Last week, Pastor Patrick Dye of Macedonia Baptist Church in Columbia, SC posted a sign on his church's marquee stating that "Abortionists target black babies." Dye, a White pastor, explained that, "I cannot be silent and just say that‘s somebody else’s problem or I’m not dark enough to care about that issue. I can’t do that." He also goes on to talk about who the Planned Parenthood in his city is conveniently located at the edge of a White neighborhood, which is within walking distance of the housing projects where mostly Blacks live.
Is Pastor Dye's claim justified? Let's take a look at the history of Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood was founded by Margaret Sanger, a nurse, sex educator, and birth control advocate. Some would say that she founded the organization to help rid the population of African Americans; however, the first clinic was opened in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY in 1916 when it was predominately Jewish.
She was, like a lot of other intellects of her time, an known proponent of eugenics, and one cannot rule out that as the premise for her development of such an organization, since the Brownsville location was highly crime-ridden at that time. "Eugenics," however, does not necessarily mean wanting to weed out an entire race. Her idea of this practice was to reduce the reproduction of the "unfit." The term "unfit" is not clearly defined; however, it does not necessarily mean an entire race of people. She also denounced the Nazi's eugenics program, a.k.a. the Holocaust.
As far as abortions go, Ms. Sanger was an opponent of abortions and focused her efforts on providing contraceptives to prevent pregnancies rather than terminating them when they occur. It was not until after her death that the reproductive rights movement chose to include abortion rights along with contraception; therefore, although Ms. Sanger's primary goal was to provide contraception to women, what Planned Parenthood is mainly known for today is its abortions.
Some who condemn the organization would say that they focus on aborting Black babies. There was and undercover investigation in which staff and other representatives of the organization enthusiastically accepted money from people acting as donors wanting to target Blacks for abortions. Some would also argue that the facilities are strategically posted in Black neighborhoods.
So, does Planned Parenthood have a racist agenda? Personally, I don't buy into conspiracy theories. I think that Ms. Sanger was genuinely looking out for the sexual health of women when she created the organization, and the staff members who were so willing to accept money from those donors were not necessarily representative of the whole organization.
Do you think that the Planned Parenthood has a racist agenda?
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Rodney King Dead at Age 47
Rodney King, whose beating by police and the subsequent acquittals of the officers had sparked the LA race riots of 1991, was found dead in his swimming pool today.
Although the brutal beating was caught on tape, an all-white jury found three of four police officers not-guilty on most of the charges, and were deadlocked on one charge. This sparked outrage throughout the Black community in Los Angeles, and the LA race riots occurred. Eventually, a few years later, two of the four officers would found guilty and sentenced to 30 months in prison.
I was reading the comments to the news article in the link above, and most of the comments are very hateful. I think that it shows that not a whole lot has changed in terms of race relations in over 20 years. Yeah, an African-American president has been elected within that time frame; however, in my opinion, it has made racial tensions worse in America.
Do you think that race relations are better now than they were 20 years ago?
Although the brutal beating was caught on tape, an all-white jury found three of four police officers not-guilty on most of the charges, and were deadlocked on one charge. This sparked outrage throughout the Black community in Los Angeles, and the LA race riots occurred. Eventually, a few years later, two of the four officers would found guilty and sentenced to 30 months in prison.
I was reading the comments to the news article in the link above, and most of the comments are very hateful. I think that it shows that not a whole lot has changed in terms of race relations in over 20 years. Yeah, an African-American president has been elected within that time frame; however, in my opinion, it has made racial tensions worse in America.
Do you think that race relations are better now than they were 20 years ago?
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Tea Party Leader Tells Racist Joke at Rally
Inge Marler, a board member of the Tea Party in Arkansas, makes a racist joke as an icebreaker at an Ozark Tea Party rally that had the crowd laughing. The joke, which insinuates that all blacks are on welfare, went something like this:
“A black kid asks his mom, ‘Mama, what’s a democracy?’
“‘Well, son, that be when white folks work every day so us po’ folks can get all our benefits.’
“‘But mama, don’t the white folk get mad about that?’“
‘They sho do, son. They sho do. And that’s called racism.’”
Ummm...like their aren't any poor Whites that benefit from welfare, or Blacks or other minorities that work to pay into the system as well? What an ignorant "joke." Well, I shouldn't expect any more from the Tea Party anyway...
“A black kid asks his mom, ‘Mama, what’s a democracy?’
“‘Well, son, that be when white folks work every day so us po’ folks can get all our benefits.’
“‘But mama, don’t the white folk get mad about that?’“
‘They sho do, son. They sho do. And that’s called racism.’”
Ummm...like their aren't any poor Whites that benefit from welfare, or Blacks or other minorities that work to pay into the system as well? What an ignorant "joke." Well, I shouldn't expect any more from the Tea Party anyway...
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Steelworker Gets $25M in Damages in Law Suit Against Company
Elijah Turley, a steelworker for ArcelorMittal in Buffalo, NY, was awarded $25 million in damages from the company's failure to stop racial torment created by his co-workers at the steel plant. Such torment included "KKK" and "King Kong" graffiti on the plant's walls, and a stuffed money with a noose around its neck hanging from his driver's side mirror.
Companies like this need to wake up: they just cannot allow things like this to go on! This creates a hostile work environment that makes work miserable for the offended party. It's the same as bullying, and can have detrimental effects to the victims of such abuse. I hope that the amount that this particular company has to pay toward Turley acts as a lesson for other companies so that they may take action against such behavior.
Do you think Turley should have gotten $25 million in damages?
Companies like this need to wake up: they just cannot allow things like this to go on! This creates a hostile work environment that makes work miserable for the offended party. It's the same as bullying, and can have detrimental effects to the victims of such abuse. I hope that the amount that this particular company has to pay toward Turley acts as a lesson for other companies so that they may take action against such behavior.
Do you think Turley should have gotten $25 million in damages?
Shonda Rhimes Calls-Out "Bunheads" for Its Lack of Diversity
Shonda Rhimes, creator of "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice" points out the lack of minority cast members "Bunheads," a new show on ABC Family about a former Las Vegas Showgirl turned dance instructor at a dance school owned by her mother-in-law, on twitter:
Another show, "Girls," is receiving the same kind of flack for the lack of diversity in its cast members.
I can totally understand what Ms, Rhimes is saying: there is a lack of diversity on TV--not just from these two shows, but from many others as well (does "Friends" or "Seinfeld" ring a bell?). This is why stations like BET were created (which is garbage now, by the way).
I do not watch shows that do not have one single minority character--be it Asian, Black, Hispanic, etc., and I try not to let my daughter watch shows that lack diversity as well. I also do not buy products that do not have a single minority in their commercials, and I wouldn't dare buy any Disney Princess paraphernalia for my daughter unless they include Princess Tiana from "The Princess and the Frog" (She actually has a Disney Princess tent that she had gotten for her birthday that has every single Disney Princess on it...except Tiana! They even had Rapunzel from "Tangled" on there! I would have never had bought that for her). I do this because I want her to know that this is not just a White world--there are many different people on this Earth, and diversity is important for this reason. I also want to expose her to people who look like her.
Growing up, I was not exposed to any outside role-models that looked like me, and I do not want that to happen to her. It honestly made me feel like everything White was good and everything Black was bad or insignificant (I was very racially-aware at a young age, without prompting from my parents).
I am also disappointed in Black shows that lack diversity, and won't watch those, either.
Do you think that diversity in television programming is important?
Another show, "Girls," is receiving the same kind of flack for the lack of diversity in its cast members.
I can totally understand what Ms, Rhimes is saying: there is a lack of diversity on TV--not just from these two shows, but from many others as well (does "Friends" or "Seinfeld" ring a bell?). This is why stations like BET were created (which is garbage now, by the way).
I do not watch shows that do not have one single minority character--be it Asian, Black, Hispanic, etc., and I try not to let my daughter watch shows that lack diversity as well. I also do not buy products that do not have a single minority in their commercials, and I wouldn't dare buy any Disney Princess paraphernalia for my daughter unless they include Princess Tiana from "The Princess and the Frog" (She actually has a Disney Princess tent that she had gotten for her birthday that has every single Disney Princess on it...except Tiana! They even had Rapunzel from "Tangled" on there! I would have never had bought that for her). I do this because I want her to know that this is not just a White world--there are many different people on this Earth, and diversity is important for this reason. I also want to expose her to people who look like her.
Growing up, I was not exposed to any outside role-models that looked like me, and I do not want that to happen to her. It honestly made me feel like everything White was good and everything Black was bad or insignificant (I was very racially-aware at a young age, without prompting from my parents).
I am also disappointed in Black shows that lack diversity, and won't watch those, either.
Do you think that diversity in television programming is important?
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Teacher Addresses Student as "Black Boy"
Kathleen Pyles, a middle school teacher in Waterbury, Connecticut, calls a Black student by what some people would deem as a racist name. She first addresses him by the wrong name, and when the student points it out she says, "How about black boy? Go sit down, black boy."
The incident came to light when another student told his mother, who then took the issue to the school.
How unprofessional is it to address a student by their race or ethnicity?! She, basically, demeaned him in front of his peers by not using the student's name but, instead, labeling him on the basis of his race. It is hard to imagine what people are thinking when they do--or say--stupid things like this...
The incident came to light when another student told his mother, who then took the issue to the school.
How unprofessional is it to address a student by their race or ethnicity?! She, basically, demeaned him in front of his peers by not using the student's name but, instead, labeling him on the basis of his race. It is hard to imagine what people are thinking when they do--or say--stupid things like this...
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Organizations That Help Black Men
Foundation work from organizations such as Open Society Foundations, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Mitchell Kapor Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation are helping Black men stay out of jail and do better in life.
Programs like these are needed. Due to our turbulent history, African Americans are so behind socially, academically, and economically that we need help just to stay afloat. I will talk more about social and academic programs aimed at helping African Americans and their purpose more in my book.
Programs like these are needed. Due to our turbulent history, African Americans are so behind socially, academically, and economically that we need help just to stay afloat. I will talk more about social and academic programs aimed at helping African Americans and their purpose more in my book.
Gwyneth Paltrow in Hot Water for Tweeting "Ni**as in Paris for Real" During Watch the Throne Concert
Gwyneth Paltrow tweets the title to one of the songs of Jay-Z and Kanye's Watch the Throne album that includes the N-word:
@GwynethPaltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow
Well, at least she uses asterisks instead of tweeting the the actual words.
I know this is taken out of context, and that she didn't mean any harm by it; however, it is a sensitive word that many people are still bothered by. As a White woman, she should have used her senses and not have tweeted this at all. I talk more about the word's use amongst Whites and Blacks in the first chapter of my book.
@GwynethPaltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow
Ni**as in paris for real @mrteriusnash (the dream) tyty, beehighhttp://t.co/WL7TIDpG
Well, at least she uses asterisks instead of tweeting the the actual words.
I know this is taken out of context, and that she didn't mean any harm by it; however, it is a sensitive word that many people are still bothered by. As a White woman, she should have used her senses and not have tweeted this at all. I talk more about the word's use amongst Whites and Blacks in the first chapter of my book.
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