Mail Call #11: Through the Rabbit Hole

Boy howdy, the things people say in light of my ongoing criticism of president-elect Trump. Some people act like they ain't got no relations, I swear.

Here's a greatest hits list again, for your reading (dis)pleasure:

Why don't you just hold your breath, then? All your articles are left wing bullshit. You are obviously a lesbian liberal. Just wait and see what Donald Trump will do. It's about time that the swamp is drained. You are just a poor looser. I suppose you are also crying about young women unable to get birth control. why don't they just close their legs?

I'm bisexual, actually, but thanks. This letter was also apparently sent by another woman, which is extra depressing.

Your party has been in charge the last 8 years. Your party has been in charge of the cities forever. How is all this "racism" possible? I know it is fashionable in your circles to look down on working people who get their hands dirty, your party even wrote them off in 2011. These are the people that pay the bills and they are weary of self appointed "elites" making horrible decisions in the name of globalism and diversity.

I suggest you put on your big girl pants and go out and do an honest days work for once, if you're capable of it. Maybe you would be able to gain a little perspective, or is that beneath you ? Take a look in the mirror and stop projecting your hate on to others. Stop being a crybully. Help us to make America great again!

Ooo, "crybully" is a new one.

I asked this guy why he voted for trump. This was one of the reasons he gave:

I'm concerned about the culture of the United States. It has been kind of a Dinty Moore stew with all the different races and nationalities. I would like to keep this recipe (it tastes good) as it is which means immigrations should approximate the groups that are already here. I know you probably think I am a racist regarding Mexicans but I'm not. However ... I don't want so many in this country that it becomes a Latino dominate culture. I refuse to apologize for liking my own culture and wanting to keep it.

Frankly, I wouldn't mind living in a "Latino dominate" culture but agree to (racistly) disagree, I guess.

Face it, Emily, Donald Trump could create lasting world peace, reverse “global warming”, end all wars, do away with nukes, personally create a renewable energy fuel and cure cancer, all before he even takes office and you liberals would still hate him.


Rather than take out your vitriol against the man, why don’t you get a real job (not writing for a dying newspaper) and become part of the solution instead of bashing everything he tries. How are we ever going to move forward as a country if you snowflake liberals can’t get over the fact that America did not want a old white woman who can not tell truth if she had to. Get over it.

Dude, if Trump did all of the things listed in the first paragraph I would be STOKED. Also, you might be amazed how many people seem to honestly think that my only job is writing this column. I wish it paid enough to get by on but, um, no. Just no.

Thank God not a lot of voters think like you. if you feel so depraved living here try moving to another country see how you like it.

take ur own advice get out of ur town (Madison) from time to time see how life really is. time for u to grow up act like a responsible adult

I went to school in Madison. it is truly a fucked up community. is it bc of your generation. prolly.

Blood

I'm honestly not sure if "Blood" is this person's signature or just a vaguely threatening closing note. Regardless, I don't feel terribly "depraved" living here but I'm also going to guess that this person would look at a lot of what I choose to do with my life and disagree (if they figured out the difference between "depraved" and "deprived" anyway). C'est la vie.

The "grow up" mantra is definitely a favorite go-to of my detractors, by the way. Along with the "you stupid little girl" and "you look like a man," etc. these are all pretty clear cases of ceding the argument. If you have a valid debate point, make it. You don't need to attack someone's person to do that, so when you do, it just tells me you ain't got nothing else.

Oh Emily Emily Emily. Still spewing the same old bullcrap. Example: UNARMED black people being shot by police in disproportionate numbers. Funny, why didn't you mention about armed and unarmed black people being killed by blacks?


Why don't you mention there are more whites killed by police then black. Why don't you mention that most of these black people that are shot by police would still be living if they knew how to listen to orders. I have a lot of great examples to disclaim the bullshit you spewed, but i refuse to waste any more time trying to get you to open your eyes and see what a lot of the American people feel, but you refuse to see. DEMOCRAP POLICYS dont work, THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN! Every big city with all these killings, robbery s, rapes, car chases, and every other crime you can think of are all lead by DEMOCRAP mayors, every single 1 of them! Now you just hide in your little liberal hometown of MADISON, and stay away from Milwaukee because you know better! Why though? So repulsed by you idiots failure to admit, YOUR ALL FUCKED UP! People have spoken Emily! Milwaukee journal has lost so many subscribers because of liberal media like your self. WAKE THE F--K UP EMILY!!!!

You guys I think this person knows my name.

Mail Call #10: Trumpocalypse

It's been a weird, depressing week. I can only imagine it's going to get even more weird and depressing going forward into a Trump presidency (ugh, why are you making me write that, America?!). The email responses to my last MJS column - my initial response to the election results - certainly seem to back up that assessment.

Here's a Greatest Hits:

The Constitution won with Trump's election, even though I am not a fan of the man. Liberalism lost because it discriminates against any opposition to their views and agenda. Especially white Christians. You liberals believe white Christians vote on color and racism. If you knew any of us, you would know it is about policy, not skin color. Maybe people of color will finally realize why not try a Republican. Democrats sure talk a good story but have never helped us or respected us. Your young, hopefully you can be more objective in your future!

What do you say, people of color who overwhelmingly voted against Donald Trump? Why not try a Republican/demagogue? Here's another one:

When Barack Obama won two terms for the Presidency there were few, if any, protests from conservatives. Yet now there is hatred and protests across the country against Donald Trump's election. It's been said that liberals don't know how to lose graciously. I love the Packers, but if they don't win another game this season it won't bother me that much, because the real Super Bowl was November 8th and the conservatives won. Long live Democracy and America.

Conservatives didn't protest? Actually, they did. And then they went to town demonizing Obama, accusing him of being a Marxist Kenyan usurper, hanging him in effigy, and blocking him at every turn in Congress, even going so far as refusing to do their basic duty and allow a vote on his final Supreme Court nominee. The list goes on. But tell me again how y'all accepted Obama's presidency with graciousness. And then compare the election of an openly racist demagogue with a fucking Packers game.

This was a nice letter [sic]:

The citizens of this country have finally stood up to slime like you!You lazy bitches who NEVER worked a day in you life are about to be put back in your RAT holes where you belong! You and others like you have turned the democrat party into a cesspool of perverts,degenerates, and illegals! Hopefully you will be relegated to your place in history with the other EXTINCT vermin!

Hey, I like my party of perverts, degenerates, and "illegals" (i.e. human beings from various walks of life who are looking for a better life). And I've held jobs since I was 15, but that's neither here nor there, since I am apparently a lazy rat bitch (rats make good pets, FYI).

Try and get over the results of this election. I understand how Obama won the 1st time, but the 2nd time threw me for a loop because his 1st term was a failure. So is his 2nd term. But we didn't take to the streets and riot.

Americans are starved for leadership since there has been a shortage for the last 8 yrs.What Trump said over a decade ago about women does not diminish his ability to be a leader. I have heard worse in the breakroom of where I work.........from the women.

In fact, I bet you used a similar phrase at some point in your life.

Uh, no, no I have not.

A friend of mine made me aware of a article you wrote called feels like the sky is falling. I will make this short and sweet, get your head out of your ass and write a article about the rioting being done and hate crimes being done by your party the DEMOCRAPS. 1 of the many reasons i don't read the this rag the MILWAUKEE URINAL. Your a typical LIBTARD living in your own blind little world. THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN BITCH! GET OVER IT! I think your a woman, sorta hard to tell from your picture. Good day LIB! 4 years from now you will be a conservative, oh i take that back, you will still be in denial!

He seems nice.

I'll end it on this note (though I got plenty of other...entertaining...letters). This one really caught my interest. I think this gets more at the root of the disconnect in how a lot of white voters approached the election. I won't dismiss the author's feelings outright, though I still think they're based in a very privileged/white POV and experience of America. The pain and fear expressed here are real, I've no doubt. But the blame is, I think, utterly misplaced. So how do we go about addressing that in an effective way?

The people who are protesting and rioting in the streets over the election are providing positive proof that we did it right. Or at least as right as was possible.

Sure, Mr. Trump is a shining example of what we don't want in our president. I voted for him because there was no other choice. No good Republicans were left; even Bernie would have been better (a bit screwy, but probably harmless). Vote for the Bride of Satan? Never! I have read that she was kicked off the Watergate legal team in the 1980's for self-serving unethical behavior, and I would say she has gone downhill from that ever since.

The people who have been the backbone of America for generations are desperate. We (factory workers, farmers, etc.), hard workers all our lives, have watched America die for fifty years. If we passed laws they were overturned by liberal judges or simply ignored. Laws to keep out criminals (anyone who crosses the Rio Grande without papers is a criminal) are not enforced. Our jobs were sent to China or given to illegals. We were (are) ignored.


We might not be able to return our country to greatness, as Mr. Trump wants. It is probably too late for that. But maybe we can reverse things for a bit, slow down America's death spiral. Like a cancer patient being offered dangerous surgery that won't cure him but might give him some extra time (four years?).

We simply voted for Trump because we felt we had no other choice. There is a good chance that we will fail quickly, but he is simply the only hope we have left.

I mean, how do you show someone who thinks Trump is "the only hope we have left" that he and his ilk represent a very real and present danger to them? White folks, we have a lot of work to do on our own people. And it's going to take enormous reserves of compassion, and a willingness to get out of our own bubbles to talk to/get to know people from all walks of life. The emotional (and physical) labor of talking about how race and class impact our country and day-to-day lives has too long fallen on the shoulders of people of color / those actively and often violently oppressed by the status quo. We need to step the fuck up.

Racism, Cultural Sensitivity, and Roller Derby

Back in September a skater from Florida posted to her personal Tumblr to call out a different Florida league, the Rebel Belles of Palm Harbor, Florida, accusing them of racism based on their team logo and colors.

In the post, Militant Bulstrode claims that the Belle’s gray, red, and blue uniforms—not to mention their kepi hat logo with crossed rifles—was representative of the Confederate flag and army uniforms from the American Civil War. This, Bulstrode argued, was evidence of racism within the league, and “the fact that they’ve completed a season (albeit an extremely short one) without being called out on their logo/jerseys/team name needs to be rectified immediately.”

The Rebel Belles responded to the ensuing deluge of criticism by writing and sharing a lengthy defense of the logo and uniforms, as well as stating that the accusations of racism were “false and slanderous.” They have also since changed the logo, and a post dated Nov. 12 says the league is “seriously considering rebranding.”

There’s no way to know the motivations of the individuals responsible for the initial branding of the league, barring psychic and time traveling abilities. Speculation about whether or not the individual members, or indeed the entire league, are harboring racist ideas or beliefs is futile unless those people come out and claim outright racist ideology. The Rebel Belles have not, to my knowledge, done so. They have, in fact, gone out of their way to claim to be an inclusive, non-discriminatory league.

There are two possibilities in this case, as far as I see it: Either the Rebel Belles were formed by Confederate sympathizers / white supremacists, or they simply demonstrated a deep lack of understanding of historical symbology and ignorance of their own white privilege.

I tend to go with Hanlon’s razor when it comes to this kind of thing: “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”

I say this not to impugn the overall intelligence of anyone with the Rebel Belles, but rather to point out that we’re all prone to doing stupid things from time to time. Some of those stupid things can stem from prejudices we didn’t even know we had, too—the difference lies in how we choose to recognize, address, and attempt to correct those things in the long run. And the relationship the U.S. has with its history—specifically the Confederacy and the Civil War—is fraught with whitewashing, misunderstanding, and worse (even feminist folksinger Ani DiFranco isn’t free from the pitfalls of historical and racial ignorance).

But that’s a whole other article. Let’s take a look at the facts in this particular case:

• The Rebel Belles named themselves after the rebel yell, the term coined for a battle cry specific to the Confederate army during the Civil War (and Florida, for those of you less familiar with U.S. history, was a member of the Confederate States of America, which seceded from the Union in 1861 and was then forcibly beaten back into the U.S. after losing the war in 1865).
• The Rebel Belles designed a logo using the gray kepi hat that was standard issue for Confederate soldiers during that war, with two crossed, red muskets underneath (also standard issue weapons during the war). The RB’s claim the logo was meant to emulate the Florida state flag, which does indeed feature a red St. Andrew’s Cross on a white field.
• The RB’s have gray home team uniforms, accented with red and blue. To claim that the use of the gray uniforms, and then the gray kepi, is simply homage to their “historic theme” demonstrates a rather baffling lack of sensitivity to the admittedly complex but deeply hurtful history in question. There may be no actual rebel battle flag in their logo, but the Confederacy is still all over their branding.

In the end, it seems as though the anger spurred by the team’s name/image has forced them to seriously reconsider and rebrand, which is ultimately a good thing for everyone involved. No matter how well meaning they might have been in attempting to give a nod to Florida’s past, the fact remains that said past is inescapably tied to slavery and subjugation, and the continued prejudice toward and oppression of minority populations in the U.S. that are that evil institution’s legacy.

There’s no place for that in roller derby (or anywhere, of course), a sport founded on the principle of inclusivity and bucking the status quo. It’s good to call out these things when we see them. This kind of cultural and racial insensitivity is sadly not limited to this one case, either. Painfully enough, the skater who penned the original Tumblr post calling out the RB’s is herself the member of a team called the Cannibals, whose men’s derby analog are called the Head Hunters. There are deeply problematic and culturally insensitive elements in those names, too (glass houses, etc).

Clearly, this is a much larger conversation we should be having—within roller derby, within sports (ahem, the Washington football team, anyone?), within our lives in general.

The point isn’t to get caught up in name calling or knee-jerk defensiveness, though, but rather to speak up when something is harmful and/or hurtful, speak from the heart, push for constructive change--and always, always be willing to listen and make your own changes when it’s you who’s guilty of stumbling.

Dobbs teaches us all a lesson in how not to run for office

Lou Dobbs! What a wiener. But a useful one! The former CNN anchor/pundit has now offered up an extraordinarily clear example of crass political maneuvering for all of us to marvel at and learn from:

Former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs, pondering a future in politics, is trying to wipe away his image as an enemy of Latino immigrants by positioning himself as a champion of that fast-growing ethnic bloc.

Oh ho ho! That's an about-face quick enough to make even the most securely screwed on head give a little spin. Dobbs, you see, made a career and a name out of lambasting immigrants--particularly those of Mexican origin--and associating himself and his opinions with some of the most virulently xenophobic organizations in the country.

Now that he's out of a job, though, a run at public office must look mighty appealing (a cherry position to be sure, what with the government-run health care program and decent salary--something the majority of Americans would just about kill for these days). But oh man, those Latinos, it turns out, make up a significant block of voters, especially in the Senate district in which he's looking to run. Against incumbent Robert Menendez (D-NJ), who just so happens to be the Senate's only Hispanic member.

Cue Dobbs pulling nervously at his collar and tie.

All that nasty stuff he said about Hispanics and immigrants? Yeah, if you could just, y'know, forget about it:

"Whatever you have thought of me in the past, I can tell you right now that I am one of your greatest friends and I mean for us to work together," he said in a live interview with Telemundo's Maria Celeste. "I hope that will begin with Maria and me and Telemundo and other media organizations and others in this national debate that we should turn into a solution rather than a continuing debate and factional contest."

Yep, just ignore all those times he blamed (inflated/exaggerated) US cases of leprosy on immigrants. Or when he raised the alarm against an alleged Mexican movement to re-annex parts of the Southwest, using information and graphics sourced to a extremist, right-wing group with white power ties. All of this while refusing to admit to or even explore the possibility that racism has anything to do with the various anti-immigration groups he otherwise so readily profiled.

Well, if his sudden professed love for undocumented immigrants doesn't piss off his old support base, I can't imagine his long history of attacking Latinos in general and immigrants in particular will play well with the other group he's hoping to woo. It's an almost impressively ridiculous strategy, and one that, hopefully, most people will see right through.

Police acting stupidly? NEVER!*

*Except when they do.

Jon Stewart recently (rightly) pointed out how ridiculous it is that the mainstream media has been focusing so heavily on President Obama's response to one of the final questions he received after his recent press conference pushing health care reform. After all, the purpose of the meeting was supposed to be to put heavier focus on the state of heath care in our country, an incredibly important--and often dire--issue for most, if not all, Americans.

The latest U.S. census placed the number of uninsured Americans at 45 million. 9 million of those uninsured are children. Half of all bankruptcies are caused by medical bills. Three-quarters of those filings are people with health insurance (you can include my own family in that statistic). It goes on and on.

Yet despite all of that, we're bickering about Obama's comments regarding the recent arrest of Harvard history professor Henry Louis Gates at his own home, even after he had presented proper ID to police.

Asked what he thought about the situation, Obama made the perhaps impolitic but no less honest remark that the Cambridge police responsible for the arrest "acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home."

Unsurprisingly, a chorus of righteous indignation (mostly by white, conservative voices) has risen to condemn the statement and accuse both Obama and Gates of racism and anti-police sentiment.

The Village Voice has put together an excellent rundown of the frothy-mouthed antics of the rightwing blogosphere here, and I highly suggest taking a look. It does a nice job of highlighting just how outrageous and ridiculous many of the pro-police/anti-Obama arguments are (it even highlights one of the lowlights of the Wisconsin blogosphere, Freedom Eden). One choice example:

Actually, rejoined Debra Moore of Exposing Liberal Lies, that may have been Obama's plan: "Could it be a lingering resentment for white people that Obama has carried since his youth?" She asserts that his book Dreams of My Father proved that "Obama was obsessed with the issue of race. Add that to his twenty years as a student of Jeremiah Wright, and the result is one angry black man. Isn't it interesting that Obama is friends with a Harvard professor who is clearly a racist himself?" (This last bit proven, presumably, by Gates' arrest.)

But something deep down inside tells me that if police came to any of these bloggers' own homes, accused them of breaking into it, asked for their ID, and then insisted on arresting them even after they produced it for "disorderly behaviour", they wouldn't exactly shut up and take it.

And if they did--if they're so unquestioningly loyal to every police officer in the country no matter what--then where on earth do they get off calling themselves patriots? Apparently a police state is no problem so long as it's only used against their political and ideological opponents.

As imprudent as Obama's remarks may have been, I'm still inclined to agree with them. I am not a police hater, and I don't know Sgt. Crowley and therefor cannot pass judgment on his actual character. Still, based off all accounts of the incident, I can say that I think his actions were stupid. A trained police officer should better know how to deal with an instance like this. So Gates was supposedly talking back - he was being (falsely) accused of breaking into his own home and threatened with arrest even after proving he was who he claimed to be! It should be obvious, then, why he might be a little bit annoyed. Arresting him for said annoyance is ridiculous, not to mention illegal.

I have a lot of respect for cops in general for doing a job that is, by all accounts, incredibly difficult and often dangerous. There are, I believe, more fine, upstanding police in this country than not. But I'm also not so naive as to believe that no bad apples, or just apples that sometimes make poor decisions, occasionally make it onto the force.

In fact, I've dealt with them personally over my lifetime. One instance was so abhorrent that it soured me on an entire city's police force for many years, and intensely strengthened my resolve to speak up and act out on improving how sexual assault is dealt with by authorities.

Point is, like any stereotype or generalization, labeling all police officers either perfect and infallible or piggish and fascist is a fool's errand, and one that's liable to lead us toward ruin as a society.

Further, I have no idea if race played a role in this particular incident - but to write off the very possibility is to do a great, ignorant disservice to the hard lessons of our country's history. The sad truth is that we still have a long way to go before anyone can claim that the mistakes of the past have no bearing on our present. It's not "white liberal guilt" to admit to that, either. It's just honesty.

(h/t illusory tenant)

What's black and white and red all over?

I don't normally address the vapid, pointless things MJS columnist Patrick McIlheran spews onto his blog, but today's little screed bears some tweaking.

Taking umbrage with a piece written by Leonard Pitts Jr. that deals with the problem of black scapegoating in this country, McIlheran goes into full-on sarcasm mode and answers with this gem:

...why did you – yes, you again – deny Pitts a job and then call him a thief? Read to the bottom of his column. That’s what he says you did. And you blew up his school and then called him ignorant. Why did you do that, huh? Why did you kill his father and then complain he was filled with rage?

What, you say you didn’t? You were born after Jim Crow died, after MLK was already regarded a martyr? You grew up thinking black people were just as good as anyone else because “Sesame Street” and every adult you’ve ever known has told you precisely that?

Not only did he miss the entire point of the original article, but apparently the only reason anyone, including himself, might think "black people were just as good as anyone" is because "Sesame Street and every adult you've ever known has told you" to think that. Nice.

I guess McIlheran hasn't made the acquaintance of many African Americans in his day. How else would you explain such a dreadfully ignorant statement?

But it's not entirely uncommon for people to get up in arms when the issue of racism comes up. It's an incredibly complex and highly personal subject. But I don't think Pitts was blaming all racist attacks, past and present, on every white person now living. There's a little something called artistic license going on in his column, wherein stronger language choices are made to get a point across. And the fact remains that we all--black, white, and red-faced McIlheran--still have our own demons to face. Whether that's blatant racism, or the insidious sort that leads us to lock our doors when we see a person of a certain ethnicity walking nearby, the spectre still looms.

Ultimately, this just seems to be a case of McIlheran making knee jerk assumptions based on his own discomfort with the subject. We elected a black man president! This is a post-racial society! We have no more difficult discussions to have or self-examination to do!

Only, clearly, we do.

San Francisco: Hellish City of Doom and Pot!

That is, according to Bill O'Reilly. I don't normally watch the guy's show (it's better for my blood pressure not to), but I came across this clip today, which purports to find a link between San Francisco's "secular progressive" city government and what they spin to be it's overly permissive, dirty, drugged up streets.


Because apparently no other city in the country has a homeless population. And because apparently, at least to O'Reilly and his ilk, marijuana is still the stuff of nightmares, hyper piano playing, and death.

This is propaganda of the most blatant and ridiculous stripe, but it's not surprising. Many ultra-conservative talk show hosts and even politicians have long since used the phrase "San Francisco values" as a none-too subtle way of saying "evil homosexual and liberal values." So to see O'Reilly and his crew putting together a sort of modern day cross between Birth of a Nation and Cruising does not come as much of a shock. It is still, however, deeply disappointing to know that there are people in this country who hold such antiquated, uninformed views of their fellow citizens--and that some of them are given widely disseminated public platforms.

Yes, San Francisco has major problems--just like every other city. But not only does the segment insinuate that SF is somehow unique in this (and that this is a result of a more liberal government), it also makes out legalized marijuana, homelessness itself, and homosexuality to be part of those problems. I'm amazed garbage like this ever makes it to the air, but more saddened that this is the chosen tactic of those on the far right who still feel so threatened by things they don't understand.

In this day and age, though, they have less and less excuse to continue in their ignorance. Marijuana is not the "demon weed" it was made out to be by a government and industries interested in eliminating all competition for the cotton industry. Homelessness is a problem we as a society must work to eradicate, but the people themselves are not inherently bad and are deserving of the same rights as the rest of us. Homosexuality...well, hot-button as it still (amazingly) is, medical science, history, and the attitudes of younger generations are all on the side of acceptance and respect. The tide has already well and thoroughly turned.

O'Reilly and his ilk? They should perhaps be readying themselves to walk with those dinosaurs they claim their ancestors once rode.