DEBRADICKERSON.COM

Skin privilege in action: whites and affirmative action

2012-03-29T00:04:15Z

No matter how many times America goes deaf when this is pointed out, it remains no less true: the primary beneficiaries of affirmative action are, and always have been, white women. Not african americans. Not women. White women. If even 10% of America - minorities included- know this, hats will be eaten. Here's a perfect example, especially of the kind of affirmative action that moves a minority group from 'have not' to 'have' and beyond mere tokenism. From The Daily Beast (and the never ending fascination with Mad men and its season premiere):

"At Newsweek, A cover story on “Women in Revolt” appeared on newsstands in 1970 the same day women at the magazine held a news conference announcing they were suing for gender discrimination. The class action, launched by a half-dozen researchers in New York, was ultimately joined by 46 women. The editor, Osborn Elliott, a fine journalist who thought of himself as a progressive, was both surprised and truly hurt by the women’s action. ..."

"Newsweek had been focused on civil rights and the growing antiwar movement, and by the time the male editors got around to the [white] women’s movement, discontent within the magazine had taken hold and legal redress was essential. An affirmative-action plan opened up opportunities that I could never have imagined, and after an internship I was assigned to cover Jimmy Carter’s bid for the White House, which brought me to Washington, where I have been ever since. It’s my [Eleanor Clift's] Cinderella story, and it’s an era that Mad Men captures in all its dimensions. A lot of positive social change took place, the result of struggles waged by many people whose names don’t make it into the history books. To be part of it in even a small way sure was fun."

And remunerative. Wonder how many black women were working at Newsweek then, and of them, how many got to ride this gravy train to the heights of journalism.

My latest at Slate: Why is it funny for a five year old to joke about being beaten?

2012-03-28T22:43:47Z

At Slate: "The first thing adorable 5-year-old Isaiah “Zay Zay” Fredericks explains in "Growing Up Black" is that his dad is "Joe Jackson, but with a little more love." Second, that "black parents yell too much," which he then demonstrates:

Shut up! Go to bed! Come here! Shut up! Go to bed! Sit down! I love you. Get in the tub! I'm gonna punch you in the face. All they do is yell. Can't y'all talk some times? Talk sweetly to me. I'm just a little baby boy.

Hearing “I’m gonna punch you in the face” come from the same tiny little mouth that would have to absorb the blow made me flinch and push my chair away."

I hate corporal punishment. A lot. I never fail to become nauseated when the subject arises, having grown up with it, so when I saw this "comedy" bit from a day care kid, I had to speak up. So I did.

Note: I don't read comments because of the idiots, but my friends do so as to alert me to anything disturbing, like this -- my son went through a phase in which he liked to tie things to other things, including himself and anyone who sat still long enough -- arms, legs, ankles, his neck, your neck. He tried his ears once, but his batman cape wouldn't stay on them. Anything to which something could be tied. He liked connecting things -- like bread bag twist ties fastening crayons to building blocks -- and he liked knots, tying them and untying them. It was a dangerous habit when body parts were involved, so I did what I had to to make him stop. No, readers: he wasn't trying to hang himself or anyone else. Do I strike you as stupid enough to publicize it if he had been, or to punish a child in a situation like that? He was, like, tying stuff to other stuff -- Legos to remote control cars, dolls onto a balloon's string, etc. Geez.

Say hello to my little friend

2012-03-28T20:08:58Z

Daniel Murphy as he unselfishly spends three minutes shooting the breeze with the NYPD. Now would be a good time to listen. It's kinda neat.

8,389

I spent December 2011 - January 2012 'surfing' six different occupies in the NE and shared floor space with this guy along the way once his OWS group and I landed in New Hampshire to Occupytheprimary. Like most occupiers, he's exceedingly young and wonderful and omniscient. I learned to smile indulgently and say nothing while they eye-rolled their way through centuries of history during which their forebears had done absolutely nothing correctly (except give them life, presumably). It was pretty amusing. Until, blase, Daniel pointed out that "the civil rights movement" had accomplished nothing. "Look at the millions of black men in prison." He actually said this when his back was turned to me and I would have had no trouble throttling him with my long johns. But, for the sake of the mission, I decided to let him live. I can always strangle him later.

Occupy is notable for so many things but two of them are these: a) my, oh my, how we do love to talk. There aren't a dozen souls among us who can tolerate silence for longer than, oh, about thirteen seconds before it must be filled with our brilliance. These kids stay up so late facebooking and debating (they uptwinkle in their sleep), at 4 am once, I said, in all sincerity, "If that light doesn't goo off soon, I'm going to cry. I swear."

b) my real point, of course, is my wonderment at all the crazy relationships we're forming, in patterns no one would have ever been able to predict. I see occufamily from that trip on livestream regularly and we stay in touch. I checked on a couple who were getting arrested almost daily, which reminded them to ask for help finding places to crash in DC, where I have many non-occupy friends I fully expect to quasi-adopt them, too. They took care of me, now I'm taking care of them.

It makes me almost giddy trying to figure out how these relationships-that-never-should-have-happened will affect the future of the country. And the world; an OccuRussian visited Vegas recently and now I'm in regular contact with him and a friend in Ufa and we're arguing over who will visit who first.

Look out 1%: the old divide and conquer won't work on us anymore.

Combat Camera: The Year's Best Military Photography

2012-03-28T19:22:04Z

1 / 20

Service members from the Iraq Air Force and U.S. Air Force show off for each other atop a hardened aircraft shelter at Sather Air Base in Iraq while doing a joint patrol of the flight line.

From FP

Pointless, undeserved NYPD violence against Occupy Wall Street

2012-03-24T22:45:34Z

But can you non-occupiers see that it's not just against us but against anyone and any group that would dare to behave as if they were really free instead of just rhetorically so? Today, Occupy Wall Street. Tomorrow, Mothers Against Drunk Driving were they to dare to take to the streets without permission. They only care about two things: letting the military and paramilitary forces know that they'll always be employed and well funded, and, most importantly, reminding us who's in control. We know that's true because they're kicking white ass, too this time and putting no effort in to minimizing the damage. We're all niggers to the 1%, we always have been, and therefore have no business daring to think for ourselves.

Here's a round-up photo cache from today's OWS anti-police brutality march, via Demotix.

The 1% is so dumb, so greedy, so fascist, and so bloody entitled, it has no idea that, eventually, the cops are going to join us in the revolt. Sadly, I don't think that will be until a few Occupiers get killed which I predict to be no later than the end of May (we've planned non-stop actions for then). And when they do, they'll be among our most effective. Til then though, more of this.

Want to see a middle-aged American in a NYPD headlock for protesting peacefully?

2012-03-24T21:41:33Z

or apeaceful march blocked so as to make arresting law abiding citizens more efficient?

You're welcome.

How I do love sarcasm: more from today's OWS anti-police brutality march

2012-03-24T20:53:48Z

Another day, another NYPD outrage: your tax dollars at work

2012-03-24T20:41:42Z

This terrified, innocent girl is 16.

As you read this, NYPD, Homeland Security, and the Counter Terrorism squad are spending our tax dollars arresting peaceful protesters randomly, just to inspire terror and remind us all that they can do whatever they want to us, whenever they want. They're using tactics they practiced to wield against foreign invaders on John Q. Citizen instead.

Unless, of course, we do something crazy like fight back.

Where's Anna Deveare Smith when you need her?

2012-03-20T19:07:58Z

There's so much to be said about Trayvon Martin, and it's all so horrible, I'm going to take a minute to digress.

All the 911 calls are hideous, in the true meaning of the word, and listening to the callers' fear, sadness and anger gives us some idea of how traumatic it must have been to watch a young man fight, then beg, for his life outside their windows. That baby died in terror, mere yards from home. How ever will they be able to go on living where a scene from hell played out? Forcing ourselves to bear telephonic witness and honor that stolen future was almost unbearable, but I know most of us didn't look away; all of America is scarred by that soundtrack from the abyss. And yet.

An amazing fourteen minutes passes between two strangers who will never meet.

A nameless retired school teacher, living alone, no one to call, but so horrified I worried for her health, rather desperately keeps a crisp, disembodied cop on the line while she pulls herself together. There's no one to come for her, "not really" and when 911 leaves her, too, she'll be alone again, but this time jibbering in shock. If she's slept through the night since, I'll eat my hat.

You can her the officer vacillating between his professionalism - he'd gotten all he needed from her and someone had been murdered after all -- and his humanity. Humanity, however starched, wins and she gets 14 minutes not to be an old lady, alone and afraid. I admire the way she passed on the 'strong woman' routine and holds on to him, gratefully, unselfconsciously, for as long as she can, staving off the moment she has to resume her loneliness and have to act all AARP-spunky about it, too. The world has almost certainly drained her of enough; it's her turn.

Beautifully sad, it was a one-act play that encapsulated America's anomie, masochistic lifestyles, and cultural disregard of the aged.

I know it's warm in Orlando but please teacher lady - move back home near at least one person who loves you.

It's the last 911 call here at Mother Jones:

Fracking unbelievable: PA requires your doctor not to tell you about how pollution is affecting you

2012-03-19T03:24:04Z

Need more proof that the 1% sees us as their slaves and draft animals (from OpEdNews): "The law, known as Act 13 of 2012, an amendment to Title 58 (Oil and Gas) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, requires that companies provide to a state-maintained registry the names of chemicals and gases used in fracking. Physicians and others who work with citizen health issues may request specific information, but the company doesn't have to provide that information if it claims it is a trade secret or proprietary information, nor does it have to reveal how the chemicals and gases used in fracking interact with natural compounds. If a company does release information about what is used, health care professionals are bound by a non-disclosure agreement that not only forbids them from warning the community of water and air pollution that may be caused by fracking, but which also forbids them from telling their own patients what the physician believes may have led to their health problems. A strict interpretation of the law would also forbid general practitioners and family practice physicians who sign the non-disclosure agreement and learn the contents of the "trade secrets" from notifying a specialist about the chemicals or compounds, thus delaying medical treatment."

If you're not in the streets with us, you'd better be sending us money, leafletting or hounding Congress. SOMETHING before the 1% clowns have us all in holding pens til we're needed to life a barge, tote a bell, or just die quietly. #disgusted

No shoes, No sh....: Rihanna, honey, everyday doesn't need to be your own personal Slut Walk

2012-03-19T00:48:31Z

This poor girl makes me tired. She's gorgeous and famous and talented enough, yet she can never be sexy enough, if this is your idea of sexy. Between the constant pelvic thrusting and various other stripper pole moves, all while mostly naked, and now possibly reuniting with Chris Brown, I have to wonder what's going on in that girls head.

Were I the owner of Da Silvano restaurant in NYC, I think I'd have invoked the no shoes, no shirt rule.

So weird; choosing categories for this quickie post, I admit I had to linger over 'advertising, class, and strippers' as valid choices. She earned much respect from me given her handling of the Chris Brown situation (an Essence article I wrote about this at the time is not on-line) but it's pretty much been straight downhill from there.