A Curious Little Blog

You might expect BLM not to have strong opinions on the Kyle Rittenhouse trial.  After all, Rittenhouse shot three white people; there was no racial angle whatever.  And yet, somehow, it is about white supremacy after all : Today’s not-guilty verdict is expected when white supremacy lives and breathes within our institutions. It is a reminder of how our legal systems are deeply rooted in white supremacy. You may be surprised to hear that the Rittenhouse verdict was predetermined:  "It was a set up from the beginning. The police, the judge, the court, mainstream media, and every single system involved all wrapped their arms around Kyle Rittenhouse from the very beginning — from even before the murders he committed." I don't know about you, but I don't think anyone of those had even heard of Kyle Rittenhouse before he shot three people in self-defense. As for what they said after the event, some people did defend Rittenhouse, but hardly all of them.  I wonder if B...

 Since I heard about BLM's curious statement about Jussie Smolett's trial, I had occasion to visit their site and see what other interesting views they hold these days.  One of those views appears a fairly conventional attack on consumerism at Christmas: As we prepare ourselves for the holiday season, we are bombarded with ads that seek to whip us up into a consumerist frenzy. Black Friday sales are being rolled out weeks in advance of Thanksgiving and, at every turn, white-supremacist-capitalism is telling us to spend our money on things that we don’t need, to reap profits for corporations. How does this relate to race?  Well, "Capitalism doesn’t love Black people" they tell us.  No kidding:  capitalism doesn't love anyone.  If you want to fight this trend, you can #BuyBlack .  Because if you're going to spend money on things that you don't need, at least you can spend it at black-owned businesses.  Fight the capitalist system by...continui...

  BLM on the Smollett trial: "In our commitment to abolition, we can never believe police, especially the Chicago Police Department (CPD) over Jussie Smollett." Okay, but his accusers are two black men whom Smollett continues to insist actually attacked him, don't they get any credence?   If you're wondering what abolition the above statement refers to, they later say "Black Lives Matter will continue to work towards the abolition of police."  That's not defunding, mind you, which some people can claim means something other than what it says.  That is abolition of the police.     The statement concludes that "We will continue to love and protect one another, and wrap our arms around those who do the work to usher in Black freedom."  Except, apparently, the freedom of black men wrongly accused by certain other black men, because it's not convenient. https://blacklivesmatter.com/statement-regarding-the-ongoing-trial-of-jussie-smollett/

Considering how obsessed the Left is with race, one would think they would have a working definition of racism.  But apparently they don't. The lead story on CNN when I checked concerned Trump's weekend tweets.  Here's a section from it: So, telling them to go back to their "totally broken and crime infested placed from which they came" makes very, very little factual sense. But Trump isn't terribly concerned with the facts here. It's the sentiment that matters to him. And that sentiment is racist. Again, this is not an opinion. This is a fact. Trump is telling 4 non-white women that they aren't from here, their views aren't welcome here and they need to get out of here. Rather than staying here, they need to go back to the hellhole countries where they are from. How does that behavior not fit the textbook definition of racism? (That definition, according to Merriam-Webster : "A belief that race is the primary determinant of...

I don't go to see many movies, but "Peppermint" is definitely a kind I enjoy.  I would have appreciated a lot more backstory such as "Man on Fire" had.  Even the line from the trailer, which explains the film's title, is missing from the final cut.  I definitely see the limitations of this movie, but the reaction among the literati has been predictably misguided.  According to the New York Times review , "the film plays dangerously into violent Latino stereotypes. One blood bath takes place in a piñata warehouse, where Riley mows down Diego’s unsuspecting gang one by one...All of the dead appear to be Latinos (save for a couple of Korean mob allies), but she leaves the sole white guy working there alive in order to interrogate him." (The following may contain spoilers.)  Let's start with the obvious problem:  all the dead are Latinos except the ones that aren't?  It wouldn't be credible to attack the idea of a Latino drug gang in ...

Progressive:  "We want to make a colour-blind society." Observer:  "That's a great idea!  I suppose the government will no longer collect information about race then." P:  "No, we still do that." O:  "Oh.  Well, maybe you want the data, but you're not going to make any decisions based off of race, certainly." P:  "Actually, we will.  We need to correct the historical wrongs of racism by active measures." O:  "Hmm, I don't understand...well, at least in society you will downplay racial issues, emphasizing togetherness and the common humanity of all races, and not bring race into an issue unless it is clearly and overtly part of the problem. P:  "Absolutely not!  We must root out all racism, overt and covert, conscious and unconscious, macro and micro.  We scrutinize every action for any hint of racism and force people to apologize if there is the remotest possibility of racist implication, even in actions that...

What a crazy day in Charlottesville.  A bunch of people with literally no mainstream political support anywhere gather, there's an even larger counter-rally, some violence ensues, the whole country is looking at Charlottesville now.  Ironically, almost none of the people are actually from around here.  I don't know about this time, but the last time there was a rally a few months ago, KKK members came in from another state.  I assume local members would have come if there were any. I don't believe this rally was instigated by left-wingers to make the right look bad, but I do believe that left-wingers couldn't have done a better job themselves than these bozos have done for them.  Down to the stupid name, "Rally to Unite the Right," which it has in a way -- even top members of the Republican party who usually disagree on everything have condemned the rally. I'm not the organizing sort, but I have a pretty good idea of how I would implement a rally to de...

The liberal argument against George Zimmerman is based on the premise that he was profiling Martin because Martin was black.  Everything else about their defense depends on the idea that Zimmerman was wrongly "stalking" or even "hunting" Martin based on the colour of his skin.  I have seen liberals who, in other circumstances, would argue that it is never right to initiate violence, admit that Trayvon Martin attacked Zimmerman but exonerate him because of his right to "self-defense" against this suspicious person stalking him.  If there was no racial angle to this case, there would be no argument about self-defense against someone who was merely observing.  Indeed, if a white person had tried to claim self-defense to justify an attack against a black person who he thought was stalking him, liberals would be singing an entirely different tune. The thing that strikes is that the idea that George Zimmerman is a racist is prima facie absurd.  He is one-quart...

Not much has happened to cause me to change my original interpretation of the George Zimmerman case .  We now know that Trayvon Martin described Zimmerman as "a creepy-ass cracker," and we have definitive evidence that Zimmerman was seriously injured in the struggle.  (I have heard people question whether Martin inflicted the wounds to Zimmerman, but I haven't heard a plausible alternative scenario.  Do they think Zimmerman broke his own nose to create a cover story?  Do they think he was on neighbourhood watch with a broken and bleeding nose?) We still don't know how the encounter between the two of them went, having only Zimmerman's statement that he was ambushed and little else to go on.  Some people claim he was the one on top in the struggle, and it was Martin screaming for help.  This is only credible to me if Martin managed to turn the tables on him, because I don't see why Zimmerman would have pulled a gun when he was on top.  If he wanted to...

The South has done a lot of bad things in the cause of racism.  Segregated schools and lunchcounters are the least of it.  Some of the things I have heard about are sickening. The South has also taken a lot of vitriol for its racism.  When I moved to Georgia in 2008, a friend of mine asked, quite seriously, "Are they all Neanderthals down there?" No wonder there is a feeling of Southern pride.  The South is viewed with scorn and contempt by much of the country, so it is not surprising that some Southerners react defensively and tout the positive aspects of their culture. It is also important to remember that this is 2013, not 1963.  Blacks and whites live and work side by side in the South, the same as they do in the rest of the country.  Is racism completely eradicated?  No.  There is always room for improvement.  But it is important to think about progress, too, about how far we've come.  I've never seen a segregated school or lunch...

I'm suffering from opinion overload after reading so many comments about the Treyvon Martin killing.  It disturbs me to see everyone so ready to draw conclusions about a case in which a great deal remains unknown.  It's probably no different than what has always happened when information about an event gets disseminated, but it is much easier to see the effects now. There are only two clear things about the case as far as I can tell.  One is that George Zimmerman should not have followed Trayvon Martin, and if he had not followed him, Martin would still be alive.  The second is that the police should have launched a formal investigation rather than just taking Zimmerman's word for it. Beyond that, it is mostly speculation.  The key question is how Zimmerman and Martin ended up in a scuffle.  Zimmerman said he was ambushed, which seems unlikely to me, but I have no way of knowing what scenario actually played out.  I'm afraid that no one may be able...

I have never found Chris Rock funny, but this video certainly is: It's actually not new, but it seems appropriate at this time. Professor Gates might have saved himself some trouble if he had watched it. I should add that I am not the adoring fan of police that I once was. Police are generally out to do their job, which is to enforce the law, but they are also in a position of power that it is easy to abuse. I don't think, however, that they systematically discriminate against blacks; as in the video, they discriminate against people who challenge them. And, although I don't always like it, I can't really blame them: the world is a dangerous place, and they do not want you to show any signs of putting them in danger. Since we're on the subject of racial profiling, it was heartening to see Harry Alford stand up to Barbara Boxer last week when she attempted to make an argument on the basis of race. In defending the Waxman-Markey bill, she put forward statements...