The fact that digital migration is revealing the same social patterns as urban white flight should send warning signals to everyone out there.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
The High Cost of Obama / A bitter cup of Tea
The firing and subsequent review of the firing of Shirley Sherrod is illustrative of the state of race relations in America today.
According to the NAACP, "We are in a moment where there is heightened sensitivity and concern, including within the N.A.A.C.P., about discrimination against white people."
At the White House, "Gibbs also sidestepped suggestions that the administration was too quick to abandon African-American subordinates, including former Obama environmental aide Van Jones."
A cynical black (only Tavis Smiley comes to mind) would have postulated that this could be expected with a black president. To a black nationalist it would seem only elementary that there would be some blowback to a black president of the USA.
Is it worth it?
Where will it lead?
According to the NAACP, "We are in a moment where there is heightened sensitivity and concern, including within the N.A.A.C.P., about discrimination against white people."
At the White House, "Gibbs also sidestepped suggestions that the administration was too quick to abandon African-American subordinates, including former Obama environmental aide Van Jones."
A cynical black (only Tavis Smiley comes to mind) would have postulated that this could be expected with a black president. To a black nationalist it would seem only elementary that there would be some blowback to a black president of the USA.
Is it worth it?
Where will it lead?
Monday, July 19, 2010
Not so empirical
According to the economist editor, "I asked for Ms. Randolph to be removed because I wanted readers to focus on Mr. Obama, not because I wanted to make him look isolated."I enjoy reading the Economist, of course I am mindful that it is a British publication.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Sunday, July 04, 2010
Haunted by the Bailout
The treasury secretary touts TARP as a success but it doesn't seem that way.
Local, state and federal government debt has skyrocketed. Consumer spending is down. Unemployment is high. Paul Krugman of the NY Times predicts we are in the third Depression. Gold is at an all time high. Home foreclosures are on the rise. The DOW is mired in misery below 10,000.
The financial crisis of 2007 & 2008 was an economic shock. Specifically it was a demand shock. Accepted macroeconomic theory says that the economy should tend back toward equilibrium. If the economy operated as smoothly as the simple model that might be the case. In reality demand was already artificially created (think housing bubble) prior to the shock and what we are witnessing is the economy moving towards pre-shock equilibrium. Since this is lower than equilibrium with artificial demand levels we observe the aforementioned economic indicators.
In addition the economic shock , due to it's severity, exposed a vast number of inefficiencies in the marketplace and overall economy. This is termed commonly as creative destruction (Joseph Schumpeter). Business models, investment theory, economic theory, fiscal & monetary policy and more were all found to be flawed and / or wanting.
That's a good thing because efficient markets are to be desired.
The bad is that moral hazard was far exceeded by the government in it's efforts to correct the shock. More not less failure would have strengthened the country going forward as it would have flushed incompetent managers and corporate entities from the business landscape.
It is important that failure is not rewarded in an incentive based system yet that is exactly what happened.
Failure was rewarded and corporations already too big to fail were allowed to become larger.
In the end the treasury secretary said breaking up the banks was simply , "too hard and complicated." That phrase alone typifies the lack of direction we have as a society and how it is that Samuel Huntington could speculate that the country may very well disintegrate in the the near future.
Supposedly core ideals of free markets gave way to crony capitalism. What better way to generate jobs, spur innovation and prevent the public accumulation of private debt than to split large banks into regional banks saddled with debt and in need of employees?
That was too hard; much easier to insulate the wealthy against the harsh lash of the market that whips the backs of the poor every day.
There is something to be said for merit if one appreciates quality over privilege.
There is much to be said for low barriers to entry to markets as well and how this was forgotten when those who currently held the keys were threatedned by their own folly.
Poor economic indicators are easily fixed but there must be the moral capacity existent by policy makers to do so. That lack of moral capacity is what will haunt America the most.
Local, state and federal government debt has skyrocketed. Consumer spending is down. Unemployment is high. Paul Krugman of the NY Times predicts we are in the third Depression. Gold is at an all time high. Home foreclosures are on the rise. The DOW is mired in misery below 10,000.
The financial crisis of 2007 & 2008 was an economic shock. Specifically it was a demand shock. Accepted macroeconomic theory says that the economy should tend back toward equilibrium. If the economy operated as smoothly as the simple model that might be the case. In reality demand was already artificially created (think housing bubble) prior to the shock and what we are witnessing is the economy moving towards pre-shock equilibrium. Since this is lower than equilibrium with artificial demand levels we observe the aforementioned economic indicators.
In addition the economic shock , due to it's severity, exposed a vast number of inefficiencies in the marketplace and overall economy. This is termed commonly as creative destruction (Joseph Schumpeter). Business models, investment theory, economic theory, fiscal & monetary policy and more were all found to be flawed and / or wanting.
That's a good thing because efficient markets are to be desired.
The bad is that moral hazard was far exceeded by the government in it's efforts to correct the shock. More not less failure would have strengthened the country going forward as it would have flushed incompetent managers and corporate entities from the business landscape.
It is important that failure is not rewarded in an incentive based system yet that is exactly what happened.
Failure was rewarded and corporations already too big to fail were allowed to become larger.
In the end the treasury secretary said breaking up the banks was simply , "too hard and complicated." That phrase alone typifies the lack of direction we have as a society and how it is that Samuel Huntington could speculate that the country may very well disintegrate in the the near future.
Supposedly core ideals of free markets gave way to crony capitalism. What better way to generate jobs, spur innovation and prevent the public accumulation of private debt than to split large banks into regional banks saddled with debt and in need of employees?
That was too hard; much easier to insulate the wealthy against the harsh lash of the market that whips the backs of the poor every day.
There is something to be said for merit if one appreciates quality over privilege.
There is much to be said for low barriers to entry to markets as well and how this was forgotten when those who currently held the keys were threatedned by their own folly.
Poor economic indicators are easily fixed but there must be the moral capacity existent by policy makers to do so. That lack of moral capacity is what will haunt America the most.
Saturday, July 03, 2010
The Meaning of July Fourth
Frederick Douglass 4th of July speech
Fellow Citizens, I am not wanting in respect for the fathers of this republic. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. They were great men, too great enough to give frame to a great age. It does not often happen to a nation to raise, at one time, such a number of truly great men. The point from which I am compelled to view them is not, certainly, the most favorable; and yet I cannot contemplate their great deeds with less than admiration. They were statesmen, patriots and heroes, and for the good they did, and the principles they contended for, I will unite with you to honor their memory....
...Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? and am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us?
Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to these questions! Then would my task be light, and my burden easy and delightful. For who is there so cold, that a nation's sympathy could not warm him? Who so obdurate and dead to the claims of gratitude, that would not thankfully acknowledge such priceless benefits? Who so stolid and selfish, that would not give his voice to swell the hallelujahs of a nation's jubilee, when the chains of servitude had been torn from his limbs? I am not that man. In a case like that, the dumb might eloquently speak, and the "lame man leap as an hart."
But such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day? If so, there is a parallel to your conduct. And let me warn you that it is dangerous to copy the example of a nation whose crimes, towering up to heaven, were thrown down by the breath of the Almighty, burying that nation in irrevocable ruin! I can to-day take up the plaintive lament of a peeled and woe-smitten people!
"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Yea! we wept when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there, they that carried us away captive, required of us a song; and they who wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? If I forget thee, 0 Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth."
Fellow-citizens, above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them. If I do forget, if I do not faithfully remember those bleeding children of sorrow this day, "may my right hand forget her cunning, and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth!" To forget them, to pass lightly over their wrongs, and to chime in with the popular theme, would be treason most scandalous and shocking, and would make me a reproach before God and the world. My subject, then, fellow-citizens, is American slavery. I shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slave's point of view. Standing there identified with the American bondman, making his wrongs mine, I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July! Whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. Standing with God and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion, I will, in the name of humanity which is outraged, in the name of liberty which is fettered, in the name of the constitution and the Bible which are disregarded and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce, with all the emphasis I can command, everything that serves to perpetuate slavery the great sin and shame of America! "I will not equivocate; I will not excuse"; I will use the severest language I can command; and yet not one word shall escape me that any man, whose judgment is not blinded by prejudice, or who is not at heart a slaveholder, shall not confess to be right and just.
But I fancy I hear some one of my audience say, "It is just in this circumstance that you and your brother abolitionists fail to make a favorable impression on the public mind. Would you argue more, an denounce less; would you persuade more, and rebuke less; your cause would be much more likely to succeed." But, I submit, where all is plain there is nothing to be argued. What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? That point is conceded already. Nobody doubts it. The slaveholders themselves acknowledge it in the enactment of laws for their government. They acknowledge it when they punish disobedience on the part of the slave. There are seventy-two crimes in the State of Virginia which, if committed by a black man (no matter how ignorant he be), subject him to the punishment of death; while only two of the same crimes will subject a white man to the like punishment. What is this but the acknowledgment that the slave is a moral, intellectual, and responsible being? The manhood of the slave is conceded. It is admitted in the fact that Southern statute books are covered with enactments forbidding, under severe fines and penalties, the teaching of the slave to read or to write. When you can point to any such laws in reference to the beasts of the field, then I may consent to argue the manhood of the slave. When the dogs in your streets, when the fowls of the air, when the cattle on your hills, when the fish of the sea, and the reptiles that crawl, shall be unable to distinguish the slave from a brute, then will I argue with you that the slave is a man!
For the present, it is enough to affirm the equal manhood of the Negro race. Is it not astonishing that, while we are ploughing, planting, and reaping, using all kinds of mechanical tools, erecting houses, constructing bridges, building ships, working in metals of brass, iron, copper, silver and gold; that, while we are reading, writing and ciphering, acting as clerks, merchants and secretaries, having among us lawyers, doctors, ministers, poets, authors, editors, orators and teachers; that, while we are engaged in all manner of enterprises common to other men, digging gold in California, capturing the whale in the Pacific, feeding sheep and cattle on the hill-side, living, moving, acting, thinking, planning, living in families as husbands, wives and children, and, above all, confessing and worshipping the Christian's God, and looking hopefully for life and immortality beyond the grave, we are called upon to prove that we are men!
Would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty? that he is the rightful owner of his own body? You have already declared it. Must I argue the wrongfulness of slavery? Is that a question for Republicans? Is it to be settled by the rules of logic and argumentation, as a matter beset with great difficulty, involving a doubtful application of the principle of justice, hard to be understood? How should I look to-day, in the presence of Amercans, dividing, and subdividing a discourse, to show that men have a natural right to freedom? speaking of it relatively and positively, negatively and affirmatively. To do so, would be to make myself ridiculous, and to offer an insult to your understanding. There is not a man beneath the canopy of heaven that does not know that slavery is wrong for him.
What, am I to argue that it is wrong to make men brutes, to rob them of their liberty, to work them without wages, to keep them ignorant of their relations to their fellow men, to beat them with sticks, to flay their flesh with the lash, to load their limbs with irons, to hunt them with dogs, to sell them at auction, to sunder their families, to knock out their teeth, to burn their flesh, to starve them into obedience and submission to their masters? Must I argue that a system thus marked with blood, and stained with pollution, is wrong? No! I will not. I have better employment for my time and strength than such arguments would imply.
What, then, remains to be argued? Is it that slavery is not divine; that God did not establish it; that our doctors of divinity are mistaken? There is blasphemy in the thought. That which is inhuman, cannot be divine! Who can reason on such a proposition? They that can, may; I cannot. The time for such argument is passed.
At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. O! had I the ability, and could reach the nation's ear, I would, to-day, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced.
What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy -- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour.
Go where you may, search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the Old World, travel through South America, search out every abuse, and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me, that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival....
...Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented, of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country. There are forces in operation which must inevitably work the downfall of slavery. "The arm of the Lord is not shortened," and the doom of slavery is certain. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. While drawing encouragement from "the Declaration of Independence," the great principles it contains, and the genius of American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age. Nations do not now stand in the same relation to each other that they did ages ago. No nation can now shut itself up from the surrounding world and trot round in the same old path of its fathers without interference. The time was when such could be done. Long established customs of hurtful character could formerly fence themselves in, and do their evil work with social impunity. Knowledge was then confined and enjoyed by the privileged few, and the multitude walked on in mental darkness. But a change has now come over the affairs of mankind. Walled cities and empires have become unfashionable. The arm of commerce has borne away the gates of the strong city. Intelligence is penetrating the darkest corners of the globe. It makes its pathway over and under the sea, as well as on the earth. Wind, steam, and lightning are its chartered agents. Oceans no longer divide, but link nations together. From Boston to London is now a holiday excursion. Space is comparatively annihilated. -- Thoughts expressed on one side of the Atlantic are distinctly heard on the other.
The far off and almost fabulous Pacific rolls in grandeur at our feet. The Celestial Empire, the mystery of ages, is being solved. The fiat of the Almighty, "Let there be Light," has not yet spent its force. No abuse, no outrage whether in taste, sport or avarice, can now hide itself from the all-pervading light. The iron shoe, and crippled foot of China must be seen in contrast with nature. Africa must rise and put on her yet unwoven garment. 'Ethiopia, shall, stretch. out her hand unto God." In the fervent aspirations of William Lloyd Garrison, I say, and let every heart join in saying it:
God speed the year of jubilee
The wide world o'er!
When from their galling chains set free,
Th' oppress'd shall vilely bend the knee,
And wear the yoke of tyranny
Like brutes no more.
That year will come, and freedom's reign,
To man his plundered rights again
Restore.
God speed the day when human blood
Shall cease to flow!
In every clime be understood,
The claims of human brotherhood,
And each return for evil, good,
Not blow for blow;
That day will come all feuds to end,
And change into a faithful friend
Each foe.
God speed the hour, the glorious hour,
When none on earth
Shall exercise a lordly power,
Nor in a tyrant's presence cower;
But to all manhood's stature tower,
By equal birth!
That hour will come, to each, to all,
And from his Prison-house, to thrall
Go forth.
Until that year, day, hour, arrive,
With head, and heart, and hand I'll strive,
To break the rod, and rend the gyve,
The spoiler of his prey deprive --
So witness Heaven!
And never from my chosen post,
Whate'er the peril or the cost,
Be driven.
Fellow Citizens, I am not wanting in respect for the fathers of this republic. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. They were great men, too great enough to give frame to a great age. It does not often happen to a nation to raise, at one time, such a number of truly great men. The point from which I am compelled to view them is not, certainly, the most favorable; and yet I cannot contemplate their great deeds with less than admiration. They were statesmen, patriots and heroes, and for the good they did, and the principles they contended for, I will unite with you to honor their memory....
...Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? and am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us?
Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to these questions! Then would my task be light, and my burden easy and delightful. For who is there so cold, that a nation's sympathy could not warm him? Who so obdurate and dead to the claims of gratitude, that would not thankfully acknowledge such priceless benefits? Who so stolid and selfish, that would not give his voice to swell the hallelujahs of a nation's jubilee, when the chains of servitude had been torn from his limbs? I am not that man. In a case like that, the dumb might eloquently speak, and the "lame man leap as an hart."
But such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day? If so, there is a parallel to your conduct. And let me warn you that it is dangerous to copy the example of a nation whose crimes, towering up to heaven, were thrown down by the breath of the Almighty, burying that nation in irrevocable ruin! I can to-day take up the plaintive lament of a peeled and woe-smitten people!
"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Yea! we wept when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there, they that carried us away captive, required of us a song; and they who wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? If I forget thee, 0 Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth."
Fellow-citizens, above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them. If I do forget, if I do not faithfully remember those bleeding children of sorrow this day, "may my right hand forget her cunning, and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth!" To forget them, to pass lightly over their wrongs, and to chime in with the popular theme, would be treason most scandalous and shocking, and would make me a reproach before God and the world. My subject, then, fellow-citizens, is American slavery. I shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slave's point of view. Standing there identified with the American bondman, making his wrongs mine, I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July! Whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. Standing with God and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion, I will, in the name of humanity which is outraged, in the name of liberty which is fettered, in the name of the constitution and the Bible which are disregarded and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce, with all the emphasis I can command, everything that serves to perpetuate slavery the great sin and shame of America! "I will not equivocate; I will not excuse"; I will use the severest language I can command; and yet not one word shall escape me that any man, whose judgment is not blinded by prejudice, or who is not at heart a slaveholder, shall not confess to be right and just.
But I fancy I hear some one of my audience say, "It is just in this circumstance that you and your brother abolitionists fail to make a favorable impression on the public mind. Would you argue more, an denounce less; would you persuade more, and rebuke less; your cause would be much more likely to succeed." But, I submit, where all is plain there is nothing to be argued. What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? That point is conceded already. Nobody doubts it. The slaveholders themselves acknowledge it in the enactment of laws for their government. They acknowledge it when they punish disobedience on the part of the slave. There are seventy-two crimes in the State of Virginia which, if committed by a black man (no matter how ignorant he be), subject him to the punishment of death; while only two of the same crimes will subject a white man to the like punishment. What is this but the acknowledgment that the slave is a moral, intellectual, and responsible being? The manhood of the slave is conceded. It is admitted in the fact that Southern statute books are covered with enactments forbidding, under severe fines and penalties, the teaching of the slave to read or to write. When you can point to any such laws in reference to the beasts of the field, then I may consent to argue the manhood of the slave. When the dogs in your streets, when the fowls of the air, when the cattle on your hills, when the fish of the sea, and the reptiles that crawl, shall be unable to distinguish the slave from a brute, then will I argue with you that the slave is a man!
For the present, it is enough to affirm the equal manhood of the Negro race. Is it not astonishing that, while we are ploughing, planting, and reaping, using all kinds of mechanical tools, erecting houses, constructing bridges, building ships, working in metals of brass, iron, copper, silver and gold; that, while we are reading, writing and ciphering, acting as clerks, merchants and secretaries, having among us lawyers, doctors, ministers, poets, authors, editors, orators and teachers; that, while we are engaged in all manner of enterprises common to other men, digging gold in California, capturing the whale in the Pacific, feeding sheep and cattle on the hill-side, living, moving, acting, thinking, planning, living in families as husbands, wives and children, and, above all, confessing and worshipping the Christian's God, and looking hopefully for life and immortality beyond the grave, we are called upon to prove that we are men!
Would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty? that he is the rightful owner of his own body? You have already declared it. Must I argue the wrongfulness of slavery? Is that a question for Republicans? Is it to be settled by the rules of logic and argumentation, as a matter beset with great difficulty, involving a doubtful application of the principle of justice, hard to be understood? How should I look to-day, in the presence of Amercans, dividing, and subdividing a discourse, to show that men have a natural right to freedom? speaking of it relatively and positively, negatively and affirmatively. To do so, would be to make myself ridiculous, and to offer an insult to your understanding. There is not a man beneath the canopy of heaven that does not know that slavery is wrong for him.
What, am I to argue that it is wrong to make men brutes, to rob them of their liberty, to work them without wages, to keep them ignorant of their relations to their fellow men, to beat them with sticks, to flay their flesh with the lash, to load their limbs with irons, to hunt them with dogs, to sell them at auction, to sunder their families, to knock out their teeth, to burn their flesh, to starve them into obedience and submission to their masters? Must I argue that a system thus marked with blood, and stained with pollution, is wrong? No! I will not. I have better employment for my time and strength than such arguments would imply.
What, then, remains to be argued? Is it that slavery is not divine; that God did not establish it; that our doctors of divinity are mistaken? There is blasphemy in the thought. That which is inhuman, cannot be divine! Who can reason on such a proposition? They that can, may; I cannot. The time for such argument is passed.
At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. O! had I the ability, and could reach the nation's ear, I would, to-day, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced.
What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy -- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour.
Go where you may, search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the Old World, travel through South America, search out every abuse, and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me, that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival....
...Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented, of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country. There are forces in operation which must inevitably work the downfall of slavery. "The arm of the Lord is not shortened," and the doom of slavery is certain. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. While drawing encouragement from "the Declaration of Independence," the great principles it contains, and the genius of American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age. Nations do not now stand in the same relation to each other that they did ages ago. No nation can now shut itself up from the surrounding world and trot round in the same old path of its fathers without interference. The time was when such could be done. Long established customs of hurtful character could formerly fence themselves in, and do their evil work with social impunity. Knowledge was then confined and enjoyed by the privileged few, and the multitude walked on in mental darkness. But a change has now come over the affairs of mankind. Walled cities and empires have become unfashionable. The arm of commerce has borne away the gates of the strong city. Intelligence is penetrating the darkest corners of the globe. It makes its pathway over and under the sea, as well as on the earth. Wind, steam, and lightning are its chartered agents. Oceans no longer divide, but link nations together. From Boston to London is now a holiday excursion. Space is comparatively annihilated. -- Thoughts expressed on one side of the Atlantic are distinctly heard on the other.
The far off and almost fabulous Pacific rolls in grandeur at our feet. The Celestial Empire, the mystery of ages, is being solved. The fiat of the Almighty, "Let there be Light," has not yet spent its force. No abuse, no outrage whether in taste, sport or avarice, can now hide itself from the all-pervading light. The iron shoe, and crippled foot of China must be seen in contrast with nature. Africa must rise and put on her yet unwoven garment. 'Ethiopia, shall, stretch. out her hand unto God." In the fervent aspirations of William Lloyd Garrison, I say, and let every heart join in saying it:
God speed the year of jubilee
The wide world o'er!
When from their galling chains set free,
Th' oppress'd shall vilely bend the knee,
And wear the yoke of tyranny
Like brutes no more.
That year will come, and freedom's reign,
To man his plundered rights again
Restore.
God speed the day when human blood
Shall cease to flow!
In every clime be understood,
The claims of human brotherhood,
And each return for evil, good,
Not blow for blow;
That day will come all feuds to end,
And change into a faithful friend
Each foe.
God speed the hour, the glorious hour,
When none on earth
Shall exercise a lordly power,
Nor in a tyrant's presence cower;
But to all manhood's stature tower,
By equal birth!
That hour will come, to each, to all,
And from his Prison-house, to thrall
Go forth.
Until that year, day, hour, arrive,
With head, and heart, and hand I'll strive,
To break the rod, and rend the gyve,
The spoiler of his prey deprive --
So witness Heaven!
And never from my chosen post,
Whate'er the peril or the cost,
Be driven.
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Tiger and Jack Johnson
Just the other day a friend was comparing Jackie Robinson to Uncle Ruckus, saying most people don't know the history. When the history of Woods is written what will it say?
The black economist thinks most of the condemnation of Woods is sorely missing the point. What it seems most people find so troubling isn't that he is free to choose but that he has done so. Dating white women doesn't make Woods a villain or even a criminal. It made Jack Johnson a criminal still.
Whats most illuminating is that those of the black community who would criticize Woods for his somewhat obvious choice of white women seem to forget that doesn't automatically mean a condemnation of black women but simply that he has chosen otherwise. Its indicative of Justice Clarence Thomas (whos married to a white woman) and the remark that African-Americans are not monolithic. Illustratively it shows the idea that African-Americans must adhere to a indigenous 'black culture.' The same one that devalues education.
This culture that features rich, uneducated but crafty and sure-footed black men even has Rush Limbaugh say, "The Black State of Mind is Terrible."
The black economist thinks most of the condemnation of Woods is sorely missing the point. What it seems most people find so troubling isn't that he is free to choose but that he has done so. Dating white women doesn't make Woods a villain or even a criminal. It made Jack Johnson a criminal still.
Whats most illuminating is that those of the black community who would criticize Woods for his somewhat obvious choice of white women seem to forget that doesn't automatically mean a condemnation of black women but simply that he has chosen otherwise. Its indicative of Justice Clarence Thomas (whos married to a white woman) and the remark that African-Americans are not monolithic. Illustratively it shows the idea that African-Americans must adhere to a indigenous 'black culture.' The same one that devalues education.
This culture that features rich, uneducated but crafty and sure-footed black men even has Rush Limbaugh say, "The Black State of Mind is Terrible."
Monday, September 07, 2009
Obama and white voters
In my most recent blog I argued that Obamas' remarks concerning the arrest of Henry Loius Gates could be a fatal error. They have not shown themselves to be as of yet. They are still of concern however. This article in the LA Times concerning Obama and white voters offers that there has been some noticeable affect , "Pew first identified a slippage in white support immediately after a news conference in July, when Obama surprised many by saying that a white police officer had acted "stupidly" in arresting a black Harvard professor."
A zealous Obama supporter at my barber shop grew agitated when I said the error was real.
As I see it the Obama advisers (wise men as Gov. Mark Sanford put it) are in danger of falling prey to group think and arrogance. Something the governor also warns against in the video.
American racial concerns, myths , stereotypes, history and anxiety need to be considered as Obama governs.
Obama should studiously avoid giving his opposition locker room material.
I doubt any rumour concerning his religion, nationality or what have you may take hold. He could still be felled by a foolish comment that can be interpreted by white Americans that he is not representative of their interests.
No President can do that for everyone but as a black man named Hussein, Obama is particularly vulnerable to credibility issues and should realize it. In fact given American history he should handle these issues with extreme care.
A zealous Obama supporter at my barber shop grew agitated when I said the error was real.
As I see it the Obama advisers (wise men as Gov. Mark Sanford put it) are in danger of falling prey to group think and arrogance. Something the governor also warns against in the video.
American racial concerns, myths , stereotypes, history and anxiety need to be considered as Obama governs.
Obama should studiously avoid giving his opposition locker room material.
I doubt any rumour concerning his religion, nationality or what have you may take hold. He could still be felled by a foolish comment that can be interpreted by white Americans that he is not representative of their interests.
No President can do that for everyone but as a black man named Hussein, Obama is particularly vulnerable to credibility issues and should realize it. In fact given American history he should handle these issues with extreme care.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Obama and Gates
President Obama is the the top law enforcement official in the country. He wasted an opportunity to build goodwill with the police forces across the country.
It may indeed end up being a devastating error.
Instead of saying the police acted stupidly it would have been better to support the officer and his friend Skip Gates. I acknowledge that the president has leeway and as leader has the right to express himself.
On the other hand, being that he is the constant victim of attacks concerning his allegiances and national identity why not support the officer and make clear in a practical way that he is not against policemen or police departments.
It may indeed end up being a devastating error.
Instead of saying the police acted stupidly it would have been better to support the officer and his friend Skip Gates. I acknowledge that the president has leeway and as leader has the right to express himself.
On the other hand, being that he is the constant victim of attacks concerning his allegiances and national identity why not support the officer and make clear in a practical way that he is not against policemen or police departments.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Racist Robots
So I heard about the racist robots in Transformers 2. I had to go see it then even though I liked the first one and had planned to see it anyway.
Bring them on - these programmed automatons that were more race specific than the humanistic oriented machine villains in the matrix.
Sadly , as so often happens, they were just hype.
No article seemed to mention that the villain robot the Fallen (who curiously hated all human beings [for which thankfully there is no stereotype]) was voiced by an African-American.
Nor did the recurring theme of Resurrection which is prevalent through both films warrant popular attention.
This after even promo materials highlighted the battle royal amongst ancient Egyptian ruins.
On top of that they take the carcass of Optimus Prime to Egypt for Resurrection.
But no, the least common denominator comedy of marginal characters is what was widely reported.
But were the robots racist?
Did the blood boil?
Was I kicked around again by the "big media elite" as an African-American?
No , it's a great summer film and maybe the point of highlighing innocent, naive Skids and Mudflap is to keep the conversation accessible for the masses.
Bring them on - these programmed automatons that were more race specific than the humanistic oriented machine villains in the matrix.
Sadly , as so often happens, they were just hype.
No article seemed to mention that the villain robot the Fallen (who curiously hated all human beings [for which thankfully there is no stereotype]) was voiced by an African-American.
Nor did the recurring theme of Resurrection which is prevalent through both films warrant popular attention.
This after even promo materials highlighted the battle royal amongst ancient Egyptian ruins.
On top of that they take the carcass of Optimus Prime to Egypt for Resurrection.
But no, the least common denominator comedy of marginal characters is what was widely reported.
But were the robots racist?
Did the blood boil?
Was I kicked around again by the "big media elite" as an African-American?
No , it's a great summer film and maybe the point of highlighing innocent, naive Skids and Mudflap is to keep the conversation accessible for the masses.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
If Palin Quit...
I am fully aware Palin is not "African-American" but we learn from her story.
Winners never quit and quitters never win goes the story.
I guess the republican party is no more.
Winners never quit and quitters never win goes the story.
I guess the republican party is no more.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Me First
After first reading this article on the first African-American woman to be a Jewish rabbi I thought, "What doors has Obama opened for blacks." It was followed by the realization that Alysa Stanton and Barack Obama have worked for years to attain their accomplishments.
In fact, Alysa was working towards her goal long before Obama became president.
While the question of her goal being attainable only after the election of the first black president was suductive it is obviously a dead-end. In this instance the two may or may not be mutually exclusive but it seems unlikely that all like events will be the same.
Now as to why it is pointed out and whether we will get past this American heritage and tradition of pointing out negro, black, woman, Latina etc etc "Firsts" - that's fertile ground.
In fact, Alysa was working towards her goal long before Obama became president.
While the question of her goal being attainable only after the election of the first black president was suductive it is obviously a dead-end. In this instance the two may or may not be mutually exclusive but it seems unlikely that all like events will be the same.
Now as to why it is pointed out and whether we will get past this American heritage and tradition of pointing out negro, black, woman, Latina etc etc "Firsts" - that's fertile ground.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The Token President or Black Liberty in our lifetime?
Obama's inauguration today was a milestone achievement in the history of America, but the black economist has yet to see the change.
Is Obama little more than a fly amongst the buttermilk?
Does the achievement of one black man (with tangential roots in African-American history) materially improve the conditions of African-Americans?
No, but I am sure it will do much to get the ball rolling.
Is Obama little more than a fly amongst the buttermilk?
Does the achievement of one black man (with tangential roots in African-American history) materially improve the conditions of African-Americans?
No, but I am sure it will do much to get the ball rolling.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
The Obama Report
Available at http://change.gov/page/-/hem5zet3nalm2/2008%2012%2023%20PTT%20Contacts%20Memo.pdf
Even more interesting is that Obamas chief of staff "took a long planned trip to Africa."
Even more interesting is that Obamas chief of staff "took a long planned trip to Africa."
Monday, December 08, 2008
Third World America
I wonder if Noam Chomsky was also thinking America would have the debt of a third world country when he asserted that America was becoming a third world country because of the greater stratification between the rich and poor?
Friday, November 21, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Thoughts on the Financial Crisis
The economy is a national security issue.
Giving financial institutions hundreds of billions while they fire tens of thousands of workers exceeds moral hazard.
2009 can still be a year of hope, betterment and change. We must not to create a self-fulfilling prophecy of decline.
Today the market closed forty-seven percent off it's all-time high reached a little over a year ago. How long will it take to reach it again?
Giving financial institutions hundreds of billions while they fire tens of thousands of workers exceeds moral hazard.
2009 can still be a year of hope, betterment and change. We must not to create a self-fulfilling prophecy of decline.
Today the market closed forty-seven percent off it's all-time high reached a little over a year ago. How long will it take to reach it again?
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Black Precedent
Reasonably, with demographic trends predicting an America population over fifty percent nonwhite by 2050, a Black President was never a pipe dream far into the future. It's a great achievement and President - Elect Barack Obama has empowered the present for black men in a way only a few have before him.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
The Death of Black Nationalism
The manufactured controversy surrounding Barack Obama was predicted by his own staff. The now famous pastor Wright was , according to media reports, not allowed to be present when he announced his candidacy.
It is reasonable to assume that someone long ago noticed that Barack Hussein Obama was black and that would substantially impact his race for the American presidency. Knowing that, it is logical to assume that he would be attacked by association which is standard political practice. The majority of white Americans have a ... unrealistic understanding of their black fellow citizens so the senator is particularly vulnerable to having the race card played against him. His enemies, wily and cunning, know that attacking him directly for his race would never work so they turn to the target rich black community. Black men are boogey men to many and an out of context soundbite is a well worn political weapon.
In the end it is not pastor Wright that is personally important because any black boogey man will do.
What I find most interesting, and indicative of democratic party infighting / election year politics, is that when Dr. Kambon made his now forgotten speech only the right wing media carried the story. With Wright the entire establishment has jumped into the fray.
Obama gave a great speech in response.
It is reasonable to assume that someone long ago noticed that Barack Hussein Obama was black and that would substantially impact his race for the American presidency. Knowing that, it is logical to assume that he would be attacked by association which is standard political practice. The majority of white Americans have a ... unrealistic understanding of their black fellow citizens so the senator is particularly vulnerable to having the race card played against him. His enemies, wily and cunning, know that attacking him directly for his race would never work so they turn to the target rich black community. Black men are boogey men to many and an out of context soundbite is a well worn political weapon.
In the end it is not pastor Wright that is personally important because any black boogey man will do.
What I find most interesting, and indicative of democratic party infighting / election year politics, is that when Dr. Kambon made his now forgotten speech only the right wing media carried the story. With Wright the entire establishment has jumped into the fray.
Obama gave a great speech in response.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
First Black President
My gut tells me that Toni Morrison regrets her famous qoute about Bill Clinton.
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