american black

A Dog Named "Nigger"

Quasan from lovely San Jose, had this interesting post.

...some wierdo wants to name his horse Sally Hemmings - former slave and concubine of President Thomas Jefferson (not really buying into the whole "mistress" thing because it implies a choice and when someone owns you ...). While I think it is an ignorant idea and probably that it has some not so savory motivation behind it, it's just not one of those things I am going to get myself worked up about.

I can understand the "letting stupid people do stupid things" mentality. I kinda agree with it. But the details surronding this case are quite interesting. As Gordon noted:

The Jockey Club rejected the name because it is of a person and the horse owner doesn't have permission. Furthermore, the Jockey Club fears it will be offensive to certain groups. The horse owner shot back saying that since Hemmings is dead, there shouldn't be a problem.

I don't know who is right on this situtation (by the way, if one looks at the foal's parents, you can see where the name Sally Hemmings came up: Dam: Jefferson's Secert. Her sire? Colonial Affair, most famous, until now, for winning the Belmont Stakes with Julie Khrone as his jockey), but I will say this, the Jockey Club is very inconsistent enforcing their naming rules.

The name rules for the American Stud Book are long, but they boil down to this: you can't name a horse after a person or a copyrighted or trademarked product without permission; you can't name a horse with a name that is deemed offensive; you can't name a horse after another horse that has been put on a special list reserved for the great race horses (i.e. you can't name your horse Secertariat or Man O War); and you can't name a horse that is similar in name to another horse currently running or at stud. All very good rules.

Conservatives Continue To Ignore Constitution

The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights plans to air a commercial attacking Janice Rogers Brown as a "radical judge" unworthy of confirmation to the appeals court. For some reason, cheap labor conservatives see this as racism. How nutty is that?

Are they saying that Blacks should agree with every other Black? Isn't that the kind of thinking they claimed to be against?

Of Course this is not an isolated incident. The usual suspects are in a tizzy over a Facebook group entitled "Every Time I See a Black Republican, a Piece of Me Dies a Little." 

My ex-wife (the smart one) got her Masters from Tulane (the school in question). To think it is some liberal oasis is a joke.

Haven't these people learned anything from the Dixie Chicks fiasco. They looked like idiots because they forgot that America is about letting people say what they want even if you don't agree with it.

Will someone please give these people a copy of the Constitution.

 

Speaking Japanese (Or Is Gwen Stefani Racist and Hot Or Just Hot)

Girls as accessories? The song was released last year but some folks still seem to have a problem with Gwen Stefani's harajuku girls:

Here's the problem. Is a questionable action validated merely because members of the group to be offended are a party to the offending group? The Harijuku girls of Gwen Stefani, arguably, illicit wrongful stereotypes of Asian-American, or more specifically Japanese, females. The girls are displayed BECAUSE they are Japanese. Apparently, they aren't allowed to speak english, even though they can (one, apparently, is from the US, but under contract, is prohibited to speak English). The range of wrongful stereotype stemming from the Harijuku girls depends on the collective opinion of the masses. One thing is for sure, however: it doesn't promote diversity, and it certainly implies ethinic-function and positioning. (read more of this post)

Check out a live performance "Harjuku Girls" by Stefani [Sessions@AOL] or sample the song online [iTunes]. Or Look at some everyday images [Flickr] of Harajuku girls.

Is Baltimore’s Central Booking our Abu Ghraib?

Over the past two years approximately 1.2 prisoners have died every month at Baltimore’s Central Booking, the city’s intake jail.

Prisoners have been denied medical care.

Cells designed for seven to eight prisoners are holding 17 to 18.

Conditions are so overcrowded that those jailed have been forced to lie in vomit.

The Baltimore City Police Department’s policy of “zero tolerance” has compounded the problems with neighborhood sweeps and indiscriminate arrests. There is now a police quota of arrests per officer and per district, which encourages harassment and arrest.

Some 100,000 people have been arrested out of a population of approximately 650,000. Thirty-three percent of those arrested have never been charged with a crime.

2 corrupt cops were arrested last month for using their police powers to detain drug dealers. They would take drugs and cash then let the dealers go without filing any charges.

Crack Cocaine: What's In It For You

Douglas A. Berman found this potent editorial entitled "Bring Fairness to Drug Sentencing" that is focused on the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses. Here's an interesting paragraph:

Congress spawned a national trend toward discriminatory sentencing when it drew a false distinction between powdered cocaine and crack cocaine for law enforcement purposes during the 1980’s. Crack is simply powdered cocaine cooked in baking soda. The theory at the time - that it was more addictive and generated more violence than powder - was later proved false. By then, however, Congress had made crack the only drug that mandates a sentence for a first offense and fixed high sentences for people caught with relatively small quantities.

Let's continue with Luke's comments posted at The War Report:

The “distinction", is that crack is more addictive and causes more violent behavior. This, of course, has no scientific basis and was disproved over and over again. But for the drug prohibition advocates, this type of hyperbole or lying is simply par for the course. Can we really expect a modicum of candor from people who liken recreational marijuana use to Russian Roulette? 

What this crack/coke distinction breeds is the disproportionate incarceration of blacks. The argument that the drugs are “tomato/toe-mah-toe” in that while each ethnic group has his own drug, that in no way suggests one drug is more heavily enforced. But that’s exactly what happens. While coke might have a more profitable trade, it doesn’t exist with the same prevalence at the street level and is not as easily purchased given its high price tag. This naturally translates into street cops coming into contact with crack with significantly higher frequency. This is almost identical to the government making both FUBU and Versace clothing illgeal (irrational in its own right), then arguing on top that FUBU wearers deserve higher punishment because those who wear the clothing are more prone to violence. And white people are baffled at black suspicion of the government?

What Sharpton and Madonna Know That You Don't (Or How To Be As Popular As Angelina Jolie)

Is Rush Limbaugh back on the "pain medication"?

After delivering on-air remarks that he was considering allowing Rev. Al Sharpton to host his syndicated radio program for 30 minutes a day to "teach" Sharpton the ins and outs of the medium, Rush Limbaugh now seems to be backing off in the wake of Sharpton's quick acceptance.

I know we live in a virtual world but lets get real for a second. The best speaker on the National stage is Al Sharpton. If you heard his speech at the Democratic convention in 2000 you could not be anything but moved.(watch it here) I realize most white people hate his guts. That people see him as divisive. But if you have been listening to him for the past 3 years (when he finally understood he had a national audience) he has been making sense.

Here's my take on Al. Few people understand the power of a good soundbite like Sharpton. Few people know how to exploit the media's thirst for sensationalism like Al. He caught on to the same thing Madonna did. You polarize first. Get your core audience. Bring your message mainstream. And most important: Be entertaining.

Of course you'll be hated for a while (maybe forever to some unforgiving folks) but in the end you'll end up with everyone on your side.

This formula always works.

Look at Eminem. Or Public Enemy. Angelina Jolie. Or Madonna's first husband. Most politicians also live by the rules. Pick your enemies well. But they drop the ball with the entertainment factor. George Bush is President today because he was more entertaining than the other guy (Diebold was just backup).

I say all that to say this. Sharpton on the radio would literally kick-ass.  He'll change minds. And having Limbaugh's audience to kickstart his radio career would probably be the dumbest move a Republican ever made since invading Iraq.

Mark my words. It will not happen.

Abortion, Genocide and Garbage Can Lids

Life, in general, is a minefield. You take one step in the wrong direction and find your legs staring you in the back.

I'm a pro-abortion guy. Not just because I'm a guy but because I truly believe in my heart that grown folks should be able to do to what they want with their bodies. No one should suffer for the rest of their lives because of a one-night stand. We don't give most murderers life sentences but the fact that some of us want to do it to women is ludicrous. America is the land of second chances, ask Donald Trump, Martha Stuart and your next door neighbor. Mistakes happen.

But like I said, life is a minefield. And you never know who to trust.

Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in America. 78% of their clinics are in minority communities. Blacks make up 12% of the population, but 35% of the abortions in America. Are we being targeted? Isn't that genocide? We are the only minority in America that is on the decline in population. If the current trend continues, by 2038 the black vote will be insignificant. Did you know that the founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, was a devout racist who created the Negro Project designed to sterilize unknowing black women and others she deemed as undesirables of society? The founder of Planned Parenthood said, "Colored people are like human weeds and are to be exterminated." Is her vision being fulfilled today?

Tough questions. And I am not the only one twisting the abortion/genocide question in their mind.My take is a little different, though. It makes me wonder how important is history?

My favorite poet as a kid was e.e. Cummings. The verbal and visual inventiveness of his work fascinated me. But then as I got older I found his depictions of society's hypocrisy and monotony elitist and self-indulgent. Then one of my teachers claimed that some of his work features racist and anti-Semitic overtones. No matter what the truth is, I never looked at his poetry the same. It's like steak served on a garbage can lid.

So am I aiding my race's destruction by supporting abortions?  I really don't think so. It is a woman's right to her life that gives her the right to terminate her pregnancy. There are many legitimate reasons why a rational woman might have an abortion--accidental pregnancy, rape, birth defects, danger to her health. The issue here is the proper role for government. If a pregnant woman acts whoreish, then she should be condemned morally--but not treated as a murderer.

The anti-abortionists' claim to being "pro-life" is a classic Big Lie. You cannot be in favor of life and yet demand the sacrifice of an actual, living individual to a clump of tissue. It is serving women life on a garbage can lid.

 

Michael Eric Dyson no longer to use N word

Syndicated national radio host Tom Joyner has announced that Michael Eric Dyson wont be using the N word anymore. Playahata.com asked Dyson
if it this was true and wanted to find out why is contoversial regional  DJ Star, of the Star and BucWild show  always talking negative about him on the air and Dyson set the record straight on all the rumors.

Dyson  told Playahata.com "I showed love to Star and Buckwild because despite the fact that they were hating on me, I chose to acknowledge the good work that they do. Even if I disagreed with their characterizations of me, I could forgo personal feelings of anger or hurt and embrace the need for healthy critical dialogue. I would love to appear on their show and engage in an open, honest examination of the problems that continue to confront the black poor in particular, and black communities at large.

Black Bike Week 2005

In case you didn't know it, it was Black Bike Week in South Carolina last weekend. Of course the city decided to change the rules and add race to the matter. They also bought out the National Guard and Federal Agents. But at least the folks from Christian High School had a good time

Got back safely from our senior trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C. and let's just say it was eventful. Mary Ann tried to warn me, and well, she was right. It was Black Bike Week 2005, that means we shared the area w/ 260,000 african american bikers. Our hotel had private security, cops on every floor 24/7, the National Guard had a presence and Federal Agents on the main blvd. It was pretty wild. Nothing like bringing the graduating class of Cincinnati Christian High School right in the middle of modern day Sodom....

Getting Black Kids Involved In the Video Game Industry

Everyone loves video games, even Black folks. But their are very few of us in the Video Game Industry.

Joseph Saulter, CEO of Entertainment Arts Research, is trying to change that with a new program.

Saulter is cofounding the Urban Video Game Academy in June. The free, five-week program in Baltimore will teach 50 African-American high-school students Game Programming 101. Shorter versions of the academy will launch in Atlanta and Washington, D.C. The idea is not only to boost minorities' ranks in the industry, but to get gamers to look up from their screens and learn some math.

The UVGA brainchild icludes not only Joseph Saulter, [who is also professor of the game technology curriculum at American Intercontinental University (AiU)]; Mario Armstrong, TV and National Public Radio (NPR) digital technology guru; and Roderick Woodruff, president and co-founder of AAGAMER.com.