Dr. Halima Bashir

I've been asked again, recently, how can I handle dealing with all the horrible stuff that I read and hear about.

1) It is not happening to me.

2) I am in a place of privilege where currently me, my family, my community, my people, all people are not facing such horrible things (that does not mean such things cannot happen).

3) I celebrate and enjoy life. I don't let the suffering of others control my life. I want them to be able to celebrate Love, Life, and Joy and taking away mine would not be helpful, as well as taking on their suffering as my own would not be helpful.

These three things put me in a place of being, at the very least, able to put forth a voice to my knowledge.

In "Tears of the Desert: A Memoir of Survival in Darfur," Dr. Halima Bashir describes village life growing up. A life close to the earth. A life where community is knit tight and you grow up and live your life with your family and people. She talks of the struggles and celebrations of life that she goes through. Her description of her feirce Zarkawa grandmother tickled me. My grandmother, though not so feirce all the time, could definitely kick some ass, and her grandmother seemed the same way.

Halima is the first person in her village to go to university and become a medical doctor.

Then there is a military coup of their democratically elected government. The government then gives money and arms to the Janjaweed Arabs who then rape and slaughter all Black Africans they can.

While working in a hospital trauma unit, Halima hears the stories of the Black Africans who are either fighting back or caught in the crossfire. She is then transferred to a tiny village in the north, though she feels unqualified. One day, she hears a wailing and crying from the people as they walk to her and her assistant as they are taking a break and drinking some tea. The people are carrying tiny bodies. They are girls from the school. They were gang raped by the Janjaweed in front of each other. The girls were ages 7-13. Halima treated over 40 of them, but knew there were many more.

Afterwards she heard some of the story. The Janjaweed came roaring in on horseback and raided the school. The Sudanese military stood out front and kept the families from getting to their children. All the while, the families were forced to hear the screams of their daughters as they were gang raped by the Janjaweed for some two hours.

Halima talked with the UN, thus getting herself in trouble, and you all better garner the guts to hear or read the rest of the story because I'm leaving it there.

I think the most horrific part of the book is how a bunch of chickenhawks in the British parlaiment, during deliberations on a bill that would either deport or allow asylum to many Darfuri's housed there, the opposition, seeing they would lose, authorized the deportation of many back to Sudan. There was much struggle for them to stay, many were just detained, many went into hiding, but some were returned to almost certain death by the great pieces of shit in the British leadership. Shit that has never seen the business end of a weapon, never seen their families slaughtered or suffering horrifically, and only care about their own positions and privilege and protecting said positions and privilege.

These are things you need to know are going on, folks. These are things you need to know are happening. If you have the chance to get to a computer and safely use it to read this post, then you are in a place of privlege. I ask you, my fellow human beings, to help folks like the Darfuri's in the Sudan, and help those who are all around you. We at the bottom (as it were) are going to need each other more than anything, and as has been displayed repeatedly throughout these last 2000 years or so, those at the top would gladly sacrifice us for their own benefit.

Now, GET OUT THERE AND GET TO WORK! You can do it. I believe in you. Believe in yourself, help you community, and help others all around the world.

The Largest Open Robbery and Nobody Pays for the Crime!

The Rolling Stone has an excellent article on the "terrorist" organizations headed by U.S. banking CEO's and their corporate owned U.S. insiders in high level government positions (usually former high level employees in U.S. Terrorist Banking Firms). Shusli has a great post about this on her blog, so I won't re-invent the wheel.

"The Big Takeover" by Matt Taibbi ("Rolling Stone" issue 1075, April 2, 2009) can be found by clicking on the title. It is a must read if you want to know the WHOs and WHYs about the current death of the U.S. economy and who should be paying for these crimes.

Shusli's excellent post can be found on her blog with the title "The Big Takover and New Millenium Homes."

Read the article, read Shusli's post, read the recommended suggestions she makes, get together with friends, family, associates, etc., tell them to read the article, organize, get the criminals in the banking corporations and the U.S. government...and then do what needs to be done.

After that, decide the type of world you want to live in with family, friends, community, the world, create it, roll with it, change it as need be, admit mistakes and triumphs, and TAKE OVER THE WORLD!

There are no more fantasies that the U.S. is a democracy, and this article paints that clearly with such twisted logic as substantiated fact. The U.S. government is an aristocracy and plutocracy. We the people at the bottom will be made to pay for the crimes of those at the top unless we get rid of those at the top and correct the horrible situation they have put us in. Until then, the banking CEO's and their corporate owned U.S. government will suck away our tax dollars for their banking failures and we, at the bottom (the "Beasts" as James Madison used to refer to us), will suffer the consequences for their crimes while they ride high on the hog.

Why Don't We Ever Talk About...

Why don't we ever talk about the amount of damage thrown away plastics do to the earth? Do plastics have a half-life?

Why don't we talk about the 242 race riots in 21 states in the U.S. during WWII including the Zoot Suit Riots and the Detroit Riot (34 dead black [23 by cop bullets], 9 dead whites [none by cop bullets])?

Why don't we talk about the fact that FDR was thinking of arresting and placing in concentration camps the Japanese since 1936?

Why don't we talk about the Sinti and Roma who were killed (approximately 1.5 million) alongside the Jews in the Nazi death camps? What about the other races, besides Jews, that were killed in the death camps? What about the gays, lesbians, political dissidents, mentally disabled, etc.?

Why don't we ever talk about the Jasenovac death camp in Croatia during WWII? A death camp so horrific that when visited by Auschwitz guards they said things that amounted to the guards at Jasenovac as being sick? Is it because this one had direct Vatican connection?

How come we don't talk about the role the Vatican played in creating the fascist nations of Germany and Italy during WWII to fill their coffers?

How come we don't talk about the Nazi's that the Vatican helped escape prosecution, with the proper amount of "donation" given to the child rapist loving popes?

Did the Vatican help Peter Brzica, member of the Ustashi, Catholic intellegensia, and a guard at Jasenovac, to escape to the U.S. in 1958 under an assumed name? Peter Brzica was "King of the Cut Throats." He cut the throats of 1360 Muslim Serbs in a single evening in a contest with his fellow guards as they made room for fresh incoming prisoners.

How come we don't talk about how bad network television shows have become? Why do they use the same laugh track fromthe 1970's?

How come we don't talk about the U.S.S. Liberty, torpedoed by the Israeli's during the 6 day war in 1967? The Liberty was a spy ship. The Israeli's identified her and hit her with a torpedo, killing 34 U.S. navy men.

Why don't we talk about the medical experiments performed on U.S. servicemen at various nuclear test sites around the world, including Bikini and Nevada?

Why don't we talk about U.S. complicity in Iraq's gassing of the Kurds in the 1980's, nor U.S. allegiance with Saddam at the time?

Why don't we talk about how a plane fully loaded with fuel could fly into the WTC, the WTC building could collapse, and somehow Mohammed Atta's passport could be found on top of the rubble undamaged?

Why don't we talk about the fact that AT LEAST 6 of the hijackers are still alive? If at least six are alive, who were the hijackers? If 6 are alive, how did the U.S. faulty intelligence agencies come up with the names? Why did that FCC fella destroy the tapes?

Why was Rudolph Guilliani allowed to dump and scrap all the damaged building pieces without any forensics being done on the damaged buildings? Isn't that destruction of evidence? Why is Rudy still allowed to walk the streets?

Ned Niamoto and 9066

I am listening to this great book on CD called "Double Victory: A Multicultural History of America in World War II," by Ronald Takaki. In this wonderful book, Ronald covers issues of not only Japanese and Black horrific treatment BY THE UNITED STATES, but also East Indian, Indian, Korean, Chinese, and more. Did you know that during WWII, many American folks would often refer to the treatment of non-whites in America as Hitlerism and Nazism at home?

My favorite teacher at Mt. View Jr. High (1976-9) in Aloha, Oregon was Ned Niamoto. Ned was kind, always happy, and friendly. He used to have this knuckle ball fast pitch he would use on us kids when most of us would be begging for him to stop so we could have the opportunity to hit the ball.

It is suggested in this book that Franklin Delano Roosevelt encouraged the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is suggested in other history that he even knew about it before hand. It has been proven that good old genocidal maniac Winston Churchill KNEW the Japanese would attack Pearl Harbor at least a month in advance and did not tell the U.S. because he wanted their participation in the war. At the time, the U.S. was about 80% "no foreign wars." Japan used to get about 80% of its oil from the U.S. Although FDR really didn't give a rats ass about China, he used them as an excuse to place an embargo on Japanese oil. Then you amass most of the U.S. fleet between the mainland and Japan, they U.S. could be said to have been teasing the Japanese into a fight.

Did you know that FDR (one of the most covertly racist presidents ever from what I've been hearing in this book) wanted to intern the Japanese since 1936?... OK, I know some of you are bad at math, but that is FIVE YEARS PRIOR to the attack at Pearl Harbor.

"Ned was the youngest American soldier ever wounded in combat," another teacher told me once. "He was in the Japanese corp."

I have had a longtime terror/fascination with war. From the age of 5, I wanted to die before I was 18 so I wouldn't get drafted and forced to die in a foreign land, namely, Vietnam. At 13 or 14, I still had that terrible curiosity.

There were 242 race riots in the United States in 21 states during World War II. (Not to mention the hundreds of "hate strikes" that would happen one a few black folks would get promoted in some defense industy. Sometimes thousands of white employees would strike in this manner). The Japanese War Machine was capitalising on the horrific racism and reported on every riot that took place, showing what freedom was truly about in the United States. Once, when the U.S. government was thinking of repealing the Chinese Exclusion Act, the hardcore racists decided to end the session before a decision could be made. The Japanese used it in their propaganda to encourage a global race war against Americans by Asians, seeing the absolutely shitty treatment they got at the hands of the Americans. This, of course, put the congress back in session and they repealed the act.

In 1943, there were the Zoot Suit Riots in LA. A bunch of U.S. servicement armed with pipes, sticks, clubs, and other such weapons rioted for some 10 days, initially beating Hispanic Zoot Suiters, then all Hispanics, then anyone who wasn't white. Of course, the police stood by and enjoyed the show. Anthony Quinn was an activist against these and many other racist attacks during World War II. When he and his mother immigrated to the U.S., they had nothing. A Mexican family took them in and gave them a breakfast of eggs.

Earlier in 1943, 22 Zoot Suiters were put on trial for a gang murder. One of them was the grandson of the Mexican woman who took in the Quinns and fed them eggs. She called Anthony's mom looking for help. She asked Anthony to do something. He had just signed a contract with 20th Century Fox. "WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO MA?" he demanded. "Remember the eggs." How can you not help after such a plea. Anthony raised money for the defense of the Zoot Suiters.

"I heard you were wounded in WW II," I told Ned one day. "What happened?"

Not long after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, much to the objection of MANY within the United States including the FBI and General Emmons in Hawaii, that racist ass FDR signed Executive Order 9066 and interned some 150,000 Japanese and took their land and businesses. FDR fianlly got to round up thousands of Japanese. He must have been very happy about that.

"I hated the internment camp. When recruiters came looking for Japanese, I lied about my age and my parents supported me. They shipped me to Germany. I was in a foxhole on the German lines when a mortar hit just beside it, burying and wounding me. I was 13-years-old at the time. I won the purple heart."

It was the women, during this time (some men, too), that really walked across the race lines. In the factories, women of all races would be working. Highly unusual for women to be working, considering the U.S. horrific system of sexism as well as racism. After a week or so, you would see Korean, Black, Indian, White, and Chinese women workers sitting at the same table during lunch time. Thankfully there is at least one group of people that aren't led around by their dicks.

The Trials of Ward Churchill

Ward Churchill is suing to get his job and tenure back at the University of Colorado in Boulder. You can read the day to day accounts of the trial on Race to the Bottom.

If Ward loses this trial and all appeals, what this will effectively do is put a poison pill into his body of work and it will no longer be able to be referenced in any papers. In the regular mainstream, your average moron American who says that Ward is rewriting history will dismiss any references from his work out of hand.

Now, given that Ward's vast amount of work challenges the status quo, and the works of frauds like Carlos Castenada will still be able to be referenced as scientific fact, one has to wonder about the U.S. alleged education system.

Should Ward lose, this will also impart fear into any academics who think to speak out against the status quo. Especially those who have an honest eye for history and current events that are just starting in their careers because they can easily and quickly be oppressed, where as the well established, like Noam Chomsky, are much harder to shut up.

In "Fantasies of the Master Race," Ward points out the VAST amount of discrepencies in literature, science, and film about Indians by non-Indians. Many of the anthropologists Ward critiques are amazing in the fact that the alleged science of anthropology should probably be completely overhauled considering its lack of scientific method.

Also revealing was his critique of Carlos Castenada's body of work. Ward points out that it was the biggest scientific fraud since Piltdown Man. Piltdown Man was the few bones dug up in England around 1915 proving that the white race was the first race. These bones were interred and not allowed to be viewed until the 1950's. In the mid-30's, however, Louis Leakey got to view casts of the bones. He stated that a few looked like orangutan, but agreed with his fellow scientists not to discuss his findings in public.

Castaneda, whose body of work has been heavily critiqued by many, including the Yaqui people, is still considered a referencable body of material. The only ONLY substantiation that Carlos had were his field notes, which when requested, were found to have been destroyed in a flood in his basement. Carlos Castenada's work, complete without reference, field notes, photos, or any other SUBSTANTIATING evidence will still be able to be referenced in the alleged science of anthropolgy.

Ward Churchill, whose HEAVILY notated works could stand to be completely shut down if he loses this trial.

Ward is a fella who uses much academic notation and knowledge. He heavily substantiates his work. Carlos Castenada work has been proven to be fraudulent. Ward Churcill's body of work will no longer be able to be referenced should he lose this case and any appeals. Carlos Castenada's work, however, will still stand the scrutinies (OK, in Carolos' case, no tests are done) of alleged academic standards.

Why, you may ask? Ward's work challenges the status quo. The master. Carlos' work does not. Carlos work is tame and a fun read for those who do not want to understand the REAL issues effecting Native Americans, but want to feel good about themselves.

Keep an eye on this trial, folks. Ward is being challenged not because of his body of work being fraudulent, like that of Carlos Castenada, because it isn't. He is being challenged because his work challenges the lies the status quo holds itself up by. The status quo, you will see, will never attack fraudulent works like those of Castaneda, because his work, though fraudulent, successfully distracts the non-Native public about what is really going on with Native peoples.

Chess Tours Portland

Gazing Across the Bridge

Thoughtful

On the Bridge

Looking Up

Chess Openings

228

Chess Gallery

SPECIAL TACOS!!

Before the Goddess

At the Feet of a Goddess

Going Back

Well?...

The poems don't come anymore,
Like a dried up well in a desert
that used to produce crops
in an unforgiving soil.

I seek out new sources
of inspiration.
Looking for water
from deep in my soul
to run across my palms
through the ridges of my fingerprints
pouring onto the parched keyboard
tapping out letters
to produce new ideas
upon a forgiving screen.

A Further Discussion of Race and Racism

Currently I am reading Ward Churchill's "Fantasies of the Master Race." It is an excellent book about racism against Indians in book and film. He offers up some rather excellent critiques complete with the much notation. Here are a couple of quotes along with his sources:

[T]he colonizer needs the poverty and degradation of the colonized to justify his own place in the society. After all, where would he be without the colonized? He would not be able to do as well economically since the colonial system exploits the colonized to the profit of the colonizer. He would also lose much of his self-importance if he were simply one of many among his own kind. Second, the colonial situation manufactures colonists, just as it manufactures the colonized. It is not just the predisposition to become a colonizer or colonized that produces these roles...but the colonial situation itself. The colonizer comes with power into the colonial context: he has the economic and military might of the metropole behind him. The colonized has no power. If he attempts to fight, he is physically conquered. The colonized is not free to choose between being colonized or not. The colonizer can enforce his usurpation with great punishment. The colonized adjusts to the situation by developing those traits with which the colonizer characterizes him... Many of these traits are incompatible with each other, but that doesn't bother the colonizer, because the general traits are designed to destroy any culture or history that the colonized brings to the relationship. [gleaned from "Fantasies of the Master Race," by Ward Churchill, pg. 151 (City Lights edition). He quotes Martin Carnoy from his book, "Education as Cultural Imperialism," pg. 64.]

This is a big pattern, the relationship of colonizer to colonized. There is much to understand here that is both macro and micro, as should be well noted.

Here, lets go to the micro, cultural apporpriation. There is a peace group who uses the name of an Annishinabe activist. This name was used without permission from the family. The man, Whitefeather, whose name was appropriated for this alleged peace organization, was also re-interpreted by the head of this organization for means of creating legitimacy to his cause (as if peace wasn't legitimate enough). Currently, and in many circles, Indians are an excellent source of legitimizing ones cause without asking permission nor giving credit nor having a real understanding of the historical context.

This is another form of colonization. The colonizer gets to use whatever he wants from the colonized. He gets to mine intellectual resources, recreate them in an image useful to his own aggrandizement, and claim, falsely, an allegiance without substantiation nor participation of the colonized. This is not uncommon.

In order for the colonizer to be a complete master, it is not enough for him to be so in actual fact, but he must also believe in his legitimacy. In order for that legitimacy to be complete, it is not enough for the colonized to be a slave, he must also accept his role. The bond between colonizer and colonized is thus destructive and creative. It destroys and recreates the two partners of colonization into colonizer and colonized. One is disfigured into an oppressor, a partial, unpatriotic and treacherous being, worrying only about his privileges and their defense; the other into an oppressed creature whose development is broken and who compromises by his defeat. [gleaned from "Fantasies of the Master Race," by Ward Churchill, pg. 151-2 (City Lights edition). He quotes from Albert Memmi's book, "The Colonizer and the Colonized."]

The colonized usually do not speak too loudly about issues like "Whitefeather." The reason should be made clear in the Memmi quote. The colonized has been severly beaten and the colonizer has the tools to destroy any fight he may put up. There is NO equal footing on this issue.

The colonizer takes what he wants from the colonized for his own gain. The colonizer is aware of their role as master and the abilities, or lack thereof, of the colonized to fight back. The colonized are not allowed equal footing in the intellectual realms. The colonized do not have the media and the masses at its disposal. They would not be allowed equal footing, for example, in intellectual challenges to the use of Native names and mascots. The recent issue in Carpinteria, California is an excellent example.

The fact that the colonized face a rather daunting one sided fight, the colonized are aware of the challenges they face when confronting such issue as their names or mascots depicting racist imagery being used. That is on the face of it completely racist.

Why this is an issue and why Indians, for example, fight the racist use of their names and imagery, is because the only people it serves are the colonizers. It helps protect the colonizers privilege. It dehumanizes the colonized, and when the colonized reach up to fight back, they are knocked down and reminded of their position to the colonizer.

For the Peace Movement to use the name of an Indian without permission and WITH an imperical possession of everything colonized IS racist, and thus, in reality, not peaceful at all. It assists the colonizer in the dehumanization process of the colonized and aggrandizes at the colonizer at the colonized people's expense.

In Carpinteria, the colonizer with all of its imperical authority filled the school board with pro-mascot sympathasizers, as explained in previous posts. The colonizer clearly has the power on what is clearly an unequal playing field. The mascot reinstated, the colonizers make it clear to the colonized through things like death threats the position of the colonized in this situation.

This, the colonizer calls "freedom." This, the colonized, calls (and correctly in my opinion), "oppression."

Beauty and the Birds

Ward Churchill vs. Bill O'Reilly

Ward Churchill, Bill Ayers, and Derrick Jensen, to name a few, are speaking at a student rally on free speech at Ward Churchill's old work place, The University of Colorado at Boulder.

Bill O'Reilly of the O'Reilly factor stated on his show that Ward Churchill rewrites history...

....

BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

How many of you out there have read Ward Churchill's work?

Wow...

That's a lot...

Anyway, even amongst his fellow academics they state, almost complain, that he footnotes rather heavily. If you are a right winger, let me explain since you won't understand anything beyond a soundbite. A foot note is inserted when one refers to the works of someone else. For example, if I quoted Bill O'Reilly in an academic work, I would put a number in the upper right hand of the word that you would then refer to at the end of the piece. You look at the end of the piece for the corresponding number, and voila (wah-lah), I show the reference from whence I extracted the information. I know, a little much isn't it sound bite right wingers. Heck, I doubt you even made it this far before falling asleep or wandering off to watch Bill O'Reilly or Anne Coulter. If you are still with me, you, YES! YOU!, are then offered the opportunity to look up the information referred to in the footnote yourself and see if it is true or there is something that is being left out. Knowing the amount of footnotes used by Ward ("The Ghosts of 9-1-1: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens," from his book, "On the Justice of Roosting Chickens," a 20 page essay, has 179 footnotes) you would know that he doesn't "rewrite" history, he gathers information and puts it in a comprehendable essay for the reader to gather information.

The thing, however, is that Americans HATE information. Information, ESPECIALLY FACTUAL, gets in the way of the unsubstantiated belief that this is "the land of freedom." It gets in the way of the belief that "my relatives fought for freedom in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan." When folks are so heavily vested in lies, it is difficult to get them to hear truths. Then, they fight back with rhetoric at the least and violence at the most. They never fight back with substantiated facts. Americans, you gotta Love 'em, or eventually they'll try to kill you for not kneeling before their allegations of greatness.

So, anyway, for you all that made it this far, this is the offending PARAGRAH, not just the tiny "little Eichman's" bit, that got Bill O'Reilly, and thus the right wingers, wound up so tight about Ward which eventually led to a campaign not to educate your children, but to fire Ward Churchill for not kneeling before the status quo. Please, unlike the right wing, read the whole paragraph. It is gleaned from the essay "Sometimes They Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens," by Ward Churchill.

"As for those in the World Trade Center... Well, really, let's get a grip here, shall we? True enough, they were civilians of a sort. But innocent? Gimme a break. They formed a technocratic corps at the very heart of America's global financial empire - the "mighty engine of profit" to which the military dimension of U.S. policy has always been enslaved - and they did so both willingly and knowingly. Recourse to "ignorance" - a derivative, after all, of the word "ignore" - counts as less than an excuse among this relatively well-educated elite. To the extent that any of them were unaware of the costs and consequences to others of what they were involved in - and in many cases excelling at - it was because of their absolute refusal to see. More likely, it was because they were too busy braying, incessantly and self-importantly, into their cell phones, arranging power lunches and stock transactions, each of which translated, conveniently out of sight, mind and smelling distance, into the starved and rotting flesh of infants. If there was a better, more effective, or in fact any other way of visiting some penalty befitting their participation upon the little Eichmanns inhabiting the sterile sanctuary of the twin towers, I'd really be interested in hearing about it."

Now, excuse me here for using my head, I know how much thinking is so offensive to the right wing types, but to me, it doesn't sound like Ward is referring to all the folks in "The Two Towers" as being "little Eichman's." It sounds to me like he is referring to the power brokers and financiers whose decisions have slaughtered millions currently, and their predecessors, historically. Let me just remind you all that over 200 U.S. corporations helped fund the Nazi's, including Brown Brothers Banking which Prescott Bush was a board member, IBM, Ford, GM, General Electric, etc. And let's not forget, either, how Douglas McCarthur absolved of crime and then recruited members from unit 731 of the Japanese military. You know, the folks that performed vivisections on folks to see how much torture they could take before dying. Mmm, mmm. Some crimes, no matter how horrific, are seen as fine and dandy. Another fine example, Bikini Atoll. Wanting the understand the effects of radiation on the human body, in 1946, the U.S. tested two atom bombs on the island of Bikini, making it uninhabitable (a legally defined act of genocide). They then studied the radialogical health effects on the U.S. servicefolks that they exposed to the lethal stuff. The service men not only didn't know they were being exposed, they were lied to and were not paid any extra.

So, try reading beyond two words with the explanation of those two words used by a war mongering chicken hawk (chicken hawk: one who doesn't do his own killing but asks your kids to do it for him), Bill O'Reilly. Education, knowledge, is something dangerous to these folks, because if you really knew what they were talking about, you wouldn't listen anymore and their advertising revenue would dry up. They'd be out of a job.

Everything Is [STILL] Gonna Be All White!

PREFACE

In my previous post, I guess I so brutally attacked all the usual arguments of racist white folks on racism that they have chosen not to post comments nor argue with me.

I pointed out the common tactics used by white folks in "discussing" racism. They usually discuss it with other white folks almost exclusively. They BEAT down verbally any discussion of racism from folks of other races. They take pieces of the argument away (like history) in order to make their racist positions stronger. You get the picture.

Pro racist sentiments are getting sent out in the form of e-mails, such as one Shusli received about a racist song called "Press One for English." It is a song that states America's proud and stupid tradition of being mono-lingual, specifically, "English." If you come here from another nation, you are free to speak just one language, "English." This, of course, as it is presented, is absolutely arrogant, pro-stupidity, exclusivist, narrow-minded, and doesn't acknowledge the history (one of the many tools in this issue that white folks Love taking away so their racist positions can remain strong as pointed out earlier) of this nation DESTROYING native languages and FORCING in the land of the free immigrants to be mono-lingual and speak "English Only."

There was old news that I wasn't sure if I wanted to discuss, but decided it would be a good idea anyway to point out that not only do racist white folks enjoy overtaking any forms of discussion with a position of dominance and shutting out all discussion that goes against their racist ideals, it happens with nation states as well.

THE U.S., CANADA, AND ISRAEL BOYCOTT UN CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISM

This is a most excellent move, can you see how? First, lets discuss the reasoning.

The U.S. specifically has stated that they want any reference to Israel and the Zionist movement being declared racist removed from the table before it will participate in the conference. At the first Conference Agianst Racism held in Durban there were large anti-Jewish protests held in the area during the conference. There is, however, no discussion of why these protests had taken place nor any discussion on ideas on how to turn the tides of such racist behavior.

The U.S. has also stated that it won't participate if the issue of reparations for slavery are not taken out of the discussion.

If these issues were met, however, there would be some other issues to prevent them from joining in.

All these orders have come from on high, all the way to the top, the U.S. first Black president, Barack Obama. And who says racism is dead since the U.S. has elected a Black president? Probably the same folks who don't discuss racism with people of color.

So, three of the most racist nations, The United States, Canada, and Israel, are boycotting the UN Conference Against Racism, using Israel and reparations as an excuse. Using chess as a metaphor, this is like NOT going to a tournament but declaring yourself Grand Wiz...er...Grandmaster and therefore the best chess player in the world without ever sitting across the table with a board, peices, and an opponent before you. Thus, it can be seen as a most excellent move.

U.S. RACIST CRIMES

As Americans and Forced Americans, we all realize whether or not we admit it that this nation is founded on racism and is still racist. They had slavery. Until the 1960's, the U.S. was an apartheid state against blacks and still is against Indians. Lynching Black folks was a common event. Stealing black votes in the 2000 and 2004 election still goes on unchallenged. The reservation system and who gets to define who is and and isn't Indian still goes unchecked. The illegal behavior of corporations exploiting what is called "illegal labor" goes unchecked. The racism promoted to white poor folks to help the U.S. government continue its oppression of minorities goes unchecked. The Apartheid wall being built along the border of the U.S. and Mexico goes unchallenged even though that illegally force it to cross several Indian reservations. And the list goes on and on.

CANADIAN RACIST CRIMES

Canada really hates Indians. In Canada, Indians are treated like Blacks are in the U.S. The war with the Mohawk nation is a fine example. The Whistler Winter Olypics stealing indigenous land and illegally developing it for the genocidal Olypic Committiee [for profit Corporation]. The Canadians illegally occupy the territory currently known as Canada from the indigenous in the area. Medical experiments enacted forcibly upon indigenous children. There are many more, but those are just off of the top of my head.

ISRAELI RACIST CRIMES

Israel has done medical experiments of Sephardic [darky] Jews using radiation on over 100,000 Sephardic Jewish Children. They have an apartheid system that specifically targets Palestinians. They commit genocide against and systematically oppress Palestinians. They have done medical experiments on Black South Africans. Just the crimes I know of off of the top of my head.

THAT SAID...

That said, it makes perfect sense that the U.S., Canada, and Israel, some of the most horrifically racist societies in todays world, would find some convenient excuse to avoid the UN Conference Against Racism. Of course, they would use the fact that a sub-section of the UN carries on a global pedophelia ring because, of course, that would bring about a whole other set of issues. Specifically against the U.S. and Canada, the pedophelia rings set up in Native American Boarding and Residential Schools, and we all know that the U.S. and Canada want to keep that as shut up as I'm sure the UN wants to keep its little pedophelia ring under wraps as well.

WHAT SUCH A CONFERENCE ACTUALLY THREATENS

A conference on Racism threatens a status quo way of life that is wealth exclusive. Within that wealth there is racist elements. They make exceptions for the political status quo, like giving labor and women holidays instead of rights to shut them up without disturbing the actual status quo. They'll let in members of the less accepted races as long as they go along with the status quo and have enough money and or influence. This system of minority rule may get challenged as their racist behaviors get challenged. It would give these nations a further black eye, as it were, and we all know how distateful the color black is, white...er...right? With the status quo threatened, those handful of individuals that control the wealth of a nation would be threatened as well.

An effective tool used by the status quo to keep those of us at the bottom fighting amongst each other [in this case, racism] might be effectually dismantled or sent down the road to dismantling. Then the wealthy who control this nation will have to create other tools, and creativty takes thinking and money. The best way to save money is to keep racism as an effective tool to oppress a popular uprising. It helps keep a division amongst the masses. Gives us lines to fight across.

CONCLUSION

What may actually be effective is sitting across the table from folks of other races and discuss racism and come up with ideas as to what to do about it. Actually listen to each other. This would mean to go against some commonly accepted behaviors and habits this society has been in, such as discussing race with folks of the same race, discussing class with folks of the same class, discussing gender with those of the same gender, etc., and imposing our imperical views upon these issues we know little or nothing about.

As an example, I beat the common behaviors of white folks horrifically in my pervious post. Having taken away their commonly used tools and exposing them for what they are, there has been no argument in my open call to a fight. I'm hoping that it is because folks are sitting back and really looking at their behaviors and actually thinking about one of the issues pressing our times, racism (there is also sexism [much worse in my opinion], classism, genderisms, etc.). More than likely they are trying to find other tools to destroy my attempts at discussion, argument, and debate to give themselves a "superior" notion over me instead of seeing me, or folks of other races, as actually EQUAL to their great and glorious mono-lingual selves.

That said, since the ASSHOLES that claim to be our leaders are not going to truly do anything about race, what should we at the bottom do about it? As well, we can say the same about sexism, classism, and all the other classic tools used to keep us at the bottom divided while those at the top get away with their horrific crimes and profit greatly from them. Instead of slamming the door in my face, invite me or someone else in. Open the floor for discussion. Open ideas for action. Take action. See what happens.

Racism!

In light of the Carpinteria, California decision to reinstate a racist mascot and the death threats to a 15-year-old Chumash boy, and Carpinteria's decision to place pro-racist mascot reinstaters onto the school board instead of folks who actually care about their children's education, I thought it a good time to discuss the issue of racism and get the fight going here.

The bigger motivator for the following commentary, however, was not the Carpinteria decision as much as a fight that broke out at North Eugene High School that you can read about on KATU's webside. I guess some white and black kids got in a fight and then their parents joined in the foray. If you click on the video and watch it, you will notice that there are no people of color interviewed, though their race was mentioned quite often.

More interesting were the comments that followed.

"Why does the newspaper insist on identifying people like "African-American?"
That is stupid!"

"Did you know the country Caucasus is in Russia? I would rather someone called me white because i think my pale skin is kinda pretty with red hair. No actually, American just plain American could be equated with educated (we are required to go to school) and healthy (no typhoid or malaria from the bugs and such) and clean (we do pay taxes for city sewer)."

Most of the comments given are by folks who are clearly white. White folks have certain tactics in dealing with the discussion on the issue of race. Key to their tactics is domination.

Since it is clear that most of the commenters (though, clearly, not all) are white, it is a domination of a subject they wish to keep in the background because it would challenge their racial privilege.

So far, we have two white tactics in dealing with the issue of race. 1) Don't talk to non-white folks about racism. 2) Dominate the conversation about racism.

Another tactic in the issue of racism used by white folks is a discussion of the definition of race, as can be seen in example two of the quotes given. Caucusus are mountains in Russia. This is a tactic used, again, to dominate the conversation so white folks don't have to deal with the issue of racism. They like to tout what they BELIEVE to be superior intellect and treat the discussion of racism like a battle and they are being attacked.

Another tactic I've seen used is blaming the victim. If those Red Nig...er...Indians would just get off the bottle and pull themselves up by their own bootstraps... This type of tactic, again, takes away from the uncomfortable discussion to white folks of race. They can again assert dominance in the conversation and shut out all other races. This is because their belief in their superiority is being challenged. The status quo of the white race is being challenged by the discussion of race, and therefore should be DOMINATED by the white race using their alleged superior intellect and clean and healthy selves to demonstrate to others their superiority in the discussion of racism.

When folks challenge their ideals and self-contratulatory perceived as superior discussion, they do what most white folks do in one form or another when their white privilege is challenged, they go on the attack.

"The handful of people commenting here seem to want to oversimplify the effects of racism.

The USA was founded on the blood of the indigenous people ("Indians" for those of you who don't know what indigenous means) and built with slave labor from Africa.

Those events set the stage for ongoing racial tension. Why are you so surprised that it is happening in a Eugene, OR school?

I would bet that all the comments made here so far are made by White folks, and not "educated" (indoctrinated), "clean" White folks, either.

What arrogance. "

Followed by:

"Well Jane. Aren't you being a bit presumptuous, racist, and arrogant yourself to cast such a condemning light on others when you were not present? While I agree with 50% of your commentary, your rhetorical question and the last assumption have no factual relevance to historical events. People make decisions in life everyday, i.e., there is no casual inference that can be drawn from events that occurred a hundred years or more with comments or positions people are taking today (we weren't even alive then). People are using past injustices affecting others to justify their decisions today - but that doesn't necessarily make it right nor give them a moral high ground in which to justify behavior that is just plain 'bad.'"

The discussion goes on, but here is one example of an attack on those challenging white privilege. Jane, who is clearly not white, is being called the racist. Why? Because the commentor, instead of having an actual conversation about racism finds that when people of color bring up issues of race and call folks they can't see as white via their consistent patterns of commentary on the issue of race to point out the fact that they are not discussing race with people of color, but rather, amongst themselves, they have to be attacked.

Then comes another tactic, pretending history doesn't count in the current issues of race. White people ALWAYS, when attempting to protect their white privilege in discussions of race, say that history has no relevance in the racial injustices of today. White folks, who don't like the use of something relevant that can overtake their dominance in a discussion, simply remove that object. "You've checkmated me with your queen. I will simply remove your queen from the board and declare myself the winner!"

If it is true, that history has no relevance to past injustices, the surviving killer in the gun attacks on Mumbai should be set free. I mean, wasn't that in January? Why are you letting past injustices cruelly incarcerate this man. He isn't killing people right now. The history has no relevance in the issue.

Another example, rape victims aren't getting raped right now. When the rapist pulls his dick out, the rape becomes an issue of history and therefore is no longer relevant to the criminal because it is a PAST INJUSTICE!

Another tactic used by white folks is to take the oppositions rhetoric and use it against them. "We are all members of the human race."

"See," says the white man. "We are all humans. You've admitted it. Therefore racism doesn't exist."

Then there are the stupid racists who enter the conversation as one has on the comments. That is another tactic used by white folks who are mighty proud of their racism and enjoy hiding behind anonymity to demonstrate their white superiority.

Tokenism is another white tactic. Find a person of the race that supports their position and use that support as a form of support of the whole race, and you are no longer racist. "See! Bubba, my black friend, said that my wording wasn't racist when I said black people like fried chicken. Therefore, it wasn't a racist comment." "See! Jimmy Lookstwice says that the Winterhawks emblem isn't racist, therefore it isn't racist."

All these white tactics, including the attacks I'm sure to get for describing these tactical distractions as white. That, too, will be a white tactic, because, you see, white folks don't really want to talk about the issues of racism that continue to this day.

Sometimes you can get women to understand. You simply discuss with them the issue of sexism in the world, and they can, in many cases, understand where one is coming from when we talk about race.

Racism, in my opinion, is one of many common tactics used to keep us attacking each other so we don't organize and go after the actual oppressors, which are mostly the wealthy who cause most of the damage.

So, do you want to talk about racism? Or would you rather, say, find a token, call me racist, or take over my attempts at a conversation, here? Whatever, I leave this forum open.