TED Talk w/ Nina Jablonski: "The Illusion and Power of Skin Color"

"Nina Jablonski says that differing skin colors are simply our bodies' adaptation to varied climates and levels of UV exposure. Charles Darwin disagreed with this theory, but she explains, that's because he did not have access to NASA..."

This Week in Blackness: The Year in Blackness, pt. 2 of 4

This Week in Blackness: The Year in Blackness, pt. 1 of 4

Ballast (trailer)

This independent film looks very good:

Seen any good movies lately?

A Post-Racial Society?

Over at The Progressive, Fred McKissick reminds us, in this post-election Obama-glow, "We still aren’t in a post-racial society." He asks,

Exactly how can we be in post-racial America when nearly 40 percent of black children under the age of 5 live at or below the poverty line?

How are we in post-racial America when the level of school segregation for Hispanics is the highest in the forty years and segregation of blacks is back to levels not seen since the late 1960s?

How are we in post-racial America when the gaps in wealth, income, education and health care have widened over the last eight years?

Yes, how, indeed?

Barack Obama's victory was something, but not everything, and we need to be clear about the serious and daunting task that lays ahead in terms of racial justice. The challenge before us is to put substance to the symbol. We must not get so lost in our self-congratulation over the election of our first black president that we forget the persistent chasm of caste and class in our society today, a yawning gap that will require sustained attention, organized political action and significant resources if it is to be bridged.

The "Magical Negro in Chief"?

Bijan Bayne, over at The Root, asks whether Barack Obama is the "magical Negro in Chief." A "magical Negro" is a character in a novel or film, who is possessed of an inner wisdom and who ultimately helps the white lead character get out of trouble. Back in 2003, Rita Kempley wrote an article for Black Commentator on this subject. Here are a few oft-cited examples of "Magical Negroes":

• Noah Cullen (Sidney Poitier) in the film The Defiant Ones (1958)
• Dick Haloran (Scatman Crothers) in the Stephen King novel The Shining (1977), later a 1980 film
• Willie Brown (Joe Seneca) in the film Crossroads (1986)
• John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan) in the serialized Stephen King novel The Green Mile (1996), later a 1999 film
• Albert Lewis (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) in the film What Dreams May Come (1998)
• Cash (Don Cheadle) in the film The Family Man (2000)
• Bagger Vance (Will Smith) in the film The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000)
• An angel (Gabriel Casseus) in Bedazzled (2000)
• God (Morgan Freeman) in the film Bruce Almighty (2003)
• The blind handcar-pumper (Lee Weaver) in the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
• The old woman seer in the Stephen King novel The Stand
• The barkeeper Guinan in Star Trek: The Next Generation
• The Oracle in The Matrix Reloaded
• Gabriel (voice of Delroy Lindo) in The Simpsons episode "Brawl in the Family" (DABF01, 2002) (a deliberate parody of the archetype)

Almost as soon as Obama began to have success in the presidential primary, debate about his status as a "magical Negro" took off. Steven Rosenfeld, over at Alternet, explored the "Magic" behind Obama's success as did Anne Applebaum, at The Washington Post, who posted a column suggesting Obama's blackness provided some advantagous "magic" in the election. Even conservative blow-hard Rush Limbaugh got into the act with a racially derisive song he played on his show. On the flip side, Gary Kamiya, over at Salon, saw Obama's magical status in a more positive light, raving that "the fact that it is a black man who is serving as America's philosopher's stone, turning the base metal of bitterness into the gold of forgiveness, is extraordinarily moving." But, as recently as March, a writer for the L.A. Times argued that Obama was, in fact, a "magical Negro."

The underlying question is: What does the Obama victory win mean for white liberal/progressive voters? Is the meaning confined to this "magical" paternalistic realm? Does Obama's win liberate white liberals from their racial guilt? If so, is that a bad thing? Or, is there something more substantive and concrete there? Does this view of Obama as "magical Negro" diminish his accomplishment and dismiss the very real and positive inter-racial work being done in this campaign?

Check it out. What do you think?

This Week in Blackness #13: "Black, Black, Backity, Black"

The Racial Implications of Obama's Historic Win

We are starting to see a trail of articles and programs focusing on the racial implications of Obama's historic win on Tuesday. Here are a few for your consideration:

• Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of "America in the King Years," Taylor Branch, cautions not to exaggerate the racial progress represented in Obama's victory.

• The NYTimes had a nice piece, "A Time to Reap for Foot Soldiers of Civil Rights"

• Civil Rights icons react to Obama's victory.

•In, "In Our Lifetime," Harvard African American Studies guru, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., argues that "from toiling as White House slaves to President-elect Barack Obama, we have crossed the ultimate color line."

• Famed literary figure, Alice Walker, penned "An Open Letter to Barack Obama."

• John Nichols suggests this is "America's Mandela Moment."

• Post-election, The Root suggests what black folks shouldn't do and what white folks shouldn't do.

• Obama's victory a "non-violent revolution"? Many think so.

• The sister of one of the girls killed in the 1963 16th Street Church bombing in Birmingham speaks out about an Obama victory.

• And what about the so-called Bradley Effect? A lot of folks are thinking and writing about it. Ann Applebaum suggests race helped Obama win, not hurt him.

What do you think? Have you seen other interesting stories on the racial dynamics of Obama's win? Post a link in the comments section...

NYT: "In Voting Booth, Race May Play a Bigger Role"

Yesterday, the New York Times ran five good pieces on the role of race in the presidential election from a regional perspective...

• Adam Nagourney suggests that despite some high profile moments where race was out in the open, on full display, that it is more often "found only in sentiments that are whispered, internalized or masked by discussions of culture or religion, and therefore hard to capture fully in polling or even to hear clearly in everyday conversation." He goes on, "Political strategists once assumed that polls might well overstate support for black candidates, since white voters might be reluctant to admit racially tinged sentiments to a pollster. Newer research has cast doubt on that assumption. Either way, the situation is confounding aides on both sides, who like everyone else are waiting to see what role race will play in the privacy of the voting booth."

• In a companion article on "the bi-racial factor" in the South, Adam Nossiter finds that for some white southerners, their uncertainty of Barack Obama "starts at racial identity." The piece begins: "The McCain campaign’s depiction of Barack Obama as a mysterious 'other' with an impenetrable background may not be resonating in the national polls, but it has found a receptive audience with many white Southern voters." He then writes, "Being the son of a white mother and a black father has come to symbolize Mr. Obama’s larger mysteries for many voters. When asked about his background, a substantial number of people interviewed said they believed his racial heritage was unclear, giving them another reason to vote against him."

• Closer to our neck of the woods, in Colorado, Kirk Johnson finds, "The debate over race — and for some, the soul-searching — that Mr. Obama’s history-making candidacy as the Democratic nominee has engendered are clearly present here, just different." One theme that emerged in Johnson's reporting is that "the lack of racial interaction made Mr. Obama’s race more of an intellectual concept, secondary to ordinary political considerations." Yet, "in a sign of the limits of tolerance, some white voters also expressed a vague fear that if they did experience daily life in black America, their opinion of black people might change for the worse."

• In Nevada, Jennifer Steinhauer found that door-to-door volunteers for Obama "face a complex issue" in race. A case in point, when one woman told a canvasser, “I don’t want to sound like I’m prejudiced... I’ve never been around a lot of black people before. I just worry that they’re nice to your face but then when they get around their own people you just have to worry about what they’re going to do to you.” The Obama volunteer responded: “One thing you have to remember is that Obama, he’s half white and he was raised by his white mother. So his views are more white than black really.” She went on to assure the woman that she was so impressed with Mr. Obama the person, that she failed to notice the color of his skin anymore." The exchange was posted online and it evoked outrage among many readers. “Amazing how even white people who support Obama and are canvassing for him default to classic white supremacist language,” wrote one reader. Another said, “What in the world is this volunteer thinking?” But, according to Steinhauser, the Obama canvasser's "efforts reflect the complex task that many volunteers canvassing for Mr. Obama face. While she and other Obama volunteers may feel offended by remarks like Ms. Mendive’s, an admonishment would not persuade a voter on the fence to pull the lever for Mr. Obama. So she often takes another tack."

• And, in a final article, reporter Shaila Dewan finds on campuses in Kentucky and southern Ohio that "In Generation Seen as Colorblind, Black Is Yet a Factor." She writes, "Throughout this campaign season, many commentators and politicians have proclaimed today’s youth to be a colorblind generation in which racial prejudice has receded and diversity is embraced. But in two days of interviews here and north of the Ohio River in Cincinnati, most young people acknowledged — or even insisted — that race was still a powerful if subtle factor among their peers." Citing statistical data, along with personal interviews, Dewan finds that while "most polls show that Mr. Obama is far more popular among younger voters than his Republican opponent, Senator John McCain... exit polls conducted by Edison/Mitofsky this year [show] younger Democratic primary voters were no less likely to say that race had been an important factor in their vote than people 30 and older. And in two states — Georgia, where African-Americans dominated among younger voters, and Illinois — young voters were actually more likely than older ones to say that race had been important." Moreover, "Some data have also found that young voters are less likely than older ones to say the country is ready for a black president, though these data make it hard to tell whether the young are more influenced by race or simply more realistic about its power. In a nationwide New York Times/CBS News poll conducted in July, more than two-thirds of voters said the country was ready for a black president. Among voters 30 or older, 23 percent disagreed, compared with 34 percent of younger voters."

Taken together, what do these regional portraits of race and election '08 reveal about how far the nation has come and what work remains ahead? How might we situate these findings within the longer historical trajectory of race and politics? What has been your experience with issues of race and the presidential election?

UPDATE: More food for thought on race and election '08...

• KKK flyers show up in OK newspapers.

• Al Jazeera reporter find racism at Palin rally.

• San Bernadino GOP group makes fake bills featuring Obama, watermelon, ribs and a bucket of fried chicken.

• Sacramento GOPers approve email that suggests waterboarding Obama and compares him to Osama bin Laden.

• Rush Limbaugh perpetuates radical right-wing offense, claiming Obama Arab, not African American.

This Week in Blackness: The Veep Debate

Stuff White People Like

This is a really funny website. According to the makers, "This is a scientific approach to highlight and explain stuff white people like. They are pretty predictable."

So, what are some of the things white people like?

• sushi
• farmer's markets
• dogs
• children's games as adults
• dinner parties
• Toyota Prius
• 80s night
• religions their parents don't belong to
• Microbreweries
• non-profit organizations
• self-aware hip-hop references
• being an expert on YOUR culture
• having two last names
• wine
• coffee
• writers workshops

For the full list and explanations, check out the website!

What would you add to the list? What other stuff do white people like?

Oh, and for all the defensive white folks out there, have a sense of humor, already. Sheesh.

Pass it along...

(Thanks to Winston Scarlett, who checks in on Freedom Road from Middletown, New York, for reminding me recently of this website. Check out Winston's blog, This Modern Love.)

"Democracy: A Steady, Loving Confrontation"

The following 5 minute film is a finalist for the upcoming short film festival that will be a part of the Democratic Noational Convention in Denver. The film was directed by Jen Saffron (MFA) in conjunction with seven university students. The class hit the road to the heart of the South, interviewing civil rights activists about their fight for equality and what it means in the face of Sen. Barack Obama's bid for the Presidency. The film features historical figures from the Movement and leaders working for change today.

Check it out. It is a great example of what good teachers can do with a small group of energized and dedicated students. The film is inspirational and insightful:



What did you think?

Spread the word...

Reprise: Dick Gregory for President!!

(This is a repost of a previous entry, but given Obama's historic nomination by the Dems, I thought it made sense to give it some more air time)

Given all the hoopla over a prospective Obama presidency, I thought I'd pay a little tribute to some of the previous African Americans who made a run for the highest office in the land. In this post, I focus on Dick Gregory, who ran in 1968 with Mark Lane on the Freedom & Peace ticket.

Dick Gregory was born in St. Louis in 1932. While in the Army, Gregory's commanding officers noticed he was a joker and encouraged him to take his comedic skills to the military talent show, which he won several times. After completing his service, he worked at the Chicago Playboy Club, where Hugh Hefner was impressed by Gregory's ability to wow white audiences. Here was the portion that impressed Hef:

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I understand there are a good many Southerners in the room tonight. I know the South very well. I spent twenty years there one night.

Last time I was down South I walked into this restaurant and this white waitress came up to me and said, "We don't serve colored people here." I said, "That's all right. I don't eat colored people. Bring me a whole fried chicken."

Then these three white boys came up to me and said, "Boy, we're givin' you fair warnin'. Anything you do to that chicken, we're gonna do to you." So I put down my knife and fork, I picked up that chicken and I kissed it. Then I said, "Line up, boys!"

The Playboy Club launched him to national television notoriety in the early-60s as one of the first comics to find success in front of black and white audiences. In 1964, Gregory published an autobiography, controversially titled, Nigger, which sold 4 million copies. Gregory's comedic and personal style was inflammatory and uncompromising, titillating many, shocking others and angering some. Around the same time, Gregory became active in the civil rights movement and participated in many of the most significant marches and demonstrations of the era.

Here is a speech he gave in Birmingham in 1963 on the day more people got arrested than any other day in the entire history of the civil rights movement: Speech at St. John's Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama, 1963

Ultimately, Gregory also became an ardent opponent of the war in Vietnam and championed numerous other progressive causes. In 1967, Gregory ran an unsuccessful campaign for Mayor of Chicago against notorious political boss, Richard Daley.

In 1968, Dick Gregory again tried his hand at politics, this time as the Presidential nominee for the Freedom & Peace Party a splinter group from the Peace & Freedom Party, a party that emerged out of the civil rights and anti-war movements. Interestingly, the Peace & Freedom Party elected Eldridge Cleaver in '68, the incendiary Minister of Information for the Black Panther Party. During the campaign, Gregory supporters at the Operation Breadbasket office in Chicago created fake dollar bills with Gregory's face on them. They are really funny. Here it is (click to enlarge):


Not surprisingly, the feds didn't have much of a sense of humor about the whole thing, particularly after some made it into circulation, but the stunt did gain the activist some easy publicity at a time when many were more than willing to stick it to The Man. It also landed him on Nixon's master list of political opponents! Gregory earned more than 47,000 votes in the election, or .06% of the total, including one from hunter S. Thompson. He finished just behind the Socialist Labor Party candidate, but ahead of Prohibition Party and Communist Party candidates. Sadly, George Wallace, the racist Democratic Governor of Alabama and godfather of modern conservatism, received about 210 times more votes (almost 10 million!) than Gregory...

The same year as the campaign, Gregory wrote, Write Me In! The book is really funny and interesting and worth a read, even today. Here are a few of the things he put forth:

• Gregory argued that the one qualification we should seek in a Presidential candidate is "a sensitivity to human need."

• He encouraged citizens to smash the two party system. Gregory wrote that he did not vote in the 1964 Presidential election because "I refused to be the victim of having to choose between the lesser of two evils."

• In a passage that speaks forcefully to our current international predicament, he wrote, "America speaks with pride of the fruits of democracy and advocates democracy for the rest of the world. Yet we go all over the world trying to force democracy upon people at gunpoint."

• Gregory argued that the U.S. Constitution had never been fully implemented and suggested, therefore, that before we talk about changing it we actually see how life in America would change if we followed the Constitution. He wrote, "I have a dream and a vision of seeing the Constitution of the United States implemented in full for the first time in American history."

• Gregory promised that his administration would give American citizens what he termed, "The Clean Society." He wrote that one of his first acts as Prez would be to set aside half of his Presidential salary as a reward for any information leading to his arrest and conviction for wrongdoing in office. Further he proposed to place into escrow $10,000 for each Senator and Congressman also as a reward for information of wrong doing in office. This combined sum (around $5 million dollars he estimated) was small in comparison to the federal government's annual budget. Yet the rewards for taking political corruption seriously were profound.

• Gregory also proposed a corporate tax on "excess-profits."

• He also wrote, "I will propose legislation to allow American taxpayers to bring suit against the federal government challenging the spending of a sizable portion of the national budget for a possibly illegal war." And, " Any time American troops are being used overseas as a result of orders by the commander-in-chief, the question of the constitutionality of such action should be immediately raised."

• Gregory pledged to respect international law and order and to create renewed respect for the United Nations. He wrote, "I will urge a redistribution of power in the UN so that every nation has an equal voice [...] " Further he proposes that the UN flag become as recognizable as corporate logos, the flag announcing to people the world over that "colors, religions and political orientations place no restriction upon membership in the human family."

• In an interesting passage, he argued, "America must re-evaluate what is meant by developing 'stronger' nations. A nation that is well equipped militarily, yet plagued with disease, hunger and ignorance, is not really strong."

• Gregory wanted to see America taking leadership in eliminating world hunger and he proposed to have elementary school children contribute a penny a week and for adults to give up one meal each week with the proceeds from both to be used to feed the hungry.

• Gregory proposed using tax rebates as incentives for companies which establish fair employment practices.

• Gregory suggested reforms for fire and police departments as well as the criminal justice system and the courts. "As President," he wrote, "I will make every effort to free the court system from political ties. I will seek federal legislation to rule out the concept of judgeship by political appointment."

• Finally, Gregory advocated the elimination of capital punishment. He sought a criminal justice system that accomplished rehabilitation of the criminal rather than merely punishment.

Yeah, that is pretty amazing, isn't it??!!!

Gregory has continued to fight the good fight since 1968, going on numerous hunger strikes for various causes. On July 21, 1979, Gregory appeared at the Amandla Festival, otherwise know as the "Festival of Unity," held at Harvard Stadium in Boston. The idea behind the event was to show support for freedom across southern Africa and to encourage racial healing in Boston, a city torn by racial discord. Bob Marley, Patti LaBelle and Eddie Palmieri, and others, also performed. In 1980, he attempted to negotiate the release of American hostages in Iran. He and his former running mate, Mark Lane, wrote a fascinating book about the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Code Name Zorro, which argued that James Earle Ray did not act alone in that historic tragedy.

More recently, Gregory has gotten a little far out at times, advocating a variety of conspiracy theories and a radical health diet that he claims saved him from cancer.

In one of the more bizarre recent episodes, Michael Jackson's father asked Gregory to advise Michael on his diet during his 2005 trial for child molestation. On June 4 of that year, Gregory brought a blood-circulating machine to Jackson's house, but Jackson refused to use it.

Here I am with Dick Gregory on September 29, 2007, in Milwaukee! Seriosuly.



What the heck am I doing with Dick Gregory? Well, we were both participating in the "March On Milwaukee" 40th anniversary celebration of the historic open housing campaign there. I am writing a book about the civil rights movement in Milwaukee and spoke at the conference. Gregory was an important activist in that movement. In 1968, he praised the Movement in Milwaukee, which many called "the last stand for an non-violent, interracial, church-based movement," and which was led by a white Catholic priest named Fr. James Groppi, for showing that Black Power was "more an attitude than a color." Mr. Gregory was amazingly kind and gracious to everyone throughout the weekend... and funny as hell. Holy Moses, this guy can let the jokes fly. He's still got the edge, too. He seemed to me to be one of those people that is simultaneously brilliant and a little mad; many of the great ones are, after all. Provocative ideas come fast and furious...

This is a clip of Gregory more recently "revoking Bill Clinton's blackness":


Here's to you, Mr. Gregory! Thanks for blazing a trail and fighting for justice...

Obama: "Race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now."

Here is the transcript of Obama's historic speech this morning.

I'll post the video as soon as I can find the entire thing online.

I hope you will take some time to go beyond the sound-bite summaries and partisan spin to read/view this speech with care and consideration.






Here are some of the initial media reactions:

• David Corn, Mother Jones, "...a speech unlike any delivered by a major political figure in modern American history. While explaining--not excusing--Reverend Jeremiah Wright's remarks (which Obama had already criticized), he called on all Americans to recognize that even though the United States has experienced progress on the racial reconciliation front in recent decades (Exhibit A: Barack Obama), racial anger exists among both whites and blacks, and he said that this anger and its causes must be fully acknowledged before further progress can be achieved. Obama did this without displaying a trace of anger himself."

• Chris Durang, Hiffington Post, "...brilliant, nuanced, healing and shows him to be incredibly worthy as a candidate. I hope America is interested enough in progress to embrace this man. We would be lucky, very lucky, to have him as a president... His speech was brave, and touched on the minister and race in general with real wisdom, and hope for healing... Bravo to the senator from Illinois."

• James Fallows, The Atlantic, "It was a moment that Obama made great through the seriousness, intelligence, eloquence, and courage of what he said. I don't recall another speech about race with as little pandering or posturing or shying from awkward points, and as much honest attempt to explain and connect, as this one."

• Andrew Sullivan, The Atlantic, "But I do want to say that this searing, nuanced, gut-wrenching, loyal, and deeply, deeply Christian speech is the most honest speech on race in America in my adult lifetime. It is a speech we have all been waiting for for a generation. Its ability to embrace both the legitimate fears and resentments of whites and the understandable anger and dashed hopes of many blacks was, in my view, unique in recent American history."

• John Robin Baitz, Huffington Post, "If there was any doubt about what we have missed in the anti-intellectual, ruthlessly incurious Bush years, and even the slippery Clinton ones, those doubts were laid to rest by Barack Obama's magisterial speech today. He reminded us that the dreams of black America do not come at the expense of white America. Someone running for the highest office in the land finally talked about it -- the dark and secret swamp that we Americans dodge at every possible opportunity."

• Jesse Jackson, ""I thought it was a culmination of tough-minded, tender-hearted and a clear vision. It really was warm, filling, captive, reconciling and comprehensive and it displayed real true grit. He was forthright not evasive and used it as a teaching moment in American history: America's struggle to overcome its past and become a more perfect union. And once he made the case about the past and the complexities of Reverend Wright's life or [Geraldine] Ferraro's for that matter, he made the case that we are here now, but this time we will go forward by hope and not backwards by fear."

• Kate Shepherd, The American Prospect, Obama's much-anticipated speech on race today hit the appropriate tone not just for addressing the Jeremiah Wright flap, but for framing the relevance of his candidacy in general. It was best in the way it framed the discomfort and resentment in the discussion of race in America that has lead to a "racial stalemate" for so many years, and made race "a part of our union that we have not yet made perfect."

• John Nichols, The Nation, "Obama did not do the politically "smart" thing. He did the right thing. And that is why his campaign will weather this storm... So Obama seized the opportunity to open up a dialogue about the role of race in America, turning a political challenge into what the late Paul Wellstone referred to as 'a teaching moment'... At the most basic level, Obama did what the media has failed to do. He presented Wright and Wright's comments on U.S. domestic and foreign policies in context: the context of the African-American religious experience, the context of the candidate's connection to the church and, above all, the context of this country's unresolved experience of what Obama correctly refers to as 'the original sin' of the American experiment -- human bondage -- and its legacy. The speech was masterful in this regard. Obama took the time to explore questions that rarely if ever get a fair hearing in American politics..."

• Charles Kaiser, www.radar.com, "He did it. No other presidential candidate in the last forty years has managed to speak so much truth so eloquently at such a crucial juncture in his campaign as Barack Obama did today. And he did it by speaking about race, the most persistent source of hatred among us since America began. It turns out that a candidate for president with a white mother and a black father has a capacity that no one else has ever had before: he can articulate an equal understanding of black racism and white racism --and that makes it possible for him to condemn both of them with equal passion."

• Ed Kilgore, The Democratic Strategist, "...this speech ups the ante for Obama's promise to act as a reconciler and unifier. After this speech, no one should be under the impression that he's mainly interested in overcoming the narcissistic culture-based political conflicts of the 1990s. He's now casting his candidacy as an opportunity to transcend one of the biggest continuing traumas of the 19th and 20th centuries, and of centuries before that: race. There's never been much question that he was viewed that way by many supporters. But now it's explicitly on the table, and we'll soon find out how much reconciliation and unity Americans really want, and on what terms."

• Greg Sargent, Talking Points Memo, "Obama's speech, throughout, asks its listeners to transcend themselves -- it asks them to choose nuance over cartoonish political controversy; it asks them to acknowledge stuff about race they don't want to acknowledge; it asks them to think big instead of small."

• Kevin Drum at The Washington Monthly, "This is very much classic Obama: I understand why you're upset. I understand your problems. But let me set out a different way of looking at things."

• At The New York Times political blog, they had this:

We caught up with several members of the audience as they filed out of the auditorium after hearing Mr. Obama. Here is what they had to say:

Willie Jordan, 51, director of operations for a state senator: “It’s the first time I saw a politician confront the problem of race so directly.” He said he believed this would quell the controversy over Rev. Wright.

Annette Young, 51, a school police officer: “He was just wonderful. He hit all the right points. This showed how much we need him.”

Ray Jones, 44, executive director of Philadelphia Safety Net, an anti-violence program: “It was really pointed and it really captured what all of us talk about among ourselves, race, the elephant in the room. He came into the pain and he found something new. He talked about this in a way that white people could identify with.”

Wilhelmina Moore, 55, director of constituent services for a member of the Philadelphia City Council: “He made it very plain that he supported his pastor. They’ve been friends for years and he made it plain that Rev. Wright is his own person. I loved Obama talking about his white mother and black father and all his aunts and uncles who are of every race _ and he loves them all.”

Jay Leberman, who gave his age as “over 50” and who is the head of a Jewish day school: “I thought it was a brave and honest and quite articulate speech. I was pleased.” Asked whether it would quell the controversy about Rev. Wright, he said, “People who see race and religion behind every issue would continue to do so.” He added: “Had he come out and unequivocally disassociated himself totally from Rev. Wright, that would have showed a side of falsehood…. I thought he was honest.”

Sozi Tulante, 32, a lawyer who is representing a detainee at Guantanamo: “He took control of the moment. Had he rested on the Huffington Post article he wrote and his TV appearances, the issues would still be there: Why didn’t he ever leave the church? That’s what’s been bothering people, black and white. I think he did answer that, by placing it in the larger context of America and race in American history and addressing the fact that for a lot of middle and lower middle class white Americans, they feel some racial resentment because they have to struggle with education and health care. If you talk about race as a black issue, instead of as an American issue, you’re always going to lose. But expressing this in terms of his family, that’s powerful.”

• dnA at Kos, "Whether or not he gets elected, his candidacy has complicated the way we talk about race in America. On some level, that has to be a good thing."

• Charles Murray, conservative author of The Bell Curve, "I read the various posts here on "The Corner," mostly pretty ho-hum or critical about Obama's speech. Then I figured I'd better read the text (I tried to find a video of it, but couldn't). I've just finished. Has any other major American politician ever made a speech on race that comes even close to this one? As far as I'm concerned, it is just plain flat out brilliant—rhetorically, but also in capturing a lot of nuance about race in America. It is so far above the standard we're used to from our pols."

• Atrios at Kos, "The narrative from the Right - and its representatives in the conservative religious community - is of an America which was once the garden of Eden, until its tragic fall at the hands of (feminists, liberals, civil rights movement, whatever), and they wish to bring the country back to its former state. Thus they can hate the America that is while dreaming of the perfect America that was. Thus there's no conflict between their unquestioned patriotism and their hatred of the country, as their patriotism is for the True America that was, not its current corrupted incarnation. While the mirror image rhetoric from the Left is about a country which was flawed, often tragically so, but which has the capacity for improvement. Be disgusted with the country as it was and is, while hoping for an evolution to a better country."

• Oliver Willis at Kos, "One of my personal maxims has been that politicians will disappoint you. The ones you like will have personal failings, while the ones you detest will fail time and time again. With Senator Obama, for the first time in my life, I have watched a political leader who I don’t worry if he’ll be up to the task. It’s like you had Michael Jordan in his prime or Joe Montana with 2 minutes to go. It’s that feeling where you say to yourself: Ok, breathe, he’s got it. Chill, Barack’s got it."

• Hillary Clinton, "I did not have a chance to see or to read yet Sen. Obama’s speech, but I’m very glad that he gave it. It’s an important topic," she said. "Issues of race and gender in America have been complicated throughout our history, and they have been complicated in this primary campaign. There have been detours and pitfalls along the way."

• Marc Ambinder, The Atlantic "I do think that Obama's speech was a marvel of contemporary political rhetoric. Politically, analytically and emotively, it hit many high notes. His acknowledgment of white working class resentments (busing) and about the perception that there's been no racial progress, his willingness to stick by his friends, his grasp of history, his sense that our views of race are cramped and caricatured... all of that is something that even those who disagree with the substance of his speech, can, I think, appreciate."

• David Kurtz, Talking Points Memo, "[The speech] is remarkable for its nuance, for its long view of history, and for its decency."

• Scout Finch at Kos: "This speech is amazingly honest and will hopefully spark a long overdue discussion on race in America. We'll see if it is enough to blunt to criticism of his relationship with Reverend Wright. I think he's done a spectacular job thus far of denouncing specific remarks by Reverend Wright, while still standing steadfastly by him and his community."

• David Brody, "We won't know for awhile how voters view Barack Obama's speech today on race relations but The Brody File saw it as a HUGE positive for Obama and a successful turning point for the future of his campaign."

• Jennifer Skalka, Hotline On Call, "Obama gave an eloquent speech today that will do much to quiet the increasingly polarizing debate about race in the Democratic contest. But more importantly, and more tellingly, he gave a deeply personal talk about his race, about his experience as a biracial American. And voters needed to hear it. Not because his biography is, in and of itself, the answer for these confusing times, but because, perhaps, only a person of his experience can dare all of us to be our better selves."

“God Damn America” in Black and White

As we wait to hear Senator Obama's remarks today on the issue of race in the presidential campaign, I'd like to share with you an interesting article. Edward J. Blum, who is a professor of history at San Diego State University and the author of W. E. B. Du Bois, American Prophet (2007) and Reforging the White Republic: Race, Religion, and American Nationalism, 1865-1898 (2005), has penned a useful essay for the History News Network that places the Jeremiah Wright controversy in a broader historical context. In part, he writes (emphasis added),

What is striking, historically, is that there is nothing new in Wright’s sermon and how often African American perspectives on so-called American Christian nationalism are ignored. It seems that each year, at least a handful of books come out trying to discern whether the United States was founded as a “Christian nation.” Most recently, this can be seen in Steven Waldman’s Liberating the Founders. But so often historians have approached the topic from the perspective of elite whites, and not the people who were building the nation from its foundation, hoeing the fields and raising the cotton, washing the clothes and preparing the meals. (One exception to this is David Howard-Pitney’s wonderful The African-American Jeremiad.) If we look closely at African American perspectives of Christian nationalism, we find Reverend Wright firmly in a long oppositional and rhetorical tradition.

I hope you will take the time to give the full article some consideration and share the link with others. If we are interested, we have an opportunity to have a deeper, more substantive discussion of race and faith... but only if we are willing to hear each other out and be compassionate about the different experiences of America that different groups have. This means, particularly, that white people need to be willing to listen to black people discuss their experiences and perspectives on America and that whites need to accept those experiences and perspectives as legitimate, even if they don't quite understand them, or share the sentiments themselves. To be sure, this will probably be a somewhat uncomfortable discussion, particularly for those whites that are largely ignorant of black experience, but it is essential if we are to find some higher (and common) ground...

Thank You, John!

John Edwards has decided to abandon his quest for the presidency today by heading back to where it all began for him, New Orleans. I want to take this opportunity to STRONGLY praise Edwards and his campaign, particularly for raising the two issues that are closest to my own heart: the tragic link between race and poverty as well as the undemocratic influence of corporations on our political system. It was a noble campaign that just could not break through against the two other celebrity candidates. It is a shame, but his voice was, and continues to be, an important one.

Here's to you, John! Thank you.

By the way, how does Attorney General in an Obama administration sound?

Dick Gregory for President!??!!

Given all the hoopla over a prospective Obama presidency, I thought I'd pay a little tribute to some of the previous African Americans who made a run for the highest office in the land. In this post, I focus on Dick Gregory, who ran in 1968 with Mark Lane on the Freedom & Peace ticket.

Dick Gregory was born in St. Louis in 1932. While in the Army, Gregory's commanding officers noticed he was a joker and encouraged him to take his comedic skills to the military talent show, which he won several times. After completing his service, he worked at the Chicago Playboy Club, where Hugh Hefner was impressed by Gregory's ability to wow white audiences. Here was the portion that impressed Hef:

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I understand there are a good many Southerners in the room tonight. I know the South very well. I spent twenty years there one night.

Last time I was down South I walked into this restaurant and this white waitress came up to me and said, "We don't serve colored people here." I said, "That's all right. I don't eat colored people. Bring me a whole fried chicken."

Then these three white boys came up to me and said, "Boy, we're givin' you fair warnin'. Anything you do to that chicken, we're gonna do to you." So I put down my knife and fork, I picked up that chicken and I kissed it. Then I said, "Line up, boys!"

The Playboy Club launched him to national television notoriety in the early-60s as one of the first comics to find success in front of black and white audiences. In 1964, Gregory published an autobiography, controversially titled, Nigger, which sold 4 million copies. Gregory's comedic and personal style was inflammatory and uncompromising, titillating many, shocking others and angering some. Around the same time, Gregory became active in the civil rights movement and participated in many of the most significant marches and demonstrations of the era.

Here is a speech he gave in Birmingham in 1963 on the day more people got arrested than any other day in the entire history of the civil rights movement: Speech at St. John's Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama, 1963

Ultimately, Gregory also became an ardent opponent of the war in Vietnam and championed numerous other progressive causes. In 1967, Gregory ran an unsuccessful campaign for Mayor of Chicago against notorious political boss, Richard Daley.

In 1968, Dick Gregory again tried his hand at politics, this time as the Presidential nominee for the Freedom & Peace Party a splinter group from the Peace & Freedom Party, a party that emerged out of the civil rights and anti-war movements. Interestingly, the Peace & Freedom Party elected Eldridge Cleaver in '68, the incendiary Minister of Information for the Black Panther Party. During the campaign, Gregory supporters at the Operation Breadbasket office in Chicago created fake dollar bills with Gregory's face on them. They are really funny. Here it is (click to enlarge):


Not surprisingly, the feds didn't have much of a sense of humor about the whole thing, particularly after some made it into circulation, but the stunt did gain the activist some easy publicity at a time when many were more than willing to stick it to The Man. It also landed him on Nixon's master list of political opponents! Gregory earned more than 47,000 votes in the election, or .06% of the total, including one from hunter S. Thompson. He finished just behind the Socialist Labor Party candidate, but ahead of Prohibition Party and Communist Party candidates. Sadly, George Wallace, the racist Democratic Governor of Alabama and godfather of modern conservatism, received about 210 times more votes (almost 10 million!) than Gregory...

The same year as the campaign, Gregory wrote, Write Me In! The book is really funny and interesting and worth a read, even today. Here are a few of the things he put forth:

• Gregory argued that the one qualification we should seek in a Presidential candidate is "a sensitivity to human need."

• He encouraged citizens to smash the two party system. Gregory wrote that he did not vote in the 1964 Presidential election because "I refused to be the victim of having to choose between the lesser of two evils."

• In a passage that speaks forcefully to our current international predicament, he wrote, "America speaks with pride of the fruits of democracy and advocates democracy for the rest of the world. Yet we go all over the world trying to force democracy upon people at gunpoint."

• Gregory argued that the U.S. Constitution had never been fully implemented and suggested, therefore, that before we talk about changing it we actually see how life in America would change if we followed the Constitution. He wrote, "I have a dream and a vision of seeing the Constitution of the United States implemented in full for the first time in American history."

• Gregory promised that his administration would give American citizens what he termed, "The Clean Society." He wrote that one of his first acts as Prez would be to set aside half of his Presidential salary as a reward for any information leading to his arrest and conviction for wrongdoing in office. Further he proposed to place into escrow $10,000 for each Senator and Congressman also as a reward for information of wrong doing in office. This combined sum (around $5 million dollars he estimated) was small in comparison to the federal government's annual budget. Yet the rewards for taking political corruption seriously were profound.

• Gregory also proposed a corporate tax on "excess-profits."

• He also wrote, "I will propose legislation to allow American taxpayers to bring suit against the federal government challenging the spending of a sizable portion of the national budget for a possibly illegal war." And, " Any time American troops are being used overseas as a result of orders by the commander-in-chief, the question of the constitutionality of such action should be immediately raised."

• Gregory pledged to respect international law and order and to create renewed respect for the United Nations. He wrote, "I will urge a redistribution of power in the UN so that every nation has an equal voice [...] " Further he proposes that the UN flag become as recognizable as corporate logos, the flag announcing to people the world over that "colors, religions and political orientations place no restriction upon membership in the human family."

• In an interesting passage, he argued, "America must re-evaluate what is meant by developing 'stronger' nations. A nation that is well equipped militarily, yet plagued with disease, hunger and ignorance, is not really strong."

• Gregory wanted to see America taking leadership in eliminating world hunger and he proposed to have elementary school children contribute a penny a week and for adults to give up one meal each week with the proceeds from both to be used to feed the hungry.

• Gregory proposed using tax rebates as incentives for companies which establish fair employment practices.

• Gregory suggested reforms for fire and police departments as well as the criminal justice system and the courts. "As President," he wrote, "I will make every effort to free the court system from political ties. I will seek federal legislation to rule out the concept of judgeship by political appointment."

• Finally, Gregory advocated the elimination of capital punishment. He sought a criminal justice system that accomplished rehabilitation of the criminal rather than merely punishment.

Yeah, that is pretty amazing, isn't it??!!!

Gregory has continued to fight the good fight since 1968, going on numerous hunger strikes for various causes. On July 21, 1979, Gregory appeared at the Amandla Festival, otherwise know as the "Festival of Unity," held at Harvard Stadium in Boston. The idea behind the event was to show support for freedom across southern Africa and to encourage racial healing in Boston, a city torn by racial discord. Bob Marley, Patti LaBelle and Eddie Palmieri, and others, also performed. In 1980, he attempted to negotiate the release of American hostages in Iran. He and his former running mate, Mark Lane, wrote a fascinating book about the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Code Name Zorro, which argued that James Earle Ray did not act alone in that historic tragedy.

More recently, Gregory has gotten a little far out at times, advocating a variety of conspiracy theories and a radical health diet that he claims saved him from cancer.

In one of the more bizarre recent episodes, Michael Jackson's father asked Gregory to advise Michael on his diet during his 2005 trial for child molestation. On June 4 of that year, Gregory brought a blood-circulating machine to Jackson's house, but Jackson refused to use it.

Here I am with Dick Gregory on September 29, 2007, in Milwaukee! Seriosuly.



What the heck am I doing with Dick Gregory? Well, we were both participating in the "March On Milwaukee" 40th anniversary celebration of the historic open housing campaign there. I am writing a book about the civil rights movement in Milwaukee and spoke at the conference. Gregory was an important activist in that movement. In 1968, he praised the Movement in Milwaukee, which many called "the last stand for an non-violent, interracial, church-based movement," and which was led by a white Catholic priest named Fr. James Groppi, for showing that Black Power was "more an attitude than a color." Mr. Gregory was amazingly kind and gracious to everyone throughout the weekend... and funny as hell. Holy Moses, this guy can let the jokes fly. He's still got the edge, too. He seemed to me to be one of those people that is simultaneously brilliant and a little mad; many of the great ones are, after all. Provocative ideas come fast and furious...

Here's to you, Mr. Gregory! Thanks for blazing a trail and fighting for justice...

More Garbage Thrown at Barack

Well, we knew the barrage of garbage would keep coming against Obama. Here is another email that is circulating in the shadows. This one attacks his church...

Subject: FW: Obama's Church

Barack Obama mentioned his church during his appearance with Oprah. It's the Trinity Church of Christ. I found this interesting.

Obama's church: Please read and go to this church's website and read what is written there. It is very alarming.

Barack Obama is a member of this church and is running for President of the U.S. If you look at the first page of their website, you will learn that this congregation has a non-negotiable commitment to Africa . No where is AMERICA even mentioned.

Notice too, what color you will need to be if you should want to join Obama's church... B-L-A-C-K!!! Doesn't look like his choice of religion has improved much over his (former?) Muslim upbringing.

Are you aware that Obama's middle name is Mohammed? Strip away his nice looks, the big smile and smooth talk and what do you get? Certainly a racist, as plainly defined by the stated position of his church! And possibly a covert worshiper of the Muslim faith, even today. This guy desires to rule over America while his loyalty is totally vested in a Black Africa!

I cannot believe this has not been all over the TV and newspapers. This is why it is so important to pass this message along to all of our family and friends. To think that Obama has even the slightest chance in the run for the presidency, is really scary.

Click on the link below for the website of the church Barack Obama belongs to: www.tucc.org/about.htm

I'll give you one guess how many people of color go to the author of this email's church... uh... try zero. You know the old addage: "What's the most segregated hour of the week? Sunday morning at 10am"

There have been a few news stories lately about a "swift boat-style" group preparing an attack on Obama through his affiliation with this church. So, if you like Obama, get ready to fight back...

... to that end, here is an excellent and reasoned break-down of Obama's church from The Christian Century: Africentric Church: A visit to Chicago's Trinity UCC

Some folks think we should simply ignore this stuff and hope it doesn't do any damage. Some folks think posting it on a blog like this, or forwarding it on to others, only perpetuates it and gives it strength.

I'm of a different opinion. I think we need to shine light on this crap and call it what it is: a racist attack. We need to not shrink away but stand up to it. The time has come for a massive movement of people, in the face of this inevitable onslaught of divisive, racist innuendo, to say, "No more! We reject these tired politics. We will defeat you at the ballot box and make a better America. We have hope and we will make change."

I find it interesting that currently everyone is talking loud about the gender dynamics of the election, while most commentators I read and hear out there (even on the liberal/progressive/left) want to minimize the racial dynamics of this race. Don't get me wrong, sexism is very much alive and well out there and Hillary faces it. I just find it strange that folks don't want to face the racial reality, too, or as vigorously...

... for instance, while I am not sure I'd call it "racist," take Hillary's ludicrous statements that LBJ was more important to realizing Dr. King's dream than Dr. King or, by implication, the civil rights movement. Yikes! http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifI'll write more on this later, but suffice it to say that Clinton fundamentally misapprehends the way social change happens. And, essentially, she got a free ride on that cheap shot.

UPDATE:
NYTIMES: "Ranking African American in Congress Rethinking Neutrality in SC After Clinton's Comments on Civil Rights Movement"

Here is another thoughtful response to Clinton's misstep for your consideration:



What do you think?

Democracy Now! Explores Obama, the African American Community and the Politics of Race

Democracy Now! has run two interesting segments over the past few days on Obama and the politics of race that I think are worth checking out.

Episode #1: "Barack Obama and the African American Community: A Debate with Michael Eric Dyson and Glen Ford"

Obama and the African American Community: Dyson vs. Ford
(as always, you can listen to the program, watch it or read the transcript)

Does Barack Obama present a hope for dealing with African American issues? Or has he watered down his platform to appeal to white voters? Georgetown University Professor Michael Eric Dyson and veteran journalist Glen Ford debate.


Episode #2: “I Respect the Distance He is Trying to Create”–Jesse Jackson on Why He Supports But Hasn’t Been Asked to Campaign for Obama

Jesse Jackson discusses the Obama campaign
(as always, you can listen to the program, watch it or read the transcript)

The Reverend Jesse Jackson and his son, Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., support Barack Obama, but his other son, Yusuf, is a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton, and his wife has just cut a radio ad for her. Why isn’t Jesse Jackson out stumping for his man? He hasn’t been asked. “I respect the distance [Obama] is trying to create for his own strategic purposes,” Jackson tells Democracy Now!

Black People Love Us!

More on the continuing adventures of "whiteness" in America... In this episode, "Sally" and "Johnny" revel in the love they receive from their black friends. They are so happy, they've created a website: "Black People Love Us"

On a related note, over at Alternet.org, Alex Jung has a very interesting and useful article about the "ten misunderstandings white liberals have about race."

Here are the ten misunderstandings:

1. White supremacy? You mean white men in white sheets?
2. I'm not racist, but ...
3. Colorblind as a bat.
4. Kumbaya, multiculturalism!
5. It's not a "[insert racial group here]" issue as much as it is a "human" issue.
6. One of my best friends is [insert nonwhite group here]!
7. How could I have white privilege? I'm poor/female/gay/Polish/disabled!
8. The white savior complex.
9. "Good" people of color
10. All that guilt.

To read Jung's explanation of each one, check out the article and then post a comment...