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The Blackwoman started out wanting to write something that might soothe some of the souls wounded by the constant beat of racist drums. Now I'm listening to those drums being beaten (off rhythm I might add) by some of the people on this site who are referring to a 'race' war. Here on Daily Kos
Not my phrase, rather one I read in an open thread.
I agree strongly, as I have said several times recently, that Markos or Meteor Blades should post a major piece to try to staunch the festering race-war.
Race war??? Really???
Last fall I wrote this
Basically what I was saying is that racism is a problem that white people have got to solve. I was thrilled that Tim Wise was making an attempt to do just that here on this site. I foolishly believed that what could not be heard coming from a person of color might be received differently coming from someone who is white,male and southern.
This was before I realized the reflexive defenses preventing those who perhaps need the message most from hearing it. From anyone.
Pointing out the obvious would not seem on the surface to rouse so much venom. It does. Why?
Mention the words white privilege and certain heads around here explode. No such thing they say. Some of my best friends they intone. I voted for Barack Obama becomes proof positive that they are not racist. Also my personal favorite, I'm poor and white, where is my privilege?
Some go so far as to question Mr. Wise and his motives. Writing books and lecturing about race in America makes him somehow less credible.
In fact, talking about race is considered race baiting by these carbon units. Methinks they protest too much.
I was gobsmacked reading those on this site, who claimed Jimmy Carter was out of his mind for noticing the racist nature of the attacks on our President. On this site.
Last week I wrote about the racist on the other side of the aisle. You wouldn't know it by the responses of folk who couldn't bother to actually read the diary and instead relied upon the comments made by those who intentionally lied about what was written. When it gets to the point where criticizing Bible Spice and Laura whatshername for their racism is called race-baiting, then Houston we have a problem.
The most consistent voting base of the Democratic Party has been and continues to be black folk.
You wouldn't know that looking at this site. Issues that concern black people are not taken up by the FP and likely never will be. Why is this?
Why is it that people of color and their opinions about race are so heartily dismissed? Where is the outrage when someone posts a diary using the 'n' word repeatedly, and because they thought they were writing satire, refused to listen when black folk said the word was offensive? Where was the outrage?
Short answer. There wasn't any.
Any positive mention of Obama and the racism he faces is taken as saying that all criticism of Obama is racist. It has gotten to the place where this is just a cut and paste response. Projection. Pure and simple.
I like our President. I recognize what he goes through. I have never said all criticisms of him are racist. But don't let that stop those folk who seem to have ish shoes.
Nobody I've ever read has made such a statement. But that doesn't stop 'em either.
Folk like to remind me that this is an open forum. Anyone who wishes may write a comment in any diary they choose. This is correct. And what is also correct is a disrupter can be asked to leave. And...bullshit does not have to be tolerated.
For those who are waging some sort of grudge match, know that you don't scare me. Never have. Never will.
I am not at war with anyone except racist. Wherever they might show up.
Watching your heads explode won't bother me one tiny bit.
And for the record, last weeks diary was not shut down because of its toxicity. The comments were shut down after it became clear that the disrupters had no intention of stopping. The shut down of the comments occurred with my permission. One such disrupter was still making comments on Thursday afternoon. As in yesterday.
Troll a black diary. It's open season here to do so. Don't try that mess with an I/P diary. That will get you banned. What's the difference? You tell me.
So for the record. I like Obama. He has to deal with racism daily. Most black folk do. Some of the criticism is racist. Some not. I will not ignore the racism in this society. I will not pretend it does not exist on this site. It does.
I intend to keep calling it out. The cowards can come in after the thread has died down and protest to their hearts content. If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.
Now run and tell that.
There was exactly one session on "Race and New Media" among the hundreds of panels at the recent American Sociological Association meetings last week in Atlanta. The panel was interesting, thought-provoking and presented by a diverse group of sociologists, and I’m not just saying that because I organized it.I think there should be lots more research like this.
Race, Racism and the Internet
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Do you remember when many pundits and other commentators were trumpeting Barack Obama's spectacular rise as proof that America was about to jettison it's obsessive, and, they claimed, outdated discussion about race and color?
Obama's New America First: The President as "The Other"
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It’s hard out here for a young black man.
There is so much media coverage focusing on what’s wrong with African American male teens that you would think that these young men do nothing positive.
Hiding in Plain Sight: Black Men and the Media
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As part of our series on Islamophobia in America and as the controversy over the Ground Zero Mosque Islamic Cultural Center continues, I asked an American Muslim, living in New York City her thoughts on the "mosque" controversy, the treatment of American Muslims since 9/11, and whether projects like the Islamic Cultural Center can begin to bridge the gap between the false perceptions of Islam and the reality. I have omitted her name in order to protect her privacy. I have not changed the content of her responses because I think her responses should remain unfiltered.
More listening, less shouting America
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For almost three decades beginning in 1936, many African-American travelers relied on a booklet to help them decide where they could comfortably eat, sleep, buy gas, find a tailor or beauty parlor, shop on a honeymoon to Niagara Falls, or go out at night. In 1949, when the guide was 80 pages, there were five recommended hotels in Atlanta. In Cheyenne, Wyo., the Barbeque Inn was the place to stay.
Recalling "Green Book" Guide for Black Travelers
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Phill Wilson, president and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute, has good reasons for describing AIDS as a Black disease. Although Blacks are 12.8 percent of the U.S. population, they represent 45 percent of all people infected each year with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
CDC Report AIDS is a Black and Poor Disease
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Hurricane Katrina’s floodwaters haven’t stopped rippling through the minds of children on the Gulf Coast. Studies suggest that five years later, the accumulated stress of instability and poverty—and government neglect—has shown up in families’ emotional and mental health.
Kids Still Shaken by Katrina
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New research reveals the rates of obesity in African-American girls continues to escalate, despite rates stagnating or falling among children of other ethnicities. The study, to be published in the September issue of the journal Pediatrics, examined the health data of California public school children from 2001 to 2008.
The devastating effect of "cheap food" on Black America
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The massive stimulus package boosted real GDP by up to 4.5 percent in the second quarter of 2010 and put up to 3.3 million people to work, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday.
CBO's latest estimate indicates that the stimulus effort, which remains a political hot potato ahead of the November congressional elections, may have prevented the sluggish U.S. economy from contracting between April and June
Stimulus boosted U.S. GDP by up to 4.5 percent in 2Q 2010
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America, the first step in your spiritual and political redemption is finally at hand.
Or so Glenn Beck would have us believe. After an eight-month build-up that began at an Orlando retirement community last November, Beck is now making the final preparations for his "Restoring Honor" rally on the National Mall, scheduled to begin early on Saturday morning with a salute and a prayer in front of tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of the Fox News host’s loyal fans
An Affront to Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" Vision
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