Obama is Set to Have US Boycott the UN Racism Conference
By Davey D
This is serious, very serious and has long term implications in terms of how we get perceived both internally and externally. Here in these United States, President Obama has received more death threats than any other president in history. There have been 3 thwarted attempts on his life from white supremacists. It was just last week that someone was arrested for sending him a vile of blood that was tainted with AIDs. In the same week we saw a California Mayor send Obama as well as people on his own staff a postcard depicting the White House lawn with watermelons. That of course came on the heels of the NY Post allowing a cartoon of two white cops shooting a chimp and then remarking that they need someone else to write a Stimulus Bill.
All this has happened just to President Barack Obama in a week's time. We won't even get into a lengthy discussion about the incendiary remarks of Rush Limbaugh and the prime time newscasters openly saying Limbaugh is speaking for the 'angry' white male in America. Angry about what? The Recession? Conniving Wall Street bankers? A housing market in crisis with record number of foreclosures? Or the fact that a Black man is the leader of the free world?
We have all this anger directed at Obama and we have not even begun to talk about the day to day racism that so many people in this country are experiencing. Oftentimes we talk about race in terms of Black and White, but there is plenty of anger, hatred and resulting legislation and outright acts of intolerance and violence directed at Latinos in this country. It was just the other night while sitting on a plane that an elderly white woman felt comfortable enough to tell me that the biggest problem in this country are Mexicans. She went on and on about Mexican women having too many kids and how they basically need to be shut down. I thought to myself how strange for this white woman to talk to me so openly and so distastefully about folks who are probably facing the same types of oppression and challenges I'm facing.
I thought about it and realized, she probably thought she'd get a sympathetic ear because it's no big secret that in many parts of this country in particular Southern Cali, there's major tension between Black and Brown. I didn't give her the satisfaction and held it down for La Raza and checked her, but at the same time noted that any serious discussion about race a racism conference has to include dialogue about the types of tensions that exists between groups who find themselves oppressed by the same outside forces. The remnants of colonialism, Willie Lynch, Cointel-Pro and other divide and conquer tactics have impacted us all in ways that can only began to be better understood by kicking off dialogue.
It was just this past weekend at the Powershift convention in Washington DC where over 12 thousand people showed up, enthusiastic and ready for change, that I saw an overwhelming sea of white folks talking about Green jobs and climate change. I saw very few outside the Bay, New York and Pittsburgh involved with the Environmental Justice movement present. I went around asking where all the folks of color were and started naming organizations, like PODER in Texas, Southwest Network, Communities for a Better Environment, Chinese etc and I got a lot of blank stares. No one seemed to know. Then I started hearing the grumblings about the lack of diversity. And so while there were some folks of color speaking on the stage, we saw an ongoing saga of exclusion play itself out with more than a few folks of color talking about race being a factor for the under representation. Such things need to be discussed.
It was just two days before President Obama's Inauguration that I had a conversation with Richard Burton who is the US Ambassador from Ireland. We had a conversation about the way the world could improve under President Obama and he went on and on talking about countries in Europe. I asked him if he saw positive outlook in Africa and he told me to my face and on the air that Africa was too corrupt. He said the too many officials are allowing their economy to be corrupted.
I responded by pointing out that certainly he couldn't mean very single country in Africa and even so, couldn't we make the case about financial corruption being the cause of our own woes here in the western world. Dude looked me in the eye and said
Africa is corrupt, what we had in the US was a simple mistake. 'A simple mistake?' I asked
'Yes', he said. Our Wall Street collapse is the result of a simple mistake.
As I think back to that conversation and note that this man is an Ambassador, then the need for dialogue at a racism conference screams loud and clear.
We could go on listing anecdotes. What I find most disturbing about the US pulling out is the heavy handed influence of AIPAC, the Israeli lobby. They have been on Obama's ass like there's no tomorrow and the end result is that we now have a Black man who's father comes from a country that underwent horrific, brutal colonial rule (Kenya) and who's wife comes from a land that was built off the back of slaves where evidence of the dehumanizing supremacist attitude that allowed it to exist is still felt, is boycotting a racism conference. The conditions he put forth are all reference of Israel and reparations for slavery be dropped.
Yep you read that right. This is all coming from a country where many of its people underwent unspeakable horrors of the Holocaust where folks where burned in ovens, yet turned right around and had no problem supporting and overriding vetoes to cripple South Africa when Apartheid was in effect. And now with all the racism including anti-semtism still lingering pressured this man to pull out.
I am speechless and have nothing less to say as I shake my head and say 'wow-what's really going on?
Keep in mind as you read this that it was a little over two weeks ago that President Obama's Attorney General Eric Holder called for a national discussion on race. he said folks were cowards for not dealing with this head on.
Well while Obama is boycotting at least we have author Bakari Kitwana and his Rap Sessions organization touring the country holding a discussions on race. His line up includes everyone from MC Serch to Rosa Clemente to M1 of dead prez. Perhaps they should make that trip to Geneva and cop a spot and let the world know that not everyone gives into Israel and AIPAC. And not everyone in this country is afraid of having honest discussions about race.
Davey D
Obama Administration to Boycott UN Racism Conference
From Democracy Now!
Obama Administration to Boycott UN Racism Conference:
The Obama administration has announced that the United States will boycott the World Conference Against Racism in Geneva next month, unless its final document drops all references to Israel and reparations for slavery.
Israel and Canada have already announced plans to boycott the UN
conference. In 2001, Bush administration diplomats walked out of the
conference in Durban, South Africa after delegates proposed a resolution
likening Zionism to racism.
AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, praised President Obama's decision. The group said, "The event, which has again proven to be a celebration of racism and vile anti-Semitic activity, is further evidence of the U.N.'s inability to demonstrate any semblance of fairness or objectivity on these issues when it comes to the Jewish State."
By Davey D
This is serious, very serious and has long term implications in terms of how we get perceived both internally and externally. Here in these United States, President Obama has received more death threats than any other president in history. There have been 3 thwarted attempts on his life from white supremacists. It was just last week that someone was arrested for sending him a vile of blood that was tainted with AIDs. In the same week we saw a California Mayor send Obama as well as people on his own staff a postcard depicting the White House lawn with watermelons. That of course came on the heels of the NY Post allowing a cartoon of two white cops shooting a chimp and then remarking that they need someone else to write a Stimulus Bill.
All this has happened just to President Barack Obama in a week's time. We won't even get into a lengthy discussion about the incendiary remarks of Rush Limbaugh and the prime time newscasters openly saying Limbaugh is speaking for the 'angry' white male in America. Angry about what? The Recession? Conniving Wall Street bankers? A housing market in crisis with record number of foreclosures? Or the fact that a Black man is the leader of the free world?
We have all this anger directed at Obama and we have not even begun to talk about the day to day racism that so many people in this country are experiencing. Oftentimes we talk about race in terms of Black and White, but there is plenty of anger, hatred and resulting legislation and outright acts of intolerance and violence directed at Latinos in this country. It was just the other night while sitting on a plane that an elderly white woman felt comfortable enough to tell me that the biggest problem in this country are Mexicans. She went on and on about Mexican women having too many kids and how they basically need to be shut down. I thought to myself how strange for this white woman to talk to me so openly and so distastefully about folks who are probably facing the same types of oppression and challenges I'm facing.
I thought about it and realized, she probably thought she'd get a sympathetic ear because it's no big secret that in many parts of this country in particular Southern Cali, there's major tension between Black and Brown. I didn't give her the satisfaction and held it down for La Raza and checked her, but at the same time noted that any serious discussion about race a racism conference has to include dialogue about the types of tensions that exists between groups who find themselves oppressed by the same outside forces. The remnants of colonialism, Willie Lynch, Cointel-Pro and other divide and conquer tactics have impacted us all in ways that can only began to be better understood by kicking off dialogue.
It was just this past weekend at the Powershift convention in Washington DC where over 12 thousand people showed up, enthusiastic and ready for change, that I saw an overwhelming sea of white folks talking about Green jobs and climate change. I saw very few outside the Bay, New York and Pittsburgh involved with the Environmental Justice movement present. I went around asking where all the folks of color were and started naming organizations, like PODER in Texas, Southwest Network, Communities for a Better Environment, Chinese etc and I got a lot of blank stares. No one seemed to know. Then I started hearing the grumblings about the lack of diversity. And so while there were some folks of color speaking on the stage, we saw an ongoing saga of exclusion play itself out with more than a few folks of color talking about race being a factor for the under representation. Such things need to be discussed.
It was just two days before President Obama's Inauguration that I had a conversation with Richard Burton who is the US Ambassador from Ireland. We had a conversation about the way the world could improve under President Obama and he went on and on talking about countries in Europe. I asked him if he saw positive outlook in Africa and he told me to my face and on the air that Africa was too corrupt. He said the too many officials are allowing their economy to be corrupted.
I responded by pointing out that certainly he couldn't mean very single country in Africa and even so, couldn't we make the case about financial corruption being the cause of our own woes here in the western world. Dude looked me in the eye and said
Africa is corrupt, what we had in the US was a simple mistake. 'A simple mistake?' I asked
'Yes', he said. Our Wall Street collapse is the result of a simple mistake.
As I think back to that conversation and note that this man is an Ambassador, then the need for dialogue at a racism conference screams loud and clear.
We could go on listing anecdotes. What I find most disturbing about the US pulling out is the heavy handed influence of AIPAC, the Israeli lobby. They have been on Obama's ass like there's no tomorrow and the end result is that we now have a Black man who's father comes from a country that underwent horrific, brutal colonial rule (Kenya) and who's wife comes from a land that was built off the back of slaves where evidence of the dehumanizing supremacist attitude that allowed it to exist is still felt, is boycotting a racism conference. The conditions he put forth are all reference of Israel and reparations for slavery be dropped.
Yep you read that right. This is all coming from a country where many of its people underwent unspeakable horrors of the Holocaust where folks where burned in ovens, yet turned right around and had no problem supporting and overriding vetoes to cripple South Africa when Apartheid was in effect. And now with all the racism including anti-semtism still lingering pressured this man to pull out.
I am speechless and have nothing less to say as I shake my head and say 'wow-what's really going on?
Keep in mind as you read this that it was a little over two weeks ago that President Obama's Attorney General Eric Holder called for a national discussion on race. he said folks were cowards for not dealing with this head on.
Well while Obama is boycotting at least we have author Bakari Kitwana and his Rap Sessions organization touring the country holding a discussions on race. His line up includes everyone from MC Serch to Rosa Clemente to M1 of dead prez. Perhaps they should make that trip to Geneva and cop a spot and let the world know that not everyone gives into Israel and AIPAC. And not everyone in this country is afraid of having honest discussions about race.
Davey D
Obama Administration to Boycott UN Racism Conference
From Democracy Now!
Obama Administration to Boycott UN Racism Conference:
The Obama administration has announced that the United States will boycott the World Conference Against Racism in Geneva next month, unless its final document drops all references to Israel and reparations for slavery.
Israel and Canada have already announced plans to boycott the UN
conference. In 2001, Bush administration diplomats walked out of the
conference in Durban, South Africa after delegates proposed a resolution
likening Zionism to racism.
AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, praised President Obama's decision. The group said, "The event, which has again proven to be a celebration of racism and vile anti-Semitic activity, is further evidence of the U.N.'s inability to demonstrate any semblance of fairness or objectivity on these issues when it comes to the Jewish State."
Cartoons like this that were sent out via the NY Post speaks volumes as to why we should not be boycotting a conference on racism..
Rampant racism is how a fat douche bag clown like this gets to espouse racially charged rhetoric on the public airwaves while skirt ingthe law and not
do jail time for using illegally gotten drugs. He has been described as the voice for the angry white man
birthday. Not
the time for a European swing.
Oh, you're not getting worried yet???? 
