Rolling 2017 Thread on Race

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/mar/18/my-mum-always-told-me-i-was-white-like-her-now-i-know-the-truth

Jfc

https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/post-nation/wp/2017/03/19/a-california-waiter-refused-to-serve-4-latina-women-until-he-saw-proof-of-residency/

https://medium.com/@thedididelgado/whites-only-the-caucasian-invasion-of-racial-justice-spaces-7e2529ec8314

This piece is massively undercut by the author's need to tell jokes and I don't think she supports her thesis well but I can't deny that I have been looking askance at SURJ since I first heard about it. It's interesting to see UU churches mentioned as part of the lineage of problematic allies she's identifying because my wife and I sing at a UU church and my wife, after becoming a member, was recruited heavily to serve on the vestry committee and to help them define the focus of the church's social justice mission. The lead pastor is a white woman who was a former lawyer before seminary who is adamant about both bringing in more young people and more diversity to the church. There have been some bumps along the way but the group as a whole is definitely committed to doing The Right Thing in The Right Way;

lol I guess I didn't finish that thought:

I would like to watch a conversation between this woman and my wife in the context of what our church is trying to do.

gg Nivea: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39489967

who in the HELL could have possibly greenlit that?

I'm gonna go with "someone who most would consider white and/or is not a native English speaker"

Could quite easily be a Middle East marketing team not thinking through the racial aspect, tbh.

I wrote a thing yesterday and then got called away to do work at my work and when I came back it had logged me out and I lost it.

I also would love to see more discussion of white allies' role(s) and maybe working towards some best practices pointers. I really don't think that people of color who are giving their time and energy to do social justice work & anti-racism organizing want to spend their time holding white people's hands and listening to us blunder through entry-level lessons we need to learn. I do think that some kind of white ally-supported effort is healthy and good and keeps the workload off of Black leadership. The *accountability* to Black leadership is the crucial thing, I think.

I have also seen where a person of color presents themselves as a leader and can convince the SURJ or other white allies to gather around them, but they themselves might not be accountable to any other POC in the movement, and their politics or message or personal priorities may be a problem. In that case it's a delicate negotiation for everyone, and it can pull apart a new or developing group, or make it hard for other partners to see them in a positive way.

To add: I saw that happen precisely once. It did put me off joining that group though.

I'm in a small group of white ppl that belong to a community organization near my home that is Black-led. We're working on ways to support the org and train prospective white members to understand that we put ourselves under Black leadership and what an intersectional and anti-gentrification approach looks like in social justice circles. It's a long and slow conversation.

speaking of SURJ:

Whites Only: SURJ and the Caucasian Invasion of Racial Justice Spaces

Apparently the author of that article is based in Boston so I could totally get that conversation to happen. Hmm...

okay I just clicked on Karl's link and lol

https://www.propublica.org/article/minority-neighborhoods-higher-car-insurance-premiums-white-areas-same-risk

How do we even fight these subtle, insidious forms of racism that it's hard to even know about?

My wife gets slammed by that car insurance thing. Of course, it doesn't help that we live in NJ, one of the most expensive states for car insurance, period.

Why is Montana so expensive? Insurance against having your car rammed by a buffalo?

no speed limits in Montana?

http://www.vulture.com/2017/04/pepsi-pulls-protest-themed-kendall-jenner-ad-after-backlash.html

The whole Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad debacle continues to be hilarious.

on the good side, i'd never seen that Chemical Brothers video before and it rules in so many ways

I don't think this belongs on the Trump / politics threads

https://nyti.ms/2ob5rzu

The reactions have not all been supportive. The mayor said that the Beristains’ eighth- and ninth-grade daughters were on “the receiving end of some ugliness at their school.” He added that there had been some negative responses from people online, who have said that Mr. Beristain does not have an excuse because he had years to try and become a citizen.

Live up to your end of my fucking oath just once in a blood moon you dumb, depressing fucks.

I grew up near here (and my dad continues to live nearby) and can't recall there ever being a protest there about anything, much less something like BLM: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/04/10/she-wanted-to-criticize-black-lives-matter-in-a-college-speech-a-protest-shut-her-down/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_no-name%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.f99b84d44721

that article is deeply uninformed at best

things like surj are sort of a direct result of years of arguments exactly like those the article makes, and people trying to conduct themselves according to those arguments. i think the fact that doing that leads to exactly the same criticisms (which even if they don't hang together stem for geniune anxieties and concerns about broader society and the possibilities for leadership and change) points to a sort of no-win situation for that standpoint, and generally the idea that who groups are "accountable" to is a distinct and important question as opposed to "what do they directly do, and what purpose does it serve".

White Floriday state senator, in talking to two black Florida state senators, refers to six other white Florida senators as "niggers", claims it's okay because he meant "niggas" which is a completely different word:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/04/19/after-using-n-word-in-front-of-black-colleagues-fla-state-senator-faces-calls-to-resign/?utm_term=.7228d09ad0ae

my primary reaction to this is "lol"

in conclusion: hip-hop is dangerous in the wrong hands

the wite hands

A+

"No, see, when I say it, I use a non-rhotic pronunciation. That means I'm just kidding around!"

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-senator-frank-artiles-resigns-over-racist-remarks/

lol

"My racism was taken out of context"

this is a Chappelle's Show skit https://t.co/HTgatNVLLG

— Vann R. Newkirk II (@fivefifths) May 10, 2017

ha I was just about to post this

imo his first hint that he is part black should have been the fact that his name is "Cleon Brown"

Really good article on Ta-Nehisi Coates' fearful pessimism

Man, R L Stephens has been shouting at Ta-nehisi Coates since 2014. Does he have anything new to say, or is he still just mad that Coates isn't socialist enough?

'Checks piece' Ultimately, in both Coates’s and Wilderson’s respective frameworks, solidarity is unimaginable and class struggle is rendered futile.

Yawn...

speaking of having anything new to say

Yeah, I really don't think an article that just regurgitates the same attack leveled against Coates a thousand times will bring up any original thoughts by anyone, really...

it's cute when bruneau identifies the one guy on ilx the zing hierarchy allows him to clown*

*this post is quite possibly a replication of the phenomenon yes lol

:(

Where is Morbs when I need him...

exactly where you would think doing exactly what you would think

fucking stop this right now

^

this guy:
http://pulsegulfcoast.com/2017/05/transcript-of-new-orleans-mayor-landrieus-address-on-confederate-monuments

That is a great speech.

This judge should get the same treatment the judge in the Brock Turner case got: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/black-man-prison-serve-five-years-ramad-chatman-georgia-prison-not-guilty-probation-broke-terms-jail-a7744326.html But he won't.

woah @ that Landrieu speech. so good.

This just appeared on my timeline, wtf.

https://twitter.com/LindseyFOX26/status/8682216704100802

This?

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2017/05/25/texas-7th-grader-named-likely-become-terrorist-mock-school-awards

And it was in the advanced college prep class! Why am I finding this hilarious what is wrong with me

texas

That Landrieu speech has me legit crying. Amazing.

good article, tho yeah conclusion just begging to be pointed out

Signal boost to this excellent extended audio interview with Karen & Barbara Fields, authors of _Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life_

The new @thedigradio is lengthy interview revisiting the seminal essay collection Racecraft—talking Coates, Dolezal, BLM, and why we must believe that racism & the economic exploitation that it protects can be defeated—w its authors Barbara & Karen Fields. https://t.co/EF9n5szkMd

— Daniel Denvir (@DanielDenvir) December 13, 2017

(Also their book is currently onsale at Verso, and you really should check it out as the ebook is only five bucks American)

http://abcnews.go.com/US/alleged-driver-unite-rally-violence-charlottesville-charged-degree/story?id=51801371&cid=social_twitter_abcn

the guy who drove into the crowd was charged with first-degree murder

https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/11/30/567177501/when-miss-meant-so-much-more-how-one-woman-fought-alabama-and-won?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social

In Lebanon, Tenn., when a mayor visited her cell and referred to her as "Mary," Hamilton corrected him. It was Miss Hamilton. Hamilton and Michaels recalled the moment in their oral history: "And if you don't know how to speak to a lady," Hamilton told the mayor, "then get out of my cell."

At the time, throughout the '60s, many white people — particularly in positions of authority — refused to use honorifics like "Miss," "Mrs." or "Mr." to refer to black people.

http://www.businessinsider.com/papa-johns-founder-steps-down-as-ceo-2017-12

lol

http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/58827d07f10a9a23008b947a-1485/screen%20shot%202017-01-20%20at%2035137%20pm.png

this is a good photo

what do people think of this (kinda old) article?

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/digital-blackface-reaction-gifs

i was reminded of it because NYT had a similar story today

https://www.nytimes.com/video/arts/100000005615988/the-white-internets-love-affair-with-digital-blackface.html

I didn’t read the NYT article but I was in favor of the message behind the Teen Vogue article.

teen vogue article expressed something that had bothered me but i was unable to put into words why for years yeah

I am very very far from being anyone with standing to talk about this, but I did find it odd that the article talked almost exclusively about the colour aspect and barely at all about the queerness.

This article is interesting, especially the guy who argues that the quickest way to get much, much stricter gun control laws in the US is for black people to start buying a bunch of guns.

that's an argument more or less every prominent radical black intellectual has made at one point or another. not sure that I really buy it in 2017 -- the terms of the debate are just not as they were in decades past. not to mention passing gun laws is going to get harder and harder, thanks to our judiciary and supreme court

good piece of journalism, thanks for sharing. I personally do not accept that there is a legitimate reason to own a gun. I'm white btw

There are definitely legit reasons to own a gun, and I fully support black gun ownership even as an organized political platform. Personally, I have no interest in owning a gun, but my long term plan is to move out of the US, so.

the quickest way to get much, much stricter gun control laws in the US is for black people to start buying a bunch of guns.

do you mean, buying legal guns that can be easily traced if one were used to in a crime?

*used in a crime

and whether or not the registered owner of said gun had any knowledge or responsibility of the crime, the racist criminal justice system could fuck up their lives?

I wonder what would happen if a bunch of black people started open carrying at Target

there was a shooting a couple weeks ago in the parking lot of the Target near me. Pretty sure both perp and victim were black.

I understand why some people may feel that it is in their best interest to own a gun, particularly recently. it is an irrational belief held by people of all races.

a handful of people interviewed for that article wrestled with that issue, the idea that even though they realized having a gun made them no safer, or even less safe, they felt compelled to own one anyway. it's not my place to judge that individual decision. I'm glad it's not something I have to personally consider

some of them were just run of the mill gun nuts, which in a way was refreshing to read

you could own one and keep it locked in a secure gun safe forever with the expensive silverware and china you inherited when grandma died -- I don't know if that would really do anything as far as safety/increased risk of accidental death ...

i think you could find a lot of examples alongside gun ownership where people are rationally aware that the thing they are doing does not protect them but they do it anyway, culture is way deeper than rationality

certainly

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/01/15/under-trump-a-hard-test-for-howard-university

found this to be a very interesting read

https://www.theroot.com/charges-dropped-against-only-officer-to-face-criminal-c-1796501125?utm_source=theroot_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow&__twitter_impression=true

sandra bland

Not that it makes it any less a tragedy, but that seems to be from last year, when The Root was still The Root.

oh, sorry. someone was tweeting it out as new.

1. First, download and install VRChat on Steam. The game is entirely free-to-play and doesn't actually require a VR headset like its name implies. Oh, and prepare to lose dozens of hours of your life.

2. While installing, begin working on your Ugandan accent. This will come in handy later, as hinted in the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=94&v=Hxjofn2bYE

I'm not going to say that I didn't find the early ones kind of funny, or that I don't understand how human nature automatically responds to a phenomenon like VRChat with exactly this kind of role playing, and that if you watch the evolution of the meme on the youtube compilations in chronological order from last december, you can see how it starts off as affectionate surrealism -- ignorant, but more WTF than hateful (the one where someone shows up as Ugandan Knuckles driving a minature tank whie screaming in Russian while the volga boatmen theme plays is amazing) -- then of course it hits meme supernova and the hordes show up. It reminds of me the scene in Bamboozled at the Mantan premiere where the act is so over the top racist that the white audience is stunned speechless, leaving them desperately looking around for cues as to how they're supposed to respond, until Mantan finally lands a genuinely funny joke and gets a mild supportive laugh from the black audience, at which point it becomes 'ok' for everyone to laugh, and then the tone of the laughter changes

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/articles/a-guide-to-finding-da-wae-as-ugandan-knuckles-in-10-easy-steps/85559040/

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/articles/this-is-what-ugandan-knuckles-looks-like-in-real-life/85553266/

https://bittersoutherner.com/dear-disgruntled-white-plantation-visitors-michael-twitty-cooking-gene
^ good read

and, if you're unfamiliar with twitty's work, further reading for followup:
https://afroculinaria.com/

You can’t learn everything from the crossword section of StormFront.

oh snaps