Dear friends,
I just saw a video on Facebook that showed an African American man/consumer arguing with an Asian woman who was managing a restaurant where apparently he and a number of other folks had purchased some food. When he asked her for some water, an argument ensued, regarding him having paid for food or something. When he accused her of being racist towards him, she rejected that claiming that she too is a "minority".
Actually, her argument is cowardly and racist. She used the same argument that many exploitative Jews have used against Black consumers for decades. In fact, many Asians and Latinos identify themselves as "white".
But there's something else that is very sad here. That being: language is thought. Have you ever said to yourself, "I can't think of a word for it.".
Calling yourself a "minority" is a vicious term that our racist government began using in the late 60s in order to trivialize the value of our presence in this country. Uncle Tom and Aunt Thomasina Negroes from groups like the NAACP and the Urban League started using the term "minority" and popularizing it among us, in deference to our aforementioned racist government.
Additionally, it was important to our enemies that we used such a demeaning term for self-definition, because of the burgeoning Black Consciousness Movement that had replaced the accommodating Civil Rights Movement that died with Martin King. Who wants to be a "minority"? And who is the "majority"? After all, the very basis of White Supremacy lies in the fact that a woman or man can come from Europe yesterday, claim herself or himself as "white" and automatically become part of an artificial "majority" group, regardless of her or his true historical and cultural past.
Please remember,s/he isn't "white" in her or his real homeland, only economic factors distinguish her or him from her or his fellow citizens. We are NOT a minority! Rather, African peoples by ourselves are 40 million strong in this country We can build our own communities that are based upon love and prosperity. We just need to learn to operate within the context of "we" and stop hating each other/ourselves.
One Love!
G. Djata Bumpus
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Thursday, June 26, 2014
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Is Redskins a Racist Term?
Dear friends,
The linguist here isn't too bright, in my opinion. Instead of pretending to be an historian, perhaps he should consider his craft: linguistics.
Just as everything else in the Universe, languages either evolve or cease to exist. That is why it is so imbecilic for people to argue against taking the so-called N-word out of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn novel, when in fact the King James version of the Holy Bible now has about a half-dozen versions of that text.
Even words that we used 20 years ago are no longer in use or they have a different meaning. Language is thought. That's why sometimes people will say, "I can't think of a word for it.".
But then, apart from linguistics and history, there is the issue of "morality" - a term that doesn't require religious guidance of any kind. All we have to do is be honest, reasonable, and imaginative. The term "Redskins" is offensive to millions, both indigenous and non-indigenous peoples of the Americas. Therefore, it's really an issue of White Supremacy, euphemistically called Racism. Please remember, "Everyone wants to inherit property - not guilt".
G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/06/a-linguist-on-why-redskin-is-racist-patent-overturned/373198/ Read full post
The linguist here isn't too bright, in my opinion. Instead of pretending to be an historian, perhaps he should consider his craft: linguistics.
Just as everything else in the Universe, languages either evolve or cease to exist. That is why it is so imbecilic for people to argue against taking the so-called N-word out of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn novel, when in fact the King James version of the Holy Bible now has about a half-dozen versions of that text.
Even words that we used 20 years ago are no longer in use or they have a different meaning. Language is thought. That's why sometimes people will say, "I can't think of a word for it.".
But then, apart from linguistics and history, there is the issue of "morality" - a term that doesn't require religious guidance of any kind. All we have to do is be honest, reasonable, and imaginative. The term "Redskins" is offensive to millions, both indigenous and non-indigenous peoples of the Americas. Therefore, it's really an issue of White Supremacy, euphemistically called Racism. Please remember, "Everyone wants to inherit property - not guilt".
G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/06/a-linguist-on-why-redskin-is-racist-patent-overturned/373198/ Read full post
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Why We Laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy (trailer)
Dear friends,
It's really sad to hear Chris Rock give so much acclaim to Eddie Murphy. Yet, it's even sadder, because neither one of those guys has ever done anything but pander to "white" sentimentality, regardless of the colors of their audiences.
Red Foxx and Moms Mabley will far more responsible and showing dignity with their comedy… Meanwhile, Steve Harvey jokes: I know a girl so black that when she puts on a yellow dress, she looks like a traffic light. And Robert Townsend who produced and/or directed this one, and put out the beautiful movie "Hollywood Shuffle" did exactly that when he was given a TV program a few years back by ABC.
It's really sad to hear Chris Rock give so much acclaim to Eddie Murphy… It's even sadder, because neither one of those guys has ever done anything but pander to "white" sentimentality, regardless of the colors of their audiences.
All the Black comics these days are more or less cheap versions of Eddie Murphy, including Chris Rock and Dave Chapelle. That is, it's the same pandering mentality. Obviously, Dave Chapelle has far more integrity than Eddie and the rest of them, at least to me. However, the types of jokes that I hear from these guys makes me question just how many experiences they've had in life.
Many of the females, of course, have self-esteem issues as females that cloud their ability to be funny in an inspiring way. Unfortunately, almost all of the males share that same fate. If one has interacted with many types of people, under many types of circumstances then s/he will invariably find plenty of material about which to laugh. The problem is: for arts generally, African Americans must learn to distinguish art from pander, by gaining greater mental stamina so that they can think more deeply about what, why/what for, how, when, and with whom they want to share their thoughts.
Finally, for all of the pretentious comments being made about Black comedy on the link below, aside from the fact that too many people in this country, of all cultural groups, suffer from emotional despair that makes them need to be entertained as opposed to entertaining themselves through activities like, for example, simply sitting by themselves and enjoying their thoughts, reading, writing, singing, involving themselves in any variety of sports activities - be they mental like checkers and chess or physical like basketball or soccer,what over 99% of all of today's African American comics don't realize is: there is a huge difference between self-deprecation and self degradation.
We must inform to inspire, in order to win the war. And the war is: to win the minds of Our people.
G. Djata Bumpus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEmGyRBmohI Read full post
It's really sad to hear Chris Rock give so much acclaim to Eddie Murphy. Yet, it's even sadder, because neither one of those guys has ever done anything but pander to "white" sentimentality, regardless of the colors of their audiences.
Red Foxx and Moms Mabley will far more responsible and showing dignity with their comedy… Meanwhile, Steve Harvey jokes: I know a girl so black that when she puts on a yellow dress, she looks like a traffic light. And Robert Townsend who produced and/or directed this one, and put out the beautiful movie "Hollywood Shuffle" did exactly that when he was given a TV program a few years back by ABC.
It's really sad to hear Chris Rock give so much acclaim to Eddie Murphy… It's even sadder, because neither one of those guys has ever done anything but pander to "white" sentimentality, regardless of the colors of their audiences.
All the Black comics these days are more or less cheap versions of Eddie Murphy, including Chris Rock and Dave Chapelle. That is, it's the same pandering mentality. Obviously, Dave Chapelle has far more integrity than Eddie and the rest of them, at least to me. However, the types of jokes that I hear from these guys makes me question just how many experiences they've had in life.
Many of the females, of course, have self-esteem issues as females that cloud their ability to be funny in an inspiring way. Unfortunately, almost all of the males share that same fate. If one has interacted with many types of people, under many types of circumstances then s/he will invariably find plenty of material about which to laugh. The problem is: for arts generally, African Americans must learn to distinguish art from pander, by gaining greater mental stamina so that they can think more deeply about what, why/what for, how, when, and with whom they want to share their thoughts.
Finally, for all of the pretentious comments being made about Black comedy on the link below, aside from the fact that too many people in this country, of all cultural groups, suffer from emotional despair that makes them need to be entertained as opposed to entertaining themselves through activities like, for example, simply sitting by themselves and enjoying their thoughts, reading, writing, singing, involving themselves in any variety of sports activities - be they mental like checkers and chess or physical like basketball or soccer,what over 99% of all of today's African American comics don't realize is: there is a huge difference between self-deprecation and self degradation.
We must inform to inspire, in order to win the war. And the war is: to win the minds of Our people.
G. Djata Bumpus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEmGyRBmohI Read full post
Human Evolution - Cheap Sex and Homosexuality?
Dear friends,
Have you ever been asked the super dumb question, " Do you believe in evolution?". After all, if we hadn't evolved as a species, then one wouldn't be able to ask that question, because s/he would still be only grunting, as our earliest ancestors did.
Moreover, just as there is a biological mechanism/drive to make us eat for self-preservation, for reproduction we have a sexual drive for heterosexual sex (i.e., between the opposite sexes of our species). In other words, there cannot possibly be a "natural" gene or any kind of mechanism for homosexual sex, because that would have meant that we would have ceased to exist as a species long ago.
To be sure, at this point of the discourse there will be some reader who attacks me with a kind of moral terrorism by calling me "homophobic". However, my response to that is: that person is being "heterophobic" - afraid that s/he is really not a homosexual at all.
Finally, sex has been so cheapened in our advanced corporate capitalist political economy or process of social reproduction that far too many people are willing to relinquish their humanity, just as some folks do when they have sex with cows, horses, dogs, and chickens (called "zoo"), in order to have a cheap thrill, then argue that what they are doing is "natural".
One Love!
G. Djata Bumpus
Read full post
Have you ever been asked the super dumb question, " Do you believe in evolution?". After all, if we hadn't evolved as a species, then one wouldn't be able to ask that question, because s/he would still be only grunting, as our earliest ancestors did.
Moreover, just as there is a biological mechanism/drive to make us eat for self-preservation, for reproduction we have a sexual drive for heterosexual sex (i.e., between the opposite sexes of our species). In other words, there cannot possibly be a "natural" gene or any kind of mechanism for homosexual sex, because that would have meant that we would have ceased to exist as a species long ago.
To be sure, at this point of the discourse there will be some reader who attacks me with a kind of moral terrorism by calling me "homophobic". However, my response to that is: that person is being "heterophobic" - afraid that s/he is really not a homosexual at all.
Finally, sex has been so cheapened in our advanced corporate capitalist political economy or process of social reproduction that far too many people are willing to relinquish their humanity, just as some folks do when they have sex with cows, horses, dogs, and chickens (called "zoo"), in order to have a cheap thrill, then argue that what they are doing is "natural".
One Love!
G. Djata Bumpus
Read full post
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