Two of the best things I’ve read today

Open letter to white activists.

I find it curious that African-American women are all lazy unwed welfare-cheating baby-making machines and African-American men are all violent drug-abusing absentee fathers RIGHT UNTIL they are standing in the way of gay rights, at which point they become socially conservative homophobes who can’t see past their religious family values. If you’re going to scapegoat people of color for all the world’s problems, at least make your stereotypes consistent, ya know? C’mon.

Read more here….

And this:

But I have to wonder–where have these white gays been during the multiple ICE raids that have happened across California for the last two years? What is their position on those raids? Do they think that there are no LBGT folks being rounded up?

Do they know that in Arizona, they are just joining the crowds of people who don’t have rights, rather than leading the way? Do they know that women in Arizona without proper documentation don’t have the right to go to the doctor if they are sick?

Do gay white folks really feel that their vote for Obama is them being held responsible for 500 years of violent racism?

Why is it that when communities of color attempt to hold white folks responsible to organizing rhetoric, we are dismissed, cast as divisive, angry, hostile, etc and actively denied a place at The Table–but white folks hold communities of color responsible to organizing rhetoric and suddenly they have appearances on CNN, MSNBC, NPR and fucking Stephen Colbert? That is, it’s *news*.

Read it all.

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I love this story

Europe Welcomes Abnormal Veggies

BRUSSELS — Misshapen fruit and vegetables won a reprieve Wednesday from the European Union as it scrapped rules banning overly curved, extra knobbly or oddly shaped produce from supermarket shelves.

Ending regulations on the size and shape of 26 types of fruit and vegetables, the European authorities killed off restrictions that had become synonymous with bureaucratic meddling.

The rising cost of commodities also persuaded the European Commission that there was no point in throwing away food just because it looked strange.

Starting in July, when the changes come into force, standards for 26 products, ranging from peas to plums, will disappear altogether. European shoppers will then be able to chose their produce whatever its appearance.

My question – wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could do the same thing for people? Except, of course, for people I reject words such as abnormal (or normal, for that matter), strange or oddly shaped. Instead, we would simply use words like different. Imagine. [Fill in the Blank] welcomes different people. All of them.

Ah, well.
A girl can dream, can’t she?

ETA – They changed the original headline, which I used in the above link to the story. The headline now reads: Europe Relaxes Rules on Sale of Ugly Fruits and Vegetables. I’m not sure “ugly” is any better than “abnormal,” but I did rather like “Europe Welcomes….” more than “Europe Relaxes Rules….” I know, I know – I’m way overthinking this.

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Woman murdered after attempting to escape Klan initiation

I read this story in my local newspaper today.

It is a frightening and sad story. After witnessing the last few months of the presidential campaign and the boldness of blatant racism people were willing to express in public – at campaign rallies, on college campuses… everywhere.

What is equally frightening is the way in which some voices continue to insist we are living in a post-racial society… that there is no racism any longer now that a man of color has ascended to the highest office in the land. One of the ways this messages gets perpetuated is to brush off incidents like the murder of this woman as an act that was committed by a bunch of ignorant kooks – no reason to worry. Check out this quote from the article, attributed to the parish sheriff, Jack Strain:

“The IQ level of this group is not impressive, to be kind,” Strain said, adding, “I can’t imagine anyone feeling endangered or at risk by any one of these kooks.”

He can’t imagine anyone feeling “endangered or at risk.” But – ok, a woman was murdered because she was trying to get away from them. We don’t know the whole story because she is not here to tell us. Her identity has not been released, but she was a living, breathing human being whose life was taken away. She probably would not have been my friend. She went from her home in Oklahoma, presumably to take part in the initiation ritual. But at some point she changed her mind and asked to be taken back to town. Instead, she was killed. That seems pretty endangering and at risk to me. I really don’t care about the level of their IQ’s.

And I do care about how this society continues to talk out of both sides of its mouth where racism is concerned. I recognize that for my daily walking around life, the fact of institutional racism is a more present danger to me. Yet, to ignore or dismiss blatant violent racist acts as the work of a few ignorant goons who are not really dangerous continues to teach the false lesson that racism doesn’t really exist.

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