So, Was Juan Williams Really anti-Muslim?

Last week when Rick Sanchez publicly apologized for what I saw as no-wrong-doing, or anti-Semitism, I said I was gonna stop defending minorities caught up in the media spotlight. I said that because it's common knowledge that whether right or wrong, one thing's for certain, they will apologize because it's the politically correct and acceptable thing to do. So here we are another week, and I'm gonna renege and defend Juan Williams.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Being a regular reader of this site it's probably stuning that I'm gonna come to the defense of someone who is a) a slave catcher in the eyes of many, and b) an individual who is a regular staple over at Fox News Channel. Yes, I realize that me defending him can be construed as slave-catcher behavior on my part, but dammit I gotta do what's right or else my wife won't give me any at night.

So Juan Williams was fired by NPR for what was perceived to be the expression of anti-Muslim rhetoric while doing his usual gig on Fox's The O'Reilly Factor. So what exactly did Williams say that warranted his dismissal from the good folks over at NPR? Well, here's what everyone is focusing on as being anti-Muslim:

I mean, look, Bill, I’m not a bigot. You know the kind of books I’ve written about the civil rights movement in this country,” he said. “But when I get on a plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they’re identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous. Now, I remember also that when the Times Square bomber was at court, I think this was just last week. He said the war with Muslims, America’s war is just beginning, first drop of blood. I don’t think there’s any way to get away from these facts.

Now look, the way I see it, there's nothing anti-Muslim about Williams' remarks above. I think over the course of the last few months, our political discourse exists as an example of just what anti-Muslim actually is, when it centered on a proposed mosque being built at Ground Zero that's not even at Ground Zero. I mean, add to that the "Burn A Quaran Day", or the slashing of the neck of a Muslim New York cab driver, and... Well, you get the picture. Shit, I'm nervous at the ATM here in Memphis, does that make me a bigot?

White Privilege and the "War on Drugs"

By Joanna (JuJuBe)

When I was a college student, I was caught with half an ounce of marijuana in my dorm room. From what my neighbors told me, you could smell the blunt I was smoking all the way up the hallway and into the elevators. The dorm adviser came to my door with two police officers and told me that if I had anymore drugs in my room, I needed to turn them over to the police. I went into my room, grabbed the rest of the bag, which I had purchased just hours earlier, and handed it over to the police. They had a look of surprise on their faces and asked me why I just handed the bag to them, and I responded that the dorm adviser had told me to. They looked a bit uncomfortable, wrote me a ticket to appear in court, and left the premises. The whole dorm knew about it the next day. Most of the people I associated with laughed at me because I had done nothing to keep from getting caught. Some of my friends were angry. I did not understand why at the time, but I look back now and understand the reason for their frustration. In two, simple, but very charged words: White Privilege.

Studies have shown that white people are actually MORE LIKELY than Black or Hispanic people to participate in drug related activities, including possession, use and distribution. Yet, our jails are filled with Black and Hispanic men, victims of a so-called “War on Drugs” that is waged predominantly in minority communities. What my friends in college knew at the time, but what took me many years to realize was that my white skin is the reason that I was not handcuffed, arrested and placed in a cell that night. It was also the reason that a month later, when I was caught shoplifting, I was written up, again given a ticket to appear in court, and sent home. Not arrested, not handcuffed, not sent to spend the night in a cell. When it came time to appear in court, the marijuana possession charges were dismissed. I had done some research, informed the public defender assigned to me that the dorm adviser was acting as an agent of the state, and had told me to turn over any drugs in my possession without first informing me of my rights. I now believe that the charges were dismissed not because of the cogency of my argument but because of white privilege.

NAACP Backed Report Links Tea Party to Militia & Racist Groups

With less than two weeks before the 2010 midterm elections, the NAACP today released a report compiled by the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. Titled 'Tea Party Nationalism', the report analyzes the six factions that make up what is known aand exists under the umbrella of the Tea Party. In the report, links to various white supremacist groups, anti-immigrant organizations, and militias.

Its findings cite that members of groups such as the Council of Conservative Citizens, which opposes all efforts to "mix the races of mankind," have become involved in tea party chapters, and that posters on the online white nationalist Web site Stormfront.org have written of "inflitrating" tea party events.

The report was issued by the Kansas City, Mo.-based Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, which is funded, in part, by the liberal Firedoll Foundation. The paper was authored by Devin Burghart and Leonard Zeskind, both of whom have written widely about white nationalism.

The more formalized and politically active tea party organizations have made statements repudiating racism; the report focuses primarily on the more diffusely affiliated tea party networks online and in county-level chapters throughout the country. It also singles out five members of various tea party groups, one of whom has been expelled from the movement, as having ties to anti-Semitic, militia or white nationalist groups.

One person highlighted in the report is Roan Garcia-Quintana, a member of ResistNet who served as media spokesman for a 2010 Tax Day Tea Party in South Carolina and is running for state Senate. He has also been active with the Council of Conservative Citizens.  (source)

Now of course much of this has been covered and discussed on this site. But I'm just a blogger, and obviously easily dismissed as yet another leftist loon by many who visit this site. I suspect the same sentiment would be easily developed by some after watching the following interview with NAACP President Ben Jealous, and co-author of the report, Leonard Zeskind with Amy Goodman of the program Democracy NOW!

Hey Chicago: Vote for "Rich Whitey!"

Oh man this years midterm election shenanigans are indeed a gift from the comedy Gods. Everyday it would seem like there's some goofy story centered on said upcoming elections. Filed under the "you can't make this shit up", or more appropriately "WTF!", comes this story out of the capital of political corruption in America. Only this time, this was an honest mistake that today has left Illinois voters shaking their heads.

CHICAGO (AP) - An Illinois gubernatorial candidate's name was mistakenly listed as "Rich Whitey" instead of Rich Whitney on thousands of Chicago electronic-voting machines and will be corrected, elections officials said Thursday.

Chicago elections board Chairman Langdon Neal said crews will work overtime to reprogram and retest 530 machines being used for early voting and an additional 4,200 destined for the Nov. 2 election. The mistake in the Green Party candidate's name appears on a review screen that allows voters to double-check their selections and not on the screen where the vote is registered. It also is not on paper ballots, Neal said.

He said the board became aware of the typo Wednesday and called Whitney's lawyer Thursday morning. But Green Party Chairman Phil Huckelberry said a party member found the mistake Tuesday and was brushed off by city election officials for a day.

"We don't have any idea what affect that has had on voters," Huckelberry said. "I think something needs to be done above and beyond what they're doing."

Not only has the mistake made Chicago a laughingstock, he said, but "our candidate ... has been tagged with a name that really isn't that nice." (source)

Now the thing that makes this hilarious, is the fact that this actually happened in Chicago, Ill. It could have happened anywhere as an honest mistake I suppose. But it happened in the county with the largest black population per capita. Can you imagine the faces of black voters in particular after seeing the name "Rich Whitey" as a gubernatorial candidate? Yep, and he's running on the Green Party ticket? Green Party, get it?

Now it's not like we've haven't voted for "Rich Whitey" before. Let's face it, with the rising cost of political campaigns, I seriously doubt we'll ever see a "Poor Whitey", or worse, a "Rich Negro" or "Po' Coon" on the ballot ever.

Christine O'Donnell: The Separation of Intelligence & Conservatism

I'm as sure of the separation of intelligence and conservatism, as I am of the separation of church and state per the United States constitution. But don't tell that to Tea Party darling Christine O'Donnell (R-DE). According to her and, well, some of the idiots baptized by Ronald Reagan with whom I have engaged, there is no separation of church and state. Which of course explains why right-wing religious fundamentalists feel justified in being the moral authority of our nation.

Now look, before now I haven't paid much attention to Christine O'Donnell. Yes, I am now aware that she's a walking gaffe machine, but I'm just not sure if much of what she says can be considered as gaffes. To put it mildly, I think she's the second coming of Sarah Palin, with one exception. That would be, O'Donnell makes Palin look like part Rhodes Scholar, part thermonuclear physicist and MIT graduate. I know, scary thought isn't it?

The irony of her recent revelation is the fact that she touts herself as an expert on the damn constitution. I don't know about you, but I'd like to think that the people elected to create laws and government policy, are knowledgeable of the very constitution they all swear to uphold. I mean shit, if not the entire damn thing, they should be at least be able to to recite the friggin first damn amendment... and know what it means!

Rachel Maddow: GOP's "Southern Strategy" Rises Again [VIDEO]

Jimmy McMillan's "The Rent is Too Damn High" Political Party, Something to Get With

It's been said that there's a disconnect between the Obama administration and us regular folks here in America. One way to fix this be it a media driven meme or not, is to employ Jimmy McMillan as White House press secretary [read more about him here].

Yes, say buh bye to Robert Gibbs, folks. Life would be better with a guy like McMillan at the helm. Hopefully somebody up there in DC takes notice of this, and sees the value of this brothas message. Here he is at New York's gubernatorial debate last night:


Surely this guy is seen as a joke by many, but I assure you he's no Alvin Greene; not in the least. Ok, yeah, so the creepy Black Colonel Sanders-Hulk Hogan mix can be off-putting, though reminiscent of something from Parliament Funkadelic. But, there's no denying that this guy's message is clear:


The Rent is too Damn High!

Not as blunt as Ieshuh Griffith's "Not The White Man's Bitch," campaign slogan. But I think his message and his political party, is one that we all can get behind, no? Say what you want about his chances of becoming the next Governor of New York. But there's no denying that Democracy is sooo friggin' awesome.

QUESTION: It's time for a viable third party, no?

Why Sesame Street's "I Love My Hair" Brought Tears To My Eyes...

By Seattle Slim

I know I'm a little late, but I wanted to add to this.

You know, going natural has not always been easy. It was very hard in the beginning. It was difficult, not to deal with other people because that was the easy part, but to deal with myself. I did not realize how many years of mental conditioning I'd experienced until I went fully natural back in 2008. It was a process for me to learn to say, "I love my hair" and truly feel it.

I finally decided to see what everyone was talking about yesterday, and the hype is well deserved. I don't know why it brought tears to my eyes really. After all, it's just a Muppet. But there was so much joy in the little girl's voice, and there was so much to rejoice over.

It was such an unusual show of self-love directed at young black girls. Most of what we heard growing up was the usual message about how our hair was bad, or too difficult, in need of taming. I don't ever recall anyone, not even myself, saying, "I love your hair" or "I love my hair."

It brought tears to my eyes because clearly there is some kind of shifting toward the right direction and our children will benefit from that. I'm hopeful.

Show this to your nieces, daughters, cousins, sisters, grown and old. The lie that our hair is this "one trick pony" that can only do a certain thing has always been bullshit. We need to get to a collective point where we all can say without a doubt that we love our hair.

['I Love My Hair' Video Inspired By Father's Love of Daughter]

Yes Sharron Angle, Everyone Looks Asian

So it's often said that all black people look alike, but of course we all know that to be untrue. Hell, as a black man I've always been told I look Asian. So see, there's no way I can possibly fit the stereotypical big nose big lip mold; and, I even have the small Asian penis to prove it. Yes Sharron, like you and the Latino students you were speaking to, I too look Asian. Not sure how; but I suppose it's something they put in the chicken fried rice.

Yes Sharron, just like black people Asians eat chicken too:


Nice one Sharron! Way to go defending yourself to those Latino students at Rancho High School for your recent campaign attack ad against Harry Reid. I mean claiming Reid to be soft on immigration might have been a good move politically. But all those poor Latino kids wanted to know was:

"Why is it that in all of your commercials you have the image of Latinos? What do you see when you hear, and I quote, 'illegal aliens?"

Now of course you could have been honest. You could have told them something that explains the racist and xenophobic nature that has been the impetus of the anti-immigrant movement. Further, you could have told them that it's important to you and the rest of the Tea Party and GOP to further polarize America. But I understand, Sharron; The truth is, you're really a nice person, and you didn't want to hurt their innocent Latino feelings.

Instead, you tell them that you're not sure just exactly what a Latino looks like. I mean there's no way they can say that the "illegal immigrants" in your campaign ads are in fact being portrayed as criminal Latinos much like they're characterized in David Vitter's campaign ad (seriously, that Vitter knows how to do the racism thing.). Instead Sharron, you tell them that they could have perceived to be Asian, just like yourself. Here's to hoping you don't meet with black students anytime soon. I'm not too sure about you pulling off looking black.


[STORY HERE]

Slave Catcher of the Week: Operation Black Storm & The Frederick Douglas Republicans

You've probably never heard of "them", but they are deserving of my slave-catcher award this week. Which is a first, because I'm used to spotlighting individuals and never before an entire movement. Yes, an entire friggin movement, folks. A movement aptly titled Operation Black Storm.

So who is Operation Black Storm? Well, it's only a political action committee (PAC) that's put together to raise funds all the while promoting 15 black republicans running for office in the upcoming midterm elections.

I have no problem with a bunch of "brothers" getting together and pooling their resources in an effort to advance a cause; even if it is one of political and social conservatism. However, when your site says, "Tired of being called racist? Do something about it today! Help us elect qualified Conservative candidates," and urge people to donate, that qualifies slave-catching behavior in my book.

"My aim is not to provide excuses for black behavior or to absolve blacks of personal responsibility. But when the new black conservatives accent black behavior and responsibility in such a way that the cultural realities of black people are ignored, they are playing a deceptive and dangerous intellectual game with the lives and fortunes of disadvantaged people. We indeed must criticize and condemn immoral acts of black people, but we must do so cognizant of the circumstances into which people are born and under which they live. By overlooking these circumstances, the new black conservatives fall into the trap of blaming black poor people for their predicament. It is imperative to steer a course between the Scylla of environmental determinism and the Charybdis of a blaming-the-victims perspective." - Dr. Cornel West (Race Matters)

To not acknowledge the racist tactics employed by your political affiliates, to only turn around and "pimp" race or play the "race card", which is a move they despise, to raise money... how else could they be seen as anything but slave-catchers, sellouts, and Uncle Toms? But yet people like me are wrong about them.