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“Doctors are more likely to prescribe strong painkillers for white patients than for blacks and other minorities, according to a finding that researchers say may spotlight bias in the emergency room.”
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“This adventurous and engrossing story neatly functions as an allegorized version of the colonial/neo-colonial/imperial imperative of “intervening” in “dark” countries in order to save the sub-human Others”
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“The comparison is also, in the opinion of many Kenyans, racist. “The media are trying to perpetuate the idea that this is something genetic or weird, ancient Africa ‘ougabouga,’ something that’s different from the rest of the world,”
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“Like many black voters, he says, he was looking for proof that Obama could garner white support. Yet he wonders if the rest of the nation is as willing as Iowa to embrace the idea of a black president.”
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“The network announced Wednesday that a second season of “A Shot at Love” will air this spring and will once again feature Tequila looking for love, reality TV style, among a group of men and women.”
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“Those same advisers, he says, gave Mr. Raymond another assignment: to call white households asking them to vote for the Democrat, using the voice of, as he puts it, a “ghetto black guy.” He also called union households, using voices with thick Spanis
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“2007 was not a new contender for “year of the Asian man.” Not by a long shot. If anything it was the year of the Asian mug-shot. The most high-profile of which was of course Seung-Hui Cho.”
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“Much of Mr. Obama’s success as a politician has come from walking a fine line…as a biracial American whose political ambitions require that he appeal to whites while still satisfying the hopes and expectations of blacks.”
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“posited that recent successes of blacks in other areas of leadership and achievement are making the concept of a brotha in charge more palatable. Tony Dungy coached last year’s Super Bowl Champions…Stanley O’Neal ran Fortune 500 companies”
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of 
Cynthia wrote:
The longer Tequila is on TV, the trashier television will become. This girl is not only bad for petite women and Asian women, but all women. Someone like her needs a good stint at an old fashioned Swiss finishing school, so she’d become a lady. Though I doubt she wants to. Actually, I doubt today’s society wants to. Sad!
Posted 08 Jan 2008 at 11:00 am ¶
Alston wrote:
Re: Drug Bias in ERs: In many of the comments, they talk about race baiting. One even said: “Racism wouldn’t exist if liberal rags like this didn’t keep attempt to cram skewed numbers down our throat every chance they get. ”
First of all, how prevalent do you think that way of thinking is? And second, why is it race baiting to report that article? Just to clarify, can someone give me a good definition of race baiting?
Posted 08 Jan 2008 at 12:53 pm ¶
meownette wrote:
I like Tila Tequila…unsure of how or why she’s supposed to be a “lady”?
Posted 08 Jan 2008 at 2:53 pm ¶
Cynthia wrote:
I’m sorry, Meownette, but too many women, particularly MINORIY women on television act like Tila. It’s as if minority means ghetto (unless you’re, say, Lucy Liu, but even then, she’s not exactly finishing school trained.) This is exactly why I can’t really relate to Asians on television, whether it’s reality-based or fiction. So far, all the Asians I’ve seen on television are tend to be lower middle class immigrants who operate small shops. There are some cases of wealthier immigrants, but they usually own a chain of restaurants. When it comes to the Asian doctor or accountant, it’s the American born generation, not the immigrant generation. Most Chinese immigrants I know who are of the older generation (i.e. in their 50s or 60s) are doctors, accountants, etc themselves. They also, unlike TV Asians aren’t really old country. I’d venture to say that many of these families have more in common with multigenerational WASPs than people in the old country. Because of this, the kids aren’t usually all that rebellious.
Tila is also short. While she isn’t an actress, you have to admit that shorter celebrities aren’t the ones who’re taken seriously. Look at the roles that petite actresses tend to get. They’re more likely to have comedic roles rather than drama. Actresses who win awards tend to be average height or taller, unless they happen to win for playing REAL PEOPLE (e.g. Reese Witherspoon) Sexy for a shorter woman is usually skankier too.
So yes, that’s EXACTLY why I think Tila needs to become a lady. Actually, it could be a good reality show.
Posted 08 Jan 2008 at 4:12 pm ¶
Katie wrote:
wow - check out the comments on the common dreams article. kind of an interesting throw-down. ye olde refusing to believe that the hosseini book/movie could possibly be orientalist…
Posted 08 Jan 2008 at 4:32 pm ¶
Colin wrote:
Cynthia,
From my own experiences, Tila Tequila is NOT ghetto. Please do not fabricate the idea that she is using a cliche white conservatives would use, something Bill “I Can’t Believe Blacks Can Be Civil” O’Reilly would use.
I agree that class is just about always a good thing, but I strongly dislike “training schools”, though you could probably educate me on them if you saw fit, as I thought of the very idea as offputting and kind of degrading. Behavioral training is done for, to be honest, pets and children, normally. To say “I’m so immature, I need you to teach me how to act,” seems itself pretty immature and self-defeating.
Posted 09 Jan 2008 at 1:52 am ¶
Latoya Peterson wrote:
Cynthia,
I am also not a fan of the whole “finishing school” thing. Could people employ a little more personal etiquette in society? Of course. But finishing school to me falls in under all that bs that comes with being “ladylike” - a rigid adherence to social codes and norms that are deemed acceptable by a certain group. And it wasn’t too long ago that these norms were issued to bind us, to teach us our proper place.
(There is also the element of certain people being excluded from finishing school because by dint of race, social class, or ethnic origin, they seen as beyond assistance.)
Tila Tequila continually talks about her product and her brand, but in reality she seems to have held on to the core tenets of her personality this whole time. Also, having watched Shot at Love, Tila is actually more attentive to her guests/suitors than most reality show hosts. Most of the drama that popped off happened between contestants. So I wonder how Tila gets hit with the trashy/classless/ghetto label.
Posted 09 Jan 2008 at 9:17 am ¶
Cynthia wrote:
Colin:
Charm/finishing schools were historically meant to make sure pre-debutantes were well-educated in social graces and accomplishments for society. I don’t see what’s wrong with “training” people like this. After all, most universities and offices offer some sort of etiquette seminar. In many business programs, it is actually MANDATORY. In any case, Tequila, IMHO, has no social graces. If I had a son, I would not want him to take a girl like her home to meet me. I’m sorry, three minutes of A Shot At Love was enough for me.
LaToya:
While yes, finishing schools have some sort of class exclusion, it isn’t necessarily the case with race/ethnicity. People in the west somehow don’t realize that there was a “society” in pre-WWII Shanghai and in Hong Kong before and after the war and they were more or less westernized. Many of the young women of these families would have been sent to charm school, or would have learned manners at their respective high schools. My mother, who attended a Catholic school in Hong Kong back in the 60s even learned how to get in and out of cars properly (something we all need to learn. Especially after the Brit sans panty incident) This kind of freedom, the lack of social graces is one reason why so many young women look skanky. Honestly, I’d rather have these old fashioned social codes of being lady-like than being Tequila or Britney.
Posted 09 Jan 2008 at 10:23 am ¶