Different Day, Same Shit.

Our country's national crime is lynching. It is not the creature of an hour, the sudden outburst of uncontrolled fury, or the unspeakable brutality of an insane mob.

- Ida. B Wells

Throughout our nation's history, bigotry against black Americans, the dreaded Other, has always been enforced through a number of means. Whenever institutional, state-sanctioned methods of bigotry and discrimination failed to achieve the desired results, it was left to the white mobs to enforce bigotry through violence. Time and time again, seemingly decent, God-fearing American men and women would transform themselves into a hateful, virulent force bent on protecting the ideals of white supremacy by violently and publicly destroying a few black bodies, regardless of innocence or guilt and with the quiet sanction of law enforcement seemingly rendered impotent in the face of a spontaneous and unruly force.

Mob-led lynchings were the preferred means of educating the black populace on where they lay on the societal totem pole through terror and violence. After all, there's nothing scarier than seeing dozens of angry white faces drag off a single black soul in the middle of the night in preparation for a public, hands-on exhibit on the dangers of being an affront to whitekind, for whatever reason.

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These days, the hands-on lynching of old has fallen along the wayside in favor of more high-tech means. Nevertheless, there are those out there who still believe that the old ways are still best.



Nathan Ener's rant against the New Black Panther Party, the Black Lives Matter movement and those he sees as "black thugs" comes in the aftermath of the unfortunate death of Texas sheriff's Deputy Darren Goforth and his killer, Shannon Miles, being found incompetent to stand trial for his murder. At this point, a white mob would have gladly stepped in to deliver the sort of "justice" they thought was denied to them and the rest of whitekind, but you'd have to get them fired up about it first. And that's where the above rant comes into play.

Stirring up deep-set indignation and fear over the dreaded Other running roughshod over God-fearing white men, women and children has always been part of the recipe for inciting white mob violence. The death of a white person (or at least rumors of white deaths) serves as its explosive catalyst. Had this event happened in 1915 instead of 2015, it's very likely that Shannon Miles' corpse, shredded from head-to-toe, would be hanging from some forlorn oak somewhere as a shining symbol of mob-delivered justice - and as a warning to any black American who'd even harbor thoughts about harming the hair on a white person's head.

It's not beyond the pale to wonder if, given the right circumstances, someone like Nathan Ener would gladly lead the way.

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Yours truly would have written off Ener as your typical bigot, something of which East Texas has in spades, if it weren't for a rather disturbing link to another case where a young black man by the name of Alfred Wright was found murdered. According to authorities, Wright died of a drug overdose shortly after a deal involving 28-year-old Shane Hadnot. But it was the manner in which he was found dead that brought a great deal of suspicion:

Wright's body was disfigured when he was found Nov. 25, 2013, which led his family to suspect foul play.

His sister Annilia Wright-Mosley said her brother's tongue was cut out, eyes gouged out, throat slit and ear cut off. He was also missing teeth and fingernails, which are signs of violence and torture, she said.

Wright's family believes Alfred was tortured and brutally murdered and has called Hadnot a "scapegoat" in the case.

The authorities wrote off those allegations by citing how the damages were likely caused by scavenging animals.

So what's Nathan Ener's link to all of this? Here's Ener squaring off with black rights activist and New Black Panther Party leader Quanell X.

“I know why you’re upset. You’re upset because of Ashley,” Quanell X taunted Ener as they met in the street. “’Cause your daughter likes black coffee, no sugar no cream. That’s why you’re upset. It’s eating you up, ain’t it? That she likes a black man?”

Ener called to a white man on the sidewalk.
“Ben, does any of my people—any of my family like black folks?”

“Not that I know of.”

Quanell X goaded Ener: “Ashley does! Ashley does! Now let me tell you something, peckerwood. I will whup your ass. I’m that one.” He peeled off his suit jacket, stepped up inches from Ener’s face, and the two jawed to the crowd’s amusement. A line of uniformed troopers filed out of the county building and led Ener away.

It's likely that not only was Nathan Ener's own daughter might have been romantically involved with Wright, but also that her father told her he knew what really happened to him:




The plot thickens.

Wright may have also been romantically involved with Cindy Maddox, daughter of Sheriff Tom Maddox. The same guy who complained bitterly that he was missing out on a good day's hunt by searching for Wright.

Now you'd have to wonder if this was what Alfred Wright was really murdered for. In many unspoken parts of the nation, consorting with white women is the highest unspeakable offense for a black man to commit. In some cases, it could lead directly to his death.

You also have to wonder if Nathan Ener had anything to do with Wright's death. Town gossip being what it is, it's likely that some tightly-held secrets are bound to come spilling out at some point.

A mob is a great way for an evil to be committed without any of that pesky responsibility or guilt assigned to you. But it doesn't take a mob to commit evil. Sometimes, it only takes one or two individuals to get the job done.

There's a lot I could say about this. Like how racism is far from dead and will likely never die. Or how many corners of mainstream society still harbor prejudicial thoughts about minorities, but at least have the decency to keep them out of earshot of polite society. Or how an organization founded in the very heart of the Confederacy in antebellum times still perpetuates the same attitudes and beliefs that were present at the time of its foundation.

I could talk about all of that. Instead, I'll just pull a quote from a segment of Larry Wilmore's Comedy Central show, The Nightly Show:

“They also kicked the fraternity off campus, so don’t worry, you won’t be seeing any more of those frat boys - until they’re your congressmen.”

Imagine all the crazy shenanigans Trent Lott got up to during his time in Sigma Nu, except no one thought enough to capture it all on Double 8 film.

And that's the thing. No matter what the University of Oklahoma does to people like Parker Rice, these guys will inevitably land in places and positions of power and prestige, where their actions and beliefs will invariably shape and mold the processes and systems our society deals with on a regular basis.

Could you imagine Parker Rice on a Senate subcommittee deciding the fate of an education or healthcare initiative? I can and it's a scary feeling.

So while everyone pats SAE and OU on the back for performing the damage control required of them by their PR departments, keep in mind that you might be seeing some of these people again in another 10 or 15 years. I suggest you start jotting down names and committing them to memory.

Michael Brown's death and the subsequent protests in the city of Ferguson, Missouri have laid bare a few simple, troubling facts about living in this country as a black American:

1. You are always considered a danger or a threat until proven otherwise.
2. As a possible threat, you are subject to the wishes and whims of law enforcement, the courts and the penal system.
3. Even ordinary citizens can deal with you as they see fit if they consider you a threat, as codified in both de facto and de jure forms.

The above has had an effect on how the black community sees and deals with law enforcement, as highlighted in Ta-Nehisi Coates' latest piece. When you know the police are more likely to see you as a threat rather than as a person in need, you're less likely to want to interact with them in any way, shape or form. Out of necessity, community-driven self-policing becomes the norm.

But the reason for LEO insistence on treating black Americans as a clear and present danger has little to do with criminal stats or personal experiences - those are often used as pretextual justifications for their behavior. Instead, it's a bit deeper than that:

The police departments of America are endowed by the state with dominion over your body. I came home at the end of this summer to find that dominion had been. This summer in Ferguson and Staten Island we have seen that dominion employed to the maximum ends—destruction of the body. This is neither new nor extraordinary. It does not matter if the destruction of your body was an overreaction. It does not matter if the destruction of your body resulted from a misunderstanding. It does not matter if the destruction of your body springs from foolish policy. Sell cigarettes without proper authority and your body can be destroyed. Resent the people trying to entrap your body and it can be be destroyed. Protect the home of your mother and your body can be destroyed. Visit the home of your young daughter and your body will be destroyed. The destroyers of your body will rarely be held accountable. Mostly they will receive pensions.

Ownership of and authority over the black body is something that stretches as far back as the beginning of the slave trade, when the purchase and use of involuntary African labor came into vogue. It was most apparent during the heyday of the plantation system, with the southern planter class and their allies in control of black labor and black movement. The black body was theirs to do as they saw fit.

This attitude did not vanish once the plantation system - at least in its slavery-supported form - vanished. The loss of control over the black body also meant a grievous economic loss. When black Americans began taking advantage of the Reconstruction period, there was a realization that this loss of control could be permanent. The fight against Reconstruction, the imposition of Jim Crow laws throughout the south and the use of those laws to create a new prison-supported plantation system marked the re-imposition of control over the black body.

Today, mainstream America struggles to maintain authority over the black body, to do as they see fit with it. Even if it means warehousing your body in a secure facility for decades on end. Or bruising your body to the point of disfigurement and paralysis. Or simply destroying your body outright.

It doesn't take a united organization to exercise that sort of control over the black body. Such tasks are often outsourced to ordinary individuals - people who have their own agendas, but nevertheless inherently understand the need for policing the black body. Jason Zimmerman did his part to re-impose societal control over the black body - he understood clearly what society subconsciously asked of him once he saw those black teenagers behaving in a way that suggested a lack of control.

LEO behavior in Ferguson, L.A., N.Y.C. and points elsewhere are part and parcel with the continuing need to control the black body, whether for the benefit of the scared white suburbanite, the unrepentant Lost Causer, the workaday man or woman who doesn't want to lose their job or home to "those people," the businessmen who see black bodies as a goldmine of dependable cheap labor or the politician who uses black bodies as a "tough on crime" liferaft to keep his or her career afloat.

Control of the black body has always been good for business and good for society. Yours truly doesn't expect that to stop anytime soon.

“Why is it when a white person says he is proud to be white he’s shunned as a racist?”

The above quoted comes courtesy of a young chap by the name of Patrick Sharp. Sharp is not just an ordinary freshman student at Georgia State University - he's also the founder of the university's new White Student Union.

Sharp's idea isn't a new one. In fact, he's following in the footsteps of another chap, Matthew Heimbach, who also founded a white student union at Towson University not too long ago. In Sharp's own words:

"All we want to do is celebrate white identity. This is about being in touch with who you are as a white person and being proud of that."

To the average person, this sounds almost word-for-word like the modus operandi of any other ethnic student union. After all, why shouldn't there be a white student union when blacks, Hispanics and other groups have theirs? Surely a Eurocentric group would make a fine addition to the 300 or so existing student unions at GSU, right?

There are plenty of points yours truly will attempt to make as to why the idea of a "White Student Union" seems utterly unnecessary on one end and dangerous on the other:

1. From a civil rights perspective, a white student union offers little to no utility. In the words of historian and student activism advocate Angus Johnston: "When someone asks me this, my response is always pretty much the same: 'Do you actually want to have a White Student Union on campus? Would you be active in a WSU there was one? Is there stuff you’d like to be doing that the absence of a WSU is keeping you from doing?' So far, nobody has ever answered any of these questions with a yes."
   
2. The idea of a white student union exists for the same reason that the concept of "anti-white" exists - both come as a pushback against continued efforts by black Americans to call onto account genuine racist acts and behaviors conducted on a daily basis. For white Americans besieged by constant accusations of being racist towards black Americans, the opportunity to turn the tables by embracing the very sort of "victimhood" they often accuse other minorities of seems all too attractive. With this in mind, white student unions seem like an elaborate sort of "take that" against other groups.
   
3. Those interested in forming and participating in white student unions ignore the reason why student unions for black Americans, women and other minority groups came into being in the first place: these groups were often shut out of mainstream organizations and, if they had the opportunity to be accepted, marginalized within them. This was especially true from the end-days of Reconstruction to the eventual dis-assembly of Jim Crow's more pernicious forms of discrimination.
   
4. The very concept of "white pride" inevitably circles back towards the idea of white supremacy and its embrace of whites, at the active detriment of other minority groups. Whereas "black pride" does not explicitly exclude whites and other ethnic and national groups, "white pride" often goes out of its way to exclude blacks and other minorities. Some of the more violent white supremacist groups are more hands-on about doing just that.

By far and large, "white pride" and white supremacist groups spawn as the result of some existential crisis to the core demographic's being. For instance, the specter of economic uncertainty and the ominous threat of immigrant labor drinking the last of an already near-empty employment milkshake is what brought the Golden Dawn to the forefront. In the U.S., most white supremacist groups get their genesis from the ever-present fear of losing their "rightful" place in American society, either through demographics, advances in minority civil rights or a noticeable shift in political power that may seem to benefit minority groups, such as Barack Obama's electoral ascendancy to the Oval Office.

The Towson group's genesis largely has to do with the following:

The frequent robberies, sexual assaults, and acts of vandalism at Towson University are not often reported in the local media. For those who are not Towson students it seems hard to fathom that every single day black predators prey upon the majority white Towson University student body. White Southern men have long been called to defend their communities when law enforcement and the State seem unwilling to protect our people.

The virtue of white Christian womanhood is under attack at Towson University by degenerate criminals seeking to rob our women of their God given innocence. Through armed thuggery the money of law abiding Towson students that is earned by the sweat of their brow is stolen and their lives threatened for simply walking down the street.

If you thought you stumbled onto a Stormfront posting, you're not alone*. The prospect of "white Christian womanhood" being irreparably sullied by ravenous hordes of mindless black bucks has always been a klaxon call for white supremacists to rally in the defense of racial purity. In this instance, the klaxon is cloaked in a call for better campus security.

And that's what makes these and other similar groups so dangerous. The impulse to enforce and maintain racial purity is what often leads to actual attacks on minority groups. It's no wonder that the Towson White Student Union's night patrols take on the spirit of the nighttime rides conducted by the Ku Klux Klan.

Of course, that's not the stated aim of either university's white student unions. But the attitudes, language and underlying motivations are a stone's throw away from those shared by their more upfront brethren.

*That blog is a classic grab-bag of stupid. For instance, take this post that "honors" Mary Phagan. The author conveniently overlooks Leo Frank's innocence and instead praises his lynchers for "(resisting) outside agitators and insidious internal influences to get justice for Mary Phagan." Sickening.

BETWEEN me and the other world there is ever an unasked question: unasked by some through feelings of delicacy; by others through the difficulty of rightly framing it. All, nevertheless, flutter round it. They approach me in a half-hesitant sort of way, eye me curiously or compassionately, and then, instead of saying directly, How does it feel to be a problem? they say, I know an excellent colored man in my town; or, I fought at Mechanicsville; or, Do not these Southern outrages make your blood boil? At these I smile, or am interested, or reduce the boiling to a simmer, as the occasion may require. To the real question, How does it feel to be a problem? I answer seldom a word.

W.E.B. DuBois pondered this question in the first chapter of "The Souls of Black Folk." In light of the George Zimmerman verdict and its affirmation of all that's been wrong with this nation for generations, it bears repeating among the millions of black Americans living here.

"How does it feel to be a problem?"

It's a long story. Long story short, America as a collective entity hasn't quite come to grips with what to do with or how to treat a people who, just a scant 150 years ago, were considered nothing more than farming implements and thus unworthy of being considered full human beings. Old habits die hard and learned behaviors prove hard to unlearn. After generations of learning how to loath and despise your fellow former farming implements, it proves hard to finally accept them as human beings.

George Zimmerman tapped into this national stream of consciousness to fulfill his fantasy of being a "neighborhood hero." It resulted in the death of a young man who, if it weren't for his misfortune of being born a seventh son in a land that merely tolerates and ultimately ridicules his presence, would have been home that fateful night with that pack of Skittles his brother asked for.

Trayvon Martin's death was treated as a "no harm no foul" moment by law enforcement until local and national outrage built up. His murderer's trial was treated as a vindication of his actions and an indictment of his victim's existence. By all accounts, mainstream America won't mourn the loss of someone it saw as "a problem."

Then it dawned upon me with a certain suddenness that I was different from the others; or like, mayhap, in heart and life and longing, but shut out from their world by a vast veil. I had thereafter no desire to tear down that veil, to creep through; I held all beyond it in common contempt, and lived above it in a region of blue sky and great wandering shadows. That sky was bluest when I could beat my mates at examination-time, or beat them at a foot-race, or even beat their stringy heads. Alas, with the years all this fine contempt began to fade; for the worlds I longed for, and all their dazzling opportunities, were theirs, not mine. But they should not keep these prizes, I said; some, all, I would wrest from them. Just how I would do it I could never decide: by reading law, by healing the sick, by telling the wonderful tales that swam in my head,—some way.

With other black boys the strife was not so fiercely sunny: their youth shrunk into tasteless sycophancy, or into silent hatred of the pale world about them and mocking distrust of everything white; or wasted itself in a bitter cry, Why did God make me an outcast and a stranger in mine own house? The shades of the prison-house closed round about us all: walls strait and stubborn to the whitest, but relentlessly narrow, tall, and unscalable to sons of night who must plod darkly on in resignation, or beat unavailing palms against the stone, or steadily, half hopelessly, watch the streak of blue above.

Black Americans have spent countless generations as outcasts in their own house, shunned and loathed unless they could somehow be of service for mainstream America's benefit, whether it be in self-depreciating entertainment, quiet servitude or harsh and unrelenting manual labor. Perhaps Trayvon Martin didn't pay heed to it that night, but he was an outcast in the very neighborhood he thought he would have been safe in. The constant and unending perception of he and others like him as "problems" to be "solved" dovetailed with Zimmerman's desire to "solve" that "problem."

The absolute refusal to see black Americans as anything but collective problems and individual successes (but only within strict, narrowly defined confines) and eager willingness to glamorize the worst traits and rumors about a collective people is how the Sanford police department refused to see anything wrong with murdering a young black male with little to no cause. It's also led to a sympathetic legal climate where generous concern was shown for the perpetrator's "unfortunate" predicament, as encouraged by his defense team. The six jurors, five whites and one Hispanic for buffering concerns of racially motivated impropriety, were merely messengers delivering a statement that rings true for black Americans the nation over: "We see you as a problem."

Oddly enough, Native Americans understand how it feels to be a problem. After decades of the U.S. "solving" the problem with forced migrations, mass genocide and sequestration onto rapidly shrinking reservations, the Native American problem is slowly solving itself through mass alcoholism and suicide. Since black America proved too resilient for that treatment, it's taking legally sanctioned acts of malice, as delivered by police departments throughout the nation, to solve the problem. Mass media and it's constant portrayal of blacks as dangerous beings or laughable buffoons is another way of encouraging solutions to the problem. Even groups like the Ku Klux Klan once helped out by solving the problem in their own unique way.

The heart of the so-called "problem" lies with an unstoppable and long-coming shift in sociopolitical power between mainstream America and America's minority groups. The fear of Reconstruction heralding the arrival and cementing of black political power drove the ex-Confederate backlash and the institution of measures to stymie said power. The fear of the Civil Rights Act as a milestone for reclaiming black political power fueled the ex-Dixiecrat backlash and the conservative "silent majority" movement that resulted in the formation of the GOP as we know it today. The fear of Barack Obama as a harbinger of things to come in terms of black political power drove the Republican backlash, the formation of the "Tea Party" as its weaponized arm and the unleashing of rabid racism, sexism and discrimination among the once largely quiet unreconstructed. To look any closer would warrant its own discussion in the near future.

Throughout its history, America feared that particular problem getting out of hand. That night, George Zimmerman "feared" a particular problem "getting out of hand." Funny how retrospective history can be.

RT @profblmkelley: I have a nine-year old who followed the trial with me. This verdict made her feel afraid. @lauradeethomp
— Matthew Elliot (@matttbastard) July 14, 2013

As it should the parents of any black American child, especially in this day and age. Especially when full-grown adults have no compunction against seeing young black children as "thugs" or "thugs in training."

The irony of this entire tragedy is if Trayvon Martin was every bit of the cannabis-consuming, jewelry-stealing gangster thug he was purported to be, Zimmerman would have stayed in the car as he was instructed by 911 dispatchers. Rousting an otherwise defenseless young kid going about his business based on preconceptions is one thing. Doing the same to a genuine thug with no fear of jailtime will likely get you seriously hurt or murdered.

Instead of being murdered at the hands of a man too mentally and behaviorally inept to be a real police, Trayvon Martin would likely still be alive, albeit dealing with a civil lawsuit against the Sanford police department on brutality and civil rights grounds.

Had Trayvon Martin been "Todd Martin," a creature every bit as photogenic and "all-American" as could be, George Zimmerman's fate would had been as good as sealed. Had George Zimmerman been "Tray Zimmerman," his date with the needle would be chiseled in stone. Had it been a "black on black" affair, no one but Martin's parents and friends would  have cared. Black on black murders are considered an effective way of solving the black problem.

How does it feel to be a problem?

If you're asking, it feels downright shitty. But maybe it's mainstream America that's the problem.

A day at Disneyland should be a day of pure, unadulterated fun for the young-uns. The last thing you should run into is some asshole in a rabbit costume impressing his own racist beliefs on your child and others who happen to look like him:

An African American family sued Disneyland after the actor who portrayed the White Rabbit character from “Alice in Wonderland” allegedly refused to hug or touch their children because of their skin color.

Jason and Annelia Black of San Diego County said the person in the rabbit costume also acted impatiently as their young kids posed for a picture at the Anaheim theme park.

The Blacks, however, said it was a different scene when a Caucasian family arrived.

“There were two other kids that came up. The rabbit showered them. Hugged them, kissed them, posed with them, and took pictures. Meanwhile, that made my kids feel horrible,” said Jason.

The family immediately filed a complaint with Disneyland officials.

The Blacks said they were offered VIP passes and $500, but they turned down both gifts.

In addition, they were asked to sign a confidentiality agreement.

The family said they want a public apology and the employee involved in the incident to be fired.

So the family was handed some VIP passes and $500 in hush money, which amounts to a pat on the head and a dismissive hand wave. It didn't do anything towards counseling or reprimanding the guy in the white rabbit suit, so they turned it down and instead chose to held Disney accountable in the only way you can (unless you happen to have billions of dollars and an army of lobbyists at your call): a lawsuit.

Of course, one (mostly) anonymous commentator on ABLC figured that once the Blacks (ironic, I know) turned down what he saw was an acceptable apology, he figured they were in it for the big bucks, using their "Race Card to fund what he saw as a litigation gamble:

If I understand children $500 free rides and an appology, maybe a special photo op with their favourite character(s) would salve their hurt feelings. Unless the parents want their children to LOOK for slights to be offended about. (...)

(...)he was probably under instuction not to get the suit too dirty ….but who knows.

Of course, it's perfectly reasonable to assume that like most black families in their position, the Blacks would get offended by a perfectly logical rationale (after all, that dirt does blend in really good on black kids) and get all pie-eyed about a possible settlement with a loaded corporate entity.

This is where ABLC commentator Zapruder F. Mashtots, D.D.S. steps in with a treatise that puts an end to the above bullshit:

I know I harp on this without end, but it’s typical. When there’s some kind of blowup involving whites and blacks, people will fall all over themselves to find reasons that the white guy didn’t mean it or the white guy got a raw deal or everybody took what the white guy said “out of context” or some such bullshit. And then the same people will reach up their asses to find some reason, any reason that the black guy “had it coming”. It seems to be automatic. People do this, seemingly, without even thinking about it; it’s nothing more than a reflex.

I mean, shitfuck, this even happened last March when a would-be vigilante shot an unarmed kid walking through his own fucking neighborhood! People just couldn’t help themselves, it seemed. He must have “done something”. He must have deserved it. And even when it came out in dribs and drabs that the vigilante was a fucked up loser asshole, people still excused away everything he’d ever done (“Oh, the assault conviction (or whatever it was)? Oh, that was nothing. That was only a misunderstanding. It’s so unfair the way the corrupt police are railroading this fine young man!”

And at the same time, as we learned some new little detail every day that showed that Martin was a decent kid, people couldn’t wait to “interpret” everything in the worst light, twisting things far beyond what was reasonable, or even sane.

Now, to be sure, this is nothing like the Martin case. Nothing nearly so awful happened here. But, fuck me sideways, people are having the same reflexive reactions to it: Black people? They’re amoral, grifting scumbags. Even if they look like decent people, well, you know how they are, they’re always hiding something, they’re always up to no good. But white people? Oh, they’re always blameless. Whatever they might seem to have done, well, that’s nothing but a misunderstanding.

I’m sorry to go off on you, but I get so god dmaned sick of this shit.

That's the basic narrative America's operated under for generations. Black people are assumed to be bad people until proven otherwise. White people are assumed to be good people until proven otherwise. Others are assigned bad/good labels according to whatever's geopolitically expedient or acceptable at the moment. The Blacks were assumed to be bad people for not taking the pat on the head and hush money. Our (mostly) anonymous friend's supposed outrage would be next to nonexistent if the Blacks were, well...white. In fact, he and several others might not have bothered to comment at all. They might have even encouraged the white Blacks to sue in order to get "justice." Funny how that works.

You know the irony of all this?  After reading Mashtots' response, our (mostly) anonymous commentator would turn around and accuse him of whining.

Whining about injustice. Whining about getting the shit end of the socioeconomic stick for centuries. Whining about things like police brutality, microaggressions, institutionalized racism and a pervasive perception that black Americans are somehow not worthy of the same sort of respect automatically given to their white counterparts. Instead of addressing grievances, it's just whining.

Come to think of it, a great way to marginalize and eventually silence someone is to either call them crazy or just dismiss them as being whiny.

America has always had a distinct problem with its ethnic relations vis-a-vis blacks and whites, from the moment the first dark-skinned person set foot on this nation's soil for the sole purpose of bonded labor to today, as a descendant of once-removed relations of those people now sits in command of the most powerful nation on the planet. It never had to be this way, but once the founding fathers chose to ignore the issue of granting liberty to only a narrow subset of individuals that mainly included themselves and others like them, the die was cast. The fact that a large swath of Americans were happily indoctrinated to see their darker relations as inherently inferior beings and encouraged to uphold institutions that religiously enforced their lowered status in addition to their own was merely icing on the cake.

As much as I hate saying it, "racism," or America's inability to cope with "clearly inferior" human beings in positions of power and influence is thoroughly baked into the core of this nation. Bringing attention to this fact  is a dangerous endeavor, as is bringing attention to how many American individuals would sooner destroy certain institutions rather than see them occupied by those of certain skin hues. It's an irrational and frightening feeling brought on by a staggering combination of fear and a certain loss of power or personal standing. The last thing certain people want to experience is having their own personal status drop or stay stagnant as the star of the nation's punching-bag and draft-mule classes rise over their own.

Entire political wings have, in various guises, cultivated, promoted and endorsed acts that kept those of a certain hue embedded firmly in their assigned roles as expendable labor for the wealthy, an easily accessible whipping boy for the well-to-do and emotional vent and distraction for the lower classes. From the 1940s to today, the safe harbor for politicians and their supporters who sought to maintain this "status quo"  shifted from the Democrats (the former home of the Dixiecrats) to today's Republican party, an evolution that accelerated in pace after the signing of the Civil Rights Act by Democrat president Lyndon Baines Johnson and soon-to-be Republican president Richard Nixon's use of the infamous Southern Strategy.

Which brings us to the following clip of MSNBC's "The ED Show," featuring United States Army Colonel Lawrence B. Wilkerson as a guest. Wilkerson, an older white man with considerable military experience and credentials, makes the obvious known. It's a fact that would face scathing amounts of disputation if the below words were to have been uttered, as they have before, by people of a certain hue.

My party is full of racists, and the real reason a considerable portion of my party wants President Obama out of the White House, has nothing to do with the content of his character, nothing to do with his competence as Commander-In-Chief and President, and everything to do with the color of his skin, and that's despicable.

Wilkerson was former chief of staff to United States Secretary of State Colin Powell, who himself has lent his reasoned support to current U.S. President Barack Obama's re-election efforts. Wilkerson's comment came in response to New Hampshire Governor John Sununu's opinion of Powell's presidential endorsement:

"Frankly, when you take a look at Colin Powell, you have to wonder whether that's an endorsement based on issues or whether he's got a slightly different reason for preferring President Obama," Sununu said.

When Morgan asked him what that reason is, Sununu said, "Well, I think when you have somebody of your own race that you're proud of being president of the United States, I applaud Colin for standing with him."

Suggesting that a person of color's support for another person of color is based solely on their solidarity via skin hue isn't just ignorance squared on its face - it's also one of the oldest methods used by white Americans to discount and discredit people of color in high positions. To suggest that someone got where they are in life solely on their skin color is supposed to call their actual abilities and skills into question. It also quietly reinforces the incredulousness of black Americans being capable of high-level work -- according to prescribed beliefs reinforced over and over again throughout time, they're only suited to physical labor, menial servitude and occasional entertainment.

The funny thing about Sununu's comment would be its absence had Powell simply endorsed Mitt Romney. Not only would that had been in keeping with Powell's political affiliation, it also would have kept him firmly in the "one of the good ones" column as far as many of the unreconstructed were concerned. Having "one of their boys" (in more ways than one) stray off the plantation (in more ways than one) to support "one of their kind" is an unforgivable breech that must be responded to. In lieu of whips and foot amputations, Sununu's cutting remark served as the verbal whip to quickly but obliquely put Powell back in his preassigned place.

Meanwhile, a recent Associated Press survey highlights the remarkable levels of racial antagonism that remains against people of color, most notably black Americans. As it turns out, a constant "anti-black" narrative running in the background of the nation's consciousness for centuries on end takes great difficulty to shut down:

In all, 51 percent of Americans now express explicit anti-black attitudes, compared with 48 percent in a similar 2008 survey. When measured by an implicit racial attitudes test, the number of Americans with anti-black sentiments jumped to 56 percent, up from 49 percent during the last presidential election. In both tests, the share of Americans expressing pro-black attitudes fell.

"As much as we'd hope the impact of race would decline over time ... it appears the impact of anti-black sentiment on voting is about the same as it was four years ago," said Jon Krosnick, a Stanford University professor who worked with AP to develop the survey.

Experts on race said they were not surprised by the findings.

"We have this false idea that there is uniformity in progress and that things change in one big step. That is not the way history has worked," said Jelani Cobb, professor of history and director of the Institute for African-American Studies at the University of Connecticut. "When we've seen progress, we've also seen backlash."

Obama has tread cautiously on the subject of race, but many African-Americans have talked openly about perceived antagonism toward them since Obama took office. As evidence, they point to events involving police brutality or cite bumper stickers, cartoons and protest posters that mock the president as a lion or a monkey, or lynch him in effigy.

Wilkerson's correct and so are countless others who've said the same thing but without the added gravitas of being an older white male of prestige and authority - there are scores of people out there who, by their own sheer ignorance and embedded programming, simply cannot and will not abide by the presence of Barack Obama or any other black American as their leader. It simply goes against the embedded programming that declares him and his kind to be inherently inferior in mind and morals to ordinary, upstanding white Americans, causing them to overlook the moral deficiencies in their own people as long as it means keeping the blacks in their prescribed social roles, in turn keeping themselves a rung or two above them in regards to social standing.

This is the sort of attitude that had people courting a collection of political caricatures during the primaries and afterwards, throwing their lot in with a capricious, dishonest individual of thin moral character who finds far more comfort among his fellow landed gentry than with ordinary American citizens. Unfortunately, a significant portion of white Americans would rather cast their lot with wealthy people who at least look like them (with the hope of receiving whatever crumbs fall off their table) than to stand with others of similar socioeconomic stature due to these preconceived notions. It's helpful to note that the average poor white southerner kept throwing his lot in with the wealthy planters who saw them just as they saw their black counterparts: as labor and resources to be exploited as needed.

The fact that many people are busy psyching themselves up to defend the social status quo and, at the same time, relieve themselves of the triggers to Extreme Color-Aroused Emotion, Ideation and Behavior Disorder (ECEIBD), is a scary and depressing sign of the lengths we'll have to go towards ensuring anything resembling ethnic equality. It'll have to start with several hard and long rounds of mental deprogramming, a task that this nation never seems to be up to.

Walton Henry Butler, 59, allegedly shot the 32-year-old Everett Gant in the head, who visited his Port Saint Joe apartment to confront him about making racist comments to children in the apartment complex, according to the Broward Palm Beach New Times. The blog reports that Butler proceeded to eat dinner as Gant lay bleeding outside his door and cites an affidavit saying that Butler used the racial slur when questioned by the sheriff.

Butler is charged with attempted murder with a hate crime enhancement.

Police said Butler called 911, and expressed confusion at his arrest. "He was brought to the investigation unit where he was interviewed and basically admitted to shooting the victim and said he shot a, used a racial slur, and said that is what he shot and acted like it was not like a big deal or anything to him," Gulf County Sheriff Joe Nugent told WJHG.

What's the big deal? He only shot a ni-*clang!*

When people ask if we're truly in a "post-racial" society, you can include this incident in a growing pile of incidents as evidence to the contrary. If Trayvon Martin and the ongoing abuses meted out by law enforcement throughout the country didn't shank your idea of a "post-racial" America into a bloody heap, this incident should blast it's head clean off its naive shoulders. Black Americans are living in a country where a significant portion of the population actively hates them and, if it wasn't for criminal punishments and societal consequences, they'd grab a rope and have themselves a good ol' fashioned picnic.

I doubt anything will happen to this guy once he sets foot in prison. The staff will most likely isolate him from the rest of the general population to keep headline-making incidents from happening. Once he's inside, he can always hook up with the resident Aryan Brotherhood for protection. Unless someone's brazen or crafty enough to drive a shank through his cold heart, he's going to remain untouched for the duration of his prison stay.

Meanwhile:

A police investigation has been launched in response to the shooting death of a 21-year-old man. The victim was shot in the head and died from his injuries while handcuffed and sitting in the back of a police patrol car on Saturday night. The victim, Chavis Carter, was riding as a passenger in a pickup truck that happened to be pulled over by police in Jonesboro, Arkansas. According to a report, an officer found marijuana and decided to run Carter’s information. The officer discovered that Carter had a warrant from Mississippi so he was put into the patrol car.

“As protocol, he was handcuffed behind his back, double-locked and searched,” said Jonesboro Police Department Sgt. Lyle Waterworth.

Minutes after putting Carter in the vehicle, officers claim they heard a thump noise. They turned to the vehicle and found that Carter had been shot in the head. Waterworth said that he believes Carter had a gun hidden on himself, which he pulled out and then shot himself with.

“Any given officer has missed something on a search, you know, be it drugs, be it knives, be it razor blades,” he said. “This instance, it happened to be a gun.”

Carter’s mom, Teresa Carter, does not agree with the police. “I think they killed him,” she said. “My son wasn’t suicidal.” She was told that her son suffered a bullet wound in his right temple. Her son is left-handed. “I mean, I just want to know what really happened,” she said. “That’s all I want to know.”

Yes, exactly how does a left-handed person with his hands cuffed behind his back manage to get a hold of a "hidden" gun and shoot himself in his right temple? Secondly, why would he kill himself over a simple arrest? I hate to say it, but many black Americans who are about the criminal life treat jail as just another phase in their semi-short and violent lives. Suicide doesn't figure in this case.

Unless it was "cop-assisted 'suicide'." Yep, definitely the worst case of "suicide" I've ever seen. I can bet money on an officer deciding to do away with this gentleman by killing him with a throwdown weapon.

At least Alexis Sumpter wasn't killed by the cops over a MetroCard. There's a lot going wrong when we're relieved that law enforcement officials merely harass us instead of summarily executing us for frivolous and trivial shit. Something's definitely wrong with that picture.

To the left is Patricia Larry. She's holding a picture of her son, 13-year-old Darius Simmons. To the right is 75-year-old John Henry Spooner, accused of murdering 13-year-old Darius Simmons.

The fun loving 6th grader was simply moving a garbage can in front of his home when his neighbor, 75 year old John Henry Spooner confronted him with a shotgun and accused him of stealing from his home. Darius, who was in school the time of the robbery, denied being involved with the theft. John Henry Spooner then proceed to shoot Darius in his chest, while he had his hands raise showing Spooner he was unarmed. His mom, who was watching in horror, ran to Darius to see if she could find a pulse, she couldn’t. Darius, 13 years old and unarmed, was murdered in cold blood in front of his mother.

Had enough? It gets worse:

According to Milwaukee Alderman Bob Donovan, he had breakfast with Spooner an hour before the shooting and Spooner told him he suspected Darius of the crime and was upset that the police hadn’t done anything about it. Spooner then told the Alderman, that there were other ways of dealing with these problems. That qualifies as premeditated murder of a 13 year old boy. To make matters worse, the family only lived next to Spooner for a month.

You know, I'm not a violent man by nature and I don't condone mob violence or so-called "blood feuds," but it wouldn't pay me no mind to see this man taken off this earth for what he did.

He didn't even bother to talk to the parents. He just put a gun to the kid's chest and just let it rip. That's a coward's move. John Henry Spooner is a complete, yellow-backed coward.

Many people believe that there's no consequence to snuffing a young black life. The general ineffectualness of the justice system and America's card blanche for harming and killing innocent black Americans throughout history seems to back this assertion. It's long since been time to deliver a message to these cowards about snuffing out black lives and it won't take Obama or Eric Holder to do it. Nor is it going to take online petitions or marches. We're long past the point of doing battle in 2012 with 1960s-era tactics.

Something has to give, otherwise people will take this killing and others as a sign that they can get away with this. The shit has to stop here and now.

You're probably asking yourself "how?" So am I. There's no one answer that'll be the magic bullet. At the end of the day, it's gonna take the forced acknowledgement that all life has an equal value. These people won't even give us that common courtesy. Frankly, I believe these people don't want us to exist, period. And that's a big problem.

At the very least, I think I'm gonna move up getting my concealed carry permit a little sooner.

The Internet is a pretty wonderful place. Sadly, it's also populated with those who share rather dim views on America's largest minority group. In any unmoderated or loosely moderated Internet discussion, you'll have those who insist on espousing their views on this group while expecting others to nod their head in agreement. You'd have a fight on your hands if you go about directly disputing their highly disingenuous claims, as they can yell you out of the debate as a last resort.

Nowadays, many of these people call themselves "race realists," as a way to distinguish themselves from actual racists who wear white pointy hats, worship Hitler and have tattoos all over their arms and shaven heads. Race realists claim to only be telling "the truth" about minorities and how whites are simply...better. These people expect others to treat their arguments as gospel and accept them willingly and unquestionably.

The following is a checklist, courtesy of a news item concerning the New Black Panther Party (post upcoming) and the comments that followed. There was an entire string of comments that pretty much hit every space on the BINGO card, plus a few extras:

• Whites succeeded with "intelligence and hard work," something that's considered lacking among the blacks
• Whites could advance without slavery (nevermind the American economic system profitted from it)
• Black women are the biggest beneficiaries of Afirmative Action, despite statistics and other proof to the contrary
• The Democrat party is racist
• African tribes inslaved one another and sold them to the Dutch, et al., so that largely excuses white Americans and we should really be blaming those Africans, Dutch, et al.
• Other races helped the U.S. florish. It's not all about you, blacky!
• The U.S. would be better off without blacks
• It's not whites' fault those Africans didn't have the balls to stand up to our ancestors
• They can't even cooperate with one another, let alone stand against us
• Muslims still engage in slavery, so go be mad at them and leave us whites the hell alone

The last three come courtesy of commentator BUD. Such a nice fellow:

• Blacks should be glad we "rescued" them from Africa. We did them a favor.
• We weren't forced to give blacks their freedom, we did it willingly.
• Blacks are their own worst enemy.

This is what many people tell themselves, over and over. Others were taught this by family, friends, etc. Internet trolls and the so-called "race realists" have these boilerplate arguments cooked up and ready to serve in a variety of ways, some insidious and others more blatant. In the end, the message is the same: whites rule, blacks drool. Oh, sorry. The "race realists" attempt to be a bit more tactful than that.

I have a greater theory on America's ethnic divisions, but that'll have to wait for another day and time. It has a lot to do with the concept of tribalism. It fits, as we all break down into tribes at the end of the day.

Field Negro always has a colorful bunch of anonymous characters who emulate electronic pimples on the ass cheeks of Internet humanity. Today, the stupidity was amped up by a factor of five. If you read through the comments section, you'll see comment after comment featuring truckloads of bigotry and abject idiocy. Quite a few voiced a thinly-coded desire to deal with their "Negro problem" by force. I understand and respect the Field's Open Door policy, but if this isn't a good advertisement of why moderation is essential to a sane and asshole-free comments section, I'd be hard pressed to find anything else.

One anon excerpted the following from novelist and antebellum Southern romantic Thomas Dixon, Jr., whose work inspired D.W. Griffith's infamous motion picture, "Birth of a Nation":

"Since the dawn of history the Negro has owned the continent of Africa rich beyond the poet's fancy, crunching acres of diamonds beneath his bare black feet. Yet he never picked one up from the dust until a White man showed him its light. His land swarmed with powerful and docile animals, yet he never built a harness, cart or sled.

A hunter by necessity, he never made an axe, spear or arrowhead worth preserving beyond the moment of its use. He lived as an ox, content to graze for an hour. In a land of stone and timber, he never carved a block, sawed a foot of lumber or built a house save of broken sticks and mud.

With league on league of ocean strand and miles of inland seas, for 4,000 years he watched their surface ripple under the wind, heard the thunder of the surf on his beach, the howl of the storm over his head, gazed on the dim blue horizons calling him to worlds that lie beyond, and yet he never dreamed of a sail. He lived as his fathers lived - stole his food, worked his wife, sold his children, ate his brother, content to drink, sing, to dance, and sport as the ape.

And this creature, half child, half animal, the creature of impulse, whim and conceit, pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw; a being who left to his will, roams at night and sleeps in the day, whose speech knows no word of love, whose passions once aroused, are as the fury of the tiger - they have set this thing to rule over the Southern people ... Merciful God ... it surpasses human belief."

What you just read here is 1)elevation of white self-esteem at the expense of people of color and 2)justification for the enslavement and continuing mistreatment of people of color, most notably Africans and black Americans. It's a cavalcade of sociopathic behavior that leads individuals to turn ordinary human beings into tea cozies and lampshades. When applied on a national scale, you get events such as the Holocaust, Australia's systematic elimination and marginalization of Aborigines and the liquidation of Darfurians and other dark people of color from Sudan and other North African nations. But nowhere is the insanity more visible than within the United States.

You can take a look at how conservative-minded and even "progressive" white Americans have flipped out and lost their minds over the Oval Office's current resident. Electing a "P.O.C." as president caused many people to lose their shit and devote their time and energy to denigrating and discrediting a man who has so far done his best to elevate Americans out of their current fuck-up without fucking up or getting assassinated. Extraordinary color arousal led to the formation of the Tea Party and its capture of the GOP. The end result of that moment of abject insanity will most likely result in millions of die-hard conservatives being conflicted by their undying hatred of the "Marxist Socialist Kenyan Usurper" and their utter dislike of magic Mormon Mitt Romney as a presidential choice.

A fallback to a tired tome from a tired Ku Klux Klan admirer deserved a response:

Interesting how the glorification of the antebellum American South always came with some denigration or castigation of blacks as an inferior species. Black inferiority was also useful for justifying slave ownership. After all, where would those poor Negros be without white guidance via ownership?

One reason for constantly and consistently deeming one group of people inferior to another is to deliberately keep them at the bottom of the socioeconomic totem pole, especially if you're aiming to maintain them as an easily accessible pool of manual labor. Just as one would breed horses and cattle, the wealthier plantation owners and other scions of the Old South bred Negros. Keeping them demonized and disliked was a ploy to keep poor whites from sympathizing and uniting with them and everyone else from realizing they were just as human as their fellow whites. Manufacturing the myth of the Negro as a slow-witted and slue-footed creature did wonders to cement negative opinion of them in the minds of passive individuals, nevermind if Negros were often the hardest working men and women in the entire country, by default.

Just as conservative-minded Americans are persuaded by Wall Street into cutting their own throats in the name of austerity and tax cuts, descendents of the Old South have graciously eaten bowl after bowl of shit representing the supposed inferiority of the Negro. It helps keep lesser minds preoccupied with their hatred of the other tribe and it helps the wealthy and well-connected maintain their prestige, wealth and power.

The so-called inherent superiority of "whiteness" was required to keep the "peculiar institution" afloat and keep fellow whites united with their betters and separated from their "lessers." When the abolition movement and northern industrialization threatened that institution, succession became the Old South's ticket to continued national psychopathy. The Civil War could had put that superiority theory to bed for good, but the desire for brotherly bygones and the need for a new social punching bag brought about the continuation of that flawed theory.

Sadly, the incessant need to marginalize blacks to subconsciously prevent some sort of karmic retribution from coming into fruition guarantees the continued propagation of supposed black inferiority throughout the American landscape.

Today marks the 40th day of George Zimmerman's fugitive status. Yes, I said "fugitive." As far as I'm concerned, the man is on the run from justice. The FBI began its own investigation into Zimmerman's culpability for Martin's death and whether his actions were racially motivated. The state of Florida has yet to bring charges against Zimmerman.

Anyone who's being let off the hook for killing another person should count themselves "lucky" and book the nearest flight out of the country. I wouldn't be surprised if Zimmy did just that. Meanwhile, I'm not surprised that most white Americans see Zimmy as a misunderstood guy who just "made a mistake," or worst still, didn't do anything at all. Only in America can killing a black person be called "doing nothing."

Understandably, black Americans are pissed. Unfortunately, that tends to scare some white Americans. In response to uneasy tensions and the New Black Panthers spoiling to do something stupid, Neo-Nazi groups have taken it upon themselves to maintain the safety and integrity of whites in and around the Sanford, FL area. Just what we need most: more white guys* with guns spoiling for a "threatening" encounter with blacks. Meanwhile, some nutcase has taken it upon himself to conduct a round of ethnic cleansing in the Tulsa, OK area. Whoever he is, he needs to be stopped, whether with handcuffs or with bullets.**

Needless to say, some of the comments that followed the Neo-Nazi story in the Miami New Times disgusted and it frustrated me to no end, because there was no way I could counter such abject stupidity without losing my patience and fulfilling the stereotypes they've come to expect.

Then I read Abagond's latest blog post. It sheds a bit of light on the so-called "fear" that some people have when being around black Americans. Many white Americans use personal experience, media exposure, crime stats, learned prejudices or just abject jealousy and cowardice to convince themselves that they need to fear black Americans, to keep them at bay, to vanquish them at every turn or harness them for their own means, kinda like those mythical dragons in D&D or some other fantasy Sci-Fi game.

This "fear" is very much evident in this country's basic framework. Sometimes that fear morphs into hatred, aided by jealousy and translated into murderous actions and intent. It's happened at countless points of this nation's existence.

In essence, this "fear" is institutional, whether anyone wants to admit it or not. America's implicit acceptance of the peculiar institution, its continuance in denying black Americans full acceptance into the national fabric and its overall disregard of any worth affixed to black American life has rendered a karmic balance that has yet to be paid off. In other words:

Wanda Sykes said it best when she quipped [and I'm paraphrasing], “What you’re afraid of isn’t called reverse racism. What you’re afraid of is called karma.”

White Americans live in collective fear of a day when the shoe is on the other foot. They expect black Americans to treat them with the same sort of abuse, ridicule and disregard, under the subconscious belief that, after all, they had it coming. They expect vengeance and retribution. We don't want that. We just want to be left alone.

That's what the Greenwood section of Tulsa, OK and Rosewood, FL was all about. Black communities that sustained themselves, with black Americans going about their own business. Jealousy and hatred essentially put an end to those communities.

The Neo-Nazis in Sanford, FL are capitalizing on that fear of vengeance and retribution by positioning themselves as a "savior" and "friend" to fretful white Americans. Some already share their views and beliefs while others are only an unfortunate encounter or a convincing, self-validating argument away from subscribing to such views. Either way, just like the chumps in black liberation garb, the chumps in Aryan cosplay garb* are making a horrible situation that much worse, by providing enough dry straw for a firestorm of epic proportions. All we need (or don't need, really) is a spark.

Seriously, white America, why can't you just let us be? It would have saved Trayvon and his family a lot of grief.

*Zimmerman is about as Hispanic as a Taco Bell $2 meal deal. Live with it.
**Ever notice how when these nutbags target victims, they never seem to target actual thugs, gangbangers and the like? Because unlike that 49-year-old woman, 54-year-old man and the other 31-year old man, those young "g's" and "young bucks" are often armed and have no qualms against shooting back. It also explains why those Neo-Nazis who "patrolled" the U.S./Mexico border probably took great pains in avoiding cartels or "narcotraffacantes" who also have no qualms against shooting back. I doubt a Neo-Nazi vs. Zetas gunbattle would last long.

Update: Police are increasing their presence in north Tulsa after an apparent shooting spree Friday morning.

Police have labeled the overnight violence as 'unprecedented' in Tulsa after 5 people were shot and three of those victims died.

Here are the names of the three shooting victims killed in what investigators call an "unprecedented" shooting spree overnight.

Det. Sgt. Dave walker identifies the dead as:
Dannaer Fields B/F DOB 11-03-1962 killed at 1045 E 51PN
Bobby Clark B/M DOB 09-10-1957 killed at 300 W 63 SN
William Allen B/M DOB 04-13-1980 killed at 801 E 36 SN.

He says police now believe they may be looking for a white male in a white pickup.
All of the victims were on foot in the early morning hours.

Sgt. Walker says, "Asking the public to be aware of their safety when they're out and about. Obviously these crimes happened early in the morning from midnight to three a.m. So, if you're out and about at those times and you're out on the street, you shouldn't stop for anybody anyway, especially a car that pulls up."

More:

Several members of the Tulsa chapter of the NAACP gathered at a north Tulsa church Friday evening for an emergency meeting to discuss what police have characterized as a possible "shooting spree" that targeted five people early Friday morning.

As news spread that the police are looking for a white man in connection with the shootings of five black people, people began saying they believe the shootings were racially motivated.

KRMG spoke with Tulsa City Councilor Jack Henderson as the meeting continued in the 2200 block of N. Peoria Avenue.
When asked if people in the community felt that the shooter or shooters were deliberately targeting black people, he replied "yes, absolutely."

He told KRMG the "word on the street is that this person would drive up to people walking, ask for directions, and when they would turn away, walk away, begin firing. That's truly a concern, and anybody would be (ill) at ease if you knew this was going on."

Color arousal is a hell of a thing. Here's hoping that this sick individual is caught before more lives are lost.

Some people say we've reached a point in time where we can truly consider ourselves beyond race. After all, segregation and outright bigotry are both long gone, discrimination's a thing of the past and hey, we even have a black president now. Now we can all join hands, hum "Kumbaya" and look forward to a time where the last remnants of racial antagonism and bigotry can die along with the people who practiced and held those traits, beliefs and ideas.

Or not.

John Derbyshire, in response to black parents giving their children "the talk" about how to best avoid the numerous pitfalls that lead to jail, untimely death, or both, decided to create a "white" version of that talk to give his kids. The big difference between "the talk" and what Derbyshire cooked up lies with how many racial stereotypes, false "facts" and outright bad advice Derbyshire managed to compress in about 15 "life-saving" tips.

Derbyshire starts off by sneering at the rather quaint idea of refraining from archaic terms that border on disrespect or insensitivity towards blacks. This is mixed in with a little bit of "Why can't I call them the N-word?" and "I can call you whatever I want".

(1) Among your fellow citizens are forty million who identify as black, and whom I shall refer to as black. The cumbersome (and MLK-noncompliant) term “African-American” seems to be in decline, thank goodness. “Colored” and “Negro” are archaisms. What you must call “the ‘N’ word” is used freely among blacks but is taboo to nonblacks.

You can already tell where this is headed. As for Tip #2, Derbyshire proudly states that "10 percent of the African American population is more than half European in ancestry", but won't say how that happened. Funny that.

(3) Your own ancestry is mixed north-European and northeast-Asian, but blacks will take you to be white.

Because not even white Americans can tell by sight alone one another's precise ethnic makeup. Hence why people proudly pronounce themselves as "Scots-Irish" or "Italian on my mother's father's side". Otherwise, they're about as white as Wonder Bread, for all intents and purposes.

I wouldn't mind knowing what's on Derbyshire's sons' driver's licenses. Did they tick the "White" box without a second thought? Most likely.

(4) The default principle in everyday personal encounters is, that as a fellow citizen, with the same rights and obligations as yourself, any individual black is entitled to the same courtesies you would extend to a nonblack citizen. That is basic good manners and good citizenship. In some unusual circumstances, however—e.g., paragraph (10h) below—this default principle should be overridden by considerations of personal safety.

Uh-oh. I wonder what Derbyshire meant by that. Don't worry, I'll get into that later on.

Tips #5 through #8 are merely weak statistical justifications for what could be summed up as "typical black behavior," along with something I can only discern as "blacks are not special snowflakes" and "blacks are anti-social." Tip #9 is where we really get down to the meat of the whole article:

(9) A small cohort of blacks—in my experience, around five percent—is ferociously hostile to whites and will go to great lengths to inconvenience or harm us. A much larger cohort of blacks—around half—will go along passively if the five percent take leadership in some event. They will do this out of racial solidarity, the natural willingness of most human beings to be led, and a vague feeling that whites have it coming.

Eh?

You know what? Here's a small exercise for all those paying attention:

(9) A small cohort of whites—in my experience, around five percent—is ferociously hostile to blacks and will go to great lengths to inconvenience or harm us. A much larger cohort of whites—around half—will go along passively if the five percent take leadership in some event. They will do this out of racial solidarity, the natural willingness of most human beings to be led, and a vague feeling that blacks have it coming.

See what just happened?

But it isn't as bad as the following tip #10, along with all the addendums tacked onto it:

(10) Thus, while always attentive to the particular qualities of individuals, on the many occasions where you have nothing to guide you but knowledge of those mean differences, use statistical common sense:

(10a) Avoid concentrations of blacks not all known to you personally.

(10b) Stay out of heavily black neighborhoods.

(10c) If planning a trip to a beach or amusement park at some date, find out whether it is likely to be swamped with blacks on that date (neglect of that one got me the closest I have ever gotten to death by gunshot).

(10d) Do not attend events likely to draw a lot of blacks.

(10e) If you are at some public event at which the number of blacks suddenly swells, leave as quickly as possible.

(10f) Do not settle in a district or municipality run by black politicians.

(10g) Before voting for a black politician, scrutinize his/her character much more carefully than you would a white.

(10h) Do not act the Good Samaritan to blacks in apparent distress, e.g., on the highway.

(10i) If accosted by a strange black in the street, smile and say something polite but keep moving.

I think Derbyshire left out (10j) clutching your (man) purse when passing a strange black and (10k) calling the cops whenever you feel "threatened" by one. And there's always (10k)(2) if you're in a state with a "stand your ground" law: just shoot the black if you feel "threatened". The police will back you and you'll be home for dinner in no time.

Derbyshire's article and advice is akin to a man who stands on his head in the tub and proceeds to take a massive, wet shit all over himself and the tub. John continues his coprophiliac celebration by touching on blacks' inherently low IQ (#11) the evils of Affirmative Action and how his feelings were hurt by the DMV lady who told him he couldn't add "mixed north-European with just a splash of minty northeast-Asian" on his driver's license (#12), how to use "intelligent blacks" as a human shield against accusations of racism (#13 and #14), and an ill-thought-of jab against President Obama (#15) as a parting shot.

And Derbyshire's claiming to teach his kids all of this. One can only hope he's being factious about the whole thing, but considering how many people tend to take their own bigotry seriously, even the most satirical effort can appear to be laced with bitter diatribe that tells the audience how the writer genuinely feels about the whole thing.

The whole point of letting racism and bigotry die becomes moot if people are still passing on their maligned views on other ethnic groups to their offspring. There will always be a need for a proactive approach when it comes to stamping it out. It's not gonna die on its own.

EDIT: Jonah Goldberg does not approve of your work, John:

Does this look like a "little thug ghetto monkey" to you? No? Then chances are you're not a Fox News commentator. Behold the fountain of shit that spewed forth from the comments section of this article:

What a shame—a tragedy, really— because the dead lil’ gangsta could’ve used “‘A-FIRM-TIV AK-SHUN” to go to kollige an play footballz and make lotsa cash munny!”

Fast and Furious didn’t work to pass new gun control so now Eric Holder will try the race card.

No matter how crime figures are massaged by those who want to acknowledge or dispute the existence of a Dirty War, there is nothing ambiguous about what the official statistics portray: for the past 45 years a large segment of bIack America has waged a war of v i o l e n t retribution against white America.

Zimmerman was attacked by the man and defended himself with a gun. Zimmerman’s wounds were verified by police.

17 = child. LOL!!!!!!

Let the LIB word games begin.

Yet the “justice department” refuses to prosecute any voter intimidation that involves a blac k as the intimidator.

Why should anyone care about this kid? Because he is of color? People don’t value kids period. They are property. BTW, I am a conservative that cares a great deal about kids. We follow hundreds of cases each year, many white babies and children, none of them get attention. But he does??

Zimmerman felt threatened by Martin’s gang’s actions…this could have possibly lead to these terrible circumstances. Gang violence MUST BE STOPPED OBAMA!

Blacks can do no wrong, period! That is the DOJ’s excuse for becoming involved. 50+ years of being told they are special and entitled and the gov’t’s only focus is to make it so!!

In any event, it appears to be a case of one sc u m bag Cuban-type (Zimmerman) offing some scummy b l a ck kid (Trayyy-Vonnnn)…in some trash neighborhood….

but now, because the dead kid’s a kneegrow, we have:

the BIG BAD FBI on this “important” case…and

the usual BLACK-RADICAL-PROTESTERS who can’t mind their own business!

Gated communities exist because people are afraid….& negros thrive on crime…Look at our prisons.

Need that too….But Negr0s only have their welfare checks….and in any event can’t follow rules

What time do the riots start? Gotta get my popcorn and munchies ready for the “hood” burning!

Funny you never see them rally against the drug dealing murderers that control their neighborhoods. LOL!!!

How does anyone know what this 17 yr old said, Most likely he threw the race card out ” you stop me because I*M B L ACK” and then became threatning. The media alway plants the seed of doubt when when a B l ac k is sh ot by a caucasian

maybe his gang brothers incited violence too?

How’d the kid get into the “gated” community in the first place?

Them monkeys can jump!

This is going to be a tough case. gang violence is hard to prosecute. martin’s gang may even want to retaliate. this is scary

Let’s find out why the “po’ baby” was REALLY there!

The little thug ghetto monkey should have been home doing his homework, not out gang bangin.

I’m just glad Zimmerman didnt miss and hit an innocent bystander.

THIS IS PURE RACIST!! When do you ever see the DOJ investigate the death of a white child??

This is pure B.S I want to see the kids police record even if something is expounged also why was he removed from facebook it says account terminated.Why because his parents are trying to cover his tracks just like if you hit a bus they see Dollar signs.People have dragged data about Zimmerman out where is the kids past.Don’t say he was a good boy prove it.Ask yourself what is more likely to happen any 17 year old kid when you ask a question.A smartass reply I have never and I mean never seen a teenager run unless he did something wrong.I guess no crinimal has ever cased a place when they went to a store.It takes me aback the way all these facts are quoted by people who read one story on a issue.

Who says his gang wasn’t hiding near by?

he could be a good kid, but being in a gang doesn’t help his case

An unfortunate death, but when will DOJ investigate the death of a Caucsasian?

Here we go again— a LOCAL law enforcement matter (no federal issues) is being hijacked by the FEDS because the alleged “victim” is bl a c k! We all KNOW this kid was up to no good and now he’s feedin’ worms. Too bad-ha ha ha!

Last night on CNN Anderson Cooper kept referring to zimmerman as white when he knew he was Hispanic I wonder why

maybe then the kid was not bIack maybe Hawaiian like tiger woods then we can say s p i c s h o o t s Hawaiian

This has Bl ack racist Holder and his all bl ack racist “DOJ Civil Rights Div” written all over it.

Crack Skittles the new disguise

Skittles actually has a couple slang meanings. Could be referring to recreational usage of Coricidin. Also refers to a male getting lipstick marks from young ladies on the member. Taste the rainbow..

You think the DOJ or main stream will report zimmerman was Hispanic not White

That is all it was — just another n i qq er. No loss

He was slinging crack.

Is tea and skittles slang for guns and crack.

Skittles is actually slang for recreational usage of Coricidin.

This is what happens when you join a gang. kids need to learn from Martin’s mistakes

They should have a hunting season in Florida for these drug crazed gang members.

This could have had a tragic outcome. His gun could have jammed. Whew!

At least he didn’t chain him to the back of his truck?!?!?

How long will it take to get all of those little blk curly nappys out of the White House bedding so that the next POTUS can sleep without that Creepy Crawly feeling .

The picture is of an innocent choir boy designed to evoke sympathy for the “victum” and justify the skewed actions of a corrupt department of justice.

the b!ack community has created a sense of fear with the excessive amounts of cr!me and v!olence and the glamorizing and glorification of cr!mes and v!olence through c rap music (term used lightly) and most are rude, crude, nasty and give others the tough guy BS attitude.You people (term also used lightly) made your beds and now have to lie in them………don’t be angry with us or blame us you did this all on your own.

Hunting, maybe thinning the herd…

It is obvious the un-civilized B!ACKS who dwell in the greatist nation on earth have never wanted to be part of the TEAM, they CRY and P!SS and MOAN at every given oportunity about fairness and equality, While lining up for the free ride at welfare.
The United States is cursed with these baboons, Who will never gain the ability to stand up and make it on their own without our help.
They are the eternal retarded stepchild , needfull and helpless until the end of time.

Now the family of the kid has lost there way out of the ghetto.

ANOTHER TOOKY WILLIAMS, ABORTED.
GOOD SHOT ZIMMY. lol

Trayvon Martin was not a little "niqqer." He wasn't a thug and he wasn't a gang member. He was a normal, everyday American kid who was executed by a man who saw him as a "threat" for the same reason the Fox News commentators saw him as a "little thug ghetto monkey." It's the perfect example of Extreme Color Arousal, in digital form.

I couldn't be Trayvon's parents right about now. To lose your son over senseless, racially-charged bullshit and stumble upon THIS...

H/T to Little Green Footballs for exposing this. Chances are Fox News will remove the comments section altogether on this story, just as they did when they caught flack for those on the Whitney Houston article.

If this article dealt with the death of a white child at the hands of a white man in similar circumstances and the comments were this acerbic and hateful towards that child and whites in general, those comments would be axed at the first opportunity, out of consideration for the family of that slain child.

This town is starting to look like a garbage heap. And we got too damn many niggers urban thugs, yo, ruining the quality of life for everybody. And I'll tell you what it's gonna take. You people, you are - you need to have a gun. You need to have training. You need to know how to use that gun. You need to get a permit to carry that gun. And you do in fact need to carry that gun and we need to see some dead niggers thugs littering the landscape in Atlanta.

The above quoted, slightly modified for translation purposes, comes from Rush Limbaugh-clone Neil Boortz. Like many Americans, Boortz suffers from a severe case of Extreme Color Arousal, a condition nurtured by generations of subtle societal and tribal indoctrination and propaganda against black Americans* and triggered by the mere sights and sounds of black Americans, black American culture or practically any action or event caused by or stemming from black Americans. Combined with the negative preconceived notions that many white Americans have of their fellow black citizens plus the need for politicians and businesses to nurture and illicit both emotion and compliance from voters and customers with "dog whistles" and coded language, Extreme Color Arousal can manifest itself in a number of ways.

Take the sad case of Trayvon Martin, for example. The sight of a young black man in a grey hoodie aroused negative emotions within George Zimmerman. His own possible bias of blacks in general, his association of blacks with criminal behavior ("they always get away") and his desire to rid the neighborhood of the scourge of black criminality led him to stalk, corner and kill an innocent young man. That's Extreme Color Arousal in action, folks.

There are countless cases where cops have allowed Extreme Color Arousal to override their training and judgment, prompting them to treat black Americans in their custody with a far heavier hand than those of other ethnic backgrounds, if they're not killed outright. The NYPD's "Stop and Frisk" campaign targets far more black American citizens than other ethnic groups, thanks to officers operating on their own preconceived notions and color arousal, or on an institutional bias that promotes color aroused behavior. Other police departments around the country carry a biased attitude towards black Americans that often results in their rough treatment or even death.

Then there's the reaction of many Americans to President Barack Obama. Sadly, there are some who simply cannot cope with the sight and knowledge of a black man** in the Oval Office or any other loft position of power, for that matter. Paula Smith could not cope with having President Obama in office, hence her small but telling way of lashing out in a fit of Extreme Color Arousal.


This "2012 Don't Re-nig!" sticker is just one of many ways that Extreme Color Arousal manifests itself. Given that overt racism is no longer acceptable in polite social circles, those expressing their dissatisfaction with niggers thugs and criminals employ coded language. This way, bigoted individuals have a way of shielding themselves from the criticisms of those who can "crack the code." Plausible deniability and feigned innocence/ignorance are those shields.

Extreme Color Arousal stems from a pathological fear and dislike of black Americans, reinforced by negative portrayals and associations of blacks as criminals, thugs, "beasts," and other entities who should be, of course, feared and loathed. For some, the only way for them to feel safe is to grab a gun and be prepared to shoot any nigger criminal who makes them "fear for their life," so they can "take back" the city.† This sort of paranoia never ends well.

The entire nation seems to be gripped in this paranoia. People like Boortz are only the visible symptoms of a serious, deeply embedded problem that's crippling this nation.

* Many white Americans have been trained and indoctrinated to see black Americans as somehow inferior to themselves, as justification for slavery and later the economic and social segregation of black Americans. It also served to divide poor whites against their poor black brethren, to prevent both from joining forces in protest against major societal and economic interests.

** Obama comes from mixed heritage, but as far as many Americans are concerned, he's a black man. Thank the "One Drop Rule" for that one.

† Some white Americans see the rise of black Americans to prominent positions of power as a sort of zero-sum game -- blacks gain power while whites lose power. Combine the rise of black-led and largely black-managed cities with serious tax funding issues from suburban flight, exacerbated social issues, constant association of black-led and managed governments with corruption, crime and failure and a "us vs. them" mentality that effectively separates suburban commuters from their city-dwelling counterparts, and you have scores of whites believing that 1)their cities were somehow "conquered" by blacks and 2)therefore need to be "taken back" (which usually means having a "proper" government put in its place, one that just happens to be all-white and possibly all-conservative).