*EDIT* Apparently they have the wrong video in the article (which would be why I was like “WTF!” LOL, here’s the actual video of the actual AKAs who ended up getting promoted. They are MUCH better than the ones who are in the article, I can see how it may have been a tight competition based on that video, but I STILL feel that the ZTAs were named the winners at the competition and as such should have remained the SOLE winners. If the judges felt it was a tie at the competition then they should have called it as such at the competition or had a step-off.

So last week (I think) I heard about the Sprite Step-off and how a white Sorority, Zeta Tau Alpha, won the competition. I didn’t think anything else about it. But today I see a post on a MB about how Sprite has done a total bitchass move and decided to say that there was a discrepancy in the scoring and that the only way they can think to fix it is to say the ZTAs and the AKAs were co-winners. I call bullshit. I think Black people complained about the White Sorority winning and Sprite got sick of hearing the complaints and figured they could just give $100,000 to both and call both orgs the “winners” and be done with it.

First of all, I watched BOTH performances, and ZTA stepped their asses off. Their routine was clean and entertaining. Listen to the crowd on both videos, the ZTAs got WAY more house. Their routines had more to them, and they won fair and square. I watched the AKAs video expecting them to be just totally awesome and so much more “precise” than the ZTAs, and they weren’t that. They weren’t more precise. In fact, early on in the routine the girl in the front on the right almost fell after doing her Varsity. Some of the moves were sloppy. They stepped HARDER (as in their feet were louder), but that’s about it. I thought their routine was rather boring (even outside of the fact that they weren’t a “novelty” like the ZTAs. All they did “better” than the ZTAs was fling their hair around. In fact, about a 3rd of their routine was them just standing their whipping their heads around to make their hair move.

Outside of how insulting this is to the ZTAs, imagine how we would feel if the roles were reversed. If the AKAs were one of the only Black Sororities at a White Step Show (or dance competition, or something that they wouldn’t expect a Black Sorority to do), and they won. Then imagine that White people went on the Internet or went to the Sponsors and complained about the AKAs winning to the point where the Sponsors said there was a “scoring discrepancy” and said that the AKAs were “tied” with the ZTAs. How much of an outrage would there be in the Black community? We’d have Al and Jesse ready to march. We’d be calling for Pres. Obama to make a speech. We’d be raising hell all because of a perceived racial slight. The ZTAs clearly worked very hard on their routine, and they were very good in their routine. They brought it when people had NO expectations or LOW expectations. They pleased the crowd, they were precise, and they got people to talk about their organization.

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I didn't like George Bush. I may have felt a little pity for him sometimes, but I didn't like him. That being said, I still showed the necessary respect for his office when he was the President of the United States. I don't recall ever hearing about mass protests and school districts refusing to allow him to speak to school children, and we wouldn't have heard it.

With that being said, the blatant disrespect shown to President Obama by Republicans is really starting to piss me off. First I read this crap yesterday:

"What you're seeing is folks on my side anxious to see what the president has to say tomorrow night," Chambliss said. "I think he's gonna have to express some humility based on what we've seen around the country this August and that's not his inclination."

I don't recall any Republicans (or even Democrats) saying that BUSH needed to show humility, and that guy had an ego BIGGER than the whole damn state of Texas even when he was wrong as hell. We simply disagreed and tried to press our logical points (of course, there's always the fringe, I'm talking about elected officials).

And today I read THIS bullshit:

The Arlington Independent School District in Texas decided not to show President Obama’s address to students live yesterday because it reportedly didn’t want to interrupt its regularly scheduled lesson plans. However, the district has now decided to bus its students off-campus on Sept. 21 to hear President Bush speak:

District officials said it’s part of a Cowboys Stadium field trip that the North Texas Super Bowl Host Committee invited 28 fifth-grade classes to attend several months ago.

In addition to hearing from Bush and former first lady Laura Bush, the students will hear from legendary Dallas Cowboys players and North Texas business and community leaders. The event launches the Super Bowl committee’s largest-ever youth education program.

What. The. FUCK!?!?!?! So they couldn't SIT in the school and listen to President Obama talk about education, but they can be BUSED to a fucking stadium to listen to Bush? The same Bush who has never shown any particular like for education, learning, science, or anything that will make someone smarter? To be fair, it's not former President Bush's fault, I'm sure HE didn't tell the school district to not show Obama's speech. Hell, I'm sure if his daughters were still in school, he'd have let them watch the speech.

But seriously?

Barack Obama WON the election fair and square.

Let me say that again, BARACK OBAMA WON THE ELECTION FAIR AND SQUARE.

EVEN if you didn't vote for him, even if your state went MORE "red" than it was before, even if you dislike or even HATE his policies, HE'S THE FUCKING PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!!

I don't know what it's about, although I'm very much inclined to say the fact that he's African American AND a Democrat doesn't help, and I really don't care. He's the President! If you don't like the fact that he's the President soooooooo much that you can't show him the basic respect that the office demands, you are more than welcome to leave the country.

The irony is, the President who actually respects these assholes is the one getting treated like shit constantly. EVERY DAY the Republicans and their cohorts do something to show disrespect, whether it's refusing to allow school children to hear a fucking pep talk about school or talking shit about his policies overseas, and I'm sick of it. If Democrats treated a REPUBLICAN President the way the Republicans treat Obama, they'd have a conniption.

To clarify, I'm largely talking about people in positions of power, not teabaggers (although the teabaggers are BACKED by people in positions of power), even though the every day citizens are pushing the envelope too. And yes, I realize our side has its fringe too, the difference is, the fringe isn't the mainstream.

Cross Posted @ DailyKos

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Cross posted at Daily Kos

I wasn't going to post a diary here until after I finished my exam next week, but I really just want to say this. The entire Gates-gate situation is illustrative of why we can't discuss race in this country.

President Obama was asked a question about the situation and what it says to him about race relations in America. Here is his full answer:

Well, I should say at the outset that Skip Gates is a friend, so I may be a little biased here. I don't know all the facts.

What's been reported though is that the guy forgot his keys, jimmied his way to get into the house. There was a report called in to the police station that there might be a burglary taking place. So far, so good, right? I mean, if I was trying to jigger into -- well, I guess this is my house now, so...

(LAUGHTER)

... it probably wouldn't happen. But let's say my old house in Chicago.

(LAUGHTER)

Here, I'd get shot.

(LAUGHTER)

But so far, so good. They're -- they're reporting. The police are doing what they should. There's a call. They go investigate what happens.

My understanding is, at that point, Professor Gates is already in his house. The police officer comes in. I'm sure there's some exchange of words. But my understanding is, is that Professor Gates then shows his I.D. to show that this is his house and, at that point, he gets arrested for disorderly conduct, charges which are later dropped.

Now, I don't know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in that. But I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home; and, number three, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there's a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. That's just a fact.

As you know, Lynn, when I was in the state legislature in Illinois, we worked on a racial profiling bill because there was indisputable evidence that blacks and Hispanics were being stopped disproportionately. And that is a sign, an example of how, you know, race remains a factor in the society.

That doesn't lessen the incredible progress that has been made. I am standing here as testimony to the progress that's been made. And yet the fact of the matter is, is that, you know, this still haunts us.

And even when there are honest misunderstandings, the fact that blacks and Hispanics are picked up more frequently and often time for no cause casts suspicion even when there is good cause.

And that's why I think the more that we're working with local law enforcement to improve policing techniques so that we're eliminating potential bias, the safer everybody is going to be.

All emphasis is mine. At no point in his statement did he EVER accuse the officer of being a racist or state that this case was an example of racial profiling.

Now, out of that entire statement, what do they focus on? They focus on one fucking word. I agree with the President, the officers on the scene acted stupidly in arrested Professor Gates. In fact, the night I learned of the incident, this is exactly what I said on my blog:

So basically, I think both sides of this situation are at fault for Professor Gates' arrest, but I'm having trouble believing that the officer here was actually as innocent as his report makes him out to be. We'll probably never know what really happened here, but let's cue all of the people saying one side or the other is racist for whatever reason.

then the following day, after Obama's press conference I wrote this:

So instead of this being the teachable moment it could have been, it's now going to be a reason for people to yell over each other on TV while trying to get their point across (like I just saw on CNN with Roland Martin trying to get a word in edgewise on CNN). Now we are going to have all of the "race experts" out there all over TV talking about why the President was right or wrong to say the police officer acted "stupidly." It's all going to turn into one giant headache all because Lynn Sweet couldn't stay on topic during the HEALTH CARE presser.

and here's what I wrote earlier this morning:

So here it is, day 3 of the Gates fall-out, and the media STILL doesn't get the issue. Like I said yesterday, President Obama said a LOT of things worthy of being focused on when he answered the question, but our increasingly inept press corps is choosing to focus on ONE word. I suppose I'm not REALLY surprised about it, we ARE talking about Obama here, and any little "mistake" he may make is going to be beat repeatedly until everyone is sick of hearing about it.

And now the cop, Crowley, is going to become the latest "posterboy" for this alleged White Racism that Obama is perpetuating (nevermind the fact that the family that RAISED him is White) now that he's President. Ooooooh, the poor oppressed White Man, they've been held down now for MONTHS because now the Black people have all of the power. HA! Even if we DO have a Black President, we still aren't "the power." But I digress. . .

All in all, the way this entire situation has blown up is completely illustrative about WHY it takes so long to make progress on race relations in this country, and WHY the election of a Black man as President is NOT proof positive that "it's all good." Instead of using this situation as a moment to talk about REAL racial disparities in the criminal justice system, or even whether the police officer abused his power (seeing as how the charges were DROPPED), we get this media circus where press conferences are held (by the officer and his pals) every day. Gates has actually been relatively silent on the matter . In fact, the press conference from earlier today shows that this is all about a bunch of hurt feelings.

The press is doing a SERIOUS disservice to the American people by focusing on what is essentially a pissing contest (where admittedly it seems the cops are the only ones really playing at this point) and back and forth mudslinging. I'm personally SICK of it. Now we have people coming out and talking bad about the President and calling him a DISGRACE because he gave his damn opinion (which is what was asked of him). He let everyone know he's not exactly a neutral party in this, but he's a DISGRACE for sticking up for his friend. Well Cambridge Police Union President (of which Crowley isn't even a MEMBER) you seem to be doing the same thing in standing behind Crowley, were YOU there? No.

Until people learn to get over themselves and have a REAL HONEST discussion, we aren't going to make any REAL progress on race relations in this Country. What happened to Gates only brought something to the forefront that we Black people have to deal with all the time. Even if it didn't necessarily happen TO Gates in this situation, it happens every day in this country (maybe even in ~gasp~ Cambridge). President Obama KNOWS what it's like to be racially profiled:

Security guards tailing me as I shop in department stores, white couples who toss me their keys as I stand outside a restaurant waiting for the valet, police cars pulling me over for no apparent reason. I know what it's like to have people tell me I can't do something because of my color, and I know the bitter swill of swallowed-back anger

I'm a Black woman, I've BEEN in a store with a friend (who was also Black) and saw a store employee follow us around the store (I guess they thought they were being discreet) while we shopped, it's not a good feeling.

This was an opportunity to have a great conversation about a REAL problem in this country, and instead it's become another missed opportunity.

[Update]: President Obama just came out and spoke on the issue, essentially saying what I said in this post (from Poltico 44):

"I actually just had a conversation with Sergeant James Crowley," Obama said, "and I have to tell you that, as I said yesterday, my impression of him is that he was an outstanding police officer...and that was confirmed in the phone conversation.
"Because this has been ratcheting up, and I helped to contribute to the ratcheting up...in my choice of words, I unfortunately gave the impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department or Sergeant Crowley specifically," he continued. "I continue to believe, based on what I have heard, that there was an overreaction in pulling Prof. Gates out of his home and to the station. I also continue to believe, based on what I heard, that Prof. Gates probably overreacted as well."
"Because of our history...African Americans are sensitive to these issues."

Now, Obama did NOT apologize for what he said, he merely re-worded it. I'm willing to bet it will be characterized as an apology (in fact the press was trying to call it an apology right after that). He ALSO said that he does NOT think it was inappropriate for him to comment.
Cross posted at Daily Kos

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Barack Obama is not a “Young Man”



Let me say it again. Barack Obama is not a “young man” he is 47 (on August 4th) years old. That’s almost 50. He is a man. He needs no qualifier.


I am so tired of people talking about Senator Obama as if he were a young man in his 20s. He is a United States Senator. Let me repeat that. He is a United States Senator .


He is not some sort of “celebrity” who did “nothing” to get where he is. He was born to a mother who at one point was on food stamps to feed her children. Yes, he went to a prestigious school, but he went on SCHOLARSHIP not because he had the money and could afford for mommy and daddy to pay the tuition. He went to college on scholarships and loans. He went to law school on scholarships and loans. He JUST paid off his student loans a couple of years ago thanks to the success of his books. He was a community organizer in Chicago, in fact he moved there not knowing anyone because he felt it was his place to do something to help people. Even when he graduated near the top of his class at Harvard Law School, he chose to return to his community organizing job instead of taking some fancy job on Wall Street. He ran for office because we wanted to do more to help more people. He was unsuccessful in one election when he ran for U.S. Congress, so he does know the bitter taste of defeat.


He is by no means perfect, but to reduce him to a celebrity, and then say “he’s a good young man” is insulting and belittling. The man is a United States Senator, the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party for President. He may be our next president. He is not a “young man” he is not “inexperienced” he is not “uninformed” he DOES “understand” the issues and what needs to be done to put the United States back on course.


He is not “arrogant” or “presumptuous” or “cocky” or “uppity.” He is confident. Maybe he has an ego, but anyone who thinks they can and should be the President of the United States has an ego.


So stop calling him “young” because while just about anyone or anything is younger than John McCain, Barack Obama is not a “young man.”

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