Nothing Worth Saving

I was driving by Gateway Bank here in St. Louis, Missouri late last Friday and saw something seriously unusual.  It was about six in the evening, when the small parking lot next to the building is usually void of any vehicles.  But on that day, the lot was full of a fleet of what looked like rental cars.  Each car was new, freshly washed, and conspicuously generic.  My first thought was that the bank was on the verge of collapsing and the FDIC was swooping in.  I can’t remember the last time I saw a security guard monitoring this bank.  But on this particular day there must’ve been at least four guards protecting the cars and the people.  As I drove by I saw two of them standing on either side of the front door.

Not too long ago I heard an article on NPR about the FDIC and the way they move in on banks to try and keep them from going completely under.  They typically move in on a Friday night, flash their badges, and start their work auditing the bank to get an exact picture of where the bank stands.  In order to keep customers from making a run on the bank and making the situation worse, the FDIC moves with as much secrecy as possible and does its best to keep everything as normal looking as possible.

But it’s truly hard to hide the fact that an army of accountants and auditors and banking experts, not to mention a few security guards thrown in for good measure, just descended on this lone bank late on a Friday night.  My curiosity piqued, I took the time to drive around the block to take a closer look.  On the second pass, I saw guards three and four standing in the parking lot.  One would escort people arriving at the bank inside, the other stayed and watched over their cars.  There were a lot of white people showing up at this privately held bank in the heart of the black community.  That in itself was noticeable.

Early the next day, the scene was repeated.  The bank’s normal operating hours on a Saturday is something like nine o’clock to noon.  The parking lot was bursting at the seam with generic cars again.  I parked my car and approached one of the guards.  After I explained that I lived nearby and couldn’t help but notice the cars, I asked the guard for what the deal was.  Dude must’ve been bored and ready for any kind of conservation because he didn’t hold anything back.  He confirmed that the FDIC had arranged for the bank to be sold to an outfit on the other side of the state in Kansas City.  The bank was about to go under new management, but the FDIC was managing the transfer.

Gateway Bank was one of those success stories in which the black community had fought long and hard to make.  If you were a black person living in St. Louis during the sixties, you weren’t getting hired by the dominant community’s banks and you weren’t getting a loan to buy that dream house or that car you wanted.  Back in 1963, civil rights activists in St. Louis began protesting over Jefferson Bank & Trust Co.’s refusal to hire blacks for jobs.  Prospects for financial advancement in St. Louis were pretty slim for blacks.

Disenfranchised blacks opened up a bank with a mission that it would not discriminate against black people.  They soon were able to gain the support of the chairman of the board of the First National Bank of St. Louis.  With support from the white community, Gateway National Bank opened in 1965.  It was a collaboration between people in both the black and white communities.  Today, Gateway Bank’s single branch is now a branch of Central Bank of Kansas City, Missouri.  Gateway Bank had a troubled financial history and was on the FDIC’s list of problem banks since 2006.  The transfer of ownership cost the FDIC over nine million dollars.   This morning, it is business as usual at the bank that still has the name Gateway on its side.

Right now the number of bank failures this year is one hundred twenty three, indicating the worst financial climate in decades.  As the economy has soured with unemployment rising and home prices falling leading its only a natural result that loan defaults would rise as well.  And the FDIC expects bank failures to continue to cascade.  Banks have been especially hurt by failed real estate loans.  But banks that cater predominantly to the black community are especially at risk.  They are sucker bets for failure in an age where people in the black community are told to exercise self reliance.

The historic Gateway Bank could have survived with just a tiny sliver of a fraction of the funds the government gave to such institutions as General Motors and Bank of America and the like.  We know that those institutions, steep in their significance to the dominant community, are way too big to fail.  Institutions like Gateway that play a significant part of the black community don’t even come close to being something worth saving.

Joseph Paul Franklin

Joseph Paul Franklin is a serial killer convicted of several murders.  He is the man who admitted that he tried to kill Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt and advisor to former President Jimmy Carter and civil rights activist Vernon Jordon.  This man is believed to be a drifter with a love of violence who wanted to kill people he considered inferior such as blacks and Jews.  His primary target of choice was mostly black men with white women.  Despite being partially blind he was a proficient marksman, and killed most of his victims from a distance using a rifle.  He would plan his murders in advance several escape routes and techniques in which to leave no evidence.  He killed at random.  He was a follower of Nazism and held memberships in the American Nazi Party and the Ku Klux Klan.

In 1977, he started his murdering spree.  In August of 1977 he fatally shot Alphonse Manning and Toni Schwenn, a black man and a white woman.  Joseph Paul was trying to get away from a bank robbery he committed in Madison, Wisconsin, when he wound up behind a car being driven by Mr. Manning.  Wanting a speedy get away and was frustrated with the pace of Mr. Manning’s driving.  When Manning stopped and got out of the car, Franklin shot him and the woman he was with.

In October of 1977, Joseph Paul Franklin hid outside Brith Shalom synagogue in Richmond Heights, Missouri and used a Remington 700 hunting rifle and killed Gerald Gordon and injured Steven Goldman and William Ash.  After his capture and conviction, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to death by lethal injection in the Potosi Correctional Center in Potosi, Missouri.

In March of 1978, he claims he used a rifle to ambush pornographer Larry Flynt and his lawyer Gene Reeves in Lawrenceville, Georgia.  He claimed that it was in retaliation for an edition of Mr. Flynt’s Hustler magazine that featured interracial sex.  The confession came years after the shooting and there is no evidence to support his claim.

In July of 1978, he killed Bryant Tatum, a black man with a white girlfriend, with a shotgun.  In July of 1979, he killed Harold McIver, a black man who Franklin believed was trying to have sex with a few white women.  In August of 1978, he killed a black man at a Burger King in Falls Church, Virginia.  In October of 1979, he used a rifle to kill a mixed race couple, the black Jesse Taylor and the white Marian Bresette, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  In December of 1979, he killed the white fifteen year old prostitute Mercedes Lynn Masters in Dekalb County, Georgia, with a shotgun for having black customers.

He went on to kill a black man in Indianapolis, Indiana.  He killed Rebecca Bergstrom with a handgun in Monroe County, Wisconsin.  He tried to kill Vernon Jordan, Jr. after he had seen Mr. Jordan with a white woman in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  He killed fourteen year old Darrel Lane and his cousin thirteen year old Donte Evans Brown in Bond Hill, Cincinnati.  He killed the mixed race couple Arthur Smothers and Kathleen Mikula in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.  He confessed to killing two hitch hikers he picked up, Nancy Santomero and Vicki Durian in Pocahontas County, West Virginia after one of the them admitted to having a black boyfriend.  He killed two black men as they jogged with white women in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Joseph Paul Franklin was captured when he went to give blood at a blood bank, the nurse recognized his tattoo and called authorities.  He received several life sentences for his crimes in several states.  But in 1997 he was sentenced to death in Missouri.  This man has been linked to twenty murders, six aggravated assaults, sixteen bank robberies and two bombings.  He has confessed to eight murders, and has received several life sentences or death sentences for others.  He is currently being held on death row at the Potosi Correctional Center near Mineral Point, Missouri for a crime he committed more than thirty years ago.  He was recently featured on the MSNBC television program Criminal Mindscape where Veteran FBI criminal profiler Mary Ellen O’Toole interviewed the serial killer who admitted his mission was to start a race war in America.  He is still awaiting execution.

In October of 2002, John Allan Muhammad and his seventeen year old accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo started a twenty day crime spree that resulted in the murder of ten people and injury to four more.  The two men were arrested in connection with the attacks on October 24, 2002.  John Allan Muhammad was a member of the Nation of Islam in 1987 and later changed his surname to Muhammad.  His was put on trial for the murder of Dean Harold Meyers on October 9th of 2002 in Prince William County, Virginia back in October of 2003 and he was found guilty of capital murder the following November.  Four months later he was sentenced to death. On November 10, 2009, at 9:11 PM Eastern Standard Time, John Allan Muhammad was pronounced dead at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt, Virginia.

A Day Of Rememberance For Our Veterans

Jesse Jackson Is Going To Get You

“If the police had detained her against her will for safety reasons we would be hearing from jesse jackson about violating the right of black americans women. The national media needs to get the word out and the police and fbi need to find this young american woman asap, regardless of her race.” – A comment from betier in response to Mitrice Richardson Is Just Another Missing Black Woman

Is it just me or do a lot of people want to perpetrate the fraud that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton wield a lot of influence in American culture?  Anytime somebody tries to call attention to some disparity that happens to fall along racial lines, somebody is quick to say something like if some racially generic institution that is heavily controlled and influenced by white people tries to do the right thing then Mr. Jackson or Mr. Sharpton will be quick to jump down their throats like the wrath of god.  This begs the question, what has either one of these men done to instill such fear into the dominant community?

When the news broke that Rush Limbaugh was about to participate in the purchase of the St. Louis Rams, a number of people on all sides of the racial divides came out to protest the move due to Mr. Limbaugh’s reputation as a race baiter.  But to defend Mr. Limbaugh and his insensitivity toward racial issues, people attacked Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson as two of the most racist people in America.  Why has either one of these men done to earn such a reputation for racial division from the dominant community that inspires people to want to give a racist like Mr. Limbaugh a free pass?

If people take a long, hard, honest look at Mr. Jackson’s and Mr. Sharpton’s long, distinguished careers, what have they really said or done that has significantly helped the black community?  Sure they have helped to sue people and bring attention to certain issues of racial discrimination.  But other than the high profile complaining the good reverends don’t really deliver much to the black community at large.  Mr. Jackson formed his Rainbow/PUSH organization.  Mr. Sharpton developed his National Youth Movement.  Both of these organizations do much for the black community.

But they also do much for the dominant community as well.  Mr. Jackson is on record fighting to keep the plug from being pulled on the believed to be brain dead Terry Schiavo.  Mr. Sharpton regularly does his appearance on television on shows like Boston Legal, New York Undercover, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as well being a special commentator for such shows as Meet the Press and This Week with George Stephanopoulos.  Both Mr. Jackson and Mr. Sharpton have made a lot of money participating in institutions near and dear to the heart of the dominant community.  Both men have done very well financially speaking.

People need to wakeup and take a look at who really benefits from Mr. Sharpton’s and Mr. Jackson’s theatrics.  People want to point to such incidents as Mr. Jackson calling New York City Hymie Town for all the Jews that reside there and Mr. Sharpton participating in the discredited Tawana Brawley case.  Mr. Jackson and Mr. Sharpton are not two super heroes working for truth, justice, and the black community’s way of life.  In all honesty, these two men have benefited greatly from the status quo.  And people who benefit from the status quo are less likely to honestly participate in its true abolishment.

Some people think that these two men are sitting and waiting, ready to pounce when some institution steps out of line and treats black people unfairly.  But in all likelihood, these two reverends rarely go into one of their high profile theatrical productions without careful consideration of the impact to the status quo.  Mr. Jackson and Mr. Sharpton might work to bring attention to some individual heinous acts.  But they really don’t do much, have done little to change the plight of the black community.

High profile civil rights activists worth millions of dollars probably don’t want to do anything that would really jeopardize their high dollar earning potential.  And so when people say silly things about police not wanting to do anything to upset Mr. Jackson or Mr. Sharpton and bring down their wrath, who are they trying to kid?  Jesse and Al are so far from consideration it isn’t even close to making a difference.  Neither one of these men, and no one else either, is some kind of boogeyman that the dominant community needs to fear.

This is not to say that if I was being unfairly treated by authorities I wouldn’t welcome the help attention from either one of these reverends would bring to my case.  But I also know that if I’m being railroaded by some racist machine, I seriously doubt if I could count on help from Mr. Sharpton or Mr. Jackson.  These two old school civil rights activists are pretty careful with the cases they select to stick their reputation on.

Regardless, to blame these two for the dominant community’s inability to interact with the black community with common sense, compassion, and sensitivity is truly inappropriate and totally inaccurate.  These reverends are in no way, shape, or form responsible for the police mishandling the arrest of Mitrice Richardson or Rush Limbaugh not getting the Rams or any of the other racially disparate events people want to give the dominant community a pass on.

Suspicion of Hatred

I find it frustrating to be constantly accused of being a person who hates white people. While it is true that I don’t care for people who are blatantly racist or people who may collaborate in the subjugation of black people, I hardly think that I can be summarized as someone who simply goes around hating white people. I don’t believe there is a logical explanation for such a conclusive jump based on assumptions that don’t even scratch the surface.  I believe that to accuse me of racism is to avoid taking an honest look at the issues of racism at hand and recognize that many people are synonymous with being blatantly racist against dark people and are just much too willing to participate and/or tolerate the subjugation of people based on nothing more than the color of skin.

It is a matter of fact that the dominant culture is controlled tremendously by a mindset that is sensitive to issues from the majority of white people’s perspective. While it may go without saying that many people who fall into this category are in fact white there is a growing number of black people who have adopted a white oriented mindset, a way of thinking and analyzing issues that protects white privilege, in a variety of issues that may clash with perspectives from the black community. The perspective of the black community that runs contrary to the dominant culture is often scorned and minimized as much as possible in order to reduce its impact on the larger community.

One of the most glaring examples of this phenomenon that immediately come to mind are John White and his family versus Daniel Cicciaro and his family, the conflict between the black students and white students in Jena, Louisiana, the difference in perspectives when the two cultures look at what happened to Martin Lee Anderson, Genarlow Wilson, Shelwanda Riley, Shequanda Cotton, Henry Louis Gates, the Katrina disaster, Don Imus, Duane “Dog” Chapman, and such. In each of these examples the majority of black people who bothered to give any thought to what was going on found themselves at odds with the dominant perspective of the issue at hand. And the excuses people provide for this disparity between the two communities are truly lame.

While many people in the black community felt that John White was treated unfairly many people from the majority  mindset would say that Mr. White is a murderer who got his comeuppance. While black people reflect on what happened in New Orleans, Louisiana in the aftermath of Katrina as a public disgrace of the federal government, people from the majority mindset will dismiss all the people suffering through the storm and the resulting flooding as nothing more than an unfortunate set of circumstances. While the black community may have enjoyed a small victory with Don Imus being fired, the dominant culture compensated Mr. Imus for being a “victim” of a company that had the audacity to listen to black people. Not only did Mr. Imus get his voice back on the airwaves, he was awarded a multi million dollar settlement for his troubles.

Any one of these fore mentioned issues would generate consternation by its lonesome to anyone with honest compassion for the black community. But these issues, compounded by many more, are a constant reminder to the black community that our position is not from one of strength or from one of righteousness but from one of suffrage and weakness. Our position is not one of a people who feel part of the whole but of a people dominated by the whole. This is a fact that many will dispute as fiction. Many people will argue that black people are indeed treated fairly, but the fact of that matter is that the black community is ill prepared to compete in the employment market with white people. And, even though these people believe that this is the case, they make the choice to do nothing to correct the imbalance.

Does this mean that all black people are a victim? No. Some black people thrive very well in this system that favors white people. Black people who demonstrate their willingness to adopt the idea that this “race based disparity is okay” mindset and participate in the defense of the status quo that allows the more dominate white community to flourish and the subordinate black culture to languish will do well from a financially perspective.

But everyday we get a reminder of our true place in America’s collective eye.  Every now and then we see instances of what America thinks of her black population.  Take for the example the Long Island contractor who had to audacity John White who crossed the line and actually thought he was somehow immune from ever being perceived as little more than another common black man.  Dude had the nerve to defy the community he was permitted to live in, thought he had the right to defend his house from some drunk white teenagers, and killed a white man’s son who was in the middle of committing a crime.  And dude paid the price for forgetting his place.

In the larger picture these black skinned people are part of the black community’s problem. Many of these black people would defend the white subjugation of black with more vigor than most white people could ever muster. This is part of the reason why you will see Juan Williams, Jason Whitlock, Clarence Thomas, Charles Barkley and other black people who protect the status quo and give their support by voicing their allegiance to the system on a regular basis fronting for subjugating policies.

Does this mean that all people in the dominant community are equally guilty? No. The behavior of the dominant community runs the gamut just like the behavior that can be found in the black community. Many people from the racially generic pool will actively work to keep black people in their proper place. Many others are complacent happy not to disturb the status quo that protects their inherited advantage. Not exactly a subjugator but nevertheless supporting the subjugation by not doing anything to stop it and tolerating its existence.

However some people are compassionate enough to put aside any racial prejudices that they may harbor and give black people a fair chance to participate in the procurement of materialism and wealth that is an absolute mandatory in America. And believe it or not some of these people who do offer jobs and opportunities to the black community do so without the requirement that black people shuck and jive, conform and submit, and show their unfailing devotion to the status quo rules.

Do I hate white people? The answer is a resounding not at all. Do I suffer from suspicions and think that the racially generic people are more likely to contribute to the subjugation of me and the rest of the black community? Unfortunately I have to confess that I do. But do I walk up to every white person that I see and saddle them with my suspicions before I even get a chance to know them? I’m happy to say no. I am constantly putting my prejudices to the side and give strangers the benefit of doubt. Unfortunately I have to say that many times over my suspicions are confirmed.

When I started working at my current job I greeted every person I met in the hallway, break room, or wherever with a hello or some kind of acknowledgment that I see that they exist. I quickly learned who will reciprocate acknowledgment of my existence and respond. After the umpteenth time of not getting a hello back you learn why bother.  It is rare to see black people at the office that will ignore me or look the other way when I speak to them. But a lot of white people are hateful enough to make the choice not to say hello when I speak to them. After several attempts at making eye contact and saying hello and watching them look away or start looking at their feet or anything to not respond, I have to leave them be. Maybe this is a person that doesn’t speak to anybody. But then I will see these people open themselves up and speak to somebody else in the hallway or somebody else in the break room. The fact that they will speak to other white in the office only helps to confirm my suspicions.

Chances are a white person is more likely to be the type of person who will choose not to acknowledge a black person as an equal, as competent, as a human being who deserves the courtesy of a greeting. That doesn’t keep me from speaking to and acknowledging white people. Despite what I may think and what I have learned I will give each person that I meet the first time the benefit of a doubt. All too often my suspicions about white people are confirmed. And this is what happens when I say hello. Imagine what would happen if I had to apply for a job.  White or black or anything in between, I don’t hate anyone because of the color of the skin.

Antoine Walker And Money Didn’t Mix

A fool and his money are soon parted.  And if that’s truly the case I seriously doubt if there are many people who would call me harsh for calling Antoine Walker one of the biggest fools the world has ever seen.  Supposedly, in the twelve years Mr. Walker played in the NBA, the man made more than one hundred ten million dollars.  That’s nine figures.  You could take my salary multiply it by a thousand and still come up miserably short to that sum.  Of course dude didn’t take all that to the bank.  Subtract taxes and management fees and the like and still, Mr. Walker took home something way north of fifty million dollars.  That is still a handsome king’s ransom.

And yet, what do I see on the net this morning?  Mr. Walker is flat busted and sinking fast.  The once multi millionaire athlete is being pursued by multiple financial institutions for unpaid debts.  He’s been charged with passing rubbery checks in Las Vegas somewhere in the neighborhood of a million dollars.  According to the Boston Globe he owes more than four million to creditors.  Where did all of that fortune go?  It’s not like it was confiscated for running an illegal kennel in his backyard.

Mr. Walker loved to live large.  It wasn’t enough for him to drive a Bentley, he had to drive two.  And it wasn’t enough for him to drive two Bentley’s.  A Bentley is already custom built to its owners specifications.  It’s one of the reasons why the car’s starting price is something like three hundred thousand dollars.  But Mr. Walker had to take both of his custom built Bentley’s and have them customized even further with tricked out paint jobs and one of those global satellite enhanced sound systems that can compete with the best technology that NORAD has to offer.  And to supplement his automotive taste, rumor has it that there were two Mercedes-Benzes, a high end Range Rover, a Hummer, and a Cadillac Escalade for when he wanted to slum around.

His entourage was large.  His jewelry was large.  Mr. Walker bought diamonds for his diamonds.  The ring on his finger looks large enough to be used to scramble eggs on.  He built a mansion for his mother complete with an indoor pool and ten bathrooms.  I don’t care how active your bladder is, ten bathrooms is just a bit much.  And despite all of this investing in all these material goods and then some, Mr. Walker didn’t invest a dime into anything that could’ve made money in the future when his basketball diary would eventually come to a close.

But now those days are long behind him.  That picture you see with his name and number on his back was truly prophetic.  Despite all the cars he had in his past Mr. Walker is now a walker.  And that number twenty four under his name means that no matter what time it is during the day, twenty four hours a day he’s walking if he wants to get there.

It’s easy to see the folly of Mr. Walker’s ways.  But more often than not we the lower life forms on the economic ladder do virtually the same exact thing with the relative pittance (compared to Mr. Walker’s salary one upon a time) that is our paycheck.  Too often when we make our purchases we want to spend money like we don’t have a need to save.  Need a car?  Go to the dealership and buy the most car your credit score will allow.  Some fashion magazine says that a new look is the new rave and many people make the choice to discard good clothing simply because it might be just a tad out of the latest style.  Some of us try to buy diamonds and pearls and other ornamental jewelry like we had Mr. Walker’s taste.  And let’s face it, part of the drain on the economy can be squarely contributed to people who bought way too much house for what they needed.  It may not have ten bathrooms but too much is too much no matter how you look at it.

It is easy to point the finger of disappointment at Mr. Walker and say something like that would never happen to me.  But it happens to many of us more often than what we think.  People wake up one day and realize that they’re about to retire and their savings are woefully inadequate if they exist at all.  Corporate America has made it easy for us to live beyond our means and we make the choice to take advantage of their low interest wares each and every day.

We don’t have to live like a multi millionaire to end up in the poor house.  We can make the same foolish choices right where we are with our four, our five, or if we are so blessed, our six figure salaries.  It’s not necessary to live at the very edge of your means.  Tamp it down a bit.  Live comfortably and save for a comfortable life in the future.  That way, none of us will be one of the people sitting around years from now wondering what happened after we’ve  spent way more than we should and asking why wasn’t more done to prepare for the time where income isn’t coming in the way it used to.

Blacks Against Mad Mothers

Six black students walk into a bar on a Saturday night.  Although that might sound like the beginning of a joke, this is a pretty serious example of racism, as well as the insidious nature of racism and its ability to hide in plain sight.  An employee at the bar tells the black student that their clothing is inappropriate.  The black students are told that their jeans are too baggy and the bar has a dress code.  The black students have no choice but to leave the bar.  But in an experiment to see if their race had anything to do with the decision to not let them in, one of the students exchanged his clothing with a white student.  The white student wearing the previously inappropriate jeans walked into the same bar right past the same employee.  Suddenly, without black skin to taint their appearance, the baggy jeans become acceptable.  It turns out that it wasn’t the bagginess of the jeans that was unacceptable, but the blackness that the jeans were being associated with.

This incident happened a few days ago to students of Washington University here in St. Louis, Missouri, that was participating in a senior class trip to Chicago, Illinois.  The students were trying to get into a nightclub called Mother’s Original Bar.  Representatives of the bar said security concerns and not racism guided their decision to deny access to the black students.  The bar people say gang violence was common nearby and was merely erring on the side of caution.  But it is rather noteworthy to see those security concerns evaporate when they see white students.  The bagginess of the jeans was just an excuse used to turn away students who looked naturally thuggish, code word for too black, in their attire.  The black students have filed a civil rights complaint with the Illinois attorney general’s office.  A similar complaint has been filed to the Chicago Commission on Human Relations as well as the United States Justice Department.  Click here to read more on this story at the Chicago Breaking News Center.

Obviously this is a case of race based discrimination.  By the white student donning the jeans and walking into the bar, clothing can be eliminated as the distinguishing factor between admission and no admission.  No mention was made as to whether or not the alleged nearby crime violence was perpetrated by black people or what percentage of this crime activity was committed by black people.  Nevertheless, by citing the supposedly gang violence happening nearby, the bar is trying to say that it is safe to assume that the black students may have been part of that violence and is therefore a threat and at the same time, safe to assume that white people pose no threat.  Because one or some black people commit crime, it is now safe to assume that all black people have the potential to commit similar crimes.  But by the same token, all white people are never held in suspicion when one or some white people commit crime.  That is by definition race based discrimination.  This is a first class example of racism.

But the insidiousness of this case that is truly appalling is the number of people who continue to defend such racism.  Many of the comments that accompany the article mentioned above show people’s willingness to label the black students as thuggish in appearance with nothing but the judgment of the bar’s employees to go by.  One comment says something to the effect that black honor students don’t have the common sense not to dress like thugs and yelling like simpletons for help because they are being repressed.  Another comment implies that these black people got bent out of shape and want to act like idiots.  People are quick to label black people as idiots for standing up for their rights and challenging race based discrimination as idiotic behavior.  People make no distinction between the black people who commit the alleged crime the bar employees refer to, and the black students who simply want to be accepted as equals in society’s eye.

But if these honor students learned anything is that in the judgment of many, they are not the equal of white people.  All it takes is a pair of baggy jeans to take their standing on our society down a peg or two.  All it takes is a pair of jeans that are hideous and threatening on their black flesh but at the same time are rendered benign and innocuous on wholesome obviously white skin, before they are collectively labeled thuggish and unacceptable.  Some black person somewhere is a criminal and therefore, it is socially acceptable to view them as thugs as well.  Their grades don’t matter.  Their attire doesn’t matter.  The fact that they may have never been guilty of any crime in their lives doesn’t matter one bit.  All that matters is that some black person somewhere can be considered less that socially acceptable.  And as long as that type of black person exists, all black people are cut from that same cloth unless proven otherwise.

The Bleak Future Of Black Magazines

As far back as I can remember my parents had Ebony magazine as part of our coffee table library.  Mom usually kept a spread of at least eight months in front of the living room sofa.  When I asked my mom why she subscribed to the magazine, she said she simply thought it was something that should be in our house.  I interpreted that to mean she thought it was something that belonged in black family houses.

When I was little I thought Ebony magazine was to the black community what Life magazine was to the white community.  Both magazines had a page size much larger than the other magazines.  The only difference was that Life seemed to be focused on the happenings that pertain to the white community while Ebony was focused on the black community.  That was back in the late sixties and early seventies when the vestiges of America’s institutionalized segregation was still very much evident everywhere.  Black focused magazines like Ebony and Jet had their purpose and fulfilled a need for black people that no other magazines even bothered to try and fill.

Now that we are taking half-assed steps towards a more racially integrated society, black magazines like Ebony and Jet no longer have the market of black people to themselves.  Most of the big magazine names have made cuts into the black market.  Back in the day, the number of black people who appeared on the cover of the white community’s periodicals could probably be counted on one hand with a couple of missing fingers.  If a black somebody was going to appear on the cover it was going to be through a black magazine.

Forty years later black magazines are struggling to survive.  As the walls that kept the black community a more cohesive unit began to crumble under efforts for more racial integration, the magazines that once avoided black people like the plague now bend over backwards to embraces top notch black talent and popularity as well as any black magazine.  Now, Ebony and Jet have to compete with Cosmopolitan and Harpers Bazaar to get an interview with a Jada Pinkett Smith or a Denzel Washington.  And while many high profile black entertainers, celebrities, politicians, and business people are regularly found in high demand from both sides of the magazine world’s former racial divide, black magazines don’t do too much business with high profile white entertainers, celebrities, politicians, and business people.

Now that many mainstream publications have broadened their racial scope, they enjoy a loyal following from a well racially mixed audience.  Walk into many homes of black people who like to read magazines and you’ll see any number of mainstream periodicals that may feature an occasional black person on the cover or through the pages.  Unfortunately, it’s a better than fair bet that many white households have no interest in subscribing to a magazine that primarily focuses on issues of major concern to the black community, no matter how closely they may mirror mainstream concerns.  So while the black community may endorse more mainstream publications, generally speaking such support is not reciprocated to the black publications.

Now it is well known that a lot of people outside the black community subscribe to Oprah Winfrey’s “O” Magazine.  But in all honesty that monthly could hardly be described as primarily focused on the black community.  I thumbed through an issue of “O” Magazine and didn’t see a single article about a single person relevant to the black community.  The only black person in the book was in a single advertisement.  As far as mainstream goes, “O” Magazine ranks right up there with the best of them.

Consequently, the market share for black periodicals is shrinking.  They no longer offer that unique perspective on the upper crust of the black community.  And as more black people distance themselves from the black community the less relevance black magazines have for these people.  The only thing some black people need to know from a magazine is what Beyonce thinks about black hair.  What most people in the black community might think is important for the black community isn’t even close to being important for a lot of black people.  Who’s got time or a need for such things as informative social commentary?

The black community will cheer and celebrate Vogue when it creates an issue that features nothing but black models in front of the camera, but continues to be put together by the same people who have been excluding black people behind the camera.  Many will think that we have arrived and will do what we can to buy the latest manifestation of a post racism era.  At the same time, many in the black community will let black magazines with a long of history of promoting most things important to the black community, magazines that employ black people in front as well as behind the camera or the story, fall by the wayside.  Black magazines might have been important back in the day when black people didn’t have the chance of a snowball in hell of being the subject of a mainstream periodical.

These days, a handful of black people enjoy superstar recognition from the major publications.  Now, we have to ask, if we can see Beyonce everywhere who needs to see her on any of those old black magazines?  It’s pretty unfortunate that the black community starts to fall apart as soon as some of us get some kind of acceptance from the majority.  My mom told me that she simply thought a black magazine belonged in our black house.  I interpret what’s happening to those magazines now as just more proof that people in the black community needs to reset our focus on the black community.

My Family Was At The Welfare Office

The other day I was accused of having family members who were welfare recipients by Stephen Frazier, one of the more recent visitors to my blog who vehemently opposes my opinions.  Mr. Frazier goes by the alias The Black Turncoat and is a staunch supporter of Rush Limbaugh.  He took exception to the fact that I believe he is delusional with his subservient opinions on race relations.  This is a black man who thinks that The Confederacy was a good thing for the black community.  In retaliation for my dismissing his opinion as far less than tripe, he eventually submitted a rather lengthy comment that started with an inaccurate observation about watching my family spending considerable time at the local welfare office.  Of course I deleted the less than pertinent comment.  The fact that he admits hanging out at the welfare office was totally lost on him as he attempted to slam my family for hanging out at the welfare office.

I have no problem admitting that my family and I have had to rely on welfare.  Having to rely on welfare should never be considered a personal failure far too embarrassing to admit.  It is a common occurrence in life to stumble or make a bad decision that puts us in a tight spot.  Some people who are very successful today admit to getting by on welfare at one point or another in their life.  Whoopi Goldberg quickly comes to mind.  Craig T. Nelson is another famous personality that admitted to being on welfare.

Not too long ago I watched a video clip of Mr. Nelson being interviewed by Glenn Beck on the merits of welfare.  Mr. Nelson was livid.  He was angry that it was so obvious that we were turning into a socialistic society.  Mr. Nelson complained that when he was down on his luck and had to go on welfare, nobody was there to help him get back on his feet.  The very idea of the government helping people was against everything Mr. Nelson stood for.  The man’s an idiot and doesn’t want to admit that welfare is a form of help.  But nevertheless, he had help when he needed it.  It is too bad that he is financially secure and he is so fiscally conservative that he now wants to promote the idea that people getting help from their government is somehow wrong.

People on welfare should not be victims of prejudice.  Simply because someone is on welfare doesn’t mean that he or she is a lowlife.  Being on assistance does not automatically mean that someone’s character is ripe for condemnation.  The father of modern conservatives former President Ronald Reagan drilled home the impression that people who apply for social assistance are welfare kings and queens who drive to the welfare office in big luxury sedans and live large off the taxpayer’s tab.  Now, people have this idea that people on welfare live like corporate executives who stand in line for the next no bid government contract worth a few billion dollars.  People are so suspicious of the people who apply for social assistance that we are ready to label them all as welfare cheats of ill reputation and intelligence.  These people might suffer from a reputation of being shiftless and lazy.  But somehow they have the wherewithal to put together a scheme that would make Bernie Madoff proud.

The need to apply for social assistance ranks right up there with people having to call for help from the police or the fire department.  Every now and then, we all find ourselves in situation where we will need some kind of help.  We are constantly promoting the idea that people receiving social assistance are the dregs of humanity unfit for even the most rudimentary form of consideration.  Instead of encouraging the people who might be down on their luck, we want to point a finger of scorn and laugh at their lack of fortitude or resolve.

Mr. Frazier just might have seen a family member of mine at one of the many welfare offices that does a brisk business helping all of the people who are trying to muddle through this mess we call an economy these days.  I’m not even going to pretend that everyone in my family is immune from such hardship.  I actually think it’s better that they realize they need help and decided to see what their government can do for them in these trying times rather than see them take to some kind of criminal enterprise and doing a whole lot more to confirm any assumption of their lack of integrity.  If anything, I need to thank Mr. Frazier for the heads up.  In trying times like these, family should do more to stick together.  I need to make sure my family knows that this hard time will pass and they will get back on their feet.  And lastly I want them to know that we’ve all been there.  There’s absolutely nothing wrong with asking for a little help.  And when they get back on their feet, I hope they will remember this experience and never bitch about no one helping them when they were on welfare.

Discriminating Between Discrimination

Rush Limbaugh has been dropped as a potential minority owner of the St. Louis Rams football team. I thought it would have been a slam dunk. There was a lot of controversy over the effort to keep Mr. Limbaugh from acquiring a piece of the NFL. A lot of people came out to defend him. One particular comment that struck a chord with me said that even though it might be true that Mr. Limbaugh is a racist and would discriminate against black people, how would all the discrimination people have against Mr. Limbaugh be any different? I thought the issue was cut and dry. But it looks like some people truly don’t understand the different faces and textures of discrimination.

The type of discrimination we are talking about is the type that leads to unfair prejudice. For example, when Mr. Limbaugh expressed his contempt for Donovan McNabb back when he did his brief stint as a colorful commentator for ESPN a few years back, he had dismissed Mr. McNabb’s talent as nothing special because Mr. McNabb was black and the league was so desperate to have a black quarterback. Because he had demonstrated his willingness to pre judge the black Mr. McNabb, Mr. Limbaugh was judged to be racist afterwards. The discrimination Mr. Limbaugh exercised is based on prejudice. The discrimination many people exercise against Mr. Limbaugh is based on perception.

We often practice discrimination based on perception. When we see somebody commit a crime and are duly prosecuted, we have no problem discriminating against this individual by taking many of his or her rights as a citizen away as punishment. No one would call this type of discrimination unfair. The individual made a choice and now must endure the consequences of his or her choices. Mr. Limbaugh made the choice to appear racially insensitive and make offensive racially charged comments and now must bare the consequences of that choice.

And speaking of consequences, it is rather interesting that many of these people who are here to defend Mr. Limbaugh like to compare Mr. Limbaugh’s plight to that of Michael Vick, another man who made bad choices and suffered the resulting consequences. Mr. Vick was prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, had his future fortune stripped from him, he was incarcerated and humiliated, and he paid his dues. Look at Michael Vick today and you won’t see any evidence of the Michael Vick that participated in the dog fighting business a few years ago. He is much more humble and contrite. The Michael Vick of today acknowledges the mistakes he has made in his past, had made amends, and is doing his best to put his life back together. He is working to earn a spot back in the league.

The same cannot be said of Mr. Limbaugh. When Mr. Limbaugh made the choice to spew racism he hardly made amends. He was terminated from his part time gig as an ESPN commentator. But that hardly compares to the life changing experience of Mr. Vick’s termination. The same Rush Limbaugh we saw talking his hate on Donavan McNabb is the same hateful Mr. Limbaugh we see today. As a society, we put little emphasis on challenging the type of racism that is such a major contributor to Mr. Limbaugh’s character. He could not care any less about how your negative opinion of him. His arrogance knows no bounds. So what point is there to compare Michael Vick’s path to Rush Limbaugh’s?

Because most of us don’t give a rat’s ass about ending the racial disparity that keeps the black community in a perpetual second class state, we don’t see the problem of having an obvious racist against black people in such a high profile position as NFL team owner. In fact, many of us like the racial status quo and will go to bat to defend a man like Rush Limbaugh. What he says about black people and the black community is just commentary. I bet if he made similar statements about the Jewish community people would be singing a totally different tune.

Mr. Limbaugh is racially abrasive and he makes absolutely no apologies for being so. The very idea of Mr. Limbaugh taking responsibility for his contribution for the racial animosity that permeates our society is laughable. But then again, why should he? As long as there are people lining up to defend this racist, as long as there are people who are willing to tolerate his hate speech, as long as there are people who enjoy what Mr. Limbaugh has to say, what incentive does he have to change? All he is doing is perpetuating racism. It’s not like he’s out there killing dogs or anything.

It’s not like people were asking that he go to go to jail either. Denying Mr. Limbaugh a stake in a football team is a rather small act of retribution. Would he or any of his supporters think he had a hand in the development of all the force that pushed back against him? The more than likely answer is no. If anything, it will only make him that much more hateful. The very idea of a man like Rush Limbaugh getting some kind of comeuppance from the black community does not bode well for his perception of entitlement. If anything he’ll probably become even more hostile to the black community. That’s not based on any prejudice but on a perception based on the actual behavior of Rush Limbaugh.