I need to serve some grits so here you go... Racism

This blog is dribbles and grits, and I kind of decided them to be labels... Dribbles being silly random drivel and Grits being serious stuff. I need a balance of more serious stuff, and what to discuss?

Here's a recap of shit going down right now, in the mainstream. That's an important clarification. Mainstream shit going down is totally different from shit actually going down. This is the stuff people seem to WANT to talk about. The top things people are reading, searching, and discussing...

So, mainstream recap. This is end of June 2013. Children of the future, you probably want to read this. Not because there's ancient wisdom here, but just to confirm all your suspicions about your parents. Racism is the topic of the week. I'm not saying your parents were racist, but there's a pretty good chance that they might of been stupid.

Paula Deen is all over the interwebs. Not many people seem to know what that story is really about, and I'm one of them. I get blips here and there depending on the article.

The news that set off all the rumors is that one of the previous employees of one of the restaurants is suing  for racial discrimination and harassment. That kind of shit happens every day for most of you white people who are unaware that the minorities still experience discrimination on many different levels. If you so much utter in your own mind or under your breath, "That's because they all play the race card," you are very wrong. That's an explanation you WANT to believe, and it's no different than saying women who claimed to have been raped are lying about it. Just undo that belief right quick on the basis that if the person is playing a race card, you'd rather fall for that than fuck over the person who isn't playing the race card. If you like fucking over people, then you are definitely part of the problem. Just saying. And where did I come up with this notion? I've heard too many ignorant folk say it.

This case is specially different than most because A, Paula Deen, and B, the person suing them is white. Of course, nobody is really going on and on about that. Everyone is only concerned with Paula Deen. I'm sure Ms. Jackson, the lady suing them, is the reason. She threatened going to the media when it came to settling out of court. She did just that. Went to the media when nobody settled. Is that bad? Not necessarily. If you were getting fucked over by your boss, you're going to look into every outlet that can help you resolve the situation, and if your boss is famous, the media is your friend.

Now we do need to understand both sides though. See, Ms. Jackson has a personal interest in the matter due to the amount of money she's suing for. I don't think she's making shit up to sue. There is definitely some racial issues going on with the Paula Deen family. Even sources that try to stand up for them, I don't know if they are stupid or what, but it still implicates an ignorance on Paula Deen's part. There is no doubt that some offensive shit goes down on the regular there. But Ms. Jackson is obviously trying to stand up for everyone else with it. I don't know if she wants to see change. Or maybe she just wants the money. Or maybe fame. But it's still a big gamble which way things are going to go for her, and from what I've read, she was a teenage mother when she started at that restaurant. I think what she expected from this is going to blow up in her face. Of all people, maybe someone else with less to lose should be trying to right this wrong. Even if she walks away with millions, the sacrifices this girl is going to end up making isn't going to be worth someone throwing out the occasional black joke dreaming of a Plantation style wedding.

Then we got Paula. The accusations are as follows from what I gather. There's probably more than this...

1. The Little Monkey. "Deen is also accused of allowing a family member to continually refer to an African-American cook at the restaurant as a “my little monkey.”  Got this from NY Daily News. This shouldn't be an "also accused," this is the bigger deal than the n-bomb. Sorry, but monkey is much more offensive. You don't hear black people call each other monkeys. They throw the n-bomb at each other, but if you hear a black man call another black man his monkey, there's probably crack involved.

2. Making racial jokes. For whatever reason, Paula admits to this going on and seems to think it's okay as long as nobody says the N-word with it. Newsflash white people, your fucked-up racial jokes offend the race. If they say they think it's funny and they are cool with it, they are being nice to you. It does bother them. Some, it bothers enough to be worthy of killing any relationship with you over it, and others, it doesn't offend them enough to make you feel like shit over it. Newsflash Paula, according to the EEOC, jokes against any group such as black people, Jewish people, gay people, Mexicans, all of them contribute to a hostile work environment. You should write that down Paula.

3. The Plantation Style wedding. Supposedly, the wedding of whoever's, the planning included Paula's glorious idea of recreating a Plantation moment with a wedding requiring black people to dress up like slaves to serve the guests. Fucking brilliant idea. How about we do an Egyptian Style wedding and have the white people build a pyramid for it with some clay? The black people can hit them with whips and everything. That wouldn't offend white people at all would it?  Of course, I don't mean the white people involved. We were more concerned with "what people would think," as opposed to the feelings of those involved. Now, on Paula's defense, she got the idea from another restaurant that DOES exist somewhere in the south. Now really in her defense, I don't think she meant to make people feel uncomfortable. She just wanted something classy and southern, she had this vision for whatever reason, probably the restaurant where everyone was in matching uniforms similar to that she's seen on slaves in paintings depicting that era, and immediately dismissed it because she knew it was a dumb idea.

4. The more famous of the accusations, the usage of the N-word. Now most of my black friends are not as insulted by this as the other things. I bet that confuses people. The thing is, black people drop the n-bomb on each other all the time. They also hear white people say it all the time. It's not that creative. It's not new. It's so common, while it bothers people, it's not something to OUTRAGE people like a plantation style wedding. Nobody gives a shit if Paula Deen said it 29 fucking years ago. Of course, that's the easier argument for Paula Deen fans. To pretend the only racist issue is the use of the n-word years ago, and the possible usage of it more recently. They already know there is no argument for the other things, so to win the internets, they make it about the one thing they have a winning chance at arguing. Well, you are still wrong because the fact of the matter is, the word is used by other people in a work environment where it shouldn't be used, and that's the basis of the lawsuit. It's not about who said it. It's about the fact that it IS said around black people in a working environment. That IS harassment. If you really don't think it's wrong, I suggest you look up EEOC's website and get with the program. But as for Paula's image, the n-word is the least of the accusations when it comes to her.

Editing to add to this list... From Daryl K. Washington's blog...

5. Black staff had to use the back entrance to enter and leave restaurant;

6. Black staff could only use one bathroom;

7. Black staff couldn’t work the front of the restaurants;

8. Brother Bubba stated his wishes: “ I wish I could put all those n*ggers in the kitchen on a boat to Africa”;

9. Bubba asked a black driver and security guard "don’t you wish you could rub all the black off you and be like me? You just look dirty; I bet you wish you could." The guy told Bubba he was fine as is;

10. Bubba on President Obama: they should send him to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, so he could n*gger-rig it;

11. He shook an employee (Black again) and said” F your civil rights…you work for me and my sister Paula Deen;

12. Paula’s son Jaime's best friend managed the Lady & Sons restaurant. He threatened to fire all the 'Monkeys' in the kitchen. When Paula found out…she slapped him on the wrist and suggested that the employee visited Paula's $13,000,000 mansion so he felt special and could be massaged.

The big deal for Paula's career, the result, is The Food Network is done with her. Some say it's not because of what she did as much as the Food Network makes a big deal about the "chef" or cook being able to match the image they set out. If your image is that you're super nice, then the viewers need to believe you are super nice. If your image is that you are a super asshole, then the viewers cannot catch you being nice. Then, you look fake. It's not that they don't want fake people. They probably love fake people. They just don't want you getting caught being fake about who you are.

I don't buy that explanation too well because Paula Deen's image has always been Southern, white southern. All she's done is feed into her image TOO much. Cmon now. Paula and Bubba have a restaurant.

Now my take... I don't think Paula's racist. I think she's an old woman, with a passive personality, who only knows the Southern way of life. Things she thinks are okay are not. She doesn't know better. Most black people don't inform you of when you are being a little offensive, especially when you are their boss, and especially if you are famous. Now Bubba, I don't know enough about him to make the call, but from what little I have read about him, he sounds like a pig. Like someone who gives little thought into the consideration of other people over his own whims. And a racist one at that. I could be wrong, but I'm just saying, that's what I get from it.

I also think Paula at this point could fix the situation by admitting she really doesn't know better. Things she thought were okay, she is just now realizing and discovering they are not. That she does care about all people. And I think she should require EEOC training at all her businesses, one that she, herself, would undergo. They have a fabulous 3 day training that touches on the legalities of harassment and discrimination, and the kinds of behavior that leads to a hostile work environment. And she probably wants to have her attorneys draw up a harassment policy that covers race and sexual harassment and a zero tolerance program for it that all employees sign as an agreement to the zero tolerance.

The fact of the matter is she employs black people. A lot of companies don't. A lot of companies do not provide equal opportunity. A lot of companies do not provide equal pay. And they get away with it regularly.  And black people buy from them without knowing anything about it. White people who love all people do the same. How many of us bought from Chick Fil A before we knew about their stand on homosexuality? How many of us still justify buying from them knowing the types of "non-profits" they donate to?

Do I think you should boycott Paula Deen over this? Not because of this. How stupid would it be, "I won't eat this recipe because it derived from Paula Deen who might be racist?" Try, "It's too fattening."

Here's a link showing some quotes from Paula during the deposition.

Huffpost's Article with quotes on the deposition and updates.

Paula isn't the only person making headlines going viral on the interwebs... We have another racially charged story afoot. George Zimmerman's Trial. If you have been living under a rock for the last few years, George Zimmerman is the guy who shot the kid because George is crazy. Basically, George wanted to be a cop, and instead of being a cop, he became a wannabe. Instead of going into security like many wannabe's do, he decided to form a Neighborhood Watch. With that, he watched people. The neighborhood. Anything unusual or suspicious, he'd call either 911 or a non-emergency number. The police tell them, "Don't approach people yourself. Just call us and let us handle it from there."

So one night, he sees a kid (Trayvon, 17, not really a kid but I'm going to go with kid/child because in my eyes, anyone under the age of 21 is still a child to me because I'm old) walking home, stalks the child creepily, chases child, approaches child, and hazy moment, child is shot dead by George. Hazy moment is defined... George says child was kicking his ass. He shot child out of self defense. The woman talking to child on the phone says the last thing she heard was child screaming at George to get off of him.

Now here's the deal. Not just my take, but the deal. The reason George is guilty before the trial is over... George admits to watching Trayvon. Following him. Chasing him. It's on the phone during George's call that he's out of breath from running because the kid started running. There's no doubt the kid was scared because of the creepy guy, tried to lose him by running, creepy guy ran after him too, and both were out of breath from running, right as the child thought he lost the man, he realized the man was still there. This is not even questionable. That happened. Then the child asked George why he was following him, and George's response was "What are you doing here?" The two somehow made physical contact in the form of a fight and George admits to shooting and killing Trayvon with his own gun that he was carrying. It took a good search, but George shot the child with a Keltek 9mm semiautomatic handgun (according to this source).

People are saying "Stand your Ground" laws of Florida is what gives George the leeway to do such a thing. The deal is, when you are robbing a bank, if someone tries to stop you, you cannot shoot that person and claim self defense. George was the creepy guy. He, armed with a gun, chased a kid on a dark rainy night. Trayvon was scared. Trayvon had, according to the law, the first right to defend himself. Trayvon could have shot George in Self Defense. George has no self defense rights because George is the aggressor in this story. Therefore, George is guilty because he admits to shooting a kid. Self defense is not a case he can stand on.

Insanity, however, is something he could use as a case. Insanity defines George completely. Possible sociopath considering he seems to have absolutely no remorse. You can see it in his actions after the fact. You can see it on his face in the courtroom. He thinks he's a hero who ridded this world of another punk. Delusional. There is no telling him otherwise. That's insanity. He's insane. The fact that he chased a kid with a gun in the dark at night and finds the kid more suspicious walking home in the rain armed with skittles than his own behaviors is insanity. A lot of people qualify for that one because they seem to agree with that, but that's more stupidity than insanity I think.

The weirdest part... The defense is making the case that George was defending himself when George was armed, the kid wasn't. When George was chasing the kid and the kid was running from George... I mean what the flying fuck? THEN the prosecution is making the case that George is insane. They are trying to show how George made many calls to the police about suspicious activity, wanted to be a cop, has a history of violence... So basically, the defense is claiming self defense as the attacker, and the prosecution is claiming insanity is what makes the defense guilty. 

Link to Wikipedian Recap of the whole ordeal

Now for more racial stuff... The case originated as a racially charged case. George made some racial implications with his call to the police, and the police weren't going to investigate or arrest George, what many believe to be a racial decision. We all know had the kid been white, George would have been more arrested. I say more arrested because he was questioned for 5 hours before the police let him go. Of course, they never did really try to identify the kid or find his parents. No. The father had to send out a missing person report, like missing persons couldn't have been like, "Wait, don't we have a John Doe who fits that description?"

Anyway, the most current event of race with this case... The girl Trayvon was talking to on the phone through most of these events is black. She just recently testified. Here's a link to her actual testimony without people's bull shit opinions... The people of the internet have not been kind to her. They make fun of her "Axe a question" instead of "Ask a question." They made fun of her weight, her hair, the way she talked, things she said, didn't say... They picked and prodded her, and still do, over every little detail totally forgetting the fact that she was the last person to speak to Trayvon. That she was a witness to the whole ordeal, and it doesn't matter how she says it or what she wears, her testimony is one of the biggest deals to finding out what really happened. As long as she's telling the truth, who gives a fuck?

But this spawned some controversy among the black population because a lot of the people making fun of this girl are black people, not white people. 

This message is going around my Facebook with this picture, and it says it better than I ever could. Note: she was not Trayvon's girlfriend. She was a friend. And I think she's beautiful and I just wanted to jump in there and give her a hug. I totally loved the little glares she'd give the defense attorney.

I'm thankful she got up there and answered all those questions. Not many people know the kind of sacrifice that entails. I've been questioned on the stand before, by a defense attorney who tries your patience with a long ass line of questioning. It's not fun. Not at all. It borderlines traumatizing, especially since it usually surrounds a traumatizing event. Repeating questions about trivial details trying to exploit little things that have really nothing to do with anything because the defense doesn't have a real case for their client's innocence, that kind of shit makes someone's PTSD worse. Based on the defense's idea of self defense, she could have shot them in self defense because their questioning was very suspicious.

READ THIS...written by Derrick Jaxn

I wrote an article about Paula Deen's use of the N-word and how white people are losing regard for our painful past but after watching the George Zimmerman trial, I deleted it. 

Trayvon Martin's friend, Rachel Jeantel, was mocked and ridiculed yesterday via social media, and from what I could see, 99% of it was from her own race. She's only 19 years old, under more pressure than any of us could imagine, and was involved in a tragic situation of being the last to talk to her friend who was killed shortly thereafter. Instead of embracing her, we make jokes about her weight, her public speaking, and of ALL things....her color.

We can't hold white people to a higher standard of respecting black people than we hold ourselves. We can't punish them for hating us and "holding us back" while leading by example and showing them how it's done. There's by FAR more black people that hate black people than there are white people who hate black people. We show it by the self-hatred we project on those like Rachel Jeantel in times like these.

But this isn't new. We did the same with Gabby Douglas when her "ponytail was undone" as she won gold medals. Remember?

I'm not saying I ever excuse the acts of racist people vs. blacks. I just want us all to be aware that we're DARING them to do the very thing we are DEMONSTRATING.

The worst thing about all this is, those that need to hear this message, probably won't.

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And, still don't believe me about the racist jokes? Tell me, white people, that it wouldn't bother you to be surrounded by black people and Hispanic people saying this stuff on a regular basis...

Really, please, imagine yourself. Imagine you work in a restaurant. You are one of the 5 white people who work there. You are surrounded by black people, some of which you have heard rumors about being racist. The one rumored to have beat up a white person in his neighborhood for being white in his neighborhood, a big muscular guy, he breaks out into a joke, and then the manager, who is also black, breaks out into another one. The two go on and on with jokes, and a black girl walks in, giggles, and breaks out with her joke....

Or you could be working at a Mexican restaurant where you realized the owner's brother is part of a Mexican Drug Cartel.

What do you call a white man on a mule?
A honky donkey. (I so stole that from George Jefferson)

So a black man, a Native American man, and a white man find a genie. The genie says he gives three wishes, and since all 3 found him at the same time, he'll give each one one wish. The black man goes first. I wish for all my people to return home to their Native Land. Poof. All the black people are back in Africa. Then the white man goes, I like that wish. Let's finish it. I want to get rid of all the immigrants in this country. Send them all home. Poof. All the immigrants are back home. The Native American is like, "Well, I was going to wish for my people's land back, but it looks like white man wished it for me. I'll have a coke."

What do you call a white man in a box?
Cracker Jack.

How do you herd a bunch of white people into a big group?
Gun Show.

What's the difference between a white man and a crack head?
None. They both will do anything for 5 bucks.

How do you get white people on the dance floor?
Play the Macarena.

How many rednecks does it take to drive a car?
Two. One to drive and the other to hold his beer.

Why do so many white people get lost skiing?
It's hard to find them in the snow.

What did the white guy do before his blood test?
He studied.

How long does it take for a white women to take a crap
9 months

What's the difference between a white man and a snake?
One is a evil, cold-blooded, venomous, slimy creature of Satan, and the other is a snake.

How many white men does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
One, white men will screw anything.

What's the flattest surface to iron your jeans on?
A white girl's Butt!

What did the black guy do with his M&Ms?
Eat them
What did the white guy try and do with his?
Put them in alphabetical order

What did a white guy see when he looked at his family tree?
A straight line!

How do all black jokes start?
Quick glance to the left. Quick glance to the right.

Link to where I got most of these jokes...

Close your eyes and imagine this. For real. Close them now and imagine being the minority in a situation and this is what is said. Imagine that this happens regularly. Not quite daily, but enough to know that you are probably going to have to listen to it again and pretend it's okay if you want to keep your job and be considered for raises and promotions. All jokes like that are offensive. 

Don't think just because you are surrounded by your own race that you are free to knock other races. I got black family. I'm very offended by black jokes. I won't work with people who make them. 

I get offended too by the shit people will say against white folk. There's a girl in town here, from Africa, black, beautiful (pisses me off), married to a very wealthy white doctor, and she hates white people. She used to grab my ass, laughing hysterically, saying, "Go on little white girl. Go on. Scurry out of my way." USED TO. Actually, my friend punched her in the face once later. She tried to press assault charges and lost because self defense isn't assault. She doesn't come near me anymore. I let it go. Nobody pays attention to the gold diggin whores, no matter what country they are from. But I will say I got a gratification out of my friend punching her in the face because treating me like that for no reason really made me feel like shit. It was embarrassing. It was like showing up somewhere important without wearing pants while on your period with a huge urge to fart. If you make people feel like that just because of their skin tone, you deserve punched in the face. 

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And on behalf of Paula Deen, I just want to say...