This is a lesson in history I bet Barack Obama never had as he continues to persist with equal treatment in an unequal situation. The following article concisely sums up exactly how white people got where they are and why Black people have not yet made it to the promised land.
RACE - The Power of an Illusion
BACKGROUND:
A Long History of Affirmative Action - For Whites
http://newsreel.org/guides/race/whiteadv.htm
Many middle-class white people, especially those of us from the suburbs, like to think that we got to where we are today by virtue of our merit - hard work, intelligence, pluck, and maybe a little luck. And while we may be sympathetic to the plight of others, we close down when we hear the words "affirmative action" or "racial preferences." We worked hard, we made it on our own, the thinking goes, why don't 'they'? After all, the Civil Rights Act was enacted almost 40 years ago.
What we don't readily acknowledge is that racial preferences have a long, institutional history in this country - a white history. Here are a few ways in which government programs and practices have channeled wealth and opportunities to white people at the expense of others.
Early Racial Preferences
We all know the old history, but it's still worth reminding ourselves of its scale and scope. Affirmative action in the American "workplace" first began in the late 17th century when European indentured servants - the original source of unfree labor on the new tobacco plantations of Virginia and Maryland - were replaced by African slaves. In exchange for their support and their policing of the growing slave population, lower-class Europeans won new rights, entitlements, and opportunities from the planter elite.
White Americans were also given a head start with the help of the U.S. Army. The 1830 Indian Removal Act, for example, forcibly relocated Cherokee, Creeks and other eastern Indians to west of the Mississippi River to make room for white settlers. The 1862 Homestead Act followed suit, giving away millions of acres of what had been Indian Territory west of the Mississippi. Ultimately, 270 million acres, or 10% of the total land area of the United States, was converted to private hands, overwhelmingly white, under Homestead Act provisions.
The 1790 Naturalization Act permitted only "free white persons" to become naturalized citizens, thus opening the doors to European immigrants but not others. Only citizens could vote, serve on juries, hold office, and in some cases, even hold property. In this century, Alien Land Laws passed in California and other states, reserved farm land for white growers by preventing Asian immigrants, ineligible to become citizens, from owning or leasing land. Immigration restrictions further limited opportunities for nonwhite groups. Racial barriers to naturalized U.S. citizenship weren't removed until the McCarran-Walter Act in 1952, and white racial preferences in immigration remained until 1965.
In the South, the federal government never followed through on General Sherman's Civil War plan to divide up plantations and give each freed slave "40 acres and a mule" as reparations. Only once was monetary compensation made for slavery, in Washington, D.C. There, government officials paid up to $300 per slave upon emancipation - not to the slaves, but to local slaveholders as compensation for loss of property.
When slavery ended, its legacy lived on not only in the impoverished condition of Black people but in the wealth and prosperity that accrued to white slaveowners and their descendents. Economists who try to place a dollar value on how much white Americans have profited from 200 years of unpaid slave labor, including interest, begin their estimates at $1 trillion.
Jim Crow laws, instituted in the late 19th and early 20th century and not overturned in many states until the 1960s, reserved the best jobs, neighborhoods, schools and hospitals for white people.
The Advantages Grow, Generation to Generation
Less known are more recent government racial preferences, first enacted during the New Deal, that directed wealth to white families and continue to shape life opportunities and chances.
The landmark Social Security Act of 1935 provided a safety net for millions of workers, guaranteeing them an income after retirement. But the act specifically excluded two occupations: agricultural workers and domestic servants, who were predominately African American, Mexican, and Asian. As low-income workers, they also had the least opportunity to save for their retirement. They couldn't pass wealth on to their children. Just the opposite. Their children had to support them.
Like Social Security, the 1935 Wagner Act helped establish an important new right for white people. By granting unions the power of collective bargaining, it helped millions of white workers gain entry into the middle class over the next 30 years. But the Wagner Act permitted unions to exclude non-whites and deny them access to better paid jobs and union protections and benefits such as health care, job security, and pensions. Many craft unions remained nearly all-white well into the 1970s. In 1972, for example, every single one of the 3,000 members of Los Angeles Steam Fitters Local #250 was still white.
But it was another racialized New Deal program, the Federal Housing Administration, that helped generate much of the wealth that so many white families enjoy today. These revolutionary programs made it possible for millions of average white Americans - but not others - to own a home for the first time. The government set up a national neighborhood appraisal system, explicitly tying mortgage eligibility to race. Integrated communities were ipso facto deemed a financial risk and made ineligible for home loans, a policy known today as "redlining." Between 1934 and 1962, the federal government backed $120 billion of home loans. More than 98% went to whites. Of the 350,000 new homes built with federal support in northern California between 1946 and 1960, fewer than 100 went to African Americans.
These government programs made possible the new segregated white suburbs that sprang up around the country after World War II. Government subsidies for municipal services helped develop and enhance these suburbs further, in turn fueling commercial investments. Freeways tied the new suburbs to central business districts, but they often cut through and destroyed the vitality of non-white neighborhoods in the central city.
Today, Black and Latino mortgage applicants are still 60% more likely than whites to be turned down for a loan, even after controlling for employment, financial, and neighborhood factors. According to the Census, whites are more likely to be segregated than any other group. As recently as 1993, 86% of suburban whites still lived in neighborhoods with a black population of less than 1%.
Reaping the Rewards of Racial Preference
One result of the generations of preferential treatment for whites is that a typical white family today has on average eight times the assets, or net worth, of a typical African American family, according to economist Edward Wolff. Even when families of the same income are compared, white families have more than twice the wealth of Black families. Much of that wealth difference can be attributed to the value of one's home, and how much one inherited from parents. But a family's net worth is not simply the finish line, it's also the starting point for the next generation.
Those with wealth pass their assets on to their children - by financing a college education, lending a hand during hard times, or assisting with the down payment for a home. Some economists estimate that up to 80 percent of lifetime wealth accumulation depends on these intergenerational transfers. White advantage is passed down, from parent to child to grand-child. As a result, the racial wealth gap - and the head start enjoyed by whites - appears to have grown since the civil rights days.
In 1865, just after Emancipation, it is not surprising that African Americans owned 0.5 percent of the total worth of the United States. But by 1990, a full 135 years after the abolition of slavery, Black Americans still possessed only a meager 1 percent of national wealth.
Rather than recognize how "racial preferences" have tilted the playing field and given us a head start in life, many whites continue to believe that race does not affect our lives. Instead, we chastise others for not achieving what we have; we even invert the situation and accuse non-whites of using "the race card" to advance themselves.
Or we suggest that differential outcomes may simply result from differences in "natural" ability or motivation. However, sociologist Dalton Conley's research shows that when we compare the performance of families across racial lines who make not just the same income, but also hold similar net worth, a very interesting thing happens: many of the racial disparities in education, graduation rates, welfare usage and other outcomes disappear. The "performance gap" between whites and nonwhites is a product not of nature, but unequal circumstances.
Colorblind policies that treat everyone the same, no exceptions for minorities, are often counter-posed against affirmative action. But colorblindness today merely bolsters the unfair advantages that color-coded practices have enabled white Americans to long accumulate.
It's a little late in the game to say that race shouldn't matter.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Friday, October 2, 2009
Olympics 2016 - Let's all exhale!
I saw the writing on the wall when I read that Chicago’s plea for the Olympics 2016 bid was a little flat. Although Chicago had front-runner status, the political landscape did not favor Chicago or the U.S. for that matter.
The best thing about knowing is, well, knowing. We can finally exhale. Chicagoans have been living on the edge of anticipation for a couple of years and now we can finally relax. I know a lot of people are disappointed, but there are some who never wanted the Olympics, particularly the disenfranchised Chicagoans on the south side whose existence would have been disrupted or dismantled completely as Daley bulldozed his way into Washington Park.
As a Chicagoan who grew up in Woodlawn and in walking distance from Washington Park, I just couldn’t imagine something as grand as the Summer Olympics being housed in the congested Washington Park area. Washington Park is one of the largest parks in Chicago, but it is flanked on all sides by apartment buildings and the University of Chicago. Where would everyone park? The University of Chicago sporting and parking facilities would have helped, but it can only offer so much.
Well, whatever. We lost (ouch!)… in the first round (ouch! ouch!). What a hit to the Chicago-Obama ego. Even the magnetic, charismatic, and hugely popular Obama couldn’t pull it off for us. If Obama and Oprah couldn’t reel it in for us, it just wasn’t meant to be.
Meanwhile….
I walked over to the Daley Plaza and took a few pictures of the city hoopla. Large flat-screen viewing monitors and a media broadcasting stage with lights and cameras and dozens of reporters were set up as Chicago covered the Olympics 2016 decision today. At about 10:45am, disappointed city dwellers were already walking away from the Plaza with orange Olympics 2016 t-shirts on and signs and banners swinging from their hands.
Just as one of them was informing me that Chicago lost the 2016 bid in the first round my cell phone was buzzing from various text messages stating the same thing. Since I still didn’t know which country did win the Olympics bid, I continued to walk over to Daley Plaza.
Hundreds of people were crowded inside Daley Plaza, meandering about with a lost “what do we do now?” expression. Reporters with media tags on and steno notebooks in hand were randomly interviewing onlookers on how they felt now that Chicago was out of the running.
I liked all of the energy. But, unfortunately, it was short-lived. And after seeing how Rio de Janeiro with over 50,000 people gathered on the beach celebrated in typical Brazilian style, I think they deserve to finally get the Olympics. 2016 is going to be a fun year.
See you in Brazil!
The best thing about knowing is, well, knowing. We can finally exhale. Chicagoans have been living on the edge of anticipation for a couple of years and now we can finally relax. I know a lot of people are disappointed, but there are some who never wanted the Olympics, particularly the disenfranchised Chicagoans on the south side whose existence would have been disrupted or dismantled completely as Daley bulldozed his way into Washington Park.
As a Chicagoan who grew up in Woodlawn and in walking distance from Washington Park, I just couldn’t imagine something as grand as the Summer Olympics being housed in the congested Washington Park area. Washington Park is one of the largest parks in Chicago, but it is flanked on all sides by apartment buildings and the University of Chicago. Where would everyone park? The University of Chicago sporting and parking facilities would have helped, but it can only offer so much.
Well, whatever. We lost (ouch!)… in the first round (ouch! ouch!). What a hit to the Chicago-Obama ego. Even the magnetic, charismatic, and hugely popular Obama couldn’t pull it off for us. If Obama and Oprah couldn’t reel it in for us, it just wasn’t meant to be.
Meanwhile….
I walked over to the Daley Plaza and took a few pictures of the city hoopla. Large flat-screen viewing monitors and a media broadcasting stage with lights and cameras and dozens of reporters were set up as Chicago covered the Olympics 2016 decision today. At about 10:45am, disappointed city dwellers were already walking away from the Plaza with orange Olympics 2016 t-shirts on and signs and banners swinging from their hands.
Just as one of them was informing me that Chicago lost the 2016 bid in the first round my cell phone was buzzing from various text messages stating the same thing. Since I still didn’t know which country did win the Olympics bid, I continued to walk over to Daley Plaza.
Hundreds of people were crowded inside Daley Plaza, meandering about with a lost “what do we do now?” expression. Reporters with media tags on and steno notebooks in hand were randomly interviewing onlookers on how they felt now that Chicago was out of the running.
I liked all of the energy. But, unfortunately, it was short-lived. And after seeing how Rio de Janeiro with over 50,000 people gathered on the beach celebrated in typical Brazilian style, I think they deserve to finally get the Olympics. 2016 is going to be a fun year.
See you in Brazil!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Obama will have his Health Care!
Obama gave an excellent speech on the health care reform initiative. It contained specific details about how the health care reform bill would impact American people, health care insurers, and businesses - both small and large. It was explained in a direct, matter-of-fact way.
For the most part, the president's health care reform initiative is relatively moderate. Obama said that for those whose health insurance comes through Medicaid, Medicare, or their employer - NOTHING WILL CHANGE. That means that all of the private health care insurers (Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, etc) who are collecting our money through our HMO or PPO plans will continue to rake in the dough because most Americans are healthy and do not demand much from their insurers. Yet we will now have the opportunity to get preventative procedures such as mammograms, colonoscopies, etc. for free (hopefully meaning no co-pay). The president said Americans shouldn't have to pay for preventative procedures because it ultimately costs less to fix a health problem earlier rather than later.
For those without health insurance, he introduced the public option, the best part of the deal, but not something conservatives and Republicans should be so uptight about. The president explained that the public option is like creating public universities. Public universities have provided a less expensive alternative to education but does not take away from private universities in any way. Instead, it means that individuals and families with fewer means can still access health care just as students without much money can attend public college.
The president also acknowledged that what the public option really does is keep health care companies in check! If we live in a competitive market-based society and people have the choice of using the cheaper, tax-payer subsidized public healthcare plan versus the expensive, bloated private health care plan - most likely the people will choose the government. So, indirectly President Obama is commanding private health care insurers to lower their prices if they want to remain competitive. Their private coverage needs to be as good as the government's subsidized coverage. It is a very blatant form of health care industry regulation that is sorely needed in this country.
Most people in America are insured through their company and most companies have long established relationships with private health care insurers. Therefore the profit margins of private insurers won't take too big of a hit. However, it does mean that when the public option takes affect, private health insurers will have a harder time exploiting Americans now that we will have a viable health care alternative that actually works for us.
Some other extras that the President mentioned.
Obama called out the Republicans by stating that his health care reform will cost less than either the Iraq War or the tax breaks given to the wealthy. In fact, he said those two Republican bills were the reasons why he walked into the White House with a one trillion dollar deficit on his desk. His statements were direct punches to all Republican arguments that health care reform will cost too much and run our economy into the ground. However, Republicans believe that anything that might help the people such as minimum wage, maternity leave, health care reform, or environmental protections will kill the economy. Yet it never occurs to Republicans that how health care companies currently treat Americans are killing us.
Most likely, Obama's health care reform bill will pass exactly as he presented it tonight after a few kinks have been ironed out.
This is Barack Obama and we all know that President Obama's timing is impeccable. He will win this battle and go down in history with the Roosevelts and Kennedy's who have kept this country progressive and out of the capitalistic dark ages.
For the most part, the president's health care reform initiative is relatively moderate. Obama said that for those whose health insurance comes through Medicaid, Medicare, or their employer - NOTHING WILL CHANGE. That means that all of the private health care insurers (Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, etc) who are collecting our money through our HMO or PPO plans will continue to rake in the dough because most Americans are healthy and do not demand much from their insurers. Yet we will now have the opportunity to get preventative procedures such as mammograms, colonoscopies, etc. for free (hopefully meaning no co-pay). The president said Americans shouldn't have to pay for preventative procedures because it ultimately costs less to fix a health problem earlier rather than later.
For those without health insurance, he introduced the public option, the best part of the deal, but not something conservatives and Republicans should be so uptight about. The president explained that the public option is like creating public universities. Public universities have provided a less expensive alternative to education but does not take away from private universities in any way. Instead, it means that individuals and families with fewer means can still access health care just as students without much money can attend public college.
The president also acknowledged that what the public option really does is keep health care companies in check! If we live in a competitive market-based society and people have the choice of using the cheaper, tax-payer subsidized public healthcare plan versus the expensive, bloated private health care plan - most likely the people will choose the government. So, indirectly President Obama is commanding private health care insurers to lower their prices if they want to remain competitive. Their private coverage needs to be as good as the government's subsidized coverage. It is a very blatant form of health care industry regulation that is sorely needed in this country.
Most people in America are insured through their company and most companies have long established relationships with private health care insurers. Therefore the profit margins of private insurers won't take too big of a hit. However, it does mean that when the public option takes affect, private health insurers will have a harder time exploiting Americans now that we will have a viable health care alternative that actually works for us.
Some other extras that the President mentioned.
- - No caps on health care coverage to treat illnesses and health problems.
- - No coverage drops due to pre-existing health conditions
- - No watered down coverage for the same reason.
- - This plan does not cover illegal aliens.
- - Paying for health care will not bankrupt you.
- - Everyone will be required to hold some minimal form of health insurance similar to how drivers are required to have auto liability insurance. (How the president will enforce this, I don't know. Obama didn't either.)
- - Some of these provisions won't be enacted for four years.
Obama called out the Republicans by stating that his health care reform will cost less than either the Iraq War or the tax breaks given to the wealthy. In fact, he said those two Republican bills were the reasons why he walked into the White House with a one trillion dollar deficit on his desk. His statements were direct punches to all Republican arguments that health care reform will cost too much and run our economy into the ground. However, Republicans believe that anything that might help the people such as minimum wage, maternity leave, health care reform, or environmental protections will kill the economy. Yet it never occurs to Republicans that how health care companies currently treat Americans are killing us.
Most likely, Obama's health care reform bill will pass exactly as he presented it tonight after a few kinks have been ironed out.
This is Barack Obama and we all know that President Obama's timing is impeccable. He will win this battle and go down in history with the Roosevelts and Kennedy's who have kept this country progressive and out of the capitalistic dark ages.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Obama and the Grading System on CNN
I just finished watching Obama's press conference and I guess this is his first quarter marking period because CNN is GRADING the president. Since when did the president get graded??? All of this undermines the authority of the president and of course this is done when the president is African-American (BLACK!)
CNN gave Obama a B grade, which is a good grade, but so the f$@! what! Can you tell I am a little upset by this??? They want to grade the president when the previous president was a sitting idiot savant. Now that we have a man of considerable intelligence and steadiness as our president who carefully, painstakingly tries to do what is right, CNN has decided to assess how he is doing in office.
Where was this grading system when Bush lied about the Iraq War? Where was this grading system when Bush blankly stared at the camera after hearing the Twin Towers had crashed into the ground? Where was this grading system when Bush left all the Black people in New Orleans to fend for themselves as he stalled in sending the city supplies that FEMA had available? Where was this grading system as Americans watched gas prices rise from $1.59/gal to $4.59/gallon? C'mon!
Obama has been dealt a hand by the devil. Only the devil would make sure that America was teetering towards economic depression, unpopular by the world, and in the midst of several wars before white America decided it was OK to have a Black president. Kind of like the Oscars. Have you ever noticed that the Oscars only give the best actor/actress award to a black person when they are playing a despot??? (Think Monster's Ball, King of Scotland, Training Day)
But that is besides the point...
This is the point. The white media wants to create a situation where Obama is truly subject to the will of the white people. They set his agenda before he came into office. And disappointingly, Obama has played to their tune. There is nothing Obama hasn't done that wasn't forecast by media pundits a month ago. I am hoping that as Obama grows more comfortable with his power, he will make decisions more independently and with more authority and less consensus. Now some would argue that his stimulus plan was out-of-the-box (Obama, you are doing too much too soon!) but his stimulus package was just a quick way of putting the agenda he ran for president on into one big package. (Which is actually very smart of him. "Get it when the getting's good!")
Of course, my problem with him, like with all Black people of color is that no where is there anything in his agenda for Black people - the 97% of us that helped him win. Are we going to get shafted by one of our own because he still fills the need to please?
I mean, as much as Bush was called an idiot, he taught me a lot of things about power. For one, his presidency was filled with a lot of unpopular ideas - chicken pox vaccine, Iraq war, investing social security in the stock market, tax cuts for the rich, Patriot Act, Guatanamo Bay and torture, etc. Need I say more. And that was just in his first term! Yet, despite our high gas prices, a war we didn't want, his friendship with a corrupt Enron CEO, his inability to capture Osama bin Laden, skyrocketing healthcare and a healthcare bill that increased costs to senior citizens, and on and on.. do you know what Americans did in response? Americans voted the worst president back into office for a second term! That is power!
And Obama can't seem to muster up the courage to put out a little bill that would for once HELP Black people instead of punish us for being the unfortunate descendants of slaves? Maybe some legislation that would make it easier for us to get into college instead of jail? Maybe legislation targeting blighted Black communities as he doles out billions of dollars to corrupt governors and mayors? Maybe sneak a few billion dollars over to Black people inside the stimulus bill just to say "I got your back" as he gives us the pound?
Bush taught me about power. He showed me that when you are president you can do whatever the f$#! you want to do. He put the middle finger in our face with each chance he got to fit his own agenda and didn't care what anyone said. Bush, basically, said screw Americans with every opportunity. Remember, his administration got us into this mess. Visit http://www.solari.com/ for whether this is actually a mess or a planned disaster. All in the first term. Remember the economic recession of 2001-2002.
And Bush helped those who helped him. He made sure his father's organization, the Carlyle Group, and Cheney's company, Halliburton, got paid during his administration. Everyone who was a friend to Bush while he was governor became a part of his administration. Why don't we see a sea of Black faces in the Obama administration?
Obama became the president of the most powerful country in the world which makes him the most powerful man in the world. Bush knew his power and ran with it. Why can't Obama?
Instead, he acts as if he is beholden to a group of people who didn't even vote him into the White House. Only 40% of white Americans voted for Obama compared with 97% of black Americans and 65% of Latin Americans.
So since he wants to play fair and hold himself accountable to the whole world, then I am giving him a C- for not showing some guts. I hold on to the fact that he still has four years to help black people ----- but I'm not holding my breath.
CNN gave Obama a B grade, which is a good grade, but so the f$@! what! Can you tell I am a little upset by this??? They want to grade the president when the previous president was a sitting idiot savant. Now that we have a man of considerable intelligence and steadiness as our president who carefully, painstakingly tries to do what is right, CNN has decided to assess how he is doing in office.
Where was this grading system when Bush lied about the Iraq War? Where was this grading system when Bush blankly stared at the camera after hearing the Twin Towers had crashed into the ground? Where was this grading system when Bush left all the Black people in New Orleans to fend for themselves as he stalled in sending the city supplies that FEMA had available? Where was this grading system as Americans watched gas prices rise from $1.59/gal to $4.59/gallon? C'mon!
Obama has been dealt a hand by the devil. Only the devil would make sure that America was teetering towards economic depression, unpopular by the world, and in the midst of several wars before white America decided it was OK to have a Black president. Kind of like the Oscars. Have you ever noticed that the Oscars only give the best actor/actress award to a black person when they are playing a despot??? (Think Monster's Ball, King of Scotland, Training Day)
But that is besides the point...
This is the point. The white media wants to create a situation where Obama is truly subject to the will of the white people. They set his agenda before he came into office. And disappointingly, Obama has played to their tune. There is nothing Obama hasn't done that wasn't forecast by media pundits a month ago. I am hoping that as Obama grows more comfortable with his power, he will make decisions more independently and with more authority and less consensus. Now some would argue that his stimulus plan was out-of-the-box (Obama, you are doing too much too soon!) but his stimulus package was just a quick way of putting the agenda he ran for president on into one big package. (Which is actually very smart of him. "Get it when the getting's good!")
Of course, my problem with him, like with all Black people of color is that no where is there anything in his agenda for Black people - the 97% of us that helped him win. Are we going to get shafted by one of our own because he still fills the need to please?
I mean, as much as Bush was called an idiot, he taught me a lot of things about power. For one, his presidency was filled with a lot of unpopular ideas - chicken pox vaccine, Iraq war, investing social security in the stock market, tax cuts for the rich, Patriot Act, Guatanamo Bay and torture, etc. Need I say more. And that was just in his first term! Yet, despite our high gas prices, a war we didn't want, his friendship with a corrupt Enron CEO, his inability to capture Osama bin Laden, skyrocketing healthcare and a healthcare bill that increased costs to senior citizens, and on and on.. do you know what Americans did in response? Americans voted the worst president back into office for a second term! That is power!
And Obama can't seem to muster up the courage to put out a little bill that would for once HELP Black people instead of punish us for being the unfortunate descendants of slaves? Maybe some legislation that would make it easier for us to get into college instead of jail? Maybe legislation targeting blighted Black communities as he doles out billions of dollars to corrupt governors and mayors? Maybe sneak a few billion dollars over to Black people inside the stimulus bill just to say "I got your back" as he gives us the pound?
Bush taught me about power. He showed me that when you are president you can do whatever the f$#! you want to do. He put the middle finger in our face with each chance he got to fit his own agenda and didn't care what anyone said. Bush, basically, said screw Americans with every opportunity. Remember, his administration got us into this mess. Visit http://www.solari.com/ for whether this is actually a mess or a planned disaster. All in the first term. Remember the economic recession of 2001-2002.
And Bush helped those who helped him. He made sure his father's organization, the Carlyle Group, and Cheney's company, Halliburton, got paid during his administration. Everyone who was a friend to Bush while he was governor became a part of his administration. Why don't we see a sea of Black faces in the Obama administration?
Obama became the president of the most powerful country in the world which makes him the most powerful man in the world. Bush knew his power and ran with it. Why can't Obama?
Instead, he acts as if he is beholden to a group of people who didn't even vote him into the White House. Only 40% of white Americans voted for Obama compared with 97% of black Americans and 65% of Latin Americans.
So since he wants to play fair and hold himself accountable to the whole world, then I am giving him a C- for not showing some guts. I hold on to the fact that he still has four years to help black people ----- but I'm not holding my breath.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Update: Black contractors and Intuition
This entry is actually a follow-up to a previous post I wrote about how proud I was to use all Black people in my real estate renovation process. I used a Black real estate agent, black lawyer, black general contractor, and the person who put up my wrought iron fence was black too.
Well, I have been disappointed with those choices. The real estate agent and the black lawyer were all women and actually, I have been very, very happy with them. The real estate agent is now a good friend of mine and I would use the lawyer again if I ever needed to.
However, the black contractors I used for my fence and the renovation of my building were men and I was sorely disappointed in my choice. Both of them were unorganized in a way that has cost me time and money.
Now, I won't say that throughout this entire real estate process, I have always had everything perfect, but I can say that I have been close. I finally got a tenant and I have made sure to be responsive and available to them, friendly, yet professional. I set my rent price, matched it to market and whoever could afford it, got the apartment. I went with my intuition and picked tenants that I felt comfortable with. I like them very much and doubt I will have problems with them.
On the other hand, the contractors have been unorganized and it has cost them money which means they have come begging me for more money. With the first contractor who put up my wrought iron gate, he did the job but near the end of it, wanted to charge me higher because he figured he was cutting me a deal in the first place. Now, that actually was not true since I got a much lower price from Mexican contractors. But I wanted to work with Black people and here I am paying almost $500 - $1000 more on a wrought iron fence. Dumb move. I couldn't even fully recommend him to my real estate agent friend because of the move he pulled asking me to pay more money for the fence. That is just unprofessionally and it completely irritated the mess out of me.
Second person is my beloved (sarcastically said) general contractor who I have titled the B!@#$ ( you know what I mean) because everytime I tell him something he did needs correcting and is incomplete, he whines about how he doesn't have any money, is short on the job, is broke, and how this is costing him too much. Does he really think I care?
Here is where I was smart - at least with the general contractor. It has cost $60,000 to renovate my building. That is a lot of money. Thank goodness for good credit. I used the 203k FHA Rehab loan which combines the mortgage with the construction costs into one fixed rate loan. More importantly, the general contractor gets reimbursed for his work and that is after his work has been approved by not only myself, but also a HUD inspector who assessed what needed to be done and put a dollar value to it. This protects the homeowner from being ripped off by a contractor because the contractor has to agree to the HUD inspector's renovation cost.
Back to my contractor.
My beloved contractor never read the HUD inspectors renovation assessment report..... Instead he fixed on what he figured needed fixin' (thanks for the extras!) but left my place kind of undone. Like the electrical outlets don't work and there is still a major plumbing leak in one of my units. My beloved contractor only cares about getting his final reimbursement check. Little does he know that I am an intelligent person and would never dare pay a final check to anyone unless I am fully satisfied with the job. And I am not fully satisfied with anything he has done.
He was a poor choice and I think this article really should be about using your intuition. Because I have used my intuition in all areas except two - the building I chose and in choosing the general contractor. I have had major problems with both. I didn't follow my intuition when I chose my general contractor. I used logic and that was a problem. There was another contractor that I did like, but did not choose and I really regret that. I doubt this project would have taken as long as it has with as much frustration had I have gone with the other non-black general contractor.
Oh well. I do have one tenant at least. Since I have a three-unit, I have two more tenants to go before I can move on with my life. C'est la vie *Sigh*
Well, I have been disappointed with those choices. The real estate agent and the black lawyer were all women and actually, I have been very, very happy with them. The real estate agent is now a good friend of mine and I would use the lawyer again if I ever needed to.
However, the black contractors I used for my fence and the renovation of my building were men and I was sorely disappointed in my choice. Both of them were unorganized in a way that has cost me time and money.
Now, I won't say that throughout this entire real estate process, I have always had everything perfect, but I can say that I have been close. I finally got a tenant and I have made sure to be responsive and available to them, friendly, yet professional. I set my rent price, matched it to market and whoever could afford it, got the apartment. I went with my intuition and picked tenants that I felt comfortable with. I like them very much and doubt I will have problems with them.
On the other hand, the contractors have been unorganized and it has cost them money which means they have come begging me for more money. With the first contractor who put up my wrought iron gate, he did the job but near the end of it, wanted to charge me higher because he figured he was cutting me a deal in the first place. Now, that actually was not true since I got a much lower price from Mexican contractors. But I wanted to work with Black people and here I am paying almost $500 - $1000 more on a wrought iron fence. Dumb move. I couldn't even fully recommend him to my real estate agent friend because of the move he pulled asking me to pay more money for the fence. That is just unprofessionally and it completely irritated the mess out of me.
Second person is my beloved (sarcastically said) general contractor who I have titled the B!@#$ ( you know what I mean) because everytime I tell him something he did needs correcting and is incomplete, he whines about how he doesn't have any money, is short on the job, is broke, and how this is costing him too much. Does he really think I care?
Here is where I was smart - at least with the general contractor. It has cost $60,000 to renovate my building. That is a lot of money. Thank goodness for good credit. I used the 203k FHA Rehab loan which combines the mortgage with the construction costs into one fixed rate loan. More importantly, the general contractor gets reimbursed for his work and that is after his work has been approved by not only myself, but also a HUD inspector who assessed what needed to be done and put a dollar value to it. This protects the homeowner from being ripped off by a contractor because the contractor has to agree to the HUD inspector's renovation cost.
Back to my contractor.
My beloved contractor never read the HUD inspectors renovation assessment report..... Instead he fixed on what he figured needed fixin' (thanks for the extras!) but left my place kind of undone. Like the electrical outlets don't work and there is still a major plumbing leak in one of my units. My beloved contractor only cares about getting his final reimbursement check. Little does he know that I am an intelligent person and would never dare pay a final check to anyone unless I am fully satisfied with the job. And I am not fully satisfied with anything he has done.
He was a poor choice and I think this article really should be about using your intuition. Because I have used my intuition in all areas except two - the building I chose and in choosing the general contractor. I have had major problems with both. I didn't follow my intuition when I chose my general contractor. I used logic and that was a problem. There was another contractor that I did like, but did not choose and I really regret that. I doubt this project would have taken as long as it has with as much frustration had I have gone with the other non-black general contractor.
Oh well. I do have one tenant at least. Since I have a three-unit, I have two more tenants to go before I can move on with my life. C'est la vie *Sigh*
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Piracy in Somalia and U.S colonial interests
April 8, 2009
I saw this on Yahoo! News when I woke up this morning and as an African-American always questioning U.S. news coverage of African countries, I wondered what the context was for piracy in Somalia. Honestly, I secretly cheered that Somalia, a much maligned country by the U.S., had started a Robin Hoodesque way for evening out the distribution of money.
Somali pirates hijack ship; 20 Americans aboard
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090408/ap_on_re_af/piracyNAIROBI, Kenya – Somali pirates on Wednesday hijacked a U.S.-flagged cargo ship with 20 American crew members onboard, hundreds of miles from the nearest American military vessel in some of the most dangerous waters in the world.
The 17,000-ton Maersk Alabama was carrying emergency relief to Mombasa, Kenya, when it was hijacked, said Peter Beck-Bang, spokesman for the Copenhagen-based container shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk. It was the sixth ship seized within a week, a rise that analysts attribute to a new strategy by Somali pirates who are operating far from the warships patrolling the Gulf of Aden.
The company confirmed that the U.S.-flagged vessel has 20 U.S. nationals onboard.
http://www.khilafah.com/kcom/index2.php?option=com_content&task=emailform&id=41
What is happening in Somalia?
The US has carried out an air strike on a village in southern Somalia. The US/Ethiopian backed puppet transitional government has announced many people have been killed in the raid. The air strike follows the Ethiopian offensive against the Union of Islamic Courts, which reinstalled Abdullahi Yusuf and his American backed transitional government.Somalia is an Islamic land that has a glorious past and it occupies an important strategic position. The people of Somalia entered into Islam very early, with some entering Islam during the early phase of the da’wah (call) in Makkah when some of the Companions migrated to Abyssinia. The land was subsequently opened in 77 AH during the time of Abd al-Malik and remained an Islamic land connected to the Muslim lands, particularly Yemen which faces it across the Gulf of Aden. Towards the end of the Ottoman Caliphate it was afflicted by the greed of the colonial states that competed for its dominance so as to take its resources and benefit from its strategic position, since then Somalia has been ravaged by poverty and famine.
The horrendous situation of the Muslims of Somalia remained until the Union of Islamic Courts; a gathering of sincere Somali’s began to unite the country once again around Islam, shunning tribalism and colonialist interference. This situation perturbed the Americans and her agents in the Horn of Africa including Ethiopia. Ethiopia has been funding the defunct ‘government’ of Abdullahi Yusuf, providing it material support. It fears a united Somalia, especially a Somalia united by Islam.
As for America it has not ceased yearning for the long years in which it had control in Somalia during the reign of Siad Barre. Barre was overthrown in 1991 when armed warlords removed him from power, vying for control. At the same time, Britain annexed Somaliland, which was previously under its mandate (British Somaliland). America attempted in 1992 to return her influence once again under the pretext of a humanitarian effort, calling their endeavour ‘Operation Restore Hope’. Some 28,000 troops were used in this operation, however in 1995 it had to make a humiliating retreat.
In 2000 America worked to destroy the Djibouti Agreement which would have established the government of Abdul Qasim Salad, as it was an EU initiative that did not sufficiently consolidate US control over Somalia and its resources. She then worked to establish an interim government headed by her puppet Abdullahi Yusuf and prepared to develop international recognition for this government, which had no recognition with the people. Yusuf’s government sent representatives to the African Union, Arab League and the United Nations.
As well as supporting the puppet government of Yusuf, America continued to support the warlords in Mogadishu. With this parallel strategy, America tried to retake control over Somalia by politically supporting the puppet government and militarily supporting the warlords.
However the corruption of the government and overt link to America and Ethiopia as well as the continued conflict amongst the warlords made the people of Somalia look to an alternative to rescue them from their dire situation. They turned their attention to the Union of Islamic Courts. The Union of Islamic Courts was familiar to the people, who had witnessed its justice since 1994. As Somalia lost a central government, the Union of Islamic Courts voluntarily began to solve the problems between people, earning recognition for their fairness and sincerity. The Union of Islamic Courts initially started as a social movement but after witnessing the state of Somalia it decided to put an end to the disturbed situation of the country. The warlords backed by America opposed them, frightened that a sincere unifying force would put an end to their selfish and narrow designs. But the people rallied behind the Union and soon the warlords were defeated. It was said that the people joined the Union even before their men reached their towns and villages. The Union brought stability to Somalia after years of colonial interference.
This stability was seen by America to be unacceptable, for any independence from its will especially if Islam inspires that independence will not be tolerated. Hence America pushed Sudan to broker negotiations between the Union and its puppet government led by Yusuf in Khartoum. Through these negotiations it tried to marginalise the Union and give some power to its puppet Yusuf under a power sharing agreement. At the same time it assigned Ethiopia to protect Yusuf through military support so that the Courts would not be able to defeat his weak and hated government.
When the strength of the Union of Islamic Courts became intolerable and it became clear that they would soon overrun the puppet government, America instructed Ethiopia to declare openly its opposition to the Union by open warfare. The US military backing of Ethiopia was no match for the ill equipped Muslims of the Courts Union especially since the Muslim governments and armies lay deaf to the call of their brethren in Somalia.
The war was supported by America, who planned, financed and supported the war for three reasons:
1. Islam was a unifying factor in Somalia. America fights any Islamic movement wherever it can. It detests Islam and its people, particularly those who do not conform to what its calls ‘moderate Islam’, as exemplified by the corrupt Arab and Muslim rulers that litter the Muslim world. America is all too aware that if it left the Union of Islamic Courts to stabilise Somalia, this would give strength and support to all those wishing to rid the Muslim lands from colonial interference.
2. Somalia has a strategic position on the Indian Ocean with the longest shoreline (reaching 2720km), longer than any African state. Its shores stretch from the eastern side of Somalia upon the Indian Ocean and from the northern side upon the Gulf of Aden, in front of the Bab al-Mandeb of the Red Sea. Thus its position controls the Horn of Africa in such a way that it makes Somalia a launching point, if not the controlling point, in Southern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
3. Somalia is rich in resources. The land of Somalia is, in some estimation, rich with untapped resources. According to studies it holds reserves of uranium, natural gas, petroleum and other natural resources. Towards the end of the 1980s, in the time of Siad Barre, the rights of exploration were given to American petroleum corporations who found rich reserves of petroleum, the presence of which was verified even before this by geologists from the World Bank. However the coup that removed Siad Barre brought a stop to the exploitation of these resources. America through its greed, wishes to control these resources so that its companies can once again exploit it.
The recent air strike in Southern Somalia has already been announced as a strike against Al-Qaeda camps, with this America will try to justify its shameless intervention in Somalia as part of the War on Terror. In reality what has taken place in Somalia is a result of shameless colonialism.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Recent Black Lynchings in the Media
It is March 5th 2009 and I am watching Headline News report on Chris Brown's alleged assault against Rihanna. The reporter went into detail about the possible injuries that Rihanna sustained from Chris Brown's assault and said that he could possibly face five years in a state prison. As I watched them crucify this young man on TV, it occurred to me that the coverage of Chris Brown is completely different from the coverage of a prominent white actor who was in a similar situation several months ago.
I typed a search for "actor assaults wife" on Google and guess what popped up? A story I hadn't even heard of in which an actor named Sean Bean assaulted his new fourth wife. You may not know the name, Sean Bean, but any recent movie buff will know him as the actor who played Boromir in Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring. He was also the bad guy in the blockbuster hit movie, "National Treasure". Sean Bean spent six hours in jail and was later seen with his wife smiling and kissing - as if it never happened. And for most of the world, it never did. Because the media didn't tell us about it.
Check out the short blurbgiven to his story.... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2461106/Sean-Bean-spent-night-in-jail-over-alleged-assault-on-new-wife.html
As we all know, OJ Simpson is another story entirely....
Both men were acquitted but only one, the white actor, was left alone afterwards. Robert Blake has been allowed to fall into anonymity, while OJ Simpson is now sentenced to fifteen years in prison for just trying to get his memorabilia back from an unscrupulous dealer.
The point is that in the United States, Black men will never get a fair deal and it is best that all Black men realize this and fast! Every major Black sports athlete who has been extremely successful in life has also been lambasted by the media for some alleged misconduct.
Michael Vick - With extremely lucrative deals with the Atlanta Falcons, Nike, and Reebok is jailed because his relatives had dogs fighting in his house.
Barry Bonds -a Black man on the verge of beating both Babe Ruth's and Hank Aaron's record is slammed by the media for alleged steroid use. Although the white man who started the steroid use story is a man whose name I can't remember, Barry Bonds who hadn't used steroids in over a decade is the name smeared all over the news for weeks. And because of all the crap slammed onto Barry Bonds, I can't remember if he broke the record. Check out this white guy's honest perspective on the story....http://tabacco.blog-city.com/dave_zirin_a_white_man_on_barry_bonds_baseball__racism__it_a_1.htm
I typed a search for "actor assaults wife" on Google and guess what popped up? A story I hadn't even heard of in which an actor named Sean Bean assaulted his new fourth wife. You may not know the name, Sean Bean, but any recent movie buff will know him as the actor who played Boromir in Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring. He was also the bad guy in the blockbuster hit movie, "National Treasure". Sean Bean spent six hours in jail and was later seen with his wife smiling and kissing - as if it never happened. And for most of the world, it never did. Because the media didn't tell us about it.
Check out the short blurbgiven to his story.... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2461106/Sean-Bean-spent-night-in-jail-over-alleged-assault-on-new-wife.html
The Chris Brown assault trial has been in the news constantly and is being used as a way to create awareness on domestic violence and abuse against women with Rihanna, a black woman, being the spokesmodel. I am not excusing Chris Brown for his actions, but the stark difference in media coverage between Chris Brown and Sean Bean calls into question whether the media is lynching Chris Brown for his assault against Rihanna while giving Sean Bean, a white actor, a pass despite being accused of committing the same crime against his wife.
One very famous example of media lynching is with the OJ Simpson murder trials and the comparatively low-key Robert Blake murder trial.
The older white actor, Robert Blake, was accused of murdering his wife in 2001 by gunshot. Now almost 10 years later, not a peep is said about him. Robert Blake's murder trial didn't garner nearly the same media coverage as O J Simpson, an older, retired Black athlete who mistakenly married a white woman. In fact, after 8 years since his acquittal, I could not even remember the actor's name. I remembered that there was an actor who allegedly killed his wife, but I couldn't remember his name nor what he looked like. In the case of Robert Blake, when the jury acquitted Blake of his crimes, the verdict was accepted and the case was closed.As we all know, OJ Simpson is another story entirely....
Both men were acquitted but only one, the white actor, was left alone afterwards. Robert Blake has been allowed to fall into anonymity, while OJ Simpson is now sentenced to fifteen years in prison for just trying to get his memorabilia back from an unscrupulous dealer.
The point is that in the United States, Black men will never get a fair deal and it is best that all Black men realize this and fast! Every major Black sports athlete who has been extremely successful in life has also been lambasted by the media for some alleged misconduct.
Michael Vick - With extremely lucrative deals with the Atlanta Falcons, Nike, and Reebok is jailed because his relatives had dogs fighting in his house.
Barry Bonds -a Black man on the verge of beating both Babe Ruth's and Hank Aaron's record is slammed by the media for alleged steroid use. Although the white man who started the steroid use story is a man whose name I can't remember, Barry Bonds who hadn't used steroids in over a decade is the name smeared all over the news for weeks. And because of all the crap slammed onto Barry Bonds, I can't remember if he broke the record. Check out this white guy's honest perspective on the story....http://tabacco.blog-city.com/dave_zirin_a_white_man_on_barry_bonds_baseball__racism__it_a_1.htm
"Not enough evidence to charge Phelps, Sheriff says" reads the headline on CNN.com
despite an actual photograph of Michael Phelps smoking marijuana from a bong at a party. Unlike the black Michael Vick who lost all of his endorsements, Michael Phelps kept his endorsement deals with Speedo, Kelloggs, and Powerbar despite having a picture published of him smoking an illegal substance. http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/02/16/michael.phelps/index.html#cnnSTCText
Click http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/150832/14-times-Olympic-gold-medal-winner-Michael-Phelps-caught-with-bong-cannabis-pipe.html to see the marijuana photo.
In mid-August 2001, the story came out that Jesse Jackson had a 2 year old child from an affair with a worker at Rainbow PUSH Coalition who was 20 years younger than him. Two weeks later, Jesse Jackson Sr. pledged to make reparations to African-descendants of slavery a priority after attending a U.N. Conference on racism in South Africa. He demanded reparations payment from the United Kingdom for their role in African slavery. Great timing, huh?
The only reason Obama is still president of the United States is because he hasn't done anything illegal and has no misconduct to report. But, trust me, the white population is waiting for an Obama mistake before they pounce.
So since Obama has done nothing illegal or of ill-repute, the media will smear him by being the president who was unlucky enough to follow George Bush, Jr. and forced to deal with Bush's mess left behind.
As I write this, I am amazed at how so many media pundits are trying to put the U.S. domestic economic crisis on Obama. Every day, I hear a story about how the Republicans do not like Obama's stimulus package or Obama's spending bill or Obama's bill to slow foreclosures. They are slowly trying to link the economic crisis with Obama by publicizing every random critique a Republican has spoken against Obama's policies.
But, cynically, I ask myself...even if Obama did fix the problem, would the white media inform the world of such a feat and properly credit Obama for his intelligence and success? Or would they create a scandal around Obama (or assassinate him - you know it's possible) just to blindside us from the reality that he pulled off the greatest political slamdunk of all time by being the Black man who turned around one of the worst economies we have seen in over half a century?
We shall see. I hope the cynic in me isn't right. People, stay awake and aware.
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