Clever Blog Title

velocicrafter:

elisamexica:

I’ve already seen some division between the “hispanic” (<-fucking hate that word)/”latino” community and the black community about this. LET’S NOT LET THIS DIVIDE US…let’s work together to attain justice for Trayvon Martin…please….

BLACK AND BROWN UNIFICATION!!

I totally agree that we need Black & Brown Unity, but I think a big piece of that is for us non-Black Latin@s to acknowledge that this is an issue in our communities & to not let our people get away w/the kind of apologism & blindness that we lambaste whitefolks for.

Truth! Anti-black sentiments run rampant in all communities, not just white communities and that is something non-black POC need to seriously recognize and deal with. Unfortunately, it is not only white people who uphold white supremacy.

girlebony:

But is meant to serve as a view into why so many of us align with the “race + power = racism” perspective. Again, I’m not interested in debating this (not even a little bit!), but I want to place this here for anyone that might get something from it. Maybe you can sense that the formula makes sense but just can’t quite wrap your mind around it. Maybe you align with others who have this view yet still don’t get it. Here’s the best way I can break it down.

We have to remember that race itself is a social construct. Well, we have to be aware of it. If you weren’t aware of it before, then I just made you aware. [“If you don’t know, now you know.” -BIG].

So, accepting that race is a social construct, we then have to consider why it was constructed. What purpose does it serve? Did it ever serve? It categorizes groups of people and perpetuates the notion that one type is better than another. This is not done in one off interactions. One person saying “I don’t like crackers” is not the same as a group of people systematically declaring another group are actually property and not human. Because there was never a systematic means of categorizing white people as “honkies” (Someone should have Sherman Hemsley work on that though). And there was never a means of using that “honkey”/”cracker” category and enslaving white people.  One man saying he doesn’t want his daughter dating white guys is NOT on par with declaring folks 3/5 of a human being. No structure ever existed of “forbidding” white men from dating Black women because they aren’t a full 5/5. (I mean, really though)

If race itself is not real and was only created as a means for one group to assert power, privilege and control over others, then racism is just the extension of race as a design.

So POC cannot be racist because the notion of race is based on a social construct that exists to disempower us.

*drops the mic*

theoceanandthesky:

purpletolavender:

pomee:

Dear Jason Russell,

After being bombarded with your KONY 2012 crusade, I have no choice but to respond to your highly inaccurate, offensive, and harmful propaganda.  I realized I had to respond in hopes of stopping you before you cause more violence and deaths to the Acholi people (Northern Ugandans), the very people you are claiming to protect.

Firstly, I would like to question your timing of this KONY 2012 crusade in Uganda when most of the violence from Joseph Kony and the LRA (The Lord’s Resistance Army) has subsided in Uganda in the past 5 years. The LRA has moved onto neighboring countries like the DRC and Sudan. Why are you not urging action in the countries he is currently in? Why are you worried about Kony all of a sudden when Ugandans are not at this present moment?

This grossly illogical timing and statements on your website such as “Click here to buy your KONY 2012 products” makes me believe that the timing has more to do with your commercial interests than humanitarian interests. With the upcoming U.S. presidential elections and the waning interest in Invisible Children, it seems to be perfect timing to start a crusade. I also must add at this point how much it personally disgusts me the way in which you have commercialized a conflict in which thousands of people have died.

Secondly, I would like to address the highly inaccurate content of your video. Your video did not leave the viewer any more knowledgeable about the conflict in Uganda, but only emotionally assaulted. I could not help but notice how conveniently one-sided the “explanation” in your video was. There was absolutely no mention of the role of the Ugandan government and military in the conflict. Let alone the role of the U.S. government and military.  The only information given is “KONY MUST BE STOPPED.”

I would like to inform you that stopping Kony would not end the conflict. (It is correctly pronounced “Kohn” by the way). This conflict is deeply embedded in Uganda’s history that neither starts nor ends with Kony. Therefore, your solution to the problem is flawed. There is no way to know the solution, without full knowledge of the problem itself.  We must act on knowledge, not emotions.

Joseph Kony formed the LRA in retaliation to the brutality of President Museveni (from the south) committing mass atrocities on the Acholi people (from the north) when President Museveni came to power in 1986. This follows a long history of Ugandan politics that can be traced back to pre-colonial times.  The conflict must be contextualized within this history. (If you want to have this proper knowledge, I suggest you start by working with scholars, not celebrities).  President Museveni is still in power and in his reign of 26 years he has arguably killed as many, if not more Acholi people, than Joseph Kony. Why is President Museveni not demonized, let alone mentioned? I would like to give you more credit than just ignorance. I have three guesses. One is that Invisible Children has close ties with the Ugandan government and military, which it has been accused of many times. Second, is that you are willing to fight Kony, but not the U.S. Government, which openly supports President Museveni. Third, is that Invisible Children feels the need to reduce the conflict to better commercialize it.

This brings me to my third issue, the highly offensive nature of your video. Firstly, it is offensive to your viewer. The scene with your “explanation” of the conflict to your toddler son suggests that the viewers have the mental capacity of a toddler and can only handle information given in such a reductionist manner. I would like to think American teenagers and young adults (which is clearly your target audience) are smarter than your toddler son. I would hope that we are able to realize that it is not a “Star Wars” game with aliens and robots in some far off galaxy as your son suggests, but a real world conflict with real world people in Uganda. This is a real life conflict with real life consequences.

Secondly, and more importantly, it is offensive to Ugandans. The very name “Invisible Children” is offensive. You claim you make the invisible, visible. The statements, “We have seen these kids.” and “No one knew about these kids.” are part of your slogan. You seem to be strongly hinting that you somehow have validated and found these kids and their struggles.

Whether you see them or not, they were always there. Your having seen the kids does not validate their existence in any shape or form or bring it any more significance. You say “no one” knew about the kids. What about the kids themselves? What about the families of the kids who were killed and abducted? Are they “no one?” Are they not human?

These children are not invisible, you are making them invisible by silencing, dehumanizing, marketing, and invalidating them.

Last year I went to Gulu, Uganda, where Invisible Children is based, and interviewed over 50 locals.  Every single person questioned Invisible Children’s legitimacy and intention. Every single person. If anything, it seemed the people saw Invisible Children as a bigger threat than Joseph Kony at the time. Why is it the very people you are trying to “help” feel more offense than relief with your aid?

“They come here to make money and use us.”

 “It makes us feel terrible to be presented as being so stupid and helpless.”

These are direct quotes. This was the sentiment of the majority of the people that I interviewed in varying degrees. I definitely didn’t see or hear these voices or opinions in your video. If you are to be “saving” the Acholi people, the very least you can be doing is holding yourself accountable to them and actually listening to what they have to say.

This offensive, inaccurate misconstruction of Ugandans and its conflict makes me wonder what and whom this is really about. It seems that you feel very good about yourself being a savior, a Luke Skywalker of sorts, and same with the girl in your video who passionately states, “This is what defines us”. Therefore, I can’t help but wonder if Invisible Children is more about defining the American do-gooders (and making them feel good), rather than the Ugandans; profiteering the American military and corporations (which Invisible Children is officially and legally) than the conflict.

Lastly, I would like to address the harmful nature of your propaganda. I believe your actions will actually bring back the fighting in Northern Uganda. You are not asking for peace, but violence. The fighting has stopped in the past 5 years and the Acholi are finally enjoying some peace.  You will be inviting the LRA and the fighting back into Uganda and disturbing this peace. The last time Invisible Children got politically involved and began lobbying it actually caused more violence and deaths. I beg you not to do it again.

If you open your eyes and see the actions of the Ugandan government and the U.S. government, you will see why.  Why is it that suddenly in October of 2011 when there has been relative peace in Uganda for 4 years, President Obama decided to send troops into Uganda? Why is it that the U.S. military is so involved with AFRICOM, which has been pervading African countries, including Uganda? Why is it that U.S. has been traced to creating the very weapons that has been used in the violence?  The U.S. is entering Uganda and other countries in Africa not to stop violence, but to create a new battlefield.

In your video you urge that the first course of action is that the Ugandan military needs American military and weapons. You are giving weapons to the very people who were killing the Acholi people in the first place. You are helping to open the grounds for America to make Uganda into a battlefield in which it can profit and gain power. Please recognize this is all part of a bigger military movement, not a humanitarian movement. This will cause deaths, not save lives. This will be doing more harm, than good.

You end your video with saying, “You will stop at nothing”.  If nothing else, will you not stop for the lives of the Acholi people? Haven’t enough Acholi people suffered in the violence between the LRA and the Ugandan government? Our alliance should not be with the U.S. government or the Ugandan military or the LRA, but the Acholi people.  There is a Ugandan saying that goes, “The grass will always suffer when two elephants fight.” Isn’t it time we let the grass grow?

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Amber Ha 

Its great that awareness is being raised, but basically everything that was said here. 

“They come here to make money and use us.”

 “It makes us feel terrible to be presented as being so stupid and helpless.”

“They come here to make money and use us.”

 “It makes us feel terrible to be presented as being so stupid and helpless.”

“They come here to make money and use us.”

 “It makes us feel terrible to be presented as being so stupid and helpless.”

“They come here to make money and use us.”

 “It makes us feel terrible to be presented as being so stupid and helpless.”

“They come here to make money and use us.”

 “It makes us feel terrible to be presented as being so stupid and helpless.”

madamethursday:

The amount of white whine in comments for the poster about racism and “fair skin” is kind of making me facepalm so much right now. 

Oh, fellow white people. That ad? Was mild. It was a mild and rather polite way of trying to tell you something that’s been an obvious fact of life for so many others in this world. But instead of engaging, you react defensively because, well, you have no idea how to conceive of a world where white entitlement isn’t an unqualified good. 

And frankly, the Jane Elliott video? Also mild. The woman only really raised her voice and spoke in a slightly brusque tone. Like one of the students of color said in her interview, no one hit them or anything.

Yet, those white students cried and got angry and generally threw fits.

If I could impress one thing upon my fellow white folks? It would be that PoC/non-white folks have been impressively patient with us. They have not even begun to be as harsh as we deserve.

They have not taken us en masse and traded us as slaves, dividing us up, putting us up for auction, parading us naked and separated from family, friends, and community and inspected us like cattle. 

They have not armed themselves and rounded us up, exiling us from our homes and telling us that a government we do not even recognize has declared that we must live in some totally strange place. 

They have not stolen our children and tried to eradicate all semblance of white culture, language, heritage and history from them, killing, maiming and traumatizing so many in the process.

They have not used us, without our knowledge and consent, in cruel medical experiments meant to benefit them while leaving us scarred, barren, maimed, and sometimes dead. 

They have not taken sacred bits of our lives, the songs we sing to our deities or the clothing we wear when we consecrate the things most precious to us and sold them as cheap trinkets and accessories.

They have not used our hair and eyes and general skin tone to describe the things they hate, the things they consider ugly or filled magazines, pictures, and aisles full of products for themselves while leaving very little or no space for us and the things we need to match our skin tone, our hair types. 

They have not posted sign after sign in the businesses and establishments they own or control, telling us we’re not welcome, telling us we must only come through the back door, telling us we may only use this restroom over here or this water fountain. 

They have not taken white men who leered, cat called, or otherwise looked wrong at a woman of color and surrounded him with a mob and beat him, tortured him, and hung his body up high as an example of what happens to white men who dare to attack the sanctity of women of color. 

They have not put up walls and fences and borders to keep us divided and then punished us and dehumanized us if we walk across it, seeking resources because they have taken so much from our homes even as they use us for cheap, disposable labor that they find beneath them. 

They have not provided billions of dollars worth of weapons, bombs, personnel to our enemies to help them exterminate us. 

They have not attempted genocide against us. 

They have not patrolled the streets of their neighborhoods and communities and towns, pulling over, arresting, beating, or shooting any white person who looks remotely suspicious or shooting those white people who are already on the ground, prone and surrendering and called it justified. 

They have not had white mothers so terrified for their sons that they hug them at night when they see the news, knowing that even if their sons behave perfectly they still might fall prey to simply being the wrong color and in the wrong place at the wrong time and die for it. 

They have not hoarded the wealth of the country and then complained when we tried to get enough to feed our families. 

They have not sterilized us against our will or talked about how we ought not to have children anymore.

They have not forced us into poorer and poorer living conditions, driving us from neighborhoods so that they can remodel and remake it according to the tastes of the richest among them. 

They have not created institutions, societies, organizations, and philosophies based on how inferior we are as human beings. 

Yet we, white people, have done all this and more to them. The list of things they have not done to us could take up posts and posts and posts because it is so long and so horrendous. 

And yet they have approached us with more respect, patience, and tolerance than we have any right to expect. More than we could possibly deserve.

So when you see these ads or exercises like the ones Jane Elliott conducts or other such things meant to try to communicate to you that you need to rethink whiteness and the way you act and operate in the world, you need to accept with gratitude and humility. You need to take it to heart and then offer a genuine thank you to any person of color who even bothers with you. 

And then you need to take action. On your time, dime, and in your own space to make sure that PoC don’t have to keep bothering with you. Because they shouldn’t have to.

oogishkamaanisee:

poemsofthedead:

crankyskirt:

tofuboots:

Also, how comfortable I am in a relationship is top priority, not educating my partner about race. Why the fuck would I want to go home and educate them about that when I deal with racist, classist pricks all day?

This is one of the reasons I’m not inclined to be with white people romantically. I will fight anyone that says that poc can’t/shouldn’t have white partners because it’s no one’s place to dictate that. But personally, I want to come home to someone that I can lay my day’s burden down with and vice versa without having to have an academic discussion of the historical & psychological explanations of why it sucked. And also know that when I say “it sucked” I don’t have to lay it all out, I don’t have to deal with a blank or confused look, I don’t have to defend why I feel like it sucked - because they know and understand exactly why it sucked from the first words out of my mouth. I want someone I feel safe with. And I want someone I don’t feel tokenized, fetishized, or patronized by.

WORD. dating a white person was draining.

Yes. All of these things. Oh god the one time I told my white best friend I wanted a nice Native dude I didn’t have to educate she got so offended. You’d have thought I had personally insulted her.

As white-passing people of color, we have our own set of struggles.

We have to hear all the horrible, racist things that our white friends (and sometimes even our not-white friends) say about people of color that they wouldn’t dare say if we were visible poc. And because we look white, we are expected to be okay with it. We are expected to understand and sympathize with the “I’m not trying to be racist but…” agenda. Basically, we are expected to support whiteness as an ideal.

When we talk about our identities being anything other than white, our white friends act like we are throwing ourselves an unnecessary pity party. They act like we are so full of white-guilt that we are trying to falsely identify as people of color to get away from it. Or, worse (and more commonly), they act like looking white is some kind of accomplishment, as if you were born inherently better than your visible counter-parts, are fully aware of their inferiority, and are being ridiculous or annoyingly humble by also identifying as a person of color. This experience is similar to when visible poc are seen as “credits to their race”. Except that the white-passing, instead of being seen as being better because they aren’t “lazy”, are seen as better by default. As if being born light-skinned, instead being a product of recessive genes, is evidence that we were meant for better things than our visible parents, siblings, and friends.

And we cannot effectively contest it because, when we do, it is held as evidence of our inborn moral superiority to visible people of color; evidence of our grace and humbleness. Yet we are not as good as white people because we are not actually white. We are still people of color, and, therefore, our words are cooed at benevolently and brushed off, as we cannot posses the wisdom and authority that comes with being an actual white person. We are light-skinned because we are better, but we are not white enough to actually be taken seriously. Our purpose in white people’s lives is not as evidence that racism is idiotic, counter-intuitive, and without any basis in logic, but to reinforce the value of racial hierarchy. And anything we say will be twisted and mangled to support the racist schema of the white people who have been kind enough to let us sit around and act white with them.

A self-aware white-passing person is constantly aware of their unmerited advantages and simultaneously unable to do much to convince the white people around them (and often other people of color as well) that we do not deserve to be on this pedestal. Or, rather, that our visible counter-parts deserve to be on the pedestal equally as much, if not more, than we do. A self-aware white-passing person realizes that when they set off a metal detector and get waved ahead instead of having to go through lengthy and invasive searches, it is because of the value a racist society has arbitrarily placed on pale skin and European features.

And then there is the isolation from visible people of color. Because while we may identify more with them, we still look white. And we are never, ever, unaware of that fact.

As a person of color, I know that I usually prefer to be with other people of color (and some non-delusional white people). So while we can’t blame them for not automatically seeing us as people of color, we also can’t just go over and say “hey I’m a person of color, too” because THAT IS SUCH A WHITE PEOPLE THING TO DO!

HOWEVER

I’ve seen a lot of stuff come through my feed, lately, about white-passing people of color trying to equate their struggles with those of visible people of color.

Personally, I don’t understand how any self-respecting poc (visible or white-passing) could do that to another poc. Every time you try do that, you are saying that you face the same discrimination as visible poc. This is just not true.

As white-passing people we have the privilege of letting people think that we’re white to get jobs, grades, respect and to avoid having our words and actions serve as a testament or evidence of our race/ethnicity. Most importantly, we have the ability to sit in a room full of white people and not have all eyes on us. When we are tired of the discrimination, we can get up and leave and be assured that, in a few blocks, at most a few cities, we will be in a place where no one knows that we’re people of color; where we can sit in peace, without being discriminated against because of our skin tone.

This is a white-passing privilege that visible poc do not have.

So, yes, we have our struggles. But they are not remotely the same as those of people who do not have the privilege of passing. Pretending otherwise is hurtful, invalidating, counter productive, and generally fucked-up.

So, please, quit trying to play oppression olympics and acknowledge your privilege like a decent human being!

If someone has to get to know you personally before they understand that you are not a racist… chances are you’re a racist.

If you are offended by this statement or reacting to it like this 

you are definitely racist.

Here’s the good news!

You can educate yourself and quit being so ignorant!

But knowing your life story won’t make any of your racist actions/words any less racist so please stop saying this moronic shit.

He asked me what the n-word was. I told him and he said “Oh yeah I’ve heard that word!”

And it turns out the only place he’s ever heard it was in songs. Songs made by “gangsters”. I asked him if the artists that use it are usually white or black and he answered “black” without hesitation.

But he had no idea where the roots of the word lie. He did not associate the word with black people, he associated it with “gangsters”. He associates “gangster” with “black male” because that is what he is shown through popular media. 

He knew it was a bad word but he didn’t know why it was bad and he knew that he’d only ever heard black males use it.

This is astounding to me.

At first I thought the reclamation of the word is obviously failing because kids are still just learning to associate black people, specifically black males, with being dangerous criminals.

And then I thought about the fact that there are plenty of songs by black men that don’t draw dangerous associations. That it is the media shows us that black males are dangerous thugs who say and do bad things. And that black males can’t be exclusively held responsible for improving the image of black males because it’s this horrible cycle of creating and continuing these terrible racist associations.

Anyway I’d like any thoughts on this topic and if you have kids you should definitely watch and discuss this video with them because I think things that were common knowledge for previous generations are, for better or worse, no longer common knowledge and it is definitely our job to educate our siblings and children.

*sidenote: my brother is a 12 year old white male