Even the Rat Was White: Racist Facts You Should Know About Western Science

During the early 1800s British and American scientists concluded that the Negroid race was inferior to Caucasoid race due to the small measurements of the skull or the crane. This scientific postulation was carried over to a scientific movement called Craneology. Today this science is now called "pseudoscience". Yeah right.

by Eco.Soul.Intellectual

The black blogosphere has been abuzz with the recent online article posted in Psychology Today that revealed "research" stating black women were the least attractive than other women.

I did not have the opportunity to read the article because it has since been pulled from Psychology Today's site due to the flood of online protests and critiques.

Nevertheless, this article should not be shocking because Western science, Psychology included, is founded on racist ideology and worldview that operates from a hierarchy placing Caucasian or white as the superior race, while African/Negroid are the bottom feeders of the totem pole.

I really am not interested in using my brain power to dissect the absurdity of these claims, rather, I will provide some historical facts around the racism that is still pervasive in Western medicine, which is considered modern medicine.

There is a book called, Even the Rat Was White by Robert V. Guthrie, that provides a historical view of the racist foundations of science, and heavily look at Psychology.

Lastly, let me state that black people, starting with enslaved people, have been the disproportionate population that has served as guinea pigs in scientific studies. Even today, prison populations and the military subject people to a slew of scientific study that falls under the umbrella of "bettering the human race."

BTW, ask a person in the military how many vaccinations and pills they take?

Gynecology


J. Marion Sims is called "the Father of Gynecology" due to his experiments on enslaved women in Alabama who were often submitted as guinea pigs by their plantation owners who could not use them for sexual pleasure. He kept seven women as subjects for four years, but left a trail of death and permanently traumatized black women. 

Anarcha was one of the women Sims experimented upon. A detailed history of this monster is in Harriet Washington's book, Medical Apartheid.

Sims believed that Africans were numb to pain and operated on the women without anesthesia or antiseptic. The procedures usually happened this way. Black female slaves who were guinea pigs would hold one subject down as Sims performed hysterectomies, tubal ligation, and other procedures to examine various female disorders.

Sims also performed a host of operations on other slave populations. The following excerpt details his "practice" on enslaved infants.

Sims began to exercise his freedom to experiment on his captives. He took custody of slave infants and, with a shoemaker’s awl, tried to pry the bones of their skulls into proper alignment.

Skin Color


Founding Father and American physician, Dr. Benjamin Rush proposed that black skin or "the black color" was a inherited skin disease from ancestors who suffered from some form of leprosy. To him, this ailment could be cured through proper assimilation. He also agreed with his white contemporaries that the Negroid race were direct descendants of monkeys.

Vitiligo

Here is a quote from Rush:

Negroes were not by nature intellectually or morally inferior. Any apparent evidence to the contrary was only the perverted expression of slavery, which "is so foreign to the human mind, that the moral faculties, as well as those of the understanding are debased, and rendered torpid by it."

Natural Hair Community on Facebook Overrun By Racists

You know how the old internet meme/adage goes: Haters gonna hate!

Last week, the Facebook page for the Naturalista Cosmetics line was overrun by racists. They posted disgusting comments and racist videos in an effort to derail and denigrate the owner, Padrica Norfleet. What happened next is where it gets interesting.



I initially read about this over at Black Girl with Long Hair and decided to check out the page and show some support.  I didn't find the racist posts, but I did find an overwhelming amount of support from what seemed like an army of people of various races, including Caucasians. 


As a natural, I've come under my fair share of "haters" who have nothing better to do but talk about my natural hair.  That's okay.  They are offended by my choice and I'm glad that they are.  I will not apologize for my hair, and by extension, my blackness.  For the most part, it's been nothing but support from people of all races in my own natural hair journey.  While society has made strides in learning to accept natural hair as a fact of life that we don't have to deny or hide, there are some people that are obviously threatened. 

Barack Obama In A Noose Is Not Proof Of Racism?

A few days ago, police in Manchester, CT, announced that the investigation into the killings at Hartford Distributors had been completed. And, the not at all surprising conclusion that the investigators reached was that Omar Thornton was NOT the victim of racist bullying in the workplace.

The police claim that no evidence was found of the racism that Omar Thornton complained of on the job. They did not find the pictures that Omar Thornton took with his cell phone of racist graffiti in the rest room of Hartford Distributors. Therefore, it obviously never existed right?

Oh, yeah, except for this:

Montminy said the closest the investigation came to finding any items related to Thornton’s claims of racism was a picture of President Barack Obama hanging from a noose drawn on a bathroom wall “many months” before the incident. Montminy said he did not know if Thornton had actually seen the drawing, but he had relayed to others that he was aware of it.

“Whether you consider that racial implications, political implications, or both, that was reported to have been there at one point in time,” Montminy said. “What we know is that when it was reported to administration, the administration had it removed.” SOURCE

So, there was no evidence of the racist graffiti that Thornton complained of, except for the reports from coworkers of racist graffiti? Um, am I missing something here??

Did a racist depiction of Barack Obama in the bathroom somehow NOT contribute to a hostile racist environment simply because Barack Obama was a public figure? Omar Thornton complained of a drawing depicting a Black man being lynched. Barack Obama is a Black man. A noose usually indicates a lynching. The company admits that there was a portrayal of Barack Obama hanging from a noose in the bathroom. So, doesn't that PROVE that Omar Thornton was telling the truth about the racist graffiti?

Donald Trump:"I Am The Least Racist Person There Is," Plus, A Black Guy Won 'Celebrity Apprentice' Before

"You see Randall, you can be anything in America except President."

QUESTION(S): Is it possible for one to be racist and totally unaware that they are? In 2011, can we still use ignorance as an excuse?

In all my years of being a professional racism chaser, I never knew there were varying degrees of racism. Yes, nobody ever told me there is an actual racism meter. Up until now I never knew that someone could actually be kinda racist, slightly racist, or extremely racist. Obviously I'm showing my ignorance here, and to you I offer my apologies. I'm sorry, I've been the product of an ill formed opinion all these years. Of course up until Donald Trump appeared on Fox & Friends this morning, I've always thought that this racism thing was pretty cut and dry, or black and white as they say. I mean, you're either racist, or you're not. Or so I thought, right? Post-racial rule changes are a bitch.

Here is Donald Trump's appearance on Fox this morning where he's discussing Obama, bin Laden, China, claims of him being racist, and whatever garbage falls out of his mouth. When asked about Von Jones' campaign to have celebrities denounce Trump's "racism", Trump said: "I am the least racist person there is" I'm sorry, but being "the least racist," isn't actually a denial. Which is kinda funny because as far as Trump, though I don't know his cracker-ass, I never thought he would be brave enough to play the racist card to jeopardize his brand. But here he is pretty much admitting, that he is in fact racist, but not like the other guys. Let's be honest: believing Barack Obama to be Kenyan and brought to this country so his parents and grandparents could get on Welfare, isn't really a racist theory because they're white. And neither is suggesting that president Obama is intellectually inferior and only got to Harvard via Affirmative Action, because George Bush was a C-Average student.

Nope, Trump might not be the kind to burn a cross on a front yard, drag a black person behind a moving truck, or even vote for Obama like all the racist blacks who did in 2008. Nope, that's not him. Besides, there's no way he can be that racist unlike him being the "least racist," simply because of the fact that Randal Pinkett, a black guy, actually won a season of Celebrity Apprentice. Now I'm not saying that Trump is in fact racist; I think if he was he would've said he has black friends. However, isn't it nice to know that though some people may think a black man isn't qualified to run the country, that at least one of us is capable of winning Trump's stupid-ass bore of a reality show?

Post-Racial America Update: Nightclub Kicks Out Patrons Because of "Too Many Blacks."

by Joanna

A Buffalo bar is coming under fire for racism. Rather than allow the majority Black crowd, the manager of the 4Play nightclub shut operations down, and ordered all of the patrons out because of, "Too many Blacks."

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - There are claims of racism against a Chippewa hot spot. Patrons at the 4Play Nightclub on Chippewa Street were outraged when they were all ordered to leave at 11 p.m. Saturday night.

A patron said, "They say there's not enough white people, so they're shutting us down."

In a video shot by a professional photographer hired by event promoters, people said they heard the club's management and some security staffers saying there were too many blacks in the establishment.

"They kicked us out specifically because there's not enough white people," said one patron.

Another patron said, "Too many black people in the club, talking about they didn't want our money."

Giovanni Centurione said, "They were outside on the patio and they basically said there was way too many black people in here, and my business partner Chris and I had heard them say that and looked at each other and said, "Did you really just say that?""

Rinaldo Moss said, "And everyone was kicked out and no sooner than when we were kicked out, they re-opened the bar about 20 minutes later, and let more people in." SOURCE

Court Rules Mumia Abu-Jamal Death Sentence Unconstitutional

I just got the word on this, and though it's been done before for Mumia Abu-Jamal, it's still good news; he never got a fair trial; and was wrongfully convicted not to mention the racist judge who presided over the case.

Anyway, checkout the following from Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! at democracynow.org via truthdig.org; also, do share your thoughts below:

The death penalty case of Mumia Abu-Jamal took a surprising turn this week, as a federal appeals court declared, for the second time, that Abu-Jamal’s death sentence was unconstitutional. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in Philadelphia, found that the sentencing instructions the jury received, and the verdict form they had to use in the sentencing, were unclear. While the disputes surrounding Abu-Jamal’s guilt or innocence were not addressed, the case highlights inherent problems with the death penalty and the criminal justice system, especially the role played by race.

Early on Dec. 9, 1981, Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner pulled over a car driven by William Cook, Abu-Jamal’s brother. What happened next is in dispute. Shots were fired, and both Officer Faulkner and Abu-Jamal were shot. Faulkner died, and Abu-Jamal was found guilty of his murder in a court case presided over by Judge Albert Sabo, who was widely considered to be a racist. In just one of too many painful examples, a court stenographer said in an affidavit that she heard Sabo say, in the courtroom antechamber, “I’m going to help them fry the ni—-r.”

This latest decision by the Court of Appeals relates directly to Sabo’s conduct of the sentencing phase of Abu-Jamal’s court case. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is considering separate arguments surrounding whether or not Abu-Jamal received a fair trial at all. What the Court of Appeals unanimously found this week is that he did not receive a fair sentencing. Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams has decided to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, saying, “The right thing for us to do is to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear this and to make a ruling on it.”

As a result of this ruling, Abu-Jamal could get a new, full sentencing hearing, in court, before a jury. In such a hearing, the jury would be given clear instructions on how to decide between applying a sentence of life in prison versus the death penalty, something the court found he did not receive back in 1982. At best, Abu-Jamal would be removed from the cruel confines of solitary confinement on Pennsylvania’s death row at SCI Greene.

John Payton, director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, which is representing Abu-Jamal in court, said:  “This decision marks an important step forward in the struggle to correct the mistakes of an unfortunate chapter in Pennsylvania history ... and helps to relegate the kind of unfairness on which this death sentence rested to the distant past.”

His other attorney, Judith Ritter, a professor at Widener University School of Law, told me: “This is extremely significant. It’s a life or death decision.” I asked her if she had spoken to Abu-Jamal yet, and she told me that the prison failed to approve her request for an emergency legal phone call. I was not surprised, given my many years of covering his case. (Read More)

Check out the discussion and share your thoughts:

Racist Republican Strikes Again: Obama's Parents Were Monkeys

So president Obama announces his bid for reelection like and hour ago, and these racist-ass Republicans couldn't wait to start the bullshit. Remember all those supposed-to-be-funny racist emails back during the 2008 campaign? Well, at least one veteran of the race baiting game, California Republican official, Marilyn Davenport, is back at it again. This time, she's pulling the "Birther" jokes out of her ass. This time, she's in hot water for circulating an email with the above pic depicting Obama as the offspring of monkeys. The punchline being, hence the reason there's no birth certificate:

ORANGE COUNTY (CBS) — KCAL9 received a tip about a racist email circulated to some Republican Party members depicting President Obama’s parents as chimpanzees.

This week Marilyn Davenport, a Southern California Tea Party activist and member of the central committee of the Orange County Republican Party circulated what some are calling hate e-mail to an unknown number of her fellow conservatives.

Written under the words, “Now you know why — No birth certificate!”, is an Obama family portrait depicting his parents as chimpanzees.

When asked if she thought the email was appropriate, Davenport is quoted as saying, “Oh, come on! Everybody who knows me knows that I am not a racist. It was a joke. I have friends who are black. Besides, I only sent it to a few people–mostly people I didn’t think would be upset by it.”

Former Chairman of the California Republican Party Michael Schroder has demanded Davenport’s resignation saying it’s not her first brush with racist rhetoric.(source)

It's bad enough that Arizona passed a "Birther" law which requires anyone (who they think is Kenyan) to submit a birth certificate, or show that you're circumcised (if you have a penis) to be on the ballot. This has never been done before in history (yeah white folks, see how they change rules once Black people get in the game?). Now you have this so-called non-racist because she has Black friends, continuing in racist tradition. Oh yeah, watch the following video and listen to them detail her racist and racism-defending antics as well as those of others. Hopefully Republican officials get her out of there; she gotta go. Everybody knows her, "I have Black friends," response is quite typical.

Keep it post-racial Teapublicans!

Racism Is a Drag

But so is patriarchy. Tyler Perry has done it again, responding to charges of coonery against Madea with no sign of accountability or humility. NoMoreDownLow recently posted a clip of Mr. Perry responding to claims that his widely publicized character, Madea, is coonery at its worst. His response, "People need to chill. Let that shit go!" Check it out:



Last year, upon the release of "For Colored Girls," I wrote a brief piece on my thoughts of Mr. Perry I called, "Madea Goes to College." Not only should Tyler Perry invest in the art of accountability, it appears he too, should be looking into the history of Blacks in cinema.

Donald Bogle traces a genealogy of Blacks in American films in his book, "Toms, Coon, Mulattoes, Mammies & Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in America Films." After the backlash "The Birth of a Nation" received for its sexually aggressive brutish Black buck, Bogle argues cinema had to play it safe making Black men jesters instead of sexual predators. He goes on to state, "Because the guises were always changing, audiences were sometimes tricked into believing the depictions of the American Negro were altered, too. But at the heart of the various guises, there lurked the familiar types."

Now, to those who see a Black man in drag as emasculating, HA! The idea of emasculation is proposterous, especially since it has commonly been used against Black feminism. In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." The idea of a Black man in drag for capitalistic exploitation in a European-dominated industry is a different story. For Perry (and audiences) to completely ignore the history of Black men in film, especially as they relate to comedy, in his commentary and films is ignorance at its finest. It appears Perry does not realize that not only does Madea buy into the racist imagery of the mammy, the fact it is a man in drag performing the mammy makes it a double whammy. Madea, the double whammy mammy.

Student Dons KKK Hood at School Assembly

by Joanna
Recently, a high school student in Utah was accused of racism after wearing a pillowcase over his head during a spirit assembly at Alta High School. The pillowcase looked similar to KKK hood, and when student Larz Cosby (who is described as "multi-ethnic") demanded that it be removed, the hooded teen taunted the concerned Cosby and yelled "white power." Cosby then removed the boys hood and threw it to the ground. He later blogged about the incident, and reported it to authorities at the school.

The school district was forced to respond to racism in its schools after the allegations surfaced. A pattern emerged that indicated a pervasive problem with racism at the school, and numerous "serious" racist incidents were uncovered. The principal and vice principal of the school have been suspended with pay while the problems are being investigated.

Prompted by a March 18 incident where a student wore a white pointed hood to a school spirit bowl that some felt resembled the infamous Ku Klux Klan symbol, the Canyons School District has uncovered evidence of other "serious incidents" that have occurred at the school over the past year, according to district spokeswoman Jennifer Toomer-Cook.

"Canyons School District condemns and prohibits all forms of racism and discrimination," she said. "We are taking appropriate administrative action."

The district has placed Mont Widerberg and Mark Montague, principal and vice principal of Alta High, respectively, on paid leave while the investigation of the incidents continues, a school employee said. 

The district's office of civil rights is looking into the hood incident, and based on the evidence it finds will come up with a course of action that could potentially include discipline for the student who allegedly donned the hood.

"It was completely recognizable," said Taylor Risk, a student at the school....

When Keeping it Real Racist Goes Wrong: Asian Lady Sentenced to Indefinite Jury Duty by Federal Judge

I feewl sowwy for your muva!

There's nothing funny about racism, and there's nothing especially funny about racism in a court of law. Just ask any one of the countless people of color railroaded by our judicial system. I seriously doubt if any of them walked out of court in stitches from fits of laughter. But even with that being the case, this is one day I wish I were in this particular Brooklyn courtroom. I can assure you my raucous laughter may have very well landed me in contempt of court.

An incensed federal judge sentenced a racist Brooklyn woman to indefinite jury duty on Tuesday after she trashed the NYPD and minorities.

"This is an outrage, and so are you!" Federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis told the woman, holding up her bile-filled juror questionnaire.

Juror No. 799, an Asian woman in her 20s who said she works in the garment industry, was up for jury duty in the death penalty trial of Bonanno crime boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano.

It didn't take long for her to start looking worse than the defendant.

Asked to name three people she least admired, she wrote on her questionnaire: "African-Americans, Hispanics and Haitians."


When the judge asked why she answered the question that way, she replied, "You always hear about them in the news doing something."

Would Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Be Happy About "The State of White America" Today

It's a pretty nasty day today here in the city of Memphis. Today just so happens to be the 43rd anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who as you know, was felled by a bullet fired by an "alleged" lone gunman here in the Bluff City. The irony of this day is that we've been hit with nothing but severe weather; we've been hit with tornado warnings, flash flood warning, and sirens have been going off for the better part of the morning as trees fall all across the city, and at least 50,000 residents are without power. And, as if this day couldn't get any worse, comes the following via Thing Progress:

Across the country today, people are celebrating the life and mourning the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated on this date in 1968. The American Enterprise Institute, however, is marking the occasion in an unusual way: hosting a lecture by author Charles Murray on “The State of White America.”

Murray is best known for writing “The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life,” a study that sought to advance the idea that blacks registered lower scores on IQ tests because they were genetically inferior to whites. The book was roundly criticized and debunked as “bad science,” an advancement of scientific racism, and much of its research was discredited. 

Now maybe I'm reaching just a tad; maybe my racism chasing radar is off just a 'lil bit. But, I'm having a hard time passing this off as mere coincidence. On the day folks across America and the world are remembering Dr. King, this asshole Charles Murray just so happens to be holding a conference to discuss the state of white America? Am I trippin', or was this a well calculated move to appeal to lunatic racist reactionaries, or members of the "we want our country back," crowd? You know, like the racists of the Pioneer Fund?

OK, so things are a 'lil bit on the downside for privileged folks, but c'mon, I don't see white people marching with signs which read "I AM A MAN," and haven't seen it in quite some time. And no, though some on the Left have conveniently co-opted King's message in their recent pro-union/anti-corporate campaigns such as the case in Wisconsin. I must say, white folks aren't doing so bad if you ask me. But what do I know? I'm just an asshole with a blog.

Racism and the Subway Spaghetti Incident

by Joanna

OK, I saw this video about a week ago, and I wanted to address it back then, but I decided not to, because I did not want to make any assumptions. My first thought was that the white woman who was verbally attacking the Black woman for eating on the subway train was a racist, particularly because she referred to the Black woman as an "animal", which is fairly often used as a racist epithet. I automatically thought that if this woman had encountered a young white woman eating on the subway, she would have either politely asked her to stop, or she would have ignored it completely. Since I am not usually one to shy away from saying what I think, particularly as it relates to racism, I am not sure why it took me so long to respond to this video. But, after reading this post from another blogger about the video, I decided to address it myself.

So, I went back to the youtube page where I originally saw the video and watched it once again. And, I read some of the comments related to the incident. And, I was not surprised to see how much racist vitriol was written.

The Japan Crisis, Racism and Social Networking: Two Sites Take On Racist Pigs

Like everyone else, I was in shock at the sheer devastation that seemed to engulf Japan like an all-consuming fire.  I woke up to news about an earthquake, and then it became clear there was a tsunami, but I guess I didn't think it would be that bad.  Then the news reports made it clear: something REALLY bad had happened to Japan and her people, and it was unprecedented. 

I watched in horror as the waves headed menacingly and quickly to towns, washing away boats, people, cars.  The only thing in my heart was a prayer for those lost and for those who survived.  I did not think about anything else.  My heart was and is with Japan, as are most of yours.

But not everyone had family who developed a moral compass within them and for them.  Not everyone has class or even love for fellow human beings; empathy even.  Not everyone has a brain either, as witnessed by the stunningly sheer ignorance, hatred and outright RACISM featured for the world to see at Ignorant and Online and Karma Japan. 

I don't want to get into demographics too much.  It would be easy to point out that the vast amount of racists and morons featured on the page are White, but that would be a disservice, because the same people raising hell against these imbeciles are as multicultural, and White, as those talking the shit.  Sure, one may be able to put race in there, but I think that absolves the group as a whole.  Believe me, this is a group effort at this level of ignorance.

NPR Execs Slammed For Calling Tea Party "Racist". Why?

No, seriously. Why are they being slammed? I'm not going to get down with the Zionist comment. That's a little too far for me. I mean, whether or not Jews control the media or not is kind of irrelevant and sounds like scare tactics steeped in some kind of anti-semitism at most, fearmongering at least when it's usually brought up. I disagree with Schiller's stance on defunding NPR as well, but the other stuff seems spot on.

Where have these people been the last year or two? While not everyone in the Tea Party is racist, it sure does attract a vast amount of racists. It's no secret that they tend to be right-wing Christian xenophobes who obviously slept through most of their woefully inadequate high school history classes (not to mention just chose to read up on any of that after high school). I've dealt with them before in conversation--thankfully only on the internet. My own husband has disowned a cousin and an uncle for their covertly racist, Tea Party bullshit. The ideology is so thick, that there was no need for them to censor their bullshit at all, even though we have biracial children.

Schiller is seen on a videotape during a luncheon with men who were posing as members of the fictitious Muslim Action Education Center.

Among Schiller's comments: Tea Partiers are "Xenophobic, I mean basically they are; they believe in sort of white, middle-America gun-toting. I mean, it's scary. They're seriously racist, racist people." (Source)

What's the big deal again? I guess we've forgotten last year's attacks on plans to build a mosque a few blocks from where the Twin Towers once stood. The Tea Party were on that like white on rice, using their "America Fuck Yeah" antics and capitalizing on a tragedy to push an agenda that was extremely xenophobic, not to mention Anti-Muslim in many ways.

Did we forget their mania when they thought President Obama would take away their guns? Have we forgotten their right-wing Christian agenda? Why do we have to mind our tongue when we are dealing with a brand of people who are wholly undeserving of that much courtesy? They ARE racist charlatans. Just check the study:

Surveyers asked respondents in California and a half dozen battleground states (like Michigan and Ohio) a series of questions that political scientists typically use to measure racial hostility. On each one, Tea Party backers expressed more resentment than the rest of the population, even when controlling for partisanship and ideology. When read the statement that "if blacks would only try harder, they could be just as well off as whites," 73 percent of the movement's supporters agreed, while only 33 percent of people who disapproved of the Tea Party agreed. Asked if blacks should work their way up "without special favors," as the Irish, Italians, and other groups did, 88 percent of supporters agreed, compared to 56 percent of opponents. The study revealed that Tea Party enthusiasts were also more likely to have negative opinions of Latinos and immigrants.(more here)

I've long since believed that the little snide remarks about the Tea Partiers simply are not enough. They need to be openly discredited and attacked. Someone NEEDS to speak up against them, and they need to tell the truth. I am disheartened that Schiller left, and while I understand NPR doing what they did, when will we have people call a spade a spade? These people have been able to survive largely because they haven't been called out for the troglodytes that they are. This organization has survived this long by bully tactics and fooling the public into believing they aren't venomous vipers hellbent on turning the country back to archaic principles.

So, if they can't say it, I will. The Tea Party IS racist, xenophobic, obsessed with guns and pseudo-Christian to a harmful, unproductive degree.

It is what it is.

There's Nothing un-American About Calling President Obama a Kenyan

So I've been thinking. You know all this Obama hate? Yeah, all this Kenya talk that's really not "hate" or "racist", but instead an expression of defiance and discontent over his policies? Yeah, I finally figured this stuff out. Sure, it's some Ole racist-ass-racist bullshit; but, it's deeper than the traditional "we hate niggers," type of racism.

I totally missed it when Newt Gingrich brought it up some time ago. But last week when Mike Huckabee was talking out the side of his ass, about Obama's different view of the British and such, from his Arkansas trailer park? Like America didnt get its start from kicking British ass in a most expedient anti-colonial manner? I figured it out: these white folks are more pissed about Barack's daddy than they are Barack Obama himself!

I mean why else would would they be so fixated on Kenya as they are? White folks ain't gave a damn 'bout Africa since 'We Are The World' back in the day. But naw, all of a sudden a brotha starts talking about 'Hope & Change' and err'body wanna see a birth certificate, DNA, and a Maury Povich lie detector test episode.

You see folks, this is about the fact that Barack's daddy, or his daddy's, daddy's, daddy, didn't volunteer to come to America and pick cotton for free. Yep, nobody white ever counted on slavery backfiring to produce America's first Black president. And now they're talking 'bout being an oppressed minority group in Amuur'cuh 'n shit, without never having to utter the word Massa to n'aan Negro.

See, forget 'Audacity Of Hope', son. Here's the deal. Barack's daddy had the Audacity Of Stroke to do the horizontal watusi with a white woman that produced a Halfrican child... in America. A child who would grow up with bigger dreams than going platinum, playing in the NBA, or reppin' his hood in the penetentiary, to become the most powerful man in the world, unlike his distant American-Negro cousins.

You see, if Barack's last name was Washington - the most popular last name of African Americans - there'd be no talk of his father or Kenya. They may have dug up some stuff about him being a relative of O.J. Simpson or some other beloved Negro like Louis Farrakhan . But you'd never hear anything about Mau Mau, anti-colonialism or none of that right-wing, conservative, reactionary bullshit.

The reason why there's this talk? Or why it continues though his American citizenship has been validated inspite of what's touted? It's all because Barack's great, great, great, great, greatest granddaddy was one of the Africans who got away. Sorry white supremacy, you can't catch us all; and, we damn sure don't die, we multiply.

White Ain't Right...Or Is It?

By: Johnathan Fields

Isn't it funny how a group that has essentially taken the rhetoric of the Black Panther Party is now totally blinded by the fact their white privilege is operating as they re-color history again?

Are white's racially oppressed? Is that really a question? Do you have any understanding of what oppression is? Oppression is a state of feeling powerless. I'm confused how anyone benefitting from white privilege, in a white supremacist society, can feel powerless?

CNN's article highlights the fears of the Tea Party members, as well as "a large percentage" of whites, that they are becoming the newest racial minority. First, how do you become the "new" racial minority when you are the original racial establishment that set the standard for racial oppression in this country? Secondly, isn't racism and ignorance rooted in fear? So basically, at the root of all your worries they're operating from a place of fear. This type of thinking is the same logic for anti-miscegenation laws-white people will become the minority.

The sad reality is that we have the white right arguing how they are the minority as they benefit from all the privileges their white skins affords like walking down the street without being questioned, driving without being stopped, not going through rigorous series of application processes for jobs, scholarships, education, etc. and being able to visit Arizona. Then on the white left you have people arguing race doesn't matter any more, let's just stop talking about it. So white ain't right, it's everywhere.

White supremacy is rooted in our (in)justice system, our schools, media, relationships. Hell, it's the foundation of our country. Oppression is all about power. I'm really disturbed at how the racial group with all the power wants to cry about how they're losing some. In Rock My Soul: Black People and Self-Esteem, Black feminist scholar bell hooks' chapter "Refusing To Be a Victim" discusses why people use victimization as a tactic. She argues how playing the victim makes us "far more likely to receive attention and handouts." In her book Killing Rage: Ending Racism, she has a chapter with the same title: "Refusing To Be a Victim: Accountability and Responsibility". She talks about how some white women played the victim in feminist labor movements, gaining acceptance into the workplace before both Black men and women. Some of this acceptance was also at the hands of exploiting Black folks.

So you see, white people playing the victim is not a new trope in American society. We do this every time we get scared we're going to lose a little bit of our privilege. Any time we see a few people of color beginning to garner white supremacist notions of success, we start to worry. After all, fear is what consumes this country.

As white people continue thinking they are racially oppressed, I hope they recognize how this is all an exercise in their own white privilege. Getting buses, people, resources, etc. together and mobilizing in the nation's capital takes some type of social capital. All of that takes money, time, etc. The reason we haven't seen a movement as great as the March on Washington is because people are afraid. People don't want to sacrifice their time and sometimes can't because they have to work. You can find white people in every power-holding vector of society. Can you say that same for people of color?

White privilege is not only having white skin. It is benefitting from or reinforcing the white supremacist ideals that founded this nation--ideals that endorsed racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, ableism, etc. It is having enough ignorance to be able to skip over the realities of this country without paying full attention to the context in which you're speaking. Is white right? No, white is left too. And from the looks of it, some white ain't right...in the head.

Johnathan Fields is a DePaul University alum with a B.A. in African & Black Diaspora Studies and Philosophy. His areas of interest include: media representations of race, gender, and sexuality in popular culture, Black feminist theory, Diasporic literature and critical race theory. He is also the latest addition to this site's family of contributors. For more information, visit www.adventuresofaboxcutter.com.

Ohio Elementary School Hosts Classroom "Slave Auction"

by Joanna 

Once again, a school is in trouble for hosting a totally inappropriate simulated experience in a classroom. A few months ago, it was high school students roaming the hallways dressed as KKK members, now it is an elementary school re-enactment of a slave auction. Seriously, what was this teacher thinking? How on Earth does designating half of the children in an elementary school class as "slaves" and the other half as "masters" teach anything but bad behavior? Has this teacher never heard of the Stanford Prison Experiment?

This classroom exercise would do absolutely nothing to educate children as to the horrors of slavery. All it would succeed in doing is giving the children "a break" from the normal day to day grind of classwork, and allow them to play act roles of which that they are not mature enough to understand the significance.  In this case, the mother of a Black child complained about her son being made to play the role of a "slave", and an apology was issued. But, I am still trying to imagine in what context any teacher would consider this an appropriate exercise.

GAHANNA, Ohio — A central Ohio school district was apologizing on Thursday after an elementary school Social Studies lesson turned into a mock slave auction. 

Nikko Burton said during an American history lesson at Gahanna's Chapelfield Elementary School, the class was divided into slaves and masters, 10 Investigates' Paul Aker reported.

"I ended up being a slave," said Burton, 10. "At first I didn't care, but after people were bidding on people it kind of made me a little mad and stuff."

Burton said that the students who were playing the part of master were told to feel the students playing slaves to see if they were worth buying.

"The masters go to touch people and do all sorts of stuff," Burton said. "They got to look in your mouth and feel your legs and stuff and see if you're strong and stuff."

Burton's mother said that her son was humiliated.

She complained to Gahanna-Jefferson schools. School officials declined to comment but did issue a statement that said, in part, "As soon as the concern was brought to our attention, school officials acted promptly to speak with the parent."

"He felt degraded, he was hurt and the kids picked on him later," Aneka Burton said. "I feel like that was totally inappropriate; it was racist and it was degrading."

A district spokeswoman said the slave auction was part of state required curriculum and that it was a one-time lesson.

"I don't know how long it's been going on, but I am just shocked nobody has ever complained about it," Aneka Burton said.

While 10 Investigates was at the Burton's house, Nikko's principal called to apologize.

While the family said the apology is nice, Nikko said he is still waiting for one from his teacher.

"It was kind of mean and she should have said sorry," he said. SOURCE

"Chasing Chocolate": A White Man's Tale of the Interracial Sexual Politics of Gay Male Communities

By: Johnathan Fields

In my previous relationships, it has become very clear to my peers that a pattern developed: the majority of men I'd dated were Black. Yes, I've "gotten my swirl on", "liked chocolate", and whatever other colloquialism my peers wanted to prescribe to my romantic relationships to reduce them to some dessert dish society will consume, digest, misappropriate and attempt to delegitimize. Keep in mind, these are the less harsh comments I received. As is the case with many relationships, all the weight of my peers' baggage had been placed upon my relationships such that I'd been told not to date Black men because they will run up my credit (a Black gay man, mind you), to "be cautious of their big, Black dick", and whatever other stereotype or myth that came to mind as they decided to spew out their word vomit.

Let's clear up a few things: I have never given any man the opportunity to "run my credit up" and I have met plenty of non-Black men with a, shall we say, "plentiful member" as well as some Black men who don't quite size up to the myths that chase their identities. All this to say, it is quite interesting to watch how gay interracial sexual politics have been constructed within our communities and how we allow heterosexual taboo to steer our desires and understandings of self/others.

This is not only the reality I have seen surface in certain queer spaces but also the socially imposed stereotype that has followed the taboo that is interracial dating. While I'd like to speak generally and say men who date outside their race, I've noticed the myth of the "BBC" seems to predominantly affect Black men (and perhaps some Latino and other "ethnic" men).

Black men are seemingly only given visibility or acknowledgment in gay culture when they are evermore hypersexualized. By that I mean, society has already assigned an overtly sexual identity to both Black men and gay men. Black gay men have the potential to carry the brunt doubly. It also appears that when a gay boy (sorry, boi?) is going through a dry spell or has some preconceived notion of what lies in the Black man's pants, he is more than willing to use him to explore his little experiment in whether or not he "likes chocolate." Some Black men glory in the revelation that everyone seems to think their dick is huge. In a culture where sexual voyeurism is normalized, the nuances of socio-sexual taboos must be examined. Why are these normalized sexual roles being placed upon Black gay male bodies and how have some men become complacent in these roles?

The "mandingo" is a racial stereotype that has followed Black men throughout the century. He is sexually subservient and plagued by negative sexual imagery. Keep in mind his servitude is not determined solely through submission. He can be sexually subservient through acting aggressively to penetrate and enact a "rape scene" that appeals to his partners racialized desires. Or he can be sexually submissive and be dominated by the penetrator. Either way, his sexual subservience is anticipated.

The "mandingo" does not only live in the minds of the external. Some Black gay men have internalized this mindset so much so that their sexuality is consumed by the myths that precede them--myths about their member, their (hyper)sexuality, their sexual preferences (and why has the "n-word" found its way into interracial sexual exchanges?). It becomes detrimental when a person's entire being is consumed by their sexuality and nothing more, suggesting a person is merely a body. It is reductive and ignores the complexities of what makes the individual whole. When a person only finds value in their existence through sexual realms, it ignores and denies all of the other valuable attributes of their personhood.

While I recognize this is going to be an unpopular argument precisely for the fact that no community likes their dirty laundry aired out, I've watched as these issues plague our communities. Using people on the basis of sex without at least offering them the dignity or respect of acknowledging their humanity (or remembering their name) is a disease we are suffering from--alluding to the fact that you'll fuck a Black guy, you just won't take him to meet your family or friends. This is not a criticism of casual sex; instead, it is the methods of how these actions are carried out that is the problem. There was a time when being caught in interracial sexual acts would have gotten you killed. How much better have things gotten if it is now our souls that are dying, our relationships with one another? Violence is often discussed in its physical manifestations but rarely addressed in terms of the spiritual brutality many of us face.

We've internalized a "Birth of a Nation" mentality whereby all Black men are depicted as sexual predators here to dominate and penetrate the Anglo. Don't believe me? Check any porn site or the articles being written about it. As a matter of fact, google "gay interracial" and see if you can find anything that isn't sexual in nature. Let's be real: porn is very much a part of our culture. I have plenty of friends who can name tons of porn "actors". So we watch as Black men dominate, aggressively penetrate, and gang rape some "poor innocent white boy" and I'm supposed to believe that's not playing a role in the way we interact cross-culturally? HA!

There is also the fact we've created a culture where narcissism runs rampant--thinking everyone wants your goodies. Is there some unwritten rule that Black men (under the guise of Black hypermasculinity) are all tops (penetrator)? Plenty of men who are otherwise tops/vers tops, want to bottom for Black men...and are not timid about how they choose to communicate it. It is my belief that this relates directly to the stereotypical assumptions made about Black male sexuality and potency.

What I love about the politics of versatility: 1) no one wants to allow people to identify as such because it's easier to box gay men into the top/bottom dichotomy 2)everyone's decisions on when to "switch" are informed by something different. 3) you watch as gay men run away from being labeled a bottom (misogyny is alive and well) so they claim to be versatile instead. But even when we do operate in the dichotomy of top/bottom, why do I see so many individuals become complacent in racist, sexualized roles whereby sex becomes all about domination? Is this part of a larger conversation on sex and power? Either way, the point of the story is not all Black men are tops nor are they the mandingo your porn mandates them to be.

Men of color are not sexual, erotic, or "exotic" objects here for the disposal of other (read: white) men's sexual aims. Men of color are not to be reduced by another's ignorance surrounding intercultural exchanges, including the sexual. For the record, if a man of color permits you to mistreat him, that does not make it acceptable. In the same token, just because your friend says its okay for you to project racial slurs upon them doesn't make that right either.

As I've battled having to fight stereotypes about my own identities and choices, I've since realized it is symptomatic of a larger issue: ignorance. Who I choose to be with or sleep with is my business. If anyone should know that, it's queer communities. So if you'd like to reduce me to "chasing chocolate", "only dating Black men" or whatever else...you've got some issues to work through, honey.

Interracial dating, sex, exchanges should not be thought of as places of "racial reconciliation" where some type of healing takes place. By that I mean, just because you fucked a Black man does not mean you're any less racist than you were before.

Johnathan Fields is a DePaul University alum with a B.A. in African & Black Diaspora Studies and Philosophy. His areas of interest include: media representations of race, gender, and sexuality in popular culture, Black feminist theory, Diasporic literature and critical race theory. He is also the latest addition to this site's family of contributors. For more information, visit www.adventuresofaboxcutter.com

A Hanging Noose at Work: Just a Fun Example of "Workplace Hijinks"?? (Or, is it the FDNY or the KKK)

by Joanna (JuJuBe)

Gregory Seabrook, an electrician for almost 20 years with the FDNY found a nasty surprise waiting for him at his work locker last week - a three foot long noose. It seems like some of his racist co-workers were perturbed by a discrimination complaint Seabrook filed in December. And of course, nothing disproves a discrimination complaint like a good ole fashioned noose, right??

"There's an ominous message behind it," lawyer Stephen Jackson said of the nearly 3-foot-long noose, which he plans to display at a press conference today and then hand over to authorities.

The noose is "elaborately constructed" and tied in a "monkey knot," Seabrook's lawyers say.

"That was a type of weapon used as a flogging knot to beat slaves," Jackson said. "It's very thick and very hard and it's designed to cause injuries."

Seabrook, who is black, and four other minority electricians filed complaints with the New York State Division of Human Rights, charging the Fire Department overlooks minority electricians for overtime opportunities and promotions.

Four electricians filed complaints in October, while Seabrook filed in December, the lawyers say.

An FDNY spokesperson said he had no knowledge of the noose incident or the discrimination complaints, which he said are kept private while under investigation.

Source

Seriously, what kind of idiots believe that threatening a man with a symbol of their racism is an effective method of getting a discrimination lawsuit dropped? Did they really think that Mr. Seabrook would see the noose and decide that his discrimination complaint was not worth pursuing? After almost twenty years, this man finally decided to speak up and seek compensation for the discrimination he has been experiencing on the job, a move that, despite its correctness, is bound to make him less popular with his co-workers. That shows bravery. So, did these bigots really think they could threaten him into silence?

Of course, as expected, the comments that follow the original article give us a glimpse into the racist mindset of the average American. The accusations that this man planted the noose himself came right on cue. He is called a crybaby. One commenter basically said that people "play around" at work, and that "hijinks occur", as if a noose is just a fun joke. And of course, there were the comments about how Mr. Seabrook "played the race card" by filing his suit against the FDNY. Oh, and the pièce de résistance... one enlightened soul wrote "HE IS LUCKY HE WASN'T IN THE NOOSE !!"

Black Indiana Teen Sings National Anthem "Too Black", Asked to Sing the "Less Black-More Traditional" Version After Complaints

Shai Warfield-Cross in School Play

You know, I used to live in Indiana before heading south several years ago. As a matter of fact, I went to college in Indiana - shout out to my fellow IU Hoosiers. Yeah, I been there; went to IU. Of course this was a long time ago; like back in the late 80s. Yep, back when Bobby Knight was jacking up Negroes and throwing chairs across basketball courts during games.

So yeah, when I hear (or get) stories of racism out of Indiana like the following via email and phone-calls from my peeps still there, I'm not really surprised. I mean, I've been long gone as a resident of Indiana, so I assume things may have changed. Hell, Barack Obama won Indiana in 2008, for crying out loud! Surely they're post-racial in Indiana now just like the rest of America, right?

An Indiana school district that told a black teenager to perform "The Star-Spangled Banner" in a "traditional way" after receiving complaints about her performance is drawing questions now about whether the complaints and directive were racially motivated.

Shai Warfield-Cross, 16, has performed the national anthem at sports events at Bloomington High School North over the last year without incident. But school officials said they received complaints about her performance during a game in Martinsville.

Principal Jeff Henderson told The Herald-Times in a statement that people had complained that while the words to the anthem were the same, the tune was unrecognizable. He declined to comment to The Associated Press.

Some who complained after the game in Martinsville - a predominantly white community about 30 miles southwest of Indianapolis - also said they felt the rendition was disrespectful to current and former members of the military, Henderson said.

Warfield-Cross' family says athletics director Jen Hollars told the teen last Friday that she would not be allowed to sing the anthem unless she modified her version and sang in a more traditional way. Hollars declined to comment and referred questions to Henderson, who said school officials told Warfield-Cross the performances should be more "traditional" to ensure the song's tune is recognizable.

"She was not told that she would no longer be allowed to perform," he said. "She was given guidelines that we hoped she would follow. She performed the next night using those guidelines and she sang beautifully."

Aurora Marin, the teen's stepmother, told The Herald-Times that the directive denies Warfield-Cross her "rights of expression and individuality." The family has written a letter to school officials seeking an apology.

"The national anthem is a historical symbol for our country for independence. The irony is that Shai is being denied her right of artistic expression as a result of her natural voice and cultural heritage," they wrote.

"The situation really makes us question the staff and leadership there, and what their representation of diversity is," Marin said. (source)

And this went down in Martinsville, huh? Shoot, I remember back in the day when the old heads used to tell us stories about the signs at the Martinsville city limits. It was a sign that read, "no niggers after dark." As a matter of fact, us black folks were always warned about driving through that city on trips to Indianapolis. I even attended an event there once and was nervous like a whore in church on Sunday morning. Shit, the Klu Klux Klan was once headquartered in Martinsville at one point; that's enough to make a brotha nervous.