Today Melissa Harris-Perry (@MHarrisPerry) live tweeted “The Help” movie.
who is this? I need to follow them on twitter, clearly.
what makes one of these hairstyles ghetto?
i love this post. ghetto seems to always come out of people’s mouths to refer to something/someone african/african american. when you even THINK of the term ghetto you think black people. Just keep the word out of your mouth period. Just stop using it
*crickets*
I love this. This was the point I was making the other day, with blacks experimenting with different hair colors. Love this post.
not only “ghetto,” but what gets termed “creative,” “daring,” “experimental,” “ground-breaking,” “artistic,” etc. what is recognized as cognizant, informed and self-directed artistic product and what is written off as base instinct, incorrect, and reactionary. what/who has intelligence and what/who doesn’t. what/who is legitimate and what/who is not.
You know what? I’m grown enough to admit to my own failings. I read the other post that I think this references wherein a blogger challenged readers to consider why black style is often marginalized yet celebrated when white people do it. I had to gut check myself. I’m certain I’ve done it.
Now, there’s a difference between having a different aesthetic and condemning the very value of an aesthetic.
I still don’t like colored hair. I don’t really get it. It rarely rocks out in my opinion. I just really like hair to look like hair and not a sculpture. I’m sure that says more about me not being hip though than it says about the style of the person wearing it. Not liking it is not the same as saying it is ghetto. And I want to be sure I maintain that difference and never again tip over into negating the value of something just because I don’t do it.
My brain tends to break well done brightly colored hair into categories of “Not my style, If I only had the courage, & Hmmm”. Poorly done always lands in hot mess regardless of the wearer’s race. Also, I freely admit to not getting the point of elaborate weaves. All I see is hair hat when I look at them.
Struggling To Be Heard: I hate the (but does he like Black girls?) moment
…the one when I make extended eye contact with an attractive White guy (though I suppose it could technically be applied to any non-Black men) and right after he flashes me a smile, my brain stops me from reading too much into this casual encounter.
After all, what if he doesn’t like Black girls? Worse yet, what if he hooks up with Black girls but doesn’t publicly date them? Followed, of course, by what if he’s never really talked to a Black girl before and I’m just his experiment?
These are the kinds of questions that all run untethered through my head the second anyone with a Y chromosome and low levels of melanin expresses any sort of interest in me. It’s something I have a hard time explaining to my white friends. How do you tell someone that you don’t know how to approach a particular guy not because of all the confusing nonsense that comes with menfolk in general, but because you don’t know if your skin color automatically disqualifies you from being a potential whatever in his eyes? (And how problematic is that notion to begin with, the idea that I ought to qualify for a man’s attention on any sort of basis? I digress, but still…)
The problem isn’t even that some random guy (let’s call him Sam) may not be interested in me. Quite frankly, I am too old to be crying my eyes out over someone I do not know who does not want me.
The problem is that I have been socialized to believe that I ought to question myself before even getting to that point. That I am constantly swimming in self-doubt when it comes to my interactions with a certain demographic of men despite being a perfectly adequate human being in most arenas.
And the more vexing problem still is that Sam, should he prove himself “accepting” and gain cool points with all his friends for venturing into the forbidden territory that is dating a Black woman, still can’t be trusted. That shit is what terrifies me. I cannot tell simply by the fact that a guy approaches, expresses interest in, or even asks me out that he is not prejudiced, bigoted, etc. And the biggest reason why I can’t tell is because he probably doesn’t know it himself.
Because he doesn’t have to. That’s the thing with privilege. The privilege that allows Sam to not worry (or even question) the implications of “casually racist” remarks he makes among friends is the same privilege that allows my White female friends to never have a ‘…but does he like Black girls?’ moment.
It’s the same privilege that allows some women to fantasize about John Mayer, whom I know better than to swoon for given the fact that he’s referred to his penis as a white supremacist. I know that’s a trivial grievance, but damn it, the man is attractive and has such a great voice. I want to want him. But I can’t bring myself to.
There’s a James Baldwin quote something to the effect of being White meaning you never have to think about it.
If there’s one thing being single the past almost-2-months and the few months that preceded it have taught me, it’s that social interactions (especially here at Dartmouth) are constantly reinforcing that.
There’s something about the intersection of womanhood and Blackness that Dartmouth really loves to stigmatize. I didn’t used to think about my interaction with white men all that much. When I was dating my (black) ex, it didn’t matter. I wasn’t looking for anything. I’m still not looking for anything, but my social status has changed and so has the way people treat me.
I have a difficult time aligning myself with “feminist” causes on campus because they often ignore the experiences of women who do not fall directly within the confines of the ideal Dartmouth woman: namely, White, wealthy, thin, nonvirginal but not skanky, etc.
I am hyperaware of my Blackness in fraternity basements. I will never forget the night a White male classmate asked me to dance at a certain fraternity my freshman fall. Within one minute, five of his friends had crowded around us to watch. One gave him a thumbs-up. A motherfucking thumbs-up while I’m standing there. What does that shit mean? “Congrats on dancing with the black chick; I bet she’s giving you a real freaky workout! Let me know what happens when you take her back to your room and have primal Jezebel-esque sex later!” Regardless of whether or not that’s what he was trying to convey (and I’ve overheard enough conversations here to make me wary of assuming it wasn’t), that’s what it felt like.
I don’t know what I set out to do with this particular rant, but there you have it. I should probably go write my paper now.All of this.
This is great. These systems that make us think these thoughts are so difficult to navigate. These are some of the reasons I honestly don’t even want to bother with white en. Especially after my experiences. Sad thing is, I have had to start asking myself this question when looking at black men too, do they like black girls? Cause I’ve been hearing a lot of black girls ain’t shit or I’m in college, let me experiment with anything aside what I look like.
My life is a farce.
Racist Attacks Teens With Pickaxe at St. Louis County Mall
“Police say Joseph Gamache’s violent spree was triggered when he saw one white kid in a group of blacks. As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, Gamache later told police that he hates black people and wants to ‘kill them all.’”
Of course it was in South County…….got-dambit!!!!! My hometown makes me oh-so proud.
Hey honey, you’re going the wrong direction, the border’s that way!
Said by a white man of at least thirty to a 3 year old Latina girl at a restaurant as she was heading to the bathroom. The little girl was out with many members of her family.
Shit would have been ON! Why yes, I have “accidentally” knocked over beverages on people who said stupid shit in Mexican restaurants.
They already had to dumb down the food for you idiots, I’m not going to listen to your racist bullshit on top of it.
(via nanner)
(via RegazzaDiLupo)
This is right up there w/people assholes who say, “Speak English” to people speaking another language. Why do these assholes have brass ‘nads when they think they’re not gonna get confronted on what an asshole they’re being? Oh right, they’re assholes.
(via velocicrafter)
(Source: microaggressions)
Did you know that Hattie McDaniel was the first African American woman to ever be nominated for an Academy award?
She was not even allowed to attend her own movie’s premiere. The movie, in case you are unfamiliar, was 1939’s Gone with the Wind.
Her career began with radio in which she played a maid who went by “Hi-Hat Hattie.” The radio serial was called “The Optimistic Do-nut Hour.” She was paid so little for her role (especially in proportion to her white counterparts) that she had to work as a real maid off to the side in order to make enough money to live.
She also got criticism from different groups such as the NAACP, who felt she, like other black actors at the time, were only perpetuating stereotypes of African Americans. She decidedly kept working as she did saying, “I’d rather play a maid for $700 a week than be one for $7.”dropping knowledge!
Esoterica: Tyler the Creator is not the problem. He is a problem.
This is not a call out to all the people complaining about him. I’d rather it be just a different focus. Tyler is definitely a problem. The things he says and does are disgusting. Just like Eminem is. And I’m not saying that y’all haven’t been vocal about the shit he does. I know you…
(Conservative commentator Glenn Beck) questioned the use of “African-American” on his Tuesday show, arguing “colored” or “black” is more appropriate.
Fresh off the heels of his Restoring Courage event in Israel, Beck asked his co-host, Pat Gray, “Correct me if I am wrong. Didn’t you feel ridiculously stupid everywhere in Africa, in Europe, in South America, in Jerusalem, when you would say the words ‘African-American?’”
Gray responded, “Oh, yeah, because it doesn’t apply there,” to which Beck said, “It doesn’t apply! Now how can people be one thing in one country and nowhere else in the world?”
His co-host asked Beck what the correct phrase is. Beck exclaimed “black,” adding “colored” was appropriate, too, arguing that it is used in places like South Africa.
“It’s not a bad thing, only here. Why are we made to feel bad?” the former Fox News personality said about the term “colored.”
Beck then theorized why “African-American” is commonplace.
“‘African-American’ was not made to do anything except try to create a super man,” Beck insisted.
Glenn Beck, inept-American.
(via inothernews)
I. FUCKING. CAN’T. *rage sighs*
(via wtfwhiteprivilege)
Because African Americans have no autonomy or choice in what they call themselves, huh?
Must be nice being white and ignorant.
(via brandnewjones)
tall, dark, and bishoujo.: soydulcedeleche: i keep seeing vegan arguments fly by my dash. one...
i keep seeing vegan arguments fly by my dash.
one thing i noticed…alot of vegan people will acknowledge economic privilege…lack of access to shit….but often times in the same sentence they will go into “but if you have access to it, and you know about it and you still arent vegan, youre a shitty person”. *record scratch*
if you have said this, CHECK. YO. SELF.
ever heard of fucking culture? and free will? wtf?
theres something real fuckin imperialist, rooted in whiteness, ima say (and this applies even if you aint white—if you are pushing this shit), about assuming your way of life is the ONE right way —that you can somehow apply it worldwide, without fault, and anyone who doesnt agree is automatically savage, perverse or the enemy.
do these particular vegans not realize most of the issues theyre railing against are a result of capitalism, industrialization, globalization? and that you cant take some movement made up by privileged white assholes and expect it to just magically apply universally? i dont care wtf you think your cause is.
if the whole fucking world actually had access to vegan shit….they still wouldnt be obligated to adhere to such a lifestyle and none of you holier-than-thou assholes could say shit. you dont get it yet? lemme break it down.
if you came to MY house and explained veganism to me, and i, having access to all that shit, kindly DECLINED because i prefer to keep eating what me and my people have been eating for 985679878597 years and you want to say i am a BAD person for CHOOSING my own fucking cultural cuisine and traditions over your vegan evangelism, i will only tell you to GTFO and you’ll be lucky if i dont do it violently.
if, like many in my culture, i grew up raising my own fucking animals to eat in my backyard—- to prepare my cultures food with… and i believe that animals eat each other and i am another animal so this is normal (for those who are quick to cry speciesm, some of us eat animals precisely because we arent speciesist—we take good care of all animals (including the ones we eat), and assume we all consume each other so we arent above meat-eating? doesnt seem to occur to many)….frankly, you can condemn me to vegan hell all you fucking want. i will keep eating what ima eat, when i want to. know that.
i triple dog fucking DARE anybody to go tell some Natives in the Pampas or in Hawaii or East India or wherever to stop cooking the native dishes theyve held near and dear to their hearts…dishes theyve been cooking for 94867987805987 years, wearing skins or whatever else, so some smug developed world asshole can feel better about their carbon footprint.
anyway, those of yall who think that are dead fucking wrong for overlooking the entire fucking worlds culture and traditions like they dont even fucking exist or shouldnt matter…so long as your precious veganism is respected? how is that not straight up erasure? crock of shit, if nothing else.
do what you want. do it. but STFU about how everyone else is evil if they dont subscribe to your shit or DONT feel like giving up their fucking culture for your privileged, erasing ass, k?
So much word to all of this. Hell, even as someone with roots in the Southern US, what’s called “soul food” now came out of necessity because my ancestors didn’t have access to anything but the scraps and the bad parts left over from white people. We made do with what we had, and made it fucking delicious I might add. Food is inexorably rooted in culture and tradition and the stories and histories of people, the struggles and hardships and challenges, their connection to time and place. To waltz in and demand all of this change without any knowledge of or sensitivity regarding that context is the height of privilege denying ignorance, imo, and it makes me shake my head even harder when I see vegans of color doing it. Food is political and always has been, tied in with notions of Othering, etc. and it’s just ignorant to pretend otherwise. It kind of reminds me of hipster foodies and this “locavore” bullshit. Ignoring that “eating local” is what most of the world has done throughout most of time, because there was no other option, among other fuckery.
Also, can I just add that a lot of this stuff is also what squicks me about the evangelistic subset of obnoxious internet atheists? There’s more than a faint whiff of colonialism and White Man’s Burden nonsense involved (“these people need to be educated and pulled away from their superstitions!” <—how is this different than the largely white, western Christian missionaries that went in and destroyed whole religions and ways of life?), and it’s gross.
I sort of agree with this, but sort of don’t. I think it’s unfortunate that the intent and effect of veganism is lost on the mouths of those who assume the majority of people are able to go vegan, but I’m also disappointed in the militant defense of the choice to remain eating meat. I feel those who are defending this choice are emphasizing the thought that veganism is more about a carbon footprint, or for those who can afford it. Not all of us wine and dine at fancy vegan restauraunts, a vegan diet; when you get down to it, is made up of fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, etc. Meaning, affordable things — staples, even.
If someone has a compromised immune system, or any other health issue, and does need to eat meat, I can’t say anything to them. I know that, and more people should recognize that — a lot of people assume veganism is all around a healthier lifestyle, for everyone, and it isn’t necessarily true, especially given however you are able to approach it given your economic status, place of living, etc…
I think culture preservation is important, and I’m not claiming to be extensively knowledgeable on how meat was obtained in all cultures, but the way most of us obtain meat *today*, as opposed to your ancestors from “94867987805987 years” ago, is entirely unethical, and an alienated process from food culture dating that far back, if you’re going to use it to defend your choice to eat meat. If you must continue eating meat, I have far less of a quarrel with those who raise and kill their own, simply from an anti-capitalist standpoint. However, the bit in this rant about being an animal, animals eat each other, etc., understand that no other animals use factory farming, so to assume you are “not above other animals and prove that by eating them”, understand that this procedure of securing meat is, infact, speciest, among many other horrible things.
ummm, you missed the point, which is, you dont have a right to have a “quarrel” with people for eating what they always have. you have a right to have a quarrel w industrialization and the other shit that made procuring meat this horrible yep, but 99% of what is sold in stores, what YOU BUY, is made on HUMAN slave labor. the fruit and veggies you eat are included. is it speciesist to want to save the animals but continue buying shit thats hurting PEOPLE? so yeah miss me w the fucking judgment.
point promptly fucking MISSED.
(Source: bad-dominicana)
Troy Davis to be Executed on September 21st: Help Stop Troy Davis' Execution Now
“The state of Georgia has set Troy Davis’s execution date for midnight on September 21st, just two weeks from today.
This is our justice system at its very worst, and we are alive to witness it. There is just too much doubt.
Even though seven out of nine witnesses have recanted their statements, a judge labeled his own ruling as “not ironclad” and the original prosecutor has voiced reservations about Davis’s guilt, the state of Georgia is set to execute Troy anyway.
Time is running out, and this is truly Troy’s last chance for life.
But through the frustration and the tears, there is one thing to remain focused on: We are now Troy Davis’s only hope. And I know we won’t let him down.There are three steps you can take to help Troy:
1. Send a message of support to Troy as he fights for justice on what may be the final days of his life:
http://action.naacp.org/LettersOfSupport
2. Sign the name wall, if you haven’t already. And if you have, send it to your friends and family. Each name means a more united front for justice:
http://action.naacp.org/Name-Wall
3. Make sure everyone knows about this injustice. Spread the word on Facebook and Twitter (using the hashtag #TooMuchDoubt) so that Troy Davis’s story can be heard. We still have a chance to save his life, but only if people are willing to speak out against injustice.Today, the state of Georgia has declared their intention to execute a man even though the majority of the people who put him on the row now say he is innocent and many implicate one of the other witnesses as the actual killer. Now that a date has been set, we cannot relent. We must redouble our efforts.
Thank you. Please act quickly and forward this message to all who believe the justice system defeats itself when it allows a man to be executed amid so much doubt.”
June 1964. Black Children integrate the swimming pool of the Monson Motel. To force them out, the owner pours acid into the water.
Jesus Christ
Horrifying.
Keep in mind that this racist had choices. He could’ve asked them to leave. Offered them something to leave. Or simply, you know, drained the pool like a decent human being.
This is the history that white America is embarrassed of and wants to gloss over and shiny up and pretty up with films like The Help.
And this is the history we must keep reminding multiracial America of, so nobody forgets we still have far to go; so nobody buys into that ”we have a Black President now, we’re a post-racial America” myth.
The bolded part times 100000. Because this is the shit that GROWN ASS WHITE PEOPLE did. This is the shit that GROWN ASS WHITE PEOPLE passed down to their children. You know them kids in those lynching “picnic” photos they took back when? THOSE ARE YOUR PARENTS/GRANDPARENTS NOW. Stop fucking acting like this shit ain’t prevalent now, when we STILL have modern day lynchings going on. I’m done with white people acting like this shit ain’t prevalent. I’m done being nice to white people who will willingly act as if this shit should have been normal at ANY time in our history.
come fucking on.
ohh I love the commentary on this.
The black person that wrote this, has probably never been discriminated. Plus, yes there is racism going on in America from white people. The red necks, Not the civilized white people that have been educated. I think its funny how you say the grown white people. The “grown white people” I know is against it. Never been part of that. People are racist, they will always be racist. Cant control them. But by you saying all “grown white people”. Stereotyping all white people. Is racist, and just fucked up. Its the past, dont let it come into the future.
I love how white folks love to twist things around and make it all about their feelings.And apparently, this white person knows all about my fucking life, because negroes who complain about racism haven’t experienced REAL racism, y’all. You know, they ain’t been nearly lynched or had a cross burned on their front yard and shit, so we can’t say we were discriminated against…..
No bitch, I am not going to stop thinking about the past. Never. EVER will I forget about the past. WHY? Because dumb asses like you who demand us uppity negroes “get over it” end up REPEATING ALL THE FUCKING MISTAKES made in the past. Grown ass white people did this shit. Grown ass white people are STILL doing this shit. Get your head out of your fucking ass and take the rose colored glasses off. And LMFAO @ “civilized white people.” REALLY? CIVILIZED WHITE PEOPLE???
I’m boggling at the idea that they can admit racism still exists & then try to act like the black people on Tumblr don’t experience it. What part of the planet are we supposed to be on?
Did they just say “Not the civilized white people”??!?!?!?!?!? Oh, for fuck’s sake……
(Source: blck-grrl)
What you can do to resist Troy Davis’ execution in final hours
We are going into a difficult day. The state of Georgia is about to do something horrific. It is prepared to kill a person who may well be innocent. However, we have not been sitting quietly by here in Atlanta and everywhere worldwide.
The state of Georgia has proven our point: the death penalty is too great a power to give to the government. Human institutions are too prone to bias and error. The death penalty is a human rights violation and it must be abolished.
Here’s what you can do in the final hours:
Appeal to anyone who has any direct power or influence to act to prevent this execution! If those you appeal to try to claim, “I don’t have the power to intervene,” Remind them that they do have power, even if it is through their influence and not their legal authority. Contact:
1. Fax or call the Parole Board and ask them to reconsider their decision and grant Troy clemency. Fax: 404-651-8502 and 404-651-6670 (try both as they will be busy), Phone: 404-656-0693 and 404-656-5651
2. Fax or call the Savannah District Attorney, Larry Chisolm, and ask him to urge the local judge to vacate the execution warrant. Fax: 912-652-7328, Phone: 912-652-7308.
3. Call the local judge, Penny Haas Freesman, and ask her to vacate the warrant. Phone: (912) 652-7252
4. Call the Governor, Nathan Deal, and ask him to use his influence to encourage the board to grant clemency. Phone: 404-656-1776.
5. In Georgia, stand with us, saying “NOT IN MY NAME!”
a) Capitol vigil – 6pm
b) Prison vigil – 5:30pm across the street from the prison at Towaliga County Line Baptist Church (153 Short Road, Jackson). Take I-75 to Exit 201 and head toward the Hess gas station (turn left (east) off the interstate if heading south on I-75) on Barnesville-Jackson Rd. (Ga 36) and turn right past the gas station.
6. Join vigils tonight in locations across the US!
This is a time to be heard, not a time to submit. And please remain respectful to those who answer the phones. There is no need to be rude or to yell – the strength of our message will come through the volume of calls we generate, not in the decibels of our individual voices.
The thought of what may happen at 7pm tonight is outrageous, but it is all the more reason to continue to have hope, to continue to take action, and to continue to fight against the unjust death penalty.
For more on Troy visit: http://www.amnestyusa.org/troy
