Thursday, January 14, 2010

I'm feeling kind of blah today, blog world. But it was important to me to make a post, so here I am.

I want to talk about the name of this blog. As I say in my "about me" sidebar, I knew that I wanted to write a blog about race, because race is something that I am really fascinated by. There are just so many different discussions that can be had, and I am always up for a good discussion.

As I learned more and more about these issues, I realized that there are so many different marginalized groups out there, that it just doesn't make sense to look at issues of social justice through one lens (race, gender, class, etc.) That's why the subtitle of the blog is thoughts on race and inequality in America. I'm giving myself the option to write about things other than race. All of these -isms are connected, and the sooner we can recognize that--the better off we will be.

I originally wanted to call this blog askablackperson.com (you can click on it, but it's not a working site.) I figured that I'd piggyback on the success of the Ask a Mexican guy I would read in my local independent weekly. Alas, when I went to register that domain name--it was already taken.

The point is, I always intended for this site to be a place where people could ask me questions. So if you have any questions for me, you should leave me a comment. You could email me too, but it's more convenient for me for you to just leave me a comment, because then I don't have to go getting on my other computer.

I'll leave you with this funny photo:

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Posted by myblackfriendsays at 6:19 PM

4 comments:

  1. Do you believe that since you are a light skin black woman, who does not speek with a negro dialect, that you could be the first female President on the Democratic ticket?
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  2. Have you thought about the term “Social Justice”? What is it? Can it be defined? To me it seems like an acceptable term that any one can claim. Where is the Social Justice when many leading political figures refer to the President as the guy who gets the coffee? The President is nothing but a shoe shiner. Those who belittle and denigrate a fellow human based on race and class status, then go on to hold high offices and shape and mold the country. Is that Social Justice? Can I denigrate a fellow co worker and make them feel sub human and get promoted and lead my company in a new direction? Where is the Social Justice in that a well qualified Supreme Court Justice can be denied a seat on the bench because he is not black enough? Where is the Social Justice for a woman who can sing such beautiful music, but has outer beauty that is not that pleasing? I contend that Social Justice in a great deal of circumstances comes at a price of another. Is it Social Justice for a farmer to have his land taken away under imminent domain so that a Wal Mart can be built? Social Justice is no free lunch, some one has to pay. Is it you, and how much are you willing to pay for the cause? Would you give up your land, financial resources, time, and personal freedoms for the cause? Is it Social Justice that people die and are not required to give away their organs to save another life? Is Social Justice a code word for redistribution of wealth? Is Social Justice another word for reparations and a way to correct past wrongs? I am coming to the conclusion that Social Justice is Or Wellington. Words mean what I say they mean. Social Justice is what ever I say it is. The flavor of the day. Soup d’ jour.
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  3. i don't know how it's done now, but when i taught at overland high school, we had "equity" meetings in which we were supposed to talk about the achievement gap between different races. but one of the "agreements" that were thrust upon us on these meeting was that we would focus solely on race. other factors like gender, socio-economic background, etc, could not be brought into the discussion. i found it incredibly narrow and meaningless to isolate race. what do you think, my black friend?
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