Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Black Woman: A Double Edge Sword
Yesterday was the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. On 21 March 1960 police opened fire on demonstrators marching peacefully against apartheid “pass laws” in Sharpeville, South Africa. The “pass laws” were designed to segregate South Africa’s population by restricting the movement of non-white citizens. Six years later, in 1966, in recognition of this event and acts of discrimination the world over, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 21 March as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Significant strides have taken place since 1960 to reduce racial discrimination; apartheid has fallen, racist laws and practices have been abolished in many countries and the International Convention on Elimination of Racial Discrimination is nearing universal ratification. But despite these advancements individuals and communities continue to suffer from racism.
In the United States African American women endure “double discrimination.” They are both black and women. This makes them particularly susceptible to poverty, poor health and low education.
Read the rest here
Significant strides have taken place since 1960 to reduce racial discrimination; apartheid has fallen, racist laws and practices have been abolished in many countries and the International Convention on Elimination of Racial Discrimination is nearing universal ratification. But despite these advancements individuals and communities continue to suffer from racism.
In the United States African American women endure “double discrimination.” They are both black and women. This makes them particularly susceptible to poverty, poor health and low education.
Read the rest here
Sunday, March 6, 2011
A Bad Year for White Whine: College Scholarships and the Cult of Caucasian Victimhood
Texas State University student Colby Bohnannon would like you to know, it’s hard out there for a white guy.
When looking for money for college, the Iraq War veteran claims he had a hard time finding any, at least of the scholarship variety. And this, he wants you to believe, is due to the lack of such awards for white men, as opposed to the presumably substantial funds set aside for students of color. So, frustrated in his quest for white male scholarships, he’s created one, under the aegis of his new organization, the “Former Majority Association for Equality.” Get it? As in, we white folks used to be the majority, but since we’re not anymore (at least in Texas), now we’re the ones being shut out of opportunity, and in need of some affirmative action.
FMAE’s scholarships, which will amount to about $500 each, will be awarded only to white men with 3.0 grade-point-averages. Why white women are excluded from his beneficence, and why he is applying a rather bizarre blood quantum test to the awards (offering them to anyone with at least one-quarter white ancestry), remain mysteries. Especially since it would take some incredibly brain-dead math to suggest either that white men alone had ever been a majority anywhere, since displaced by the dreaded “other,” or that those with at least one white grandparent are not still a majority today, even in Texas, where large numbers of Hispanics are quite recently connected to Anglos.
Read more here
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
'Womanist': Saying Who We Are
Black History Month is that time of year when the achievements and courage of people of African descent are acknowledged and celebrated. However, for decades now, Black History Month has not once acknowledged or celebrated the contributions of its lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities.
Our omission from the annals of black history would lead you to believe that the only shakers and movers in the history of people of African descent in the U.S. were and still are heterosexuals. And because of this heterosexist bias, the sheroes and heroes of LGBTQ people of African descent -- like Pat Parker, Audre Lorde, Essex Hemphill, Joseph Beam, and Bayard Rustin, to name a few -- are most known and lauded within a subculture of black life.
Read more here.
Our omission from the annals of black history would lead you to believe that the only shakers and movers in the history of people of African descent in the U.S. were and still are heterosexuals. And because of this heterosexist bias, the sheroes and heroes of LGBTQ people of African descent -- like Pat Parker, Audre Lorde, Essex Hemphill, Joseph Beam, and Bayard Rustin, to name a few -- are most known and lauded within a subculture of black life.
Read more here.
Halle Berry and Nahla: Not So Mixed, Not So Happy
As we await the results of the 2010 Census it's tempting to think that our growing comfort with categorizing people as multiracial has erased racism and the fear of interracial relations. But
in a recent interview with Ebony Magazine, Halle Berry says that we're neither as mixed nor as happy as we'd like to think.
In the interview Berry addressed her ugly custody battle with Gabriel Aubry over their 2-year-old daughter, Nahla. Allegations are circulating about the couple's different racial philosophies, including the use of racial slurs, and their anxiety over Nahla's racial categorization in the press. Berry told Ebony that "I feel like [Nahla is] black" because of the one drop rule. In other words, Berry sees herself and her daughter as black because they are of partial African American ancestry. Other sources say that Aubry sees Nahla as white and that he thinks Berry should demand a retraction whenever Nahla is identified otherwise.
Read more here
in a recent interview with Ebony Magazine, Halle Berry says that we're neither as mixed nor as happy as we'd like to think.
In the interview Berry addressed her ugly custody battle with Gabriel Aubry over their 2-year-old daughter, Nahla. Allegations are circulating about the couple's different racial philosophies, including the use of racial slurs, and their anxiety over Nahla's racial categorization in the press. Berry told Ebony that "I feel like [Nahla is] black" because of the one drop rule. In other words, Berry sees herself and her daughter as black because they are of partial African American ancestry. Other sources say that Aubry sees Nahla as white and that he thinks Berry should demand a retraction whenever Nahla is identified otherwise.
Read more here
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