The Collective American Psyche Cannot Understand “Equal” Rights

For the past few months I have been making cultural comments. At this time, I would like to shift focus to American life and how it nurtures and perpetuates bullying. Almost every week we see a young person who has committed suicide because of bullying. I feel that collectively, we are all responsible for those precious lives that were lost. In many ways, the American way of life is liberating. We live in a competitive, supposedly meritocratic society where anybody with dreams, gumption, smarts, and a will to succeed can –well – succeed. That is the dream that America sells its own people as well as the millions who come here every year. In reality, America is driven by a race/sex-based economic system that thrives on exploitation of others at some level. To paraphrase Ishmael Reed, if the motto for Britain is the “sun never sets on the British empire,” in America that motto should be “there’s a sucker born every minute.” Historically, America was built by rebel forces and simultaneous exploitation. The Founding Fathers decried the tyranny of British colonialism while holding Black slaves at home. As Washington crossed the Delaware, some slave prepared for a long day in the fields building the country with manual labor. Following slavery, almost 100 years of Jim Crowism, exclusionary immigration policies, and heavy-handed militaristic tactics with Native Americans, America’s economic system remained meritocratic for some –mainly white men –and oppressive for others –everybody who wasn’t a white man. To date, this unevenness in our wealth distribution as well as our very skewed notion of who should participate equally in our government and economy block any deeper understanding we should have of Civil Rights and equality. In Thomas Jefferson’s Notes, he was very afraid that one day the tides would change and God would punish white people by one day making them the slaves and Africans the masters. I can safely say that during the presidential election, that fear still lingers and was made manifest by the proliferation of disrespectful and violent rhetoric aimed toward this president. I have never in my life witnessed so much disrespect towards the office of the presidency. The white supremacists have come out of the woodwork, and they are armed and dangerous. But I could feel this brewing ever since the 1990s with the arguments over affirmative action. In Americans’ haste to label, fight, and exploit, we boiled affirmative action down to a struggle of hierarchy, and the media stoked that fire. Some media personalities outright said that affirmative action would give minorities –especially Black people –unfair advantages over qualified white people. And when Obama got elected, personalities like Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh all but stated that Thomas Jefferson’s worst nightmare had come true! They accused civil rights activists of being reverse racists, and declared that President Obama would seek vengeance for the slaves using the office of the presidency. I have often wondered why Americans simply do not understand the notion of civil rights and equality –especially in a land that boasts of itself as a land of opportunity for all. It is because we cannot think outside of competitiveness and exploitation. The notion that one group simply wants to be on equal footing with the other and not on top does not register in our collective psyche. For instance, most feminists have never requested that women rule the country or that women be in charge of every job. Feminists simply say that if a woman lifts 50 pounds and a man lifts 50 pounds, the woman should be paid the same amount of money and given the same opportunities for advancement. After all, 50 pounds of cotton and 50 pounds of lead weigh the same. However, most conservative men have looked upon this demand for equal pay for equal work as an infringement upon male authority. Here’s another example: African Americans who fought for Civil Rights have never asked that African Americans be given a free pass for committing crime. We’ve only asked that the punishment be meted out equally. Why are Black men frequently given harsher sentences than their white counterparts for the very same crime? African Americans have also never asked that underqualified students be given college admittance and scholarships for subpar work. We’ve asked that qualified students’ application should be reviewed and not immediately thrown in the paper shredder because of the color of their skin.

When it is written out, the notion of equality doesn’t seem too difficult. It almost seems absurd that people have marched, died, and protested for the right to be treated fairly in the land of opportunity. But until Americans understand that not everything in life can be about competitiveness and exploitation, we’ll continue going around and around in a never-ending psychological boxing match for something as decent, simple and grand as equal opportunity.

Words DO Mean Something

Words mean everything to me. They have to, I'm attempting a Ph.D. in English. And even though some may call me melodramatic, the recent shooting of a United States Congresswoman should prove that there's something behind my bombast.

I'm not trying to be too cold here, but Saturday's shooting was no surprise to me. With today's gun rhetoric and political labeling, I'm only surprised that it didn't happen sooner. I'm not playing the blame game here. As a student of history, violence can come from the Left and the Right. Indeed, there was a time in this counry when most of the violence came from the Left via war protests and bombings.

However, with 95% of talk radio time being consumed by the Right, it is safe to say that most of the gun talk and revolutionary rhetoric comes from the Right. Just listen to the hate-filled speech of Rush Limbaugh and the gun play of Palin. To some, what they say is just red meat for the base. To them, I personally believe that their talk is just a way to make $12 million in one quarter. To some psychopathic fringe elements, their words are God-sent gifts. Their words give them a way to dehumanize people who don't agree with them. Crosshairs on a map become real political targets. People become enemies. Enemies that must be snuffed out by any violent means necessary.

Ironically, Right-Wing Conservatives play down the importance of words. Some even advocate the eradication of English departments across America; afterall, we don't DO anything productive for our societies. We only deal with the words of dead men and the bitter ones of living minorities. Thereby, we poison the minds of the youth of America, with words.

What then, after this horrible tragedy has occurred, do we call the hate-filled, fear-inducing rhetoric of someone like Glenn Beck? Even more dangerous, gun lobbyists, with words, successfully lobbied Congress to let the assault weapons bans to expire. What words, following this horrific act, will convince our conservative public servants to place a stricter ban on assault weapons that could more than likely harm or kill them?

Uninformed in an Age of Information

What's going on in Israel? What about Brazil? What goes on in Brazil on a day-to-day basis? As far as the healthcare bill is concerned, is the one recently passed only a starting point for improvements? Will there be more amendments? What about the relatively weak financial reform bill? Will it be strengthened as the months pass? What is the President doing daily to stop the Gulf Spill? Have the families of the 11 TransOcean explosion been financially compensated?

I don't know. I haven't heard. I watch at least two hours of news and two hours of news commentary every day, and I don't know. Headlines from the Washington Post are inboxed to every day. My homepage is MSN.com, and CNN.com is bookmarked. With all of this, I still don't know. Could it be possible that even in the age of information, when people want to know everything about everything, the most informed of us are still uninformed? What does this say about the state of our media, and the types of information we crave most?

I'll give one example. For the past two weeks, straight news and liberal/conservative news commentators have criticized President Obama for now "showing enough emotion" concerning the Gulf Oil Spill. Hours have spent on this with talking heads analyzing the man's every facial expression and comment. However, we don't know how much money fishermen stand to receive. What kinds of cleaners have been used to clean the wildlife? What is actually in that dispersant? What happened to the less-harmful dispersant? Is it still in Texas? What are the plans to replenish the wetlands that are being choked off by the oil? What would the military do if they were involved? What could they do that BP is not doing if they don't have the equipment? We don't know any of these things because our media has been wasting time asking why the 6'0+ Black man who runs a country that many see as a white man's country hadn't blown his top or started crying. We already know the damn answer to that. If you are reading this post, and you don't know, see Jonathan Capehart's June 8 column at washingtonpost.com. I'm more into action, not posturing. Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, and Rush Limbaugh can show emotions. Would we want them in charge of this catastrophe?

Don't buy my implication that our national media is keeping us ignorant of important policy while focusing on mind-numbing fluff? Remember the year of Bennifer? That very public affair of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez? While our news and our minds were following the couple around as they made out in public and purchased a gun permit, our country was embroilled in two foreign wars. Servicemen and women were dying daily, and we couldn't get enough of what the powercouple -two individual adults with their own lives and damn it, their own prerogatives -garnered more of our attention and news space than two wars.

By now I know you want to ask, "Why should we even care about what goes on in those other countries?" I'm glad you asked. Our national deficit is reaching epic proportions, and Republicans are correct to be concerned -lest America become Greece. Spending has to stop at some point. Something needs to be cut. I find it strange, though, that none of these Republican (or Democratic) lawmakers ever speak of reducing American aid to Israel. And I'm not saying this because of any political standpoint I have concerning Israel and Palestine. As pointed out earlier, I don't know enough about the on-going conflict to make a judgment call one way or the other. I say this because Israel receives tens of billions of dollars of American aid, and America gets what in return? While Republicans focus on cutting social welfare funding and education here at home, what of Israel and our lack of return for the investments we have there? What social welfare programs are American citizens bankrolling in Israel? What benefit does giving tens of billions of dollars hold for the average American citizen? Why does America continue to give Israel aid when the country deliberately disrespects our leader?

Why should we care about Brazil? Well, it has one of the biggest and fastest-growing economies in the world, and it is almost independent of OPEC. What does that mean for us? Well, nothing right now. Brazil relies mainly on ethanol for fuel. Their government offered to import to the United States some of its very cheaply-made ethanol (the abundance of sugar cane in Brazil makes ethanol production there much cheaper than ethanol made here in the United States from corn). Unfortunately, our then President Bush, in all of his wisdom, placed a 100% tarrif on this fuel, according to the History International Channel, while his MMS office issued more and more drilling permits. You make the connections between Brazil, Bush, and our current crisis. I don't need to spell it out.

Even in this age, most younger citizens, who are part of the soundbyte generation, remain uninformed. With cuts to our education in favor of more foreign aid to our "allies" and millitary spending, the American populace will be even less informed that what we are now. And a population of uninformed taxpayers become....What? I'm too afraid to finish the thought.

Disappearing White Privilege?

I must say, I hate when people relegate racism, sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia to Mississippi. I hate it because I travel extensively. I follow the news extensively. I'm a history bug. I consider all of the above -hatred - an American problem; not one exclusive to any state or region of the country. From Watts, to Detroit, to Chicago, to Memphis to Jackson to Dallas to Washington D.C., senseless acts of violence have erupted in this country, taking the lives (or in the case of Reagan, attempting to take the lives) of some of our most promising leaders.
When historians write of these times, most of them talk about the politico-economic uncertainty that produced flames of fear and hatred. What they don't talk about is the importance of the hot air coming out of people's mouths that whipped those flames into 5-alarm fires of violence. Case in point: the Oklahoma bombing of 1995 was not a random act of violence. It was carefully planned and orchestrated. Could it also be that Mr. McVeigh, and other domestic terror groups are being given signals to use extremism and violence against opposing points of view from Conservative -often Republican -leaders?
With the passage of the health care bill, the secret service has seen an increase in terror threats against Democratic lawmakers. In Ohio, New York, and even in Washington D.C., seemingly random acts of violence and racial/sexual epithets have been hurled at lawmakers. In Pinson, Alabama, a Mr. Mike Vanderboegh is calling for like-minded patriots to break the windows of Democratic lawmakers before rifle owners have to resort to pulling guns in a new revolution. Mr. Vanderboegh is not patriotic enough, however, to turn down his government-issued social security disability checks which support his suburban lifestyle. Michelle Bachmann, giving an interview earlier this week, described herself as a "foreign correspondent on enemy lines." I saw senior Republican Party members fan the flames of angry Tea Party members by waving their flag back and forth. Meanwhile, on the floor of government, Republicans are just now proposing some sane amendments to the health care bill. Why now? We don't even know what's in the health care bill. Neither does Mr. Vanderboegh. And I'm willing to bet that most of those Tea Party members don't know, either.
So, what's the real issue here? We know that the Congressional Budget Office said that the new health care bill actually reduces the deficit, and is not guaranteed to grow the government. So, what are these people really wailing about? Most of them receive Medicare/Medicaid or some form of assistance. Those who are not already receiving this benefit, will certainly qualify for it in the future. So, I ask again, what's really going on here?
It is my belief that domestic terrorism and anger at government increase from those who stand to benefit the most from government increase is a screen for a more American problem: that of hatred. These people are terrified of losing what they feel is some sort of white privilege. In America, whiteness is a property that comes with not only a form of normalization of life and experiences, but with a certain intrinsic value protected by legal, social, and economic institutions. J. W. Cash called it the Proto-Dorian bond, and it is to be guarded and watered by the "blood of tyrants" who dare take it away. One of the cornerstones of white privilege is that it is exclusive. In order to enjoy this white privilege, one needs first and foremost, white skin. I think that may be all, because certainly the throngs of poor white people gathered in Washington D.C. and who live and benefit from government intervention, have nothing to gain under Republican rulership, which leans toward big business. According to W. J. Cash, the Proto-Dorian bond is a feeling of unity and support that unites whites across all class lines in a common culture of white supremacy. So, it was no slip of the tongue when Pat Buchanan, when being interviewed by Rachel Maddow, claims that white men alone built this country and its theirs.
All of this violence, protesting, screaming, and yelling is not about Big Government. It's not about health care. It's not about the deficit. If you ask me, these are just code words in a common culture of white supremacy. White supremacists feel like they are under attack, and may very well lose the white privilege they've enjoyed for more than three centuries in the United States of America. They are angry at the white people who voted for Barack Obama. They are angry at the white lawmakers who would betray them by guaranteeing immigrants and minorities a share of that seemingly shrinking American Pie. Most of all, they are afraid, and their leaders are stoking that fear every day. People like John Boehner, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Bachmann, Sarah Palin, John McCain...good white American people who stand up to this "socialist/communist takeover" are their last hopes. In true American fashion, they react the only way they know how: with hateful words and equally violent actions that follow. If this violence results in tragedy, I think the people who are fanning the flames should also be held accountable, not just the participants of the protests and acts.

Barack Obama, Political Chess Master II (Special Commentary)

Last night, I watched as this historic healthcare reform passed. There was much drama and action. The procedure itself has the making of a very good movie: the Tea Party members spitting on members of Congress and calling them racial/sexual epithets, Jessie Jackson Jr. having to bang that gabble and raise his voice to call for order during a very heated verbal exchange, John Boehner invoking scripture trying to shame a few more Democrats away from the "Yes" box. I tell you. I was on the edge of my seat.

The highlight came when a cool President Obama, standing in front of a very emotional and passionate Vice President Biden said, "This is what change looks like." As cool and as calm as expect any Black man to be, he looked square into the eyes of his political adversaries and he said in so many words, "Checkmate."
I bubbled over with laughter. My eyes brimmed with tears as I remembered the Lion of the Senate, a rich man who devoted almost his entire career to attaining healthcare for those less fortunate than himself. Then, I became uncontrollably angry because the public option/expansion of Medicaid for everyone is not in this bill. Why in the Hell would they take out such a huge victory for the American people? I mean, it's such a big bill that includes....

Then, exactly ten minutes after Barack Obama declared "checkmate," I realized that I don't know what is in this bill. Yes, I am a political junkie who watches at least four hours of political commentary every day, and I don't know what the heck is in this bill. I know if I don't know what's in it, all of those fanatics out there yelling about socialized medicine don't know, either.
So far, the coverage of this historic change has not been on the specifics of this bill. We saw the sausage making process, but not the ingredients of the links. Media focus has been on the strategy of the game, the coaches' game plays on each side, rather than what was happening on the field. Who wins? Who loses? Who's going to suffer at the polls? Who's going to benefit? What's Obama going to do next? How have the Republicans been so effective at controlling the message? What message? Aside from scaring the hell out of folks about death panels and "socialized medicine," there hasn't been a message.

So, the public option is out, but what's in? I don't know. The opposers of the bill don't know. This factor, including the ramping up of the rhetoric of fear and the constant referral to this bill as "Obama care", further affirms my view that this whole ordeal has been more about fear of what this Black man, leader of the free world, can do than about policy-making. Inciting violence against Barack Obama and the Democrats smacks of the jealous jouissance of Southern lynch picnics. What was that dark day in America's history all about? Power play dynamics and phallic authority. Just listen to Rush Limbaugh...you don't have to take my word for it.

Sadly, our public discourse is stil informed by white supremacy and jealous sexual projections. Sadly, those people who were out there spitting on lawmakers and taunting them probably need that help the most. Sadly, those people out there probably cannot even define the very words that very rich, white men like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh told them to use. Sadly, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh know exactly what they are doing. Sadly, those folks do not know that they are being used in a powerful class war and a fear of redistribution of wealth and elitism. They are no better than those young, poor white boys who died in the Civil War to enrich the pockets of wealthy plantation overlords, a class they could never belong to. Sadly, those people and their children will also benefit the most from the passage of such a bill, in spite of their manifest hatred.

So, even though President Obama cannot directly say it to his adversaries, I will. Check mate. "On to the next one" in the words of Jay-Z.

Some advice for all political pundits -liberal and conservatives - get used to a new, cooler style of leadership. We are dealing with a very calculated political genius, not someone prone to egotistical, masculine posture. There's actually some substance behind his exterior, and nobody can rush him. He's the chess master. You don't rush a chess master before he makes his move. He must study the board from every angle. He must study his opponent's peices from every angle, anticipate his move, and be prepared to counter it. That takes more than posturing. That takes brains. And brains is what we have back in the White House after an eight year vacuum.

Gender is Still THE Issue; That Old Vaginal Tax

My colleagues and I pride ourselves on being very liberal, intelligent and tolerant people. After all, we have chosen the humanities as our focus. We have chosen to become professors of humanities as our career paths. We have chosen to dedicate our lives to enlightening students to the value of others' cultures through literature. And let me just say, we did not do it for the money.

I said all of that to say this, I am guilty, I think, of being hypocritical. Though I consider myself to be very tolerant, there is one group of people I cannot stomach. It is the group of young ladies who call themselves "lesbians," who walk around with three sports bras on and shave their heads or wear cornrows. They sag their pants and walk with a wide stance like a male. Some of them even wear dildos at all times. I have seen them challenge men to outward shows of physical prowess, and heard about them beating their girlfriends...just like abusive men. They are not transgender. They do not want to become men. Yet, they want to be treated and looked upon as men, especially in their relationships.

Let me be clear, here...I'm not homophobic. I have many friends who are gay and lesbians. But the above group of "lesbians" really get beneath my skin. I have placed this group in quotation because I am questioning their sexuality. It seems to me, that these people are not really lesbians at all. Before I get a ton of hateful emails, please finish reading what I'm saying and think about it.

Maybe these women are not lesbians. For them, lesbianism is not a function of sexuality. I feel that these women suffer from plain old penis enny. Now, I'm no dummy. I know Freud and his theories have been thoroughly debunked by feminists, but I'm writing about what I see. I feel that these women are mascarading as lesbians in order to get the same respect they feel that men sometimes undeservingly receive in our society.

Everything from teaching, to nursing, to the WNBA is devalued in monetary compensation as well as respect because they are female-dominated positions. Have you heard RAP lately? Are there any female rappers out there? Surely, when RAP first started and was marketed by African Americans to African Americans, there were many female RAP artists. With RAP's explosion on the mainstream market, came the disappearance of female rappers.

Have we in America created an atmosphere conducive to penis envy and "lesbianism?" Perhaps the only way many of these women feel that they can be taken seriously as human beings is to cloak themselves in masculinity. Walk like a man, talk like man, wear a man's penis, and beat another woman like a man. Does that truly garner respect?

Let me take this out of the gay/lesbian community and make it national. I recently posted an article claiming that I'm waiting on derogatory remarks toward Michelle Obama from the Right. Less than one week later, Judge Sonia Sotomayor was introduced as Obama's Supreme Court pick. The vile hatred and claims of reverse racism coming from the Right has been repulsive...absolutely repulsive. This woman has been called racist, stupid, and affirmitive action pick by men of the Right. The women have been fairly silent.

Racism aside, I wonder how much of this has to do with Sotomayor's gender as well. After all, C. Gordon Liddy did imply that the woman's menstrual cycle would inhibit her ability to render justice. Beck refered to her as "hispanic chick lady." Dennis Miller did a crude impersonation of her as a female Spanish dancer. With all of this derogatory activity, I wonder how long it will take some sick joker on the Right to come out with a Sotomayor nutcracking doll. I recall the whole Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill fiasco. The amazing thing about that case was, his intelligence never came into question -only his sexual prowess.

It has been disheartening, as a young, Black, female aspiring academic to hear this kind of criticism thrown at a woman who became the editor of Yale's Law School Journal. It has proven to me, that the according to the Right, the American Dream is not only prohibited to those with skin of color, but also to those who happen to have been born with a vagina. And I can offer this word of caution to the "lesbian" community...wearing a fake penis won't make things any easier.