who woke up the 800 pound gorilla in the living room?

I'm surprised it took so long for the idea to come to light. it's hilarious to me that it's actually news to people. And now, with Hillary Clinton crying sexism as the reason for her loss, the gorilla gains a hundred more pounds. While there definitely have been sexist episodes and comments during the campaign so far, how many people are voting against Hillary just because she's a woman? In fact, she's got a huge group of people who are voting for her because she's a woman, just like there is a group of people who are voting for Barack Obama because he's black. But the 900 pound gorilla that's going to climb onto Obama's back during the regular election is the fact that a large group of people will be voting against him for no reason other than the fact that he's black. The election results and exit polls in Kentucky and West Virginia are proof positive that a large portion of Hillary's voter base, the so-called "working-class whites", might be less voting for Hillary than voting against Obama.

Now are all these people card-carrying racists? Probably not in the sense that we've defined racism, as hood-wearing or skin-headed radicals, which is why the average white person would say that there is no longer a problem with prejudice or racism in the country. White people, and even some blacks, think that things like affirmative action are outdated and have no purpose in the new millennium. The problem is, however, the fact that racism never went away, it evolved. Politicians no longer stand on courthouse steps and shout their prejudiced opinions for all to hear, they simply act on them and feign horror at the idea of being a racist. Much the same happens in corporate America and everywhere else there are people who have control over the lives of others, which is why blacks, in general, are less educated, less employed, less affluent, and more likely to be convicted of or the victim of crime than whites. Is it some conspiracy created and executed by "The Man" and his minions? Even Rev. Wright doesn't believe that. But what the Kentucky and West Virginians basically confessed to is what black folks have been telling the rest of America since King died: racism didn't go away, it went underground.

Face it, nobody wants to be branded a racist, not even the most hardcore. Even skinheads claim that they're only pro-white, not anti any other race, in an attempt to appear mainstream. It's not cool to be racist anymore, but don't think everybody is keeping up with what's in style. I actually admire the Kentuckians and West Virginians for being honest about how they feel. But they're used to not being cool, so it probably wasn't much of a stretch. What's unfortunate is the fact that poor, uneducated white folks have much more in common with black and Hispanic folk than anybody wants them to know. The rich republicans want the poor folks isolated and uninformed, to keep them from understanding the choices they have available to them. Right now, poor white folks have the choice between someone who has spent his adult life helping people like them, versus the continuation of policies that have hurt everyone but the rich. I see that because I see the candidates and their positions and records, poor white folks see a black Muslim who hates white people running against a white person.

Between now and November, Obama's got a huge task ahead of him, much more significant than even the know-it-all pundits suspect. It's not enough that he prove himself the better candidate because of his character and platform, he has to convince people that he's not all the things that people say he is (I've even heard of a website that proclaims he's the anti-Christ).

I'm sure when it's all over, that gorilla will be a lot bigger, and irritable because he couldn't sleep through it all.

his(story)

i really tried not to write this blog but the more i've watched the news, the more i've been prodded to speak. the more i hear shit that's decorated to look like opinion, the more i feel the need to speak truth that's based on facts.

i'm a history buff...don't know where i got that from but i am who i am. the history channel is my favorite and long before you could watch history on tv, my parents made sure i got a chance to walk through it. i've been to monticello, gettysburg, little bighorn and the houston space center. one of my favorite vacation spots is the smithsonian (i've probably worn out more shoes on the mall than many people have bought in the mall). having said that, i have to set some shit wright.

yup...i'm defending rev. wright. never liked him much, never will...but he ain't as cracked up as most folk would have you believe...especially those who work for fox news. they actually likened him to "demagogues in history". on that note, let me preach.

"demagogues in history" (sean hannity) - as much as white folks are horrified by rev. wright's remarks, the fact is, they are just that...words. as much as those words can be divisive and no matter how the media would have the world believe that trinity is a hive of racists, there has never been a violent uprising against the US government fostered by black folks in this nation's history. in fact, black folk have never been involved in a targeted plot to threaten or harm any group of white folk with the idea of denying them of their civil rights. however, look up the history of the klu klux klan.

"the government created aids" - ok...he went way out there on that one...or did he? i googled the tusgegee experiment and was amazed to find out that, although the experiment started in the 1940's and penecillin was found to be a cure within a few years, not only were the subjects NOT treated, but the program wasn't ended until 1972...after the program was leaked to the public.

"the government sent drugs into the black community" - nah...couldn't be...but...does iran/contra ring a bell? does anyone else notice that the drug scourge of the late 80's seems to coincide with the drugs for guns program fostered by the cia?

"hillary aint never been called a nigga" - do i need to say anything to this?

"a country run by rich white men" - well...there have only been a handful of US presidents who were not "rich" when they took office. additionally, most of the congress has been white men, if not rich white men. when we add in the list of executives of the largest US corporations throughout history, i think the list might be slightly skewed towards the rich white man.

as much as people would love to equate rev. wright with the kkk, the fact is that nobody has ever walked out of trinity and dragged a white man from a pickup truck. no group of black men has ever hung a white man from a tree in front of his family. no group of black men has ever stopped a white man from voting. no group of black men has ever declared a white man less than human. 40 million acres can't undo that, a herd of mules cannot run over what has been the black experience in america.

so much self-riteousness, so little analysis...

all weekend i've alternately hidden from and soaked up as much of the news coverage regarding reverend wright and trinity as i could, all along figuring that i'd have ammunition for a great blog come monday morning. boy, i was so right, there was so much coverage, my mind is jumbled with so many ideas...only one thing to do: let my fingers do the talkning and edit, edit, edit. at this point, i'm turning off my mind-filter until my brain dump on this topic is complete. i'll rejoin you in 1,000 words or less...

if your chickens come home to roost, keep them away from foxes (and fox news)

don't get me wrong, i hate all the news networks equally, i just hate fox more equally than the rest. maybe it's their "wow" factor, because "wow" was what i kept hearing myself saying every minute or so i was tuned into the coverage on fox. from the cross-examination of sen. obama by major garrett to the near-continuous airing of rev. wright's remarks ("in case you missed it the last 20 times we've shown them this hour, here is what has everyone in america outraged"). at one point they had me so fired up i was ready to rouse the townspeople to go around the corner to castle trinity and kill the monster and dr. wrightenstien. the shocking thing was that mister conflagration himself, bill o'reilly, was actually the voice of reason...i'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop on that one. sean hannity was in rare form though, calling for obama to not only quit his presidential campaign but to resign from the senate. wow.


stupid is as stupid does

imagine me calling a harvard-educated senator and his team of political ringers stupid but...back last year, when obama started his campaign and asked rev. wright to "sit this one out" on the capitol steps in springfield, the thought, "say...you think we might wanna keep an eye on this old codger in case he gets extra crotchety? and while we're at it, maybe we might wanna see if there are any more codger-esque moments that we've missed?" growing up in chicago we usually test out of the 100-level politics courses, so i'm gonna give obama a pass since he didn't land here until the 80's, but david axlerod gets 1000 demerits and has to sit in the corner with a dunce cap on for the rest of his life if obama's campaign flames out because of this.


shut up already, damn (since you damnin folks)

you'd think that rev. wright would have gotten the message when he got benched for the opening tip of obama's campaign. he's obviously an intelligent man capable of making deductions (do i need to mention his talent for jumping to conclusions?), what da hell was he thinking? of course he can't take back the stuff he said back in '01 and '03, but if he's so concerned about changing the fact that america is run by rich white men, why didn't he just shut his ass up for a couple years so a poor mixed boy could become the speck in the grits? i don't know where i heard it but i live by the saying, "just because you can say something doesn't always mean you should." i think ima make that into a plaque and send it to rev. wright as a retirement gift.


condensation leads to corrosion, condescension leads to presumption

if one more white person talks as if they know what it's like to be black, because they have black friends or have been to black churches, i'm going to become a skinhead because i know what it's like to hate niggers. i love the fact that white folks think that successful black folk have no reason to be angry because they made it. no matter what they had to endure being the previously mentioned speck in the grits to get there, no matter how many times you heard, "i'm not talking about you, of course." or "you're so well spoken.", among other, not-so-niceties. no matter how many times you were told you couldn't, shouldn't or aught not because of any reason other than the fact that you're black (when you know that that is the reason). do white people have conversations amongst themselves about having to live in two separate worlds every day? about having to choose between the "new" life that we've earned and letting go of everything that drove us to become who we are? are white people considered sellouts because they become successful? if you're white and know someone who's black, ask them about these things...it's the closest you'll get to walking a block in our shoes. a mile is simply out of the question.


eat, drink and be merry...for tomorrow we might be on the bus back home...

the general consensus among the talking heads is that obama needs to "hit one out of the park" tomorrow to get his campaign back on track, but i think that's a bit of an understatement. he needs to load the bases and hit a grand-slam, all while having pitched a perfect game. the damage that this "crisis" was meant to create cannot be undone. the white voters who were on the fence about obama will, most likely, fall off into hillary's yard, giving her more ammunition come super-delegate time. if obama happens to escape this firestorm and make it to the general election, this phoenix of an issue will rise again. honestly, i don't know what he can stand to gain tomorrow. i doubt he can change the minds that have been influenced by rev. wright's sound bites, no matter how silver-tongued he is. those who were determined to see this story come to light aren't going to give up just because obama gives good microphone. but while i don't think he can gain much, the country just might gain a great deal if he opens a frank dialogue about prejudice in america. that's a big if, but it would be worth losing an election.

getting back on the wright foot

i haven't blogged in quite a while because i haven't had much to say, but the goings on of this year's presidential campaign has gotten many minds and more mouths working, so why not mine? i've been watching the coverage on cnn, msnbc and foxnews, as well as googling information about the various candidates and their accomplishments and backgrounds. growing up in chicago, where politics is a collision sport, i've seen firsthand the best and worst that can happen during the political process. us chicagoans still tell each other, jokingly, during election time, "vote early and often."

having said all that, this campaign has been a knock-down, drag-out street fight that i'm sure has old man daley and big bill thompson giving a standing ovation from the netherworld. the he said/she said, he did/she did and he didn't/she didn't reminds me more of 4 year-olds tattling on one another than ivy-league educated political debate, but such is politics in the era of blogs and surrogates.

speaking of surrogates, reverend jeremiah wright has jumped to the head of the "who can kill their own candidate" class with the resurgence of several of his seemingly anti-american and racially divisive diatribes. pundits everywhere are calling for rev. wright's head much the same way they did geraldine ferarro, so i give them points for being fair. but i find it interesting that nobody has asked the question, "how many black folk think like this?" white folks probably don't want to hear the answer.

before i go on, let me qualify myself a little bit; i'm an african-american man who was raised in a middle class home with both of his parents, who grew up in an "integrated" society. my schools were all integrated, my lutheran church is mostly white and i've spent years in the white male dominated "corporate america". while i have friends of all races and cultures, my ear is in tune with the voices of african-americans much the same way an irish or polish-american surely is: we understand our community in a way an "outsider" can't. not to say that any ethnic group is monolithic, there are rich and poor, educated and uneducated, and all other sorts of differences within any group that alternately cause disonance or harmony, but there are shared experiences that bind that group together.

with that in mind, no wonder rev. wright got cheers and a pat on the back while delivering his so-called "inflammatory" statements. while people throw around terms such as "the race card", and "disenfranchisement", i'm sure quite a few in that audience could give more instances of either or both than cnn could run 24/7 for the rest of the decade. and while many blacks don't agree with how he says it, rev. wright's words aren't far off from the thoughts of more african-americans that you think.

take the congregation of trinity, for example. one of the largest mega-churches in chicago, its membership includes many of the more affluent blacks in chicago, people who have obviously benefited from the american dream. but at what cost? i know several members of the congregation, any one of whom could tell stories of having been humiliated or degraded because of their race and/or gender. some stories are more unkind, even gruesome. those memories run deep and don't go away. not everyone stoically endures like jackie robinson or joe louis. many became angry and outraged, and developed a hatred of "white" society. but, unlike skinheads or the klan, they don't persecute, terrorize, or hunt white people. they go about their lives as any other law-abiding american citizen, but that hate still simmers.

then came the dvd and youtube and white folks are now starting to see into the minds of black folk, uncensored. did they think that louis farrakhan was the only one? if you beat a dog every time you feed it, that dog may never bite you, but it will never love you.

sure, it could be said that i'm making excuses for rev. wright because i happen to be in support of sen. obama. truth is, i don't really care for the man or his church. too many ministers get too full of themselves to remember what their true calling is, and i believe he is one. additionally, warts and all this is my country, which many of my family members have fought for, including my hero, my father, so damn anybody who would damn the united states. but that's not my point.

now that you have a little knowledge of what's on some black folks' minds, what should you do with it?