It's all here: the 'race card card,' racial redbaiting, tokenism ('blackwashing'), health care as reparations, post-racial political kabuki -- even an admission that the Colbert Report has no Black writers and a reference to the Cracker Barrel.
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| The Word - Blackwashing | ||||
Rikyrah at Jack & Jill Politics had this to say, concerning this video:
DAYUUUMMMMMMM
and I would agree.
And by the way, Glenn Beck is still terrible and has not been stopped.
Thank you, celebrities, for fighting for what's right:
And for those of you who are textual learners, here's some historical and metaphorical perspective from the always-on-point never-not-blunt Milt Shook at Please... Cut The Crap!:
Imagine your brother-in-law came to you and said, "Send me $18,000 per year, and I'll keep it for you. Whenever you need money to spend, just come to me, and I'll pay the bill for you, as long as I approve of the item you plan to buy. Then, at the end of the year, whatever you haven't spent, I get to keep."Would you take that deal, or would you laugh at him and suggest to your wife that he be committed?
...
by Todd Johnson; originally published at TheGrio.com.
Jordan Sarazin was in foster care just five months after she was born. But in 2006, everything changed. She was adopted by Magalie Jean-Gilles, who has spent nearly a decade caring for dozens of foster children.
"[Magalie] has pushed to do better in school and impacted my life in a lot of ways," said Sarazin, who is black. "I was in foster care for so long. I'm glad it was [Magalie] who became my mother."
Gilles has made foster parenting her full-time job. And that means keeping up with her foster children and her two birth daughters.
"It's really sad, sometimes [foster children] have no family out there," said Gilles, who was born in Haiti. "It hurts my heart, but that is why I am here to help."
Black children account for more than 30 percent of the roughly 500,000 kids in foster care, according to research.
To address these numbers, a new federally funded ad campaign is looking to get more black foster children adopted.
Television commercials will feature black parents and children in settings such as parks and schools. Similar ads will appear on radio and in newspaper.
The ads were developed by the Advertising Council, which produces public service announcements and AdoptUsKids, a non-profit which helps connect foster children with adoptive families.
It marks the first time African-Americans have been targeted, according to project officials.
"There are a lot of negative images of African-Americans, especially preadolescent and adolescent black boys," said Kathy Ledesma, project director of AdoptUsKids. "African-American children are removed from their homes at higher rates than [other racial groups].
The new ads will officially launch November 1st.
Gilles is interested in adopting more children in the future.
"I feel blessed, I really do," Gilles said. "I will keep [foster parenting] until--I don't know--for a very, very long time."
Earlier this week RaceWire covered the "tea partiers" partying it up at the National Mall in Washington D.C. "protesting everything from taxes and government, to health care reform and anything they could associate with Obama and foreigners—especially immigrants."
If you've found yourself asking "who are these people?" Well, watch the video above for some insight. For me, watching these people felt like a sociological experience.
News With Nezua | Sept. 07, 2009 | 287g from nezua on Vimeo.
If you're like me, you know where you stand on the immigration debate (i.e. as far away as possible from the old white dudes with guns and American flags), and you've got no questions about the immorality of a system that keeps people vulnerable to exploitation and inhumane treatment. But the legal ins and outs of immigration policy itself can be hard to keep straight, no matter how familiar one is with the policy's consequences.
Fortunately for you and me, Nezua is here to help. In addition to his excellent blogging at The Unapologetic Mexican, Nezua's started a weekly video feature with La Frontera Times, 'News with Nezua,' to discuss immigration news, and to talk about what it means to be Latino. And, in this one, to explain the ramifications of U.S. immigration policy's 287(g) provision, which deputizes local police into Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Spoiler alert: they're not good ramifications!
And of course, you can also read Nezua's Weekly Immigration Wire updates right here on RaceWire. Thanks to Nezua -- and much respect to everyone who keeps us informed on the issues, and arming us to fight lies with truth.
Perhaps the most talked-about moment of President Obama's address to Congress last night followed the dismissal of rumors that the new health care plan would cover 'illegal immigrants.' Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) was so outraged that he yelled, from the floor, "You lie!" In an instant, Wilson was willing to breach protocol, embarrass himself, and undermine his party — because he was so infuriated by the idea that Obama's plan might provide care to a certain group of people.
Why is our conversation around immigration so often driven to extremes, both of language and of policy? In this video, Rinku Sen takes the term 'illegal' to task, showing how it's been used to make us comfortable with the suffering and exploitation of millions of undocumented immigrants.
More in the Word! video series:
"Reverse Racism": Word Distracts from the Big WHite Elephant of Systemic Racism
"Colorblind": Word Twists Good Intentions
"Merit": Word Hijacks the Conversation Around Race
After an extra day of deliberation, the winner is...
(White House / Pete Souza)
Did you know I was the 4th Gibbs Brother? "Stayin alive, stayin alive, ah ah ah Stayin aliiiiiiiiivvve..."
Congratulations to RaceWire commenter interculturaltalk for the winning caption! You win a copy of Tram Nguyen's Language Is a Place of Struggle: Great Quotes by People of Color.
Thanks to everyone who commented, here at RaceWire, at Jack & Jill Politics and at Huffington Post!
