Perhaps it is fitting that, having absolved American racists of all manner of crimes against others, Obama also holds them blameless for their assaults on himself. That's his prerogative, as long as he's the only one being assaulted. But Obama was also dogged over the long weekend by the ghost of Sean Bell, whose death in a 50-shot New York City police fusillade was held blameless by a white judge. Many African Americans anxiously awaited Obama's reaction to the three police officers' acquittals on all charges. "We're a nation of laws, so we respect the verdict that came down," said Obama, when asked about the case by reporters in Indiana. "Resorting to violence to express displeasure over a verdict is something that is completely unacceptable and is counterproductive." That was it.
Hillary Clinton, aware that the Sean Bell verdict was an outrage to Black America, issued a prepared statement:
"This tragedy has deeply saddened New Yorkers - and all Americans. My thoughts are with Nicole and her children and the rest of Sean's family during this difficult time. The court has given its verdict, and now we await the conclusion of a Department of Justice civil rights investigation. We must also embrace this opportunity to take steps - in our communities, in our law enforcement agencies, and in our government - to make sure this does not happen again."
It is difficult not to conclude that Obama distanced himself from the facts of the acquittal - except to counsel against violence and urge folks to "respect" the verdict, whatever that means - while Clinton had the sense to prepare a statement that sounded sensitive to Black anger and on top of developments in the story. The Sean Bell police and judicial atrocity revealed with horrific clarity that Black life continues to be systematically devalued by police in the United States, even when the officers involved are of African descent, as were two of the three shooters in the Bell case. The New York verdict shows that Black lives are devalued by all actors in American society, including Black actors: the essence of institutional racism.
- Obama's "race-neutral" Strategy Unravels of its own Contradictions, black agenda report, 04.30.08
via negrophile.
Ever since I jumped aboard the Obama bandwagon in February, I've been itching to write about this concept of "post-racial." Reverend Jeremiah Wright's weekend has given me the context I've needed. I've spent the last 2 days vomiting up every thought about race and the Presidential race that has popped into my head on twitter. 140 character bursts, obvs, were not enough...
First, some common trains of thought the last two days...
misterjt "Wright's 'I'm Grown and I Say What the Hell I Want To Say' victory lap". I heart the black snob - http://twurl.nl/lorfq0
misterjt @arsepoetica For extra credit - Crab, meet barrel - http://twurl.nl/6lnbkv
misterjt I'm also supremely bothered by the idea that people would equate Wright's media tour as a HRC dirty trick. He is not Willie Horton.
I'm going to dig into this more but, here's the whole thing about this entire situation in two wonderful bites by some very smart folks I like. On the one hand, it is so cool to see Rev. Wright on a National stage. For Black communities, he's familiar. He's fiery and passionate about the state of the African-American community. He's intelligent and witty. Like most pastors, he's a showman. He's direct and contradictory and complicated and fascinating.
He's no Willie Horton. He's no dirty trick. He's an American voice. Regardless of whether or not I agree with his statements, to suggest that he's anything other than a incredibly smart guy who does not want 24 hour news channels and a presidential candidate to define him belittles him and you.
That said, he's also a person most Black folks would be strained to explain to mixed company. As The Black Snob notes, "He was practically basking in the glow of making the white folk uncomfortable."
After that moment of glee in recognizing this, there's the immediate recognition, "Oh shit. Who effed up and let this Negro speak?"
Why would this be the immediate next thought? Well...
misterjt @arsepoetica I don't think Obama was calculating in choosing a pastor. I do think, however, that mainstream America is not quite ready...
misterjt to really see what goes on behind closed racial doors. Rev. Wright makes Barack more George Jefferson than Heathcliff Huxtable.
misterjt @RPM I'm right, though, ain't i? Everybody loves George Jefferson but middle america would be scared to death of him as a president.
I really mean this. For Barack Obama to win, he's gotta be Cliff Huxtable. Maybe Sydney Poitier. That's it. If he's Cliff, he's your kids pediatrician, he taught you about jazz, he invites you over for the bbq. Good ol' Cliff would never make you feel uncomfortable. But if he's George Jefferson -- if you think he occasionally says "honkey" when you're not around, if he wants to talk about slavery or reparations, if he wants to remind you of all he's overcome, if he reminds you that he, a black man, is doing better than you are, or that he doesn't think the same things about controversial issues that you do -- well, you ain't voting for that guy.
No matter how great his smile is or how hopeful his message is.
Rev. Wright makes Barack Obama very black. Uncomfortably black...
misterjt Times on Wright - wriggled. cocky. defiant. declamatory. inflammatory. mischevious. monomania. wacky. highfalutin. http://twurl.nl/2366yr
...you can tell just by how he's described. This NY Times article uses as much language as possible to turn Rev. Wright into both a Bogey Man and a Clown. Not only is he scary, he's crazy. Wait, Barack, you're black, too. Are you scary and crazy?
misterjt I don't quite know what to make of people who think "Wright is out to destroy Obama." How, exactly? By being a charismatic speaker?
Which brings me to right now. I'm thumbs down on Barack Obama today. He had the opportunity to further his speech from a month ago and continue to push the race conversation forward. This is his litmus test and, for my money, he failed. If he's going to use words like "change" and "hope" then he better have the where with all to back it up.misterjt By being not post-racial? It bugs me that rather than have the nuanced race talk, people are more comfortable with just disavowing a voice.
Instead, he did what every politician does in these situations. He caved. He disavowed. He denounced.
misterjt @blogdiva why? If Obama is presidential material, it is his responsibility to be able to do grand things in the face of adversity.
misterjt @blogdiva it is not Wright's responsibility, or any of us as voters, to protect Obama. He has to prove himself.
misterjt After the last few months of shiny, happy moments, this is his real test, my gung-ho support, if not my vote, lies in how he handles it.
misterjt @RPM I think so. I don't think Obama has had to prove himself at all. Now he has to prove himself to me.
Here's how he could of proved it - expanded the conversation. Talked about the difference between religious speech and political rhetoric. Talked about the many spectacular themes in Wright's talks. Talked to Wright directly. Discussed why beliefs like "The US Government had something to do with AIDS" maintain legitimacy in the Black community. I'll even give you this one for free, Obama. At my barber shop this weekend, it was said, "If a nigga can get shot 50 times, be unarmed, and the niggas who did it not get thrown under the jail, you don't think the government cain't do some shit to the black man? They already done did it, man."
If you're going to be the President of the United States of America, you better be for real. Don't go running from the race conversation, Barack. Jump right in. Just because Bush has set the bar so low doesn't mean you still shouldn't go for the highest standard possible. This goes beyond American Political Strategy and tactics and all of that. I'm saying as a voter, I want to respect you. I want to believe you're that dude.
Show me something.
misterjt we're only post-racial when we believe all of our assumptions are the same. The moment that world view is shaken, it all comes tumbling down
misterjt @drublood I honestly don't think that's it. It's not about racism. It's about our--all of us--prickly problem with race. The 2 are different
misterjt @drublood well, it's obviously in the grand scheme about racism but "race in america" on an individual level is about comfort.
misterjt @drublood it is amazing that for the first time, a majority of americans perhaps, can envision a black president. But now is the hard part.
misterjt what does that mean for our national psyche, our national conversation about race and culture? Legitimization of voices like Wright's is 1
If you've read me online for any period of time, you know I just want to have honest conversations about race (and gender and class and sexuality). I don't want things to be simple. I don't want to be a part of any concept of post-racialism if that means we're ignoring the realities of our lives. If that means we don't get to acknowledge, discuss and celebrate our differences. If that doesn't mean we can look back on history honestly or look toward the future realistically.
I want to talk about my prejudices. I want to talk about yours. I want to value your voice as much as you value mine. I don't want to have to make a choice between a Rev. Wright or a Barack Obama. They are both me whether you like it or not.
If only Mr. Obama hadn't spent the day attempting to forget that.
Despite journalists suggesting that you are somehow beyond Blackness, as we can now see, it don't wash off.
Current music: Wire – "The king stay the king."
]]>It was a get the hell outta Dodge type weekend and Anna and I did just that. It was a lovely two days of laughter and full bellies and sand and water and good conversation and reconnection. This used to be such a common thing for she and I. There was a time when a weekend didn't go by without us spending the vast majority of it in a car off to some random location. And so, while the 9th Coachella scorched and delighted the young folks in the desert, we slightly less young folks headed in the opposite direction to Ventura and Santa Barbara looking for adventure.
"Take risks," I'd exclaim to Anna for no good reason and, we did. We took strange off ramps that led to unfamiliar locales like Santa Claus Lane. We ventured closely to a hippie-infused drum circle. We dared walk piers with no rails. Our trusty companion, Curtis the crab, tempted fate in the mouth of a whale. We nervously walked an unfamiliar path where lizards were afoot. We even stood toe to toe with red faced douche bags and lived to tell the tale.
Our greatest feat, however, may have been simply being two people of color in communities of seemingly endless waves of white people.
I say this with tongue firmly in cheek but the last of the internet I saw before we left on our adventure was this twitter by the baddest chick --
Which led me to the brewing controversy around Seal Press's latest publication, It’s a Jungle Out There: The Feminist Survival Guide to Politically Inhospitable Environments, and the illustrations that hide within. Now, to be clear, I'm not offended by the imagery. As I get older, I find very little truly offends me. It's wrong-headed, sure. It's insensitive, of course. It shows that Seal Press is courting a certain audience -- white feminists -- and really ain't thinking about nobody else? Yup, sure does. But offensive? Nah. Just bad business. I'll take a cue from WOC PHD and just refrain from purchasing anymore of their books until they get their house in order even if that means I won't be able to support in cash money people I know, enjoy, respect, and admire.Heart-broken: http://tinyurl.com/5egpso
I tell you all this to give you insight into where my head was as we made our excursion to seemingly lighter pastures. In Downtown Ventura, we stopped for lunch at a cafe with a wonderful view of Main Street. Anna and I quickly noticed that the few brown people we did see were working as wait staff and not out enjoying the gorgeous day with the rest of the community. We went nearly 20 minutes watching dozens of people walk in front of us. Pigmentation was low. It became a game. I saw a gentleman darker than me across the street and pointed him out excitedly. And at that moment, as if we were on The Truman Show and Christof had yelled, "cue the coloreds," an Asian woman and a Latino couple crossed paths in front of us at the same time.
We cracked up.
As we walked through downtown after lunch and then made our way up to Santa Barbara, we began to notice how few people "who looked like us" we saw. It was as if we were explorers in a strange land. The primarily white drum circle became a local ritual of the natives that we didn't quite understand. The beach and ocean became the exotic "nexus of nature" where these "savages" must come to lay blessings to their gods. Obviously, a primitive sand sculpture was some kind of totem showcasing the complexities of their archaic mythologies. We remarked on how stoners greeted each other in the street (they introduce themselves at the end of the conversation instead of the beginning and smell of odd oils. Anna claims it is called "patchouli" but that is such a ridiculous word that I believe she is pulling my leg.)
We even saw a Douche Bag (a particularly interesting tribe) get caught in the middle of the street with oncoming traffic in both directions.
Such an amazing sight it was!
On our way home, we discussed turning our adventure as explorers in the strange wilderness of the white man into a video or film, wondering if anyone would get the joke and the social commentary therein.
If they work for Seal Press, probably not.
Current music: Yerba Buena – Colonial Mentality
]]>He is both black (obviously) and beyond blackness.
I have only minor quibble with the films they selected (and those they left out) but reading the pieces, I get that really they are just using these films to talk about a person or a moment in time that they want to play out.
I have major quibble, however, with this statement and the context it is placed in. I'm growing increasingly of the opinion that we -- all of us -- don't know what the hell we're talking about anymore when we talk about race. Trying to understand what Will Smith's success means and relating that to Barack Obama's ascent this year is such an oversimplification that I can't quite deal.
What the hell does "beyond blackness" mean in this context? Transcendence? Cross-over? Neither word works. Neither man has eschewed nor, in most cases, traded on their race and, in my opinion, it is ridiculous to couch their success in terms of "because of" or "in spite of" their skin color.
I've seen this moment in time being discussed as post-racial. That's problematic as well. I do think we're differently racial these days. I also think, however, that we're quick to try to define where we are without understanding much of anything. This isn't unique to this matter, it just annoys me more than most things. We are both tentative and cavalier with issues of race in America that this kind of clunky, ham-handed attempt at writing about it only exacerbates the misconceptions.
And infuriates me.
FAIL. Try again.
After the moral themes of the book on meritocracy, freedom and equality, I was a bit disappointed by the ending. I won't give anything away. All I am saying is that this last book offered an opportunity to be as clear as possible about the evils of hypocrisy, self-hatred and of racism -- for both individuals and society at large. After a title like Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (the previous book), I was expecting a bit more. Perhaps J.K. Rowling thought it might be overkill to state things clearly. I for one am not so sure.
- On Harry Potter and Mudbloods, Jack and Jill Politics, 07.23.07
I think JK was spot on in the way she handled these themes. Always a running undercurrent of her 7 novels, the prickly problems of race and class are rarely the primary theme but are often the key turning points in the relationships and fortunes of characters on both sides of the wand. The characters I most associate with racism, The Malfoys and The Dursleys, consistently get their just desserts and The Malfoys, in particular, have an absolutely awful go of it over the last two books (while still clinging heartily to their beliefs in blood purity). Meanwhile, everyone except Hermione accepts the concept of an elfen underclass that they generally treat horribly, to such a degree, in fact, that an elf's entire world view is overthrown by simple acts of kindness and appreciation. And, in the Deathly Hallows, we are presented with the complication of goblins. Goblins, while generally distasteful, seem to have a pretty compelling reason for distrusting and disliking humanity.
The strongest statement that JK could and does make is that while we all must navigate this maze of societal ooze, life is happening. It goes on.
"Asian men are still stereotyped as geeky, sexless losers, including by some Asian American women," says Lee. "I remember that even in my Asian American Studies classes, there were two or three Asian women who bragged how they only date white men. I distinctly remember one of them saying, 'I'm afraid an Asian man might beat me,' and another saying, 'Well, I've always been attracted to the Abercrombie and Fitch model type.'"
But, I ask him, is that really representative? Even if there are attitudes like that out there, it's hard to think that those are really the norm today. Certainly things have changed in the past 20 years, with society moving -- slowly -- toward a more progressive, inclusive standard of beauty, right?
Lee doesn't think so. "Go to any newsstand, and just stand back and look at the magazine rack," he says. "Over 90 percent of the people looking back are going to be white. If you exclude Beyonce, Oprah and a bunch of athletes, you're talking more like 99 percent. That's what Asian Americans internalize when they think about who's sexy, about who they want to get with. They think: 'White people are sexy, and we want to get it on with a guy like George Clooney.'"
-Do You Think We're Sexy?, SF Gate, 11.24.06
That's right. Stop fetishizing the A&F Model types and start fetishizing the Black man.
We need more Cablinasians.
Tiger Woods, y'all!