Tag: collection

Categories
Blog

Blackness Is The Fulcrum

I’m often asked why I’ve focused so much more on anti-black racism than on Asians over the years. Some suggest I suffer from internalized racism.

That might well be true since who doesn’t suffer from internalized racism?  I mean, even white people internalize racism. The difference is that white people’s internalized racism is against people of color, and it’s backed up by those who control societal institutions and capital.

But some folk have more on their minds.  They say that focusing on black and white reinforces a false racial binary that marginalizes the experiences of non-black people of color. No … Read more “Blackness Is The Fulcrum”

Categories
Blog

The Privilege Game

In the classic book, Faces At The Bottom Of The Well:  The Permanence of Racism, legal scholar Derrick Bell put forth this proposition: “Black people will never gain full equality in this country. Even those herculean efforts we hail as successful will produce no more than temporary ‘peaks of progress,’ short-lived victories that slide into irrelevance as racial patterns adapt in ways that maintain white dominance. This is a hard-to-accept fact that all history verifies. We must acknowledge it, not as a sign of submission, but as an act of ultimate defiance.”

I consider Derrick Bell a racial justice … Read more “The Privilege Game”

Categories
Blog

Race Basics

A  friend of mine sent me an email with a link to an article entitled, The History of Race… And Why It Matters.  The article tells the story about how race was invented out of whole cloth, at a time when African and European immigrants lived in relative harmony in North America, purely for the political purpose of justifying race slavery in the colonies.

This was news to her. She had no idea that long before the Civil Rights Movement, there was a time when Black and white people in North America lived together in integrated communities. They married … Read more “Race Basics”

Categories
Blog

Why I Rooted For Mitt, Or Rick Santorum Is A Danger…Still

Hallelujah! Rick Santorum is finally out of the Republican primary race! What, you didn’t think I would feel that way?

I’ve been listening to liberal media pundits talk about the unlikely prospect of Rick Santorum winning the Republican presidential nomination as if it would be a “gift” to Democrats all season. Some liberals have even turned out Democrats to vote for Santorum in open primaries. And now, some of them are talking like they’re actually a little sad that he dropped out, boohooing over how good it was for Democrats to have him in the race.

I say they’re nuts. … Read more “Why I Rooted For Mitt, Or Rick Santorum Is A Danger…Still”

Categories
Blog

My First Seder

What you make of liberation, that is the trick. Can you, unshackled, set someone else free?

– from “exodus and after” by Cynthia Greenberg.

I just attended my first Passover Seder.  For those, like me, who are new to this tradition, Seder is a gathering of remembrance of the Jewish story of liberation from slavery.  I’m 50.  One is not supposed to be a racial justice advocate attending his first Seder at 50!

I did once “observe” a Seder in Portland, Oregon circa 1991. It took place on the anniversary of the murder of an Ethiopian man named Mulugeta Seraw … Read more “My First Seder”

Categories
Blog

Homophobia and Racism: How They Are Connected And Why People Of Color Should Care

The recent document dump of the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage (NOM) reveals their racist and homophobic strategy to divide the Democratic Party. Among other things, the docs state: “The strategic goal of this project is to drive a wedge between gays and Blacks—two key Democratic constituencies. Find, equip, energize and connect African American spokespeople for marriage, develop a media campaign around their objections to gay marriage as a civil right; provoke the gay marriage base into responding by denouncing these spokesmen and women as bigots…”

And, “The Latino vote in America is a key swing vote… Will the process … Read more “Homophobia and Racism: How They Are Connected And Why People Of Color Should Care”

Categories
Blog

The War on Women of Color

The b.s. that passes for news is enough to give a person the information superhighway version of road rage.

Hardly a word of substance had been uttered about moms until  Hilary Rosen‘s statement that work-at-home mom of five Anne Romney never worked “a day in her life” became ammo in the war over women(s’ votes). Now one can barely turn on the TV without seeing the clip of Mitt Romney’s January 2012 quote about forcing women on welfare to work so they can experience “the dignity” of labor.

BTW: Earth to Romney! There’s no “dignity” … Read more “The War on Women of Color”

Categories
Blog

How To Recognize A Racist: A Note To The National Review

Surprise! The National Review is firing another writer for racism.

According to National Review editor Rich Lowry,

“Unbeknowst to us, occasional Phi Beta Cons contributor Robert Weissberg (whose book was published a few years ago by Transaction) participated in an American Renaissance conference where he delivered a noxious talk about the future of white nationalism. He will no longer be posting here. Thanks to those who brought it to our attention.”

The speech happened last month, and Lowry needed someone to bring this to his attention?  Sounds like the National Review needs a little lesson in recognizing racism.

So, here’s … Read more “How To Recognize A Racist: A Note To The National Review”

Categories
Blog

What If Trayvon Martin Was Asian?

In a Daily Kos article, Laurence Lewis asks the provocative question, “What if Trayvon Martin had been white and George Zimmerman were Black?” I’m guessing you get the point. Clearly, if the races were reversed, things would be very, very different.

But this got me to thinking, what if Trayvon Martin had been Asian, say Japanese American for example? Would he have been profiled as a potential menace? Would he have provoked George Zimmerman to say, as revealed on the 911 recording, “These a**holes always get away”?

I’m guessing, no. Moreover, a Japanese American Trayvon would be exempt from … Read more “What If Trayvon Martin Was Asian?”

Categories
Blog

Four Tips On Talking About Racism

I’m often asked the question, “How do you talk about racism with white people who think we’re post-racial?” It’s a good question. I wish I had an easy answer. Short of that, here are a few tips to try:

First tip is, avoid moral superiority. It’s not only unflattering to you, it also doesn’t work. I know, I tried it all through my 20s. It felt f**king great, but it accomplished next to nothing. Racism is, for sure, a moral problem, but the solution will require something other than moralizing.

Second, find common ground. One way is to use the … Read more “Four Tips On Talking About Racism”