New Jersey legislators are currently considering a resolution that apologizes for the state's role in perpetuating slavery. Four other states (Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia) have already issued similar statements, and several other states have considered such resolutions. On the federal level, Tennessee Representative Steve Cohen (D) introduced a statement of apology for slavery and Jim Crow-era discrimination (Also of interest, during his first term campaign, Cohen stated that he would seek to join the Congressional Black Caucus. Only upon learning of CBC members' intentions to block his efforts, did he rethink this goal).
But getting back to New Jersey, there were some amazingly idiotic, and unfortunately standard, statements issued in response to the measure by members of the NJ legislature. Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll (R) said, "But, on a current note, if slavery was the price that a modern American's ancestors had to pay in order to make one an American, one should get down on one's knees every single day and thank the Lord that such price was paid" ("New Jersey Weighs..."). Is he really telling descendents of slaves to be grateful for slavery, as they wouldn't otherwise be Americans? That's perhaps the most patriotic idiocy I've read yet despite our rabid descent into patriotism. Or is he telling white America (who are the only real "Americans" in his interpretation?) to be consider slavery and African American lives a commodity well spent and the economic benefits that issued from their bodies worth whatever moral and human price? In looking back over other attempts to pass like apologies, the denial of any contemporary culpability for slavery was the most common response. There are no longer any slaveholders or former slaves, so nobody's guilty. Or another gem from NJ Assemblyman Carroll: "that debt was more than repaid through the blood and suffering of 650,000 federal soldiers who died or were wounded during the war provoked by slavery."
The continued effects of slavery and racism are, thankfully, a part of the justification for NJ's apology. It states, "the vestiges of slavery are ever before African-American citizens, from the overt racism of hate groups to the subtle racism encountered when requesting health care, transacting business, buying a home, seeking quality public education and college admission, and enduring pretextual traffic stops and other indignities." But opponents of the measure focus only on their inability to repay dead former slaves, the tacit assumption being that race no longer impacts Americans' experiences. Carroll even manages to put an exact price on the lives claimed by slavery--650,000 federal soldiers. That makes white life worth exactly how much more than every black life?
To acknowledge any guilt would require white Americans and government to acknowledge responsibility after all, and that could lead to all kinds of nationally invalidating conversations. Our national mythology is Horatio Alger, the American Dream, a country founded on democratic ideals. To acknowledge the peoples crushed in the construction of that dream: Native Americans, slaves, Chinese Americans building railroads, Japanese Americans interned during WW II, contemporary migrant workers, to name but a few, would require us to relinquish the cherished conception of the U.S. as a meritocracy. Individually, it requires me as a white person to acknowledge the ways white privilege has benefited me--that all my successes are not solely because of my brilliance. And for those of us in less privileged positions, it can make life seem less within our control if hard work will not necessarily lead to successes.
Despite the acknowledgment of the continuing effects of racism upon black Americans, NJ is careful to note, that the "resolution cannot be used in litigation." The measure forecloses any possibility of demands for reparations, and ultimately is a denial of any fiscal or social responsibility. Carefully veiled under official apology is the refusal to entertain any real conversation about the ever-growing debt our nation owes to African Americans or any of its disenfranchised folks. I have no idea where that conversation might lead us. I don't know what shape reparations take or how one values the impact of dehumanizing acts, but it seems important to seriously continue and begin and rebegin the conversation.
Source:
"New Jersey weighs becoming first northern U.S. state to apologize for slavery." International Herald Tribune Press. .
January 06, 2008
May 24, 2007
Change
by Alkemyst
It was the turn of the 21st century
By that time, he was supposed to know who to be
But every month he'd stare at the full moon
Depending on God to determine the rest of his tune
Back up a minute and reminisce, his life
An invisible prison cell, locked in a set path, despite
His dreams to become an entertainer
Suffocating himself, left in a' empty container
Blindly living and ignoring the chains on his wrists,
He said to himself, it's all I can do about this
As the sun crossed east to west, his soul diluted
From rising currents of doubt, left undisputed
Lost and confused, he had gripped the fear
And fabricated a future full of pouring tears
So he stopped,
Imagined the easy route, to just give up life, sink and drop,
Facing the blackness, your future's at stake
There ain't just one shell that you gotta break
It's a continuous cracking at your comfort zone
Sometimes you have to accept the discomfort to break the mold
Everyone needs change in their lives
Without it, we lose our way, morph into parasites
Screw growing up, try growing young
Our minds hunger for knowledge, we'll never be done
Few years later, after taking the easy route
His face in his hands, mind in the clouds
Until one day, he heard an emerging voice
Arguing with his will to be glued to a safe choice
From his secluded cube he looked straight up
The glass ceiling was never there, was all made up
He pushed himself off the rails,
Realized that life's too short to even think to fail
He rose from the grave that stopped his blood
With new energy, broke away, and planted a bud
Soon it sprouted, fed his soul, grew in his veins
Replenished his mind, forever changing the game
Never regretting the past, living day by day,
He made his own story without losing his way
He left the hustle, popped his bubble
And finally accepted that life was a beautiful struggle
Your future's not meant to be a blackhole
Even realists need idealism to reach their goals
Rise above the fear of the unknown
Cut the chains, let freedom reign, and release the soul
Everyone needs change in their lives
Without it, we lose our way, morph into parasites
Screw growing up, try growing young
Our minds hunger for knowledge, we'll never be done
So get up, forget about whatever anybody tells you, and make a choice.
It was the turn of the 21st century
By that time, he was supposed to know who to be
But every month he'd stare at the full moon
Depending on God to determine the rest of his tune
Back up a minute and reminisce, his life
An invisible prison cell, locked in a set path, despite
His dreams to become an entertainer
Suffocating himself, left in a' empty container
Blindly living and ignoring the chains on his wrists,
He said to himself, it's all I can do about this
As the sun crossed east to west, his soul diluted
From rising currents of doubt, left undisputed
Lost and confused, he had gripped the fear
And fabricated a future full of pouring tears
So he stopped,
Imagined the easy route, to just give up life, sink and drop,
Facing the blackness, your future's at stake
There ain't just one shell that you gotta break
It's a continuous cracking at your comfort zone
Sometimes you have to accept the discomfort to break the mold
Everyone needs change in their lives
Without it, we lose our way, morph into parasites
Screw growing up, try growing young
Our minds hunger for knowledge, we'll never be done
Few years later, after taking the easy route
His face in his hands, mind in the clouds
Until one day, he heard an emerging voice
Arguing with his will to be glued to a safe choice
From his secluded cube he looked straight up
The glass ceiling was never there, was all made up
He pushed himself off the rails,
Realized that life's too short to even think to fail
He rose from the grave that stopped his blood
With new energy, broke away, and planted a bud
Soon it sprouted, fed his soul, grew in his veins
Replenished his mind, forever changing the game
Never regretting the past, living day by day,
He made his own story without losing his way
He left the hustle, popped his bubble
And finally accepted that life was a beautiful struggle
Your future's not meant to be a blackhole
Even realists need idealism to reach their goals
Rise above the fear of the unknown
Cut the chains, let freedom reign, and release the soul
Everyone needs change in their lives
Without it, we lose our way, morph into parasites
Screw growing up, try growing young
Our minds hunger for knowledge, we'll never be done
So get up, forget about whatever anybody tells you, and make a choice.
May 02, 2007
The Parking Lot
Friday and breezy. A perfect end to an okay week.
I'm driving through the high school parking lot, windows down.
I pass by a car with its windows down too.
I haven't cut him off; I haven't slowed him down in any way.
No provoking.
He turns to me.
Yells ching chong noises and laughs.
I'm so shocked I can't even react.
For about 30 seconds I want to put my car in park...get out...and beat up this random high school bully.
Then, "Student Teacher Assaults Local Boy" details at 9, flashes through my thoughts.
Obviously an assault would be less than ideal.
And so I just keep driving. Keep driving along.
Then it really hits me. This raw, raw anger and hurt.
It's been at least four or five years since someone has yelled fucked up shit to my face.
Four or five years since I've had to deal with unprovokedignorantbelligeranthatespeech.
Four or five years since I shed my thick skin and left bullshit high school for more discreet forms of hate.
Four or five years since someone could make me feel like I'm back in 1st grade again, trying to defend myself unarmed, my words failing me completely.
And then I cried.
I'm driving through the high school parking lot, windows down.
I pass by a car with its windows down too.
I haven't cut him off; I haven't slowed him down in any way.
No provoking.
He turns to me.
Yells ching chong noises and laughs.
I'm so shocked I can't even react.
For about 30 seconds I want to put my car in park...get out...and beat up this random high school bully.
Then, "Student Teacher Assaults Local Boy" details at 9, flashes through my thoughts.
Obviously an assault would be less than ideal.
And so I just keep driving. Keep driving along.
Then it really hits me. This raw, raw anger and hurt.
It's been at least four or five years since someone has yelled fucked up shit to my face.
Four or five years since I've had to deal with unprovokedignorantbelligeranthatespeech.
Four or five years since I shed my thick skin and left bullshit high school for more discreet forms of hate.
Four or five years since someone could make me feel like I'm back in 1st grade again, trying to defend myself unarmed, my words failing me completely.
And then I cried.
April 23, 2007
Prom in 2007
I thought we lived in the 21st century, well more than halfway into its first decade at that.
Proms are still segregated?
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/23/turner.prom/index.html
It's my night to be naive. Sorry.
-jp
Proms are still segregated?
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/23/turner.prom/index.html
It's my night to be naive. Sorry.
-jp
On "Being Colorblind"
I haven't made a post in a while, but I feel that it's time again.
As the semester drives to a close, my Diversity/Identity class is putting the finishing touches on our exhibit, which we hope to soon have up in front of the Co-Op. My specific part of the exhibit deals with "Diversity on Campus." Let me share a few quotes from opposite ends of the spectrum:
“There’s diversity—but I don’t know, I just feel like everyone is—there’s people of every ethnicity here, but it’s not like we’re intermingling with one another. It’s like we’re all in our little cliques. So it’s’ kind of like some people say like a melting pot or a salad. It’s like somebody just threw a big chunk of lettuce in there, and then somebody threw a whole tomato in there, instead of chopping it up and mixing up the whole salad.”
“And so I guess with UT, I don’t see it as diverse because I see really—for me, I see the population being really Asian and White. I don’t really see anything else, and so I don’t really see it as diverse…to define diversity, I guess you have to look at the—not only just the different species or types that are in one little area, you also have to look at the numbers. I mean, I don’t think you want to say that just because you have one of each one, that’s diverse; because you can have one of one species, and fifty of another species, and I don’t think that’s diverse at all, and that’s kind of what I see at UT.”
“…I think that UT could use more diversity not for my sake but for everyone else’s sake—because I think that it is really sad when people have to rely on stereotypes to know a race because they don’t know a lot of Black people and have misconceptions and ideas that are most of the time just wrong. And if there were more Blacks or if there were just more of anything I think it could open people’s minds.”
(I'm keeping all quotes anonymous although all narrators have signed appropriate release forms)
While extracting quotes from a series of about 24 interviews, I came across many that had to do with the concept of "being colorblind." And I present:
“I’ve just been brought up in a way that’s colorblind and I don’t understand how people can be like that [so conscious of race]. When I was younger, I used to think that people were Black if they had Black hair, so I thought that my grandpa was Black because he had Black hair. But he was White. And I thought I was White because I had blonde hair, so I just don’t understand how people—how they can be like that and why it means so much.”
“It doesn’t matter what race I am. To me, it’s wherever you grew up at, wherever you were raised is how you’re going to act.”
“And so that’s always been sort of my stance as far as that, that you know, race and color doesn’t really matter. And I try to prove that performing well academically, and showing people that everything is based on skill, and that’s what’s important, not color.”
All interviews were conducted with people of color.
I've run into a huge problem while putting together my exhibit. Obviously, my narrators care about diversity, no question about it. But if all we should strive to be is colorblind, WHY IN THE HELL WOULD DIVERSITY BE IMPORTANT?!
Explain that one away and I'll give you...hell, I'll let you have the A on my project.
--jp
As the semester drives to a close, my Diversity/Identity class is putting the finishing touches on our exhibit, which we hope to soon have up in front of the Co-Op. My specific part of the exhibit deals with "Diversity on Campus." Let me share a few quotes from opposite ends of the spectrum:
“There’s diversity—but I don’t know, I just feel like everyone is—there’s people of every ethnicity here, but it’s not like we’re intermingling with one another. It’s like we’re all in our little cliques. So it’s’ kind of like some people say like a melting pot or a salad. It’s like somebody just threw a big chunk of lettuce in there, and then somebody threw a whole tomato in there, instead of chopping it up and mixing up the whole salad.”
“And so I guess with UT, I don’t see it as diverse because I see really—for me, I see the population being really Asian and White. I don’t really see anything else, and so I don’t really see it as diverse…to define diversity, I guess you have to look at the—not only just the different species or types that are in one little area, you also have to look at the numbers. I mean, I don’t think you want to say that just because you have one of each one, that’s diverse; because you can have one of one species, and fifty of another species, and I don’t think that’s diverse at all, and that’s kind of what I see at UT.”
“…I think that UT could use more diversity not for my sake but for everyone else’s sake—because I think that it is really sad when people have to rely on stereotypes to know a race because they don’t know a lot of Black people and have misconceptions and ideas that are most of the time just wrong. And if there were more Blacks or if there were just more of anything I think it could open people’s minds.”
(I'm keeping all quotes anonymous although all narrators have signed appropriate release forms)
While extracting quotes from a series of about 24 interviews, I came across many that had to do with the concept of "being colorblind." And I present:
“I’ve just been brought up in a way that’s colorblind and I don’t understand how people can be like that [so conscious of race]. When I was younger, I used to think that people were Black if they had Black hair, so I thought that my grandpa was Black because he had Black hair. But he was White. And I thought I was White because I had blonde hair, so I just don’t understand how people—how they can be like that and why it means so much.”
“It doesn’t matter what race I am. To me, it’s wherever you grew up at, wherever you were raised is how you’re going to act.”
“And so that’s always been sort of my stance as far as that, that you know, race and color doesn’t really matter. And I try to prove that performing well academically, and showing people that everything is based on skill, and that’s what’s important, not color.”
All interviews were conducted with people of color.
I've run into a huge problem while putting together my exhibit. Obviously, my narrators care about diversity, no question about it. But if all we should strive to be is colorblind, WHY IN THE HELL WOULD DIVERSITY BE IMPORTANT?!
Explain that one away and I'll give you...hell, I'll let you have the A on my project.
--jp
April 12, 2007
Faulty Scanners
My brother recently got hired to work in San Francisco, threw away his furniture and car, and headed up there last week. This is the first time the "baby" of the family is really showing some independence and it is a proud moment for our family.
As he was checking in his ticket in one of those self-serve kiosks at the airport, 2 guards came up and asked that he be scanned. Supposedly, he was consistently setting the alarm off, even after several articles of clothing were removed. Then, he was taken to another room - to take off all of his clothing for a full body search.
After he put his clothes back on, he was held and questioned repeatedly: they wanted to know why his ticket to San Francisco was one-way and what his real plans for the city are.
Oh, I'm sure the search was completely random.
As he was checking in his ticket in one of those self-serve kiosks at the airport, 2 guards came up and asked that he be scanned. Supposedly, he was consistently setting the alarm off, even after several articles of clothing were removed. Then, he was taken to another room - to take off all of his clothing for a full body search.
After he put his clothes back on, he was held and questioned repeatedly: they wanted to know why his ticket to San Francisco was one-way and what his real plans for the city are.
Oh, I'm sure the search was completely random.
April 10, 2007
My Cousin, Part II
Brought to you by the Jean family tree.
---------
Chinese Food Buffet, a rant about that which really isn't.
FRIED CHICKEN, MEATBALLS, TERIYAKI CHICKEN, CORNED BEEF, FRENCH FRIES, PUDDING; since when did these become part of Chinese cuisine? I guess one could call them Chinese fries and 90-degree angle beef and Pu-Ding, yet we must realize that they are still truly NOT Chinese. How misleading and deceptive it is to call a buffet restaurant “Chinese” when it actually has few authentic dishes; even these few “genuine” Chinese dishes are not genuine. It is true that they serve General Tso’s Chicken, Orange Chicken, and Sesame Chicken found in China. Yet why give these three dishes the different names here when THEY ARE ESSENTIALLY THE SAME??? Admit it “Chinese” buffet restaurants, you use the same sauce and you use the same chicken. The only difference is that difference in the name. No need to ask the waiter what's in each dish, it's all in the name. Orange flavor is added to Orange chicken and sesame is added to Sesame Chicken. However, General Tso presents some astounding change with the brilliant idea of adding peppers and pineapple to the mono-tasting “chicken sauce”, thus giving his name to the exhausted dish today. Thank you General Tso for some nominal diversity, otherwise we’d have Pepper and Pineapple Chicken, and can’t have that, for we are the nation of diversity. Oh wait, it’s supposed to be Chinese food, not American.
But it’s not. It’s what we Chinese call “Americanized-Chinese food”. It’s the Sweet and Sour Chicken. It’s the Sesame Beef. It’s the Broccoli and Beef. It’s everything that isn’t. It’s the great culinary paradox that is diluting the Chinese cultural cuisine in this country. I go to a Chinese buffet and expect to eat Chinese food, yet what I find is the same everywhere: dishes as repetitive and bland as a bad English essay. The blooming entrepreneur restaurant owner and chef of today can splash some “Chinese Sauce” over everything, give out fortune cookies (which I must say have not yet once been correct), and BAM you got yourself a 100%, true dat, authentic, bona fide, genuine Americanized Not-So-Much Chinese Buffet. Way to go, now all you have to do is compete with the twenty other identical buffet’s and you’re set.
The American customers love it, and even some Chinese have become accustomed to eating at these spurious buffets. I admit to having eating my share of General Tso’s Chicken and generic Lo Mien, but honestly, it’s not real. It's so superficial. It satisfies the stomach but not my soul, not my desire to absorb and eat the scrumptious dim sum of my true heritage. But what can I do, for it IS America, and everything here is American to some extent. Maybe I might be too cynical (nah), to critical (no), and to demanding (nope). Oh well, it’s hopeless. At least there are a few good actual Chinese (sit-down) Restaurants; our last resort. Perhaps the massive buffet’s will take a hint, and realize quality might be better than quantity, and authenticity better than conformity.
Or perhaps not. Either way, finish your Chinese Sauce smothered chicken, eat your fortune cookie, and leave with a full stomach, happy that there are no dishes to wash tonight.
Don’t forget to jack some Skittles on the way out.
-peta pong
---------
Chinese Food Buffet, a rant about that which really isn't.
FRIED CHICKEN, MEATBALLS, TERIYAKI CHICKEN, CORNED BEEF, FRENCH FRIES, PUDDING; since when did these become part of Chinese cuisine? I guess one could call them Chinese fries and 90-degree angle beef and Pu-Ding, yet we must realize that they are still truly NOT Chinese. How misleading and deceptive it is to call a buffet restaurant “Chinese” when it actually has few authentic dishes; even these few “genuine” Chinese dishes are not genuine. It is true that they serve General Tso’s Chicken, Orange Chicken, and Sesame Chicken found in China. Yet why give these three dishes the different names here when THEY ARE ESSENTIALLY THE SAME??? Admit it “Chinese” buffet restaurants, you use the same sauce and you use the same chicken. The only difference is that difference in the name. No need to ask the waiter what's in each dish, it's all in the name. Orange flavor is added to Orange chicken and sesame is added to Sesame Chicken. However, General Tso presents some astounding change with the brilliant idea of adding peppers and pineapple to the mono-tasting “chicken sauce”, thus giving his name to the exhausted dish today. Thank you General Tso for some nominal diversity, otherwise we’d have Pepper and Pineapple Chicken, and can’t have that, for we are the nation of diversity. Oh wait, it’s supposed to be Chinese food, not American.
But it’s not. It’s what we Chinese call “Americanized-Chinese food”. It’s the Sweet and Sour Chicken. It’s the Sesame Beef. It’s the Broccoli and Beef. It’s everything that isn’t. It’s the great culinary paradox that is diluting the Chinese cultural cuisine in this country. I go to a Chinese buffet and expect to eat Chinese food, yet what I find is the same everywhere: dishes as repetitive and bland as a bad English essay. The blooming entrepreneur restaurant owner and chef of today can splash some “Chinese Sauce” over everything, give out fortune cookies (which I must say have not yet once been correct), and BAM you got yourself a 100%, true dat, authentic, bona fide, genuine Americanized Not-So-Much Chinese Buffet. Way to go, now all you have to do is compete with the twenty other identical buffet’s and you’re set.
The American customers love it, and even some Chinese have become accustomed to eating at these spurious buffets. I admit to having eating my share of General Tso’s Chicken and generic Lo Mien, but honestly, it’s not real. It's so superficial. It satisfies the stomach but not my soul, not my desire to absorb and eat the scrumptious dim sum of my true heritage. But what can I do, for it IS America, and everything here is American to some extent. Maybe I might be too cynical (nah), to critical (no), and to demanding (nope). Oh well, it’s hopeless. At least there are a few good actual Chinese (sit-down) Restaurants; our last resort. Perhaps the massive buffet’s will take a hint, and realize quality might be better than quantity, and authenticity better than conformity.
Or perhaps not. Either way, finish your Chinese Sauce smothered chicken, eat your fortune cookie, and leave with a full stomach, happy that there are no dishes to wash tonight.
Don’t forget to jack some Skittles on the way out.
-peta pong
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