McCain Chose Palin?!

Palin? Okay, I know I’m not remotely a Republican, but this makes no sense to me. Why would he pick someone who is already under investigation for possibly trying to illegally use her clout as his VP? I can see the theory of “Well it’s a woman” but now we’re back to “This woman?!” which isn’t exactly helpful IMO. Not only is she under investigation, by all accounts she has even less experience than Obama in a major office (she was mayor of a small town before becoming Governor) and given McCain’s age I have to say I’d have preferred he pick a woman with more experience and no ongoing scandals if I were a Republican voter.

I’m not in love with Obama’s choice of Biden, but I can understand the reasoning behind it. Biden brings a lot to the table in terms of attracting those voters that had issues with Obama’s experience level as well as voters that just weren’t going to like voting for a MOC. And while I suppose in theory the thought process behind choosing Palin is to attract those disgruntled Hilary supporters that say they won’t vote for Obama if Hilary is not on the ticket, one would think he’d have chosen a woman with an ideology closer to theirs since Palin is firmly anti-choice and by all accounts a creationist. I suppose she could appeal to the more conservative elements of the Republican constituency, but I wouldn’t think the hard line right wing would be willing to vote for a woman. Thoughts? Points I’m missing?

Karnythia is a writer, a historian, and occasionally a loud mouth. In between raising hell and raising kids she usually manages to find time to contemplate the meaning of life as a black woman in America. Her posts on any topic can be found at her Livejournal.

Of History and Hope

There’s a lot of actual political discussion that I’ll bring to the table in the months to come. And I know I’ve been an awful blogger lately (Real life has been hectic and I’ve been piling on other writing projects aside from this blog and my LJ. Because my eyes are bigger than my figurative stomach.) but I just need to say how awesome it is to watch this moment with my 9 year old son. I never imagined that the day would come that a guy that looks like us could actually be the nominee for a major political party. I’m so proud of America today. And yes, I know that this moment doesn’t magically fix any of the existing problems in America, but I’m still so awed to see America come this far. I promise to be eloquent and critical and analytical later. But right now I’m just awed by this moment.

Karnythia is a writer, a historian, and occasionally a loud mouth. In between raising hell and raising kids she usually manages to find time to contemplate the meaning of life as a black woman in America. Her posts on any topic can be found at her Livejournal.

Biden? Wait, BIDEN?!

Biden?

Biden of:

-”the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean” fame? and

-”You cannot go into a 7-11 or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. Oh, I’m not joking.” and

-Who didn’t even realize that his own state, Delaware, was in the Union and not the Confederacy? And who tried to cite this erroneous membership in the Confederacy as a positive credential??

…F%$king BIDEN?!

The state of PoC on TV: better or worse?

This makes me afraid. Very afraid. In concept it sounds good:

Percy Miller (formerly Master P) announces the launch of Better Black Television (BBTV) a family friendly network that will provide positive content for a black and brown culture that will appeal to all races with a goal to bring people of color a choice when turning on their television.

But… Master P’s running it. Master P. I mean, come on.

Shake what you got in them jeans (them jeans)
Girl grab the wall, then shake it like a dog
Shake what you got in them jeans (them jeans)
Girl grab the wall, then shake it like a dog
Shake what you got in them jeans (oh yeah)
Girl grab the wall, then shake it like a dog
Shake what you got in them jeans (oh yeah)
From the front to the back, girl you know what I mean

From “Them Jeans”

…Hmm.

Anyway, this touched off a conversation between my cousin and myself about the state of television for PoC now versus 30 years ago. It seemed to both of us that there were more PoC on TV back when we were kids (in the 1970s, right after the Civil Rights movement) than there are now. They were not good depictions back then — one-dimensional, prone to early death, bizarrely good at martial arts — but they were depictions. These days it seems hard even to get that much. Blackarazzi noticed the change, too:

There was a time when diversity seemed to come naturally to prime time. The social consciousness of the ’70s spawned successful sitcoms like The Jeffersons, Good Times, and Sanford and Son; the ’80s brought living-in-harmony comedy Diff’rent Strokes and the ultimate breakthrough TV family on The Cosby Show. But a long fallow period (dominated by Cheers, Seinfeld, and Friends) followed until 1999, when the networks announced another particularly white fall lineup (The West Wing, Freaks and Geeks, Once and Again) — and minority groups revolted.

Thus prompting a brief resurgence in which we saw a few more brown faces appear. But that resurgence seems to have faded again.

Or has it? I’ll put the question to you folks, then. Are PoC on TV better off now than they were 30 years ago?

Smarter people than me

Sorry for being quiet lately, ya’ll. I can’t speak for the other guest bloggers at ABW, but for my own part this summer has been insane, and won’t be slowing down for awhile. In part my problem is overcommitment; I’m working full-time while also trying to write full-time (uh… guess I should mention sometime that I got a book deal, huh?), and that’s leaving me just enough leftover time to eat, sleep, and occasionally have a life. So in lieu of writing interesting new content for you myself, I shall direct you to fun stuff I’ve seen in the last few days.

First and foremost: last week was International Blog Against Racism Week (IBARW) 3, this time on the theme of “intersectionality”. (My own humble contribution here.) So if you’re starved for stuff to read here, there’s lots of good stuff to read there, including some personal faves:

• A fan video about the absence of Asian characters in a certain popular science fiction TV series. Y’know, whenever I heard this song, growing up, I actually thought that was what they were singing.
• While the Helix Islamophobia controversy was blowing up in speculative fictionland, there was a separate-but-equal Islamophobia blowup in romance fictionland. I swear, do these people synchronize or something?
• We hear a lot here on ABW from people in other countries who like to point at US racism and say, “How sad! There’s nothing like that here.” Some of them are from Canada. A response.
• The ever-amazing Coffeeandink on the stupidity of fiction, etc., that purports to address race allegorically yet ignores it in actuality.

And unrelated to IBARW, but still illuminating:

-Brownfemipower on the John Edwards cheating controversy. I’d been dismissing this as yet another attempt by the right and the MSM to handwave a president who’s killed thousands and bankrupted the country by raising the terrifying specter of an almost-president who ::gasp:: got laid, but BFP’s got some really good points here. I’m rethinking my position.

-Gacked from Pam Noles, who gacked from Angry Asian Man, both of whom you should gack this from because it’s just well done; pass it on:

Enjoy!