[TYLER GAY]

today I’m sharing the poem “Why You Talk So White” by Maya Wegerif. rightfully so she gets aggravated at the question “why you talk so white?” her frustration on her use of the english language in the correct way, she in the poem she re-asks the question to herself “Why do I talk so white?” correcting the grammar in the question. in my understanding is that is the way she learned how to speak english. her use and accent within the language is natural, not an accepting of her whiteness nor a denial of her blackness. she is just speaking the language the way she learned in. she talks that speaking english is speaking a white language. and how she can speak languages from africa and when she speaks those languages she is not speaking like a white person because they are invented by black people.

I shared this because when I get excited or feel comfortable, my accent, sometimes my word choice changes. I’m am from a city. The way i talk is different from the way that other places talk, I sound like my friends, they sound like me. but nearly every time I get excited around people not from the same place as me they ask me, “why do i talk like a black person?” When I was young i used to be proud of this, now that i am older I inquire what does a black person sound like? there is never a real answer.

Why You Talk So White?

Street kids were chirping,
guns were out,
cops were playing in the streets…
It was a beautiful day in Harlem.
She introduced herself as Shurnell
Gum-popping, eye-rolling, weave-twirling hell
‘Why you talk so white?”

I could not answer.
My expression was the bastard child of Pissed Off and Pity’s brief sexual encounter
Why do I talk so white?
Pissed Off said smack that b*!
Let’s see if you talk that much sh* when your lip is split!
Also, when did African Americans hold a convention to decide what black is?
And why did they not mention this to the rest of the Atlas?

Pity put her hand on my arm and told me to calm down.
Shurnell. You are of a displaced people.
You are what would have happened if Moses and his peeps never left Egypt.
I mean, I had an anxiety attack just coming here for college and I know my way back.
You are the black rose that will grow on top of the concrete if that shit won’t crack!
You are a caged bird with clipped wings that still had the courage to lift,
it’s a miracle you managed to live.

But have you bought into the American dream? Did you get a discount?
Do you look back on Senegal and thank white Jesus you made it out?
Have they sold you the American dream? Did it come at a good price?
You don’t have to tell me what black people sound like
White people have spent centuries trying to fit me into stereotypes
But black on black oppression just doesn’t come in my size

I reply, yes Shurnell. I sure as hell talk white.
Because I’m speaking a white language!
Best believe there wasn’t a single black person at the meeting when the British made up
English.
Or any of the so-called romance languages.
And if there was, they were probably serving sandwiches.
‘Cause we’re talking about the same people who called us savages

So every time. every time we speak English we talk white
Lakini afadhali mi’ naongea kiSwahili.
Mang’funa ne ‘s’Zuli ngiya s’khuluma
Ga ke rata, nkana ka bolela Sepedi
Na swona loku hi vulavula Xichangani na mhani, mi ngehi heti
Well, at least I still speak Swahili
And I can speak Zulu when I feel like it,
my Sepedi is as smooth as butter
and I can still speak Shangaan with mother.

But it’s not your fault! No, I blame the boats. I blame the coast.
I blame the tide. I blame the sea for not picking a side!
I blame bribes! I blame slave-traders AND sellout chiefs alike!
But it seems like you blame me
For being born in a former British colony
I sound white?? As opposed to what? Sounding American?
What does it matter whose oppressor is better?

Racism oppresses us all, and you know it.
We are part of a system that requires us to be inferior to make a profit.
And fighting each other makes us of it.
And so blackness fights blackness for a future that’s bright
Our end of the tunnel is so narrow, we fight each other to reach the light.

A hip-hop-blasting car let out “nigga” five times before reaching the corner.
A billboard advertising hair relaxer had the nerve to print the slogan “Love your hair!”
Street kids were chirping,
a fight broke out,
cops were playing in the streets.
Did I mention, it was a beautiful day in Harlem.

By Maya Wegerif

[TYLER GAY]

In a majority christian country when someone says we shouldn’t do something because it says not to in the bible, people listen. they do not want to go to hell. There is not always reason beyond the belief in something behind it. When the end of the world is near the people do not think that their ideas are silly. for there is a book that is written that states this. When the lakota people prophesied a black snake this is easier to shoot down. Why, probably because we have been shooting down the first nation people since our arrival. Manifest destiny. we were allowed to take this land, at least, for some reason.  the land will be destroyed if this black snake comes. Why is the black snake not the pipeline? why is the reality of the people a reality that those in power reject? our country sees property as extremely important, yet when it doesn’t belong to white people it’s for the taking.

 

we have national parks which protect the beauty of nature. we took it to protect it from the people who had been protecting it since before history. we benefit from the land, it’s not there solely for the purpose of protecting the land, it’s there to make a profit as well. why are we so capitalist? even though the profit is not extreme, we took land from the first nation people, which is a profit for ourselves over time.

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sexual harassment is not surprising, yet very disturbing with the quickness that we dismiss each claim of it. It is very important that sexual harassment in the workplace is handled in an appropriate way, which I imagine is not the case for a majority of reported events. people should not be afraid of reporting sexual harassment for fear of repercussions. that should not be a reason to not report it. It’s obvious that the person who was a target of sexual harassment is the victim, and should not be considered the person who caused the event. now, I know it’s difficult to say something during a harassment claim, but this movement is making it easier to change the behavior

 

http://news.blr.com/app/uploads/sites/3/2018/01/Sexual-Harassment-Info.png

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during the Cohen trial, there was a point in which Cohen started saying that Donald Trump says racist things all the time. One Republican Mark Meadows got offended and said that he asked Lynne Patton to come today to show that Donald Trump has a black friend. Patton works for the administration of Trump and was asked to come in before any of the trials had taken place to refute Cohen’s claims of being racist. They were upset when they were backing a racist president when it was the truth knowing it was going to come up, they had to prepare and shoot down the fact that Trump said racist things.

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this was enlightening, though not all that surprising, violent crimes and police killings are not related. always being told that killings happen in bad neighborhoods appears to be just a myth. 13 of the largest cities have more murders committed by police that the US murder rate. in 2018 only 23 days went by without killings, if you thought that 342 murders aren’t that many, the number is actually significantly higher, meaning on the days of the murders multiple people were killed by police. 1,166 people died in 2018.  99% of killings by police have not been convicted of a crime.

in the England and Wales 33 killings have occurred- from 2004-2017. meaning that in 13 years the amount of killings is less than 3% in 13 years than what occurred in 1 year in the US

 

The part that i think people tend to forget is that this is not a new thing, this has been happening since as far back as you could go in this country. this is our history, and it’s hidden. we hear of every police officer killed, we can’t cover every murder they commit

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this picture is just so infuriating because there are lots of instances of people just labeling anyone who is not white as being illegal. this picture of people flicking off what is essentially just a symbol of white power. mount Rushmore was created on land that was originally Sioux sacred ground, that was signed to the Sioux people. that is until gold was found and then was forcibly given up to the government. the government gave the land then took it back, interesting there aren’t any terms that are called US giving.

the government fought the Sioux people over the land, signed it over, wrongfully took it back then blew up the sacred land, and scarred the mountain with faces of white assailants. Why shouldn’t they continue to be mad?

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most people know that white males are more likely to get a job, make more money than a black man with the same qualifications. however the reason I choose this photo is because according to the NAACP there is a higher chance for a white male felon to receive a call back for a job than that of a black man with the same qualifications without a felon. meaning that we trust white convicted felons more than we trust black males without any criminal record. when people are arrested for a crime and sent to prison their lives change dramatically, call backs are reduced by at least 50% for each individual. there is a movement called ban the box, which delays companies from asking about criminal records before the first interview. this has been adopted by 9 states which has increased getting jobs for individuals with criminal records.

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[TYLER GAY]

When Obama was in office there was a reporter who asked if his kids should receive benefits from affirmative action of course obama responded in the negative. later in the news it was reported that obama doesn’t believe in affirmative action. obviously obama, the president at that time, knew that his name carried prestige that would benefit his children. tokenism is a common theme that people use to detract from a larger group pointing and saying, “well they made it, so everyone can”

When hayakawa was president of the san francisco school, he was elected to say “look at the president he was is a person of color with a background similar to those with angst, no need to be upset anymore.” obviously hayakawa was chosen to detract from the problems that the students had with the school. this did not work as well as they had hoped.

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this is a representation of white flight over time in Compton, it used to be a majority white neighborhood. but over time it transitioned into a majority black neighborhood then into a majority Hispanic community. the graph comes from a website that talks about how over the span of a career of a police officer the community could change dramatically and not represent the demographics they are supposed to serve. This is a serious issue that comes up a lot throughout oppressed communities. this is a good representation of white flight in communities as well. the police in the area of Compton, from my experience, tend to continue to tend to be white while the neighborhood where I once resided tended to be Hispanic. There are not many white people who go to El Camino Compton campus, though there is El Camino college in Torrence which has a lot of white people there. when you are registered at one you automatically register to the other. the campus at El Camino Compton is 59% Hispanic 27% black 6% Asian 3% and 3% white while at the same college but the other campus in Torrance is 51% Hispanic 15% black 11% Asian 14% white. there is most of the funding goes to the Torrence campus, not the Compton campus, and it is immediately identifiable. most of the white people who live in Compton College attend colleges that are farther away.

picture from https://www.dolanconsultinggroup.com/news/your-department-doesnt-match-the-diversity-of-your-community/

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in Jeff chang’s it’s a hip hop world, he states that “Critics often call hip-hop materialistic, misogynistic, homophobic, racist, vulgar, and violent.” This quote made me think about the movie industry and how its glorification of gangsters. then how the Return to Mecca article talked about Spike Lee’s movie, Malcolm X, and how in the movie he misrepresents a large portion of Malcolm’s life and “in doing so, catered to Hollywood’s expectations about Blackness by spending a great deal of time on Malcolm as a hustler and “criminal.” But I don’t see any cause for this to be the expectation for blackness because Hollywood has been creating gangsters since early films. these films usually do well financially and win awards. obviously, there is racism at work here but how come it is such an issue when it is black people but when it is white people it is not criticized to the same degree?

 

I chose this particular picture because there is no face or person behind the clothes. what if the main character was a person of color as opposed to a white person or white-passing person?

[TYLER GAY]

this is the memorial of the 761st tank battalion during WW2 the people who made up this battalion were all black Americans. they trained in the deep south and obviously faced oppression throughout their training, being attacked by their fellow soldiers during training. (side note Jackie Robinson was originally part of this group but was removed due to his choice to not move to the back of the bus.) this group of soldiers fought to prove that black men were capable of what other men could do, they exceeded this far and away. they were one of the most efficient groups during combat even though their general thought black people were incapable. this group received 69 bronze stars 11 silver stars 296 purple hearts a medal of honor and the presidential unit citation. however the most prestigious of these rewards were given many years after the fact. the medal of honor wasn’t received until 1997 and the presidential unit citation wasn’t awarded until 1978. these black panthers, the nickname of the group, fought for integration in the military which was promptly given. now our military being able to use black bodies to fight its wars was probably easier for the powers in place to support but that shouldn’t diminish their efforts. the use of the name and imagery of the black panthers, who ended up fighting with white soldiers before the battalion was disbanded in 1955, was probably not a coincidence.

 

http://www.761st.com/18update/gallery/index.php/fthd001/PB0910048

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Terminal Island is a peninsula located on the border of San Pedro and long beach, this island became inhabited by about a dozen Japanese Americans in 1903 and started businesses that would end up thriving by 1940 when about 3000 people lived there. On February 19, 1942, the entire island was stolen from the people of Japanese descent. These American citizens were given 48 hours to pack up their things and leave the island, so as you can imagine in the pain and panic the people here were forced into difficult choices, which were not chosen. they lost their homes, their businesses, their community, and their freedom all by April. when they were released from the internment camps they were turned out like nothing wrong had been done in January 1945. In 1948 our Congress passed a law “the American Japanese claims act” that allowed the people to get back what they lost. this did not work, most people were limited to what they could take from their homes, and any documents that had to do with finances were likely not among what panicked people thought of. 26,568 claims were made for an estimated total of 140 million dollars and only an estimated 37 million was returned. people fought and were denied for reparations to be paid out, but finally, the civil liberties act of 1988 was passed out to each surviving prisoner was to be paid 20,000 dollars. only about 2/3 of those in the camps were given their money and mind you 40 years later, and wealth only accumulates over time and if you have it, plus this was likely not all the money each family was due, this is not enough but it was a start, and in 2007 400 million more dollars was paid out from our government to those affected by internment to address some of those who did not receive their payments.

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Administrators may search the student’s outer clothing — such as coats and jackets — pockets, backpacks and purses. That being said the 4 black students in question were stripped down one to their bra and another to her underwear by faculty members, the nurse, and the vice principal. This is a predominantly white neighborhood school. The reason for the search was suspicion of the possession of drugs, on the basis that they were laughing too much during lunch time. The reason is not important because the conduction was illegal and prejudice. The parents are fighting this through the school board, and have been attempted to be silenced. The kids do not feel safe anymore at the school, they want to leave it because they are uncomfortable on the campus. they have not been to school since. The parents want the faculty involved to be fired since they are the ones doing something illegal, these families should not have to change their school for some ridiculous act. A little extra anger on top of the story, the day this occurred was on January 15th, MLK’s birthday.

 

this photo was taken by Bob Joeseph

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I bring up this photo because these are two members of an organization called cop watch. This organization is supposed to record incidents with the police to make sure the police officers act in a respectful manner to the citizens they are interacting with. These groups do not look for police brutality though fight it in a non-violent way. It is legal to do this. I bring this up because this is sort of inspired by the acts that occurred during the civil rights movement. These videos that are made were not made to be enjoyed, they are there to make a difference, to cause change. In this case a change in behavior, our pocket video cameras are powerful tools to use to keep cops in line.

MLK and Malcolm X had to rely on media coverage, today we are granted certain privileges that let us become our own media. these are powerful tools. tools that police do not enjoy and can cause tensions, but why if someone is acting in a respectful lawful manner would they be angry?

 

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According to the Atlantic, the picture was taken January 15, 1971, which was 4 years before the Vietnam war ended and 4 years after the beyond Vietnam speech was given. Now for most of us, MLK day is a day that we have always had, but it was fought for, for nearly 20 years before it was observed in 1985. However, not all the states observe the day for exclusively for the remembrance of MLK some states present it as civil rights day as if the all civil rights protests are a thing of the past. For example, Alabama a state with a quarter of its population as black Americans celebrates MLK day with Robert E Lees bday on the same day diminishing the significance of the only federally observed day celebrating a person of color. The picture shows that significance that even in the shock of being in battle and fighting for a country that doesn’t respect them, they found time to find out his birthday and celebrate it together. MLK was an important human being in our nation, even though he was and is still hated by many people in our country.

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