White Kossacks and Black People

With the exception of My Left Wing, I rarely read any of the big progressive blogs such as Huffington Post, or Daily Kos. But today I found myself reading over at Kos (or as some of my fellow black blogers would spell it, KKKOS), and I read an interesting post from a blogger by the name of "Dr Steve B" titled "White Kossacks Should Read Some Black Blogs" (These people call themselves "Kossacks" for crying out loud). I have blogged about the schism between the white and black blogs in the blogosphere before, and my interest in the subject caused me to read the entire post as well as the comments that followed.

For the record, I am of the opinion that white so called progressives in the "blogosphere" are no different than their "wingnut" counterparts on the right. I was reading Daily Kos, but I could have just as easily been reading Ace Of Spades, Wizbang, or any number of the other wingnut [cons]-servative sites. In fact, they might be worse; because they think they are above the ignorance and the unenlightenment that comes with racism. One commentator, "JuniperLea", was absolutely incensed that the issue was even raised in the land of Kos. After all, they live in a mixed neighborhood, they hire black people for jobs, and the color of skin was never discussed in their home. And, ready for this? Their daughter can have "crushes on sooo many more boys." Yeah right! "Mommy this is Jamal from school, we are going out to the movies together." OK honey, make sure you bring home some Roscoes chickens and waffles for your dad." No but seriously, they (The Kossacks) were killing me with the "some of my best friends" talk. When one poor woman of color (DeminCville) tried to talk about her negative experience while trying to hail a cab in D.C. they jumped all over her. "Could it be because of what you were wearing, the fact that you were a woman, the cabbie thought women were cheep, the cabbie might have been lazy, or ignorant," and on and on. Ahhh could it be because she was a black woman in D.C. trying to hail a f*****g cab? Yeah that cabbie was ignorant, that is what racism is; ignorance! Like what the f**k is wrong with these people? This naive view of America like we are living 200 years into the future is what you would expect from [cons]-servatives who like to throw out the "colorblind society" bull shit in their rhetoric to advance their own agendas, but not so called progressives. Still, the more I read the less surprised I was at why they (The Kossacks) thought this way. One actually wanted to know how you can tell if a blog is a black owned. Hey Kossack man, here is a hint; if the name of the blog is FIELD NEGRO, there is a pretty good chance it's black themed.

Now to be fair to the Kossacks (I can't get over that name) There were some voices of reason in the thread as well. (Although I really have to wonder what they are doing over there) The aforementioned "DeminCville" tried valiantly to explain to her progressive friends that actually having to live as a black person, ain't quite the same as looking at blackness from a theoretical and scholarly viewpoint. That race and gender might be irrelevant in the blogosphere, but it ain't in the real world. One enlightened Kossack (ChapiNation386) had this to say; "There should be no 'white' or 'black' blogs in the first place...race is a false reality." Huh? Race is a false reality? Are you f*****g kidding me? Kossack man, it may be a false reality in your world, but it ain't in mine. "We should continue to share our ideas and experiences here open without regard to our individual backgrounds." (Magisterlundi) Honestly, the more I read that thread the more I realized why the so called progressive movement in this country is still not gaining any traction, and why the [dim]ocratic party can't win a presidential race. How the f**k can we share ideas and experiences without considering our backgrounds? Do these Kossacks and other left wingers really believe that black people will unify with them around issues that effect us if they do not consider our backgrounds? Issues such as crime, proper health care, jobs, and when we do get a job; a proper living wage. Not getting shot going to the corner store to buy a f*****g two dollar bag of potato chips from Mr. Chin, all because none of the big chain grocery stores will set up shop in the hood, that's our background. But it's something they would never understand, because the beautiful grocery store with it's fresh fruits, thirty checkout lines,pharmacy, and sixty cent bag of potato chips is always right around the f*****g corner.

"I am the one who is bullied because I am white. I choose to set an example. I have a black and a Latina assistant...the color of skin was never discussed in my house." (JuniperLea) ~~~Me rolling my eyes~~ "You seem to want a cookie for not owning a white hood." (Gimmieliberty) I could not have said that better myself. Thank you oh great liberal white lady for "setting an example" and choosing martydom over racism ("I am the one who is bulled because I am white") Geez! Why do I do this to myself and even go to these sites? I was quite content in the "blackopsphere". You know what; the Kossac that said;"people choose to isolate themselves about race" may be right. Maybe we all choose to do that because it is so frustrating trying to project our life experiences on other people. So we practice self segregation ( I know I do, I am tired of shouting) and try to work out our problems among ourselves. This is why black bloggers should stop wasting their time in the "whitosphere". Get your own blogs, join black on-line and blogging communities (like the "AfroSpear"), and start sharing ideas and building coalitions to strengthen your voices. Trust me, the Kossacks don't want to hear it, because in their world, racism no longer exists. They want to end the war in Iraq, and elect a [dim]ocrat in 2008. A [dim]ocrat who won't change the quality of the typical poor black person's life one bit. You have been poor from Carter to Reagan to Bush to Clinton, and back to Bush again. Do you really think it matters who is in the white house in 2008? "But field what if Obama wins?" Yeah what about it? It will make you feel good about having someone that looks like you running the country, and it will make white folks feel good about America (we have come so far we elected a black man to the White House). But I watch Oprah's black ass on T.V. and the last time I checked, I don't have any of her money. If Obama being President can't make your quality of life as a black person better, it won't make a damn bit of difference to you or me or any other person of color. Sorry, just electing a black person as President so that I can say; "The President is black just like me", doesn't mean sh** to me. "Yeah but field, what about the little black children who will see Obama and say; "one day I too can be President." If the little black children have to actually see a black President before they can think they can become President, then we have a bigger problem than I thought. But I seriously digress.

Back to my Kossack friends. Hey, to be sure, we have some common enemies and some common beliefs. Believe it or not, like most Kossacks, and unlike most black people, I happen to be a secularist. And I happen to despise everything about this, the most corrupt and destructive administration in the history of our country. But let's just agree to come together when necessary to work on some of our common issues. Let's not bull sh** each other into thinking that we will ever agree on matters of race. Because judging from the overall tone of the comments from Dr. SteveB's post, that will never happen

"If this is still an issue then we progressives still have work to do"( Pat208)

It's still an issue, but don't worry about working on it. You guys just worry about things like trying to end the war in Iraq, the immigration problem, and campaign finance reform. We will worry about the black thing, and try to solve our own problems. After all, we have to live it every day, you just do it when you respond to some guy on the Internet.