tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post3286327843596226464..comments2024-03-24T23:57:28.687-07:00Comments on Undercover Black Man: Let’s play Throw Your Grandma Under the Bus!Undercover Black Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08704721024820668555noreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post-74476431976263355142008-03-26T18:26:00.000-07:002008-03-26T18:26:00.000-07:00My family is all mixed up..my mother is 1/2 Lumbee...My family is all mixed up..my mother is 1/2 Lumbee, 1/2 AfrAm 105 costal Carolina, my dad AfrAm from GA, but we have Pa Dutch, Belgian, and Puerto Rican inlaws...<BR/>but my father hates Puerto Ricans. thinks they can't drive, pay bills, park decently and he thinks they steal. we fight so much about it we no longer discuss it because I call him Archie Bunker. it kills him to know i'm a fan/friend of Willie Colon..Bahahaha. if he hated Puerto Ricans so much he should have tried to see I wasn't raised with them next door...cuz i'm all about mofongo now!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post-85385541577431802572008-03-26T16:54:00.000-07:002008-03-26T16:54:00.000-07:00Damn I'm loving this thread!Since I was adopted in...Damn I'm loving this thread!<BR/><BR/>Since I was adopted into a white family, I could potentially throw 90% of my family under a bus. It pains me to say it but for about 80% of that 90% I would be standing on the sidewalk, handing out free cups of sweet, cold lemonade to passer-by's. Bitter? hell yeah!<BR/><BR/>It ranges from my late grandfather, upset that me and my older sister (also adopted and black)drank his last Coke, "savages" - I was about 9 or 10- to various family members basically expressing that even though they didn't really view us as their family (in a multiple of passive-agressive ways) that we were 'okay' but basically viewed the rest of the black population as criminals and animals. So today, my sister is totally fucked up and me, in my late thirties is still trying to undo all the emotional damage that was done. <BR/><BR/>But yeah, enjoying the thread! Kudos!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post-40039589230679428422008-03-24T18:35:00.000-07:002008-03-24T18:35:00.000-07:00^ Kenya, welcome to my spot. And thanks for playin...^ Kenya, welcome to my spot. And thanks for playing!Undercover Black Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08704721024820668555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post-51400506357528925902008-03-24T12:13:00.000-07:002008-03-24T12:13:00.000-07:00Oh this is great!I had just moved to Atlanta, I ha...Oh this is great!<BR/>I had just moved to Atlanta, I had scored an interview at the Martin Luther King Center, and my maternal grandmother, who is black, said to me that I should never work anywhere that is all black…<BR/><BR/>Also, when I first moved to Atlanta I remember telling my southern Baptist grandmother that I could not find a good African Methodist Episcopalian Church (AME), in Atlanta, and she said that's how people get caught up in cults...trying to be too black.<BR/><BR/>Oh! One more, same grandma, and believe me, I would give her my lung if she needed it. Anyway, she and my very, very, very dark skinned grandfather were married 47 years, but she had the audacity to ask me once why this Caribbean guy that I was dating, "had to be so black". I was like now if that isn’t the pot calling the kettle black.<BR/><BR/>Boy that felt good.<BR/>Thanks to Dr. Wright and Senator Obama for getting us to this point of conversation. Hell lets thank crazy a_ _ Hannity while we are at it.Kenya Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11094410889694886292noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post-33256986988580656862008-03-23T19:58:00.000-07:002008-03-23T19:58:00.000-07:00Anyone can be racist. Not everyone has power or in...Anyone can be racist. Not everyone has power or institutional support to enforce or perpetuate their racist opinions. In other words, a lot of Black racism doesn't add up to much, except usually self-hatred and a tendency to adopt a victim status which ultimately only hurts themselves and other Blacks. But white racism, that's another matter altogether. Jim-Crow laws, job discrimination, housing discrimination, and on and on and on. But can Black people be racist? ABSOLUTELY! And isn't it funny how White people fear us so much when they are indirectly a part of a system so graphically violent and harmful to us everyday? If anybody ought to be scared of anybody -- it's Black people who need to be quaking in our boots cause if White people really decide to turn on a Black person, Lord help you. And that's the truth.Kenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14282175457875999917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post-12910928514107931042008-03-21T19:35:00.000-07:002008-03-21T19:35:00.000-07:00Med Scottdock: "My beautiful and sweet grandmother...Med Scottdock: "My beautiful and sweet grandmother - born and raised in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho - once uttered (as my sister and her Korean and black friends walked by her in the kitchen): 'That Melissa, always so nice to the Japs and the Niggers.' I was about 12 at the time and about fell over."<BR/><BR/>Matt, thanks for that. Freaking hilarious. (No, I'm not being sarcastic, and yes, I'm a Pan-Afrikanist.)<BR/><BR/>UBM, thanks for this fascinating survey. This is an interesting exercise in sociology. (No, I'm not being sarcastic.)<BR/><BR/>Minister FaustMinister Fausthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09723625926167262613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post-74419502552956527102008-03-21T17:14:00.000-07:002008-03-21T17:14:00.000-07:00michael fisher said...Racism is a white thing.Marc...michael fisher said...<BR/>Racism is a white thing.<BR/>March 19, 2008 7:16 PM<BR/><BR/>Does that also mean only whites can discriminate, or be bigots or be prejudiced?Vince Spencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10761454912786879102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post-30142782213407964492008-03-21T16:56:00.000-07:002008-03-21T16:56:00.000-07:00deangelo starnes said...so now that we've had this...deangelo starnes said...<BR/>so now that we've had this "We Are The World" moment, how many people support Obama? Who decided to change their support away from him for either (a) attending Trinity Church, or (b) mentioning his grandmother's utterance of bigotry in Tuesday's speech?<BR/><BR/>March 20, 2008 11:26 PM<BR/><BR/>DeAngelo, neither (a) nor (b) have altered my decision on whether to vote for Mr. Obama. Of course, we'll never if his statement about his grandmother was true. I am told many politicians make inaccurate statements from time to time. But, I learned recently only white people are racist, so it probably is true.Vince Spencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10761454912786879102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post-83679030052454065312008-03-21T16:43:00.000-07:002008-03-21T16:43:00.000-07:00michael fisher said...Racism is a white thing.Marc...michael fisher said...<BR/>Racism is a white thing.<BR/>March 19, 2008 7:16 PM<BR/><BR/>Was that a typo? Not one blogger after he said that disagreed. I guess I learn something new every day. I cannot wait to wake up tomorrow.Vince Spencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10761454912786879102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post-7836664373653067602008-03-20T23:26:00.000-07:002008-03-20T23:26:00.000-07:00so now that we've had this "We Are The World" mome...so now that we've had this "We Are The World" moment, how many people support Obama? Who decided to change their support away from him for either (a) attending Trinity Church, or (b) mentioning his grandmother's utterance of bigotry in Tuesday's speech?DeAngelo Starneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18159838580641718119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post-60232184002560695372008-03-20T20:51:00.000-07:002008-03-20T20:51:00.000-07:00Because I think we could use a little relief, I kn...Because I think we could use a little relief, I know I could, I'll share some funny too. (I'm korean/chinese/hawaiian/dutch ancestry)<BR/><BR/>Long time back when I worked for a celebrity photographer, he was assigned to do a portrait of Richard Pryor. <BR/><BR/>I was extra excited about this job and it probably came across. I go and knock on the door and a uniformed maid answered, takes a good hard look at me, says nothing when I say we're hear to for the photo shoot, then very firmly shuts the door in my face.<BR/><BR/>I go back to the truck and report, my boss goes and knocks on the door. It opens, a pretty asian woman answers, there's some conversation, the door closes and he gets in the truck laughing.<BR/><BR/>"That was Richard's wife, she wanted to know who you are, I told her and she said that the only females allowed on site have to be "fat, black and ugly"<BR/><BR/>BTW the maid fit her criteria and my boss had to hire someone else for the shoot.<BR/><BR/>Another one. Living in Lousiana and I'm walking in the grocery lot to my car when a black chick swerved in her path and came over to ask me "where's a chinese restaurant round here?"<BR/><BR/>I stopped in my tracks, looked her in the face and deliberately replied "Now, why would you ask me that question?" After she did her double take we both spent several minutes laughing like sillies. <BR/><BR/>I have what my mother and her friends always called a "good nose", meaning that the bridge is high. She used to insist that the reason for it was that she would pinch and mold it when I as an infant. I wish she had done something about giving me good hair while she was at it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post-33901973598587065202008-03-20T19:49:00.000-07:002008-03-20T19:49:00.000-07:00^ You always bring it, Lola. Thanks for playing.^ You always bring it, Lola. Thanks for playing.Undercover Black Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08704721024820668555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post-62675331800374755252008-03-20T19:20:00.000-07:002008-03-20T19:20:00.000-07:00I know Im a wee bit late on this one, but I wanna ...I know Im a wee bit late on this one, but I wanna play!<BR/><BR/>My maternal grandparents were very classist and colorist. Well, they were more colorist than classist, and they were both shocking and sickeningly amusing. One favorite phrase was:<BR/><BR/>If youre Black, get back!<BR/>If youre brown, stick around<BR/>If youre yellow youre mellow<BR/>and<BR/>If youre white, youre all right!<BR/><BR/>My grandfather said that all the time.<BR/><BR/>When my Alzheimer-ridden grandmother saw my quasi-natural hair, she said:<BR/>"So youre letting your hair go back Joyce?" (Sooo not my name!)<BR/><BR/>Ok, thats enough for now, lol.<BR/><BR/>LLola Getshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07058543308191117858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post-34239682638468121702008-03-20T16:28:00.000-07:002008-03-20T16:28:00.000-07:00lolo..."I think that what you are saying..."You're...lolo...<BR/><BR/><I>"I think that what you are saying..."</I><BR/><BR/>You're dong much better than fumbling. In fact, you are doing much better than I.Michael Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14542253904917878025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post-25936346762903526172008-03-20T15:34:00.000-07:002008-03-20T15:34:00.000-07:00My grandma used to grit her teech and mutter under...My grandma used to grit her teech and mutter under her breath every time Dr. Martin Luther King was on TV. She was especially apoplectic when he got the Peace Prize.<BR/><BR/>Then again she used to criticize one of her friends who used the N-Word.John B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00603354267259344759noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post-10524240531870501102008-03-20T12:23:00.000-07:002008-03-20T12:23:00.000-07:00Danielle, I thought about that bit too.Danielle, I thought about that bit too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post-56197716217069374662008-03-20T11:24:00.000-07:002008-03-20T11:24:00.000-07:00http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/orgs/american/adl/uncom...http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/orgs/american/adl/uncommon-ground/secret-relationship.html<BR/><BR/>How refined is that?<BR/><BR/>===<BR/><BR/>I get the impression that there are some posting here who would have a real problem with a "right-wing" Jewish guy like me making a pass at Thembi, (who I happen to think is really pretty).<BR/><BR/>===<BR/><BR/>Barry O isn't ready yet. <BR/><BR/>Colin Powell would have been a far better choice with far less racist baggage, had he been interested.<BR/><BR/>===<BR/><BR/>"I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one with no thought to their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions. This will be the day when we bring into full realization the American dream -- a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream of equality of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed; a dream of a land where men will not take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few; a dream of a land where men will not argue that the color of a man's skin determines the content of his character; a dream of a nation where all our gifts and resources are held not for ourselves alone, but as instruments of service for the rest of humanity; the dream of a country where every man will respect the dignity and worth of the human personality."<BR/><BR/>MLK Jr.<BR/><BR/>===<BR/><BR/>I too look forward to that day...<BR/><BR/>STILL,<BR/>RAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post-22842901731111675582008-03-20T11:22:00.000-07:002008-03-20T11:22:00.000-07:00I agree w/Chris Rock when he said old black folk a...I agree w/Chris Rock when he said old black folk are some of the biggest bigots when it comes to white people. <BR/><BR/>I have an Aunt who is in her 80's and "cracka" rolls off her tongue like it was water. She despises white people because he lived under Jim Crow and there's no telling her otherwise.<BR/><BR/>Most of my older relatives are like this. I have an Uncle in his 50's who was a member of the 5% nation (a spinoff of NOI) and his hatred of white people remains to this day.<BR/><BR/>I grew up hearing him rant about the "white devil", etc. I remember having a Barbie doll who was white that I had to throw under the bed when he came over (LMAO).<BR/><BR/>I still love them though. Shit is just complicated and Sen. Obama spelled that one out well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post-73265280931253319862008-03-20T11:19:00.000-07:002008-03-20T11:19:00.000-07:00Help me out here. Does anyone find it extremely i...Help me out here. Does anyone find it extremely ironic that the admittedly offensive term "colored people" was generally removed from polite conversation decades ago but now the term "people of color" is widely accepted as P.C.? I know that "colored people" was the term of the white man and "people of color" seems to have sprung from minority culture itself (thus there is an obvious ownership of the terms that differentiates them) but aren't they essentially, linguistically the same?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post-79530869660851454732008-03-20T10:49:00.000-07:002008-03-20T10:49:00.000-07:00Fisher said: Have you ever noticed that in countri...Fisher said: Have you ever noticed that in countries with a majority of "white" people, the one-drop rule is employed, while in countries with a minority of "white" people all f a sudden there are "black", "coloreds", "quardoons", etc. and a social structure of rewards and opportunities commensurate with the same?<BR/><BR/>Actually, in New Orleans, where my family is from, there was a whole buffer class of free mulattos (creoles/les gens de couleur libres ) and the whole octoroon/quadroon/mulatto thing was pretty codified back in the day. <BR/><BR/>Also, as Dave noted, up until about 1930, there was a "mulatto" category on the census. My family were categorized that way in 1910 and 1920 censuses.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16545691800644109185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post-55615292111591345132008-03-20T10:47:00.000-07:002008-03-20T10:47:00.000-07:00As a matter of habit, I tend to be as cruel as exp...<EM>As a matter of habit, I tend to be as cruel as expediently possible to my enemies.</EM><BR/><BR/>No shit, Sherlock? Your woofin' sent poor memomachine outta here in shambles. :^o<BR/><BR/>Seriously, Craig, your comment lifted my spirit. Thank you for it.<BR/><BR/>(To think, I was on your "enemies" list a few short months ago.)<BR/><BR/><EM>Aren't fierce human essentialists obligated to confront racism wherever and whenever they encounter it?</EM><BR/><BR/>If you want to put it that way, Craig, okay. But "confronting racism" is not an end in itself, nor an ultimate good. What of someone who's way of confronting racism is to cold-cock random white guys on the street? Or to piss surreptitiously in the office coffee pot?<BR/><BR/>Or offing the pigs?<BR/><BR/>The goal should be doing what one can to move the society forward, closer to its own great ideals. Not the fool's errand of trying to eradicate unwholesome thoughts from the human mind... or offensive words from the vocabulary.<BR/><BR/>The fierceness I mention in "fierce humanism" is a fierceness directed at one's self... to understand and accept our nature as human beings.Undercover Black Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08704721024820668555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post-49999337064566655832008-03-20T10:06:00.000-07:002008-03-20T10:06:00.000-07:00GenevaGirl, thank you for that fantastic (and hila...GenevaGirl, thank you for that fantastic (and hilarious) comment.Undercover Black Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08704721024820668555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post-27408955778119403502008-03-20T06:56:00.000-07:002008-03-20T06:56:00.000-07:00If we were in South Africa, you and I (and Nulan t...<I>If we were in South Africa, you and I (and Nulan too, apparently) would be defined as "coloured"... and no doubt part of a coloured culture that was distinct from the various "black" cultures.<BR/><BR/>If we were born in Haiti, looking like we look, we'd be part of the "mulatto elite," with an identity distinct from the black masses.</I><BR/><BR/>Sure "high yella" subculture exists in an attenuated fashion even here. But it holds no charm or allure and is consequently something that I've always personally rejected because of its intrinsic silliness. What kind of dumbasses sit around and celebrate and relate to others on the basis of their inbred inherited traits?<BR/><BR/>Interestingly, in all the worlds many hierarchical cultural establishments, there also tend to be "nerd" subcultures. I suspect this has always been the case and that nerds gravitated toward one another via their shared interests as tinkerers, engineers, builders. I believe that if pressed I could cite more than a few historical examples to bear this out - but I believe our Black History month observations will tend to corroborate what I'm trying to express. For as long as I can remember, I have always tended to gravitate toward other nerds. It's my great good fortune now to be professionally and interpersonally associated with an enclave of Black professional engineers, but guess who we work with on the daily? And so it goes, a world within worlds within worlds. <BR/><BR/><I>So again I say the only way to supersede these constructs is to adopt a fierce humanism. Are "black partisans" so hung up on grudge-bearing and political racialism that they can't embrace white people as fellow human beings?</I><BR/><BR/>That's a very good kwestin David. <BR/><BR/>Aren't fierce human essentialists obligated to confront racism wherever and whenever they encounter it? <BR/><BR/>Failing to do so makes them what? Passive racists? Hypocrites? Cowards? What? <BR/><BR/>In order to make a living, I have to deal with everybody. I deal as a consummate professional. Subject matter expertise and professionalism in the technical trades go a long way toward obtaining an egalitarian response from folks who are assured by my assurance. <BR/><BR/>That said, we're not talking about quantitative, objective "doing" here. We're talking about politics, ideology, and relationship. Why would I ever even consider embracing another who considers me part of an other and inferior species? Such a one as that has declared himself my enemy. <BR/><BR/>Now, as a Christian aspirant, I was long ago taught that it's important to love one's enemies. As a Nietzsche fan, I read another variation on the theme of loving one's "worthy" enemies. Sadly, I suffer a compassion deficit and am guilty of more than a little Christian apostasy. As a matter of habit, I tend to be as cruel as expediently possible to my enemies. Instead of trying to "convert" an enemy, my habitual preference is for massive deterence. It's surprising how quickly "phukking with you" stops, in the infinite niggling little ways that humans like to do, when you demonstrate that that shit will always be costly or painful to do. Call it the "wolverine" approach to the human ecosystem.<BR/><BR/>Now David, you tickle me. It took me a minute to understand how you role, because you're almost the antithesis of a wolverine. You're like the person in the cubicle ranch who always has mass quantities of the best candy. People stop by to talk and hang out because goodness is being served. That practice of serving up Black cultural confections is a very good and very Christian thing to do. As a people, we've excelled at that for generations. As an individual, you excel at it and I appreciate you for it. Some of us, however, are just not tempermentally suited to doing that. In the <B>fierce humanist</B> construct, some of us will excel as humanists and others of us will simply excel at fierce...., it's all good though.CNuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17274422779188696768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post-49639461212527110112008-03-20T06:54:00.000-07:002008-03-20T06:54:00.000-07:00Not a lot of examples of homophobia so I'll offer ...Not a lot of examples of homophobia so I'll offer up one:<BR/><BR/>My mother passionately hates gays. She said many times that AIDS was God's judgment on them. I'd like to know what she thinks now that AIDS is the leading cause of death among young black women, but she'd probably say it was an invention of the liberal media. Incidentally, I'm gay and when I came out to her she compared me to a pedophile, so I have no problem tossing this woman, who sacrificed and scraped to feed her family, under the bus on national television should the opportunity arise. Some people might call me bitter.<BR/><BR/>She also talked often about white people, but those were based on real injustices that continue today. On the other hand, I frequently heard that black people "can't stand to see another black person get ahead" and "can't drive". That's all I got for now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486244714643027014.post-77589801897126663012008-03-20T06:07:00.000-07:002008-03-20T06:07:00.000-07:00I moved to Africa to teach English as a foreign la...I moved to Africa to teach English as a foreign language in a French-Speaking AFrican country. One of my friends, a fellow black male and college student was doubtful. He looked at me with concern and said, "you know....um...Africa....that's a whole lot of niggas...um..yeah." I kid you not. Not exactly throwing Grandma under the bus, but a well-meaning friend who was as Obama said about some members of his church "shockingly ignorant." I gotta say, I knew where he was TRYING to come from and it was funny since he was sooooo sincere about it. Oh, I'll throw my mom under the bus -- I'm dark-skinned, my sister is light-skinned, and my mother is in-between the two of us. I recall vividly when I was around 8 years old hearing my mom say to a friend on the telephone about me..."Yeah, my baby is Black but he's beautiful." So, it was implied Black meant ugly, but I was the exception..oh and the follow up was I had "good hair." lol!Kenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14282175457875999917noreply@blogger.com