Stacey Dash Should Not Be Beaten Up For Choosing Mitt Romney

Free to choose.

Stupidity and intolerance from the Left is not more acceptable than that coming from the Right.

From a Yahoo article:

Actress Stacey Dash was attacked with negative tweets after voicing her support of Mitt Romney on Twitter over the weekend. Many comments were racially charged and others suggested the star of the 1990s hit ‘Clueless’ should just “kill herself.”

One man wrote, “This hurts, but you a Romney lover and you slutting yourself for the white man only proves why no black man would marry u.” Another Twitter user said: “She’s an indoor slave, you know that, sis.” Many tweetsexpressed disbelief that a woman of African American heritage would vote for anyone but Obama, and some suggested that her account must have been hacked.

The backlash began on Sunday, after Dash tweeted “Vote for Romney: The only choice for your future,” along with a provocative photo of herself wearing a red Baywatch-style tank suit standing in front of an American flag. “Kill yourself you old hag…” a Twitter users lashed out. “The only choice for your future.” Another wrote, “You’re an unemployed black woman endorsing @MittRomney. You’re voting against yourself thrice. You poor beautiful idiot.”

Come on people. True progress is when people of any ethnicity or color can voice their opinions and even choose to be totally different in a choice than most people expect them to be. Whether one agrees with Dash, who by the way is of mixed African-American and Mexican roots, she should be free to pick her own sides, regardless of her her background or gender.

Here is the full article.

Trayvon Martin Didn’t Have To Die

Unarmed and no threat except for what someone perceived.

I don’t know if you have been following this very controversial and very sad story out of Florida, about the unarmed young Black kid  shot by the neighborhood watch captain. But it is one of the most troubling and saddest stories in a long time. And maybe that is more so for me as a father with a half-Black son. It is our worst nightmare.

This article from The New York Times sums up the story well. And if you can stand it, listen to the recently released 911 tapes here. But do Google Trayvon Martin and read more about what happened. A true tragedy.

Mixed People Monday – Amandla Stenberg

Her biggest role yet will be playing "Rue" in "The Hunger Games."

The rising young actress, set to co-star in the upcoming Hunger Games movie is part Danish and part African-American.

Children Do Say The Darndest Things (About Skin Color)

Out of the mouths of babes...

I came across this interesting article from The Root about the presumed innocence of kids when it comes to seeing skin color and ethnic differences. It shows how complicated and uncomplicated the issue can be all at the same time.

Here is an excerpt:

The other day, when I was bringing my son to preschool, a classmate greeted him at the door by shouting, “You’re African! You’re from Africa!” My son and I were knocked back for a moment, but he quickly recovered (as only a 5-year-old could), once his teacher motioned for him to help with an art project. I, on the other hand, bumbled my way through a retort to the effect of “We’re not from Africa; we’re from America,” and briefly considered whether to mention our 200 years of family history in Haiti and Greece.

For the record, my son was born in Boston and raised across the river in Cambridge, Mass., where he lives with my husband and me. He has never been to Africa, though he can identify the continent on a map. He does, however, have brown skin, as do I. It is also relevant to the story that the classmate who greeted him has a history of taunting her peers, including my son, for just about anything. Apparently, my son’s brown skin was yet another opportunity for teasing.

To read the entire article click here. It is worth the read.

A Unique and Almost Unnoticed Box Office Moment

Zoe Saldana kicked some butt.

Very often there is talk about how Hollywood does not very often give Blacks and other minorities a chance to shine in leading roles. And likewise  how mainstream America doesn’t accept Blacks and others minorities in leading roles in the movies they prefer.

But when the contrary is true we need to acknowledge it and applaud it.

This past weekend at the Box Office, the #1 and #2 films were both films starring Black women. Despite any criticisms that may be pointed at either film, what an interesting occurrence and one that many did not take note of. The hit film, “The Help,” continued to lead the box office and stars several African-American actresses in leading roles. And the film “Columbiana” opened up strongly at the number two spot, with Black Hispanic actress Zoe Saldana playing the hero and lead role.

So yes there is still progress to be made. But let’s also note what a unique weekend it was, and that maybe that is a sign of a change happening, even if ever so slowly. Black women leading the Box Office in two different films and in very different types of roles, one as servants/maids, the other as an action hero. And both were well received. Hooray.

From The Mouths Of Children

Celebrating cultural differences and beauty.

My wife and I had a wonderful and inspiring dinner conversation the other night with our two teenage kids. Their middle school was celebrating their annual “Around The World” cultural day at school where the kids are encouraged to come to school dressed in something that celebrates their culture. It is a cool concept and one that is obviously intended to promote acceptance and understanding between cultures. And mind you, their school has over 100 cultures and many languages spoken by the families of the kids, so it is very interesting day.

My daughter loves to dress up for the event and one of the things she finds so fun about it and the fact that she is two cultures, or several actually, is that she doesn’t have to be one thing each year. She can pick and be different each time. Last year she went representing the Mexican and Mexican-American culture of her mother. This year she was excited to represent her African-American side.

But over dinner the other night I decided to put her and her brother on the spot by asking them to name what they were proud of about about both of their main two cultures. They both had no problems coming up with answers and indeed could not limit it to just one thing per culture. It was great to see that they were both strong in their sense of pride and that they felt equally proud to be both of their ethnicities.

So I decided to take it one step further and ask were they happy to be Mixed or bi-cultural and if so what about being Mixed did they like.

Again, no hesitation, almost in unison, they both said they really liked being more than one thing. Their reasons largely were that it gave depth and richness to who they were and it gave them two distinct cultures to celebrate, get to know, and enjoy. To them, being one thing seemed rather boring.

It was so good to see that our kids were quite happy being who they were. I wish the people out there who prefer to think that Mixed kids are confused or have no place since they are “caught” between worlds, could talk to these two. If they did they would see that rather than being a negative, being Mixed can be very liberating when a child can take that cultural openness and use it to see that contrary to being limited, being Mixed opens them to far more than they might otherwise get to see or experience if they were not.

Those are some sharp kids we have there if I do say so myself.

Twins, One Black, One White

This is a very interesting story worth reading, and further proof that our outward complexion should not be what defines or separates us:

Akron, OHIO — When Khristi and Charles Cunningham take their twins, Triniti and Ghabriael (Gabe), anywhere in their Ohio town, they know to allow plenty of extra time. “They get a crowd when people learn they’re twins,” Khristi says, “not only because of their different complexions, but because Gabe is so much bigger. People ask ‘Are you sure they’re twins?’”

Khristi and Charles are sure. Born September 25, 2009 and now 17 months old, Triniti and Gabe do look very different from each other: Triniti has brown skin and hair and eyes while Gabe has fair skin and hair and blue eyes. According to their mom, they got a lot of attention in the intensive care unit where they stayed after they arrived 11 weeks early weighing only about three pounds each.

To read the full story click here.

 

Funny, You Don’t Look Italian?

I always find it interesting when people mistake country for “race.” It is just another sign of how mixed up our labels are.

 I was watching something the other day and noticed how surprised some people on TV were when a Black Italian person was the focus of an interview.

What? Black and Italian?

Uh yeah. Italy does have Black people folks.

It is so funny how it is assumed that Blacks are only in America and Africa. But here’s the thing, we are all over the globe. There are more Blacks in South America, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, etc., than there are in the US. By far. And yes, Black folks in England speak with a British accent too.

Confusing “race” with nationality is far too common. And it is just another indicator of how silly these racial notions are. I saw someone on Tyra Bank’s show described once as Black and Puerto Rican.

Ugh!

Puerto Rico is a country. Black is a color. It was as if Black was a country or something.

May 2011 be a year that gets us even a little closer to ridding ourselves of these stupid labels and notions.

Tyra Banks Show Exposes The Idiocy of Race

A step forward and backward at the same time.

When I happened to see a commercial for yesterday’s “Tyra Banks Show” I just couldn’t resist watching it. The show was billed as being about “interracial girls” who hate one half of who they are. I shuddered at the thought of what a show like Tyra’s would do with such a subject. Would they make it look like Mixed people were impossibly screwed up? Or would they find a way to make a broader message of some sort?

The show opened with a mixed Black and White teen girl (she looked Black in appearance) who hated Black people.

Oh boy.

This didn’t look so good in terms of being a show that would showcase the positives of being Mixed.

This girl even drove around with and displayed on her bedroom wall a confederate flag.

Uh, yeah.

The next girl appeared to be Hispanic and indeed she was partially. She was half Mexican and half White. Turns out she hated White people.

Oh boy.

On and on it went, with girls of varying mixtures, Black and Hispanic, Asian and White, etc. The show’s producers sure went out of their way to find the most extreme cases no doubt.

But in a strange way, Tyra was able to get the point across that these girls had personal issues beyond being Mixed. And in another segment she focused on how impossible it is to ascertain sometimes people’s ethnicity  based on their skin color, or hair texture, or other obvious external features. For example she had some Black girls on who were 100% Black (so they said) and who no one could guess were Black because of they looked White or Hispanic or Mixed in every way. So in this case, Tyra made a broader statement about the silliness of “racial” definitions. Thank God.

All in all, despite my initial fear that this subject would be mishandled on that kind of sensationalist show, I think in the end, Tyra was able to make it more about not focusing on stereotypes of what different groups look like and also bring home the point that “racial” hatred can sometimes take us to some truly insane places.

So, way to go Tyra. One thing though, I it’ll be nice when Trya takes it one step further and stops perpetuating the notion of “race” at all. She would consistently ask, “What race are you, or what race do you think she is?” She even said one girl’s “racial make-up was part Black and part Puerto Rican.

Ugh.

Tyra, Puerto Rico is a place, not a race. And there are White, Brown and Black Puerto Ricans. I can’t imagine she would say America is a race. Though she did, on the show, reference Mexican as a race.

Ugh.

Oh boy, will this ever end?

Here is the most insane person on the show:

Whites As Damaged By Racism As Anybody Else

My wife and I had a great talk the other day about the impact of racism on our children, on us, indeed on all minorities for that matter. The issue was how it impacts our sense of self and our self-esteem, even when we try to be vigilant to keep it from impacting us.

One of the most interesting aspects of our conversation was the point we made that the damage that racism does to us does not just hurt those bearing the brunt of it, but it also damages those who are on the other side, in this case, the majority of Americans, who are White.

We are all damaged by the ridiculous stain of “racial” judgments and classifications, no one is unharmed. We tend to think of the damage to the victims of racism, those on the receiving end. But I don’t think Whites are unharmed. And I am not referring to anti-White racism, which of course does exist.

I mean, even Whites are harmed by the classic superiority mindset that is at the root of the anti-Black or anti-minority racist idea. The mindset, which not all Whites carry, not by a long shot, has however been so out there, for so long, that it has been able to seep into the collective consciousness of all of us, even if we are not racist ourselves. Thus it has created unnecessary suspicion of others who don’t look like us, created a sense that we should be around and date “our own kind,” caused us to sometimes buy into stereotypes, caused us to define ourselves by skin tone, and mainly kept open the notion that we are that different even when we are not. And that is what prevents all of us from being fully who we are.

In those ways, who is undamaged? Whether majority or minority?

Does that mean the damage is undoable, cannot be fixed?

I do believe we can overcome it. But we are fooling ourselves if we don’t realize how deep the stain is and that to cleanse it requires constant vigilance. I am not talking about looking for racism everywhere. I am talking about the internal work that has to be done to be aware of its often subtle impact on only one person, ourselves.

As a minority, that means paying attention to the ways my/our damaged mind can indeed see racism when there is none, due to conditioning. But it also means noticing when I/we hold ourselves back or do not live fully because we have allowed ourselves to feel less than we are.

If one is a member of the majority ethnic group, it may mean noticing if, when and how a sense of entitlement or even subtle superiority can creep up when dealing with someone of a darker skin tone.

I do believe our society has advanced by leaps and bounds in the matter of “race.” And there is so much to celebrate as we see the changes now versus where things were even ten years ago. But I think the biggest advancement will come not because we point out other’s issues in this matter, but rather because we each look at and work on whatever impact the deep stain of racism plays in our own sense of self and the choices we still make.

But be not mistaken there is work to be done on all sides.