I was going to post about black and brown (Latino) people coming together throughout the African Diaspora tonight. But then I got an e-mail from a regular from the fields named Kimberlie (I hope she doesn't mind me using her name), and she sent me this link.
Now I don't want to keep stating the obvious, because let's face it; people are sick and tired of being sick and tired about racism and all the bullshit that comes along with it. But let's be honest, there are some sick motherfuckers living among us who share the precious air that we breathe.
"Oh come on field, not another post about racism in America?" Yep, another post about racism in A-merry-ca. Because the shit these ignorant ass people are doing really bothers me. Think about it white folks; think about how upset you get when protesters show up at the funerals of dead soldiers, and shout out things that takes away from their memory and their service. This is how upset I get when on the day that we choose to commensurate the death of a great African American civil rights leader these ignorant mother fuckers choose to make their point by marching on Jena. "Oh come one field, there were just a few of them, they don't in any way represent the views of most Americans." Maybe they don't represent the views of most A-merry-cans, but they sure as hell represent the views of quite a few more A-merry-cans than were actually marching today.
I am sorry, there are people in this country who will never change (Sorry Dr. King), and knowing that makes me forever vigilant against these mother fuckers. Call it "Extreme Color Arousal Disorder" like my man Francis Holland , or just pure racism, but it ain't going away.
But I guess I shouldn't be so upset, because these racist- like the ones who marched today- are out in the open. It's the ones who are in the closet that I worry about. The ones who hold real positions of power. The morons who marched today have no real power. The only power they think they have is the color of their skin. That is what gives them hope. I might be a broke ignorant son of a bitch, but I have my whiteness.....ahh you gotta love it. But the racist with real power who hide behind mahogany desks, robes and boardroom walls, scare me. Because they don't strike by marching with their racist friends on the streets of some Southern town. No, they strike with pink slips, long sentences, and bank foreclosure notices. They have replaced the dogs and fire hoses with legislation and slick back room tactics. Our job is to be vigilant, and not be so blinded by what we dream about and what we want the country to be that we don't see the shit that's going on right now. What happened in Jena today was the tip of the ice berg. And I will spend every day of my life trying to melt that motherfucker.
Happy MLK, field
ReplyDeleteYou said it's the the white folks with that you should really be worried about. I agree. It's not the the poor white guy marching with a rebel flag, but the white bankers and controllers of institutions, who trade in sleezy, under-the-table racism we have to deal with now.
A good example of this is the racist campaign the Clintons are running against Obama. It's identity politics, that is, defining your opponent before he or her has time to define him or herself. Except in this case, it's defining with a racist twist, that is, defining Obama as a "black candidate," thereby placing him in the same category of Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton, and others. The idea is bottle him up not as a non-black talking hope for ALL Americans but a black man connected to Sharpton, the civil rights and black power movement to the extent that white people-- many of whom are racist, consciously or unconsciously-- and have them say, "Oh, he's just a black guy after all. I'm voting for Hillary, one of my own." Remember: By appearing a candidate for all the people and preaching home, Obama was able to win Iowa by appealing to women and independent voters. Since the loss at Iowa, they have been trying to define Obama as just another black guy-- educated but black just the same.
Dick Morris, a fromer advisor wh helped Bill Clinton become president but who now hates both Bill and Hillary, peeped this new Cliton strategy and revealed it for all to see on an online blog called Real Clear Politics on January 16:
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"Not racists themselves, they decided, nonetheless, to play the race card in order to achieve the polarization of the white vote that they needed to offset that among blacks.
They embarked on a strategy of talking about race -- mentioning Martin Luther King Jr., for example -- and asking their surrogates to do so as well. They have succeeded in making an election that was about gender and age into one that is increasingly about race.
According to the Rasmussen poll of Monday, Jan. 14, Obama leads among blacks by 66-16 while Hillary is ahead among whites by 41-27. The overall head to head is 37-30 in favor of Hillary."
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The Clintons know that much of White America is still racist and that, by defing Obama as just a black candidate, by tapping into racism, they have a better chance of getting most of the white vote. They already know that Obama will get most of the black votes, despite the best efforts of sorry house negroes vouching for them. It might work.
Shit, field. Now i'm getting pissed!
I think then, it's time to mention impeachment and pardons for cash, Whitewater, Von Foster. A president and his wife who endangered the Dems b/c of their own lust for power.
ReplyDeleteHey, even MLK had Rustin. Obama needs a hatchet man...
Field, what a black warrior we have in you!
ReplyDeleteOf course we have to stay vigilant until the Dream is realized.
I also agree that we shouldn't allow the Dream to "blind" us to the reality of racism and the damage that white supremacist are hoping to do the Dream, and to the harmony of our day-to-day existence.
But what I won't allow them to do is tell me I can't dream, that I can't look to a day that MLK described eloquently in his, I Have A Dream, speech.
As an aside: I'm beginning to believe that your blog and many other major black blogs are being trawled by the MSM searching for the pulse of black America on key issues affecting blacks, now that we have a black candidate in the presidential race, and are developing talking points around them.
To be sure, they're listening to black radio as well, but I suspect blogs like yours are being mined for nuggets of opinions, beliefs, and takes on how blacks are feeling regarding what's going on in the race for the White House.
I believe that staff members of Obama/Clinton are doing the same.
Not to gush here: but your blog is a passionate defender of black rights, and a daily challenge to us all, black as well as white, to get off our butts and work to make not only this country better, but the world in which we live.
That's why I stay tuned.
In terms of race politics, we've not seen anything yet. Just wait until the election date in November comes closer. There will be an all-out political fight between the Obama camp and the Clinton camp. This recent "truce" is a formality. I don't think we've seen the likes of the end of this war yet.
ReplyDeleteYou're on fire today, felt that all the way over in NZ.
ReplyDeleteJust picked me up a new catchphrase for 2008, Extreme Colour Arousal Disorder...loved it, laughed about it. 100% with you on this post :)
H2
Field,
ReplyDeleteI am ashamed to say that I have made a home here in the lone-star state. Even though Jena is a few hours away from here we still feel the hate. Last night 2 skin-heads broke into a black couple's home in Ft. Worth and shot both of them in the head. The young people are in critical condition. I had a white boy ask a friend of mine why Blacks get so excited about MLK in Amerikkka, when there were plenty of white people that supported him that never get mentioned. Like you said Field, it is not all white people, that are ignornant "the south will rise again" assholes, but it is enoungh of them to make a brother want to recreate that famous picture of Malcom X standing beside his window with an AK.
Yo, did you catch the debate last night? Man it was like watching a WWE match!!
Correction Field,
ReplyDeleteI said I had a white boy ask that dumb-ass question to a friend of mine..... His dumb-ass asked a friend of mine that question on his own accord.
You know I did't HAVE that ignorant MOTHERF--KER ask my boy nothing.
My bad, I am in a hurry to get out of here. I have to get on the road to fight this crazy Dallas traffic.
Macdaddy, you are fantastic.
ReplyDeleteField, keep speaking truth to power. I don't always agree 100 percent but my heart sings to hear you, my brother.
Yes indeed, the Clintons are a prime example of what remains all-too-true in America: racism lives.
"Not racists themselves ..." Except of course by their all-too-eager willingness to use race if that's what it takes to stop Obama they prove how much they really are. Only have to scratch the surface.
Americans want to define racists as people in sheets dragging black folks behind their cars. Since most Americans aren't doing that, most Americans aren't racist anymore, right?
Right.
I am sorry, there are people in this country who will never change (Sorry Dr. King), and knowing that makes me forever vigilant against these mother fuckers.
ReplyDeleteAgree 100%.
I'm sick and tired of the racists among us and yet I don't really have any right to feel this way because I don't have to walk the walk.
Just a few weeks ago, I read a story about an African American couple in Arlington, TX who were victims of a hate crime.
Dec. 19, the couple found the words "KILL" and "DIE [N-word]" spray-painted on the doors in red.
The couple refused to paint away the hate. They left the graffiti up as a symbol, although they're in the process of having the doors replaced.
Several hundred people, led by many ministers, gathered at a historic park for public prayer and a march to Ms. Littlejohn's home to cover her garage doors with royal blue tarps.
I don't pretend to understand what fills people with so much hatred toward others. Sometimes I have very little hope for the human race.
What I do know and how I live is, to pushback against this sort of thing. Pushback and keep pushing back against stupidity and hatred and racism whenever I encounter it.
You said it, Field. "But let's be honest, there are some sick motherfuckers living among us . . ."
ReplyDeleteIf they're chronically sick in the head, then they must have a chronic mental disorder. As you said above, many of us are calling that disorder "Extreme Color Arousal Disorder". When you're know what you're dealing with - a sickness, a mental illness - then suddenly incomprehensibly bizarre and outrageous behavior begins to make more sense, but only because that behavior constitutes the well-known symptoms of a bizarre mental illness.
Great post. Please know that you are not alone in your opinions, and there are white people in the South who feel as you do. The only way to over come ALL racism, whether the ignorant redneck-type or the corporate boardroom-type is to work EVERY DAY to have our voices heard. The only way is for African Americans and white Americans who believe in Dr. King's dream to keep fighting, keep blogging, to stand up together and use our voices. Keep up the good work...
ReplyDeleteI will link to your blog on my own, "The Paradox of Vision". I write about politics as well. Check it out at http://theparadoxofvision.blogspot.com/
The Clintons have the complexion for the protection - their skin protects them.
ReplyDeleteI am an EEO professional. I have done this job in the government and academic sector for over 20 years. There are laws, but just like there are laws to prohibit discrimination, those M-Fs you talk about that scare you Field; well, they should scare you, because they have the power to issue pink slips, foreclosure notices, eviction notices - EVERYTHING.
What makes it worse than white people doing it, are those of color who damned well know better and engage in the "crabs in a barrel" mentality anyway, thinking that because they run the shyt, they know how to not get caught.
Like you, when I see a poor white guy waving a Rebel Jack flag and screaming against people of race, you have to shake your head at their continued ignorance to support people who screw them over like an abused spouse, because they hate people of race...and worse, because they've been TRAINED to hate people of race.
What is pissing me off about Obama, especially in his performance in the debate last night, is that if he knew more about what it is to be a Black Man in America, he would have shot Hillary down every time she opened her mouth, and better yet, he would have done so in the manner that was MLK's trademark.
By his own admission, Obama wasn't reared by a brotha, and his white grandfather could only do so much in schooling young Barry about what it would be like to be a Black Man in America. So you see him stumbling and fumbling and saying shyt that can be construed ten ways from Sunday - and while it might not be true, he looks like he's lying.
Jena is but another example that you can tap dance around race, and try to sing Kuumbaaya, but until the hard work of actual discussion like Paul Mooney or Dave Chappelle does, without a white person hollering how "offended" they are at the discussion because it's "too ethnic", we will never get there.
I'm tired of making whites feel everything's okay, when shyt like Jena continues to tell me they're not OKAY, and are a long way from being there. It's not OKAY; I have a right to be angry, and no, I'm not toning down my anger to make you feel safe.
If you want to feel safe, you need to know why I'm angry, and you need to allow me to express and embrace, but not be consumed, by my anger.
Stay angry, Field - it's the only way we fire up others out of their complacency - aka a "N---er Wake Up call!"
Everyone should get one if they haven't gotten one already. Obama's campaign and the Clinton's response is but one. Jena's march is another one. And they'll keep coming until we let those that be know that we have awakened, and that we'll remain vigilant from this day forward.
It wasn't until eight years ago that King day was formally recognized throughout our country. That should tell you something. It is those people in power we should worry about. One thing about a good old fashioned racist is you know where you stand. The closeted racist is much scarier.
ReplyDeleteNatalie:
ReplyDeleteYou sound like my father. He always said if he had to choose between handling a rattlesnake, and handling a water moccasin, he'd chose the rattler, because it lets you know when it's going to strike.
The Water mocassin sneaks up on you and bites you in the ass before you know he's there.
My father didn't literally mean snakes - it was his analogy for bigots. The redneck doesn't hide he's an ignorant hick - it's the guy in the Brooks Brothers suit, and elocutes with world-class precision in a dialict that you believe would never utter the word "Nigger", is the one you have to watch out for.
And yeah, until 2000, MLK holiday was recognized at the Federal Level, and in my home state of California, the State celebrated his birthday before the Feds did, so what does that tell you?
Even though Reagan signed MLK's birthday into a Federal Holiday in 1983 - the first official observation wasn't until 1986 - and it probably wouldn't have happened on Reagan's watch, except his handlers told him he needed to mend fences with the Black community for announcing his kick-off campaign from Philadelphia, Mississippi, home of the murdered Civil Rights Workers, as opposed to announcing it from his home state of Cali.
That said more than I ever needed to know about bigots wearing thousand dollar suits with an Ivy League education....
Natalie and christ.prog.and natalie I hear you about the snakes. Watergurl,glad you are picking up what we are doing down under.
ReplyDeleteMacdaddy,don't get pissed get even.
before the flower,thanks for the kind words.The MSM is finally catching on to bloggers,I saw Keith Boykin on CNN the other day.
Damn dirtyred,what the f##K is going on in Texas?
Carinthia,thanks for the link, I will reciprocate as soon as I get off the plantation.
Natalie and christ.prog.and natalie I hear you about the snakes. Watergurl,glad you are picking up what we are doing down under.
ReplyDeleteMacdaddy,don't get pissed get even.
before the flower,thanks for the kind words.The MSM is finally catching on to bloggers,I saw Keith Boykin on CNN the other day.
Damn dirtyred,what the f##K is going on in Texas?
Carinthia,thanks for the link, I will reciprocate as soon as I get off the plantation.
Sorry about the double up. I am on my blackberry outside the clerk of court office,and today has been a mother f****r!
ReplyDeleteRe: Racists in the closet, sadly several of them sit on the Supreme Court at the moment.
ReplyDeleteSteven D
"The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house." Audre Lorde
ReplyDeleteSometimes I think we are just going in circles. I watched the PBS specials all day yesterday in the American Experience series and it brought back to my mind that King and the SCLC was but one group in the movement and that the college kids from SNCC and members of CORE and the NAACP were of great consequence but don't always get the cred.
It's interesting, because the young folks of SNCC were not on board with the SCLC method of having one charismatic leader...they wanted to build grass roots orgs all over the country that could survive regardless of who was leading. I wonder how different things would be today for black folks if we didn't have a MLK but instead alot of small groups organized around the country working in tandem to bring about change?
Seems like the history of Christ in the black community pulls us in the direction of needing a "savior" life figure of sorts and MLK fit the role all too perfectly.
Field,
ReplyDeleteAs always, you express your thoughts from a vantage that I never considered and with passion I admire.
I know between your real life and your web life you are extremely, but please know your work is not in vain.
Great post!
-k
wow, redlipstick - who are you? brilliant.
ReplyDeletedang. with so many brilliant folks in the community (and you people are!) why aren't we running this show by now?????
"It wasn't until eight years ago that King day was formally recognized throughout our country. That should tell you something."
ReplyDeleteIt should indeed natalie.
Thanks kimberlei, thanks for the link, and sorry for spelling your name wrong ;)
dang. with so many brilliant folks in the community (and you people are!) why aren't we running this show by now?????"
MUTINY MUTINY! Dang janine, you guys do run the show. Trust me; I am not sure about other bloggers, but the comments section make THIS blog
Still, the fact that that march took place is scary.
ReplyDeleteField another great post and the comments are excellent.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Field. I was hoping to hear your points on the matter.
ReplyDeleteThese people actually make me laugh with their protest. At the end of the day, they'll go home and try to tap themselves on their backs but it will be in vain. It doesn't change a DAMNED thing.
HILLARY'S FRIEND IS AN OLD KKK MEMBER, CHECK THIS OUT HERE:
ReplyDeletehttp://archive.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/11/15/185205.shtml?et=y
Hilarious. Bill Clinton falls asleep at MLK celebration
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/01/clinton_gets_sleepy_at_mlk_day.php
CLINTON SAYS WE HAVE THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT BECAUSE LYNDON JOHNSON SIGNED IT.
GOLDWATER RAN A CAMPAIGN AGAINST JOHNSON...
SO WHY WAS SHE CAMPAIGNING FOR BARRY GOLDWATER WHO WAS AGAINST THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT???
BY THE WAY CHECK OUT BILL CLINTON'S RACIST POSTCARD HE SENT TO HIS GRANDMA IN 1966 DURING THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.
http://serr8d.blogspot.com/2007/10/bill-clinton-racist-postcard-buy-it-now.html
Excellent point Mr. Field. I've always figured that the ignorant inbred morons with the confederate flag on their pick-ups aint really the problem. They have no political power.
ReplyDeleteIt's the closet racists that are the problem. The ones who sit in a room smiling in everyone's face but then when the black guy walks out they start talking racist shit as if were all ignorant morons. It's the politicians who have absolutely no clue as to what the needs of what any constituency needs besides their white male counterparts even though they've learned to speak certain words.
Keep up the great work.
Why I Don't Trust Obama
ReplyDeleteThe "antiwar" Obama
I've written before about the bogus "antiwar" stance of Barack Obama, whose "opposition" to the invasion of Iraq was entirely founded on practicalities and not on principles:
"I am proud of the fact that I opposed this war from the start. In 2002, I said this was a bad idea. It's going to cost us millions of dollars and thousands of lives. We don't have a strategy for getting out."
Today I was listening to the recent interview he gave to the Reno Gazette-Journal, the one in which his references to Republicans as having been the "party of ideas" for "the last 10, 15 years" and his semi-explicit praise of Ronald Reagan have drawn criticism from not only Hillary (and Bill) Clinton but also, and in more analytic form, from Paul Krugman.
But while I was listening to the one-hour interview (I searched high and low for a transcript but couldn't find one, so I transcribed what follows myself), I found some very interesting comments about war. Start with this (around 21:00 into the interview if you want to view it yourself):
"I didn't come of age in the battles of the 60s. I'm not as invested in them...Even when you discuss war, the frame of reference is all Vietnam. Well, that's not my reference. My frame of reference is 'what works.' Even when I first opposed the war in Iraq, my first line was, 'I don't oppose all wars,' specifically to make clear that this was not just an anti-military, 70s love-in kind of approach, rather, that I thought strategically it was a mistake for us to go in."
So not only does Obama confirm that it was simple "strategy" and a need to do "what works" that made it a mistake to invade Iraq, not anything like, God forbid, morality or even international law, but he suggests that the opposition to the Vietnam war was some kind of hippie-dippy, peace and love opposition to "all wars" as opposed to the opposition to imperialist wars of aggression and occupation that it was.
Now combine that with this (from around 43:00 in the interview), where he talks about what he's looking for in a Vice-President. After first talking about the possibility of a "bipartisan" ticket, and how the main thing in the way might be the lack of a "serious Republican" who would agree to run with him, he then talks about the qualities he's looking for:
"I would want somebody with competence in areas where I am weaker. The obvious would be military experience. I'm very confident about serving as Commander-in-Chief in terms of my judgments in terms of what our strategic interests are, and so that's the area that I'd be concerned about, but I think having somebody who intimately understood some of the more tactical issues surrounding military deployments, or, conversely, also understands the bureaucracy of the Pentagon, because moving that and changing that can be a very difficult thing."
So evidently the most desirable criterion for Obama's Vice President is someone who can help him fight the wars he'll be glad to launch, just as long as they "work."