On the Day of Mehserle’s Sentencing: A Feminist Vow
This was originally posted at Kloncke and reposted here with permission. *** [Today, former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle was sentenced to 2 years in prison, with 146 days already served, for the involuntary manslaughter of Oscar Grant. The Grant case marked the first time in California's history that a peace officer was tried for [...]
...read moreOne of my favourite bits of cognitive dissonance
There’s something that always gets me about white people who want to restrict immigration so as to preserve their cultural and racial dominance, which is supposedly under threat, in a given country. Who want to ban, for instance, Muslim women from wearing clothing of religious, cultural and social importance because they feel uncomfortable encountering the [...]
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Remembering Hurricane Katrina
On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. It ravaged the Gulf Coast from central Florida to Texas. New Orleans was the most affected due to the levees breaking. Many evacuated before the storm hit landfall, however; those unable or unwilling to leave waited out the storm in their homes or in what was [...]
...read moreThe Great White Hope and Lynn Jenkins (R-Topeka)
I should really start a blog entitled dispatches from post racial America. POC are routinely told that we have come so far and that things are getting better each day. Racism is often theorized not to effect our lives to a great degree. Of course these are the pronouncements from Whiteness and their house slave [...]
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Are Animals and Humans the Same?
I have written repeatedly about the offensive nature of PeTA’S campaigns because I find that their approach is often dehumanizing. Much of the time, they buttress their position by saying that we are no different than animals and therefore are undeserving of special treatment. This line of thought does not solely apply to PeTA. Many [...]
...read moreBlack women should lighten up? On health, optimism and bias
As I mentioned in my initial post, I also blog for Global Comment. Below you will find my latest post. Black femininity falls squarely into three social constructions: jezebel, mammy and sapphire. Each construction is meant to discipline Black women into subservience and marginalization. Socially, Black women occupy the bottom of both the race and [...]
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Costco and The Lil’ Monkey Doll
Who wouldn’t want to buy a Black doll named little monkey for their little girl? What better way to reinforce the idea that people of colour are less than, than by giving a child a toy that plays upon the racialized meme that we are animals. If this doll in and of itself, does not [...]
...read moreThe Hammering
I’m may end up regretting this, but I’ve come to feel that there’s really no way around it. I’ve tried to figure out how I could ignore what I’m feeling and move on to the stuff that I’d rather use this time to blog about, but it hasn’t worked. So here it is: Lately, whiteness [...]
...read moreStuck In The Middle
Continuing on with the theme of privilege, today I am cross posting something I wrote in May. I thought about writing and updated version but I don’t believe that I can improve upon my original commentary. As a Woc I find myself often being pulled in two different directions. White women often try to play [...]
...read moreThe Audacity Of Whiteness
The audacity of whiteness never ceases to amaze me. Some make the most obvious racial statements and then say, gee I’m sorry is my privilege showing. Well duh, of course it is and you damn well know it. If it were not so tragic I could be amused by the constant apologizing for racial commentary, [...]
...read moreCan I Touch Your Hair? Black Women and The Petting Zoo
Hair does not mean the same thing to white women as it does to black women. Hair for us is a physical indicator of the ways in which we are different. It is no accident that the first black millionaire, Madame CJ Walker sold hair care products. Part of female beauty has always included long [...]
...read moreThere is no racism in the Republican Party
The last time I mentioned Republicans’ problem with racism, I was talking politics with a couple Republican friends of mine. They denied up and down that racism is a problem in the Republican Party, and that the Bush-led GOP has been welcoming to minorities. Well, it doesn’t seems like everyone got the memo: ALLENTOWN, Pa. – [...]
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