No, No, Don't Worry. Racism is Pretty Much Over.

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WestwayKid
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Re: No, No, Don't Worry. Racism is Pretty Much Over.

Post by WestwayKid »

Flex wrote:
31 Oct 2019, 11:02am
WestwayKid wrote:
29 Oct 2019, 12:32pm
My community has an issue with race. This does not make us unique (sadly). It has been a particular issue in our schools: racial slurs, racist graffiti, and so on. The administration (school and district level) has been slow to respond. The community is mostly white, but an increasing number of people of color have been moving in and this obviously rubs many people the wrong way.

There was a parent group formed in the wake of particularly ugly incident in September 2018. I joined earlier this year and have gotten increasingly involved. Our main accomplishment has been working with the district and the community to create an action plan to address issues of equity and racism in our schools and our community.

It's been tough, however. The school district has had "let's wait it out and hopefully it will go away" attitude. They have been consistently reactive instead of proactive. The superintendent, who was a co-chair of the steering committee that drafted the plan, didn't even attend the meeting 2-weeks ago where it was presented to the public. He was in China on a district trip, but had neglected to tell anyone he wasn't going to be in town. We found out because someone got an "out of office" reply.

He resigned last night. The cause given was that he was caught using his district credit card to make personal purchases.

It's just been a real journey into white privilege and white fragility. They're both very strong forces in America and huge roadblocks to change.
I chatted a tiny bit about this with Maj in our last podcast, but I think getting involved at the school-level is so critical for the real groundwork that needs to be done in this country. Right wingers figured that out years ago and the Left has been kind of slow to catch on- good on you for taking a stand and doing the grunt work.
It really exposes the undercurrent of racism that exists in this country. It's not all about tiki torch waving morons, it's about the guy next door who insists racism doesn't exist.
"They don't think it be like it is, but it do." - Oscar Gamble

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Re: No, No, Don't Worry. Racism is Pretty Much Over.

Post by WestwayKid »

I actually had a high school kid contact me (I'm backup media contact for our group) to lob insults. He claims we have no idea what is going on in our schools and that we're race baiting and that it's okay if kids stick with their own color. It's okay because he's Hispanic and at his table there are white kids and black kids and everyone else and they all get along. I was polite in my response. I'm not getting into a shouting match with a 17-year-old. I'm troubled by it, however. I went to the same high school and I saw racism on a regular basis, so to tell me that it doesn't exist is either denial or outright lying. Sure, I was there 20 years ago, but I can guarantee the world has not gotten nicer since then. This is the attitude we're up against: people who won't or can't admit that there is an issue. They get upset because the media is smearing their beloved community. They get very defensive and they get very angry.
"They don't think it be like it is, but it do." - Oscar Gamble

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Re: No, No, Don't Worry. Racism is Pretty Much Over.

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WestwayKid wrote:
31 Oct 2019, 12:28pm
I actually had a high school kid contact me (I'm backup media contact for our group) to lob insults. He claims we have no idea what is going on in our schools and that we're race baiting and that it's okay if kids stick with their own color. It's okay because he's Hispanic and at his table there are white kids and black kids and everyone else and they all get along. I was polite in my response. I'm not getting into a shouting match with a 17-year-old. I'm troubled by it, however. I went to the same high school and I saw racism on a regular basis, so to tell me that it doesn't exist is either denial or outright lying. Sure, I was there 20 years ago, but I can guarantee the world has not gotten nicer since then. This is the attitude we're up against: people who won't or can't admit that there is an issue. They get upset because the media is smearing their beloved community. They get very defensive and they get very angry.
I was raised in a very multicultural area and my best friends were black. So until I reached the age of 13 I never really saw the hatred. Then in '78 with the National Front distributing leaflets outside our school it was an obvious time for me to nail my colours to the mast. I saw a guy standing by the school gates with a stack of leaflets so I walked up to him kicked him where it hurts grabbed the leaflets and threw them in a wheelie bin. The guy made a retreat and as I walked back in the school yard the kids watching from the classrooms started cheering. It felt like a victory.
Image

Forces have been looting
My humanity
Curfews have been curbing
The end of liberty


We're the flowers in the dustbin...
No fuchsias for you.

"Without the common people you're nothing"

Nos Sumus Una Familia

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Re: No, No, Don't Worry. Racism is Pretty Much Over.

Post by 101Walterton »

[quote="Marky Dread" post_id=552160 time=1572549721 user_id=123]
[quote=WestwayKid post_id=552122 time=1572539301 user_id=2612]
I actually had a high school kid contact me (I'm backup media contact for our group) to lob insults. He claims we have no idea what is going on in our schools and that we're race baiting and that it's okay if kids stick with their own color. It's okay because he's Hispanic and at his table there are white kids and black kids and everyone else and they all get along. I was polite in my response. I'm not getting into a shouting match with a 17-year-old. I'm troubled by it, however. I went to the same high school and I saw racism on a regular basis, so to tell me that it doesn't exist is either denial or outright lying. Sure, I was there 20 years ago, but I can guarantee the world has not gotten nicer since then. This is the attitude we're up against: people who won't or can't admit that there is an issue. They get upset because the media is smearing their beloved community. They get very defensive and they get very angry.
[/quote]

I was raised in a very multicultural area and my best friends were black. So until I reached the age of 13 I never really saw the hatred. Then in '78 with the National Front distributing leaflets outside our school it was an obvious time for me to nail my colours to the mast. I saw a guy standing by the school gates with a stack of leaflets so I walked up to him kicked him where it hurts grabbed the leaflets and threw them in a wheelie bin. The guy made a retreat and as I walked back in the school yard the kids watching from the classrooms started cheering. It felt like a victory.
[/quote]

That was a weird time!! Racism and anti racism was very high profile and a lot of young kids didn’t know if they were coming or going. They chose their badges on political issues like they chose their music.
Madness got accused of being a National Front band as none of them were black despite the fact they were playing black music and championing people like Prince Buster. Then you would get National Front supporters at a Specials gig singing along to songs like Why and Doesn’t Make It Alright.

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Re: No, No, Don't Worry. Racism is Pretty Much Over.

Post by Marky Dread »

101Walterton wrote:
31 Oct 2019, 3:34pm
Marky Dread wrote:
31 Oct 2019, 3:22pm
WestwayKid wrote:
31 Oct 2019, 12:28pm
I actually had a high school kid contact me (I'm backup media contact for our group) to lob insults. He claims we have no idea what is going on in our schools and that we're race baiting and that it's okay if kids stick with their own color. It's okay because he's Hispanic and at his table there are white kids and black kids and everyone else and they all get along. I was polite in my response. I'm not getting into a shouting match with a 17-year-old. I'm troubled by it, however. I went to the same high school and I saw racism on a regular basis, so to tell me that it doesn't exist is either denial or outright lying. Sure, I was there 20 years ago, but I can guarantee the world has not gotten nicer since then. This is the attitude we're up against: people who won't or can't admit that there is an issue. They get upset because the media is smearing their beloved community. They get very defensive and they get very angry.
I was raised in a very multicultural area and my best friends were black. So until I reached the age of 13 I never really saw the hatred. Then in '78 with the National Front distributing leaflets outside our school it was an obvious time for me to nail my colours to the mast. I saw a guy standing by the school gates with a stack of leaflets so I walked up to him kicked him where it hurts grabbed the leaflets and threw them in a wheelie bin. The guy made a retreat and as I walked back in the school yard the kids watching from the classrooms started cheering. It felt like a victory.
That was a weird time!! Racism and anti racism was very high profile and a lot of young kids didn’t know if they were coming or going. They chose their badges on political issues like they chose their music.
Madness got accused of being a National Front band as none of them were black despite the fact they were playing black music and championing people like Prince Buster. Then you would get National Front supporters at a Specials gig singing along to songs like Why and Doesn’t Make It Alright.
Some of my white friends were skinheads and as you say it was a time of confusion. Dancing to Ska at night and then wearing a NF badge. I lost some mates due to their stupidity supporting a political cause they didn't really understand. I wasn't having any part of it the NF the YNF the BM could all fuck off as far as I was concerned. Fighting with skins at the Reading Festival as Sham 69 were singing "If the Kids Are United". Jimmy Pursey and Steve Hillage on stage together. The Jam taking the stage with Weller saying "I don't care wether you got long hair or short hair this is rock n Roll enjoy". Crazy brilliant and sad and fun times.
Image

Forces have been looting
My humanity
Curfews have been curbing
The end of liberty


We're the flowers in the dustbin...
No fuchsias for you.

"Without the common people you're nothing"

Nos Sumus Una Familia

101Walterton
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Re: No, No, Don't Worry. Racism is Pretty Much Over.

Post by 101Walterton »

Marky Dread wrote:
31 Oct 2019, 3:51pm
101Walterton wrote:
31 Oct 2019, 3:34pm
Marky Dread wrote:
31 Oct 2019, 3:22pm
WestwayKid wrote:
31 Oct 2019, 12:28pm
I actually had a high school kid contact me (I'm backup media contact for our group) to lob insults. He claims we have no idea what is going on in our schools and that we're race baiting and that it's okay if kids stick with their own color. It's okay because he's Hispanic and at his table there are white kids and black kids and everyone else and they all get along. I was polite in my response. I'm not getting into a shouting match with a 17-year-old. I'm troubled by it, however. I went to the same high school and I saw racism on a regular basis, so to tell me that it doesn't exist is either denial or outright lying. Sure, I was there 20 years ago, but I can guarantee the world has not gotten nicer since then. This is the attitude we're up against: people who won't or can't admit that there is an issue. They get upset because the media is smearing their beloved community. They get very defensive and they get very angry.
I was raised in a very multicultural area and my best friends were black. So until I reached the age of 13 I never really saw the hatred. Then in '78 with the National Front distributing leaflets outside our school it was an obvious time for me to nail my colours to the mast. I saw a guy standing by the school gates with a stack of leaflets so I walked up to him kicked him where it hurts grabbed the leaflets and threw them in a wheelie bin. The guy made a retreat and as I walked back in the school yard the kids watching from the classrooms started cheering. It felt like a victory.
That was a weird time!! Racism and anti racism was very high profile and a lot of young kids didn’t know if they were coming or going. They chose their badges on political issues like they chose their music.
Madness got accused of being a National Front band as none of them were black despite the fact they were playing black music and championing people like Prince Buster. Then you would get National Front supporters at a Specials gig singing along to songs like Why and Doesn’t Make It Alright.
Some of my white friends were skinheads and as you say it was a time of confusion. Dancing to Ska at night and then wearing a NF badge. I lost some mates due to their stupidity supporting a political cause they didn't really understand. I wasn't having any part of it the NF the YNF the BM could all fuck off as far as I was concerned. Fighting with skins at the Reading Festival as Sham 69 were singing "If the Kids Are United". Jimmy Pursey and Steve Hillage on stage together. The Jam taking the stage with Weller saying "I don't care wether you got long hair or short hair this is rock n Roll enjoy". Crazy brilliant and sad and fun times.
Yeah I remember guys wearing red or yellow laces in their Docs (presume the meaning is universal?) but they weren’t really racist they did it to make themselves look harder etc..

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Re: No, No, Don't Worry. Racism is Pretty Much Over.

Post by Marky Dread »

101Walterton wrote:
31 Oct 2019, 5:35pm
Marky Dread wrote:
31 Oct 2019, 3:51pm
101Walterton wrote:
31 Oct 2019, 3:34pm
Marky Dread wrote:
31 Oct 2019, 3:22pm
WestwayKid wrote:
31 Oct 2019, 12:28pm
I actually had a high school kid contact me (I'm backup media contact for our group) to lob insults. He claims we have no idea what is going on in our schools and that we're race baiting and that it's okay if kids stick with their own color. It's okay because he's Hispanic and at his table there are white kids and black kids and everyone else and they all get along. I was polite in my response. I'm not getting into a shouting match with a 17-year-old. I'm troubled by it, however. I went to the same high school and I saw racism on a regular basis, so to tell me that it doesn't exist is either denial or outright lying. Sure, I was there 20 years ago, but I can guarantee the world has not gotten nicer since then. This is the attitude we're up against: people who won't or can't admit that there is an issue. They get upset because the media is smearing their beloved community. They get very defensive and they get very angry.
I was raised in a very multicultural area and my best friends were black. So until I reached the age of 13 I never really saw the hatred. Then in '78 with the National Front distributing leaflets outside our school it was an obvious time for me to nail my colours to the mast. I saw a guy standing by the school gates with a stack of leaflets so I walked up to him kicked him where it hurts grabbed the leaflets and threw them in a wheelie bin. The guy made a retreat and as I walked back in the school yard the kids watching from the classrooms started cheering. It felt like a victory.
That was a weird time!! Racism and anti racism was very high profile and a lot of young kids didn’t know if they were coming or going. They chose their badges on political issues like they chose their music.
Madness got accused of being a National Front band as none of them were black despite the fact they were playing black music and championing people like Prince Buster. Then you would get National Front supporters at a Specials gig singing along to songs like Why and Doesn’t Make It Alright.
Some of my white friends were skinheads and as you say it was a time of confusion. Dancing to Ska at night and then wearing a NF badge. I lost some mates due to their stupidity supporting a political cause they didn't really understand. I wasn't having any part of it the NF the YNF the BM could all fuck off as far as I was concerned. Fighting with skins at the Reading Festival as Sham 69 were singing "If the Kids Are United". Jimmy Pursey and Steve Hillage on stage together. The Jam taking the stage with Weller saying "I don't care wether you got long hair or short hair this is rock n Roll enjoy". Crazy brilliant and sad and fun times.
Yeah I remember guys wearing red or yellow laces in their Docs (presume the meaning is universal?) but they weren’t really racist they did it to make themselves look harder etc..
Yep all total bullshit. Skins were ditching the traditional Doc's for steel toecaps to make them seem harder.
Image

Forces have been looting
My humanity
Curfews have been curbing
The end of liberty


We're the flowers in the dustbin...
No fuchsias for you.

"Without the common people you're nothing"

Nos Sumus Una Familia

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Re: No, No, Don't Worry. Racism is Pretty Much Over.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: No, No, Don't Worry. Racism is Pretty Much Over.

Post by WestwayKid »

There is a lot that is offensive about this guy, but is he wearing a visor turned backwards in that clip?
"They don't think it be like it is, but it do." - Oscar Gamble

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Re: No, No, Don't Worry. Racism is Pretty Much Over.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

The recipe involves wilful historical ignorance, an antisocial culture of immediate gratification, envy of aristocratic trappings, and a white privilege that confirms that the complaints of non-whites don't count. Plantations should be approached with the same shame and sorrow of Auschwitz or Bergen-Belsen; that they aren't speaks volumes of how poorly America has dealt with the legacy of slavery.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... admit-that
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: No, No, Don't Worry. Racism is Pretty Much Over.

Post by JennyB »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
11 Dec 2019, 2:28pm
The recipe involves wilful historical ignorance, an antisocial culture of immediate gratification, envy of aristocratic trappings, and a white privilege that confirms that the complaints of non-whites don't count. Plantations should be approached with the same shame and sorrow of Auschwitz or Bergen-Belsen; that they aren't speaks volumes of how poorly America has dealt with the legacy of slavery.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... admit-that
I've been saying this for years. I got caught up in one of those stupid wedding shows when I was on maternity leave, and I remember one being held at Oak Alley in Louisiana. Yes, it's beautiful, but I was like "would I have my wedding at Dachau?"
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Re: No, No, Don't Worry. Racism is Pretty Much Over.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

JennyB wrote:
11 Dec 2019, 2:30pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
11 Dec 2019, 2:28pm
The recipe involves wilful historical ignorance, an antisocial culture of immediate gratification, envy of aristocratic trappings, and a white privilege that confirms that the complaints of non-whites don't count. Plantations should be approached with the same shame and sorrow of Auschwitz or Bergen-Belsen; that they aren't speaks volumes of how poorly America has dealt with the legacy of slavery.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... admit-that
I've been saying this for years. I got caught up in one of those stupid wedding shows when I was on maternity leave, and I remember one being held at Oak Alley in Louisiana. Yes, it's beautiful, but I was like "would I have my wedding at Dachau?"
And if the camps had been built to appear beautiful and majestic, and were preserved as such, I have no doubt that there'd be people who'd want to get married there. Our culture of selfishness is all about can and cannot—of ability—and sneers at the notion of should and should not—the morality of a choice.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: No, No, Don't Worry. Racism is Pretty Much Over.

Post by Marky Dread »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
11 Dec 2019, 2:28pm
The recipe involves wilful historical ignorance, an antisocial culture of immediate gratification, envy of aristocratic trappings, and a white privilege that confirms that the complaints of non-whites don't count. Plantations should be approached with the same shame and sorrow of Auschwitz or Bergen-Belsen; that they aren't speaks volumes of how poorly America has dealt with the legacy of slavery.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... admit-that
It was so long ago and it didn't happen in my lifetime so it doesn't really affect me.

This type of attitude makes me sick to my stomach. People not prepared to learn fuck all just a total lack of respect. Fuck you and your privileged weddings.
Image

Forces have been looting
My humanity
Curfews have been curbing
The end of liberty


We're the flowers in the dustbin...
No fuchsias for you.

"Without the common people you're nothing"

Nos Sumus Una Familia

Dr. Medulla
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Re: No, No, Don't Worry. Racism is Pretty Much Over.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Marky Dread wrote:
11 Dec 2019, 2:50pm
It was so long ago and it didn't happen in my lifetime so it doesn't really affect me.
The common position that history begins the day a person leaves the womb. Honestly, talking to some students about events in the 1970s, it may as well be 15 BC.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: No, No, Don't Worry. Racism is Pretty Much Over.

Post by WestwayKid »

Marky Dread wrote:
11 Dec 2019, 2:50pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
11 Dec 2019, 2:28pm
The recipe involves wilful historical ignorance, an antisocial culture of immediate gratification, envy of aristocratic trappings, and a white privilege that confirms that the complaints of non-whites don't count. Plantations should be approached with the same shame and sorrow of Auschwitz or Bergen-Belsen; that they aren't speaks volumes of how poorly America has dealt with the legacy of slavery.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... admit-that
It was so long ago and it didn't happen in my lifetime so it doesn't really affect me.

This type of attitude makes me sick to my stomach. People not prepared to learn fuck all just a total lack of respect. Fuck you and your privileged weddings.
Being somewhat of a history buff, I've visited a handful of plantations and I don't think I'll be visiting any more of them. They do a lot to propagate the myth of the "happy slave" and to downplay how brutal life was for enslaved Africans on American plantations. The truth is obviously bad for business. How would they attract tour buses and wedding parties?

The Whitney Plantation does a nice job of flipping the script. The tour experience is about the experience of the enslaved. They don't sugarcoat history. There was a project in the 1930's where the government sponsored an effort to collect oral histories from formerly enslaved African-Americans. These stories are brought to life at Whitney through a collection of sculptures of children. It's moving.
"They don't think it be like it is, but it do." - Oscar Gamble

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