Rolling 2017 Thread on Race

It appears the choice in Alabama is between a well-meaning racist and a virulent capital-R Racist who likes young girls.

negative politics is a bad idea. using voters as props is a bad idea. using this stereotype in particular was a bad idea. this is what they used to justify lynchings.

Democrats are fond of negative politics, i think that's a dangerous thing to combine with identity politics, because they are complicit in the system too and fond of forgetting as much because of all the finger pointing. reflexively they will use a stereotype to make a point. it is far more productive to not lower oneself to such tactics. what good have you done, what good will you try to do as a candidate?

hey the good guy locked away KKK members that bombed a church. wouldn't that make for an interesting flyer? and it's true! and it's about the candidate you are voting for! wouldn't that be a good thing to publicize instead to show that you are on the side of social justice? with negative politicking you trip on your own dick.

it's almost like they don't have a compelling, positive, consistent vision of their own to offer

fuck this shitty world

Say increasing diversity makes country better
US 58%
Sweden 36%
UK 33%
Spain 31%
France 26%
Germany 26%
Greece 10%https://t.co/a2cWnURrvU pic.twitter.com/RTV7Oeq7NA

— Conrad Hackett (@conradhackett) December 8, 2017

https://www.theroot.com/felony-charges-against-deandre-harris-dropped-in-charlo-1821138524?utm_source=theroot_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/12/13/there-was-an-enormous-gap-between-black-evangelical-voters-and-white-evangelical-voters-in-alabama/?tid=sm_tw&utm_term=.44b35c21178f

Here we have WashPo bending over backwards to write a story about the difference between white evangelicals and black evangelicals in Alabama that doesn't end with "white evangelicals in Alabama are racists"

that would be divisive

all articles about white evangelicals should include some variation on "white evangelicals are racist" and/or "white evangelicals are the most unabashedly evil motherfuckers on the planet"

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