US culture

Perfect example of white privilege

Tony Thompson, 2 Comments

“We thought he reached into his pants to grab a gun so we arrested him and he was charged with disturbing the peace and resisting an officer without violence.”

When you hear those words from a police officer, you can be fairly certain they are not talking about a black person. After all, we’re thugs, brutes, and demons (honestly, just ask Darren Wilson). Oh, and we’re violent. But white people? Ya’ll are treated differently:

On Sunday, inside the Miami Beach Convention Center, police said Sherrard joined about 30 people protesting the wealthy. They say he tried fighting off officers who were herding him out of the building, then reached his right hand into his pants and pulled out something unexpected.

“The unknown item was discovered to be a prosthetic penis sex toy,” wrote Miami Beach Police Officer Alex Delgado. “The item was impounded.”

Sherrard, an activist who also happens to be a well-known New York City street performer, was arrested, charged with disturbing the peace and resisting an officer without violence.

Beach police, it seems, didn’t appreciate his particular act. In an interview with The Herald on Monday, he said officers apparently mistook “a prosthetic packing penis for a handgun.”

Wonder why the cops didn’t fear for their lives upon thinking he had a gun…oh wait.  I know the answer to this!

White privilege–granting white people the benefit of the doubt in encounters with the police.

Perfect example of white privilege
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Video: Couple mocks the killing of Eric Garner

Tony Thompson, ,

Thesauraus.com has a bunch of synonyms for ‘mocking’:

Contemptuous

Derisive

Sneering

Disdainful

Disparaging

Impudent

Insolent

Each of these words describes the actions of the couple in the following video. PIX11 reporter Allison Kaden was in the middle of discussing the lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree when a couple re-enacted the chokehold move that killed Eric Garner.

Eric Garner was killed by law enforcement officers while engaged in no activity that warrants extrajudicial killing.

Black people across the country continue to get killed by law enforcement officers on a regular basis while engaged in no activity that warrants extrajudicial killing.

African-Americans have led protests across the country in the wake of the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.  The protests are about more than the tragic deaths of those two men. The protests are about the abuse of police powers, the disproportionate impact of policing on People of Color, and the unfair treatment that PoC receive in the criminal justice system.

But apparently all of that is not important to that couple. No, to them, the protests, the deaths of Black Americans, the differential treatment of Black Americans by police departments across the country…that’s all material to mine for mockery. For laughing at. For treating as if it isn’t a big deal.  Look fuckers, we get it, black lives don’t matter.  We really didn’t need you to remind us of that.  So please do go fuck yourselves.

Video: Couple mocks the killing of Eric Garner

Not a stick-up

Tony Thompson, , 3 Comments

Existing while black

This is something so many white people (and some people of other races, including a few African-Americans) don’t understand. They don’t see the day-to-day realities for black Americans.  Sure they might see an isolated incident, but they don’t see the ongoing microaggressions…the daily indignities that blacks experience. They see things on an individual and isolated level, rather than the aggregate.  When you try to point it out to many of them and connect these events to a larger pattern of systemic racism, they try to justify the mistreatment or the racial profiling or the extrajudicial killing.  As if there is something that justifies how we’re treated. Some reason that Tamir Rice, Oscar Grant, Eric Garner, Darrien Hunt, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, and Rumain Brisbon had their lives snuffed out.  Some justification for why blacks (and hispanics) are stopped and frisked more often than white people. Why is it so hard for white Americans to believe the lived experiences of black Americans? Why do we have to try so much harder to get people to listen to and believe our stories?

Oh wait. I know the answer to that. It starts with “Black lives” and ends with “don’t matter”.

Not a stick-up

#AliveWhileBlack

Tony Thompson, ,

Racial bias in law enforcement is nothing new.  Policies like Stop & Frisk (which disproportionately targets Black and Hispanic communities; the vast majority of Black and Hispanic people who have been stopped and frisked were innocent) and the broken windows model of policing (a questionable method of policing that calls for law enforcement to focus on less serious crimes in the hopes of reducing fear and resident withdrawal from a community–the idea being that high levels of resident withdrawal and fear cause serious crime to move into a neighborhood) are official policies that disproportionately target Black and Hispanic communities. Then there are the unofficial cases of racial bias, seen in the extrajudicial murders of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Darrien Hunt, or Tamir Rice. Then there are all the daily inconveniences and microaggressions like black people being racially profiled in department stores, being automatically thought of as drug users, or being arrested for trivial offenses that are normally ticket-worthy at best. For many in the U.S., there are two America’s. In White America, murderous drunk drivers get a slap on the wrist, vandalism and civil unrest are met with minimal police response (and certainly not the response seen in the initial days of protests in Ferguson), and mass murderers can shoot 72 people (and kill 12) and be taken in alive. In Black America, peacefully protesting a racially motivated murder results in a show of extreme force by law enforcement, walking with your hands in your pocket is cause for concern, and stating that you’re treated unfairly by law enforcement can lead to being choked to death.  Black Americans face a completely different response from law enforcement than White Americans, even when the same offense is committed. Two new hashtags arose in the wake of the NY grand jury announcement that no one would be charged in the choking death of Eric Garner. The #AliveWhileBlack hashtag documents stories of racial bias by law enforcement experienced by Black Americans (it’s sister hashtag #CrimingWhileWhite documents examples of white privilege in the criminal justice system).  It should be required reading for anyone who denies the lived experiences of black people–if they were inclined to give a shit. Which a great many people don’t (hence the saying “black lives don’t matter”). Here are a few of my favorite Tweets from #AliveWhileBlack:

One might ask why this hashtag is trending.  The answer can be summed up with this Tweet:

#AliveWhileBlack

In Hawaii, the tourist industry is more important than homelessness

Tony Thompson,

Just as it is across the United States, homelessness is a problem in Hawaii:

In the 2014 “State of Homelessness in America” report, Hawaii ranked highest among the 50 states for homeless people per capita. A recent state-sponsored tally found there were more than 4,700 homeless on Oahu, with at least 2,200 on neighboring islands — figures that most advocates agree underreport the true total. With Honolulu’s business interests and residents frustrated by Oahu’s growing homeless population, the city has introduced three laws aimed at clearing city streets and parks.

“Clearing the streets and parks”? That sounds like a euphemism for “get rid of homeless people”, which is an attitude shared by Tampa, FL and Columbia, SC.  These cities each share the same attitude, and it’s one of apathy and callousness aimed at the homeless.

Continue reading “In Hawaii, the tourist industry is more important than homelessness” →

In Hawaii, the tourist industry is more important than homelessness

Stop honoring Christopher Columbus

Tony Thompson, ,

Children across the country are no doubt overjoyed at being out of school today.  ‘Christopher Columbus Day’ is the second Monday of every October.  It is a day set aside to honor the Italian explorer considered by many to have discovered the ‘New World’ (aka the ‘Americas’) in 1492.  Children are taught to revere the heroic man who risked life and limb to prove the Earth was round.  They’re taught that he discovered the land that would one day be considered the greatest, most prosperous nation on Earth.  Columbus Day is intended as a celebration of this man and all his greatness.  In addition to a holiday just for him, Columbus is honored through the poem 1492.

The thing is:  his history has been whitewashed.

Continue reading “Stop honoring Christopher Columbus” →

Stop honoring Christopher Columbus

The Homeless – 39 Questions For Your Reflection

Tony Thompson, ,

I almost didn’t want to read this post. I think it’s because I was afraid it would force me to confront something inside myself that I didn’t want to see. I scrolled up and down the main page looking for other articles to read. As I scrolled by this one again, I thought “Dammit, I’m going to read it. Comfort can go to hell.” As I thought, I was faced with some uncomfortable truths as I answered these questions honestly. But it needed to be done. I may not have a lot of money right now, but reading these 39 questions made me realize there are a few things I can do that don’t require money (and some that require a little, but not much). One of those things is raising awareness of the problem. Another is confronting my own damn privilege and getting out of my comfort zone. It’s hard to do, but the world doesn’t revolve around me, and it is so often not very kind. This post has given me a good bit of stuff to think about.

The Homeless – 39 Questions For Your Reflection

Racist Caricature of The Day Finale: The Nigger

Tony Thompson, , 4 Comments

Over the last week or so, I’ve been highlighting racial stereotypes of African-Americans. These horrible stereotypes, largely established during the time of slavery in the United States, have become rooted in popular culture and have seeped into the consciousness of Americans everywhere.  White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, Indian, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Gay, Heterosexual, Rich, Middle Class, Poor, Right Wing, Left Wing, Progressive, Libertarian, Young, Middle-aged, Elderly–these racial stereotypes have been absorbed to varying degrees in people of all backgrounds.  In the protests over the death of Michael Brown, you’ll find these stereotypes.  In the righteous furor over the death of Trayvon Martin, you’ll find these stereotypes.  In the media-music, television, movies, comics-you’ll find these stereotypes. The Coon. The Nat. The Jezebel. The Brute. The Sapphire. The Tragic Mulatto. The Picaninny.  The Mammy. The Golliwog. The Tom. And there’s one more.  The one that is perhaps the most well known:  The Nigger.

Continue reading “Racist Caricature of The Day Finale: The Nigger” →

Racist Caricature of The Day Finale: The Nigger

Racist Caricature of The Day: The Jezebel

Tony Thompson, ,

Content Note:  The subject matter in this post contains images, words, and phrases of a racist nature, some of which may be graphic.

Those of African descent have long been ‘othered’…treated as if they aren’t part of the human race…treated as subhuman…or only part human; certainly not deserving of the same rights as everyone else (often read as white people). This othering has resulted in racist caricatures of Blacks. These denigrating caricatures treat Black people in a dehumanizing manner. One such racist caricature is The Jezebel:

Continue reading “Racist Caricature of The Day: The Jezebel” →

Racist Caricature of The Day: The Jezebel

Racist Caricature of the Day: The Mammy

Tony Thompson, ,

Content Note:  The subject matter in this post contains images, words, and phrases of a racist nature, some of which may be graphic.

Those of African descent have long been ‘othered’…treated as if they aren’t part of the human race…treated as subhuman…or only part human; certainly not deserving of the same rights as everyone else (often read as white people). This othering has resulted in racist caricatures of Blacks. These denigrating caricatures treat Black people in a dehumanizing manner. One such racist caricature is ‘The Mammy’:

Continue reading “Racist Caricature of the Day: The Mammy” →

Racist Caricature of the Day: The Mammy