Results 1 to 2 of 2

Thread: Why are we Letting Them Push our Buttons?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    Western Pa.
    Posts
    1,550

    Default Why are we Letting Them Push our Buttons?

    https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/b...h-our-buttons/

    I usuallydon’t engage in online arguments and discussions because I know I’m not thesmartest cookie in the jar, and I’m afraid that I might open my mouth and provethat point. That being said, there comesa time when you see evidence of such full scale lunacy, you just can’t continueto remain silent. The controversy overVirginia Governor Ralph Northam and his use of “blackface” to impersonate MichaelJackson has finally caused me to break my silence.First, letme say that as an American of African descent, I do understand the emotionalminefields that are stirred when seeing someone in blackface. I have old movies of actors in blackface,some of which are people of African descent, and I watch them from time to timeto remind myself of what our ancestors had to cope with in an extremely racistsociety. I know my own discomfort when Ilook back on some of those old movies. But looking back can also help you understand how to cope withdiscomfort when you have no means of changing someone else’s insensitivity or crudeness. I also learned to put things inperspective. I also look at old “ThreeStooges Movies” and believe me no one is more stereotyped as stupid than whitemen are in those movies. The point is,thank goodness our need for comic relief has become more sophisticated than itwas in days gone by.But there isanother issue that bothers me in the case of Governor Northam. And that is… Why should he be so ridiculed fordarkening his skin when he was portraying a black man? Are we as people of African American descentso sensitive to the color of our skin that it makes us cringe when someonedarkens their skin? Would it not be moreoffensive if he had not darkened his face but tried to alter history and makeus think that Michel Jackson was a white man? What about Shakespeare’s Othello? If a white actor portrays Othello as did Orson Welles, should he notdarken his face since Shakespeare made it perfectly clear that Othello was a“black-a-moor”?In myopinion the problem here is not the use of “blackface;” the problem is that notenough “blackface” has been used in the past when it came to teachinghistory. Take for instance theBible. I’m old enough to remember when Iwas a little child and all the pictures of the prophets and people of the Biblewere portrayed as white people. Iremember asking and discussing with my mother the question of, “Where are allthe black people?” Finally we would findone or two, holding fans for the white people. Why even Jesus had blond hair and blue eyes! And in the movies all of the ancient Romans,Greeks, and Egyptians were white people. I’m telling you, there was some serious need of “blackface” in that bookand in movies back in the day. Thankgoodness we have progressed a little. Most Bibles have no pictures today (not sure you can call that progress),and we are now casting movies with people with more melanin to reflect betterhistorical accuracy in movies today. Butwe still have a long way to go, because the lead roles of kings, queens,emperors and pharaohs are still being given to people with as little melanin aspossible.For me the problemis not the use of “blackface,” it is how the person in blackface portrays peoplewith dark skin. After all I have walkedaround in dark skin all my life, and I cannot take it off nor do I want to takeit off. Why should I be offended becausesomeone wants to imitate my beautiful brown skin just because they can take itoff at the end of the day? Like I said,it’s not the “blackface” but how dark skinned people are being portrayed thatis the issue. If someone portrays blackpeople in a derogatory manor, it is because they have been poorlyeducated. Address the issue of badeducation to solve the issue of misinformation.Besides, ifwe take the point of view that people who darken their skin temporarily areracist and should be punished, what should we do with all those people who taketo the beach, their backyards, “Coppertone,” and tanning booths to put on“blackface?” Are they racists too? Andwhat about all those black people who use skin lightening products and makeupto appear lighter? Are they reversedracists?Come now colleagues. Don’t you see that there are some people out there with the ultimate goal of pushing our buttons? The goal is to divide and conquer. Many black people voted for Governor Northam. If you voted for him, you must have thought he was your man or at least the best choice at the time. Why allow what some people are calling an indiscretion of youth destroy the man’s career? HE APPOLOGIZED! Move on. Why can’t we see? They are pushing our buttons? There are far more important issues to be addressed.
    ''... I believe that the maintenance of the rights and authority reserved to the states and to the people...are a safeguard to the continuance of a free government...whereas the consolidation of the states into one vast Republic, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be the certain precursor of that ruin which has overwhelmed all those that have preceded it.''- Gen. Robert E. Lee

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Posts
    5,006

    Default

    There are far more important issues to be addressed.
    Obviously (?), in the Northam case, his defense of infanticide seems more important.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •