My mind is a wanderin’ and my keyboard is too. Take a peek over my shoulder and see what I’ve been reading lately.
Vox at Vox Ex Machina had a nice post recently about Subtle and not-so-subtle racism in news media.
Racism, both of the subtle variety and the all-out, KKK and Minutemen variety, isn’t formed in a vacuum. While it may form at home, it’s reinforced and encouraged by the subtle and blatant racism in the media. We’re a media-driven culture; everyone struggles to stay connected. The images and implied ideas people gain through the newspaper, television news, commercials, sitcoms, movies, music and every other media source can change their way of thinking. Racist images can damage the self-esteem of children of color, as shown so clearly by Kiri Davis. Racism can damage European Americans as well, by influencing them to form stereotypes about themselves and others.
Hell, a story run by the AP on Tuesday showed that pre-schoolers thought that anything in a McDonald’s wrapper, even carrot sticks, tasted better. [Source] Why? They’re influenced by commercials. They are influenced by the media. If a McDonald’s commercial can convince three-year-olds that their food is the best, then Stride and Hot Pocket commercials can convince three-year-olds that Asian American men scream a lot.
Racism in the media damages us all. It’s time we put an end to it.
(I know, I know… cutting to the end is cheating. But it’s all good, so go read it!)
Blackamazon is hosting the next Carnival of Radical Action on the 25th.
It’s the end if summer and as we prepare to start a year of ” education” Let us preface it by focusing on knowledge .
Knowledge is the forefront of all great actions, the lack of it, the acquisition of it, the concealment of it.
Radical action is almost always precipitated by a radical shift in the paradigm. How did you find out the strawberries were rotten? How did you find out you didn’t have to accept it. When did you figure out you could change the world?
If you’ve got a back-to-school story of radical action, send it her way and make the carnival great.
Also at her place, we have two awesome posts:
Nanette loves me Nanette loves me alot
There is a large and gapping chasm between proper research and the research done by most educated people.
Also that when in doubt please make sure to throw out the tired stereotypes of poor downtrodden colored folks like good liberals should.
I AM TOOO POOR AND UNEDUCATED TO BLOG
and too poor to go to KOS.
THEY SAID SO . THAT’S WHY IT WAS SO WHITE THAT’S WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Except
Dear moronic idiots,
Every single blogger so far who has commented on the lily whiteness of the conference…..
College educated.
[…]
But even if we weren’t
SO THE FUCK WHAT?
Why is it our problem?
The thing that I found myself concentrating on about the podcast , as well is the cluster fuck of privilege that was Jane Hamsher’s , and atrios , something that has been igging me for a while about the way that sort of question is posed is
Why is this MY problem?
Feminism wants to represent “women”and many many women of color feel it fails.
Left “it” bloggers want to represent the progressive space many many bloggers of color ,allies, opponents, people with eyes, and most folks who can read at a third grade level give them a HUGE failing mark.
So why is the question always phrased as if the problem is with those who feel unrepresented?
Over at Tiny Cat Pants, we’ve got all sorts of good stuff.
For heated debate, see: Seriously, With Friends Like These, Who Needs Enemies
Okay, Tennesee, it’s become apparent to me that y’all may need a little refresher course on what is racist.
Noticing that there are people in the world who are different than you–not racist.
Being uncomfortable with those differences, but assume that’s your problem to get over–not racist.
Seeing that people are different than you and assuming that you’re better than them–racist
Treating people who are different than you poorly because they’re different than you–racist.
Actively seeking to define how people that are different than you are worse than you and then seeking to cause them harm–REALLY REALLY RACIST.
That’s like the big no-no of racist behavior.
For good clean fun, try: It’s Late, We’ve All Been Drinking, Let’s Go Watch the Anti-Abortionists Backtrack!
Oh America, how the tide has turned! Suddenly, abortion isn’t murder–something a woman does to someone else–but it’s like suicide–something a woman does to herself. A woman who has an abortion isn’t a cold-blooded killer who needs to be stopped. She’s just a misguided waif in need of our compassion, and our reassurance that it really isn’t as bad as all that.
Can I take a moment to laugh?
…
…
…
Whew, okay. I’m done.
Not to mention her take on the much-discussed dumb headline from a little ways back. (“Whites a minority in 10 percent of U.S. counties”)
What Does “Now” Mean?
Do you see my problem? When you say “now,” you kind of insinuate that there was some point in the past when white people were the majority in these places and that a major, recent shift has taken place. Now, there are some counties, like Exador’s, which seem to have really seen a demographic shift. They used to be predominately white and now are not. But, even in Exador’s case, it’s not as if the whole state of Georgia was lily-white ten years ago and Exador woke up yesterday to discover African Americans and Hispanics sprung fully formed out of the earth.
Wandering over to Love Songs (Are for Losers), lovelesscynic gives us Conversations from the kitchen table, and a bunch of pretty pictures from her travels.
And even though it’s from a while ago, I can’t help but hype her take on the whole ‘nerdiness as hyperwhiteness’ thing.
Nerds vs. FOBs
The overlap between FOB and nerd is a fascinating one to explore. I’m not convinced that they are the same thing. FOBs and nerds are most certainly both uncool. And there are nerds who are FOBs, however there are nerds who are not FOBs. Conversely there are FOBs who are not nerds. I.e. the Korean guys in puffy vests who smoked too much and stood around together in the hallways of my high school. FOBs perhaps, but nerds definitely not. The conflation of geek and nerd may come from the equation of Americanization and cool and immigrant = not cool. Which is where the term “boater” comes from, overtly Asian and not cool. I would even argue that the term “ghetto”(adj.) functions in a similar way.
Go pick up the conversation there, and let’s see where we get!
Going in a completely different direction, bridgett (of My Beautiful Wickedness) asks a good question. “Does making 1500 inmates learn Michael Jackson’s Zombie Dance out of Thriller constitute cruel and unusual punishment?” What do you think?
She’s also got a lovely review of Allen Rucker’s Best Seat in the House: How I woke up One Tuesday and Was Paralyzed For Life.
Rucker experienced a rare disorder — transverse myelitis — and went from hack TV writer, 10K runner, and prickly sumbitch to hack TV writer and prickly sumbitch T10 paraplegic in about an hour and a half. The book is both about his efforts to come to terms with his condition and a penetrating examination of the world as viewed from a Quickie 2.
If you’re interested in the book or disability issues, that’s a wonderful place to start.
And for the academically curious, she’s teaching a class! Hop on over to take a survey course in US Women’s History.
I’m doing a distance-learning IS with a student in California and I put together a syllabus and all…strikes me that it was a shitload of work for only one person to profit from it. Here’s the reading list and the dates I’ve assigned for reading the stuff. If there’s any interest, I’d be happy to make my blog the discussion site for the readings, as I’m going to be doing the reading anyhow. And, of course, if you want college credit, you gotta enroll at my college. Otherwise, I’m willing to just discuss this stuff for free.
Sounds like a great deal to me, course credit or not.
Moving over to Slant Truth, the Thin Black Duke looks at an article about Elizabeth Edwards.
Elizabeth Edwards: It’s Hard Being a White Dude
Damn. Did you just read what I just read? Elizabeth Edwards just played the “what about teh menz” and the “what about teh white folks” card in a single hand. And she did so in reference to a medium that is supposed to help democratize political participation in the U.S.. Does she really expect anyone to believe that her husband is at a political disadvantage because he is a white male?
In more directly violent vein, he also brings to light the story of a Hip Hop Photographer Attacked and Beaten by Toronto Cops.
Spinning off of that story, how easy it is to slip into crazy shaming.
“He has no history of…psychiatric problems”
What?
It should go without saying that the ever cool Keven didn’t write this, and that the larger story is still very important. But in explaining the injustice, this man’s advocates repeated an idea that is harmful. And just plain dumb. If he’d been depressed, it’d be okay for them to wail on him and leave bruises all over his body? They don’t really think that. They wanted you to know how not scary he was. And to explain that, they have to rule out the possibility that he belongs to the boogie man category that makes otherwise unassuming individuals in to enemies of the state…black crazy.
Well, now that I’ve hopscotched you all over my corner of the blogosphere, I suppose I’ll let you rest for a while. After all, I bet you’re tired from commenting on all of those conversations. 😉