Here's my blog. It is a series of questions that I had after listening to Republicans talk about big government and getting tired of listening to Rush Limbaugh all weekend long. I think, if Republicans want to start over, they should be answering these questions instead of listening and apologizing to a psychopath.
1. What is government for? Is it to be a chaperone for big businesses, issuing forth golden parachutes, and allowing them to take jobs overseas with the tax cuts given them by the federal government? Is government strictly an imperialistic millitary machine that imposes the culture of America on Third World countries whenever we need raw materials and cheap labor to fund our capitalistic ventures? What is government for?
2. What is socialism? Is it socialism or welfare when power is placed back in the hand of the laborer? What is it called when corporations and the ushers of capitalism strip power away from the hands of workers/consumers that must make and consume their products? Why isn't it socialism or welfare when the government gives individuals (corporations are often taxed as "individuals") taxpayer dollars to go out and buy themselves luxury planes and trips to expensive spas? Why aren't these people labeled "welfare queens and kings?" Aren't they, too, living irresponsibly, jeapordizing the jobs and futures of others, and then asking for a handout from the government? I ask again, what is government for?
3. Does government exist solely to help friends of the government become very wealthy from the deaths of our soldiers by passing out no-bid contracts to inept millitary contractors? Is it there to place the lives of our precious soldiers at stake to enrich people whose children will probably never see the battle field? What is government for?
Somebody, answer this for me. Rush Limbaugh and his party has not answered it, even though they are quite deft at telling a starving population what government is not for.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Once Again, Corporate (Oil) Greed Escapes Scrutiny
As an undergraduate, I was introduced to a phrase that I've since grown to loath and despise: "liberal news media." I've often wondered what my fellow college students meant by it. I've always wondered what "power" lay in the hands of those "liberal news media" giants. I've always wondered why this "conspiracy" seems to be so easily used and believed by the Right after they face a defeat. I've always wondered why this phrase is so effective, seeing as how some of the most popular programs on television and radio are hosted by very, very conservative voices like Rush and Bill'O.
I've despised this phrase because news is news. From the BBC to CNN to Fox to MSNBC...news is news. As a matter of fact, Fox tells more world news than CNN or MSNBC. So could my classmates be talking about the spin shows, of which there are an equal number of conservative and liberal-leaning ones on the air?
I've despised this phrase because most of these shows, whether liberal or conservative-leaning, fail to criticize factors that are of the utmost importance. I'll give you a prime example. We are in an economic crisis. Over 600,000 people lost jobs in January alone. Political pundits, both liberal and conservative, have credited several factions for the cause of this economic downfall. Most have boiled it down to greedy corporate CEO's, banks doling out subprime loans to new homeowners who could have qualified for fixed-rate loans, a bloated and swollen housing market, and the disappearance of the smokestack economy.
Politicians in D.C. battle over how to get us out of this mess, while the pundits are allowed to spin it whichever way they please.
However, there is this one factor...one big, huge, gigantic factor that the "liberal news media" and "conservative crusaders" have thus far refuse to talk about...the role of big oil in this economic collaspe. If the saying is, "So goes GM, so goes America," a better alternative to that would be," So goes Exxon, so goes GM, so goes America." Oil prices, for the past six years, have been astronomical. We have been getting raped at the pump, and seem powerless to do anything about it. Nobody is saying anything about it. Period. In the midst of this crisis of unemployment and defaulted credit card/home loan payments, we know of at least one company who is posting record profits: Exxon.
It is my understanding, from a GM insider, that cars that use alternative sources of energy have been available since the mid-1980s. Remember that hideous electric car GM introduced in the 1980s? Whatever happened to it? Pressure from powerful oil lobbyists and the fact that we've had an oil barron in power for almost a decade have kept us helplessly dependent upon crude oil. It has been a battle of infrastructure. GM, Ford, Dodge, and Chrysler could produce these cars on a mass scale for years and years. And we, as smart consumers, could buy them. What the lobbyist have been successful in doing is blocking the infrastructure changes needed to support these manufacturers. If consumers buy these cars without proper infrastructure support, it would be like buying a gas-burning car, and not having any gas stations to refuel them. What sense would that make?
Conservative senators have been very successful in painting infrastructure updates and improvements as wasteful, porkbarrel, earmark spending. Conservative senators have been very successful in painting American car companies as behind our foreign counterparts when it comes to building cheap, efficient cars. In short, they are blaming GM and being silent about Exxon and their own complicity in this crisis. Now, we are suffering. As the pink slips become more and more numerous, has anyone noticed that the price of gas is creeping up again? Just as spring and summer are right around the corner and people are having to drive further for jobs that pay less. Once again, gas will consume a big chunk of the family budget.
Has anyone noticed how expensive diesel is? Diesel is slow-burning, and I guess the oil companies calculated the difference in and pushed up the price. If we don't drive diesel cars, how does this effect us, you ask? I'm glad you did. Truckers use diesel. Truckers deliver our goods. The price of delivering these goods is calculated in with the price of these goods once they reach us in the grocery store. So, if diesel rises, so does the price of milk, eggs, cheese, and everything else you can name.
I'm going to stop here, and wait for at least one person to bring up the oil culprits. I'm stopping here because I'm often astounding by the myopic vision of American business men. They are like race horses. The green blinders are on and they can see only one path. A really smart business man or woman would be leading the world in finding alternative fuel sources and infrastructure building. A smart business woman or man would have these markets already cornered.
I'm stopping because I'm angry. We get raped at the pump, and are supposed to be silent about it. Meanwhile, right-leaning people continue to blame the "liberal news media" who are also complicit in this crisis in their silences. Once again, politicians have put the greed of big oil ahead of the dire needs of their constituents. The fact that everyone, including the "liberal news media" personalities can remain silent about this outrageous display of greed and control over American consumer power, shows a blatant disregard for the needs and welfare of the entire American proletariat, be we conservative or liberal. The boys at the top apparently don't give a damn about us.
I've despised this phrase because news is news. From the BBC to CNN to Fox to MSNBC...news is news. As a matter of fact, Fox tells more world news than CNN or MSNBC. So could my classmates be talking about the spin shows, of which there are an equal number of conservative and liberal-leaning ones on the air?
I've despised this phrase because most of these shows, whether liberal or conservative-leaning, fail to criticize factors that are of the utmost importance. I'll give you a prime example. We are in an economic crisis. Over 600,000 people lost jobs in January alone. Political pundits, both liberal and conservative, have credited several factions for the cause of this economic downfall. Most have boiled it down to greedy corporate CEO's, banks doling out subprime loans to new homeowners who could have qualified for fixed-rate loans, a bloated and swollen housing market, and the disappearance of the smokestack economy.
Politicians in D.C. battle over how to get us out of this mess, while the pundits are allowed to spin it whichever way they please.
However, there is this one factor...one big, huge, gigantic factor that the "liberal news media" and "conservative crusaders" have thus far refuse to talk about...the role of big oil in this economic collaspe. If the saying is, "So goes GM, so goes America," a better alternative to that would be," So goes Exxon, so goes GM, so goes America." Oil prices, for the past six years, have been astronomical. We have been getting raped at the pump, and seem powerless to do anything about it. Nobody is saying anything about it. Period. In the midst of this crisis of unemployment and defaulted credit card/home loan payments, we know of at least one company who is posting record profits: Exxon.
It is my understanding, from a GM insider, that cars that use alternative sources of energy have been available since the mid-1980s. Remember that hideous electric car GM introduced in the 1980s? Whatever happened to it? Pressure from powerful oil lobbyists and the fact that we've had an oil barron in power for almost a decade have kept us helplessly dependent upon crude oil. It has been a battle of infrastructure. GM, Ford, Dodge, and Chrysler could produce these cars on a mass scale for years and years. And we, as smart consumers, could buy them. What the lobbyist have been successful in doing is blocking the infrastructure changes needed to support these manufacturers. If consumers buy these cars without proper infrastructure support, it would be like buying a gas-burning car, and not having any gas stations to refuel them. What sense would that make?
Conservative senators have been very successful in painting infrastructure updates and improvements as wasteful, porkbarrel, earmark spending. Conservative senators have been very successful in painting American car companies as behind our foreign counterparts when it comes to building cheap, efficient cars. In short, they are blaming GM and being silent about Exxon and their own complicity in this crisis. Now, we are suffering. As the pink slips become more and more numerous, has anyone noticed that the price of gas is creeping up again? Just as spring and summer are right around the corner and people are having to drive further for jobs that pay less. Once again, gas will consume a big chunk of the family budget.
Has anyone noticed how expensive diesel is? Diesel is slow-burning, and I guess the oil companies calculated the difference in and pushed up the price. If we don't drive diesel cars, how does this effect us, you ask? I'm glad you did. Truckers use diesel. Truckers deliver our goods. The price of delivering these goods is calculated in with the price of these goods once they reach us in the grocery store. So, if diesel rises, so does the price of milk, eggs, cheese, and everything else you can name.
I'm going to stop here, and wait for at least one person to bring up the oil culprits. I'm stopping here because I'm often astounding by the myopic vision of American business men. They are like race horses. The green blinders are on and they can see only one path. A really smart business man or woman would be leading the world in finding alternative fuel sources and infrastructure building. A smart business woman or man would have these markets already cornered.
I'm stopping because I'm angry. We get raped at the pump, and are supposed to be silent about it. Meanwhile, right-leaning people continue to blame the "liberal news media" who are also complicit in this crisis in their silences. Once again, politicians have put the greed of big oil ahead of the dire needs of their constituents. The fact that everyone, including the "liberal news media" personalities can remain silent about this outrageous display of greed and control over American consumer power, shows a blatant disregard for the needs and welfare of the entire American proletariat, be we conservative or liberal. The boys at the top apparently don't give a damn about us.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Reasons Why I Can't Leave the South, a Reminder
Given all of the craziness that happens in politics nationally, I felt I had to remind myself. I know that some of you have read this once before. But for others, this is new. Yes, I'm suffering through Haley Barbour's idiotic budget plan right now, and sometimes, I just don't know. Perhaps this can help me and you weather the Republican storm.
I have decided to stay in the South to help bring about change here. I know the South is often pigeon-holed as America's "third world" section of the country. Being from Mississippi, no one feels and lives this myopic perception more than us. However, there are some good reasons for staying in the South. I'm not saying that these reasons apply to everyone. This is my South as I see and live it.
1. $250,000 will get you a nice home (a home, home. Not a condo), some land, and a house full of furniture in a nice neighborhood in the South.
2. $100,000/year is still a better-than-average salary in the South. Getting a college education is definitely worth the sacrifice here.
3. Gaining 5 to 10 extra pounds will not ruin your social life in the South. Unlike our Northern counterparts, Southern brothers are still into thick chicks (I said thick not flabby).
4. Food is plentiful. Most of my cousins from the North think it is horrible the way we just go into each other's refrigerators to help ourselves. Why not let one person fix the food so that everybody gets something to eat? Well, everybody always has something to eat. Food is plentiful here. I know many, many Southerners that will let a credit card bill slide to put some extra food on the table. Do you remember coming home to grandma's. Did she ever limit your food? No. Even though she lived on a fixed income, there was always plenty of food on the table.
5. The rat race is slower here. Work is important, but a worker can be replaced. A mother or a father cannot. Southerners work hard and play hard. Life and family are to be enjoyed -which explains the scarce amount of boarding schools in the South. There's always time for family.
6. Children are not inconveniences. Yes, they get on our nerves. They make us mad when they are being hardheaded. But in the South, you still see Mommas walking into churches with switches. You see Momma's taking their children to the dressing rooms with belts. And it's okay. Everybody knows what that Momma is trying to do. She's trying to raise her children to be productive citizens. And sometimes, they just need a little heat put to their bottoms. As we say in the South 'Sip, "a little heat to the bottom will make the top percolate!"
7. In the South, it's just easy to chill and let it all hang out. I love throwing on last year's fashion with some flip flops and going to the store with no makeup. It's too hot for all that!
8. In the South, you know where you stand. Racism tends to be covert in the North. I love knowing where I stand down here so I don't have to wonder and blame myself for another man's prejudices.
9. The beaches of Texas,Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, New Orleans, Atlanta, Hot Springs, Arkansas, can be reached in a day's drive...sometimes in as little as three hours, depending on your location.
10. In most places, the Spirit is still alive here. Whatever that Spirit is for you, you can always drive to the country and feel it. We still chill real hard in the South. Want an instant party? Put the radio outside, get the coals smoking, and before you know it, somebody shows up with some beer, sodas, dominoes, spades, cigars, and jokes! There's a spirit of unity there...even if a bunch of old women just get together and shell peas on the porch together.
The South is no Utopia. The cities here have many of the same problems and issues of our major Northern Counterparts. But I love this South. I was born in this South. My folks made this South. It's my South, and I can't leave her. I'm staying!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Could Black Be the New Face of Red
Now that most of the ballots have been counted and recounted, Republicans are finding themselves out of power. For more than eight years, Republicans have been a driving force in Washington, and in 2000, they had the White House, House of Representatives, and the Senate. One can argue that they even had the Supreme Court.
Under Republican guidance, we are finding ourselves in two wars that seem to make no sense, in the midst of the worst financial crisis since 1929, and at a loss in world confidence.
Party leaders and political pundits are asking themselves, and the nation, what happened? Where does the party stand? Political pundits have already put several faces upon the screen as potential leaders of the party. These people include governors Sarah Palin (Alaska) and Bobby Jindal (Louisiana) as potential leaders. There were also several senators included.
What struck me the most about these shows and the potential Republican leaders, was the absence of color. Yes, Virginia, there are some Black Republicans.
For the most part, the Republican Party and the nation have taken these people for granted, often leaving them out of key decisions and debates. In one of the first presidential debates, Allan Keyes angrily pointed out to the moderator that she never allowed him any time to answer questions. African Americans have traditionally labeled these people as Uncle Toms, and threatened to kick their asses (Remember all of the death threats that Black guy got for telling John McCain to go after Obama?).
But wait one hot minute. I think that African Americans and Americans need to give these Republicans of color a deeper look. One of the main reasons that the Republican Party has fallen so low is their pandering to Evangelical and Fundamental Christians. These people, in the guise of Christ, have proved to be the most divisive and exclusivist sects of the American population. They have often embroilled and entangled politicians in pointless social debates, and have used the power of rhetoric to scare people into thinking that their "values" and "morals" were constantly under threats of obliteration. In addition, many Evangelical pastors banked on the fact that most Evangical Christians are both Biblically illiterate, and prone to voting on the heart instead of the purse.
Meanwhile, it was the African American and Latino Republicans who separated themselves from these social arguments and debates. Though I did not agree with their views, I have heard people like Shelby Steele, Bob Parks, Jennifer Carroll, Ward Connerly, Deborah Honeycutt, and others offer real Republican Conservative solutions to things that matter like: health care, equal opportunity schooling and employment, crime prevention and control, and welfare reform. Often, these people were ignored by their own national party, and demonized by the African American communities that they would like to serve.
We should stop demonizing our African American Republican brothers and sisters. They have a right to their own opinions, and thoughts. Anyway, African Americans are traditional social conservatives. We tend to vote Democratically because we often carry our empty purses with us to the voting booth. While we treasure family values as much as the next evangelical Christian, we also know that we need a strong economy with good jobs and opportunities to provide for our families.
African Americans and other minorities also need people with power on both sides of the aisle to agitate for what we want.
The national party should pay attention to these politicians. These politicians offer plausible solutions to very realy problems without becoming entangled in Evangelical Christian rhetoric. Why aren't they held up to be the Republican Standard Bearers? The fact that they are not, is one of the many reasons that African Americans have not voted Republican, and why the party has lost its way. It used to be a party of inclusion. Dr. Martin Luther King was a Republican, and so was Fredrick Douglass. Now it is the party of religious fear, ignorance, and intolerance.
Under Republican guidance, we are finding ourselves in two wars that seem to make no sense, in the midst of the worst financial crisis since 1929, and at a loss in world confidence.
Party leaders and political pundits are asking themselves, and the nation, what happened? Where does the party stand? Political pundits have already put several faces upon the screen as potential leaders of the party. These people include governors Sarah Palin (Alaska) and Bobby Jindal (Louisiana) as potential leaders. There were also several senators included.
What struck me the most about these shows and the potential Republican leaders, was the absence of color. Yes, Virginia, there are some Black Republicans.
For the most part, the Republican Party and the nation have taken these people for granted, often leaving them out of key decisions and debates. In one of the first presidential debates, Allan Keyes angrily pointed out to the moderator that she never allowed him any time to answer questions. African Americans have traditionally labeled these people as Uncle Toms, and threatened to kick their asses (Remember all of the death threats that Black guy got for telling John McCain to go after Obama?).
But wait one hot minute. I think that African Americans and Americans need to give these Republicans of color a deeper look. One of the main reasons that the Republican Party has fallen so low is their pandering to Evangelical and Fundamental Christians. These people, in the guise of Christ, have proved to be the most divisive and exclusivist sects of the American population. They have often embroilled and entangled politicians in pointless social debates, and have used the power of rhetoric to scare people into thinking that their "values" and "morals" were constantly under threats of obliteration. In addition, many Evangelical pastors banked on the fact that most Evangical Christians are both Biblically illiterate, and prone to voting on the heart instead of the purse.
Meanwhile, it was the African American and Latino Republicans who separated themselves from these social arguments and debates. Though I did not agree with their views, I have heard people like Shelby Steele, Bob Parks, Jennifer Carroll, Ward Connerly, Deborah Honeycutt, and others offer real Republican Conservative solutions to things that matter like: health care, equal opportunity schooling and employment, crime prevention and control, and welfare reform. Often, these people were ignored by their own national party, and demonized by the African American communities that they would like to serve.
We should stop demonizing our African American Republican brothers and sisters. They have a right to their own opinions, and thoughts. Anyway, African Americans are traditional social conservatives. We tend to vote Democratically because we often carry our empty purses with us to the voting booth. While we treasure family values as much as the next evangelical Christian, we also know that we need a strong economy with good jobs and opportunities to provide for our families.
African Americans and other minorities also need people with power on both sides of the aisle to agitate for what we want.
The national party should pay attention to these politicians. These politicians offer plausible solutions to very realy problems without becoming entangled in Evangelical Christian rhetoric. Why aren't they held up to be the Republican Standard Bearers? The fact that they are not, is one of the many reasons that African Americans have not voted Republican, and why the party has lost its way. It used to be a party of inclusion. Dr. Martin Luther King was a Republican, and so was Fredrick Douglass. Now it is the party of religious fear, ignorance, and intolerance.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
From the Plantation to the White House
Last night, something historic happened. America elected its first black president, Barack Obama. I tried to be jubilant, but the benydryl won out, and I dropped into sleep right after his speech. My husband and brother celebrated for me by illegally shooting fireworks in front of our home!
I awoke this morning, however, joyous but not surprised. I knew it was going to happen. And how did I know? A surprising source: football. National Football League, and the way it deals with African American coaches should teach us a thing a two about why we can't let our guards down. We might have shouted last night, but today we must be sober. We stil have work to do, and here's how football teaches us this...
1. It took a long time for Black coaches to be considered as candidates for coaching jobs in the NFL. When they are picked, they are usually given the sorriest teams imaginable. They are put under more pressure to produce results, and given less time than their white counterparts. Remember how Tampa Bay did Tony Dungy?
Think of what it took for a Black candidate to be taken as a serious competitor for the office of president. We are fighting a senseless war of aggression in one country, and half-ass fighting where we are needed most. We have lost our sense of moral and intellectual integrity and our perception as a beacon of hope. Because of greed and racism, the housing market has gone down, and caused a global financial crises. The stock market has crashed and crashed again. WE are experiencing our own depression. Education is in a standstill. America lags behind even some third-world countries in educational funding. Crime is sky-rocketing. In short, this country is a mess. This country had to be tore up from the ground up for a Black man to be considered for presidency. At this point, I think people would have accepted a dog over another Republican, if that dog were white. Even with all of this going on, Obama had a tough fight because of his skin color. Which brings me to my next point...
2. America's team, the Dallas Cowboys, has never had a Black coach, and Jerry Jones won't even think of interviewing one for the job. He wants that winning team, and doesn't think it's a shame that his stubborness is costing him good will in the eyes of his fans and colleagues. Think of the Dallas Cowboys as the South. Do you all realize that the South is one of the poorest regions in the nation, and always votes Republican? With the exception of Virginia and Florida, Obama did not carry any Southern states. So, we can't sit back and relax. Normally, everybody gets to dump on Mississippi, however, this election has proved that the whole South is content to remain at the back of the bus. The South has taken her stand yet again, and like Jerry Jones, is content to accept losing and/or dying over positive change with an African American leader.
3. And then there are teams that have liberal and empathetic coaches, and players shoot themselves in the foot. These teams, like the Bears, and the Bengals, are unruly and undisciplined. They stay in trouble both on the field, and off the field. It is as if their money and superstar status have given them a license to act a damn fool, and piss away a magnificent opportunity to just play football, rather than hit the grind like the rest of us. These men, drunk on the wine of the world, screw up their marriages, their jobs, and their families because they are not mature enough or disciplined enough to handle the enormous responsibilities that come with success. Don't laugh at Michael Vick, one only needs to pay attention to the behavior of some urban African American populations to understand his behaviour. Instead of taking advantage of the tremendouse educational opportunities given us by our ancestors who died in the Civil Rights Movement, and before then, we became satisfied raising our families on trinkets, baptizing them in materialism, and teaching them to accept mediocrity. After the Civil Rights Movement, many Baby Boomer African Americans dropped the ball and fumbled it. They decided that being able to buy more material goods was more important than teaching our current generation our history. Now, it is coming to fruition. We have more Black men in jail than college. We have Black women having a bunch of children by different men so that they can receive more food stamps and other benefits. We have a generation whose only knowledge of Black history consists of a preacher from Georgia and woman whose feet were tired....Period. We are lost...almost.
But Obama gives us hope. And this time, we cannot afford to fumble the ball to the likes of BET and other psychologically damaging images of ourselves. We must look to ourselves and take responsibility for ourselves.
1. Let us reembrace Jessie Jackson. People make mistakes. WE need to stop putting our leaders upon a pedestal, thereby alleviating ourselves of any responsibilities for our own personal actions. Jessie did wrong, but he is our brother, and our father. We need to show him love. We do wrong, too. It's just that his wrongs are public and ours are private. We need to stop putting everything on the preachers' shoulders, and read and study for ourselves.
2. Let us always lift up President Obama with our prayers. Yes, he will be tested. But don't give in to typical Negro apathy, "I told ya'll he wasn't gone do nothing."
3. Let us be parents again, and not friends. Let us teach our children our history. Let us stop putting in ourselves into a system of volunteer slavery that tells you that a maxed out credit card at an interest rate of 29.9% is worth a new outfit for church, and passing on the curse of financial irresponsibility to our children. We don't have to be dressed to be blessed.
4. Let us look past the surface of things. Let us start to address some things that have been quiet as kept for far too long. Let us stop pretending that the young folk are to blame for so much silliness. We learned it from somewhere.
While we lift up Barack in our prayers, let us pull ourselves up by the emotional bootstraps. Mr. Obama once said that his favorite writer is Toni Morrison. I can see that. I can see that because in her books, she lets you feel the power of the white supremacy, but does not concern herself with it. Instead, she holds the Black community responsible for what happens to its weakest individuals. When we don't guide our children, love our neighbors, address our painful pasts, or pray for one another, disaster usually happens to somebody who felt like their own people did not love or support them. By the time the community realizes what is has done or failed to do, it is often much, much too late. And in her narratives, we have nobody to blame but ourselves.
I awoke this morning, however, joyous but not surprised. I knew it was going to happen. And how did I know? A surprising source: football. National Football League, and the way it deals with African American coaches should teach us a thing a two about why we can't let our guards down. We might have shouted last night, but today we must be sober. We stil have work to do, and here's how football teaches us this...
1. It took a long time for Black coaches to be considered as candidates for coaching jobs in the NFL. When they are picked, they are usually given the sorriest teams imaginable. They are put under more pressure to produce results, and given less time than their white counterparts. Remember how Tampa Bay did Tony Dungy?
Think of what it took for a Black candidate to be taken as a serious competitor for the office of president. We are fighting a senseless war of aggression in one country, and half-ass fighting where we are needed most. We have lost our sense of moral and intellectual integrity and our perception as a beacon of hope. Because of greed and racism, the housing market has gone down, and caused a global financial crises. The stock market has crashed and crashed again. WE are experiencing our own depression. Education is in a standstill. America lags behind even some third-world countries in educational funding. Crime is sky-rocketing. In short, this country is a mess. This country had to be tore up from the ground up for a Black man to be considered for presidency. At this point, I think people would have accepted a dog over another Republican, if that dog were white. Even with all of this going on, Obama had a tough fight because of his skin color. Which brings me to my next point...
2. America's team, the Dallas Cowboys, has never had a Black coach, and Jerry Jones won't even think of interviewing one for the job. He wants that winning team, and doesn't think it's a shame that his stubborness is costing him good will in the eyes of his fans and colleagues. Think of the Dallas Cowboys as the South. Do you all realize that the South is one of the poorest regions in the nation, and always votes Republican? With the exception of Virginia and Florida, Obama did not carry any Southern states. So, we can't sit back and relax. Normally, everybody gets to dump on Mississippi, however, this election has proved that the whole South is content to remain at the back of the bus. The South has taken her stand yet again, and like Jerry Jones, is content to accept losing and/or dying over positive change with an African American leader.
3. And then there are teams that have liberal and empathetic coaches, and players shoot themselves in the foot. These teams, like the Bears, and the Bengals, are unruly and undisciplined. They stay in trouble both on the field, and off the field. It is as if their money and superstar status have given them a license to act a damn fool, and piss away a magnificent opportunity to just play football, rather than hit the grind like the rest of us. These men, drunk on the wine of the world, screw up their marriages, their jobs, and their families because they are not mature enough or disciplined enough to handle the enormous responsibilities that come with success. Don't laugh at Michael Vick, one only needs to pay attention to the behavior of some urban African American populations to understand his behaviour. Instead of taking advantage of the tremendouse educational opportunities given us by our ancestors who died in the Civil Rights Movement, and before then, we became satisfied raising our families on trinkets, baptizing them in materialism, and teaching them to accept mediocrity. After the Civil Rights Movement, many Baby Boomer African Americans dropped the ball and fumbled it. They decided that being able to buy more material goods was more important than teaching our current generation our history. Now, it is coming to fruition. We have more Black men in jail than college. We have Black women having a bunch of children by different men so that they can receive more food stamps and other benefits. We have a generation whose only knowledge of Black history consists of a preacher from Georgia and woman whose feet were tired....Period. We are lost...almost.
But Obama gives us hope. And this time, we cannot afford to fumble the ball to the likes of BET and other psychologically damaging images of ourselves. We must look to ourselves and take responsibility for ourselves.
1. Let us reembrace Jessie Jackson. People make mistakes. WE need to stop putting our leaders upon a pedestal, thereby alleviating ourselves of any responsibilities for our own personal actions. Jessie did wrong, but he is our brother, and our father. We need to show him love. We do wrong, too. It's just that his wrongs are public and ours are private. We need to stop putting everything on the preachers' shoulders, and read and study for ourselves.
2. Let us always lift up President Obama with our prayers. Yes, he will be tested. But don't give in to typical Negro apathy, "I told ya'll he wasn't gone do nothing."
3. Let us be parents again, and not friends. Let us teach our children our history. Let us stop putting in ourselves into a system of volunteer slavery that tells you that a maxed out credit card at an interest rate of 29.9% is worth a new outfit for church, and passing on the curse of financial irresponsibility to our children. We don't have to be dressed to be blessed.
4. Let us look past the surface of things. Let us start to address some things that have been quiet as kept for far too long. Let us stop pretending that the young folk are to blame for so much silliness. We learned it from somewhere.
While we lift up Barack in our prayers, let us pull ourselves up by the emotional bootstraps. Mr. Obama once said that his favorite writer is Toni Morrison. I can see that. I can see that because in her books, she lets you feel the power of the white supremacy, but does not concern herself with it. Instead, she holds the Black community responsible for what happens to its weakest individuals. When we don't guide our children, love our neighbors, address our painful pasts, or pray for one another, disaster usually happens to somebody who felt like their own people did not love or support them. By the time the community realizes what is has done or failed to do, it is often much, much too late. And in her narratives, we have nobody to blame but ourselves.
Monday, October 20, 2008
The "Redistribution of Wealth" and the New Sound of Racism
There are new sounds to racism and elitism these days. You can hear it when you turn on CNN, Faux News, or MSNBC. John McCain and Sarah Palin are accusing Barack Obama of being a socialist -rowsing up the crowds who sometimes use the word, "Arab" instead of the one they want to use: nigger. They boo Obama's name, and have even yelled out death threats. John McCain keeps claiming that Barack Obama wants to raise taxes on those who work, and give their money to those who don't -welfare recipients (code words for single mother, black, urban, and lazy). I hear Republican senators and pundits blame the global financial crisis on the subprime game that were good enough to give home loans to uncredit-worthy recipients (Black people trying to become middle class). And the Congress of 1977 made it possible (the affirmative action laws that clamped down on discriminatory lending practices in government banks).
You know, at this point, I'm kind of burned out on the election. Let me tell you why: many European nations feel that Americans are the most violent and the most unintelligent people in the world. And I'm sad to admit this, but we are proving them right. Now, more than ever, I see that racism is a form of psychosis. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a psychological ailment, because that would imply that there is some kind of treatment for a disease that is manageable. Racism is not a disease. Racism is not a performance. Racism is not a trope. Racism is not a card. Racism is not an excuse. Racism is....I can't define it any other way but irrational. Let me point out some irrational things about this year's election headlines....
1. People keep saying that Obama is a Muslim. That he's an Arab. Then why did people make such a big miration over Jeremiah Wright, who is a Christian preacher? The last time I checked, you can't be a secret Muslim and an outted Christian at the same time. Muslims do not go to church.
2. What if Obama were a Muslim? There are many Muslims in this country who are peaceful, and who even serve their country proudly in war and by paying taxes. What would be wrong with a little Muslim boy or girl aspiring to hold political office one day? Isn't this country based on the separation of church and state? What has one's political affiliation to do with one's religion if you live in America?
3. There has already been a redistribution of wealth. The rich have gotten even richer. The middle class has all but disappeared, and the poor have gotten poorer. Point blank. Wealth has gone from lower and middle class families, and into the pockets of Wall Street Fat Cats. Now, at this point in time, they need a bail out. Talk about a case of welfare...840 billion dollars worth of welfare. Why is it that when we talk about giving the rich tax breaks, it's only fair, but when we talk about helping the poor, it is welfare and socialism?
4. Isn't Bush's and McCain's economic policies extensions of the Reagan trickle down policy? If it didn't work then, who in the Hell thought it would work now? We have a repeat of 1987 on our hands, and all the Republican Party can talk about is an education professor and what he did 40 years ago?
5. African Americans make up only 10% of the U.S. population...Yet, we are serving as the scapegoats for a GLOBAL financial crisis. The numbers, if you do the math, just doesn't make any damn sense. I know that as an African American, we are scape goats for everything that is wrong in America, from low test scores to high crime, but damn. A global crisis? Besides, many African Americans did not benefit from the real estate boom any way. At the end of the day, it was still difficult for many African Americans to get a loan from the person -not the computer- sitting at the other end of the desk.
6. Even if every African American family in the country received a subprime mortgage loan, should not the racism and GREED in that system be addressed? Just this summer, CNN did an expose on the fact that many "creditworthy" African Americans received subprime loands when they could have received regular loans. Some of the language in those lending contracts was very opaque, and some of these people had no idea that they were being bamboozled by the lending companies and banks. Now these very same banks need bail outs.
7. Many people accuse Black people of only voting for Obama because he is black. Let me ask a question (and this is Steve Harvey's question) Is the only reason you are not voting for him because he is Black? You'd rather vote for the white man that is going to freeze spending and tax health benefits that you are probably already paying too much for, than the Black one who will help you?
8. You know, I have no problem with Republican lip service. Oh yeah...They talk about abortion rights, welfare reform, small government, and better education for students. Well, we are currently paying taxes to the biggest government in recent history, and McCain's plan seems to make it bigger. In recent history, only president to even try and address welfare reform with a welfare-to-work program was the Democrat, Bill Clinton. Whatever happened to that program anyway? It seems as if welfare and medicare fraud has grown ten-fold under this administration's watch, and nobody has done a thing about it. Last, McCain said in the third presidential debate that he would leave abortion rights to the states (thereby, alleviating himself and the federal government of the burden). Under Bush's watch, education has become more expensive than ever. We've seen tuition increase in many areas by at least 10% every year, some universities have cut programs and laid off employees, and the No Child Left Behind Act is too much of a failure for me to even discuss here. That program should be called No Child's Behind Left. What is McCain's answer? Competition...I'm sorry, but it has been proven that competition, when embedded in this country's history of white flight, just is not going to solve our problems.
I know that there are many African American conservatives out there who are angry because they feel alienated. Some of them choose to become conservatives because they feel that we have been taken for granted by the Democratic Party. They ask, "What has that party done for us lately?"
My brothers and sisters, I ask you the same thing. What has the Republican Party done for us lately? They can throw out a bunch of divisive phrases and code words, and the rhetoric is very eloquent. But at the end of the day, that's all they seem to be doing on the issues...throwing out eloquent catch-phrases. They don't seem to be doing anything. As a matter of fact, if they do anything at all, it has been in opposition to their election platforms and party principles.
There you have it folks. The irrational nature of racism. Is it stupid? I won't say that. Naw. This goes beyond stupidity. You think I'm joking? Go to youtube and look up Michelle Bachman. This woman actually scares me. She and the Republican Party are taking us back to the Red Scare...only this time it has a Black face.
You know, at this point, I'm kind of burned out on the election. Let me tell you why: many European nations feel that Americans are the most violent and the most unintelligent people in the world. And I'm sad to admit this, but we are proving them right. Now, more than ever, I see that racism is a form of psychosis. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a psychological ailment, because that would imply that there is some kind of treatment for a disease that is manageable. Racism is not a disease. Racism is not a performance. Racism is not a trope. Racism is not a card. Racism is not an excuse. Racism is....I can't define it any other way but irrational. Let me point out some irrational things about this year's election headlines....
1. People keep saying that Obama is a Muslim. That he's an Arab. Then why did people make such a big miration over Jeremiah Wright, who is a Christian preacher? The last time I checked, you can't be a secret Muslim and an outted Christian at the same time. Muslims do not go to church.
2. What if Obama were a Muslim? There are many Muslims in this country who are peaceful, and who even serve their country proudly in war and by paying taxes. What would be wrong with a little Muslim boy or girl aspiring to hold political office one day? Isn't this country based on the separation of church and state? What has one's political affiliation to do with one's religion if you live in America?
3. There has already been a redistribution of wealth. The rich have gotten even richer. The middle class has all but disappeared, and the poor have gotten poorer. Point blank. Wealth has gone from lower and middle class families, and into the pockets of Wall Street Fat Cats. Now, at this point in time, they need a bail out. Talk about a case of welfare...840 billion dollars worth of welfare. Why is it that when we talk about giving the rich tax breaks, it's only fair, but when we talk about helping the poor, it is welfare and socialism?
4. Isn't Bush's and McCain's economic policies extensions of the Reagan trickle down policy? If it didn't work then, who in the Hell thought it would work now? We have a repeat of 1987 on our hands, and all the Republican Party can talk about is an education professor and what he did 40 years ago?
5. African Americans make up only 10% of the U.S. population...Yet, we are serving as the scapegoats for a GLOBAL financial crisis. The numbers, if you do the math, just doesn't make any damn sense. I know that as an African American, we are scape goats for everything that is wrong in America, from low test scores to high crime, but damn. A global crisis? Besides, many African Americans did not benefit from the real estate boom any way. At the end of the day, it was still difficult for many African Americans to get a loan from the person -not the computer- sitting at the other end of the desk.
6. Even if every African American family in the country received a subprime mortgage loan, should not the racism and GREED in that system be addressed? Just this summer, CNN did an expose on the fact that many "creditworthy" African Americans received subprime loands when they could have received regular loans. Some of the language in those lending contracts was very opaque, and some of these people had no idea that they were being bamboozled by the lending companies and banks. Now these very same banks need bail outs.
7. Many people accuse Black people of only voting for Obama because he is black. Let me ask a question (and this is Steve Harvey's question) Is the only reason you are not voting for him because he is Black? You'd rather vote for the white man that is going to freeze spending and tax health benefits that you are probably already paying too much for, than the Black one who will help you?
8. You know, I have no problem with Republican lip service. Oh yeah...They talk about abortion rights, welfare reform, small government, and better education for students. Well, we are currently paying taxes to the biggest government in recent history, and McCain's plan seems to make it bigger. In recent history, only president to even try and address welfare reform with a welfare-to-work program was the Democrat, Bill Clinton. Whatever happened to that program anyway? It seems as if welfare and medicare fraud has grown ten-fold under this administration's watch, and nobody has done a thing about it. Last, McCain said in the third presidential debate that he would leave abortion rights to the states (thereby, alleviating himself and the federal government of the burden). Under Bush's watch, education has become more expensive than ever. We've seen tuition increase in many areas by at least 10% every year, some universities have cut programs and laid off employees, and the No Child Left Behind Act is too much of a failure for me to even discuss here. That program should be called No Child's Behind Left. What is McCain's answer? Competition...I'm sorry, but it has been proven that competition, when embedded in this country's history of white flight, just is not going to solve our problems.
I know that there are many African American conservatives out there who are angry because they feel alienated. Some of them choose to become conservatives because they feel that we have been taken for granted by the Democratic Party. They ask, "What has that party done for us lately?"
My brothers and sisters, I ask you the same thing. What has the Republican Party done for us lately? They can throw out a bunch of divisive phrases and code words, and the rhetoric is very eloquent. But at the end of the day, that's all they seem to be doing on the issues...throwing out eloquent catch-phrases. They don't seem to be doing anything. As a matter of fact, if they do anything at all, it has been in opposition to their election platforms and party principles.
There you have it folks. The irrational nature of racism. Is it stupid? I won't say that. Naw. This goes beyond stupidity. You think I'm joking? Go to youtube and look up Michelle Bachman. This woman actually scares me. She and the Republican Party are taking us back to the Red Scare...only this time it has a Black face.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Not in Faith that We Walk, but Sight
Right now, I need to talk to the Bible Belt African American family. I'm not excluding others from this conversation, it's just that the Bible Belt is the reality that I know and can comment on. Family from other parts of the country, if you want to weigh in on this, go ahead and do so. Also keep in mind that I am a post-post-post young adult. I am post-Civil Rights, post-feminism, and post-Reaganism.
For the past month of Sundays, my pastor has preached a series of sermons called, "From the Crumb to the Loaf." His question is, why are we settling for crumbs when Jesus promises the whole loaf? Why are we taking humiliating words at a crumby job from crumby bosses that we hate to buy crumby cars and clothes to put in our crumby houses? Why are we staying in the same crumby neighborhoods, marrying crumby people, and raising crumby kids? His theory is that we are afraid and full of fear. We stay at those jobs because, either for fear of failure or fear of success, we are afraid to do otherwise. Why tangle with the devil you don't know when you know how to deal with the one you do?
These sermons have at once inspired me and terrified me. They have put my mind at ease but have put my faith in my people ill at ease. These sermons have answered many questions, and have caused me to raise questions that I so badly wanted to bury.
What my pastor did not mention, is an economic factor. For many African Americans, moving up into the middle class is new. Having nice homes, cars that run, being able to buy whatever out of the grocery and clothing stores is a new thing for them. For the first time, being able to live like many white Americans have always lived leaves one feeling new and satisfied. It's good to make a little economic progress. Right?
But what about the spiritual? What about our souls? Better yet, do Black people even believe in God any more, or have we surrendered our faith to the man-made, Bitch-goddess of material success? For those of you getting angry at this post, you have to remember that I grew up when people were killing each other for a pair of Jordans, and that Jordan never even acknowledged any of this.
In order to keep receiving a pay check so that we can pay mortgages on overpriced homes, do we keep quiet when injustices are directed towards us and our people? I have seen this happen in all levels of the educational system. In fact, we may take it a step further and tell our children that they can't go to college, and discourage our own boys.
Do we let supervisors talk to us like children or pets, and treat us like we don't have the common sense of a dog, and continue to say, "I know who I am at the end of the day. And my bills are paid, so they doesn't bother me?" How long will it take for the condescending attitudes to bother you? Can you look in the mirror and not be bothered after swallowing a humiliating remark from a supervisor? At your job, do you feel the need to compete with younger people, and make them feel bad? They are half your age, the Bible said you should be teaching them, not competing with them. So if you are a middle-aged worker, why are you jealous of somebody who is probably younger or the same age as your children? I can't tell you how many of my friends get harassed by folk who should be teaching them and passing the torch. What are we doing instead, Baby Boomers?
Women, are we going to subscribe to a gold-digger mentality, and continue to latch onto others when we can go to school and major in anything we want? In case you don't know, doctors and lawyers bring home as many trophy wives as athletes. Are we going to raise another generation of Black children to be dependent upon Section 8, food stamps, and Social Security disability benefits? Does nobody see anything wrong with making a child pretend to have ADHD or some other mental disability for $350/month? What's $350/month, when you could push that child into a liberal arts college or a trade, and that child could stand to make $350/day/week, according to his/her career choice?
And church folk...Why have we turned our faith into a cash cow? Why is Black America still struggling when we have more megachurches than football stadiums? Especially here in Memphis...why is Hickory Hill fastly becoming one of the most crime-ridden sectors of the city when there are two megachurches within five miles of each other? Why are more us becoming homeless with nowhere to go when some our churches can house thousands of members at a time? Why do we continue to attend church? Why do we need $1000 suits on to be in church? Why do we have to be dressed to be blessed? Why do we shout on Sunday and sang that we trust in the Lord, and let a supervisor half our ages treat us like children because we are scared to venture out for another form of employment? Why do we say we are God's children, and then are overcome by the devil spirits of fear and material acquirement? Don't get me wrong, we need money to survive in this world. Nobody wants to be in a state of discomfort, either. But when does it go beyond being comfortable? How low are we stooping for extra money? How much of ourselves are we willing to sell or betray Christian, black folk?
In short, my pastor's sermons have forced me to ask, are we an amoral people? Do we trade in God for the almighty dollar? Do we let all of the rights and priviledges that people have marched and died for slip away for a couple of extra cents to the hour? Is the prospect of having a big, showy, overpriced home and car worth crippling our children? We are failing to teach our children our own history, and for what? If you have moved from the farms of Mississippi to the ghetto of Detroit, have you really made any progress? Or, have you just made lateral movement? If you gave up 10 acres of land that your family owned in Alabama for apartment rent in Richmond, what have you accomplished? Is it safe to say that you've moved backwards for the sake of being able to look down on your country cousins, make a few jokes, and call them "Bama?" Are we returning ourselves back to slavery? Are we trading rurual slavery for urban slavery? Are we doing it on a volunteer basis?
Oh, yeah, 29.9% on a maxed out credit card is slavery! And you know what the worst part is, we are destroying our children, families, and futures for trinkets. What's a pair of Jordans or a new set of rims compared to the rest of our lives? Have we traded in our walking by faith for cheap trinkets? Let the rappers tell it, we got cars, clothes, and 'hos, but where, Black America, where are our souls?
For the past month of Sundays, my pastor has preached a series of sermons called, "From the Crumb to the Loaf." His question is, why are we settling for crumbs when Jesus promises the whole loaf? Why are we taking humiliating words at a crumby job from crumby bosses that we hate to buy crumby cars and clothes to put in our crumby houses? Why are we staying in the same crumby neighborhoods, marrying crumby people, and raising crumby kids? His theory is that we are afraid and full of fear. We stay at those jobs because, either for fear of failure or fear of success, we are afraid to do otherwise. Why tangle with the devil you don't know when you know how to deal with the one you do?
These sermons have at once inspired me and terrified me. They have put my mind at ease but have put my faith in my people ill at ease. These sermons have answered many questions, and have caused me to raise questions that I so badly wanted to bury.
What my pastor did not mention, is an economic factor. For many African Americans, moving up into the middle class is new. Having nice homes, cars that run, being able to buy whatever out of the grocery and clothing stores is a new thing for them. For the first time, being able to live like many white Americans have always lived leaves one feeling new and satisfied. It's good to make a little economic progress. Right?
But what about the spiritual? What about our souls? Better yet, do Black people even believe in God any more, or have we surrendered our faith to the man-made, Bitch-goddess of material success? For those of you getting angry at this post, you have to remember that I grew up when people were killing each other for a pair of Jordans, and that Jordan never even acknowledged any of this.
In order to keep receiving a pay check so that we can pay mortgages on overpriced homes, do we keep quiet when injustices are directed towards us and our people? I have seen this happen in all levels of the educational system. In fact, we may take it a step further and tell our children that they can't go to college, and discourage our own boys.
Do we let supervisors talk to us like children or pets, and treat us like we don't have the common sense of a dog, and continue to say, "I know who I am at the end of the day. And my bills are paid, so they doesn't bother me?" How long will it take for the condescending attitudes to bother you? Can you look in the mirror and not be bothered after swallowing a humiliating remark from a supervisor? At your job, do you feel the need to compete with younger people, and make them feel bad? They are half your age, the Bible said you should be teaching them, not competing with them. So if you are a middle-aged worker, why are you jealous of somebody who is probably younger or the same age as your children? I can't tell you how many of my friends get harassed by folk who should be teaching them and passing the torch. What are we doing instead, Baby Boomers?
Women, are we going to subscribe to a gold-digger mentality, and continue to latch onto others when we can go to school and major in anything we want? In case you don't know, doctors and lawyers bring home as many trophy wives as athletes. Are we going to raise another generation of Black children to be dependent upon Section 8, food stamps, and Social Security disability benefits? Does nobody see anything wrong with making a child pretend to have ADHD or some other mental disability for $350/month? What's $350/month, when you could push that child into a liberal arts college or a trade, and that child could stand to make $350/day/week, according to his/her career choice?
And church folk...Why have we turned our faith into a cash cow? Why is Black America still struggling when we have more megachurches than football stadiums? Especially here in Memphis...why is Hickory Hill fastly becoming one of the most crime-ridden sectors of the city when there are two megachurches within five miles of each other? Why are more us becoming homeless with nowhere to go when some our churches can house thousands of members at a time? Why do we continue to attend church? Why do we need $1000 suits on to be in church? Why do we have to be dressed to be blessed? Why do we shout on Sunday and sang that we trust in the Lord, and let a supervisor half our ages treat us like children because we are scared to venture out for another form of employment? Why do we say we are God's children, and then are overcome by the devil spirits of fear and material acquirement? Don't get me wrong, we need money to survive in this world. Nobody wants to be in a state of discomfort, either. But when does it go beyond being comfortable? How low are we stooping for extra money? How much of ourselves are we willing to sell or betray Christian, black folk?
In short, my pastor's sermons have forced me to ask, are we an amoral people? Do we trade in God for the almighty dollar? Do we let all of the rights and priviledges that people have marched and died for slip away for a couple of extra cents to the hour? Is the prospect of having a big, showy, overpriced home and car worth crippling our children? We are failing to teach our children our own history, and for what? If you have moved from the farms of Mississippi to the ghetto of Detroit, have you really made any progress? Or, have you just made lateral movement? If you gave up 10 acres of land that your family owned in Alabama for apartment rent in Richmond, what have you accomplished? Is it safe to say that you've moved backwards for the sake of being able to look down on your country cousins, make a few jokes, and call them "Bama?" Are we returning ourselves back to slavery? Are we trading rurual slavery for urban slavery? Are we doing it on a volunteer basis?
Oh, yeah, 29.9% on a maxed out credit card is slavery! And you know what the worst part is, we are destroying our children, families, and futures for trinkets. What's a pair of Jordans or a new set of rims compared to the rest of our lives? Have we traded in our walking by faith for cheap trinkets? Let the rappers tell it, we got cars, clothes, and 'hos, but where, Black America, where are our souls?
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