Praying Muslims? OH NO! Gas ‘em! September 29, 2008

I’ve seen this posted in a few places:

DAYTON — Baboucarr Njie was preparing for his prayer session Friday night, Sept. 26, when he heard children in the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton coughing. Soon, Njie himself was overcome with fits of coughing and, like the rest of those in the building, headed for the doors.

“I would stay outside for a minute, then go back in, there were a lot of kids,” Njie said. “My throat is still itchy, I need to get some milk.”

Njie was one of several affected when a suspected chemical irritant was sprayed into the mosque at 26 Josie St., bringing Dayton police, fire and hazardous material personnel to the building at 9:48 p.m.

Someone “sprayed an irritant into the mosque,” Dayton fire District Chief Vince Wiley said, noting that fire investigators believe it was a hand-held spray can.

According to fire dispatch communications, a child reported seeing two men with a white can spraying something into a window. That child was brought to the supervising firefighter at the scene.

Wiley would not discuss that report, but said the investigation has been turned over to police. Police were not commenting.

The 300 or so inside were celebrating the last 10 days of Ramadan with dinner and a prayer session, but the prayer session was interrupted so those suffering from tearing, coughing and shortness of breath could receive treatment.

Wiley said an adult and juvenile were taken to area hospitals and others had their eyes or faces washed on the scene. He did not know how many people were treated at the scene.

If anyone thinks I could possibly form a coherent response to this, you’d be kidding yourself.

I’d like to extend a big ol’ FUCK YOU to all the people who think this is okay, justified, retaliation, revolution, or not a hate crime. If you find yourself thinking “but what about” or “but no one died”, consider that FUCK YOU extended to you as well. How are you going to talk around the fact that it was directed towards a MOSQUE?

This is NOT okay.

This is NOT “retaliation.”

This is NOT justified.

This is NOT “revolution.”

This is a HATE CRIME.

This is ISLAMOPHOBIA.

Daily Kos linked this incident to a DVD titled, “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against The West”, which is being distributed in swing states as an “advertisement” in newspapers. You cannot stick “radical” in front of Islam, and expect that what you say is magically turned into truth.

See posts by Womanist Musings, Shakesville, and Shameless Magazine if you don’t find my ranting productive.

Reflections on school September 26, 2008

I started school a few weeks ago. For some reason, I convinced myself that I need to do many things as once in order to prove to EveryoneTM that I have the capability of a superhero, and also I’m terrified I won’t be good enough for the rest of the world after I graduate.

Uh, insecurities aside, this has left me incredibly tired and emotionally exhausted because of what it is that I study and the people I study with. I’ve been talking to two of my friends about it as well. We’ve all taken upper-year Women & Gender Studies classes and are all women of colour. This year I am not taking any courses in the WGS department, but I am one of a lucky five people of colour in a class of two hundred.

Toronto: Supporting Non-Status Women Fleeing from Violence September 18, 2008

I will be going to this, so I thought I’d pass it along:

**Please distribute widely**

FORUM: Supporting Non-Status Women Fleeing Violence

Thursday October 2, 2008
9:30am Registration
10:00am Forum

Location: Ryerson University
Student Centre
55 Gould St
Rm SCC115

** March and Rally to follow at 12:00pm **

* Learn about how recent changes to immigration law impact diverse women, including women without status

* Hear about attacks on safe spaces and community responses to support non-status women fleeing violence

* Q&A with immigration lawyer, front line workers and service providers

To register please contact Sonia at sonia@workersactioncentre.org or (416) 531-0778, ext. 221 by September 25, 2008

****************************************************************************
MARCH and RALLY at the Immigration Refugee Board

Thursday October 2, 2008
Meet 12:00pm at the corner of Yonge St. and Gould St.

Let Them Stay!

* Support domestic violence survivor Isabel Garcia and her children to stay in Canada

* Call for protection of women fleeing violence through the refugee determination process

Isabel Garcia, single mother and survivor of domestic violence, and her children are just one of many families whose lives have been put at risk as a result of negative decisions at the Immigration and Refugee Board.

Isabel came to Canada with her children 3 years ago seeking protection from her violent ex-husband in Mexico. Ignoring overwhelming evidence pointing to a lack of state protection for women surviving domestic violence in Mexico, the Immigration and Refugee Board heartlessly denied Isabel’s claim for asylum.

By issuing an abrupt and last minute deportation notice, Immigration Enforcement ensured that Isabel and her lawyer did not have time for a fair review at the Federal Court for a stay on her removal. Isabel made the difficult decision to go into hiding rather than face further violence in Mexico.

Canada’s failing Immigration and Refugee Protection Act is allowing huge numbers of women fleeing violence to fall through the cracks. The Federal Court of Canada has begun to question decisions of the Refugee Board and has recently overturned several decisions where women faced gender violence.

These women have been unable to access shelters, crisis centers, professional support, guidance or counseling because of Immigration Enforcement’s targeting of these spaces.

Stand up against immigration decisions and policies that put women and children, like Isabel and her family, at risk of violence. Join us as we call on the government to:

* Let Them Stay! – Allow this family to stay in Canada while their Humanitarian Application is considered, and to grant their Humanitarian Application

* Ensure protection for women fleeing violence through the refugee determination process

For more information, visit http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org/node/24

***ENDORSED BY***
Carranza Barristers and Solicitors
Centre for Feminist Research
Community Development Council Durham
Community Social Planning Council
Interim Place
Mennonite New Life Centre
METRAC
MUJER
Nellie’s
No One Is Illegal – Toronto
North York Women’s Shelter
Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses
OPSEU
Parkdale Community Legal Services
Ryerson Students Union
Ryerson Women’s Centre
Ryerson Working Students Centre
Sistering
Step It Up Campaign
the Stop Community Food Centre
Toronto Rape Crisis Centre
Toronto Women’s Bookstore
Workers Action Centre

Facebook event

How to be an “ally” September 15, 2008

I had a bad day. This is a rant disguised as a post. Feel free to continue in the comments, since this list is short and vague.

Here are twenty things I’ve learned one should do in order to be an “ally”:

1. Announce yourself as an ally, verbally or through your many awareness wristbands, in case anyone forgets.

2. Have nothing to do with any member of the oppressed group with whom you are “allied”, as you just don’t know where to find them, or don’t have the time.

3. Feel guilty about your particular privilege, then tell members of the oppressed group you’re an “ally” of how guilty you feel and demand they help you work through your guilt.

4. Use the phrase, “but the [marginalized] people I know don’t find anything wrong with it…” because no one associated with you could ever be off-base with anything.

5. Give your input on everything so that the oppressed group will reap the benefits of your enlightenment.

Links you should read September 13, 2008

What small-town America is saying about Obama (Salon, via Racialicious)

“Obama isn’t even really black — Bill Clinton is more black than Obama,” said Mike Wallace, 44, of Dearborn, Mich. Wallace is a United Auto Workers pipe fitter who plans to vote for McCain, although he believes the vast majority of his co-workers at the local Chrysler plant will vote for Obama, as recommended by a UAW handout. Some voters revealed support for Obama even in blunt terms that seemed to run against their racial preferences. “I’m not a fan of the blacks,” explained Dennis Rodriguez, 48, a restaurant manager from Manistique, Mich., “but I just think Obama is the right man for the job.” Bob Morin, 53, a custodian and swing voter from Cubero, N.M. (a state Bush won by just 5,000 votes in 2004), told me, “I’ve got a few friends who say, ‘There’s no way I’m voting for a black guy,’ but I think most people have gotten over it.”

Can we stop using the term ally? (Radical Masculinity – thanks Lisa!)

So, if you’re acknowledging your privilege, seeing how you systematically benefit from it, and centering the concerns of those who do not share said privilege, you’re trying to be a decent human being. Congratulations. Have a cookie. And if you’re actively engaging in anti-oppression work in areas in which you’re not oppressed, you’re doing solidarity work. Just say you’re working in solidarity with members of the oppressed class. This centers the work being done, and the members of the oppressed class, and not you. Because when you’re a member of the oppressor class in dealing with a particular oppression, It. Is. Not. About. You.

This post brought up a lot of stuff about allies I hadn’t thought about before. I do know that I tend to clash with self-proclaimed allies because there is a tendency to expect approval from me that I don’t want to give. I have to rethink my own position as an ally too.

The Audacity of Whiteness (Feministe & Womanist Musings)

In the generous post racial world in which we live whites continues to feel entitled to their anger at the minimal loss of privilege that they have experienced, yet when a WOC rightly speaks out about issues effecting our lives our anger is somehow overly aggressive or uncalled for. How dare we express even the slightest angst that we continue to remain at the bottom of the social and economic pyramid when white people have so generously given a few of us the opportunity to rise above poverty. See look at that one referential black over there, she isn’t angry, you just have a chip on your shoulder. I swear I know why black people live shorter lives…we are literally stressed to death.

Also, check out the posts on privilege at Feministe by Latoya and Renee.

Article: Republicans don’t want Michigan voters to vote from foreclosed homes September 11, 2008

And 60 percent of those foreclosed homes are of African-Americans, so says the Michigan Messenger:

“We will have a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren’t voting from those addresses,” party chairman James Carabelli told Michigan Messenger in a telephone interview earlier this week. He said the local party wanted to make sure that proper electoral procedures were followed.

State election rules allow parties to assign “election challengers” to polls to monitor the election. In addition to observing the poll workers, these volunteers can challenge the eligibility of any voter provided they “have a good reason to believe” that the person is not eligible to vote. One allowable reason is that the person is not a “true resident of the city or township.”

The Michigan Republicans’ planned use of foreclosure lists is apparently an attempt to challenge ineligible voters as not being “true residents.”

One expert questioned the legality of the tactic.

“You can’t challenge people without a factual basis for doing so,” said J. Gerald Hebert, a former voting rights litigator for the U.S. Justice Department who now runs the Campaign Legal Center, a Washington D.C.-based public-interest law firm. “I don’t think a foreclosure notice is sufficient basis for a challenge, because people often remain in their homes after foreclosure begins and sometimes are able to negotiate and refinance.”

[...]The Macomb County party’s plans to challenge voters who have defaulted on their house payments is likely to disproportionately affect African-Americans who are overwhelmingly Democratic voters. More than 60 percent of all sub-prime loans — the most likely kind of loan to go into default — were made to African-Americans in Michigan, according to a report issued last year by the state’s Department of Labor and Economic Growth.

Apparently the Republicans have since took it back because they have other tried and true ways of getting the undesirables out of the voting process.

On politeness (again) September 9, 2008

Today I had a conversation with a friend of mine (who will remain nameless unless she wants to be linked), and in our discussion it briefly came up how, as people of colour, it can be difficult to deal with other POC who actively perpetuate racism and colonialism, intentionally and unintentionally, and contribute to silencing one another. It doesn’t make any of us bad people, just hella bad at solidarity. This made me think about two things that occurred in the past year.

With the first one, I’m not sure how much detail I want to/can give, especially since it was in a near-professional setting. Basically, I (semi?) publicly pointed my finger at a publication for white privilege, and someone on the staff of the publication I was writing for told me to watch my tone and that when he tries to get his point across to people with opposing views, he does so with politeness so that he can be ‘heard’ by the people he is challenging. Before it was even published*, I got critiqued for content instead of my writing (which DESPERATELY needed the critiquing) by another person of colour.

Yes, I admit, parts of my article was confrontational. That is my writing style. Many people seem to find it in them to deal with it and move on. I was prepared to defend myself once it was published, however, I was completely thrown when I was challenged by another POC, who I naïvely assumed was on my side, for the way I said it.

The other relevant incident happened in the Spring, quoted from my private online journal:

We had a discussion afterward and one woman (black) said something about Canadianness and identity (i.e. the “Where are you from question?” ‘can be answered anyhow you want because you get to determine how you identify yourself’) that justifiably pissed off another woman (Aboriginal) but her response was not directed at anyone in particular. I’m supportive of both of their viewpoints because they each made valid points, but as I was leaving class, I heard the first woman saying “You were so aggressive – it would’ve been okay if you wanted to teach me. You could’ve made your point better. Racism exists everywhere – all of us experience it, Aboriginals, black people, Asian…”

I stopped, contemplated saying something, then the prof told us all to GTFO of the room.** While I was walking to the subway station, I thought, “I’m going to regret not saying something to that woman for a long time.” You’ve probably noticed, but I have a problem with this “your tone invalidates your criticism” shit, especially when speaking about racism, regardless of who it comes from. The woman was clearly not trying to teach anyone, just voice her viewpoint and her reaction to statements said, and it is a stupid assumption that every Aboriginal and/or person of colour speaking about their experience with racism has to spoon-feed anyone.

You know, the first woman who spoke was born here, but more significantly, is a Canadian citizen.+ I’m a fucking Canadian citizen. We’re living in a nation built on genocide, and we (not just white Canadians) are implicated in the continuing colonialist project against the Natives. It doesn’t matter if we were born here or if we immigrated here.++

My point is — it really does not matter how you say it. We can’t ‘politely’ challenge domination. We can’t sugarcoat oppression. Not even if we tried. It’s going to come across as hostile and aggressive and confrontation to someone no matter how politely you say it. One of the ‘wonderful’ side-effects of privilege is that it sparks defensiveness at the slightest of challenge, and suddenly the onus is on the marginalized person to bend to that defensiveness. So, maybe I could’ve said, ‘wow, that representation was really white, but, you know, shit happens’ in my article and someone would still tell me I’m playing the ‘race card.’ (Gosh, I should have a whole playing deck by now.)

So, politeness? Pffbt. It hurts to know that many of us have been told we need to be polite in order challenge privilege and power and that we believe we need to be polite, or apologize for having the guts to even mention oppression.

* It was published, to my surprise.
** I realize that sounded like an excuse. It was. I should have said something, and I failed to be an ally.
+ She said so in the discussion.
++ That would be me saying that Canadian citizenship is a privilege.

N.B. this is not ammo for white allies to say ‘look, POC can be racist too’ to deflect discussion of white privilege. I don’t know why I feel the need to mention that.

Link + Petition: European Commission Approves Fingerprinting of Roma in Italy September 6, 2008

At Debi Crow, via Questioning Transphobia:

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Italy’s plan to fingerprint Roma people has received a green light from the European Commission, with Brussels’ experts suggesting that the controversial measures are not discriminatory or in breach of EU standards.

A commission spokesman told journalists on Thursday (4 September) that the practice proposed by Italian authorities earlier this year is only aimed at identifying persons “who cannot be identified in any other way” and excludes the collection of “data relating to ethnic origin or the religion of people.”

The centre-right government of Silvio Berlusconi sparked protests from human rights organisations and several in the European Parliament after announcing its plan to fingerprint Roma people – including children – as part of a census of Roma camps.

[...]

“Foreign nationals, particularly from Romania,” – that’ll be the Roma, then, and yes the rise in crime was blamed on them, because of the prejudice against them already prevalent in Europe, never mind whether they actually were to blame for it or not. So, based on an assumption (and a very common one, based on a stereotype) about the Roma people, Berlusconi is allowed to openly discriminate against them by singling them out for fingerprinting to “prevent crime”. Well, why should anybody bother to find the real culprits and “prevent” real “crime” when the Roma are there in plentiful numbers, a handy scapegoat, and everyone thinks they are thieves anyway! Why, indeed. The European Commission has only achieved a furtherance of the persecution of Roma – that is all. It has said it is okay, and normal, to want to discriminate against them, by naming obviously discriminatory practices as not so.

Sign a petition to help stop the persecution of the Roma people.

I have something in common with Barack Obama September 6, 2008

Now that I’ve caught up on my week’s reading, the Obamas were called uppity. Usually, I try to refrain from commentating on US politics, but there is a reason why I chose that word for my blog name.*

From The Hill (for those wary of links):

“Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they’re a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they’re uppity,” Westmoreland said.

Asked to clarify that he used the word “uppity,” Westmoreland said, “Uppity, yeah.”

I’ve seen some people defend this usage of the word. I am all for amelioration, but ‘uppity’ hasn’t quite reached that semantic change in this context. Regardless of what the holy dictionary says, words have connotations and are used in context. They change in each context, depending on who is speaking and what is being described. Context and connotation is everything.

What does “uppity” mean?

Arrogant. Snobbish. Haughty. Conceited.

Like the link to Feministe says, these types of charges are flung at politicians all the time. Why is ‘uppity’ so different?

‘Uppity’ also means, ‘doesn’t know one’s place.’ When has the phrase ‘doesn’t know one’s/their place’, been used? About whom?

Immigrants. Women. Slaves. Natives. People of colour. People in the margins. In the United States of America, at the very least – black people.

“Those n—–s don’t know their place.” Segregation.
“Those savages don’t know their place.” Civilization.
“Those women don’t know their place.” Kitchen.

Should I go on?

‘Uppity’ has been used by people in positions of power and privilege to describe and invalidate people in the margins who question domination and an oppressive status quo, and who are told to obey hegemony, accept supposed inferiority and servitude.

Obama doesn’t know his place, you see. He’s questioning current policy and actually proposing change instead of implying it, even if the change isn’t perfect, for people of colour, working class people, women, LGBT people, disabled people, ETC. He’s showing interest in changing the white dude club in Washington. He’s doing what closet racists don’t want to be done – he’s a black man running for President who will not accept that he is less worthy of presidency than a white candidate.

Some of us use words like ‘uppity’ tongue-in-cheek to say that we’re resisting domination. I don’t think the usage here was meant to be a compliment. Had many Republicans not resorted to other outwardly racist attacks on Barack Obama, or had Westmoreland not been from the US South (note the article), maybe there would be room for “well, Lynn Westmoreland was just using a synonym.” Maybe.

* Additionally, Lorelei described me as, “[my name] is an uppity brown woman. for christmas, she got drug dealers at her door” after I had a bad holiday season last year. That was also around the time I was told to stop being such a meanie to white people.

Article: what about us middle-class white men on TV?! September 4, 2008

I always laugh whenever I read these types of claims. Via Racialicious, at the Daily Mail:

Speaking on a filmed interview, which was aired at the Edinburgh Television Festival, Paxman said: ‘The worst thing you can be in this industry now is to be a middle-class white male.

‘Any middle-class white male who I come across that wants to enter television, I tell them to give up, there’s no hope.

‘Do I think it is a man’s world? That is the most ridiculous question I have been asked all week.’

He then listed several women in senior positions, including BBC Vision director Jana Bennett and BBC1 Controller Jay Hunt, adding: ‘Is this evidence of some male conspiracy keeping women down?’

But his comments provoked an angry response from TV presenter Miss Frostrup, a former host of BBC2’s The Culture Show, during a debate called Women Know Your Place.

She said women were often overlooked for the chance to present highbrow shows and were more likely to front home or lifestyle programmes.

Miss Frostrup, 45, told the festival: ‘He names about five women because he couldn’t possibly name all the men in positions of power in TV because he would have been there all bloody day.

‘He talks about middle-class men as a beleaguered species but excuse me  -  Jonathan Ross, Jeremy on Newsnight, the Today programme, Have I Got News For You, QI. It seems that television is a fantastic place to be… for middle-class white men.

‘They very much tend to be in the positions of gravitas that women are still struggling to
achieve.’ She also attacked BBC programme makers over the way they treated her when she returned to work after having a baby.

The presenter said she was forced to quit The Culture Show after a producer told her that breastfeeding her first child during filming was ‘ inconvenient’ for their schedules.

Earlier this year, Miss Frostrup launched a tirade against the BBC’s long-running topical news panel show, Have I Got News For You, which she called ‘a disgrace’.

She claimed women were only invited on to the programme as a token presence to be ridiculed by ‘testosterone fuelled’ team captains Paul Merton and Ian Hislop.

The BBC has also come under fire over claims of sexism after it axed women over 50 from presenting roles.

So, the next time any white middle-class man in television says there’s a huge, unfortunate lack of respect for anything male (no, I don’t care it’s 4 years old), let’s remember this ass-handing by Frostrup and the report on racial diversity on television in the UK.

“I’m [Asian] and I don’t find this offensive.” September 3, 2008

Often I talk about behaviours of privileged people, but right now, I want to talk about people in the margins and how we manage to divide and silence ourselves. We don’t share hive brains, of course, but there are certain things that bother the hell out of me with how marginalized people regard one another, especially when doing anti-oppression activism. (NB: I’m not excluding myself from this either.)

“I’m z and I don’t find this comment/portrayal/message about z offensive.”

Link: Because Kyle Payne Deserves Fuck All September 1, 2008

So, I heard Kyle Payne (of ‘hey, I’m a feminist but I’mma go dabble in sexual assault’ fame) got himself six months. He then gave a lousy apology that was all about him and whatever. I’d write more, but my friend Lori (The Classiest Lady You Know), who I do Friday night rages with over IM, is angry enough for both of us. In this post, she says:

If this was a real ‘you deserve to know’ post, it would’ve gone a little something like: ‘hey y’all I’ve been sentenced to six months in the county jail, i am an enormous fuck and i should’ve been sentenced harsher but there you have it. see you around.’ in fact, i would honestly prefer if people like this attempted to simply drop off the planet and avoid human contact. but no, this is a manipulative piece of shit, so this thing is like FIVE HUNDRED PRINTER PAGES of self-pitying bullshit AS IF ANYONE GIVES A FUCK ABOUT HIS PRECIOUS LITTLE PROBLEMS OR WHY HE DID IT OR ANYTHING. CHRIST HOW INTO YOURSELF CAN YOU *BE*?!

She needs to post more.