Tricking the field and killing Barack.

People accuse me of being a racism chaser but I am really not. You would be surprised how many e-mails I get with cases of my man racism -possibly- acting up. I choose not to blog about some of these stories because I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. Take my girl Lynn Jenkins (R-Kansas) for instance. When she made her GOP needs a "great white hope" statement a few weeks ago, many of you folks were fit to be tied, because you just knew Lynn was expressing a racist sentiment, and that she was just saying out loud what a lot of white folks (particularly those in the very small GOP tent) were thinking to themselves. She, of course, said it wasn't true. She said she did not understand the racial implications of her statement and it was just an innocent remark taken out of context.

Well, me being the nice guy that I am, and a person who is trying very hard to move into a post racial A-merry-ca with the rest of you, let it slide. I gave her the benefit of the doubt and believed her when she said that she had no clue. Some of you told me that I was being played, and that my racial antennas were getting soft. Well, I hate to say it, but you all might have been right.

Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.) took a bit of heat a few weeks ago for suggesting the GOP needed a "great white hope" to take on President Barack Obama in the next election.
The Kansas Republican backtracked from her remarks soon thereafter, insisting that she hadn't really understood the racial implications of the statement.

Alas, The Ottawa (Kans.) Herald finds one reason to doubt Jenkins's excuse. A month ago, the freshman lawmaker supported a resolution that included the very phrase "great white hope" in a historical context that made clear its origin.

In late July, the House of Representatives passed, by unanimous consent, a measure urging the president to pardon heavyweight champion boxer Jack Johnson, whose career brought him success in the ring and racist vitriol outside of it. Included in the resolution, which passed on July 29, was the following phrase:

"Whereas the victory by Jack Johnson over Tommy Burns prompted a search for a White boxer who could beat Jack Johnson, a recruitment effort that was dubbed the search for the 'great white hope.'"

Well I will be damned! Racism, you tricked me again. You are one sneaky son of a bitch.

Article here:

Oh, and before I go, I have one more story of wingnuts gone wild:

"A Tempe
pastor is raising eyebrows with his prayers that include his pleas for the death of President Barack Obama.

Steven Anderson, 28, was featured on CNN this week for the content of his sermons, including one earlier this month titled "Why I Hate Barack Obama." An audio of the sermon posted on Anderson's Web site includes what Anderson contends is proof found in scripture that "God hates Barack Obama."

Anderson gave the sermon on Aug. 16 while Obama and his family were visiting Arizona.
"I'd like to see Barack Obama melt like a snail tonight," Anderson said in the sermon, referencing the practice of pouring salt on slugs. "He ought to be aborted."'

*Article here:

Now now pastor, didn't the good lord say that we should "let everything we do be done with love"? That doesn't seem too loving to me. I think that somewhere in heaven Jesus is weeping.

*Thanks for the link Dena.

A-murder-ca!

With all due respect to my girl Gladys Knight, I think I am going to stay off that "Midnight Train To Georgia. I'm sorry, Georgia just isn't a place I want to be right now. You all have a serious killer on the loose and until you have him in custody I think will pass on those peaches.

Thing is, this is the kind of tragedy I would expect to happen in Atlanta, but not in a rural trailer park for crying out loud. The poor people of Brunswick must be on some serious edge right now. I guess that's how the people in a lot of inner cities feel 24/7 with the urban terrorist running loose.

"Mary Strickland, who owns The Georgia Pig, a popular local barbecue place said people have been buzzing about the killings and mainly want to know what happened.
"I think a lot of people who live in that area would feel a lot better if they had a little more information," Strickland said. "If it is a murder-suicide then let people know so they don't think there's some lunatic out there. We got a lot of people who panic and the more information you put out there, the better you make them feel."

I agree Mary.

"Lisa Vizcaino, who has lived at New Hope for three years, said the management works hard to keep troublemakers out of the mobile home park and that it tends to be quiet.
"New Hope isn't run down or trashy at all," Vizcaino said Saturday. "It's the kind of place where you can actually leave your keys in the car and not worry about anything."'

I don't agree, Lisa. "New Hope isn't run down or trashy at all"? Ahhm, is that a picture of New Hope? Because if it is, you might have to define "trashy" for me.

But let me stop, your community has been through enough. As someone who lives in a community where we have had our share of mass killings I know it can't be easy. And I should and do feel your pain. That's the thing, here in A-murder-ca, we are all just one community. Whether you live in a trailer park on an old plantation, or in a concrete jungle on the east coast.

Finally, speaking of communities with mass killings; seems there was a double slaying up at Virginia Tech last week and that killer is still on the loose. What the hell is going on in A-murder-ca? Has it always been this bad with the killings and mayhem? Or is this a new phenomenon like "Wii games"? I feel for the people of Virginia Tech, too. They have had some issues recently with mass killings. And, not to mention, someone was recently beheaded on campus. (Yes, beheaded!) By all accounts, these latest victims were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“They were both godly young people, the cream of the crop..."

Hell, maybe we all are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A proper sendoff and a clown.

*

I must confess that I am not into funerals. I don't like the fact that you can't be honest about the life that someone lived just because they are now dead. Besides, I don't like the finality and the sense of the inevitable that comes with such occasions. When the day comes that the wheels come off this ride of life that I have been on, Mrs. Field has been instructed to burn what will be left of my body and sprinkle the ashes off the coast of Falmouth, Jamaica, the town where I was born. Since I am not particularly religious I will leave that part up to her.

Having said that, Ted Kennedy had a wonderful sendoff. Obama's eulogy was on point, and his -Kennedy's-sons gave sincere and heartfelt goodbyes. His wife's grief was genuine and seeing all those former presidents just added to the moment. Yep, that was certainly a memorable moment in A-mery-ca's history.

I hate to put the two in the same blog post, but I can't let today go by without commenting on a disturbing link that my friend, Sharon from Wisconsin, sent me from the New Republic. It involves our old friend, Jesse L. Peterson, and I am so embarrassed and repulsed by this negro (No caps in Negro when referring to him) that I am seriously considering dedicating some funds and time to have a study done on him. (I am serious) I am sure that there is a psychiatric professional who studies the type of behavior that this man exhibits. This level of self- hatred and reprobation is beyond "Stockholm Syndrome", it is a sickness that knows no words.

"Black Group Comes Out In Support Of Glenn Beck.

BOND Action, Inc., a national cultural action organization, has come out in support of FOX News Channel broadcaster Glenn Beck. Beck has been under attack from the radical left-wing group ColorOfChange.org after he said last month that he believes President Obama is “a racist.”

ColorOfChangeorg was founded by Van Jones; a self-described “rowdy black nationalist.” Jones now serves as White House environmental advisor (“green jobs czar”). So far advertisers including Geico, Ally Bank, and Sargento Cheese have been intimidated into pulling ads off The Glenn Beck Show. “BOND Action, Inc., will be working to expose the source behind the boycott and counter it,” said Founder and President, Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson.

“Glenn Beck is right, Obama is a racist! ” added Rev. Peterson. “Where were the boycotts and outraged activists when President George W. Bush was being falsely maligned as a ‘racist’? This is a blatant double standard. This boycott is an attempt to silence Beck from continuing his expose’ of Barack Obama’s socialist agenda and his radical ‘green jobs czar’ Van Jones.” ColorOfChange.org claims some 33 advertisers have pulled their ads off The Glenn Beck Show, but that number is reportedly exaggerated. ColorOfChange.org has a checkered past. The group reportedly endorsed outrageous statements by rapper Kanye West that former President Bush gave troops permission to go to New Orleans and shoot black people during Hurricane Katrina. Beck’s television program draws more than 2 million viewers and BOND Action, Inc., is calling on advertisers not to cave in to pressure.

Rev. Peterson said, “ColorOfChange.org claims that it exists to ‘strengthen Black America’s political voice’—but it’s clear that they are a left-wing, racist political group that deal in lies. This attempt to silence Beck is an attack on free speech and must be countered.”
BOND Action, Inc. is a 501 (c) (4) cultural action organization, which exists to educate motivate and rally Americans to greater involvement in the moral, cultural and political issues that threaten our great country. Contributions to BOND Action, Inc. are NOT tax-deductible, but are confidential. For more information call (877) WE-ACT-77 (932-2877) or visit www.bondaction.org">"

Thank you Rev. [and New Republic] for giving us a number and an e-mail address so that we can reach your sorry ass.

Link here:

*Pic courtesy of PoliticalArticles.net.

Callling Dr. Ruth.

Tonight's post is all about bad relationships. One story is from right here in my area, and the other one comes from far away Detroit.

Let me start with the Detroit story because this one takes the cake. (Or should I say the car)

When I hear sisters lamenting about the shortage of good black men, I feel their pain, I really do.

And you honestly can't blame a sister sometimes for looking past certain bad traits in their men if the good ones far outweigh the bad ones. But there are certain things that one should not ignore in a relationship no matter what. Like when, for instance, your man steals your car on your first date. That shit is just not cool. I mean the woman was nice enough to go date night in her whip and you steal it?

"FERNDALE, Mich. - Police in Michigan say a first date went from bad to worse when a Detroit man skipped out on the restaurant bill, then stole his date's car.
Police say 23-year-old Terrance Dejuan McCoy had dinner with a woman April 24 at Buffalo Wild Wings in the Detroit suburb of Ferndale. The woman says the two met a week earlier at a Detroit casino and she knew McCoy only as "Chris."

The woman told police that McCoy said he left his wallet in her car and asked for keys. He then sped away in the 2000 Chevrolet Impala.

The Daily Tribune of Royal Oak reports that police identified McCoy by a photo he'd sent to the woman's cell phone, and his phone number. McCoy is charged with unlawfully taking the car, a five-year felony. He waived a preliminary exam and was bound over for trial Thursday. "

Story here:

What the hell is wrong with these brothas in Motown? Not only does he stiff her with the bill, --That's what you get for going to "Buffalo Wild Wings" on your first date-- but when girlfriend went outside her car was gone. That is some gangsta shit. (Oh field how do you know it's a brotha? They didn't show his picture. Stop it!) Anywhooo, that shit was fowl, but it's not always the men who behave badly.

Take this case, for instance. This brotha went Jack Johnson on us, but the results are no different: Another bad relationship. (Field how do you know it's an interracial relationship? They didn't show his par amour's picture. Stop it!) This brotha, like the one in Detroit, ended up in jail, but in his case it seems his milk might be clean.

"NEVER imagined my duties at the Daily News would include providing couples' counseling.
But there I was, on a three-way phone call this week with Maureen Picozzi, who lives in Wissinoming Park, and Tyrone Jeffreys, who's locked up at the city's House of Corrections.
I'd received a letter from Jeffreys, 29, asking for help.

In May, Picozzi, 27, told cops that Jeffreys - her ex-boyfriend and father of her child - had broken into her house, screamed at her, then taken her keys and car without permission. Police arrested Jeffreys, who has been incarcerated ever since, unable to post 10 percent of his $50,000 bail.

The thing is, Picozzi now says her story isn't true. She told me that she'd lent Jeffreys her Ford Crown Victoria, so he could look for work. When he returned it, they got into one of their huge arguments. Exasperated, she said she concocted her story to get Jeffreys "out of my hair."
This isn't the first time, Picozzi told me, that she called the cops on Jeffreys, on pretenses that "weren't always true."

A few years ago, Picozzi said, she accused him of rape. He got locked up. The charges were dropped. They reconciled.

Another time, she told me, she said Jeffreys had assaulted her. He got locked up. The charges were dropped. They reconciled.

And in January, she got a restraining order against Jeffreys - but kept in touch with him anyway.

"I said he abused me," said Picozzi, who's between jobs right now. "I was sick of him coming around whenever he wanted."

Both of them figure that, in the last six years or so, Picozzi has called 9-1-1 "maybe 10 times" to report crimes by Jeffreys - "some happened, some didn't," she said."

The rest of the story here:

Hey, I know; maybe Dejuan's date and Tyrone could hook up. I am just saying.

Isn't she cute?

Ahhhh, Thursday night. After a tough week it's nice to kick back and watch Mr. Vick make his debut with my iggles. A cold Red Stripe, the big screen TV, and my favorite chair in my favorite room in the house. Life is good.

But then, my BlackBerry goes off. It's my girl Anita with an e-mail for the field. Let me see what it's about........oh hell no! Racism can't you leave me alone for just one night? Honestly, I am not in the mood to chase you right now.

"GREENSBORO, N.C. - A baby doll found at a local Costco store has been pulled from store shelves after customers complained it was offensive. The doll, which depicts a black, baby girl, is named "Lil' Monkey."According to Costco representatives, a Greensboro customer filed complaints about the offensive doll and the company pulled the product from stores.The product is a doll called the "Cuddle with Me" baby doll manufactured by a company called BrassKey Keepsakes. The controversy stemmed from the black version of the doll which is surrounded by monkeys and wears a hat labeled "Lil' Monkey," while the white version is surrounded by pandas and wears a hat labeled "Pretty Panda."Costco's corporate office says when they received complaints from John Taylor and other shoppers about the doll, store employees pulled the product from store shelves immediately.According to a Costco corporate employee, a chain letter demanding the stores remove product number 404860 also prompted the company to take action. Costco's Vice President of General Administration, Arthur Jackson, told FOX8 "We offer our sincere apology to anyone who was offended by the product. That was surely never our intent."In a conversation with FOX8's Nicole Ferguson, Mary Gustaff, CEO of BrassKey Keepsakes, said the company offers a sincere apology to customers."It's so unfortunate because now it's being portrayed as a purposeful act to be disrespectful and that's not true. We really apologize," said Gustaff..."

We accept your apologies Mr. Jackson and Ms. Gustaff. We are quite aware that we are living in a post racial A-merry-ca, and that these little things are just an aberration. Rare unwonted occurrences that tend to make us lose focus of the real important issues of the day.

Now may I go back to the football game now?

Story here:

Even the older smiling Negro gets pulled.

I wasn't going to blog about this, because, quite frankly, I am never surprised at the behavior of those in corporate A-merry-ca (and A-merry-ca in general) when it comes to matters of race. But this latest gaffe by Microsoft is just too rich to pass up.

Most of you know the story by now: Microsoft is running this ad in Poland because they probably don't think the Poles think too highly of us black folks when it comes to intelligence. (I was going to say something else, but I will leave it alone.) So, as a result, they decided to pull a switcharoo and replace the brotha with a white guy. Poland being Poland, I guess they didn't think it be too cool to put a black guy in an ad with something they are trying to sell over there. But why not just use a white guy? Why photoshop the brotha? And such an innocent looking non threatening Negro at that. Look at how that Negro is smiling? I bet that white woman sitting next to him doesn't even feel threatened...let me stop.

Nice try Microsoft, but you made one little mistake in your photoshop fiasco: you forgot to match the white guys hands with the face. Yeah, I know this is the age of Obama, but we still aren't ready for people who are literally half and half just yet.

This is too funny. Of course, as is usually the case with these little racial faux pas, Microsoft is trying to figure out what went wrong, because they are soooooo not racist. The following is from The Times Online:

"Microsoft used its own Twitter feed to apologise. “We are looking into the details of this situation,” a company spokesman said. “We apologise and are in the process of pulling down the image.” ...Later, a spokeswoman for Microsoft in Poland said that the doctoring was a “simple mistake” and was not racially motivated. The picture was taken in September last year, she said, and all four people responsible for editing it had left the company some time ago. “We would really like to apologise,” she said. “We are a multiracial company and there isn’t a chance any of us are racist.”

Soooo, because you are a "multiracial company" there "isn't a chance any" of you are racist? Are you kidding me Ms. spokeswoman? Now I see why your company embarrassed itself with this ad. You people really have no clue, do you?

Anyway, back to your normal lives everybody. This was just a little corporate speed bump on our way to racial harmony here in A-merry-ca. Besides, speaking of speed; I have to go and work out now. I think my man racism is calling me out from down in Texas again. [Thanks Anastassia]And you all know that he doesn't play. I might have some serious chasing to do.

A face only a mama and wingnuts could love.

I have to give props to the crew over at Color Of Change for taking on Glen Beck, (You know him don't you? He is the former drug addict and certifiable crazy person -his mother killed herself because she suffered from schizophrenia-) and the folks at FOX News. So far they have gotten over thirty advertisers to withdraw their ads from Beck's show. Of course that's kind of easy for these companies to justify doing when the guy is calling the president of these divided states "a racist".

But now, of course, Beck is fighting back. And he is doing it by going after Van Jones, who was with Color Of Change a couple years ago, but now has a prominent position with the Obama administration. Forget the fact that Jones has not been with Color Of Change for a couple of years, and that he currently has absolutely nothing to do with the organization.

This is from the LA Times: "During a six-minute biographical profile, set to ominous music, Beck said Jones was twice arrested for political protests and has described himself as a "rowdy black nationalist." The talk show host cast the piece as part of a broader examination of Obama's "czars," special advisers to the president who "don't answer to anybody.""Why is it that such a committed revolutionary has made it so high into the Obama administration as one of his chief advisers?"

“Glenn Beck is trying to change the subject,” said James Rucker, executive director of Color of Change, who noted that Jones has not been active with the group in almost two years. “The issue is his baseless fear mongering.”

Now I have to give a disclaimer here: I have absolutely no problem with the incivility of political discourse as it now stands here in A-merry-ca. When it comes to politics, I am not a very civil person. But I respect those who are, and who fight their battles by quietly organizing. Which brings me to the Color Of Change people.

I have met Gabriel Goodlatte (A dead ringer for Vince from "Entourage") and James Rucker a couple of times, and they seem to be classy hard working individuals, who have mobilized thousands of people with their hard work and online activism. This latest boycott against the people who advertise with Beck is an example of what can happen when people organize around a common cause and goal. The fact that Beck and his minions are fighting back means that it is having an effect.

Glen Beck is going to get his millions of viewers every night. He will continue to see black helicopters and stoke up fear among the...ahem ahem, less educated citizens among us about the black bogeyman living on Pennsylvania Avenue. But that doesn't mean that the rest of us can't flex our collective muscles as well. As long as there is a cultural and social divide in this country we might as well pick our sides and dig in for a long hard battle. Personally, I welcome it. I love the smell of charred red necks in the morning. I hate Glen Beck, Sean Hannity, and the rest of the right wing hate merchants who push inflammatory rhetoric, like I do cancer. Actually, I hate them more. At least, with cancer, damn near everyone can agree that it is a terrible thing to be afflicted with. Sadly, the idiots who embrace these phonies, never realize that they are sick.

You say tomato....

Someone who happens to know that I am no slouch when it comes to chasing racism, sent me an e-mail about the following story:


"In Lake Wylie, S.C., a sign at a local bar has gotten quite a bit of attention. The sign read: 'Please notice, no colors allowed. Thank you.' A local resident says, 'Whether you are white, black, Asian, Hispanic -- it doesn't matter what race you are, just reading that sign you should be offended by it.' Bo Legg, the bar's co-owner, however, contends that some people's reactions, including members of the NAACP, is mistaken,'We welcome people from all walks. That sign has nothing to do with skin color.' 'Colors,' according to Legg, refers to 'motorcycle gangs, [where] each gang has a color or a patch, and most gangs would be willing to fight to the death to defend it.'Legg tells the Charlotte Observer, 'If you're not here to get along and have a good time, I don't want you here."'

Rest of the story here.

Now I ran my ass off and caught Bo and his "no colors" sign, and I swear I don't know what to do with the son of a bitch. I still can't make up my mind if it's racism or if Bo was just honestly trying to keep bike gangs out of his joint...... Bo, I have a question: Couldn't your sign have said, no gang affiliated colors in this bar, or something to that effect? Just thinking out loud here Bo. I don't want to accuse you of playing the white race card. I know that's a no no in post racial A-merry-ca.

I am going to ask for help from the folks who read this blog and see that they think. Sometimes a few more heads are better than one.

Credit counseling from the field: How to use your race card.

The post that I am about to do pains me, because I believe that if you happen to be one of the forty or so million A-merry-cans with a race card you should use it from time to time. If you are a Negro in A-merry-ca, forget about American Express, this is the card you should never leave home without. I mean what's the point of a race card if all it does is sit there and collects interest on the balance and you don't ever use the damn thing? Having said that, I don't think you should use your race card for just any damn thing. You should save that shit for when it's really needed; like when a son of a bitch is trying to get at you because of your race "fo" real. That's when you break it out.

Now this crap with David Paterson is troubling, because the Negro is frivolously using his race card and he is causing a serious backlash. Those of us who always keep our race cards handy are going to have a hard fucking time the next time we try to use that shit. "We the jury find the defendant, young Negro boy, guilty of all counts of the crimes he was charged with. Wait,I get it, you found him guilty because I am his lawyer and I am black, is that it? Well hold up, I just happen to have a race card right here. Sorry Negro, race cards don't have any value anymore. He is still guilty. See the problem Mr. Paterson, when you go using your race card just because? It makes it bad for the rest of us.

Not only did you try to use your race card, but you tried to suck Deval Patrick and his O ness in with you. "The reality is the next victim on the list - and you can see it coming - is President Barack Obama, who did nothing more than trying to reform a health care system." That shit is not cool. Don't use their race card for them, they are quite capable of using their own race card when they see fit. His O ness might have to pull his later on in his presidency for something he really wants, like the health care reform you mentioned, for instance.

"He's given the media more than enough to feed on with the incompetence shown in his administration," said state Sen. Kevin Parker (D-Brooklyn), an African-American."

Oh lawd! David, just cut up that card, try to build up some credit, and apply for another one later.

And try not to be such a free spender this time.

Government interrupted.

*

Remember that scene in the movie "Defiance", when the milkman brought the army back to the forest to capture the Jews? After which Liev Shrieber's character, Zeus, tells his brother, Tuvia, (Daniel Craig) "you should have killed the milkman."

That would be my advise to his O ness: he should "kill" the damn "milkman".

I see him channeling his inner FDR and trying to pass New Deal like programs. I understand that, and I support it. I love the large expansion of the federal government, because like FDR, I don't trust big business. I wasn't doing cart wheels over the stimulus package because I didn't think the government spent enough. I happen to think the government is the people, and we have more control over it--the government-- than we do a bunch of stock holders and corporate honchos who are watching the bottom line. The clowns on the right who would do away with the government would be wise to reconsider. They should try to remember what big business unchecked has done to this country and the mess that they have left us in. With all due respect to Gordon Gekko; the only time "greed is good" is when you are in a nice Jamaican or Italian restaurant.

Obama's problem is that he keeps playing nice to people who will never be nice to him. Compromise? (And please, no comments about how brilliant he is and how he is two moves ahead of everyone else on the chess board, and blah blah blah. Chess can be a long fucking game. Maybe he should be playing checkers, instead.) Reach across the aisle? (Watch that shoulder there O man, you are going to dislocate it with all that reaching.) Why? His opponents say that he is using the crises the frat boy created to push through his own agenda. Yeah, so what? I say he isn't pushing hard enough. Strike early and hard is what he should have done; don't give them time to regroup and counter with political pressure of their own. That's how you should be doing it O man, put your foot on their necks. If you have to go down to 50% approval ratings in the polls, go. You only need 51% to be reelected president.

"The bill opens the door and invites the entrance into the political field of a power so vast, so powerful as to threaten the integrity of our institutions and to pull the pillars of the temple down upon the heads of our descendants."

That was a congressman from New York standing on his soap box against social security when FDR was trying to get it passed.

"Isn't this socialism?"

That was a congressman from Oklahoma to Frances Perkins, Roosevelt's secretary of Labor.

Sounds familiar? It should; because it's the same type of rhetoric we are getting now from the right. Roosevelt had his fireside chats. That was cool in the mid 1930's, when there was no Internet, no 24 hour cable news cycle, and no conservative talk radio, 24/7, to stir up the rabid masses. The only thing his O ness should be doing by the fireside is burning republican amendments to the health care reform bill. Look how congress carried on when FDR was trying to get social security passed? And now, in retrospect, I am sure that we can all agree that social security ain't such a bad thing after all. I am guessing that 74 years from now, if things go as they should, A-merry-cans will be looking at health insurance reform in the same way: How could we have even fought this for so long? Sometimes time has a way of making idiots out of some of us who are blinded by ideology.

"A few timid people, who fear progress, will try to give you new and strange names for what we are doing,".... "Sometimes they will call it 'fascism,' sometimes 'communism,' sometimes 'regimentation,' sometimes 'socialism.' But, in so doing, they are trying to make very complex and theoretical something that is really very simple and very practical. ... I believe that what we are doing today is a necessary fulfillment of what Americans have always been doing -- a fulfillment of old and tested American ideals. ... We remain, as John Marshall said a century ago, 'emphatically and truly, a government of the people.' "

Way to kill the milk man FDR. I am afraid that it might be too late for my boy to do the same. The army has already surrounded the forest.

*Pic courtesy of Wikipedia.

The new blackface?

I just got my latest issue of GQ Magazine, and I was reading an article by Larry Wilmore who bills himself as the senior "black" writer for the Daily Show. (Take that for what it's worth.) Anyway, Larry had a review of an upcoming spin-off of FOX Television's Family Guy called Cleveland Show. (Be forewarned , it's a Rupert Murdoch production, so you might want to skip it )

Apparently, the lead black character, Cleveland, is voiced by a white guy. (It's a cartoon) So the premise of his article is this: "Should white people be allowed to play black people?" I don't know. Should they? He goes on to say that it's a "silly question", because, he says, "if they really needed our permission they would have asked, and I don't recall getting that requisition form." Okay, I get it, he is a funny guy. He is, after all, a comedy writer. But he makes some serious points as well:

"The show raises a more important issue than whether its politically incorrect casting is insensitive. The relevant question is, do you know how hard it is to play a black guy? I don't think you do. This is not your father's blackface. years ago, whites mimicked blacks to demean and ridicule them. It satiated racism-feeding racial stereotypes-while at the same time fortified white privilege. But they've have moved on. White people have found a way to keep privilege without all of that messy hate. And the fact is, they not only love to play us-they're good at it! need I remind you that Robert Downey Jr. almost won an Oscar for playing a black guy?"

Okay, I confess, I kinda liked the Robert Downey Jr. role in Tropic Thunder, (or maybe it was Tom Cruise shaking his money maker in the end to that "Luda" cut that sold me on the flick) unlike some folks ,I was not as upset with Downey's character. But one good turn does not a trend make. That was a uniquely written script for that role, and it was written specifically for a white man to play a black man. I certainly don't want to see white guys playing black guys in roles that were meant for a black guy all of a sudden. And I sure as hell don't want to see a black guy playing a white guy in a role that was meant for a white guy. Wilmore gives us Cliff Huxtable as an example of the latter: "The Cosby Show was roundly criticized by some self-appointed black leaders who viewed Cliff Huxtable as not realistic enough. They basically said he was portraying a white guy! Duh. That's why America loved him, self- appointed black leaders. Do you think a brother would actually have worn those ugly sweaters?" I have to agree there.

Wilmore ends on a gloomy note: "Unfortunately, the black sitcom has hit on hard times since that heyday, and the pressure for such a show to succeed gets tougher and tougher. If a minority -themed show doesn't work out, it'll be a long time before the networks bet on black again. So I like to think of white actors moving into the neighborhood of black roles as a kind of gentrification."

I don't know about that; I have seen both Soul Man and Silver Streak. Sorry Larry, if this is "gentrification", I think I am moving out.

[Folks, I was looking on GQ online to give you a link to Mr. Wilmore's article, but I can't find it. -You might want to try, you might have better luck than I did.-So sadly, if you want to do an editorial check on the field, you might just have to just buy the damn magazine. ]

Don't worry folks, Nancy Grace will get right on it.

*

If you are from the Philly area I am pretty sure that you have heard about "Tex" the parrot by now. On the other hand, if you are from the Philly area, I am pretty sure that you have never heard of Hassani Campbell. (This is unless, of course, you happen to read Afrospear blogs.) In fact, if you are from damn near anywhere in the country you have probably never heard of Hassani Campbell. Why? Well, Hassani isn't female, and he isn't white, so what do you think?

But let me google Nancy Grace and Hassani Campbell, because I just know that she (Nancy) is all over it. Nancy Grace makes a nice living exploiting those who are missing and sometimes she even brings positive attention to their plight. So I know that Nancy will be giving some coverage of poor Hassani's situation.....nope, just one hit and it's something from her Facebook page.

Now I don't know how this story will play itself out. Sadly, I am guessing that like so many similar stories, it will not have a happy ending. We can only hope for the best. What I do know is that it will not get wall to wall coverage on the news programs like this one; this one; this one; this one; and......ahh what the hell, you get the picture.

*Pic courtesy of the Electronic Village blog.

Huh?

I am going to need some help with this one:

"A female runner accused of being a man tonight took gold in the 800m World Athletics Championship. South African Caster Semenya, 18, had to take a gender test after doubts were raised about her sex. But despite the furore, she easily took gold in the final in Berlin.
The teenage sensation has sparked controversy over her strikingly muscular physique. Today officials at the world athletics body, the IAAF, revealed that it ordered her to take a gender test three weeks ago."

Wait, let me read that again......yep, girlfriend had to take a "gender test". So here is where I need some help: Just what the hell is a "gender test"? I mean call me simple, but shouldn't that test take all of three minutes? Ms. Semenya, could you kindly remove your pants, please? Yep, she is a woman alright. Let me stop. This is a serious issue. I am hoping one of my friends in the transgender or intersex community will help me with this one. Honestly, I think this is just an incredibly athletic female, and folks are having a hard time dealing with her dominance. Still, I will wait for the results like everyone else from the "gender test." We regret to announce that Ms. Semenya is actually Mr. Semenya... Oh lord I can't take it.

I spend a lot of time in the gym, and from time to time I see a woman working out whose back or abs I would love to have. No harm no foul as far as I am concerned. Not my cup of tea as far as physical attraction, but hey, to each his own.

Now in the athletic arena, unless girlfriend is boosting with roids or some form of performance enhancing drug, I don't see the problem. For years I had questions about the East German women and as it turns out they were all juiced up. Still, no one doubted that they were women.

I hope Ms. (Mr.) Semenya passes the test. It will be just one more reason to watch the Olympics in 2012.

Story here:

405

Tonight I will be writing about the number 405 in the state of Texas, and it is not one of the Ranger's batting average, or a freeway that loops around Houston. Nope, the number 405 represents the 405th human being to be put to death by the Texas state killing machine working out of Huntsville and various back woods towns.


This number 405, Michael Wayne Richard, was a little special, because he could have lived another year (and possibly more) here on planet earth. Unfortunately for Mr. Richard, the republican judge (gee, there is a surprise)overseeing things that day, had to rush home to get her plumbing fixed. The good judge insisted that the court room doors be closed at FIVE even though a man's like could have been saved if she kept the courthouse open a little longer so that the man's appeal could be heard.



"SAN ANTONIO - As lawyers frantically tried to file the last-minute appeal that could have halted the execution of a death row inmate, the Texas judge who oversaw the only court who could hear it was preparing to shut the doors for the day.

'We close at 5,' Judge Sharon Keller told a court staffer Sept. 25, 2007.

The appeal was never heard, and four hours later, convicted killer Michael Wayne Richard was executed."

See there Negro, that CP time stuff might have just cost you your life. Five means five in Texas!

Oh field, stop it. The basis of his lawyers appeal was later shot down when the supremes ruled that a lethal injection will do just fine to rid society of these animals. So what's the big deal?

I guess it's really not that big of a big deal if you think about it. I mean the needle seemed to work just fine for 404 killers, what's one more?

Now it's the good judge who will be on trial. Fortunately for her, if she loses, she will get to stay alive. If she wins....well, it will be business as usual down in Texas.

"Coming to America".

I always wanted to be able to speak at least three different languages, fluently. Sure, like a lot of folks, I can get by with a little Spanish and a little French. But I can't honestly say that I can speak another language fluently. (Jamaican Patoi [p-a-t-w-a] doesn't count. I can chat di patoi with the best of them. But as exotic as it might sound, it's still just broken English.) Unfortunately, I am just not very adroit in the linguistic arena.

One of my pet peeves with folks on this side of the Atlantic is that we don't even want to communicate with other people in their own language. Others have to always adopt to the ugly A-merry-cans way of speaking. So far it's been just a minor inconvenience to people who visit our beautiful country. They always learn to speak English, eventually, because they want so much to live the A-merry-can dream or enjoy it while they are here. It's our way or the highway. A-merry-ca, "love it or leave it".

And that's all fine. But can it or should it cost someone their life because they can't speak English as well as we can? Let me answer that for you: Here in Killadelphia, it can.

"Temple University student and West African immigrant was shot in an attempted robbery this morning in a Southwest Philadelphia park because he did not understand the gunman's commands, police said.

Mamadou Makadji, 22, was pistol-whipped and shot once in the chest around 1:12 a.m. in Elmwood Park, said Philadelphia Homicide Capt. James Clark.
Makadji was declared dead a short time later at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania."

You see, here in Killadelphia it's like this: when a stick up kid wants to take your "jawn"( Your "jawn" could be your woman, your money, or your life. Actually, here in Philly, your "jawn" could be damn near anything.) you have to just give it up as quickly as possible. The only time you hesitate, is if the person holding the hammer is there to take your life. And if that's the case, you are pretty much up shit creek without a paddle or a boat. But if they only want money or drugs, having a language barrier can still be fatal to the poor victim staring down the barrel of a gun.

"Makadji and two friends were sitting on a bench in the park, at 71st and Buist Avenue, when a lone gunman approached and "announced a robbery," Clark said.

Because of the language barrier, Makadji did not understand what the gunman was saying. The robber pistol-whipped and shot Makadji when he did not comply fast enough with his commands, the captain said."

Maybe some of the things that they should start teaching in those immigration English classes, are words like: THIS IS A JACK! LAY DOWN BITCH!

Story here.

O man, don't forget the mosquito repellent.

You know it's a slow news weekend when the biggest national news was the O family taking a trip to Yosemite. The first black first family doing the camping thing is kind of cool, so maybe the news cycle is running on low, but this is nice news to hear about. At least I think it is.

Us black folks don't do the camping thing too much. (Present company excluded of course.)We just don't get out and enjoy the wonders of nature enough. Most of us live our lives in large urban areas and some of us never leave. We rarely expose our kids to the wonders of the outdoors, and that's kind of sad. Oh field, give me a break. Black folks don't have time for that crap. We are too busy trying to work two jobs and make ends meet. Camping and enjoying the great outdoors and A-merry-ca's parks is expensive. That's for white folks.

Okay, I admit it might be expensive, and it might take some sacrifices to come up with the ends to take a field trip. But I was reading my girl Carmen Dixon over at AOL Black Voices, and she had some quotes from a black park ranger (When was the last time you saw a black park ranger?) which I found interesting:

"It's bigger than just African Americans not visiting national parks. It's a disassociation from the natural world,' said Johnson, who has worked in Yosemite for the past 15 of his 22 years in the Park Service. 'I think it is, in part, a memory of the horrible things that were done to us in rural America.'The rejection of the natural world by the black community, he said, is a scar left over from slavery.'All Snoop Dogg has to do is go camping in Yosemite, and it would change the world,' said Johnson, 51. 'If Oprah Winfrey went on a road trip to the national parks, it would do more than I have done in my whole career.."

Well, I don't know if we want Snoop in Yosemite there Ranger Johnson, all that crip walking might scare the bears, but I get your point. Look, as a people we need to force ourselves to be exposed to certain things. We need to expose our children to things that they might or might not enjoy. Just because we might not like hiking, fishing or camping, doesn't mean that our kids won't enjoy or learn to love those activities. Exposure to different things and different ways of life is never a bad thing.

I don't know, instead of throwing Rev. Love a C note for the church building fund, buying that 32 inch color television for the basement, or spending three hundred a month on our note for the whip instead of six, maybe we could plan a nice trip to one of the national parks with the kids for a weekend. I am just sayin. We can't let other people have all the fun.

Maybe the "times they are a changin".

Well, it seems like black folks aren't the only ones who are being profiled these days. If you are an aging rock legend it might help to always keep ID on you.

Now I am no Bob Dylan fan, other than "Blowin in the Wind", and The Times They Are a Changing", I couldn't tell you two of his songs. --And apparently he has had a few---. But I sure as hell know what he looks like, and if I saw him on the street and he told me that his name was Bob Dylan, then yeah, I would pretty much take his word for it.

I know Jersey can be like another planet sometimes, but do you mean to tell me that cops in Jersey shore towns don't know what Bob Dylan looks like? Wow!

And apparently Cambridge, Massachusetts isn't the only place with nosy neighbors. They are in Long Branch, New Jersey as well. Bob was checking out some shore digs (Are you sure that's all you were looking for Bob? Aren't you on tour with Willie Nelson?) and Ms. Kravtiz number two called the po po on him. "Sir, do you have any ID on you? Ahh, no officer, but I could sing a bar or two of Blowin in the Wind for you.... Now, to be fair, the poor officer was only 22 years old, so she can probably be excused for not recognizing the aging troubadour. Kids!

Still, this looks like a case of reverse profiling to me. Dylan was in the Latin part of town, and they say he "didn't fit in". Hey, I am trying to be consistent here. If I am going to get pissed when nosey neighbors profile a black man, why not call out nosey neighbors when they profile aging rockers? It just ain't right. And on the 40th anniversary of Woodstock to boot. Is nothing sacred in A-merry-ca anymore?

See field , this is how you act when the police approach you. Not like you black people and make national headlines out of the whole deal. The man took the police to his tour bus and showed proper ID. That's all. No "do you know who I am?" "Why are you profiling the black man?"None of that crap! This is how you act civil in A-merry-ca. You Negroes can be so angry all the time.

Of course, as it is with damn near everything these days, the loonies are calling this another example of a vast left wing plot. Yep, the wingnuts are saying that the main stream media intentionally buried this story right after the Gates incident because it was a case of the white man being profiled. I think that's a stretch, but I am sure the troops are buying it.

What a country. Can you imagine if Jimi Hendrix was still alive?

He is an Eagle dog-gone it!

Michael, as someone who considers himself somewhat of a clothes pony, let me say for the record, that I loved the suit. Your press conference today was perfect. You said all the right things, and sounded articulate doing it. You looked "Eagle Nation" and the rest of A-merry-ca in the eye, and declared yourself a changed man. You apologized for your past wrongs and vowed to be a model citizen.

Personally, that's all I needed to see. You paid your debt to society in spades, and you deserve a second chance. As a member of "Eagle Nation" I can unequivocally say that you will help our football team as well, because our back up quarterbacks stink, and at some point in this coming season I can assure you that "5" will go down.

Rick Pitino, that scum bag, must be the happiest man in A-merry-ca right now, because the Eagles signing you took him off the front page and out of the headlines. He should send Jeff Laurie half of his check from Louisville next year. But I digress.

Now, as I suspected, the white folks here in "Eagle Nation" are not pleased. (Yes, this has broken down along racial lines here in Philly. So what else is new? Blacks folks are welcoming him with open arms. My pet loving white friends, on the other hand, not so much.) They don't think Mike has been punished enough. They see Mike as nothing but a cold hearted dog murderer, and poor Fido can't come back. One woman was crying on the radio this morning (C-R-Y-I-N-G-) because of the way her dog was looking at her last night after the news. "It's as if he knew" is what she told the host.

Now you white folks have got to quit this madness: He killed a fucking dog! A dog! Dogs are no different than chickens, fish, and cows when it comes to the food chain pecking order. I know we don't eat them but some people do. And yes they make nice pets (give me a dog over a cat any day) but they don't contribute shit to society but give people from dog food companies jobs...well, OK, there are the seeing eye dogs and rescue dogs, but they are still dogs.

If Michael Vick had killed and abused little black babies not one of the people in an uproar now would give a flying fuck. There are players in the NBA and NFL who father multiple children and don't take responsibility for them, and no one cares. If those same players had abandoned their dogs the way they did their kids there would be hell to pay. Right here in Philly there was a popular baseball player who battered his wife, and the public outcry from the Philly faithful was nothing like it is now. I wonder why?

A friend of mine is a season ticket holder, and he wanted to see if he could get better seats under his plan. He called the Eagles front office to see if anyone had canceled their season tickets (this was around 1:00PM today) and not one person had canceled. Not one. So where are all the people here in Philly who have vowed to rip up their season tickets and not watch another Eagles game? Could it be that they were all full of shit? It could be I guess, or maybe they all just want a chance to boo Vick in person. One loud F- YOU for Fido.

I almost drank it.

Every time I start staring real hard at one of the cans of O-Aid in chez field, I stumble across a story like the following, which brings me right back to reality and makes me realize why I can't totally embrace the culture of O. Say it ain't so O man.

"A memo obtained by the Huffington Post confirms that the White House and the pharmaceutical lobby secretly agreed to precisely the sort of wide-ranging deal that both parties have been denying over the past week.

The memo, which according to a knowledgeable health care lobbyist was prepared by a person directly involved in the negotiations, lists exactly what the White House gave up, and what it got in return.

It says the White House agreed to oppose any congressional efforts to use the government's leverage to bargain for lower drug prices or import drugs from Canada -- and also agreed not to pursue Medicare rebates or shift some drugs from Medicare Part B to Medicare Part D, which would cost Big Pharma billions in reduced reimbursements." [Story here]

O man that is change only big Pharma can believe in, not me. And the shit pisses me off every time I realize that you are a politician just like the rest of those clowns in Washington. You are the lessor of many evils, to be sure, but one of them, nevertheless.

Now don't ever get it twisted, I will always defend you against shit like this. And I hate and despise your enemies more than I could ever hate or despise some of your policies. Because I know why they hate you, and by extension that is the reason they hate me as well. It has nothing to do with your policies, and it ain't the fact that I am a lawyer from Philly who likes to talk shit on the Internet.

Still, I am disappointed, but I have your back. Although, just for once, it would be nice to know that you have mine as well.

Don't worry Kenneth, the right will take good care of you. You are a good bo...man.

So now comes the tale of Kenneth Gladney; a Negro who is dead set against Obamacare and any changes that might be made to health care as we now know it. But there is one little problem: Old Kenneth doesn't have health care, and he didn't have it when he went to a town hall meeting on Thursday August 6, 2009, to make his feelings known. Field, that's a damn lie, Kenneth was covered under his wife's plan. See, it's right here on Gatewaypundit and Prolifeblog: "False-- Kenneth does not have medical insurance. He is covered under his wife's plan."

Unfortunately for Kenneth, he got his ass kicked at that meeting, and now he has become the black version of Joe The Plumber for my friends on the right. If you believe some media accounts, ole Kenneth was just minding his own business, being a good patriot, when a bunch of union thugs questioned him on why he was there. They then yelled racial epithets at him and commenced to give him the Rodney King treatment. Now they (the right) are outraged that a black man could be treated this way. [*eyes rolling* ]Why no beer for Kenneth President Obama?

Still, Kenneth, who has apparently been properly schooled in the ways of capitalism from his friends on the right, is making the best of this bad situation.

"Kenneth wants to make it clear that he is not funded by any special interest group or political party. Kenneth vows never to accept funds from any of these sources. Project Liberty is "people-powered." As with any endeavor of this magnitude, there are costs associated with this. If you would like to help defray these costs in this fight for liberty, stand up with Kenneth and donate today.

I am Kenneth Gladney. You are Kenneth Gladney, Remember, we all are Kenneth Gladney."

(Well, somebody is lying, because if Kenneth has medical coverage under his "wife's plan", why is Kenneth collecting money to cover medical costs?)

I am not Kenneth Gladney. Kenneth Gladney is the very antithesis of everything I stand for. Kenneth Gladney is a jigging buffoon who is nothing but a pawn in a very important struggle for the well being of millions of A-merry-cans. For him to take his dumb ass to that meeting to give out "Don't Tread on Me" flags was beyond housishness. (I made that word up) "Don't Tread on Me"? Negro please! Your ass should have been selling that shit at the RNC convention, not a town hall meeting about health care reform. The insurance companies have been treading on people in this country forever. And they obviously "tread" on your dumb ass because you don't even have health insurance. And yet you are a poster boy (emphasis on boy) for the right wing loons in this country who would try to stand in the way of health insurance reform.

Sorry Kenneth, you get no sympathy from the field. Negroes like you make me sick to my stomach. I am sorry you got your ass kicked. But I bet you will feel better just in time for your right wing tour.

Now it makes sense.

"Not only am I against nationalized health care because it represents an inexorable path towards socialism, but also because the expanding ranks of bureaucrats will be filled with inept blacks, who simply lack the administrative and cognitive skills to process the mounds of paperwork resulting from such an imposing bureaucracy. Anyone who has spent a few years in the Army can tell you how the administrative, personnel and financial systems are screwed up. And the reason--incompetent blacks. This link demonstrates the incredibly frightening extent in which blacks are overrepresented in the federal work force."

Well, there you have it. Another reason not to go with the O man's health care plan. I was wondering what all this passion on the right was all about, now......well, let's just say some of it makes a lot more sense now.

Sometimes you have to go to these sites to see what these folks are thinking. (Check out what some cretin named LA writes in the comments.) The beauty of the Internet is that folks always feel free to talk to each other as if they are in their own homes. And then, of course, folks like us get to take a peek inside of their world. And what a world it is.

I was slow to catch on, but better late than never.

Thanks for the link Laurie! [AKA Race Traitoress to you field hands. ]

"Marked for Death."

*

If there is a dumber person in A-merry-ca than Sarah Palin I would like to meet him/her.

"The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's "death panel" so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their "level of productivity in society," whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil."

Yeah...riiiight. OK Sarah, "death panels"?

Well, I know one thing, if his O ness is going to be picking such a panel I would love to be considered for an appointment to it. I would have a field day. (No pun intended) Folks like Nancy Reagan, Dick Cheney, Alan Greenspan,and Robert Byrd would be put to some serious consideration. I know Dick is kind of young but he has some serious heart problems, that shit costs money, not to mention the secret service protection that I am sure he is still getting. Yep, Dick Cheney? Check!

But it's not only the old and sick I would consider. Folks like Ollie, Rush,Sean, and Bill would have a lot of sleepless nights, I can guarantee you that much, because the "death panel" would always have their asses under serious consideration.

Oh field, that is just crazy, why would you even bring up a crazy ass rant from Sarah Palin. She is not even a legitimate and serious republican candidate anymore. Yes, but Newt is, and he agrees with her.

“You are asking us to trust turning power over to the government, when there are clearly people in American who believe in establishing euthanasia, including selective standards.”

Folks like Newt and Sarah can relax. The panel won't be going after everyone. If, for instance, I am selected for the "death panel", I will not go after Trig, her Down Syndrome baby. Babies are off limits to the death panel. I agree with Sarah there: That would be "downright evil". So Trig lives. Unfortunately for Sarah, the government has decided that she cannot keep custody of the poor child; we want to give Trig a fighting chance.

*Pic by Peter Dunlop Shohl, courtesy of HuffPo.

Only some of us A-merry-cans deserve to have good health.

"Black Americans still get far fewer operations, tests, medications and other life-saving treatments than whites, despite years of efforts to erase racial disparities in health care and help African Americans live equally long and healthy lives, according to three major studies being published today.

Blacks' health care has started to catch up to whites' in some ways, but blacks remain much less likely to undergo heart bypasses, appendectomies and other common procedures. They receive fewer mammograms and basic tests and drugs for heart disease and diabetes, and they have fallen even further behind whites in controlling those two major killers, according to the first attempts to measure the last decade's efforts to improve equality of care.

Together, the research paints a discouraging picture of the nation's progress in closing the gap for one of the fundamental factors that affect well-being -- health care -- during a period when blacks have made progress in areas such as income and education.

"We have known for 20 years that we have a problem in our health care system: that blacks and whites do not receive equal care. We had hoped all the attention paid to this topic would result in some improvement. What we found is we have not made much progress," said Ashish K. Jha of the Harvard School of Public Health, who led one of the studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine. "This should be a call to action to make the changes needed to make sure people get equal care."

That was taken from a piece written by Rob Stein in the Washington Post back in 2005. Fast forward four years and the health care debate rages on in these divided states of A-merry-ca. The insurance lobby and partisan republicans are fighting with everything they have to keep the status quo, and all indications from the latest polls is that they are winning.

For me, it's rather simple: I trust the government to deliver affordable health care and to be fair in doing it, more than I do the private insurance companies. Sorry, but with them [the insurance companies] it's all about the bottom line. When I go to sites like this and read about the uphill battle poor people and people of color face in this country when it comes to health care, I have to wonder what the hell some of these black conservatives (Now there is an oxymoron for your ass. If you are black, just what the hell are you conserving?) are smoking when they jump up and jig in defense of the health care status quo in this country. Do they really think that all the money that's pumped into R&D with these drug companies is being done to deliver drugs to market to cure diseases that affect minority communities? Please!

If I was king of the world there would not even be an option. (The "public plan" option, in my never humble opinion, is bullshit. Political compromise by the usual suspects in Washington. And let's throw the "voucher plan" into that mix while we are at it.) Health coverage would be nationally run by the government and it would be a single payer system. I am not even willing to listen to the bullshit talking points from the right anymore. Rationing health care? Really? As if health care isn't already rationed. The truth is, that in these divided states of A-merry-ca, the wealthy get better health care than the poor. If you are poor health care is already rationed. Eighteen thousand people die in this country every year because they can't afford proper health care. So yea, for them, I would say that health care is pretty much out of their reach.

Oh but field, I just don't want the government running health care. The government just can't be trusted to do something so important. Another dumb ass wingnut talking point. Let me see now, the last time I checked, Medicare, Medicaid, the VA, health coverage for public employees, elected officials, and the military was all being run by the government, and that seems to be working out just fine.

But field, what about our taxes going up? Wrong again wingnut. Your taxes won't be more than you are already paying in co-pays, deductibles, self employment plans like Cobra , and your out of pocket expenses. Another myth manufactured by the right to throw the dreaded T word into the debate.

See field, I always knew you were a Socialist, you are just like that damn Obama.

"Deo volente" my friends "Deo volente."

DWHABP.

*

The incident I am going to blog about actually happened on Monday, but I told the other person involved that I was going to blog about it, so here goes.

I play tennis once a week with some very well to do guys in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania (the Main Line for those of you from the area) and invariably one of my tennis partners (this Jewish guy who will remain nameless because he reads my blog) takes me to and from the game and drops me off at the train station in Center City. (I don't drive on the Main Line if I can help it)

So Monday, after the game, we are driving back to Center City on 676 which loops around Philly. We are in his very big Mercedes sedan (why a Jewish guy would choose to drive Mercedes I will never understand) and he keeps glancing in his rare view mirror. "What's wrong?" I ask him. "There is a state trooper driving behind us", he tells me, and it's hard to tell if the worried look on his face is real or feigned. --Dude is a lawyer so you never know--. "So"? "Well, I was wondering", he says, "Is there such a thing as driving while having a black passenger?" Now I am really looking to see if my man is serious, and I still can't tell. (Driving while having a black passenger? DWHABP.... Yeah, that's a new one) So finally, I ask him: "Are you serious?" "Well yeah, I mean, you have to admit, that the likelihood of me getting stopped is greater with you in the car." I still can't tell if he is serious or not. Finally, and probably mercifully for my man, the trooper passes us with not so much of a glance in our direction. "OK, you can relax for now" I tell him, "but remember, we still have a few miles to go." Now he is laughing his ass off, and I am wondering if he is laughing out of relief or if he thought the shit was funny all along. I am thinking it's a little bit of both.

I can't resist one last shot: "For a minute there you felt what we feel every day huh?" Now I was laughing. "Field, have you ever been stopped when you felt you were profiled?" Now he seemed genuinely curious. "A few times", I tell him, "but I survived every time. I know 'the rules.'" I am hoping that he won't ask me to elaborate, and he doesn't. It's just the same, because he will never need them.

And speaking of the po po and profiling. I can't let tonight go without commenting on the beat down an *80 year old woman took in Ohio the other day. Quite a few folks sent me e-mails with the link and wanted to know what I thought about it.

Anyway, rather than give my opinion, I will let you view the tape and tell me what you think:

Good policing? Just an angry old black woman who doesn't know how to respect authority? Or policemen (or in this case police woman) gone wild with no respect for people of color.

I viewed the tape over and over, because I don't want to be a knee jerk racism chaser......*smirking*, and the question I keep asking myself is this: Would that police officer have acted the same way if that woman looked like her?

*Pic courtesy of the Globalgrind.com

Stereotypes, jigging, and coons.

I stumbled on the following post quite by accident. I am somewhat of a coon connoisseur, so I think it might have been the word coon in the title that caught my eye. Anywhooo, while we are still trying to bridge our racial gap in these divided states of A-merry-ca, I thought it would be interesting to share this blogger's views on racial stereotypes.

I apologize for not knowing the blogger's name, but I will give a link and the name of their site which is "O Hell Nawl".

"Black (specifically for this post - I’m referring to Americans) folk are very diverse - like any other race.

While many of us can dance our azzes off - there are many who can’t catch a beat.
Some of us have never picked up a basketball - and believe it or not there are a LOT of us who have never been to jail or met a pimp. Additionally many of us can’t stand rap, especially in it’s current form.

However, we seem to still be struggling with stereotypical images and ideals and we probably will always be. This began wayyyy back - when some of us would perform for “massa” in the most stereotypical way, entertaining and delighting him and his family.
We found out that it worked for us and many of us kept doing it for financial gain. Some of us, having grown up in a culture of poverty, knew no other way.
Yet, we’re still a diverse people.

If you caught CNN’s Black in American Part II, you’d have seen Tyler Perry’s story.

Tyler is unbelievably successful and drew on a culture of poverty he grew up in and showed the world black folks experiences from that perspective. Of course, many black folks who lived experiences that do NOT necessarily relate to that perspective comprehensively took issue, including myself. I could relate to some parts of Tyler’s works, but some of it - eh, not really. I couldn’t knock the man’s hustle, while I despised the fact that there are white people across the country who may think that Tyler’s works ARE the totality of the black experience. It’s not.

But then again, Tyler has the only black owned studio in the country which was welcomed into existance [sic] by black actors who fought to have roles that weren’t stereotypical.

Irony. Means to an end? Possibly. Sometimes black folks had to shuck and jive to get up OUT and raise their kids to be better than what they had to do. But is it shuckin and jiving when you lived portions of it?

Well, here we go again. The text messaging service (currently being heavily advertised in my area) that provides answers for obscure questions has come under fire:



Is this stereotypical? The black woman neck poppin’ and being loud and indignant about the yaki? [*you must go to the **link to understand the context of this sentence*]

DO white people and other races get loud and indignant too?
Yes.

But in general do we view white women as loud and indignant? No. Do we in general view black women as loud and indignant? Yes.



This is why it’s hurtful when people continue to perpetuate a stereotype that some people view as gospel.

However, it is the TRUTH for some and SOMETIMES.
In my humble opinion, this won’t die down (and admittedly, it has died down in most recent years and different dimensions of the black experience have been shown in pop culture - who remembers when commercials never had a black face. NEVER!) until black people and white people intermingle more.

And that is happening - with or without our consent.

I look forward to it."

Interesting post. Although I am not sure if I am looking forward to more "intermingling" if age old stereotypes are going to persist, and the coons among us continue to jig. Thing is, there are some folks in the majority population who enjoy the jigging, and they go as far as to actually encourage it. You see jigging reinforces certain stereotypes that they enjoy and are comfortable with, and people like to be comfortable. Some black folks like to jig, because it's to their economic benefit. Some white folks, [present company excluded] on the other hand, like to see jigging, because it gives them peace of mind.




**Link to the post and blog here.