Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Girl, Get Me Started! » UNITY: Does Senator Obama’s success undercut the need for affirmative action?

Girl, Get Me Started! » UNITY: Does Senator Obama’s success undercut the need for affirmative action?

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Re: Lyching party comment

Subject: Star Jones Reynolds responds to Bill O'Reilly/Fox News about Michelle Obama
Below is Star Jones' informed and provocative response to Bill O'Reilly's
comment about 'having a lynching party for Michelle Obama if he finds out
that she truly has no pride in her country.'

Bill O'Reilly said: 'I don't want to go on a lynching party against
Michelle Obama unless there's evidence, hard facts, that say this is how
the woman really feels. If that's how she really feels - that is a bad
country or a flawed nation, whatever - then that's legit. We'll track it
down.'

Star said: 'I'm sick to death of people like Fox News host, Bill
O'Reilly, and his ilk thinking that he can use a racial slur against a black
woman who could be the next First Lady of the United States, give a
half-assed apology and not be taken to task and called on his crap. What the
hell? If it's 'legit,' you're going to 'track it down?'

And then what do you plan to do? How dare this white man with a microphone
and the trust of the public think that in 2008, he can still put the words
'lynch and party' together in the same sentence with reference to a black
woman; in this case, Michelle Obama? I don't care how you 'spin it' in the
'no spin zone,' that statement in and of itself is racist, unacceptable and
inappropriate on every level.

O'Reilly claims his comments were taken out of context. Please don't
insult my intelligence while you're insulting me. I've read the comments and
heard them delivered in O'Reilly's own voice; and there is no right context
that exists. So, his insincere apology and 'out-of-context' excuse is not
going to cut it with me.

And just so we're clear, this has nothing to do with the 2008 presidential
election, me being a Democrat, him claiming to be Independent while talking
Republican, the liberal media or a conservative point of view. To the
contrary, this is about crossing a line in the sand that needs to be drawn
based on history, dignity, taste and truth.

Bill, I'm not sure of where you come from, but let me tell you what the
phrase 'lynching party' conjures up to me, a black woman born in North
Carolina .. Those words depict the image of a group of white men who are
angry with the state of their own lives getting together, drinking more than
they need to drink, lamenting how some black person has moved forward
(usually ahead of them in stature or dignity), and had the audacity to think
that they are equal. These same men for years, instead of looking at what
changes they should and could make in their own lives that might remove that
bitterness born of perceived privilege, these white men take all of that
resentment and anger and decide to get together and drag the closest black
person near them to their death by hanging them from a tree - usually after
violent beating, torturing and violating their human dignity. Check your
history books, because you don't need a masters or a law degree from Harvard
to know that is what constitutes a 'lynching party.'

Imagine, Michelle and Barack Obama having the audacity to think that they
have the right to the American dream, hopes, and ideals. O'Reilly must think
to himself: how dare they have the arrogance to think they can stand in
front of this nation, challenge the status quo and express the frustration
of millions? When this happens, the first thing that comes to mind for
O'Reilly and people like him is: 'it's time for a party.'

Not so fast...don't order the rope just yet.

Would O'Reilly ever in a million years use this phrase with reference to
Elizabeth Edwards, Cindy McCain or Judi Nathan? I mean, in all of the
statements and criticisms that were made about Judi Nathan, the one-time
mistress turned missus, of former presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, I
never heard any talk of forming a lynch party because of something she said
or did.

So why is it that when you're referring to someone who's African-American
you must dig to a historical place of pain, agony and death to symbolize
your feelings? Lynching is not a joke to off-handedly throw around and it is
not a metaphor that has a place in political commentary; provocative or
otherwise. I admit that I come from a place of personal outrage here having
buried my 90 year-old grandfather last year. This proud, amazing
African-American man raised his family and lived through the time when he
had to use separate water fountains, ride in the back of a bus, take his
wife on a date to the 'colored section' of a movie theater, and avert his
eyes when a white woman walked down the street for fear of what a white man
and his cronies might do if they felt the urge to 'party'; don't tell me
that the phrase you chose, Mr. O'Reilly, was taken out of context.

To add insult to injury, O'Reilly tried to 'clarify' his statements, by
using the excuse that his comments were reminiscent of Supreme Court Justice
Clarence Thomas' use of the term 'high-tech lynching' during his
confirmation hearing. I reject that analogy. You see Justice Thomas did mean
to bring up the image of lynching in its racist context. He was saying that
politics and the media were using a new technology to do to him what had
been done to black men for many years -- hang him.

Regardless of if you agreed with Justice Thomas' premise or not, if in
fact -- Bill O'Reilly was referencing it รข?" the context becomes even
clearer.

What annoys me more than anything is that I get the feeling that one of
the reasons Bill O'Reilly made this statement, thinking he could get away
with it in the first place, and then followed it up with a lame apology in a
half-hearted attempt to smooth any ruffled feathers, is because he doesn't
think that black women will come out and go after him when he goes after us
Well, he's dead wrong. Be clear Bill O'Reilly: there will be no lynch party
for that black woman And this black woman assures you that if you come for
her, you come for all of us.'

-- Star Jones Reynolds

Friday, July 4, 2008

Letter to the Editor - Black America

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Here is a letter to the editor, written by a young 78 year old American of African descent


To The Editor: As a 78 year old American of African descent, I feel compelled to respond to all this much ado about nothing when it comes to the statement that Michelle Obama made about the fact that this is the first time in her adult life that she has been proud to be an American.

The country needs to hear this from the Black perspective.

Long before I was born, my grandfather Joseph Burleson, owned a considerable amount of land in oil rich Texas .. Because during that era, Blacks could not vote, nor could they contest anything in the courts of the United States , my grandfather's land was STOLEN by his White neighbor. My grandfather, who was literate and better educated than my grandmother, drove to town. Seeing my grandfather leave, the covetous neighbor asked my grandmother to show him the deed to the property. He snatched it. She could not insist that he give it back, nor could she have reported this THEFT to the sheriff because of the fact that Blacks had no rights in the 1800s. The prevailing law at that time was, he who held the deed owned the land. Do you think that is something that I am PROUD OF? Right now I should be living off the oil and gas royalties.



In 1934 when my dad drove us to Texas to meet his family, when he stopped to purchase gasoline, his daughters and wife were not allowed to use the washroom. As a man it was easier for his to relieve himself in the bushes, than for the females. We were, however, reduced to having to go in the bushes, also. Do you think I am PROUD OF THAT?

In 1938 when my oldest sister went to enroll in Hyde Park High School , she was told by the counselor that she did not want to take college preparatory courses, she wanted to study domestic science. Do you think I am PROUD OF THAT? Of course, when Beatrice Lillian Hurley-Burleson went to school the next day, that was the last time anyone thought that the Burleson girls wanted to study domestic science.

When in 1943 my parents attempted to buy the 2 bedroom flat at 5338 South Kenwood, where we had lived since 1933, in Hyde Park, Chicago, IL we were told that we could not buy it because there was a restrictive covenant that said that the property was never to be sold to Negroes. Do you think I am PROUD OF THAT?

In 1950 when I graduated from college, I was unable to get a job because I was considered overqualified, the code word for they would not hire me because of my race. All of the want ads called for Japanese Americans or Neisis (the word given to Japanese Americans at that time). Do you think that was something that I should have been PROUD OF? I understood that America was trying to make up for the interring of innocent and patriotic Americans who were our enemy by association.

My cousin's barbershop was bombed in Mississippi in the 50's because he was encouraging Black people to register to vote. His wife who had earned a Masters Degree from Northwestern University lost her position as the principal of the local school because of the voter registration activities. Is that something I should be PROUD OF?

Now we get to Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the pastor of the Obama family. Rev. Wright like so many religious zealots overstates many things that many of his members do not agree with. To suggest that Senator Obama should leave the church of his choice is not only a double standard, but it is absurd. Would any of the talking heads who are so alarmed by Rev. Wright's thoughts and speeches suggest that Catholics should abandon their faith or denounce and reject the Pope because so many priests have molested children. These children were exploited and taken advantage of and they had no choice to even know they could resist, reject and denounce. To me the situations are parallel, except for the fact that the priests' behavior is a physical violation of the innocence of children who are marred for life; and the priests' behavior was a crime. Rev. Wright's speeches are just words, that one can listen to or not, the members have a choice. Should Governor Romney denounce and reject the Mormon Church because some of their members practice polygamy?

As Senator Obama has previously stated, we have entered the silly season.

Barack Obama is an adult, and most importantly, he is an exceptionally intelligent adult. Like most of us adults, fortunately, we do not accept all we hear or see. If we did, the world would be more amoral, debased and perverted than the world of today is.

I see all these so called ponderings an attempt to marginalize the candidacy of Senator Barack Obama. I cannot truly call this racism because some ignorant Blacks have also spoken disparagingly about him.

I accept this as the darker side of mankind who because of their own inadequacies, they project their deficiencies on others. Barack Obama is a very rare individual, the likes of whom the world seldom sees. Like most geniuses, they are often misunderstood. They are objects of envy and jealousy. They are suspect because they soar above the average man who does not have the intellectual ability to understand the greatness of special people. They are also targets to be pulled down to the level of the mediocre who cannot stand to see an individual with deep convictions and high standards.

We have not seen a phenomena like Barack Obama in many years and many generations. Like Ghandi, like Jesus, like Einstein, like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., like Mother Theresa, genetically, intellectually and spiritually, these people offer the world so much, but they are often maligned and misunderstood.

Barack Obama is a Christian in the true sense of the word. A true Christian loves his fellow man unconditionally. A true Christian wants the best and tries to bring out the best in his fellow man. A true Christian wants to unite and bring the world together in peace and harmony. This is what Senator Obama stands for; but, unfortunately, he has had to get off point to answer these false charges, innuendoes, and just plain lies.

We are in the presence of an angel unaware in Senator Barack Obama; and this country needs him, more than he needs us. He is the only person at this time in history who can restore respect for America with the world's people. Because of his family background, the influence of his beloved mother who instilled great values in him, the influence of his absent father who vicariously inspired a son to go to Harvard as the father had done, the influence of a minister who brought him to an understanding of the value and meaning of Christianity, the influence of a brilliant Princeton educated wife who inspires him and keeps him grounded; he is the epitome of a citizen of the world. He is of the world because the world is in him; and this is what America needs to bring us out of the abyss to which we have sunk in the eyes of the world.

Like, Michelle Obama, after living in this country all of my 78 years, loving my country and not understanding why my country has not loved me, I now for the first time in my adult life feel PROUD OF MY COUNTRY because I sense a maturing, a recognition of talent and character, and not color, and a field of candidates aspiring to lead this nation coming from very diverse backgrounds of gender, religious beliefs, national origin, ethnicity, age and experiences. This to me is the HOPE that America is coming into her own and will begin to CHANGE and will embrace the philosophy upon which this country was founded, where all men are created equal and are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Now I truly believe, YES WE CAN!