I hate going after other bloggers, especially other bloggers of color ( I hope she doesn't mind if I say she is of color) But the following comments from a sister who calls herself Diva needs to be examined, because it's a scary mind set among some of my people that has been raring its ugly head more and more of late. Oh, and before I get into a rant, this is what girlfriend said:
"I get tired of talking about racism. I think black people are too often put into the position of being the ‘racism monitors’. No matter what other hobbies, interests, ideas you have all anybody ever wants to here from you is your view on racism. I think too many black people limit their lives because they are too preoccupied by racism, racism..." Translation: I get tired of being out in the fields. If I could just be in the house, with all its comforts and its advantages. Why must I be lumped in with other black people, why can't I just.. be "normal"?
................***sorry about that pause folks, I just thought about something :)
So anyhooo, I won't link her site, but I will link the site that led me to her. A wonderful Canadian blogger who titles her blog; "writing is fighting". Read the entire post with the links to this "Musings Of a Diva" lady, and tell me if it's just me. "Limit their lives"? You know what I get tired of? Dumb ass black people who buy into bullshit talking points like: victimology, and the other shit that house Negroes like to talk about. What is it with black people who get theirs, move on, and think that they are separate from the race that spawned their dumb asses? Don't they realize that every thing that black people do as a collective, every way that they are perceived, and ultimately, the way they are treated in the world, affects their dumb asses? I know, I know, I will not let my race define me, I will work hard pull myself up by my own boot straps..blah blah blah. ~~~That's me rolling my eyes and yawning~~~ Just because you happen to be enjoying your life free of racism, doesn't mean that it won't effect your children or, your own life at some point down the line. Racism is real, and it's effects are economic, social, and even spiritual (if you want to go that route). And if we choose not to recognize it, or call it when we see it, we (yes your dumb ass included) will be standing on someones back looking out the window of a gulag somewhere, wondering what the fuck happened to us.
And before you get it twisted (You meaning all you like minded people who preach the self sacrifice pull yourself up talking points crap) I am sure that I, like other like minded black folks do preach self help and hard work. When I talk to kids, I give them the speech my father gave me: Racism is real, and it's going to be here. But work hard, don't look over your shoulders, and try to be better than the next person at whatever it is you choose to do. But don't be dumb enough to think that the world is free of racism, or worse, bigotry. Because if you think that way, when you are confronted with it, think how much harder it will be for you to brush yourself off and get right back up again.
I have traveled all over the world, and I am here to tell you that racism exists every fucking where. Yes, even in countries dominated by a black population. In fact, in some cases, it is even stronger there. Because, my friends, the people in those countries have a mind set like Ms. Diva, and they have been influenced by racist views and influences to hate themselves. That is the saddest and most insidious thing about racism; it causes people to actually hate themselves. And for some reason, that I am still trying hard to understand, this form of racism affects black folks more than anyone of the other races.
So Diva, I get tired of talking about racism too. I would much prefer to dedicate this blog to Lark Voorhies and my life long quest to hook up with girlfriend. But hey; this is, after all, a blog, and I have to write about the shit that I see and that effects me on a daily basis. So until Lark calls and says; "Hi field Negro, this is Lark Voorhies; I hear you have been looking for me". My black ass will be talking about racism and every other ism that's making my world just a little more fucked up to live in right about now.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
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40 comments:
Thumbs up to all you say, my friend. What you just wrote so eloquently has been a pet peeve of mine, too-- complacent African-Americans trying to downplay and give the brush off to activist African-Americans who are still trying to fight the good fight against racism and pervasive discrimination against our people.
I too identify myself as a fighting field Negro, unlike those comfortable House Negroes such as Condi Rice and Harold Ford. As you can tell by my name, I'm an African-American Muslim, and I joined the faith partly because Islam was the one major religion that walks the equality walk rather than just talks the talk. People of color really are equal with those who have pale skin, and are recognized as such.
FWIW, as far as practical matters and turning things around to our advantage, one mistake we Brothers and Sisters keep making IMHO, is that we disperse our population far too thinly across the 50 States. Demographics = Power in this country, and we spread ourselves too thin. There are some states where we really are achieving demographic and therefore political power in a big way, especially Michigan, Illinois and of course in Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia for example. We have political power there and also much better representation in the media than in most other places.
OTOH, Blacks trapped in such talk-radio heavy, virulently racist states such as Wisconsin, Florida, Ohio, Minnesota and Pennsylvania, are in places where we are demographically weak and ganged up on by the racists. Most of the Brothers and Sisters I know in these places are moving out to the locations where we have more strength, and that's making a big difference.
Khalid Gibran Ali
The Nubian Manifesto
http://khalidali.bravehost.com/the_nubian_manifesto.htm
BTW I hear what you're saying about Hillary Clinton running for office. At this point I'm undecided on whom I'm gonna vote for, but I have to admit to you, I don't trust Hillary Clinton at all, and I won't vote for her. If she's nominated by the Dems, I think I'll sit the election out.
Sometimes she has her moments, my problem with her is that she's unbelievably treacherous to her allies. She'll pretend to make friends with you one second, then she'll turn around and shoot you the next if she thinks she can get a couple extra votes with somebody else.
Remember, Hillary was one of the big supporters of that bill on Chapter 11 declarations that heavily penalizes poor Americans for things out of their control, like medical illnesses or predatory lenders, while giving corporations the light treatment. It disproportionately affects Black people and Hillary knew that, but she supported it anyway because she thought it might help her get more donations from rich White fat cats.
The fact that rich White conservative idiots like Newt Gingrich and even Rupert Murdoch say good things about Hillary occasionally, also shows how much of a boot-licker she is to the corporate class.
Hillary's pulled the same thing against our Latino brothers and sisters. She pretends to support them when she gives a speech to Latino associations, but then she turns around and votes for that racist border fence in the Senate.
I'm not ever voting for Hillary Clinton. I'll at least give John Edwards some consideration since he's a bit more sincere and does look out for the working-class and minorities more, and has been a steadfast supporter of affirmative action.
While on the one hand I have some skepticism about Barack Obama, he's probably the one I'll support in the Democratic primaries, and I'll definitely vote for him in the general election. He really does have that something special when he speaks that electrifies people, and he's much smarter and more experienced than people often give him credit for.
08 16 07
Good post FN:
I can understand the bloggers frustration with sites that only talk about racism. Sometimes, one does wish to see Black folk who talk about other things...However your point is quite well taken. We must always be on the lookout and understand that our actions impact one another etc. So I understand the attitude that irks you so.
Its kinda like dealing with younger generations; they take so much for granted that we went through and sometimes forget that our fight is a current and future one; not one buried in the past.
When I started my blog I didn't think I would write about racism, I wanted to focus on more personal thoughts. The thing is, I had started to read someone I knew blog's and it led to me reading more political blogs. I began to notice a trend of black bashing and whites playing the race card for every evil that existed in this country. What really pissed me off was the right blogosphere's reaction to Katrina, with a few blacks bumping to the same beat. I started to blog after Katrina, but the same sentiments were still being raised and constanstly used as an examples of how totally blacks are dependent on government and our animal like behavior. With the exception of the blacks who agree with them, we aren't even a part of American culture.
I was tired of being marginalized when making comments, accused of playing the victim and the race card and told that I don't know my own life experience with racism. That my reality could not be true, because it goes against their well thought out beliefs. I also began to see the rehabilitation of the antebellum south, and recent immigrants being in the forefront of rewriting Black American history; the slave as willing participant and that he should have been grateful for the opportunity.
So... Even thought there are many other aspects of my life and personality; I find I have to write about racism, slavery and bigotry. I have come to the same conclusion as FN has.
And if we choose not to recognize it, or call it when we see it, we (yes your dumb ass included) will be standing on someones back looking out the window of a gulag somewhere, wondering what the fuck happened to us.
you can't be serious, i have more justifiable fear of you black elitists putting me in a gulag because i am not black enough.
Thanks for this post, Field. When I talk to kids, I tell them the same thing: that being cognizant and on the offense against racism and working your ass off go hand in hand. The two are not mutually exclusive.
It is a symptom of our ADD culture that people take talking points at face value and then parrot them. Even the talking points that are meant to harm them. Like a lamb to the slaughter.
Khalid,
I would encourage you to vote even if Hillary gets the nomination. Remember, we are voting against the greater(est?) evil, not voting for our preference.
The next republican will probably be as callous as bush, but much more smart.
"you can't be serious, i have more justifiable fear of you black elitists putting me in a gulag because i am not black enough"
If you are not black enough your fear might be justified ;)
fuck that, dude. unfortunately, when it comes to a lot of these "isms," the onus usually lays on the victims and survivors of it. and don't get me wrong; while i would love reparations, that would mean that the ancestors of the people who brought blacks into this country cuffs and all would have to admit and say "I'm sorry." even bill clinton, the black people's president (whatever that means) only said "i'm sorry" in Africa and wouldn't dare say it in the US.
or maybe we can keep shuckin' and jivin' till racism goes away ...
sike ...
Field,
Any person of color who says their lives are free of racism is either:
(a) delusional
(b) self-hating
(c) Uncle Remus
(d) drunk on the kool-aid passed out by House Negroes like Shelby Steele, John McWhorter, Deroy Murdock, Star Parker, Angela McGowan and Amy Holmes.
They are flat out lying to themselves or chose to ignore racism directed at them by blaming themselves for the hostility.
Which means these SOBs are some sick SOBs.
Hi Field-negro,
I'm glad you're bring these type black people in the spot light. It seems genuine conscious black people are now considered the enemy or "embarrassment" to certain black people who just want to assimilate and be accepted by non-black society – at all cost.
You always hear it's much easier for some people to pretend and ignore. This way they don't have to do anything about the problem. It's easy to only worry about yourself and live in a fairy land, (so they think).
You said:
"I have traveled all over the world, and I am here to tell you that racism exists every fucking where. Yes, even in countries dominated by a black population. In fact, in some cases, it is even stronger there."
I was born and raised in the US Caribbean and I can't disagree with you. In this case, I also find most Caribbean people are either highly intolerant to racism than black Americans or they may be extremely naive/oblivious to the subliminal type.
I have family like this. In order to prove certain racist things which should be obvious, you almost have to show them the man wearing the Klan sheet and how he was involved (I'm exaggerating, but you get my point). Many black UK/Americans are also like this, and it seems to be a growing trend with this (only convenient) rhetorical adaptation of "we are only one race, the human race" and others similar. Some of us black people need to realize that most non-blacks that say these words don’t usually practice what they preach. They only pacify us with this parody so racism continues under the radar. Forget about class being the main problem. Right now, race is the foremost contributing factor in determining ones class to begin with. (I guess I'm starting to rant).
Right now, I see my home island being lost to growing black poverty and racial segregation. Mainland whites are buying and pushing blacks out certain areas, while practicing other forms of blatant racism that goes under radar. The blacks that don’t want to sell, soon can’t afford their property tax after their white millionaire neighbor just built a 13.5 mil home next door. There are also high end pay companies that open business here due to a local government tax exemption program. For the high end pay positions, guess how many of these companies rather hire other whites from abroad instead of the local blacks who also have higher degrees and experience. All these unfair things happen and more when you have naive blacks that think every smiling white person represents “one love, we are all in the human race”.
I sometimes feel black legacy stopped progressing, in actuality it seems we’re beginning to regress again. -sigh
Just wondering Field, do you read/watch The Boondocks? I think you'd get a kick out of it.
Racism is bad and racism is evil. But why? Isn't it because when you get right down to it, it hurts people? Because it has a negative impact upon people's lives? Of course we could talk about the ethical implications of racist views and be justified in doing so, but if racist views never in reality hurt anyone then it would just be an academic exercise. Of course, I understand that one cannot hold such views without negatively impacted at least some of the people he interacts with throughout his life. But go along with me here for a second... If all racist lived on top of a remote mountain and never came down, then we wouldn't spend too much time worrying about how or what they think.
That brings me to this: when we fight racism, we do it to end the practical, real deleterious effects of it that we see and feel in our lives. And these effects certainly are real and certainly are felt and seen. But, here is my question: What is currently the most harmful agent affecting the black community in the U.S. today? Whatever that is, shouldn't that be what we focus on?
And what is our goal here? What are we aiming to accomplish? Is it equality? The eradication of racism? A seperate but equal economic and social status of blacks in the U.S.?
If racism's worst legacy is its effects upon those who have suffered from it, then is fighting to free oneself from those effects the best fight to fight?
Steele says we should primarily fight the effects rather than the cause. He says the cause (racism) has been de-clawed so to speak in today's society, and now we're left standing with a hard climb out of the hole racism dug for us. But, he says that given that that is where we are our efforts are best used towards individually lifting ourselves out of the hole, and thus collectively overcoming the legacy of racism. In my mind, it would be akin to the successes of the Jews in spite of the continued existence of anti-semitism. Anti-semitism isn't eradicated but it is impotent. And it is thus because it's effects have been overcome.
Is that possible for us? And do we *need* racism to disapear before we as a individuals and as a race defeat the effects?
I know it's more complicated than this. And I know that racism shouldn't be ignored. America shouldn't ignore or abandon those who's lives have been hurt by racism. But how as an individual I should proceed in my fight... that is what I am wrestling with.
You know FN,
I've been thinking about this too, and I do get weary. And, just when I think I should change my focus, I stumble upon something that just pisses me off, and I have to put it forth in the universe.
See, that's what I think blogging is about: sharing information. If you find something that bothers you, share it with someone else. Put it out there. There are stories that would get NO attention, by mainstream or the so-called ' Black Press', if not for bloggers. I think that's part of our legacy begun, quite ironically, by the REAL Black Press of years ago. I think that Black bloggers have taken up the mantle of the Black Press that used to tell our stories, from our point of view, and point out the injustices, and also cast a critical eye for the community.
That's why I read Black political blogs, from all points of view. In the MSM, who we are is so unbelievably narrow, and I know that doesn't compute with my real life. The blogs have been a breath of fresh air. Even when I completely disagree with someone Black on a philosophical issue, I feel relieved, because I'm seeing the depth and breadth of our HUMANITY.
I was reading a blog yesterday, where the operator was discussing what the core of racism was to her: THE DENIAL OF OUR HUMANITY. That we aren't allowed to be ' HUMAN' like other communities. I thought she hit it on the head.
I enjoy reading our Black political blogs because it is a voice that has been deliberately kept from the MSM. We're finding our own way, and I think that's fabulous.
We're always Black. It might not be' convenient' for some folks, but it is what it is. Yeah, sometimes I wish I could leave my ' Black suit' in the closet, but that's not how it rolls.
The greatest lie the devil ever told was convincing the world that he doesn't exist.
Diva must have lived and is continuing to live a sheltered life. As parents it is our duty to let our children know racism does exist. That way when they go out into the world they will know it when they are confronted with it. As parents we have the obligation to teach our children how to confront it when it happens to them instead of sticking their head in the sand wishing it away. Also as parents it is our duty to confront racism directed towards our children when they are young, in middle and high school, but make sure they see how we confront it. I am proud of the teaching my daughters learned about racism because they recognized it when it was directed towards them and knew how to confront the issue head on with positive results.
More parents need to realize that racism rears its ugly head towards our children in the schools first and that is where the teaching begins.
Finally, Diva is in for a rude awakening if she never experience racism as a black person, they day will come when it slaps her right in the face and she is reminded she is black like the rest of us.
The flip side...and irony of racism...is that white folks in charge won't let us write, blog, speak, broadcast (in a meaningful, commercially supported way) aboutanything BUT matters of race. As author Mat Johnson (Drop, Hunting in Harlem) have testified in the past, white folks can write a novel about/do a film/a TV show/a bog/a podcast about aliens who come to earth in the form of butterflies and invade your plumbing and find all kids of outlets and financial support for the same. For an African American to have a blog devoted to home improvement tips , for example, and have it truly take off, he/she would have to hide the ol' photo and make sure their name is NOT DeShontay or something similar as a giveaway. Of course you could, but it would have to be something directed at black folks, and if TV you'd have to have a hip hop beat and dance and coon.
This is yet another aspect that Diva or Michael "Lexington" Steeledelude themselves over. Indeed their very fame, as with all black conservatives, is made possible and defined by the very thing they run from: race and its imprint on America.
Racism is everywhere. So is the ozone but I don't need to talk about it 24/7 either.
I hate to discount anyone's experience. There are black people who grow up and for whatever reason claim to not have experienced racism. I went to college with a guy who claims he never encountered racism until he joined the FBI (and he worked in police departments as a cadet through college). Go figure.
Walter has a point. Barack Obama, Exhibit A. House negroes are actually calling Bill Clinton the first black president but Obama isn't black enough. Sometimes I think black people are straight up insane.
It would be a lot easier for Blacks to stop thinking about color-aroused discrimination if whites would just stop all the traffic stops, profiling and redlining. And stop shooting us in the back!
Walter has a point. Barack Obama, Exhibit A. House negroes are actually calling Bill Clinton the first black president but Obama isn't black enough. Sometimes I think black people are straight up insane.
BWA HA HA HA HA
Hilarious.
Simply hilarious....cause it's on point.
woozie, I happen to love Boondocks!
"And what is our goal here? What are we aiming to accomplish? Is it equality? The eradication of racism? A seperate but equal economic and social status of blacks in the U.S.? "
That's a good question anon. Speaking for myself; I think my goal is equality. Equality in the justice system, in the banking system, education, and on and on. Do I necessarily want to be hand in hand with white people singing Kumbaya? No. But I do want equal access to all the things that everyone else has.
I think people misundertand what people who fight against racism really want. For instance, to stay with your people in the mountains analogy. If there was a small isolated town in,say, Alabama, that was all white, and everyone living there hated blacks. And, there were laws on the books there that allowed discrimination based on race, it wouldn't bother me one bit. As long as those people never left their town, didn't depend on one federal dime to run their town, and never saw a black person. So I guess with me; racism is not a moral problem. (If a racist operates in the forest and there is no one there to feel it, is he really a racist?) It's a practical problem. And it's a problem which must be dealt with in a practical way.
Spent some time reading your blog and thought I ought to check in and say I'm looking forward to reading more.
I found your link via the blogs of some teachers whose blogs I read and comment on.
"I get tired of talking about racism. I think black people are too often put into the position of being the ‘racism monitors’. No matter what other hobbies, interests, ideas you have all anybody ever wants to here from you is your view on racism.Up to this point she has a valid point. Anti-racism work is tiring work, living as the oppressed is tiring, tedious, draining. I see no reason what so ever Diva should not be entitled to make this complaint. Talking about racism, explaining why people should be treated like humans, reiterating over and over again what should be innate knowledge is in fact exhausting. Diva has a right to express her exhaustion, her desire to occasionally escape, via, hobbies, interests, ideas.
I think too many black people limit their lives because they are too preoccupied by racism, racism..."
However, the above quote is where she places a value on the discussion of racism by using the word limit. If people in the past did not “discuss” racism, then there would be many lives that are in fact limited more so than they are already.
Translation: I get tired of being out in the fields. If I could just be in the house, with all its comforts and its advantages. Why must I be lumped in with other black people, why can't I just.. be "normal"?
Nevertheless I think your translation is unfair and is putting words in Diva’s mouth. She never used the word normal or abnormal. This is where projection makes a mountain out of a molehill. You took here complaint and threw it to the extreme. She did not say she wanted completely out of the field, she implied that she wanted a break, maybe sip some cold ice tea, some lemonade, rest under a shade tree every now and again. Perhaps her crime really is, she said what she said in a public forum, one where white people can take what she said and use it as ammunition. That is probably her biggest crime. But seeing her as a HUMAN, I simply see frustration, I do not see a desire to abandon her people for the other side.
To be honest this post is petty. It reminds me of anti-feminist women who spend their time chipping away and critiquing every damn thing a feminist says or does all the while men are moving along happily unimpeded. Translation: There are bigger fish to fry.
kitty, is Diva a feminist? I never knew that, and even if I did; I would still cal her out for her dumb ass statement.
Transalation: There may be bigger fish to fry, but this one is swimming in my fucking lake!
What does Diva being a feminist or not have to do with anything?
By the way, your bloody picture to the right scared the hell out of my eight year old. I need a screen for my computer when she is around.
Enjoyed the discussion -- I have some thoughts about how we use the language surrounding this topic.
Framing the issue as “racism” limits the discussion and leads inevitably to the diminution of what we (as colored folks) have experienced and continue to experience. Often when we use the term “racism” we set ourselves up for some sort of manufactured symmetry.
“Black people can be racists, too!” Nonsense – “racism” without power is ignorance, prejudice. There is no such thing as reverse-discrimination. When was the last time your thoughts or actions negatively impacted any White person’s station in life or caste.
Another one: “we should work for a color-blind society.” Ridiculous – saying you can ignore the color of a person’s skin is like saying you can ignore gender or even what one is wearing. You cannot. Anyway, why would you want to say you don’t see color unless you associate color with something bad? To make sure we can all get along, the color of Colored Folks, Black People, etc. needs to be invisible because “White People” are already the color of water or flesh. Clarence Thomas’ in-laws grew to like him despite his blackness (their words). I guess they saw straight through to the content of his character.
“Color-blind” ends up being history-blind, reality blind, etc. The notion of “color-blindness” is convenient. It renders the concept of race as skin deep. Color-blindness says history and experience mean nothing. If only we could get rid “our color” there would be no racism.
Consider how any discussion of racism always makes us (anybody not “white”) “the race.” During de jure segregation, there were race records, race movies, the Negro problem, the color line, etc. Folks crossed the color line or like Jackie Robinson broke the color bar. Preposterous – if anything it was the white line and the white bar. I guess if it wasn’t for us being “the race” there would be no racism. There would be no color line and certainly no Problem. Was it Jim Crow because crows are black? I need to research that one.
Most White people discuss the White Race only it when refers to the beliefs of a tiny minority of avowed “white racists.” The expressed notion of the White Race has nothing to do with the majority of color-blind, non-racist (White) Americans.
Note how even today, our African ancestors who were captured and enslaved are generally referred to as “slaves.” Nameless, nation-less, landless, non-humans. Those who prospered from this centuries-long atrocity of state-supported enslavement continue to be referred to as “masters.” The master sold his slaves or freed his slaves. Whether it was legal and widely supported, it was based on fallacy. The perpetrators and their descendants remain linguistically above the oppressed and exploited. The descendants of slaves (us) also remain below the historic “masters” and their descendants because of the language used. “Slave” is receptive, docile, and negative while master is always powerful and positive no matter the crime.
About victimology, we descendants of these nameless, people-less slaves need to get over our American holocaust. Let others commemorate their ancestors’ deliverance and liberation although it occurred centuries and millennia before our relatively recent emancipation and enfranchisement.
Regarding other terms we use without thinking – the one that gets me lately is “ethnic.” Now what the heck does that mean? MSM uses it all the time. Who decides who is “ethnic” or more importantly who is not “ethnic”? Maybe the heirs of those who decided who was white in the 19th and early 20th centuries? More words come to mind: “pioneer” and “settler” and “immigrants” then and now.
Race is a political construct and the notion of race has always been about power. Power is the ability to define and control. Language buttresses that power.
We need to clarify the agenda by reframing the issue.
Perhaps focusing on the asymmetry of historical, institutionalized, and de facto White Supremacy and White Privilege and using those terms would be more useful. In many different ways, we all work very hard to keep WS/WP in place – most of the time unconsciously.
You know, I am/was sick of talking about race, so I had to calm down on my blog because I was stressing myself out. Race is a real downer especially if you get caught up in a never ending discussion!
Bygbaby
deliver me...you make some good points...I am going to have to sleep on some of them though.
kitty, sorry about that pic.and your young one. Honestly, it scares me sometimes too. I am going to take that bad boy down real soon.
I'm also suffering from race-fatigue. I try to use my blog to cover a variety of issues. I'm always worried about my blog becoming too focused on race. There are some blogs like the Field...Skeptical Brotha and others that are race focused/race specific and they do fine with that approach. But I see issues of race and the idea of a race identified blog as being too confining for me. It's just a box that I never intended to be in (although I think I have fallen in it to some degree whether I like it or not). Once you're in that box, it's like having shackles on.... because you become a "go to" blog for race topics....when I never had that in mind when I started. And when you want to write about anything outside of racial issues... it turns out that no one is reading... because you have the mark of being a "Black Blog". In other words, no one takes you seriously on any other subjects...and there are few readers who bother to read any other posts that I do. I always wanted a racially mixed readership... Not because I am bowing down to some Master...and I want white acceptance..., but because I want a readership that is diverse. I see being a race identified blog as being a drag on my efforts to reach that goal.
Also, concentrating too much on race can become toxic after a while... for some of the reasons I mentioned.
Furthermore, I don't want people to read the blog because I am a "Black blogger"... I want people to read the blog because they like the information that is shared...they like the comments & interaction with other readers & bloggers, they enjoy the music/interviews and other goodies I provide, and because I provide some decent opinions on many of the issues of the day. Not because I'm Black.
But then again, as Rikyrah stated so eloquently, whenever I try to refocus.... I see another crazy story.. a story that makes me do a double or triple take and say to myself... "there's no way that this could happen in America". Either it's some fool in Black face, some Republi-Con like Mitt Romney doing something crazy or making a bigoted statement, Rich Whites ignoring genocide in Darfur, or some White official being caught by audio recorders or video cameras speaking when Black folks are not around.... It's always something that gets my blood pressure up.
I just think it is important for Black bloggers not to limit themselves when it comes to content. There are other important issues that need to be covered (and some of those issues are often connected to issues of race...such as healthcare or the economy for example).
I want to deal with a variety of issues without abandoning the issue of race (because it's not going anywhere).
I guess you can say that my two Souls (as DuBois mentioned) have been fighting it out over this issue...
I guess I partially agree with both positions... that of FN and The Diva...
Field, your post was timely... as always.
You know Field, I get tired of writing about Markos Moulitsas' color-aroused antagonism, too, but then I go to sleep and I wake up in the early morning hours thinking, "That guy is a white male supremacist!"
So, I explored the issue some more and wrote a new report: "Is DailyKos a White Supremacist Group?" Did you know that Markos Moulitsas and David Duke are both proponents of states rights?
And then there's the issue of "states rights." MAMZ says he was drawn to the Republican Party because of its support for "states rights," while AfroNetizen, another member of the AfroSpear blogger group, says that support for states rights has historically been a code-word for support for segregation and opposition to integration. "States rights" is also a rallying cry of David Duke, who founded the Knights of the Klu Klux Klan in 1974 and has been "highest profile white supremacist of the last two decades.""
I guess I just don't know when to let go.
as long as there are brown people with nappy heads there will be some other people, who think they are better, who will make sure to tell them just who and what they are. every day of your life that you go out into the wider world were there are other races of people, you will be forced to defend you psyche one way or another. all my life I have been forced to do this, whether it was helping to erase the word Negro so that whites wouldn't call us niggers, to blacks, then African American when they called us black niggers. umm hmm. then on my job, where whites swore they owned those position in that damned social services agency, as shop steward when they made black folks cry. From the cradle to the grave it never stops, and I for one, prefer to fight.
@ Field Negro
Suffering, Mixed race, Blacks, and whites
As a mulatto I do get sick and tired of hearing about racism whether it is from whites, blacks, Asians, Hispanics and other ethnic groups, but at the same time I realize that it is, whites who established the system -- that demands that racism remain in use in order to keep themselves in power.
I suffer at the hands of blacks for having some white ancestry, and suffer at the hands of whites and other non white ethnic groups for some black ancestry. Other non white ethnic groups understand, that it is big business in America to attack blacks -- because this will give them certain acceptance by whites. Whites will give them an honorary status of white. So racism is big business, and can elevate you to the top if you attack blacks or illegal immigrants or who ever has a green light on them.
America's system depends on racial strife and racism, with racism whites can let other ethnic groups know that if they attack the ethnic groups that whites dislike -- they will be treated better and given a higher status. If racism disappears pandering to whites will become insignificant -- because people will gain power and economics with out having to bend to white rule. This would spell destruction for whites because they would be attacked by all other ethnic groups that have grievances against them.
I don't like talking about racism, white supremacy, black pathologies, etc but I have too because they are very relevant in America, and I live in America. I suffer at the hands of all ethnic groups because of my genetic make up, it is more painful for me and certain ones like me. I am a mulatto, my kind were forced to be black against their wills -- because whites wanted to purify their race of quadroons and octoroons thus causing the half whites, MGM, FGM, and bi racials to have to suffer racism from both blacks, whites, and non white ethnic groups. So I must talk about racism, America's favorite hobby from time to time even if I don't want too. I feel that certain blacks like the person you mentioned Field sometimes feel so burdened and unhappy about all of the problems that being black brings -- that they just become so sad sometimes. I understand these types of people and sympathize with them.
At the same time had Jewish people's ancestors sat back, and let their burdens and grief overcome them their descendants would not be running the world today. So therefore, as a mixed race man I feel that I have to continue helping -- because I don't want future mixed race people, blacks, and other people to experience what I experience.
Angry Independent and Ghost Face,
Your comments are well stated and are on point. The other commenters here also have valid viewpoints. I didn't start blogging to talk about race. My blog is about living with Multiple Sclerosis. MS is not an illness that strikes one particular race. I am happy to know that there are black bloggers in the blogosphere that talk about race related issues and politics. IMO nobody puts it in better words than Skeptical Brotha and Field Negro.
I enjoy their sites and others yours included. Although, I do not blog about race, I am in a battle in my community when it comes to race relation. I visit the sites because as black bloggers (I forget where I saw this) we can make a difference on issues that are important to us by connecting from all over the world thru the blogosphere. I am sure many of us have experienced racism and we are all sick and tired of it. I long for the day when we can be judged by our character and not by the color of our skin.
There were no mixed race people in the pass. Remember the one drop rule. It still applies. Does anyone wear a mixed race ID? It is just my annoyance, that we define race in the terms that it can be quantified. Race is the construct from that notion of any sub-Saharan African blood contaminates. The contamination makes us sub-human, because our African ancestors were. Start to listen carefully to the rhetoric and the new code words. Ann Coulter's words on the bell curve. She hasn't embarrassed the right enough for them to give her up as their attack dog. Read the right's political blogs, listen to talk radio and see the average joe eat that crap up. Talk about black people and the phone rings off. Its in the language of the political candidates, no longer "welfare queens" is spoken but "personal responsibility." Were are being put in a class, where we are in opposition to liberty. Blacks are being subtly included in the rhetoric against Al Queda, Listen to the argument against multi-culturalism staring off with the Muslim and ending up discussing blacks. I may be getting paranoid in my old age, but I think I have been around long enough to understand how language changes to deny black people freedom. In the fifties it became states rights. The new language now, is beginning to exclude the word race.
FN said...
"If a racist operates in the forest and there is no one there to feel it, is he really a racist?)"
And the answer is no. I think racism is not just prejudice but it's institutionalized prejudice that requires some people to be scapegoats so that other people can experience priviledge. And I think that is why our work is not yet done with regard to racism. It may be true for some people that they have not experienced the worst excesses of prejudice. But as long as we are collectively able to see the effects of white priviledge in our daily lives, we have to attack it and pull it out by its racist roots the same way we go after weeds in the garden. Just because a thistle makes a pretty purple flower doesn't mean it isn't a noxious weed that will make your hand bleed when you try to pull it out. And just because you go out to the garden on a given day and don't see a weed growing, it doesn't mean you shouldn't keep checking for weeds throughout the growing season.
See, I managed to squeeze in an analysis of racism in a comment about gardening. It can be done!
Just as weeding is as important a part of gardening as planting and watering are, being vigilant about racism plays exactly the same role as weeding in any selfhelp effort.
"And just because you go out to the garden on a given day and don't see a weed growing, it doesn't mean you shouldn't keep checking for weeds throughout the growing season."
Damn isaiah, you squeeze off a gardening analogy with racism, and the shit works!
"Just as weeding is as important a part of gardening as planting and watering are, being vigilant about racism plays exactly the same role as weeding in any selfhelp effort."
Do you mind if steal that line bra? That shit was profound.
I think a few of you may have misinterpreted the following statement:
"I get tired of TALKING about racism. I think black people are too often put into the position of being the ‘racism monitors’. No matter what other hobbies, interests, ideas you have all anybody ever wants to here from you is your view on racism. I think too many black people limit their lives because they are too preoccupied by racism, racism..."
I don't think she's wishing to leave the fields - she's just suggesting that we find alternative ways to plow them (maybe more effective if given serious consideration). I capitalized her word TALKING because I’m ready for people to talk solid SOLUTIONS with EXECUTABLE plans. I think she's speaking to our tendency to act the "victim" of racism as opposed to staring it down and using that negative energy to catch your opponent off guard-like they do in martial arts :). I'd like to hear more from all bloggers on specific examples of racist situations dealt with daily and how they'd propose we throw our opponents off guard. The talk needs to have more teeth - solutions we can walk away with as opposed to citing more generalities about the existence. I think we’ve all got the point: racism exists, and will always exist as long as the factors of power and race exist in this world.
Waiting to hear from all…
The last anonymous, are you different from the first. You can post as other and use any name, number or acronym. In responding we wouldn't be attributing other anonymous characteristics to you.
Sometime just pointing out a racist trend is enough, because there are some black people who see an issue from a group that they believe in and are not aware of that groups entire agenda. I know black people that voted for Bush because he's Christian, did they know his party just can't wait to get rid of the Voting Rights Act. Knowledge is powerful; many black bloggers want to inform and there are some who are active in their community. Check out the blogroll here, you'll see.
Dude, if you are so tired then write about something else and mix racial issues in if you want.
Reality is your race owns you, you don't own it. Your reactionary anger and defensiveness at times tells me that you are not comfortable in your own skin and you are angry about that and you take that vitriol out on anyone you see as "not down with the revolution and blacka than thou".
That got played out before I was born. Truth is black folks in America by and large are doing fine. Things aren't perfect but we are doing okay. The black people you focus on as so "down" are a minority of blacks and have been a minority since 1965 or so, the last time over 50% of blacks were poor.
Is there racism? yes.
Could we see improvement in the lower end of the black community?
yes.
However, it is not 1967 it is 2007.
You said you are fam is not even from this country, not sure if you were born here or not, but from what you right that strikes me as funny. I would expect you to be from generations of black American in the deep South who went through slavery here (not in the Carribean) and Jim Crow, and saw the Civil Rights Movement, busing, blah blah blah. Most people I know who went through that are no where near as angry as you come off...maybe this is just a righteous show or something I don't know.
So Jamaica has no problems? Isn't the murder rate higher there than among black Americans? What's the poverty rate? You are at least the song of an immigrant and a lawyer? Guess life has been so bad for you you did not get into the law school you wanted to because of those damn racist standardized test or something or didn't get the first job you interviewed for? Yes, quite bad...traumatizing. Sounds like most white people in America and in the world live worse than you despite their whiteness.
Maybe you are just a Pan-Africanist. or Black-Nationalist? Didn't that go out of style like in the early 70's where previously it had went out of style among the black intelligentsia in the U.S. after Garvey got deported?
Thing is there are race issues sure enough, but race in and of itself has never brought large masses of people together internationally and never will.
If that was the case then Europeans would not have been murdering each other in the millions all the way up until last century and had nuclear weapons pointed at each other ready to make the "white race" nearly extinct.
If it were so true, hyper-racialist Germany would not have allied their want to be lily white Aryan selves with nonAryan Italians (who they considered part negro) and the completely none white Japanese in order to kill white people (many of whom were Aryan).
I can site many more examples throughout history where people did similar things, it was common.
For us, black folks were selling black folks to Arabs and Europeans like we were ice in Siberia for over 1,000 years. Why? Well they did not see themselves as a "people" because they looked the same, and they do not now. Most Africans identify with tribe and clan. Even folks who are in their same country who are from another region not of their tribe are treated like foreigners at best aliens at worse. This is nothing new, this is very old and it happens with whites in Europe as well to a much less extent. Don't believe me? Get in a car and drive a white Muslim from the Balkans into downtown Serbia and start spouting off and see how long you and him live...they will likely kill him first.
Bros you need to slow down before you get high blood pressure.
Your translation of 'oh i'm tired of being in the field' is the most racist sack of shit, absolute bullshit statement I've seen in a long time.
Maybe she's just sick of listening to a bunch of whining obsessed self appointed 'racist spotters' who ONLY seem to be able to spot the 'white kind'.
Maybe she's one of those HUMANS who actually just wants to be human, and not live surrounded by constant negativity, self pity, and a whole lot of the time - outright lies or racism seen where it does not exist.
She's right, get a life. I don't care where you go, what country, what land - racism exists, ethnic bigotry exists, persecution, oppression. Whether being a woman, a christian, or a Zimbabwean immigrant in South Africa being murdered by black South Africans, because they hate immigrants, even though they are all Zulu nation people.
Your life must be miserable. I know you're a total prick who makes outRAGEOUS accusations against a woman based on a truth she has spoken, using slavery related terms from 150 years ago - which is particularly sickening, given that slavery still exists in certain African and Arab islamic countries. I'm sure you could give a fuck about them though, you're only interested in yourself.
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