I'd like to win a 2008 Black Weblog Award, or at least get some votes. So, I'm asking you all to go to this link and vote for me. I'm suggesting that you all vote for me as either the Best New Blog, Best Writing on a Blog, Blog to Watch or Best Political Blog. Ok, that's it.
The info is also on the sidebar for y'all to check out.
Pay Attention
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
Monday, August 4, 2008
It's the Swagger, Stupid.
Back when racism was an open sore on the face of America instead of the festering scab it is now, there was one unforgivable crime for black people, particularly black men.
Self confidence.
See, racists didn't like their Negroes with a spine. A black man who liked to make eye contact with white people, who didn't hold his hat in his hands whenever he made a request and who carried himself like a full-fledged member of the human race was seen as an affront to all that was decent. Black women had to face similar humilation, at times their humilation was worse because it also included sexual abuse, but nothing really got racists' blood boiling like a Negro man who "took on airs."
Well, it seems times haven't changed that much.
I could go the standard route and talk about the Uppity Negro phenomenon in detail and what it means to Obama. But, I'm not interested in that. What I want to do is talk about why certain people are so bothered by a black man who seems too smart, too cocky, too wonderful.
It's because they lack swagger.
My mother told me when I was little boy that people will always try to tear you down to make themselves feel better about their own inadequacies. She said that some people just feel small inside, and they need to make everyone else small so the world doesn't tower over them.
Black people in this country have every excuse to grow up lacking self-confidence. At times, it seems like the mission statement of Hollywood and the mainstream media is to reinforce the idea that black people are inferior beings. Many scholars believe that the historical attacks on black people's collective self-image is at the root of many of the ills that plague our communities today.
Yet Obama, and those black men in the past, have managed to ignore the message that they are less than. They've refused to bow to the accepted wisdom, and instead forged their own path that doesn't include being anybody's shine boy. Despite all the pressure on these men to cave, to give in, they've remained strong, proud men who exude confidence and cool.
Don't you see how that would mess with a racist's mind?
After all, how many racists truly believe that they would be able to hold their heads high if they had to endure the same abuse? How many of them, deep in the dank recesses of their souls, believe they would have the core strength to walk tall when everything in the world tells them to bend their backs?
Not very many.
That's why they get so angry at Obama, and why they got so angry at those proud black men in the past. Obama reflects their own weakness, he shines a light on ugly places they would rather hide. He makes them take stock of what they've done with their lives. For many racists, that's not an enjoyable enterprise.
And so they hate his swagger.
Self confidence.
See, racists didn't like their Negroes with a spine. A black man who liked to make eye contact with white people, who didn't hold his hat in his hands whenever he made a request and who carried himself like a full-fledged member of the human race was seen as an affront to all that was decent. Black women had to face similar humilation, at times their humilation was worse because it also included sexual abuse, but nothing really got racists' blood boiling like a Negro man who "took on airs."
Well, it seems times haven't changed that much.
I could go the standard route and talk about the Uppity Negro phenomenon in detail and what it means to Obama. But, I'm not interested in that. What I want to do is talk about why certain people are so bothered by a black man who seems too smart, too cocky, too wonderful.
It's because they lack swagger.
My mother told me when I was little boy that people will always try to tear you down to make themselves feel better about their own inadequacies. She said that some people just feel small inside, and they need to make everyone else small so the world doesn't tower over them.
Black people in this country have every excuse to grow up lacking self-confidence. At times, it seems like the mission statement of Hollywood and the mainstream media is to reinforce the idea that black people are inferior beings. Many scholars believe that the historical attacks on black people's collective self-image is at the root of many of the ills that plague our communities today.
Yet Obama, and those black men in the past, have managed to ignore the message that they are less than. They've refused to bow to the accepted wisdom, and instead forged their own path that doesn't include being anybody's shine boy. Despite all the pressure on these men to cave, to give in, they've remained strong, proud men who exude confidence and cool.
Don't you see how that would mess with a racist's mind?
After all, how many racists truly believe that they would be able to hold their heads high if they had to endure the same abuse? How many of them, deep in the dank recesses of their souls, believe they would have the core strength to walk tall when everything in the world tells them to bend their backs?
Not very many.
That's why they get so angry at Obama, and why they got so angry at those proud black men in the past. Obama reflects their own weakness, he shines a light on ugly places they would rather hide. He makes them take stock of what they've done with their lives. For many racists, that's not an enjoyable enterprise.
And so they hate his swagger.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Why So Surprised?
Short post today.
I've been reading and watching the news recently and there has been a lot of hand-wringing about John McCain's decision to immerse his campaign in the putrid waters of the Attack Ad Swamp. Everywhere I turn, people seem so distraught and shocked that McCain would abandon his high-minded principles and ignore his promises about running a respectful campaign. It's like the media can't believe that Mr. Straight Talk actually has a forked tongue.
Well, duuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Did people really thing John McCain would allow himself to lose to a negro named Barack Obama because of a little thing called integrity? John McCain has been trying to become this country's president for eight years, there is no way in hell, he would allow that dream to go up in smoke because of some stupid promise he made to be civil.
Seriously, people do realize that he abandoned his disabled wife, right?
The distress and shock in these media reports just tickles me. It's like these journalists never considered the possibility that John McCain's ego would not allow him to lose to a black guy. They can't fathom that like most human beings John McCain's morality is malleable, and all of his talk about honor, loyalty and honesty only counts when the situation is optimal.
Truthfully, I think that if John McCain were losing to Al Gore, or John Edwards or even Hillary Clinton, it wouldn't be such a big deal. But, to lose to some black guy with a Muslim name, well that's just too much for any man to bear. He can't stand to watch his dream, his life's ambition, dashed by a darkie. That cross is much too heavy.
This whole kerfuffle is an example of the media's unwillingness examine the character of folks they have deified in the past. A good reputation, much like a bad reputation, is very difficult to lose when it comes to the media.
Once journalists have placed an individual in the appropriate character box it almost takes an act of God to get reporters to change their minds. This is true at every level of the media business; journalists love to decide who the good guys and bad guys are.
John McCain has been anointed a "good guy." So, it's jarring for all of his media groupies to see him acting like a "bad guy." They are so enamored with their own intelligence that it's incomprehensible that they could have been so wrong. If they were wrong about McCain, who else were they wrong about? How many other mistakes have they made?
Nobody really wants to discuss that.
I've been reading and watching the news recently and there has been a lot of hand-wringing about John McCain's decision to immerse his campaign in the putrid waters of the Attack Ad Swamp. Everywhere I turn, people seem so distraught and shocked that McCain would abandon his high-minded principles and ignore his promises about running a respectful campaign. It's like the media can't believe that Mr. Straight Talk actually has a forked tongue.
Well, duuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Did people really thing John McCain would allow himself to lose to a negro named Barack Obama because of a little thing called integrity? John McCain has been trying to become this country's president for eight years, there is no way in hell, he would allow that dream to go up in smoke because of some stupid promise he made to be civil.
Seriously, people do realize that he abandoned his disabled wife, right?
The distress and shock in these media reports just tickles me. It's like these journalists never considered the possibility that John McCain's ego would not allow him to lose to a black guy. They can't fathom that like most human beings John McCain's morality is malleable, and all of his talk about honor, loyalty and honesty only counts when the situation is optimal.
Truthfully, I think that if John McCain were losing to Al Gore, or John Edwards or even Hillary Clinton, it wouldn't be such a big deal. But, to lose to some black guy with a Muslim name, well that's just too much for any man to bear. He can't stand to watch his dream, his life's ambition, dashed by a darkie. That cross is much too heavy.
This whole kerfuffle is an example of the media's unwillingness examine the character of folks they have deified in the past. A good reputation, much like a bad reputation, is very difficult to lose when it comes to the media.
Once journalists have placed an individual in the appropriate character box it almost takes an act of God to get reporters to change their minds. This is true at every level of the media business; journalists love to decide who the good guys and bad guys are.
John McCain has been anointed a "good guy." So, it's jarring for all of his media groupies to see him acting like a "bad guy." They are so enamored with their own intelligence that it's incomprehensible that they could have been so wrong. If they were wrong about McCain, who else were they wrong about? How many other mistakes have they made?
Nobody really wants to discuss that.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Oh, Now Y'all Can Read Between The Lines?
So, apparently white people can now read between the lines when it comes to race.
That's the only thing I can take from this latest dust-up between the Obama and McCain campaigns. For those of y'all in the dark, Obama recently pointed out that he might have some difficulty blending in at a party for past presidents.
McCain's campaign and every conservative commentator in the world has accused Obama of "playing the race card." Y'all know how I despise that phrase, but that's a topic for another day. What I found curious was that all these white people suddenly were able to determine that Obama was talking about race although he never used the words black, white or race.
I don't know about y'all, but it's been my experience that white people typically don't think racism or race is involved in an issue unless it is stated explicitly. Remember when Don Imus swallowed his loafers regarding the Rutgers women's basketball team? Lots of people said his comments had nothing to do with race, they were about hair and "tough-looking" women.
Shoot, when Rodney King, Amadou Diallo and Sean Bell suffered at the hands of the police, the first thing some white people said was that race wasn't a factor. This was despite the fact that only young black men seem to enjoy getting gunned down or beaten in the streets.
Phrases like "you people," "those people", "welfare queens," "gangstas" and "thugs" aren't code words if you ask many white people. There were no color connotations in Hillary's appeals to "hard-working Americans." Nope, the only time it's ok to accuse somebody of racism or racist appeals, is they use one of the magical words like "nigger," and even that might not count because of hip hop.
Yet, Obama makes a comment about how Republicans will attack him because he doesn't look like all the past presidents, and suddenly all these previously dense conservatives can smell the racial implications in his comments like bloodhounds.
Isn't it amazing how that works?
I'm not arguing that Obama wasn't talking about race with his comment. I think that's exactly what he was doing in an effort to prevent McCain from going to to the next level with his attack ads. However, I don't think that's playing the race card. Given the Republicans past history, why wouldn't Obama assume that they would try to paint him as a scary, evil Negro?
But, what I'm really pissed about is the fact that so many white people now find themselves able to decipher implicit racial issues. I'm sure I'm not the only one who wishes they displayed this ability on a more regular basis. Historically, white people have shown a shocking ignorance when it comes to racial issues involving black people. They love to set impossible standards for claims of racism from black people, but those standards apparently evaporate when they think they are the victims of a racial attack.
Funny how that works, isn't it?
That's the only thing I can take from this latest dust-up between the Obama and McCain campaigns. For those of y'all in the dark, Obama recently pointed out that he might have some difficulty blending in at a party for past presidents.
McCain's campaign and every conservative commentator in the world has accused Obama of "playing the race card." Y'all know how I despise that phrase, but that's a topic for another day. What I found curious was that all these white people suddenly were able to determine that Obama was talking about race although he never used the words black, white or race.
I don't know about y'all, but it's been my experience that white people typically don't think racism or race is involved in an issue unless it is stated explicitly. Remember when Don Imus swallowed his loafers regarding the Rutgers women's basketball team? Lots of people said his comments had nothing to do with race, they were about hair and "tough-looking" women.
Shoot, when Rodney King, Amadou Diallo and Sean Bell suffered at the hands of the police, the first thing some white people said was that race wasn't a factor. This was despite the fact that only young black men seem to enjoy getting gunned down or beaten in the streets.
Phrases like "you people," "those people", "welfare queens," "gangstas" and "thugs" aren't code words if you ask many white people. There were no color connotations in Hillary's appeals to "hard-working Americans." Nope, the only time it's ok to accuse somebody of racism or racist appeals, is they use one of the magical words like "nigger," and even that might not count because of hip hop.
Yet, Obama makes a comment about how Republicans will attack him because he doesn't look like all the past presidents, and suddenly all these previously dense conservatives can smell the racial implications in his comments like bloodhounds.
Isn't it amazing how that works?
I'm not arguing that Obama wasn't talking about race with his comment. I think that's exactly what he was doing in an effort to prevent McCain from going to to the next level with his attack ads. However, I don't think that's playing the race card. Given the Republicans past history, why wouldn't Obama assume that they would try to paint him as a scary, evil Negro?
But, what I'm really pissed about is the fact that so many white people now find themselves able to decipher implicit racial issues. I'm sure I'm not the only one who wishes they displayed this ability on a more regular basis. Historically, white people have shown a shocking ignorance when it comes to racial issues involving black people. They love to set impossible standards for claims of racism from black people, but those standards apparently evaporate when they think they are the victims of a racial attack.
Funny how that works, isn't it?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
