American Minstrels.

When the revolution finally starts I have to say that there are some white folks who I would rather have on the front line fighting next to me before some of you Negroes. (You know who you are.) I am sorry, but being black doesn't automatically get you a pass. Some of you Negroes (you know who you are) do much more to hinder black empowerment than you do to help. And I am not talking about the obvious Negroes: the ones who are destroying our communities by doing ignorant shit on a daily basis. They are easy to identify. I am talking about the Negroes who would sell out another Negro (or anyone else for that matter) quicker than I can say Oprah if it suits your own selfish needs. Dere dey go massa. It's dat field Negro; he de one. I heard him tellin dem other Negroes dat de should run away.... Let me stop.

I am blogging about this tonight because of a little incident which took place "down under" with one of "The Big Easy's" favorite sons. Seems my man Harry Connick, Jr., was hosting a variety show "down under" when the Aussies fooled around and thought that they would recreate A-merry-ca in the forties and fifties. (Not to mention the present if you count republican get to-gethers and college frat parties.) To Connick's credit, he called them on their bullshit and gave the Aussies a lecture about ignorant stereotypes and A-merry-can history.

But this post isn't about the Aussies or their black face skit. I have come to expect that kind of stuff from some people. No, this post is about Connick and his decision to speak out about what was happening and not just sit there and pretend that the crap wasn't offensive. Connick is one of those white folks who could stand next to me when the revolution is going down, because, obviously, he isn't afraid to speak out against racism and ignorance when he sees it. He could have said nothing and this incident would not have made world news and blew up on You Tube. It would have been just another variety show on a far away continent with a bunch of bad acts.

Now ask yourself; would a black celebrity in Connick's place have done the same thing? I am sure that quite a few would. But I can think of just as many who wouldn't have. In fact, I can see many of them (you know who they are) laughing and going along with the skit. Hell some of them (you know who they are) would have jumped on stage and started dancing right along with the performers who were in black face. Connick, to his credit, stayed true to his principles.

"I just want to say, on behalf of my country, I know it was done humorously, but we've spent so much time trying to not make black people look like buffoons, that when we see something like that we take it really to heart,"

Well Harry, you can't speak on behalf of your country, because I am quite sure that more than a few people in your country wouldn't see anything wrong with what the Australians did. And as to trying not to make us look like buffoons"; I think that's kind of hard to do when some of us try so hard to do just the opposite.