Contributors

Showing posts with label Institutional racism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Institutional racism. Show all posts

Sunday, April 18, 2021

Things White People Don't Have To Think About

I need to drive my two-year-old to daycare tomorrow morning. To ensure we arrive alive, we won't take public transit (Oscar Grant). I removed all air fresheners from the vehicle and double-checked my registration status (Daunte Wright), and ensured my license plates were visible (Lt. Caron Nazario). 

I will be careful to follow all traffic rules (Philando Castille), signal every turn (Sandra Bland), keep the radio volume low (Jordan Davis), and won't stop at a fast food chain for a meal (Rayshard Brooks). I'm too afraid to pray (Rev. Clementa C. Pickney) so I just hope the car won't break down (Corey Jones). 

When my wife picks him up at the end of the day, I'll remind her not to dance (Elijah McClain), stop to play in a park (Tamir Rice), patronize the local convenience store for snacks (Trayvon Martin), or walk around the neighborhood (Mike Brown). 

Once they are home, we won't stand in our backyard (Stephon Clark), eat ice cream on the couch (Botham Jean), or play any video games (Atatiana Jefferson). After my wife and I tuck him into bed around 7:30pm, neither of us will leave the house to go to Walmart (John Crawford) or to the gym (Tshyrand Oates) or on a jog (Ahmaud Arbery). 

We won't even walk to see the birds (Christian Cooper). We'll just sit and try not to breathe (George Floyd) and not to sleep (Breonna Taylor). 

These are things white people simply do not have to think about. 

 –DAVID GRAY

Monday, June 22, 2020

Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Every State In The Union

There is still a minority of people in this country (mostly right-wingers) that falsely believe that this movement isn't a big deal. Time to remove your head from the sand and look at this map.

People are done. DONE. The system is going to change and it will do so rapidly. This is a good thing. Don't fight it. Don't cling to the lie that this is a "liberal" agenda.

It's an agenda for everyone and it's a winner.

Friday, May 29, 2020

My City In Ruins

The systemic racism in the Minneapolis Police Department (and, indeed, the entire country) has destroyed large swaths of my city. My heart is broken but I have to admit that when I saw the 3rd police precinct burning to the ground early this morning, I felt a sense of the old order being washed away. The media is portraying them as “thugs” or “hooligans” but maybe the people who torched the police station were just ordinary people who had enough of the racism in law enforcement.

John Lennon wrote in the song "Revolution," “When you talk about destruction, don’t you know you that can count me out...in...” That’s where I’m at this morning.

We are no longer going to tolerate white officers killing African American males. Period. If it happens again in an unjustified fashion, the buildings that house institutional racism will be destroyed. We will not take it any longer.

I didn’t write this it’s copy paste but it’s powerful and you should see it.

To help understand what white privilege is...

I can do all of these things without thinking twice about it... I can relax in the comfort of my own home (#BothemSean and #AtatianaJefferson and #BreonnaTaylor). I can go jogging (#AmaudArbery). I can ask for help after being in a car crash (#JonathanFerrell and #RenishaMcBride). I can have a cellphone (#StephonClark). I can leave a party to get to safety (#JordanEdwards). I can play loud music (#JordanDavis). I can sell CDs (#AltonSterling). I can sleep (#AiyanaJones) I can walk from the corner store (#MikeBrown). I can play cops and robbers (#TamirRice). I can go to church (#Charleston9). I can walk home with Skittles (#TrayvonMartin). I can hold a hairbrush while leaving my own bachelor party (#SeanBell). I can party on New Years (#OscarGrant). I can get a traffic ticket (#SandraBland). I can lawfully carry a weapon (#PhilandoCastile). I can break down on a public road with car problems (#CoreyJones). I can shop at Walmart (#JohnCrawford) . I can have a disabled vehicle (#TerrenceCrutcher). I can read a book in my own car (#KeithScott). I can be a 10yr old walking with my grandfather (#CliffordGlover). I can decorate for a party (#ClaudeReese). I can ask a cop a question (#RandyEvans). I can cash a check in peace (#YvonneSmallwood). I can take out my wallet (#AmadouDiallo). I can run (#WalterScott). I can breathe (#EricGarner). I can live (#FreddieGray). I can ask someone to put a leash on their dog when it is required in the public park we are in. #ChristianCooper) I CAN BE ARRESTED WITHOUT THE FEAR OF BEING MURDERED. #GeorgeFloyd) #BlackLivesMatter

Thursday, May 28, 2020

Understanding White Supremacy

Most white people don't understand white supremacy. Here is a handy image that will help explain it to them.

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Racist Cops Love Trump

My hometown was in the news recently with yet another white cop killing a black man.

Do you know what the worst part about this incident will be? It’s not the inhumane behavior by the cop who murdered this man. It’s not his partner standing by and doing nothing. It’s not the fact that if this man were white and carrying an AR-15, he’d have a red fucking carpet rolled out for him. It’s not even the system that created this monstrosity and continues to support it every day.

It’s the spin that’s about to come out from the fuckholes who are going to attempt to justify this. There are a lot of them, folks, and guess who they voted for?


















I don’t get how a group of people (conservatives) can keep their heads from exploding with two conflicting thoughts in their heads at all times. They hate government authority but man, do they love police beating on criminals, especially black ones.

Saturday, April 15, 2017

Saturday, November 26, 2016

Memo To Media: Shut the Fuck Up About Rural White Voters

At this point, the media really needs to shut the fuck up about rural white voters. Let's see...some people have lost their jobs because of globalization (along with a steadfast refusal to retrain in a different field) and technology versus hundreds of years of systemic oppression which still continues to this day.

If I were a person of color in the US today, I'd be way past sick over this hyper obsession with people who have honestly enjoyed privilege their entire lives and refuse to accept it.

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Arms up, laying down, no gun...still shot by police.



Oh, yeah...and he was trying to help an autistic patient from the home where HE WORKED HELPING PEOPLE.

Sunday, July 10, 2016

Sunday Reflections

The racially charged violence that has taken place over the last week has me wondering about a few things. First, why hasn't the NRA and other gun rights leaders blown a bowel about the shooting of concealed carry permit holder, Philando Castile? Here was a guy who was merely exercising his 2nd amendment rights, even warning the police officer that he had a gun, and yet he still got shot. Where is all the mouth foaming about the state abusing the rights of freedom lovers everywhere?

I'll tell you exactly where it is. Castile was black and the NRA knows who butters their bread...angry old white men who love it when the police gun down niggers. Conservatives may be "rugged individuals" (I can barely type that without laughing) but they love themselfs white authority over the coloreds who are running all over the place asking for their damn rights. After all, recall how these folks profile from a psychological standpoint. They are hierarchical-individualists which more or less puts them at loggerheads with themselves.

So I call bullshit. The Gun Cult doesn't give two shits about the 2nd amendment. Once again we see how they really only want to make sure certain people are still able to cock ride their guns. That's why they are also silent on this steaming pile of bullshit.

Dallas Gunman Learned Tactics at Texas Self-Defense School

The gunman who killed five police officers at a protest march had practiced military-style drills in his yard and trained at a private self-defense school that teaches special tactics, including "shooting on the move," a maneuver in which an attacker fires and changes position before firing again.

Great...it's nice to know that gun cult hang outs are now officially training spree shooters to be able to kill people more effectively. These people are an absolute menace to civilized society. How many more people have to die before we act to stop them?

Thursday, July 07, 2016

The Black Man With A Gun

The shooting of Alton Rouge, an open carry permit holder in Louisiana, was bad enough. Now my own home state has gone and done the same thing. And, once again, to a licensed gun holder. The Gun Cult wants as many people as possible carrying guns, concealed or open. But have they stopped to consider the cultural stereotype of a black man with a gun?

Whether people want to admit it or not, we are still feeling profound effects from the institution of slavery. Black people in this country are still at a disadvantage in this country on every level. Our criminal justice system is the starkest example of this disadvantage in that people are being shot on a regular basis as a result.

I am so thoroughly disgusted and heartbroken that this happens to black people on a regular basis. In the year 2016, it seems that we have not made any progress.

Thursday, April 14, 2016

The County Needs To Hear From You.

This is why I heart the Hilz...

“You are the mothers of the children who are dying in the streets,” Mrs. Clinton told the group, Ms. McBath recalled. “You have a lot of power individually,” she said. “But collectively, you need to come together. The country needs to hear from you.”



Sunday, April 03, 2016

Whites Still Not Getting It

Nicholas Kristof has returned to his "White's Not Getting It" series and it's a corker. He begins with a simple quiz.

A) Whites and blacks were hired at similar rates. B) Blacks had a modest edge because of affirmative action. C) Whites were twice as likely to get callbacks.

Much of the conservative base would like choose B or even A. But the answer is C.

Worse, a black applicant with a clean criminal record did no better than a white applicant who was said to have just been released from 18 months in prison. There's more.

In one study, researchers sent thousands of résumés to employers with openings, randomly using some stereotypically black names (like Jamal) and others that were more likely to belong to whites (like Brendan). A white name increased the likelihood of a callback by 50 percent. Likewise, in Canada researchers found that emails from stereotypically black names seeking apartments are less likely to get responses from landlords. And in U.S. experiments, when blacks and whites go in person to rent or buy properties, blacks are shown fewer options.

Until we reconcile the fact that the fallout from the institution of slavery is still having a massively detrimental effect on the fabric of our society, we can't even begin to address the issues that black people face every day.

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Sad Words

A very good friend of mine just posted this on Facebook regarding Sandra Bland.

To me, one of the most haunting things about the Sandra Bland tragedy is how just another normal sunny day can so swiftly turn to darkness and death. That so quickly one could slip the dividing line between the world we see and share to one with no exit or escape. 

And, most haltingly, that there are people among us who this can happen to so much more easily than others. They can sense the menace behind the quotidian, and they never know when it will loom out and grab them. Cross the river, Sandra, and rest in peace under the trees. I fear we failed you.

The more we hear about Sandra Bland, the worse it gets. It absolutely sickens me that shit like this happens in this country...

Wednesday, July 01, 2015

Mere Concern?

Fires at black churches raise concern

Mere "concern?" Really?!!?


“In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” 

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Wednesday, May 13, 2015