black…MYstory

Well, guess what — another Clinton backer is playing the race game. This time, it’s former vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro.

In an interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday, Ferarro had the following to say:

“If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.”

You know, some things are so stupid that, they you don’t need anyone to make them apparent.

Now, correct me if I’m wrong but, America’s not exactly handing out positions of power to black men, willy-nilly. If so, why was it that Obama is the last of only 5 black people to ever serve in the U.S. Senate (there have been 4 black male senators and one black female senator, Carol Mosely Braun). Why is it that black men don’t make up a majority of the House of Representatives. How many black governors are there? (the answer would be 1.)

In other words, being black doesn’t make one lucky in politics. In fact, it exposes one to greater scrutiny because, by being black, a certain lack of competence in always implied — even from other black people.

How did Hillary Clinton respond? Well, she offered the following:

“I do not agree with that…It’s regrettable that any of our supporters — on both sides, because we both have this experience — say things that kind of veer off into the personal.”

Yes, some of Obama’s people have veered off and, because of that, they are not part of his campaign any longer.

Now, I know what you’ll tell me — Ferraro is not part of the Clinton campaign. Well, Louis Farrakhan is not part of the Obama campaign but, Obama was called on to “reject and denounce” him just the same.

My question is, “when will Clinton ‘reject and denounce’ the statements of Geraldine Ferraro?”

Correction: Ferraro does, indeed, serve on the Clinton campaign in an official capacity.  She serves on the Clinton finance committee.

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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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How can you tell when Hillary Clinton’s supporters believe their candidate’s in trouble? When the race-baiting starts, of course.

The latest of these supporters is Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell. Rendell offered the following insight on the politics of race in Pennsylvania: “You’ve got conservative whites here, and I think there are some whites who are probably not ready to vote for an African-American candidate.”

Then, he goes on:

“I believe, looking at the returns in my election, that had Lynn Swann been the identical candidate that he was — well-spoken, charismatic, good-looking — but white instead of black, instead of winning by 22 points, I would have won by 17 or so…And that (attitude) exists. But on the other hand, that is counterbalanced by Obama’s ability to bring new voters into the electoral pool.”

Okay, he compared the Obama campaign to the campaign of Lynn Swann? As far as I know, this was Swann’s first attempt at elected office anywhere. Obama was, at least, a stage legislator and is now a U.S. Senator. Furthermore, Obama is currently beating out Hillary Clinton with the white male vote so, it’s not like he can’t attract white voters.

But, this is not my beef with Rendell. Rendell seems to be saying that because there are some white people who won’t vote for a black candidate, his candidate, because she is a white person, is more electable.

At this point, I believe that Obama has shown that he has a broad enough appeal to garner votes from all constituencies — some more than others — but, still, he has broad appeal. I think the Clinton surrogates, and by extension, Hillary Clinton, need to quit playing these games before they either end up costing her the nomination or winning her the nomination but turning off so much of the base that it ends up costing her the presidency.

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Okay, I have to say that this one caught me off-guard.

A Texas district attorney is catching heat based on a 2003 email which has surfaced. Harris County assistant district attorney Mike Trent’s email was sent to dozens of people, congratulating a colleague on his recent conviction of a defendant. However, it’s his choice of words that is raising some eyebrows.

In his email, Trent stated the following:

“He overcame a subversively good defence by Matt Hennessey that had some Canadians on the jury feeling sorry for the defendant and forced them to do the right thing.”

The strange thing is that, in the review of the jury, no Canadians were present. In fact, it would have been very difficult, if not nearly impossible, for a Canadian to be seated on a Texas jury.

The other strange thing was that there were some black jurors, though. So, it appears that Mr. Trent may have found a unique slur of blacks on juries.

So, now I a ‘Canadian’, eh?

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I remember a post I did a several months ago about Ron Paul. In it, I brought up questions about a newsletter, published under his name in the early 90’s, in which anti-black, racist vitriol was spewed. His supporters tried to dismiss it because Paul says he didn’t write it — it just appeared in a newsletter bearing his name but, he had no idea about what was being put out.

At the time, I thought this was a problem with just one issue of the newsletter so, to be fair, I could see how one issue of a printed newsletter could slip under the radar.

However, what I did not know was that this was not an isolated incident.

After scouring such obscure places as the University of Kansas and the Wisconsin Historical Society, The New Republic was able to track down some of the old newsletters and their contents are eye-opening and hard to defend, to say the least.

First of all, it’s apparent that the Ron Paul newsletter has been in existence since 1978 and has been published under many names: Ron Paul’s Freedom Report, Ron Paul Political Report, The Ron Paul Survival Report. Did you notice that they all have “Ron Paul” in the name? Wouldn’t you think that, if a newsletter is being put out with your support for many years, you might be responsible for the content. Furthermore, many of the writings don’t contain bylines so, it seems that someone wanted to express these as the opinions of Ron Paul so, did he only denounce them because of the unwanted scrutiny these writings were receiving?

Just to give you an idea of what I’m talking about, read this excerpt from the article:

Read the rest of this entry →

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Golf is not exactly known for its diversity (although I see that changing). So, maybe it’s just a knee-jerk reaction on my part but, the recent words of Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman (followed, subsequently, by an apology) really ticked me off. Tilghman, supposedly, was trying to express how dominant a player Tiger Woods is and suggested that young players should “lynch Tiger Woods in a back alley” in order to compete with him.

Now, considering the history of lynching in this country (the OVERWHELMING majority of which targeted black people), this is not something that is exactly the stuff of jest.

But, who knows, maybe it’s just me…

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Growing up, I knew, as a black person, I was going to have to fight harder for what I wanted. However, I never considered that it would include health care.

Strangely enough, I hadn’t given too much thought to racial disparities in medical treatment until very recently in life. Honestly, I don’t know why. If racial disparities can exist in other areas of life, why not health care delivery?

Nonetheless, I was floored to read the results of a recent study on cancer treatment. It states that many black cancer patients are not receiving health care any better than they had 10 years prior:

The researchers assessed the type of treatment given to more than 143,000 Americans over age 65 for lung, breast, colon, rectal and prostate cancer from 1992 to 2002 under the Medicare government health insurance program.

Black patients were consistently less likely than whites to receive the recommended types of treatment, the study found, and the problem was just as bad in 2002 as in 1992.

The solution? Fight for everything. Sadly, though I think that the last thing a sick person should have to do is fight for the same health care that other people get by virtue of skin color, this is just what seems necessary. Better yet, those of us who are still healthy need to stand up for those who are not because, without a doubt, some of us will be in those same shoes one day.

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Now, though I give props for Obama’s win in Iowa, I must keep things in perspective. I am no Obama fanboy. In fact, posts like this and this should indicate to people where I stand on Obama. Neither he nor any other candidate has earned my vote, yet.

You see, I like the idea of change. However, change can mean anything. Or, worse yet, it’s easy to talk of change but, I have heard so much lip service given to the notion that I have to question if a person is truly going to deliver on what they claim. With that being said, sometimes you have to look at a persons past actions/statements to determine if you can believe them. This applies for Obama or any other candidate but, since I am talking about Obama, specifically, I have to share with you an article that appeared last month on ZNet. It’s called, Obama Speaks: “Oh Great White Masters, You Just Haven’t Been Asked to Help America” and offers another view on the thoughts and actions of Barack Obama. It’s a good read and I encourage you to check it out.

As voters, it shouldn’t be just about who we find most electrifying or most electable. We also need to know if our interests will be represented.

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The big question, of late, has been whether or not Americans will go to the polls and vote for a black man. I have heard people everywhere claiming that they would and, for a second, I’ll dismiss my cynicism and take them at their word. However, there is another notion that I am glad to see someone addressing. I believe many would think that America’s problem with racism would go away if Barack Obama were to be elected president. I don’t believe that for a second and neither does Earl Ofari Hutchinson.

He breaks it down lovely when he writes the following:

An Obama presidency would be a racial step forward in the sense that it shows that enough whites can and will look past race to make a black, especially an exceptional black, their leader. It would not show that they are willing to do the same for the millions of blacks that cram America’s jails and prisons, suffer housing and job discrimination, are trapped in failing public schools in America’s poor, crime ridden inner cities.

Their plight and how they are viewed and treated will remain the same after Obama takes office as it did before. A President Obama won’t change that.

Yes, I also agree…it is a step forward but, the solution to this issue is much deeper than just giving one guy a job. It’s about consitently creating the opportunity for any similarly-situated person of any color, gender, orientation, religious belief, etc. to take advantage of this same opportunity and not have any of the above be what determines whether or not they can get the job.

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If you have been watching any news at all, there is almost no way you could not have heard about the Iowa caucuses.  It’s the first lap in the horserace for each political party’s picking of a presidential candidate.  However, one thing is clear to me — Iowa is INCREDIBLY white.  But, what is is not is TOTALLY white.

You see politicians up and down the highways and byways of Iowa, stopping at every little town along the way to speak to whoever will listen.  But, it seems that the candidates are avoiding one place in particular, Des Moines’ inner city.  Yes, Iowa has ‘hoods, too.

This seems particulary damning for Democrats who claim to be a party of inclusion.  It seems to me that they are avoiding talking about some very serious issues affecting black people in Iowa.  For example:

Iowa’s black population, which hovers around 2%, accounts for approximately 24% of the prison population meaning Iowa has the highest rate of incarceration of African-Americans in the country. According to the 2000 census, black households in Iowa have median incomes 36.8% less than the overall median income. And, says Ford, Iowa has the highest rate for expulsions and suspensions of African-American students in the nation.

James Brown once sung, “Santa Claus, go straight to the ghetto.”  Well, I’ll rephrase it to say, “(Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards), go straight to the ghetto / You know that I know that you will see / Cause’ that was once me.”

Like I’ve stated, if a candidate wants my vote, they need to show me, as a black person, what they intend to do for me.  Stories like this indicate that they are not off to good starts.

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