Outrage of the Day 11_11_06

[sohotrightnow]

Oops, just read laxfan25's post...

[LaxRef]

Can someone please explain to me why blackface is so insulting? I'm just having a really hard time understanding how a Halloween costume meant to be in good fun can change from funny to racist just because some white guys paint their faces black. I mean, it's the JAMAICAN bobsled team for crying out loud! It doesn't work if you are white.

I think it's historical. Years ago, white actors and comedians wore blackface and enacted horribly racist caricatures of African-Americans. Wearing black face is evocative of that racism, which is why it's still "too soon" for most people. And, like others say, if you know it will be perceived as racist and you do it anyway, you shouldn't be surprised when people call you a racist for doing it.

I think there's a parallel between the black face and the swastika. There is nothing objectively wrong with the shape of the swastika. It's just some lines put together in a certain way. But there is an association with that symbol that is problematic. So, if you just happened to love the shape of the swastika and decorated your house with it, people are going to call you all sorts of unflattering things even if you've never had a racist thought in your life. This is because you are expected to be aware of what that symbol evokes, and if you disregard that and decorate with it anyway, most people will think you're a giant jackass. And telling them that "you just like that shape" isn't going to mollify them!

[LaxRef]

One of the sad consequences of affirmative action is that it can pit groups against one another - very often poor whites and blacks. I still happen to believe that the reasons for having it exist, and that whites that may lose a spot in college are far outnumbered by minorities that have been disenfranchised during their lives.

One thing I heard recently is that American society is much less upwardly mobile than most countries in Europe. That is, in America, if you are born poor you are much more likely to stay poor than you are if you are born poor in most European countries. However, many Americans vote as if they believe they're going to be rich any day now, buying into issues like tax cuts for the rich and abolishing the estate tax (which increase the tax burden for the poor and middle class while allowing the ultra-rich to accumulate more wealth and doing even more to prevent upward mobility).

[SLUDoubleDeuce]

In fact, just today in Farmers Branch, TX there is a vote in front of the city council to move to eliminate the opportunity for landlords (apartments, duplexes, individuals like you or me who own property) to rent to Mexicans simply because they are Mexican. Doesnt matter if they are naturalized, employed, have chidren, hold visas, etc. that s racism!

You got a link to that Jesse? I find it hard to believe that any municipality could make it illegal to rent to someone that is here legally.

Actually I do.

Texas town joins illegal-immigrant trend

And effort is aimed at illegal immigrants...

[Jolly Roger]

I think it's historical.

As I read through your post quickly, I thought you wrote "hysterical" YIKES!!!!!!!!

Glad I took a second to reread.

[laxfan25]

LaxRef,
I'd be interested to see where you read that. I still personally believe in the American Dream, that with a great idea and personal effort you can really change your position. I look with admiration at what many of the Vietnamese immigrants have done. That said, I agree with your comments about the estate tax.
Somehow I just picture "old Europe" as being much more hidebound than the US, but I am no great world traveler!
Also, it's kind of jarring when you see the swastika adorning lots of buildings in the Far East, then you realize it is a very ancient religious symbol of Hindus, Buddhists and others. However, if you ever see a Buddha with a heavy dark moustache....

[LaxRef]

LaxRef,
I'd be interested to see where you read that. I still personally believe in the American Dream, that with a great idea and personal effort you can really change your position. I look with admiration at what many of the Vietnamese immigrants have done.

I believe it was in a podacast lecture/interview series with Noam Chomsky on "The War on Terror," but I wouldn't swear to it.

EDIT: I found this article, discussing the same phenomenon:

http://www.economist.com/world/na/displ ... id=3518560

[KnoxVegas]

I have never understood why it is acceptable (particularly to people in the south who allegedly love America so much) to fly the flag of a former opponent of the United States of America. The CSA lost. Period. You want it to rise again? Really? Poverty? Famine? Slavery?

I highly doubt that the same people who fly the CSA battle flag would ever fly the flags of France/Spain/Iraq/Russia/Germany/Tripoli/Mexico, etc.... The battle flag is offensive because it represents a time when people were enslaved. When whites were fighting to maintain a slavery-based economy. When blacks were no allowed to read. Or vote. Or if a freed slave had the right to vote, were given literacy tests in order to judge if they could vote or not. This practice was only outlawed in the US in 1964. Again, 1964! Even though the 13th,14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution were passed almost 100 years before that date. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964

As possibly the only poster on this board with an undergrad and masters degree in African & African-American Studies I am appalled that there are posters on this board that do not see how black face could be offensive. That use the pathetic excuse of "I never oppressed anyone," to defend their ignorance. Racism exists. The plantation owners now wear three-piece suits. Look no further than professional sports or the music industry to see modern-day racism at its finest.

[jessexy]

Agreed KnoxVegas. I had a young white girl tell me once, in a discussion in a political science class at A&M, that she proudly flew the Confederate flag. I asked her why and she said "to preserve the Southern gentility of my grandfathers."

I promptly asked her what was ever gentle about the South and she was stunned. i then asked her what was genteel about the South and she remained silent. then i told her that she should really think about her answers before she continued to repeat the line she's been forced to rehearse for the first 18 years of her life, or at least since she learned how to talk.

the main reason that racism persists today is because people dont think for themselves and form their own opinions on other people. They rely on their family history and viewpoints. Thats not altogether terrible or isolated on the race issue. People do it with religion (if your parents and granparents were Catholic and you grew up in a Catholic church, you'll probably practice Catholicism, right?). But people need to be open-minded and think for themselves. thats they only way racism will cease.

[Campbell]

I have never understood why it is acceptable (particularly to people in the south who allegedly love America so much) to fly the flag of a former opponent of the United States of America. The CSA lost. Period. You want it to raise again? Really? Poverty? Famine? Slavery?

I highly doubt that the same people who fly the CSA battle flag would ever fly the flags of France/Spain/Iraq/Russia/Germany/Tripoli/Mexico, etc....

Although, Texas does not fly the infamous battle flag, they do fly the offical flag of the Confederacy (the "Stars and Bars"):



along with the flags of Spain, France, Mexico, Texas, and the US. Hence the "six flags of Texas" and everyone's favorite theme park. These flags are flown at universities, the state capital (even embossed on the capital), municipal buildings, etc. These are the flags of all six nations that have had sovereignty over Texas at some point in time.[/img]

[KnoxVegas]

Texas does this because they embrace their history and culture. That is at the state level. I am writing about those that wear the battle flag on clothes and display it in various other forms.

James Byrd was also drug to death behind a pick-up truck in the state of Texas just eight years ago. http://www.texasnaacp.org/jasper.htm


If you are a proud Texan, you should thank a Tennessean.

[sohotrightnow]

I am writing about those that wear the battle flag on clothes and display it in various other forms.

Stand-up guys like George Allen

[Sonny]

In fact, just today in Farmers Branch, TX there is a vote in front of the city council to move to eliminate the opportunity for landlords (apartments, duplexes, individuals like you or me who own property) to rent to Mexicans simply because they are Mexican. Doesnt matter if they are naturalized, employed, have chidren, hold visas, etc. that s racism!

You got a link to that Jesse? I find it hard to believe that any municipality could make it illegal to rent to someone that is here legally.

Actually I do.

Texas town joins illegal-immigrant trend

And effort is aimed at illegal immigrants...

Thanks Wade. Sounds AOK to me:

The local debate over illegal immigration began in August and spawned demonstrations by both sides of the issue. Council members adopted a resolution criticizing the federal government for not aggressively addressing the issue.

A councilman has given city attorneys drafts of an ordinance that would make English the city's official language and proposals to fine companies and landlords who do business with illegal immigrants.

The Farmer's Branch proposal follows a vote this year in Hazleton, Pa., to fine landlords who rent to illegal immigrants, deny business permits to companies that employ them and require tenants to register and pay for a rental permit. However, a federal judge temporarily blocked enforcement of the Hazleton ordinance while he considers a lawsuit against the town by the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups.

Jesse, where did the Farmer's Branch legislation propose that it was illegal to rent to Mexicans, simply because they are Mexican (your words)?

[StrykerFSU]

Look no further than professional sports or the music industry to see modern-day racism at its finest.

???? With all due respect, please explain this one to me. Professional athletes and musicians are the victims of racism?

Let me explain my position on blackface a little more clearly. I don't condone it and wouldn't do it myself but I think it is a double standard given that it is perfectly acceptable to make fun of whites based on their race, appearance, lack of dancing skills, inability to jump, etc. I believe Chris Rock does a bit on just this phenomenon. I never denied that racism was still present in our society and I condemn it whole heartedly but I feel that in this case the forces of political correctness went too far. Please don't turn that sentiment into something it is not.

[KnoxVegas]

I never denied that racism was still present in our society and I condemn it whole heartedly but I feel that in this case the forces of political correctness went too far. Please don't turn that sentiment into something it is not.

Really?

I mean, it's the JAMAICAN bobsled team for crying out loud! It doesn't work if you are white.

Your statement above implies that the only people that could be on the Jamaican bobsled team are blacks. There are white Jamaicans for your information and I would think they are eligible for team status. I am not turning anything into anything it is not. These are your words.

I will make points about the music industry and athletics later. For now, I have a game to do.