Black in America

I've been watching ‘Black in America’ and now I know... that being a misplaced Smokey mountain Hillbilly, raised in California without a father in the home, almost makes me Black. I like to grab my crotch and tell people I'm part black, but that's a joke of course… I'm part Donkey.
Of course I'm really watching ‘Black in America’ because, ‘How ya' going to know?’
Nobody looks at me like I'm black. They look at me like I'm ugly. All you handsome, pretty people might not know what I'm talking about, but ya' know… when you pull up next to that hot girl with her hair washed and her shiny lipstick on and even if she ain't good looking, she got her hair washed and her shiny lipstick on, so she thinks she is.... and anyway, inevitably I'll pull up and I'll be looking to see who is in the car next to me.... and whoosh, that girl will damn near break her neck twisting it around to look the other way. I want to jump out and yell, ‘Hey! I wasn't even looking' for a girl with her hair washed’.
But anyway, they always turn their head. Which is like looking at you like you’re ugly. If they don't turn their head, they ain't pretty enough for me. Good thing too. Ya' know, the male ego can make anything reality.

Reminds me of the joke:
I go out. I try to meet women. The first line is always different ‘Hi, how are you. You look nice.” Ya' know, something like that. But the second line is always the same, “Hey Bitch! I’m talking to you!”

People look at me like I'm poor too, sometimes. That just means I'm fooling the one's not paying attention the other part of the time. And of course, in the dice game of what really counts, and blessings you can't sell, I am as rich as my ignorance allows me to be. Which takes me back to being looked at like you're poor...ya' know, if you wear blue plaid shorts and the blue doesn't match the blue in the flowered Hawaiian shirt you're wearing, and your green safarii hat doesn't match your grey cross training shoes, people look at you like your poor. Like you ain't got a clue. Like you’re too poor to know about white teeth and vaginal odor, and wouldn't know how to appreciate a girl with her hair washed and her shiny lipstick on. Too poor my ass, I'd pay to appreciate it.
I get other looks sometimes. The ‘whoa, you’re too loud’ look is common. I'd be exhausted if I concentrated on whispering all the time.
I get the ‘oh, he’s bald’ look a lot too. Ya' know when you're meeting that hot girl for the first time, and she's got her hair washed and her shiny lipstick on and you smile at her, and she's watching your every move. You can feel her radar on you, and then... you take your hat off.... it’s like the power went off. Your blip disappeared. It's like your face became twice as long and everything else became half its appropriate size.
Sometimes, I get that perplexed look, too. Ya’ know, like, I was talking to this attractive woman at this party that my friend was invited to and, I knew she was looking for a man because she was there… and her hair was washed and she had that shiny lipstick on. And I hadn't had a shower for three days so I was manly. Also I hadn't taken my hat off... all that said I figured that I was in the running. So I just told her, “I'll give ya' a try-out.” She said, “huh?” I said, “Well honey, I can't guarantee you'll make the team, but I'll give ya' a try-out.” She looked confused walking away.
Then you meet a woman who, for whatever dysfunctional reasons of her own, likes you, falls in love with you. And you don't know how to act.... back to being ‘Black in America.’ Lack of a good ‘male role model’ in any young man's life is a serious problem, regardless of his race.
It is an inherited problem too. My sons inherited a father who didn't know how to act sometimes. I just knew how I wanted them to act. What I knew from experience, Tom Sawyer and the Hobbit. Make sense?
And I misspelled safari above because Hawaii has two eyes and so do fish. I didn't say this was going to be easy. You figure it out because I'm working on a new campaign to bring bald, ugly, crude, old men back into mainstream American life where we can be treated handsomely. See, I'm going to call it ‘Bald in America’ and I want Soledad O'Brien to do the interview because I think I could be comfortable with her.... she seems so understanding, and I'm always getting a look...

CNN relates

National news is showing a predator spot, and kill, a group of men in Iraq identified as a mortar team firing on the infamous Green Zone.

Those black hoods didn't seem to matter much when the lights went out. They were identified anyway as DEAD.

I can't feel sorry for the insurgent. Indigenous mortar team being sent to heaven by that hellfire missile. I'm against any group that gets a free ticket to heaven if they die killing Americans, or trying to kill Americans.

We can send them to heaven with God's blessing, because if God is granting them a free ride to make the US their mortal enemy, the

US killing them must be part of the divine plan.

I still enjoy watching those guys have their lights put out.

Now let's get the hell out of there.

Also on national news (CNN) a story from a black college where students interviewed identified themselves as being black Americans, not Americans, in the fashion I discussed in an post a few days ago (Forty Years Ago... 04June08).

I thought everybody was happy? Don't be a Hater-

The Danger...

.......I wrote of on Jan. 28 in an E titled, "It's not about race", looms closer on the horizon today. In that e I asked," Will they( Obama supporters) accept a defeat if non-black voters do not support the Senator and then claim, "It's not about race"? It would now appear non-black voters are supporting the Senator in at least enough numbers to give him the nomination.

Now I worry that Senator Obama could win the majority of delegates and the popular vote, and then lose because of the "super delegates", thus, igniting deeply held feelings of racial inequity that would result in rioting and social unrest. Possibly civil war.

IF I was a Black American and Sen. Obama was the popular vote and delegate winner, and then somehow was not the candidate, I would question everything about America . And regardless of the visible, initial reactions, the designation of Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee without a clear cut victory would be a devisive disaster for the nation; An alienating action to Black Americans that would set race relations back fifty years.

It's obvious The Clinton campaign is not going to concede. On the contrary, the more the nomination appears to slip from Hillary's hands, the nastier she and Bill become ! Is she enough of a stateswoman to gracefully bow out for the good of the party and the election of a Democrat? HELL NO....... But would the Clintons and the Party pull some political, backdoor, curveball in order to win the nomination for Hillary, even at the expense of the nations race relations? That's what "Florida and Michigan recounts", and "super delegates" sound like, to me. That would be dangerous to the nation as as whole.

An additional danger is if the campaign continues to be ugly and escalates any further then it already should not have, the democrats will weaken themselves to the point McBush could win. Now thats dangerous.

But, when political strategists theorize one candidates supporters will be so turned off by the other candidates nomination that they will not vote, or switch affiliation and vote Republican, I believe it could be much worse: I dare say it, "If Sen.Obama goes into the convention with the most delegates, He damn well better come out the nominee".

Or we can play "Burning down the House". In other words, Black America is supporting Senator Obama in the 90+ percentiles, should by some hook or crook Hillary Clinton get the nomination, and Black America see it as a robbery, I can almost see Oprah throwing Molotav cocktails! After the Gore\2001 robbery and eight years of Bush, I may want to join the revolution. (can't bite the hand that feeds me).

I'll repeat my words of Jan28;

The Obama campaign promises to illustrate how tolerant, mature, evolved, and hypocritical we are as a nation. And I dare say it now: It is about race, and a myriad of other qualities that have nothing to do with race, but, should Senator Obama lose, "race" will then be a major issue. If he wins: History marches on, he's the first, there will be others.

In the coming months, America will learn something about her people: They don't live in a Grey World.

Red state, Blue state, Revealing me and you state.

In the now infamous words of the Reverend Wright, " Hillary Clinton will never know what it's like to be a black man in a society and culture controlled by rich white men." Neither does anybody else whom isn't a black man, I would imagine, BUT, the Reverend seems to know of a frustration, or anger, or power hidden deep within the unsatisfied souls of his delegation. Watch the congregation as they nod and agree with his words.They seem to know what the Reverend is speaking of. These are affluent Blacks whom lack for nothing, yet they share the Reverends feelings. And in the event that Senator Obama should get cheated out of the nomination for President, those feelings will become dangerous. It will be like a war cry to revolt against a society and culture controlled by rich white men.

It's Not About Race

It was raining here earlier. My mother called and she told me that it was snowing where she lives. She's forty miles from me. I was glad it wasn't snowing here. Rain is warmer.
After her call, it took ten minutes; the drops in the sky start to float and the world is transformed to an indistinct grey. All becomes the same, linked and inherent to the snow; the grey world. White-grey, grey-green, cloud-grey, frosted-grey. Grey pictures, black and white in color (I've included some from the perch). All is grey. All is related.

I see that Senator Obama won the South Carolina Primary Saturday. That is not surprising. But something must be or I wouldn't have brought it up. After the victory, I believe during the Senators victory speech, the chant in the background was "It's not about race." I don't think the Senator was comfortable with that... either. The Senator has tried hard to keep 'race' a non-issue. That is why I was surprised at the chant. Especially considering the overwhelming (80%) black support for Senator Obama in South Carolina. It was that support that won the state; Senator Obama only won about 25% of the white vote.
The victory doesn't bother me. Senator Obama is as appealing as any of the candidates. What bothers me is the chant. It was a lie: It was about race in South Carolina. It was about race when Oprah jumped into politics and endorsed Senator Obama. It was about race when those Obama supporters stood and chanted "It's not about race", or why else would they chant a denial to something that it wasn't about? And that is the bothersome part. Why deny the obvious?
Does America, or at least the South Carolina Obama supporter, fear the acknowledgment that we are still a racially divided natio (are we?)? I think what the South Carolina chanters were trying to express is the quality of Senator Obama's candidacy. That they were willing to vote for him for reason other then his being black. So will they accept a non racially bias defeat if non-black voters do not support the Senator and then claim that it's not about race?
I understand how voting for someone other than a white male (ie. a black male), is appealing to the 'black voter'. I could understand females supporting a female. Chinese supporting a Chinese, Catholics supporting Catholics etc. It is a credit and corroboration to the authenticity of Senator Obama's campaign that he can pull enough of the 'others' to be victorious. 'Others' being non-black voters. But let us not deny the obvious, so that when it doesn't favor our candidate, we aren't surprised, and possibly angry. Race is an everyday, major issue, and America being above it is the corresponding issue.
It's about gender too. It's about religion as well. Senator Kennedy jumped on the Obama band wagon today so now it's about the 'Kennedy' thing equally. Hell, it's about every dog and pony show you can think of, so don't try to tell me it's not about race. 80% is 80%. If Senator Obama does that well with any other segment of the population then it won't be about race.
The Obama campaign promises to illustrate not just how tolerant, mature, and evolved, but also how hypocritical we are as a nation. And I dare say it now- It is about race, and a myriad of other qualities that have nothing to do with race, but should Senator Obama lose, then 'race' will be a major issue. If he wins then history marches on; he's the first, there will be others. In the coming months, America will learn something about herself: we don't live in a grey world.

Red state, blue state,
Revealing me and you's state,
The State of affairs is nobody cares.
Just because they chant it, doesn't make it true.

Tomorrow, or maybe the next day, the blue of the sky will bust through the upper part of the grey world. The evergreens will be green in the sunlight. The yellow snowplow will reveal the shiny, wet, black pavement of my road. The white snow on the red skin of the Madrone tree will melt and reveal the colors of the world. red where it's red, white, black, green and dirty some places. It will all be there. UNDENIABLY!
The light of the truth, the grey, formless, who ya' gonna call gone, and all the colors of the world will return.
Be ready for it