Abolition

Today marks the Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade (1807 -2007) in the United Kingdom. This BBC web page, Abolition, gives an overview of the history, legacy, radio and TV broadcast. There is also the UK government site that is very informative and includes its involvement with the activities for this bicentenary.

Interesting, the US Congress passed a bill on March 2, 1807 to become effective Jan 8 Jan 1, 1808 to abolish the slave trade. It only affected the importation of slaves, but not between the states.

H/T A.

Why I am often an angry bitch

Until three years ago I had never a read a blog, I used the internet mostly for research (work and school) and shopping. I really didn’t know much about them until I had a class about ethics in computing. Some topics for discussion were about blogs. A little later a friend started a blog and I began to read his and his links. These were usually politically conservative and libertarian. Politically I might agree or disagree, and I wasn’t bothered much by what I didn’t agree with, until Katrina. When the water was up over peoples heads, the poor were being attacked for not being self sufficient enough. They were victims of that disaster, because they depended on the government too much. If it was them, the bloggers would know how to survive. This chatter was included when asking people to donate to help at the same time. WHAT! You can’t give them help unless you speak about how superior you would be in the situation. Was it coincidental the people were black that generated this chatter?

The post I have written about race have been stimulated by other blogs in which I have gotten in arguments with others making comments. I probably shouldn’t read those blogs, but I still want to know how they think. I get angry because blacks are used as an example, whenever there is a discussion about culture, public schools, welfare, self-sufficiency, responsibility and even as the inventors of slavery. The arguments have been crafted by the think tanks and the bloggers and their following want you to think they are only arguing ideology. The internet is not the only medium; the language has permeated into the general population through talk radio and faux TV news. Now the common thinking is; that it is alright to talk about black people and not be PC, because it is for there own good. Racism has become much more sophisticated. We have become the “Negro Problem” once again and the last time we were discussed in this way resulted in the Jim Crow Law being accepted as constitutional.

My statements might sound rash or just crazy, but I have lived through Jim Crow and have had to listen to the variations of racist speech, and what is happening now seems to be Variation in C sharp.

The Cult of the Absurd

When Damon Wayans presented this character “In Living Color” there was no controversy among black people that I can remember. Some how there is a cult of white folks dedicated to upholding this as black culture. I say there was no controversy, because we may have been familiar with such a character and the satire rang true.This same cult says that blacks don't recognize this character and thus, they have to point him out to us. Then they state that we are the sum of only this part.


Oswald Bates Attorney At Law


Can you imagine Oswald Bates vs. Sean Hannity?

Soldier Poet

Since I am laid up part of the day, I thought I would try a little TV online. I found this poetry segment of The Online NewsHour interesting. This segment is a poet profile of Brian Turner, a soldier poet during his tour in Iraq. He speaks about his poetry here. There is video from tonight's show.

You're it

When I tagged you and said you’re it

I was twenty four and you were not nine

I was not a bigger girl, but a woman

You were a man, but thought as a boy

I waited and tried again

A lesson learned, never play tag again

Todays the day

Later this morning I am going into surgery, so it may be a while before I post again. I was hoping I could get pictures (of my kidneys). Didn't have nerve to do a before picture.

Huh?

It is interesting that Ann Coulter gets slammed for this, but not for this (scroll down).

Update: For some background, one of the antecedents to The Bell Curve, was William Shockley seen below expressing his views.

Beat

Whiter than white hot

Scorches hands and running feet

Pounding earth’s rhythms

No apology needed

This past week the Virginia General Assembly expressed regret against enslaving the African. I guess some folk want an apology, but I have always wanted an acknowledgement of the harm done and the contribution of the slave. It has become a joke, somewhat salacious; when blacks speak of the harm and how it continues to affect us. “Heh heh heh, can’t they stop playing the victim.”

The enslavers use torture and murder, then slight distinctions in treatment to keep the slave in line. Torture and murder, it’s pretty obvious what impact that had. Jim Crow succeeded in keeping this up into the late 20^th century. The slight distinctions of treatment were based on color; that created mistrust and bias among blacks. Fear and mistrust are powerful emotions, not just overcome by a generation. These emotions had been institutionalized in the culture. Mothers instinctively taught their sons, to be invisible, so much the fear that their child would be killed. The powerlessness, black men felt as one of their own were taken away, was instilled from birth. Stand up for some right that most would take for granted; a whole community would burn and the death toll enormous. Then, there is that suspicion of who is the authentic black. This plays such an important role when choosing our leaders and skews any objectivity we might have. The psychological yolk from past generations has been handed down and tenuously accepted. It cannot be thrown off easily.

I want more than words of apology. I want respect and not asked euphemistically “What’s wrong with you niggers and why don’t you just get over slavery?”

Transition

Rethabile offers a Prayer for Lesotho over at black looks. Which begins as such and one thinks that Lesotho lacks promise; maybe.

Dear Deity… now what? This country of about 2 million people, independent since 1966 from England, with a 30 to 35% rate of HIV infection, one nation with one language and one culture, with a lot of water to sell in the form of electricity or just plain water, this country with some of the biggest diamonds in the world, this country is one of the poorest countries in the world, this country that is often described as “tumultuous” when it comes to politics, has seen its sons and daughters die for it, this country called Lesotho, surrounded entirely by another country, having the highest low point of any country on the planet…

One reads his plea. How can one answer?

For crying out loud, Lord, I said it deserves a break. There’s a lot going for us — help us capitalise on our resources and on our identity and on our culture. Amen.

What of the African country that has undergone many changes since becoming free from colonialism, and now without any of the resources in its own hands? How does it build wealth and provide opportunity for all its citizens? There have been no models for this, since history has only provided us examples of exploitation playing an important role in the development of civilizations, empires and countries. I imagine smaller societies have achieved this, but their histories are left only for the anthropologist.

No, America is not a good model. For most of it history, slavery was a major factor of the economy; during the industrial revolution, there was the exploitation of the immigrants; and the farmers, the breadbasket, their land extricated by genocide.