Carlson and Hannity Speak for the Deaf Dumb and Blind

Following a glowing tribute to the life and legacy of Congressman John Robert Lewis, it didn't take Fox News commentators, Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity long to turn his funeral into a racist rant.

Carlson told his audience he thought President Barack Obama was a "greasy politician" and said, "The country is falling apart, riven by racial strife and tribalism, and one of the most respected people in the whole world decides to pour gasoline on that and compare the police to Bull Connor."  For those of you who need a history lesson, Connor was Alabama's Commissioner of Public Safety in the 1960's, who enforced legal racial segregation and denied civil rights to black residents.  He is famous for using police dogs and fire hoses to try to squash the civil rights demonstrations.  He became an international symbol of institutional racism. 

Carlson went on to tell his blind, deaf and dumb audience that it was unfair to compare Minneapolis or America to Alabama.  Of course, Carlson speaks from a place of white male privilege where he, nor his audience, has a clue (or refuses to get a clue) about the struggles Congressman Lewis went through in the South or the struggles any black person experiences.  Furthermore, he obviously didn't really listen to what President Obama said or he took the quote out of context, which is a standard "norm" for that Network.

"Bull Connor may be gone.  But today we witness with our own eyes police officers kneeling on the necks of Black Americans...." ~President Barack Obama

What I heard Obama say is police continue to use extreme and unnecessary force to subdue and even murder blacks.  So Carlson must believe police using vicious attack dogs and stinging fire hoses is better than having a knee placed on a man's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.  

And as far as the "racial strife and tribalism" he referred to, that was created by Donald Trump and his manipulation of the Republican party.

Meanwhile, Sean Hannity condemned Obama for, what he called, a "divisive, politically charged and mean-spirited" eulogy.

When a faithfully married Black President, who was the son of a single mother, the first Black Editor of Harvard Law Review and a professor of Constitutional Law is called "greasy" "immoral," "divisive", and "anti-American" by Carlson, Hannity and those who buy into their philosophy, you have to wonder what they see when they think about Donald Trump.  In comparison to Obama (of which there is NONE), Trump is a xenophobic, misogynistic, philanderer, racist, trust fund kid who quotes from the National Enquirer, peddles conspiracy theories, routinely calls women ugly and fat, disrespects military veterans and advocates for separation of immigrant parents and children.  This is the person who has captured the hearts of a majority of Republicans and white evangelicals.  This is WHITE SUPREMACY.  Plain and simple but a blind, deaf and dumb audience will never see or hear that.

Remember, Racist thoughts and actions say more about the person they come from than the person they are directed at.  

The Millennial Uprising

Uprising:  An act of resistance or rebellion; a revolt

More than 40 years ago I was a member of a young generation who took to the streets to protest for affirmative action and against the Vietnam War.  Before me, my parents were part of the March on Washington---that eventually led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Now the torch has been passed on to my millennial daughter and Generation Z grandson who are among tens of thousands (perhaps millions) of people who have become part of a new uprising:  Equal Justice under the Law. 

AHMAUD ARBERY 2/23/20; BREONNA TAYLOR 3/13/20; GEORGE FLOYD 5/25/20

Who wasn't stunned, appalled, outraged, hurt, sad, or horrified by what they witnessed for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in a video on Memorial Day 2020?  How many white people were downright ashamed or embarrassed by the actions of the white police officer?  How many blacks were terrified that they, or someone they know, could become the next victim.  The whole world has seen the video of Derek Chauvin pressing his knee on the neck of George Floyd (They called him Perry, Jr.) as he lay face down, handcuffed, and grasping for air.  As a mother and grandmother of a young black male, I burst into tears upon hearing him call out for his "mama" after learning his mother had passed away two years ago.

26-year-old Breonna Taylor was shot and killed in her own home by police after some phony drug sting and shot her eight times.  25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery was jogging when he was hunted down like an animal by two white vigilantes who claim they saw  him steal something from a house under construction in their neighborhoods I was on grief and anger overload---just like the overwhelming majority of blacks.  I felt compelled to pick up where I left off in the 1970's but because of COVID-19 and my underlying condition, I was limited in my outside activities.  But then I started to see a shift.  Young people everywhere were starting to take a stand against the injustices they were seeing, reading, and hearing about.  Since the murder of Floyd, they have taken to the streets in droves and the beautiful thing is, depending on what city the media shows, young whites outnumber other races. And surprisingly, some of them are rising up against their own parents.  While donald trump is running around professing to "make america great again" Millennials are saying the way to do that is to move forward not backwards.  GenY, by the way, is the most racially and ethnically diverse population ever. 

It will be up to our young people to carry the torch for REAL change.  It will be up to them to be the change we all wish to see in this world (everyone except the white supremacists and evangelicals).

In 1971, Gill Scott Heron recorded a song called "The Revolution will Not be Televised."  Here's a portion of those lyrics...

"You will not be able to stay home, brother
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag (heroin)
And skip out for beer during commercials, because
The revolution will not be televised..."

In 2020, the Revolution IS Televised!

The White Male Struggle with Black Authority

First of all let me clarify something, I am NOT a psychologist who has done any type of research on this subject.  I can only speak from experience, which I'm almost sad to say.

Until recently I never considered, to any real degree,the dynamics of white men working under the leadership of blacks.  Yes, President Barack Obama had a large staff of folks who were predominately white but I saw them as people who were just happy to be working for the President and had his genuine interests at heart.  I, on the other hand, have always worked for white males during my long career in radio and television news.  It's a given that your news manager will more than likely be a white male.

Last week I was promoted to a project leader position within the company I am currently at.  I was given a team, which includes one white male.  Once he realized he was on my team and not the team of my white male counterpart, our relationship became adversarial.  From day one, he made it clear through his mannerisms and arrogance that he didn't respect me.  When my white male counterpart passed out reading materials for the project, he made it a point to say "thank you" loudly enough for the entire room to hear him.  When I passed them out, his silence was deafening.  On another occasion, he asked ME to step out of the room so HE could have a conversation---a conversation he could've easily dealt with at my desk.  Then to add insult to injury, he sent me a note using incorrect grammar (slang), which I saw as INTENTIONAL and totally unnecessary.  I kindly told him, with a big beautiful smile on my face, that I had a journalism degree and he could feel free to use some of those $10 words he had stored in his vocabulary bank.  My guess is he doesn't have any but that's beside the point.

THE POINT IS:  Because white men come from a place of privilege, some of them have a tough time respecting the leadership roles of blacks in the workplace.  They are used to running the show or working for someone who looks and acts like them.  They don't see us as their equals so having to take orders from us is beneath them.  Some think the only reason we're in the positions we're in is because of affirmative action.  What some whites fail to realize is their skin color has provided them with significant benefits.  They don't understand or could care less about the fact that we have work twice as hard and go above and beyond to prove our qualifications while their "good ol' boy network" works well for them.  They don't have to worry that their credibility as a leader could be tarnished in any way by the implicit racial bias that people have.  They can also rest assured that any conflict they might have with a Supervisor of a different race won't impact them as much as it will on their leader.

To be perfectly honest, his behavior does bother me because he seems to feel emboldened by this new political era ushered in by Donald Trump.  But in the end I will have the final say when I do his evaluation and recommend if he should be considered for new projects.  He still has time to turn it around and I will definitely give him that opportunity.

But there is a saying about KARMA.......you know, right!

Sexual Harassment Allegations isn't Breaking News

Now we can add Harvey Weinstein's name to the list of dirty, old, white, arrogant, privileged men who's accused to sexually harassing women. He has now joined the elite white male privileged club that also boasts names like 71-year-old Donald Trump, the late former Fox News executive Roger Ailes, and 67-year-old Bill O'Reilly Their abuse of power and their lack of respect for women doesn't shock me, as a black woman, because history tells us that's what white men have always done dating back to the years of slavery. The only difference now is that white women are the victims. They're speaking out and getting paid big time.  My great-grandmother, on the other hand, had no voice and would've probably been murdered if she spoke about it.

The Harvey Weinstein scandal broke when an article by the New York Times in October detailed decades of sexual harassment allegations against him.  Actress Rose McGowan was the first to come out publicly followed by Ashley Judd and a host of others.  So, once again, I am supposed to be outraged and disgusted by the actions of these white, arrogant, privileged, dirty, old, white men. When the news of all of the settlements Fox News had made on behalf of Bill O'Reilly white women were up in arms raising all kinds of hell about his male privilege and why Fox News kept it quiet for so long.  Now with the Weinstein scandal I am supposed to stand shoulder to shoulder with the victims and say "enough is enough." I get that and I am glad these women decided to come forward but I also wonder why the voices of minority women have never been heard in a similar situation.

Sexual harassment against women on the job has been going on for a VERY LONG time.  This really isn't anything new.  It's just that women now feel they have more of a voice to come out an publicly denounce the perpetrators using various media platforms, which are all very willing to "break the story."  

But, like with everything else, there are always two sides to a story.  There are women who actually use their sexuality to get to the top.  You can be shocked and appalled to be reading this but it's the truth.  
Now, don't get this twisted.  I am not saying any of the female accusers did anything to aggravate whatever situation they found themselves in.  Sexism, like racism, should never be tolerated in the workplace. But I can tell you, first-hand, that I do know of white women who used their "feminine wiles" to get a man's attention at work.  I was there.  I was a witness. This one particular young lady, fresh out of college, always wore provocative clothing in the newsroom and flaunted her best assets in our New Director's face every chance she got.  And yes, she did get a promotion. The same goes with Weinstein who reportedly promised to advance their careers in return for sexual favors. 

According to a Center for Work-Life study, conducted some years ago, 37 percent of the women questioned said the sexual affair they had resulted in a career boost. In a blog post written by Samantha Brick she said, "The truth is, I’d much rather work for a man than a woman. I’ve always dressed with the express intention to please and gratify my male bosses in the workplace. If I had a choice of how to spend my ideal lunch hour, it’s a no-brainer. Each and every time I’d choose to flirt over lunch with a male superior rather than engage in mindless gossip with the girls..."

So yes, there are women out here who intentionally turn on the sex appeal and they flirt with a goal in mind.  As Samantha pointed out, "I learned very early on in my career how to clock within seconds who the important male was in any room and pandered to him accordingly. And it paid off."

So the Samantha's of the world have made it hard for those women who are truly trying to advance based on their own merit, talents and expertise.  And as long as there are Samantha's on the job, there will be dirty, old, arrogant, white, privileged men abusing their power.

So that brings us back to Harvey Weinstein, who comes from that dirty, old, arrogant, white male privilege fraternity.  So now he's lost ALL of his Hollywood privileges, while he claims to seek help for his "sickness."  But is he really gone?  That remains to be seen.  

I am reminded of Anita Hill and what she was subjected to by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.  Humiliating, degrading and broadcast on prime time TV for the world to see.  What did she get out of it?  Perhaps, a chance to let everyone know who this man was that Congress was so gung ho about.  What did he get?  A lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land.  Oh, but wait a minute.  She was a black woman and Thomas was supported by the dirty, old, arrogant, white privileged men of the republican party.