How the...

I realize I'm about two week late but had to post on this.

Have the members of PETA lost their minds? How in the world could "rational" human beings think it is OK to dress up as the KKK outside of Madison Square Garden to protest the American Kennel Club (AKC)? PETA alleges, "Like the Klan, dog breeders who subscribe to the AKC standards are all about the sanctity of “pure bloodlines.” There is absolutely no comparison. NONE! Animals are not equal to humans. I don't think animals should be abused for sport but they are not people. Animals do not have rights! Meat is not murder!

How could they possibly compare the way the KKK treated Blacks to the way the AKC treats dogs? Let's give a brief recap of the KKK shall we. Let's see a group of white guys decide that they are part of the Aryan race and only want to live amongst their kind. They dress up in white sheets and in the middle of the night decide to attack Negroes. What exactly do you mean by attack? Glad you asked. Well they would bomb your house and or car. While your wife and children were there. But wait that was too nice for the Negroes. They would take a black man castrate him, lynch him, and then burn him, as his family watched in horror. "Let the family live" onlookers shouted, so the Negroes would never forget and tell other blacks so they would learn their place. They would also rape a black man's wife and hold him down and force him to watch. The killing of Negroes was even a family outing. There are several reports of "fine" white families packing a picnic basket and going to see a Negro get lynched. These crimes that the Klan committed openly were rarely even addressed by local police departments or elected officials.

In 2009 so far we have witnessed the police kill an unarmed man in CA. In NY police officers sodomized a young man in a subway station, and the NY Post put out a racist cartoon. Let's give a brief recap of police injustice in the past 10-15 year. Let's see there was Abner Louima. A young man that was sodomized and brutally attacked in a police prescient bathroom. There was Amidou Diallo. The young unarmed man that was shot at 41 times because police believed his wallet was a gun. And let's just end with Sean Bell. The young man who was gunned down by police hours before his wedding b\c they believed someone in his crew had a gun. With all of these things happening PETA is worrying about "animal rights"? They can keep that. I'll think about the injustice of a "pure blood dog" when spending in "urban" schools is equal to spending in suburban schools, when racial profiling is no longer the accepted social norm by police forces, and when minorities and whites are charged for the same crimes equally.

*Side note- I think I may go out and have some Kobe beef and veal this week

Confused?

"Oreo, Sellout, or lost. That's what they call me. But why?

They say I don't act black enough, but what is acting black?

Do I have to speak improperly or act ghetto to be black?

Do I have to watch B.E.T all day and keep my sneaker game tight to act black?

Should I be politically and socially unaware?"

-Satya

That's a little excerpt from a poem I wrote in high school. Throughout H.S. I was called all the names mentioned above in addition to boughie. I was on the school's moot court and mock trial team. Junior year I was a grade senator and senior year I was the Vice President of student government. I was always pretty articulate and grew out of my "hood phase" fast. All these things I guess led to me being called an Oreo. (My HS was 60% Latina ,28% black, 6% Asian ,3% White and 3% other)

Why do some black people associate possessing the social graces, speaking proper English, and good grades with acting white? Why can't it just be dag she's on point or he's the sh*t. According to Dr. John Agbu some black kids have dumbed themselves down because they fear their peers will say they are "acting white". It appears this is a phenomenon is the black community. I was friends with Asian kids in HS and you can believe me when I tell when they did well in school no one said they were acting white. Has this happened because we as a people have lowered our expectations?

A few times in some of my classes some of my peers tried to question my "blackness". They'd ask me what rapper I thought was the best, who the current tracks that were out, who was on the cover of the latest Source or XXL, what videos were on 106& Park etc... And I would think to myself what kind of fuckery is this? No one ever told me you had to pass a test to be black.

As a result of not really being understood or accepted by my black counterparts in HS I began to dislike young black people. When my peers began calling me an Oreo or mocking my amazing performance of soliloquies in English class I would respond with an off the wall comment about how I didn't like their kind anyhow. Funny thing is I would be insulting them and they didn't even realize it. I'd call some Jigaboos, porch monkeys, i'd talk about them being inferior b\c of their small brain size etc... (I learned about eugenics early on b\c my older cousins went to HBCUs and studied race). Was this nice? Not at all. It took a while but I've grown out of this phase. I had to make it to college to meet other black people like me.

With that said, we as a people need to raise our expectations of each other. Excelling in school is not acting white. It is called being a good student. Speaking proper English does not mean you are white, it means you are literate. So I know most of you that read here have heard of the "acting white" phenomenon. What do you make of it? Has your blackness ever been questioned?

Female Sexuality

Last week over at Threewaystotakeit.com Seattle Washington and Slim Jackson wrote a post about Homosexuality and the Black community http://www.threewaystotakeit.com/homosexuality-black-community/ ( It was a very good post check it out). This post reminded me about a presentation I did sophomore year of college on Black sexuality. Today we'll take a look at Black Female Sexuality.

Throughout the course of American history several myths have been created about blacks. One of the most damaging myths in my mind is about Black female sexuality. For centuries the black woman has been labeled as overly sexual and loose. In Deborah White's book Ar'n't I a Woman: Female slaves in the plantation south, she pointed out that the idea that black women were "exceptionally sensual" started when the English went to Africa to buy slaves. They saw the women semi nude (due to the warm climate) and automatically assumed the women were loose. Additionally, Europeans didn't understand "African cultural traditions, so that polygamy was attributed to the Africans uncontrolled lust, tribal dances were reduced to the level of orgy..." (White p.37).

These ideas came with the English to the "new world" and went even further once slavery came to fruition in the U.S. Black women's sexuality became a regular conversation piece in the Antebellum south. There are accounts of slave masters saying they could hardly go go anywhere without a Negro woman looking at them with lust in their eyes. They also allege that force was never needed to to sample the black woman's goods as she was a Jezebel and always ready for sex; In fact, some believed the black woman manipulated them and got them into bed. (This is also in White's book)

So that's a brief history lesson on how the myths started and became a part of American culture.

Why is this relevant? I'm glad you asked. These American ideas about black sexuality have shaped and and still do heavily influence black sexuality today. Because blacks were seen as heathens, whorish, loose moral characters Blacks tried their best to disprove white America's allegations. Black people adopted extremely conservative attitudes about sexuality. This conservative\puritan mode way of life and thinking was in large part promoted by church to show whites that blacks were the opposite. Keep your skirts down and your pants up became the motto.

White mentions in her book that as a result of the stereotypes placed on black women two images emerged, Jezebel and Mammy. Church I'd like to talk to you all about Jezebel (lol j\k). the image of the black woman as Jezebel real. She is the overly sexual black woman in movies videos and sitcoms. On the TV show Girlfriends Lynn and Tony were the Jezebels. Both paraded men in and out of their life and had many lovers. In the movie Two Can Play that Game with Vivica Fox, Gabrielle Union plays a character Connie that is the Jezebel. Everything about her in the movie oozed sex and she was known for sleeping her way to the top. In Luv and Basketball Gabrielle Union's character was the girl that"sent her coochie by mail'. Bad Boys II Union's character was the sexy bait to catch the bad guys... wait side note, why is Union the Jezebel in so many of her roles? Robin Givens as Sunshine in Harlem Nights (she was the girl who had good p*ssy), Willona on Good Times, Clark in Mo Better Blues and the list goes.

After reading several books and articles on black female sexuality I started wondering whys black women's sexuality so complex?If you're sexually free the older generation and church calls you Jezebel. If you're a good wholesome girl that has decided to save yourself for marriage you're a prude and undesirable. What gives? Are we still trying to fight off the myths? Why is "sex" still a taboo topic in black households? Especially for couples or parents that have daughters

What's your take on black women and sexuality.

Black Sitcoms

What the heck happened to black sitcoms?

There was Julia staring Diahnn Carroll in the 60s. The Jeffersons, Good Times, Sanford and Son, Different Strokes in the 70s. Amen, The Cosby Show, A Different World, Family Matters, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, 227 in the 80s. Roc, In Living Color, Arsenio Hall, Martin, Sister Sister, Moesha, Girlfriends, Living Single in the 90s. Where have all the good shows like this gone? I can't name any decent black shows that came out in the 2000s that are on the level of the previously mentioned shows... wait My Wife and Kids is the exception. Ok wait there were a few more decent shows One on One and All of Us, but I don't think these two shows were the caliber of the others either.

During the 90s there was a a black sitcom on nearly every network...positive black shows. What happened? To be honest I have no idea. I'm actually quite disappointed that there isn't a wide variety of black shows to watch. I found it pretty inspiring to see examples of black love, success, intelligence, and sense on community on television. It saddens me to hear young kids in the hallways of the school I work in dumb excited (dang that's mad old) to talk about the previous nights episode of I luv New York, Hell Date,Real Housewives of Atlanta, Bad Girls club etc... but, the same students looked at me like I was crazy when I told them to watch Queen on TV One... I digress. I'm not saying all black shows need to be serious and intellectually stimulating but can we have some positive shows again?

I miss 90s tv sitcoms dearly. The cool theme songs (Fresh Prince and Living Single in particular), actual story lines, seeing the characters interact with each other, bringing light to social issues(A Differenet World and Roc) Dam they just don't make good tv like they used to. What are your favorite shows form back in the day (black, white, Latino, whatever)? Why aren't there good black sitcoms anymore?

HBCUs

Since it's Black History month most of my post this month will probably focus on African Americans or African American issues.

I was watching School Daze this past weekend and I guess you could say it was the inspiration for today's post, HBCUs. In the movie an argument is made that HBCUs have become obsolete because Black people were integrated into society and had come a long way. I'm going to focus on this topic.

HBCU is an acronym that stands for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. "HBCUs were founded in the late 1800's to address the educational needs of Freed Slaves and Native Americans." (http://www.hbcuconnect.com/). "There are 103 historically black colleges (HBCU) in the United States today, including public and private, two-year and four-year institutions, medical schools and community colleges" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historically_black_colleges_and_universities).

School Daze came out in 1988 and they were debating whether or not HBCUs were obsolete. In 88 they definitely were not. In 2009 are they obsolete? I understand both sides of the argument but I would say they definitely are not. HBCUs are sacred academic environments for blacks. You can be an Africana studies major without people asking "why would you major in that", there are books in those school's libraries that are no longer in print, the school itself is a museum, you can wear dreads and natural hair without being deemed ethnocentric or having people ask to touch your hair, you're not the one black guy in your dorm, you know there's a barbershop or hair stylist near campus that can do your hair, and even though you won't like everyone it's nice to know the people around you understand your struggle (financial, probs at home,driving while black, being the subject of subtle sexual innuendos at work as you are the erotic exotic "other" that your co-workers dream about but probably wouldn't go there with).

HBCUs offer more than the pros that I've listed above. "Today's HBCUs are the top producers of professional African American talent " (http://www.hbcuconnect.com/) I don't know how true this claim is but they certainly do produce a great deal of black professionals.

Yes we are integrated into society and have certainly come a mighty long way, but we still have a way to go. There's still ample injustice happening to blacks throughout the country. Just watch your local news or talk to the chocolate men in your life. A few years ago the New York Times published an article that said a white man with a criminal record has a better chance of being hired than a black man with a clean slate. We're integrated but our men still can't get into some of the "all boys clubs". Our kids can be charged with white kids for the same offense but ours are charged as adults. The lackadaisical way the government handled/ is still handling Hurricane Katrina victims all show there's till work to be done. HBCUs produce some of the people that will try and fix the injustices that are being done to us, as well as those who are great orators and will motivate us to try and stop blaming "the man".

All in all HBCUs are havens for the black youth in America and you can learn the truth about the stock from which you come (unlike the B-S they teach in K-12 grade). Do you all agree, are HBCUs still needed?