“That Conversation about Race” category archive
Driving while Black 0
Clarence Page recounts one man’s story (the man, by the by, is a Republican U. S. Senator from North Carolina). Here’s a bit:
“Was I speeding sometimes? Sure. But the vast majority of the time, I was pulled over for nothing more than driving a new car in the wrong neighborhood or some other reason just as trivial.
“I do not know many African-American men who do not have a very similar story to tell, no matter the profession, no matter their income, no matter their disposition in life.”
King of the “Subgroups” 0
In The Des Moines Register, Reka Basu challenges Congressman Steve King’s statement that no “subgroup” has contributed anything to civilization matching the contributions of European Christians. With some help, she compiled a list of contributions from others:
Here is some of what they shared:
Algebra. The number zero. Peanut butter. Accounting. Cotton. Gunpowder. Fireworks. Meritocracy. Language. Law. Government. Philosophy. Building construction. Wine. Food. Religion. Philosophy. Corn. Agriculture. Silk. Plumbing. Tools. Jazz. Blues. Beer. Pasta. Paper. Arabic numerals. Books. Writing. Gandhi. Buddha. Astronomy. Chess. Herbal medicine. Bread. Soap. Surgery. Ayurveda. Math. Wireless (Bose). Silicon Valley (largely Indians). Sanskrit. Banking. Money. Insurance. Lacrosse. Music. Hospitals. Optics. Voting. Woodblock type. Stirrups. Art. Philosophy. Farming. Human rights. Blood transfusions (African-American Dr. Charles Drew). Blood banks. Aqueducts. The compass. Porcelain. Massage. Tea. Rock ‘n’ Roll. Chocolate. Coffee. Architecture. Philosophy. Athletics. Tai Chi. Carnatic music. Bharat Natyam dance. Papyrus. The modern state. The public library. Gynecology. Universities. Acupuncture. Sewer systems. Engineering. Democracy. Original thought. Clocks. Maps. Yoga. The Sabbath.
Fear and Loathing (and Delusion) in Cleveland 0
Leonard Pitts, Jr., can only shake his head and sigh at the Republican Hate-Fest in their fact-free Never Never Land:
Did Silicon Valley entrepreneur Peter Thiel really say, “It’s time to end the era of stupid wars,” as if it were Democrats who dragged Republicans into Iraq with promises of flowers strewn beneath American tanks?
Did Ben Carson really link Hillary Clinton to Satan? Did the crowd really chant, repeatedly and vociferously, for her to be jailed? Did at least two Republicans actually call for her execution?
Follow the link for more.
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*Remember, in white-wing world, these are not examples of “terrorism.” These are examples of “putting them in their place.”
Reince Cycle 0
No self-awareness. No self-awareness whatsoever.
The Color of Justice, Reprise 0
In the Guardian. Ieshia Evans, who gained fame for fearlessly standing as she was arrested by a crew of robocops on a Baton Rouge street, tells her story. Here’s a bit:
“I just need to make sure that you’re not a prostitute,” he said, projecting his voice so that all the customers in the store could hear. Their jaws dropped. I was so embarrassed. We went home without the juice.
Would this have happened if I were a white woman? I don’t think so. I wasn’t dressed in a provocative way.
Do please read the rest.
There Are None So Blind . . . . 0
Shorter Elie Mystal: “What you see is what you got.”
Knee-Jerk Jerks 0
At the Portland Press-Herald, Alan Caron takes on those who would defend the police against any charges of misconduct, regardless of how blatant and egregious and deadly–and of how captured in video–that misconduct may have been. A snippet:
Harmon did a good job representing the conservative ideologue’s response to race problems in America, which seems to mirror its response to climate change and income inequality. Dig a small hole. Put your head into the hole, and bury your eyes and ears. There, in the silence, racism will not exist. Climate change will be a myth. Income equally will not matter.
Here’s a link to Harmon’s column cited by Mr. Caron. (I glanced at it when it first appeared and decided it was the usual right-wing claptrap.)
Zero Per Cent 0
Elie Mystal reads a poll and wonders where the coverage went.
Sentence Completion 0
Jonathan Capehart fills in the blanks for persons, such as Rudy Guiliani and Donald Trump, too stupid or too intentionally blind or too deeply invested in racism to get it. A snippet:
Folks, I’ve run out of things to say. The ignorance flowing out of the mouths of politicians has me reaching for words I’ve already written. So, let me restate some of them. The best way to understand the meaning of the phrase “Black Lives Matter” is to think of it as an incomplete sentence. To those African-Americans and other Americans marching to protest lives extinguished by law enforcement, the unspoken finish to the phrase “Black Lives Matter” is “as much as anyone else’s.”
Read the rest.
In related news, Kevin Riordan has an eye-opening moment.
