September 29, 2007
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The Jena 6
Many thanks to all who listened to my world music radio show last Thursday afternoon. I know that at least two of you did. I hope that more of you can check it out in the weeks to come. My goal is to have at least 50 listeners per week from Xanga.
I also hope that most of my readers are by now familiar with the "Jena 6" case, which has recently come into the worldwide media spotlight due to massive demonstrations down in Jena, Louisiana. If you're not familiar with it, and if you think that overt racism is largely a thing of the past in America, here's a fairly comprehensive 4-minute education for you that will remind you of the Scottsboro Boys case back in the 1930s:
http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/11298-the-jena-6-why-black-men-need-lobbyists?play=1
[I wish I knew how to display the actual screen in my blog, but maybe that's something you can do only with Xanga Premium?]
I even learned a few details I didn't know from watching this little film. I DO know that this is still, in 2007, far from an isolated incident.
It's beyond dispute that white folks in general are absolutely terrified of young black males. If you have an opinion on the subject, I'd be interested in hearing why you think this is so, and how we as a society might go about altering the perception.
God bless us every one.
Comments (32)
If you open up the weblog entry box,you shoud see in the upper right hand side there is an 'Edit HTML' box ,double click on the words,not the box.It will open up the post to accept the code of the video.Copy and paste the folowing code:
http://www.youtube.com/v/YuoiZnr4jLY&rel=0">
Then doube cick 'Edit HTML' again and save the post.It should work. Without premium.
Messages and comments do not accept those codes ,you will have to get it from the video...It is in the "Embed code for blog/MySpace:" box
Will answer this a litttle later....gotta go.
I don't share this feeling John. Young black men don't scare me. lol However, ignorant, white trash red-necks do scare me. And I don't give a flyin flip if anyone's offended by me saying this. I've had my car vandalized by white trash rednecks before, I live next door to a drunken white trash wife beater, and I have to listen to him beating his wife almost nightly.
YUCK!
In NYC the white folk have become complacent because of Giuliani Time, so they don't see a 'threat' from young Black kids because they know the NYPD will squash it QUICK.
Still, the Jena 6 is a bunch of whining over nothing...Al and Jesse needed a photo-op, and is the irony that they're supporting some hoods whilst talking about the evils of rap muzak lost on everyone
I've always been far more afraid of ignorant people than anyone whose skin color is different than mine. The other "quality" that I find reprehensible is arrogance when speaking of race relations. Arrogance and ignorance ARE traits of racism. Ignorance is thinking that every group of black kids (call it more than two) means to harm you. Arrogance is thinking that anyone in this world cares that you think you're better than any other group. Sorry, but what NYCJOYCE just said rubbed me WAY the wrong way. My father, who is probably cheering the whites in Louisiana right now, was to the right of John Birch, a truly arrogant racist - I've spent my life NOT being him.
"It's beyond dispute that white folks in general are absolutely terrified of young black males. If you have an opinion on the subject, I'd be interested in hearing why you think this is so, and how we as a society might go about altering the perception."
hahahahahaha,,, you know,,, ive heard that,,,,, not that its beyond despute,,,, but ive heard that,,,,,
my guess is white folks in general are also absolutely terrified of young hispanic males,,,, were more wrapped up in the adult hispanics right now tho to let that shine thru,,,,, (illegal aliens and all)
i dunno,,, trying to look at it thru the eyes of those that fear someone,,,,, i see many,,, not all,,, many,,, who try purposely to appear scarey looking.
we see the cold blooded,,,, kill anybody we see figure at the movies,,, we go buy ropa to match,,,,,, hahahahahahahahahahaha
lets assume a federal law was passed every male over the age of 7 would wear a brown suit,, black shoes and a red tie.
anyone found out of dress code would be promptly arrested and hauled off to jail,,,,, and lets assume this law was enforced,,,,,
im willing to bet very few people would fear anyone,,,,, as the cold blooded kill anyone you see figure has been eliminated from the streets and now the streets are safe.
i believe uniforms in schools has been proven to solve a lot of the schools problems.
trust me,,, i do believe the brown suit, black shoes and red tie idea is insane....
the next best thing would be for our fearless leaders to shut up about it. we are reminded by them every day that whitey is evil and needs to pay reperations for who knows what for the sins of our forefathers.
i owe no one nothing unless i signed the contract. no one owes me anything unless i performed a service for them and they signed the contract. if i did the service without requesting a contract,,, then my services are free.
being a member of whitey race,,,, or on my home turf here,,, gringo,,,, its been so long,,, i cant really recall being in the midst of my own species,,,,,,,,, hahahahahahahahahahahaha,,,, sorry,,, had to throw that word in,,,, couldnt help myself.
have never quite figured out the problem except our fearless leaders,,,,
after all,,,, its a well known fact,,,, opposites attract.
hahahahahahaha,,, there was a debate last nite,,,,, (this morning) started about midnite on the u4prez site,,,, these two females had been at each others throats and a moderated debate was set up for them to debate,,,, they choose the death penalty,,,
one of them had a husband sitting in on his own computer,,,,, hahahahahahahahahaha,,, at the end the two females were friends and the husband was sleeping on the couch... night and day dont even start to describe their political differences.
opposites attract,,, thats natural human behavior,,,, any deviation from human nature is artifically instigated,,,,, teddy beer and jessie jackson are high up on the list of suspects in my notes.
I grew up in Alabama. Near my high school, when I was in 10th or 11th grade, a homosexual man was burned to death beside a creek. I never worried about issues of race as much as ignorance. I assumed that violence was done by white men. Never bothered to check... but I was certain it was white on white...
If there is a group of people who make me nervous just by their appearance, it's not based on race... It's based on the appearance of ignorance...
I know you can't decide someone is uneducated based on their clothes, but a certain amount of experience tends to start to override what the brain knows. I've been mistreated by groups of young males of many different races. They always had bad grammar and seemed to be lacking in education. There was always a group of them and I had no backup.
I am disturbed by the race situation these days. I think the real problems are found where education and income levels are lower... and that those are the causal factors. I wish it would be addressed in that way rather than black vs. white.
I think the fear is just simple xenophobia. We fear anyone different. I think the middle class is also afraid of poor people, because sometimes poor people have nothing to lose, whereas the middle class is teetering on the brink of poverty. So, if we accept that a disproportianate percentage of blacks live in poverty, it doubles the fear. I am tempted to point at the media, which often reinforces the fear, but I'm not sure that's valid. They certainly focus on the differences between blacks and whites much more that on our cooperation. Does reporting on Jena 6 mention any multiracial groups for peaceful understanding? In the same way, media loved to focus on fighting in Northern Ireland, but rarely mentioned that Protestants and Catholics were often working together; I saw it.
If I have any such lingering fears, I try to ignore them and do my best to not pass them on to my children.
I'm not "terrified of black males" but I'll admit I don't care to be alone on a dark street with a group of black males. Being a smallish female, I'm not a huge fan of being alone on a dark street with a group of white (asian, latino, whatever) males, either, (for damn good reason - it just isn't wise) but I would feel more threatened if the group were animated. Black people tend to be more publicly expressive of their emotions, including anger, than other racial cultures and this can be uncomfortable to those of us who were raised to suffer in silence, stiff upper lip and all that happy horseshit. There's a reason white people have been labeled emotionally repressed.
ryc: malapropisms are part of my girlish charm. Which phrase in particular offends you? And sharing experience is encouraged.
Neat video.....
The way you get it into your blog should be after watching it. There is a button after the area where it says share video. Hit the share button copy the code into your blog entry and talk like you do .When done save the post like you would and give it a moment it should be on your post.
RYC---i've been kicked off the DailyKos, Mother Jones, All About Jazz, and too many other forums and bulletinboards since i've been saying the same thing for years before Michael Richards came out of his sheets and Imus same ol' same ol'ed...cuntservatives and so-called liberals may swear on a stack of bibles that they don't use the "n" word, but they think NIGGER all the time. Wait till you see the new ER i'm working on
EXCHANGE QUESTION---Are you willing to burn me some CDs of your favourite bands in exchange for an exclusive preview my next book...which really parallels the Jena 6 and Up South mentality???
Actually, I'm one that CAN say it honestly - I don't use that word in normal conversation, ever. And I don't think it. I DO use it when I need to express it in a sentence, such as "I find the word Nigger to be something that should be banned from all languages". I guess its because of the way I was raised. That word was a common, ordinary, descriptive phrase for my father. When I was old enough to realize what it meant, and the connotations that went with it, I was appalled that an adult, regardless of political persuasion, would use it. I prefer, when I need to speak derogatively have anyone to use words that have universal meaning.
Rather than go into it here, when I really didn't mean to do anything but apologize to Eccentrique for missing all but his first song today, I'll probably discuss it elsewhere.
I was surprised yesterday when a family member of mine said something racist. She's never talked that way before, but has recently started describing places as "black"... In the past, she would talk about it in terms of the povery level... not race. It's odd. I'm starting to wonder if the race issue is getting worse. I don't have the opportunity to interact with many non-white people in my day to day life so it usually doesn't come up at all for me unless I'm watching race issues stuff on tv.
Anyway... just a random thing that reminded me of this post. Hope you've had a good week.
I'm not scared of black males. But then, I'm all enlightened and sensitive.
Or so disgustingly bigoted it doesn't really bother me.
Either/or.
lol at Drakonskyr, at least you're honest. lol
ryc: Perhaps it is better if I drive the train that runs over the subject of your comment, rofl. I'm so good at it.
And shame on you for noticing my "slip". I didn't proofread, just typed and hit submit. That'll learn me!
I've actually been dating my boyfriend for over two years; so it's not a "new" thing, just something I've never really written about until now, when the move and the new job was a big focus of my time.
And my au pair/europe dreams pretty well died the day I got the call about my father. He is still very ill; though he'll never admit it. He has a brain cyst that has caused loss of nearly all vision in his left eye, and very little short term memory, and brain scans show he is suffering seizures although we don't yet see them outwardly.
It was actually a near shot; I was buying my tickets to London the very same day my mother called and told me about my dad. It was the same week I left Marquette due to both needing time off to drive to ohio and IL constantly, and because I had grown to desperately hate the job. Au pairing had given me the hope to get out of it; and I couldn't face going back. So I worked as a waitress to make ends (hardly) meet. On July 4th, I ironically moved back in with my parents.
As for my friend, I think the feeling of loss is simply because of the suddennes. I had been planning my time in Europe for quite awhile, and we weren't planning on living together any longer. Then, as they will, circumstances changed, and she moved in with me and my boyfriend. She spent 6 weeks in Mexico finishing a minor in Spanish, and came back announcing an engagement. Shortly afterwards, leaving a spectacular job, her family, and naturally, her friends, behind, she moved to Mexico City with little notice and no job to help her out. I hope the best for her, I used to encourage her towards Mexico because of how well she speaks Spanish and how much she loves the culture; but it is her third engagement (and no, Im not kidding) in a year, and everything happened so suddenly; I'm still tempted each friday to dial her number and talk to her like usual.
Err, I think that about catches up the holes in my stories. I hope.
ryc- I usually listen to talk radio when I paint. Occasionally I'll find some music that doesn't irritate me, but it's been a while since I had a cd that I liked to listen to while painting. Sometimes I burn cds of music I'm working on playing on guitar so I can practice the vocals or think about how I play the song while I'm painting. I almost always enjoy Leonard Cohen.
I've followed this case with interest. Have heard impassioned comments from both sides. What a disaster that we can't all live together in harmony. We'll all pink inside.
Trying to help you with the 50 xanga listeners:)
not that i claim its so,,,,,, what proof do you have i aint him?
sorry,,, i was sick as a dog thursday and took some benydril and slept 15 hrs.... i missed your show... ill try next week.
if you have the time and nothing else to do,,,,, my saturday nite show ,,,, scheduled for an hour raged on for 4 1/2 hrs.
i had to beg off after an hour and a half for a road trip early this morning.
theres a link on my site that i hope works.
and i would like some intelligent feedback from the top part of my post.
you know i consider your feedback intelligent.
oh,,,,, hahahahaha,,,, i woke up to 3 friends requests from the radio blog site and over 200 comments on my u4prez profile.
It's awesome that you enjoyed my post! It's a couple pages back... but it's so completely overloaded with comments, I don't recommend even trying ahaha
Anyways. I'm sure that if you explain how much you enjoyed my post to immigration officials, they'll let you in in a heartbeat! Yeah. Friends in high places...
Um. Perhaps not. But we do have some nice parks you can visit.
absolutely,,,,,
the enternal intent, by both parties involved, altho obvious to me (in my mind) obscured by retoric, will do neither.
its time we looked at politicians actions rather than their words.
lets have a contest,,,,, ill name state or federal taxes and or other money gathering schemes where the monies go to purposes rather than their origionally stated destination. you name ones that have the money flowing directly into the origional issued designed for.
who gets to go first?
and jr.....the biggest joke of all. universal medical care is too much government control,,,,, but universal citizen surveylence isnt?
and the next topic i am totally ignorant of is???????
hahahahahahahahahaha
Hey, thanks, and sorry it has taken me so long to respond. You had a world music radio show and I missed it? Let me know when you do it next; I'd love to listen in!
amazing doggo has made the finals (a long time ago) in a citywide spelling bee.
i on the other hand have not.
i can still recall a 3rd grade spelling bee (my class only) and i spelled jello,,, gello.
in the fourth grade,,,,, i identified a flamingo as a type of fish.....
i did in fact know both correct answers,,,,,,, which is probably why i remember the wrong answers.
i never did claim to be able to spell kat anyway.
re: my new pic,,,,, thats supposed to be a metamorphising pic,,,,, it wouldnt copy and paste like that tho. or save. i got an email,,,, you may have seen the one,,, from my sister,,, entitled ,,, what ever happened to the mad magazine kid? on the email as he grew older, he changed into the present day jr.
how many tv muggings are done by white men?
(((((((John))))))) Just dropin' by with some Xanga luv for ya! How the heck are ya? Long time no chat!
ryc- heh.... well obviously it's not possible to make politicians act ethically ROFL. There are no specifics in a day dream!
ryc: thanks. I already have 2 other backup cats, so I'm covered there. Golden Slumbers was part of Abbey Road, and Blackbird was on the white album. I'm sure you'd know them if you heard them.
RYC: Her real name is Dawn Wells. She played "Maryann" on the television show "Gilligan's Island." But more importantly, she was my first real love....or lust.
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