Neo-Con Hubris About Iraq
My response to an op-ed in The Washington Post about Iraq.
This op-ed demonstrates the hubris in neo-con thinking. The first mistake was Bush invading Iraq. There’s a very apparent pattern we’ve repeated over and over again in that country. We helped Saddam gain power because the president that preceded him was a bit too friendly with Russia. We gave Saddam weapons to get rid of the Russians and ignored the brutality in his regime when he used the very same weapons to kill thousands of Kurds. Decades later Bush #2 decided that Saddam had to go, and we picked a new leader to rule. Maliki. Now that Iraq is falling apart again via the hands of the person we picked to rule, we are once again looking for a new replacement for him. We’ve played this game time and time again and every time it does not work, but for some reason the neo-cons think all they have to do is find a new ruler and put him in power, while crossing their fingers hoping it will work this time. And on top of that they think permanent US military occupation will make everything better. That’s not a solution and It’s time we break that cycle and let the Iraqi people decide who’s going to be president. They are the only ones who can end the sectarian war. When it’s all said and done Iraq will probably dissolve into 2 or 3 separate countries. Our meddling will continue to make things worse if we listen to the neo-cons. If Iraq can’t exist as a country without armed US troops keeping it together at gun point, then Iraq should dissolve. President Obama did the right thing by ending the war and bringing our troops home. I just hope he does not fall victim to mission creep and gradually restart the war. I’m pretty secure in my belief that he will not do that. When he sent advisers to Libya a lot people (including myself) were skeptical about his intentions to just advise and not send more than what was needed. He kept that promise, so I’m trusting him to do the same this time with Iraq.
*this was written on July 4, 2014. I had to change the “post on” date for cosmetic reasons.*
The Real Donald Sterling Outrage
When I started writing a blog post sharing my thoughts on the racist Donald Sterling recordings I came to the same realization as ESPN columnist Bomani Jones but he said it much better than I, so I’ve posted his video at the end of this blog.
But before you watch the video I’d like to share an observation of mine that Mr Jones didn’t cover in his commentary. It’s about the way the liberal media and right wing media uses these public episodes of racism to reaffirm what they already believe and assure their audience that they are the good guys, while collectively missing the point altogether. This happens every time an incident of outright racism shows up in the news. Last week we had the racist rancher Cliven Bundy, and this week we have the racist billionaire Donald Sterling. I noticed a pattern in the way liberal media covers issues of racism and then noticed some similarities in conservative media coverage on race. MSNBC and other liberal leaning media covered it more as a teaching moment to show how racism still exist (which is the way it should be covered). But liberal media also uses racial situations like both of these stories as “feel good” moments for their white liberal audience. They get to give themselves a big pat on the back for being outraged by racism. It’s a way for them to tap into the satisfaction of political activism without having to do anything. It’s an opportunity to reaffirm beliefs and let everyone know how great a person they are for caring about minorities. Of course there’s nothing wrong with that, so I’m not bashing them for this… but I am saying there’s a need for more depth after the self congratulatory pats on the back are done, and the sensationalism of the story fades away.
Then there’s the conservative media’s take on stories of racism. Just like liberal media coverage conservative media used the collective condemnation of said racial remarks as a “feel good” reaffirmation of their beliefs, and gave their audience a pat on the back for being outraged by racism. But that’s where the similarities end. After the pats on the back, conservative media takes a big right turn. To understand what I’m about to share with you may require a suspension of disbelief. Here’s what I mean. Bundy and Sterling’s acknowledged racism for conservative media proved that racism does not exist in modern America. This denial of logic takes leaps of mental gymnastics that only makes sense to the conditioned brain of the far far right. Fox News and the rest of conservative media comes to the same conclusion every time blatant racism is in the news. First they strongly condemn the racist, which is commendable I guess, but in the very next breath they use the same incident of racism they just acknowledged and condemned, to prove that racism does not exist. It’s amazing, remarkable, astonishing and a spectacle that every liberal should see at least once before dying (#LiberalBucketList). This logic defying feat of using the existence of something to prove that the very thing you just acknowledged does not exist is mind boggling to me… but they do it every single time. Both Sean Hannity and Bill O’Riley agreed that since a majority of American’s spoke out against Bundy and Sterling’s racist remarks, then that proves that America has moved beyond the acceptance of racism. And that proves that all racism and racist will meet the same rebuke received by Bundy and Sterling. I know this does not make any sense to anyone on the outside of the right-wing bubble, but this way of thinking is logical to them. Liberals go for the easy pat on the back while ignoring the burden of institutionalized racism that occurs everyday and hinders the advancement of minorities into the middle class. While conservatives go for the all out “racism is dead” celebration fiesta. When it comes to issues of race in this country, neither side of the ideological divide deserves praise.
Bomani Jones calls into the Dan LeBatard radio show and gives the REALEST take on the Donald Sterling drama, and how we all are ignoring the real issue when it comes to racism and how we handle situations of real racism in America and American media. It starts out with a funny observation but keep listening because he shares some pretty serious incite on institutionalized racism and how imbalanced everyone’s outrage is over Donald Sterling’s privately expressed racial faux pas to Donald Sterling’s proven blaten housing discrimination. Everything Bomani says is on point and noticeably missing from mainstream media coverage.
Racist Rancher Becomes GOP Hero
Conservative media and the GOP crowned their newest hero over this past week, and his name is Cliven Bundy. Mr Bundy is a Nevada rancher who had a very tense armed standoff with government officials trying to collect money he rightfully owed to the US government for 20 years worth of grazing fees that he refused to pay. Fox News and every single conservative media outlet rushed to Mr Bundy’s side very quickly because they saw an opportunity to exploit the situation and feed it to their base as big bad Obama government persecuting a hard working man who’s done nothing wrong. Casting Mr Bundy as a “maker” instead of a “taker”… which is ironic because Mr Bundy is so obviously a “taker” but I’ll explain that a little later in my post. First let’s go over the facts about the situation and the man at the center of it.
1. Mr. Bundy has been grazing his cattle on government owned land for 20 years without paying the proper fees that ALL ranchers have to pay. Accumulating for the past 20 years these fees add up to approximately $1 million. When normal American’s duck taxes and refuse to pay their bills, they get liens, repossessions, court judgments, and property seized. If a bank repossess someone’s home and the occupant refuses to leave, the bank will show up with an armed Sheriff and they will drag you out and arrest you for not complying.
2. Instead of handling this tax/fee dispute in court, Mr Bundy goes on Fox News and makes a call for armed anti-government militia men to come to his ranch with their guns to help him in an armed confrontation with the Bureau of Land Management so he can continue to steal from the government with no consequences.
3. When the government officials from the Bureau of Land Management came to seise Mr Bundy’s cattle for the 20 years of nonpayment and trespassing on government owned land they were met with heavily armed militiamen who watched Fox News and listened to Sean Hannity’s and Mr Bundy’s call for assistance. They had snipers pointing sniper rifles directly at law enforcement. Everyone who came to Bundy’s ranch had guns pointing at law enforcement… and here’s the unbelievable part, NO ONE GOT ARRESTED. Not one person was put in handcuffs.
4. Mr Bundy makes easily confirmable lies in numerous interviews but all of conservative media decided to ignore these warning signs that this man is dishonest and is misrepresenting himself and his situation. One of the biggest lies was about how long his family owned the ranch. He told Fox and all the others that his family has been on that land since the 1800’s, when county records clearly state that his family only purchased the land sometime in the 1980’s.
5. Mr Bundy says in an interview that he doesn’t recognize the authority of the United States government. Then he holds a victory rally and brings a state sheriff on stage to berate him for 20 minutes while the crowd cheers him on. He tells the sheriff and every other county sheriff in the country that they need to “disarm government bureaucrats” and if they couldn’t do the job then the citizens need to take-up arms against them just like he did. This was his third public on air call to violence… armed violence against law enforcement. The sheriff on stage listened to all of this and did nothing.
After going over the 5 factual points I’ve made, please tell me how anyone could see this man as a hero. Everything he’s done is supposed to be the stuff that conservatives are against. He doesn’t pay his debts. He does not follow the law. He shows contempt for law enforcement. He lies very easily. He wants the government to provide free grazing land for his cattle. He makes anti-American statements and says he does not consider himself as part of America. All of this and somehow conservative media loved this man. Can you imagine if a black man went on television calling for armed assistance to settle a dispute with the government? If a group of black men pointed guns and sniper rifles at law enforcement? Everyone knows exactly what would happen if Bundy was black.
Then Mr Bundy does an interview with The New York Times and decides to share his views on “the Negro”. I won’t paraphrase because you need to read his entire statement:
“I want to tell you one more thing I know about the Negro. I recall driving past a public-housing project in North Las Vegas, and in front of that government house the door was usually open and the older people and the kids — and there is always at least a half a dozen people sitting on the porch — they didn’t have nothing to do. They didn’t have nothing for their kids to do. They didn’t have nothing for their young girls to do. And because they were basically on government subsidy, so now what do they do? They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton. And I’ve often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton and having a family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy? They didn’t get no more freedom. They got less freedom.” – Cliven Bundy **video of him saying all of this is at the bottom of this page**
Yes, that was a direct quote. Mr Bundy’s comments are not only uninformed and blatantly racist… they are horrible, they are vile, they are disgusting, they are ignorant, moronic, vulgar, crass, imbecilic, dumb, idiotic and completely indefensible. What sane person with a working brain wonders if “the negro” was happier being a slave? Who thinks like that? And he has the nerve to talk about black people being on government assistance when he’s been receiving government subsidized grazing fees for 20 years and even with the huge government subsidies that only charges him 25% of the fair market price for grazing cattle, he can’t even pay that. I almost can’t blame him for thinking that black people are all on welfare, all living in government housing, all from single parent homes, all unemployed or in jail. He believes this because Fox News, conservative pundits, conservative media, Tea Party & GOP legislators are constantly pushing those false racist views. That’s why they have embraced people like Bundy over and over again. Remember Ted Nugent? He’s the no talent has-been “rockstar” that the Tea Party and conservative media embrased even after making racist and violent comments about the president. He called President Obama a “subhuman mongrel” in an interview. After Nugent learned that Obama won the election he said “Pimps whores & welfare brats & their soulless supporters have a president to destroy America.” Nugent told a CNN reporter that either Americans can vote Obama out of office or he can suck on my machine gun. Even after making these idiotic comments and violent threats republican congressman Steve Stockman invited Ted to attend the President’s State of the Union address as his guest. Ted even campaigned for Texas GOP gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott. You are the company you keep.
Remember the Duck Dynasty guy? Phil Robertson made some really stupid racist remarks in an interview saying that black people were happy and singing picking cotton during segregation until the government came along with civil rights and gave all blacks welfare. After making those blatantly racist comments conservative media, the Tea Party, and the GOP all rallied around him and he became their hero. Again, you are the company you keep.
Remember George Zimmerman? He shoots and kills an unarmed teen after racially profiling him. Fox and conservative media rallied around Zimmerman… especially Hannity. A man that killed an unarmed teen became a hero to them. Then after the trial was over and he got acquitted Fox and conservative media was shocked and surprised when Zimmerman’s ex wife had to call 911 because he threatened her and her dad with a loaded gun. Since the Trayvon trial Mr Zimmerman has had 4 different incidents with law enforcement. Again, you are the company you keep.
I’m pointing out Ted Nugent, George Zimmerman, and Phil Robertson because it’s becoming a pattern for conservatives to hero worship these racist assholes. When it happens over and over again you can’t ignore it or say those are coincidental isolated incidents. The racism has become a very visible part of the conservative movement. Cliven Bundy is just the latest in a series that will keep repeating itself. Next month I’ll be blogging about the new conservative hero that turns out to be racist and all of conservative media will be shocked and surprised again… and again… and again. It’s sad that this keeps happening in 2014. I have friends who are republican and I know this kind of racialized politics makes them sick. I’m sure there are other republicans who are just like them but their party has been hijacked by the extremist and co opted by a huge billion dollar money making conservative media machine. Hannity, Limbaugh, and Beck are destroying the credibility and electability of real conservative legislators who do not agree with the nuts, but feel they have to go along with it to stay in office. That’s good news for democrats, but bad news for anyone trying to legislate and govern. Conservative media keeps talking about a “post-racial” America, while proving over and over again we are far far from it.
NCAA Player Comes Out
Derrick Gordon, a 22-year-old sophomore shooting guard for the University of Massachusetts men’s basketball team, publicly came out of the closet on Wednesday (4/9/14), becoming the first active openly-gay male NCAA Division I basketball player.
Derrick came out to his family, coaches and teammates at the very beginning of April. That’s when he also decided to publicly acknowledge his sexuality. He told an ESPN reporter “I didn’t want to have to lie or sneak. I’ve been waiting and watching for the last few months, wondering when a Division I player would come out, and finally I just said why not me?’”
Derrick did an interview with Outsports about his decision and explained the difficulty of leading a double life. That double life began to crumble when Gordon’s then-boyfriend last summer posted a photograph on Instagram of the two of them in front of a gay bar on the New Jersey coast. Gordon was wary of the post but figured there was little chance someone would stumble across the photo on a random Instagram account and identify him and said gay bar. Shortly after the post, almost as though he wanted to be discovered, Gordon “liked” the photograph online. Within hours, some of his teammates asked him if he were gay. Gordon denied it repeatedly, but that didn’t stop various members of the team from teasing him about it. The snickers and snide remarks carried on for weeks. Slowly, it consumed him.
“That was probably the lowest point I was ever at. I didn’t want to play basketball anymore. I just wanted to run and hide somewhere. I used to go back to my room and I’d just cry. There were nights when I would cry myself to sleep. Nobody should ever feel that way.”
Gordon then revealed his secret to his teammates last Wednesday, with the help of team coach Kellogg. Gordon stood before them and revealed that he’s gay. As he shared with them his story of isolation, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. While it had been easy for some of the young men to tease someone they thought was gay, and someone who denied it… the impact of their actions hit home when Gordon revealed the speculation was true, and that the teasing nearly drove him from the team.
“It was powerful for these players to see one of their brothers be so vulnerable,” said coach Kellogg, “even I had to turn away from the group in the room lest they see me get emotional. These are some inner-city kids, some rough, tough kids who Derrick wants to be friends with. They understand who he is a little bit better now.”
Shortly after the team meeting, Gordon was over the moon, spending this past weekend in New York City. Dancing at Industry, a gay bar in Hell’s Kitchen, Saturday well past midnight, Gordon said he had found something indescribable.
“‘Happy’ is not even the word,” Gordon said. “It’s a great feeling. I haven’t felt like this. Ever. It’s a lot of weight lifted off my shoulders. I can finally breathe now and live life happily. I told all the people I need to tell. It feels like freedom“
Revised Jim Crow
I’m an everyday person who happens to have a blog. I’m not a journalist or media critic but what I try to do with my blog is expose hypocrisy in politics, and open people’s eyes to a point of view that they may not have seen on their own. I’m an African American liberal democrat born and raised in North Carolina and everything I write about comes from personal experiences colored by the aforementioned pieces of what makes me who I am. So for those who accuse me of only writing about race, lgbt issues, or democratic politics, I say to them, of course. I’d be a fool to write about things I know nothing about. Any writer would. I can write about racism because I’ve experienced racism. I can write about being gay because I am gay. I can write about liberal democratic politics because I am a liberal democrat. It’s just that simple. What I’m about to share with you in this particular blog post is something I’ve been writing in my head for the past few months. It’s about race and racism and how it influences every aspect of American life. For those of you who strongly disagree with this assertion, I ask that read this entire piece before forming opinions on it’s validity.
Ever since the brutal slaying of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, the incident seemed to expose an unspoken truth among a lot of white Americans (both liberal and conservative). The fear of violence at the hands of African American males. I had no idea how pervasive this fear was until this case. After Trayvon’s death the district attorney in Sanford Florida refused to bring charges against Zimmerman. Trayvon’s parents pleaded with the district attorney for months to take action to no avail. Then civil rights leaders like Rev Al Sharpton and other civil rights groups got involved to put pressure on Sanford’s district attorney to charge Zimmerman and let a jury of his peers decide his fate. What a lot of conservatives fail to realize is the only reason outside help was needed was because the D.A. wouldn’t bring charges. Not because a white person killed a black person. This point was lost on Fox News as well. In response to the involvement of civil rights groups, Fox News began searching for murders that were committed by blacks with white victims. They asked their viewers why didn’t Sharpton and the NAACP get involved with those cases. The answer to that question is very simple but no one on that network had the intelligence to come up with it. In all the cases they reported with a black person killing a white person, the black defendant was arrested and charged right away. Trayvon’s parents and Al Sharpton were only asking for a day in court. The injustice was never about a white person killing a black person. The injustice was an adult stalking and murdering an unarmed teenager then claiming self defense and walking away without having to prove it was self defense in a court of law in front of a jury of his peers. So for those who say liberal media and civil rights groups ignore crimes committed by black people against white people you are trying to draw comparisons and conclusions to circumstances that are completely different to fit a racial bias that you already believed existed. It’s called intellectual dishonesty.
I watched a segment on Fox commentary Bill O’Riley’s show recently. He had a panel of all white guests discussing how the media ignores crimes and violence committed by blacks. Anyone who has watched American television or read 
American news papers within the last century knows how ludicrous this assertion is, but that’s not even the most disturbing untruth that came out of Mr O’Riley’s segment. O’Riley and everyone on his panel all agreed that the “black community” has a problem with violence, unwed child birth, work ethic, and government hand outs. All of these things were accepted as fact by everyone. First of all I take issue with anyone who thinks race can be associated with a propensity to commit crime, or is somehow associated with loose morals. And I take an even bigger issue with those who use the term “the black community” to imply that every black person thinks, acts, feels, and behaves in unison. THERE IS NO BLACK COMMUNITY… especially in the context that they were using it in.
People seem to forget that Jim Crow and racial segregation only ended 50 years ago. Blacks were thought to be inferior to whites. We weren’t allowed to vote. We couldn’t look white people in the eye. We had no right to education. There were curfews in southern cities for blacks. We couldn’t attend certain colleges. The types of jobs we could apply for were extremely limited. Blacks could get lynched for almost no reason at all. The KKK committed atrocities and murders without the fear of arrest. All of this happened not too long ago. My mom and dad were alive and witnessed the horrors of the segregated south. Now that Jim Crow is gone and there are laws in place that brought an end to segregation things are a lot better for blacks. But laws can’t change the mentality that made Jim Crow possible. That mentality is still alive and well. Bill O’Riley’s segment proves how ingrained those beliefs are. Think of racism and racial stereotypes as a building. The Jim Crow laws and segregation were put in place because whites believed blacks were violent, intellectually inferior, lacking morals, shiftless, and incapable of living without strict rules and oversight by whites. So Jim Crow and segregation are the walls of our building. The foundation that supported those walls are the beliefs of inferiority and a propensity for violence. The iron beams that allow this building to stand up and add floor after floor are the political figures and groups who help spread the message. The Bull Connor’s, the George Wallace’s and the KKK for example. Out of the civil rights movement we got legislation like The Voting Rights Act, and The Civil Rights Act which killed Jim Crow and ended segregation. That was the wrecking ball that knocked the walls of this building down. Blacks were finally equal in the eyes of the law. We got the right to vote, we could attend any college we wanted, schools were desegregated, employers could no longer exclude people based on race. All of this improved the lives of many many oppressed blacks that were suffering in the south. But legislation only destroyed the walls. The foundation that supported the walls were still left because you can not legislate peoples beliefs. You can’t erase a century’s worth of propaganda that convinced white America that blacks were violent and inferior just by passing a few laws. Even the most liberal democrat can fall victim to this ingrained racial way of thinking.
Most people think stereotypes have foundations in truth. Everyone in this county is aware of racial stereotypes. Blacks are violent, uneducated, lazy, more than likely on government assistance, possesses low morality, etc. Everyone knows those stereotypes. If I’m a person who believes that most stereotypes contains a little truth, my mind becomes open and more aware of situations that either reaffirms or confirms those stereotypical qualities. If I’m watching the news and they show five reports of 
violence and one out of the five reports involve a black perpetrator I’m going to notice the one report with the black guy. And everything that seems to confirm this stereotype I now believe is true will strengthen my belief about blacks and violence. Normally I would say who cares what some random guy things about people who share my skin color. But here is why I should care and why you should care. We pass quick judgments about the people we meet everyday. Sometimes we get a gut feeling about a person and we’re not even sure where it comes from. Take that same guy who has witnessed a reaffirmation of the stereotype that blacks are violent. Lets say he’s the manager of a daycare. There’s a black applicant and a white applicant. Both are equally qualified for the position. The manager believes a reinforced stereotype that tells him the black applicant is more likely to cause problems so he hires the white applicant. In his mind he’s doing the right thing for his daycare. He’s protecting the children. The man in this scenario isn’t necessarily racist. He’s a victim in this situation as well. When he watches Fox News he’s expecting news. He’s expecting to be told the truth. Instead he gets garbage dressed up as news. And Fox isn’t the only media outlet that stokes the racial fears and stereotypes harbored by well meaning white America, but they are the biggest peddler of this kind of thing. Before President Obama took office it seemed like there was a steady decline in racial bias in media. But when he won his first term in office conservative media saw how easy it was to reignite the racial fears of white America for political and economic gain. How many times have you heard the term “reverse racism” before Barack Obama became president?
For the past 5 or 6 years Fox, the Tea Party, republican extremist, evangelicals, and conservative media have quietly began building on the foundation that allowed Jim Crow and segregation to exist. Fox commentators are constantly talking about crime in the black community. Every shooting in intercity Chicago gets that headline. When crime occurs in a white neighborhood there’s never any headlines that say “crime in the white community”. There’s been numerous shootings and mass murders at schools all across America. All the perpetrators have been white. Never once did anyone describe these shootings as a problem in white America. Another favorite buzz word or news headline within conservative media is “black on black crime”. They talk about it as if it’s a sui generis phenomena that exist exclusively among blacks. It’s true that most crimes committed by someone black is perpetrated against a black victim. But that’s true about ALL races. 86% of crimes committed by white people are perpetrated against a white victim. But for some reason no one has ever uttered the words “white on white crime”. All of these things effect equality. Judges give black defendants longer sentences, police stop and arrest more black’s than any other race, blacks get paid an average of 20% less than whites with identical qualifications and job duties, banks are less likely to approve loans for blacks than whites, etc etc. Brick by brick the building built upon the foundation of racism and racial stereotypes gets taller, stronger, and a lot more visible. The Supreme court striking down the voting rights act, Stop and Frisk, voter id laws, stand your ground laws, are all issues leading America toward a new variation of our dark twisted past.
A few closing points:
1. The “Black Community” does not exist in the way that Fox News and other media outlets and personalities use it. They use it to imply that all black people think alike, have the same beliefs, behave similarly, and can be dealt with as a group. Just because I share a skin color with some gang member in LA does not mean we have anything in common, and certainly does not mean that I or any other black person shares any responsibility for any crimes or gang activity that this gang member becomes involved in.
2. No matter what crime statistics say, lawmakers and police can not use them to justify increased scrutiny on a whole race of people. Anyone who believes otherwise are basically saying that they believe race can determine behavior. This belief comes straight from the foundation that Jim Crow and segregation was built on.
3. Anyone who can’t admit that a majority of conservative media likes to reinforce negative racial stereotypes is being intellectually dishonest with themselves.
4. Racial language is a very small symptom of a much larger illness. If we want every person that gets caught saying something racist to be pulled off TV and vilified in the press, we’ve only suppressed that symptom temporarily. Instead we should attack the set of circumstances that created the illness. How else can you challenge a racial stereotype if we’re never allowed to have that conversation?
Find out what Jim Crow laws were on the books in your state:
by clicking here
Tea Party Mandela Rip No Surprise
Former House Majority Leader Newt Gingrich posted a heartfelt tribute to Nelson Mandela the day his death was announced. Newt called Mandela “one of the greatest leaders of our time” and acknowledged Mandela’s legacy as a cultural icon who fought to free his people from racial oppression. Unlike a lot of other republicans who had nice things to say about the man, Newt had a history of anti Apartheid votes to back it up. When Ronald Reagan tried to veto sanctions passed by congress against the oppressive regime, Newt voted to block President Reagan’s veto. Not an easy decision for a republican to block a veto from a republican president. I have my issues with Newt and he’s said and done some pretty awful things throughout his political career, but on the issue of Apartheid Newt was pretty courageous (probably the last time I’ll ever use courageous and Newt in the same sentence). So after newt posts his short and kind tribute on his facebook page, a tea party wave of nasty racist ugly rebukes are posted in response. The angry posters were calling President Mandela a racist murder of whites, a communist thug, a gorilla terrorist, some said he should have died in prison, one comment said President Obama should be imprisoned just like Mandela, others expressed disappointment in Newt for posting kind words about President Mandela. Comment after comment of this vitriol spilled out on Newt’s Facebook page for all to see. Tea Party darling Ted Cruz wrote some kind words about Mandela on his page and received the same ugly backlash as Newt. In an interview with CNN over the weekend Newt said he was shocked by all the negative comments. Newt may have been shocked, but I and a lot of other progressives weren’t shocked at all. Since the day Barack Obama won the presidency there’s been a very visible raise in racial tension throughout conservative America. Any black person who talks about racism or tries to point out racism or even engages in a discussion that touches anything dealing with race makes the tea party go absolutely crazy. Go to any conservative message board and read some of the comments. When the movie “12 Years A Slave” came out I searched for movie reviews on it to see what it was about but instead I found page after page of the most disgusting vile racist nonsense I’ve ever read. Conservative media has fed their followers a false narrative about why the economy is so slow at recovering, about why they can’t find jobs, about why upward mobility and the ladder to the middle class has completely disappeared. Who’s to blame? The usual suspects of course. Minorities and undocumented immigrants. Every problem in the United States is caused by minorities and undocumented immigrants. Newt shouldn’t be surprised because he has helped cultivate this nonsense. Him and right wing media guys like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Riley etc. They find ridiculous ways to link every single issue to minorities and undocumented immigrants. They have tapped into the angst and anger of ultra conservative whites who feel marginalized by the changing racial makeup of this country’s citizens which will eventually make whites a minority. Conservative media are constantly telling them that they are the real victims of racism. Minorities are the “takers” living off the hard work of the “makers”. To them Mandela and Obama are the same because they are both black leaders… and their very existence is offensive to them. Newt plays the game but he knows it’s a game. The people who follow and listen to him and other conservative media personalities aren’t aware that there’s a game being played. They are true believers. To them Obama is a Kenyan muslim who hates white people and hates America. They actually believe that & won’t accept facts that tell them otherwise. Even though Newt stood up for Mandela and chastised those tea party nuts who left the misguided comments, he can’t throw up his hands and pretend that he has no idea where the hate and vitriol comes from. It comes from you Newt. They learned it from you.
A Few Examples of Newt Gingrich’s History Of Racially Offensive Comments:
“I’m prepared, if the NAACP invites me, I’ll go to their convention and talk about why the African-American community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps.” – Gingrich, at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire
On September 12, 2012 Gingrich told National Review Online that “Obama has pretended to be normal but actually seems to be engaged in Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior”. He went on to say “What if [Obama] is so outside our comprehension, that only if you understand Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior, can you begin to piece together [his actions]? This is a person who is fundamentally out of touch with how the world works, who happened to have played a wonderful con, as a result of which he is now president,”
An April 1, 2007, Associated Press reported that Gingrich described bilingual education as teaching “the language of living in a ghetto” and mocked requirements that ballots be printed in multiple languages.
Mega Church Killing Civil Rights
Watching republican led legislatures all over the country advocate and pass harsh new voting restrictions clearly designed to disenfranchise and marginalize the African American vote has brought up personal feelings of dismay and frustration. But the subsequent abject silence on this issue from most notable African American elites has left me feeling puzzled and frustrated even more. Out of that frustration came three questions I’d like to explore and attempt to answer:
1. What happened to the solidarity and sense of duty to each other that made the success of the civil rights movement possible?
2. Why aren’t today’s African Americans with wealth, celebrity, and power as visible and outspoken as African American’s with similar standings were in the 1960’s?
3. What is the biggest issue in 21st century America that directly threatens the gains won by civil rights activist in the 1960’s?
Before we can begin to answer any of those questions we have to define what contemporary Americans consider activism to be. In the 1960’s social activism meant marches, protest, attending lectures and speeches, making personal sacrifices for the greater good, rallies, lobbing friends, neighbors, and family members who may not understand your position or why that particular issue is important, and holding elected officials accountable to the people who elected them.
Taking part in the political process now means being involved in politically biased or partisan media, and/or shouting down friends on social media (like facebook or twitter), and signing online petitions. That is one of the biggest changes in how we participate as citizens in politics. I have even heard some people say they only watch television shows or movies with black people in the cast… as if that does anything to help minority communities. If that is the extent of your activism then you are most definitely wasting your time.
The biggest change in civil rights and how African Americans take part in it and the lack of visibility or urgency in it can not be blamed on laziness, apathy, or resting on the gains already won in the 1960’s. Of course all of that does play a part but it’s a very small part. A lot of it has to do with the social separation between African American’s with wealth or celebrity from everyday working class, middle class, and poor African Americans. Another huge factor has to do with the changes in traditional African American churches. First let me explain the part about African American churches, and I’ll come back to the social separation idea afterward.
African American churches were at the center of the civil rights movement. It’s where MLK and others met to plan rallies, share information, inspire activism, and it was also a place where African Americans felt safe. That has all disappeared from today’s African American churches. Today’s mega church’s seem more concerned with money, power, and a place to network. Once the church was removed from the movement there was nothing there to take its place. A lot of people don’t know this but one of the main reasons African American churches are a lot less politically active has to do with money. In 2001 President George Bush created a new government organization called “The White House Office Of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives”. He created this office to give government grants to churches and religious organizations. Churches were already tax exempt but the 1st amendment to the US Constitution says “government shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”, more commonly known as “separation of church and state”. So because of this constitutional amendment churches were excluded from getting government grants. President Bush and some really smart lawyers came up with a way to give grant money to churches. All the churches had to do is incorporate themselves as a non profit organization and change their church name if it was something overtly religious that could identify what type of religion the church practices. For example, if the church name is “Jesus Is Love Tabernacle” they would have to remove “Jesus” and change it to something like “Love and Worship Tabernacle”. The same pastors and religious folk that were so appalled at prayer being removed from schools jumped at the chance to change their church name to get government grants… how hypocritical is that? But I digress… After they do the name change that church is now eligible for hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of government grants (keep in mind that grants do not have to be paid back aka free money). To stay in compliance and keep their government grants they have a lot more rules to follow. That church can not be involved with politics or back any political candidate. So no church rallies for civil rights, and no telling your congregation which candidate will help the community the most. But with all that money you can build a huge mega church, buy nice buses with the pastor’s face on the side, employ a full time staff and compensate them nicely (most of the time it’s the pastors family), and the pastor’s salary can reach baller levels. I don’t want to make it all sound bad because some of these churches are doing good things with the money. They provide services for the community like free daycare, feeding the homeless, family and marriage counseling, pay medical bills and buy prescriptions for those who are sick and in need etc. But all of this new grant money has crippled the traditional black church’s involvement in civil rights. If not at church, where is the base for civil rights activists? This is a major problem that has not been addressed.
This is the other issue that needs to be dealt with. African American celebrities and those with wealth or political power aren’t subjected to the same treatment as poor and middle class African Americans. During the civil rights movement all African Americans were subjected to Jim Crow and separate but equal. Black performers and entertainers could not stay in the hotels they performed in. Couldn’t eat at the restaurants that their fellow white entertainers ate in. This created a solidarity among all African Americans. Performers like Harry Belafonte, Sammy Davis Jr., Muhammad Ali, etc championed the fight for civil rights because they had a personal steak in it in addition to doing it just because it was the right thing to do. They were all willing to put their carers on the line to help all Blacks. Today it’s hard to find true civil rights activist among Black entertainers and Blacks with wealth such as Jay Z, Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Sean Combs (P. Diddy), Bob Johnson, Bishop TD Jakes and even President Obama. The wealth and power these people have gained totally insulates them from the discrimination, pains, and issues felt by middle class, poor, and impoverished African Americans. Jay Z doesn’t get stopped and frisked every time he leaves his lavish penthouse apartment in New York. Oprah doesn’t have to worry about her polling location being removed just because she lives in a district that’s predominately African American. P Diddy doesn’t have to worry about his voting rights being revoked because of a petty drug charge he plead guilty to when he was 15 years old. Tyler Perry doesn’t have to worry about predatory lenders that target his neighborhood because it’s inhabited by poor African Americans who can not get traditional loans from traditional banks or credit unions. Bishop TD Jakes isn’t effected by republicans harsh and brutal cuts to social programs like medicaid, wic, social security, disability, food stamps, head-start, planned parenthood, etc. Bob Johnson doesn’t have to worry about his children not being able to attend college because government grants have dried up.
All of the people I named have huge visibility and enormous resources which they could use to effect change and improve the lives of all minorities while making our finical, educational, and criminal justice systems treat all citizens equally. Instead of doing this they have chosen to enrich themselves with more power and more wealth. I hate to point specific people out because there are thousands just like them who I haven’t named. I would also like to acknowledge that these people have donated to charities and are good well-meaning people for the most part. But they have a greater responsibility to the people that made their wealth and power possible. What if Harry Belafonte or Muhammad Ali hadn’t fought for civil rights? The lush charmed lives of Oprah and Jay Z wouldn’t be possible. So in turn they should do the same for those who are currently being victimized by racial intolerance and inequality. What good is making it to the “top” if you don’t reach back and pull your brother up with you? For rappers like Jay Z and Lil Wayne it’s not enough to just rap about the harsh conditions of the inner city and make people aware of the inequality in our justice system. Hip Hop has done an amazing job of that over the years (which was no small feat). But if you continue to rap about inner city problems, gain enormous wealth from it and not involve yourself in creating a movement to change it, then you’ve turned one of the most sui generis and innovative art forms ever created into egregious exploitation.
I know my critique of the African American elite is a bit harsh, but I can’t assign 100% of the blame on them. We as a whole have allowed them to behave that way. There’s nothing wrong with celebrating success or acknowledging those with special abilities. But when all you do is congratulate and celebrate without demanding something in return you are giving them permission to obtain more wealth and power at your expense. Tyler Perry, TD Jakes, and Jay Z owe a huge part of their success to the poor and working class African Americans who support them. There are people who live far below the poverty line who will scrape up a few dollars to see Tyler Perry’s latest movie, or attend one of TD Jakes conferences, or buy Jay Z’s newest album. That fact alone should be enough to move them and make them want to be more vocal. Building a bigger super mega church doesn’t help our community. Buying a basketball team doesn’t help our community. Buying a private island doesn’t help our community, and now we have this new phenomenon where anyone who questions the elite are shunned and labeled “haters”. Somehow our entertainers and those of us who support them have lost our way. We’ve lost the will to fight. We’ve accepted the status quo and have become complacent or (in my case) cynical. Yes I’ll admit I have become a bit cynical. When the problems are so huge and the solution seems so very apparent it drives me crazy to see those with unlimited resources doing nothing.
How can we remind these people of their responsibility? How can we show the elite they still have a steak in civil rights? Obviously empathy and “doing the right thing” aren’t viable motivations anymore. Maybe we should play to their vanity and start praising any and all (no matter how small) charitable work they do, or anytime they call for criminal justice reform in an interview, or anytime they campaign for candidates who are pro civil rights, and ignore the trivial vapidness and superficial self importance of inconsequential celebrity gossip.
Martin Luther King, Bayard Rustin, President Kennedy, and all of the other great civil rights activists from the 1960’s would be astonished at the lack of diligence that has taken hold since their great gains at the height of the movement. Most notably the Supreme Court decision to strike down parts of the voting rights act earlier this year which led to a number of harsh new voting restrictions put in place by republican governors to disenfranchise the minority vote. I believe Martin Luther King would also be shocked and disappointed at the lack of support from the black community for marriage equality and gay rights. I say this with a great deal of confidence because one of MLK’s most trusted advisers was an out gay African American man named Bayard Rustin (who I just referenced at the beginning of this paragraph). A few of MLK’s other advisers tried to talk him into firing Bayard because of his sexuality and MLK would not do it. Without Bayard the historic march on Washington may not have happened. He was the top organizer for the event. I feel I have to acknowledge that the black community is moving in the right direction on this issue. The NAACP publicly announced support for gay marriage last year sometime right after President Obama announced his support. So there is progress and hope on this issue…. but hope enough to assuage my cynicism?… the jury is still out on that one.
2013 CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUES TO ADDRESS:
END STOP AND FRISK!
END RACIAL PROFILING!
RESTORE THE ORIGINAL VOTING RIGHTS ACT!
GET RID OF ALL “STAND YOUR GROUND” LAWS!
REFORM THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM!
ALLOW ALL CITIZENS TO VOTE, EVEN THOSE WITH A FELONY!
END THE COSTLY INEFFECTIVE WAR ON DRUGS!
CLOSE ALL PRIVATE PRISONS
ENACT A MORATORIUM ON BUILDING NEW PRISONS
LEGALIZE GAY MARRIAGE IN ALL 50 STATES!
MAKE THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT SUCCESSFUL!
HOMEWORK:
Read “The New Jim Crow” by: Michelle Alexander (if you can’t find or afford a copy please let me know and I will purchase one and send it to you. It’s a must read for anyone who cares about civil rights and how mass incarceration became the solution for dealing with African American men.)
Mandela And Ronald Reagan
Conservatives like to present a skewed version of Ronald Reagan and his presidency. The right has built an entire mythology around Reagan that rarely touches reality. The passing of Nelson Mandela brings back a very hard truth that Reaganites would like to erase.
During Mandela’s incarceration and the fight to end Apartheid in South Africa, the US Congress wanted to impose sanctions on South Africa to push the oppressive regime to free Mandela and end the brutality of Apartheid. Reagan strongly disagreed with imposing sanctions and likened Mandela to a terrorist. President Ronald Reagan appeared on TV before the house and senate’s scheduled vote on anti Apartheid legislation, to warn Americans against the Anti-Apartheid Act, decrying it as “immoral” and “utterly repugnant.” Congress disagreed, and one month later, it produced the two-thirds majority (which included both democrats and republicans) needed to override Reagan and pass tough new measures against South Africa’s apartheid government. These measures included a ban on bank loans and new investments in South Africa, a sharp reduction of imports, and prevented most South African officials from traveling to the United States. The Act also called for the repeal of apartheid laws and the release of political prisoners like African National Congress (ANC) leader Nelson Mandela, who had spent the last 23 years in prison.
It is difficult to fully comprehend the evils of apartheid today. Blacks were denied citizenship and the right to vote. They were forcibly relocated into impoverished reservations. People of color were barred from operating businesses or owning land inside white areas, which comprised most of the country. Sexual relations or marriage between people of color and whites was strictly forbidden. Racial segregation was enforced in public areas, including schools, hospitals, trains, beaches, bridges, churches and theaters. To enforce apartheid, the government often resorted to police brutality, the imprisonment and assassination of political dissidents, and the murder of black protesters. In 1960 the South African police opened fire on a crowd of 7000 Apartheid protesters wounding hundreds of them and killing 69.
So the next time someone comes to you talking about how great Reagan was, remember his support for Apartheid, a racially unequal system of government, and every brutal racist oppressive element that came along with it and offer these facts as a much needed reality check.
Mandela & Michelle Obama
The first lady Michelle Obama traveled to visit South African President Nelson Mandela in 2011. Today we all learned of his death and even though everyone around the world were aware of his advanced age and failing health, it still shocks and saddens us all. In honor of this extraordinary man’s relationship with this country and the Obama’s I want to post what the first lady wrote following her first visit to meet him.
Today, we arrived in South Africa, and I couldn’t be more excited, because two years ago, I visited this country for the first time with my mother and daughters, and it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
On that visit, I met with young women leaders from across the continent who were serving their countries and their communities – educating young people, providing job training for women, working to combat poverty and violence and disease – often in the face of impossible odds. I also had the chance to spend time with young people from here in South Africa: I danced with children at a daycare center, visited the University of Cape Town with local high school students, and took part in a children’s soccer clinic at one of the stadiums used in the 2010 World Cup.
I also had the chance to meet President Nelson Mandela at his home in Johannesburg, an experience that I will never forget. Mandela – or “Madiba” as he’s referred to in South Africa – is truly a giant in world history. As a young man, he led a movement against Apartheid – the South African government’s policies that discriminated against people of color, forcing them to live in separate neighborhoods and attend separate schools and prohibiting them from even voting in national elections. For his defiance, Mandela was jailed for 27 years, and his struggle became a source of inspiration for people all around the world.
First Lady Michelle Obama meets with former President Nelson Mandela of South Africa at his home in Houghton, South Africa, June 21, 2011. Mrs. Obama viewed items from President Mandela’s archives earlier during a tour of the Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg. (Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton)
After he was finally released from prison in 1990, Mandela worked to dismantle the Apartheid state and replace it with a full democracy – and in 1994, four years after he was released from prison, he became the South Africa’s first black President. Today, Mandela is 94 years old. As I mentioned in my first post, he’s currently in the hospital, and he is very much in my thoughts and prayers right now. He has been such a source of hope for so many people for so long, and when I reflect on Mandela’s life and legacy, I think about his courage and determination – enduring nearly three decades in jail without ever giving up on his dream of a more just and equal South Africa. It’s amazing to think about everything he’s seen during his lifetime: the horrors of Apartheid, the quiet desolation of a jail cell, but also the realization of a vibrant South African democracy. I’m so glad that he lived to see the fruits of his struggle and sacrifice – and I’m so glad that he never gave up on his dream of a better country and a better world for future generations. As President Mandela once said, “Our children are the rock on which our future will be built.”
That’s exactly how I feel as well. And that’s why, during my time in South Africa, I’m going to once again reach out to as many young people as I can – and I’m going to try to connect these young people with young people back home in America as well. Because I know that if young people like you all can share your stories and learn from each other’s experiences, then we’ll all be able to keep moving forward, and together, we’ll be able to build upon Nelson Mandela’s legacy for years to come.
*FULL TRIBUTE COMING SOON*
Liberal’s Dirty Little Secret
Before i begin this blog post i feel i need to preface it with some important factors to keep in mind while reading it. I am a very proud and vocal member of the Democratic party and even though I’m about to share some harsh critiques about my party and some of its representatives, I feel even at their worst they are still miles ahead of any republican at their best. Now, i felt I had to say that because it was needed to put things in the proper context.
The country-wide debate of New York’s “Stop and Frisk” policy that unfairly targets African American and Latino males has uncovered something surprising about my fellow liberals. A few weeks ago I wrote a blog about the Trayvon Martin shooting and racial profiling titled “No Justice For Trayvon”. In that blog I highlighted how some whites perceptions of young African American males are based on a subconscious irrational fear that makes them see those males as potential criminals. This is true for both conservative and liberal whites although that perception may be slightly more common among conservatives. After a court ruled that NY’s “Stop and Frisk” policy was unconstitutional and a violation of American civil rights it sparked a huge national debate about the ruling and NY mayor Michael Bloomberg’s defense of the program.
Those who supported the policy pointed to the low crime rate in the city which they attributed to Stop and Frisk. To me and a lot of African Americans it sounded like they were saying it’s ok to violate a young black male’s civil rights if it makes whites feel less fearful. That was a huge insult unto itself but what came after that was even more insulting. They tried to spin it in the media by saying the policy is in place to protect African American’s living in poor neighborhoods. African American’s translated this to mean they were racially profiling and violating our rights for our own good. Like a parent punishing a petulant child. To me that insult was beyond disgusting because segregationist used the exact same language in the 1950’s to defend Jim Crow. I felt it necessary to write this blog because there were some very important points that were never articulated in the media and among pundits. Watching panel discussions on MSNBC and CNN became tortuous for me. I found myself screaming my points to the tv like they could hear me. Since I’m not a cable tv news political pundit or host, my blog will have to suffice (lol).
The first and most important point I want to make is about those who think Stop and Frisk is necessary. In order to support stop and frisk you have to believe that race determines behavior. How else can you believe that stopping and searching African American’s and Latino’s almost exclusively is acceptable and necessary to prevent crime. This is a hard truth but it needs to be addressed so we can fix it and move on. I’m sure stop and frisk supporters do not want to ask themselves that question. Especially liberals and cable news pundits like those on MSNBC. Don’t get me wrong I love watching MSNBC because I like their reporting of political news and I’ve come to respect the on-air talent. One of my favorites is Chris Matthews the host of Hardball. He’s a moderate democrat with an astute political mind. His views usually mirror my own, but his coverage and views of Stop and Frisk has been very disappointing. Watching him interview pundits has exposed his support for the policy. Time after time he’s expressed fear of New York returning to the violent city it was in the 1970’s and 80’s. When one of his guest presented the idea of stopping more than just blacks and Latino’s Chris likened it to searching grandma at the airport for explosives. When Michael Smirconish guest hosted 
Chris’s Hardball he was a lot more vocal in his support for the policy. I naively thought progressives would see this Stop and Frisk policy for what it was. Racial profiling, unconstitutional, a severe violation of civil rights, a throw-back to Jim Crow, and just plain wrong. If equality, your personal ethics, and basic human fairness weren’t enough to convince you that this law is racist and unjust, take a look at the stats and ask yourself is this an effective use of police time and resources. According to a study done by the Center For Constitutional Rights during the year 2011 NYPD officers stopped and frisked a total of 636,288 people. Out of those 636,288 stops, 574,483 were African American and Latino. That’s a shocking 87%. Out of those 574,483 minorities only 2% were found to have contraband. TWO PERCENT!!!!!! Under any other circumstances this program would have been rejected years ago due to it’s ineffectiveness.
When you take an objective look at the overwhelming evidence against Stop and Frisk you have to ask yourself why is mayor Bloomberg fighting so hard to keep this in place and why are some white liberals like Chris Matthews and Michael Smirconish vocally supporting the policy or at the very least why aren’t they vocally advocating for its demise. I think the answer can be found in my Trayvon Martin blog titled “No Justice For Trayvon”. They see all young black males as potential criminals, and Stop and Frisk placates this irrational fear. I’m not saying these people are intentional racist. I believe they’ve been conditioned to think about young black males in that way. Their subconscious has made this connection and every crime committed by a young black male reinforces that belief. It’s very disappointing to see so many of my fellow democrats quietly supporting this vile version of institutionalized racism knowing it dehumanizes an entire race of people. Extremely disappointing. Unfortunately this race behavior linkage is perpetuated by the language we use when talking about inner city crime and violence. When we use terms like “the black community” it lumps all blacks together. Even the president has made this mistake. He said we need to address the crime and violence problem within the black community. But this problem mainly exist in the inner city. So instead of lumping all blacks together, he should have said we need to address the crime and violence happening in the inner city. I do not live in the inner city and I have never been involved in any crime. I’m a college educated law abiding citizen who lives on the coast of North Carolina. I have absolutely nothing in common with a violent gang member hundreds of miles away in Detroit. But since we share the same skin color I’m treated like a suspected criminal and I’m supposed to accept that. It’s ridiculous and extremely frustrating.
I’d like to share one more observation that no one else has brought up. The Stop and Frisk policy was built on a supreme court ruling that relaxed the 
rules for search and seizure when an officer believes a suspect may have a gun. Before this ruling law enforcement could not stop and search random citizens without a clear and articulatable reason. But Bloomberg found a way around the 4th amendment by using that supreme court case. He argued that NY police could stop and search anyone they wanted to and justify it by saying they thought the person had a firearm. My question is why aren’t the NRA (National Rifle Association) out lobbing to end Stop and Frisk? It goes against the very rights they say they are protecting. The right to own a firearm and the right to carry a firearm without being searched by police hoping to find and confiscate a legally owned firearm. The lack of action from their organization shows an obvious racial prejudice in the way they choose issues to speak out against. I sent this question to the head of the NRA but got no response in return. The lack of response makes me think my suspicions are valid.
As a result of discriminatory policing practices like stop and frisk, New Yorkers feel as if their communities are under siege. To learn more about the human impact of these practices, visit www.stopandfrisk.org.
STORY UPDATE:
A few weeks after I published this blog post I got the chance to ask MSNBC show host Chris Matthews where he stands on Stop and Frisk. In my blog post I stated that he seemed to support Stop and Frisk. It was very easy to draw this conclusion because he never condemned the policy and never once called it unconstitutional. Instead he would share his fear of New York’s crime rate returning to the very high levels the city had in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Here’s a link to read his response: http://sociallyurban.com/reply-headlines/chris-matthews-response/
D5 Creation