Monday, March 7, 2011

The Mascot War

A very interesting exchange between Simon Montoya-Smith at I Am Not a Mascot, and Brad Schaeffer from biggovernment.com from back in December. First, Montoya-Smith's original post here, a response to that post and then a final chapter here. I posted my response below, but anyone else care to chime in?

I think Schaeffer is ignoring a number of remarkably important points, and easily so; most of us white folk don't have to deal with the true nature of inequality embedded in our social world. We do not have to constantly be on guard in order to avoid feeling "overly sensitive" because every day is white people day. Every day, we do not have to be concerned with whether someone will make an off-handed racist comment, and think that we can't feel pissed about it because then we're just too sensitive, or too politically correct.

And here's something that really bothers me: us white folks have never had to protect ourselves physically from racially motivated denigration of our singular 'selves' and our collective 'selves'. I'm not saying racism doesn't come in all forms, but institutional racism is not punishing white folks for being born. We've had to deal with almost no racially motivated social sanitation of who we are, or had to be legitimately concerned about becoming one of millions wiped off the planet through a holocaust, which is what happened when the white folks with a severe superiority complex and a capitalistic bloodlust arrived here.

So, while it is fair to say that Mr. Schaeffer did make a somewhat strong case for Mr. Moya-Smith's contradictory argumentation, the reality stands on its own. People fighting against the change of a mascot, doesn't stand up to scrutiny in light of the true nature of our nation-state's history. So, my advice: get over it, and rename them the murderers, with a suit carrying a briefcase in one hand and a coffin in the other. Then we can see how many wall-streeters come crying foul.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Are whites racially oppressed...fuckin really?

This was actually on CNN.com. I hate this saying, but I'll use it here: fuck my life. Check it out: Are whites racially oppressed?

So, my answer is this:

Change is slow. And social change is slower than we like to think. 
If we are living in a racially equal time, it won't make any difference what our half African-American President says about race...but it makes people angry. 

If we are living in a racially equal time, white folks won't feel uneasy about talking about race, ever, and our first instinct as white folks won't be to blame people of color for the inequalities we have created generation after generation.
 

If we are living in a time of racial equity, white folks won't feel a need to try to 'take OUR COUNTRY back' because things are actually becoming MORE equitable, even though that equity is visualized through job loss, job insecurity and obvious shortfalls in public assistance programs now finally affecting white folks at almost similar rates as they have affected whole communities of color for decades.
 

No one heard cries of outrage against predatory lending in the 90's when it was only being used within communities of color. Washington defended bailing out fortune 500's, mostly manned by white folks, after THEY TANKED THE ECONOMY.
 

No one heard cries of outrage about the absolutely disgusting shows of 'patriotism' at the rallies to 'protect gun rights' in DC where white protesters spit on, screamed at and threatened both congressmen, congresswomen, senators and the President, as long as we saw white faces.
 

Now we have a racial panic when things are actually equal on the negative??!! Get the whole way the fuck outta here with that bullshit. It's still white people day every day. Black people will still get pulled over more times for driving while black than white folks for actually breaking traffic laws, even in February.
 

We've never needed a 'racial identity' until recently, and I still think it's bullshit anyway. So forget it, and go with cultural heritage instead. And quit the 'white supremacy is dying' whining. Enough already: grow up.