poeticdesires

Category: Racism

  • Race Checked

    I, at times, choose to be naive about the world.  I don my rose colored glasses and skip through my days trying to not think about the woes of our existence.  I make myself forget the crap-tastic nature of things and live with hope and glee for those around me.  But there is always some motherfucker who ruins my self-induced high.

    Case and point:

    Recently, I visited my brother who was living in New York City.  He was in the process of moving, so I no longer had an excuse for putting off my visit; it was now or never.  I bused up and spent a few days with him and his friends. 

    I found it to be an odd, but mostly pleasant experience.  Seeing my little brother get drunk, get hit on, and walk off with a girl was a bit shocking, but he is an adult.  I need to get used to this. 

    I imagine now that we are closer in maturity level, our relationship will grow, which makes me quite happy.  That weekend was the most time we’d spent together in about two years.

    But there was one incident of my trip that left a sour taste in my mouth I am still trying to spit out.

    My brother, one of his friends, and I traveled to Queens for a goodbye barbecue.  We did not leave the festivities til around 11pm.  I, having never been to the city to visit him before, had no idea Queens was such a nice place.  Being black, I’d seen Coming to America and the area is referenced.  That was my limited knowledge.

    Queens reminded me of the suburbs of my home city, but nicer.  I now understood how people could work in the city but live in Queens; that would be my desired situation if I ever ventured to live in New York.

    As we walked back to the Subway in the dark that night, I felt safe.  It was a fairly nice neighborhood and I was accompanied by two black men.  I had no fear of assault or harassment. 

    But, as we strolled down the street towards Queens Blvd, a hired security vehicle rolled by.  The driver looked us up and down before turning in front of us to patrol a neighborhood. 

    I didn’t think much of it; rich neighborhoods often have private security.  It was when he turned back onto the street we were walking, slowed his vehicle again, and looked us up and down again that I realized, “Right, we’re black.”

    It didn’t matter that the three of us were highly educated professionals; to him, we looked like we could be ‘trouble.’  He moved on, but all three of us took notice.  I couldn’t stop staying, “Really?  Really?” for about a few minutes. 

    I forget this is the country I live in.  I forget that is how people perceive me.  I forget that is why I am often worried about my brother, a black man trying to make it in America.

    There is no such thing as post-racial.  I will always be judged by the color of my skin.  Our country is not perfect.  I will, again, forget this because otherwise I may go mad, but it’s gonna take a while. 

  • Passing

    I can remember when I first learned the term “passing.”  It was during a history class in middle school.  I was in the seventh grade and a cute male teacher was talking about African American history during slavery.  He mentioned how there were slaves who worked in the home, often the children of the master, and of a lighter complexion.  And then there were slaves who passed. 

    Passing, he explained, was when a mixed race individual portrayed herself as white.  He pointed to himself and then he pointed to me, noting our lighter color could have allowed us this act, were we of that time.  Ever since that lecture, it has occurred to me how different I look from a great many of my cultural and ethnic peers. 

    This fact was made even more evident during a trip to the doctor’s office.  Recently I went in for my yearly checkup at my GYN.  The doctor pairs with a nurse practitioner who I see most times.  She is a sweet woman: white, attractive, married with kids.  And until my last visit, I really liked her.  But then she opened her mouth and my ease in her care went away.

    I mentioned how I broke up with my boyfriend.  I explained the situation, which I’ve been doing a lot lately.  She then went on to talk about how she believed the “black culture” does not favor marriage, fidelity, or emotionally open black men.  I sat there, nodding my head, wanting to not have to lecture yet another person about “black culture”, while also realizing, for the first time, she didn’t know I was black.  She finally did ask what my racial background was, and I explained I was a mix of Irish, Cherokee, and African American.  She said she could absolutely see the Cherokee in me, especially with the example of her half black husband, who is also part Cherokee.

    I suppose it was the fact she was married to a black man that she felt she could have this conversation with me and not view it as racist.  I believe she herself is not racist.  I’ve never had a bad experience with her, up until that visit.  But what she said angered me.  However, when someone is about to stick both metal objects and their hand into your “special area”, you don’t tend to want to contradict them. 

    Instead, I spoke about how he had previous family issues that I believe led to his actions.  And though my encounter with him was not completely positive, I still held out hope for finding a life mate.  I didn’t mention the fact that I knew plenty of African Americans, married, in stable family households.  Nor did I explain that though there is evidence of a culture of machismo in rap & hip hop music, this is merely a stereotype artists use to sell records and does not speak for the ocean of diversity that is “black culture.”  Also, movies and television tend to portray a stereotype that is quite incongruous with my family and friends, and which I often find offensive.  But, like I said, she was about to do things to me only a handful of people in this world ever have, so I kept my mouth shut.

    But here begs the larger questions: Would she have said the things she did if my complexion were closer to my father?  Would she have talked about the “black culture” like she did if my hair wasn’t so straight or my skin so light or my vernacular and speech so proper?  In essence, was it my unintentional passing that incited her words or would she have said the same things if I were darker and less eloquent?  I don’t know, but this experience just left me feeling deflated, as often happens when people mistake me for Latina or Phillippina or Hindi or just straight up ask me, “What are you?”.

    Sometimes I just want to sit out in the sun for a few days, chocolate up my skin, and move on.  But why should I change (and risk skin disease) just because people dump their racial baggage on me because of their preconceived notions? 

    So you know what, fuck ’em.  Let people keep telling me shit they really shouldn’t.  And I’ll keep writing shit about them, anonymous or not. 

  • And the Hits Just Keep Coming

    After yesterday’s information dump concerning the CIA & torture, I decided to spend some time reading the material released to the public. The following will be the highlights I’d like to share.

    Special Review: CIA – Office of the Inspector General
    Counterterrorism Detention & Interrogation Activities
    September 2001 – October 2003

    Summary

    1- pg. 4 point 7: This is a long paragraph that starts by stating the Agency had Abu Zubaydah and another high value detainee in custody by November 2002. It ends, stating the Office of Medical Services provided care to the detainees. The middle is long and black. Hmm, why would they need care from doctors?

    2- pg. 6 point 13: “there were instances of improvisation and other undocumented interrogation techniques.”

    Guess I found the answer to my previous question.

    3- pg. 6 point 15 footnote 6: The difference between a “debriefer” and an “interrogator.” “A debriefer engages a detainee solely through question and answer. An interrogator is a person who completes a two-week interrogations training program, which is designed to train, qualify, and certify a person to administer ETIs (Enhanced Interrogation Techniques). An interrogator can administer ETIs during an interrogation of a detainee only after the field, in coordination with Headquarters, assesses the detainee as withholding information. An interrogator transitions the detainee from a non-cooperative to a cooperative phase in order that a debriefer can illicit actionable intelligence through non-aggressive techniques during debriefing sessions. An interrogator may debrief a detainee during an interrogation; however, a debriefer may not interrogate a detainee.”

    Hmm, seems to me this policy can have a few negative outcomes.
    1) How do you assess a person “is withholding information” or has “actionable intelligence”? What if they were just picked up off the street and sold to the US? We had a bounty out for those thought to be terrorists. How do we know people were not just turned in for the cash? In fact, we didn’t, and some were.
    2) By definition, an interrogator is a torturer. He steps in when the person isn’t talking and “transitions the detainee from a non-cooperative to a cooperative phase.” This type of logic is what leads to people giving false information just to get the pain to stop.
    3) “Before 11 September (9/11) 2001, Agency personnel sometimes used the terms interrogation/interrogator and debriefing/debriefer interchangeably.” This starts the footnote, and is where the whole premise runs into a problem. By changing the definition of interrogation to torturer, by taking away the true purpose of the position, they have twisted the minds of these officers. Whereas before they did what was legal and honorable, using their minds, getting close to the detainee, and manipulating the relationship they formed to get intelligence, now they believed the only way to manipulate the prisoner was with force. This is why the Geneva Conventions were created, to stop people from making the exact wrong decisions because of the emotions war illicits.

    4- pgs. 7-8 point 18: “recognized that detainees may be held in US Government custody indefinitely if appropriate law enforcement jurisdiction is not asserted…no decisions on any ‘endgame’ for Agency detainees have been made. Senior Agency officials see this as a policy issue for the US Government rather than a CIA issue. Even with Agency initiatives to address the endgame with policymakers, some detainees who cannot be prosecuted will likely remain in CIA custody indefinitely.”

    So, basically they are willing to hold them forever, and believe it is not their problem to figuring out what to do with them, and are not concerned about having them stand trial. That is a problem for “lawmakers.”

    So, when the Supreme Court found what the CIA was doing unconstitutional, it must have been a “lawmaker” who stopped them. Can anyone say grounds for a lawsuit? Our former President may soon loose his ranch in a few civil cases sometime in the future. [cough cough ACLU]

    5- pg. 8 point 19: “The Agency faces potentially serious long-term political and legal challenges as a result of the CTC Detention and Interrogation Program, particularly its use of ETIs and the inability of the US Government to decide what it will ultimately do with terrorists detained by the Agency.”

    Wow, I couldn’t have put it better myself. Because of their actions, they face the possibility (I would hope inevitability) of legal woes. Hit that one right on the head.

    6- pg. 8 point 20: Of course, they blacked out ALL of the recommendations given by the investigatory team. Of course they don’t want us to know what they suggested, because they probably did none of what was said. By not allowing us to know, they are trying to cover their asses for the future prosecutions that are coming.

    7- Of all the notes made (21 in total) in the Summary, 6 were completely blacked out and another 4 were at least half, if not more, obscured. They are trying to hide their crimes. We need to bring all of the scandal out into the light and see where the chips fall. I don’t care which side of the aisle authorized or knew about this. I want people arrested, tried, and sent to prison for the crimes they perpetrated.

    Background

    8- pgs. 9-10 point 23: “In 1984, OIG investigated allegations of misconduct on the part of two Agency officers who were involved in interrogations and the death of one individual [redacted] Following that investigation, the Agency took steps to ensure Agency personnel understood its policy on interrogations, debriefings, and human rights issues. Headquarters sent officers to brief Stations and Bases and provided cable guidance to the field.”

    So, 1) the CIA has had a detainee die in their custody before the “War on Terror” was initiated & 2) they knew about human rights 20 years ago, but I guess it has slipped their mind since then.

    Discussion
    Genesis of Post 9/11 Agency Detention and Interrogation Activities

    9- pg. 11 point 25 footnote 7: “DoJ takes the position that as Commander-in-Chief, the President independently has the Article II constitutional authority to order the detention and interrogation of enemy combatants to gain intelligence information.”

    This statement makes me very nervous. 1) What/Who constitutes an enemy combatant? 2) Does that mean the President can give full authority for soldiers, spies, or even private contractors, to detainee anyone they personally dub an “enemy combatant” even if this person has done nothing legally wrong? That, to me, seems like too much power centered in one person’s hands, with little recourse to derail.

    The Capture of Abu Zubaydah and the Development of ETIs

    10- pg. 14 point 34: “OTS also solicited input…regarding techniques used in its SERE training and any subsequent psychological effects on students. DoD/JPRA concluded no long-term psychological effects resulted from use of the ETIs, including the most taxing technique, the waterboard, on SERE students. (footnote 14) The OTS analysis was used by OGC in evaluating the legality of the technique.”
    footnote 14: “According to individuals with authoritative knowledge of the SERE program, the waterboard was used for demonstration purposes on a very small number of students in the class. Except for Navy SERE training, use of the waterboard was discontinued because of its dramatic effect on the students who were subjects.”

    So, they literally said ‘its not bad’ and then in the footnote said ‘its bad enough we don’t perform it on students anymore.’ Do they really think people are so stupid as to NOT READ THE FOOTNOTES!?! If you were not willing to waterboard students,” because of its dramatic effect,” don’t try to bullshit me into thinking it won’t have the same effect on the people you are holding prisoner, IF NOT MUCH WORSE.

    Enhanced Interrogation Techniques
    pg. 15

    Here is my summary of the list of techniques detailed

    1- Attention Grasp: grabbing the detainee with both hands by the collar and pulling them toward you

    2- Walling: detainee pulled forward and then quickly pushed back; shoulder blades hit flexible false wall; head and neck supported with rolled towel to prevent whiplash

    I wonder if the towel technique is OSHA approved for that purpose.

    3- Facial Hold: keeps detainee’s head immobile; open palm on each side of the face; fingers kept away from detainee’s eyes

    4- Facial or Insult Slap: fingers spread apart; contact between chin and earlobe

    5- Cramped Confinement: detainee placed in confined space, usually a small or large box; usually dark; small box no more than two hours; larger box no more than 18 hours

    How could you not call this torture when even our household pets aren’t made to sleep in their own deification. This treats people as less than human, less even than animals.

    6- Insects: harmless bug placed in confinement box with detainee

    How are they to know it is harmless? What would be the reaction of the agents if a detainee had such a huge fear of insects, he suffered a heart attack and died? Would they have recognized it was torture then?

    7- Wall Standing: detainee stands 4 to 5 ft away from a wall, legs shoulder width apart; arms outstretched, placing weight of the body on their fingertips against the wall; cannot reposition hands or feet

    I can’t imagine doing almost anything without the ability to readjust. The idea that anyone would be able to support themselves for any length of time is ridiculous.

    8- Stress Positions: two examples given 1) sitting on floor, legs extended out straight in front, arms straight up in air & 2) kneeling on floor, leaning back at a 90 degree angle

    This is how you tear muscle, dislocate joints, and cause permanent physical damage, that the naked eye can’t see.

    9- Sleep Deprivation: not to exceed 11 days

    Am I wrong? I thought it was possible for a person to DIE without sleep for 10 days. They take it one day past that!

    10- Waterboard: bind detainee to a bench with his feet elevated above his head; head immobilized; cloth placed over detainee’s mouth and nose while pouring water onto cloth in a controlled manner; airflow restricted for 20 to 40 seconds; produces sensation of suffocation or drowning

    When you threaten someone with no air, how can you not call that torture? When you make them to believe they are going TO DIE, how can you call yourself anything but a criminal? This is not how you fight wars. This is how you create terrorists.

    And if these are the techniques given, I retch at the thought of the techniques “improvised.”

    I’m going to stop here for this post. The document I’m reading contains 159 pages. I just finished page 15. FIFTEEN!

    If people aren’t arrested and sent to jail for a very long time, if the previous administration is not held accountable for the atrocities it inflicted on these people (in the name of this country and a God who would never wish this from his followers), I don’t know how we can call ourselves “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” All I see right now are the ignorant, the inflicters, and the apathetic. It is time for justice.

  • The Story I Never Heard

    Back in June of this year, a nine year old girl and her father were murdered. Her mother, wounded, was able to shoot back at the attackers.

    When I learned this, I asked myself, “Why have I not heard about this story before?” Easy answer: Another man was killed during that same time, by a person similar to the gang that killed this family.

    In June, Dr. George Tiller was assassinated for the extraordinary work he did for women’s health. Also in June, Brisenia Flores and her father were murdered.

    I am so sorry to learn about this now. I should have known about it then. So much of our time is often wrapped up in one news story, we can loose sight on all other important matters. But, it is also worth noting, hate mongers and radicals do not stick to the 24hour news cycle, nor do they care if they loose their spotlight to another soldier.

    The following are links to the story, including information on the shooters and the article that steered me to the info.

    ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe they killed my family’

    Some neighborhood watch

    Ignoring Shawna Forde

    After this experience, Crooks and Liars will now be a part of my regular internet rotation.

    Frankly, I was disgusted when I read this story. What kind of country have we become when shooting a 9 yr old girl in cold blood can be missed or ignored? And, as I write that, inside I know part of the reason has to do with her last name.

  • The Work Is Far From Over

    Lawyer’s Statement on the Arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

    Henry Louis “Skip” Gates arrested outside his home

    Harvard professor Gates arrested at Cambridge home

    On July 16th, at 12:44p, a black man was arrested for trying to enter his own house. No one would know about this incident if that man had not been a Harvard professor, learned, eloquent, and with clout.

    No man should endure the humiliation and degradation of being arrested on trumped up charges, let alone when the officers had little cause or explanation.

    From what I have read, a neighbor called, believing two men were breaking into the professor’s house. That a neighbor would not recognize the professor trying to unjam the door of his own home is aggravating. That police, after the man had already gotten the door open and called maintenance to have the door fixed, would question and harass him is annoying. To then refuse to give your name and badge number, after many requests from this man, while still demanding he give identification showing both his residence and employment at the university is hypocrisy most high. To then lure the man outside and arrest him because he called your actions what they were only proves his accusations to be right.

    What those officers did was racial profiling. What they did was harassment. If they are not reprimanded, fired, and sued, what hope do all those following this case have, in a country where the president is of color, when those whose duty it is to enforce the law use it to satisfy ego and hatred?

    I am sick with the knowledge of this incident. If good, hard working folks, who try their best to make this society, and the world at large, better are cast down in the mud for personal amusement and vilification, what hope does the ex-con have of reform, the poor child of success, the average person of color to just live their life in peace?

    I want to scream. I want to cry. I want to hit something.

    My grandfather was a cop. My uncle was a cop. My grandfather passed some years ago, but I can only imagine the feelings my uncle is going through.

    This situation is what breeds anger, resentment, and frustration in our community. How can we get beyond race when it is thrown back in our face each day? How can we grow as a nation when the best of us is treated like less? How can anyone say we are “post-racial” when a black man can’t even open his door without being arrested?

    Update: Charges dropped against Harvard professor

  • White Privilege

    I read a piece on white privilege, recommended by Melissa Harris-Lacewell. Passing it along to the world at large.

    White Privilege. I benefit. Do you?

    Very thoughtful and thought provoking.

  • White Men Built This Country?

    I love MSNBC. Actually, no, that is not a fair characterization. I love Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow. In all honesty, they are the only two shows on the station I watch. I love them for their coverage of political news with a liberal slant, but always honest, thoughtful, and FACTUAL information and commentary. Having said this, I can now get to my point.

    Pat Buchanan is a commentator for MSNBC. This seems like an oxymoron to me, but he is. And he appeared on Rachel’s show last night. I, however, would not have known this til Sunday (I usually watch a week’s worth of shows at a time) had I not also loved Twitter. And my, the Twitterverse was a flutter with the talk of their 16 minute exchange.

    First, the link, copy and pasted out of my Twitter feed, giving recognition to the folks that enlightened me to this story.

    RT @TheRootBuzz RT @tpmteevee: Pat Buchanan: White Men Built This Country (with Blacks as ‘on-site consultants’)

    Yes, he actually says, “White men built this country.” He also says, in response to Rachel’s question as to why 108 of the 110 Supreme Court Justices have been white:

    White men were 100% of the people that wrote the Constitution, 100% of the people that signed the Declaration of Independence, 100% of the people who died at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, probably close to 100% of the people who died at Normandy. This has been a country built basically by white folks, who were 90% of the nation in 1960 when I was growing up and the other 10% were African-Americans who had been discriminated against. That’s why.

    I didn’t even know where to start with my response, other than patting Rachel on the back for holding her own against his views. The 16 minutes go by fast, but it’s dense with so many things I could and want to talk about. So, instead of getting myself all worked up, I’m passing along comments from Adam Sewer, person I follow on the site, that spoke to how I felt at the time. Please make sure to also catch the two linked articles below, as well.

    @AdamSewer: Just saying, I’m pretty sure my ancestors were building this country while Pat Buchanan’s were drinking mint juleps in the shade


    @AdamSewer: Incidentally, I don’t think Pat Buchanan should be fired. Here’s why: Save Pat Buchanan

    @AdamSewer: I think they should package and sell the Sotomayor hearings and Pat Buchanan’s “white men” rant as a DVD set

    Unfortunately, I’ve gone back 6 hours, 2 hours before I came in to work, but still can’t find how I linked to this Huffington Post article about the Maddow segment.


    If my feelings are still strong about this subject come Monday, I will have had plenty of time to let it all slosh around in my head and give a clear response to what I perceived as the racism still alive in this country. Pat Buchanan is just the only person with the guts to speak his mind.

  • It Happened in 5th Grade

    Linked is an article by Melissa Harris-Lacewell, Racism at the Pool and a USAToday article for background. In her article, Harris-Lacewell speaks on both the recent incident that took place near Philadelphia, and the fact that every person of color will face at least once in their life a similar situation.

    For me, I was 10. A cutup kid, who the teachers hated and very few of the students liked, passed by me on my way to my desk. As we crossed paths, out of nowhere he yelled at me, saying something to the effect of “Get away from me, Indian.” I was taken aback, not knowing why he had even spoken to me. For one, I am part Native American, but what did that have to do with anything? And two, I was nice to everyone and a generally sweet and good kid. Why was he picking on me?

    Unfortunately, I remember three things about that kid. 1-He was short. 2- I remember his face, though not his name. And 3- His last name had -El attached to it. Our teacher asked the kid to tell the class why his name was different. He refused, so the teacher explained the family’s religion was Islam, and his last name had to do with that. Talk about a bad introduction for a faith and people I didn’t understand and took years for any other answers concerning it.