Posts Tagged ‘Racism’

His White Privilege Is A Wonderland

Monday, March 1st, 2010

As Jay-Smooth says of John Mayer’s recent buffoonery:

There’s so much wrongness there, you can just swim in it.

As true as this is, Jay doesn’t want us to drown in it. Getting sucked into media soundbites about race can draw us away from the most immediate issues at hand. Jay goes on:

A lot of the most important race issues are institutional, systemic, structural issues. Questions like:

Why in 2010 do Black people not have the same educational opportunities, the same access to health care, the same economic and employment opportunities?

Why are Black people so disproportionately affected by this recession?

Why, in 2010, does it so often seem like on an institutional, systemic, structural level Black people are still disproportionately affected by almost everything thats bad?

Those questions cannot be answered by analyzing the racial awkwardness of a YouTube video. Answering those questions means figuring out how we can change public policy and pressuring the government from inside and outside to make those changes.

Damn. Who wants to listen to John Mayer, anyway, when you can watch Jay-Smooth spit the truth? Check him out at his new site, Nil Doctrine.

Fort Hood Tragedy

Friday, November 6th, 2009

When I heard about the Fort Hood shooting yesterday, I was deeply saddened for the victims and their families. When I heard that the shooter has a “Muslim-sounding” name, I was fearful for the safety of Muslim and Arab communities who are already experiencing backlash from bigots who associate this horrible situation with stereotypes of “Muslim extremist violence.”

I’ve been searching all day for the words to express my feelings about this, but Seth Wessler of Race Wire says it best:

As we respond, we must categorically resist voices of suspicion and reaction so that this tragedy does not bring more tragedy. That the shooter’s name sounds Muslim will offer those who thrive on fear an opportunity to pounce. We reject the impulse to assume that the shooter’s name means anything about his motivations, that being Muslim or being perceived as such makes someone dangerous. A hideous crime was committed. Let’s make the attacks end there.

Rachel Maddow Reveals Right-Wing Racism

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

What was it that the Department of Homeland Security said back in April about right-wing extremist activity?

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Case in point.