State of the Black Union: Post Racial

Tom Joyner just came on stage to introduce the panel! He just made a joke about how the State of the Black Union started back when gas was $2 and Kobe and Shaq were still together. LOL! Isn't that the truth!

He says we're here to, "Hold ourselves accountable for the state that we are in and to remind ourselves and America that we can and will do better!" -- For those of you who still believe otherwise, please take note: black folks are not and have never been looking for handouts! We wouldn't have survived post-slavery if that was the case!

So who's here for this panel: Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Dr. Charles Ogletree, Stephanie Robinson, Peter Harvey, Michelle Singletary, Marc Morial and Dr. Michael Eric Dyson (just got a major standing ovation), Iyanla Vanzant, Les Brown, Jesse Jackson and Dr. Tricia Rose!

Wow, this is a powerhouse panel and the moderator for this morning is Seton Hall Professor, Raymond Brown!

Brown starts us off with the the phrase, "Death at the hands of parties unknown." He says it's a phrase coroners would use back in the day when they wanted to say nobody's responsible for an act of terror like a lynching. It's easy to say that no one's responsible with what's going on in black America.

This panel is going to address the post-racial vibe that's been floating through America, the belief that because there's now a black president, racism is gone, that black people got theirs!

Dr. Michael Eric Dyson: "I don't want to be post-racial. I do want to be post-racist! There's a difference!"

Interesting point, no one wants to be post-gender even though we want sexism to end. "I don't want women to stop being women. We just want the vicious patriarchal lens through which women are viewed to stop. I don't want to stop being black...I'm too old for something different."

Dyson asks an interesting question, "Why is America so addicted to race?" -- What do you think? Why?

Talking about while Obama may be the president, you still have social conditions that show that racism is alive and well.

Gosh, this is going to be more difficult than I thought to live blog this, mainly because there is so much being said at once AND because my laptop battery may die and they don't have any plugs. Oh heck no! I KNOW this girl next to me is not polishing her nails! AAGH! I'm dead!

Comments

Shiona said…
I think America's addicted to race because it has been taught or pointed out as long as I can remember. I remember back in the day that whenever me or my sister would talk we would always get the comment about talking white. What does that mean exactly? It seems everything has some racial connotation no matter what we say or do.

Ironically when I went to a mostly white high school in the rich area of town I was treated worse by the blacks than the other races combined. The whole way I phrased that comment shows how I paid so much attention to race. Yet I cannot figure out another way to say it.
Liz Dwyer said…
Shiona,
I used to get that "You talk white/act white" comment from black kids in school as well. Some black kids would tease me or threaten to beat me up for acting "white". But on the other hand, some white people would throw around the stereotypical, "articulate" phrasing and just act like I was automatically stupid or like they were afraid of me. Both of them were/are annoying.

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