Lower Manhattanite's Family Reunion - A Must Read Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

Lower Manhattanite of Group News Blog, Sept. 5, 2007 (note: context-appropriate extreme language below the fold)

There was a note about the local nightspots. Namely, that there were none. Save for the juke joint down the road a piece across from the “Fish Shack”, and of course, the few spots some 35 minutes away in Wilmington. But one of the note's points of interest got some of the young people going. It stated, that after 8:00 P.M., NO ONE WAS TO GO DOWN ACROSS THE RAILROAD TRACKS, PAST THE GREEN HOUSE (an actual green-colored house), AS THAT WAS THE DEMARCATION LINE BETWEEN FREE-GOING COUNTRY, AND KLAN TERRITORY.

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And then my Uncle R. The supposedly “crazy” Uncle R. (mentioned in comments in Jesse's “Genius” post) stood up, towering in his crisp overalls and bright red work shirt—and brought his frying pan-sized hand down suddenly on a table, and it boomed like a grenade in the lunchroom, stopping us all dead in our tracks.

He thundered, “Ya'll have no clue do you? No clue at all! I read the papers—I hear about what goes on up north. Cops shootin' you down every God-blessed day, but that's okay! That's fine! And then you all come down here, thinkin' everything is fine and mellow. You haven't a care in the world. And you leave your brains at home and forget the simplest things. Do you have the common sense that God gave a gnat? Do you understand where-you-are?”

This story is not from the 1950s, but from 1993. In 1993, I was finishing up my second year of law school. In 1993, Lower Manhattanite and his cousins at a family reunion in North Carolina were warned not to across the railroad tracks into town, lest the Klan execute them, which the Klan or other assassins attempted to do.



Go read the whole thing. It is always a correct move, in my mind, to take the time to read Lower Manhattanite's work, but this may be one of the five most powerful things I have ever read on the net. This kind of writing makes me proud, very proud, to be a blogger, no matter what slanders this whining, pampered aristocratic imbecile Richard Cohen says, to whom Atrios and Markos Moulitsas were far too gentle. Cohen and his ass-kissing editors cannot hold a candle to the writing quality of Lower Manhattanite.

The Right Way to Humiliate the Ku Klux Klan Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

Asheville IndyMedia, May 28, 2007 (HAT TIP Digby, Sept 3, 2007):

"White Power!" the Nazi’s shouted, "White Flour?" the clowns yelled back running in circles throwing flour in the air and raising separate letters which spelt "White Flour".

"White Power!" the Nazi’s angrily shouted once more, "White flowers?" the clowns cheers and threw white flowers in the air and danced about merrily.

...

At this point several of the Nazi’s and Klan members began clutching their hearts as if they were about to have a heart attack. Their beady eyes bulged, and the veins in their tiny narrow foreheads beat in rage. One last time they screamed "White Power!"

The clown women thought they finally understood what the Klan was trying to say. "Ohhhhh…" the women clowns said. "Now we understand…", "WIFE POWER!" they lifted the letters up in the air, grabbed the nearest male clowns and lifted them in their arms and ran about merrily chanting "WIFE POWER! WIFE POWER! WIFE POWER!"

Good Crabbing Award to this assembly of flour-tossing "Wife Power" militants. Nobody got killed, nobody got hospitalized and probably a couple of the younger Klan-lings got the point that what they were thinking and doing was completely ^@*$@#) asinine. The best way to get to these idiots is not to throw a brick at them but to give them Marxist ridicule, in Jean-Luc Godard's sense of Marxism.

Maryland Politics Today on Race, Victimhood and Handouts Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

Kenny Burns of Maryland Politics Today, July 8, 2007, verbatim:

Here is where some people (black) might be upset…well sorry. My friend wrote, "I don’t think minorities should continue to expect handouts from the government, which is the main reason why the black community stays in this modern day "slave" mentality. Massa’ keeps providing for you so you never pick yourself up and get out of the cotton fields, this goes for all minorities (and even some ghetto ass white people) not just the black community." I agree with this statement in it’s entirety.

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I would also add that a majority in the inner city have a "crab mentality." Have you ever been to a restaurant and saw the crabs in a tank? Each time one of them tries to rise, one of the many crabs on the bottom reaches up and pulls them back down. Here is an example from the human world, someone tries to work hard, to try and lift themselves up. The crabs or the people around him pull him or her down by saying (altogether now) "Why are you acting white?" or my personal favorite "Why are you trying to be like an Uncle Tom?"

Kenny Burns promised a few days ago to put up a provocative post on the topic of race, and this post would appear to be the delivery on that promise. I will start where Kenny left off to reach some related themes.

Certainly it is extremely destructive for anyone to face, experience or internalize the concept from one's own community that success (i.e., in practice, the power of choice) is undesirable and associated only with (occasionally hostile) outsiders. I would not feel comfortable gauging to what extent that mentality in fact exists. The black high school students I have dealt with - and I have dealt with few - seem consistently to have a competitive, "We/I are/am going to find a way to own the world" mentality, which I found wonderful, both individually and in a collective sense with other black Americans. But the students I have dealt with extensively came from Largo High School in Prince George's County, which was and is one of the wealthier majority-black public school communities in the United States. The young women who interned in my office wanted to be judges or prosecutors, i.e. higher public ambitions than I myself had as a licensed attorney.

I think there is a massive difference between "the world owes me a living" and "I am seriously struggling and could REALLY use some back-up." I think that there is also in the media a perception of white middle-class immunity to self-destructive attitudes, a false perception. Part of what makes racism so virulent among a lot of blue-collar whites is the recognition among blue-collar whites that they themselves are about one paycheck, one person or one mistake from the problems of many black Americans; the rural or suburban trailer park and the urban "'hood" are not so different in substance, and there are white and black trailer parks and urban ghettoes alike in different parts of the U.S.

Hidden beneath issues of "acting white" and "Uncle Toms" are cultural and style differences between "black culture" and "white culture" (or, more precisely, ranges of differences among ranges of said cultures) defined extremely loosely, such differences contribute to miscommunications and misunderstandings and perhaps contributing to a sense of alienation from mainstream (i.e. mostly white) U.S. business and academic culture among some black Americans. A tiny example: the word "fight" has different meanings for most white and black Americans. A "fight" for many white people means an unpleasant argument or what might be termed a "spat"; for many black Americans, a "fight" is a physical confrontation that might involve the law or other reasonably serious fallout. While white Americans are so diverse by class, region, religion and ethnic identity that generalizations about white people across those divides are difficult, the cultural miscues between blacks and whites follow a number of discernible patterns that, with education, can be recognized as meaningful cultural differences.

A white American visiting the Netherlands - a nation of about 16 million people - as an exchange student would take the time to learn some basic Dutch (and, if going near Groeningen, a little Frisian), would learn about Dutch cultural expectations about paying for meals, alcohol consumption, bicycles, World War II, herring, the Queen, marijuana regulation and why the Dutch are ABSOLUTELY not Germans. Knowing jokes about wooden shoes would not cut it. These generalizations would not apply to every Dutch person, of course, but would be useful to know for likely successful interactions. Similarly there are about 32 million black Americans. You would think that white people could be troubled to learn about black culture beyond negative (and positive) stereotypes to get to what's real.

The "Guide to the Netherlands" books in the travel section of most big box bookstores do not have a direct counterpart for black American culture and life. For many white Americans, black America is another country and one that they don't visit.


The best books along these themes that I have found are the two to the left. Neither is a "perfect book"; indeed, the Kochman book is a bit dated but still useful. I think both books should be in the working library of every office manager and school teacher - black, white or whatever. Of course, actually knowing black people and, you know, speaking with them would be better than books, but it's understandable that well-meaning white people don't want to look stupid or assume that any given black person in their acquaintance is jumping up and down for an opportunity to be a cultural encyclopedia for the inquiring Caucasian.

As far as black people getting to know "white culture[s]", that's both easier and tougher - easier because white people are, well, easy to find but more difficult because white people are so numerous and of such varied subcultures themselves.

I drill on the cultural issues here because it's in cultures, assumptions, fears, histories, heritages and heroes, not in skin tone, that black and white Americans of good will find themselves in conflict. As for those not of good will, they do not seek common ground but conflict itself, period. I am perhaps overly optimistic that the former out number the latter among blacks and whites, but optimistic I remain.

Obama Campaign Chides Hillary Clinton for Accepting Support from Indian-Americans Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

I have read through the Obama campaign press release copied below the fold, and am not sure whether it's a low-road racist attack on Indian-Americans or a bona fide criticism (or neither; it could easily be stupid without being racist as well.) John Aravosis of AmericaBLOG thinks it's a bad faith race-based ploy by Obama, but I am on the fence.

HAT TIP NY Daily News.

Tell me what you think.

Read more...

HILLARY CLINTON (D-PUNJAB)’S
PERSONAL FINANCIAL AND POLITICAL TIES TO INDIA
The Clintons have reaped significant financial rewards from their relationship with the Indian community, both in their personal finances and Hillary’s campaign fundraising. Hillary Clinton, who is the co-chair of the Senate India Caucus, has drawn criticism from anti-offshoring groups for her vocal support of Indian business and unwillingness to protect American jobs. Bill Clinton has invested tens of thousands of dollars in an Indian bill payment company, while Hillary Clinton has taken tens of thousands from companies that outsource jobs to India. Workers who have been laid off in upstate New York might not think that her recent joke that she could be elected to the Senate seat in Punjab is that funny.

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY

PERSONAL HOLDINGS

2006: Bill Clinton Invested Tens of Thousands In An Indian Bill Payment Company. According to Hillary Clinton’s personal financial disclosure form, as part his ownership of WJC Investments, LP LLC, Bill Clinton held between $15,001 and $50,000 worth of stock in Easy Bill Limited, an Indian company. According to the company’s website, “Functioning as a one-stop bill payment shop, Easy Bill facilitates payment of utility bills as well as recharging of pre-paid mobile connections at a place the consumer is already familiar and comfortable with the neighbourhood store.” In addition to providing terminals throughout India where customers may pay their bills, the company also maintains a call center described as “a dedicated response centre for efficient customer service.” [Hillary Clinton 2006 Financial Disclosure Report, http://www.easybillindia.com/]

2006: Bill Clinton Collected $300,000 From Cisco In 2006. Hillary’s personal financial disclosure forms indicate that Bill Clinton gave two speeches to Cisco Systems, each for $150,000 on 5/18/06 and 8/17/06. [Hillary Clinton 2006 Financial Disclosure Report; 3,4]

CAMPAIGN FUNDRAISING

Hillary Clinton Accepted Almost $60,000 In Contributions From Employees Of Cisco Systems, Which Laid Off American Workers to Hire Indian “Techies.” Clinton’s Presidential Exploratory Committee took $39,450 from Cisco employees during the first quarter of 2007. Cisco employees have also donated $18,900 to Clinton’s Senate committee between 1999 and 2006. Forbes reported, in a feature called “A Tale of Two Cities” that Cisco was laying off $60,000-a-year “techies,” while hiring new employees in Bangalore, India. “Cisco used only a few Infosys workers in Bangalore six years ago [in 1998]; [by 2004, it used] almost 300 contract staff, plus 550 full-fledged employees in its own Bangalore office.” In 2006, Newsweek reported that “for Cisco, India is the new frontier, where it’s investing $1.2 billion to build a gleaming R&D campus that will employ 3,000 people.” [FEC filings; Forbes, 4/12/04; Newsweek, 3/6/06]

Clinton Donor, Sant Singh Chatwal, Cited Clinton’s India Caucus Work Vowed To Raise $5 Million. In March 2007, the Economic Times wrote, “[Clinton] has roped in New York-based hotelier Sant Chatwal as co-chair of her recently formed presidential exploratory committee to run for the 2008 White House race. […] He is also creating an organization called Indian Americans for Hillary 2008.” In April 2007, Mangalorean reported that Indian Americans for Hillary 2008 (IAFH) had already raised $1 million and “aimed to raise at least five million dollars.” A major fund raiser on June 24 hosted by Chatwal, the founder of IAFH; steel baron, Lakshmi Mittal, and businessman SP Hindujas, was expected to pull more than 1,000 guests. In June 2007, The New York Times reported that “two Indo-American receptions have a total of $450,000 in commitments.” In the picture (right), Sen. Clinton speaks at a reception hosted to push forward the US-India nuclear deal while Sant Singh Chatwal listens carefully. [New York Times, 6/7/07; Economic Times of India, 3/18/07; mangalorean.com, 4/14/07, accessed 4/18/07; picture, Tribune India, 9/14/06]

 Chatwal Owed The City Of New York More Than $2 Million In Back Taxes, Fled Prosecution For Fraud But Was Arrested During Visit to India With Bill Clinton. Sant Singh Chatwal, who raised more $200,000 for Sen. Clinton in 2000, owed New York City $2.4 million in back property taxes. In addition, during a visit to India with Bill Clinton, in May 2001, Chatwal was arrested by authorities there and charged with defrauding the New York City branch of the Bank of India out of $9 million he borrowed in 1994. He posted bail, then fled India, boarding a flight to Vienna despite an attempt by authorities to detain him. . [New York Daily News, 11/24/02; New York Daily News, 11/7/00]

 FDIC Charged Chatwal With Obtaining Improper Loans. In a separate 1996 case, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. charged Chatwal with obtaining improper loans from the First New York Bank for Business, causing the bank to lose more than $25 million. Chatwal, who was a director of the bank, arranged more than $14 million in loans to himself and his businesses, often with no collateral, said the FDIC. He didn't repay the loans and the bank failed. [New York Daily News, 11/24/02; New York Daily News, 11/7/00]

CLINTON AND THE SENATE INDIA CAUCUS

Clinton Co-Founded The Senate India Caucus, A Project Of The U.S. India Political Action Committee. In 2004, Clinton co-founded and became the co-chair of the Senate India Caucus which was coordinated by the U.S. India Political Action Committee (USINPAC). Roll Call reported, “The goals of the caucus, which already has 31 members, include increasing trade with India and improving security against global terrorism.” Sen. Clinton said, “It is imperative that the Unites States do everything possible to reach out to India. This Caucus is dedicated to expanding areas of agreement with India and engaging in a candid dialogue of differences.” [link to photo at USINPAC website, accessed 4/17/07; Roll Call, 4/28/04; PR Newswire, 4/29/04]

CLINTON WINS “WEASEL AWARD” FOR COMMENTS ON INDIA

2005: Anti-Offshoring Advocacy Group Gave Sen. Clinton A “Weasel Award,” Citing Pro-Outsourcing Comments Clinton Made In India. The Press Trust of India wrote, “An American anti-offshoring advocacy group has awarded its first ‘Weasel Award of 2005’ to Democrat Senator Hillary Clinton for her recent remarks supporting outsourcing. The Delaware-based IT Professionals Association of America (ITPAA) representing over 1,200 IT professionals nationwide, said on its Web site that it presented this award to business and political leaders that it believes ‘betray the trust of the American people.’ Scott Kirwin, founder of the organization claimed that people were ‘tired of Democrats pretending they care about the problems facing average Americans. Senator Clinton’s actions prove they clearly do not.’ The ITPAA based its award on press reports of Hilary Clinton supporting outsourcing and assuring political and business leaders in India that the US would not attempt to save the jobs lost. ‘Outsourcing will continue. There is no way to legislate against reality. We are not in favor of putting up fences.’ Hillary had said on Feb 28 in India, according to a report by the Asia Times. Kirwin also cited her position as co-chair of the ‘Friends of India Caucus’ in the Senate, a group of senators that supports issues important to India, including outsourcing and H-1B and L-1 visas, as another reason behind the ITPAA's decision to give the award to the prospective Democrat presidential nominee.” [Press Trust Of India, 3/5/05; Link To Weasel Award]

 2/05: On India Trip, Clinton Allayed India’s Fears That Outsourcing Would End. The India Review wrote, “Senator Clinton allayed apprehensions in India that there would be a bar on outsourcing. ‘There is no way to legislate against reality. Outsourcing will continue,” she said. [India Review, 4/05, accessed, 6/7/07]

 Sen. Clinton (D-Punjab) Joked That She Was Senator From The Punjab Region In India. “At the fundraiser hosted by Dr Rajwant Singh at his Potomac, Maryland, home, and which raised nearly $50,000 for her re-election campaign, Clinton began by joking that, ‘'I can certainly run for the Senate seat in Punjab and win easily,’ after being introduced by Singh as the Senator not only from New York but also Punjab.” [India Abroad, 3/17/06]
CLINTON CLAIMS OUTSOURCING
“WORKS BOTH WAYS…IT ACTUALLY BROUGHT JOBS TO BUFFALO.”

Clinton Says “Outsourcing Does Work Both Ways.” Crain’s New York Business wrote, “Mrs. Clinton may be motivated by a desire to uphold the free trade legacy of the Clinton years. […] In an appearance on CNN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight, she boasted about attracting 10 jobs to New York from India-based Tata Consulting. When Mr. Dobbs inquired if she had understood the degree to which Tata, which helps U.S. companies outsource, was stealing American jobs, Mrs. Clinton rejoined: ‘They’ve actually brought jobs to Buffalo. Outsourcing does work both ways.’” [Crain’s New York Business, 6/21/04; CNN, 3/3/04]

In An Interview With Lou Dobbs, Senator Clinton Defended Her Support Of Tata Consulting, A Company That Brought Ten Jobs To Native Buffalo Residents But Destroyed Thousands Of Jobs Over The Years. Lou Dobbs asked Clinton, “Senator, a number of people pointed out to us, e-mailing us and calling us, saying, ask the senator about her helping Tata Consulting, a well-known outsourcer, open jobs -- and office in Buffalo, New York. I’m asking you, did you really understand the degree to which they were involved in outsourcing jobs when you were there?” Clinton replied, “Well, of course I know that they outsource jobs, that they’ve actually brought jobs to Buffalo. They’ve created 10 jobs in Buffalo and have told me and the Buffalo community that they intend to be a source of new jobs in the area, because, you know, outsourcing does work both ways.” [CNN, 3/3/04]

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Is Famous For Pioneering The Business Practice Of Off-shoring. The San Jose Mercury News wrote, “TCS, however, will go down in the annals of offshoring as the original high-tech body shop. Starting in the early 1990s, TCS blanketed the American landscape with legions of itinerant software programmers from India. […] Tata pioneered an industry that eventually evolved into the dynamo of offshoring, or sending work to cheap labor markets overseas. […] Tata’s methods have not been popular among U.S. technology workers, however, who complain guest workers suppress local wages and offshoring takes good jobs overseas.” [San Jose Mercury News, 12/6/04]

Tata’s Buffalo, N.Y. Training Center Caters To The Needs Of The Company’s 8,000 Employees In The United States, 80 Percent Of Whom Are Workers From India. India Abroad wrote, “At the Chrysalis Center TCS will host new employees in month-long training sessions to make them aware of the company’s history and culture and to hone their core IT skills that will bridge existing knowledge with advanced skills necessary to work on innovative projects for customers.” The center will also cater to the training needs of the more than 8,000 TCS employees across the US, 80 percent of whom are from India, according to Buffalo News. [India Abroad, 7/30/04; Buffalo News, 7/20/04]

Gupta Said Democrats’ Stand On Outsourcing Was Poll-Year Rhetoric. The Economic Times wrote, “Vinod ‘Vin’ Gupta […] also believes that the Democratic Party’s stand on outsourcing is more poll year rhetoric than any serious economic policy statement. ‘We have to compete globally and US has to find the best product and services at the best cost. Tapping global resources will obviously make the US economy stronger,’ says Gupta whose own company InfoUSA outsources both technology support and database work to vendors in India. Gupta, who has helped Hillary Clinton and Al Gore in fund-raising efforts for their campaigns, is now involved in fund raising efforts for Senator Kerry.” [The Economic Times, 3/29/04]

I don't like the "D-Punjab" reference if the issue is economic competition with the U.S. Most (75%+) of the Punjab region's population is actually in neighboring Pakistan. Team Obama's rap against Clinton came from a host's introduction of Senator Clinton at an Indian-American fundraiser who was complimenting her on her being a Senator not only from New York but from Punjab. Perhaps she should have told her host to stick it in his ear, but she was polite and rolled with it instead. But Punjab is nowhere near the boom cities of Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad which provide the bulk of the competition in tech (and, increasing, in legal services); Punjab is a pretty prosperous region by Indian standards but known more as a breadbasket and manufacturing center than as a major tech hub. Indian Punjab is known best as the homeland of the Sikh religion, and Senator Clinton's host was a Sikh.

I guess to compare, if a Republican U.S. Senator went to an Oktoberfest fundraiser and was described as not only the favorite Senator from, say, Wisconsin but also of Bavaria, and the Senator rolled with it, one would not be seeking to challenge the Senator's patriotism. Then again, Bavarians are both sociologically "white" in America and are pale-complexioned. German-Americans generally make up about 1/3 of the country. So starting nativist static with German-Americans in 2007 (unlike 1942 or 1916) would kill a Presidential candidate trying to win Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wisconsin. But Indian-Americans are probably fairer game.

Field Negro on Racist Christmas Carols at Tufts Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

Field Negro, May 6, 2007, advising Tufts University's president on possible sanctions against Tufts' conservative newspaper for publishing racist Christmas lyrics in December 2006:

Do not take any action against the campus conservatives! Let me repeat that: Do not take any action against them! To the black students on campus, my advise to you is this: Hit your books, focus on graduating, and forget about those white conservatives on campus who want your black asses gone. Nothing you do is going to change how they feel about you. (They are white republican conservatives for crying out loud!) In fact, you should be glad that they are publishing this type of ignorant shit, because at least you know where they stand. When are black folks going to learn? This is the reality you live in, just because folks hide their true feeling about your ass on a daily basis does not mean that racism and ignorance does not exist. Even at a fine institution like Tufts University. I feel for that black sophomore who said; "I think they crossed the line." Because I just bet that when she headed on up to Tufts with her 1,300 SAT score and straight A's from high school, she thought she would never have to confront racism again. Well as my man Borat would say": "Not!" This is America young lady, and in a way, you are getting a lesson in reality 101 right there on your campus. This is what one of your fellow sophomores of the white persuasion said: "I honestly don't believe that it was intended to be racist. Of course I could see why they (Black people) would be offended". See, he understands, and I bet lots of other white people do too.

I cite this both because I have been looking for a chance to provide Field Negro some exposure here beyond the blogroll link and because his comments are apropos of recent national discussions of racism in politics and the media.