pump the brakes on the auto-assumption

what this white priest illustrates very nicely for the public ... is that rev wright is not an american hater, a bigot, or a radical ...

i am sick with this AUTOMATIC ASSUMPTION that something is wrong with wright. it's one thing to have an opinion about wright. it's another thing for the media to speak about him as if EVERYONE has UNIVERSALLY agreed that wright is a hater, bigot, and a radical. there is no discussion at all about the content of his words as they are immediately dismissed. it's truly not that i am wright's biggest fan (i actually haven't even thought about my position on it) it's that the media is (once again) being LAZY and SIMPLEMINDED. which only influences the american public to be just as lazy.

hater, bigot, radical ... lazy, lazy, lazy ... some other dude wrote a great blog on this very topic and how if we take the time and effort to look at the content of rev wright's words ... there can be a more nuanced conclusion about rev wright. not all good ... but not ALL BAD (a.k.a. hater, bigot, radical).

sounds very HUMAN.

post-pennsylvanianism

i'm not afraid to admit it ... i was wrong. wrong, wrong about PA. i am just on this new new shit ... the love shit ... the thinking positive shit ...

it's funny cuz america sure is testing me ... especially with the post-pennsy tenor of this democratic primary ... the post-PA syndrome now has barack obama on the ropes ... and the media, with their power to frame the terms of the debate, is questioning obama's general electability ...

there's already a good blog on that.

cuz my blog is not here to prove whether it is happening or not - it is.

so, it didn't hurt me to think positive. my ego don't hurt and it aint even bruised. but, since PA, part of me is tempted to wash my hands. throw in the towel. and say fuck it and fuck you america. cuz america is showing it's ass again.

america is answering the question people loved asking at the start of this presidential race: IS AMERIKKKA READY FOR A BLACK PRESIDENT?

i refused then and i refuse now to answer this question. cuz i don't want what i say to come true. you can guess. i will only publicly state that i believe it could happen and only amerikkka can show us.

and she already showing signs of hesitation ... aint she? don't you just love this fucking country?

since PA the media has created a new narrative for obama ... how will he win white working class voters? or white rural centrists? or white evangelical factory managers? or white people who scratch their butt after a beer at the local bar? or white people, white people, white people ...

are those white people ready for a black president?

i am going to think positive. i am going to think ... you never know. i am not going to deny that there are bigots ... i am just praying and believing ... and in the meantime i'm calling out the media and any people who i think are a lil ... hard to love.

i must admit though while i won't admit defeat and capitulation to the bigots of america ... i am not so interested in this race anymore. i don't watch msnbc like i used to. fuck them :) i don't watch cnn. i don't watch no morning shows. i barely read the blogs anymore ... america is back to boring me with their racism.

cuz i already know that barack obama could win the general election. but in a post-pennsylvania world ... he now has to get there first.

pigs part two

instead of training cops ... we can train kids to deal with cops ... i have pasted a link to an article below ... about a bed-stuy non-profit, Project Re-Generation (PR-G), that is attempting to ease the divide between cops and young black people in black communities ... i support this non-profit because it's the shit ... but i also support this effort in general ... it is a prime example of a black person attacking the problems he sees in his neighborhood ... it is a prime example of how we take our own neighborhoods and youth back ... it is a prime example of how not to be discouraged when larger society and the rest of america fails us ... it is a prime example of how to take matters into our own hands - positively ... keep on brother shakur (barnabas that is) ... you can also check him and his works on the myspace ... god bless your efforts!

1. Last week PR-G and 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement did a Police confrontation workshop for the Rites Of Passage participants, for which there is a 5-minute video.

2. Writers from the NY Times were present and wrote a story on the workshop (two ROP participants were referenced).

pigs

i don't even really have the right words for the outcome of the sean bell case or his tragic death.

it's one of them things ... you either believe some cops are racist or you don't. you either know they dirty or you don't.

you can believe in your fairytales and nothing i write here can change your mind.

or you can believe the truth. the truth will stand.

when me and you are dead and buried the dna evidence might reveal the truth. or two generations from now we might find a cop's secret diary. or five generations from now we might actually clean up the police and the justice system and admit that many cops have been dirty.

yeah, maybe. and maybe barack obama will be president. maybe.

but for now ... justice and truth ... are as hard to find as a boyfriend.

and they wonder why WE bitter? and they wonder why we stopped snitching? and they wonder why we act like we can't get a fair shake in america? and they wonder why we hate cops? and they wonder why we hate america?

well, i don't hate america (anymore) cuz i won't let her take my soul the way she has with countless others (including cops).

but this ... this sean bell verdict ... this ... is one reason why.

david sirota wrote this one - not the kid

i find this blogger, david sirota, to be very smart. i think his arguments about a 'race chasm' are right on point. you can find more of his blogs on this topic at huffington post and other sites.

here is his latest blog in its entirety (even the update at the bottom):

David Sirota
Pennsylvania & the Persistence of the Race Chasm
Posted April 23, 2008 | 10:00 AM (EST)

A few weeks ago, I published an article in In These Times showing how Hillary Clinton has been winning states almost exclusively in the Race Chasm - states whose populations are more than 6 percent but less than 17 percent black. The results of the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania - a state whose demographics fall squarely in the Race Chasm - continue the trend.

I have hypothesized that the Race Chasm exists because of racial politics. Specifically, in states where there is almost no black population, black-white racial politics has little traction because it isn't part of the political dialect. In states where there is a very large black population, the black vote can offset a racially motivated white vote. But in the Race Chasm, the black vote is too small to offset a racially motivated white vote.

So how prevalent was race as a factor in voting in Pennsylvania? The exit polls suggest that when Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) previously said race would be a huge factor, he was absolutely correct. Specifically, page 4 and 5 of the CNN exit poll show a whopping 19 percent of Pennsylvania voters said race was an important factor in their vote, with Clinton winning almost 60 percent of that segment. Broken down further, 13 percent of the white vote said race was a major factor in their vote, with Clinton winning 75 percent of that group.

These are big numbers, especially considering the fact that these numbers only represent voters who are willing to admit to pollsters they are voting on race. The real number is probably much higher, because some voters may not want to disclose such taboo voting habits.

Let me reiterate something I wrote in my original Race Chasm analysis:

Clearly, race is not the only force moving votes. Demographic groups -- white, black or any other -- do not vote as monoliths. Additionally, the Race Chasm does not mean every white voter who votes against Obama nor every black voter who supports Obama is racially motivated.

However, considering the exit polling and the fact that Pennsylvania falls squarely in the demographic Race Chasm, it is clear that those who continue to pretend race is not a major factor in this campaign are deliberately averting their eyes from a very powerful force in the Democratic primary.

UPDATE: I should have added this into the original article. Some folks say that even discussing the Race Chasm is good or bad for one or another of the candidates in the primary or general election. That may or may not be true - but I don't really care. Political junkies tend to forget that the whole world does not revolve around the next election - and that yes - I know it's hard for some people to fathom - but some issues like racism are much bigger and more important than whatever election cycle we may be in. Racism is something that has been a part of American life for, oh, two centuries. If this presidential race is becoming a vehicle to talk about and confront and expose that racism, then that's a good thing - regardless of whichever candidates some think it may help or hurt.

poseur racista

the quote i pasted below represents a euro-centric worldview and the same attitude pat buchanan adopted prior to the pennsylvania primary. i am just amassing all the evidence for when i take america to court for being fucking racist.

from huffington post link http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-zogby/
ball-is-now-in-obamas-cou_b_98239.html:

"Make no mistake -- the Clinton win in Pennsylvania puts the burden of proof back on the shoulders of Obama, who must show white ethnic voters that he is worthy of their support. He did this effectively in Wisconsin earlier this year, and he must do it again in Indiana. They were evaluating him in Pennsylvania, and he closed the gap with Clinton in the week before the election, but he was unable to close the deal with them for the reasons I mentioned above."

what is wrong with white male voters?

the alternative title is: what is wrong with pat buchanan?

as i sit by my TV ... pat buchanan asks the question: what is wrong with barack obama (if he fails to win white male voters in PA)? WOW ... on so many levels i rush to express 14 different thoughts at once ...

let me start with the love struggle. when pat buchanan poses questions like these on NATIONAL television i want to rip his heart out - thereby voiding all opportunities to love pat because well, he would be a dead and heartless body lying on the floor. at which point i would buy a tee shirt saying I HEART PAT BUCHANAN. that would be easy. but how to love him while his ole ass is still alive???

sigh. i'm digging deep for compassion and here it goes: pat buchanan is simply a product of his environment and family and life experiences. he views the entire world through his own tailor-made-white-man-lens. he lives in his own dream. he is a husband and father ... probably a grandfather. he breathes just like me. he cries (i know he does!) just like me. he gets scared, nervous, and proud ... just like me.


sigh.

i guess i'm really mad that he has so much POWER. the kind of power where you can say your personal opinion and it gets carried into every home in america by msnbc airwaves ... the kind of power where you can say what you think and if it's controversial enough ... bbc, cspan, cnn, and the ny times will call your assistant to schedule an interview.

the power of posing the question.

it is real. it is very strong. it is why the media has so much POWER. even if the question is illegitimate i.e. is the bell curve book right - do black people genetically have a lower intellect? or what is wrong with barack obama (if he doesn't win white male voters in PA)? or do you love america more than your pastor reverend wright?

the power of posing the question ... is the power to frame the argument. it is the power to set the terms of the debate.

it would never occur to pat to pose the reverse question ... he makes an automatic assumption that the person who is wrong ... is barack. sure, candidates must win voters and not the other way around. ok. so?

why won't white males vote for obama? is there something obama must do or should we take a closer look at the voter? or maybe the question could have been: why isn't barack obama winning that contingency? is something wrong with those white men if they don't vote for him? why does anybody have to be WRONG? maybe there's a more nuanced and smart analysis of the situation.

but instead pat, in his infinite wisdom, suggests ... there is something ... WRONG - with barack obama.

nothing is wrong. not with barack. and not with white male voters. i'm tempted to say the only one wrong is PAT BUCHANAN ... but that would not be very loving ...

sigh. i am so tired of old racists who never step out of their old black, laced up shoes ... i am so tired of these white men who have the power to pose the question ... even as a black man marches towards the presidential nomination ...

i only hope ... the Lord's plan is to show america to itself and others ... to make us bleed so bad with this emotional poison ... that we are eventually purged, cleansed and purified in the fire ... but pat buchanan will never read this (cuz uh nobody reads this right now) ...

or will he? at this point (now having purged my own poision) ... i simply pray.