tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13083972.post4631171884187305642..comments2023-09-29T06:00:09.242-05:00Comments on Julie Pippert: Using My Words: Can the US elect a black president?Julie Pipperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03169574697104642479noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13083972.post-59414606006655924412007-02-23T19:43:00.000-06:002007-02-23T19:43:00.000-06:00Ha ha Jenny LOL. Hey did people get it, understand...Ha ha Jenny LOL. Hey did people get it, understand his costume, know who he was? I bet that was a good time for people to get it.Julie Pipperthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03169574697104642479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13083972.post-62350724718048032442007-02-23T17:17:00.000-06:002007-02-23T17:17:00.000-06:00We're from Texas and my nephew dressed up as Kinky...We're from Texas and my nephew dressed up as Kinky for Halloween. Ha!Flawed And Disorderlyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05791066979654306150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13083972.post-19138143751452913212007-02-23T11:39:00.000-06:002007-02-23T11:39:00.000-06:00Mad, thanks! WIll do!HBM, "Is he too Not White and...Mad, thanks! WIll do!<BR/><BR/>HBM, "Is he too Not White and Old and Republican?" Oh YES! <BR/><BR/>Rachel, very cool, what an awesome idea! Let me know and I will back link to that. Thanks for the compliment and comment. So out of curiosity, is race an issue in the UK with politicians? I'm curious how it happens elsewhere.Julie Pipperthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03169574697104642479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13083972.post-28124018659947608382007-02-23T11:37:00.000-06:002007-02-23T11:37:00.000-06:00Christina, now that is an intriguing experience to...Christina, now that is an intriguing experience to hear about.<BR/><BR/>I *do* hope you are right abot the dying down bit.<BR/><BR/>And I know you are right about it's not going to stop.<BR/><BR/>I will send an original signed piece of my art to anyone who tells a talking head asking about race, "Enough about his skin color. Let's talk about penis size. That's a lot more intersting to me."<BR/><BR/>(Hope I didn't just offend you! I do really appreciate your comment. Can't help my sassy mouth at times LOL.)Julie Pipperthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03169574697104642479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13083972.post-81094358352874351882007-02-23T11:35:00.000-06:002007-02-23T11:35:00.000-06:00Mrs. Chicky, I know. Sigh. I know. And it will go ...Mrs. Chicky, I know. Sigh. I know. <BR/><BR/>And it will go on, despite my pitiful, nearly silent please LOL.<BR/><BR/>I used to believe that female candidates had my best interests at heart, and that as a woman, I had to vote for them. Then I turned 19. Just kidding LOL. Eventually, after some sad examples, I learned that having a vagina in common doesn't mean we are on the same page, with the same goals. I also learned that not having a vagina in common didn't exclude someone from having the same goals.<BR/><BR/>I definitely focus on issues, experience and history now.<BR/><BR/>I don't expect to see it happen in my lifetime, TBH. But I hope.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for your comment!!<BR/><BR/>P.S. I have neglected deliberately to respond to your Romney comment. I have had a Romney-Healey gag order on myself since 2002.Julie Pipperthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03169574697104642479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13083972.post-43947791526494817422007-02-23T11:25:00.000-06:002007-02-23T11:25:00.000-06:00Bones, my friend, I'm in the Red Republic now. I l...Bones, my friend, I'm in the Red Republic now. I left the whitewashed blue state behind me, I'm afraid.<BR/><BR/>Living in Whitebreadville was color blind because there was only one color, really: white.<BR/><BR/>In a very frank conversation with a friend (Salem) once, she admitted to recalling vividly the first time in her entire life she saw a black person, and how freaked out she was. She was something like 6.<BR/><BR/>I grew up a minority gringo for many years. I was one of a handful of little white girls in a mostly black and Latino neighborhood. Yes, we were poor. It was a poor area. My mother shipped me away to school by 7th grade because things got too rough after that in our neck of the woods.<BR/><BR/>Proximity doesn't, per se, breed contempt. It actually, IME, often breeds normalcy.<BR/><BR/>KWIM?<BR/><BR/>ITA with this, "...how academic and theoretical the New England perspective is on life."<BR/><BR/>It is, largely, an intellectual exercise.<BR/><BR/>Your story, experience, is very interesting.<BR/><BR/>Liberal guilt.<BR/><BR/>I tighten up security measures in high-crime neighborhoods too. I don't feel guilty. This is because I know it's about statistics (which are sadly tied to race). I don't flinch at every brown and black face I see.<BR/><BR/>Urban renewal. Snort. I just ranted recently about gentrification. People pretend it's all for the good of the community, and it is, right up to the point where the cost of living edges out the very people the initiative was intended to support.<BR/><BR/>I'm sure at any given time I can be accused of ignorance. But I took your comments as a great exploration. I don't mind alternative POVs and challenges at all. I court them. So bring on more thoughts!<BR/><BR/>BTW, I agree with you and Mrs. Chicky. I'm waiting for that editorial too.Julie Pipperthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03169574697104642479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13083972.post-61684298947548466452007-02-23T11:14:00.000-06:002007-02-23T11:14:00.000-06:00Gwen, I spent years in sociology believing that di...Gwen, I spent years in sociology believing that dialogue was the key to ending racism. After all, that's what we keep hearing and saying. Eventually, I realized the preacher was talking to the choir.<BR/><BR/>I do think we need to keep talking about racism...however...<BR/><BR/>I think continually mentioning Obama's race as is being done isn't actually intelligently working to eliminate it as an issue.<BR/><BR/>Quite the reverse.<BR/><BR/>It is, I believe, in and of itself racist because it continues to make race an issue.<BR/><BR/>See what I am saying? Making sense at all?Julie Pipperthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03169574697104642479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13083972.post-81214419478539386122007-02-23T10:19:00.000-06:002007-02-23T10:19:00.000-06:00fantastic post - couldn't agree more, I guess you ...fantastic post - couldn't agree more, I guess you are getting this rammed down your throats a lot at the moment - we're skimming the debate in the UK, but it will be very interesting to see how this pans out - loved your comments about past and current presidents!!<BR/><BR/>Will link to this post when I get to my blog next week, there have been a couple of great blogs I've read on related racism topics. <BR/><BR/>Congrats on this post, excellent as always...Rachel Briggshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08657472782444613862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13083972.post-24530317122019386602007-02-22T22:06:00.000-06:002007-02-22T22:06:00.000-06:00I recently saw an article that was entirely devote...I recently saw an article that was entirely devoted to the question of whether Obama is too young. Which is just another way of asking, is he too black? Is he too Not White and Old and Republican?Her Bad Motherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03535958887714152413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13083972.post-21863039376802080912007-02-22T21:05:00.000-06:002007-02-22T21:05:00.000-06:00You done been tagged. Drop by my place to see what...You done been tagged. Drop by my place to see what it's all about. Oh and follow the link to the original for instructions.Madhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13416585771017767796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13083972.post-66145912389087327942007-02-22T17:51:00.000-06:002007-02-22T17:51:00.000-06:00We already had this issue in Columbus several year...We already had this issue in Columbus several years ago. During the mayoral race, the candidates were a black man, and a white woman. We were either going to have the first black mayor or the first female mayor, and the media would not shut the hell up about it. <BR/><BR/>Thankfully, since then there has been little issue. Few care that we have a black mayor, and now simply focus on the fact that he's the best mayor we've had in a long, long time. <BR/><BR/>While I'm just as sick of this as you, we'll probably have to deal with the media calling out race and gender issues for the entire election, and then once we get past it and get someone elected, hopefully the national media will join the Columbus media and shut the hell up about it, too.Christinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07345875955750219033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13083972.post-58438164443555857202007-02-22T14:53:00.000-06:002007-02-22T14:53:00.000-06:00Well said. I really enjoyed this post.But I'm afr...Well said. I really enjoyed this post.<BR/><BR/>But I'm afraid it goes both ways. The media is fixated on the black versus white thing, but you know that there will be people who will vote for Obama for no other reason other than because he is a black man. And, according to some in the African American community, Obama is not really "black". Perhaps one day we'll get beyond sex, race, creed and religion (hello, Mitt Romney) but I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon.Chicky Chicky Babyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18056206889322232109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13083972.post-11491957552223813312007-02-22T14:44:00.000-06:002007-02-22T14:44:00.000-06:00Hmm. I’ve got to think a little bit before I resp...Hmm. I’ve got to think a little bit before I respond to this one. I used to live where you live now, and I thought I was pretty progressive. I figured I was colorblind, and moving to the Chocolate City (Washington, DC) would be a piece of cake.<BR/><BR/>Wow, was I wrong. I had no idea that I would struggle with my own prejudiced thoughts and acts when I moved here, and I had no clue how academic and theoretical the New England perspective is on life. My wife and I both work in non-profit worlds where the lion’s share of our beneficiaries are “at-risk.” There’s another clever moniker for you. They’re black and poor, but we can’t really say it that way, for some reason, so we have to say things like “at-risk.” <BR/><BR/>And every time I walk through an “at-risk” neighborhood, I walk with my car keys in my hand and I separate some cash from my credit cards. And sometimes I feel guilty for doing it, even though the statistics tell me that a white person in Anacostia at night is more likely to be mugged than not. But why don’t I feel guilty doing it if I am in South Boston, where the “at-risk” people are white?<BR/><BR/>And then I wonder why Tony Williams, the former Black mayor of DC and architect of an almost Guiliani-like renaissance was a pariah among African-Americans in his own city, because he wasn’t, as the Washington City Paper said, black enough. Or, as another editorial said, was a white man who just happened to be black. Whatever that means.<BR/><BR/>Or I look at a term like “urban renewal” that is a clever way of saying development brings up property value and reduces crime, then white people buy the land because its cheaper than Georgetown and the “at-risk” people who used to live there can’t afford the property taxes, so they move further into the “inner city” (a laughable term, considering it is always the edge of the city, south of the polluted river and east of the rail yards.) But at the same time, without development, there are literally no jobs other than open-air drug dealing. <BR/><BR/>I haven’t yet seen the editorial that will undoubtedly be written in the Washington Post, asking if the cultural African Americans will accept Obama, or paint him as an Uncle Tom the same way cultural A/A’s in DC painted Tony Williams. <BR/><BR/>All of this sounds incredibly racist. I promise you, though, it’s not. I used to think that black and white was, well, black and white. Moving here 8 years ago showed me how deep the cuts really go, and that we are still generations away from the days when a question like “is America ready to elect a black president” is irrelevant. <BR/><BR/>And please don’t think I’m accusing you of any sort of ignorance. You are where, hopefully someday, we can all get. But nobody can get there and really understand it without walking a few miles in a pair of Anacostia’s shoes.<BR/><BR/>Keep up the good work, Julie. <BR/>--BonesBoneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16504810076352510226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13083972.post-11331177699634489612007-02-22T14:37:00.000-06:002007-02-22T14:37:00.000-06:00First of all: I heart Obama so much, and I'm worr...First of all: I heart Obama so much, and I'm worried that this campaign will destroy him because modern American politics are so brutal. And please, Democrats, please stop giving your support to Hilary. Please? She is unelectable, and not because she's a woman. <BR/><BR/>I personally don't care what race or color a candidate is, but that doesn't mean there aren't enormous swaths of people who do. I hear what you're saying about dismissing race as an issue, I do. And it is a tempting way to go. But part of me thinks the dialogue has to happen, that people need to be faced with their idiocy and called on it. It's ridiculously difficult to talk about race honestly, and I don't trust our talking heads to do it well for one minute, but I still think the fact that race is an issue--because it IS an issue--should be discussed.Gwenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12526629366170486737noreply@blogger.com