It was right out of central casting. (Except for the white butler) Two white guys; two black guys; black and white on each side; the beer placed just right. Isn't race relations wonderful when you plan it right? It was happy hour at the White House. Just a bunch of guys shooting the breeze and working out their differences: "So Jim, are you a saaax fan? Yes Mr. President, I am. Well you guys better do something with Dice-K or you are going to be in trouble. Well I am a Phillies fan myself. We don't have a team in Delaware. I know Joe, I was talking to Jim. Do you like baseball Skip? Is that the one where they score touchdowns? .....Let me stop and leave Skip alone. But he pissed me off when he dissed my Red Stripe and went with some A-merry-can brew. He knows damn good and well that he prefers Red Stripe. How can he have an honest discussion about race when he isn't even honest about the damn beer he drinks?
Now you guys are going to say that this is just the old cynical field being field. But what, exactly, was that on the White House back lawn this evening? Am I the only one saw the the whole thing as some surreal manifestation of the superficial nature of race relations in A-merry-ca? The staging, the forced camaraderie, and --I am sure--- the perfunctory nature of the discussion. Isn't that how we interact with each other on a daily basis? It was perfect.
Politically it might work for his O ness. Most A-merry-cans in the majority population are quite comfortable with racial lip service. They shy away from uncomfortable truths and hope they never have to encounter it in their lifetime like officer Jim had to. They are fine with a co-worker, an acquaintance, the mailman, or a child's teacher, for instance; but real engagement and meaningful social interaction is a no no.
Black folks are in their cocoons (no pun intended) as well. Many live in segregated urban sectors and never have meaningful inter action with people in the majority population. Oh there are the cops, the school teachers, and the occasional civil servant. But none of them have a white person that they can call a friend. Someone that they can tell how frustrated they really feel living in A-merry-ca with the ugly stain of racism, and not having to let some race expert (Rev. Inc.) do it for them.
"I am confident that has happened here tonight, and I am hopeful that all of us are able to draw this positive lesson from this episode."
Sorry O man, it will take a little more than happy hour on the lawn. This little "beerfest" tonight isn't going to cut it. This was about two men and politics as usual. And the only thing I learned was that Harvard professors can't even be loyal to their damn beer.
317 comments:
1 – 200 of 317 Newer› Newest»Dude, it's like you are on my soapbox.... I suppose there is room here for two... wish there was room for more.
Now you guys are going to say that this is just the old cynical field being field. But what, exactly, was that on the White House back lawn this evening? Am I the only one saw the the whole thing as some surreal manifestation of the superficial nature of race relations in A-merry-ca? The staging, the forced camaraderie, and --I am sure--- the perfunctory nature of the discussion.
No, you're not the only one. Given the comments being thrown about the Web on this blog and others, it borders on absurd. But, as you say, real engagement and meaningful social interaction is a no no. Why? Because it might get ugly as we've all seen. And people don't like ugly.
Lashley's Letter To Crowley
Dear Jim,
Would you be so kind as to mention the following to Mr. Gates and President Obama during your meeting with them:
One of the major problems stemming from the events of July 16 is that I, now known as 'the black Sergeant', have had my image plastered all over the Internet, television and newspapers. Subsequently, I have also become known, at least to some, as an 'Uncle Tom.'
I'm forced to ponder the notion that as a result of speaking the truth and coming to the defense of a friend and collegue, who just happens to be white, that I have somehow betrayed my heritage.
Please convey my concerns to the President that Mr. Gates' actions may have caused grave and potentially irreparable harm to the struggle for racial harmony in this country and perhaps throughout the world.
In closing, I would simply like to ask that Mr. Gates deeply reflect on the events that have unfolded since July 16 and ask himself the following questions:
'What can I do to help heal the rift caused by some of my actions?; What responsibility do I bear for what occurred on July 16, 2009? Is there anything I can do to mitigate the damage done to the reputations of two respected Police Officers?'
Thank you in advance,
Your friend,
Leon K. Lashley
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/20230991/d...
Crowley didn't even show the President Lashley's letter.
BWA HA HA HA HA
My Take On Lashley....
Click Here:
http://www.sledporn.com/osCommerce/images/Fuck-You-U-Fuckin-Fuck-350.gif
Field, The only thing I enjoyed about this Beer meeting was watching officer Crowley throw the Black cop Leon under the bus...Mr. Crowley didn't give the letter Leon wanted to President Obama.
Now, that the fake ass Beer meeting is over I guess Mr. Gates will return to summer in the vineyard and Mr. Crowley will do what he does best racial profile. The only lesson to learned for this issue is never to open your mouth to the media about racial problems with cops. The media is not mature info to handle that topic, yet....
Judging by the media coverage of Obama i sho nuff thought Obama was the second coming of Jeses Christ.
Now i's know Obama ain't nuttin' but the second coming of Jimmy Carter.
This got house negro written all over it.
The big question is --
How did whitey get to Gates??
In the past 2 weeks i done saw 2 strong field negros reduced to nothing more that uncle toms.
Lawd have mercy on us.Dat white devil is just to strong for us negros.
MR.R said...
Now i's know Obama ain't nuttin' but the second coming of Jimmy Carter.
.....................................
Where is all the "fine" Republican leaders for 2012 that will take Obama on?
1) Sarah Palin is a nation Joke
2) Mitt Romney is Mormon so the Christian base hates him.
3) Bobby Jindal is Kenneth the Page.
4) Charlie Christ is gay
5) Sanford is busy chasing Argentina tail.
If these people are his competition then even the real Jimmy Carter could kick there ass.
I LOVE Red Stripe! I'd drink it all the time if it weren't so expensive where I'm at. It is the perfect summer beer. Sorry had to get that out.
Politically speaking...the optics of this a great for O. It's superficial for sure but where Obama is concerned it's magic. I was talking with a friend and he pointed out that it gives Obama a "the buck stops here!" image. I think it also gives him a regular guy look even though there's nothing regular or normal about how this was set-up.
Re: B/W relations in general. Field, you are a cynic but one whose cynicism is right on the money much of the time. I think though you're missing out on how things are for many of us in the younger generation. We're not nearly as racially isolated as the older generations even though it's still there in a lot of places. Something happens in adulthood though; blacks and whites get shunted to their separate corners as economic discrimination takes its toll. Until we deal with that aspect there's going to be de facto walls that separate. Class is the elephant in the room, imho. Attitudes have changed for most of the post-civil rights generation but the economic walls a bigger and thicker than ever before and the intersection of class and race keeps things from moving at the speed they should be.
--j
I am disgusted, appalled, shocked, horrified, and enraged that Obama would drink Bug Light, an awful, awful beer.
Hey Field: you must be butter cause you have been on a roll lately. I miss the back and forth on your blog so I am back so to speak.
You made a very astute observation, it is true that blacks and whites and others don't really interact in this country but just have perfunctory polite encounters. I think that is a result of racism indirectly. The ruling class has us suspicious of one another and on one hand rightfully so, with the stereotypes of Black folks that get bandied about and with the mistreatment Black folks receive to often from the system which is most often represented by someone who is white.
Ironically, as a long time activist I have made friendships with whites and others as we worked to better conditions for working people and fight against injustice and racism. When you are fighting for something together it helps us lay down our suspicions.
I think to bridge this gap of uncomfortability, folks have to leave their comfort zones. I think its something the religious community should take the lead in. In fact some churches have done just that.
Yeah Field this nervous banter between the masses of blacks and whites when we cross paths is just "the condition of our condition" as they used to say. We will really relate one day when we get rid of the ones whose interest it is to keep us apart. No what I mean!
I just about shit myself when I read this from Gates on The Root a minute ago: "I thank God that live in a country in which police officers put their lives at risk to protect us every day."
J that was some good comments.
Justice58 & Anon 9:53PM is that letter a joke? It's a joke, right? Tell me Leon didn't give Gates a letter to give his O ness. I swear these good negroes.
Tammy, I co-sign with what you said. Hey, what was it Jack said in "A Few Good Men"?
Brohammas, get up here on the box with me, there is room.
mellaneous, thank you for all you did in the struggle to allow folks like me to express myself and talk shit on a blog. And you speak truth my brother. I wish the day would come in this country when working class people unite and stop falling for the same old hustle.
"I thank God that live in a country in which police officers put their lives at risk to protect us every day."
Anon. 10:20PM, did someone send you here to piss me off?
I see poor, lawn jockey Leon Lashley sent a letter (supposedly) through Jim Crow(ley) stating that he is now being labeled a Uncle Tom. He says it's all Gates' fault. Now, Lashley says that he is pondering if he sold out his heritage.
I guess his kin folks aren't returning his calls and he probably was dis-invited to the family reunion. No bar-b-q for Leon...and hold the banana pudding too.
Look wait you done Field.
Mr.R..... you are a one note wonder. You have made the exact same point, said basically the exact same thing, for weeks now on this blog. I get it. Obama bad. Black people bad. Democrats bad.
I have read your point. Now, if you have nothing else to offer, please move along.
Field, I absolutely agree with your post. We tend to skim over race because it is such a core source of pain.
Any and all folks that are willing to sit down with each other to truly discuss and try to address race are engaging in a courageous act.
For black folks, and other folks of color, it means being willing to expose a wound that in that process becomes inflamed and aches. And given the centuries of the hurt, I am profoundly amazed and humbled that any folks of color are willing to go there with me.
For white folks, it means being willing to look at unacknowledged ways of seeing and being in the world that studiously have avoided the hurt and suffering of others. Not just in the abstract, but personal responsibility. It means looking at what the isolation of privilege has done to make our worlds smaller, and in fact that harm that we too have suffered.
But here's the thing. To make that move.... to try to go there is the most amazing opportunity for transformation and healing. And what is called for is healing. We are all harmed by the cancer that is racism. And we must ALL choose.
Separation, hurt, harm? or Healing and transformation of ourselves and our communities?
I know where I want to live.
The one thing I was hoping to see was that white cop apologizing to Gates. I mean, if a freakin President can admit that he misspoke and apologize, then a lowly cop can too!
L
Doesn’t Obama believe in the people who voted and believed in him? I feel as if he doesn’t have the “faith” in those who voted for him. He should have stood by his convictions and initial statement. The question was asked, he answered it, and what he said was not out of context or out of line. A beer summit? Really? Why not stand firm behind your initial statement -your gut? I would have supported you, as I am sure many would have.
Isn't it something, how Officer Crowley lied on his police report, but stood up with a straight face in front of cameras as if he had been the victim in the whole incident. After all, he was doing his job. Thank you officer Crowley for letting us know that a police's job is to write false police reports. You don't have to worry about it though, your covered with a brotherhood code of silence so you can do it as much as you like.
Now, officer Crowley, that means if your telling the truth on your police report then the woman is lying. She said she never told you what you wrote in that police report. So, maybe, you and her need to have a beer now.
Gates, you bad, bad black man, look at the mess you caused. You should have just kept your mouth shut and been quiet as a church house mouse in your own house. Next time you have an encounter with a police officer, mind your manners,just say youser boss, keep your head bowed, and hey, do a little jig and show them pearly white teeth. The massa just loves when you dance for him. That way he might let you go the next time.
Yes I know that in America a man's home is supposed to be his castle, but that does not apply to black men. BTW, in this country you know that old Jim Crow law that a white man has the authority to tell you to shut up and has the ultimate authority in your home. You have no rights in America if a white man is involved. Well, that rule still applies.
Did you hear Leon's email? I think he has solidified what we already knew.
Jody:
I've always detected a humanitarian spirit in you. Yes, I know I've said this over and over, but I have the urge to tell you that again, because your words have moved me and touched my spirit many times on this blog.
Please don't ever change and stay just as you are a beautiful person on the inside that keeps it real.
"is that letter a joke? It's a joke, right?"
Yeah, that was my reaction...
"irreparable harm to the struggle for racial harmony in this country and perhaps throughout the world"
WHAAAAAAAAAAA? Oh for crying out loud....mankind will survive this bullshit media circus, Mr. Lashley. Get a grip. I'm so glad that James Crow didn't pester Obama with Leon's neurotic mid-life crisis.
Field,
I don't know, my brother, I think mission was accomplished. Someone went to Disney World. . ., (Forgive the opacity of my allusion to the fact that Sgt. Crowley himself expressed his hope that one day he might have a beer at the WH, and POTUS obliged. )
Now, guys and girls, it's time to study a page from our Obama Reader. Read along with me, please:
See Sgt. Crowley, See the serious, no nonsense Sgt. Crowley. See Sgt. Crowley in police academy mode. See Sgt. Crowley brief the press, the nation, the world, on the meeting. See Sgt. Crowley in fine form. Hear Sgt. Crowley speak. Hear Sgt. Crowley speak of agreable disagreement. Hear Sgt. Crowley speak of Professor. Hear Sgt. Crowley allude. Hear Sgt. Crowley allude to future. Hear Sgt. Crowley allude to future joint teaching moments.
His O ness is a genius, as far as I am concerned.
FIELD I waited to see if CROWLEY would buckle under to RUSH and all the other evil folk's! but, he did not, he wanted to go to the WHITE HOUSE! say what you will about CROWLEY but, I do not see the SPIRIT of EMBEDDED RACISM on him!
CROWLEY had to prove to AFRICAN AMERICAN'S that he is not a RACIST! what would it look like if he were to be an expert on RACIAL PROFILING, but, yet turn around and refuse a invitation to the WHITE HOUSE! he would be in a catch twenty two!
I am not taking up for this man but, he was the one that (asked to have a BEER in the WHITE HOUSE) not the President!
I will watch and see if he will be on HANNITY'S or BILL'S show, and trust me they have tried like the devil to get him on their show! LARRY ELDER was on LARRY KING and he said, CROWLEY should not go to the WHITE HOUSE! what is that MAN'S problem! was he raised by the KLAN!
Anonymous 10:50 pm again:
What I mean is that Sgt. Crowley not only took himself very seriously, but felt himself taken seriously as well, and seems to be taking the Professor seriously as well, which means that together they shall sally forth to discuss serious public matters.
Skip didn't get that McArthur for nothing, and Obama didn't make law review in the age of Reagan for nothing.
Now exactly did I learn from this "teachable moment"? I learned that even though someone in law enforcement falsifies a written and verbal account of an interaction they had with you, that is no reason for you to be upset. Excuse me for a minute while I get up and practice my nig jig dance because it looks like I'll need it for any future interactions I have with law enforcement. Yeah, while I'm getting my back stopmed out at a traffic stop , I'll be smiling and saying "yassuh". I knew that Lashley was intellectually challenged when he spoke publicly on the incident, but is he mentally disabled as well? How can he put this whole thing on the back of Gates? How can he never once mention the dishonesty of his co-worker Crowley? And America, forgive Gates for not dancing a jig because the use of a cane does make jigging quite difficult. The whole thing was just a photo-op. I bet there was so much tension at that table you couldn't have cut it with a Ginsu knife. If Crowley did have the nerve to present that letter to Obama, Obama should have wiped his ass with it and sent it back to Lashley. The reason Crowley did not is because he knows that America is onto their code of silence and he did not want to push it. Well, time to sanitize the White House lawn chairs from she bullshit that was so evident at that meeting and move on...right? NOT!!!!!
Obviously, everyone here cares a whole lot about this stupid thing. But most of the rest of the country frankly couldn't give a rat's ass and isn't looking for some grand detente out of it.
So the idea that a beer at the White House was designed to Solve Our Problems is a joke. If that's the standard to meet, forget about it. If that's the standard, then of course it was a failure.
To the extent anyone outside of the hothouses on the Internet really gave a shit about this, I think it was along the lines of wanting Gates and Crowley to act their respective ages.
That much did seem to happen, so it worked well enough. By the way, I think Crowley was smart not to hand Lashley's letter to Obama. In the context of all this, it would have been an escalation. Better to just let it go.
It's a real bitch to throw a war and have nobody show up, isn't it? It's over.
I bet Michelle is pissed! I am absolutely positive she is cussing Barack out at this very moment. Of course that's because she's the one whose friends are calling her and asking what the hell is wrong with her husband and how in the world she could have sat by while he invited those two idiots to the White House.
I just know this is actually happening. Well at least I hope it is.
Hmmm we will see. Anon. We will see.
One thing I have learned from doing criminal trial work, is that police officers are very good when to comes to....let's just say sticking to THEIR facts. I was not surprised that Jim Crow (Thanks Rippa) did such a fine job in the press conference and said all the right things.
I am still thinking about what granny said and the possible lies on the police report.
Will someone please tell me that the Leon's letter is made up? PLEASE!
What you have is a loud-mouthed clueless moron, a left-wing butthead racist academic, a cop, and an egomaniac who thinks he should rule the world. Yeah, I've been to that bar before
Monie:
Girl, don't say that, you know how MSM likes to take something like that and run with it, even though you're just creating an imaginary scene in your head of wishful thinking. MSM will swear up and down that it really took place and before you know it they'll be starting that Michelle Obama is an angry black woman mess all over again. You know those Republican pundits are desperate right about now to try and stop his health care initiative. Don't forget they play dirty. They're already trying to smear the President with a racist label.
You know that some of those folks from MSM spy on our blogs.
Next thing ya'll gone be complaining about is furniture was white.
Can the fact that a police officer's report being in direct contradiction to Lucia Whalen's 911 call and her public statements go unnoticed by the media?
There is at best a question of doubt in Crowley's word. At worst he falsified a police report to strength the arrest of a man who gotten loud with him? I'm sorry I don't see the cause for alarm or cuffs for that matter.
As I said before this is a much bigger issue than a weak case of potential racial profiling. This is about abuse of power. Billyclubs don't care if your skullsack is black or white.
Anybody who is indignant because of Gates's actions should consider their own response if coming home from a very long flight you have to break into your own home and are then arrested because you don't appreciate having to prove your identity in your own home.
Where is the outrage concerning the conflicting statements?
"the"
@GrannyStandingforTruth
"...MSM will swear up and down that it really took place..."
Lol, I can just see the headlines.
Will someone please tell me that the Leon's letter is made up?
Lashley's letter is real. I recall reading elsewhere that a bunch of minority cops in Cambridge had spoken out on Crowley's behalf a couple days ago, along with the Hispanic cop who was also on the scene that night.
Ya'll on the left have no shame.Turning a serious event like this Gates burtha abusing officer friendly into nothing more than a photo op is shameful.
How much did this photo-op cost the American taxpayers??
To bad making sure poor black chillins have school books this school year isn't has imporant has this photo-op.
I saw Larry Elder on CNN, and holy crap... if he got any more self-hating he probably would have started slapping himself on live television and dragged his own ass to jail... damn...
I believe the letter was also sent to CNN?
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/07/30/harvard.arrest.beers/index.html
http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/massachusetts/wwlp_ap_ma_black_cop_upset_over_uncle_tom_label_200907301946
No, MR.R.
The only complaining you'll hear on this site is that you yourself are white because you give white people a bad name. Jody said it best. We get it. Move along. Stress is not good for you. Not so good on the coronaries and judging by your comments I bet you've got a fat vein popping out of your forehead every time you type. So if you've spawned, and I'm sure you have, do them a favor and find a blog that caters to your white supremacists viewpoints. That way you won't leave this earth with bitter, ignorant, fatherless children. I hear Stormfront's looking for a few good drones.
And would somebody tell that stupid ass Lashley that the word is colleague....not college.
And would somebody tell that stupid ass Lashley that the word is colleague....not college.
Hey, I think it's great that he can't spell. If nothing else, you can know that he's really a cop.
@Lola Gets
'Cop apology' is a contradiction in terms isn't it?
Field,
I'm still shaking my head about Lashley's letter. Did he think Crowley really cared about what he did? Crowley wanted to save his lying ass. That was his priority!
I am laughing out loud @ this slave-catching coon.While Lashley was skinin & grinin, shuckin & buckin, Crowley was @ the White House and wasn't giving a rats ass about Leon!
Drop Squad!!!
@Jody
I'll be sending you that information in the next couple of days.
Granny, I agree with you about Jody, I always read her comments with respect and consideration. I sometimes wonder how she's able to stomach half the emotionally charged things that are said on this blog.
Lola Gets, it's as if Crowley is being rewarded for the very "stupid" behavior. How dare the fact that he gets to take up so much of the President's time - among with the other idiot.
And as for Uncle Leon, he got his little rude awakening, he forgot his place. It's also funny how he said he supported Crowley 100%, yet he if he was on the scene first, things would have gone down differently. We all know what that means, then again that statement could go both ways, you can't trust a house negro either.
This entire thing just reminds me how much of a majority pandering politicial Obama really is.
What exactly was accomplished? Professor Gates has been demonized as the "nutty" professor who was the culprit.The 911 caller gets away with an award. We all know her role..."hispanic like"(whatever)As for Sgt Crowley,
if he can go the rest of his life
telling that same story, God help us all.(and God will!!!)
"Now, Lashley says that he is pondering if he sold out his heritage."
I know the letter is real, but did he actually say this after his "buddy" Crow(ley) didn't give it to the President?
J
Don't pay any attention to Mr R. He is frustrated because he hasn't been invited to any of the GOP pedophile parties lately. He's feeling left out.
LA*incognita, I knew the moment O made the 'stupid' comment that things would spin outta control. Cops are like firefighters and soldiers when it comes to politicians. You can't say anything other than how great they are or the whole world bursts into flames.
Gates also makes a poor victim to defend in terms of American politics. Even if he'd been white and the case one of solely police abusing their authority, Gates is still a left-wing professor (gasp!) and you know they're all just oversensitive loons. Like women, they'll cry -ism over anything and can't be trusted like the middle to upper class white male who lives in the Real World™ and is obviously a Serious Person™.
--j
The whole beerfest scenario was BS.
Obama should have stuck to his guns and let this cop swing in the breeze.
He has now given him cover for his false arrest and document falsification.
I mean no one even asked him about it at his little half assed press conference.
And these two negro cops oh my god! I didn't know we still had such Toms among the ranks.
I'm disgusted with the whole thing. I proves once again that it sure is good to be white in America. My head hurts.
Field, "I thank God that live in a country in which police officers put their lives at risk to protect us every day."--Henry Gates
Sounds like Gates went from being a "bad Negro" to a "good Negro". Sorry about that, Field Negroes. But being Black all of my life, deep down inside I thought this might happen. After all, Blacks have been abandoning each other for centuries.
*Now that's a subject Blacks need to have. Or is that too painful to talk about also?
This reminds me of a comment in the thread of the post, "I Want To Be A Good Negro":
"... my experience has been that there has always been far more HN than FN. I have been betrayed and have seen betrayal of our folks by other Blacks happen too many times. In fact, it has become pretty routine.
Their true colors show up when they have to make a choice between doing what white folks want, or doing the right thing in support of their people. More Blacks will generally say, "I'm with you, brothas and sistas", but when tested by the white man, they fold like a kimono in a soft breeze."
I wonder how helpful Gates' documentary on racial profiling will REALLY be to the black community?
ROFLMA Granny! I don't know what it is with guys like Mr.R but they're like moths to a flame. The moment you mention the words racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. they're there. The ones that really crack me up are those who show up and immediately declare their innocence when no one has even so much as whispered their name.
--j
Well, Miss Officer Pristine is nonchalant since she didn't vote for President, oops, I means she won't vote for him again away.
One thing, I don't want no one calling the police when they see me breaking in my own home. I got insurance anyway on everything I own. I'd rather call my insurance company and let them send me a check. I'm sure Professor Gates has more insurance coverage than I do. Material things can be replaced and I won't have to take a mugshot that will stay on file for the rest of my life.
Give me nice polite interaction anydy ... like the eagles and the sixers and leave the rest alone. hell, we can even talk politics - how about nutter - he's the first transracial mayor since wilson goode - makes Obama seem like a radikal.
I think I'll put a sign in my window saying, Do Not Call The Police If You See Me Breaking Into My Home. I'm Insured.
You black folks better make sure you got some insurance on all your property and valuables. Unless, you want to wind up with a mugshot. I'm serious!!!!
That is unless, you just want to be invited to the White House to drink a beer with the President.
And these two negro cops oh my god! I didn't know we still had such Toms among the ranks.
I don't think Crowley is a racist, at least not like the Boston cop who called Gates a banana eating jungle monkey. I think Crowley is a generic cop, right out of central casting. So are the minority cops who defended him.
Gates's offense that day wasn't being black, it was talking back. Cops hate that, and they'll punish you for it if they can. First amendment? Good luck with that one.
A lot of you think the minority cops are Uncle Toms. I disagree. I think they are cops rallying to cops. My partner was once the outside counsel for a small suburban town in the Seattle area, and he said he got so tired of defending outrageous conduct by the city's cops that he got himself transferred to other clients.
They all stick together, he said, and they lie their asses off. There wasn't any racial angle in that town. The cops were white and so were all the suspects they dealt with. My partner was very cynical about local cops, all the more so given that he was a (moderate) Republican.
I, the semi-liberal Democrat, was more pro-cop than he was. "That's because you don't know these idiots," he'd tell me.
I'm sick and tired of hearing about this affair. The whole beer thing was a complete crock of sh**. Almost as if, by having the little meeting Obama validated Crowley's wrongdoing. We are not post-racial, a race discussion is realistically not going to happen anytime soon, and we don't all live in harmony with pink unicorns and rainbows. So that stupid meeting is for all the idiots thinking, "oh well everything's okay, they had a beer together," but we know better.
FN, I skimmed through that article you linked to on Yahoo News, and I saw something about Biden having a non-alcoholic beer. I'm not particularly beer-savvy but isn't that an oxymoron? If there's no alcohol in the beer, then is it still beer?
Grinder:
"They all stick together, he said, and they lie their asses off."
Yup, and that's the problem and what makes folks so upset. They have good cops and they have some that are rotten to the core, and those are the ones they need to weed out in order for us to have a healthy law enforcement agency that lives up to honor, protect, and serve all citizens. Until then, it will stay a big mess and will get worser as time goes by.
Granny, I was joking with a friend about this that black folks, especially those who live in middle class and upper class neighborhoods, are going to have to start putting photos up near the front door or foyer of themselves and any in-laws, cousins, friends, etc. who might visit with a big sign for police to read that says something like:
Police: Do Not Worry. Black people live here. They are nice, normal, happy, and harmless black folks -- you know, like you see in Old Navy ads.
Regards, Your Friendly Black Occupant.
I bet somebody could make a fortune selling novelty lawn signs.
--j
Brother Field....These two Uncle Tom, foot-shuffling Negroes have given the police carte blank to continue their abuse of our communities. I had a glimmer of hope that the Black Brother would be a man. His actions have given the white comfort in knowing that this Black weakling will continue the status quo. only in America can the first Black man in the White House has not the experiance. See that Larry King has a white police officer/military person calling you all "jungle monkeys". Black p
eople....you have allowed these people to continue to place you all as secondary.
Granny, I really think it's the nature of police work, along with the kind of people who take the job. Better training helps, but only to a degree.
I don't think they're all psychos or anything. I've met some cops I like and respect. But the job itself is going to wear the best of 'em down.
Think about the daily life. You're like a cab driver, except that you know that there is someone at every call who really does not want you there, and who might even hate your guts and want to kill you.
You also know that in some percentage of the cases, you're going to deal with some of the sickest, most depressing shit that anyone can imagine. Rates of alcoholism, depression, and suicide are off the charts for cops.
You know what one of their biggest problems is? Back backs. No shit. I never knew it until one of them told me. They ride around in those big Crown Victorias with the rotten seats, and half of them have bad backs. Amazing, isn't it? No wonder so many of them are short-tempered.
Cops see the worst all the time. It's not surprising that some of it rubs off. In fact, if there's a surprise it's that more of it doesn't rub off. But then, as my partner told me, "That's because you don't know these idiots."
The whole thing was pathetic. What was the purpose other than to put on a show? It will be interesting to see what Gates and Obama have to say after another black man is gunned down or brutalized at the hands of the police. I wonder if the victim or his family will get an invite to the White House.
I thought the beer must be triggering a huge ciggie crave for the Prez.
The whole thing was pathetic. What was the purpose other than to put on a show?
Every time any president has a public meeting of any kind, for any reason, the whole purpose is to put on a show. In that respect, there was nothing different about this one.
I honestly don't understand your anger about the showmanship. Think about it a second. It's all symbolism. What else could it ever be? What did you think they were going to do, raise a barn on the South Lawn of the White House?
grinder, you nailed it on the symbolism. There was a famous story about Reagan (can't remember who told it) where a reporter who'd written a piece that was critical was apologizing to one of Reagan's campaign guys. Up until then he'd written pretty glowing reports and so he went to explain himself. He started out saying I'm sorry but I had to write about this and was cut off by the campaign man. The campaign man was like "what are you talking about? We love it. Have you seen the photos that ran with your story?" It then dawned on the reporter that most people only glanced at magazine stories and that the photos that accompanied his story made Reagan look great. He realized that people forget the details of stories like his but the images remain and there Reagan was in a couple of pages looking wonderful. His story didn't matter at all in the larger context.
Forgot to sign 1:11 AM to grinder was me.
--j
There is no teachable moment for black folk. There is nothing we could learn that we don't already know.
We already know that the cops don't apologize for anything--not to anyone else for that they did, and certainly not to us for anything done to us.
We already know that POTUS--no matter who is, is still a puppet for somebody. We already know that in A-merry-ca,the only folk who have to step back, soften rhetoric, be expected, demanded to apologize is black folk.
And we already know that folk aren't ready for a real conversation about race, thus the photo-op summit supposedly providing the closure to this episode.
When the majority is ready for a real conversation, they will come with a confession, an apology and more than lipservice about what they will do in repentance. But we know that is not going to happen--certainly not on a corporate or institutional level.
South Africa's reconciliation attempted it, and on a real level achieved some success. But when Mandela dies, which isn't long from now,all hell is going to break loose again.
The teachable moment should be for the majority culture is that they can continue to believe that they have nothing to learn because there is no reason to think otherwise. Until that changes, the school of teachable moments will always be in session.
J, it's been that way forever. People act like this is new or something, when it's not.
The only time I really object on the symbolism front is when there's misrepresentation involved. If they use symbolism that says one thing to mask a very different substance (as with just about everything under Bush Jr.), it's a problem. Or if they present something as a whole lot more or less significant than it really is, then it's a problem.
But I don't see any of that here. Obama described it from the get-go as having these men over for a beer and a chat. No one suggested that it would Solve Our Problems, so I really don't understand it when anyone gets bitter about how it didn't Solve Our Problems.
I think it was what was advertised: a moment of civility and adulthood in what has been an absurd circus of a carnival sideshow. The whole idea was to say, "Hey folks, that was a weird little thing but let's not all go batshit crazy here, okay?"
I don't see what's so wrong with that, or misleading. What the hell did anyone expect, a presidential fact-finding commission? Puh-leeze.
Does Grinder have a job at night? He doesn't seem to have one during the day.
Off topic, but important:
An 87-year-old woman, living alone, in a 160-year-old shack about three miles south of Lena, Mississippi says she has no one to help her get out of the deplorable conditions.
http://www.thegrio.com/2009/07/impoverished-87-year-old-lives-in-leaking-shack-patiently-prays-for-help.php
With all of these churches on every black, sometime two, and the ministers who are raking in the money, much of it from old peoples' social security checks, one would that this lady would never have been reduced to this.
But BMWs, three thousand dollars Italian hand made suits and Rolex watches are more important.
Anon 1:25, I am a word farmer
The whole Beerfest was BS. If they really wanted to do something about race relations, they should have done something like gone bar hoppin'. If Hillary Annie Oakley Clinton can do it, why not these guys?
Grinder:
Nah, I'm not gone blame it on what cops see in a day. Other cops have seen a lot too and they don't do what bad cops do. In addition, when they took the job, they knew it wasn't going to be all peaches and cream. Some of these cops are just plain rotten and don't need to be in that line of work, and that's the bottom line.
On a serious note, I know that every one is disappointed and upset that Crowley is getting away with filing a false police report and the whole ordeal. Don't worry this is going to come back and bite them where it hurts. What goes around, comes around. One thing, I've learned from living and life, is that when it happens to one of their own, that's when they'll be breaking their necks to make a new law or correct the error of their ways. So, just sit back and hang tight, because it is surely coming. They'll be singing a different tune and understand exactly how we felt.
BTW, Sammy, that is sad about that woman. They should set up some type of fund for her and see if they can get her some help from housing. I don't know why she hasn't had any help from them, that is what it was suppose to be about in the first place. Unbelievable, in America we still have people live in substandard conditions, especially, someone her age. This is a cold hearted world. Smh!
Blacks across the country should have enough heart to help that elderly lady.
Right is right and wrong is wrong. This was a good and proper situation that got out of hand and went wrong. Both Gates and Crowley are guilty of causing this to get out of hand. Obama should have kept his mouth shut until all the facts are known.
The whole situation is so blown out of proportion. Degrading Crowleys co-workers for defending him? I just don't get it.
Life in America has changed and will continue to change as more and more people teach their children to see the person and not the color of their skin.
Everyone should be allowed to be proud of who they are.
fuck all that shit. For one, what person intentionally trying to break into a home STANDS there when the police arrives. most theives RUN and Lucia deserved the humiliation she got in that press conference where she gave those sorry crocodile tears not because she was hurt at all the comments about her being rascist but the fact that she was being convicted publically for what she tried to hide privately...
why did that old white lady feel the need to tell some other white (looking) person that she saw two black men trying to push the front door of a house in as if they were trying to enter forcfully. she heard black men, break in. okay stop. what is a blck man doing in cambridge to begin with they MUST be trying to break in! Even so, based on his arrest gates was innocent until proven guilty and its clear who are the ones on tv crying showing all their guilt but the true color of the cambridge pd.
Fuck the happy hour, white house lawn chat, bitch would still be going down for contingency and police misconduct... Obama: all the nice chit chat over beer isnt that necessary, bro. It has to stop somewhere, stick it to the white supremacists who'd rather see you dead already and quit buggin. The shit is real.
Granny, for some reason there's an authoritarian streak that runs a mile wide in a small portion of the white population (I'm sure it's in others but I see it more in the white population) that has to go first. These fools think anyone who doesn't kiss a cop's behind deserves to beaten or tazed. Hell, they even said so when the victim was a 70-something tiny white granny who was tazed on video for the crime of backtalking a cop. Yes, backtalking a cop is grounds in their minds to TAZE and throw to the ground a little ole lady! I don't understand it but it's there.
And this happened today: A young white lawyer got charged with 'disorderly conduct' for uttering the words "and that's why I hate the police."
We've got to get rid of this crazy love of authority and demand that you must humiliate yourself at any authority figure's whim before we'll see any change. It's a worship of anyone in uniform and a sadistic love of watching the abuse of anyone who doesn't conform like a mindless automaton to that authority that really came out in the Bush years and it's got to be combated. Until that's gone, it won't matter who things happen to.
--j
Granny thinking something very mischievous to herself---> hmmm...I don't like rap because they cuss too much in it for me, but I think I might just go out tomorrow and see if I can purchase that song by NWA, turn on my stereo system, and put a speaker on the porch and play it tomorrow as a tribute to Crowley. (wink)
So, if you hear of a granny being tasered, it's just little ole me, yours truly the granny in the fields. And pray that none of my church friends decided to call or visit. Oh Lawd, I know I'm gone have repent for that one. Granny slow down (talking to myself here.)
Field was hating on the Professor for changing his beer choice at the last minute, from Red Stripe to Sam Adams. However, I would like to note that this was after a lot of beer-lovers (like me) noticed that none of the beers picked for The Summit were owned by American companies. Budweiser is now owned by InBev of Belgium (Cindy McCain's family made out like bandits when they got bought out). Blue Moon (the cop's brew) is owned by Coors/Molson which is 50% Canadian, and Red Stripe, although Jamaican, is owned by Diageo. Sam Adams is now the biggest brewery in the USA with a majority American ownership.
So put that in your pipe and smoke it. ;)
And to Lady M---
Non-alcoholic beer is made like normal beer, but the alcohol is removed through a chemical process. This leaves about 0.5% or less alcohol residue, so it's not technically without alcohol. Beer snobs will tell you straight out it's not really beer, but it is so gross, who really cares?
lol Granny! I'm telling you though if you get arrested or tazed I'm printing out whatever photo they run and hanging it on my wall. I'll have to think of a snazzy tag line to put under it too. I think the good Lord will forgive a bit a civil disobedience. I heard that back in the day he was quite the rabble-rouser himself. :)
On a side note, I think tazers ought to be banned. They've become little more than instruments of torture and intimidation, imo. They are also too often lethal despite claims otherwise. I really do believe getting rid of them should be a priority.
--j
Sister Granny don't do anything to get in trouble. You know at our age we can't fight for a bunk once we go to jail. Them young boys ain't got no mercy once you get put in that cage with them. My motto each day when I go out is "I gotta go back to the hoach (house)". PS...I look forward to seeing you and the Field each day..on the blog site. Play Frank Sinatra....police like that.:)
Anything that shoots out a electricity is lethal and dangerous. That granny that was tasered, first thing came to my mind back when it happened and I read it was what if she would have been wearing a pacemaker. She would have been a charred and barbequed granny.
PS: J, I know I can be off the hook sometimes as the kids say, but I usually make light of serious stuff to maintain my sanity and it prevents me letting anger bottle up inside. Laughter is good medicine for the soul and it's healing in it.
StillaPanther2:
LOL! I feel ya!
StillaPanther2:
BTW, did you watch the video I put on my blog for my new topic? I didn't really feel like writing a topic today. It's something to make you laugh, but it's some truth to it.
Granny, I absolutely love your humor and reading your comments. I agree 1000% that laughter is good for the soul. Sometimes it's the only way to get through things and lord knows I've laughed at wholly inappropriate times and places so you won't get any guff from me for it. I can find the absurd in just about anything though I don't like any humor that is at the expense of the less fortunate. My big rule for humor is that you can never make fun of anyone who is less powerful than you because that's just cruelty in disguise.
So Granny please don't apologize or ever change. I have so much fun and learn so much just reading your comments and that's no exaggeration. You're a teacher and very good one.
--j
J, I guess you could call it a family trait or tradition, when I was growing up we always had laughter in our house to help us get through the rough times as well as celebrate the good times. And has passed down from generation to generation, our children and grandchildren. Our house was never void of company coming over to visit.
FN my friend, you have some interesting trolls who come to visit your blog every day. I wonder if they sit at the computer with a bottle of lube and read your blog.
I can't imagine wasting my time at a blog site everyday just to "be startin' something'" (RIP Michael Jackson). Anyway, keep fighting the good fight and keep ignoring the trolls my brotha.
Meanwhile, the health care bill is falling apart because the Democrats can't agree, and Obama is not leading. Which is having predictable results in the public opinion polls. All of this is starting to look like Jimmy Carter.
http://afrikaner-genocide-achives.blogspot.com/2009/07/awb-was-better-than-anc-say-thokoza.html
Field, it looks like some Field and House Negroes want their old masters back?
Wanted to know your thoughts?
Lilliput
Grinder:
Mission accomplished, white folks with hatred in their heart should be happy because if he fails, the country fails. That ought to make them jump with joy. Crowley ought to be really happy.
However, if I was them, I wouldn't get too happy, because someone greater than them is got Obama's back. With that I'll say nite folks.
Granny, your family sounds like a gift. Reminds me of one side of my own.
grinder, I'm not following you. How is a polling drop looking like Carter? Bill Clinton ended his Presidency with highest approval ratings in history, slightly higher than JFK who was martyred. (Polls on that start with Kennedy). However, Bill never saw the early sky high approval ratings that Obama has. It seems only natural they'd fall to Earth at some point so I don't get the conclusion you're drawing. Why Carter?
--j
Granny, don't bump your NWA too loud, I don't want to see you end up like Skip. :)
"Word farmer". That was funny. Ok grinder, I will give you tha one.
"So put that in your pipe and smoke it. ;)"
Now see Shorts...:)
Sammy, I am sorry to hear about that poor wpoman in Ms. I hope folks will be moved to help her. Is there somewhere I can send her money via a fund? I will check out the link and see if there is anything there.
Part I
A teachable moment--a moment brought closer to home because of this blog--almost severed the harmonic interactions that usually take place on this site.
We drew sides, some supporting the arresting officer, some Professor Gates, and yet others defending the veracity of the woman who called 9-1-1.
And blood was drawn. It may have been but a drop or two, no more than what a paper cut would produce, but it stung, and it drew attention to itself.
As the president huddled around a small, white, table, both he and his vice-president in long-sleeve shirts, his rolled to the elbow in a kind of let's get down to work attitude, yet maintaining a relaxed, but serious posture, the two adversaries faced off at a respectful distance, both suitably dressed in business attire, with color-coordinated ties, owing to the formality of meeting the president, and touring the White House.
This was the setting for this much vaulted "teachable moment," variably referred to as a "Beer Summit," convening outdoors, perhaps with the soft chirping of birds, and the occasional rustling of ground squirrels scurrying about through the bushes, providing the background music.
And we learn from one of the antagonists, Jim Crowley, the arresting officer, at what may have been, or not, an impromptu news presser, that the talk was cordial, and that follow-up meetings were in the offing.
This was all fine and dandy, two men coming to a meeting of the minds, flanked by this nation's two most powerful men, and arguably the world's most influential--the president and the vice president.
And I'm reminded of another moment, certainly historically greater than the one just played out (at least for now), Lincoln's Gettysburg Address: "Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."
With such a conception, and with such a dedication, it must have been, or should have been, painfully obvious to Lincoln that those men, women, and children who languished in slavery belied the very words that he so grandly spoke that day.
Now, another Illinois favorite son, speaking from the hip, rather than a podium, within earshot of only three, rather than many, is participating in a "teachable moment," in roundtable fashion, where we'd be hard-pressed to identify teacher from student.
Just as our nation was at war in 1863 when Lincoln gave his now famous address, we are similarly engaged--but it's not a war were blood is spilled daily using canister balls, minnie balls, sabers, and lances, but the sharp edge of words, blunt ends of attitudes, and bigotry, and the canister balls of racial prejudice--the assaults originating both from individuals and institutions.
Part II
For blacks, encountering racism is not necessarily an everyday occurrence, but the forces of white assumptive power hover over our interactions, menace casual settings, and discussions, and threaten to rip the fabric of society along racial lines as more and more talk of civil war, secession, and the illegitimacy of our president, becomes a "gathering storm" along our national horizon, enabled my the thundering pontifications of rightwing pundits, and harsh words defiantly spoken, electrically charged to strike, as lightening strikes, but into the hearts of those who may have been hit hard by our current recession--with blacks and Latinos potential scapegoats for the eye of the storm, and it's aftermath.
Unless this much anticipated "teachable moment," becomes something more sustainable, and more enduring, culminating into an "outreachable moment," this nation will continue to follow a path forged more than three-hundred years ago, helplessly reinforcing our national shame, denying millions the joy of fully developing their American soul, of reveling in our unique freedom-spawned national spirit that could be, should be, more pervasive and palpable, but whose light is growing dimmer with each racial slight--a million small cuts--upon a soon-to-be "from-sea-to-shining-sea" corpus delicti.
Rather, many are hunkering down, shoring up a bunker mentality that served them well in the past, entrenching both heart and mind--proudly, and defiantly, resisting the call for change, cooperation, and bipartisanship that floated above our recent national election like so many brightly colored balloons, alluring, but unfamiliar to our national psyche.
Perhaps what is needed is a nation-wide beerfest, lots of cold beer fermented with respect, an inclusive roundtable, large enough to accommodate most Americans, loaded with bowls of patient pretzels, and roasted nuts of kindness, and invitations extended to those Americans willing to sit down and partake of a "teachable moment."
With this incident, the president has the wind to his back. He has a pretext with which to engage racism, and to launch such an initiative. In addition, he has the means to establish a National Summit On Race, using the Internet and cable news networks to promote and present this national discussion.
Twitter, and blogs could be used before, after, and during the summit to make this effort truly national and open to most Americans. One of the nice features is that the summit will attract an international audience. By virtue of our efforts, the people of the world may be induced to start their on dialogs on race.
I'm sure the president is aware of Fox News' eagerness to make his administration all about race, and to create a climate that's potentially explosive. In recent months, he's been placed in the cross hairs of the likes of Glenn Beck and other opportunists, Beck, himself, only recently calling the president a "racist." Because of their divisive efforts, the president might be receptive to the idea of a national summit.
If you think the idea has merit, please join me in inviting the president to consider such a proposal, and ask friends, family, and others to do the same.
For your convenience, I have included a link to the White House contact page.
Black Diaspora.....
Brilliant! Just brilliant.... your analysis and your idea.....
Cant we all just get along...
In the interest of clarity, capital J is my handle. Anonymous j is lowercase.
Just to avoid confusion on the matter. I see people responding to Anonymous j with a capital J.
Wow. This is getting ridiculous!
FN, I can always count on you give it to us straight no chaser like you have done in your usual style. Why you have not written a book baffles me.
This didn't turn out too well for black folks, did it?
Obama, Gates and Lashley all look like suckas now.
Black Diaspora,
Great posts.
I thought I was the only one who had noticed the dissing of Red Strip. As a proud African and Grenadian, but truly international citizen, I'm offended :). Also Sammy I read that article. My hood here in the UK has a large Hasidic Jew population and you will never see one of their elders living in that condition
Personally, I would have preferrd a Briesling on the white house lawn, but whatever.
The problem with the Gates situation is the Law and EVERYONE involved with it: The Police, Judges, and Lawyers.
"My hood here in the UK has a large Hasidic Jew population and you will never see one of their elders living in that condition"
Yes, I am sure they take care of their own to the extent that they would never allow such a thing happen to an elder. Unfortunately, here in the wealthy good-ole USA where people really care(sarcasm), there probably are other poor black elders living in 3rd World conditions that no one cares about.
What a terrible way to die!
"Obama, Gates and Lashley all look like suckas now."
Well, Gates doesn't look so esteemed now. Harvard will need to replace him with someone who can handle the lofty position with maturity, calm and grace.
I think Obama should have just stuck with what he said the first time, that the whole thing was bs. I keep hearing how Gates was disrespectful to the police, but I also challenge one person to answer why they should have stayed there after the guy proved it was his home and shouldn't have been mad? As for this beer summit, I think the only thing I have learned is that you're not going to calmly be able to just sit down with folks like this and magically get them to have this emotional catharsis that what they did was stupid. I understand Obama wants to be the peacemake and is really doing what every hoped he would do (at least that was what they were telling us), but it just doesn't work. Unless the other guy is actually going to have to go through something, nothing will change.
This is from Newshounds:
This bears repeating.
Why go after Beck when you can go after the whole enchilada, i.e., News Corporation's assets.
News Corporation is already losing money on MySpace and Fox Interactive Media. Also, they have to pay $300 million dollars in damages to Valassis Communications, Inc. News Corporation will appeal, but we hope the jury says no.
1. Don't purchase books published by HarperCollins.
2. Don't purchase Wall Street Journal and New York Post.
3. Don't use Hulu.com
4. Don't use IGN.com for video games.
5. Cancel your MySpace and Photobucket accounts. Tell them why.
Don't use anything owned and operated by News Corporation.
Mark Hurd, Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President of Hewlett-Packard sits on the News Corporation board of directors. Contact him and demand that Beck apologizes for his remarks about Obama or you will not purchase any products from Hewlett-Packard. We've already sent a message to him.
Mark Hurd
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/exectea...hurd/ index.html
If you know any shareholders of News Corporation, ask them to demand Beck apologize.
Write letters to the editor asking investors to avoid News Corporation at all cost.
_____________________________
If all progressives go tell their church, frats,sororities,clubs, to boycott all FOX movies they would go bankrupt.Going after their advertisers is nice ,but we should try to damage FOX. E-mail entertainers to make anti-FOX songs, E-mail actors to not work for them,write you local newspapers and media and tell them to go after them.
Anonymous said...
"Obama, Gates and Lashley all look like suckas now."
Well, Gates doesn't look so esteemed now. Harvard will need to replace him with someone who can handle the lofty position with maturity, calm and grace.
_____________________________________
On behalf of my mother who work as a waitress and served Eugene "Bull" Connors,my Grandmother who worked as a domestic, and the rest of my family, Fuck FOX, Fuck neo-cons, and Fuck America.
What you have is a loud-mouthed clueless moron, a left-wing butthead racist academic, a cop, and an egomaniac who thinks he should rule the world. Yeah, I've been to that bar before
Damn if you are going to be a racist at least be original, you are a plagiarist.
That quote was stolen straight from a headline on the Ace of Spades Blog.
Simple-minded morans, indeed.
Fuck FOX, Fuck neo-cons, and Fuck America.
I agree with you on the firs two; however, fuck America? Didn't your momma tell you to never piss in your own pool? I'm sure there are a few million illegals who who gladly be willing to trade places with you. Maybe you should give it a try.
Hey Field,
How about a useful article or two? Something on health the care maybe? You do no there are other things going on besides Skip's pissing contest with whitey right?
Heard (of) you on NPR last night debating HR-Gate and had to turn the radio off I was so pissed. I don't normally call bros House Negros, but Professor Jiggaboo earned it last night. "Skip may not have been as innocent as he wants us to believe.." AS INNOCENT? He WAS/IS INNOCENT! Yet his 'disrespect' gets him arrested. DISRESPECTING A WHITE COP IS NOT A CRIME. Had a black cop walked in Rush Limbaugh's house & got cussed out, I'd expect that same fool to tell that cop "not u know u got no business up in massa Rush's house." Damn, I'm so ashamed of my people laying down like that. Keep doing what you do, until we own the house. Then I'll be a house negro.
Black Diaspora, your words were very moving and eloquent. Thank you for sharing your wisdom.
Personally, I think the "teachable moment" here was that this event served as yet another racial Rorscach test (ala the varying reactions to the first OJ trial resulting in an acquital) and shows that in general white Americans, and black Americans view issues involving race in vastly different ways. We blacks tend to be suspicious and wary of whites, we still feel the sting of racism and as someone recently mentioned, many of us suffer from Post-Tramatic Slavery Syndrome, even thought it has been anywhere between 2-4 generations since we were legally enslaved; those shackles still linger in our minds and impact how we are seen, how we react, and how we see America. Many white Americans tend to see racism as an abstraction, many don't believe it exists or that it is pretty rare and that unless someone uses the "n" word or some similar derogatory term, burns a cross on a lawn, is a skinhead or a Klansmen or some other white supremacist, no one is racist, ie. "normal" white folks aren't racist. I grew up in a mostly white area and have many white friends, and more often than not when racial issues it is very difficult. I have recently been told by a good white friend, that I should let it go b/c I'm middle class and it "doesn't impact me", another asked me and another minority friend who were discussing racial issues at happy hour while she was half paying attention and fiddling with her blackberry to change the subject b/c it made her uncomfortable, and that same friend almost had a coniption when I told her I didn't think Obama went to a racist church and that Rev Wright was making larger philosopical arguments about the nature of institutional racism and was making a foreign policy critique of the Bush administration. She was not having it, even when I pointed out that Rev Wright was a decorated Marine, had been a medic of some kind with the Navy and assisted an operation on LBJ, had a PhD and many white congregants so he didn't seem to be the type who "hated" white people per say just the things a white power structure does. After that we agreed to not discuss politics at all. It is very hard to discuss these issues when you aren't on the same page and have a fundamentally different way of looking at the world. It's sad but I think this situation only served to harden the lines on both sides and to make each side look at the other side more and more like they are crazy. Sigh.
Ok Field - I'm going to really piss you off!
I hate to say this - and you know I respect you, but...
Banks beer (Barbados) is better.
http://www.banksbeer.com/
Just can't get it in this country like you can Red Stripe.
At least they didn't drink Coors...
Hoot and a Holla said...
Fuck FOX, Fuck neo-cons, and Fuck America.
I agree with you on the firs two; however, fuck America? Didn't your momma tell you to never piss in your own pool? I'm sure there are a few million illegals who who gladly be willing to trade places with you. Maybe you should give it a try.
___________________________
FOX have been telling black America fuck you since they been on the air.I stand by what I said one million percent.When I say fuck America I mean people like those in WV and Kentucky that said on national television that they weren't voting for a nigger.People like Glenn Beck that called the President a racist. People like Sean Hannity that daily attacks black people.Most so called Americans should be outraged that FOX continues to spew this racist filth at black America. So when racist whites are telling me and my family fuck them, why shouldn't I tell them the same thing?
falling deeper in quick sand with one finger up...looking for a post with health care as the major subject...oops here comes the police...
Anonymous mellaneous said...Folks have to leave their comfort zone!
@ mellaneous - DUDE! That was brilliant. That's what I am trying to do! Man, it has been uncomfortable too, LOL, but we keep on trying, right?
btx3 said...
Ok Field - I'm going to really piss you off!
I hate to say this - and you know I respect you, but...
Banks beer (Barbados) is better.
http://www.banksbeer.com/
Just can't get it in this country like you can Red Stripe.
At least they didn't drink Coors...
11:46 AM
________________________________
Oh yes they did. Blue Moon is made by Pete Coors. Officer Crowley had it there for a reason. It's the talk of right wing radio. Yes he basically told black people F-you.
So when racist whites are telling me and my family fuck them, why shouldn't I tell them the same thing?
Uhh. because you just said "fuck America" not "fuck racist white families." That wasn't at all clear in your statement.
Lisamj,
You described pretty well why "racial dialogues" are a big ol' waste of time. It puzzles me why people keep calling for one. Perhaps we should just take the lesson the cop and the scholar took from the "Beer Summit." Agree to disagree.
kid said...
This is from Newshounds:
This bears repeating.
Why go after Beck when you can go after the whole enchilada, i.e., News Corporation's assets.
News Corporation is already losing money on MySpace and Fox Interactive Media. Also, they have to pay $300 million dollars in damages to Valassis Communications, Inc. News Corporation will appeal, but we hope the jury says no.
1. Don't purchase books published by HarperCollins.
2. Don't purchase Wall Street Journal and New York Post.
3. Don't use Hulu.com
4. Don't use IGN.com for video games.
5. Cancel your MySpace and Photobucket accounts. Tell them why.
Ya'll might want to boycott pork rinds and malt liquor.
So ya'll can lower ya'll is blood pressure.
I do not think Professor Gates and Officer Crowley were innocent in this incident. Both were wrong, but I can understand Gates position of coming home from a long trip and having to deal with the police at your door. I have to say that I do not take people or things at face value.
Crowley did not want to attend the beer moment with the President and Gates, but he would longer look symphathic with the public and really asked a deeper question if he was racist.
My teachable moment is the more things change, the more they stay the same. Human beings are not going to change their belief systems because it is the one constant thing in our lives. People will continue to be on the side of Prof. Gates while other people will continue to be on side of Crowley. I am on neither side because the fact of the matter is I was not there to witness anything and I still have to question my objectivity about the matter. It is difficult to be objective when you have so much to benefit from. I am not in same professional status of Gates, and not in the same status of Crowley. However, there is a larger picture and that is police profiler which affects a disproportionate number of black males from a lower socio-economic status. Another fact, although, I think it was wrong to charge Prof Gates with disorderly conduct, but the charges were dropped and partly because of who he is. Race and class, but race does trump class.
We do not have honest discussions about race, but we do not have that discussion about class either. If anything, Gates could use his status to have a larger discussion about racial profiler from the perspective of the individuals it affects the most.
Lastly, it would not have matter what President would have or not done because there is no winning. He will not win with whites and he will not win with blacks. Catch 22damned if you do, and damned if you don't. It will really an impossible situation that we create and yet we wonder why we do not get the results we want. Eventually something will have to give and we may not like the outcome.
Anonymous said...
So when racist whites are telling me and my family fuck them, why shouldn't I tell them the same thing?
Uhh. because you just said "fuck America" not "fuck racist white families." That wasn't at all clear in your statement.
11:58 AM
___________________________
Your punk ass didn't seem too outraged when MR.R told us to lay off the Malt Liquor and pork rinds.
Besides Pat Buchanan said whites build this country and fought all its wars. My late Uncle William McKinley was on Iwo Jima. when he came back he had to ride in the back of the train.If you feel hurt by what I said then you are now understanding who I feel watching FOX.
"..It is very hard to discuss these issues when you aren't on the same page and have a fundamentally different way of looking at the world."
Yes. A big problem lies in the way some Blacks and Whites feel, according to race and color. However, I don't think ALL Blacks and Whites necessarily feel differently in all cases when they are in sync with honoring justice and doing the right thing as human beings without regard to race. I believe that is what Americans have to learn: to transcend race. It's a farce anyway. There really is no such thing as race.
I personally thought Rev Wright was 'off the chart' with his rhetoric and behavior while Obama was campaigning for President. So, I agree with your white friend. Rev Wright pissed me off too.
kid said...
Besides Pat Buchanan said whites build this country and fought all its wars.
So white folks played no part in building this country?
There was a war that white people didn't fight in?
Mr. R
Name an American war black folks didn't fight in.
Most of 'em before we even were considered citizens.
Kid-"If you feel hurt by what I said then you are now understanding who I feel watching FOX."
Kid stop watching FOX. Surely by now you have learned that they are against you, and will insult you? So why are you watching FOX? Only a stupid person who likes to be insulted and put down would watch FOX.
Sometimes I wish you were born White because you are the kind of person that not only shames his race, but your ignorance is so profound that you manage to cross racial barriers where you shame the entire human race.
You might consider dropping the dumb ass statement-"Fuck America". In fact, get rid of the word "Fuck". You don't know how to use it. It tends to show your stupidity, your rage, and your ill-willed intent.
Anonymous said...
"..It is very hard to discuss these issues when you aren't on the same page and have a fundamentally different way of looking at the world."
Yes. A big problem lies in the way some Blacks and Whites feel, according to race and color. However, I don't think ALL Blacks and Whites necessarily feel differently in all cases when they are in sync with honoring justice and doing the right thing as human beings without regard to race. I believe that is what Americans have to learn: to transcend race. It's a farce anyway. There really is no such thing as race.
I personally thought Rev Wright was 'off the chart' with his rhetoric and behavior while Obama was campaigning for President. So, I agree with your white friend. Rev Wright pissed me off too.
_________________________
Rev.Wright served in the Navy and the Marines. He saved a Presidents life, look at his wikipedia entry.He should have told America to kiss his black ass.
Name an American war black folks didn't fight in.
Black have fought in America's Wars. For example, thousands fought in the Revolutionary War; however, the vast majority fought for England. Of course, blacks also fought in the Civil War, World War One and World War Two, Korea and Vietnam. No one is debating that. Buchannan stated that whites were the vast majority of soldiers in these conflicts and battles like Gettysburg and Normandy were almost completely white.
I believe that is what Americans have to learn: to transcend race.
How would you get Americans to "transcend race."?
hennaspace-"My teachable moment is the more things change, the more they stay the same. Human beings are not going to change their belief systems because it is the one constant thing in our lives."
I love it when you give your perspective. It is so clear and in the present moment. I agree that people tend to hang on to their belief systems despite the need to change. I think they do change, however, when the suffering becomes so great that they are forced to change or die. That's when suffering becomes transformative.
IMHO, the suffering from racism is going to transform us, or we will die. Any bets on what it will be?
A+
Kid-"Rev.Wright served in the Navy and the Marines. He saved a Presidents life, look at his wikipedia entry.He should have told America to kiss his black ass."
No, Kid. He should have been more magnaminous than what you are advocating. I also served in the military and have a few medals from fighting for our country. I won't "damn America"...it is my home where my family, friends, church, love ones, etc.
In short, America is where my life is.
B.D., I am much, much, MUCH more worried about the health care situation than I am about l'affaire Gates. The imminent failure of health care reform is infinitely more dangerous to the huge majority black people and white people in this country than a white cop's inappropriate arrest of an arrogant and uncivil black Harvard professor.
If health care reform fails, it will hurt the country badly, rip the Democratic Party to shreds, and be a large lead weight on Obama's presidency.
There is a whole lot to be accomplished, and I suggest that people who REALLY WANT PROGRESS ought to be contacting their representatives and Senators to reiterate their support for meaningful health care reform.
Right here and now, in the real world, that issue utterly swamps anything coming out of l'affaire Gates. It is time for people of all races to pay attention to what the hell really counts.
Christ, if I worked for the health insurance lobby, I'd be laughing my goddamn ass off at this one. I would consider it a virtual gift from God that this happened when it did, and got the political junkies thinking about something that has so little significance to anyone over time.
I don't know about anyone else here, but I'm paying damn near $1,000 a month out of my own pocket for health coverage that routinely denies my prescriptions and makes me jump through ridiculous hoops to make appeals. It scares the living shit out of me to think of what's coming, yet I realize that I am supposedly one of the "lucky" ones because I have coverage.
Now, I'd like to ask the black folks on this board: How's your health care? Can you afford it? Are you comfortable with this state of affairs? What's more likely to be a problem for you in the life you actually live -- a badge-heavy cop who arrests you when you get ticked off, or not being able to see a doctor, or your kids not getting the health care they need?
What about as you look forward for 10 or 20 years? What really matters? Isn't it time to think about what really counts?
Anonymous
You're beiung disingenuous.
Buchanan has stated repeatedly that America is a white Christian republic and black people are ungrateful beneficiaries of white endeavors.
Although when it was time for Buchanan to put on a uniform and fight for his country he ran like a pussy.
Buchanan has stated repeatedly that America is a white Christian republic and black people are ungrateful beneficiaries of white endeavors.
America has been a white Christian Republic for most of its existence. However, you are probably right about what Buchanan believes about blacks. I certainly don't agree with Buchanan on a variety of issues.
To continue: If we all want to settle scores, then lets think about at least settling the right scores. For one, I'd like to settle a score with my health insurance company that recently denied authorization for an expensive medication (expensive only because the drug company has jacked up the price, because they can) that I have been taking for the past decade.
"White privilege," which I do recognize as existing, didn't do a single goddamn thing for me in that case. I have equally white relatives who have broken down crying after dealing with their insurance companies.
Black people get excluded from health care. I have read stories of white people literally tossed out onto the front lawns of hospitals. Of black people who have fucking died for lack of basic health care.
Settle scores? You're goddamn fucking right there are scores to be settled. Settle 'em. Settle the right scores.
You are missing some key things grinder. The great part of "multiculturalism" for the elite is the ability to use it to divide people. A country like America (filled with disparate racial and ethnic groups) is prime ground for divide and rule. For examples, prro whites can be told "mexicans, black, etc. are to blame for your problems;" similarily, blacks will be concerned with "white privelage" in which all whites are supect. in the end, the weathly and elite win. The American public have too little in common to create a united front.
grinder
Any evidence that the people here discussing the Gates incident AREN'T concerned about healthcare.
Why does it always have to be either/or with some folks?
Would you walk up to someone at a baseball game and say "what are you doing here? You should be contacting your Congressman about healthcare!"
Ridiculous.
Black people can also walk and chew bubble gum at the same time too. FOX called health care slave reparations.We know where this is going.
Any evidence that the people here discussing the Gates incident AREN'T concerned about healthcare.
Why does it always have to be either/or with some folks?
Look at what's happened. In the two weeks that this Gates thing has had top billing, health care reform has fallen apart. The health insurance companies are spending $1 million a day to kill it, and the only way it will ever get through is if, for a while, the entire Democratic Party finds a way to unite and talk about nothing else.
You don't get situations like that very often. I hear you about being able to do two things at once. But I really do think this is an exception. I see health care slipping away, and I think that is a very, very, VERY big deal.
So if the Gates situation had not happened, the insurance companies WOULDN'T have spent millions in advertising dollars to kill healthcare reform?
Anon-"How would you get Americans to "transcend race."?"
Imho, we start with being dedicated and devoted to 'honesty', and 'doing what's right' without regard to skin color or race.
Of course, with Americans there must be desire, will, motivation, determination to do it.
Imho, we start with being dedicated and devoted to 'honesty', and 'doing what's right' without regard to skin color or race.
How do you do this when people can barely have civil conversations amongst one another? How do you overcome the past? I haven't heard any good suggestions from anyone on this. Holder came about the "national dialogue" but never followed up on it.
So if the Gates situation had not happened, the insurance companies WOULDN'T have spent millions in advertising dollars to kill healthcare reform?
They'd spend the money regardless, but they'd be facing a more unified Democratic Party. My point is that the other side on this one is playing for keeps, and I really don't think our side can afford to get wrapped around trees like the Gates situation.
When your house is on fire, do you spend your time rearranging the furniture?
Anonymous said...
Kid-"Rev.Wright served in the Navy and the Marines. He saved a Presidents life, look at his wikipedia entry.He should have told America to kiss his black ass."
No, Kid. He should have been more magnaminous than what you are advocating. I also served in the military and have a few medals from fighting for our country. I won't "damn America"...it is my home where my family, friends, church, love ones, etc.
In short, America is where my life is.
________________________________
When Rev.Wright said G-D America he was talking about blowback. He was commenting on what a analyst said on FOX. Who financed al Qaeda ? Good ole St Ronnie Reagan. You might as well say that Ronald Reagan blew up New York.Was America blessed when the planes hit the buildings?
Field, To be accurate, Its really only about 1.3 black guys...since Skippy's 80% and the Mullatto in Chief's 1/2... Little Ironic when you remember that whole 3/5 of a person thang...
And the Cop totally pussed out, if he had an ounce of self respect he'd have ordered a Coors... ADOLF COORS that is... but he knows which way the wind's blowin...
Still can't wait till one y'alls relatives steels the Professors flat screen...
Frank
Whatever the case, blowback, Reagan, retaliation, chickens coming home to roost, karma...whatever. The fact that he served in the military doesn't exonerate him for his wrongs.
Rev Wright acted a fool while Obama was running for President. Period. End of story. It was as if he intentionally tried to derail Obama's campaign.
This Gates/Crowley mess is BS. I don't trust either one. They both were wrong as far as I am concerned. If I were in my own house and an officer came, I would treat him with respect because I know as black man, I could be asking for trouble-considering half of them are crazy anyway.
If I were a policeman and was disrespected by a citizen, I would arrest his ass. As a cop, I don't need bullshit from a citizen. Get a lawyer, I don't care, but you are not going to yell and berate me and think nothing is going to happen. No way! I am going to lock your maniacal disrespectful ass up so that the next time you will think twice before you do it.
Here's another well-versed perspective on this matter...
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/07/27/goldstein/
Anonymous said...
Whatever the case, blowback, Reagan, retaliation, chickens coming home to roost, karma...whatever. The fact that he served in the military doesn't exonerate him for his wrongs.
Rev Wright acted a fool while Obama was running for President. Period. End of story. It was as if he intentionally tried to derail Obama's campaign.
2:25 PM
_________________________
Rev.Wright IS the only person in America to tell the truth about race.The President has to sugar coat it for the neo-cons.You do know that Rev. Wright got death threats for telling the truth. He was so smart that during the election he went to a place no FOX reporter would bother him,Africa. Roland Martin was shocked when he seen Rev. Wright in Africa. He didn't go there to buy Kinte cloth.
What about the false police report?
The MSM has failed to address this whole issue completely...FACT: Officer Crowley's report did not corroborate with the reportee's (Whalen) story about how this thing came down. And another thing...when did it become a crime in America to complain, rant or bitch on the front porch of your home?
I like Obama, but he caved under the pressure of the MSM and wingnuts...what exactly did he say that was so wrong? That comment about the police dept acting "stupidly" was dead on. His drawing a parallel to black men and racial profiling is what really got Drug Limbag and Glenn Feckless drawers in bunch. Its totally hypocritical for some here to complain about Rev. Wright (and the Kid pointed this out very clearly...) who serve HONORABLY in our armed forces while those two wingbags have never served one minute...not even in the fuggin boy scouts!
As a white man and former Vietnam veteran...there were many incidents of racism and discrimination in the military but I never recalled it being the black soldiers...as a matter of fact, the "brothers" I served with were ALL honorable men and were essential in keeping our platoon alive during a firefight in Binh Gai.
So to all you fuggin racist pinheads here fostering race hate...hell is really hot and there plenty of room for ya...
To continue: If we all want to settle scores, then lets think about at least settling the right scores. For one, I'd like to settle a score with my health insurance company that recently denied authorization for an expensive medication (expensive only because the drug company has jacked up the price, because they can) that I have been taking for the past decade.
"White privilege," which I do recognize as existing, didn't do a single goddamn thing for me in that case. I have equally white relatives who have broken down crying after dealing with their insurance companies.
Black people get excluded from health care. I have read stories of white people literally tossed out onto the front lawns of hospitals. Of black people who have fucking died for lack of basic health care.
Settle scores? You're goddamn fucking right there are scores to be settled. Settle 'em. Settle the right scores.
1:32 PM
@Anonymous 1:37...
"You are missing some key things grinder. The great part of "multiculturalism" for the elite is the ability to use it to divide people. A country like America (filled with disparate racial and ethnic groups) is prime ground for divide and rule. For examples, prro whites can be told "mexicans, black, etc. are to blame for your problems;" similarily, blacks will be concerned with "white privelage" in which all whites are supect. in the end, the wealthy and elite win. The American public have too little in common to create a united front."
NAILED IT!!!
That's how the power elite, politics and false media is used to keep us "divided and conquered".
The chimera of race war: CHECK
The perpetration of fear: CHECK
The enslavement to materialism: CHECK
WAKE UP PEOPLE...or our children are fucked!
anon 2:36pm said
If I were a policeman and was disrespected by a citizen, I would arrest his ass. As a cop, I don't need bullshit from a citizen. Get a lawyer, I don't care, but you are not going to yell and berate me and think nothing is going to happen. No way! I am going to lock your maniacal disrespectful ass up so that the next time you will think twice before you do it.
That EXACT thinking by cops is a major problem. The law does not read, "Cops reserve the right to lock your ass up for an attitude adjustment." Show me the statute on that.
Going to jail is not some trivial event. Most cities have the right to hold you for up to 48 hours before you go before a judge and if you get "lost" which happens, it can be longer. Then, if the judge sets a bail you cannot pay, then you stay in jail until your next court date, which is not your trial. Then you are still in jail until you can make bail or your trial, which can be months. In the meantime, jobs are lost, housing is lost, children's loss of a parent and ALL of the above scenario is BEFORE you have been convicted of anything! And, if the charges are thrown out at trial (and under mr. anonymous cop's scenario they most certainly would be), you have no recourse. You can try to sue, but that is little comfort for all you have lost.
All because you, Mr. Cop, wanted to wield some power, NOT LEGAL RIGHT, just power over... to teach someone a lesson.
La Incognita wondered how I could stomach some of the racist crap that gets thrown on this blog. I spend my "real world" time with some great folks that, we together, are actually doing something about it. I am very lucky to have some good folk in my life to laugh and cry with about this stuff. And we all move through.
But where I reserve my greatest anger is with the dehumanizing way in which people are treated in the dirty, rotten, criminal system. And the absolutely cavalier attitude of so many about it. We have created a society that seems quite comfortable with treating people who are arrested and/or convicted of crimes truly as less than human. The US Prisons are filled with torture (where do you think those national guardsmen learned their trade? They were prison guards in PA) and abuse. Society wants to pretend that everyone who is locked up is an animal. That just is not so. The human indignity and suffering I deal with on a daily basis is at once heart-breaking and at the same time, fuels my raging passion for justice.
So, Mr. hypothetical cop, I sincerely hope you are not a cop. And,if you are.... I REALLY hope our paths cross in a courtroom where our client is suing you and you are losing your job.
Frank:
"Still can't wait till one y'alls relatives steels the Professors flat screen..."
Whites stole a whole country, and steal land, and Africa's gold, diamonds,minerals, etc., and money.
But whites folks don't steal, right? I'm sure the Professor isn't worried about someone stealing his flat screen tv, it can be replaced. More than likely, he has insurance. He is probably more worried about white folks stealing his land or money.
Off Topic:
Jody, I sent you that info a few minutes ago.
Now, back to the topic. Jody, Amen!!
"America has been a white Christian Republic for most of its existence..."
Ding-ding...you are WRONG!
One of the most common statements from the "Religious Right" is that they want this country to "return to the Christian principles on which it was founded". However, a little research into American history will show that this statement is a lie. The men responsible for building the foundation of the United States had little use for Christianity, and many were strongly opposed to it. They were men of The Enlightenment, not men of Christianity. MOST were DEISTS who did not believe the bible was true. Jefferson was so miffed by the KG Bible that he authored HIS OWN BIBLE loosely based on the Geneva Bible....!
When the Founders wrote the nation's Constitution, they specified that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." (Article 6, section 3) This provision was radical in its day-- giving equal citizenship to believers and non-believers alike. They wanted to ensure that no single religion could make the claim of being the official, national religion, such as England had. Nowhere in the Constitution does it mention religion, except in exclusionary terms. The words "Jesus Christ, Christianity, Bible, and God" are never mentioned in the Constitution-- not once.
The Declaration of Independence gives us important insight into the opinions of the Founding Fathers. Thomas Jefferson wrote that the power of the government is derived from the GOVERNED. Up until that time, it was claimed that kings ruled nations by the authority of God. The Declaration was a radical departure from the idea of divine authority.
The 1796 treaty with Tripoli states that the United States was "in no sense founded on the Christian religion" (see below). This was not an idle statement, meant to satisfy muslims-- they believed it and meant it. This treaty was written under the presidency of George Washington and signed under the presidency of John Adams.
These are facts...not rants of wingnuts like Buchannan or Hannity.
Thank you anon 3:28.... Fun fact, PA was founded by William Penn, who was a Quaker. And Quakers are not Christian, contrary to popular belief. They recognize christians but their entire tenent is "Their is the light of God in All". Period. Any religious practitioner that says the same can be a Quaker. And, Quakers were some of the early pilgrims.
The President's Health Care reform BILL has not Failed! this is just another tactic used to dismiss this Bill, for if one were to say (what's the use, it's a lost cause)the DEMOCRAT'S would give up the Battle to keep fighting!! and this is one of the way's the Rep/Con Party will try to defeat the President!
This is all about the President! for if a Black President were to accomplish his goal, this would mean that a Black Man can do something that the other White President's, in the past could not do!! this would give the President another notch in his belt!
The so called (Blue Dog Democrat's) are really Rep/CON! their goal is to bring down the President!
In the word's of RUSH LIMBAUGH( I hope he Fail's) and how many Democrat's that are suppose to have the President's back, hope he Fail's! they want him to fail because he is a Black Man,so this let's us know that some Democrat's want their President to FAIL! but he will NOT!
Mr. R:
Yeah, I guess your right!
http://www.40ozmaltliquor.com/40/crew/bruzcolticebeer.jpg
http://michellemalkin.cachefly.net/michellemalkin.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/1aaaarinds.jpg
The 1796 treaty with Tripoli states that the United States was "in no sense founded on the Christian religion" (see below). This was not an idle statement, meant to satisfy muslims-- they believed it and meant it. This treaty was written under the presidency of George Washington and signed under the presidency of John Adams.
None the less, almost every soul in the nation was a Christian one. The founding Fathers were an anomaly.
I like Obama, but he caved under the pressure of the MSM and wingnuts
Believe it or not, Obama is a politician. Forget about the merits of it for a second. He lost a bunch of support by calling the Cambridge P.D. "stupid," and he'd have lost a whole lot more if he'd stuck with that line.
Now, what did he lose by reversing himself? Are black people going to turn Republican? I doubt it. Are liberals going to turn Republican? Not likely.
On sheer politics, it was a no-brainer for him to do a 180. And he IS a politician. Imagine that.
Kid-"Rev.Wright IS the only person in America to tell the truth about race.The President has to sugar coat it for the neo-cons.You do know that Rev."
Assuming Rev Wright was the only one in America (obviously you haven't heard of Tim Wise and a few others) to tell the truth it didn't go over very well. Obama had to give a speech to the nation from Philly. It was a great speech with understanding of the human heart. Rev Wright doesn't.
Regardless, Rev Wright lost my respect and Farrakhan gained more of my respect by shutting his mouth to not make things harder for Obama. Rev Wright hurt the Obamas spiritually and politically at that time, and I didn't appreciate it. Your excuse, "he only spoke the truth" is BS. There are ways to speak the truth: One way is to use the truth to level and be honest to help someone. The other way is to use it to level someone to the ground to not help them. Rev Wright used the latter. Now that wasn't very Christian of him, was it?
Thank you anon 3:28.... Fun fact, PA was founded by William Penn, who was a Quaker. And Quakers are not Christian, contrary to popular belief. They recognize christians but their entire tenent is "Their is the light of God in All". Period. Any religious practitioner that says the same can be a Quaker. And, Quakers were some of the early pilgrims.
The Anglican religion had for more of an effect on early America. It was connected to English Common Law which quickly spread in influence over America. Actually, the early Pilgrims were mostly Puritans in New England. Also, the early settlers of Virginia were from the Anglican Church as well. Pennsylvania came much later.
Rev Wright used the latter. Now that wasn't very Christian of him, was it?
Rev Wright, as you know, isn't a traditional Christian either. He is a proponent of Black Liberation theology, which was designed as a response to Malcolm X and his claim the Christianity was a "white man's religion." The father of liberation theology, James Cone, wanted something that addressed African American's directly. Cone called traditional Christianity a tool of the "white devil oppressor.
"None the less, almost every soul in the nation was a Christian one. The founding Fathers were an anomaly."
This is arguable...the Quakers were not Christian. And btw...the "Christianity" that's practiced today is FAR...FAR..from the way it was practiced then.
Also...you digress. The comment was whether this NATION was founded on "Christianity" and that would be a resounding NO!.
This has been a myth perpetrated for too long.
"Difference of opinion is advantageous in religion. The several sects perform the office of a common censor over each other. Is uniformity attainable? Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned; yet we have not advanced an inch towards uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the earth. We discover in the gospels a groundwork of vulgar ignorance, of things impossible, of superstition, fanaticism and fabrication ."
- Thomas Jefferson
Damn Thomas...that part ain't change much!
Let's see now, some have changed the topic "Happy Hour" to Rev Wright and Religion. A diversion, maybe?
Also...you digress. The comment was whether this NATION was founded on "Christianity" and that would be a resounding NO!.
You are right. I meant that the vast majority of Americans have always been Christian. By the way, much of that Christianity was founded on very harsh principles. Principles that often validated inborn social ranks and the justification of slavery. Ever heard of Ham and Noah? it's a classic example.
BTW- It's quite ironic to quote Thomas Jefferson on a site called "Field Negro."
BD
Your post is a teachable moment.
Just as our nation was at war in 1863 when Lincoln gave his now famous address, we are similarly engaged--but it's not a war were blood is spilled daily using canister balls, minnie balls, sabers, and lances, but the sharp edge of words, blunt ends of attitudes, and bigotry, and the canister balls of racial prejudice--the assaults originating both from individuals and institutions.
Fox News is leading the charge of the above tactics of this war and Dobbs, Beck, and others are pushing FOX agenda.
Color of Change is sending out petitions emails about Beck and Dobbs. I submitted mine immediately and hope others do the same.
Kudos to your FNOTD, my brother. Solomon Jones is the truth. I read Pipe Dream and The Bridge (two of his earlier titles), and they were beyond good. I'm glad to see you givin' this man the props he deserves.
I don't care what folks say, that still does not change the fact that a police officer may have lied and falsified a police report. To reward this police officer for falsifying a police report they've made him a hero. Who said crime does not pay? Evidently, they lied because in Crowley's behalf it paid off.
As for the health care issue, like anonymous said about the health:
"The President's Health Care reform BILL has not Failed! this is just another tactic used to dismiss this Bill, for if one were to say (what's the use, it's a lost cause)the DEMOCRAT'S would give up the Battle to keep fighting!! and this is one of the way's the Rep/Con Party will try to defeat the President!"
"This is all about the President! for if a Black President were to accomplish his goal, this would mean that a Black Man can do something that the other White President's, in the past could not do!!"
That is true. Right now, they're using devisive tactics to try and kill his influence. Why do you think MSM magnified the Gates vs Crowley incident? Why do you think that MSM is lying about the poll numbers? Remember they did the same thing during the election. Why do you think Fox and Rush are trying hard to label the President a racist?
Don't forget that MSM did not want the President to win the elections in the first place. After all, MSM is owned by corporations, and they have a ulterior motive for trying to sabatage the health bill as well, because the President said that the Health care initiative can be funded by the rich. CEO's make 300 times more than the average American. Think about it.
Those politicians that are fighting against the President have a stake in Health care as well, that's where they get their money from. Yes, they are undercover GOP as well.
Pharmaceuticals is big business and has a lot of kickback attached to it. I did research on it once because of interest in why medicine is so expensive. I was shocked to find out what I did.
Do you think those folks are gone go out without a fight? Their best tactic is to use divisive methods. Another thing, I've seen Crowley somewhere before, and I've been trying to place when and where. It had to be on tv, because I've never been to Mass, although, I do have relatives that live there. I don't usually forget a face.
"BTW- It's quite ironic to quote Thomas Jefferson on a site called "Field Negro."".....
Why is it ironic to quote T. Jeff on the FN?
I studied history as a minor in college and even though I recognize that the creators of this nation were enlightened men...they did some pretty fucked up shit at that time in history.
Actually, Jefferson was against slavery in the colonies...and no wonder, his mistress was a black woman. Jefferson was no hypocrite when it came to the slavery question – even his most
fervent detractors have to admit as much. He loathed slavery – this “great political and
moral evil,” he called it in the only book he publishedin his lifetime, Notes on Virginia.
His public and private writings throughout his life make it clear that he held the institution of slavery to be an abomination, its practice immoral and fundamentally
inconsistent with his ideas about the natural rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness". He was also against the financiers and bankers...he favored states rights and was a REAL REPUBLICAN...not like the carpetbaggers and race-baiters that infest the republican party today.
Republicanism was the chosen political ideal of most prominent black leaders in those times (yeah we did have them...did you know there were black senators and representatives in America before the Reconstructionist period?)
Shit...Frederick Douglass was a Republican...and everybody knows Dr. King was one.
Some reading for those interested...
http://www.temple.edu/lawschool/dpost/slavery.PDF
Sorry to go on a tangent folks...
"So, Mr. hypothetical cop, I sincerely hope you are not a cop. And,if you are.... I REALLY hope our paths cross in a courtroom where our client is suing you and you are losing your job."
Jody, Jody. I loved what you wrote. That criminal justice system is scary and no I am not a real cop. But if I were, I would explain the justice system exactly to the way you explained it to me--to the asshole yelling at me. Then I would give him a choice. Stop his fucking yelling at me or get arrested and run the risk of getting lost in the shuffle of an inhumane system.
Do you think he would shut up? I think he would if he knew the ramifications of what might happen. That's probably why most men don't mouth-off to cops. It's not worth taking the risk of being arrested.
Many thanks for explaining how our so-called justice system works. Sounds like an elaborate penal system similar to being at the bottom of a slave ship to me. I had no idea that there was so much bullshit and human suffering going into jail and getting out of jail.
BTW, when you post bail, do you get that money back? How is it quantified?
I wish there were more people like you in America. Again, thanks for the explanation. There ought to be a law against a system like ours.
Peace
US Soldiers Executing Gay Iraqis!!
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/7/30/759978/-Report:-US-Soldiers-Executing-Gay-Iraqis
Obama must stop this now.
Who's going to stop this Granny?
http://www.towleroad.com/2009/04/report-iraqi-militia-killing-gay-men-with-painful-form-of-anal-torture.html
Being a homosexual in Iraq is tantamount to heresy. For some time now iraqi militias have been executing know gays.
@Black Diaspora,
you write:
"With this incident, the president has the wind to his back. He has a pretext with which to engage racism, and to launch such an initiative. In addition, he has the means to establish a National Summit On Race, using the Internet and cable news networks to promote and present this national discussion.
Twitter, and blogs could be used before, after, and during the summit to make this effort truly national and open to most Americans. One of the nice features is that the summit will attract an international audience. By virtue of our efforts, the people of the world may be induced to start their on dialogs on race.
I'm sure the president is aware of Fox News' eagerness to make his administration all about race, and to create a climate that's potentially explosive. In recent months, he's been placed in the cross hairs of the likes of Glenn Beck and other opportunists, Beck, himself, only recently calling the president a "racist." Because of their divisive efforts, the president might be receptive to the idea of a national summit.
If you think the idea has merit, please join me in inviting the president to consider such a proposal, and ask friends, family, and others to do the same.""
________________________________
your beautifully thoughtful post moved me, I love your idea, I think you would make a great moderator of such an event,
also thanks for the link.
___________________________________
to anymous who keep on criticizing Reverend Wright, here's a snippet from Salon.com
about Mark Chryson chairman of Alaskan Independance Party, Palin's buddy:
"This has meant rubbing shoulders and forging alliances with outright white supremacists and far-right theocrats, particularly those who dominate the proceedings at such gatherings as the North American Secessionist conventions, which AIP delegates have attended in recent years. The AIP's affiliation with neo-Confederate organizations is motivated as much by ideological affinity as by organizational convenience. Indeed, Chryson makes no secret of his sympathy for the Lost Cause. "Should the Confederate states have been allowed to separate and go their peaceful ways?" Chryson asked rhetorically. "Yes. The War of Northern Aggression, or the Civil War, or the War Between the States -- however you want to refer to it -- was not about slavery, it was about states' rights."
furthermore,Reverend Wright was highly criticised for his statements, but Palin's Alaskan Independance Party founder say something like gd american and her institutions and no one even cared.
AIP scrubbed his statement off their website, but Huffington Post wrote an article about it during the elections, it got a whopping 47 comments!
Do you not see the double standard here?
Kid-"Rev.Wright IS the only person in America to tell the truth about race.The President has to sugar coat it for the neo-cons.You do know that Rev."
Rev. Wright is a nigger wearing a white sheet. Wants to be treated like a Nubian king yet anytime anyone gives him a little of his own medicine he cries for backup like a little baby boy. He was called a nigger and a boy 50 years ago? Sadly enough they both fit today. He lives parasitically on white guilt.
Michael Richards and Don Imus are the only ones in American who the truth about race. All other whites have to sugar coat it for the dumbass race card playing blacks
kathy said...
furthermore,Reverend Wright was highly criticised for his statements, but Palin's Alaskan Independance Party founder say something like gd american and her institutions and no one even cared.
AIP scrubbed his statement off their website, but Huffington Post wrote an article about it during the elections, it got a whopping 47 comments!
Do you not see the double standard here?
Um, no.And its a lame attempt to try to compare the two.
"Reverend Wright was highly criticised "
You also forget Rev. Wright's racist rants in church was defended by most of the media.
Anonymous said...
Shit...Frederick Douglass was a Republican...and everybody knows Dr. King was one.
Some reading for those interested...
Sorry to go on a tangent folks...
_________________________________
You're a pretty disingenuous mother fucker aren't you.
Yes more than 100 years ago Republicans helped black people, now they screw them. Martin Luther King said he was a Democratic Socialist, his words not mine.Reagan was a democrat until he seen F.D.R. helping black people, so the evil sick sorry bastard became a Republiklan.
"...Actually, Jefferson was against slavery in the colonies...and no wonder, his mistress was a black woman. Jefferson was no hypocrite when it came to the slavery question"
______________________________
You're also a stupid mother fucker. Because he RAPED a black woman and was a slave master he was against slavery? I don't understand your logic.
Anonymous said...
Kid-"Rev.Wright IS the only person in America to tell the truth about race.The President has to sugar coat it for the neo-cons.You do know that Rev."
Rev. Wright is a nigger wearing a white sheet. Wants to be treated like a Nubian king yet anytime anyone gives him a little of his own medicine he cries for backup like a little baby boy. He was called a nigger and a boy 50 years ago? Sadly enough they both fit today. He lives parasitically on white guilt.
Michael Richards and Don Imus are the only ones in American who the truth about race. All other whites have to sugar coat it for the dumbass race card playing blacks
5:18 PM
_____________________________
Anonymous : If you are so tough why don't you get a name you white punk ass mother fucking bitch.
Peckerwood, red neck ,white trash, ofay, cracker, and the grand daddy of them all MF which means slave master.Think you're pretty tough messing with 12% of the population.First ladies excuse me for saying this to this punk but it must be done,YOU ARE A PUSSY!
Okay, hold up now! Who is using my name to post? I did not post that post at 4:55. So, now which one of you jerks used my name to post that? First of all, I don't even know how to post where my name shows up black instead of blue.
I see someone is trying to be funny now and trying to pretend that they are me. I don't play that!!!!!!! I just came back into the house and happened scroll to read the other comments made after I left and see someone using my name. Oh no you don't!!! I don't play little childish games.
I'm sitting here waiting for someone to fess up and tell me why they used my name and who did it!!!!
Was it you Mr R? Or was it you Frank? Or one of the anonymous people. You see, I didn't say anything but Prophetess was right when she said that people been coming on here using more than one name and trying to pretend to be someone else, and I cosign with her.
I picked that up on too, myself, and had been watching it. If you think that is a slick move on your behalf, well, think again. Because they are a couple of people on this blog with very sharp discernment. Don't play with me like that and get me to exposing who you are and it's several on here that don't want folks to know who they are with their spying self.
Don't include and use my name in your little game though. No one represents me, I can represent myself, and I've been doing pretty at that for many years now. I stand every inch of ground I walk on offline and online and don't need no backup.
Okay, I see that the person that posted in my name at 4:55, seems to think I'm playing with them and does not want to fess up. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Thank you Granny, I am ANON:3:42/Prophetess Wallace/ and I am so glad we can see beyond the smoke screen! some of these people on this form are all over the place!
God revealed a White Police Officer with a badge and GUN! and this officer is full of RAGE! he called a Black Professor a JUNGLE MONKEY!!! and not only that, but he went on to say, (if it was him, he would have Sprayed Pepper in a innocent black man's FACE!!!! and if that is not enough, he went on to say, GATE'S should go back to his JUNGLE ROOT'S! and to top it off this is a Young WHITE MAN!!! where did all of this RAGE come from!!!! are you born a RACIST!
People we are in battle with GOLIATH! and trust me, he is all over America in full RAGE! and he is in the form of the Angry White MAN!!!!
These people have come out of the woodwork, and they want to get US! and US being African American's/ never mind Hispanic's! sorry but, they are not being called Monkey's and Gorilla's/ but, once Sotomayor is fully elected the Hispanic's will get their Dose of the Angry White Man!!! he will come after them with a Vengeance!!!!
Oh, and the woman who made that phone call, her battle is with the police department! she made the phone call, they LIED on her, and now she is ANGRY at them, GATE'S has nothing to do with that!
Granny, I'm still trying to figure out what sense it made... what was the point? I mean, really.
I was going to say something nasty about all these anonymous people earlier, but I deleted it. It's becoming frustrating. Has anyone seen Chris, they were getting on his nerves some months back, I think they chased him.
Now, officer Crowley, that means if your telling the truth on your police report then the woman is lying. She said she never told you what you wrote in that police report. So, maybe, you and her need to have a beer now.
Like a missile lock on!!!
A lie is a lie ia a lie!
Nobody wants to touch on what you just made so painfully obvious.Whites & slave catcher black cops,are giving to much wiggle room,They can lie & white america accepts this as part of thier 'dangerous job' Granny your wisdom is priceless.
Granny the same fools tried to jack Kathy name as well. Then someone took one of my quotes and change what I said too.Republiklans only have one weapon left, lies.
Damn field you have a serious Troll infestation!
It's killing your Blog Brah!
Prophetess Wallace:
Amen! Some of these folks gone find out what is meant by "Touch not my prophets and do my prophets no harm."
Prophetess, I know you see beyond, because of things you've talked to me about in private. But some of these people think it's a myth or imagination or fairy tale. Lord, if they only knew how real it truly is. I guess, when I was giving them a word of things to come, they thought that I was pulling it out of a hat. Magic, huh? Smh!
What they don't understand is you and I might have two different styles, but we both on the same mission to help them see what they do not see and cannot see. They'll get it one day. I guess!
Kid:
You've known Granny longer than anyone on here, and as long as you've known me, have you ever known me to play games? Or sign my name in black? I don't even know how to do that. These people are more desperate than they let on. They've resorted to tricks and lies, and of course, now, forging others identities. Smh!
That's not even my style of writing.
I'll be back, I got an appointment, and I'm gone be late.
Anon @ 6:10. Lol.
I am a white man, and you're right... I am waiting patiently for Sotomayor to be confirmed and then I will UNLEASH MY ANGER ON THE HISPANICS!!!! Finally. I've waited so long, and her confirmation will be the proverbial straw. I mean, are you serious?
On a side note, I think most whites have less of a problem with most hispanics, because their family/community structure is generally healthier and better for society than the black community.
Granny: I'm curious... what are you "warning" the imposter about? I mean specifically what are you going to do to them? Lol. I'd be a little annoyed too, but internet chat threats always make me chuckle.
Kid: You're a real wit aren't you? How about the fact that many of the slaves in the colonies were sold into slavery by other blacks? And how about the fact that Africans enslaved Africans for centuries, well before European arrival on the continent? Slavery's aweful, but if folks round here like to be a little too Eurocentric when it comes to laying blame. Or at least remembering history. Moreover, what about the fact that slavery still exists? And it's mostly Africans enslaving other Africans. It's almost as though Western European society is expected to be better than other societies and exempt from activities that were/(are?) common among Africans themselves.
I don't say any of that to condone slavery. Thank God it's done with in this country. Can we get a little intellectual honesty up in here though? Or at least, concern about those still enslaved?
Nah, too inconvenient.
Granny when it's in black it means they posted anonymously, no hyperlink.On Greta's site sometimes they would post with a hyperlink. People can tell it's you by looking at your IP address.
Dmd said...
Anon @ 6:10. Lol.
I am a white man, and you're right... I am waiting patiently for Sotomayor to be confirmed and then I will UNLEASH MY ANGER ON THE HISPANICS!!!! Finally. I've waited so long, and her confirmation will be the proverbial straw. I mean, are you serious?
_________
Let me teach you something fool. European slaverywas the most barbaric. All slavery is wrong, but slaves in Afarica actually became kings. Kunta Kinte grandmother was a slave. In Africa slaves had to be treated well.Blacks were considered animals and non human to Europeans.
Rev.Ike just passed. Someone on Druge site said they wished it was Rev.Wright.
Hey Dmd:
Keep talking maybe you may convince a black Republiklan to turn into a Democrat.
Kid: First of all citing one instance in which a relative of a king was a slave means jack to me. How many generations was that family enslaved before the coronation? For all I know (and I'll admit I didn't spend hours researching Kunta Kinte's family history) that family may have been slaves for 8 generations before "earning" their freedom. Slavery didn't even persist here that long. Persists in Africa though.
And all slaves were not treated well in African slavery. As a whole they may have been treated *better* but let's not get carried away and say they were treated "well."
Honestly though, I don't post on here to argue about who's form of slavery was worse. Most of the time I post out of sheer surprise at the hyperbole folks on here often post. I mean, there's no arguing America's history of racism and the fact that it is still a problem (though the degree of the problem may be disputed), but comments made by Prophetess up there are just outright laughable. But it never ceases to surprise me the outpouring of support that comments like that get here. I'd be more inclined to join into a respectfull and logical conversation if one was actually ongoing.
As for convincing a black R to turn into a D.... Very unlikely any ole anonymous white dude on FN blog could talk them out of a position he or she holds in spite of overwhelming hatred and scorn they've had to endure from black folks. To endure that kind of segregation from within, odds are they have counted the cost many times and have *still* found the Dems wanting.
Maybe all of your reflexive rage towards whites, and incessent cursing will draw them into the fold?
Dmd:
Oh, aren't we the condescending one, dmd, huh? You with your arrogant self. BTW, why do you hang out on a blog that you feel the people lack enough intelligence for you? You can always leave, we won't miss you, if that's what your worried about. There's the door, what's your hurry?
As for the race card, there is no such thing. Now, a reality card on the other hand does exist. How about this though, white people who love to play the DENIAL card and love to change the topic to the black community to keep from having a real talk about racism.
BTW, since you spoke up, was it you who used my identity to post and has come on using several different identities. Now, could that be you?
BTW, no usually has to start their post off with I'm a white man. We have white folks that have been posting on here longer than you that are white, and funny they never had to start their post with what color they are. Frankly, I don't think anyone cares.
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