Via the Village Voice

Lola restaurant has been scrutinized by the SoHo Alliance in their attempts to obtain a liquor license, as well as to legally have live bands perform at the restaurant. Sean Sweeney, executive director of the SoHo Alliance, has been very vocal in his opposition to Lola’s attempts to get these documents.

Towards the end of the article, he claims not to be a racist.

However, when people say and do things like:
1. “I don’t think you need a martini to go with chitlins and collard greens. What wine goes with jambalaya? I can’t think of one,” when it’s quite obvious that they have not looked at the menu, because jambalaya and chitlins are not on the menu (collard greens is offered as a side). Even if they were included, Sweeney is obviously dismissive of Southern/Soul and Louisianan Creole cuisines.

2. Even though Sweeney claims that he nor the SoHo Alliance had nothing to do with this, fliers have been placed around the neighborhood that claim that “Lola’s r&b music would bring “unruly crowds” and “more crime” to the neighborhood.” Umm, I wonder what “unruly crowds” these fliers are referring to?

3. Say that one is not a racist because “[Gayle Patrick-Odeen] is from Barbados. She’s a British subject; she’s not African-American. She didn’t suffer Jim Crow, Reconstruction, lynching. . . . For her to exploit the true sufferings of African-Americans is disgraceful,” which suggests that:
a. Racism, in his book, can only affect African-Americans, so I guess everyone else is fair game;
b. However, by his description, the majority of African-Americans cannot experience racism now, because the Jim Crow and Reconstruction Eras occurred decades ago (insertion 5/10: although many of the practices, behavior and acts reminiscent of those eras, both at the institutional and social level, are still present today; just needed to make a note of this);
c. Therefore, racism is dead and one cannot be a racist anymore, so everyone is fair game; hooray for colorblindness!

Well guess what Sean, this combination of factors and the other actions mentioned in the article is racist behavior.

Lola can expect my patronage soon!

Found via Feminocracy.

Fox News is ridiculous and full of shit. Fr. Mike Pfleger demonstrates exactly why.

Honestly, that song freaks me out. I don’t know if it’s the awkwardly deep “Darth Vader” voice, the way that the piano beat sounds like it came out from a horror movie’s soundtrack, or that Tay Zonday looks like Michael Jackson during his “Thriller” era. Lyrically, it’s a great song for discussion as it looks at racism, class issues and poverty along with other issues of inequality. But damn, the beat sucks and unfortunately most people won’t get the point, because well, most people just won’t.

Although, John Mayer’s version is kinda cute (but, I do hope that he gets it or has gotten the chance to view the lyrics!):

World Net Daily is not at all a news source and it should never been viewed as one. It reads like the Onion, with its outright “nuttery.” However, the website is very serious about its content. The ultra right wing website has its sexist, racist, hell, just straight out ignorance plastered all over the website, and much too often, people use it as a source of information.

I came across this commentary the other day by Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, founder of the Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny, a well-intended organization that unfortunately has its racist, sexist and homophobic undertones (OK, OK, it can be pretty obvious).

Below are what I consider to be the highlights of the story. Be advised, I don’t go into in depth analysis, because honestly it would be a waste of time.

Have you heard that black Americans are under attack by Hispanic gangs from coast to coast? If you did hear it, you didn’t hear it from a black leader.

No, I didn’t hear. Please, elaborate.

The ethnic cleansing of blacks from lower-income neighborhoods by Hispanic gangs and illegal aliens is a growing phenomenon.

WTF? Seriously. What. The. FUCK? Is he really comparing the isolated instances to what occurred in other areas and times, such as World War II, the Rwandan genocide, apartheid in South Africa, the Kosovo War, among others? Is he actually degrading the victims of these real cases of ethnic cleansing?

Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, the NAACP, Newark Mayor Booker, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and others work to promote the false illusion that blacks and Hispanics are united, while they ignore the cold reality that blacks are being targeted daily.

Of course, blacks and Latin@s, by all means, should work to strengthen their alliances in order to address and fight against the effects of gentrification and shady government policies. But, how can this be improved, if he says shit like this:

In reality, black and Hispanic “leaders” have a false alliance because their union is based on a mutual hatred of the “white man.” They seek to build a coalition of minority voters to get whites out of power.

I bet he wouldn’t wanna see that happen, huh? No sir, no.

Adding to the problem, the Latin culture fosters racist attitudes toward blacks – which stir up animosity between the two groups.

Pointing out the ignorance and generalization, just as I did for the Bud Light ads: there is no such thing as a consistent pattern of Latin culture. There is no such thing as a “Hispanic” race. We are of different skintones and ethnicities, including black, in some places more than others. If you were to venture out to any, ANY Latin America country, whether you go to Cuba, to the Dominican Republic, to Argentina, the only consistent thing really is language. Other elements are shared, but each country has its characteristics that makes its own and distinguishes it from the rest. But, of course, he wouldn’t know that, if he feels it’s of importance to mention the following…

According to Tanya K. Hernandez, professor at Rutgers University Law School, anti-black racism is a pervasive and entrenched reality in Latin America and the Caribbean. More than 90 percent of the approximately 10 million enslaved Africans brought to the Americas were taken to Latin America and the Caribbean, whereas only 4.6 percent were brought to the U.S.

OK, he wants to use this as a reason why Latin@s are racist, which quite frankly is idiotic. Point No. 1: “Latin America and the Caribbean” is not a whole country. To say “Latin America and the Caribbean v. US”, in terms of geographic proportion and borders, would be quite the silly comparison to make.

It is true that most Africans were brought into Latin America and the Caribbean (which includes Jamaica, Barbados, Haiti, Trindad and Tobago, among other countries and territories whose residents identify as being of African descent, but of course, he probably ignored overlooked this). But guess who planned, carried out and paid for the voyages, the colonizers! What? Did the Natives have a general meeting and agreed that “Hey, we have too much to plant, harvest and build, let’s cross the ocean, capture and enslave whoever we find to get this shit done”? No.

Yet, still how it is relevant today? Because 4.6% of enslaved Africans arrived in the US, that means that it’s racism is less recognizable? Less important? Should the racism, both internal and institutional, in the US be dismissed over that “trivial” percentage? I think not.

Therefore it shouldn’t be surprising that many Hispanics bring racist attitudes with them to the U.S.

Oh shit, you have got to be kidding me. As a self-identifying Afro-Latina, this has to be one of the dumbest things I’ve read in a while. Of course, they are people who have ethnocentric and racist mentalities, regardless of their ethnic or racial backgrounds. And unfortunately, it tends to be the norm, whether the person identifies as a Latino immigrant or African-American or white (or Mr. Peterson).

If blacks held onto the moral character and family unity they once had before they allowed the federal government to become the “daddy” of the family, they would not sit idle and allow themselves to be driven out of their communities.If they don’t get their act together and return back to family, character and love of country, they will once again become a slave class, if they survive at all.

How is this not perpetuating racism? He is helping to enforce stereotypes of black people as insufficient, dependent on the government, and belittling the true hardship African slaves had to endure. Latinos are not new to the US, in the context that he is referring in. We have been here before and since the formation of this country. Gentrification, which is terribly affecting our communities, is not caused by these “Hispanic gangs and illegal aliens” that he haphazardly and stupidly mentions. It’s a structural phenomenon, fueled by government policies, shady businesses and opportunistic developers whose only intention is to generate more income for themselves, not giving a flyin’ fuck about the people that may be affected (usually communities of color).

To reduce this to a sudden occurrence is again demonstrating his ignorance on the matter. He does not give suggestions as to how to improve the situation. He doesn’t recognize the many circumstances, including political, economic and social factors, that attribute to the distance that exists between communities of color. But he wouldn’t, if he thinks Latin@s (oh please, that’s what he meant; he’s not just referring to gangs and the undocumented) are causing “ethnic cleansing.”