Virginian politics has been imploding for about a week now due to blackface AND sexual assault allegations.
Gov. Ralph Northam initially said "Sorry. That was wrong." Then, "nope, wasn't me." And lastly, "hell no, I won't go."
Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax has denied allegations of sexual assault made by two women, and has asked for a full investigation.
AG Mark Herring pre-confessed to wearing blackface when he saw how hot the water was getting for Northam.
So far, no one has resigned. The citizens are split on whether some, all, or none of them should resign. And all the damn chickens are in the yard roosting their asses off.
Although controversial as hell at the time (and still is for some), Malcolm X's statement after JFK's assassination about chickens coming home to roost has plenty of relevancy here. His statement seemed callous at the time, but in a world where the U.S. supported and sanctioned violence, murders, coups, etc. abroad, it was a fucked turnabout that we were visited with the same via JFK's assassination. (Check the link for more analysis on his statement.)
So, how does any of that relate to Virginia, Northam, Fairfar, Herring, etc.?
For too long, (white) leaders of our country have actively ignored racism, racial violence, bigotry, etc. within this country, perpetrated by this country, supported and condoned by this country--in the same way that Malcolm X felt JFK had back then. And finally, in this day and age, there seems to be some actual punishment, disdain, anger, frustration visited upon politicians for past behaviors that are no longer acceptable. Steve King has finally been "punished" for his overt racist statements and politicians who wore blackface seem to finally be feeling some sting. The shit they sent out into the world is just now coming back.
In so many ways, our country is just now beginning to grapple with shit that should've been well and truly dissected, understood, and improved decades ago. A society cannot continue to ignore the festering sores of its past and hope to make brighter, better futures for its citizens. Those festering sores will one day become gangrenous and destroy what was built on top of it. In order to truly heal and move forward, a society must confront the horrors of the past, remember the horrors, learn from the horrors, and do their damnedest not to repeat those horrors.
And this is where Black Earth Rising comes in again. Although parts of the story are fictionalized, the Rwandan genocide was very real and the show still has lessons to impart--mainly remember the past. SPOILER ahead...
In the show, one of the main characters was hellbent on revealing one of the greatest secrets that had been buried--the idea that the Tutsis had massacred refugee Hutus (mostly the severely ill, women, and children). This secret had been buried so deep that upon trying to share this truth with the country, the person revealing it was imprisoned for sedition. This person's main goal in sharing this shameful truth from the past was to offer the nation a chance to completely heal because without accepting and confronting the full truths of horrible pasts, we cannot truly heal.
THIS is where we are today.
We CAN'T heal.
We CAN'T move forward.
We CAN'T grow.
Because we never truly and fully addressed the past.
And bless his heart--Sen. Cory Booker recently said that in discussing blackface we have to allow room for white people to ask stupid questions (yeah, okay), so we can have honest conversations (yeah, okay), and to put ourselves in white people shoes. Wait, STOP!
I was with Sen. Booker until he said put ourselves in white people shoes. No. I'm tired of it. How often have they put themselves in our shoes? (I'll give credit where credit is due. Lots of white people are waking the fuck up now.)
In general, black people are SO very damn tired of being the understanding ones and reaching across the aisle to accommodate white people and their confusion. They aren't confused. They are willfully ignorant. They choose to remain ignorant, so they can happily do dumbshit like wear blackface and feign ignorance.
The ones who want to seek knowledge about how NOT to be racist asshats or racism-adjacent asshats do so. They purposefully seek knowledge (by fucking googling) OR actually making an attempt to get to know POC so they can develop safe-spaces to ask stupid questions. They actively work to reduce racism, to dismantle the fucked systemic oppression we are all harmed by, to fight against the fucked systems. They actively seek friendships with more than 1 black person, or 1 Hispanic person, or 1 LGBTQ person, etc.
I get what Sen. Booker was saying, and yes, we ALL need safe spaces to ask questions and get to know other people, but white people have to begin by imagining themselves in POC shoes and seeking their own knowledge--not by POC always being the understanding ones.
And ALL of this goes back to better education. Sure, Northam claims he went to integrated schools 6-12 grade and claims he had black friends during those years, but how many of those black people considered him a friend of theirs? How many times did he go to dinner at those friends' houses? Or vice versa? How often did the schools actually study black history, other than Feb., if it did it then because it didn't actually become a month until 1970s, and we all know that not all states observe it, especially considering Virginia still celebrated Robert E. Lee Day AND Dr. King Day together until 2000, but I digress...
Perhaps if we all studied and understood the full weight of all of America's history--before this was even a country--then perhaps we wouldn't be sitting in 2019 with a 59 year old white male governor saying "he's learning now and knows he has a lot to learn." Perhaps if we studied black history year round instead of only in February, and women's history year round instead of only in March (if then), Asian history year round, and LatinX history year round, and LGBTQ history year round we'd all be a LOT more understanding, and there would be less need for safe spaces for stupid questions and we'd all have more friends of different identities. Perhaps we still have a lot of damn work to do.
So, the racism and sexism chickens are coming home to roost because we haven't made proper space and time to understand and study these things. We MUST do better.
Pay attention.
Be informed.
Take part.
And don't fucking wear blackface! It was wrong during minstrelsy and is damn sure wrong now!
Gov. Ralph Northam initially said "Sorry. That was wrong." Then, "nope, wasn't me." And lastly, "hell no, I won't go."
Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax has denied allegations of sexual assault made by two women, and has asked for a full investigation.
AG Mark Herring pre-confessed to wearing blackface when he saw how hot the water was getting for Northam.
So far, no one has resigned. The citizens are split on whether some, all, or none of them should resign. And all the damn chickens are in the yard roosting their asses off.
Although controversial as hell at the time (and still is for some), Malcolm X's statement after JFK's assassination about chickens coming home to roost has plenty of relevancy here. His statement seemed callous at the time, but in a world where the U.S. supported and sanctioned violence, murders, coups, etc. abroad, it was a fucked turnabout that we were visited with the same via JFK's assassination. (Check the link for more analysis on his statement.)
So, how does any of that relate to Virginia, Northam, Fairfar, Herring, etc.?
For too long, (white) leaders of our country have actively ignored racism, racial violence, bigotry, etc. within this country, perpetrated by this country, supported and condoned by this country--in the same way that Malcolm X felt JFK had back then. And finally, in this day and age, there seems to be some actual punishment, disdain, anger, frustration visited upon politicians for past behaviors that are no longer acceptable. Steve King has finally been "punished" for his overt racist statements and politicians who wore blackface seem to finally be feeling some sting. The shit they sent out into the world is just now coming back.
In so many ways, our country is just now beginning to grapple with shit that should've been well and truly dissected, understood, and improved decades ago. A society cannot continue to ignore the festering sores of its past and hope to make brighter, better futures for its citizens. Those festering sores will one day become gangrenous and destroy what was built on top of it. In order to truly heal and move forward, a society must confront the horrors of the past, remember the horrors, learn from the horrors, and do their damnedest not to repeat those horrors.
And this is where Black Earth Rising comes in again. Although parts of the story are fictionalized, the Rwandan genocide was very real and the show still has lessons to impart--mainly remember the past. SPOILER ahead...
In the show, one of the main characters was hellbent on revealing one of the greatest secrets that had been buried--the idea that the Tutsis had massacred refugee Hutus (mostly the severely ill, women, and children). This secret had been buried so deep that upon trying to share this truth with the country, the person revealing it was imprisoned for sedition. This person's main goal in sharing this shameful truth from the past was to offer the nation a chance to completely heal because without accepting and confronting the full truths of horrible pasts, we cannot truly heal.
THIS is where we are today.
We CAN'T heal.
We CAN'T move forward.
We CAN'T grow.
Because we never truly and fully addressed the past.
And bless his heart--Sen. Cory Booker recently said that in discussing blackface we have to allow room for white people to ask stupid questions (yeah, okay), so we can have honest conversations (yeah, okay), and to put ourselves in white people shoes. Wait, STOP!
I was with Sen. Booker until he said put ourselves in white people shoes. No. I'm tired of it. How often have they put themselves in our shoes? (I'll give credit where credit is due. Lots of white people are waking the fuck up now.)
In general, black people are SO very damn tired of being the understanding ones and reaching across the aisle to accommodate white people and their confusion. They aren't confused. They are willfully ignorant. They choose to remain ignorant, so they can happily do dumbshit like wear blackface and feign ignorance.
The ones who want to seek knowledge about how NOT to be racist asshats or racism-adjacent asshats do so. They purposefully seek knowledge (by fucking googling) OR actually making an attempt to get to know POC so they can develop safe-spaces to ask stupid questions. They actively work to reduce racism, to dismantle the fucked systemic oppression we are all harmed by, to fight against the fucked systems. They actively seek friendships with more than 1 black person, or 1 Hispanic person, or 1 LGBTQ person, etc.
I get what Sen. Booker was saying, and yes, we ALL need safe spaces to ask questions and get to know other people, but white people have to begin by imagining themselves in POC shoes and seeking their own knowledge--not by POC always being the understanding ones.
And ALL of this goes back to better education. Sure, Northam claims he went to integrated schools 6-12 grade and claims he had black friends during those years, but how many of those black people considered him a friend of theirs? How many times did he go to dinner at those friends' houses? Or vice versa? How often did the schools actually study black history, other than Feb., if it did it then because it didn't actually become a month until 1970s, and we all know that not all states observe it, especially considering Virginia still celebrated Robert E. Lee Day AND Dr. King Day together until 2000, but I digress...
Perhaps if we all studied and understood the full weight of all of America's history--before this was even a country--then perhaps we wouldn't be sitting in 2019 with a 59 year old white male governor saying "he's learning now and knows he has a lot to learn." Perhaps if we studied black history year round instead of only in February, and women's history year round instead of only in March (if then), Asian history year round, and LatinX history year round, and LGBTQ history year round we'd all be a LOT more understanding, and there would be less need for safe spaces for stupid questions and we'd all have more friends of different identities. Perhaps we still have a lot of damn work to do.
So, the racism and sexism chickens are coming home to roost because we haven't made proper space and time to understand and study these things. We MUST do better.
Pay attention.
Be informed.
Take part.
And don't fucking wear blackface! It was wrong during minstrelsy and is damn sure wrong now!
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