So What Determines Your “Race”?

So is skin color the key to what we are now?

Good Lawd.

From Gawker:

Former Democratic strategist Karen Finney, who was once the first African-American spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee, was revealed today to be the new host of a 4 p.m. weekend show on MSNBC. Good for her, and good for MSNBC, which adds Finney, pictured at left, to an already diverse roster of talking heads that includes Chris Hayes, Melissa Harris-Perry, and Al Sharpton.

Don’t mention Finney’s race to Tim Graham, however. Graham, a so-called media “watchdog” for the conservative Media Research Center, doesn’t think it’s fair for MSNBC to herald Finney’s entrance as an arrival of another African-American host—y’know, considering her skin is so light and all.

 

 

Finney has a black father and a white mother so she is actually mixed. However, much like President Obama, Finney has the right to self-identify however she chooses. What is most interesting to me though in situations like this, that show once again how silly our “race” notions are, is that the key to determining if is is ok for her to be called black (or African-American) is her lighter skin and straighter hair. But Graham has no problem labeling Obama as black (also black father and white mother) presumably because he has darker skin and less straight hair.

So I guess this is kind of an admission that what your parents are has nothing to do with your “race.” Just how you look.

Just silly. I say again people, there are no different “races,” just different blendings.

 

Blacks and Latinos Born Dangerous – According To Texas

Texas is a special place.

Little did I know that by simply being born black I was prone to commit murder.

This from a news report last week:

Duane Buck is guilty of murder. Of that, there is no question. In 1995 he shot and killed his then-girlfriend as well as her male companion in her Houston, Texas, apartment. Not surprisingly, in execution-prone Texas, Buck was sentenced to the death penalty for his crime.

What seems on the surface to be an open-and-shut murder conviction, however, has become one of the most racially explosive cases of the past several decades—unveiling evidence of systemic racial discrimination in Texas’s criminal justice system.

The problem with Buck’s case is this: During the penalty phase of the trial, Harris County prosecutors benefitted from the testimony of controversial psychologist Walter Quijano.

Asked in open court if “the race factor, black” increased Buck’s risk of reoffending, Quijano answered “yes.” The so-called expert went on to testify that being either African American or Latino “increases the future dangerousness for various complicated reasons.”

In Texas, “future dangerousness” is one of the key factors in determining whether a person is eligible for capital punishment. By allowing Quijano’s testimony to stand, Harris County has established that race can be used as a significant justification for meting out the death penalty.

I tell people all the time, there is a reason I don’t live in Texas anymore.

The full story is here. Still smh.

The Power of Good People Crossing Racial Lines

Game changed history.

This is a great video. Very moving and well worth the few minutes to watch it. Shows the power of sports and of good people who are willing to cross “racial” and ethnic lines.

See the video here.

Dang Those Slaves Were So Ungrateful

How someone thought that CPAC, one of the most conservative gatherings in America, was a good place to hold a panel on reaching out to minorities is beyond me. So I am not surprised this happened:

A panel discussion on race at the Conservative Political Action Conference turned into a debate over slavery and segregation when an attendee from North Carolina said that “young, white, Southern males” are being disenfranchised by Republicans.

Scott Terry, 30, rose from his seat to question the discussion leader, K. Carl Smith, from the Frederick Douglass Republicans, over the role of race in the Republican Party. Terry said that the growth of diversity in the party and outreach to black conservatives has been “at the expense of young, white, Southern males like myself.”

“I think my demographic is being systematically disenfranchised,” Terry said.

Smith responded by telling a story about a letter that abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass wrote to his former slaveowner forgiving him for holding him in servitude.

“For giving him shelter and food?” asked Terry, as some members of the audience gasped and others laughed.

Think Progress reported that Terry later said he supports segregation.

Terry told Think Progress following the panel discussion that he believed that whites have been “systematically disenfranchised” by the federal government. He also told Think Progress he’d “be fine” with a society with blacks subservient to whites. African Americans, he said, should vote in Africa. He claimed the tea party agrees with him.

Good heavens. Slaves should have been grateful they were provided room and board?! And the guy was serious. Wow.

Oberlin College Takes Stand Against Bigotry Once Again

Oberlin has been on the right side of issues for a long time.

Something very strange is going on at Oberlin College. Why someone is targeting Oberlin, of all places, since it is one of the most progressive colleges in America, is hard to figure out. According to a Yahoo News story:

Oberlin College canceled classes on Monday after a person wearing what appeared to be a KKK outfit was spotted on campus, sparking a police investigation at the Ohio school.

“Early this morning, there was a report of a person wearing a hood and robe resembling a KKK outfit between South and the Edmonia Lewis Center and in the vicinity of African Heritage House,” Oberlin President Marvin Krislov wrote in an email to the school’s 2,800 students, faculty and staff. “This event, in addition to the series of other hate-related incidents on campus, has precipitated our decision to suspend formal classes and all non-essential activities for today, Monday, March 4, 2013, and gather for a series of discussions of the challenging issues that have faced our community in recent weeks.”

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, nearly 500 students, staff and community members gathered at the center of campus Monday afternoon for a planned unity rally. Other events, including a “solidarity dinner” at the African Heritage House, were scheduled throughout the day.

The Oberlin Student Senate issued its own email, which read in part:

This has been another event in a string of several reflecting a terrible pattern of racism, prejudice, queerphobia, anti-semitism and other bias attacks that are happening on Oberlin’s campus. At this time, advocacy, support and solidarity are necessary emotionally, physically and spiritually.

According to the Oberlin Review, the latest string of hate-related incidents began in February:

Feb. 9: Vandalism in the Science Center included the replacement of “Black” with “Nigger” on Black History Month posters, drawings of swastikas, damage to the “Year of the Queer” posters and reported destruction of the Chinese calendar.

Feb. 12: LGBTQ Community Coordinator Lorena Espinoza found a note in the Multicultural Resource Center that read “Nigger + Faggot Center.”

Feb. 16: Students found a number of offensive notes written around Burton Hall. “Whites Only” was written above a water fountain, “Nigger Oven” was written inside the elevator and “No Niggers” was written on a bathroom door.

Feb. 17: The Office of Safety and Security released a Special Alert of a strong-arm robbery of a student near West College Street and Cedar Street. The student reported that he was approached by an individual who made a derogatory remark about his perceived ethnicity and then physically knocked him to the ground.

Feb. 26: Posters were defaced in King including those advertising “Year of the Queer” and the Affirmative Action panel, at least one of which had a swastika drawn on it.

Feb. 27: A swastika drawn onto the outside window of West Lecture Hall in the Science Center was seen being removed by custodial staff.

The liberal arts college, founded in 1833, was the first in America to educate women alongside men,according to its Website. The New York Times notes it was “one of the first to admit black students,” and that “before the Civil War, it was an abolitionist hotbed and an important stop on the underground railroad.”

Kudos to Oberlin for taking a stand immediately. I doubt this is a large group of people causing this trouble, but rather one or two individuals who are in the wrong place for this sort of thing.

How Dare A Black Cosplayer Take On A “White” Character?

The characters are not real people.

Read this over at Racialicious. What a very interesting and thought-provoking piece. It is something I can relate to because my kids are somewhat into cosplay. Here is an excerpt:

Once upon a time, I inadvertently started a cosplay race war on Tumblr. Whoops.

So, here’s the deal: I’m a cosplayer. If you don’t already know one of us in person, (and you probably do–we’reeverywhere) you’ve probably seen people like me on the news–all dolled up in a rainbow of face paint and eye-popping wigs, 50 shades of spandex, and skyscraper shoes, for the sake of expressing love for and bringing our favorite characters to life at sci-fi, comic book, video game, and anime conventions.

Since I started cosplaying in 2008, I’ve traveled the country, hitting up as many cons as financially possible, all the while making incredible friends, unforgettable memories, and lugging hard-to-get-through-airport-security props along the way. (Have you ever tried to fly with a dress made out of plastic bubbles? Fun fact: you can’t. But you can ship it to your hotel!)

Here’s the second deal: I’m also black. Which is fine by most everyone…until I have the audacity to cosplay a character who isn’t.

After my pictures started making the rounds on deviantArt, Tumblr, and 4chan, it became pretty clear that my cosplay brings all the racists to the yard, and they’re, like, white cosplay is better than yours…

What kills me is that, in person, nobody has the balls to say a word about whether or not they think darker-skinned people should cosplay lighter skinned characters–but online is a completely different animal. Online, I was “Nigger Venus,” and “Sailor Venus Williams” because I am black.

My nose was too wide, lips were too big; I had a “face like a gorilla” and wasn’t suited for such a cute character….because I am black. My wig was too blonde, my wig wasn’t blonde enough, or, my wig was “ghetto” because I was making it “ghetto,” by being black and having it on my head.

And furthermore, if I was going to insist on “ruining characters,” I could have at least picked one with black hair so it looked more “natural.” I should have worn blue contacts–but if I had, it would have looked “ghetto.” Because I am black.

The depths that the insults sink to are enough to scare many interested cosplayers away from even trying. I had an Indian friend who refused to cosplay anything other than Indian characters after watching the way people tore into my costumes online…

Wow. But trust me as someone who goes to Comic Con, the big daddy of all cos-play events, every year with my kids, who participate in the role playing themselves, this stuff is a BIG deal. It is also when you most wish there were more comic book characters of other colors for kids of color to choose from. But even if there were, people should be allowed to play Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman or whomever, regardless of how much they look like the character.Kudos to the young woman in the article for being so strong.

Here is the full article. It is really worth the read.

 

Latino Gang Terrorizes Black Family In Compton

This is just so stupid on so many levels:

Two Latino gang members have been arrested on suspicion of hate crimes after allegedly waging a campaign to force a black family to move from Compton, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said.

The suspects allegedly beat a family member with metal pipes and gathered gang members in front of the family’s house to threaten them, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s detectives said the two also rode by the family’s house repeatedly yelling insults and threats and insisting that they move.

The confrontations allegedly began on Dec. 31, the day the family moved into a house on 153^rd Street in Compton. That day, one member of the family, walking on the street, was confronted by four Latino gang members who drove up in a black SUV, according to a sheriff’s report.

They told the man that they were gang members and that his family was not allowed to live in their area because they were black, the report said. They shouted racial insults and violent threats until the man ran for home, according to the report. He was chased by the gang members, who then climbed from the SUV and began beating him with metal pipes, according to the report.

Marquez allegedly pointed a gun at the man, while Aguilar allegedly beat the victim with a pipe, the sheriff’s report said.

The gang members drove off, but returned to the family’s home accompanied by 15 to 20 more gang members who swore at the family, used racial insults and told them that blacks were not allowed in the neighborhood, authorities said. One gang member allegedly threw a beer bottle through the family’s front living room window.

Idiots. Such ignorance of discrimination and history. Gangbanging is bad enough but this is just so beyond words. They shouldn’t have such an attitude towards any group, but for a group that is discriminated against to discriminate against another darker skinned group is just beyond making any sense. They just don’t get it.

Here is the Los Angeles Times article.

“What Would Django Do?”

Really?

Wow these pro-gun people will stop at nothing in their efforts to protect their beloved guns. On the heels of their just-completed “Gun Appreciation Day” last Saturday, in an effort to woo minorities they are planning a new campaign they intend to call “What Would Django Do?”

Seriously?!

Larry Ward, the man behind the organization who led “Gun Appreciation Day” and that will lead this new bright idea, said this:

“Django is perfect for what we’re trying to do, which is to promote gun rights to minorities. We’ll tackle the issue on the Democrats’ own turf.”

His effort is based on the idea of another fellow who wrote this in an article:

Martin Luther King Jr. applied for a gun permit, but pro-segregation authorities denied him, and he says influential black Americans like Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X argued in favor of the Second Amendment. Slavery in America wouldn’t have existed if blacks were armed, he argues, and in the article he notes that when a Negro Rifle Club was to be organized in Cleveland during the Civil Rights Movement, local racists rioted, even killing a man with a bulldozer.

What a crazy argument. As I said, these people will stop at nothing.

Mixed People Monday – Arian Foster

A student of Buddhism and Eastern philosophies.

The Houston Texans running back is half African-American and half Mexican-American.

Miss Navajo Nation Is A Symbol Of America

A colorful blending.

This is a wonderful interview with a Mixed Native American and African-American woman, who won the tile of “Miss Navajo Nation” recently. In it she talks about the shared history between the two cultures, which is surprising to many people.

Since the first arrival of enslaved Africans in North America, the relationships between African Americans and Native Americans have encompassed alliances and adversaries, as well as the indivisible blending of customs and culture.

“It’s not received a lot of attention because it’s not the dominant culture’s story, although it’s very important to the dominant culture’s bigger view of the past,” says James Nottage, curator of the exhibit, which includes narratives of enslaved blacks who traveled the Trail of Tears with their Native owners; slaves who intermarried into Native tribes as an escape from bondage; and the largely African-featured members of the Shinnecock tribe of New York, as well as shared traditions in food, dress and music.

Radmilla Cody, 35, a Native American Music Award-winning singer and anti-domestic violence activist, is also featured in the exhibit. The daughter of a Navajo mother and an African-American father, Cody was raised by her grandmother in the Arizona Navajo community, initially speaking only the Navajo language. In 1997 she was crowned Miss Navajo Nation, sparking controversy from some members who refused to accept her.

Good for her in that she fully embraces both her cultures. And good for all of us that her very public presence is educating many on a relationship that is not all that uncommon.

Here is the full article.