Disqus - Latest Comments for no1kstate

Re: Racist Practices, Racial Segregation: Impact on the Subprime Housing Disaster

no1kstate — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:07:00 -0000

Digging the new digs!

Re: Who Gets Blamed for Maine Losing Gay Marriage? | RaceWire

no1kstate — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:14:46 -0000

Great post.

Re: The New Racism on Television

no1kstate — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:47:19 -0000

Oh yeah, you seem to be new hear. So thanks for dropping by. Please stop by in another week or so when I'll have written new posts.

Re: The New Racism on Television

no1kstate — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:46:07 -0000

I actually think it's kinda scary. If it wasn't enough that the creator of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice is black while both shows feature white actors/resses as their leading characters . . . we also have to address the fact that it's so stereotypical? Has she bought into the white racial frame or is the only way to be successful to kinda shuffle and dance a little?

Re: Oh. My lord!

ubstu34 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:43:34 -0000

I think you are right. FDR couldn't run afoul of southern democrats in pursuing a liberal agenda. LBJ's Great Society was, in part, torn apart by racial conflict. Not much has changed even with the election of black president. Liberals are more comfortable celebrating diversity than addressing racial realities.

Re: Oh. My lord!

no1kstate — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:41:22 -0000

I think they did it just to get people like Tim Wise out of the media.

I guess . . . If we start focusing on race, then chances for healthcare and whatnot might be sunk. Maybe they wanna short circuit the conversation on race?

Re: More Stats and Facts on the Impact Racism Has on the Lives of People of Color

no1kstate — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:08:38 -0000

Yes? Are we familiar?

Re: Hush, Little White Church. Naw, for Real. Hush.

no1kstate — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 03:32:44 -0000

I'll be honest, I never even considered what the black church may have thought about abortions prior to Roe. I know by and large, black Christians are against abortions; but the history I don't know.

That said, you point out yet another reason why the notion that the "church" was asleep doesn't, like you said, pass the muster.

I'm not sure how clear I was cause I was a little ranty yesterday. What bothers me about the claim that the church was asleep is 1 - the idea that the white Church represents the "American church." Right? That's just insulting. Like black folk don't love Jesus. We loved him despite the pictures of his blue eyes and blonde hair! And 2 - how, at the very least, they seem to be okay with the white church standing idly by while black Christians, supposed brethren in the Lord, suffured under neo-slavery. That's without pointing out the support of the white church for neo-slavery. It seems kinda apparant that by and large, white Christians have been more concerned with whiteness than Christianity. I think that's still the case. If they really "love" their fellow Christians, they should stop retreating to their "you can't know a person's heart" comfort zone when racism is brought up. Cause after all, "from a man's heart the mouth speaks" - Jesus. It's this sort of scriptural and historical amnesia I take issue with.

And then, when they do acknowledge the sins of the past, it's only a prelude to their aspousing not just conservative policies, which I would find revulting enough cause I don't see much scriptural support for the things they cry about; they aspouse conservative politicians. I can't be upset that anyone would choose any particular cause or another. If for no other reason than that I do the same thing. My problem with conservative Christians on this point is twofold (sorry, reading some rather heavy-handed writing now): 1 - they seem to be motivated more by emotion than fact. Abstinence only sex-ed for example. 2 - And here comes black folks and history again: up until the civil rights movement, these "conservatives" supported Democrats. They'd even support unionizing farm labor/sharecroppers/tenant farmers until they'd have to join with black farmers. I'm sure the big plantation owners didn't allow Southern Dems to support too progressive a tax policy; but this whole gospel of lower taxes didn't come about until the 80s. This whole distrust of the govt didn't come until the govt started supporting racial equality. Do they really think the whole historical timing thing is a coincidence? LIke these tea-parties. Here we have a president lowering taxes for 95% of Americans, a previous president who doubled the budget, and just now they feel the govt is taxing too much? And as far as spending, their resistance to a strong stimulus only illustrates the problem with American education! It's like Opie never learned how we got of of the Depression.

Re: Hush, Little White Church. Naw, for Real. Hush.

no1kstate — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:04:16 -0000

He's trying to do right. But he's wrong on race.

Re: Ram Rush

no1kstate — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:03:54 -0000

I had completely forgotten about Rice! Good call.

Re: Ram Rush

ubstu34 — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:04:17 -0000

I wasn't aware of the scarcity of black college football coaches. It seems to me that college coaches would guard their fiefdoms much more rigidly than pro coaches who always appear to be bouncing around from team to team in search of more money.

As far as Rush is concerned, it would have been interesting if Condoleeza Rice had been made NFL commissioner and forced to comment on this situation.

Re: Ram Rush

no1kstate — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:34:02 -0000

A glorious fiasco!

I agree with you 100%. I was being serious when I said I think he might try to field an all white team. Since he clearly doesn't think even black athletes deserve the accolades they reserve, who's he gonna play? Who's he gonna hire?

And I'm really sorry, ub. I'm in a good mood. I can't help pointing out that since Detroit has won; Cleveland and Jacksonville are small markets; actually, I've started looking forward to the mess. Rush complaining about the players. Keith Olbermann making fun of Rush, and?on Sundays, too! Can you imagine what the trash talkers let the Jets players would say before a game? I'm about to crack up just thinking about it! No pun intended.

But if I have to be serious, the NFL cannot let this go through. Goodell cannot go for treating perspecitive owners better than he treats the players.

Now that I think about it, it kinda gives me an idea for a new post. Maybe if the NFL players can finally stand up to the "powers that be" and control the system, college players will finally start making demands of their own. Of the 180 div 1 bowl series teams, there're only 4 black head coaches. If the college players started making demands either directly to the NCAA or indirectly by going to?SWAC or MEAC schools, or just the 4 with black coaches. As much as I love my 'Heels, I'd pull for the U if the players did that.

Re: Ram Rush

ubstu34 — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:09:14 -0000

Seriously..... Rush believes that a majority of black people who distinguish themselves in American life have not truly earned their success. Well the last time I looked, seventy percent of NFL players were black. What kind of moral is this going to instill in players who play for an owner who believes they don't work hard enough to warrant the recognition they receive? Rush strikes me as one of those arrogant owners (like Jerry Jones) who fancies himself as a knowledgeable student of the game who is qualified to not only run the business side of things but to make decisions better left to coaches, players, and scouts. He won't be one of those types of owners who sits in the owner's box each game and lets the money roll in but one who heads down to the sidelines to tell the coaches how to do their job, to lecture players on how they should play the game, to let it be known that he is the brains behind the actual football side of the operation. Someone so insecure isn't going to tolerate anyone who second guesses him or doesn't kowtow to his ego. I suspect that if does get the team, the whole stint will be a fiasco.

Re: Ram Rush

mnblue — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:22:02 -0000

Awesome! She's great!
Bachmann would fail any reality test.

Re: Ram Rush

no1kstate — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:47:03 -0000

LOL!! I got some more, I got some more!!

Cause you know W could help with choreography. I'm sure he still remembers some cheers. And Palin could help write the cheers.

LOL!!!

I'll look into Dr. Reed. I'm from NC so I can't vote. But Bachmann should not be in Congress. We need to start having some sort of basics of civics and reality test. It could even be multiple choice. For example, one question could be: Our form of government is officially a) oligarchy b) monarcy c) democracy or d) theocracy. The follow up would be: our form of government actually kinda seems like a) oligarchy b) monarchy c) idiocracy or d) theocracy. That would be the civics section. For reality, questions could be like this: the sun rises in the a) east b) west c) north or d) south. Follow up: the sun sets in the a) east b) west c) north or d) south.

Re: Nobel Obama

no1kstate — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:39:46 -0000

Racism is still quite problematic in Europe. I can't recall to what degree, though. Only that it does have a negative impact on the lives of people of color. So I definitely do think that Obama deserves something for being the first state leader of color in the Western world. As far as liberal vs conservative, European conservatives don't mess with their universal, "socialist" healthcare systems. In some ways, their conservatives are to the left of our Democrats.

As to Afghanistan. . . hmm. I'm not sure Europe saw this as a way to pressure us out of Afghanistan. I think they were as surprised as the rest of us. Maybe the individuals on the committe hoped to influence his decision? I don't know.

Re: Nobel Obama

ubstu34 — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:47:40 -0000

It's obvious that a big reason the European community loves Obama is that, on the surface at least, he represents the almost polar opposite of Bush. But I think there is a lot more to the love affair than that. This is all the more surprising given the fact that Europe appears to be moving to the right politically, while the political pendulum in the United States is beginning to swing to the left. What is just as amazing is that people of color in Europe (I may be wrong--this is just a hunch) have not broken the same kind of ground in terms of seizing the reins of political leadership that Americans of color have. Leadership in Europe does not reflect the growing racial diversity of the population the way the political leadership in the United States does. This may be because racism in Europe has historically been more subtle and there is hence less motivation to redress the power imbalances; but I don't know for sure. I am not trained in the field of Afro-European history. The important point is that although (white) Europeans fawn over Obama, a large number of them are undoubtedly blind to the racial disparities and injustices in their own midst and would probably be miffed if someone pointed them out. Indeed, racism in Europe has grown more overt during the last forty years as more and more Africans and people of color have migrated to the Continent. If Obama's father had chosen to study in Britain and fathered a child with a white British women, would his offspring have grown up to become Prime Minister? Probably not. He might not have suffered the same cruel indignities, but would he have been inspired to break new racial ground? I am not sure. Like a lot of white American liberals, I believe white Europeans are enthralled by the myth of a post-racial world which Obama seems to represent.

I think the important question to ask is if the European community is pressuring the president to draw troops out of Afghanistan by awarding him the peace prize, what would they have to gain from such an action? A sense that they can influence the most powerful country on earth? I am not sure it is because they avidly want to heal the wounds between the West and Islamic world. Islamophobia is deeply entrenched in European society. What is your take?

Re: Nobel Obama

no1kstate — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:43:38 -0000

Like I said in my response to Ram Rush, I really appreciate that you follow my blog. I too plan to go back to school as soon as my health obliges. I yearn to learn! Fortunately enough, yeah, I can post more often. I'm digging that, too!

What I can't figure out is why the Nobel Committe gave it to him. They seem to be as surprised by the reaction as we are by the prize! Maybe the really hope to?influence him out of Afghanistan?

Re: Ram Rush

no1kstate — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:37:54 -0000

I haven't responded to your last comment cause I don't quite know what to say. I really appreciate that you follow me. I plan on entering WashPo's contest "who's the next columnist" or something. I got nothing to lose.

As to Rush, I think you're dreaming. I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to field an all-white team!

Re: Nobel Obama

no1kstate — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:41:51 -0000

Ubstu! What it do, baby? Good to hear from ya.

Yeah. I think I agree. I'm not sure about my thoughts. But as far as previous presidents, Woodrow Wilson was a racist bigot. I give him credit for ending WWI, but the idea that all people deserved freedom except people of color?

So, I guess I can see how people can get worked up. And while, yeah, I'm not very sure how I feel about it . . . ultimately, it doesn't matter how I feel about it. And it shameful and awful that there's been such public backlash. And the right has been atrociously ugly about it.

By the by. What's with all the people who think Reagan deserved the Prize? Just because he said something about tearing down a wall that was gonna eventually come down anyway?

Re: Last of the Dumasses

no1kstate — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:20:37 -0000

No, actually, I just got tired.

Thanks for checking me out and thinking about me. I think racismreview is a great blog and resource, I'm just not too sure the comment thread.

Re: I Love This President

no1kstate — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:30:03 -0000

As some international friends say, you make me shy. :)

Thanks for reading.

Re: Andrew M. Manis: When Are WE Going to Get Over It?

no1kstate — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 23:07:53 -0000

Thanx, RH.

Re: President Barack Obama Is . . . Black?

no1kstate — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:49:24 -0000

Hey, you ain't gonna convince me. But this does make Gates even WORSE. Uuuuggggggggghhhhhhh!

Sorry I didn't respond sooner.

What's with Darin? First off, doesn't that name seem "ethnic" to you? And secondly, did he really come on to a site that "reviews racism" in hopes of convincing the rest of us that racism doesn't present the barrier we say it does? I know white people can be arrogant, but I'm hoping that in the end, this'll just be some sort of hoax or something. Whatever it is, Darin is helping me work out some kinks in my writing, so that's a good thing. I may blog about him at some point.

And I need to say that I do appreciate your "rudeness." I have my own personal reasons for maintaining "patience" unless I'm about to count the person as lost to the truth. But that doesn't mean?I disagree with your method; and I certainly don't appreciate being made off as the "good negro" to your "bad negro."?I'm a bad negro, too! My grandfather was a "cigarette dude!" My great-grandfather thought nothing of telling a white man to his face he thought blacks and whites were equal.?I may have to lower the boom on Darin at some point just to prove my "bad negro" credentials! But for now, he amuses me.

Re: President Barack Obama Is . . . Black?

Nquest — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 03:17:07 -0000

This is why I don't hold Gates in high regard:

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
<b?Skip Gates' television series virtually tells the world that the West has no case to answer. Africans sold each other. Presumably if there are to be any reparations in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, it would have to be from Africans to Africans. Skip Gates succeeded in getting an African to say that without the role of Africans in facilitating it, there would have been no trans-Atlantic slave trade at all.

To my astonishment when watching "Wonders of the African World", I heard a Ghanaian tourist guide at a slave fort (Elmina) tell African-American tourists that they were sold into slavery by Africans. Is this the policy of the Ghanaian government to tell tourists that it was not the white man but the Black man who was responsible for the Atlantic slave system? If not, why is not the guide sacked? He was saying to African Americans "We Ghanaians sold you!"

The Ghanaians I have spoken to since Gates' television series are convinced that the Ghanaian guide at the slave fort was given an "inducement" to blame the slave trade on Africans! Who is behind this rewriting of the history of the slavetrade? I am sure Gates was as surprised as I was when he heard such frankness from a Ghanaian tourist guide.

But even if some Africans were collaborators in the slave trade, why is Gates presenting the story as if the victims were only the Diaspora Africans (exported) while Africans in the ancestral continent were ALL villains? IS BLACK ORIENTALISM racially masochistic?

What about the families of the captured Africans who did not see their loved ones come back home? What about the Africans who were victimised by slave raiders but were never exported? What about African resistance to slavery? What about the Africans who were not involved in the slave trade at all either as victims or as villains? Why is Skip Gates presenting us with a simplistic picture of continental Africans (villains) selling their brothers and sisters (Diaspora African victims), and provoking what he regards as the curse on Africa for selling its children? In reality only a small minority of the inhabitants of Africa could have sold and exported fellow Africans. So why is Africa as a whole presented in such stark evil ways? Why does Henry Louis Gates Jr. virtually let the white man off the hook on the Atlantic slave trade apart from a throw-away sentence? What is going on? What is the agenda? I hope the idea of Black Orientalism is not to sabotage all claims for reparations for Black enslavement.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
http://pl-pl.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=3808...

In a Q&A at an Pres. Lincoln event this year in Chicago, Gates repeated the storyline...