I do not know why I have a craving for aprons. Where the fuck would I wear an apron?

So today, my IDS teacher was oppressing the poor conservatives by asking about race- was it all made up? A better than expected conversation ensued. Some people were clueless (what does the environment have to do? he says, although I guess I should have been more direct in mentioning the power relations- that's the important part) but some were insightful. Also, Ornicus shows us a great post on hate crimes laws, here's what the racist asshats will be parroting for some years, and why don't you help seniors with their english?

From the Chicago Tribune and P6:

After an unprecedented assembly of four historically divided Baptist groups, presidents of each denomination declared their opposition to the war in Iraq and to the nomination and expected confirmation of Alberto Gonzales as attorney general.They also called for a higher minimum wage, discontinuation of recent tax cuts, investment in public education and reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, some provisions of which are up for review in 2007."We have power in terms of black registered voters across the country to impact who sits in the White House," said Rev. Stephen Thurston, president of the 3 million-member National Baptist Convention of America and pastor of the New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church on Chicago's South Side.Leaders also demanded that Bush stop privatization of prison construction, reinvest in children's health insurance and increase global relief for black nations such as Sudan and Haiti.During this week's sessions, delegates passed the plate to endow two historically black colleges, fund care for African AIDS victims and provide tsunami relief in Somalia. The money will be distributed from a newly opened bank account shared by the four groups.

Note that these black church leaders are calling for actions that actually help people, and affect their communities, instead of superfical blah blah blah about how much Bush hates gays. That is the difference between real moral values, and this bs peddled by conservatives. Oppressing gay people and censoring the TV won't save any lives or make anyone's lives better, but health insurance for kids, and not buying into the huge prison industry will.

I think some people don't have the right idea. I can't speak for Hispanics, but I don't think they all suddenly will become pro torture just because someone brown says it is good, just as blacks don't seem to just all the sudden think Bush is the second coming because he's got some black faces there. What white folks don't get is that it's not really about black faces, it's about what's actually good for black people and for the world at large. Yea, a black guy could say that we need to nuke the middle east, but we are smart enough to know he's crazy as a loon. It's only white folks that are fooled by this simplistic rendering of racial politics, and they can snap out of it by thinking about it a little bit.

Time for another fark round up:


2005-01-29 09:02:15 AM
St.Alfonzo

2005-01-28 10:33:57 PM rbaron71James Woods used to date her and he said that her bush was so unkempt that he could only do her from behind.I'm sorry sir, but I'm calling a Fnorgby on you.1. James Woods is old enough to have slept with lots of women before the days of the teh shaved beaver, a fairly recent fad, and should be completely unfazed by such a 'problem'. I know I'm old enough to have done so. And if the '71' in your login is your date of birth, then so are you, unless you live in your mother's basement2. The statement just doesn't make any farking sense, anyway. Have you ever even seen a real girl naked? Oh, sorry, I forgot: Mom's basement.3. I'd fark Heather Graham if she had a goddamned mustache. 4. So would you, if she fell, unconscious, into your Mom's basement.

I agree about that statement not making any sense. If no one could do it from the front if you had pubes, the missionary position would be a really really recent invention. Internet porn is like movies- it's ok, but you know, it's not really a substitute for real life. The sad part is that some people actually think this is an adequete model for their sexual lives. No, just as action movies aren't good blueprints for real life.


2005-01-29 03:06:36 PM
kindablue

I assume that everyone on these threads speaks old English. I mean, anything else is a perversion of the language. You people realize we got most of what we say from French to begin with, right? Cut the shiat, you just like being white and in control. It's one of those white privilege things. We're losing the country! They're taking our jobs! Oh god! They outsourced Ashcroft!


That's a good one! I don't like asshats like this judge. Once he threatened a woman with taking her kids away. I'm all for speaking english, but you know, what's wrong with the "well, there's a english class at the Y at 6" approach?

2005-01-29 03:16:51 PM
EyeballKid

Hmm, slamming ebonics, blind hatred toward Mexican immigrants, and making fun of the French. One more and I think I'll have a winning Bigot Bingo card.

ZING!

2005-01-29 03:35:13 PM
kindablue

Shattersoul:You also can smell sarcasm a mile away. I know you believe you have no issue with any person of color, and that's adorable, but you do. I'm going so far a to say every single one of us is racist. Even more so when no one's listening. There's a problem here, you just don't see it. I'm trying to get you to stop and see that maybe, just maybe, your opinions aren't as pure as you'd like them to be. I'm not even saying you want to be racist. I'm saying this is how we were raised. We were raised to believe that difference is wrong and the only way to fight it is to stop and say, "Woah, maybe I am a little racist." We all do. Don't worry pretty baby; I still like you.

I don't get the emphasis on not having people say you are racist, versus actually not being racist in this country. Like wtf?


2005-01-29 03:36:55 PM
ymagynatyf

rfuree11...if he doesn't force something, it could be another generation sucking off the teet of the government. The mother can't get a very high paying job because of the language barrier, has to rely on Uncle Sam and the cycle continues for the daughter.rfuree11, I guarantee you, absolutely gurantee you, that your grandma & grandpa on Social Security, or the tax breaks your mother & father get, or any number of other government sponsored or funded perks White America gets, suck much, much more off the "teet of the government" than the immigrant poor ever will. Yeah I'm a whitey and I went to college on government loans that I paid back early. But I have no illusions about who the real welfare queens are in this country. Look in the mirror, kid.

Even the suburbs white people love so much are gov't funded- if they refused to pay for tons of roads and sewer to these places while we have perfectly fine land in the city, whites would be forced to live closer in, with GASP people not like them.

Geh, Cobsy! Like keep it in your pants,ok? What a gross hypocrite. Don't tell young people what to do if you can't behave your own self.

A nice site about the pussy. (warning vulva shaped objects are on this page)

Oooh, I have a embarrassing confession to make to the entire internet! I bought the Lain box set. It was only $30! I was so tempted. I am so cheap. Oooooh, I bet Princess Tutu is out now.

In other news, I saw some really amazing bead work in my Africa class today as my teacher showed us some Masai crafts. I wish I was that good at beading. In other Africa news, I like how our textbook really emphasizes continuity and change. Like one example is of a group using the same ceremony for warriors that had returned from battle for people who had returned from college. So it's not saying either "well, they all decided to become westernized, go them" or "they haven't changed any since time primordial".

In good news, a young girl was saved from pervasive vagina myths. It's better for all parties to have realistic expectations. A vagina does not smell like flowers. It'd be stupid if it did. Douching is just a good way to get infections. Shaving is not required. Sometimes during oral sex, I have gotten a male pubic hair in my teeth. It was not the end of the world. I survived. Maybe if a man withholds oral because you have hair on your vagina, you should find another guy,ok? He obviously isn't very woman positive.

Also, here's some fucked up shit. Now lesbians aren't allowed in cartoons about maple syrup. WTF?

I find this kind of whining very triggering, but Amanda brings the funny. I do not know why the boo hoo hooing makes me so angry, but it does. It's like women worked and slaved and just gave up a lot to be able to come this far- but they want us all to not have all the stuff we worked for because it hurts their fucking feelings? I understand that it's all just a bunch of foolishness, but it's just like they think they are so much better than us that we should give up everything we worked for to them! You know how the culture was reformed? Hard fucking work! but they think they are entitled to everything because they have some fucking dangly parts.

Want a job? Hate racism? Live in some city that I have never been to? Hey, maybe you'd like to look at this flyer here.

I have nothing interesting to say about this think piece on Martin Luther King Jr.

More fark roundup! This thread is full of idiots, apparently. I mean seriously, I understand- eurocentric beauty standard, anorexic culture, and a whole bunch of men seriously insecure about their masculinity/sexuality, but come the fuck on. Complaining about Venus and Serena should be a sign that you should come out of your mom's basement and see actual women! First off, they are athletes! Real athletes- not this whole I pretend to play tennis so I can be famous and not just be an anoymous bikini girl thing. So they are going to have muscles. Duh. Second off, anorexia is unsexy. Third off, what you see portrayed on TV as attractive isn't the only way someone can be hot. Yea, maybe you only see white people or black girls who have more white features on TV, but that's not real life. There are many more hot women than just one stereotype.

This reminds me of the whole absorbshun thing- you know- put cornstarch in your vagina because your man is too insecure about his dick size, and won't go to therapy to be bitchslapped out of it. The whole "Oh my woman has to be less, so I can be more" attitude is so dumb. If you're so insecure, build your own self up, don't tear down women.

I am a very vain person(this blog is named after my character flaws) so I looked at this article because it mentioned my blog(it's mentioned in the comments). I agree. I mean, the reason we can even pretend that racism isn't so bad is that if white people want to say something racist, they have to couch it nicely or get the stink eye. Anyway, my theory is that if there wasn't any racism, they wouldn't want to say racial jokes so much, because it just wouldn't be considered a salient trait.

Some people can roll their tongues, and some people can not. I can't, personally. These are differences in people, but there's not a big market for humor about this. Not to mention there are no jokes about people with wrists that have bones protruding from them like I do. When you are thinking of funny jokes to tell people(I assume, I don't have a sense of humor) you don't think "hey, I think some tongue rolling humor would be great". Because you really don't think of it as a big divider of the human race. Maybe it's a neat trivia piece to know about someone, but not a big arbitrator of identity.

But if we thought that all people who can't roll their tongues were mean loud people who steal cabbages and rutabagas, we'd probably be rolling in the aisles with all the non tongue rolling jokes..

2005-01-25 04:30:37 PM
Smookyfufu

2005-01-25 04:25:55 PM cheshirecatsmileyface [TotalFark] Longbothamwow. thank you! i was almost starting to miss the days when people made random assumptions about me because i was a black female. thank you for bringing those days back! i had NO IDEA i was prone to driving slow in the fast lane or be mean because i'm BLACK and FEMALE!now i know!

Watch it, he might ask why black females have 10 kids and are on welfare next, but its okay! Because he used a "serious question" precursor, which is like saying "I'm not racist, but..."

A fun post for today's fark round up! Today we have a nice post of Beyonce, that diverges into several threads- one is "let's post hot black women"- some of the most attractive black women of the day are featured. Take a look. Another is about interracial dating, in which some good thoughts are said, and there's also guys pretending that they wouldn't be on that like white on rice, which is blatently false, unless they are gay. ^_- The last one is white guys acting like huge quivering vaginas. Please stop it- it's not attractive, and you're not fooling anyone. We all know you're not geniunely put upon. Here's an example.
2005-01-25 06:46:43 PM God-is-a-Taco
Whatsanubian
6) They just aren't attracted to White men physically.
Where's the outrage? Those girls are clearly racist for not being attracted to white men. Ugh, I'm sick of being called racist because my personal preference is towards white women.
/White male, source of all evil in the world

He got a few grumpy insinuations upthread, and I've always been a bit suspicious of people saying that all black women don't turn them on. Like what's that all about? I know the Asian fetish is about some bizarre submissiveness fantasy that doesn't seem to have anything to do with any actual Asians, ever. I guess black women aren't seen as submissive and weak enough. We should always examine our preferences, because we don't prefer things in a vacuum.

The post was whiny, but the postscript is worse. He should have just said /huge quivering vagina. Yes, sometimes white men are going to be criticized for things. There's no reason why they should be exempt. Since they get such a great deal, I think a little bucking up, and possible taking it like a man is in order. They are plenty happy to dish out criticisms, as sarcastically noted in the first fark post shown, but somehow if someone gives it in turn, it's all OMG.

Steve Gillard has a picture of what 'heritage' the Confederate flag represents, and also is annoyed just because some racists get access to MS lawmakers. Why does Southern heritage have to be all about killing black folk? Can't it be about ice tea or something? People like that fuck up my south. Now everyone thinks the south is all about hating black folk! (If anyone is so retarded to think that the battle flag that was flown by the KKK symbolizes fluffy bunnies, well, you know, there are places for people like you. No offense to actually retarded people, who are a great deal more intelligent and graceful than people who wear the confederate flag)

Also, here's some place to get multicultural and afrocentric curricula for homeschoolers.

Man, if this crazy social security propsoal gets enacted, we might have some crazy ass white folk on our hands. By the time their delusional imaginations get through with this, they'll think the gov't is giving black people free mansions while throwing poor old white people in the street or something.

Here's a site that is collecting links to black self help organizations. If you have a link, please send it in.

I always feel sad when you see children shaving their pubes. What have we been teaching them about their bodies?

Please don't act like a douche. An angry woman discusses how her friends acted like huge douches.

In other news, here's the origin of that poem from Coach Carter.

So I'm watching Real Women have Curves- I really like the scene where they decide to dance around in their underwear- it's just so joyous. Also, I'm on the internet, and so I'm reading feminist rage, and they are talking about these stupid pro ana sites. I hate the very idea. I mean, what's so great about starving yourself to death? I can understand that many of us need a little less pizza and a few more carrots, but let's not over do it. So many people are wasting so much time to be thin! I understand that maybe I'm ignorant-at my smallest I'm a size 1, at my largest, I'm a size 5. But you know, there's got to be a better way to live.

I remember from ninth grade gym when this girl talked about sometimes she puked up her food to try to make her stomach bulge go away and I felt really uncomfortable, but then this awesome athletic girl was like puking up your food isn't cool, and I had a girl crush on that girl just for saying that. I'm sorry, but puking up your food, not eating, exercising to extremes, somehow our society drives people over the edge into these bizarre disorders.

We want to be perfect so much we are killing ourselves. We can't go on like this. This is unstable.

I can't tell you how many times I hear a variant of: "I've taken on too much; it all has to be perfect but it isn't; it makes me overwhelmed and upset, can you give me a pill?"

from Shrinkette. I feel that for many of us are lives have become untenable. Some turn to drugs, prescribed or not, some turn to becoming religious loon bats. I guess we must all break free from the prison of expectations, but of course I don't know how. I'm aware that you can not earn respect, that it is granted, but I still want the respect of other people. It's a bind.

Another problem is that there doesn't seem to be any middle ground anymore. You have negative emotions? That means you're crazy as a loon! People expect things to be like movies- you sniffle once, and then you get over it magically. That's not so. I feel that there are many small losses in life that take time to get over. The realization you will never be beautiful, the realization that people are evil, the realization that time is passing, and you can never get time back. Those are all small losses that deserve respect, not medication.

I think meds should be used when there's a need, but not for every little thing.

At Bitch PhD, there's an intelligent approach to prostitution(Whore Fri,21st Jan). I especially liked the part about how she was both upholding the patriarchy and fighting it at the same time. There's always an interaction of different forces in everything- your cultural programming, your personality, and tons of other things combine to create the situation. There's a huge difference between becoming a prostitute because you need to make money or your whole family will starve and becoming one because you want to study sexual dynamics between males and females. There's even a million different distinctions in these situations- are you proud to help your family or do you feel coerced? That's why I can't get with the whole what I call empty set thing- assuming that all things are always equal, and that there aren't any forces that might change things. That sort of thinking is actually really hurtful.

Wussies! I mean, what's with the conservative movment nowadays? All they seem to want to do is tear down other people's hard work. We worked for reproductive rights, we worked for civil rights, and seriously, those people worked to do their own danm demonstration! I could see if they wanted to protest across the street, but don't bother other people, you stupid brown shirt thugs.

They think there shouldn't be consequences for their actions, I guess.

Also, Mac Diva talks about some idiot who gave a fake apology. Dudes, saying you're sorry that people were offended is insulting. Basically, you're saying you're sorry you got caught.

From Black Perspective and Introspection's comments, NmagiNate tells us all the obvious- that when people say they oppose AA because they care about 'merit' they are flat out lying in your face and think you're tricked. (either that or are drooling morons. If you don't want responsibility, well, there are consequences- I mean, if you're that stupid, you can't have much merit,eh?)


“The intervenors studied the admissions decisions during the year plaintiff Jennifer Gratz applied. They found many white students with lesser qualifications than Gratz were admitted. Of the 2,661 admitted students with lower standardized test scores and grade point averages, some 1,243 were white and 725 were black.” http://www.detnews.com/2000/schools/0011/12/a09-147250.htmSo 47% of the students that got in ahead of Gratz were White. Only 27% were Black and other minorities composed some 26% of the students with lower GPA’s and test scores. Now, where was all the outrage about these apparent “underperforming” White students? Mind you we’re are talking about merit. Last time I checked, merit sees no color. So how is it that the overwhelming presumption is that a Black student somehow got the unfair advantage or race-based preference? Unless all students relevant scores, etc. are laid out side-by-side, there is no way of telling who would have been the one that got admitted into her spot (as if she had one with predestined for her). I’m waiting to see the reports of how Whites are being discriminated against by the institutionally sanctioned preference for some Whites (with lesser grades) over other Whites.Holding my breath... I am not.

From Cobb:

"there are no negroes in America. they all changed who they were. ex-negroes are now 'black' or 'african american'. that is because they looked at the racial identity they got and the things associated with it and rejected it. they looked at what america meant by negro, they examined carefully the 'negro problem'. and they said 'i am not that'. they started from scratch with a new identity. they started with 'black is beautiful' and started calling each other 'brother' and 'sister'. They made a lot of mistakes, but after a couple of decades, the negroes were gone. They became a new people, free of the shackles of that racial identity. and they weren't finished, so they went on to 'african american'.
whitefolks stood still."

That reminds me of my childhood, so I decided to comment on it. Like when I was a teen, I looked at rap videos and said "not me" and I looked at Richard Wright and Maya Angelou and said "me". Ok, that's probably not like that at all. But hey, whatever. Here's a nice poem. Also, here's a nice example of the info you can get off the internet if you stop whining and search.

I always think it's pretty interesting how people use the issue of blacks being racist to deflect from real racism. Yes, I could tomorrow go to school, call all the white people crackers and believe that they are simply unable to understand racial concepts(a belief that seems to be shared by many whites, but I reject as it involves a racial difference in intelligence- i.e. whites being idiots. I like to believe that racist whites merely have personality flaws.) But you know what? I'm just one chick. Yea, your ego gets bruised, but I don't have the power to fuck you over real bad.

If racism was like that, like you know, it was just two rednecks on a porch saying "damn niggers" I wouldn't mind it so much. There's a huge difference between damn niggers and large amounts of people trying to protect the concept of whites only.(I think practice is more important than theory- if your idea is neutral in theory, but racist in practice, it's a racist idea. )

You know, once I was arguing on the internet,and some fool said that candy bars aren't less expensive than fruit because fruit is cheaper, but I tried to talk about calories per pound,and they tried to act like candy bars weren't as filling. That's stupid- I am privileged and only really know about this because something's wrong with my body that causes me to need a lot of food or else, but an apple is way less filling than a candy bar. You can keep going on a candy bar, on fruit, you're still hungry.

My mom places a lot of emphasis on getting FULL because when she was younger, they didn't have this huge food budget we have now. I mean, yes a salad(by this I mean a healthy salad without like fried chicken in it or something) is healthier than mashed potatoes, but what's going to keep you full? It's easier to be less concerned about your meals being filling if you know you can just have another one whenever you feel like it. How people with time strapped jobs(today I noticed a big sabotage of my plans to eat healthy is simply not having time to eat) and with kids, and suchlike are supposed to eat healthy and exercise is beyond me.

Basically, right on feminist rage! Read the whole thing- it's great.

In Cuba, fat dancers are pretty darn skinny. I usually eschew exercise- not because I hate the actual activity itself, but because it seems to be either part of a beauty culture or part of a competition culture, but never part of a fun culture. I don't know, it somehow wears on my nerves how obsessed our culture is with weight. It's even more obsessed with it than our other obsession(that's race- yes, displays of white pride/ignorance have to do with race, I think) It's like our whole lives are supposed to revolve around looking a certain way.

I understand that I am naturally thin, but you know, why do we even have to judge our fatter friends by their weight? Like if we really cared about health, we'd stop making exercise about weight and suffering, and make it about health and fun. Of course this goes along with my theory that if someone says they are for this and that, but their actions work against this and that, they really are against it. Actions always have the last say over words.

In other news, there is a great discussion going on about people of color's narratives and the oh so annoying, 'but it's not REALLY about being a person of color thing'.

A former pro lifer talks about racism in the pro life movement. I have always wondered why they never bring up the black babies that need homes in our country, instead focusing on lines for white babies. Many blacks can only afford to adopt within the family or out of foster care, after the child has already been in the system. (full discourse: my aunt and uncle have foster kids- they really dote on them and have for years.) At least this isn't in FL, which still has a gay adoption ban, which I think is dumb. Kids need parents, and quibbling over what their parents do with other consenting adults is wasteful.

I also have a small comment to make about blogs. I think we can use blogs to raise our consciousness of issues we need to know about. It's not a replacement for a good old fashioned book, but they are free and easy. For example, here's a beautiful and inspirational sermon. I don't go to church, but it nearly brought tears to my eyes.

At Vision Circle, it is finally articulated that really bothers me about the whole bootstraps thing. It's all about keeping things the same, but the stuff that happens now pisses us off, so why would we want things to stay the same? You can't really change anything by yelling at people to pick up the trash instead of fighting for the service they deserve.

There's also a series about a black man's life experience. I have known people to work and get food stamps at the same time, and even if it doesn't seem like people are working- there are armies of kitchen beauticians, shade tree mechanics and people who will hook up your brick work for a price. People think that blacks don't work, just because they in fact are too lazy to go down and see about it themselves.

Also, college experiences. It's important to have black voices, our real authentic voices out there, telling people what it's really like. Sure, there are a zillion books, magazines, and everything else telling them. So I don't know what to do. Like why are they so eager to believe lies?

Also, it really burns me up that whites don't have to have merit, but blacks do. Pretending that's fair is a sure sign of mental illness.

More fark posts- this clears up a common misconception so I don't have to fucking type:


2005-01-17 11:40:44 PM
Jesus 2.0

Johnny DangerHoly crap. I'm serious.shiat...I was just ignoring the post that you responded to, figuring its idiocies spoke for themselves. But since you are apparently taking it seriously, I'm going to point out its flaws, so that (hopefully) its idiocies don't spread.(1) It considers all white-on-black violence, and all black-on-white violence, to be racially motivated violence. This is false, by a long shot, in both cases.(2) It doesn't say the rate at which black people commit violence against black people, or white people against white people. I would bet cash money that "black on black" is higher than "black on white".(3) It doesn't take into account socioeconomic status. That is, poor people commit more violence (on average) than not-so-poor people, regardless of race, and a lot of black people, relatively speaking, are poor.Basically, this post is taking the two facts:(1) Poor people commit more crimes, and(2) Black people are more likely to be poor than white people,and putting them together to conclude:Black people are waging an intentional racist war of violence against white people.It's obviously idiotic, once presented step-by-step. And the reason that the author didn't present it step-by-step is that he's a racist farknut who doesn't want you to realize that his conclusion doesn't follow from his facts.

Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable...Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice,suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions andpassionate concern of dedicated individuals.~Martin Luther King, Jr.

This quote, I found on Echinde.

In addition to this, this post can help people understand many different oppressions, but it's about homophobia.

It's time for a MLK Day Fark thread round up.
2005-01-17 02:12:26 PM
Jean-Puc_Licard

They should have one special day, or even a month, possibly even drag it out to a year, when all officialdom in America from the Whitehouse down says;"We are so sorry that this country rose to it's industrial might on the back of kidnapped slave labor.We are so sorry that when they wrote "all men are created equal" they lied and were too chickenshiat to include the blacks."Have a big official acknowledgement, a massive orgy of handwringings and apologies, rallies and fair days.... and then just get on with life. I think it needs to be done, to clear the air, remove the stain, exorcise the shame

I don't want people to just say sorry, I want people to make amends. That means no more benefiting from white privilege without a fight against it. That means no more whining- just working to solve the problems. If they have class problems, no more blaming them on blacks. They must solve their own problems instead of using us as scapegoats. Only then will amends be made, and they can wash the shame from their hands.


2005-01-17 01:52:48 PM
Firefly_Gal

No discussion of MLK is complete with out a mention to Baynard Rustin who organized the 1963 March on Washington and was openly gay (quite a feat for his time). No matter what charges the white supremacists lobbied at King for keeping a 'pervert' around, King never turned his back on the man. That is a hell of a kind of loyalty, since King was under constant pressure to ditch him even from his fellow ministers. Without Baynard Rustin to coordinate events like the 1963 march and make coalitions, we would not have the civil rights legislation today. And very few people outside the gay community even know who he is. Sad really.

Just for your info.

I wish they'd show a greater breadth of information on Martin Luther King Jr. Otherwise we are in danger of losing what made him great. Basically, I think it was courage. Whites didn't just scowl at civil rights-they were violent- people were killed, beaten up, even attacked by dogs(and the famous firehoses). Knowing their insanity then gives you context- I mean, that level of crazy can't be cured by one speech. That's why Malcolm X was all about any means necessary- because it was really fucking dangerous. I'm glad that they risked their lives so I can live safely.

That's why I get so mad. Blacks WORKED for what we have. We have worked our asses off even to get basic citizenship, but whites seem to think just because some similarly complected people stole some land and enslaved some people that america is for them only forever. Like everything people WORKED for should just be handed over because someone has a sense of entitlement.

It's like being a woman. You sometimes hear these crazy so called men's rights folks bitching about women's shelters being for women. Like what the fuck? If they want men's shelters so damn bad, they can do the footwork. If they don't have the money, they can hide the abused men in their fucking homes. Feminists fought hard to get shelters for women, hard for restraining order laws. They WORKED for what they had- not like these people expecting a fucking hand out.

Also, here's a beautiful post on 'nature' and relationships. Also, I'd like to note that on the total scale of injustice affirmative action ranks below the fact that I can't find pants that fit.

Also, here's a post for those friends of vagina pagina, linking to all of the every day bodies projects.

A nice twist on intelligent design.

Maybe I was right about 80% of whites being racist. (at least they might have undersampled hispanics that are non white) Of course, to me, racist is what you do, not what you are.


You are a Radical. Right on!

What kind of Sixties Person are you?
brought to you by

NSFW: Here is a picture of a naked man. Just in case you collect nude photos.


Also, I might save up to buy some of this makeup. It's hard to find a good tone in drug stores. I swear, if I see any more pale peach lipstick and porcelain powder I'm going to..well, I don't know, be mad I guess.

More about Affirmative Action. Whites complaining about it makes me feel resentful. The thing is that most blacks have average intelligence, so you aren't fooling them when you talk about 'merit'. We know you mean 'white skin' mostly, and a 'penis' too. Otherwise, you would be worried about the white male idiots that can't do their jobs. We also know you don't really care about discrimination. Come on- if you really cared, you'd be too busy working on real cases of discrimination, on everything from houses built on superfund sites to kids being disciplined more harshly in schools than whites. Not to mention the fact that you'd also be aware of the hundreds of years of discrimination against blacks, instead of being so ignorant that you think this is the only case of so called racial discrimination ever. We also know you don't care about black kids, as sometimes you lie, and say "well, AA seems to say they can't make it on their own"

No, idiot, they could make it on their own if you weren't trying to stop them. They wouldn't need AA if whites tried not to be racist, or men tried not to be sexist, but dismantling the whole program, and then blaming us for the problems caused is likely to be the result. The whole thing is VERY insulting to the intelligence, as we're supposed to not see the extremely thinly veiled racism. By racism, I mean real racism- I don't get the whole "we can dish it out, but not take it" thing.

I mean,consequences of your own actions, people. Treat people like dirt like lying like the above, and guess what? they won't like you. Act decent or shut up. Of course, that sort of lying makes me uncomfortable- because I don't think the whole "withhold opportunities and then blame people for having problems" approach is very moral.

Also, the whiners tend to be people like this: whiny whites who think that actually learning things in college is oppression. I mean, it's COLLEGE. You're supposed to read books in college. If you don't want to learn anything, there are special colleges for you. Go to them- don't go to normal college and expect to come out dumb as a doornail.

Pro Choice people, post your photos!

The Wu Tang Clan wouldn't eat this lady's cinnamon rolls.... Just so random...

Over the last few months, I have become radicalized. Some have expressed surprise, but this was building over a period of years. You see, at the tail end of puberty, people start to be able to understand things at higher levels than they were able to before. It's like a revolution in your mind, this is why you often see teenagers do strange things. While I was aware of the racial divide, and of racial problems before and during this time period (time period 15-19) I was repressing it a bit. My personality type is such that I am a stuffer. This incidentally reminds me me of a mad tv skit when a man (incidentally this was a black man) was not annoyed by some dude smashing into the back of his car, and he's like I just stuff this incident into a little tiny ball of rage and put it deep deep inside...

Anyway, so I'm walking along, aware of racial issues, and slightly bothered by them. Mostly I am bothered by them when others draw attention to my race. I think the n word incident radicalized me, although I am unsure of the mechanism. I think it is because it made it obvious that whites don't grow out of racism. This may sound strange but when I was a kid, I thought people were racist because they hadn't grown up enough. So basically the lid on the pandora's box became unlocked, and I am sorting through the problems.

You will see a lot of anger here. This is because when I was a child, I was raised around white people, and so I have a lot of slights here, and even now I go to a white college, and some of the whites don't have any home training- this is why there is so much self segregation at my school, I think. I mean, I know I'd rather have a nice lunch with someone I know has some sense, than worry that someone will say something stupid. This is also because I am from the south- like I always read the newspaper even when I was a very small child- while the worst letters I think were put in the crank file, there were plenty of stupidity coming out there. Also, it's like racism is in the air somehow- people wear confederate flag shirts, people act like thinking about school consolidation is like raping babies, and there's a lot of white flight. So it's like it's everywhere somehow.

And when you keep it inside, it kind of festers, and that's why I'm so angry, not to mention the lying that often happens and adds to the problem of anger. There's also a shame layer. Somehow I experience whites being racist as embarrassing. This may because I embarrass easily- but somehow it's like wtf? act right. I may have other emotions, but since I'm young, the anger is very intense and present.

But then again, there's like two reactions you could have to this big problem. You could try to pretend everything is ok. I'm not that type. It'd be constantly eating at me, and there wouldn't be a healing part afterward. Or you could pay attention and feel annoyed. I think that if you pay attention, and try to work through it, somehow you'll find a way to help fix the problem. Even if you yourself can't help much, you can help raise someone else's consciousness who might be able to do something.

If I can get just one person to understand that there's a huge difference between being annoyed at mistreatment and coming out of nowhere and making stuff up about people, my life won't be in vain.

Black Proof: Thousands of studies of racial discrimination

White Proof: A half remembered third hand story that they could be making up.

In the court of public opinion, winner: White Proof.

I will not be on the net to blog on MLK Day, so this is why I am doing my MLK blogging now. Here's is an article about Martin Luther King Jr that I have been saving for some time. Here's a taste:


Martin Luther King III, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said he is offended when opponents of affirmative action quote the line from his father's "I Have a Dream" speech that Americans should be judged "not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." His father delivered the speech at the culmination of the Aug. 28, 1963, March on Washington.


Also, I hate packing, so here's an awesome excerpt on racism, classism, and Dean Esmay:

As a fellow member of the working-class, white man secret society, shut the hell up. If your life, or the lives of people you care about, are fucked up, deal with it. Ask us and we'll try to help. Share and we'll cope with you. But don't blame black people. And certainly don't blame Oliver, especially when your "evidence" of his privilege was hand-delivered to you by the voices in your own head.

Ooh,smackdown. But it really annoys me when white men try to use class problems as a way to ignore racism. Like they'll act like they are really the same problem, but it's not so. If you're white, and lower class, you have a problem. If you're black and lower class, you have two problems. I tend to see sexism and racism as connected- like I'll be reading some feminists and be like "well, that's like being black" or be reading some black thinkers, and be like "that's like being a woman", but I don't say that the problem for women is really race, or the problem for blacks is really sex, that's just dumb.

oppressions do combine and stack on each other, and may even manifest in similar ways. That however doesn't make any oppressions disappear. I can't say that the problems that transpeople go through is really essentially sexism, or homophobia is just a problem of sexism, because even though sexism is an element of those oppressions, it's not like it's the only one- they have unique characteristics.

Of course this is a bit indepth since the white guys complaining don't really want to go indepth into fixing any of this, they just want excuses, but the rest of us might be enriched by this discussion. I guess they are like men's rights activists, plenty happy to try to tear down what gains others have made, but not willing to do the work to make any real gains of their own. If they are unhappy about being dirt poor, they need to see why they are dirt poor, and work to fix those mechanisms instead of sitting around bitching about blacks.

Here's an offensive photo(NSFW, contents are offensive, as they are a woman in a hijab with breasts showing) In this thread about a magazine in Polish that has this on its cover, some idiots say stupid things about Islam. Islam has done a lot of good things actually, like being the religion of the people who invented algebra. It's a fine religion in itself, it's just that some people will interpret it all sorts of evil ways, and if you created the best religion in the world, those same people would make up some reason to mess it up.

My thrift store tally from yesterday was 5 shirts, 1 suit, 2 pants, 1 pair of shoes, and 3 skirts. The cost was $70, but nearly half of that was two items: the suit and the pair of shoes which were actually new. Also, I found an article that will be a corrective to MLK corpse rapers. MLK wasn't some fluffy black grandpa who only cared about making white people feel better. Shoot, if he was like that, he could have just sat in his pulpit, and told everyone to be content with where they were, made a bunch of excuses for the situation, and had a good old time. It's pretty insulting to think this leader would be for protecting the status quo, when he actually wanted to help people.

Today I had fun thrift shopping and was in a great mood, as I packed in a great haul. Unfortunately, I glanced at the internet, and was reminded that Martin Luther King Day is soon, and so stupid whites will molest the poor man's memory. It's just disrespectful. If you don't like blacks fine, but don't quote King out of context, preying on people's ignorance to push your anti black agenda,ok? Of course if they were decent enough to show the man some fucking respect, they wouldn't have an anti black agenda, but..

In other news, I was blogrolled on feministe, a blog I admire. Also, here's a good post about Freaks and Geeks. Now I will tell a racial anecdote. My mom was telling me about the bad behavior of a little boy, around 10, race white, name unimportant, so we will call him Bob. He made comments about how soon he wouldn't be able to keep it in his pants. The actual teacher of this kid was all like oh, his humor is too mature, but we did have to write him up. My cousin is about 14, and is black, and female. She got suspended for sexual harassment for three days, because she and her friends spread rumors that she was pregnant by this little boy. I approve of her getting suspended, although I think she should have had in school suspension instead, just because she was being an asshat in school. Anyway, just an anecdote.

The inauguration is only a few days away. Why don't you help out young women, and protest it at the same time? This inaugural protest is a great idea.


Also, I agree with this perceptive from the end of this series about black men.


"Finally, the ultimate solution is to deal with this life from the standpoint of true spirituality as opposed to pop culture. Spirituality involves an interrelatedness, a connectedness, the notion that you did not create yourself, as opposed to rugged individualism - the notion of a self-made man or woman. You can't make yourself. You certainly can't make yourself physically. You are the result of your actions, the actions of others and pre-existing conditions. People rising up out of the ghetto, inner city, cannot allow them to think they made it by themselves"

I agree- you can't change much by yourself. You need to connect to others, even if you seem to be alone. I seem to be a loner, but I am more connected than people who seem to have a lot of friends. You can't connect with people if you are creating a hierarchy of who matters and who doesn't based on superficial characteristics. You can't connect if you don't know who you are.

You can't connect with your community if you don't listen to the old heads. I don't say, you gotta do what they say, but at least have some history and context in your life. If you think everything occurs in a vacuum, and because a bad thing happened to someone, they are a bad person, how can you connect?

You connect by learning who you are, you connect by speaking honestly, you connect by showing others respect. When I get older, I feel that I will become a truly deeply connected person. As you can tell, I'm a book person- so I get my models from there. My so called 'patron saint' is Richard Wright. He educated himself with just a library card. I also admire and respect bell hooks, she has great ideas.

I think to connect, you have to find strength within yourself, and not be afraid. I want whites not to be scared of how they will have to give up unearned privilege for the reality of a good country for everyone. I want people of color not to be scared to take the next step to uplift their community. I want men not to worry about their masculinity, but on doing what's right. I want women to realize that they have power in themselves, not just in competing over a man. I'm really idealistic, but people who are idealistic are needed.

Here's an interesting conversation on the connection between Gothic Lolita fashion and the actual book Lolita(there's not really more than a tangential connection). Of course what really gets my ire is people who don't even read the book Lolita, and think that they know what it's about by a)watching the movie b)plain hearsay. You can't get Lolita in by watching a fucking movie! It's a fucking masterpiece of literature here- and it's not told straight.

I'm too tired to write a decent piece about this blog post. However, it talks about feminism, racism and explores many issues. Read it all, and comments.

Also some good commentary about racism.

For the serious empathetics, a short piece on racism, and a bonus.

So today, I saw Coach Carter. Spoilers follow. Today was a sneak peak viewing, so everyone was in a good mood. We all had gotten free tickets, and we got free CDs with the single Hope on it. The good mood contributed to the great crowd. People laughed at the right places, people said "sit your fat ass down" to particularly annoying characters trying to obstruct Carter,etc. Also, the movie was very well crafted.

There was a good mix of comedy, drama and sap. The character Worm was the best producer of comedy- one of the best moments is when Coach Carter, annoyed after the team has snuck out after the championship to a party, says to him: I had to go on a roadtrip to suburbia, and you're here on top of daddy's little princess. To which Worm replies "Actually I was on bottom".

The drama was mostly produced in a series of dramatic walk aways caused by Carter's demands . Cruz had the most and the most dramatic, and I like how they weaved in his life on the streets meanwhile. They slipped in his drug dealing ways without hitting people over the head with it, and it was suitably dramatic when his cousin was shot. His big piece after that was memorizing a whole poem that starts like this "Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure".

There's also a uplifting subplot about teen pregnancy involving Kenyon, which is resolved neatly by an abortion. I like how they didn't have the girl crying her eyes out, and being like oh my god, I killed our baby! She seemed kinda relieved, and happy when Kenyon said he wanted her to go with him- I feel that her fate being left out in the ending was a annoying omission.

SPOILERS END AT THIS POINT

Overall it was a good movie- characters were well drawn, the plot progressed logically, and the sap levels were not allowed to become overbearing. A solid addition to the canon of sappy feel good movies.

Although one thing that bothered me was that because of the constraints of being a movie, it had a lot of one good teacher fights against the school system, and everyone has a little gumption and everything is fine flavor to it. For people who actually care about education in real life, this doesn't really matter. We know it's just a movie.

Some people don't know that. They seriously think if we get a few guys to come in, and say "pull up your grades and pull up your pants" that all the problems of our educational system will be fixed. The problem here is that it is a system. There have been many Coach Carters in reality, many teachers and many coaches and many principals have lifted a few students up. But the thing is that there are limits to what individuals can do, even if it's with gumption. We can try our hardest, but we have to keep educating ourselves and seeing what the real problems are.

We may say "That's simple- it's lazy students, complacent parents and stupid teachers", but those may just be symptoms of the underlying problem- symptoms you can't attack with gumption and a feel good soundtrack.


Another problem is that many people will risk thinking that only minorities think sports are more important than school. In the movie, a white man, a relative of Lyle, one of the white players does say things that indicate that he too considers basketball more important than books. Of course that'll be ignored by the ignorant commentators we will most likely see. Our whole culture glorifies sports out of proportion, and student athletes of all colors are let slide. This is a systematic problem- blaming only a small section for the sins of the whole- that way responsibility can be avoided. If we all said "Hey, maybe wasting money on stadiums for sports teams should be halted til we put money into education", that would actually take work. Can you imagine it?

The message of the movie is that education is important. I think we need to broaden our definition of education. I think of course that people should get degrees and diplomas, but education is more than just that. It's opening your mind to ways of living and thinking that actually work- that are life affirming, and empowering- not in a buzz word feel good about yourself sense- but in that it gives you the power to create a positive change in the world.

That's why I liked Coach Carter so much. He's portrayed as an educator- he opens people's minds and hearts. Of course, easier to watch than do.

After typing all that, I see this post on Gillard's blog. He exposes some veiled racism in right wing thought. While the racism is one sticking point for blacks in the republican party, another one is that if blacks in the republican party have stupid ideas, they usually aren't their own stupid ideas. One may disrespect the blacks in the democratic party, even ones that are a bit out there, like Al Sharpton- but they come up with their own stupid ideas.

Kissing up to and being servile to whites doesn't play well to many blacks. A lot of blacks want to see not just black faces, but people who are working to make things better for black people. What shores up white self esteem, and what is good for black people is often two very different things. Of course what shores up white self esteem and what is good for the whole country are often two very different things, too...

I am reading the book Hair Story, and am reminded why I am not so annoyed at black people(on racial issues) For black people's part, we must learn to take pride in ourselves,and learn that folks are lying when they say we are inferior, and try to do the best that we can under the circumstances. For the most part, blacks are doing this, and have done this for years. It's much less rage inducing to see people doing something, but going about it the wrong way, in your opinion, than to see people refusing to do anything and then complaining when their actions cause dislike or distrust. Even black conservatives I can forgive, because at least they make sense- they simply think that every man for himself is the best way to get ahead. They have a reasonable goal, and are trying to get there, even though it may harm us as a whole. However, white people get my ire because they simply don't understand reality at all. Look at this idiot from the commercial appeal:

'White People' comic jogs the senses
I cannot fully describe my utter disgust with "The Boondocks" comic strip of Jan. 9.
I was appalled at the hypocrisy that still exists within this country. How can we do everything legally and morally possible to eliminate racial discrimination, yet remarks and/or symbolism coming from a minority ethnic group are considered acceptable? How did your paper justify the printing of such a blatant racial disparity?
Would you have run a comic strip with such a reference to "black people"? Would the wrath of every African-American in this city not be screaming at your back door?
I consider this comic strip to be an injustice to all Americans. How can we continue in our battle to overcome ethnic differences when some are so willing to step backwards?
Denise Divine
Nesbit, Miss.


This woman doesn't even know what the word disparity means, yet she feels ok to write in whining. White people have written books like the Bell Curve to disparage blacks, they have taught that slavery was just fine, they have told themselves that we have a dysfunctional culture and that it is pathological, they are the main ones supporting that minstrel show that is mainstream rap nowadays, yet this idiot thinks that suggesting that white people run around in the snow while wearing shorts (see the comic here) is the issue when thinking about eliminating racial problems?

I mean, even the stupidest, most likely to take it up the behind without a reach around black conservative knows that things are not equal, and that we have real problems to tackle. When blacks complain about representation, it's a different thing than when whites complain. We are trying to address the stereotyping of our race as inferior, stereotyping which affects our treatment.

For every image of a white person as a person who runs around in the snow without what is considered adequate clothing to black people, there are thousands of images of whites that are positive and non stereotyped.

Of course the big central problem is that this lady is too lazy to understand racial problems. She falls for the classic white error of assuming that because people of different races are all human, that means that everything is always the same across the board. It's not.

For example, I have way more sympathy for the black man whining about the man, than a white guy whining about affirmative action. The black guy might actually have experienced discrimination, become depressed,etc. However- I have no sympathy for people who ignore real problems, and cry when they are being redressed. I guess white people think that eliminating racial discrimination means that they will not have to do anything, and that's why they are crying. They thought that magic fairies were going to make everything alright, and were disabused of the notion. Seriously, how do they think they are going to fix racism without fixing themselves? Where do they think racism comes from? The sky? Mars?

Our battle is not to 'overcome ethnic differences', it's to create a just society. Overcoming ethnic differences sounds good to whites because it gets them babied. But, they have to sacrifice something, and one of those things is not being poked fun at. Blacks have been poked fun at for years, and the fun has sometimes been vicious. Whites are just going to have to accept that no one fucking cares about their feelings, real problems should come first, and that they should grow up. They think this is still slavery times, and we gotta defer to them. Hell naw, they are just going to have to deal with humor at their expense, like everyone else.

An ancedote on women in the workplace, and mouse words on whether women like to have sex.

The book Please Stop Laughing at Me highlights the pervasive rot we allow to ruin our schools, i.e. bullying. The problem with it is that no one is really against bullying except for the victims. Adults are for bullying. If they were against it, they wouldn't be complicit in it, or let it go on. A big problem in their approach is that they think that something is wrong with the victim. DUMB as fuck. They forget that in groups you don't have to do anything to be hated, and that people will do horrible things just to be in a group. They also don't understand how children work. Here's a passage illustrating this:

"Why must mom continue pushing her grown up logic on me? Kids simply don't think that way. Adults perceive the act of ignoring someone as a sign of power. Teenagers think it spells weakness with a capital W. The more I try to pretend indifference, the harder my classmates try to get my goat" p. 194.

Of course, simply pretending that you don't hear someone doesn't make their remarks less hurtful. So while adults defense ineffective advice, children are being damaged for life. The kids of course have a big part to play in this- but they are taught that this sort of behavior is ok. Not only do adults model cruel behavior, when kids are cruel, they are not punished for it, and people act like it is the person that they hurt's fault that they were idiots. Not to mention they are taught that cruelty is not such a big deal, and that it is normal and acceptable to be cruel to others. This of course is a poisonous doctrine.

Another problem is that kids are trapped. They are stuck in school 8 hours a day. I am not sure of the mechanism, but somehow competition over popularity gets entrenched, and is a big contributor to bullying. When I was younger, I observed that the most popular kids didn't have to bully, only the ones just below who were insecure, and had to shore up their status. Basically, they are becoming hypercompetitive over something arbitrary and meaningless.

A person could be popular because she could dance the watusi dance better than others, or unpopular because she smiled slightly too much or something. And at that age, popularity is a bit of a blood sport, and many movies and TV shows reinforce this. There are all these dramas and comedies about teen cliques and suchlike that show that teens are supposed to be catty and suchlike.

Maybe we should provide teens with something meaningful to them to do. When you don't treat people as useful members of society, they have too much time to make up their own society, which ends up all Lord of the Flies type.

A white guy writes on anti-racism. A note: he uses black to mean what Americans mean by people of color.

Also, while I will not be able to participate, here is an email I got with edits in ()

This coming Monday, Jan. 17th, the Sierra Club and Jobs with Justiceare both marching in the Martin Luther King day parade. The Sierra Club group will meet on the corner of Peachtree and BakerStreet at noon next Monday. They will have posters and stuff alreadythere, so all you need to do is show up. Here's the organizer's emailaddress if you have any questions: anna.swinson@(remove)sierraclub.org JwJ will be at the same corner at noon, with signs as well. organizer's email: terencecourtney@(remove)yahoo.com Finally, if you are interested in joining a service project, pleaseemail me( cascada100@(remove)hotmail.com). Our group will probably be working on some home repair fora senior that Monday from 9 am - 1 pm. Make it a day ON, not a day off (handsonatlanta.org)

(remove all the removes from the email addresses. If you are in the atlanta area, it'd be nice if you helped these groups honor martin luther king jr. Also, maybe one should consider honoring him with social justice work on that day and every day.)

From a thread on Orinicus, I saw this piece from Salon linked from Freeperville. An interesting thread is flowing through this article- Savage might have the ever so common perception that white people should just have everything given to them for just existing. Some examples:

I discovered I could not gain a professorship even after applying many times," he writes in "The Savage Nation." "My crime? I was a white male."

[Maybe it's because there's only a limited number of slots for professors and a whole lot of people applying for them? But instead of thinking about that, he starts crying about how he's a poor little white male]

A fee of $40 gets new members a Savage Nation baseball cap and an anti-affirmative action pamphlet called "The Death of the White Male."

[Note how any nod towards actually redressing injustice will cause the 'death' of the white male. The implication is that white people will die if they act like decent people and try to redress wrongs. This is untrue.]

Last spring, Savage told his listeners about a third-grade teacher in San Diego, Calif., who had saved a child from choking, and demanded that the state school superintendent give her an official commendation. "If she was a minority teacher and picked up a paper clip on the floor, then a commendation would be in order," he sniped. He neglected to mention that the "hero teacher," Rebecca Lin Yops, was in fact his daughter, who had changed her last name after her recent marriage.

[Note the sense of envy here- apparently all the minorities are taking all the commendations. Maybe they thought she was just doing her job? But no, it's back to waaah, us poor whites]

Even if Savage doesn't believe this, it's a big obstacle in the face of justice. Blackness is strong, so it's hard to understand how weak whiteness is. Blacks can survive poorer health care, poorer schools and a general lack of respect, pretty well under the circumstances. However, whites are reduced to crying babies if the mere suggestion of human decency is made. I think this is because they feel their position is fragile- I mean, it's just based on some made up misattributions of what people look like, and sure, there is the power of stolen wealth, but once justice is done- their position is gone.

Sure, the actual country would be better- but it's scary to change- to go from thinking that you are special and should get all the best just for living, to understanding that they'll have to work for things. They shouldn't expect professorships to be handed to mediocre whites, the CEO spot to always be occupied by a white, or anything else. They simply aren't entitled to these things, and the sooner they get used to it and stop crying, the better off we'll all be.

This is an interesting controversy and illustrates how shallowly some people view racism. The person accusing Gillard(of the same race as me, that is black) of racism is white, and has defended the Bell Curve. However, he called Gillard racist because he got mad at Armstrong Williams and called him a nigger. The Bell Curve- that's insidious racism- convincing many whites that blacks are inferior. Steve does not think blacks are inferior, from his writings, so his n word doesn't pack the same punch as a white person, who chooses to use that word, even though most blacks are offended when they say it, blatantly disrespects us all.

It's not about making the right noises. It's about respect. Williams disrespected the human race with his selling out, which is way worse than using bad words. In Goldberg's idiotic defense of the Bell Curve, he says we don't twirl our moustaches trying to make bad things happen to gays, blacks and women, but if you support policies that will cause them problems, you are accountable for the results of those policies. It's called responsibility for one's own actions.

If you repeal hate crimes laws, you say "hey, bashing queers is ok, there shouldn't be laws against terrorizing people because they are gay", and you're going to have to deal with people who feel angry because you are totally morally bankrupt. I mean seriously, they pretend they haven't heard of mens rea, just so some good ol' boys can have sport terrorizing people for no reason, and expect us to trust them.

politically correctadj. Abbr. PC
Of, relating to, or supporting broad social, political, and educational change, especially to redress historical injustices in matters such as race, class, gender, and sexual orientation.
Being or perceived as being overconcerned with such change, often to the exclusion of other matters.


Note the second defintion, and let's do a little bit of critical thinking here. What exactly is 'overconerned'? How can you be over concerned with redressing injustice? Who defines what is overly concerned? Is it the same people benefiting from the injustice? And what do we mean by historical? Are we being white about it, and thinking that every ten years we get a do over, and redressing all the wrongs we did in that time period should not be done?

I'm blogging a lot today, but I really love it. Now, this paper has the forth of its series on black men up. People from the community are just getting together, and talking about how they can make their community better, what they are doing, what successes they have made. Like it reminds me of how the voices of America are all out there, all around us. There are magazines, and books, and radio shows, and webpages all telling a story of a different America. We don't have to accept what it fed to us- that America is always and only a white male country, and it only belongs to rich white males.

No, America belongs to everyone. If you don't hear the voices of blacks or latinos or Asians or poor people or transexual people or gay people or women or disabled people or any other type of people, their real authentic voices, not just stereotypes and lies, you gotta think about your reception, your choices. Not everyone's got a big internet, but if you're here, you do, there's the whole internet to play with. Not everyone's in a big city, and can talk to different people directly, but there's always something- even a well worn copy of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in your local library.

With all the good things we have in America, people refuse to hear or see or think about most of the people in America. Only a small portion of America is rich white men who are straight christian and able bodied. Yet we let them set the agenda for all of us- telling us what history is, telling us what we should think about politics, telling us who we are. You can't define yourself by what people who are willfully ignorant of you think you are. You just can't.

Prominent black bloggers weigh in on the the Armstrong Williams affair. People of other colors may wonder why he is getting slammed in such abundantly racial terms. Of course, most of this comes from white people who are angry because it is no longer acceptable for them to use those terms, and they should do some soul searching on their parts. This man has comported himself in such a way that we are all ashamed of him. He has embarrassed his race and his country, and is just generally being a dildo. He will be condemned in strong terms by members of his group. Individualism is making its inroads into the black community, of course, with typically bad results, because every man for himself leaves every man hanging alone. However, many people, especially the old heads still embrace the feeling of community, and of responsibility to someone besides yourself. He has let us all down. He has also let himself down, but that's his own private problem.

Because they are bloggers, they don't have to be non offensive and make everyone happy. They can say what they think- even if what they think is that Williams is a handkerchief head, uncle tom coon. You can't just go and suck up to white people and do unethical things, and expect that no one is going to call you names. I bet he wishes name calling was the worst he had to deal with.

Too bad the people who need to get this won't. Too bad that they don't understand that if people are still alive that did all that mess, and even worse, the people who just stood by and thought that was a perfectly acceptable way to act, that they can't just assume racism is over. Racism will never be over unless whites give it up- to do that, they would have to critically examine themselves, make amends for past injustice, and then make sure that it never happens again. The last part is the hardest, and the saddest. Even though I feel sorrow, I can't do their work for them.

The broad failure of white societies to ask themselves not just what wrong they have done, but more searchingly, why they continue to do them, allows a permanent life for the central flaw at those societies' moral core.- Randall Robinson, Quitting America, P. 117

The main moods of this book are sorrow and anger. Sorrow that we have allowed our civilization to be degraded, and anger that we refuse to do anything to recover it. He mourns for our loss of a moral core, although he enjoys the society of some people on the island of St Christopher.. I of course think that we should try to rebuild our society on bonds of love, but it's all very different when you are older. I don't blame him- when you're an old man, it's hard to get the energy to fit any longer for people who don't give a damn about you. When I'm old, I'll be bitter, but I haven't gotten around to that yet.

Shame on all sellouts. Also, how can we believe this lying fraud of a government? Bush supporters should all be shamed. This is why blacks shouldn't be individualists. If this guy recognized that he was accountable to someone besides himself, he probably wouldn't have taken the money and compromised his morals. Seriously, if white people told him to throw himself off a bridge, would he? Probably.

Feminist Rage: The top mod talks against rape scenes in movies. I personally can't watch them- they are too disturbing. But sometimes it does seem like sexual violence is for the titillation factor, and you know, you can imply things, and maybe show the emotional damage afterwards, not just show women as victims that are sort of dehumanized.

Also, this site is by a woman, I think, who wants to help survivors and other people who just don't want to see that mess, screen what they see. Surviving can be hard enough without looking at all sorts of crazy mess in the movies.

This post nearly made me cry. Uh..I can't think of anything to say. So here it is.

I got The Time Bind, Dress Codes, Quitting America, Please Stop Laughing at Me, The End of Marketing as We Know It and Hair Story at Book Market for $17. Oddly enough, all books on feminism were in the health and family section.

Bras, bras, bras. I wish their swim suits had boy shorts. I have decided that it is one of my clothing ambitions to own this shirt. It's lots of fun trying to decide what to use my Christmas money for. I think this shirt would be worth, 5 or even ten take out meals.. Yes, I measure my money in how many take out meals it can buy.

PSA: Don't be an asshat. Thanks.

I've often complained that men don't know what vulvas actually look like (porn doesn't count- would you expect your next male sexual partner to have a 9" cock because some guy in porn had it?) Anyway, some women decided to show everyone what their vaginas looked like, and besides a slight lack of ethnic representation, there was a wide variety shown in 14 picture posts. I think this will help bust the idea that everyone has to have a certain type of vagina. So, here is what a vagina looks like. (nsfw) So women, enjoy your pussies, your cunts, your fish tacos, your vaginas, because there's no wrong way for a vagina to look, and men, if you're a hetro, don't hold women up to beauty standards forged by porn stars. They are just actors, not role models.

WTF?


Look how cute these tampon cases are. Awww.

Beloved Spoilers coming right up!(an aside- I think I might make all my links to books links to indie book stores now. It would be a good way to support them. Also, I have been to this bookstore, and think it is swell) Anyway, I think naming has a lot of power in this novel. For example Baby Suggs name. For a long time, Ms Garner(slaveowner) doesn't know her name, keeps calling her Jenny which is a name that Ms Garner saw on her bill of sale. Basically it's a random name given to her by some white people. Anyway, Baby Suggs gives her own self her name. Of course there is the centrality of the unnamedness of the baby(crawling already!) in life, but her namedness in death...but I don't have anything intelligent to say, so here is a quote from the novel I think is good.

"Made them bloody, silly worse than than even they wanted to be, so scared were they of the jungle they had made. The screaming baboon lived under their own white skin, the red gums were their own' Beloved, Toni Morrison

Of course it makes no sense just out there, on page 208, you should find the whole passage. I just didn't want to type.

It's time for Booth Babe interviews. Yes, they actually play the game, but they are just young girls paid to promote it, so it doesn't really matter whether they liked it before or not- it's the same cynical marketing ploy. It's pretty sad that they aren't getting the sponsorship and the respect because of their gaming skills or anything, yes, some say they are good, but they wouldn't have been sponsored if they were a bunch of girls who were 250 pounds with acne.

I have played games with a lot of girls, and many of them were very good(so were the boys of course), and don't fit into the whole ehehehe, I played a game, now look at my boobies stereotype..

I like this comment as it reminds me how much of Utena is really a story told by the viewer. (spoilers to follow) It's not necessary to reference big things here- even the small detail of one person thinking the chamber that is so prominent in the black rose arc was like a confessional and me thinking it was like a a psychologist's office causes a big difference in how we will perceive the series. Confessionals after all are for confessing a sin, and psychologists are to cure your mind. The connotations are very different.

Another interesting point was how different one sees the series if you look to see if Anthy is manipulating events. My psychological bent causes me to think that many of the visuals we see are really metaphors, but someone else might take them literally. Even when I read a book straight, as I always do on the first reading, my mind tells part of the story for me. For example, I'm reading Beloved- and I am wondering about the 28 days- why the number of days in a menstrual cycle? Our lives and associations always make up part of what we get out of the story we are reading.

Hahahaha,take that 'nice guys'.

Also, here's a movie that is all dramatic or whatever, and then one that is cute and has dancing food stuffs. The auteur is said to be making a movie about fighting ramen, that will be out in the first quarter of this year.

This group is talking about rebuilding the infrastructure devastated by the tsunami.

I was pointed to this series by P6. It's a great series(part 1, part 2, part 3), but what stuck with me the most was the idea of us all condemning a large portion of our society to a social death. People think, oh, we won't have to deal with those people if we lock them all up. But, the problem is that you can't run from your problems- you have to face them or else. Everything is so strange nowadays- there is the growing gap between the different classes of blacks, a generation reeling from the backlash of our second reconstruction- people have adapted in ways both good and bad. While I don't think people should glorify prison, if you are determined to lock everyone up- people might change their experience into a good thing in their minds.


The big thing is that we can't abandon anyone. Many whites think if they throw us away and then blame it on us, we'll go away. We will not. But they'll have problems because of it. On a related note, I wonder how people will conceptualize the rural devastation caused by meth. Mostly in news articles I see measures aimed at making the drug harder to make, not attacks on the people who use. Suspicious.

On a less serious note, Slayers Next really is more plotty than Slayers Classic. The first series has a lot of filler at the front, but I've watched like ten episodes of Slayers Next and most episodes are plot episodes. I guess this is why Next is considered the best series. All this thinking about politics is bad for my nerves, so I should watch more anime.

Also, I,too, am agog at the idea of willful ignorance.


"A more complicated example is the word "racist". Conservative rhetors have tried to take this word away as well by constantly coming up with new ways to stick the word onto liberals and their policies. For example they have referred to affirmative action as "racist". This is false; it is an attempt to destroy language. Racism is the notion that one race is intrinsically better than another. Affirmative action is arguably discriminatory, as a means of partially offsetting discrimination in other places and times, but it is not racist. Many conservative rhetors have even stuck the word "racist" on people just because they oppose racism. The notion seems to be that these people addressed themselves to the topic of race, and the word "racist" is sort of an adjective relating somehow to race. In any event this too is an attack on language. "

That sort of thing drives me crazy. Read the whole thing for the edification of your mind in this new year.

I am reminded of bell hook's statement that you can't love yourself without loving your body by this post. I feel sad that even kids in middle school are feeling the pressure to hurt their vaginas. I'm sorry, but walking around with ingrown hairs and razor burn isn't the action of a liberated actor, just as starving yourself to death isn't merely a choice. We all feel pressure to live up to a certain standard. It is most intense at younger ages.

Women know what a vagina looks like- it's men who don't. Well, not exactly men, more little boys. If all you have seen is internet porn, you get a very distorted image of women's bodies. Fake boobs, shaved vaginas(the secret is not having much pubic hair to begin with), and vacant stares. However, the thing is that porn stars are just you know, porn stars. They aren't role models.

They are actors in a sense. They are paid to portray a sexual fantasy- usually of an insatiably sexual woman. This is all well and good, but you shouldn't confuse it with real life or real women. I think the sad part of male privilege is that they feel that they can confuse movies with reality, as if all women are just playing a role for male pleasure. This is sad because they can't really connect with real women as long as they are doing this.

It's too bad that the privileged can't see how their privileges put them in a cage. Part of me mourns for them. Heterosexual men would be having much better sex if their partners felt secure in their bodies, and felt secure in their choice to say yes or no to intercourse, and never had to fake an orgasm. But to create a different world, that takes work. People would rather spend all their energy trying to avoid having any consciousness of anything at all ever than to do something to improve their lives.