Liz Brody vs. The Black Racist Jerk Who Thinks He is Funny and Refers to White People as Bumpkins

The below are comments made by a stereotypical, educated, black American racist who has become successful in life despite the torrent of white racism he endures, as he puts it, every single day. He begins, of course, not by addressing the issues but by vehemently insulting white people; next, he establishes himself and all black people as perpetual victims, and then goes on to vindicate his own brand of virulent racism. Later, he tries to act funny and thoughtful, but falls flat.

This thread was in response to a post about Ebony magazine. I believe these comments are worth a new post because they clearly reveal that "well-meaning and enlightened" black racist philosophy is a clear and present danger to harmonious race relations in this country, and in more ways than one.

Judge for yourself.

====================================================

Anonymous said...

You guys are idiots. I've always been a strong advocate of reading and more importantly studying history. It becomes painfully obvious when reading this drivel, that white ppl are not willfully ignorant of racial issues/history rather grossly uninformed. One blogger actually concludes if "we" (blk ppl) simply stop talking about it--racism will simply go away. Using that logic the civil war nor the civil rights movement were necessary. If we simply stop talking about racism blk ppl would have been free and equal. Brilliant!

No the real logic behind not discussing racism is to put the "pitiful" white ppl at ease for having such wretched ancestry and being the "unwilling" inheritors of white privilege. rofl. (sorry i almost thought this blog was satire)To say Al Sharpton and Jesse are racist is a tepid attempt to silence the canary in the coal mine. Every democracy should have private citizens willing to speak against the institution and the powerholders.

Now you brain trusts are declaring Ebony a racist mag. Wow. Has it ever occurred to you intellectual morlocks that Ebony magazine is the only forum where blk ppl can openly express their opinions. I don't see any mainstream mags asking the same questions of blk ppl. Talk about double standards.And yes Ebony is a black magazine formed during a time when blk ppl could not have a forum to discuss issues in mainstream media. Forged during racism, not a product of racism.

Thanks for laughs!

March 31, 2009 7:28 AM
____________

Dear Anonymous Insulting Ebony-loving Black Racist,

I am so glad you posted here, and that you are defending Ebony Magazine because it perfectly demonstrates the point.Who is an idiot? Let's recap.

White People are "grossly uninformed." That's not a racist statement, of course. And "the pitiful white people" must be put at ease for "having such wretched ancestry." Now, that's not racist, of course. Well, to this "white person" of "wretched ancestry" it is racist, pathologically racist in the vein of Adolf Hitler. Nothing said by you, Anonymous Black Racist, has the least credibility due to your mind having been dipped in the hateful well of black racism, so absolute and self-cleansing that you can openly make the most obvious racist statements while decrying racism, so egoistic and ignorant that anyone with "white" skin who doesn't agree with your opinion is at least ignorant and pitiful.

This isn't a satire, it's a tragedy, but it points to why race relations in America will continually be troubled by racists in the black community who are enthralled by the commentary and slanted truth of Ebony Magazine.

Thanks for the tears, you miserable jerk. Rejoice in your time.I'm off to double-check my ancestry now. It seems you know far more than I do.

LB

March 31, 2009 10:12 AM
____________

@Elizabeth Brody.

Acidic commentary tends to milk the truth from those normally unwilling to give it. (hence my vitriol).It's hysterically funny to hear you guys depict Ebony magazine as racist.(rofl!!). When its obvious that many of you posters only become aware of it either through this blog or random sightings on newstands.

Want to know why blk ppl are obsessed with race.....??? because we live it everyday. White ppl have the social privilege of not having to think about race nor engage in it by thought, activity, nor establish any values around it and suffer ZERO impact on their daily lives. And yet race still works to a white person's benefit. It's also retarded (yes i'm being abusive again because it warrants it) to say that somehow its only okay for blk ppl to have racial pride, and have media devoted to it. How about People Magazine, NBC, the NY times. Seriously every major media outlet pours out more positive images of white ppl. If one were not from the US and read USA today, the NY times, or the Wall street journal, you wouldnt think the US had ppl of color. These media outlets all reinforce "whiteness". Just because the title isn't White Chocolate doesnt make it any less potent in socially reinforcing whiteness.and elizabeth---you calling me racist doesn't offend me. "racist" as an epithet has been reserved exclusively for white ppl (lol). since you guys tend to take such umbrage at being called one (true or not).you guys are dying to call blk ppl out as racists, as if the existence of blk racists somehow perpetuates the inequality in our society. white racism only matters because white ppl control the system. racism w/out power is empty. guys get off your high horse. and again i would try my best to educate you bumpkins, but i'll leave it to your own kind to do that. maybe you will take it better.

April 1, 2009 2:15 PM
____________

Dear Black Racist Who Works for Ebony Magazine,

Yes, there is a good chance you are employed by Ebony. Why? Because you refuse to address the specific black racist viewpoints and statements made by contributors to that magazine. Some highlights of your most recent hate speech that pathetically attempts a tone of light humor:

- "racist" as an epithet has been reserved exclusively for white people ..."
- "I would try my best to educate you bumpkins ..."
- "These [white] media outlets all reinforce "whiteness".
- "white racism only matters because white people control the system"

I love the last one, black racist person, since it conveniently gives you the moral license you need to not only practice your own ugly racism, and thereby bond daily with your peers, but to wallow indignantly in whatever failure you have made of yourself. After all, since whites "control the system" (whatever that really means) then whites can be scapegoated for your inability to succeed. No? Yes?

Go back to school, get an education, start your own business, do what you want. Then once you have become black entrepeneur of the year, you can sit back with your martini and find even more reasons why you are constantly being discriminated against. Why? Because it's your religion my friend. You are a slave to it, not to white people.

Open your eyes, learn that all racism is bad because it simply continues the circle of hate and misunderstanding.

Peace and Love

LB

April 2, 2009 3:07 PM
____________

@elizabeth brody.

"wallow indignantly in whatever failure you have made of yourself." why would you assume that i have neither academic nor professional success. what in my tone, manner, speech, or vocabulary would indicate that i'm a failure. hmmm.

"Go back to school, get an education, start your own business"...too late i already have. I have a BS in Info systems from one of the top schools in the country, work for a Fortune 100 company, and have my own web design business. Who the hell is blaming white ppl?!??! roflmao!!!

"bond daily with your peers", why would you assume that my peers bond over "racist" rhetoric? Your comments alone indicate your own prejudice of me as a blk individual, without having even the slightest hint of knowledge about me you have already defined my educational attainment and professional success. Just because i criticize white ppl is not because i hate them nor because i feel grossly inhibited by white ppl. Its because it needs to be said. And too be honest i've never actually been a big reader of Ebony magazine. But i know your "Black Racist Who Works for Ebony Magazine" is a silly attempt at jest.

"Why? Because it's your religion my friend"--haha. Racism being bad versus racism have ill effects are two different things. I could actually hate your guys live next door to you, work with you, etc. Would my simply hating you have an ill effect on your way of life? Of course not. Now when ppl who have power collectively hate, thats a different scenario. Whether racism is bad or not becomes a moot point taken into this context. And my initial point was --to label Ebony magazine without having any previous knowledge about the history and nature of the magazine is misguided.

Trust me on this-- Ebony magazine is far from racist. If you are looking for examples of blk racist then you are far off target if Ebony magazine is your culprit. Trust me i could find more explicit examples of Blk media that are explicitly racist.

But again, my point is that all of this finger-pointing is sheer nonsense. I've noticed that for some closet white racists, finger-pointing of "blk racists" has become a sport. Partially because it attempts to deflect any criticism of white racism, which is far more entrenched, vicious, and enduring. In all seriousness, check out Tim Wise if you are serious about why there are misunderstandings between the races. If not, I'll just continue to bash you with comic induced diatribes. Haha!!!

April 3, 2009 8:58 AM
____________

Dear Black Racist Trying to Be a Comic,

Just a few notes and comments below.

Finally, after bashing all white people as bumpkins, racists, idiots, pitiful with wretched ancestry (LOL!!!), and so forth, and after making your self-serving case that your racism is justified, you reveal the following:

"I have a BS in Info systems from one of the top schools in the country, work for a Fortune 100 company, and have my own web design business. Who the hell is blaming white ppl?!??!"

Ho, ho, black racist jerk! I finally got you to reveal some pertinent info about yourself. And I was right! You are just the stereotypical black racist I thought you were. The worst black racists seem to be those who meet with the most success in this white power society. Casual, armchair, educated black racists. Ah, so, you are not the victim of racism after all, and I assume that a couple of bumpkin white racists assisted you in your climb to the top? Oh, but I'm sure you'll come up with some slight or other to prove you are or were a victim of the bad old white people!

"bond daily with your peers", why would you assume that my peers bond over "racist" rhetoric?"

Because racists hang with racists. Who else could put up with the racist crap that flows like a Brooklyn sewer out of your mouth?

"Your comments alone indicate your own prejudice of me as a blk individual, without having even the slightest hint of knowledge about me you have already defined my educational attainment and professional success."

Part of that was a ploy to get you to come clean, but "prejudice" had nothing to do with it. It's all related to the way you talk and the racist views you have of the world. The fact you assume me prejudiced is a statement about your own black racism. Don't you just hate having to justify yourself to this white bumpkin of wretched ancestry, eh black racist?

"Just because i criticize white ppl is not because i hate them nor because i feel grossly inhibited by white ppl. Its because it needs to be said.

Now, you are being totally dishonest, not only with our readers, but with yourself. If you didn't hate white people, you would not have made such abhorrent comments about them. But your hate is really hatred of yourself. You need to be happy with who you are. Revel in your blackness and don't try to be white.

"Now when ppl who have power collectively hate, thats a different scenario."

No, my black racist friend, people create power when they collectively hate. It has a ripple effect on all they say and do, and it makes others hate them. That is incredible power. I assume that the white people didn't hate you enough or you wouldn't have your great career, eh?

God, you are so pathetic!

Liz

April 7, 2009 5:37 PM
____________

NYC or DC More Corrupt? NYC Council and Mayor Adrian Fenty - Same as The Old Boss

Not needing more than ten minutes of googling research, I was able to effectively capture the feel for the ongoing and pervasive corruption in two major American cities--getting worse by the year, and yet, perhaps more ignored than ever--reminding you of the manner in which so many Americans will just turn off to bad news as it gets worse and worse. It's too much for them, too disruptive to their day, too surreal for reality.

Let's start with NYC, from Judicial Watch:

City Council members in New York have legally steered millions of tax dollars to relatives, spouses and friends thanks to a city measure that grants lawmakers large slush funds to be spent however they please.

Each of New York’s 51 council members gets a chunk of cash that can be spent at the discretion of the council member. Ideally, the money is supposed to provide valuable community services but no one bothers to follow up, leaving the system rife with fraud, corruption and conflict of interest.

So far, at least seven of the city’s 51 lawmakers have been caught distributing millions of public dollars to relatives, spouses and friends. One lawmaker, Larry Seabrook of the Bronx, actually gave nearly $1 million to a suspicious group—Bronx African American Chamber of Commerce—with the same address as his office.

A pair of councilmen from Manhattan and Queens, each gave questionable nonprofits $400,000. One group was operated by the lawmaker’s top aides and the other featured the councilman’s sister on the board of directors. A Brooklyn Councilman gave $356,000 to a nonprofit operated by his chief of staff, who got caught embezzling $145,000 and another Brooklyn councilman gave a group that employs his wife nearly $200,000

Now onto D.C., and mayor Adrian Fenty. A small sample of what is available:

What D.C. Elves Do With Your Taxes (Colbert I. King)

BNET number crunching on DC school waste

The soccer stadium fiasco led by Marion Barry

Colbert I. King, a respected columnist for the Washington Post, recently and strongly bemoaned the fact that while D.C. school students still lack basic stuff like buildings with heat and leak-free plumbing, Mayor Adrian Fenty and his cronies continue, no different than past regimes, to push the agenda of the city's corporate power brokers--you know, the gals and guys that want D.C. taxpayer funds to go for more important things like soccer stadiums and centers for the arts.

It's all in the record, for anyone to see. I suggest the Black and White left conduct their studies on the role city corruption plays in depriving Black youth of opportunities. But I doubt this will ever happen? Why?

You know why. It has something to do with religion.

Devah Pager of Princeton and Algernon Austin of EPI Use White Racist Stereotypes To Explain Issues Crucial To The Black Community

At the risk of further alienating my liberal friends in New York who have knee-jerked me all the way into a hell reserved only for the vilest conservatives, I feel I must once again make what I consider to be valid observations of the Black and White left, reveal a few inconvenient truths, and then compare them, when appropriate, to the hard-line right.

So what is wrong with the Black and White intellectual left in America? Can they ever be unbiased? Non-racist? Can they ever dream of anything other than a simplistic Ebony Magazine-Al Sharpton view of White racism as a catch-all explanation for one of the single biggest and most embarrassing circumstances facing the Black community, namely, the disproportionate rate of Black youth incarceration and education failure?

Algernon Austin of the Economic Policy Institute, in his 2006 article, Don't Blame Black Culture for Economic Decline (Why Bill Cosby is Wrong), references a study by Princeton Professor of Sociology Devah Pager that purports to prove old fashioned White racism alive and well and preventing Black youth from obtaining entry-level jobs. Steve Horowitz, author of an article reviewing Devah Pager's 2007 book which includes the study ( Marked: Race, Crime, and Finding Work in an Era of Mass Incarceration ), allows passion to overcome him when he notes:
The Princeton professor isn’t the first to point this out [that Black males spend way too much time in prison], but she does well to bring this up in context of her research for two reasons. First, all Americans should be outraged by these facts. They should be shouting this information from the rooftops, demanding explanations from their elected officials, and actively working for solutions. Why is America incarcerating so many people and why are so many of them black?

The view of Devah Pager and Steve Horowitz, based on my experience, pretty much sums up the viewpoint of White liberal America ... Soooo it's the fault of America? It's the fault of that abstract entity no two people can define the same way? Huh? ... And Americans should be outraged! Yes. Americans should be outraged that the Black and White left in America avoid and deny the complex circumstances that work to prevent Black youth from achievement. And why? Because most of these well-documented facts by unbiased and balanced studies point to issues other than White racism as determining factors for failure and incarceration. In other words, they violate principles of the Religion of The Eternal Victim that have gripped much of Black America and their White supporters. And God help us all, some of these facts actually fault the Black community, Black leaders, and Black culture as having some responsibility ... Now, I just have to avoid the snipers! Making statements like these is kinda like revealing to hardcore Christians their ongoing hypocrisy for supporting the Iraq War.

Stepping outside the confines of the Religion of The EV, let's breeze over a few things that tend to contradict its beliefs, i.e., that tend to show compelling evidence that forces other than White racism are at work. Anyone at anytime, can research the many instances of intense and pervasive government corruption that have plagued the city of Washington, D.C.--from the trial of Mary Treadwell (Mayor Barry's wife) and her cronies to the more recent Washington D.C. Tax Office scandal--and conclude quite readily that the Black government of D.C., empowered to help the Black community of D.C., instead did just the opposite for the better part of three decades. By means of fraud, embezzlement, abuse of power, and wasteful spending, the politicians and bureaucrats of D.C. stabbed the Black community in the back so many times that only through a miracle of denial (related to blaming the White racism of Congress) have the Black community of Washington been prevented from taking to the streets in massive protest. The D.C. Tax Office, once the investigation was complete, was found to have brilliantly siphoned off 40 million or more of public funds before getting caught. And this is just for starters!

In other words, the Black government of D.C., supported by the Black elite of D.C. and the Black and White media, willfully and knowingly deprived its citizens of those funds necessary to maintain their communities and their schools, and in the most shameful manner imaginable. Not a single member of The Religion of The Eternal Victim will ever admit that conditions such as these play a role in the subject at hand. They will laugh at you, accuse you of being a racist, avoid you, become enraged, argue illogically, but never an admission. Once more, the Black and White left of America remind me of Evangelical behavior at such time you provide them undeniable proof of evolution.

But now let's return to Devah Pager of Princeton. It appears Devah Pager has failed, and in remarkably obvious fashion, to examine studies by groups in her own backyard of Princeton, studies that offer a viewpoint on Black youth that contradict her conclusions and those of her followers like Steve Horowitz. From the Future Of Children website:

A more important explanation focuses on respect: low-income men often fail to work because doing so would violate their self esteem. Black youth, for example, typically demand higher wages before they will work than whites with the same qualifications. Economists might say that they have a higher “reservation wage”—the wage that would induce them to accept a job. But this framing again suggests a quality of calm calculation that is lacking. Actually, passion reigns. Black youth will often refuse to work for “chump change” even if it means not working at all. Or they accept jobs but then find them unrewarding or abusive. So they leave them in a huff or are fired.

And further:

Low-skilled blacks feel that employers treat them as expendable, firing them at the least provocation. To the employers, however, it seems that the men simply “don’t want to work.” So bosses grow wary of hiring them, particularly minorities and ex-offenders. They often hire women or immigrants instead. One cannot call such preferences racist, because black employers voice the same complaints as whites.

Okay, now another comprehensive and scholarly study that also presents a more complex picture than Devah Pager, Algernon Austin, and their supporters would have you believe. It is put together nicely in a book entitled, The Meaning of Race for Employers, by Joleen Kirscheman and Kathryn Neckerman. Here is a slice:

Despite Black's disproportionate representation in the urban underclass, however defined, analyses of inner-city joblessness seldon consider racism or discrimination as a significant cause ... Lacking the mainstream role models they once had, inner-city blacks no longer learn and value the habits associated with steady work.

Because of this viewpoint that life is more complex than the Religion of The Eternal Victim will have you believe, the Black and White left will accuse me of being a racist, of supporting the White racist conspiracy, and will readily accuse any Black American of being a race traitor if she or he dares to voice any agreement with my viewpoint, or let's say, with the viewpoint of anyone who doesn't accept the basic beliefs of the Religion.

Yes, been there, done that ... I'm wistfully taken back to a telemarketing job I once had and the group of Jesus freaks there shouting at me viciously in the lunch room that I was going to hell because I didn't accept their version of reality.

Back to my motto. The truth will piss you off.

Losing The Race: Self-Sabotage In Black America - Algernon Austin of The Economic Policy Institute Still Blames Whitey

"Are black students really afraid of 'acting white'?" Algernon Austin asks in The Daily Voice. According to him, the answer is NO. Austin is director of the program on race, ethnicity and the economy at the Economic Policy Institute, and apparently, based on a read of his recent article, a man who carefully avoids the complex issues affecting black student performance in American schools. After a long piece that omits any possible evidence, study, book, or dialogue that does not support his facts, he predictably summarizes his argument by blaming black student problems on nothing more obvious than White racism:

Adults concerned about raising black student achievement have two options: we can get back into the civil rights business of confronting the social and economic inequalities that produce the achievement gap or we can cling to convenient stereotypes and keep on blaming black students. Blaming black students certainly means less work for us.

In other words, black communities, leaders, families, and students bear zero responsibility for underachieving black student performance on all levels over the past 20 years. This is an age-old and seriously flawed observation, among others that have acquired cult-like status among the Al Sharpton racists. But nothing dispels such notions faster and more powerfully than John McWhorter's classic, Losing The Race: Self-Sabotage In Black America. To quote John McWhorter:

Victimology is seductive because there is an ironic and addictive contentment in underdoggism. However, it also inherently gives failure, lack of effort, and even criminality a tacit stamp of approval. In addition, because focusing on the negative debases the performance of any human being, focusing on remaining aspects of victimhood rather than the rich opportunities before us is a ball and chain restraining any effort to move ahead.

And no scholarly note here, but still, an interesting comment on Amazon.Com by one of the books many supporters, D. A. Martin:

For years I have grown sick and tired of liberal "blacker than thou" pseudo-intellectuals who claim to have MY best interests at heart as a Black American. They blame all of our problems on racism, constantly making us out to be victims - even 30-plus years after the Civil Rights Movement! Yet, they are never willing to turn the microscope on us as Black Americans and how we should take responsibility for the ways in which we do ourselves in, but are quick to try to censor, berate, and/or brand as a "traitor" someone like McWhorter for doing so, all for the so-called crime of "airing our dirty laundry."

Though I'm not Black, this comment resonated with me. Why? Because I've heard these same comments myself, made privately to me by Black friends and associates who are exhausted by the stereotype White liberals force on them via academia and the media. It seems that Algernon Austin, even many years after John McWhorter's ground-breaking book, even after the studies, many anecdotes, and hot debate on these issues, continues to adopt a simplistic and convenient racist stance, i.e., he exclusively faults White people as the ultimate cause of all Black failure in America.

As human beings, we need to begin openly and forcefully rejecting such notions, for the sake of defeating racism in all its forms, whether it derives from White liberals or Black intellectuals. If not, meaningful change and dialogue will remain impossible.

Are White Academics Attacking Black America? Did Ebony Magazine Help Invent "The New Racism"? Am I Delusional?

On the heels of intense and ongoing racist bloggery following the now infamous Duke Rape Hoax in North Carolina, I've been researching why it always seemed to me that starting in the 1990's a significant portion of middle and upper class Black Americans began to believe they were the constant victims of a definable and obvious "new racism" on the part of middle and upper class Whites. Recently, I backed into this article from 1996 by Hans J. Massaquoi that appeared in Ebony--a magazine that never stops insisting that a White racist lurks around every corner. And yes, this is NOT an exaggeration. Ebony Magazine spends more time fanning the flames of racism than the White House spends on making us afraid of terrorists. A quote from that 1996 article in Ebony as follows:

After years of hard-won gains made by some talented and upwardly mobile Blacks, a new wave of racism has been sweeping the nation that is threatening to turn back the clock. In the resulting anti-Black climate, Black achievers have become the frequent targets of inappropriate behavior on the part of Mutes that ranges from mindless disrespect to overt hostility and physical abuse. The result is that no Black person is too distinguished, too famous or too rich to be spared by the resurgence of overt bigotry.

Mutes? ... The story also quotes a claim by ex-governor Wilder of Virginia that he was suddenly and brutally assaulted by an airport security guard simply for pointing out that his suspenders might have caused a beeping alarm--a story that seemed to be absurdly exaggerated but was nevertheless "settled" to avoid the kind of publicity that Wilder could muster before going to court.

From Ebony Magazine in 1991:

The "new racism" is the term some observers use to describe the recent attacks-some subtle, some not-so-subtle-on Black progress. It is evident on predominantly White college campuses, where Black students and faculty face mounting hostilities. It is evident in corporate suites, where Black executives are butting their heads against glass ceilings that prohibit their advancement. It is evident in national polls that indicate White Americans-despite the overwhelming evidence of their individual prejudices-continue to labor under the mistaken belief that discrimination has been completely eradicated. And it is most evident in the nation's neighborhoods, where resistance to integration still runs deep.

So how about an example from today? There are plenty of reasoned approaches to racism by black commentators, but It seems, in some quarters, that the insistence on racism getting worse has become even more strident, perhaps to point of dementia? Well, okay, you decide. Here is a 2007 quote from BlackCommentator.Com, a very popular black website:

Black faculty, the few left, capitulate so as not to lose their jobs, homes, cars, and expensive clothes! Worse, whites have taken over Black studies and white women teach and write (they have control over the journals) about black women authors...there are white chairs of African Americans studies and white women have taken hold of Black women's literature as if it is their own. Black women or men who bring the history of oppression and resistance, bring a political consciousness to academia, or what they call 'an attitude' are not wanted." Indeed, this is "an insidious way to annihilate Black people."

Whites have taken over Black studies? Um ...

One Last Jena 6 Reality Check Courtesy AP

I just had to quote this from Tod Lewan, an AP national writer, who recently published an article on the Jena 6 story. After researching court testimony, interviews with teachers, officials and students at Jena High, and public statements from a U.S. attorney who reviewed the case for possible federal intervention, these facts came out:

• The so-called "white tree" at Jena High, often reported to be the domain of only white students, was nothing of the sort, according to teachers and school administrators; students of all races, they say, congregated under it at one time or another.
• Two nooses - not three - were found dangling from the tree. Beyond being offensive to blacks, the nooses were cut down because black and white students "were playing with them, pulling on them, jump-swinging from them, and putting their heads through them," according to a black teacher who witnessed the scene.
• There was no connection between the September noose incident and December attack, according to Donald Washington, an attorney for the U.S. Justice Department in western Louisiana, who investigated claims that these events might be race-related hate crimes.
• The three youths accused of hanging the nooses were not suspended for just three days - they were isolated at an alternative school for about a month, and then given an in-school suspension for two weeks.

Reality check time! When will the media, Al Sharpton, Jackson and company stop polarizing America for the sake of a good story and ratings?

In Lynch Mob America, Wrong Makes Right Once Again - Jena 6 Debacle and Racism

What is really going on in Jena, LA, given today's hyped news coverage? It appears once again as if the media is creating a black and white story rather than presenting ALL the facts. Why let facts get in the way of a good story? But just to sober things up a bit, a few important facts that are not being talked about because they might lead to inconvenient conclusions upsetting to lynch mob America:

• The white victim, Justin Barker, according to court documents, was slammed in the back of the head by a blunt force. Was it a fist, a bat, a stick? Who knows, but he was knocked unconscious and the Jena 6 began "to kick and stomp his lifeless body." Barker spent about three hours in a local emergency room for treatment of injuries to his head and face. According to spokespeople for the Jena 6, this attack was justified because of white racism in Jena. In other words, the attackers can't be held reponsible. Barker was kicked and beaten by black jocks (yes, they're all athletes) and long after he was unconcsious. So this behavior is justifiable?


• The Jena 6 reporters claim that The Jena 6 attackers, especially Mychal Bell (a local football star), were charged unfairly for the crime. Well, guess what? The mainstream media isn't reporting the fact that good ole Bell is an extremely violent human being. According to Wikipedia, "A request to lower Mychal Bell's $90,000 bond was denied on August 24, 2007, due to his juvenile record, which showed that he had been previously convicted of four other violent crimes. Bell was put on probation for a battery that occurred December 25, 2005, and he was later convicted of yet another battery charge and two charges of criminal damage to property."


• Also, according to supressed sources and Wikipedia, another little known fact: "The case sparked public outcry, as court-appointed public defender Blane Williams, himself an African-American, did not call a single witness in his attempt to defend Bell ... Much has been made of the fact that all members of the jury were white, however, an all-white jury was impaneled after none of the 350 blacks in LaSalle Parish who were called for jury duty showed up to participate in the trial.

So, a summary of the facts which create an inconvenient amount of gas for some of you: the jury was white because the black community refused to care enough to participate; Bell's defense attorney was black; Bell is a violent felon with a history; and finally, the Jena 6 acted in manner that was both cowardly and vicious.

Please keep all this in mind as the media does it's thing and the usual mouthpieces spout their rhetoric. By the way, the white students who hung the ropes from the tree should have been expelled, yes! Because they were not expelled did not give Bell and his jock cronies license to gang-assault somoene just because he was white. If anyone believes that Bell and the Jena 6 are innocent victims of white racism, please speak up here and tell me why, k?

____________

The Black Face of Racism in Ebony

I just picked up the July 2007 issue of Ebony that advertises in bold white letters against a black background: "An Honest Examination of Race, Language, and The Culture of Disrespect." Flipping through the pages of that particular section in the magazine I'm struck immediately by a couple things. First, the examination involves only opinions of black people. All other races are excluded from the dialogue. Second, several of the pages, in the footer, run blurb after blurb of historical instances of white racism. Third, references to Don Imus and his infamous quote are ubiquitous, including one that refers to his comment as a "sexually abhorrent tongue-lashing" and adding that "The moment was historic because the nation had finally reached a negativity limit and people reacted in protest." Hmmmm, well, I kinda thought it was because Al Sharpton seized on it and sounded the trumpets of God for weeks, no? Maybe it was historic then.

It recalls a story from a friend of mine who was quickly slapped by a couple of "white liberals" because he dared suggest in open conversation that Sharpton, given his history, should admit his own racism, and that all racism is wrong. And, btw, do hypocrites like Sharpton have the moral authority to address issues of racism? I ask you. But anyone can say whatever they want, of course.

Back to Ebony. Upon closer examination of the examination, I came upon an especially interesting article by Adrienne P. Samuels entitled "The Culture of Disrespect." BTW, here is a quote from Ms. Samuels from an interview-article online:

If people write to me, I've usually made them uncomfortable. I'm all for that – making people uncomfortable. If I've done that, I've done my job. Mostly what I want to get across is that we have to be fair. http://65.61.134.134/common/news_detail.asp?newsid=319342&L1=9&L2=1

But back to Ms. S's piece. What is striking are the images of Martin Luther King, Al Sharpton, and black civil rights marchers (featuring a smilling Sammy Davis Jr.--rather awkward esp cause Frank was absent) juxtaposed to images of Imus and the Rutgers University women's basketball team. I thought all this stuff would be old news by now, but it is referred to again and again and again throughout the magazine, as if the readers and and Ms. S can never get enough of it. Imus is the looming symbol of racist white America, the truth lurking beneath the surface, always ready to disrespect at a moment's notice.

Ms. Samuels does an admirable job of getting lots of opinions on the issues of Imus and disrespect and how it came about, but all from black Americans, only black Americans. Is this indicative of racism or simply smart politics? Are they both entertwined?

Is it fair?

Going further, and perhaps because I am not a usual reader of Ebony, I was surprised by a few viewpoints as the discussion of "disrespect" naturally fused with the black music business and quotes by black notables on this subject, e.g., Jeff Friday, founder of the American Black Film Festival, says Black America made a mistake in allowing critics to launch an assault on a Black music form:

For me, I just think that we give White people too much power.

Apparently, Jeff thinks Whites should be muzzled at appropriate times. And then we hear from Q-Tip, a "legendary" hip-hopper who "worries that the community won't heal if the music of youth continues to be attacked." So the issue isn't the hate speech of black music artists, its the attack on black youth by Whites and White-sponsored puppets like Oprah (who is noted as being divisive). Meanwhile, NPR commentator Jimi Izrael says "pooh to the culture of disrespect and other discussions he feels are egged on by Whites." According to Jimi:

Whenever they want an explanation, we stand up straight, clean our noses and try to give them an explanation. We've trained them to do that ... they feel like it's up to them to put us in check.

Okay Jimi, uhhhh, and just below the above statements, at the base of the page, a blurb that reads:

Ragtime music reached its peak in popularity. It was celebrated for its
innovation and decried for being Negro music and too exciting.

And there are more blurbs and more blurbs. Wow. Wow. Wow. I'm still rubbing my eyes and blinking. Where's Martin Luther King when we need him?

Thanks, Ebony. Guess I'll go back to being a racist now ... Ah, and one more thing, nowhere in the disrespect article that included the above quotes is a single mention of Al Sharpton as having any responsibility for the elevation of the Imus issue or the subsequent debate that followed.

Just had to note that.