anotherlook

I watched Latino In America, hosted by Soledad O’Brien, a level headed, mixed race, beautiful young lady, the other night on CNN and for some reason it saddened me. Latinos have been in this country for a while now and while I rooted for Sonya Sotomayor as she breezed through her confirmation hearings, as I watched this programming I realized the depth of my ambivalence about being born in America and my ambivalence comes from not truly having a “heritage” that all other races have. I also recognized that America is not conducive to “family” the way other nations are.

While some blacks may try to claim Africa as their heritage, I have never lived in Africa, I do not speak the language, cook the food or share their day to day struggles – my struggles are American struggles, soul food, which is the most detrimental to your health, was the leftovers from the tables of the “master” and the only culture that we, as a people have is that culture that we have made up or been passed on to us by those who hated us.

I watched as the discussion, on Latinos In America, took a turn towards assimilation and how as the children of these Latinos attempt to assimilate here in America, the family has a tendency to break-down with the parents pulling in the direction of their customs but the children wanting to become “true” Americans.

I also noted that, without calling any names, one Latino lead on CNN seems to get some perverse pleasure out of cleverly elevating Latinos at the expense of blacks, more often than I feel comfortable watching. Now I have sensed this aggression for some time but I was so glad Wednesday when a guest speaker pointed out to this Latino that there were black Latinos in America as well. People are so fickle sometimes as they cling to being accepted by people who may accept them anyway but may not accept them regardless.

Speaking from the experience of being black in America and the lack of respect for my forefathers and their families, I see the breakdown of immigrant families as a destructive nuance of American culture.

My Russian associate tells me how his, born in America six year old, makes comical comments about his accent. While we both laugh at the things she says, being in America is already straining the sense of “custom” within this family.

Even with this strain so obvious, there will be times that this child will grow up and possibly come back to her roots where I, being born in America over generations of mixing, have no true roots to return to, my features are not like those of Africans and on some levels as I watched Latinos in America, this thought broke my heart.

Not only did it break my heart but for the briefest of moments I felt resentment and the thought crossed my mind that America is in my debt. I quickly pulled that resentment back as well as the thought of the debt and grudgingly accepted that, it is what it is and the debt that is owed is too late for me to collect on but as for my children and my grandchildren, America needs to recognize just how ugly their actions were towards blacks and change their ways.

I guess my lack of heritage has always been a motivating factor that leads me to fantasize so much about living outside of the United States – at least then I could pretend easier of a connection with a heritage if I was away from the states. However, with the world as it is United States is probably the best place to be when you are as broke as me.

Latinos are the fastest growing nationality in the United States. I can not begrudge them for who they are and some of the food they have brought to my awareness I enjoy eating. The Latin beat in music is appealing to my ears and I understand that even though the “doors” are opened to many in America, American people are not as accepting on all levels as the diversity of people continues to branch out and so on some levels, the struggles of Latinos have been mines to bear as well.

My advice to Latinos is that you keep what is yours, your heritage, your culture and stay unified because as I have experienced being black in America over the years, with the games that were played on our forefathers and in our continued struggle for significance and to some degree acceptance, blacks are on no level unified and that is our biggest downfall. Hang in there Latinos and welcome aboard!!

And that’s the way I see it!!!!

The Global Advantage

As I was reading some of the comments left on Yahoo News regarding Serena Williams’ meltdown, I realized just how some whites refuse to allow blacks the freedom of just being “people” they will always be blacks, animals even to some.

One comment stated “another case of an angry black person thinking they are owed something.” Another comment called her “ghetto girl” and still another made the comment “you can take the monkey out of the jungle but you can’t take the jungle out of the monkey.”

The flood gates of racism have opened wide for Americans on a rampage against blacks. It does not matter what blacks do in this land of equal opportunity, to a large portion of white Americans they will always be less than human, “jungle bunnies” or in the minds of those stuck in the past “niggers.”

I have seen white ball players in the faces of referees cursing, arguing, violent and angry because a foul was called on them but let a black person express attitude and immediately the color of that athlete becomes the issue. Yet whites are so quick to make statements to the affect that it is blacks who keep the color biases alive and well.

My question becomes what the hell is wrong with white America. On any and every level possible you show just how ignorant and racist you are. While no one, besides Congressman Charles Rangel has been outspoken enough to call this opposition on health care/insurance reform what it really is, racism, I have known almost since Obama has been in office that the real cause for all of the rudeness, name calling, protests, is simply because Obama is black – it is simply motivated by hate and racism.

While Obama may have won the election, a large portion of his votes undoubtedly came from minorities and young whites who have a better handle on reality because they have been exposed to blacks more than their parents or grand parents. What I see when I scan the crowds at the “Tea Parties” and the Town Hall meetings is a sea of white faces.

A sea of white faces angry at the way things turned out in the election; a sea of white faces who are running scared at the prospect of having to give up the privilege they have enjoyed for too long and no way does that sea of faces represent the true political makeup of America at this juncture.

The real reason the health care reform is causing so much dissention is because white Americans truly feel this legislation is nothing more than reparations for “past” sins and to allow for this to pass would be like admitting guilt. Those who are against this legislation will continue to be against the legislation because it is not about the legislation it is more about race.

Never mind that this legislation has been discussed many times over the last 50 years, never mind that everyone agrees that it needs to be reformed, never mind that if it is not taken care of soon it will create a financial burden that can take America to a new level of financial ruin, the real battle is the battle against “black America” and that is the only battle that makes any sense to the irrational, hate filled masses of white America.

Racism is an irrational manifestation of the superiority racist whites feel. That irrational state of mind propels racist to act out in irrational ways and to believe the lies that have been used to dissuade the gullible minds and confuse the issues regarding the health care legislation.

Even when the lies are unveiled, the irrational minds refuse to consider truth because truth would show how truly ridiculous they have been so they cling to the lies as justification for their outrage and continue on the path of ignorance and denial.

A prime example of the ignorance and disrespect was South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson’s rude behavior at the speech Obama gave on Wednesday night when he called out that Obama was a lie for saying this health care/insurance reform would not offer health care to illegal immigrants.

This rude comment comes in spite of the reality that illegal immigrants are currently receiving health care through emergency rooms and will continue to receive this type of care regardless of any bill being passed; this rude comment comes with no “punishment” and yet accountability is a word that is overused on the stage of politics today. “I’m sorry” does not take the words or the effects of the words away.

This rude comment comes out of the mouth of Representative Joe Wilson even with the knowledge that as a result of these visits to the emergency room, by illegal immigrants, medical costs are driven up; this, in spite of the reality that while the bill may not offer a means to distinguish between an illegal immigrant and a true citizen, immigrants will be taken care of one way or the other with or without this legislation.

White people need to give up the racism that is entrenched in the fiber of their very souls because they are showing their ignorance, to the world, in a very profound manner and while you are sending our troops out to fight wars in foreign lands, you need to clean up your own back yard in order to be perceived as a nation that practices what it preaches.

And that’s the way I see it!!!!

People like Ann Coulter just do not get it. As I watched her try to defend the Boston Officer, Justin Barrett, for his comments comparing Louis Gates to a “banana eating jungle-monkey” I could only shake my head at her ignorance. Justin Barrett will, hopefully, get just what is coming to him, “fired” from his job.

For me Ann Coulter is a disturbing view of just what is wrong in America where race relations are concerned. Even if the arrest of Louis Gates was not an extreme case of racial profiling, it nonetheless held racial overtones with both participates demonstrating their share of internal racial conflict, dominated by ego.

Ann Coulter denies the fact that racial profiling exists in her golden world of denial she demonstrates her stupidity along with that of all of those in white America who deny race issues still exist and exist to extreme in America. This is why I know that race relations will never be healed – too many live in denial.

As I watched her defend this Officer and compare his racist words and name calling with the incident that took place inside Gates home (I thought she was comparing Barretts words to Obama’s comment but Rev. Sharpton took it another way so we will go with that), I found myself feeling so sorry for her and her irrational thought process and the arrogance she displays with her justifications.

YouTube

Sgt. Crowley started his police report based on a lie that he was told two blacks were attempting to break into a house – this lie came to light with the release of the 911 tape. For me this speaks loudly of the internal mechanisms that dictate reaction to a given situation.

The America public, enraged by what transpired with the arrest of Louis Gates, have pointed their hate filled fingers at the 911 caller as well as Leon Lashley, the black cop who stood behind his “brother in blue,” when the bottom line is that this incident was solely the madness of the arresting officer, Office Crowley, Louis Gates and the perceptions the two of them brought to this confrontation.

Both Louis Gates and Officer Crowley being guilty, to some degree, of bringing preconceived attitudes to the situation, both showing a level of immaturity and ego that took this situation to an unreal climax with neither one of them having enough sense to back down.

Ann Coulter demonstrates her ability to be irrational in the face of realities in America and it will be, as a result of the thought process of people like her, that race relations in this country will stagnate and forever remain a constant thorn in the side of America justice in this country. She needs to crawl from beneath the rock she lives under and view the world she lives in from a clearer perspective than that bleached blond hair she sports.

On her web site Coulter asks that liberals produce one provable example of racial profiling that isn’t a hoax. Well I have one for you Blondie.

“Earlier this year, officials in the tiny east Texas town of Tenaha were accused in a federal lawsuit of stopping minorities, mostly African Americans but some Latinos as well, driving through town and seizing their money and property by threatening them with criminal prosecution and threatening, in some cases, to remove their children from their possession” - Do some research for yourself and you will find many examples of racial profiling.

These stops did not involve any wrong doing by the individuals who where stopped – just another way in which some law enforcement officers abuse their power and while you may deny these charges because until proven guilty they are just charges, some officials in the area acknowledge the fact that this has become a problem in their area and are working to “fix” the problem.

You are a sick person Ann Coulter without a basic knowledge of what goes on, in the world you live in and how things like racial profiling have a profound effect on those being profiled, to come out talking as though you are an expert on the subject just goes to show how gullible Americans can be in believing in the words that fall out of your mouth and the mouths of people like you.

And that’s the way I see it!!!!

Seinfeld George Not A Lie If You Believe It Beige Tee Shirt

I laughed, I cried, I clapped, I sang and I talked to the television as I watched the memorial services for Michael Jackson. I do not like funerals but I had to watch this and I am so glad I did. In the spirit of forgiveness, so many people said just the right words in describing just who Michael was and I loved it!!

I loved what Al Sharpton said in regards to Michael not being strange but it was strange what he had to deal with. When Michael’s little daughter stood there at the end and said what a great father Michael was and how she loved him while fighting back tears, I cried in earnest. Brooke Shields’ emotional words brought tears to my eyes as I watched her shaking hand repeatedly brushing back her hair from her face. Usher singing “Gone Too Soon” and Jennifer Hudson’s song brought more tears to my eyes – truth, I cried so much I could not believe it myself.

Congresswoman Shelia Jackson making the statement of “innocent until proven guilty” was so, so very meaningful for he was never proven guilty, in fact he was acquitted. Yet as recent as the other day was called a pervert by a New York congressman, Rep. Peter King, who is considering running for a Senate position – obviously he is not familiar with the concept of innocent until proven guilty but instead holds strong to the idea that once accused always guilty.

The love and respect I felt from everyone who took part in this memorial will live with me for all the days of my life and I will only remember the good that Michael did, especially the knowledge that he was placed in the Guinness Book of Records for giving to so many different charities – something I did not know.

The one song that they played and spoke of several times was “Who’s Loving You”. This was a message to those who had verbalized ugliness towards him and I felt the words as I recognized the message that was intended, when we had him here we did not truly appreciate him the person although there was appreciation for his music and his dance.

The collage of Michael’s works was striking and memorable. Michael will be missed and his legacy is the bonding of all people, throughout the world through his music. I love you Michael, more today than I did yesterday. Michael gave the world love in more ways than one. Let us each, in our way, keep the love alive as we go about our days, our life in memory of Michael Jackson.

I have to say this because I am feeling this and I am so, so proud to be black – In my life time where blacks have struggled through serious adversity, two black people rose to greatness. Two outstanding blacks who had the best interest of people in general at heart; two people rose to the challenge where no man has traveled to such extremes previously here in America, in my life time, and that is Michael Jackson and Martin Luther King and truth be told President Obama is attempting to pass the same kind of love throughout the world while carrying the same burden and judgment that was given to Martin Luther and Michael Jackson (time will tell what Obama’s outcome will be).

I love it, I love them and I am so, so very proud of all three!!! These are the only three people who have left an indelible mark on my heart in the United States of America which will remain with me throughout my life. If I died tomorrow I would die with a smile on my face and the knowledge that we, as a people, can be truly impressive in our ability to love despite the adversities we have experienced and I am truly honored to be black in this world.

R.I.P. Michael - I am impressed!!!!

And that’s the way I see it!!!

Teddy Bear and Roses Bud Vase (for the child that never left you Michael)

I am deeply disturbed by the recent picture in the New York Times – the monkey representing the “stimulus bill”, being assaulted and killed by two cops, while the caption reads “They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill”.

The denial of what this really represents is even more disturbing because it indicates that even though we have a black president and a black attorney general – who by the way I am very proud of for saying what he did about racism in America – nothing has really changed in terms of the attitudes of people and they never will based on the denial of this picture.

From my perspective “the chimp” represents President Obama since this is ultimately President Obama’s “stimulus bill” even though he may not have written it. None the less, it will go down in history as President Obama’s bill. The chimp also represents, as well, the historical concept that whites have of associating monkeys with blacks (ooh there goes that word again – derivative of “associate” which has plagued Obama since…).

The cops represent the fact that cops all across the country have the permission that has turned into the right to fire on and kill blacks at their discretion without being punished on the level they should be punished, all too often they get away with this crime with simply a slap on the hand.

In killing the chimp and literally saying those words, indicates they have just shot the President and since that president is black and because of the historical significance of primates being associated with blacks by whites, there is only one way to view this depiction.

Now people have argued that this was taken out of the headlines with the chimp that was shot for attacking the owner’s friend but, as typical of white America, the undercurrent of what this really represents is ugly and offensive and you can dress it up in denial anyway you want but - it is what it is when you really break it down, as well as consider the source.

This was an ignorant display of racism and this is the same reason why race relations break down between blacks and whites because whites believe they can say anything ignorant in the presents of blacks putting them down in a negative and inhumane way and black people are too stupid to understand the undercurrent of stench that has been smelling up our lives for generations.

In America, white people have played the game of racism for so long that it is embedded in the very fabric of their souls. They have played the game of racism so intensely they have lied to themselves for so long about their superiority that they believe the lies and therefore have not moved beyond the lies and denials because they feel justified in their assumptions.

Then they turn around and try to convince blacks that they are too sensitive and things are not what they seem or you are imagining the implications because to admit to themselves the lies they have been telling themselves for all these generations would truly take them to a place of darkness within themselves, a place they do not want to go, a place of ugliness, inhumanity, callousness and as far away from the very religion this country was founded on, that it would blow their minds and show to themselves how truly horrible as people they are.

To emphasize briefly what Attorney General, Eric Holder, was speaking of when he said the words that American’s are cowards when it comes to race relations. This is something that has truly bothered me for all the years I have been in the world.

The Bible tells us to love our neighbors. The way whites in America have dealt with this verse is to move out of a neighborhood when blacks start moving in, this way they have neither black neighbors nor love for black people, thereby basking in the sentiment and living according to the Bible. This is a typical game, played by white Americans, that has been going on since blacks have been economically and legally able to move where they choose.

Now you can deny this or dress it up any way you want – but it is what it is; I have seen it happen too many times and statistics speak loudly of this trend. This is just one small, visible and apparent way, in a long list of other ways, that whites show a total desire to alienate blacks from their lives and limit the rights of blacks, to this day, in America.

The list is long, full of denials, lies, ignorance, unfounded/unjustified hate (whites kidnapped, paid for and brought blacks to this country against their will - they have no reason to hate us) and undercover ugliness that I and many, many blacks are dealing with on a daily level here in America and this comic strip is proof of the ugliness that still exists.

My opinion, until white America can claim the ugliness they perpetrate daily on the lives of black America; until they claim the methods they use to keep the ugliness alive and active in our society; until they collectively ask their god to forgive them for this ugliness, because only in asking for forgiveness are you truly admitting your sin, this ugliness will continue.

Play your games, lie to yourselves, and the world, if you want but everyone sees, on some level, who you really are, most of all God sees who you really are and how you play the game of lies, inequity, hate, unrighteousness, inequality; all the things that my God verbalizes as abominations, ironically, the same word you use against gays, and this is the same God that you have built your great nation on – this may be your last call to recognize the error of your ways.

And that’s the way I see it!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is something that needs to stop in the black communities; this insistence to commit crimes and illicit fear in the hearts and minds of society at large. Killing people, stealing and assault, makes people feel that war is happening right here at home. This makes no sense, the crimes are getting, more and more, violent and more and more senseless and it is not conducive to the establishment of peace.

Black Americans need to clean up their neighborhoods, their lives and their children because these very children are reflecting back at you and with the job that I have, I see a violent, disrespectful, foul mouthed “you” and it is disturbing and embarrassing to witness the levels of ugliness black youth display.

Now, in Raleigh, North Carolina, this 20-year old “wannabe thug” by the name of Larry Whitfield, with no prior record, decided to rob a bank, which did not work because the bank staff must have seen them carrying semiautomatic rifles and locked the security door as the men approached, leaving them stuck outside.

They fled but crashed their car on the interstate and in his efforts to get away he ran into a 79-year old woman’s house and literally scared her to death. Mary Parnell actually had a heart attack caused by the fear she was feeling in the presence of this uncontrolled, uninvited youth.

So he walks away with no money from the bank and ends up in jail for murder in the commission of a felony, along with the other charges, if convicted he could get life without possibility of parole, and his life is wasted from this day forward.

Now according to MSNBC news, this lady’s autopsy said, she had an enlarged heart, was overweight and had advanced liver disease, kidney disease, hypertension, heart disease and was a diabetic and this 20-year old is going to jail because the woman went into cardiac arrest after he broke into her home.

Yes, it’s been a long hard struggle, here in America, but now is not the time to give up or give in. Stop cursing, drinking and drugs, stop showing your kids the worst side of life, have some respect about yourself even when America does not have respect for you because what you are essentially doing is personifying the attitude that America has for you by creating these mini attitudes reflecting back at you.

They spend so much time watching videos and listening to rap, intensifying the attitude and thinking that the world is like the music – which to an extent it is. My question is does the music portray what’s real in every American’s life or just the narrow world’s we live in as blacks.

Expand your minds and pass it on to your kids, search for the positive even when things are hard, recognize what others have sacrificed for your future in America and be grateful for the leap that has occurred. Yeah it has been a struggle but maybe not in vain but sometimes your actions make it hard to accept you or even want to be around you; it’s time we as black Americans take pride in who we are and stop all the violence that has become a way of life in our neighborhoods all across America.

You use the “n” word so much in your homes, your children come out in the real world and throw that word around, in mixed company, and people begin to think that it is an acceptable way to approach a black man and then you turn around and get mad because someone has called you out of your name.

You call your women a “b” and your sons begin to believe all women are “b”s and so they start showing young girls the disrespect that word evokes. You curse when in general conversation, thinking that makes you a man and your kids come out in the streets doing the same.

As for the women raising kids on their own, bring strange men around the kids you have at home. Sometimes these men talk to your daughters like they are grown and in turn your daughters come out in the world thinking they have some prize that all men want to own. It’s a sad state of affairs in our neighborhoods and homes. It’s time for a change and only you as parents can achieve this change.

Michael Jackson once said, “If you wanna make the world a better place take a look at yourself and make a “change” never were there truer words spoken.

And that’s the way I see it!!!

Now that the swearing in is over, the rigorous task of campaigning culminating in Obama being sworn in as President of the United States; this swearing in symbolizing the unified cry of a majority voice, which is of the people, in the land that I love. That majority has spoken, bringing about a change I never expected to happen, yet we are faced with the undercurrent of what it used to be, in ways that are slamming the consciousness of American’s with the brutality and sick mentality of what America really is even though the election of Obama shows the possibilities of what it could be.

Three young blacks shot by cops bringing in the New Year. A noose found on an employee’s desk. A mayor resigns from his office based on the threats made by Klansmen. Nothing’s really changed and across the water in another land, that hate is brewing and being directed back at American’s who have so successfully cultivated hate in the past. It is hard for me to get inside the mind of a person like a racist or people like the ones who are members of al-Qaeda.

Let us not stand in the wave of stagnation, but move on in unity and understanding, to create the dream that is written in the constitution which was created for the benefit of guidance by our forefathers. While the basic concept of the constitution is a collaboration of those in power, philosophically looking at their beliefs based on their religious knowledge, brought on by reading the Bible and other studies of human nature. The times they lived in dictated a passive inclusiveness that was woefully misinterpreted by the masses.

My forefathers, who in spite of their existence, in a land of brutality and servitude, sparked a deeper awareness in the hearts and minds of their owners by the strength of their character and their acceptance of their bondage, who were still able to take pride and comfort in who they were regardless of who they were viewed as. That constitution was written with the knowledge of what was to come and even though, we as black Americans were an afterthought in writing, it is understandable based on the lying that took place at that time.

During the time the constitution was written, things where different, there was a different mindset with white America. They had convinced themselves for so long that black people where not human because our differences were so apparent, by the color of our skins and the texture of our hair, it was easy for them to believe that we were less than human beings and their voices on this matter were made believable by the noise of constant chatter which was used to convince the masses of this very fabrication.

Yet, there were those who came to see that we were just as human as them but in their collective minds, to admit to this was also to admit to themselves who they really were to have believed in the lie; they were forced to view themselves in a light that told their very souls that they were not the good Christians they had convinced themselves they were.

This is a hard pill to swallow when you convince yourself that you are this good, Christian person yet you have behaviors, cruelty and brutality, that are in stark contrast to the way you view yourself.

All my life I have tried to understand the heart of a racist and the belief one man can have that he is somehow better than another. I believe that the most vicious slave owner was really aware of this fact, which caused conflict inside themselves, which turned them bitter with the knowledge not of who I was, as their slave, but who they were, as a people. Their anger at us was their anger at themselves misdirected onto the ones that made them view themselves in a light that was unpleasant.

When you look at yourself and you don’t like what you see, sometimes you play the blame game and it is easier to convince yourself, if you seal it with the lies that you tell yourself, in justification of your deeds. Despite what I have been through in this life, I am not a racist. Collectively, I may have some reservations about whites because repeatedly they have shown me who they are, but on an individual bases, I treat people, like people until they show me who they really are.

Keeping the hate alive, passing it on from generation to generation based on nothing but the lies they tell themselves and the lies they tell their children. In the divisiveness they cling to in their hearts, which have been so cold, I pity them. While I will never understand their commitment to hate so old and intense, all that is left for me to do is pity them.

I see that they demonstrate so clear, the fear that when they look at me, they see just who they are, and what led us here. Even as they revel in the division that they embrace so tightly, making them truly believe that they are better than me when in reality, it is you who is the sinner.

And that’s the way I see it!!!