Racism and Honorifics or why I call Denise Oliver-Velez "Miss Denise" and why that's Dr. Ben Carson, GOP Crackpot to You.
Commentary by Chitown Kev
I prefer this simple online anthropology flash-card definition of honorifics to the Wikipedia definition.
Honorifics are terms of respect used with people, often being added to their names, in order to honor them. Sociolinguists are interested in their use in context because such terms may convey or imply a status difference between the speaker and the person being referred to. Yes, I often use honorifics throughout my everyday life, especially when approaching anyone of higher authority, as well as with people of whom I have just met that have some sort of title in their life. The use of honorifics shows a great level of respect from the speaker to the recipient. This shows the recipient the personal characteristics of the speaker whether they choose to use or not to use honorifics.
The study of what to name or how to address an individual in specific situations is one of the more fascinating branches of cultural and linguistic anthropology, discourse studies, and what is now occasionally called "politeness studies." As a classics major, for example, I am quite familiar with the elaborate ancient Roman system of
naming people (freedmen like the Carthaginian/Roman playwright
Terence, for example, were given names that acknowledged their former slave status and their former master).
Since slavery times and on through (and occasionally beyond) the Jim Crow era, naming conventions and honorifics were also often used as a daily ritual method of humiliating black people and reinforcing white supremacy. A posting at Ferris State University's wonderful online resource, The Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia, has one of the finest descriptions of what I call the "Jim Crow style guide":
Jim Crow Etiquette
Most southern white Americans who grew up prior to 1954 expected black Americans to conduct themselves according to well-understood rituals of behavior. This racial etiquette governed the actions, manners, attitudes, and words of all black people when in the presence of whites. To violate this racial etiquette placed one's very life, and the lives of one's family, at risk.
Blacks were expected to refer to white males in positions of authority as "Boss" or "Cap'n" -- a title of respect that replaced "Master" or "Marster" used in slave times. Sometimes, the white children of one's white employer or a prominent white person might be called "Massa," to show special respect. If a white person was well known, a black servant or hired hand or tenant might speak in somewhat intimate terms, addressing the white person as "Mr. John" or "Miss Mary."
All black men, on the other hand, were called by their first names or were referred to as "Boy," "Uncle," and "Old Man" -- regardless of their age. If the white person did not personally know a black person, the term "nigger" or "nigger-fellow," might be used. In legal cases and the press, blacks were often referred to by the word "Negro" with a first name attached, such as "Negro Sam." At other times, the term "Jack," or some common name, was universally used in addressing black men not known to the white speaker. On the Pullman Sleeping cars on trains, for example, all the black porters answered to the name of "boy" or simply "George" (after the first name of George Pullman, who owned and built the Pullman Sleeping Cars).
Whites much preferred to give blacks honorary titles, such as Doctor, or Professor, or Reverend, in order to avoid calling them Mister. While the term "nigger" was universally used, some whites were uncomfortable with it because they knew it was offensive to most blacks. As a substitute, the word "niggra" often appeared in polite society.
Black women were addressed as "Auntie" or "girl." Under no circumstances would the title "Miss." or "Mrs." be applied. A holdover from slavery days was the term "Wench," a term that showed up in legal writings and depositions in the Jim Crow era. Some educated whites referred to black women by the words "colored ladies." Sometimes, just the word "lady" was used. White women allowed black servants and acquaintances to call them by their first names but with the word "Miss" attached as a modifier: "Miss Ann," "Miss Julie" or "Miss Scarlett," for example.
This practice of addressing blacks by words that denoted disrespect or inferiority reduced the black person to a non-person, especially in newspaper accounts. In reporting incidents involving blacks, the press usually adopted the gender-neutral term "Negro," thus designating blacks as lifeless and unknown persons. For example, an accident report might read like this: "Rescuers discovered that two women, three men, four children, and five Negroes were killed by the explosion."
Any commenter that uses such Jim Crow-era honorifics against a black person here at Daily Kos (and there was one recent occurrence of a racist honorific against Denise Oliver Velez) should be immediately banned,
if used in that context. There is no excuse for that type of racist usage even if one disagrees with anyone's opinions.
Context is important.
While I don't know enough about the history of naming conventions and the use of honorifics within the black community, I do know that I was raised to use the appropriate honorific in addressing my black (and on much rarer occasions, white) elders, whether they are family or even a next door neighbor.
By and large, I still observe those conventions with my elders offline.
I choose to call Denise Oliver Velez "Miss Denise" not only to acknowledge that I know her to be my elder (Miss Denise is my mother's age) but as my own very personal way of recognizing her past civil rights work and the value of her contributions to the Daily Kos community.
Miss Denise calls me "Nephew" which is, yes, an honor within the context of the black community, and has "adopted" me as such. In that context, the honorific "Auntie" probably has joint origins in both the American South and from Africa, as Meri Nana-Ama Danquah's 2014 Wall Street Journal piece, What I Learned From My Auntie Maya hints:
I first met Maya Angelou at one such gathering in Uncle Paul’s home. I was about seven or eight years old. I found her quite intimidating. She was tall, but it wasn’t just the stature, it was her carriage, full of grace, pride and a little bit of sass. And then there was that voice. There was power in that voice.
For some people, it’s all in the eyes; for Maya Angelou, it was all in the voice. With a change of inflection, her voice could carry within it a welcoming embrace or the aural equivalent of “the evil eye.”
She invited me to call her “Auntie Maya.” It is customary in Ghana to address one’s elders by an honorific title—Madam, Mister or, for close friends and relations, Auntie and Uncle.
That's how I was raised. And I have never been to Ghana nor do I, to my knowledge, know any from Ghana. It's all from the East Side of Detroit as it pertains to how I was raised and what I was taught.
Of course, in broaching this topic, I am reminded of a line from a Malcolm X speech:
“What does the white man call a black man with a PhD? A nigger with a PhD.”
I despise the politics of Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson. I have gone on the record and called former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice as a "liar and a war criminal." Clarence Thomas...well, let's not even go there.
Yet Ben Carson, in his "previous life," was one of the best (if not the best) neurosurgeons in the world, charting a path that no black man (or white man, for that matter) had charted before him. Dr. Carson, in the context of this American society, earned the right to be called "Dr. Carson' (and besides, he's an elder). I refuse to devalue or minimize Dr. Carson's achievements in that way, even if he is a GOP crackpot...or someone's politics and/or religion that I don't like.
The same goes for Dr. Condoleeza Rice, Secretary Colin Powell, Justice Clarence Thomas (I can't believe I even said that), or The Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
Of course, context is everything. For me, Maya Angelou earned her honorary doctorate and earned the right to be referred to Dr. Angelou. The same would apply to Toni Morrison (the recipient of an honorary doctorate from Oxford University) but Ms. Morrison rarely (if ever) even refers to that honor and probably prefers that it not be used, so I won't use it.
Alveda King, the odious and highly homophobic niece of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King King, on the other hand...
As American culture changes, the use of honorifics is changing and protean and fascinating. However, I do think that it important to remember, though, that in an America that is increasingly becoming "browned and seasoned" (as former Blogmistress Pam Spaulding once put it) that honorific conventions can and do vary within American culture and we should all be a little more mindful of those conventions.
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News by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
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Amid efforts to generate revenue by imposing fines for minor offenses, a judge in Alabama recently all but ordered offenders to give blood in lieu of payment, or face jail time. New York Times: For Offenders Who Can’t Pay, It’s a Pint of Blood or Jail Time.
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Judge Marvin Wiggins’s courtroom was packed on a September morning. The docket listed hundreds of offenders who owed fines or fees for a wide variety of crimes — hunting after dark, assault, drug possession and passing bad checks among them.
“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,” began Judge Wiggins, a circuit judge here in rural Alabama since 1999. “For your consideration, there’s a blood drive outside,” he continued, according to a recording of the hearing. “If you don’t have any money, go out there and give blood and bring in a receipt indicating you gave blood.”
For those who had no money or did not want to give blood, the judge concluded: “The sheriff has enough handcuffs.”
Efforts by courts and local governments to generate revenue by imposing fines for minor offenses, particularly from poor and working-class people, have attracted widespread attention and condemnation in recent months. But legal and health experts said they could not think of another modern example of a court all but ordering offenders to give blood in lieu of payment, or face jail time. They all agreed that it was improper.
“What happened is wrong in about 3,000 ways,” said Arthur L. Caplan, a professor of medical ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center, part of New York University. “You’re basically sentencing someone to an invasive procedure that doesn’t benefit them and isn’t protecting the public health.”
Judge Marvin Wiggins, right, with Gov. Robert Bentley in 2013. “There’s a blood drive outside,” he told offenders. Credit Dave Martin/Associated Press
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With a saddlebag Qur’an, a slave-ship manual and Fela Kuti, the new exhibition takes a thrilling journey through a thousand years of West African history – and it’s full of surprises. The Guardian: From Timbuktu to Trinidad: British Library launches dazzling West Africa show.
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A giant carnival queen looms over the British Library’s new show West Africa: Word, Symbol, Song. Below her, David Rudder’s Notting Hill carnival classic Calypso Music pumps out of speakers, and footage from carnivals past can transport you back to Portobello Road in 1993.
The exhibition celebrates the complexity and diversity of west Africa’s heritage, while never sidestepping the more thorny issues of rebellion, protest and the transatlantic slave trade.
Curator of African collections at the library Marion Wallace concedes that selecting what to include in a show that spans 2,000 years, 1,000 languages and 17 different countries – from Mauritania to Cameroon – was a massive task. “We got it down to themes and storylines,” she says. “We didn’t want an exhibition where you would just look at a book – we wanted a multidimensional experience.”
The decision to limit the scope to west Africa was taken after many months, when it was acknowledged that there was too much material to explore the whole continent. Central, east and sub-Saharan Africa shows will follow.
Divided into five sections, the exhibition is unflinching, funny and a labour of impressive research. It involves collaborations with south London drumming groups, New York academics, west African lorry drivers, Nigerian scholars and community organisations. It gives a way to thread people, ideas and objects together – and explores African history from a non-institutional perspective.
Carnival queen … Bele costume designed by Ray Mahabir and a saddlebag Qur’an in West Africa
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A family emergency spurred a former magazine editor, Nana Eyeson-Akiwowo living in New York, to change careers and begin an international non-profit. Ebony: Turning a Health Crisis Into an Opportunity to Give in Africa.
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Knowing that her father’s health was restored was not enough for Nana. She decided she wanted to give other Ghananians access to tools, resources and information to prevent common health issues.
“I had this idea to volunteer in Ghana around Christmas time, but then I figured I could have an even bigger impact if I brought in my friends. I have about 40 friends who go to Ghana faithfully multiple times a year, so I asked them if they could commit to coming at the same time so we could do this health fair and they agreed,” Eyeson-Akiwowo explained.
The “Gift of Life at Christmas” (as it was called at the time), was a success and so, Nana continued the holiday season event. By the time 2009 arrived, Nana had a few health fairs under her belt with the help of friends and family who remain actively involved in her cause. But Nana still had her “day job” as the bookings editor at Essence Magazine. “In 2009, it became clear to me that I had to make a career shift. I loved Essence and being a part of young girls’ lives, but the health fairs were really tugging at me and I knew I had to devote myself to that,” said Nana.
But instead of dropping everything and learning on the go, Nana registered the name African Health Now and headed back to school to learn the ropes of non-profit management. She took advantage of the resources at the Foundation Center and took on consulting work in event planning and production for non-profits. “I had never worked at a non-profit before, so I had to really sell myself. I would often say “If I can produce a photo shoot in Egypt while in Manhattan, I can do anything. I can do the impossible.’” Her strategy worked and she used those consultant opportunities to learn about every aspect of successful non-profit management from the executive director to development and having a board of directors.
African Health Now has held a total of six fairs that have attracted more than 4,000 people. Fair participants are given information about a variety of important health issues like dental care, self-examinations for breast lumps, blood pressure screenings and protection from STDs. In addition to advice, attendees also leave with goodie bags filled with dental hygiene products, condoms for men and women and contact information for local resources.
Nana Eyeson-Akiwowo has helped thousands in Ghana with her non-profit African Health Now
Photo credit: Mater Mea/J. Quazi King
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Racial profiling plain and simple. Dime Magazine: John Henson Tried To Shop At This Jewelry Store, But They Pretended To Be Closed And Called The Cops.
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John Henson has made nearly $10 million since entering the NBA in 2012-13, and just signed a four-year $44 million contract extension that begins next season. The Milwaukee Bucks center, obviously, has the financial means to purchase expensive, high-end jewelry.
John Henson has made nearly $10 million since entering the NBA in 2012-13, and just signed a four-year $44 million contract extension that begins next season. The Milwaukee Bucks center, obviously, has the financial means to purchase expensive, high-end jewelry.
Well, if retailers are comfortable selling that lavish merchandise to a 24-year-old black man, of course.
Henson pulled into the parking lot outside Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers in a majority white neighborhood of Milwaukee, WI on Monday to look at a watch. Instead of paying the 6’10 big man rapt attention the way they would most any other potential buyer, though, store employees locked the front door and implored him to leave. After he rang the door bell, those inside moved to the back of the room.
That’s when a pair of police cruisers parked nearby and kept an eye on Henson for five minutes. The officers subsequently approached and began peppering him with questions, including where he procured the luxury vehicle he was driving. The former University of North Carolina student explained the car was on lease as the result of an endorsement deal, and that he was simply there to do some regular shopping.
Getty Images
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Voices and Soul
by Justice Putnam
Black Kos Poetry Editor
A living language is said to be one that is constantly used by all segments of a population and changes as habits and customs change.
It's important to keep that in mind when...
Responding
I
This is a place without a terrain a government that always
changes an unstable language. Even buildings disappear
from day to day.
[gendered pronoun] wanders in this place
[searching
[waiting
the condition of unbearableness is the constant state of mind
for all occupants
we read all day in the village square during the rule of [name
of major historical figure] a book that is so subtle
[its political content goes unnoticed
what is political content?
[the question or the statement
[gender pronoun] creates
[a reader culture
[generic plural pronoun] prefer both
II
realism's authenticities are not the question
the question [role of art in the State
we know art is fundamental to the [New State] as is evidenced
in village scenes, majestic ancient views, masses and
masses of [generic human figures] marching in columns,
swords coded as plowshares, image as spectacle
we kn0w [name of city], [adjective], [name of major composer]
to recode [reduce] it: Linz, ambiguous, Wagner
we know [name of major historical figure] calls, authentically,
for a more total, more radical war than we can even
dream in the language of the avant-garde
we know a commercial promises to reduce plaque more
effectively in this same tone
but sometimes we exceed even our own expectations to
surprise even ourselves
something encloses the impossible in a fable
an unreal world called real because it is so heavily metaphoric
we can't keep our fingers of connection out of it
it is a ride in the country, the car crowded with children
[each child represents a different
ethnicity of [name of nation]
it is a moment of standing with light resonating around [major
historical figure
it is a guiding of the child towards the right path
it is a picnic in a field, the spread is bountiful
[the spread of [name of nation] is represented through the
arrangement of food on the checkered tablecloth
it is [name of major historical figure]'s Art Collection:
figure after figure
each carries spears, lunges, draws the arm back to pull
tight the bow
a ruined plaza has a [gendered human form] at its en
trance
a [generic child] draws a sword under the guidance of
[generic possessive pronoun] [honorific denoting repro-
ductive role]
a [generic human form] raises [generic pronoun] arms and
four horses turn away
another plays a lute
an eagle holds a symbol
fake [name of nation used as an adjective] heads
while the end of lunacy in art was explicit in [name of major
historical figure]'s rhetoric
while when nation turns to art, art loses its divergence
while the [generic human figures] come back from war, their
legs in fog
while a [generic human figure] sculpts, small against the
expanse of marble, giving into the monumental human
form that symbolizes eugenic possibilities
while another [generic human figure] pedantically draws
postcards of village centers, operas, mountain vistas
while overwhelmed by an opera [name of major historical
figure] plans genocide
III
we know we respond resistantly as faked children's books of
realist adventure tales have turned into military instruc-
tion manuals
or [name of major historical figure] hails a cab, [generic
possessive human pronoun] hand raised here, beckoning
as the red flag with [name of fast food chain] waves
behind [generic human pronoun] and the red star on top
of the [name of cultural landmark in major city] twinkles.
many people raise their hands for different purposes all day
long
we are always waiting for our cab to come
the question here is the same as that of a relationship
where does art define our vocabulary?
the margin declares
[it is impossible to speak about something
it is only possible to speak beside it
-- Juliana Spahr
"Responding"
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Welcome to the Black Kos Community Front Porch!
Pull up a chair and sit down a while and enjoy the company.