Guns Don't Kill, People with Guns Do

I don't know what the problem here is: the shooter; Oklahoma's Make My Day and Stand Your Ground laws; the interpretation of thpse laws; and/or, the general devaluation of black life. At least this kid was an attempted robber, not a police officer. With sympathies to the boy's mother, that does make it a little easier for me to accept. But . . . it's still impossible to accept. You should read the entire article. I mean, I don't begrudge anyone the right to protect themselves. But they have to be in danger. This guy was not in danger. Having "his adrenaline flowing" is no defense.

Druggist Arrested for Killing Holdup Man

By TIM TALLEY, AP
OKLAHOMA CITY (May 29)

- Confronted by two holdup men, pharmacist Jerome Ersland pulled a gun, shot one of them in the head and chased the other away. Then, in a scene recorded by the drugstore’s security camera, he went behind the counter, got another gun, and pumped five more bullets into the wounded teenager as he lay on the floor.

The Crime of Blackness, and Sometimes, Torture

Update: h/t to racismreview.com/blog commenter jwbe for bringing this to my attention. Apparently, there have been white officers accidently killed by other officers. Though it does seem rare.

Yeah. I got two stories. One is here from racismreview.com/blog. Basically, an off-duty black cop was killed by a white cop basically because he's black. Yeah . . . I guess someone could argue the same thing would've or could've happened had the off-duty cop been white. But then, of course, I must ask - why doesn't it happen that a plain clothed white officer is killed by mistake by fellow officers? Cause it's not clear that the white cop was even on duty, or had identified himself before shooting, and Edwards, the black cop, was apparently shot in the back.

The other is about Dick Cheney. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich) says that the memos don't show what Cheney says they do. Between the two of them, I'm inclined to believe Levin.

She Blamed the Black Guy(s)

Typical. Sorry I didn't look into this until now. I had read a few news headlines, but not the actual story. I hope posting this from racismreview.com/blog will make up for it. ~ No1KState

It Lives: The Image of Me Constructed by You

Posted by Dr. Terence Fitzgerald on May 28th, 2009

“Come on boy; you know the routine. Assume the position.”

Yes, unfortunately in these here United States of America, my skin is my sin. The luck of possessing a hue associated with Africa and the ownership of a Y chromosome carries a heavy burden. The burden was front and center this week within the story of Bonnie Sweeten of Feasterville, Pennsylvania . Ms. Sweeten made a frantic phone call to 911 from Philadelphia, on May 26th from the trunk of a car where she told authorities that she and her 9 year old daughter were, after being rear ended earlier. She went on to say that after the accident, after exiting her SUV, she and her daughter were then kidnapped. The story caught national attention from NBC to Fox news. The police, the amber alert system, and the FBI all pulled their efforts together to save them damsels in distress from the “evil doorers.”

You might ask yourself, who would commit such a disreputable deed? Well it was “two Black men” of course! And of course they were driving, of all cars, “a Cadillac.”

Well today, we found out it was all a disgusting hoax. In fact, the two were bound for Disney World. After taking out thousands of dollars from her family account and buying two tickets to Florida, mother, with her child, were later spotted boarding a plane in Tampa which led the local police to their hideout with Mickey at the Grand Floridian Hotel in Orlando. On Thursday, May 28th, the Today Show discussed the issue of Michelle Henry; District Attorney for Bucks County Pennsylvania, who was asked by the newscaster whether this was a case of racial profiling. Ms. Henry avoided the question raised.

My frustration observed in writing this entry is not without merit. For this country has a long history of feeding a stereotype of Black males as dangerous, oversexed, with out a moral compass [See the book, The Assassination of the Black Male Image by Earl Ofari Hutchinson]. Where again you might ask?

• Examples can be traced from the stereotypical, controversial, and influential 1915 film, Birth of a Nation,
• March 25, 1931, Alabama with the death of what the media called the Scottsboro Boys.
• October 24, 1989, Boston—Pregnant Carol DiMaiti Stewart, 30 years old died, from a gun shot to the head. Her husband, Charles, 29 years old reported to police that a Black man claiming to be an undercover policeman pulled their vehicle over and shot he and his wife; killing his wife and later after two weeks of survival, their eight week premature unborn child. Later the police discovered that the husband actually killed his wife and unborn child.
• October 24, 1994, Union, South Carolina—In order to win the affection of a man with whom she had been having an affair, Susan Smith placed her three year and 14 month old children into the safety devises in her car and rolled the car into John D. Long Lake. She claimed to the police that she and her children were carjacked by a Black man. During the nine days before she had confessed her merciless crime, a number of Black males were harassed and seen as possible perpetrators in the crime.
• July 11, 2007, Tituville, Florida—Bob Allen, a Senior Republican, and former co-chairman of the campaign of Senator John McCain arrested for attempting to solicit oral sex for 20 dollars from an undercover police officer in a men’s toilets facility. Mr. Allen has a long record of being a proponent of ant-gay legislation in Florida. When arrested, he attempted to avoid prosecution by declaring that the undercover police officer, who happened to be a large black man, intimidated him and Allen felt he had to do whatever it took to survive.

Within the 21st century there is an effort to still demonize the Black male and depict them as a threat to society. Black males have been historically and presently seen as a sexual, physical, and emotional threat to Whites. Some Blacks and other people of color have also helped to feed the stereotype. It is time for us all to bash this image when it is presented.

Catch Racism Every Night, Primetime on the CW

I actually meant to say this earlier and it slipped my mind. This whole pattern from the CW/UPN just goes to show why African Americans maybe need to develop more TV networks dedicated to the African American community. TVOne can't do it all alone. And BET is now more or less minstrel shows.20. So when you think of black empowerment in terms of black businesses, or my dreams, a black Wall Steet (or at least a collection of companies on the level of the DOW Jones), you have to remember to include black-owned and operated media for a black audience.


You know what really pisses me off about this? The CW, and before that, UPN, built itself on black comedy. First, In the House, LL Cool J/Todd Smith's initial sitcom. UPN bought the rights to it from NBC. But at least In the House ended with some sense of closure. But Half and Half, Girlfriends, and now Everybody Hates Chris and The Game are being ended abruptly in the middle of a plot line. I mean, does Lynn ever get it together? And Joan married? Maya adopting? And the Toni-replacement a mother? "Yes, more please." Sorry. Not a regular viewer of Everybody Hates Chris, but the last episode I saw had him taking the GED because his teacher wanted to hold him back a year for all his tarties. Whatever becomes of him? And, so okay. Melanie and Derwin get married. I'm almost sure of it. Rick Fox and Tasha get back together. But what about Jason and Kellie Pitts, huh? What? The white girl can't get no love? (Okay, so I'm not as open to interracial dating as popular culture kind of demands, but that's neither here nor there.)

I know what you're thinking, right? Aliens in America was cut after 2 seasons and it was a white sitcom. Tell you the truth, I actually liked the show. But, come on. One "counter-example" to a demonstrated pattern? What's The CW gonna do when it loses viewers en masse? I'll tell you. It's gonna turn right back to urban comedy. And I hope this time, nobody watches.

We should all be reading and working in our communities, anyway.

And for the love of all that's good and holy, will somebody please tell me who Mona (half of Half and Half) ended up with! ~ No1KState

The Game: Officially Not Returning To The CW
By Karu F. Daniels on May 22nd 2009 8:08PM

"In just three years, The CW has become TV to talk about, with culturally current, quality programming," Ostroff said in a statement. "We have a full slate of great programming to keep our viewers watching, chatting, texting and tweeting all next season."

Maybe some viewers.

The other African American-targeted sitcom 'Everybody Hates Chris' won't be returning in the fall either.

I'm Joining In

I really haven't studied up on Judge Sotomayor, so there's nothing I can tell you that you can't find somewhere else. Which is why I'm sharing this NY Times link: "Obama Chooses Sotomayor for Supreme Court Nominee."

What I will say is that I like this pick. I like the added diversity of enthnicity, background, and perspective. I also like what I've read about the decisions she's made on the circuit court. The conservative poo-poo by Wendy E Long in the article is just ridiculous and nonsensical; hense, why I'm calling it poo-poo.