Outrage in Oregon?

By
I got an email yesterday with this link and the comment, "Thought you might be interested........my husband asked the obvious question.......what if it were four white guys and a black man with a white wife?" So I click on the link to see what's what. First thought, how did that mascot get past the PC police? Aren't there some womynists or something somewhere on that campus who are emotionally traumatized and oppressed by that mascot?

Then I read the article. Groan, why did these fools have to be black? And why does the article give more detail about these boys' game stats than it does about what they did? About half the video clip talked about football as well. Under age and in a bar? Hmmm... Am I surprised by the incident? No, stupid people come in all colours, shapes, and sizes. Had it been me in that situation those boys would be sporting some bruises and a limp (one of my personalities has a violent streak and she doesn't get out much).

As to the question about what would be the reaction had it been four white boys harassing an interracial couple, specifically a black man with a white wife. Well no doubt that it would be all over the news. Boycotts would have already been planned, expulsions called for, and sensitivity training for everybody! There would probably already be insinuations that our hypothetical white boys would get off because, of course, the justice system is biased in favour of white folk. Talk of Jim Crow would be thick in the air.

But because this was some black boys acting the fool nobody makes as big a deal about it. Everybody expects white people to do racist things but when black folk do it mum's the word. Which is somewhat understandable. I mean who can fathom that after having suffered through slavery, racial oppression, and then liberation a people would then turn around and imitate the behaviour of those who had oppressed them a generation or two before? Makes no sense right? But it happens.

It's interesting to note that this kid started harassing the woman first. In the minds of racial purists women bear the burden of keeping the race "pure" by not fraternizing with those outside the race. They are only allowed to associate (and reproduce) with those of their own race. What's even more interesting is that this was (and still is) the attitude of white supremacists. Why do you think they always went ballistic at the mere thought of a black man perhaps having an interest in a white woman? Gotta protect the women to keep the race "pure". It's really sad that this kid has taken on an attitude that has caused black people so much grief.

Check out Marriage, Class and Colour in Nineteenth-Century Cuba: A study of racial attitudes and sexual values in a slave society by Verena Martinez-Alier for discussion of attitudes towards interracial couples.

I thought about throwing in a few allegedlys and "innocent until proven guilty" and what not but you know all of that already right?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

What's in a flower?

By
Specifically hydrangea flowers. In this post I pointed out that anthocyanin (a family of plant pigments) appears blue at high pH, red at low pH and is responsible for the wide variety of colours in hydrangea flowers. Ilona pointed out that , "in hydrangeas you lower the ph for blue flowers (more acid) and raise it for pink (more alkaline)." I did a bit of checking and found that this is the case . At lower soil pH hydrangea flowers do appear blue and at higher soil pH they appear red. But soil pH is not the only thing that affects the colour of hydrangea flowers. It appears that pH inside the plant cell has an affect as well: Sepal Color Variation of Hydrangea macrophylla and Vacuolar pH Measured with a Proton-Selective Microelectrode Anthocyanin changes its color depending on pH (Goto 1987, Brouillard 1988, Goto and Kondo 1991). In strong acidic conditions it shows red, in neutral, purple and in alkaline, blue. But generally the vacuolar pH of plant cells is weakly aci
Read more

Treating autism as traumatic brain injury

By
I've been doing research into autism, dyspraxia, how the normal brain works, and how an autistic/dyspraxic brain works (or doesn't work). Traumatic injury to different parts of the brain can cause the same problems suffered by autistic and dyspraxic children. Compare this list of the functions of different parts of the brain and the problems caused by injuries to those areas with these descriptions of dyspraxia and autism. What is Developmental Dyspraxia? Developmental dyspraxia is a disorder characterized by an impairment in the ability to plan and carry out sensory and motor tasks. Generally, individuals with the disorder appear "out of sync" with their environment. Symptoms vary and may include poor balance and coordination, clumsiness, vision problems, perception difficulties, emotional and behavioral problems, difficulty with reading, writing, and speaking, poor social skills, poor posture, and poor short-term memory. Although individuals with the disorder may b
Read more

Battlestar Galactica needs more colour?

By
Here are the letters I mentioned in the previous post. The one that started it (I'm guessing these letters were written after the show's first airing at the end of 2003): Galactica Needs More Diversity The problem I had with Battlestar Galactica was there were no major and very few minor African American characters. There were no Black men in the show at all or if they were, they had virtually no screentime. In the original series, Boomer and Tigh were both played by African American actors. In this rendition of Battlestar, those characters were played by Asian and White actors. In the Caprica city, there no African American extras. On the Galactica's bridge, there was only one African American actress. Another Black actress could be found playing a religious official that swore in the new President of the colonies. This was very troubling to me. Do you not want African Americans to watch your show? Do you want to project the idea that African Americans are not part of the
Read more