Jun

18

They Are Here!!

Filed Under Blogs Blogging Blogthropology, Family Issues | 58 Comments

first-famil-photo.JPG

We welcomed our twins into the world last Friday via C-section. Eli arrived weighing 7lbs. 3oz., at 8:16 AM. He was 19 inches long. His Nigerian name is Emeka. Mark arrived weighing 6lbs. 5oz., at 8:18 AM. He was 18 inches long. His Nigerian name is Akholisa.

We made a video of their arrival. They may have broken the recorded for the loudest birth. The doctors and nurses were all laughing as were Dad and I. They screamed like this for the entire time it took to repair my my incision.

Jun

12

Happy Loving Day!!

Filed Under Uncategorized | 14 Comments

As I write this, my toddler is picking out peas from her chicken and pasta and watching the 2 cats tussle on the sofa. She’s blissfully oblivious to the idea that within living memory, her parents would have faced near-insurmountable legal and social barriers to get and stay together, that some people trolls trollish types would still like to see families like mine at best illegitimized, atworst exterminated.

A detailed history is here, (browse the whole site, it’s a cool organization) but the short and long about June 12th is that it marks the day of the Loving Vs. Virginia decision in 1967 that invalidated state laws banning marriages on the basis of race or ethnicity (even when those laws stayed on the books throughmalevolence or apathy). Even couples who are not married (like my folks) have doubtlessly benefitted from the verdict’s effect on public and private discourse.

For me, Loving Daycommemorates a move towards greater equality for every US citizen, whether they are in an IR relationship or not. It’s a tangible show that what is popular or in the majority is not always right or just. It shows the flaws and the successes of our legal system, and validates the idea that personal self-worth and human rights trump illegitimatesocietal “concerns” and scapegoats.

Loving vs. Virginia was not the first verdict to challenge and change our notions of equality and equity in this country regarding individuals and personal relationships, including marriage, and it will not be the last. But it was A Big Deal, on the national level, and it shows us the way.

Jun

7

Serious Question…About Obama, Clinton, Racism, and Gender

Filed Under Black/African American Issues, Gender and Sexism, Media Praises and Critiques, Original Essays and Analysis, Race and Racism, Serious Questions, Sociology | 5 Comments

Let me start by asking a question. Did anyone see Clinton’s, McCain’s, and Obama’s Tuesday night speeches in their entirety?

I watched Clinton and Obama both, but I missed McCain. One thing that struck me about Clinton and Obama is that I didn’t notice either one of them make note of the historic significance of having the first black nominee for President on a major party ticket. In contrast, both of them noted the groundbreaking campaign by Hillary Clinton, arguing that she was blazing a path for women, but I didn’t hear the same for Obama. Isn’t that an interesting distinction between racial politics and gender politics? The colorblind ideology silences almost any public discussion of racism by black candidates, who are vying for white votes. In contrast, we don’t have as much silence on the gender front (from the candidates). That has been a fairly consistent pattern in this Presidential election over the past few months. I’m not saying racism or sexism is a greater barrier to being elected President, but I think it is clear that they operate in different ways.

Furthermore, any complicated analysis that examines the interactions and intersections of race, gender, age, sexuality, and class are almost always missing from pundits and candidates analysis. I remember the point in the election when Hillary Clinton talked about getting pushed around by the boys (apparently it was on the Ellen DeGeneres show). While I can relate to being pushed around by the boys and having that make me stronger, I don’t believe for one minute that Hillary was being pushed around by any black boys. I know I sure wasn’t. I was getting pushed around by the whites boys who I went to school with. They were all white, presumably heterosexual1, and from class backgrounds remarkably similar to my own. I never heard any TV pundits point this out–Clinton wasn’t being pushed around by black boys.

All that said, why do you think there is a difference in a candidate’s ability to talk about his or her groundbreaking accomplishments in relation to race and gender? Do you think the political realm is exceptional in this way? Or do you things may be different in other fields? Why do you think it is so difficult to have a discussion that captures the intersections and complexities of various forms of social inequality?

  1. Some of them may not have been heterosexual, but I definitely could say that the boys that had the most normative gender presentations and were able to create a perceived heterosexual identity were the most likely to be the ones I argued with. [back]

Jun

3

How Much For My Baby Pics?

Filed Under Family Issues, Interracial Relationships, Media Praises and Critiques, Original Essays and Analysis, Pop Culture, Pregnancy and Childbirth, Sociology, Uncategorized | 8 Comments

I know many people love baby pictures. I do anyways. From little scrunchy newborns to running toddlers, I enjoy looking at the pictures but, I find it a little offensive how obsessed this culture is with celebrity baby photos.

Not long ago, I was standing in line at the grocery store when I saw several tabloid photos of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. The stories all surrounded the impending birth of the couple’s twins. I’ve notice some gossip shows and websites suggesting that Pitt and Jolie are going to get upwards of $10,000,000 for their babies’ pictures. How decadent can we get?

The celebrity baby photo competition is out of control. This site gives out a few of the exorbitant prices that tabloids have paid to get the first photos of various celebrity babies. Imagine how many of the world’s poor children could be fed and vaccinated for the money given to these celebrities? In fact, I would hope that, if Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie really do care about the children in poor countries, they would donate that eight figure income to help children who really need food, shelter, and basic medical care.

I also have to make a personal connection because ever since I put up my last update on my pregnancy my number one search has been for “interracial new born baby pics.” Nobody has offered any money for my babies’ pictures. I think there is a gawk factor with mixed race babies and celebrity babies. People want to know about celebrity babies because they want to feel connected to stars. Plus, everyday folks can emulate the latest “baby trends,” like $750 dollar strollers or organic baby clothes. The gawk factor with mixed race babies is different. Since interracial sexuality still is surrounded by taboo and mystique, some people are curious about how mixed race kids look. This doesn’t translate into a paycheck like it does for celebrities, but it certainly translates into internet searches.

What’s fascinating about these examples is that they show how we assign value to people from the moment of birth. One’s value is directly connected to who their parents are; how much money those parents make; their nationality; their race; their popularity, and so on.

Jun

1

Angry, Racist, Hillary Clinton Supporter Calls Obama “Inadequate Black Male”

Filed Under Black/African American Issues, Politics, Race and Racism, Sociology | 27 Comments

Gotta love Youtube!

Next time somebody calls folks from Alabama, Mississippi, or rural Indiana racists or rednecks, I’m going to show them this video, so they can get a view of how NYC bigots operate.

Jun

1

I’ve Been Wondering About This….

Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment

(Thanks to Anxious Black Woman for the heads up on this article!)

The Washington Post is noting that several Obama campaign workers have been on the receiving end of racist taunts and attacks. Click on the link above to read the full article. The Obama campaign is working hard to put the lid on it. I assume the campaign fears that any complaints about racism will hurt Obama’s chances of courting white voters, so they don’t want this publicized, but to me this kind of backlash is inevitable. Having grown up in southern Ohio, I think this kind of behavior was pretty common of my white peers. I don’t think the majority of them would react in a violent way, but a sizeable minority were so racist that they would have no qualms engaging in the types of behaviors listed in the article.

I also have to admit that I had fun reading the comments on the article. There is a whole bunch of typical racist BS. I think I may need to have a “Hillary Clinton Supporter or (Organized White Supremacist” post. Check out these gems:

doctor2 wrote:

When we are campaigning for Sen Clinton we also rec negatives from colored people and young people, are we crying??????????
Enough is enough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lets stick to the issues…This is serious business…we need a person with knowledge, experience, etc. We can not have a cry baby in charge of our precious USA…we need a person who respect and love our USA, our people,,,any color or race…we need to work for peace…we need Sen Clinton.
God Bless us all and Bless our USA>

 

I love the not so thinly veiled attempt at questioning Obama’s patriotism or the notion that Obama is whiny, but my favorite part is the “colored people” he encountered. I could barely read beyond that comment. Geeze dude, maybe Obama supporters who encountered “honkies” had the same reaction. Okay, okay, enough with my sarcasm.

 

WakeUpAmerica1 wrote:

Wow! Just stopped by this blog. I guess racism is wrong, but sexism is accepatable. Some of these comments are rediculios! There has been racism taking place on both sides of this campagin by the supporters of both candidates, but as usual it is only news when it is against the black candidate. The problem with America is that we will never be one country until we get rid of all the labels and have total equality for everyone without regard to their color or gender. It will be a great day when all of us can stand side by side and just say we are Americans.

 

Yeah, let’s get rid of labels. Oh wait, unless the label is “American.” And yeah, I’d like to see reports of Clinton supporters getting racist threats. You know there is such a big anti-white conspiracy; it’s amazing that we’ve never had a President who isn’t white. And yes, that anti-white conspiracy is also why Obama is the only black person in the Senate.

elmerck wrote:

Another white college student lured by the holy one to skip college and campaign for him.These college students have been brain washed by liberal professors, and they think osama is the second coming of CHRIST. They are lucky that people haven’t been more agitated, after finding out what that guy is planning for the country. Students better wake up and examine themselves.The poor people are the base of the Democrat Party, and if you notice, they are still poor, so what have democrats done for the poor?

When all else fails, blame it on liberal professors. I’m really trying not to laugh because the notion is that young (white) people don’t have a mind of their own, and those all powerful professors come in and manipulate them. Of course, I love the use of “osama.” These racists really do think their fellow whites are dumb, don’t they?

 

Yeah for the voices of reason:

bepeace wrote:

As a volunteer for Obama, I have made phone calls and knocked on doors in 5 states including PA where I moved to from Brooklyn,NY. Ill-mannered folks, some of whom I suspect were racially motivated, have been few and far between and fortunately none resorted to physical violence such as vandalizing a campaign office.
Let’s not forget that some violence is verbal and inflicts its own kind of harm. The same goes for gross generalizations about others. It keeps us locked in illogic such as Hillary Clinton, THE woman candidate. More accurately, she is A woman candidate. There are, after all, important political differences between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Kay Bailey Hutchinson, both women, both politicials, both US Senators.
I also find it illogical, even suspicious, that descriptions of Clinton in mainstream media rarely describe her as WHITE. But in the same media, African American or black is almost routinely a descriptor attached to Obama. But he is never described as MALE. Why is race notable in his case, but not in Clinton’s? And gender important in her case, but not his?
Another illogical bit of thinking, pointed out in another comment—when most black people voted for Bill Clinton, nobody made a fuss, those voters were just Democrats. Now, when most black voter chose Obama over Hillary, the black voters are racially motivated.
For most of black voting history, black voters have pulled the lever for white candidates. They had no choice if they wanted to exercise their right and responsibility as American citizens. Those black voters didn’t stay away from the polls because they couldn’t vote for a black candidate.
Maybe it’s just me, but I think it would be helpful if AMERICAN was not used by some speakers to divide us, to suggest that some of us are more American than others of us just because we don’t all agree.
I also think we ought toquestion the implication that HARD WORKING applies to only one group of people, or only people in one income group. There are after all slackers as well as ambitious people in every racial, ethnic and income group. Finally, let’s stop the name calling and put forth some useful food for thought. Thanks.

 

leart2 wrote:

These types of incedents will continue to exist until “Whites” of good will stand up and put a stop to them.

These Racist situation continue to occur because many whites, though not participants, benefits from these devisive processes.

Some Whites get Jobs, Contracts, and some Politicians get elected by maintaining this devisive system. But the “White” Power Structure fail to act or allow themselves to be connected to these activities because they benefit in many ways.

leart