MSG Speaks Truth

SpontaneousLove:

"hate.
growing up in mississippi in the 1980/90’s racism was a way of life. in my experience it wasn’t something that was discussed because there was nothing to talk about. it just was. i never once had a classmate of a different race. i never had a teammate of a different race. i never had a neighbor of a different race. the only time i can remember this not being the case was when an asian family joined our church. at the time i didn’t know anything was different or if this wasn’t the case everywhere because that was all i knew. while i never heard anything hateful in my home, i heard it every where else. teachers at school would make it a point to say something degrading about black students and failing grades. at stores, i distinctly remember grown men making awful comments and at one point even pushing ladies down because they weren’t moving fast enough. i saw a lot, nothing like the 20 years before but enough to make you sick.

when you are a child you are taught to do one of two things when these things happen in front of you. either join in or keep your head down and walk away. never to stand up for what is right. because if you stood up for anyone outside the white race you were grouped with the people being beat down and you yourself were then pushed to the ground. i was never one to join in. i was the kid that kept her head down and walked away. and for that i am full of regret. i should have done something, i should have said something. but at the time i didn’t know that was an option.

i do believe that there is a part of you that is controled and formed by your environment. but only a part. i had every opportunity to be that person who joined in and believed the hate and abuse was what ‘they had coming.’ but there is a choice people have to make to understand right and wrong, to understand human suffering and to see that we are all actually just the same. luckily for me, i was taken out of that environment and i was able to see the difference. i was able to understand that this wasn’t just how it was. but i honestly believe that if i stayed in mississippi through high school i would still be that girl that kept her head down and walked away. because i had no one to show me how to stand up and fight against it. i had no one to show me that was an option.

although mississippi has come a long way since then it is still, in my opinion, not anywhere near being where it should be. and while there are no excuses for any type of hate, people have to be shown how to stand up to it. it is not mississippi’s fault or problem. it is every ones problem. it is up to everyone to say it is not ok and to stand up to it. every single time. no matter how slight or seemingly harmless. because until it is completely gone we are all at fault and we are all responsible for changing it."

The Asshattery Does not Cease

Transcript:

"So now we got a czar, we got a domestic violence czar - I had a story, that's what she's calling about - the opening hour of the program, they just hired a domestic violence czar. An adviser. They're not calling it a czar, but it's a czar. It's a domestic violence adviser. What the hell kind of advice are you gonna get? About the only kind of advice - I mean we're talking about democrats here, right? We're talking about the party of Bill Clinton. So I assume If you're going to have a domestic policy adviser, the advice you're gonna get - put some ice on it. Your lip's a little bleeding and swollen - put some ice on it, as you leave the swanky motel room. Domestic policy - domestic violence adviser - why do you need any advice on that? There are some instances where it's justified and you need an adviser to tell you when, in case the woman's a republican and the husband's a democrat, it's perfectly understandable why there would be domestic violence, we've got to allow for this? What the hell are we doing here?"

Because Bigotry is Not Dead

Neo-Nazis are in the Army now | Salon News: "He started his own Nazi rock group, Attack, and made friends in the National Alliance, at the time the biggest neo-Nazi group in the country. It has called for a 'a long-term eugenics program involving at least the entire populations of Europe and America.'

But the military ran in Fogarty's family. His grandfather had served during World War II, Korea and Vietnam, and his dad had been a Marine in Vietnam. At 22, Fogarty resolved to follow in their footsteps. 'I wanted to serve my country,' he says..."

Despite the fact that Army regulations explicitly do not allow soldiers to be active in racist groups, and that those enlisting must explain any tattoo on their bodies before signing that line, there are very few ways to verify those stories because of the "personal" nature of tattoos. You can just make shit up, which is exactly what Fogarty did.

Then,

Fogarty's ex-girlfriend, intent on destroying his new military career, sent a dossier of photographs to Fort Stewart. The photos showed Fogarty attending white supremacist rallies and performing with his band, Attack. "They hauled me before some sort of committee and showed me the pictures," Fogarty says. "I just denied them and said my girlfriend was a spiteful bitch." He adds: "They knew what I was about. But they let it go because I'm a great soldier...Fogarty left the Army in 2005 with an honorable discharge. He says he was asked to reenlist, but declined."

So this guy is a Neo-Nazi. He has tattoos of overtly racist, white-supremacist symbols on his body (listed in the article are the Celtic cross, a widely recognized symbol of white supremacist groups in the US, and the Viking carrying the staff, which is also widely used). His entire unit and his immediate superiors know explicitly, both from context and from the horse's mouth, but do not report higher. The guy fights because he hates the people, and for no other reason.

Yet Lt. Clnl Ferenbach, a man so exemplary in his personality and his military career that he flew sorties over the capital on September 11, is being discharged and stripped of many of his rights as a veteran. All this because he is gay, and someone else ratted him out to the military.

Tell me how that's in any way exemplary of what we claim to stand for, America.

Collectibles

A little bit too frustrated to write a long post at the moment, but here are a few things to think about:

My Private Casbah: "My view towards religion is that if a particular god doesn't make you want to be a kinder, more loving person, then it isn't worth worshipping."



Sexism Against Conservative Women Is Still Sexism, by Amy Siskind at the Huffington Post. Tulip has some interesting thoughts on this, too.

More on Iranian feminism, from Bust.

Sexist medical assistance from Pfizer? Also on Bust.

Back to y'all later.

Salon: Remembering the Stonewall Riots

Last year, I was at London Pride, and it was beautiful. This year I won't even make it to my local Pride, for reasons I can't get into. It makes me sad, and even sadder that one of my dearest friends has to miss out because I can't drive him there.