Look, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Pat Buchanan is a racist. He tries to dress it up the clothes of the old, codgerly uncle but, it’s clear to me that the man knows exactly what he’s doing. More sad is the fact that, via outlets like MSNBC, he is given legitimacy. But, it seems to me that he saves his greatest vitriol for his writing. Previously, I shared an excerpt from one of his books where he thought America was doomed because black and brown people would soon be in the majority.

More recently, he outdid himself. While chiming in on the Rev. Wright controversy, Buchanan used his blog to go on a racist screed. You can read the entire post for yourselves but, here’s one passage that really caught my attention:

“First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.

Wright ought to go down on his knees and thank God he is an American.

Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the ’60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream.

Governments, businesses and colleges have engaged in discrimination against white folks — with affirmative action, contract set-asides and quotas — to advance black applicants over white applicants.

Churches, foundations, civic groups, schools and individuals all over America have donated time and money to support soup kitchens, adult education, day care, retirement and nursing homes for blacks.

We hear the grievances. Where is the gratitude?”

Translation: Slavery was good for black people and, since then, all black people have been are welfare cases. Needless to say, Buchanan has an audience for this garbage and many, no doubt, will cosign this mess. However, I am glad that he’s been called on this. On Friday’s Real Time, host Bill Maher brought up the issue and Tavis Smiley weighed in on it. He used a phrase to describe Buchanan that I will adopt — he called Buchanan a “racial arsonist”. There couldn’t be a more appropriate term. Here’s a clip from the show.

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Okay, I’m reloaded! After taking a needed break, I am back at it and I am heated.

We already saw a golf commentator get in trouble for a lynching joke in regards to Tiger woods. We have seen a huge rise in the number of noose incidents around the country and even George W. Bush spoke out against lynching references when he said the following:

“As a civil society, we must understand that noose displays and lynching jokes are deeply offensive…They are wrong. And they have no place in America today.”

So, when someone makes a reference to symbolically lynching someone, particularly a black woman, we can’t let that slide. A few days ago, there was a flap over a statement made by Michelle Obama when she was speaking in Rhode Island. She stated, “For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country. Not just because Barack is doing well, but I think people are hungry for change.” She later clarified her statement:

“What I was clearly talking about was that I’m proud in how Americans are engaging in the political process…For the first time in my lifetime, I’m seeing people rolling up their sleeves in a way that I haven’t seen and really trying to figure this out — and that’s the source of pride that I was talking about.”

Regardless of how you might feel about what she said, I can tell you this, the way Bill O’Reilly responded to it is not at all acceptable. On his radio show, O’Reilly chimed in by saying the following:

“And I don’t want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there’s evidence, hard facts, that say this is how the woman really feels. If that’s how she really feels — that America is a bad country or a flawed nation, whatever — then that’s legit. We’ll track it down.”

Okay, there are really two key words here. The first is, of course, the use of the word “lynching” in regards to a black person. I am not sure of why this is even part of his vocabulary. But, there’s another disturbing word here. That word is “unless”. So, we are at the point of saying that we need to “lynch” people because her opinion or view of America is different from that of others? Personally, I can relate to Michelle Obama’s statements but, even if I couldn’t, my first thought would not be to lynch her, symbolically or otherwise.

Needless to say, I am tired of people playing with that word. Lynching was a method of torture and public execution, even over the most petty of transgressions (even for merely whistling at a white woman). Moreover, it was an act of terrorism (yes, terrorism was carried out by some whites in this country long before we even cared about a threat from the Middle East) meant to show blacks that if they dared to step out of “their place”, which included trying to do things even as mundane as voting or competing in business with whites, they could suffer the same fate. So, when the question of “lynching” a black person is raised, red flags should go up.

Personally, I believe that the Westwood One Radio Network, which gives O’Reilly a platform for his radio program, or Fox News, which allows him to host a show on their network or, better yet, O’Reilly’s advertisers should be concerned with having their names associated with someone who clearly has a history of making stupid racial comments (see here, here and here).

Now that I’ve ranted, you can hear his words for yourself (thanks to Media Matters for the clip):

 

 O'Reilly speaks of "lynching" Michelle Obama: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Montel Williams recently castigated the hosts of ‘Fox and Friends’ for spending time on their show to discuss the death of acting “icon” (yes, one of them said that) Heath Ledger but, not being able to accurately give the number of troops killed in Iraq last month or the name of a soldier who most recently died in the war. Could this be part of the reason that Fox opted not to renew his contract?

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This is a preview of an upcoming episode of The Boondocks. It is pretty obvious that this episode will NEVER appear on B.E.T.

Warnings for language and some violent content.

Get it before it’s pulled from YouTube!

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I just wanted to share this because it now sounds so funny. Do you remember when right-wing commentators used to bully people with Republican talking points. Now that they see the country’s views on their “leadership” souring, they begin sounding desperate.

Here’s an example of just that (thanks to Crooks And Liars for the clip).

 

 Hannity Sounding Desperate: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Oh, well. It was fun while it lasted.

As you might be aware, I had been contemplating a change since Radio One fired Matsimela Mapfumo from its “The Power” channel on XM radio and replaced his show with a sports show. When I heard that he got a show with Sirius, I gave it even more thought but, there were still a few shows on the Power that were keeping me there.

Well, it looks like I am being nudged, again. I read, today, that XM Radio is ending its relationship with Radio One and will be bringing programming for the Power in-house. From what I can surmise, XM will continue carrying the shows of Joe Madison, Warren Ballentine and Al Sharpton but, effective Jan 8, all other on-air talent will be dumped.

According to Radio One, the advertising dollars just weren’t coming in. Truthfully, the quality of the programming on the Power had gone down significantly in my eyes and I really only listened to three shows: the Joe Madison Show in the morning; Digital Spin, at night; and On With Leon on the weekends.

The only reason I chose XM over Sirius was the availability of a black talk channel. However, when Radio One began “dumbing down” their programming (this was how I saw it), I had to question whether or not I would stick with XM. So, we’ll see what the next few weeks bring. If it’s not good, I’m off to Sirius.

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I’m not going to lie — a brother has read more than a few issues of Essence magazine. Come on…I know that I’m not the only one. I guess that really speaks to the power of this publication. It’s not just a magazine that has been relevant to black women; it’s also a magazine that has been relevant to black people.

In no small part, this has been due to the efforts of publications director Susan Taylor. Now, after 37 years at Essence, Ms. Taylor is stepping down. She will now focus her time on the Essence Cares Foundation, a organization that encourages black adults to help with the mentoring of at-risk black kids.

I’m sure that a lot of readers will miss the picture of the sister with the braids and broad smile when they open the cover of the magazine but, to know that she is leaving to head up such a great organization should be of consolation to loyal readers.

Congratulations, Ms. Taylor. You are a true media icon.

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Let’s just put it out there — Pat Buchanan is racist or, should I say “white supremacist”?

The former member of Congress, presidential candidate and frequent talk-show contributor puts on an air of congeniality and feigns sage wisdom but, if you actually pay attention to what he says and writes, it’s clear that he feels that if white men are not in charge, we are doomed.

Dr. Frances Cress Welsing, author of “The Isis Papers”, once stated that white supremacy exists “for the ultimate purpose of white genetic survival and to prevent white genetic annihilation on planet Earth - a planet upon which the vast majority of people are classified as nonwhite (black, brown, red and yellow) by white skinned people, and all of the nonwhite people are genetically dominant (in terms of skin coloration) compared to the genetic recessive white skin people.”

In other words…it’s the fear of a black planet.

Sound crazy? Well, think about the above as you read what Pat Buchanan says in his latest book, “Day of Reckoning: How Hubris, Ideology, And Greed Are Tearing America Apart”(thanks to Media Matters for the catch):

“How is America committing suicide? Every way a nation can.

The American majority is not reproducing itself. Its birthrate has been below replacement level for decades. Forty-five million of its young have been destroyed in the womb since Roe v. Wade, as Asian, African, and Latin American children come to inherit the estate the lost generation of American children never got to see.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, from 2005 to 2006, our minority population rose 2.4 million to exceed 100 million. Hispanics, 1 percent of the U.S. population in 1950, are now 14.4 percent. Since 2000, their numbers have soured 25 percent to 45 million. The U.S. Asian population grew by 24 percent since 2000, as the number of white kids of school age fell 4 percent. Half the children five and younger today are minority children.” (Pages 7-8)

In other words, he fears white genetic annihilation and is sound an alarm to white people that, if they don’t get to making babies, they are doomed. Oh, but it gets worse. Here’s another passage from the book that should make it even clearer about where Buchanan is coming from:

“Almost as many African-American males are in jail or prison as are in colleges or universities. Half of all African-American and Hispanic students drop out of high school. The other half graduates with the math and reading skills of seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders. Yet by 2050 the number of African-Americans and Hispanics will have almost doubled from today’s 85 million, to 160 million. The future seems more ominous than it did in the hopeful days of civil rights. For these burgeoning scores of millions will not long accept second-class accommodations in the affluent society, where they are the emerging majority. The long hot summers of yesterday may be returning.”

In other words, the ignorant hordes of n*ggers and sp*cs are coming and white people will no longer be able to contain them.

It would be humourous except that, nearly every night of the week, he is on MSNBC or PBS, allowed to speak as a voice of credibility on a myriad of issues and, therefore, has an audience to which he can peddle this garbage.

I once heard a sort of joke that goes something like this — what’s the difference between a racist and a white supremacist? A racist doesn’t want to be around minorities at all. A white supremacist doesn’t mind being around minorities, as long as he’s in charge.

I guess I see to whom that joke refers.

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There’s an old saying in the world of news — “if it bleeds, it leads.” This could be the literal, as in shootings, murders, car wrecks, fires, etc. But, it could also be in regards to the stories that shock and titillate. This is why, when we deal with a story about racist rants, like those of Michael “Kramer” Richards or Duane “Dog” Chapman, or racial insults, like those of Don Imus and his on-air staff, they get plastered all over the screen. Racial animus and ratings go hand-in-hand.

DeNeen L. Brown and Darryl Fears of the Washington Post deal with the media’s preference to reduce real racial issues to mere entertainment. In a nutshell, they addresses the shamelessness with which the media presents issues of race and how, instead of providing context and education on a particular issue, they instead continue to stoke the fire for mere ratings.

Sadly, we see this in the manner in which entertainment sites like TMZ.com have come to be the first source of information when issues like this pop up, which given our fascination with entertainment over substance, is now a perfectly acceptable place to check for information.

In many ways, in regards to race relations in America, I say we are going backwards. In no small part, it is due to our fascination with the shock value of overt racism and our disinterest in really fixing this issue.

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“Crank Dat Soda Boy”

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