(SistahSpeak con't)
Having grown up at a time when the only black folks on television were maids or entertainers on The Ed Sullivan show, I am thrilled to see so many faces of color. I am not however deceived into believing that this marks the post racial society that many of us long for.
I’ve given some thought to this and came up with what I will consider the markers of a new post racial society. I’d be curious as to your ideas.
We will be post racial when we stop talking about the race of the candidates. I’m not sure I’ll live long enough for this one. Identity has been so much a part of the American experience. Once my ancestors’ identities were as slaves. Then I became a colored person. Now I am a black woman. The question that begs itself is when will I just be a person?
A Native American will run for and win the Presidency. Not only would this be post racial it would be a karma balance to beat the band.
A Latino moves into the Whitehouse as President. This one is close enough to give Lou Dobbs and Pat Buchanan the blues in B flat. I pray that he gives the state of the Union address in English and Spanish.
An Asian becomes President. In the state of Washington we had Gary Locke as Governor and I thought he was wonderful. Perhaps Obama will prep America for a slew of smart presidents. Worse things could happen.
A black woman is elected president. I suspect that this one will be the next to the last barrier broken.
The final frontier for a post racial society will be the election of a mediocre black man. When we can elect mediocrity without racial barriers, then we will truly be post racial. Until people of color can field and elect a Gerald Ford or a Millard Fillmore, well we are not truly past racial politics. Notice I didn’t even mention Shrub though a Shrub of color would indeed qualify as post racial. However this level of mediocrity may take a century or two.
Until then the candidates black, brown or any of the myriad of colors of our society will be people of exceptional ability. They will run harder, faster and better campaigns. They will be twice as qualified and three times more reviled. They will overcome great odds to obtain victory. Their victory will pave the road for the inevitable mediocre person of color and at that point we will live in a truly post racial society.
Now run and tell that.
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The Urban Educational SystemSephius1, Black Kos EditorLast week we discussed national resources and how to leverage different businesses in each state, preferably those businesses that are tied directly to the livelyhood of the state. Students would intern at these business learning their process
This week we'll took a look at transnational resources and how the local communities in the US, and the local communities around the world, can come together and help each other's educational system. Just to rehash where we are:
Community Resources - this includes a discussion of how the small business community can partner with the local school system to ensure the success of the student
National - this includes a discussion of what corporations around the U.S. can do to improve the national work force, thus increase the country's intellectual capital.
Transnational Resources - This will be a discussion on how a local work force/school system relates to local work force/school system in other countries
2.3 Transnational ResourcesIf there is one iota of salvagable piece of NAFTA, and any other silly policy that outsources job to other countries without consideration to pay and labor practices in those countries, it is that it pierces through the country's red tape in a way that would take years for a independent organization to do. In fact, along with fair wages and good labor practices, educating the work force of the country you want into is very appropriate. This is the one piece often left out of any NAFTA
-like policy. It ensures that a transnational corporation doesn't use the work force of a nation without also improving the intellectual capital of the workforce that is to come. By not including an education piece in any NAFTA
-like legistlation the countrie(s) middle-class is destroyed because wages are depressed thus forcing middle-class families into the lower-class. The tax base is lowered and the first entity to show the signs --
the educational system. A government will find ways to cut educational programs, before cutting corporate subsidies. We need to make education the fourth rail of politics, and not make it easy for a government to chip away at the education system.
One way we can ensure that transnational resources are used to improve the lives of the people of a particular country, is to make transnational corporation invest in the education system of a country. Treat access to a country as a privilege, not a right. If we take my proposal in section 2.2 National Resources, and apply it at an international level, we could have several prongs of attack:
- Joint Classroom - Having a classroom here in the U.S. linked to a classroom in say India, Africa, or even Iraq. This would be the starting point for kindergarten to 7th grade. Both classrooms would be linked, preferably, via the Internet. Both classes would be tracked through the grade levels and the students could help each other. Not to mention having 2 teachers
- Internship - This would pick up where the Joint classroom leaves off, from the 8th grade on. For a month during the normal school calender (I will be suggesting some ideas for changing the school calender in Part III: A Strategy at the Governmental Level), some students from both classes would travel to each others country and intern at a business that is connected to the livelyhood of that country.
In theory, transnational corporations, along with local educational systems in the respective countries, would help manage this program. Ideally, the corporation would take a more influential role helping to facilite technology, new books, extra training for the teachers etc. Not all corporations are bad. Some just need to be guided in the right direction. Striking a balance between profit vs. productive citizenry.
In 2 weeks >> Part III: Strategy At The Governmental Level
Kudos to Mitch Landrieu D-LA, the state’s lieutenant governor for not running from his states history.
NYTimes (Travel) ≫ Driving Back Into Louisiana’s History.
The estate, promoted as the most complete plantation in the South, is an antebellum gem. It includes, among other things, a Creole and Greek Revival-style mansion, an overseer’s house, a blacksmith shop and the oldest kitchen in Louisiana. Built in the late 1700s by Jean Jacques Haydel Jr., the grandson of a German immigrant with a penchant for fine art, the house walls are adorned with murals said to be painted by the Italian artist Domenico Canova, a relation of the neo-Classical sculptor Antonio Canova.
Yet Mr. Landrieu is far less interested in the Haydels than the legacy of the 254 slaves who once inhabited the nearly dozen shacks behind the big house during Whitney’s reign among the largest sugar farms in Louisiana. His muddy shoes planted in front of a row of neatly situated sun-bleached shacks during a recent visit, Mr. Landrieu nudged a reporter toward what he likes to call a living museum:
"Go on in. You have to go inside. When you walk in that space, you can’t deny what happened to these people. You can feel it, touch it, smell it." He compared the experience to visiting the former Nazi death camp at Auschwitz.
Personal politics aside, in an era of proliferating theme parks and "Girls Gone Wild" spring breaks, it is entirely possible that hanging out in former slave quarters — or, for that matter, the adjacent so-called "nigger pen" lockup — runs counter to most Americans’ idea of a vacation. But in post-Katrina Louisiana, where an antidote to recent images of black disillusionment, despair and displacement has so far proven elusive, the recently started African-American Heritage Trail offers a disarmingly triumphant immersion into Louisiana’s rich black history and culture through such powerful juxtapositions of freedom and bondage and the creativity that sprung out of both conditions...... More ►
Yes parts of this story fall into the "split" narrative between "liberal elites" (read: white liberals) and the "base" (read: either minorities or working class whites) but it should take away from the great fact that Portland is looking for SOLUTIONS not just writing about a problem. I think more cities should try this.
NYTimes ≫ Racial Shift in a Progressive City Spurs Talks.
Not every neighborhood in this city is one of those Northwest destinations where passion for espresso, the environment and plenty of exercise define the cultural common ground. A few places are still described as frontiers, where pioneers move because prices are relatively reasonable, the location is convenient and, they say, they "want the diversity."
Yet one person’s frontier, it turns out, is often another’s front porch. It has been true across the country: gentrification, which increases housing prices and tension, sometimes has racial overtones and can seem like a dirty word. Now Portland is encouraging black and white residents to talk about it, but even here in Sincere City, the conversation has been difficult.
"I’ve been really upset by what I perceive to be Portland’s blind spot in its progressivism," said Khaela Maricich, a local artist and musician. "They think they live in the best city in the country, but it’s all about saving the environment and things like that. It’s not really about social issues. It’s upper-middle-class progressivism, really."
Ms. Maricich, 33, who is white, spoke after attending this month’s meeting of Portland’s Restorative Listening Project.
The goal of the project, which is sponsored by the city’s Office of Neighborhood Involvement, is to have white people better understand the effect gentrification can have on the city’s longtime black and other-minority neighborhoods by having minority residents tell what it is like to be on the receiving end....... More ►
I believe the most important factor in adoptions should be finding a loving home. But I do think a policy that discourages adoption agency from even discussing the challenges of race is a bad one. (dopper0189)
NYTimes ≫ De-emphasis on Race in Adoption Is Criticized.
Minority children in foster care are being ill-served by a federal law that plays down race and culture in adoptions, a report released on Monday said.
The report, based on an examination of the law’s impact over a decade, said that minority children adopted into white households face special challenges and that white parents need preparation and training for what might lie ahead.
But it found that social workers and state agencies fear litigation and stiff penalties under the law for even discussing race with adopting couples. As a result, families often do not get the counseling they need. It also found that states have ignored an aspect of the law that requires diligent recruitment of black parents...... More ►
One of the great after effects to breaking a glass ceiling is that you never know all the great social events that it will trigger.
Ebony / Jet ≫ Trickle Down, pivotal moments and social change.
There are other moments in America’s social and cultural history that are the equivalent of an earthquake when it comes to changing racial perceptions. These are the moments that change people, make them search their soul, cause them to change the way they judge people who they do not know, and have never even considered. It is how we got to where we are now. Here’s a few:
1947. Jackie Robinson breaks baseball’s color line.
1956. Rhythm and blues gives birth to "rock and roll."
1976. The television mini-series "Roots."
1984. The Cosby Show.
And now, possibly: 2009. Barack Obama – first Black President.
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Back in 1987 when Doug Williams became the first Black quarterback in a Super Bowl, no one had any idea what it meant. Then Williams’ team – the Washington Redskins won the game (crushed John Elway, a white quarterback and the Denver Broncos) and Williams was MVP. Black fans of the Redskins screamed Doug’s name that night and the white Redskins’ fans that heard it did not understand the glee. But most importantly, in the 20 years since that Doug Williams’ triumph, there has been an explosion of black quarterbacks starring in the NFL. It is barely even a thought now that a black quarterback can’t succeed at a high level in the NFL anymore...... More ►
MSNBC ≫ Preservationists fight to save historic district.
The day Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church crumbled into shards of bricks and a pile of rubble, tears filled the eyes of the people who had tried to save the historic structure.
But their grief was not just for this 68-year-old building in the heart of Houston's Fourth Ward.
On this recent Friday, the solemn and stricken group was also crying for all the other now-vanished fragments of Freedmen's Town, the nation's only remaining post-Civil War historic district built by freed slaves...... More ►
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I have had great respect for the Clintons over the years, this goes back to me working on their campaign in NH in 1992. But this they are going to need to rebuild many of the bridges they burnt. I mean for such an experienced team to suggest she could run for Gov. of NY even though New York has a Democratic Gov., a BLACK democratic governor who is a supporter, it amazes me why they can't understand why their standing in the black community have fallen so far (dopper0189).
LATimes ≫ Trouble brewing in N.Y. for Clinton.
Even as she continues her longshot presidential bid, Hillary Rodham Clinton faces a political rift in New York, where black leaders say her standing has dropped due to racially charged comments by her and her husband during the campaign.
African American elected officials and clerics based in New York City say Clinton will need to defuse resentment over the campaign's racial overtones if she returns to New York as U.S. senator.
Michael Benjamin, a state assemblyman who represents parts of the Bronx, said his wife removed a photograph of Bill Clinton from her office wall --an expression of the misgivings that some black New Yorkers feel.
Assemblyman Karim Camara of Brooklyn contributed $500 to Hillary Clinton's Senate reelection campaign in 2006 and described Bill Clinton as a political hero. He said: "Once the campaign is over there has to be a lot of work to heal the wounds. She needs to go back to the black churches she visited in the course of her campaign and have a frank conversation about who she is and how much the support of the black community means. There would not have been a first Clinton presidency in 1992 if not for the African American community."...... More ►
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NYTimes ≫ Dominican Crackdown Leaves Children of Haitian Immigrants in Legal Limbo.
Two obsessions define this country: baseball and Haiti. Ángel Luis Joseph, a teenage outfielder with a hot bat, is caught between Dominicans’ devotion to the one and disdain for the other.
So many major leaguers have emerged from this sugar town that agents keep an eye on even pint-size players with potential. Ángel, 17, was only a lanky grade school boy when his coach noticed he showed all the signs of becoming a standout. Before long, the San Francisco Giants came calling with a $350,000 offer, he said.
But then politics interfered with his dream. To obtain a visa to the United States, Ángel went to a local government office to get a copy of his birth certificate. Little did he know that the Dominican government had recently begun a crackdown on the children of Haitian immigrants, even those like him who have lived their whole lives in the Dominican Republic.
"If your last name is weird, they won’t give you your documents," he said. "Same thing if your skin is dark like mine."...... More ►
The Horn of Africa has been a flash spot for millenia.
NYTimes ≫ A Conflict’s Buffer Zone: Rocks, and Inches.
ON THE DJIBOUTIAN-ERITREAN BORDER — The distance between the rival armies is shorter than the barrel of a gun. Hundreds of opposing troops are lined up on the border, staring each other down, from just inches away.
War in the disputed border area could imperil some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world and could threaten oil supplies.
On one side are the Djiboutians, a relatively well-equipped African military with combat boots, CamelBak strap-on water bottles and the occasional buttery croissant in the field.
On the other side are skinny Eritrean soldiers, covered in dust and wearing plastic sandals, camped out in thatch-roofed huts that look like fortified tropical bungalows.
There is no buffer zone between the soldiers, as there usually is along a contested frontier. Instead, the heavily armed fighters, who are becoming increasingly tense and irritable, are squeezed together on a sweltering hilltop, watching each others’ every move. "It’s a very confusing situation," said Maj. Youssouf Abdallah, of the Djiboutian Army. A David versus David battle is shaping up here, with two of Africa’s tiniest nations squaring off over a few piles of uninhabited sand....... More ►
OBITUARIES
Last surviving Brown v. Board plaintiff dies
The last surviving plaintiff in Topeka's Brown v. Board of Education case, which led to the historic 1954 Supreme Court ruling outlawing segregation in public schools, has died at 88.
Zelma Henderson died Tuesday in Topeka, six weeks after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Her son, Donald, said she wasn't physically imposing, but when she was passionate about something, "She was just fire."
Okay, this Jew versus Black thing is getting to me.......More ►
┗ by arielle
Rush Limbaugh s Racist Attacks on Obama......More ►
┗ by JohnKWilson
Newsweek poll explores anti-Obama Racism......More ►
┗ by Benito
Labor History: Race, Politics, and a Flag.......More ►
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Fox in Blackface?......More ►
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