I'm Just Saying: Post Racial My Bottom.

Let me be clear, I wanted to title this post “Post Racial My Ass,” but after considering the truthfulness of Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid’s recent controversial statements on negro dialect, I changed my mind. If you aren’t aware by now, let me catch you up. A new book titled Game Change (Harper 2010) has quoted Reid speaking frankly on the fact that Obama’s draw as a Black presidential candidate stemmed from his “light skin” and ability to forgo “negro dialect” when he chooses to. That Reid is a smart cookie, though a lack of political eloquence may be his downfall (sidebar: Reid, if you ever need help phrasing potentially controversial racial statements please call me…I’m available and I am one hell of an English language manipulator…). What I’m sure Reid meant to say was this:

Let us not frame Obama’s candidacy as an example of post-racial America, less we forget that while America as a whole may accept a fair skinned, ivy league educated, well spoken Black man as their commander in chief, we are far from the day when a Black man sporting waist length dreadlocks, a dashiki, and quoting Tupac Shakur instead of Martin Luther King, Jr., would be considered a viable candidate, even if he graduated at the top of his class at Harvard.

Unfortunately, though, that is not what Mr. Reid said. 

Still, Reid's lack of articulative tact does not make his comments any more malicious or any less accurate than the statement above.   That is, of course, unless the comment is being phrased (and/or misconstrued) by dubious media entities who fetishsize "controversial" racial commentary.  Unfortunately, once the story was sensationalized by news networks, everyone seemed up in arms about the comment - for reasons I just don't quite grasp.  Seems quite silly though.  I'm just saying...

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I'm Just Saying: There Is A Difference Between an Abusive Relationship and a Violent Couple.

TRUTH: SOME WOMEN ARE VIOLENT.

I purposely refrained from joining the blogosphere's ongoing conversation about the Chris Brown/Rhianna situation.  I reserved judgment while details filtered in about the violent attack, so much so that it annoyed some friends of mine.  I found myself having mixed feelings about the incident, specifically relating to whether or not Rhianna hit Chris first and whether or not the two had a history of physically assaulting each other, as in my mind these two details were paramount to my understanding of what actually ensued.

While I would never excuse the gravity of the attack, or expunge Chris of his violent behavior, I also can't pretend not to recognize that some women (really individuals, as this is not a gender specific characteristic) have a propensity for instigation. I recognize that this isn't a PC statement.  I recognize that it isn't a sentiment that you want to reinforce in vulnerable young women.  Yet still, the truth is some women are violent and some women use their gender as a shield for bad social behavior.  Case in point, one Mrs. Mary J. Blige who is fervently denying recent reports that she punched her husband while attending her album release party last night.

While this is sad and unfortunate news, perhaps it will open up the domestic violence discussion to include accountability of all aggressive parties - because there is a difference between an abusive relationship (relationships where one person is the aggressor and one person is the victim) and a physically violent couple (relationships where both parties act as both aggressors and victims).

Do unto others as you would have them do to you.  I'm just saying... Ladies if it's NEVER okay for a man to put his hands on you, you should NEVER feel justified in putting your hands on a man.  Ladies behave like ladies.

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I'm Just Saying... Are You Really Surprised Tiger Cheated?

Ugh! Something is going on with my post scheduler. This post was supposed to be submitted days ago... I know everyone is finally starting to get over the Tiger thing now. My apologies if you read me in reader. I know that backdated posts can be annoying there.

I've been trying not to speak on the Tiger incident. I didn't want to join the insanity of the mainstream media by commenting on the philandering penis of America's most famous pro-golfer. Yet, everywhere I turn I am confronted with this ridiculously unimportant story masquerading itself as socially relevant. I mean the way people are going on about this story, one might get the impression that Tiger's behavior is anomalous in the world of pro-athletes. But that isn't the case; T-Money (as I like to call hime) is in good whoring-husband company.

Some of our most favorite sports stars have been caught straying - Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Alex Rodriguez, Kobe Bryant and Charles Barkley to start. Oh and who could forget Babe Ruth, Chipper Jones, Roscoe Tanner and Roger Clemens. In truth, pro-athletes have become notorious for stepping out on their spouses. It has been reported that 80-90% of all professional sportsman cheat. So, you can understand why I'm completely baffled by the hubbub surrounding this story. The wealthiest athlete in all of sports is an adulterer? Of course he is. Oh, and by the way, did you know the sky is blue too?

So if the majority of athletes cheat, why is the world so shocked that Tiger is one of them? I have a theory. The "world" is not shocked by Tiger's behavior, White people are. White people took a leap of faith with Tiger - the man who single-handedly brought the insular whitewashed sport of golf into the purview of mainstream. Tiger made golf marketable by leveraging the things that came most naturally to him - his talent and his skin color. When it was convenient he used his melanin. Making the rounds on the green with his Black father, helped win him points with Blacks, points that would help open the sport of golf to a new audience. That new audience translated into untapped dollars and Tiger subtly manipulated swelling Black pride to deliver them. When the matter of race became inconvenient, Tiger agilely distanced himself from constrictive labels, highlighting instead his multicultural (Cablinasian) identity, and thereby delivering another (or an "other") marketable audience.

Tiger seemed to be the golden boy of sports marketing. His clean cut family image, first established on the course with scenes of interaction between him and his father, was only strengthened with his decision to marry so young. For his bride, Tiger took a beautiful young blue eyed, blond haired Swedish model instead of a curvy woman of color. While some sisters were upset with his decision, I appreciated the move for what it was - an excellent marketing strategy. In the days before Barack became president, nothing opened more doors for an up and coming Black man than a pretty doe eyed White woman.

And this is why White people are so upset. They gave Tiger the keys to the proverbial castle and the princess to along with it. Never could they fathom that he would be so ungrateful. Never could they have dreamed that he could desire more than one gorgeous White woman to live out his Anglo fantasies... Never could they imagine that he would want to have his cake and eat it too (pun intended).

Conceptually, I feel White people's pain. I imagine if Eminem, hip hop rapper and honorary Black man (I'm stretching for effect), were to be caught attending a KKK meeting, I'd feel just as disrespected as these yuppie White people do about Tiger.

Though, in my defense, 80-90% of rappers don't attend KKK meetings...

I'm just saying...

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