White supremacy by any other name
by guest contributor Kai Chang, originally published at Zuky
When now-disgraced comedian Michael Richards screeched into his microphone “Fifty years ago we’d have you upside down with a fucking fork up your ass!” followed shortly by “He’s a n—-r! A n—-r, look, there’s a n—-r!” he was obviously attempting to drum up the vibe of a lynch mob closing in on its target. That’s some funny shit, eh?
Here’s how hilarious it is: To your left, Lige Daniels, lynched in Center, Texas, on August 3, 1920. To your right, Rubin Stacy, lynched in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on July 19, 1935. Here are but two among tens of millions of murders attributed to America’s long history of genocidal white supremacy.
As you can see, these are mirthful family affairs. The children are smiling innocently. The parents are proud and upstanding.
I guess this is Michael Richards’ comedic vision of America, and that of all those who are defending his invocation of the twisted pathology of sexualized white supremacist violence.
Yes, the n-word is “just a word”: a word that has historically led to scenes such as these. If you’re cool with such scenes, by all means continue supporting this word’s use by “edgy” white folks (you say “edgy”, I say “coward hiding in a mob”). You know why black folks “are allowed” to use the n-word (though it remains deeply controversial in the black community)? Here’s a hint: look at the pictures and see if you spot any black folks among the living. Okay I’ll fill you in: they’re the ones being murdered; white folks are the ones doing the murdering. Get it? In the context of the n-word’s countless unpunished crimes, black folks are not the accused.
“Just a word”: what a moronic defense. I suppose “war” is “just a word” as well — unless you happen to be among those getting bombed and shot. “I intend to kill you and your family” are just words too, but if someone were to say those words to me, my response would be very unwordy. I think it’s bizarre that middle-class American liberals appear to have become so comfortably, mentally astral that they believe that language and reality are somehow disconnected; as though words and thoughts are powerless postmodern playthings that have no consequences in the real world; as though every actual atrocity in human history didn’t begin with “just a word”.
Michael Richards and his ruined career are not the point here. The point is that if we’re ever to move beyond our current racial strife, we need to begin with enough intellectual honesty to acknowledge and understand America’s glaring legacy of white supremacy. As this popular comedian’s tirade shows, that legacy is alive and kicking in the American psyche. Shrugging it off as a “politically incorrect” use of an insensitive “racial epithet”, or as some mysterious “hostility” that bubbled up out of nowhere, demonstrates a profound ignorance and denial of this country’s past and present. And as long as such ignorance and denial dominate our national discourse, we will remain unable to accurately and meaningfully talk about, think about, and transcend the blood-soaked, heavy-hearted legacy of the American Color Line.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
kim wrote:
“Michael Richards and his ruined career are not the point here.”
Kai, if this man’s career is ruined I will be very, very surprised.
“The point is that if we’re ever to move beyond our current racial strife, we need to begin with enough intellectual honesty to acknowledge and understand America’s glaring legacy of white supremacy.”
–Why don’t you people just get over it? Move on!.– That is the understanding that prevails.
“Shrugging it off as a “politically incorrect” use of an insensitive “racial epithet”, or as some mysterious “hostility” that bubbled up out of nowhere, demonstrates a profound ignorance and denial of this country’s past and present.”
I agree with you, and further – oh! gotta go, Seinfeld is on.
Posted 24 Nov 2006 at 1:29 pm ¶
Some white guy. wrote:
I don’t feel very supreme right now. Also, I can’t turn on the television without feeling guilty about acts that I have never participated in, supported, nor plan to teaching my young. I’d love a black president, as long as no one ends up more equal than me. So why again do I need to be reminded of “White Supremacy”, when it was brought up by friggin’ Kramer?
Posted 24 Nov 2006 at 4:22 pm ¶
Y. Carrington wrote:
Some white guy: Read today’s post by Kai. It’s what happens to an Asian man when he tries to get white guys to stop harassing Asian women.
After you finish reading, come back and tell us how you as a white man are not responsible for this shit.
Posted 24 Nov 2006 at 6:32 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:
SWG: I get your point, and the intent of all this attention is not to make you feel guilt – if you are truly interested in making sure EVERYONE is treated fairly, then you’re allied with everyone else who’s interested in equality issues.
The problem, however, is that Richards’ comments were overt, or at least not very subtle/hard to interpret, while institutionalized racism, media/cultural biases, and deep-ingrained attitudes are often very subtle. Any minority (or allied person of whatever background) who notices them is bound to get the backlash of having a chip on the shoulder, an agenda, etc.
Meanwhile, commercial TV and movies continue to misrepresent what an “American” is… socioeconomic disparity continues to be linked not-exclusively-but-dispoportionately to race/ethnicity… politicians who reveal racist attitudes do public “non-apologies” (the classic “I’m sorry IF some people WERE offended”)… and the same people from the same ethnic groups always appear to be in charge/pulling the strings.
To benefit from “white privelege” means that you don’t HAVE to be a die-hard racist, or even have concious racist thoughts. But other people may treat you better, or at least other people worse, based on ethnicity, make make assuptions that make the playing field far from even, may assume that you think a certain way because you look a certain way, etc. Passive privelege is far more dangerous, IMO, because it’s harder to see and requires more effort.
Equal rights aren’t special rights; there’s no such thing as “more equal”. Don’t know why you’re bringing up a black president, but having a US president who’s black certainly wouldn’t take anything way from you.
Posted 24 Nov 2006 at 6:38 pm ¶
Kai wrote:
kim: You’re right, it’s hard to say whether or not the guy’s career is ruined. Either way, my point is that the issue of white supremacy in our society is much larger than this one guy’s outburst.
Some white guy: Actually I don’t particularly like to be reminded of white supremacy either, but the thing is, I can’t avoid being reminded of it by white folks on a more or less daily basis, from subtle slights to general distaste to outright hostility. I guess the difference between you and me is that you consider it insensitive of people like me to remind you of white supremacy, while I consider it, well, more than insensitive of people like you to place higher value on your personal psycho-emotional tranquility and self-esteem than on doing the hard work necessary to move our shared experience toward greater social justice and democratic equality.
Y. Carrington: Well, I wouldn’t go after SWG too hard just yet, he might be here to learn a thing or two. Though, of course, I’m with you on the anger about what happened to Hai Vo. Anyway thanks for your comments here and at Zuky.
Lyonside: Well said.
Posted 24 Nov 2006 at 10:21 pm ¶
White guy from Gould wrote:
You know it is always funny when I get told how Supreme I am. I was raised in the projects in Miami and had very little. I had to fight every day and luckily I was bigger than most. i worked hard and ended up in the Army. Since then I have bettered myself and never looked back, yet when I talk to the people that are still back home they are sitting around complaining how they never get ahead and everyone is aganst them. My wife is from the same project and has gone on to law school and William and Mary. She is black my children are Biracial. I have taught them to work hard and it is amazing they get ahead. My wife is very attractive and the people that discriminate against her the most are black males. Amazing how that works. Get over it. There is discrimination everywhere but if you are looking for it all the time you will never get ahead.
In the end you are the problem not me not Michale Richards. You are in your hypersensitive ways.
Translation Quit bitching
Posted 25 Nov 2006 at 5:55 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:
White guy from Gould:
You know you just played the “I’m not racist, My XXX is XXXX” card, right? Defensive much?
Noone is saying that you, an individual person, is a white supremist. Noone is saying you are racist. What we (all of us) do, however, is still live in a society in which racism (of all kinds) is institutionalized, people in charge (of all colors) pay lip service to ideals that may or may not be practiced, and our cultural legacy and history continues to be whitewashed (no pun intended).
That has nothing to do with any one individual (well, maybe ex-Senator Macaca), but rather is something for all to continue discussing, analyzing, and changing. And yes, that means personal responsbility… that also means paying attention to what those in charge preach and practice.
The recent elections are a classic example of how the US deals with race and racism (and a bunch of other isms), and how far we still have to go.
Oh, and I don’t have to go out hunting and pecking for discimination when listening to Michael Richards’ rant. If you can’t see that that is BLATENT racism, and that the way different celebrities/media talking heads etc. discussed it is problematic (focussing on a word, not the intent or historical context), then you are willfully NOT looking for discrimination when it is right there in your face. If you do not see it there, you will not likely see it anywhere.
Posted 25 Nov 2006 at 6:24 pm ¶
merq wrote:
White Guy from Gould:
Gee. You made it out of the projects. Whoop de fuckin’ doo. do you want a cookie? what’s sad is you don’t see how many people in the same situation as you didn’t “make it,” despite their hard work. Some of them were white, some black, some East-Asian, etc. The difference is that for many minorities, their race stops them from being taken seriously from the moment they walk into a fuckin’ interview!
The problem with people like you is that you look for ONE case of “overcoming adversity” and decide it proves that all those who didn’t make it are whiners. Get the fuck over yourself, dude.
And actually, you know who I feel sorriest for? Your wife and kids. If they have a someone as disturbingly warped (in the garden-variety privileged American way, that is) as you for a patriarch, then God have mercy on their melanin.
Posted 25 Nov 2006 at 6:40 pm ¶
Kai wrote:
White guy from Gould’s post cracked me up in its asinine sniveling irrelevance. He obviously has no clue what’s he talking about; he pulled out a handful of tired cliches while failing to contradict or even address a single argument that was made in this post or comment thread; he obviously didn’t go to law school like his attractive wife…hehe, who says such things to strangers online? Like we’re supposed to be impressed as he toots his own horn and spouts his supermanly life story. Pretty funny.
Actually, the funniest thing about defensive white guys is that they clearly have no clue how psycho-emotionally fragile they sound. They hear the word “racism” and start acting all hurt and upset.
Oh, and just so no other white guys come here and put on this same particular show of ignorance: white supremacy does not mean that you are supreme. Rather, white supremacy (as I tend to use the term) refers to an interlocking set of societal institutions which provide cultural and economic affirmative action for white people, offering them handouts at every stage of life (e.g. education, housing, loans, jobs, good salaries, venture capital, legal leniency, etc) while generally denying opportunities for upward mobility to non-whites in order to maintain a permanent underclass whose labor props up white privilege. Of course, white supremacy implies that whites deny the existence of white privilege. Just about all white people claim to have manfully earned everything that they have (in the same way that just about every inmate on the inside claims to be innocent), because in their view our society isn’t racist, it’s just that whites are smarter, stronger, harder working, and more upstanding than the rest.
Cheers.
Posted 25 Nov 2006 at 8:09 pm ¶
merq wrote:
“because in their view our society isn’t racist, it’s just that whites are smarter, stronger, harder working, and more upstanding than the rest.”
Kai, I owe you a beer for that one.
Posted 25 Nov 2006 at 8:34 pm ¶
kim wrote:
Kai,
I tried to excerpt what I liked about your post and decided it bordered on a ridiculous cut and paste of the whole darned thing.
You know, I have a cousin named Kai. Think I’ll claim you, too.
Posted 25 Nov 2006 at 10:46 pm ¶
Kai wrote:
Hey speaking of white supremacy: Are there any bloggers of Japanese descent out there who feel like issuing an authoritative, bare-knuckled takedown of the latest ign’ant hate-spewage from FDL?
The fatuous dimwits at FDL need to be taught a lesson! (That’s my inner kung-fu flick speaking.)
Cheers.
Posted 26 Nov 2006 at 4:15 pm ¶
Donna Darko wrote:
FDL took Sarah Silverman’s lead and continued to make fun of Asians but not blacks because Asians are not as scary and don’t talk back as much. There was the geisha post, this one, an Asians being good at math one and a Kabuki yellowface one.
“Your ‘Math’ is good. But my ‘Math’ is better!” (November 12)
http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/11/12/face-the-snark-22/#more-5475
Kabuki yellowface (November 16)
http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/11/16/secrets-and-lies/#more-5584
Posted 26 Nov 2006 at 11:47 pm ¶
sunrunner wrote:
Un-f*cking real. It is worth taking a look how JH’s playground bullies piles on the few DK commenters who dare to allude to past sins.
And for you white guys up there who don’t get how white priviledge works, it would be worth your while to have a read as well. TRex & Pachatuchec have a lot of Michael Richards potential–one of the earliest symptoms being the whining about “PC.”
Posted 27 Nov 2006 at 12:48 am ¶
Donna Darko wrote:
I think Pach (who’s Latino) just defends his co-bloggers for the work they do. TRex is a bit clueless.
Posted 27 Nov 2006 at 2:37 am ¶
Donna Darko wrote:
Watertiger (a white woman, I believe) is behind the geisha and math posts. CHS likes the Kabuki metaphor for politics and doesn’t understand why yellowface is bad.
Posted 27 Nov 2006 at 2:42 am ¶
Sunrunner wrote:
Pach is half-Peruvian, and has written on a number of occasions that he “passes” for white in day-to-day life. I have no idea what half-latino means in a racial context, particularly if a person has an anglo name, if the latino ancestry is European. I don’t want to speculate too much about an anonymous writer’s racial “creds” but I just want to point out that I am suspicious when someone says they are “half” of a minority (or brownish person) and when they brag that they can “pass” for white as to where their true allegiances lie. Not “clueless, but defensive of nebulous privilege.
I have a feeling that CHS and Watertiger are genuinely clueless, in that sort of nice, white, liberal way. But they have thrown their allegiances (I bet no one in that group would ever really call Jane out on anything) behind the (ahem) success of FDL.
TRex is a bigot of the worst kind, he really thinks he is better than almost everyone else on the planet, and so it is his right to resort to whatever racist, sexist (there is plenty of misogyny in his writing as well) or classist stereotyping to make the point that he and his is great and everyone else deserves to have their noses rubbed into constant reminders of their “inferiority.”
Rather, he is phenomenally insecure.
Posted 27 Nov 2006 at 12:39 pm ¶
t-hype wrote:
Great post Kai!
To White Guy from Gould, aka “There is discrimination everywhere but if you are looking for it all the time you will never get ahead.” and those like you: THIS POST ISN’T ABOUT “GETTING AHEAD!” OMG! That’s not the issue!!! I got a similar comment on my blog when I posted about the incident.
Why is it that people have such a hard time facing the fact that Michael Richards made a completely, indefensibly, insensitive and disrespectful comment YES, to black people but really, to every person who strives for decency toward their fellow man.
Why is it so hard for white males in particular to say, “What this guy said was heinous and wrong!” rather than see a discussion about the incident as a personal indictment?! Why?
Under other circumstances, if Michael Richards had said, “Sit down you damn kyke! If Hitler had finished the job, we wouldn’t be having this discussion!” If the person in question had been a woman and he resorted to, “Shut up b*tch! I’ll rape your ass!” Would people have such a hard time seeing that the words coming out of his mouth were inflammatory and inappropriate as opposed to some sort of indication that Jews or women are hypersensitive?!
Posted 27 Nov 2006 at 1:18 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:
>Michael Richards made a completely, indefensibly, insensitive and disrespectful comment [snip] to every person who strives for decency toward their fellow man.
YES. Exactly! I tried to express this in another thread, but your way is much clearer.
If it’s wrong, speak up – I don’t care what your background is…
Posted 27 Nov 2006 at 2:03 pm ¶
eric daniels wrote:
SWG Gould “how mighty white of you” to be so open-minded and racist at the same time. I would rather deal with the Klan than you SWG Gould. Isn’t that Jewish?
Posted 27 Nov 2006 at 3:41 pm ¶
Donna Darko wrote:
I think watertiger has the most issues with Asians. She photoshopped the nasty geisha/Bush image herself and also posted the math one.
TRex wrote the nasty Malkin post but Malkin is more of a monster than Asian to me. Alot of students on study abroad programs are miserable and frustrated in the first 3 1/2 weeks in the new country due to language difficulties and inconveniences so I think he just had a terrible time.
Posted 27 Nov 2006 at 5:43 pm ¶
Kai wrote:
Hi Donna Darko, thanks for the additional links. Just for the record, the Bush photoshop image wasn’t a geisha but actually a feminized samurai (as I explained at the time in this post). Not that I’m trying to nitpick your comment, because actually the slip nicely demonstrates the way that blackface and yellowface usually deploy sexism on top of racism: people of color aren’t just stupid and ridiculous, they’re feminine and subservient.
Indeed, Temple3’s critique of darkblack’s body of work explained that FDL’s favorite graphic artist almost invariably casts the targets of his mockery in racialized or sexualized frameworks. Strangely enough, when Blackface Joe happened and darkblack found himself engulfed in controversy, he responded with the same declaration as Michael Richards, “I am not a racist”. You see, in White Supremacy Land, unsupported declarative statements by white men have more weight than perceived reality or the actual lives, voices, and thoughts of people of color. “See? He said he’s not racist, now get over it!”
Then the NYPD fires 50 shots at 3 unarmed people of color, killing Sean Bell on his wedding day. And some whites will still claim that racist words and attitudes are just “politically incorrect” fun and games, and that we should all just move on.
Peace.
Posted 27 Nov 2006 at 6:45 pm ¶
Donna Darko wrote:
http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/10/01/face-the-snark-16/
Oh yeah it’s a samurai (with a red fan)! watertiger made the image because her signature is on the ones she makes and I remember her bragging about it in the comments before her comments were erased.
Posted 27 Nov 2006 at 9:27 pm ¶
White guy from Gould wrote:
You proved my point. I never said racism does not exist. I am saying that as long as you jump on the oh poor me band wagon it’s not going to do you any good. And as to my defensiveness, it seems I got a whole lot more attacks then anyone even remotely trying to say hey we do have a problem. Oh but that is right Bill Cosby does not know what he is talking about either. As for my comming from the project, you should try some time being white in the projects. I saw racism and believe me it wasnt me doing it. As to my own views, yeah I have my stereo types but at least I am not out there everytime someone gets racist on BET. Oh well you will never get it all you will do is keep bitching poor me, poor me.
Posted 28 Nov 2006 at 12:06 am ¶
Lyonside wrote:
Hey white guy, thanks for lumping “us” all together – there were several replies to your comments and not everyone said the same thing, but I guess all us minorities all think the same and have the same exact chips on our shoulders in your book?
As t-hype said, if you are as open and non-racist as you claim (as I initially said in my first post to you), then you should be insulted TOO. Richard’s comments are an assault to every free-thinking person, to every person aware of the history of racism (of all forms, but particularly the violent kind) in the US, and the ways in which it manifests today (Byrd comes to mind… Sheppard too – both were modern hate-lynchings).
That’s not crying “poor me,” that’s crying “poor them for still thinking/acting that way, and poor us (society) for even thinking of putting up/excusing it.”
Posted 28 Nov 2006 at 8:56 am ¶
Sarah Spurlock wrote:
Jesus H. Christ.
Racism is wrong. Use of derogatory language, is wrong. Michael Richards was completely out-of-line, and yes, racism is alive today. But let’s get something together here:
Y.Carrington – “some white guy” isn’t responsible for what “a white guy” did. Lumping all white people together won’t make white people more aware of racism in a positive, pro-active manner. In fact, holding one white man accountable for the actions of another man he didn’t know because they have the same skin color – it’s racist.
Lyonside: What can white people do to atone for what happened in the past? What can be done that will make up for benefiting from passive white supremacy? If you’re saying that all white people benefit from some invisible preference – how can it be stopped? It’s not fair to say “YOU CONTRIBUTE TO THIS PROBLEM” without giving a suggestion for positive change.
And lastly, I want to throw in my two cents about the “White Guy from Gould” exchange. I think he was just trying to say that all white people aren’t the same? That they don’t all live inside a Norman Rockwell picture, and that yeah, even though it’s easier for white people to break the cycle, they are born into institutionalized poverty.
Did anyone even notice that Merq slammed this guy’s family? “God have mercy on their melanin?” If you’re asserting that the guy is just insensitive and closed-minded then perhaps “God have mercy on their minds.” Who are you to attack this man’s wife, to feel sorry for her? Did you ever think she doesn’t need your pity?
“Why is it so hard for white males in particular to say, “What this guy said was heinous and wrong!” rather than see a discussion about the incident as a personal indictment?! Why?” Because white people have heard too many Y.Carrington’s come along and put them in one big racist basket. Because being proud that your wife is beautiful, is a sign of defensiveness. Maybe, just maybe, because it was obviously heinous and wrong? Like the incident was mind-boggling in it’s insanity and wrong-ness? (See. I can’t even come up with a better word for “wrong-ness.”)
This was a wonderful post but these threads are just looking at the wrong little microcosm issues – I mean you have Sunrunner half-questioning a racist’s ethnicity. He’s racist! It doesn’t matter where he’s from, or where his parents are from.
So Kai, I’m asking so I can tell all my white friends: what comes next? What comes after aknowledging the legacy of white supremacy? Will there ever be a time when light-skinned people can be proud that they had a black great-great-grandmother, or will this always be a constant discussion of “who is less white?” and “who is getting more (even if they didn’t want any)?”
Posted 29 Nov 2006 at 11:06 am ¶
Lyonside wrote:
>Lyonside: What can white people do to atone for what happened in the past? What can be done that will make up for benefiting from passive white supremacy? If you’re saying that all white people benefit from some invisible preference – how can it be stopped? It’s not fair to say “YOU CONTRIBUTE TO THIS PROBLEM” without giving a suggestion for positive change.
The solutions are obvious, and just as hard to do. I don’t ask for atonement (never said it, and didn’t mean to imply it) or, god forfend, “reparations.” About 1/2 my ancestors got here from Europe in the late 1800s and didn’t have it easy, by any means. We’re blue-collar and proud by career, mentality, or both on both sides of my family. But the other 1/2 did have an extra socioeconomic burden because of their skin color, and that can’t be ignored.
You ask, “What can white people do?” My answer is simply the same I expect of EVERYBODY : To speak out when you see ethnic/racial injustice (towards ANYONE – don’t wait until you’re the target). To be self-aware about your own biases/asumptions, and try to correct them and not act on them. To not assume that people in your ethnic group who may do or say offensive things are “just joking.” To not accuse someone of another ethnic group of being too sensitive, of having shoulder-boulders, or of trying to “get something for nothing.” To analyze and be aware of the images on TV, in magazine, in movies, and to question them from time to time. To not assume that the European beauty standard is the “right” or natural one. To question the underrepresentation of ethnic minorities in business and goverment. To demand better of our government and education systems. To not think that by giving basic rights to others, that your group automatically will lose something. To embrace the catch-phrase, “Equal Rights are not Special Rights.”
And if you’re white in the US, there are a lot of assumptions made about you by the average person (another white person, still, statistically) and especially the cultural media, business leaders, media conglomerates etc. that are overwhelmingly positive. You are more likely to blend into the cultural crowd, to not be questioned. White people are still the main target audience, the targeted customer, the “norm.” Ethnic diversity generally and nationally gets tokens, patronage, lip service, and special categories. Since white people are not all the same, shouldn’t that piss them off too?
Posted 29 Nov 2006 at 1:01 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:
Or, in a less long-winded way:
What should (white) people do?
“To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8).”
Posted 29 Nov 2006 at 1:06 pm ¶
Kai wrote:
What Lyonside said.
Nice job, Lyonside, you did better than I coulda with a question as, ahem, broad as “What should we do?”. Though I might add, you could also start by not sounding exasperated by our mere presence at the table of political discourse.
Cheers.
Posted 01 Dec 2006 at 7:00 pm ¶
KB wrote:
It all starts with education. The education that people get is from their parents and family. When will it end, as we still speak of racism it is still ugly no matter what color or background you may be from. The changes need to come from each of us and until that happens then none of this will stop. You can’t speak ill of Michael Richards any more than Dave Chappell as two different backgrounds but both fuel the same thing, ethnic profiling. I believe that all people are equal until they show their not. This is how they chose to live and it does not mean all white folk or black or red share the same ideas or ideals. Where does it say in the bible that white is any better than black? If we continue to teach our children to hate and see color of skin then we can’t expect things to change for anyone of us. Why does there have to be a White college or Black college or this program or that program, the last I checked this is AMERICA and we are AMERICANS, not Africans, Mexicans etc If we as a people do not come to grips and begin teaching our children, (who by the way are innocent and have no idea about any of this ) then we as a people will surely die collectivly. It has to stop and when depends on when the anger that has been set in place by our ancestors goes away. You can’t blame all White, Black, Asian, Mexican because they were also taught by their parents and families. The streets can teach you quite a bit and the criminals seem to be any and all races, ethnicity, background what ever you chose to call it we are all equal in GODS EYES and unless you step out of that belief then again no matter what color your skin may be you feed on the anger and misery and cannot be happy unless people are as miserable as you are.
Posted 07 Dec 2007 at 6:53 am ¶