The New Face

In the previous weeks I have heard so much about blackface. The big "NO-NO" when it comes to racism. Previous events featuring blackface include but are not limited to Vogue painting white supermodel Lara Stone black and then calling it art , Tyra Banks, herself, promoting blackface by making a majority white model cast into a biracial conundrum ,Harry Connick Jr. standing against blackface in an Australian game show and lastly this weekend's spooky black faced Halloween costumes. The antics seem to be on a roll this year. Which is why it is so important to comment on the implications of blackface.

Even though each incident is tied to sad history of 19th century minstrelsy, its re-immersion through these various forms, justifies it in the 21st century. I believe that many young people today might see someone in black face, know they should be offended, but not really undersand why they should be offended. I believe even young black Americans feel this way. Many people would like to believe that we completely rid ourselves of racism in 1965, with the Civil Rights Movement. However, it is clear that racism has come in inconspicuous forms, lets say Halloween costumes. Many white Americans think its funny to dress up as Lil Wayne or  Flava Flav (read just coloring your face black and giving yourself a different name). It's all done in the spirit of Halloween and is taken as a joke. However, the fact that Halloween is the time to hyper-express yourself as something you could never be in everyday life,makes it downright offensive. What it says is that people like Lil wayne or Flava Flav are not normal, heck they are not even real people. They are like zombies, vampires, and fairies. In this sense African Americans are mystical creatures, they are the "Other". In actuality dressing up in blackface doesn't bring you closer to expressing black culture it just hyper-extends the cultural, class, and racial separation. This type of black face makes racism even worse because it proves that white americans are the only ones that can drop that mask of being "black" or "other" on the dawn of  November 1st.

Let's turn to the world of fashion, High Art in other words. The funny thing about this avenue of expressing black face is that it make being black/or any other ethnicity a trend. You're either in or you're out at Heidi would say. Nevermind the fact that these racialization is connected to a group of people. This shows the nature in which the "Others" are disposable, which actual links this form of black face closer to white privilege than to "ethnic ambiguity". It is funny to note that the only individuals free to move between races are white individuals. Also, photography directors want models to embody the attitude of the subject they are supposed to be. How do you act black? Do you rely on stereotypes? Do you study that culture? What would seem difficult on ANTM is that these models were to embody biracial individuals such as Tibetan/Egyptian, Greek/Mexican, and Moroccan/Russian to name a few. Now I look at these combinations and I'm like "how do you do this, how can this make sense ?" That is just at a glance, however the real problem is that each model is suppose to pinpoint the individual's cultural expression without knowing the individual. Each person of Tibetan/Egyptian mix will not have the same cultural experience and if they did it would not be expressed in the same manner. They are suppose to come up with characteristics of a racial mix without knowing anything about that individuals that make of that ethnicity, and then they must embody these characteristics. Does that sound familiar? Maybe it's a demonstration of how stereotypes were started a long time ago. I'm sorry I wouldn't have given so much responsibility to 18 year old girls, who have no real idea on how to strike a pose.

I close this blog with saying that black face is harmful, the ramification of that act are more harmful than taken at face value. Many people don't see the harm in it, black, white, Hispanic and Asian. I think its time for all of us to delve into our history books.

Note: Black face is not exclusive to darkening ones self to resemble African/African American person, it includes dressing up as a Asian person (read geisha, old Chinese man, king fu character) ,Hispanic person (read Chiquita banana, illegal alien, etc) and those of east Asian decent (Arabian man or woman, sheikh etc) just for the heck of it.

Somethin' Old, Somethin' New

I just want to do a really quick post this week. Below is a link I found to a very interesting article posted in Slate magazine. The article focuses on the many faces of "racism" and it also provides pretty good examples of how race inconspicuously presents itself. Once you read it, you'll know what you're really looking at the next time you encounter "racism". Let me know what you think.

Enjoy!

Slate Article (Please click!)

The Real Side of Justice

While searching one of my favorite new sights I came across a story that touched me. A story so eeriely familiar and close to home that I sprung to action immediatley from my little cublice. The story is that of Heather Ellis of Kennett, Missouri. Allegedly, Ellis could serve up to 15 years in prison fro cutting the line in a lcoal Wal-Mart. Outrageous I know! Here is more (courtesy of thegrio.com)

Heather was shopping at a Wal-Mart in Kennett, MO with her cousin. The two were searching for the shortest line, so they split up. When Heather's cousin found the shorter line, she joined him. That's when things got strange.
Heather was accused by a Wal-Mart employee of cutting the line, and an argument ensued. This led to the manager and security guard being called, and ultimately police intervention. Somehow Heather, an honors student who has only gotten two traffic tickets her entire life, ended up being charged with disturbing the peace, trespassing and two counts of assaulting a police officer.
After Heather rejected his plea deal, prosecutor Stephen Sokoloff became set on pushing for a felony trial against her next month. The young college student faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted, in spite of the fact that she has a clean criminal record and a good reputation in the community.

There could be several responses to this read, one being “how dare they?” or “what did she really do, that she’s not telling?”, “What can I do to help?”.There are many other responses to reading an article like this, but when understanding the root of this event, one must understand the discrimination behind it.

Now many of us have cut the line once or twice and people get upset, no big deal. Most of the time if we cut and someone says something to us we might move, or quietly stand ground. Most people don’t argue back. However this young woman was joining her friend. Its like when your in the store with your mom and she like “Stand in line. I’m going to get some soap, ill be right back”. Simple, right? Well in this case probably not. Why? Because Heather Ellis is an African American woman. Simply. This conclusion cannot be presented complexly, because it is in plain-sight.

Ellis brought attention to herself by cutting the line, secondly when the argument ensued with the cashier more attention was drawn to her. It is obvious that the cashier or other customers felt threatened by her response because they called the manager and police. This situation quickly grew out of hand because this woman spoke up for herself. Now I do not know the exchange of words, but it is hard to imagine that Ellis immediately starting throwing food off the shelves because someone accused her of cutting the line. She probably said something to the affects like “I'm just joining my friend”. However the cashier probably said no you didn’t, you cut or in some way insinuated she was lying. It is from that point Ellis probably got upset and had the right to get upset, because the cashier is basically calling her a liar in front of the customers.
Now we all act off our emotions, right? Well what if 1. You were called out and humiliated and 2. Then called a liar. You wouldn’t be too happy. Now I don’t know if her reaction after that point did or did not warrant her arrest, but the problem points back to black stereotypes.

Yes stereotypes- black women are often type casted as the usual Jezebel, Mammy, Sapphire etc. But black women are also seen as defensive, aggressive, immoral and sinful. So too many people, by nature African American women are liars and potentially thieves among other things. So they must continually be questioned to get to the truth of the matter. (Don’t believe me, just google it.)

We must also put to question about why she is being sentenced 15 years, is the so called justice system out of balance? It seems so. People are quick to say that color doesn’t have anything to do with this situation. However, can you see without color? Can you function without a categorization system? Can the eggs go in the cookie jar? We are so supersaturated with aspects of race that sadly we cannot function outside of it. It is this categorization system that is always tied to stereotypes. It is these stereotypes that make many of us victims of prejudice. It is a system that needs to be fought. I ask you to start are saveheatherellis.com.

Let’s start by saving one!

Who woulda thought?

So for anyone that flicks on the TV or picks up the paper, there is so much going on-- especially this week. I mean to flying boys, to the war, to the flu its hard to keep up sometime. I want to address something that isn't always changing, something that flies under the radar and many people don't even recognize it. It is an arena which shows that progress is not being made. There are certain events that show us the progress has been very slow, however in this particular arena it is stagnant and progress cannot be made overall if everyone is not on board.
What am I talking about?
Simply put, I'm talking about hockey. Yea, Hockey.
This is probably not the primetime sport that is set on everyone's DVR, but if you look at the history of hockey in racial development, it shows one avenue that PoC are still way behind. Currently there are 29 minority players in the NHL and the numbers before this decade range from 1-5, at best. (http://www.aaregistry.com/) I know that there is some little African American, Latino,Asian boy out there that would love to play hockey, but there are not any rolemodels for him to look up to. The NHL is very shy about incorporating any people of color in its pool. The African American Registry recounts the historical trials of A.A in hockey stating,

Other sports such as basketball, football and baseball offered better infrastructure and more apparent opportunities. Without race as a factor, hockey's initial time of overall appeal began in the 1890s when what was an unsophisticated game rapidly got organized and got promotional support. At the same time, however, the number of blacks in Canada was plunging due to the return of many former slaves to the United States. A population that numbered over 60,000 (nearly two percent of the national total) prior to the American Civil War had tumbled to just over 16,000 by 1911, amounting to one-fifth of one percent of the country's total.

Despite this, blacks that remained played the game, an early indicator that they felt themselves to be a part of this emerging identity of their country and sport. In 1899, Hipple "Hippo" Galloway, of Alder Street in Dunuville, Ontario, played for the Woodstock team in the Central Ontario Hockey Association. Galloway was not alone. Charley Lightfoot of the Stratford team was a second Black player in the league and one of the better players in the Central Ontario Hockey Association. Still this was during the darkest era of Jim Crow legislation, the imposed segregation in the America. Despite Canada's more liberal heritage, the appalling repeat of American model led to Galloway’s banishment that summer from an Ontario baseball league because an American import objected to his presence.

Galloway left Canada to barnstorm with a black baseball team. At the same time a Colored Hockey League was formed in Atlantic Canada, similar to the Negro Baseball Leagues in the United States. It is unclear whether players were forced to develop a separate organization because of racial exclusion or if they felt, the need for their own association to retain a community identity. The Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes formed in 1900 included teams from Afrieville (the Seasides), Dartmouth (the Jubilees), Halifax (the Eurekas), Truro (the Victorias) and Amherst (the Royals). It was a Nova Scotia-based league and Prince Edward Island where black talent flourished. It had an all-black team featuring five members of the Mills family and two others that played all-white teams on the island and black teams in Nova Scotia. Exhibitions by black hockey teams in Nova Scotia ran well into the 1920s and their playing innovations included a rule allowing the goalie to fall to the ice to block a shot before such a rule entered the NHL rulebook.

So what happened to these leagues? what happened to the many players that were interested? Did they just decide to do other sports. I think it is important that in progress, we fight to have all doors open and to make sure that none are slyly closed. It is just odd to me that hockey still remains an all white sport.

(For the record, the statistics about the 29 minorities playing in the NHL was last recorded in 2003)

Good Hair

So I am excited to say that I will most definitetly be seeing Chris Rock's Good Hair film. I heard that it has gotten wonderful reviews and a couple of awards. Anyway as I was reading reviews I came across and interesting statement about the history of why black women want to have "good hair".  In a article by Lori L Tharps, published on thegrio.com she states

The term "good hair" harks back to antebellum America, when slaves knew that the less African they appeared, the better treatment they would receive from slave owners. Hair was the number one marker of negritude. It was also the most malleable ethnic trait. Using a combination of homemade concoctions and ingenious straightening methods, the slaves worked tirelessly at making their hair seem less foreign to their white masters. In return, they hoped that their straightened locks would aid them in being chosen for the coveted house jobs instead of working in the fields. Not that being a house slave was a glamorous position, but it did offer access to better food, living conditions and a chance at an otherwise illegal education. Even more importantly, working in the house brought with it the possibility of a closer relationship with the master, which could translate into freedom upon his death.

So yes, if your hair was long and loosely curled it was "good hair," because it literally meant it was good enough to get you out of the fields. It wasn't about beauty - good hair was about survival. And make no mistake; men wanted that good hair too.

I would have to say that this sheds light on a different perspective on why black women do everything in their means to have "good hair". Even if having good hair during the antebellum period was a tool for survival. I believe today, having good hair is a combination of survival as well as a need to want to be closer to whiteness. Today looking at any media outlet, most African American women are portrayed as exotic, of lighter complexion, curly hair, or green eyes. Most black women on TV have one of the above features. So this sends a message that in order to get a job, be successful, put food one the table you must have at least one of several attributes. In most cases to even be considered "attractive" women believe they must have lighter skin, a thinner nose, green eyes( even if its contacts), wigs, weaves. We are so saturated with this idea of white beauty that we cannot perceive ourselves as attractive without some aspect of whiteness.

Even when we look at Martin Lawrence's Big Momma or Jamie Foxx's Wanda, these "women" have blonde wigs. Why do these "women" wear blonde wigs? I mean it does contribute to the ridiculousness of the scenario, which adds to the humor. But why not wear braids like Shanaynay (Martin Lawrence character on "Martin") or why not have natural hair, or simply a black wig?

How will we ever get beyond this point? Its looking very bleak...maybe we won't change.
Check out this video:my nappy roots trailer

African American Literature

So upon reading a post linked by blogspot Mixed Race America, I starting thinking. HMMMMM!



The article posted on website Matador Change (link should be attached in this article), the writer has an epiphany about white privilege when walking into a bookstore and noticing an 'African American Literature' section. From this point on she asks question about the implications behind having one's own section and what it says about white privilege. While I commend her for finally realizing her privilege and challenging others to do so. I am not impressed.

I mean after years of probably going to a bookstore you now notice a section titled 'African American Literature'. The question she should have posted is, "what took me so long to notice?"

Now the question she post can be easily answered by any person of color. For instance, to the question--"Does it mean that the experience of African American is not relevant to the typical, white fiction reader?"
Of course its not, Writing is often about one's own personal expierneces and readership comes when people can relate to that expiernece. PoC have different experiences which are based on, in some cases, how close they appear in whiteness. A light skin black person, Hispanic person or less ethnic Asian that can pass as white will not come across the same kind of discrimination as their racial counterpart of a darker complexion or more ethnic look, however the essence of discrimination is understandable. There is no one "African American experience" nor one singular experience for any person, for that matter, but there is a solidarity in similar experiences. So for the white reader in either cases the experiences are not relative, and furthermore is not relevant and therefore is often ignored.

This writer also puts to question if having this type of display a luxury?
I do not believe that being singled out of the mainstream is a luxury, however it has evolved into a well-known genre of its own. When African American writers first began publishing, they were probably denied the "luxury" of having their books sit beside Hemingway and Plath. So they had to do what PoC often have to do, create their own space. Out of this space sprung a genre that is very popular, and often easy to find if your looking for it.

So just look! There is so much out there.
I realize that this blog is directed at those WP's that are oblivious to white privilege who are willing to have their eyes open. But I think the final message of the article is that they have the choice to shut their eyes. They have a choice which many of us do not have.

Thought of the Day!

Treat Others As You Qould Like To Be Treated

This saying can be seen as so elementary, however it is the hardest for people to follow. Support your family and friends they same way you would like to be supported in a new endeavor. Respect family and friends in the same manner you would like to be respected. Care for people the same way you would want to be cared for. Its always easy to forget that the show could easily be on the other foot. One day you might want to hear from a friend, but that friend might be too busy to pick up the phone. That wouldn't make you feel good, so do the same for that friend. Support your brother or sister the same way you would like to be supported. Good or bad it would all come back to you. It just depends on which one you would like to receive.

Don't Get Angry

I meant to post this Monday, but I've been a bit busy:

To recent reaction’s of Kanye West and Serena William’s outburst, no two events could have coincided better. Kanye West vocal rampage seems to support venus’ outburst. Why you say? Well West is simply implying that many times African American aren’t given the recognition that they should be given. And even if you’re the best of the best( like Beyonce), you still cant win it all. And this is a similar message behind Serena Williams. You can be the best of the best but baby, you cant have it all. You cant have the freedom to express your frustrations. No honey, not at all! I mean even after years of being called, “ a ghetto-man-hood-rat- too voluptuous for tennis-product of the Ghetto Compton-your daddy isn’t a gentlemen” you are not allowed to show your frustration.

Let’s seriously be real. African American actors, entertainers and athletes are under large amounts of pressure. They are under pressure to be the exception in white eyes, they are suppose to set the example in black eyes. Please don’t let their foot falter while they balance on one leg the expectations of society. Don’t get mad! Please cuz America doesn’t like an angry black man or woman!

Dont believe the Hype!

The IAAF which ordered the testing of Caster Semenya to determine sexuality, will not confirm or deny the "hermaphodite" accusations made by the Sydney Daily Telegraph and Sydney Morning Herald. However, a final decision will not be made until November.

Summary: That accusation was heresay, and it is horrific how this situation is being handled. Check out thegrio.com for full story

South African track star is a hermaphrodite, report says

I am outraged at this report! Not because of results of the report, but that it was publicized in the first place. Like who do these people think they are? For centuries now African/ African American women have been put on display. They have been examined, cut up, cut open, turned this way and that--not by the doctor but by society in general. I urge you to youtube- sara bartmann (Im still trying to figure out the technicalities of blogging thats why i didnt just post the video..anyhoo). For centuries Black women have been treated like some phenomenon. Im not a phenomenon, just a human. And yes, while we all uniquely beautiful and different- we shouldnt be that damn different that we have to be put on display for the world to see.
The other aspect that upsets me is that there is no concern for her privacy or her emotional wellbeing. This is a more common condition than people may realize. And some people might think, "Well she decided to be an athlete, she knew that everything she did could one day be publicized good or bad". However which ever way people try to qualify that, it seems that the same personal humiliation of one confessing that they are taking performance enhancing drugs does not equate to being "outted" as a hermaphodite, by force. It simply points back to the "othering" of African/African American women. I guess, we dont look normal, so why be treated as such, right? Hell no!
I guess being the born the way she is doesnt make her "really" human, so why treat her as such?We really have to think about what type of dialouge that we are setting up for ourselves. It just seems that instead of making sure that everyone is competing on a equal playing field, which would be the purpose behind drug testing, we are creating a space where people cannot be different.

Even though the IAAF allows her to keep the gold medal, did the IAAF leave her with her pride?

The Pearl

Well as of late I've been reading tons of blogs and I really find them to be great. They are not only informative but it allows you to connect with people that would otherwise be outside of your reach. Now I've decided to talk about issues/ articles/ and other blogs that strike a chord with me. Those usually being about race, gender, sexuality because in sum it affects me. Well, I take that back it doesn't just affect me, it affects all of us. I would like to be apart of a group of people that recognize that. I want to reach out to those individuals that could care less about these issues, I want to reach out to the "old me". If i could reach out to one more person, in the same way that others have reached out to me then that would be great. I've decided to name this blog "The Pearl" because these issues are delicate and sacred and the people that they affect are delicate, sacred, and despite how they are being treated, should be treasured. This includes men and woman of all walks of life.