killers? That’s a job best left to the police themselves. It doesn’t mean that critics of police corruption want police to be killed.

The post has a lot of comments already.

Here’s one of the sanest:

By Tammy | January 16, 2008 12:17 PM | Link to this
I am a Dekalb citizen. It is very unfortunate for anyone to lose their lives. My prayers go out to the families of the slain officers. I think it is a shame that police officers must work 2nd jobs in order to have a decent quality of life. As a Dekalb citizen, I am on the defense based on some of the responses. My first issue is that crime happens in all counties. My second issue is that these murders are not about race. My 3rd concern is it does not matter if the community activists are not speaking up for the slain officers. We all choose our battles, if that is not their battle, so what. What are you standing up for? Or are you just sitting around in your little corner, with your judgemental selves. Stop judging our community and take a stand for something.

Typical thug wannabe, always posts in all caps and is probably 12 years old. However, he’s totally correct about Dekalb police shooting rates:

By Deez | January 16, 2008 12:04 PM | Link to this
WHY IS THERE SO MUCH PITY FOR THESE OFFICERS. I MEAN IT SUCKS THEY DIED, BUT BIG DEAL. RESEARCH HOW MANY PEOPLE DEKALB POLICE HAVE KILLED ALONE IN 2007, ITS HIGHEST IN THE NATION. SO THEY KILL PEOPLE EVERYDAY, ABUSE THIER POWER AND SEND HUNDREDS OF INNOCENT PEOPLE TO JAIL TO COVER UP FOR THEIR SCREW UPS. SO I DONT FEEL LIKE ITS A BIG DEAL. SO WHAT. THIS IS ATLANTA, BE PREPARED. BUT BEFORE WE PITY THESE CORRUPT PEOPLE YALL CALL POLICE, YOU REALLY NEED TO SEE THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PICTURE. PHUCK COPS. THEY ALL CROOKED, IN THIS CROOKED SYSTEM.

Typical racist gun nut:

By Truth Hurts | January 16, 2008 12:11 PM | Link to this
Activists like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton can be thanked for this. Everything is a race issue with blacks because blacks cant get out of the mindset of slavery. Blacks hate cops because some dead rappers out of California told them to hate cops. Face it, liberals coddle ignorance. If every law abiding citizen would carry a firearm then crime would go down. There is plenty of evidence to back this up.

Typical resentment-mongering racist blaming black people for racism:

By Ed | January 16, 2008 1:31 PM | Link to this
Deez, you are the exact reason there is racism alive and well today. You are the exact reason a lot of whites think all blacks are mean, lazy and evil. You are the exact reason we move when you move into our neighbrohoods. You are the exact reason we feel you are not qualified for the jobs you get and when we see a black in a high paying job or a luxury car we think its because of affrimative action or quotas. Are these perceptions true? No. but you reinforce them. I am appalled that more blacks are not blasting this no good ghetto, baby popping and non child supporting thug off the face of the earth. Deez, I bet you end up killed by a cop or in prison for life.

A depressed cynic:

By Here we go again | January 16, 2008 12:35 PM | Link to this
Its people like this person Truth Hurts why the AJC continues these pointless race based blogs, and everytime someone takes the bait. This is a sad sad city.

On the bright side, a lot of the commenters with real knowledge of the issues raise logical points and solutions on the comment thread. But the discussion goes to show, it’s hard to get a consensus and move forward when there are so many people screaming so loudly about so many irrelevant things.

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