This blog seeks to look at events thru the perspective of Black people. We seek the Nguzo Saba 365/7 on on our blog. Please be active as a villager by using the COMMENT OPTION on blog posts, Subscribe to our blog, introduce yourself or view our most popular posts!
It is nice to be reminded that racist politicians don't all reside below the Mason-Dixon line. In fact, not all racist politicians were raised back in the Jim Crow era. If you don't believe me ... just listen to what freshman Republican congressman Joe Walsh (R-IL) had to say about President Barack Obama:
"Why was he elected? Again, it comes back to who he was. He was Black, he was historic. And there's nothing racist about this. It is what it is. If he had been a dynamic, white, state senator elected to Congress he wouldn't have gotten in the game this fast. This is what made him different. That, combined with the fact that your profession, not you, but your profession, was just absolutely compliant. They made up their minds early that they were in love with him. They were in love with him because they thought he was a good liberal guy and they were in love with him because he pushed that magical button: a Black man who was articulate, liberal, the whole white guilt, all of that." [SOURCE]
Yeah, this GOP wing-nut pulled out the race card in this recent interview. I guess it is part of his strategy to get re-elected to Congress. When the Medicare gambit failed ... this guy went to the tried-and-true -- racism.
I imagine that most villagers join with me in hoping that Rep. Walsh is a one-time wonder in Congress. His type of ignorance is not needed in Washington DC.
Dr. Laura showed herself to be a white supremicst the other day. She feels so entitled to the idea of white folks being in power that she had no problem accusing an African American female caller of having a "chip on [her] shoulder" and insisting that the woman was "hyper-sensitive" to racial incidents. Dr. Laura then decided it was within her rights to rattle off the N-word almost a dozen times in the live radio discussion.
Soulclap to Media Matters for providing a full audio of Schlessinger's comments:
Schlessinger has since issued an apology, claiming that in her attempt "to make a philosophical point" she realized she had made "a horrible mistake." Personally, I subscribe to the Maya Angelou philosophy:
"The first time someone shows you who they are, believe them."
It is deja vu all over again. Do you recall when the New York Post (owned by Rupert Murdoch) ran that racist cartoon depicting President Obama as an ape?
It appears that Glenn Beck (employed by Rupert Murdoch) learned no lessons from that controversy. Otherwise, he would not have concluded one of his recent rants with the inference that our president is an ape. His rant is on video (h/t Black Political Thought) -- you be the judge:
Does it sound like the 'Planet of the Apes' phrase is racially-tinged? Or was it simply an innocent movie reference? What say u?
Did you hear Iowa congressman Steve King's racist rant against President Obama? Here is some of what he had to say:
When you look at this administration, I'm offended by Eric Holder and the President also, their posture. It looks like Eric Holder said that white people in America are cowards when it comes to race. And I don't know what the basis of that is but I'm not a coward when it comes to that and I'm happy to talk about these things and I think we should. But the President has demonstrated that he has a default mechanism in him that breaks down the side of race - on the side that favors the Black person...
King, a four-term lawmaker, made similar remarks about Obama in a speech last month.
"When he had an Irish cop and a Black professor, who’d he side with?” King said. “He jumped to a conclusion without having heard the facts. And he ended up having to have a beer summit. The president of the United States has got to articulate a mission. And instead, he’s playing race-bait games to undermine the law enforcement in the state of Arizona and across the country."
I'm beginning to sense more and more of a right-wing agenda of hate that is being laid out along racial lines. Will the Tea Party and others in the Republican Pary go along with this new race-based campaign strategy? Or will someone in the GOP man up and tell Steve King to shove it?
Have you ever seen that 'whack-a-mole' game in arcades? Your kid puts 50 cents in the machine and he gets a hammer. There are a bunch of moles who pop out of holes ... and your kid scores points for whacking the mole on his head and driving him back into the hole. The racist mole-like efforts of our politicians showed itself this week.
First, I voted yesterday in the Democratic primary for Ohio's 2nd District. The seat is currently held by Jean Schmidt (R-OH). One of the Democratic hopefuls challenging for the job is David Krikorian. Krikorian showed his racism with disparaging remarks he’s made recently about his chief primary opponent, Surya Yalamanchili.
Krikorian has appeared at campaign events to ridicule Yalamanchili, an American of Indian descent, by dramatically pronouncing his name to emphasize its foreign nature.
“Now do you really think that a guy with a name like that has a chance of ever being elected?” Krikorian allegedly said to members of Veterans of Foreign Wars in Clermont County.
The comments — which Krikorian denies - drew a quick response from Jean Schmidt and local Democratic leaders, who shot off a letter to Krikorian calling his behavior “deeply disturbing.”
“Your comments on Surya’s name are are best insensitive and worse appear racist,” wrote Timothy M. Burke and David Lane, the Democratic chairmen in Hamilton and Clermont counties, respectively. “It is deeply disturbing to us that you would use his name, which is obviously derived from his ethnic heritage, against him in a denigrating manner, especially considering how strongly you value and celebrate your own heritage.”
Krikorian thought he was being subtle. He thought that he could ridicule his opponent's name as a racist code for reminding voters that Yalamanchili is too dark-skinned to represent them in Congress.
You have to watch these closet-racists closely. As soon as you whack one of them back in their hole ... another one pops up. A second racist mole popped up in the Arkansas race for US Senate. In this case, we see a group called the Americans for Job Security running an ad against Bill Halter, who's challenging Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) in this month's Democratic primary.
Some shyt is so obvious that it can't be denied ... even when the racist moles try to do so. Is there any non-racist motive for a pro-business group to portray colorful Indian characters thanking Halter -- who served on a corporate board that voted to send some jobs to India?
Elon James White continues the new year with the 2nd episode of 'This Week in Blackness'. This episode focuses on the the word NEGRO. First Harry Reid dropped the word in closed door conversations and then it appears on the 2010 census form. Is the word NEGRO back to its full glory?
"I'm Blacker than Barack Obama," claimed disgraced former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich in an interview with Esquire.
"This guy, he was catapulted in on hope and change, what we hope the guy is. What the fuck? Everything he's saying's on the teleprompter. I'm Blacker than Barack Obama. I shined shoes. I grew up in a five-room apartment. My father had a little laundromat in a Black community not far from where we lived. I saw it all growing up."
There are many wiggers and wannabes in the white community. However, I've never talked with any white person who truly wanted to live life as a Black person. They enjoy their white privilege too much. Blagojevich uses race relations in a very cynical manner as demonstrated by his appointment of Sen. Roland Burris and his comments about Barack Obama.
I'm glad that he lost his political powerbase as Illinois governor. I wonder why Esquire magazine thought it worth the ink and paper to interview Blagojevich?What say u?
I'm never surprised when old white men display racist tendencies. As such, it didn't surprise me that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid apologized for a racist statement that he made during the 2008 presidential election. [SOURCE]
He offered an apology following reports he privately described then presidential candidate Barack Obama as a Black candidate who could be successful, thanks in part to his "light-skinned" appearance and speaking patterns "with no Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one."
The comments were reported by journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann in their new book "Game Change."
“He (Reid) was wowed by Obama's oratorical gifts and believed that the country was ready to embrace a Black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama - a ‘light-skinned’ African American ‘with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one,’ as he said privately. Reid was convinced, in fact, that Obama's race would help him more than hurt him in a bid for the Democratic nomination," they write.
Harry Reid made his stupid comments in 2008 campaign season. He apologized yesterday,
“I deeply regret using such a poor choice of words. I sincerely apologize for offending any and all Americans, especially African Americans for my improper comments. I was a proud and enthusiastic supporter of Barack Obama during the campaign and have worked as hard as I can to advance President Obama’s legislative agenda.”
I feel sorry for Sen. Reid. His comments were made over a year ago ... and he is taking heat for it now ... just as he is entering into a tough re-election campaign in Nevada.
In a statement released by the White House, the president accepted Reid's apology:
"Harry Reid called me today and apologized for an unfortunate comment reported today. I accepted Harry's apology without question because I've known him for years, I've seen the passionate leadership he's shown on issues of social justice and I know what's in his heart. As far as I am concerned, the book is closed."
I 'spose that Reid may lose his Senate seat. What say u?
Rupert Murdoch has been ducking any follow-up questions on the subject. ColorOfChange has over 135,000 signatures on a petition asking Murdoch to either say clearly that he meant what he said and that he stands by Beck; or he should acknowledge there's a problem with what Beck said and take responsibility for stopping the continued race-baiting at News Corp and Fox.
But Murdoch has refused to respond.
Yesterday, Rupert Murdoch spoke at the Federal Trade Commission as part of a conference on the future of journalism. ColorOfChange organizers and others in the audience confronted Murdoch about his comments and asked for an explanation, but as you can see, Murdoch made a quick, silent exit.
Black-owned newspapers have a tough enough time being profitable and relevant in the new information age. It doesn't help when Black-owned newspapers think it is humorous to portray African American female leaders as Aunt Jemima.
Call&Post is a weekly newspaper published in Cleveland OH. Call&Post editors thought it would be funny to portray Sen. Nina Turner as Aunt Jemima, a character most people of African descent consider to be offensive because of its use as a racist stereotype.
The paper criticized Turner, a Cleveland Democrat, for supporting last month's successful ballot issue to overhaul county government. Some Blacks fear the changes will reduce minority political power. I'm fine with calling out policies or politicians when you disagree with them. I think it is hateful and poor judgement in the extreme to personally denigrate a Black woman by comparing her to Aunt Jemima.
Perhaps I am too sensitive. However, 50 years of living in America has taught me to hear the race-baiting dog whistles from old white guys. I heard Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) on one of the Sunday talk shows call Medicaid a 'medical ghetto'.
It turns out that Alexander used this term a number of times on the Senate floor during the healthcare debate.
Cheryl Contee (Jack and Jill Politics) wrote,
"The right (and some on the left) would have you think that Medicaid was created so lazy shiftless black people could eat bonbons, watermelon & fried chicken while having their free x-rays, abusing the tax dollars of hardworking white people. Like Lamar Alexander who has repeatedly called Medicaid a “Medical Ghetto” on the Senate floor."
Professional sports has always served to unite Americans across class, creed and race. On the other hand, Rush Limbaugh has built his career by dividing Americans precisely along those lines. Frankly, Limbaugh is a racist and a chauvinist. Limbaugh's values are diametrically opposed to the traditions the NFL and he would poison professional football as he has poisoned the culture of American political discourse.
It turns out that public pressure was enough to do the job ... Limbaugh has been dropped from the ownership group. Limbaugh was to be a limited partner in a group headed by St. Louis Blues chairman Dave Checketts. Checketts said that Limbaugh's participation had become a complication in the group's efforts and the bid will move forward without him.
Are you glad that Rush was banned from NFL ownership?
Glenn Beck simply went too far. The Fox News host called President Obama a “racist” who “has a deep-seated hatred for white people” during an appearance on Fox & Friends.
ColorOfChange.org called on its 600,000-plus members to sign a petition urging companies who advertise on Glenn Beck to cut off their advertising support of his work. Since then, more than 280,000 members have responded to the call by signing a petition directed at advertisers.
Today, we learned that another 19 companies agreed to join the boycott of the Beck Show. The impact continues to be felt by Glenn Beck as we now see 80 companies pulled their advertising from his show. These advertisers are:
I suspect that Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and the other wingnuts that mobilize and motivate the Republican Party will think twice before they go buckwild on the President of the United States in public.
Boston police officer Justin Barrett has been fired after sending a mass e-mail referring to Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. as a "jungle monkey."
Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis found out about the e-mail on Tuesday and immediately stripped Barrett of his gun and badge. The e-mail was sent anonymously to his Barrett's fellow guard members and the Boston Globe.
"We want to rid our department of the cancer, and that is what we did," Boston Mayor Tom Menino said. "An individual preaching hate has no place in our society."
A member of the National Guard, Justin Barrett sent the e-mail to fellow National Guard members.
Villager's View: Kudos to the Boston mayor for taking care of business. I've not heard of Mayor Menino before today ... but, he's now near the top of my 'best mayors' list!
Atwater is a small city of 26,000 people in central California. The mayor pro-tem is Gary Frago. Frago, a 63-year old Republican politician serving on the Atwater City Council since 2000, shows himself as another racist wingnut masquerading as a leader.
The local Atwater newspaper obtained seven emails that Frago sent to city staff and prominent citizens from October 2008 to February 2009 [NOTE: It's probably not a coincidence that Frago stopped sending the emails after seeing what happened to his crony, Dean Grose].
Frago focused his racist emails on President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and Black folks in general. Some compared Obama to O.J. Simpson while others suggested that "nigger rigs" should now be called "presidential solutions." Can any villager explain to me what a 'nigger rig' is? I've never heard the term until today.
Another Frago email was sent right before the inauguration in January. It read:
"Breaking News Playboy just offered Sarah Palin $1 million to pose nude in the January issue. Michelle Obama got the same offer from National Geographic."
Frago admitted sending the e-mails, but showed no regret.
"If they're from me, then I sent them," he said. "I have no disrespect for the president or anybody, they weren't meant in any bad way or harm."
The list of people who either sent or received the e-mails reads like a who's who of Atwater community and political leadership, including a county supervisor, a former police chief, a city manager, a former city council member, a former president of a veterans group, a former grand knight of the Knights of Columbus, among others.
Some of these folks joined Frago in their ignorance of the racist nature of these email jokes. Personally, I think that Frago should lose his seat on the city council.
Republicans can't seem to go more than a week without some outrageous racist rant. This time it occurred on the floor of the House of Representatives. Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) suggested that comprehensive health care reform is a bad idea. After all, if Barack Obama's mother had a chance for a free abortion ... then she would have terminated the birth of her son.Tiahrt didn't stop there. He went on to say that the mother of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas would have jumped at the chance for an abortion if it had been government-subsidized.
To audible boos from his House colleagues, Tiahrt stated:
If you think of it in human terms, there is a financial incentive that would be put in place, paid for by tax dollars, that would encourage…single parents, living below the poverty level, to have the opportunity for a free abortion. If you take that scenario and apply it to many of the great minds we have today, who would we have been deprived of? Our President grew up in those similar circumstances. If that financial incentive was in place, is it possible that his mother might have taken advantage of it? Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court Justice, if those circumstances were in place, is it possible that we’d have been denied his great mind?
Do white folks truly think that it is a good idea to speculate about the abortion of the highest ranking Black people in the executive and judicial branches of our federal government? I don't even think Pat Buchanan would stoop this low!
I'm looking for Michael Steele, Sarah Palin, Milt Romney, John McCain and other Republicans to call on Tiahrt to publically apologize to President Obama and Justice Thomas for his racist rants.
Villagers will recall that Pat Buchanan was upset with African Americans because of lack of gratitude to white folks.
Buchanan is consistent in his bigotry.
He calmly justifies the fact that 108 of the 110 people appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States were white. Buchanan feels that this 99% whites-only SCOTUS record is justified because 'This has been a country built, basically, by white folks'.
I am proud that Rachel Maddow didn't accept his racist diatribe. She gave it back to him as any proud American should. Much props to Rachel!
Am I the only one who thinks that Pat Buchanan is unfit for consumption on national television?The scary thing is that he must represent people out in America that believe the same way that he does. Am I the only one scared of Pat Buchanan?
It is difficult for white folks and Black folks to disagree with each other on the merits of an argument in a civil manner. It doesn't matter whether it is on a schoolyard playground ... in the workplace ... or at a congressional hearing. The issue of race is always bubbling just beneath the surface ... ready to erupt on a moment's notice.
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Harry Alford, head of the National Black Chamber of Commerce demonstrated as much earlier this week at a congressional hearing about climate change. It would seem to be difficult to get into a race-based conflict when the discussion is auto emissions, global warming and such. But this white woman and Black man managed to do so ... check out the video:
Sen. Boxer threw the first punch. She is the chair of the committee. She can enter resolutions and letters into the record at any time she wants. She made it a point to enter documents from NAACP and 100 Black Men into the record because they had a point of view that differed from the witness, Harry Alford. It is her perogative. However, it was obvious (to me at least) that she saved the letters from those two groups for Mr. Alford because she thought that it would be impactful to have Black organizations publically feuding with one another. Strategy is simple ... divide and conquer.
Harry Alford did not seem to be very respectful of the committee chair. I don't know the brother or his personality on the other 364 days of the year. However, on this particular day he was loaded for bear. He wasn't going to let anyone turn him around. He and his organization did not agree with the position of Sen. Boxer and he wanted to ensure that his point of view was heard.
You could hear in their voices that they were both on edge very quickly. Why? Because racial issues were in the mix. As I said at the beginning ... It is difficult for white folks and Black folks to disagree with each other on the merits of an argument in a civil manner.
One of our villagers recently commented about the virulent racism spewing from Pat Buchanan in the past week or so. We talked about Buchanan's racist streak last year. No doubt about it ... Buchanan is at it again as we listen to his never-ending race-baiting tirades against Judge Sonia Sotomayor:
I agree with Media Matters when they argue that MSNBC is making a mistake by having Pat Buchanan on the air to discuss any issue related to race. What say u?
