Racism and the Perceived Immunity of the Gay Community

Cross posted at Black, Male, and Gay ... in THAT Order

HRC has decided to host a webchat addressing issues of race and racism within the Gay Community. *GASP* You mean gay people have the capability of being consumed with the same racist ideologies as their heterosexual bretheren? Of course they do... and in some cases they are WORSE than there hetero sexual bretheren. Take this letter to the editor of the Washington Blade for example in response to a qestion about if this country would ever get an openly gay Supreme Court nominee,

One of your readers said the country was run by “old white men” — but just where is the proof of that? We have a black president, a black attorney general, a female secretary of state and many cabinet chiefs or senior posts are filled by non-white males. Whites are now the minority in four states, including California.

In 20 years,17 states will be minority white. Most big city mayors are non-white male. As a gay male, even I know that those so-called “old white men”(read:straight) have passed many laws that have benefited minority groups. Ask yourself, can you honestly see a Supreme Court totally black, female and Hispanic? I shudder at the thought. What’s next? A chairman of the Joint Chiefs bringing his sheep to work? A few cross-dressing senators on the floor filibustering? A group of drag queen representatives in the House? A blind 747 pilot? A deaf music critic? Lifeguards who cannot swim? Why not, isn’t it their human/civil right? Just how far will the envelope be pushed before we implode?

As far as your reader who worried about “old white men,” he does not have to worry for long. The last real generation of whites are lying beneath the sands of Iwo Jima and Normandy. Now, most are pink with yellow stripes running down their backs.  Rome tried multiculturalism and look what happened to them. It’s only a matter of time. I would prefer straight whites making command decisions. Heaven help this country if we don’t.

Now, to this reader's credit I can understand his point about the ever increasing inclusiveness of the gay community. How many other letters will be used to ensure that every person who simply identifies themself as an abberation to the accepted social norm will we allow to be recognized? However, the reader's racism begins to rear its ugly head and all of his points disintegrate into a tirade that exposes his racial prejudices, heteronormative bias, AND - dare I say it, internalized homophobia )for which blacks gays are VILLIFIED in both mainstream and gay media)!

The following information can be deduced from the reader's letter:

• He must have failed history because he completely ignored the preceding 389 years or so of systemic racial segregation, deprivation of equality, and legalized discrimination.
• He assumes that one election of the FIRST black president in the 230-year history of the United States had more to do with timing than the influence of what I previously mentioned
• He assumes that ONLY whites, particularly white men possess the temperament to make good decisions (dissmissing the fact that whites DECIDED to institutionalize the items mentioned in the first bullet)
• He assumes that the playing field has been leveled by white men's "passage of laws that have benefitted minorities", while ignoring the fact that they selectively chose to ingore enforcing those laws - after all, how fast does one move when they are desegregating at "full deliberate speed"?
• He feels entitled to the USA being his and whites' ALONE. No other people born in this country are as AUTHENTIC as the whites "beneath the sands of Iwo Jima and Normandy" (a POV commonly expressed by whites at McCain and Palin POTUS campaign rallies. More recently from the whites who comprise the BIRTHERS movement)

The rest is just too crazy to even put any thought into, but he definitely hates the fact the he's GAY.

I sincerely wish I could say that this letter represents an extreme POV on behalf of members of what is considered the mainstream gay community, but it doesn't. In fact, if you look at historical accounts of the Gay Rights Movement you'd be hard pressed to find any significant mention of the Black and Puerto Rican drag queens who were tired of being harrassed by the NYPD and decided to fight back by hurling whatever they could get their hands on at the officers.

When people think of the term "Gay" seldom do they think of the banjee boys made popular by James Earl Hardy, the Butch Queens Voguing in "Paris is Burning" or the hundreds of transgenders who compete in the Ms. Thailand pageant. No, the first image of what gay is that comes to mind is a well-dressed, witty, shallow, white male with a rich, bitch type female friend who lives in NYC, has no real profession of his own, but can afford to live in Manhattan in a FABULOUS apartment.

With gays who are a little less shallow and somewhat educated, Gay means a handsome gentleman who is typically white, professional, owns a remodeled home that he may or my not have completed himself, may be partnered, considering adoption, but DEFINITELY owns a dog or a cat. Again, you seldom see an image of gay that INCLUDES any person OTHER than a white male. Even if the image is female, she typically has taken on a gender specific look that isn't neutral. Gay - typically means white and male.

Look at the leadership of the HRC, GLAAD, and the NGLTF. The leadership is typically top heavy with white males. Ask yourself, was the National Black justice coalition and its predercessor the National Black Gay and Lesbian Ledership Forum formed out of necessity or opportunity? While HRC's National Conversation is a good idea in theory, I am not sure how effective it will be at reaching the people who need to be heard the most.

This post will be in TWO Parts.

BREAKING NEWS: ATF Thwarts White Supremacist Attempt to kill Obama and at least 100 black people

In light of Ashley Todd's entertaining, but categorically false claim that she was attacked by a Barack Obama supporter, Reuters reports an ACTUAL FACTUAL attack attempt on the life of Barack Obama, our country's next president.

Silly Racist White People, whether you like it or not, whether you're ready or not, whether you want it or not, CHANGE IS coming! Ready yourselves for the inevitable and be prepared to be just as patriotic to your new BLACK President as you were to your old white ONE.

I wonder if Matt Drudge, Jon Corsi, Rush, FOXNews (insert random racist white person or conservative) know about this?

OBAMA/BIDEN '08

Poor, Little Uber-Rich, Elitist, White Trash, Lynne Forrester De Rothschild Endorses John McCain/ Undermines her B.F.F. Hillary!

Am I supposed to be surprised that Lynne was going to take this route? White people, White Women in particular have a HUGE sense of entitlement. Lynne's actions were predictable and expected... at least by me. She was a huge HC surrogate and bought her Super-delegate status at the DNC by raising at least $100K for Clinton during her failed presidential bid.

She and a few other sour grape HC supporters are still lamenting over the fact the Geraldine Ferraro got it wrong and that their racism would definitely influence their "enlightened minds" in November. With all of that money, you'd think she'd pour herself a glass of that delicious red wine produced in limited quantities by her family's estate, pop a few pain-killers like Cindy McCain would do, and call up her 500.00-an-hour-therapist so she could have a good white woman cry and get in touch with her inner rich white bitch.

Instead, she's decided to be as petty an spiteful as I knew she could be. I am so proud of you Lynne for being the true unaplogetic, black folk hating, "I wish slavery and segregation were alive and well because the coloreds have gotten out of control", self! I'd raise my glass to you, but I actually prefer Chateneuf du PAPE by Vieux Lazeret over your Chateau Margaux. Call me a wine snob or better yet, another black elitist.

Hillary, what you gon' do about your girl? Ya'll need to do a Russian Tea Room style luncheon ASAP and follow it up with some mani's and pedi's, then a little trip to Bergdorf.

Okay, so thank you all for indulging me a little bit. Seriously though, how can a die hard Democrat, a Super-delegate even, endorse a candidate with ideological views that oppose everything you're supposed to believe in? Even worse, how does a a descendant of French nobility, a member of one of the most famous wine producing family owned vineyards in the world, call anyone an elitist? Bottles of Baron de Rothschild wines sell for upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Is Lynne really serious when she expects us to believe that the reason she can't support Obama is because he and Michelle are elitists?

I'm telling ya'll if Obama loses the race it won't be because his campaign floundered. Although he could make some marked improvements in refining and packaging his message to the voters, his loss will be directly related to one thing and one thing only... disaffected white people angry at the fact that blacks don't have to be subservient, anonymous, and inferior to them.

So Lynne, go ahead and act like a petulant child who didn't get picked to be on your favorite team. Let your fury rage at the fact that the white monopoly on American Politics, while no where in sight of ending, has begun to show its vulnerability to the new and soon-to-be, minority majority electorate. Keep using your money, connections, and status as a Democratic National Committee Platform spokeswoman to become a pariah. You are an irrational, spoiled, elitist white woman; let me hear you ROAR!

It wasn't enough that you and a few other rich whites tried to strong arm the DNC into pushing Obama out the race. It wasn't enough that some of your rich white gay comrades attempted to bitch slap Nancy Pelosi into persuading Obama to quit. Now, you think that you've dealt the cuop de grace to Obama by joining McCain and Palin. Good riddance to you and your rich white trash ass. You aren't worth the flesh that your sorry ass is printed on and the Obama Camp can definitely do without you.

AL SHARPTON and the NAACP WANT FREEDOM FOR RAPISTS (That way, they can rape again and kill you too!!)

So it seems that my anger fest has been capped with a cherry on top! The NAACP and Al Sharpton of the National Action Network stood with the families of the Dunbar Village RAPE SUSPECTS to host a press conference in protesting the treatment of the Rape Suspects. Sharpton compared the Dunbar Village teens to a set of white teens who raped some teenage girls in Boca Raton.

Sharpton and the NAACP support criminals. This of course is nothing new, but please remember these are the same organizations that were silent about the VICTIM of the Dunbar Village Rape. Where is the equity? Who's truly guilty of preferential treatment? Symphony of Essential Presence does a wonderful job discussing this bastard's latest bullshit rant.

Updates!!!

I see the week-in-review format has been working rather well on other blogs because it allows authors to string together completely unrelated stories in one post. Having been at a loss for words lately (totally ironic since I've been commenting on so many other blogs), I present to my readers, BLKSeaGoat's Weekly Round-Up!!! I'll try to post the good, bad, ugly, and WTF?, but not in necessarily in that order. I haven't come up with a clever name for my weekly recap and I am open to suggestions.

The Good Blogs

I have really been inspired by a number of bloggers who keep me wearing my thinking cap because of how awesome their writing skills are. If you good folks in the blogosphere haven't been to their sites already, you MUST visit Aunt Jemima's Revenge by Professor Tracey, Black Women Vote by SheCodes, and for inspiration and spiritual enlightenment, Character Corner, by AttorneyMom. I have been learning so much about so many things and I can credit reading these blogs for that. My writing skills are above average at best, but for some great thinking coupled with an exceptional use of language and mastery of grammar and mechanics, check them out PRONTO! Of course I am and will always be a fan of Whataboutourdaughters? and I thank Gina along with her readership for always being on alert and posting "news that I can use". I've also started reading some other authors, Torrance Stephens, Jasmyne Cannick, and Average Bro and I'll be getting around to all of you I see on a regular basis in the comments sections of the various blogs I enjoy.

New GIG!!

This week has been an interesting one for me. As I shared with SheCodes earlier this month, I will be transitioning into a new position with a new agency as I have been ready to move on for some time. What was so great about this new job is that my hiring manager CALLED me and basically made me an offer before the position was even available. I felt flattered and a little cocky (I have to be honest) because I was the FIRST person who came to her mind as this opening came in her department. She strongly encouraged me to submit my resume and vitae, provided me with some plausible arguments as to why I was her first choice, and recommended me with high expectations to her Executive Director. It was all so surreal that I still can't believe that things unfolded they that they did. I am glad though; I GOTS DA SKILLZ 2 PAY DA BILLZ... Okay, I know that wasn't even funny, but I am so excited!

My only regret is that I will miss the direct service aspect of my current position. However with my new job I'll be able to affect change on an even broader level; to me, my societal impact will be much more tangible than it was before.

Election updates

I am a Barack Obama supporter NOT a stan. I have rational reasons for supporting my candidate of choice as well as reasons for NOT supporting his opponent. While Sen. Clinton bested my candidate in Ohio, Texas, and R.I., he still leads in the delegate count. I have signed up to go volunteer in PA, the last great prize for the Democratic nominee unless FL and MI re-vote. I am still confident that Senator Obama can clinch this nomination and become president, but he really needs to start getting into Hillary's treasure trough of opposition research. Roland Martin stated it as plainly as possible: "make Hillary DEFINE her 35 years of experience." Future Mr. President, you have to do this if you expect HOPE for CHANGE to carry you to the Oval Office.

Hot Messes

As usual, Whataboutourdaughters? scoops a story that I would have otherwise ignored unless it was posted on their website. It seems that American Pop Culture's obsession with celebrity is so powerful that grown women will bear their naked asses on camera for the world to see, ONLY to get a date with an ugly ass mud duck inferior rapper. The contest, sponsored by Plies was called the "Bust it Baby" contest, after one of his songs about a woman he admires for her sexual prowess and penchant for casual sex. The video is NSFW and is incredibly disgusting. If watching women debase themselves in every way causes you to vomit uncontrollably, you may not want to view this video. I was so repulsed by it I created a PowerPoint response and posted it on YouTube.

Blackface Minstrel or Flattering Admirer?

Jasmyne Cannick has a bone to pick with infamous drag performer, Shirley Q. Liquor. For those of you who are unaware, SQL is a character of Charles Knipp, an obese, gay white man who performs his character in blackface. Shirley Q. Liquor is a malt-liquor chugging, promiscuous, multiple-baby-daddy-having, under-educated, poor, welfare check receiving, black woman with 19 children. Her spawn are named after food products, liquor beverages, and venereal diseases. SQL hails from the South and is the self-proclaimed "Queen of Dixie". Jasmyne has launched a campaign against SQL and Knipp in an effort to get Knipp's appearances canceled at various gay pride events and conventions. You can read more about the protest and campaign here.

Now, I have no problem with Jasmyne's position about SQL, but she actually JUSTIFIES why it's okay for black male drag performers to mar the image of black women, but scowls at the same performances being done by a white man. One cannot have it both ways. You can be upset at the media portrayal of black women regardless of the race of the person engaged in the stereotypical depictions. I signed to petition as a show of support, but I remain a bit ambivalent about Jasmyne's motivation for going ape shit on SQL. I wonder what the National Black Justice Coalition has to say about SQL? I wonder why White Gay America (there are many gay Americas) is so missive about SQL's brand of humor, but gets outraged when straight comedians use terms that are offensive to homosexuals?

R.I.P - 17 year old Simmie Williams was ambushed and gunned down for what many believe was his transgender identity. Feministe published a really great post on this tragic event .

Posting on the Regular (I promise)

I am going to start taking my blog more seriously. I know, I know, I've said that before, but I'll be freeing up my work schedule soon for some much needed blog time. I have TONS of things to write about and I'll be getting of my lazy behind to actually do more.

Obama Claims Delegate Lead!?!?!?!?

Obama claims delegate lead By: Mike Allen February 6, 2008 11:09 AM EST

In a surprise twist after a chaotic Super Tuesday, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) passed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in network tallies of the number of delegates the candidates racked up last night. The Obama camp now projects topping Clinton by 13 delegates, 847 to 834. NBC News, which is projecting delegates based on the Democratic Party's complex formula, figures Obama will wind up with 840 to 849 delegates, versus 829 to 838 for Clinton. Clinton was portrayed in many news accounts as the night’s big winner, but Obama’s campaign says he wound up with a higher total where it really counts — the delegates who will choose the party’s nominee at this summer’s Democratic convention. With the delegate count still under way, NBC News said Obama appears to have won around 840 delegates in yesterday’s contests, while Clinton earned about 830 — “give or take a few,” Tim Russert, the network’s Washington bureau chief, said on the “Today” show. The running totals for the two, which includes previous contests and the party officials known as “superdelegates,” are only about 70 delegates apart, Russert said. The bottom line is that the two are virtually tied. Race, sex divide Dems; ideology splits GOP Super Tuesday: A split decision Media restrained in Super Tuesday coverage Obama won 13 states, some of them smaller, and Clinton won eight. On Wednesday morning, the battle was on to shape public perceptions about Tuesday. The Clinton campaign said it was crunching its delegate numbers but was not sure it was correct that Obama got more. The Obama campaign sent an e-mailed statement titled: “Obama wins Super Tuesday by winning more states and more delegates.” Campaign Manager David Plouffe said: “By winning a majority of delegates and a majority of the states, Barack Obama won an important Super Tuesday victory over Sen. Clinton in the closest thing we have to a national primary.” “From Colorado and Utah in the West to Georgia and Alabama in the South to Sen. Clinton’s backyard in Connecticut, Obama showed that he can win the support of Americans of every race, gender and political party in every region of the country,” Plouffe said. “That’s why he’s on track to win Democratic nomination, and that’s why he’s the best candidate to defeat John McCain in November.” The Obama campaign attached an Excel spreadsheet containing “state-by-state estimates of the pledged delegates we won last night, which total 845 for Obama and 836 for Clinton — bringing the to-date total of delegates to 908 for Obama, 884 for Clinton.”

TM & © THE POLITICO & POLITICO.COM, a division of Allbritton Communications Company

Question for the Day: Why are Black Leaders so Brazenly Corrupt and Why do Black Folks Perpetuate Their Foolishness by Supporting Them?

O.K. , it's been far too long since I've posted something that gets back to the reason I created this blog. Initially, my intention was too focus on how black people have lost their minds as a collective. At some point, I segued into "BLKSeaGoat: the Mini-Series" as a means of venting, but now that has to change. Today's post will be a lengthy one, but I need to know something: Why are Black Leaders so damn trifling?!?

My Inspiration(s) For Today's Post

People, what the hell is going on with black leadership these days? In the past 15 years we have abandoned common sense and purpose for self-service and exploitation. We engage in fraud on the regular, blame it on white people, and then attempt to save face and our sullied reputations by "finding religion". We wallow in foolishness, arrogance, and victimology, then we spin our bad behavior by comparing ourselves to white people using goose-gander analogies.

Frankly, I don't really give a rat's shaved ass about what white people do because I expect so little out of them. They have controlled political and societal constructs for millenia and have done so to ensure that they are the perpetual recipients of all the goodies that follow thereafter. I'll state this bodly with confidence and bias: I HOLD BLACK PEOPLE TO A HIGHER STANDARD! So what if white people are inherently corrupt, black people had the moral high ground to justify why institutions like slavery, segregation, and racism were wrong. Now, it seems that as they playing field becomes more level and black people are starting to climb the upper echelons of leadership and achievement, we feel that we have license to act a damn fool and NOT be called out on it!

I stated at the beginning of this post that in the past 15 years we've gone crazy, but I'm not gonna go back that far-- I don't have to; let's have a sample of what I'm talking about, shall we?

Recently I am sure that many of you have heard about the shenanigans of Detroit's ghetto-assed mayor, Kwame "the Pimp" Kilpatrick. If you haven't, I'll bring you up to speed. It seems that the mayor of the Motor City and his COS, Christine Beatty used city funds to help finance some secret rendezvous. What's so wrong with that? Well, nothing if they both weren't married, and if they both hadn't been using their city issued Blackberries TO MEMORIALIZE their sexual escapades. To make matters worse, when rumors of their affair transformed into a 9 million dollar whistle blower lawsuit, they LIED under oath about doing the nasty. Kwame even pontificated about how noble his ghetto family was and how outraged he was at the suggestion that he and Christine were lovers. The text messages stated otherwise.

To add insult to injury, Kwame has been a corrupt mayor from Day ONE. Detroit is a dead city and the slew of chitterling eating black leadership has EVERYTHING to do with it. Kwame's mother, Congresswoman Carolyn Kilpatrick is just as wretched as her stupid son for defending is silliness, but clearly hearkens back to her housing project roots with this passionate defense of her son. With an example like this is it any wonder why Detroit is a hell hole?

Jesus Loves Coochie and Spankings

Yes, I am probably walking a tightrope over the lake of fire by posting this, but I just got wind of the information. Thanks to my homegirl, DeenaJonesOne on youtube.com and her "Church Hurt Movement", I have discovered that Jesus LOVES coochie, spankings, and apparently Crystal Meth. It seems that Bishop Terry Hornbuckle of the Agape Fellowship Christian Church in Arlington, TX was sentenced to 15 years in prison for raping and drugging 3 women, 2 of which were his parisioners, and one those women being a 17 year old girl.



But it doesn't stop there folks! Renee Hornbuckle, wife of Bishop Rapist, has assumed leadership of the church she founded with her husband (while he was screwing everything in sight) and decided to take both his salary and her salary (although she had done NOTHING to justify being paid by the church... unless you count supporting a rapist as her ministry) and combine it in to one fat salary to make about 16K a month. Not bad for a church on the brink of bankruptcy after being found liable in several civil lawsuits brought by the victims of Bishop Rapist.

Apparently Jesus finds spanking a naked buttocks quite scintillating, but not enough to do it himself. Jesus instead took the form of a paddle and placed himself in the hands of Bishop Sherman Allen, also of TX. Reverend Allen has been accused by at least 35 women of both physical and sexual abuse. True to cult leader fashion, Allen explained to the women that it was God's will for him to spank their asses and then "fill them" with his blessed penis. He is currently in the Bahamian ISLANDS no doubt hiding from people.

For more information about these and other sexual predators running wild in Jesus's Name, please visit bishop-accountability.org.

Now for the ICING on this Sordid Cake

Why do we support people like this? What will it take for black people to abandon these folks and admit that these types of people are pieces of shit... without assistance from "evil white people"? This seems to be a common theme in the black community and it's killing us. Why are we so enamored with Marion Barry, Sharpe James, Bill Campbell, Kwame, Maxine Waters, Sheila Jackson Lee, Alcyee Hastings, William Jefferson and other black elected officials, that we are blinded by their serious lack of personal integrity and honesty? Why do we attend churches pastored by Rapists, Womanizers, Homophobes, and Money Hungry Hypocrites? When will we begin to hold black people accountable for their foolishness WITHOUT attributing it OR minimizing it to a diatribe about "the MAN"?

Some of us have sense, but for the most part, many of us are completely LOST.

What the F#$%---?

Okay, Okay... I've been gone for a minute, but now I'm back in the jump off... and I'm P-I-S-S-E-D! The highlight of my weekend was having dinner and drinks with two remarkable women with whom I will become long term friends... I know it. It was great to sit down and actually have an intellectual conversation punctuated by intense debate, wonderful humor, and just good clean FUN. We had decided to visit a black-owned Martini bar in DC and it was awesome!!! Now onto the not so good news...

T h e E s s e n c e o f B e i n g P i s s e d!

This morning I read two stories with great interest: ESSENCE magazine's story on Dunbar Village (ironically not accessible on its website, although SEVERAL articles about the Jena 6 and Genarlow Wilson are... A MESS!!!) and an article in the AJC today, discussing a meeting of self-appointed, black "leaders" regarding yet, another useless march on Washington, DC. Yes, these stories were completely riveting. I will try to scan the Essence story and upload its url as a .pdf.

So, let me give Essence kudos on being the first, major, national publication to take on the discussion of how America, both black and white devalues black womanhood. I found Francie Latour's report to be a thoughtful and insightful look at how we automatically deem black perpetrators as victims when they commit crimes...especially against black women. Where the hell was Essence magazine 4 or 5 months ago? Why did it take so long? Some of you who read this will respond that Essence is a lifestyle magazine for black women; therefore Essence has no obligation to report on topics like these. My response is that Essence, when it decided to publish stories related to the aforementioned causes, Essence obligated itself to publish the gruesome stories of Megan Williams and the Dunbar Village Rape Victim (for more info on Dunbar Village, please visit here).

Just the mere fact that these were two black women, who had been maliciously and brutally raped and tortured, should have made them relevant enough to be covered by Essence magazine--the voice of black women. Parity is certainly not one of Essence magazine's strengths. When I searched their website, I found 4 stories dedicated to the Jena 6, 3 to Genarlow Wilson, and 1 shared story related to the inherent dysfunction of our juvenile justice system. Now, after several bloggers have made it their mission to keep these stories in the front of our minds (although they don't have the benefit mainstream media coverage), Essence magazine has found it necessary to publish a story? Should we be celebrating because a magazine that touts its chief demographic are black women decided to do a story about black women? Groundbreaking concept; I bet that Peabody award is just itching to go to Essence. I could concoct a conspiracy theory that since Essence magazine, while being owned by Time-Warner is the BET of print media and doesn't really give a damn about black people, but that would be reaching...even for me. Enough with my soapboxing. The story is actually quite good and should be read.

Let's have another MARCH!!!

Wanna do something to feel relevant? Let's have another MARCH!!! You know how effective public gatherings can be, especially given the current political climate. Marches during the late 90's to the present have been the single, most successful tool to influence public perception and public policy since they were done during the Civil Rights Era. Federal Agencies have been rocked from their very foundations and laws have been changed by passive-aggressive. showbiz activism. NOT! So in today's AJC (although the article was published yesterday on the web), the usual suspects (or useless suspects) have announced plans to gather in Washington, DC to request Federal intervention to curb the increase in hate crimes. They will talk about noose hangings and how unfair the criminal justice system is to well, criminals. This is a worthwhile (worthless cause) and needs to be supported by black people and the white liberals who like to save us alike! Come one, come all to the march of Millennium!

Read the AJC story and then write me to curse me out for not thinking the way that you do. In the meantime, I'll be firing off a letter to Susan Taylor.