4 posts tagged “race”

...of a pretty racist prick (not who you think it is). 

Imus

I decided to finally do my post on Mr. M. Rick Turner today after I read on MSNBC that this dumbass was being a dumbass again.  Seriously, if you'd just gotten your job back after being fired for being racially insensitive (regardless if he was or not), you mean to tell me that you would actually go near something like this with a ten foot pole?  If I had been fired for wearing a certain color to work, I wouldnt dare wear a purse, hat, coat, or scrunchie that color if I had been rehired.  No fugging way.  And of course, this is regardless if I feel he did something wrong, or not.  Which I think he didnt. 

Imus's assistant called the ladies "Nappy Headed Ho's".  While not exactly the smartest thing to say, he had to imagine to get some shit for it, by no means did it deserve the shitstorm it got.  Especially as people began to bring up the fact that black men and women can say this till the cows come home about each other.  Ok, I'll buy the double standard.  I regularly call an award I got in high school for "Excellence in the PSAT for Hispanics" my "Spic Award".  Lets be honest here folks, my ass got a 1070 in the PSATs.  I didnt care about it; I'd taken the damn thing 3 times before.  I was sick of PSATs.  I had no clue it wasnt going to count until I became a Junior. 

So, how does this wrap in with M. Rick Turner? 

Let me enlighten you with a quick backstory.  (Quick note... he's apparently taken down his shitty assed website, but thank god for google cache!)  Mr. Turner was UVa's old Dean of African American Affairs, as well as an adjunct faculty member of the sociology department.  I dont know when he got there, if he had been there the whole time during my 4 years, but I was very aware of him after word got out that he had asked a hispanic dude to leave a function that Turner believed to only be pertinant to African American males.  He went on to call members of Alpha Phi Alpha, "House Niggers" and "Uncle Toms".  This guy, who was the Dean of African American Affairs actually uttered those inflamatory words to a group of his own peerage.  In a meeting with the Student Council, he even went so far as to say that, "White parents from the right believe their children have a God-given right to everything," and "The time is coming when white fathers won't just be able to give their white sons a job anymore." 

This man was wholy devisive.  This man, who was paid a goodly amount by UVa to bring together the self segregated African American population of the University, was creating a large rift in our community.  So, understand my glee when I read that he "admitted lying to federal investigators about 'the activities of a known drug dealer.'"  He retired promptly thereafter, getting a large payoff from the UVa.  I probably would have paid him off to leave early too, but I would have done so much much earlier than Casteen (UVa Prez) eventually did.

How can we have people like that actually having a prominent role in society?  Mr. Julian Bond, noted civil rights activist and current Chairman of the NAACP, came to UVa during Turner's tenure to teach the History of the Civil Rights Movement.  My friend Meta took a class from him and from what I've seen and heard of the man (he was great on Colbert!), he is a kind hearted, easy going man.  He's funny when he wants to be, approachable, down to Earth, and yet when he needs to be, he can hold the conviction of his words, and be unwavering.  This is the kind of man who should have been the Dean, not that horrible Turner. 

People like Turner are the reason why this country has still not healed as much as it should have. 

I've been meaning to title a post like that for a week now, and just never had the right subject for it.  I still dont, but I figure if I dont use it before week's end I'll end up forgetting.  Inevitably, something pisses me off.  Today I found this happy little article in the WashPo.

I should preface this with the quick and dirty details surrounding DeOnte Rawling's death.  He was shot.  In the fuggin head.  He was 14 years old.  He was stealing a minibike.  In what state, in what country, on what planet does stealing a bike = death by shot to the head?  Even if we play that game and say that he shot at the cops, with a gun that was never found leaving bullet holes (or even fucking bullets) that were never found, you still end up with the fact that he was shot in the head.  Police are trained to shoot at the arm, leg, torso, hand, foot... anything except the chest and head.  Murder is, largly, frowned upon, by cops. 

And I've already bitched and moaned about Sean Bell's murder, but it seems to be common nowadays that cops are getting away with much much more.  Mostly in the interest of "preventing terrorism".  They can harass at will as long as they have probably cause, which in many cases tends to be skin color.  Dont get me wrong... I will not pull the race card here.  I hate it.  Intensely.  And maybe one day I'll relate the story of one Mr. M. Rick Turner who apparently now has his own website where his scary mug is visible to the whole world.  But his story is one for another day.  Where was I?  Race Card!  Yes!  I hate it when people pull the race card.  And in all honesty, the majority of folks who are doing the shootings and murders in DC are African American.  But simply assuming that a thug kid stealing a bike is going to shoot you dead only angers the rest of the community, thereby making your job of protecting others that much harder. 

Fenty is in a difficult position.  He's a black mayor in DC with a white Chief of Police.  I'm positive that he found the FBI findings in this case more than ridiculous, like many folks in this area did.  But he cannot speak out about it.  He has a city to run.  The police, who came out squeaky clean, are being immature children.  They knew that Fenty had paid for this kid's funeral.  They must have known that Fenty was going to be pissed if the FBI found the cops innocent of all wrongdoing, and they sure as hell knew that Fenty was black.  So why invite him in the first place? 

I think they did so for the simple purpose to un-invite him later.  They did so because they are petty and childish.

I hope Fenty does appear today.  And I hope he embarresess them.  He has nothing to be ashamed of for showing up.  He'll simply be keeping his promise to show respect for the fallen police officers that protect his city, and the people in it.   

At the risk of sounding like my crappy brother's crappy blog (send private message for linky link... it gets sticky if I link it from here) yes, this entry is about love.  Specific aspects of it, actually.  Today M sent me this link.  As some of you might know, I'm not white, and M is.  And we live in Virginia.  Now, its not so bad as living in, say, Mississippi (even to this day when I type that word I have to spell it out... XD) but Virginia is still a lil racist.  It wouldnt be so bad if I just got it form the inbred white kicks, but I also get it from the very inclusvive (insert: dripping sarcasm) Hispanic populations as well.  Its not alot of fun.  Especially since I grew up away from all of our country's race issues. 

In Europe, Korea, Egypt... there arent manyrace issues.  There are nationality issues.  I had to hide my nationality in Egypt, obviously, for safety reasons (Hell yeah, I'm Canadian!  No one wants to kill a Canadian!)  There wasnt much need to hide anything Korea.  I wasnt Korean.  That was simple, and visible.  However once when I was living in Belgium, on the playground at school, someone called me a nigger.  I was 12ish.  I turned around, looked at them, and said "Ha!  I'm not black!  Shows how much you know."  And I brushed it off.  No big damn deal.  I'm pretty sure the dumbass didnt even know what it meant.  I hadnt exactly been exposed to it on a daily basis, but I knew what it was, and I knew what it meant.  Civil rights, race relations, and the fight for equality were all just terms in my history text book.  Even in high school, when I took AP US History.  It was all theoretical. 

And then I moved to the states. 

I grew up without anyone recognizing my color.  My parents are both white.  I see out of my eyes, and you generally dont sit in front of a mirror scrutinizing your skin color all day.  I assumed I was the same color as them.  Yes, I can see my arms... but I just figured I tanned really nice.  Black people were black.  White people were white.  I'm not black, and my parents are white... so hell.  So am I!  The one snag with this logic... my brother is the same color I am.  I brush it off as, "We got the Indian genes".  In high school, I gravitated towards the freaks and oddballs.  The whole "goth" thing was what pulled me in real good.  Putting on makeup was fun, though.  You really should try making yourself look pale when you're the color of toasted shit.  Fun stuff.  I looked like a dumbass, but that never really bothered me.  Of course, this was entirely out of the question when I moved to Egypt.  I turned much darker.  In fact, there is a picture of me and my friend at high school graduation.  The girls had to wear all white to go with our grad gowns, and I look rigoddamndiculous in that picture  You can see my outfit, and my teeth.  The rest of me in blacked out.  But even with that, I always just never questioned that I was white.

In college, things changed.  (Quick intermission... I just spilled orange strawberry banana juice all over me.  I'm gonna be sticky...)  I wasnt immediately attacked with racism.  It wasnt until I met my future husband that I started to take notice of what was going on.  In the past, I'd always dated white guys, or korean guys, or white guys, or... yep theres another korean guy.  Another white guy.  A really white guy.  Another white guy.  Oo, a Thai guy.  Japakorean guy.  Yep, lots of guys, none of them even resembling my coloring.  Well, one was like... a quarter Lebanese.  Or some fraction.  His mom makes some kick ass Hummus. 

I digress... anyway.  You get my drift.  Its never been a problem.  But for some reason, when I met M, I took quick and immediate attention to the fact that I am... oh I dunno... Not White.  His mother assumed I was black.  His sister asked if I had kinky hair.  I would walk with him in a mall, holding hands, and get stared down by Hispanics.  His niece, I love her, at the tender age of 3 took my hand in hers and said, "Ooo, you're dirty."  I had a gas station attendant refuse to sell me a donut.  I had no clue what was going on... and eventually I saw it.  I put his hand in mine, and looked at us.  Granted, it was summer, and I tend to, like a friggin cameleon, change colors like its no one's buisness.  (I can even feel myself changing colors!)  But I saw it.  He was very much a white dude, and I was very much... not.  Eventually, I got over this issue.  I'm back to my usual, "I'm so totally white!" mentality.  In general, I can make friends on both sides of the color fence.  I dont go out of my way to pick one group over another, rather I just tend to end up with the whiteys. 

Funny thing... when I was filing out my finger print card I was only allowed to put, "White, African-African American, or Asian".  I turned to the black guy sitting with me doing my paperwork and I said, "Dude... what do I put?"  He laughed.  We eneded up googling this card to see if there was an FAQ, and sure enuff... I was told to put down White.  In a way, that made me extremely happy.  In another... why wasnt there a "Hispanic/Latino/Speedy Gonzales" box to check of?  Anyway.  If I ever break the law, the cops will be looking for a white 5'4" chick with black hair (lol... not anymore!). 

G-cvr-080425-sean-bell-reax-730a.grid-4x3

Really, this picture says it all regarding how a very large portion of America feels about the Sean Bell verdict.  It shows how people feel.  It also shows how people will react... which will be with temporary activity and anger, followed by incredible inaction. 

The woman is crying.  She wrote this poster hastily, and is mad.  She wants action.  She wants active rebellion and for people to take notice.  However... she is not doing anything but holding a poster.  This is, sadly, the way many people view change and revolution.  They will cry, yell, shout and complain... but effectively wait for someone else to initiate the conflict. 

I agree that something has to be done about this shameful lack of justice... but I know, and have the foresight to realize, that protests rarely work.  You can shout, "1960s civil rights" at me until you are blue in the face, but what did that really accomplish?  Look at today.  A man, who was shot 30+ times while unarmed and very very drunk, died in vain.  His killers, and I'll have you notice that I am not making a judgement on whether the police were provoked or not, got off free.  Without even a manslaughter charge... which by definition is the unintentional act of killing another human being. 

I am saddened by this outcome.  It makes me doubt the justice system, even more so than when I had to deal with that douche of a commonwealth's attorney in C-Ville.