Category Archives: Race

The Emancipation Proclamation, 150 Years Later: Hear the Many Voices That Cried Freedom

EP2On the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, Time Magazine examines this historic abolitionist document.

“This is truly a democratic literature. It begins in the late 1600s as far as the records show, mostly with religious writings. What’s in here are writings of every genre: there are sermons and religious tracts; there are novels and poems and plays and short stories and magazine articles; there are even children’s books and alphabet books with little rhymes that areabolitionist. Everything you could imagine in terms of human utterance and the scope of human imagination.”

Read the full article at http://nation.time.com/2013/01/01/the-emancipation-proclamation-150-years-later-hear-the-many-voices-that-cried-freedom/

By Jan. 01, 2013

Racial Views: Poll Shows Majority Harbor Prejudice Against Blacks

Race Relations

Post-racial America…I think not! This article was written just prior to the 2012 Presidential election, but the results of the poll regarding racial attitudes in America were not at all surprising to me. The excerpt below from the article is revealing:

“As much as we’d hope the impact of race would decline over time … it appears the impact of anti-black sentiment on voting is about the same as it was four years ago,” said Jon Krosnick, a Stanford University professor who worked with AP to develop the survey.

 

Read the full article at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/27/racial-views-new-polls-sh_n_2029423.html

By SONYA ROSS and JENNIFER AGIESTA  10/27/12

Ambassador Susan Rice Withdraws

Rice WithdrawalIn my time, I’ve seen most women, especially minority women Democrats rejected, verbally attacked and the content of their character assailed by these right wing Republican “Dixiecrats”. Senators like Lindsay Graham defends that slave-owning rag they call the Confederate Flag. It took the nomination of Barack Obama for President before John McCain claimed he was wrong for 25 years in voting against the Martin Luther King national holiday resolution passed through the Senate. They attacked Anita Hill and assailed the content of her character just to place an unqualified “Uncle Thomas” on the US Supreme Court. They went after a very qualified Lani Guinier for Attorney General because she is a Civil Rights Activist. They verbally attacked Hillary Clinton as First Lady because she championed causes and spoke out and dared not to act like a Republican Stepford Wife.

Both Lindsay Graham, John McCain and others put Sonia Sotomayor through the mill for saying “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life”. What did Justice Sotomayor say that wasn’t true, especially considering they are the very same white males of which she speaks? Condoleezza Rice was nothing less than inept as secretary of state, yet the very same “Dixiecrats” dare attack a scholar like Ambassador Susan Rice. And now, that Ambassador Rice has withdrawn, we get both John McCain and Lindsay Graham hypocritically wishing her well and respecting her decision – those dirty bottom dwelling bastards. I’m not going to stand on eloquence to express how loathsome these bigoted bastards really are. I’m going to call them for what they are, dirty women hating (expletive deleted).

This post contributed by Victorio Loubriel 12.13.2012

Read about the Republican response at http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/13/15889339-republicans-give-measured-response-to-rice-withdrawal?lite

 

Meteorologist fired after defending her ‘ethnic’ hair

rhondalee1

This story strikes a serious nerve with me, because I have personally been the recipient of similar comments noted in this piece. I like natural hair, and lately I have been thinking about going back to my “roots” so to speak. I wore my hair natural for over 10 years receiving mixed reviews from black and white alike. Station KTBS in Louisiana is so wrong for firing Rhonda Lee, and the commentary from some of their viewers, just plain ignorant. Kudos to Melissa Harris Perry for her ethnic hair too. I hope Rhonda Lee gets picked up by a more progressive market.

Read the full story at http://tv.msnbc.com/2012/12/12/meteorologist-fired-after-defending-her-ethnic-hair/

Tommy Sotomayor interviews Rhonda Lee on his radio show at the following links.

Rhonda Lee Interview Pt 1 (Fired For Having Black Hair) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt5m-UwFcuY

Rhonda Lee Interview Pt 2 (Fired For Having Black Hair) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTa_D21Qmi4&feature=player_detailpage

Rhonda Lee Interview Pt 3 (Fired For Having Black Hair) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysW_5vBymig&feature=player_detailpage

 

Republican Attacks on Dr. Susan Rice are Dubious

Republicans simply need to reconcile themselves to the fact that Barack Obama is “still” the President. This Op Ed by The Washington Post Editorial Board plainly speaks to the reasons for the strange and dubious attacks against Dr. Susan Rice by House Republicans. This trumped-up scandal pertaining to the Benghazi Embassy tragedy is further evidence that the current lame-duck Congress has no inention of working with President Obama, but they better get it together or face the consequences of going over the fiscal cliff.

See full piece at the following link: http://m.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-gops-bizarre-attack-on-susan-rice/2012/11/22/22c54a10-340a-11e2-bfd5-e202b6d7b501_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines

MITCH MCCONNELL MUST GO!

Alabama-born and Kentucky-raised and educated, Mitch McConnell has no intention of working with President Obama in his second term. McConnell’s statement in response to President Obama’s re-election says it all.

Now it’s time for the president to propose solutions that actually have a chance of passing the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and a closely divided Senate, step up to the plate on the challenges of the moment, and deliver in a way that he did not in his first four years in office.

This Kentucky Senator is up for re-election in 2014 (not soon enough), and I can only hope that some formidable candidate will be raised up to oppose him and defeat him. Surprisingly, Actress Ashley Judd is reportedly considering running against him in 2014, but it’s probably a long shot. If she challenges, she will have her work cut out for her.

I am thrilled to say, McConnell’s top priority of ensuring that Barack Obama became a one-term president has failed. As did most of the GOP’s election 2012 tactics, e.g., campaign lies, voter suppression  and Super PAC mega millions targeted to defeat the President and other Democrats. You would think that McConnell would have been more focused on creating jobs for the people of Kentucky and the American people rather than trying to sabotage President Obama. This makes Obama’s reelection victory that much sweeter and just desserts for McConnell.

A friend and I recently reflected that McConnell is a reminder of the old segregationist southern guard, the infamous Bull Connor, who by any means necessary, would stand in the path of black people exercising and receiving their civil rights. I liken McConnell to Bull (no pun intended) because of his stiff-necked resistance to the nation’s first black president and his pledge to sabotage Barack Obama. Politically speaking, McConnell governs in the tradition of Barry Goldwater, Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond. There is nothing new under the sun, and in McConnell’s case something very old and ugly. This Senator is a throwback to a time and mentality in the United States, that now has no place in the Senate as this country attempts to move forward. He needs to go!

L. Jackson / 11.9.2012

Sununu suggests Colin Powell’s Obama endorsement racially driven

John Sununu, born in Havana, Cuba (let’s see his birth certificate) was George H. W. Bush’s first chief of staff. He is noted for encouraging Bush I to abandon his “no new taxes” pledge and for convincing him to appoint David Souter to the Supreme Court. Souter turned out to be less conservative then they would have liked. Suffice it to say, Sununu was asked to resign from the Bush I team before the end of Bush I’s first and only term in office.

So why is this failure acting as a surrogate for Mitt Romney? Because the Romney campaign is a campaign of failures. When you have to lie like nobody’s business in order to gain the White House, you’re a failure. Lucy Madison of CBS News writes the following piece.

“At the height of an election that has been characterized as among the most racially polarizing in years, top Mitt Romney surrogate John Sununu on Thursday suggested that Colin Powell, the former Secretary of State under George W. Bush, endorsed President Obama in part due to race.”

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-34222_162-57541013/sununu-suggests-colin-powells-obama-endorsement-racially-driven/

Palin, Trump continue to lead right-wing hate party against Obama

Palin tweeted today, “Obama’s Shuck and Jive Ends With Benghazi Lies.” This woman sets women back and simply needs to shut her ignorant mouth. What a clown, racist she is. See what Hardball’s Christ Matthews had to say about Palin and Trump’s latest shamockery (made up word credit to Toni W.).

Palin, Trump continue to lead right-wing hate party against Obama.

Obama for the WIN!

At my count, Obama/Biden won three of the four debates. Last night was a clear win for Mr. Obama. Romney knew full well that he has no juice when it comes to foreign policy, and that’s why he agreed with everything Obama said. Romney is studying the focus groups and knows striking a more passive, less strident tone was what he needed to do last night. Romney is no longer playing the war hawk that the extreme right wing have been pushing. In fact he’s pulling out all the stops to garner votes by any means necessary. One thing I can say about Romney, the Plutocrat, he knows how to lie and successfully manipulate. This is how he has done business all these years. He simply pitches and becomes what he thinks the given audience wants.

Obama said it right last night, Romney is all over the map, but not just on foreign policy, on everything. I am not deceived by this skillful, mendacious candidate named Mitt Romney. There is no shame in Romney so don’t look for it. James Lipton said it this way today, Romney is a boss and not a President. Just because you conjure up imagery of looking presidential in order to beguile the weak minded or uninformed does not mean you are qualified to lead the United States and by extension the free world.

Regardless of these debates, it all comes down to Ohio. Obama’s street cred in that state is good, even with white men, which is not the trend. White men continue to not support this president en masse, and I expect it will be the same on November 6th. Mitt has consistently lied through his six years running for the presidency, but the white guys still really love him. Romney speaks their language. Let’s face it, we are simply not post-racial in America.

I keep thinking that folks decided in 2008 to try the black guy, but in 2009 an insidious plot was launched against Obama with all maliciousness, and because that plot had some effect, impacting economic recovery, now it’s let’s get rid of the black guy for some of those same people. Nevermind that there are numerous signs of economic recovery. The plot, by the way, is called Republican Tea Party Sedition aka just-say-no-to-the-black-guy -on-everything-he-proposes. Sick. Seditious Tea Party Republicans would rather tank the economy than see the first black president succeed. What a shock that the south overwhelmingly supports Romney–it’s a solid blood red. What a shock at the level of racist rhetoric thrown at Mr. Obama during this campaign.

I am not deterred. Here’s my prediction, Obama is going to win. The Republican propaganda money machine will have wasted all that money. Teehee. We need to move FORWARD and not allow a worst Republican than George Bush into the driver’s seat. It would be like letting the fox guard the hen house. We don’t need a boss who likes firing people and doesn’t care about 47% of the population, we need a real leader who cares about 100% of the people. The United States needs Barack Obama.

L. Jackson/10.23.2012

Slave states vs. free states, 2012

This article by Michael Lind in Salon.com gets to the real matter of the Southern Strategy. It’s not just about race, it’s about class and caste as well.

http://www.salon.com/2012/10/10/slave_states_vs_free_states_2012/

“The traditional Southern regional economic strategy, then, depends on the control by Southern employers of a huge pool of low-wage workers with little or no bargaining power in their dealings with their local bosses or the foreign (that is, extra-Southern) investors and corporations who are invited in to exploit their labor.”