Heavy Mentalist

Mary Winkler killed her husband, Matthew Winkler last Wednesday. According to most reports out about this incident, she confessed to the murder. Now pundits from coast to coast are questioning what “drove her to this”, “what did he do to make her do this”, etc. I just saw an attorney on TV saying “people will not want to see her get the death penalty.” Why not? She could be a murderous wench who just snapped. People who have “had it hard” growing up and who fall prey to all kinds of social and political traps in their lives, like your average petty criminal — usually male, of all races — you rarely hear people asking things like this openly about them.

Yet, I could give a few examples — Andrea Yates being the one that stands out in my mind right now — of White women who commit crimes and are automatically seen as “victims” and people start analyzing what could have drove them to their crimes (read: White folks are less likely to commit crimes, especially innocent White women, so there must be a good reason when they do commit crimes). I find that terribly disturbing. *Everyone* who is mentally and emotionally reduced to committing a crime thinks they have “a good reason” at the moment the crime is committed.

In this post, I openly questioned whether or not I was a racist. Of course I’m not, because to me, the “ism” in racism implies some kind of institutional structure. If you asked if I’m prejudiced against Whites, I could probably give you a different answer every day. Some days I feel like I’m this close to seriously hurting a White person, just because.

Not because I have an inherent dislike for Whites. I just happen to see or just notice more than others, shit in the media and in the general attitude of some Whites towards other ethnicities that I detest, and I know to take it out on all Whites is stupid so that’s part of why I blog and write about race issues. Anyway, before any movement towards breaking the racist system can be made, it’s critical to first determine what exactly racism is and what it isn’t. We can move no further until that determination is made.  Continue reading...

The Three Six Mafia certainly caused a stir by winning Best Song at this year’s Academy Awards.

Pundits from coast to coast decry the win as rewarding a “coon show” and as yet one more example of how “the man” thrills in bestowing accolades to Blacks for portraying seedy characters.

These same pundits, scholars, etc., most of whom don’t actually do what they critique made less than a whimper however, when MTV dropped “Pimp My Ride” into homes across the globe. Why? Because America co-signed pimp culture long before Three Six recorded their little ditty on the woes of pimpdom.

“Pimping” in American business means dominating or somehow taking advantage of your competition or market, and this ability to dominate translates into “cool” – the very basis of pop iconography. And as evidenced by the MTV show, it also means embellishing your possessions in the gaudiest manner possible. The idea of “pimping” is so ingrained in American culture that even some Black thinkers urge Blacks to co-opt the pimp concept in order to bring financial gains into the Black community.  Continue reading...

[edited Apr 1, 2006] Why do so many White people write about, record, etc., Black culture? Recently, I worked on the Princeville documentary with — surprise! — an all White crew. Nothing against them, that’s just the way it was. The director of the film, Ryan Rowe, is a linguist who basically studies the way Black people talk. I asked him once how many Blacks he works with while he goes around studying Black folks. Zero. Then tonight I’m watching War Stories, only because tonight’s segment was about the Tuskegee Airmen. Two people — Whites — who wrote a book about the airmen, Black Knights were featured during the show to talk about some of the things they talk about in their book.

Then a few weeks ago I saw the Negroes With Guns documentary, again produced by a crew of Whites! I swear…I think Chinese people might feel strange about a Black person writing about Chinese history, etc. I wish I actually knew of some examples of books, films, etc. created by Blacks about say…the early White woman led Suffragist movement or…non-Jewish Blacks writing about Jewish history…but I just can’t think of any examples.  Continue reading...

It’s come to my attention recently that some people think I’m a racist. Well, that depends on what your definition of racist is. Some say racism is a belief that one race is superior to others. Not me. I don’t even believe in the concept of “race”. It’s a false construct meant to stratify people into “castes” based on the hue of their epidermis and the texture of their hair, nose shape, etc. The silliest concept ever. Some say being a racist simply means that you make remarks about other “races” simply because of their race. Well if talking hella shit about Whites and the supremacy they generally think they have over others makes me a racist, then so are Richard Pryor, Paul Mooney, Dave Chappelle, etc. so I think I’m in ok company.  Continue reading...