See No Race, See No Racism: More Proof that Colorblind Ideology Doesn't Work

Okay. So usually, I'm just sick. Since my last post, I've been sick and desparately trying to get my thoughts together. And quite honestly, if I spent less time commenting at other blogs, I probably would have more energy for my own blog. The problem with that is that I'm not sure of the quality of the work I'd do. I mean, here's an example of my free flowing thought process when trying to put my thoughts to words. I'll use bullet points to help us both out.

• What are the tea pots complaining about? (Remember my open question for tea partyists?)
• Taxes? That's the tangible negative impact this current administration and Congress have had? Maybe I'm not making my aforementioned question clear.
• And for the love of all that's good and holy, paying taxes is NOT like slavery (You'll have to scroll down and/or search the word "slave").
• It's a bit dismissive and racist to make that comparison anyway. Don't you think?
• Oh, crap. What was my first point? Conservative hysteria and paranoia.
• And how do they call themselves Christian?
• And why do they get all pissy when their racism is called out? Cause really. Complaining about spending now?
• What did Andrew Briebart just say?
• Dinesh D'Souza wrote what?!
• Of, forget it. My head hurts. What's up over at prometheus6/racismreview/timwise?

It's just that I have so many thoughts going through my head. It's hard to pick one thing to write on and then to stay focused on that thing. Especially if I'm trying to find some references to source.

But in my constant search for the truth, I did come across another very important new study (h/t Tim Wise) titled, "In Blind Pursuit of Racial Equality?" Basically, being colorblind renders us impotent to dealing effectively with race. Sure, there're other studies that find the same basic thing. But, with all those people who just swear that talking about, thinking about, or even acknowledging race/ism only increases the division between racial groups, the more evidence, the better.

Oh, I Wish I Were in the Land of Cotton

Courtesy FITSNews, images from  the National Federation of Republican Women (NFRW) annual fall Board of Directors meeting held in Charleston, S.C. last weekend (I'm linking to the site because I'm not too big on plagiarism. I came to the story via alternet.org, who provides really good news and info.):

(captions mine)

This is why having your black conservative friends argue that you should be able to use the n-word means nothing to me.



Open Question to All Tea Partyists! Please Read and Respond

Without giving personal information,  please explain in as much detail as possible the tangible way in which this Congress and administration has negatively impacted your life.

Here's Your Free-Market at Work

I very much disagreed with Bob Herbert's last op-ed piece. I've said before and say again, the numbers for black folks are no different than any other folks. Our problem is racism, and I refuse to pretend we should be super-human.

But he redeemed himself with this most recent piece. Not to say he knows me or would care what I have to say, but you get my gist:

September 3, 2010

Of Janitors and Kings

By Bob Herbert

Martha Escobar is staring into the cold, dark, unforgiving eyes of destitution.

Ms. Escobar is one of 16 janitors who were laid off from their jobs at a luxury complex in Los Angeles that houses some of the wealthiest tenants imaginable. JPMorgan Asset Management, a unit of the vast JPMorgan Chase empire, manages an intricate investment web that owns the buildings. The layoffs were ordered by a maintenance contractor, ABM Industries.

More Thoughts and a Hip-Hop Response Re: Restoring "Honor"

Glenn Beck's Redemption Song
Why Beck's Message at Saturday's Rally Is So Appealing
by Robert Jensen
- article after lyrics below

Snicker, Snicker! Re: Restoring Honor

H/t Tim Wise, again.

Who Can't Love This?

Awwwwwoooooooooooooooo!!! Where's Hillsong when you need'em?! LOL!

Mom’s Hug Revives Baby that Was Pronounced Dead

Premature infant stirs to life after two hours of ‘kangaroo care’

By Michael Inbar
TODAYshow.com contributor

Modern medicine often works wonders, but an Australian mom now knows firsthand the true miracle that can come from a mother’s touch.

Kate Ogg was told her newborn son Jamie had died after efforts to resuscitate the premature infant had failed shortly after his birth. But when Kate was given the chance to say goodbye to the apparently lifeless baby, she and her husband, David, found they were instead saying hello to the newest member of their family.

Now 5 months old and healthy, baby Jamie and his twin sister, Emily, appeared on TODAY Friday with their proud parents, who told the amazing tale of what happened to them in a Sydney, Australia, hospital last March.

Read the rest of the story here.

Let's Not Forget All the Confederate Memorials

Sorry. Not to big on the Confederate soldier statue at the old county courthouse, now museum. Yankees all the way!

h/t Tim Wise

Monuments and Mosques: The debate over what’s sacred (an American Indian's perspective)

So the controversy – for the moment – is over the mosque slated to be built near the site of the World Trade Center bombings in New York City. Don’t you worry, though. We’ll get back to that ugly immigration debate momentarily.

Set at Liberty Those Who Are Oppressed

“ The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
       Because He has anointed Me
      To preach the gospel to the poor;
      He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
      To proclaim liberty to the captives
      And recovery of sight to the blind,
      To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
       To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”
  Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. (Luke 4:18-20, New King James Version)

There's been a lot of smack talk about Black Liberation Theology. And I thought I'd help set the record straight. Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite shares this pithy little number over at WashPo:

There was a lavish buffet, and a senior professor in theology, carrying a plate piled high with food from the buffet, came over to where Gutierrez and I were chatting, and he loomed over Gutierrez. "So," this senior professor intoned, "Professor Gutierrez, explain liberation theology to me." Gutierrez looked at him. "It's a matter of the stomach," Gutierrez replied. "The stomach?" the large and portly senior professor said, astonished. "Yes," said Gutierrez, looking at the professor's loaded plate. "You do theology differently when your stomach is full than when it is empty."

What?! Yes! Too true, too true!