Being Black in America

When Bill Clinton was elected to his first term as President of the United States, he was called by some America's "first black president". He was called this because he grew up poor with a single mother, played the saxophone, and liked McDonald's.

White males who wear "gangster" clothes, listen to rap, and "talk black" are derogatorily called wiggers; that is, a white person who seeks to emulate what he perceives to be African American culture, and by doing so, "becomes" black themselves.

This unfortunate conceptual framework of thinking is pervasive and fundamentally misunderstands what it means to be black in America. Being black isn't being poor, being a "gangster", listening to rap, being in jail, talking "black", growing up without a father, or living in the "ghetto". All of these are results of being black, not causes.

What it truly means to be black in America is something no white person can experience for themselves, no matter how hard they try or how willing they may be to understand. Being black in America means having dark skin in a white-skinned country. It means being discriminated against in a myriad of ways for something that is beyond your control, something which you never had a choice over.

In 1959, the journalist John Howard Griffin used medication to artificially darken his skin so as to appear African American. Overnight, he went from being white to being black. His book, Black Like Me, tells the story of his experiences traveling through the Deep South states of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi at a time when segregation was the law of those lands. People he had befriended as a white man did not recognize him as a black man, and if he told them who he was, the difference in treatment was of a degree that astounded and frightened him. Griffin began to understand in a way that almost no white American could what it meant to be black: receiving the "hate stare" from white people who had no reason other than his skin color to hate him; having to travel far distances just to enjoy simple comforts like using the restroom, getting a bite to eat, or drinking some water; in Mississippi he was warned not to look at anything but the floor when a white woman was in the same room - the consequences could be deadly. When, as a black man, Griffin went to stay with some of his white friends, they had to do so with the utmost secrecy, lest someone were to see a "Negro" getting "uppity"; the scandal would have ruined his friend's reputation at best, and at worst resulted in violence.

Griffin, at several points, was unable to take it - the constant wariness, the desperate struggle merely to survive and avoid trouble from white authorities, the pervasive and all-encompassing hatred he received for nothing that he had done wrong. After nearly having a complete breakdown on a few occasions, Griffin was able to "rub the black out" of his skin and thereby pass a white person; he could return to the white world, whereas every other black person had to stay in their societal oppression.

The movie A Soldier's Story is about segregation in the U.S. Army in the Deep South during World War II. Different themes of racism are explored - including the self-inflicted wounds received and given by other black soldiers. Some of the African American soldiers are embarrassed when one of their fellow black soldiers does something to "set the race back" in the eyes of the whites. Others question "what kind of a colored person" a black officer is who lambasts other black soldiers for giving the whites reason to disrespect blacks. In the end, a black soldier yells "They still hate you!", meaning that no matter what they did or how they acted, blacks would remain oppressed because it wasn't about their actions but about their skin color.



The murder of unarmed African American 17-year old Trayvon Martin has left many Americans wondering if the person who fired the gun would have avoided arrest as well if he were black.

Being black in America is walking down the street and being wary that a police officer might decide you look threatening enough to check you out, and maybe mistake a wallet or a green card for a pistol. Being black is being the Other. Being black is having to work twice as hard to achieve the same result as a white person, to prove that you're "pretty good for a black girl" or for "being a testament to his race". Being black in America is being a representative of your race to others. It's having Black History Month instead of being included in "regular" American history. It's being accused of being lazy, ignorant, sexually lascivious and criminal - whether implicitly or explicitly.

Being black in America is having dark skin in a white-skinned country. All of those other things that are associated with African American culture - like crime, poverty, rap, hip-hop, being a gangster, being on welfare, growing up without a father - are results of the ingrained racism and superior advantages embedded in the societal structures of the United States that are afforded to whites and non-whites.

The Unacknowledged Shame of Slavery in America

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What is the Tea Party?

The so-called "Tea Party" movement has sprung up and risen in the past couple of months. Many people are wondering just who the Tea Party is, and what they want. Here are some videos that give a rough idea:









It should be noted that these videos aren't a definitively representative example of how every member of the Tea Party is like, but it's a good start. You'll notice that almost everyone in the videos is white, middle-aged, and many seem to be shockingly ignorant of the details of the things about which they are speaking. They do not "come from all walks of life" as one woman put it in the videos. If you're a member of the Tea Party, it means you're also probably male, rural, upper-middle class, and conservative. The Tea Party is small, with only 10-18% of Americans saying they are a member.

While some people say that race is playing a major factor in these protests, it's hard to say that the whole party is that way. It is true, however, that many signs at Tea Party gatherings have been ignorant, racist, offensive, and inappropriate for what is essentially a demonstration against the federal government spending money.

It is also hard to miss the frequent accusations (unfounded) of socialism, communism, marxism, fascism, and whatever else the Tea Party members have come up with.
The Tea Party claims to be fighting "tyranny", despite the fact that President Obama was democratically elected, just like every other president in American history has been (including George W. Bush, no matter how much people like to argue about it). This is only one example of the insanity of the Tea Party, but at least they seem honest about how they feel.

A majority of members of the Tea Party have also experienced unemployment at some point in the recent past, or are currently unemployed. It will be interesting to see how many people stick with the movement after they get back on their feet, which will probably happen sooner than later because of that darn communist, pinko, fascist, socialist Obama's horrible stimulus package that is ruining the country.

It wouldn't be surprising if they continue with their hypocritical antics and maintain that Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, the Democrats, the "liberal" media and others are still the enemy, even after the main reason they're protesting no longer exists.