Firstly, one misconception that many people have is that the mosque will be built on ground zero, which is not true, it will be built near ground zero. If it was built on top of the actual site, I imagine there would be a ton more disapproval over it. But it’s not. It’s going to be a modernized type thing, and the site won’t even be dedicated completely to the mosque. My opinion is similar to the presidents- the Muslims should be able to practice their religion wherever they want (I imagine there will be some repercussions if the mosque is actually built there though). After all they’re not the same people that attacked the WTC nine years ago. I understand why a lot of people would have apprehensions about the building of a mosque near ground zero, because Islam still definitely has a bad connotation. However, I respect Obama for making his choice. He could have easily taken the ‘safe route’, and showed disapproval for the mosque, however he stood up for what he believes in. Perhaps this is an example of the ‘pendulum’ swinging back again. This might not be the best thing for relations with muslims. While I don’t necessarily believe it’s a good idea, I believe that they have the right to build the mosque where they want. A bit pedantic really.
Radio Host Uses “N-word”
Radio host Laura Schlessinger, used the “n-word” eleven times during a call with a black woman. I have mixed feelings about this. While I sort of see what she was trying to say, I think that she was out of line when she expressed her opinion (she said “nigger nigger nigger”). To be honest, I wanted to title this blog entry using the full word. But hey, someone could get all butthurt about it. Would I be considered racist if I said the following: “nigger is a racial slur derived from the word negro”? Some people might consider even this to be audacious, and that’s stupid. If I went up and called a black person a nigger, that would be racist. Granted there’s a ton of history behind that word, but it’s easy for people to take out of context. I don’t like the woman much, but what she said seemed totally inoffensive to me, in its context. Some people think that the word “nigger” should not be limited to just blacks, i.e. “there can be white niggers, asian niggers, etc”. And this just seems like a cop-out to me. The word ‘nigger’ has already been associated with black people for centuries, and it’s a slap in the face to say that the word should be used to refer to any bad person. But to me there are definitely cases when the word can be used innocuously.
Two (unrelated) conflicts of racial nature
Since last May, 5 people have been killed in Flint Michigan in stabbing incidents, with eight others injured. According to the survivors, who were all black, along with the dead, the perpetrator is a tall, white man. The criminal approaches victims in his car, asks them for directions, then stabs them. To me it’s got to be more than a coincidence that all of the victims so far have been black. There’s definitely some racial hate going on. This contrasts starkly with the incident earlier this week in Connecticut, where nine died at the hands of a black man. The perpetrator might have been provoked by potential racial harassment at his work. With accidents like these I can’t imagine how anyone could say that racism doesn’t exist anymore. It’s naive. It can’t be said for certain that the black man killed his coworkers because of racism, but people should realize that whether their racist taunts are a joke or not, it tends to have bad consequences for someone.
Mexico Prison ‘Riot’
I thought that this one would be interesting because of the discussion we had last night. In this particular case, in a prison not yet identified by name in northeastern Mexico, a conflict emerged from rival groups of inmates. Knives were involved, and fourteen were left dead. In the article, from CNN, the conflict was named a riot. In class we discussed what qualifies as a riot, or what would be considered an ‘uprising’ or ‘rebellion’. In this case there is no way it could be considered anything but a ‘riot’- it was a conflict between prisoners, rather than prisoners versus authority. It wasn’t meant to be a diversion, either. The article did not mention any escapes. There wasn’t any purpose, no organization, just chaos. Therefore, it was a riot.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/08/06/mexico.prison.riot/index.html?hpt=T2
Florida Church To Host Quran-burning
On Sept. 11th, the Dove church in Gainesville, Florida plans to host a Quaran-burning event, in honor of the people that died nine years prior to that day. The pastor of the church condemns Islam as a “religion of the devil”. The church’s event has gathered support from many, as indicated by the 1,600 fans on facebook (closer to 1,800 now). There has also been substantial opposition, with 3,100 fans. This event is not the first controversy the church has been involved in – the Dove church protested (unsuccessfully) against Gainesville Mayor Craig Lowe because he is homosexual. I definitely think that the whole approach to this is backwards. While the pastor did acknowledge that there were moderate muslims, he did not acknowledge the disrespect that comes from burning their sacred book. The pastor claims that the event needs to happen to “take a stand” against radical islam, but everyone knows that this sort of thing can do absolutely nothing except to incite tension between the religions.
“Old Spice Guy” ends his gig
Isaiah Mustafa, formal NFL football player, otherwise known as the “Old Spice Guy”, has said “goodbye” in the last viral advertisement for Old Spice’s The Man Your Man Could Smell Like campaign. For those who aren’t familiar, the commercial featured Mustafa, clad in only a towel, walking through the set in one shot, narrating how it would feel to be with an “Old Spice” man, as ludicrous things happen in the background (the set changes from a kitchen to a waterfall instantly). Following the advertisement, Mustafa would reply to people that tweeted him, messaged him on YouTube, etc. in a YouTube video featuring him, in a towel, in a bathroom. Mustafa has infamously replied to celebrities such as Alyssa Milano.
Mustafa speaks eloquently. Sure, his speeches tend to veer towards absurdity, but the vocabulary is impressive and there are many witty references. Of course, the man had a creative team behind him, but the point is, this is another example of a black man that is breaking stereotypes, perhaps enforcing the archetype of the suave black dude. However, in a final ‘goodbye’ video, the campaign ended, but Mustafa has signed a deal with NBC so we’re likely to see more of him in this sort of role.
Oakland Bus Company Discriminates?
In a nutshell, the First Transit bus company will not employ anyone that has been convicted of a felony. Adrienne Hudson, a 44-year-old black woman, is trying to sue the company because she was fired because of a felony charge for bank fraud that was later dropped. Supposedly, this discriminates against black and latinos, because you know, only blacks and latinos are felons, right? First off, I sympathize with Hudson – she has had a clean record for seven years after her conviction in 2002. In that sense, I would agree with her position, particularly because bank fraud has, by no stretch of the imagination, anything to do with driving a bus. HOWEVER, in my opinion it’s not too bright to say that this is racist or discriminatory against blacks and latinos. Okay, so statistically people of these races a higher percentage of incarceration. Isn’t that their fault (for the most part)? What about the other people that commit or are charged of committing a felony? So First Transit’s employment practices aren’t discriminatory towards Asian or a Caucasian felons?
Yeah…
Sauce: http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_15560561
