Actually, yes, I did.
In light of the fallout of the Imus Debacle I’m reminded just how much I dislike Media Whores of all race, gender, and creed. Consider Al Sharpton. The last time I looked, Al Baby doesn’t play women’s basketball at Rutgers and given recent events, I’d say that the team at Rutgers can easily take care of themselves and are empowered to voice their own opinion. Why is he taking offense to Imus’s comments? Does Al Baby think he’s a nappy headed ho? I dunno, but I’ll take a guess as to why: for the media exposure!
What does that have to do with the war in Iraq? Let me start my own version of a spin machine and explain.
First and foremost: I have ever bit of angst for Al Baby that I’ve had for Jack Thompson. And that Media Whore is the whitest white boy in Congress right now, so don’t even think that this has to do with the color of Al’s skin. It has to do with his actions and the verbal diarrhea that he suffers from whenever a camera is pointed in his direction.
On the whole Imus thing… I never liked Imus’s show, so I can’t speak for the “decades of abuse” – I’ve always felt empowered to change the channel rather than change the network – but having heard the reports over the last few days, I’d say Imus has beat the shit outta ever culture on the planet at one point or another. If anything, I think that makes him more equal opportunity than Al Baby. Think of it this way: the lacrosse team at Duke was finally declared innocent of all charges one year after they were falsely accused. Where’s the moral outcry from Al Baby for those guys? Why isn’t the Duke campus burning in outrage because some white boys were wrongfully accused?
When are people going to realize that once you mention any race – or use the word minority – that you are guilty of the very racism that you are speaking out against?
I digress.
Anyway, with Imus he’s the classic example of the Responsibility of Freedom of Speech notion. He has the right to say whatever he wants on his radio show but he’s responsible for it to the stations and/or his audience. You can saw whatever you what and the government can’t stop you but you will have to take responsibility for the fallout of what you say, from the people around you. The thing that is irking me about this is the whole aspect Al Baby brings to it. He’s involved for the media. I shouldn’t be upset seeing as he’s a professional Media Whore but whenever I’m reminded of it, I get a lil tweaked. And what’s more is that he’s exploiting the very people he’s trying to… I dunno why he’s involved. Is he trying to defend the team? What are his actions doing for Rutgers, really? I would love nothing more than if the team went public with the following statement: “We are offended by what Imus said. We, along with our student body, are going to continue to protest until he’s off the air. What he’s done in unforgivable to us. Oh, and Al Sharpton: you don’t speak for us and stay out of our issue.” If they rebuked Al Baby’s support… it would cause a post-sex glow for at least a week.
Ah… *ahem* So. What does this have to do with Iraq? Lemme spin it for you.
It seems to me that the root of all of the angst for black/white relationships in America can be traced back to the years of slavery in our collective past. Slavery that was outlawed – and enforced by citizen’s blood in a civil war – just about 150 years ago. That always seems to be the cornerstone of all of this. Whenever you press people for a reason for something… be it discrimination, reverse discrimination, scholarships, inner city crime, coaches in the Super Bowl, drug usage, whatever: it always seems to come back to “You made slaves out of us!” and “Yeah, sorry about that”.
Accordingly, if recent polls are to be believed, the Democratic party is made up of people of all color, ya? The Democrats want a fixed date to pull out of Iraq. I have mixed feelings about that, as I don’t want an open ended war, but what does it do to all involved if you basically tell the “rebels” in Iraq that “oh, our contract expires in 18 months”? “Hey, stop attacking us for the next year, stockpile your arms, and the day after we leave, you’ll be free to roll over the nation.” How about if we do set a pull out date now and then leave only to find out one month later that we’re needed again? Do we say no? Like I said, I have mixed feelings about it…
What I do know is this: that Democrats want a fixed end date for the war in Iraq and it’s there aren’t many non-Democrat African-American.
So what I want to know is what’s the end date for all of this racial bullshit that is instigated by something that was outlawed 150 years ago? I mean, what’s the half life all of this guilt that we’re supposed to be feeling for stuff that happened before most of us were even born? My ancestors were sipping espresso on the shores of Italy while the slave trade was going on. My relatives migrated to the US without climbing a fence, too, but that’s a whole other issue. Yet for some reason every time I turn around I have to hear about how unfair I’ve been to an entire race or collection of races.
Has anyone stopped to think that maybe all of the “new” racists in our society are being created by the push for equality through selective preferential treatment?
I just want to know where it all ends. What’s the end date for that? When can we finally put the distant past to rest, especially when the majority of the people alive today had nothing to do with that past?
I don’t know, but I fear I won’t be alive to see it.
I call Bush a moron, people disagree or agree.
I call Cheney a moron, people disagree or agree.
I call Barack Obama a moron, people call me a racist.
I call Hillary Clinton a moron, people say I hate women.
Has anyone stopped to think that maybe all of the “new” racists in our society are being created by the push for equality through selective preferential treatment?
I think that the problem is that because of things that happened in the past, there is a system set up that rewards certain people and doesn’t reward others. The same way that the Iraq war isn’t just going to go away whenever the Democrats decide to pull out, the whole idea of slavery and Blacks being “less” than Whites isn’t just going to go away in a few generations.
Even though your relatives (or mine) weren’t involved in slavery doesn’t mean that we don’t benefit from it today. I think it will end when Blacks (or any race) get the same opportunities as Whites. I don’t believe that they are getting that right now. However, does this mean only White folks need to work at it? Hell no. There’s a lot of work to be done by everyone.
p.s. Mentioning race does have it’s uses. If you were in a store and watch Black folks get watched by the clerks and not White folks…and nobody mentions it…does that mean no racism occured?
I agree with your first comment, except that it’s been more than a few generations – closer to 5. Further, what exactly are the benefits that I reap from slavery 150 years ago, for being a third generation Italian-American? I’m sorry but I don’t see that.
As for the black folks getting watched by the clerks, dear god, that’s brought up daily, if you listen to black racists. And even then, in my experience I question it: in the northwest, they trust everyone – in the northeast, they trust no one equally. :)
Yay! You responded!!!!
First comment – I dunno how I can explain it to you other than looking at the numbers. Poor people, people who are rich, people in bad schools, people in dead end jobs…etc. If you can guess which race goes where, then there IS a current problem.
Second comment – I never said (here at least) that this is the case. What if it happened?
I can’t guess. Poor is poor. When you start to point out race, it becomes a racial issue, not a poor issue… but that’s my point.
What if it happened? I’ve had people watch me as a shoplifter risk… did they watch me because I was white or because I had a baggy jacket? Or did they just watch me because they wanted to protect their merchandise? People will automatically assume it’s their race and not how they look – again, this is a form of racism.
At the end of it all, my point to it all is that as soon as you bring up race, equality is impossible.
What if the shop keeper was racist? There is no equality there. I guess the point that I’ve been trying to make (which only gelled now) is that observers may or may not throw race into it, but that doesn’t mean the participants aren’t racist. I could watch things all I want…who is poor and trying to get a better job, who is coming into my store…who is performing the best at work…who has the better resume…but if the person who makes the decisions is racist, it doesn’t matter that I call it. It just IS.
-1 Logic.
That’s not a reply!!!!
Totally is. I hit post and it showed up here.
No one is just “racist”. It’s always earned. You’re looking at things through rose colored glasses of you argue for them, and give them excuses. Human is human is human, and to argue mistreatment for anyone this day in age is racist in itself. Blacks, or any color of person (if they are not an alien) have the same opportunities as whites. If you ask me, I’d say that blacks are shooting themselves in the foot with their own stigma. Have you ever heard a common black person speak??? This day in age they should know better, and they do. It’s all about adaptability and wanting it enough to get it done, and sorry…but they just don’t want to get it done! There are exceptions, but it’s the truth.
Have you ever heard a common black person speak???
What does this even mean? Have YOU ever heard a common black person speak? I work with “common black people” and they seem to be just fine. I grew up with “common black people” and I could understand them, WHEN I WANTED TO LISTEN. Why should black folks assimilate to white culture (and yes, it is a culture as well, not the norm) and completely lose their culture just because white people want them to?
p.s. Hey Randy. How did I get dragged over to randyrants this time? :)
I dunno. Karma? :)
Why should black folks assimilate to white culture (and yes, it is a culture as well, not the norm) and completely lose their culture just because white people want them to? It’s not a “white” culture they’re being asked to assimilate to, and to assume it is could be construed as racist (Oh, the irony! ;). No one’s asking them to “give up their culture”. Nobody’s asking them to quit celebrating Kwanzaa, dance like they have a corncob up their butt or eat mayonnaise. What they ARE being asked to do is quit looking for ghosts to blame anything on, including their (purely human) shortcomings. And for God’s sake, quit tilting at windmills. Realize that if one actively looks for slights and racism, one will very likely find them. Maybe even put a bit more stock in Occam’s Razor. ….. ….. For instance, regarding the speech aspect that’s been mentioned here ~ when anyone wants to be taken seriously and move up in the world, they should speak as if they have had at least some education. I come from Texas where many have a THICK accent peppered with deplorable grammar. If someone, even here, wraps up a job interview by asking, “Say, yew gonna’ call me ter let me know ’bout-tat job?”, they very well may be passed over for the one who asks, “When should I expect a call about the job opening?” And it won’t have a damn thing to do with the color of anyone’s skin. Those who make it out to be racism when the one who speaks much less eloquently happens to be black are the ones I’m speaking of. ….. (Sorry about the “…..” ~ my Enter key’s broke and those are my paragraph breaks, which is why I’m here on Randy’s site in the first place. LOL!) ….. Millions of people have fit into AMERICAN culture without losing their own. My grandparents, great-grandparents, etc., came from many cultures ~ French, English, Bavarian, Native American, and many more. I can remember going to various relatives’ houses and eating brats, revering the sunrise, and celebrating Boxing Day. Yet they were all productive members of society who took responsibility for themselves and their actions. Therefore I can say with some experience that “assimilating” into American culture and keeping one’s own specific culture are definitely NOT mutually exclusive.
BTW, GREAT essay, Randy. IMHO you can sub “Jesse Jackson” for “Al Baby” and it still makes perfect sense.
Linda –
How much interviewing do you do?
– Malia
Interviewing? What do you mean?