Racism

[Sarah Rainsong]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)


I would be so very interested to read Mark/Rahkyt's thoughts and feelings about the murder of George Floyd.

• The murder of George Floyd in police hands, Minneapolis, 25 May 2020

Mark/Rahkyt, I realize that you did respond a bit on another thread to this issue, but I too would like to hear more of your thoughts.

[Mike]

So Jess I'm glad you pushed me on this one because it turns out I had a little bit to learn here. That's great on the one hand and aggravating on the other; great cuz I've learned some new stuff and aggravating because i can often be an egotistic c#nt who likes to believe I already know everything, and it's alarming and disconcerting to that side of me when I realize I don't...so damn you (and thank you)

One of the frequent grievances from black activists is that whites "had a 400 year head start" in America. I've heard this for a while now and it's always confused me. I was aware that the US, as a country, was roughly 250 years old, and I was also aware that some Europeans had arrived earlier, obviously ('1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue'..how could I forget that one?); and I was aware of what my history books had told me about the time between 1492 and the early 1600's, when the first English colony was established; oh, and I'd also seen "Last of the Mohicans". So my knowledge of the African presence in the US is mostly from slavery onwards. I was dimly aware that some Africans had been here prior, but up until now didn't know much about it (and I still don't, to be honest). Maybe Mark will arrive and school me a little.

Some other fun facts:

- the ancestors of our living Native Americans arrived from Asia roughly 15,000 years ago, possibly much earlier (from Asia via Beringia)

- their name for the country was "turtle island"

- roughly 500 years before Columbus arrived, America was discovered by some bold ass Vikings led by a dude named Leif Eriksson

- before 1492, Mexico, Central America, and much of the southwest US was known as Meso America, or Middle America

...but back to the topic. Some googling revealed this quote: the first 19 or so Africans to reach the British colonies arrived in Point Comfort, Virginia, near Jamestown, in 1619

...though this is almost universally believed to be untrue. Apparently the first Africans actually arrived 600 years ago...some thought to be free and and some thought to be slaves. It appears they arrived after the Spanish and the French but much sooner than the English.

My feeling is that life was damn near hell for anyone who arrived in America in the 1400's. Not really knowing the status of the Africans here during that time, I can't really say if they had it any worse than the French or the Spanish or the English. So I don't know if the "head start" began back then or 200 years later.

Yes, and per your point - the Natives have the real claim to this land. They've had it worse than all of us put together..and that's really an entirely different topic. It's interesting that they are almost never mentioned when the topic of racism is brought up.. and the reason for that is simple: there's like 4 of them left.

Racism is a numbers game: the largest groups get the most heat while the most oppressed groups get very little attention for being oppressed, because they're small and incapable of making much noise...and unless you're making some noise, no one seems to care. Math. So in that sense the accusations can be a little distorted..and the grievances from anyone not talking about the Natives, disingenuous. I don't think whites, currently, possess a racism that blacks or asians or indians don't also possess. It's no worse, generally. There's just more of us(in the U.S). So an advantage exists in that sense. It's as deliberate as it is arbitrary.

Yes, black settlers/slaves were here long before the British colonies, but come 1776 anyway.. not nearly as many as whites. European whites held the cards and started a country for themselves. They did it for all sorts of advantages, some of which still exist today. The point I was sort of making before was: is that so unfair?

I get the feeling I'm misunderstanding your question though.

[AutumnW]

Egotistical ****?? You called??😀. LOL. You're not the only one. I'm sure I've shared this story before... about being on a forum and reading some random post and thinking how much I agreed with the poster but what an arrogant S.O.B he came off as. So I checked to see who wrote it and it was me, a month before! It still cracks me up. What a pain in the ass!

Anyway... Will answer as soon as my batteries recharge. Just climbing into my pod now. Talk soon!😉

[Star Tsar]

Discovery Science

Human Zoos: America's Forgotten History Of Scientific Racism

Published 17th February 2019

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=nY6Zrol5QEk

[Agape]

To our common soul and self defence and to improve understanding of some of our parent generations I wish to say the following: many of my and younger generation people I’ve noticed also we do not identify ourselves by colours.
It’s a pure nonsense from my perspective, we all here on this planet are “people of colour”.

I may be bit pale but my eyes see thousands of shades and colours.

I lived in India since I were 19 year old on and off, that’s some 27 years now and within Tibetan community. I don’t feel any specific preference for “pale faces”.

People are lovable because everyone is different and unique. Our souls like rainbows display and reflect all colours of the spectral universe.

People , some of them anyway and before they learn to see will keep labelling and grouping and categorising. It’s like one of those dumb computer games or names repeated ad nauseam. It’s knocking the wits out of me but lets sadly agree that this world is partially inhabited by idiots.
Clinically speaking people who can not get the point even after many intelligent explanations but like adult babies regressed mentally to toddler age keep banging their fists against their wooden cradle, demanding all the same stuff everyday.

In some cases since they seem to be bright otherwise it’s probably fault of their mothers for not giving them the right amount of love and support when they still needed it.


I believe that in thousand years or less the very word for “racism” and its obscure meaning will be unknown and absent from vocabularies.


There will be new wave of ETs coming for visit as well but the word aliens too will be forgotten.

This darkness and sufferings of human souls will be washed because it’s washable.


There will be more genders too and more kinds of new humans than we imagine now.

Humanity is like a flower with millions of petals and colours to it.


This awful time of planetary retardation will be overcome

🌸

[AutumnW]

So Jess I'm glad you pushed me on this one because it turns out I had a little bit to learn here. That's great on the one hand and aggravating on the other; great cuz I've learned some new stuff and aggravating because i can often be an egotistic c#nt who likes to believe I already know everything, and it's alarming and disconcerting to that side of me when I realize I don't...so damn you (and thank you)

One of the frequent grievances from black activists is that whites "had a 400 year head start" in America. I've heard this for a while now and it's always confused me. I was aware that the US, as a country, was roughly 250 years old, and I was also aware that some Europeans had arrived earlier, obviously ('1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue'..how could I forget that one?); and I was aware of what my history books had told me about the time between 1492 and the early 1600's, when the first English colony was established; oh, and I'd also seen "Last of the Mohicans". So my knowledge of the African presence in the US is mostly from slavery onwards. I was dimly aware that some Africans had been here prior, but up until now didn't know much about it (and I still don't, to be honest). Maybe Mark will arrive and school me a little.

Mike, I don't know the exact number of years blacks were brought here either. I DO know it wasn't on an all you can eat and drink, party hardy, adventure cruise. On the other hand, it was kind of an adventure in experiencing brutality, sadism, starvation and death.

Some other fun facts:

- the ancestors of our living Native Americans arrived from Asia roughly 15,000 years ago, possibly much earlier (from Asia via Beringia)

- their name for the country was "turtle island"

Yes, and some North Eastern tribe, I heard about possibly came from France. How weird is that. Imagine trying to find a decent croissant once you hit the shores of Turtle Island! I have a good friend who is Coast Salish and she is a dead ringer for a Polynesian Hawaiian. She claims that the North American indigenous are a bit of a mix, but mostly from Asia with some of the Coast Salish having Polynesian blood.

- roughly 500 years before Columbus arrived, America was discovered by some bold ass Vikings led by a dude named Leif Eriksson

Knew that one!

- before 1492, Mexico, Central America, and much of the southwest US was known as Meso America, or Middle America

or however the native peoples referred to it. Maybe shell of the turtle.

...but back to the topic. Some googling revealed this quote: the first 19 or so Africans to reach the British colonies arrived in Point Comfort, Virginia, near Jamestown, in 1619

...though this is almost universally believed to be untrue. Apparently the first Africans actually arrived 600 years ago...some thought to be free and and some thought to be slaves. It appears they arrived after the Spanish and the French but much sooner than the English.

That would have Africans arriving in NA before the Spanish and French, if my math is correct. 600 years ago is 1420.

My feeling is that life was damn near hell for anyone who arrived in America in the 1400's. Not really knowing the status of the Africans here during that time, I can't really say if they had it any worse than the French or the Spanish or the English. So I don't know if the "head start" began back then or 200 years later.

Life was Hell for everyone before modern general anaesthetic and flush toilets, as far as I'm concerned. But it was double Hell for those who weren't in positions of authority and control, I figur'

Yes, and per your point - the Natives have the real claim to this land. They've had it worse than all of us put together..and that's really an entirely different topic. It's interesting that they are almost never mentioned when the topic of racism is brought up.. and the reason for that is simple: there's like 4 of them left.

In Canada they are more visible. They suffered horrendously, but had home team advantage when it came to fighting the original settlers, so probably have always gotten more respect than those displaced away from their point of origin,and placed immediately under the scrutinizing eyes of their masters-- so placed in a position where it was hard to organize to fight.

Black Africans were often separated from their parents and children as well. Indigenous people didn't go through that particular Hell. Being removed from your family in those conditions is the most traumatic thing a person can go through. It has caused multi generational trauma, including physical effects.

Racism is a numbers game: the largest groups get the most heat while the most oppressed groups get very little attention for being oppressed, because they're small and incapable of making much noise...and unless you're making some noise, no one seems to care. Math. So in that sense the accusations can be a little distorted..and the grievances from anyone not talking about the Natives, disingenuous. I don't think whites, currently, possess a racism that blacks or asians or indians don't also possess. It's no worse, generally. There's just more of us(in the U.S). So an advantage exists in that sense. It's as deliberate as it is arbitrary.

There will be many exceptions to this but Asians who are not educated and don't travel outside of Asia are possibly the most bigoted people on earth. It's the same with whites who don't have the opportunity or inclination to travel. Their world view isn't as global as it could be. Racism isn't just about dislikes, hatreds, fears, it's about having contempt for, or feeling superior to.

If you have ever felt someone's deep contempt and disrespect, you know it's the worst. I have only experienced it once with a close family member and it took tremendous emotional and mental jujitsu and self control to not give in to reacting to it. Yikes. But if you are getting just a little of that, as a black person, from too many white or Asian people? Aye aye aye! I think I'd erupt.

Yes, black settlers/slaves were here long before the British colonies, but come 1776 anyway.. not nearly as many as whites. European whites held the cards and started a country for themselves. They did it for all sorts of advantages, some of which still exist today. The point I was sort of making before was: is that so unfair?

I get the feeling I'm misunderstanding your question though.

I think it is fair if the advantages you carve out for yourself through the country you are creating, aren't done on the backs of black slave labor -- after clearing the country of most of the Indigenous people.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Mike, See my response above, in italics.

[Chester]

No one can do the personal work one might need to do to overcome their own harboring of any form of racism. Most of the planet agrees that racism is a human trait the entire planet's population should transcend as a whole.

But personal transformation here and there over the course of years doesn't seem to generate needed actual, practical change. At least that's my observation and conclusion.

I have been searching through every aspect of my being, my soul, my heart (sometimes they seem the same... at least directly connected)... and I have used the faculty of my own (sadly all too limited) mind, striving to find a solution. This is where I realized that if I don't start from the ground up and I don't start locally (or regionally as in the case of the US, my country of birth and my country of citizenship and residency), do I really think a realistic, practical solution could be found? One that actually has a chance to be embraced by enough folks who could organize and actualize the change?

First, there has to be an identification of a specific problem and a specific goal that reflects the desired change.

So, for me, considering the above, the problem I see is the problem experienced by the US black community. Yes, racism, especially systemic and institutionalized racism is found all over the world still to this day, but America has a specific, identifiable and unique form of the problem and so it is upon this that I wish focus.

So... back to seeking a change - where would I need to start to find such a possibility? Where might any of us start?

I think I have the best answer to that.

History. Ahhhh, but there's a problem with that, yes? Whose history?

Not pretending there's a true, objective history available to all which all would accept as such, I have at least identified from where the various potentially qualifying histories might come. And that would have to be from members of the American black community. And why I believe this is where I have to start, is because it is the American black community that has been exploited, abused and yes, victimized over the centuries and this has never stopped. And in this regard, what we are seeing now on the streets of major cities in the US is, again, at least in part, another exploitation and abuse of the American black community - catalyzed by, once again, generating an example that became a symbol of victimization, the murder of George Floyd.

But of course, it is not just that. In fact, that is not the primary reason for the current further breakdown of civil society in the US. It is because the black community in the US has reached (again) the true and justified boiling point. So what did Americans expect would one day happen? What did the world that is seeing the spillover of reaction to racism think would happen?

So, back to history - the history of US white (and the rest) on black racism needs to come from those in the black community who have studied that history and know that history... and most importantly, have personally lived with that history and lived with the current reality (which looks pretty much the same from the POV of my American black friends).

But this then sets up another problem. Can the true history... the honest, objective history of black America be told while avoiding any sort of political slant or any sort of political ideological underpinning which would smack of bias towards that political party and/or political ideology?

I haven't found it yet. Every source I have sought either directly includes at least a bias towards a political ideology or strongly hints at it. And as worked up as everyone is in the US (and we should include everyone not in or from the US but who has their focus directed upon the US)... as worked up as we/they all appear to be, especially at this time, how realistic is it that these histories be read where a single reader might actually rise above their own political and politically ideological bias, read past, above, through the inherent bias, and avoid getting stuck on politics? One political ideology? ...and instead extract the actual truthful history of how American blacks and America as a whole got to where it is today? Because unless we (yes, I am using "we" now), can do this, how the hell are we who are not black Americans ever going to stand in the shoes of the American black... stand with enough understanding of the actual reality of the history of the black community from the heart and soul of each and every black American that carries this history within them? And how will an American black, if they do not know the true, objective history as to how they got to where they are at now ever reach a point where they would be willing work with Americans as a whole towards real solution? How many times have black Americans been burned? How many times have black Americans found themselves under an impossible metaphorical "knee?" - again and again and again?

So I have made it my #1 task to seek these histories out and, when I have each one, I will present it. I hope a reader will strive to read with an open mind with regards to any political component, especially with regards to a political ideology.

I also hope others might contribute in producing a true rendition of centuries of connected history as seen and experienced by black Americans.

American blacks are not the only group targeted by racism. The global black community is not the only ethnic, racial or cultural group that is targeted by racism. But it will be the American black community history I will be focusing on as, IMO, one has to start somewhere and this feels like the best place to start - stay tuned.

[AutumnW]

Chester,

Thanks so much for your contributions to this thread. I particularly appreciated your very honest and open revelation of your own experience of being white and from a middle or upper class family, in jail....as opposed to someone who is poor and black. I don't imagine poor and white fare very well either, but blacks really have the book thrown at them, as you illustrated.

And yes, history, as it is taught by the colonizers and those who dominate through force, will always be angled. Thanks for making that point, too!

[Agape]

Chester and collective,

please allow me to add few personal observations here, freely as my mind flows🙏

Since I don’t believe in racism. But trying to nip the point in the bud so to say, observing this from evolutionary perspective through out many different cultures.

Xenophobia - the fear of otherness- is the easiest to observe on personal and family level.
It’s because each human being with few exceptions is an Original master piece possessing unique combination of genes and part of the greater Original , the Lotus Flower of Humanity.
If we were all the same with somebody, it would not be us.


As our parents were different from us so will be our children.

If genetic engineering wipes out differences we would be boring bunch of drones.

Where there are differences there is an adaptation process required.

Though natural at first it takes ages to get accustomed to the bodies of your human parents and differences between you and them.

It then takes years of learning to coexist with other people in the family, for some of us, our natural lifetime

Most people who forever left their home in States, Nigeria, the UK, Japan or somewhere else equally posh and homely did it so because between them and their environment/parents/other selves there was a gap, of difference and unique understanding of life pulled us elsewhere.

Back to where xenophobia reveals itself, in hating your ears perhaps or the mishap of fathers thumb.
May be you hated the way they were talking to you when you were young and thought you are stupid.
The way they revealed themselves and their couch manners.


May be they never wanted to lift off from the ground and feared the sky and the big world though they talked like they’ve been everywhere and knew it all


They never wanted you to be you and your color did not matter.


It was the opinion that mattered and whether it agreed with theirs and which side of family are you on. You’re 4 year old, takes sides

20 years later you’re still you after you’ve tried almost everything, it’s not them.


Learning to love and accept other people with their uniqueness and differences, it takes lots of work and you need to take it one by one really,
like in family.

It takes years before we get accustomed to how everyone look like and sound like around the globe and before we look to each other’s eyes with that knowing look.
Before we stop feeling so shy about us, then about them, then about knowing.

But it’s definitely worth it.


If you take small step within you 🙏it may equal big leap for humanity


🙏❤️🙏🕊🕊🕊

[rgray222]

These are just random thoughts regarding race. My internal dialogue. Some of these thoughts may certainly be controversial but that is OK with me because (like you) I am just trying to figure this out.

The media and politicians have been saying for decades that we need to have a conversation about race. Then they point out statements from people they believe are racist. The only reason you would call someone a racist is to silence them, to prevent a conversation. It makes no sense.

If you hear someone make a racist remark don't you want to keep them talking to show them how hurtful those remarks might be the black community. Silence is the best friend of racism.

Many prominent figures and ordinary citizens have been intimidated into silence, people are unsure of what truly is a racist remark. At the very least you might want to get clarification to understand what the offending party actually meant before shouting racist. Words that might seem racist on the first pass may not be racist at all.

My way of determining if words are racist is to turn those words around and apply the same meaning to my race. If I find it offensive than it is most likely racist.

Are the police really at the heart of the current protest and riots or is this an attempt deflect blame away from the real culprit?

What role does white guilt play in all of this? If you feel guilty about your race doesn't it imply that you feel your race is superior.

What role does white privilege play in this, if you feel that you were born with white privilege doesn't that imply that you feel that your race is superior?

Isn't it racist for white politicians to say we can save you from racism? The implication is that black people are incapable of saving themselves.

What is institutional or systemic racism? Nice words but what do they really mean? Words like this make it seem like all police or all white people are guilty of racism. Could that even possibly be true.?

What responsibility does the black community have, if any to solve the race relations problems? At first, this might be construed as a racist thought but when you think about it I honestly believe this might be one of the most important questions on the table.

I believe the media wants to keep the people in a constant hypercritical state on race, politics, environment, and health. They also want people divided and this is evident by their perpetual use of labels.

How much culpability does the media have, if any regarding race?

As much as I want to stay away from politics on this issue it is like ignoring the elephant in the room.
The Civil Rights Bill was passed in the USA in 1964 and it was necessary and good things followed.

• Ended segregation of public places, including schools, housing, etc
• Banned employment discrimination
• It paved the way for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968

Lyndon Johnson is credited with passing the Civil Rights Act and it is well documented that he was a racist, this seems to be poetic irony. The truth is, without JFK the Civil Rights Bill would never have seen the light of day.

We have been languishing in a stalemate on race for the last 30 years. I don't believe the USA has moved forward or backward.

The Civil Rights Bill married the black voter to the Democrat party. Since 1965 the Democrats have never received less than 85% of the black vote.

Isn't one of the definitions of insanity doing the same thing over and over and each time expecting a different outcome?

Why does the black community vote overwhelmingly for democrats who are vehemently opposed to school choice? Why won't the democrats allow minority children access to the best schools?

Why does the black community vote overwhelmingly for democrats who strongly advocate for open borders. Don't these immigrants take jobs away from blacks and keep wages low?

Won't defunding the police hurt minorities in the inner city the most? It seems beyond crazy but I need to try to understand what it all means.

How much, if any of the rioting is all about people trying to get rid of Trump.

Many people have adopted a policy of "worse is better," why?

What does the silent majority think and when will they speak. When they do what will they say?

Does the Democrat party really believe they "own" the black vote and have they gotten so complacent that they make no effort to earn that vote?

Are politics and white guilt enabling the black community?

Does ANTIFA care about race or are they just using the black community to further their own agenda? I believe they could care less about race.

Does the Black Lives Matter Organization really care about race or do they have a political agenda? I struggle with this because they clearly do care about race and they are very politically driven. Then the question becomes do they only care about Black lives when they die at the hands of police or do they care about all black lives?
Am I willing to give BLM organization a pass because I am white?

Everyone seems so intolerant of opposing views do we even stand a chance at any type of dialogue. Silence keeps everything in a static position.

What is the end game? A better society, socialism or to overthrow the government and remake in someone else's vision. If so whose vision and why?

What can I do in my daily life to help eliminate racism?

[Deborah (ahamkara)]

Last night listened to a live feed on Instagram from Antoine Tucker (montaga) NYD14 candidate for TheNewRightParty. He is not convinced that George Floyd is actually dead - citing the lack of an open casket, and Floyd and Chauvin knew each other, but did not mention or call each other by name during any part of the arrest. Several young Black followers appeared on camera during the chat and echoed a similar scepticism surrounding the events in Minnesota.

Tucker, along with Hotep Jesus (who recently appeared on Alex Jones!), represent a movement among American Black conservatives along the lines of Malcolm X and WB Dubois. They are wary of the use of the Black community by the Democratic Party, and although they acknowledge the problem of racism in America today, they offer a different solution than the one we see in the protests - and are opposed to the idea of "Defunding the Police". They are worth our time and attention.

[edina]

I don't really know where this would fit? RE: The Democrat photo op...

Is it racism? Is it virtue signaling? Is virtue signalling a subtle form of racism?
I'm seeing a lot of black people get very angry about some of the antics they are seeing ...

Sharing this one because I enjoyed learning more about her culture and the meaning of the fabrics used. (She's African).

https://twitter.com/obianuju/status/1270053042340139008

¤=[Post Update]=¤

Posted by ahamkara (here)
Last night listened to a live feed on Instagram from Antoine Tucker (montaga) NYD14 candidate for TheNewRightParty. He is not convinced that George Floyd is actually dead - citing the lack of an open casket, and Floyd and Chauvin knew each other, but did not mention or call each other by name during any part of the arrest. Several young Black followers appeared on camera during the chat and echoed a similar scepticism surrounding the events in Minnesota.

Tucker, along with Hotep Jesus (who recently appeared on Alex Jones!), represent a movement among American Black conservatives along the lines of Malcolm X and WB Dubois. They are wary of the use of the Black community by the Democratic Party, and although they acknowledge the problem of racism in America today, they offer a different solution than the one we see in the protests - and are opposed to the idea of "Defunding the Police". They are worth our time and attention.

I follow Antoine on Twitter. Rooting for him to win that District.

[Chester]

I tried... I worked on it for hours for a week. Every time I would explore a history from the particular view point of the one that was presenting the history... they involved politics which played an intrinsic role in establishing the points they would try and make... in validating their history as "the right history."

I even tried to extract the political elements out of it yet, when I did, it rendered their conclusions senseless.

Rarely do I give up on a goal. With regards to this one - I have.

[rgray222]

I am genuinely confused and looking for some guidance. I am not trying to be sarcastic or political I am simply looking for some clarification. If Mark or anyone wants to tell me what they think of this issue I would appreciate your comments.

When I first heard that General Mills was going to remove the Aunt Jemima brand I did not think much about it. I considered it another stereotype that needed to go away. Then I found out that Aunt Jemima was based on a real person, Nancy Green, a freed slave. By all accounts, she was charming, affable, and a great cook. She was a storyteller, activist, and missionary. Apparently she died fairly wealthy. By many accounts a millionaire.

Other women went on to pick up the mantle of Aunt Jemima and they seemed to do fine financially. The second woman to portray her was Anna Robinson in 1933. She traveled the country promoting the products and made enough money to buy a 22 room house for her children and where she also rented rooms.

My thoughts are:
Removing this brand is removing a chance to show the real history of a Black Woman that was successful at a time when it was extremely difficult for any black person to succeed but especially women.

This appears to be corporate window dressing. A large corporation wanting to be seen as sympathetic. Dropping the name may have resulted from a tiktok video showing a black woman saying "not today" and dumping a box of Aunt Jemima mix down the sink.

When I found out about Nancy Green the racist stereotype melted away I did not think of her as a caricature, she became a real person, one that succeeded against all odds.

If the company had only traded on the name an no actual person was involved or benefited from the products then I would say, let it go with no remorse. Because there is a real-life behind the product I say let it stand and educate people instead of taking the expedient easy way out.

auntjemima.com
Wikipedia- Nancy Green




The article below came out a fews days after I made the post above, I am including it for a bit more context.

Edit: June 23, 2020 To read the full NBC Article: https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/...yhCdjFTQj9ejOU

Relatives of former Aunt Jemima spokeswomen say they are concerned that their family history will be erased as Quaker Oats' moves to rebrand the syrup and pancake mix.

"I understand the images that white America portrayed us years ago. They painted themselves Black and they portrayed that as us," Vera Harris, whose great aunt, Lillian Richard, traveled the country promoting the Quaker Oats brand and portraying the Aunt Jemima character for more than 20 years, told NBC News. "I understand what Quaker Oats is doing because I'm Black and I don't want a negative image promoted, however, I just don't want her legacy lost, because if her legacy is swept under the rug and washed away, it's as if she never was a person."

Harris added that Richard was recruited to work for Quaker Oats in the 1920s, during a time when there were "no jobs for Black people, especially Black women."

"She took the job to make an honest living to support herself, touring around at fairs, cooking demonstrations and events," Harris said. "When she came back home, they were proud of her and we're still proud of her."

[Wind]

I think people need to learn to listen. We need to listen to each other more sincerely.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=0p0_8h3FbCk

[TargeT]

Our current (US) situation is (at it's root) an inequality problem, not a racial one.

but it's being leveraged very smartly to do terrible things, we are actively un-making the US.

Good coverage on that topic here:

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=pRCzZp1J0v0

[Rawhide68]

If you havnt watched this allready, it is worth watching!

Nothing of this info have ever crossed my path, not in school or media that I can remember, amazing.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=MwN-Pdfd-Qo

[PurpleLama]

Posted by TargeT (here)
Our current (US) situation is (at it's root) an inequality problem, not a racial one.

but it's being leveraged very smartly to do terrible things, we are actively un-making the US.

Good coverage on that topic here:

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=pRCzZp1J0v0

I love what Weinstein has to say about a lot of things. We need more minds like his in the public eye. For instance.

[Bill Ryan]

Here's a journey back in time, to 1968. Do some folks remember this?

I'll lay out my stall here immediately. These were three great men. (Yes, three, not just two.)


U.S. athletes Tommie Smith, center, and John Carlos raise gloved hands skyward during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner after Smith received the gold and Carlos the bronze for the 200 meter run at the Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City, 1968.

• https://history.com/news/1968-mexico...otest-backlash

How the Black Power Protest at the 1968 Olympics Killed Careers

When Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in protest at the 1968 Summer Games, Australian runner Peter Norman stood by them. It lost him his career.

It’s an iconic image: Two athletes raise their fists on the Olympic podium. The photograph, taken after the 200 meter race at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, turned African-American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos from track-and-field stars into the center of a roiling controversy over their raised-fist salute, a symbol of black power and the human rights movement at large.

But look in the photo and you’ll see another man as well: silver medalist Peter Norman, a white Australian runner. Norman didn’t raise his fist that day, but he stood with Smith and Carlos. Though his show of solidarity ended up destroying Norman’s career, the three athletes’ actions that day would be just one in a line of protests on the athletic stage.

Smith and Carlos, who had won gold and bronze, respectively, agreed to use their medal wins as an opportunity to highlight the social issues roiling the United States at the time. Racial tensions were at a height, and the Civil Rights movement had given way to the Black Power movement. African-Americans like Smith and Carlos were frustrated by what they saw as the passive nature of the Civil Rights movement. They sought out active forms of protests and advocated for racial pride, black nationalism and dramatic action rather than incremental change.

It was only months after the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and protests against the Vietnam War were gaining steam as well. In the lead-up to the Olympics, Smith and Carlos helped organize the Olympic Project for Human Rights, a group that reflected their black pride and social consciousness. The group saw the Olympic Games as an opportunity to agitate for better treatment of black athletes and black people around the world. Its demands included hiring more black coaches and rescinding Olympic invitations to Rhodesia and South Africa, both of which practiced apartheid. Though the project initially proposed a boycott of the Olympics altogether, Smith and Carlos decided to compete in the hopes they could use their achievements as a platform for broader change.


Mexico City police beating a protester during a student march days before the military gunned down hundreds of students during a similiar peaceful march at Tlatelolco Plaza in Mexico City.

Then, just 10 days before the opening of the Summer Games, an unarmed group of protesters assembled in Mexico City’s Three Cultures Square to plan the next move of the growing Mexican students’ movement. The Mexican government sent in bulldozers to disperse the thousands gathered, and troops fired into the crowd, massacring between four (the government’s official count) and 3,000 students.

Carlos and Smith were deeply affected by these events and the plight of marginalized people around the world. “It was a cry for freedom and for human rights,” Smith told Smithsonian magazine in 2008. “We had to be seen because we couldn’t be heard.”

The third man on the podium became part of the protest, too, albeit in a less direct way. Before winning silver, Norman was a working-class boy from Melbourne, Australia, born in 1942. His family members were devout members of the Salvation Army, an evangelical group connected with the charitable group better known to Americans. Part of that faith was the belief that all men were equal.

Though he was poor growing up, Norman was an extraordinarily fast runner, and learned to race on spikes that his father, a butcher, borrowed due to lack of funds. In 1960, the teenager burst onto the national running scene as a junior, winning his first major title in Victoria. From then on, he became a major contender in Australian track and field. A powerful sprinter, his specialty was his finishes—an area in which some short-course runners falter.


The final of the Men’s 200 meter event at the 1968 Summer Games. From left to right: Peter Norman of Australia, and Larry Questad, John Carlos and Tommie Smith of the United States.

He displayed that skill during the 200 meter final on October 16, 1968, at Mexico City’s Olympic Stadium. Though Norman had finished strong in the qualifying rounds, he was underestimated by the other runners—until, at the very end of the medal race, he edged in front of John Carlos at the finish line. “Out of nowhere, Norman stormed down the last 50 meters, taking the line before a shocked Carlos,” writes CNN’s James Montague. Norman finished his sprint second with a time of 20.06 seconds and qualified for a silver medal.

At the time, Australia was experiencing racial tensions of its own. For years, it had been governed by its “White Australia Policy,” which dramatically limited immigration to the country by non-white people. While the Australian government welcomed new residents from predominantly white areas like the Baltics, it regularly turned down non-European migrants. In 1966, the government made the first steps toward abolishing the policy, but its effects reverberated throughout Australia. Non-Australians weren’t the only people discriminated against: Aboriginal Australians, too, were historically oppressed in the country, which forced Aboriginal children into boarding schools, while removing others from their families and placing them with white households.

Norman supported his fellow Olympians’ protest, in part because of the intolerance he had witnessed in Australia. “Australia was not a crucible of tolerance,” notes Steve Georgakis, a sports studies specialist from Australia. “Norman, a teacher and guided by his Salvation Army faith, took part in the Black Power salute because of this opposition to racism and the White Australia Policy.”


Peter Norman, Tommie Smith and John Carlos after receiving their medals.

As the athletes waited to go to the podium, Carlos and Smith told Norman that they planned to use their win as an opportunity to protest. Smith and Carlos decided to appear on the podium bearing symbols of protest and strength: black-socked feet without shoes to bring attention to black poverty, beads to protest lynchings, and raised, black-gloved fists to represent their solidarity and support with black people and oppressed people around the world.

“I looked at my feet in my high socks and thought about all the black poverty I’d seen from Harlem to East Texas. I fingered my beads and thought about the pictures I’d seen of the ‘strange fruit’ swinging from the poplar trees of the South,” Carlos later wrote.

Carlos realized he had forgotten his gloves, and Norman suggested the American athletes share a pair. The Australian also asked how he could support his fellow medalists. They suggested he wear a badge for the Olympic Project for Human Rights. Norman didn’t raise his fist, but by wearing the badge he made his stance clear.

As the American athletes raised their fists, the stadium hushed, then burst into racist sneers and angry insults. Smith and Carlos were rushed from the stadium, suspended by the U.S. team, and kicked out of the Olympic Village for turning their medal ceremony into a political statement. They went home to the United States, only to face serious backlash, including death threats.

However, Carlos and Smith were both gradually re-accepted into the Olympic fold, and went on to careers in professional football before retiring. Norman, meanwhile, was punished severely by the Australian sports establishment. Though he qualified for the Olympic team over and over again, posting the fastest times by far in Australia, he was snubbed by the team in 1972. Rather than allow Norman to compete, the Australians did not send a sprinter at all.

Norman immediately retired from the sport and began to suffer from depression, alcoholism and a painkiller addiction. “During that time,” writes Caroline Frost for the BBC, “he used his silver medal as a doorstop.”

Norman died without being acknowledged for his contributions to the sport. Though he kept his silver medal, he was regularly excluded from events related to the sport. Even when the Olympics came to Sydney in 2000, he was not recognized. When Norman died in 2006, Carlos and Smith, who had kept in touch with Norman for years, were pallbearers at the Australian’s funeral.

It took until 2012 for the Australian government to apologize for the treatment Norman received in his home country. But even though it cost him his career and much of his happiness, Norman would have done it over again. “I won a silver medal,” he told the New York Times in 2000. “But really, I ended up running the fastest race of my life to become part of something that transcended the Games.”

Carlos and Smith are still in touch today—and have been publicly supportive of other protesting athletes, including the NFL’s Colin Kaepernick. “What I did was right 48 years ago, and 48 years later it has proven to be right,” Carlos told The Telegraph in 2016. “In 1968 we were on a program for humanity—we are still on the same program today.”

[atman]

Critical Race Theory concepts (but, to be fair, along with notions of respect and of love for one another) now to be programmed into the minds of... babies, through nine easy steps illustrated in a board book.

The picture book, described in the article below, is meant to help parents teach their children, from a very young age, to not only be antiracist, but to also become activists.

Because according to Ibram X. Kendi, the author of the book, kids as young as two years old are internalizing racist ideas, and if one is not taught and pushed to be openly and actively antiracist, one is then racist.

In other words, one is either for the cause... or against it.

Racism, according to Ibram X. Kendi (who is an historian and scholar of race and discriminatory policy in America), is any policy that creates inequitable outcomes between people of different skin colors.

__________________________________________________

Antiracist Baby: New Book Teaches Babies To ‘Confess’ Their Racism And Spot White Privilege

by EVELYN RAE — SEPTEMBER 7, 2020


A #1 New York Times best selling author has released a new children’s book to help parents and their babies fight racism.

The book, titled Antiracist Baby, was penned by award-winning author Ibram Kendi to “empower parents and children to uproot racism in our society and in ourselves.”



The book sets out nine steps which, if followed, promises to “improve equity, such as opening our eyes to all skin colors and celebrating all our differences.”

These steps include “naming racism” and prompting toddlers to “confess” their own racist guilt.

“Nothing disrupts racism more than when we confess the racist ideas that we sometimes express,” the book says.



“Point at policies as the problem, not people,” the book goes on to say.

“Some people get more, while others get less… because policies don’t always grant equal access.”



Katie Miller at The Federalist said, there’s just enough vagueness in the book to “plant the seeds for upcoming generations to push for the utopian, false ‘equity’ [Kendi] seeks.”

In her piece, Ibram Kendi’s Board Book Teaches Even Babies to Hate White People, Miller notes also the message communicated through the illustrations, such as a brown baby reaching for the butterflies that are being captured by a little white-privileged arm.

Another image shows a white girl scaling the ladder of success and receiving a trophy, while a brown girl is stuck on a broken ladder with little chance of making it to the top.



In an interview with Harvard Gazette, Kendi, the director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University in Washington, DC, said he aims to remove the concept of “not racist” from America, saying instead people should recognize they’re either “racist or antiracist.”

“The heartbeat of racism itself has always been denial, and the sound of that heartbeat has always been ‘I’m not racist.’

“What I am trying to do with my work is to really get Americans to eliminate the concept of ‘not racist’ from their vocabulary and realize, we’re either being racist or antiracist,” he said.



Antiracist Baby was last week added to NPR’s top 100 favorite books for young readers.