Trumpla: Political Reality TV

Trumpla: Political Reality TV

While out in DC recently I had the pleasure of running into White House Commentator/Georgetown Adjunct Professor Jon-Christopher Bua. JC covers international politics and writes for a few publications including the UK Huffington Post. We had an excellent discussion on foreign political processes, the 2016 Presidential Election, some of his work media training campaign spokespeople and his course at Georgetown 'Politics and The Media: an American-European Perspective'. One of his latest pieces you should check out is called Donald Trump vs Everyone: Do TV Debates Really Matter and to stay in tune you can follow him on twitter: @JCBua

Morton Downey Jr. Show 

In a reality tv society where the best press is bad press, all of this 'Trumpla' and his stagecraft antics have forged him into a one man Morton Downey Jr. show; a true pioneer of political trash tv. Like him or not, the guy is entertaining and represents the voice of millions of Americans who think and feel the exact same way. 

Like the 1980's era that catapulted Morton Downey Jr. into a pop culture celebrity, the same trend is happening with Donald Trump. To give you a sense of his popular culture impact consider the fact that his name has been dropped in rap lyrics at least 67 times by popular artists over the last 25 years. In terms of popularity, Trump is almost peerless in comparison to other presidential candidates except for Deez Nuts -no pun intended. Unlike Canada or other places where citizens vote for political parties represented by candidates, American citizens vote for the popular guy, not political platforms. Couple that kind of political process with an uneducated apathetic electorate and what we see is exactly what we get.

Know Nothing Party political rhetoric  

Two things I wanted to point out about Donald Trump is his 'whig' and no nothing political platform. When I say whig I am not talking about the spider monkey hairpiece on his head. I'm talking about his Whig Party perspectives. In the mid 1800s, the Whig Party was known as American Patriots, anti-Democratic and took many conservative stances that would be considered 'far right' today such as occupational prestige and upper class opportunism. Eventually succeeded by the Republican Party, Whigs were also said to be many things to many people, willing to abandon core convictions for the purpose of gaining political clout. Ironically the word whig is derived from the Scottish word 'whiggamore' and Donald Trump shares Scottish ancestry; his mother Mary Anne MacLeod was from the island of Lewis on the west coast of Scotland. In the mid 1900's the Anti-Masonic Party, the third major party in the United States, merged with Whig Party, and was considered the first right-wing reactionary movement in American politics at that time. In regards to Trump's no nothing political platform, his views are reflective of The Know Nothing Party’s xenophobic (fear or dislike of foreigners/outsiders), anti-immigration/naturalization sentiments. Also active in the mid 1800s, The Know Nothing's were a party who viewed themselves as the true Native Americans and only accepted membership of Protestant males born of British ancestry. They were also considered semi-secret because its members were instructed to reply, “I know nothing” if asked about the Party’s activities. Unlike today, xenophobic, anti-immigration/naturalization and anchor baby sentiments are not a secret; every time Trump opens up his mouth it is clear that he 'know's nothing' about addressing certain national and foreign policies. 

In the final analysis I think it's important that we understand that things happen in cycles, including political philosophies. Technology wise, we just have easier access to some of the same ideologies that built or destroyed this country in the past. In order to be an educated electorate we must be aware of this. I don't have a prediction on the outcome of the 2016 Presidential Election because it's still too early to tell who corporate America will choose to represent their interests. What I will say is that we cannot underestimate the power of popularity vs political platforms. A little over a decade ago the Morton Downey Jr. Show set a rachet television precedence and helped pave the way for reality television. Today we have a new kid on the block leading the same flock and it is going to be hard to trump that.

Peace,

Saladin

The Amazing Race Part 2

Rachel Dolezal, NAACP Chapter President

The Amazing Race 
~Part 2~

Interracial and Biracial (Inter: to enter into, Bi: to buy)

As I stated in The Amazing Race Part 1, the words “interracial” and “biracial” are terms derived from the root word and concept of race. As I’ve expressed, race is an erroneous and pseudoscientific term used to classify groups of people based upon physical characteristics. These physical characteristics were/are used for the purpose to categorize the intellectual, biological, psychological, social and economic behaviors of these groups in order to reinforce the position and power of a ruling class and white supremacy. An example of this are some of the ‘Criminology’ theories of Earnest Albert Hooton that suggests that criminal behavior is linked to physically inherited characteristics; racist theories that still appear as a rule of thumb on the 11 o’clock news today. See: Crime and the Man   (Hooton, 1939) When it came to Hooton’s Criminology theories, the only problem white people had with them is when he started profiling white characteristics as criminal and inherently violent. Because his theories contradicted the status quo, white scientists began to go on record to debunk what Hooton proposed when it put white people in a negative light.

Let me reiterate that regardless what kind of relationship we have in America, racism always plays a direct/indirect role in that relationship. There is no way around that reality. There is also no way around the fact that America is historically race conscious and the dominant society (ruling class) are white people. Those of us who are black and brown are a subgroup (minority underclass) within their society. So the designation of relationships by ‘race’ (interracial/biracial) serves the purpose of reinforcing these power relations between white and black and brown people. It was through the concept of race that white people placed themselves in a dominant/superior position and relegated black and brown people to a recessive/inferior position. It was also through race that black and brown people, although collectively the global majority, have been divided and categorized into groups/subgroups of second class, third world citizenship throughout the planet earth; making it easier for the global minority (white people) to rule. So to be in an arrangement that is classified as “inter”-racial means a couple has knowingly/unknowingly “entered” the worldview of the ruling class thus upholding that status quo. To be in a “bi”-racial arrangement or even to call a child from that type of union “bi”-racial means a couple has knowingly/unknowingly “bought into” and “buys into” the supremacist worldview of the ruling class, thus upholding that status quo. Although this couple may believe this arrangement is equal because of their shared feelings, it does not change the reality that one person (white) still represents the superior or ruling class, and the other person (black or brown) still represents the inferior or underclass. These power dynamics are still institutionally evident in every aspect of American life and were never designed to be equal. They were designed to keep the ruling class in a socioeconomic position that’s superior and another class of people as inferior and subservient to that class. See: The Help.

If I invented a Game and then invited you to participate in it, it’s still my Game and you can only play according to my rules. So regardless if you call it interracial or biracial, by definition, that arrangement can only serve the purpose of reinforcing the status of the ruling class because they invented the Game of race. Regardless how equal such an arrangement is said to be, it’s taking place within a society dominated by a white American way and that translates into home field advantage for the home team; the white person in that arrangement -regardless how humble, coy or meek that white person chooses to behave. If any problems arise, there will be no confusion about where this arrangement is taking place, who’s the home team and who ultimately has the institutional power to control or dissolve that arrangement at will. Again, since black and brown people didn’t codify the concept of race, and represent the subgroup/minority in any racial matters, we are a fundamental disadvantage. Looking at this Game of race, all arrangements, defined as interracial/biracial, serve the socioeconomic purpose of reinforcing and perpetuating the status quo of the dominant society or ruling class. It is also my position that the only way an arrangement like this can ever become a relationship that establishes true freedom, justice and socioeconomic equality outside of this status quo and ruling class bias, is that it must take place on the ethnic, culturally conscious and nationalistic terms of the black and brown person. In other words, the black and brown person must have home field advantage and their terms must be the central focus and primary foundation of that relationship -not the dominant society or ruling class. This, of course, is a very scary reality for any white person to honestly consider or accept because they come from a societal worldview where being the shot callers, having white skin privileges, their religious iconography, economic elitism and military might has always been considered the norm. As a matter of fact, less than 50 years ago, there were laws enforced all over America that banned black and brown people from even marrying into the dominant society and assimilating into the ruling class. This means that for 189 years of America's 239 year existence, or almost 80% of the time during the country’s existence, black and brown people were restricted from legally 'entering' (inter-racial) or 'buying' (bi-racial) stock in the American Dream via any relationship with white people. Now honestly ask yourself, how can 189 years (almost 80%) of America's political policies, institutions, educational curriculum's, economic investments and religious teachings/iconography about black and brown people not matter now and have no influence on race based [interracial/biracial] relationships today? Even though these things were consistently implemented and reinforced by the ruling class for almost several generations, did their affect upon society and it's treatment towards it's underclass or subgroups (minorities) vanish in less than 50 years?  

A common theme you’ll always notice in any black and brown movement/organization seeking to redefine ourselves outside of the perimeters of race, is our association with ethnicity/genus (color), cultural consciousness and nationality as our worldview. It was understood that when black and brown people “enter” or “buy” into interracial/biracial arrangements, they must partially or completely abandon their sense of ethnicity, cultural consciousness and nationality in order to assimilate and identify themselves -generically- with the dominant society or ruling class. They identify themselves generically because any ethnicity/genus (color), cultural consciousness and nationality that doesn’t represent the status quo is in opposition to the ruling class. So black and brown people who have bought into this Game will begin to espouse generic phrases such as “love knows no color”, “we’re all human”, “we all bleed the same”, “love is love”, “love is blind”, “color doesn’t matter”, “we are all dark when the lights go out” and etc in the interest of assimilating with the dominant society and avoiding a confrontation with that ruling class. What most black and brown people playing this Game don’t realize is that identifying themselves generically and abandoning their sense of ethnicity/genus (color), cultural consciousness and nationality does nothing to address or equalize the power relations of the structurally bias arrangement they’re in. As a matter of fact, it only serves to further empower the person who represents the dominant society or ruling class. How? Because the white person did not give up anything, and aren’t required to give up anything, in regards to their status quo the black or brown person just “entered” (inter-racial) and “bought into” (bi-racial). They aren’t required to give up anything because they are the home team; the standard model upon which all black and brown people are anatomically compared. Therefore, their standard model, and all of their Eurocentric trimmings, remains the foundation of that arrangement a black or brown person agreed to be a part of. In other words, in order to have an interracial/biracial arrangement, a black and brown person is required to leave most if not all of their ethnicity/genus (color), cultural consciousness and nationality at the door. This is the reason why you’ll find the majority of interracial/biracial couples saying, “we are all the same” but still advocating standardized Eurocentric cultural values (holidays, religious rites, diets, clothing styles, social norms and etc.). This is also the reason you’ll rarely cee interracial/biracial couples saying, “we are all the same” and openly advocating black and brown cultural values (holidays, religious rites, diets, clothing styles, social norms and etc.) and actively supporting black and brown movements designed to change the white supremacist status quo and position/power of the ruling class.

Victor Lewis on "The Color of Fear"

So for the obvious reasons I've stated, black and brown movements that are truly dedicated to changing the structurally bias status quo of the dominant society and position/power of this ruling class, do not advocate interracial/biracial arrangements. As Five Percenters specifically, we take it a step further and advocate relationships that are pro-righteous/civilized and anti-devilish/uncivilized. We don’t classify the human family by race. We classify the human family according to ethnicity/genus (color), cultural consciousness and nationality. Regardless of this classification, what people choose to do in regards to themselves, their relationships with other members of the human family and their relationship with the environment is what ultimately determines if they’re pro-righteous/civilized or anti-devilish/uncivilized. Those white people who have the courage, integrity, humility, studiousness and sincerity to learn how to embrace our culture, in order to educate their own people about what needs to be done to change the structurally bias status quo of the ruling class are not ‘Gods’ or ‘Earths’. God, and the Earth, were already present millions of years before albinized (non-melaninated) people even existed. So because these white people strive for righteousness, they’re respected as Five Percenters; citizens in our Nation who are respected as righteous/civilized members of the human family based upon their deeds. We are not pro-black, or anti-white because our worldview is not racially motivated -yet we know and understand that the dominant society has historically promoted a pro-white and anti-black and brown agenda. We are also not idealistic about white people taking on the gigantic responsibility of denouncing ALL OF THE BENEFITS that came/come along with being a categorical member of the dominant society and ruling class just to be a righteous man/woman. We recognize how unreasonable it is to expect most of them to give up white skinned privilege, family inheritance, quit the family business, share inaccessible information/resources with black and brown people and ultimately put their (and their family’s) life on the line to establish socioeconomic equality. As a human family, there are certain biological, intellectual, socioeconomic, educational and etc. investments we are required to make that will not reinforce/uphold the status quo of the dominant society and ruling class. In love, there are certain types of relationships we absolutely cannot engage in. Our ideas about justice, civility and reformation cannot involve people who are invested in upholding an unjust status quo. Partnerships in business can’t be made with people who feel/believe they are above the law. Also, accepting any terms that translate into usury, ignorance or being kept apart from another's socioeconomic equality is completely out of the question -which is historically an institutional reality for black and brown people who represent the minority and underclass in America and throughout the planet where there has been colonialism. In our worldview, black and brown people are first class citizens; first world people who fathered and mothered civilization. The average white person finds this extremely difficult to accept because it completely contradicts what they’ve been erroneously taught about themselves, and what they’ve seen around them, their entire life. Those white people who do bear witness to this truth are not the average; they’re the elite among the ruling class. They represent members of the scientific, corporate, historical, political and medical community who secretly acknowledge who black and brown people are behind the closed doors of their masonic lodges and shrines (temples). And even though they have some of this information, they’re not utilizing their institutions, finances, material resources and intellectual property to change or equalize the status quo between white and black and brown people. They were allowed to learn this information in order to be upright and noble, yet consistently fail to keep and obey the laws.

In conclusion, it’s important to recognize and understand the power relations of any kind of arrangement -especially a relationship based upon the false concept of race in a historically racist (and sexist) society like America. If you’re a black and brown person who’s interested in someone who’s classified as white, you need to assess/define that potential relationship along ethnic/genus (color), culturally conscious and nationalistic lines. This is important because it automatically reveals the power relations that you’ll be agreeing to; maybe until death do you part! You need to know this white person’s considerations and stances on issues concerning the minority subgroup and underclass this society put you in. Since white people represent the dominant society you live in, and ruling class you’re under, you need to know their actual positions about slavery, sexism, lynchings, segregation, foreign policies, stereotypes and the present condition of the so-called race or subgroup of people you actually belong to; whether you choose to identify yourself with that so-called race or subgroup or not. See: O.J. Simpson, Michael Jackson, Kobe Bryant and Tiger Woods. When I say stances, I’m not talking about politically correct sympathy conversation about how wrong these things were/are. I’m talking about what they’re actually doing about it. If they never did anything, or aren’t doing anything, then they’re upholding the status quo. Now that they’ve been made aware of these things, you have the opportunity to see what they’re going to do about being in society’s socioeconomic driver’s seat. Some people will argue that you can’t do anything about changing the past… Well what you can do is make sure what negatively happened in the past isn’t happening in the present and doesn’t happen in the future -starting with you, how you’re raising you’re children, and the people, places and things you choose to invest in. For those of you who want to act like this doesn’t really matter, it does not change the reality of the status quo you’re living under. I think it’s obvious that people who are in so-called interracial/biracial arrangements may truly “believe” in a world of freedom, justice and socioeconomic equality, even if it’s just in a bedroom. I also think that the thought of a world of freedom, justice and socioeconomic equality is a seed of a very noble cause. Yet until people can openly and honestly bring their ethnic/genus (color), culturally conscious and nationalistic concerns to the table and discuss a relationship (not an arrangement) based upon the power relations this relationship will establish, they’re only co-signing the status quo of the dominant society and ruling class. As a black and brown person, your participation in such a structurally bias arrangement is not only a disadvantage, it’s highly likely that you will suffer some form of psychological, social, financial and physical abuse at the hand of the person who represents the dominant society and ruling class. How is this possible? Because “who you are” as a minority subgroup and underclass in this society is not being considered. You’re an after thought, if a thought at all. You’re minority concerns are not primary, a priority, and usually irrelevant to the person who represents the dominant society and ruling class. While you have been forced through cultural assimilation to know and respect who they are, those who represent the ruling class have never been forced to know you. Therefore, it’s impossible to have a healthy sense of respect, consideration and even love for who/what you actually don’t know. Can you see how the person not being considered can get hurt in this situation? I can. It also makes one consider the self esteem and sadomasochistic/masochistic tendencies of someone who pursues structurally bias arrangements like this. In their mind, it Hurts So Good.

Now for those of you black and brown people who’ve already made this interracial/biracial decision without taking the time to actually think about what you were actually doing, you have two choices: 1.) Live with the complications you’ve accepted. 2.) Appeal to your white companion about renegotiating the structurally bias arrangements you’ve accepted along ethnic/genus (color), culturally conscious and nationalistic terms to make it fair. Good Luck because it’s ultimately up to them, a representative of the dominant society/ruling class, to consider if your appeal is valid or not. Like with any relationship, growth is important. The challenge with any relationship based upon race, whether we're with someone we consider the same "race" or we call it "interracial" or "biracial", it's taking place on a racist white supremacist backdrop. There is no way around, under, above or through that. Our relationship, and family unit, must be willing and able to transform this ugly reality through everyday people activities that don't reinforce the status quo. Our acceptance or rejection of this personal and collective responsibility will determine that kind of world our children will inherit.

Peace, 
Saladin

The Amazing Race Part 1

The Amazing Race 
~Part 1~

Growing up I dated various types of girls. Whether their ethnic status or nationality was so-called African-American, Italian, Haitian, Eritrean, Egyptian, Punjabi, German, Arabian, Puerto Rican, Greek, Native American, Jamaican and etc... I also dated various types of girls of different social statuses. Looking back on these experiences, I am thankful of the lessons I’ve learned along the way; some good, some bad, and yes, some ugly. As I matured I modified my perspective of relationships -realizing that I had to be more mindful of the challenges, conflicts and consequences that forging certain unions would bring. Many of us often have a “love is love”, “love knows no color” and “everything will be alright” attitude when we enter our relationships and eventually find out that it takes much more than these flighty feelings to actually sustain it. In America, regardless what kind of relationship we have, racism always plays a direct/indirect role in that relationship. Realizing this, it's important that we take responsibility for how we allow that direct/indirect role to shape our relationships. I'm not just talking about being responsible for our personal feelings/gratification. I'm talking about being responsible for what our relationship, and potential family unit, brings into the world -especially children. No child is born a racist. Children are taught to be racists, directly/indirectly, by adults.

What is Race? The codified concept of ‘race’ can be traced back to a white Anthropologist named Earnest Albert Hooton. In addition to helping establish Harvard as the center for Physical Anthropology in the United States, Hooton was responsible for classifying human beings into groups and subgroups based upon phenotype (physical characteristics/traits); race. Through what is called ‘comparative anatomy’, Hooton used white people as the primary model of man and classified/defined black and brown people as primitives according to that basic standard. Based upon Hooton’s work, in 1926 The American Association of Physical Anthropology and the National Research Council organized a committee to focus on the anatomy of black people (so-called Negroes at the time). A year later in 1927, the committee endorsed a comparison of African babies with young apes. If that wasn’t enough, about 10 years later in 1937, the committee published findings in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology to prove, not suggest or imply, that Negroes were closer to primitives than the white race. Racial stereotypes about black intellectual inferiority, criminality, promiscuity, homeliness, amorality, socioeconomic ineptness, etc… are all associations with the pseudoscience of Earnest Albert Hooton. Although many white people already entertained/advocated these ideas and feelings about black and brown people for hundreds of years prior to Hooton’s anatomical comparisons, Hooton was instrumental in classifying and systematizing these ideas/feelings into a framework that we’ve come to know and define as race -and ultimately racism. Even though Hooton was not a hood wearing, card carrying member of The KKK, who were already about 3 million strong in America approaching the 1930’s, his work served as ammunition to advocate their White Supremacist philosophies, politics, and policies.

So here in America, this purely sociopolitical construct called ‘race’ was used as a tool to establish, justify and reinforce the power relations between people classified as white and others. These power relations established a status quo; where the dominant society and ruling class is white and black and brown people, the minority within their society, are the underclass. Thus whenever white and black and brown people lived in proximity to eachother, the white group or ruling class controlled the institutions, political networks, finances, material resources and intellectual property. Even though whites are the minority throughout the planet earth, how can you explain these power relations that defy all logic and probability? Is this minority in control because it’s just the natural order of things? Do black and brown people (the global majority) believe they aren’t intelligent enough to govern so white people are better equipped to control the institutions, political networks, finances, material resources and intellectual property? Is there a systemic sociopolitical way of doing things that has empowered the global minority to gain control over the institutions, political networks, finances, material resources and intellectual property? And if there does exist a systemic sociopolitical way of doing things, has this been beneficial for all people, especially the majority? It is my perspective that the concept of race (along with ‘racism’ and ‘sexism’), the sociopolitical arm of white supremacy, is one of the primary tools being used to accomplish this goal. 

See, to even use the word ‘race’ in regards to human beings, we automatically “enter” (inter-racial) or “buy” into (bi-racial) the power dynamics that was propagated by the ruling class (white people) and codified by Earnest Albert Hooton’s classifications. To consider yourself as a race, it automatically compromises your identity because the term race neutralizes/minimizes your ethnic/genus origin, cultural consciousness and nationality. As a person of color, it puts you on the primitive end of a categorical chart designed to uphold a dominant Eurocentric status quo. It’s interesting to note that the findings of The American Association of Physical Anthropology and the National Research Council in the mid 1920’s coincides with the proliferation of Marcus Garvey’s UNIA (United Negro Improvement Association) and the founding of Noble Drew Ali's MSTA (Moorish Science Temple of America). The significance of this is the fact that Marcus Garvey and Noble Drew Ali advocated the importance of black and brown people’s ethnic/genus origin, cultural consciousness and nationality. As a Nationalist, Noble Drew Ali even went as far as to instruct his members to learn ‘The Color of Law” -used by racists to carry out racial inequality/discriminatory policies and procedures within the so-called justice system. This Ethnogenesis, advocated by the UNIA, MSTA, NOI, Five Percenters and other organizations was a vehicle to redefine ourselves outside of the white supremacist perimeters of race and within the context of our own ethnic/genus, cultural consciousness and nationality. Of course this did little to change the dominant society we were living under as a subgroup, or the sentiments of this ruling class. To undermine the progress of organizations like this, the ruling class began to promote the repackaging of ‘race’ under the pseudonyms of Colored, Afro-American and African American in order to get black people to continue entering/buying into a racist (racial) sociopolitical construct. The last and greatest ploy being bio-political subjugation via Interracial (enter ‘race’) or Biracial (bi-‘racial’) arrangements. How and what can be done? Find out in my next article "The Amazing Race Part 2"

To be continued.....

Peace,

Saladin