June 26, 2017

If Asians Said The Stuff White People Say

June 25, 2017

If you're feeling stressed, listen to this song and calm down

Marconi Union - Weightless

June 25, 2017

In Castile shooting, a 4-year-old gives her mother 'The Talk'

(CNN)A four-year-old girl was left to protect her mother in the only way she knew how: by telling her mom to be just a little more perfect, a survival tactic many black parents have felt forced to teach their children in an America in which dark skin is still too frequently seen as threatening.

"Mom, please stop cussing and screaming 'cause I don't want you to get shooted," the little girl told her mother, Diamond Reynolds, a woman who had just seen her boyfriend, Philando Castile, killed for no good reason.

The little girl's pleading is the logical end to a respectability politics impressed upon black people even though it will never keep us safe. Black people have been told, repeatedly and over centuries, that if we are just a little better, dress a little better, study a little harder, be a bit more compliant and adopt more middle-class white values, we will be allowed to keep breathing.

Under no circumstances should we scare white people or make them, or others in positions of power, uncomfortable -- because it would be unfair to those powerful people.

It's why so many black parents have stressed to their children to make sure their hands are on the steering wheel, to remember to say yes sir and yes ma'am -- just as Castile did before he was shot and Reynolds did as her boyfriend bled to death -- to make no sudden movements, to make eye contact only if the officer wants them to make eye contact. Don't worry about your supposedly constitutionally-protected rights, just survive, these parents have preached.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/22/opinions/castile-shooting-4-year-old-response-bailey/index.html

There's a powerful video of a 4 year old girl who just witnessed her calm respectful law-abiding dad's public execution comfort her mother and not want her to get shot too.

June 23, 2017

Canadian Woman Demands 'White Doctor' in Video Captured at Walk-In Clinic

A Canadian woman at a walk-in clinic on Sunday demanded that her son be treated by a "white doctor," launching into a rant that was captured on video as others in the waiting room accused her of being "extremely rude and racist."

"Can I see a doctor please that's white, that doesn't have brown teeth, that speaks English?" the woman said in the video captured at the Rapid Access to Medical Specialists clinic in Mississauga, Ontario.

"You're telling me there's not one white doctor in this whole entire building?" she said to clinic staffers who told her that she would have to wait a few hours if she wanted to see a pediatrician who is white. "There's nobody that's Canadian? Nobody that was born here?" the woman added.

The woman, who has not been publicly identified, claimed that a previous doctor could not understand her and did not properly treat her son, who was suffering from chest pains. "He was not speaking English. His teeth were brown. I do not need his help," she said.

The video shows witnesses in the waiting room confronting the woman, accusing her of setting a poor example for her son and telling her to seek medical treatment elsewhere.

"Seeing it so openly, without any fear, in front of so many people, without even fearing that someone can report her – it was really shocking," Hitesh Bhardwaj, who recorded the video, told CTV Toronto.

http://time.com/4827286/canadian-woman-demands-white-doctor-video/

America is becoming so great that deplorable behavior is expanding northward. Or Canada isn't always as liberal as they would have us believe.

The woman was identified later as having a mixed race child and an Indian-Trinidadian boyfriend/baby daddy. She might like dating brown guys but doesn't like brown people otherwise. It's a strange concept.

Or when people get upset and frustrated, it brings out the bigotry and prejudice they've been quietly feeling inside but kept hidden.

The video also shows when she decided that she was the real victim being attacked and outnumbered by dangerous people. In America, people have been shot and killed for less.

June 23, 2017

Joe Cunningham for Congress Announcement Video

South Carolina, against Mark Sanford.

Democrats should compete everywhere. Just in case a big blue wave comes along we can ride it to victory.

June 23, 2017

Paul Ryan's Opponent in Wisconsin Is a Union Ironworker Who Just Launched the Campaign Ad of the Yea

Meet Randy Bryce, a union iron worker, Army veteran, and mustache owner.

When Speaker of the House and Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan isn't busy taking your health care away, he's trying to give rich people tax cuts while screwing over the poor. Well, it turns out he's going to have some competition for his seat in 2018 and it's as if his opponent was built in a lab from a mix of Springsteen lyrics and "I hate Democrats, but there's something about this guy I like," statements from Republicans. Randy Bryce is a union iron worker, a U.S. Army veteran, and a badass with an awesome mustache that serves as the namesake of his Twitter account: @IronStache. And now he's released an ad announcing his candidacy and it's two minutes and twenty seconds of what might be the most compelling and effective political ad I've seen in a long time.

In a statement to the Washington Post, Bryce said:
"My values are my neighbors’ values, and we know that Washington has gotten way off track. Whether it’s healthcare, jobs, national security, education, or the environment, there’s not one issue where Paul Ryan and Donald Trump are headed in the right direction. It’s time for a change in Congress.”

Now granted, Bryce has lost in previous runs for state level office, but in a post-Trump world this kind of outsider voice seems very likely to resonate. I mean how can you not be moved by a phrase like, "Let's trade places. Paul Ryan, you can come work the iron and I'll go to D.C."

http://www.gq.com/story/randy-bryce-paul-ryan-campaign-ad

June 22, 2017

Bank dividends are near all-time highs

President Trump has condemned the Dodd-Frank rules placed on Wall Street as a "disaster" that have prevented banks from lending money to cash-starved businesses.

House Republicans responded by passing the Financial Choice Act, a bill that would gut many of Dodd-Frank's post-crisis safeguards in an effort to accelerate the sluggish U.S. economy.

But banks have more cash than they know what to do with these days. American banks raked in record profits last year.

More tellingly, banks handed out $102.8 billion in dividends to shareholders in 2016, according to the FDIC. That's the third-highest amount on record, going back to 1984. It is just shy of the all-time high of $110.4 billion shelled out in 2007, the year before the financial meltdown.

Bank dividends crumbled in half in 2008, sinking to $51.1 billion, FDIC stats show. But they rebounded steadily following that, even after Congress passed Dodd-Frank in 2010.

"Banks have plenty of extra money for expanding their lending. They choose not to lend that money, instead 'returning capital' to their shareholders," Cornell University law professor Saule Omarova told the Senate banking committee last week.



...

"Dodd-Frank was a very, very positive thing for the industry. We now have one of the stronger banking industries in the world because of it," said Charles Peabody, an analyst at Compass Point Research & Trading.

http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/22/investing/bank-dividends/index.html?iid=hp-stack-dom

Who's ready for Trump to make America great again like it was before those job killing financial regulations? What could go wrong?

June 22, 2017

Tempted to ask strangers 'where they are really from?' Here's why you shouldn't

“Where are you really from?” is a question you are likely to hear if you are not (perceived as) white. This is a person’s terrible way of trying to figure out what, rather than who, someone is. It is usually reserved for people of color—often those people whose looks are just racially or ethnically ambiguous enough to be confusing to those who have a very inappropriate need to know someone else’s heritage or cultural background. Now before you get upset about this (and someone most certainly will)—you should know that there is a difference between being curious and being nosy and racially insensitive. We all get curious about other people. It’s human nature. But asking someone this particular question is not the best way to help you connect with them—even if they don’t get offended.

The question “where are you from” in itself can be fairly benign. Sometimes it simply means what town are you from or what part of the country are you from. But sometimes, for the person on the receiving end of the question, the impact can be the implication that they are not from “here.” “Here” can mean many things. Not from “here” as in this particular town, this particular state, this particular country. This question, though seemingly harmless, inadvertently taps into a sense of belonging—especially if you are a minority. Minorities are often burdened by explaining themselves to people in the majority as well as feeling alienated by the constant reminder that they don’t belong. The question “where are you really from” (emphasis on the really) overwhelmingly implies as sense of foreignness. As in, “I don’t believe you or your people can possibly be from “here” (wherever “here” is).

Presumably there are some people out there having a knee-jerk reaction to reading this. After all, this is a time where everyone’s sensitivities are heightened and with good reason. Since Trump’s election, hate crimes are on the rise. According to CNN, “of the nearly 1,400 hate crimes and bias incidents the Southern Poverty Law Center has tracked since the 2016 presidential election, anti-immigrant incidents were the most reported, followed by anti-black incidents.” Trump has incited violence because of his xenophobic, racist rhetoric. People of color are terrified for their physical safety and mental/emotional well-being. Asking someone “where they are really from” may be triggering and scary, in addition to annoying. It is a question that strangers don’t have a right to ask and shouldn’t feel entitled to.

But this also brings up many feelings about talking about race. As a country, we don’t do this well—at all. And well-meaning white people who often ask this question (though its a question that is certainly not limited to whites), may feel attacked because telling them that they engage in racist, microaggressive behavior evokes discomfort and denial.


https://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/6/20/1673497/-Tempted-to-ask-strangers-where-they-are-really-from-Here-s-why-you-shouldn-t

I can tell a lot about the people who ask this question. If they accept the US state/region I give them, then it's OK and we move on. But if they persist (nevertheless they persisted) and want to know where I came from before I was born, then I know they are probably voted for Trump. Most minorities and children/grandchildren of immigrants know to ask "where is your family from?" instead.

It is easily the biggest problem I face in my career where some of us have security clearances and others are guest workers on visas. And some people have built their careers on pretending there is no difference.

June 20, 2017

Where are you 'really' from? Try another question (perpetual foreigner)

(CNN)For many Americans, making small talk usually means avoiding any discussion about politics, religion or money. But asking about a person's race or ethnicity, it seems, is still fair game.

"Where are you from?" asked a taxi driver recently as we crawled through snarled traffic in Manhattan.
"New York," I told him.
He looked at me in his rear-view mirror and asked again.
"No, where are you from?" he persisted. "Where are your parents from?"
I understood the question was about my race. Despite being born in New York City, I get asked where I'm "from" often.
I have light skin, a broad nose, full lips, thick dark wavy hair and dark brown eyes. I am a Latina of Puerto Rican descent, which means I could have European, Native American and African ancestry. To many, I'm racially ambiguous. So I am often asked a version of this question.
It's exhausting.
And, it turns out, I'm not alone in feeling that way.

...
"The impact to the person receiving that persistent questioning is that you are not a true American, you are a perpetual foreigner in your own country," Columbia Professor Derald Sue told me. The people asking those questions generally don't have bad intentions, said Sue, but "they are not in contact with their unconscious world view that only true Americans look a certain way: blond hair, blue eyes."
If a person of color challenges the question or refuses to answer will they be seen as difficult? I am sure many people reading this column will say, "Sheesh, it was just an innocent question."
Except it isn't always.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/20/opinions/where-are-you-really-from-vega-opinion/index.html

It has serious career ramifications for those of us pursuing jobs that require US Citizenship.

And it has serious irritations for those of us who are falsely assumed to be on work visas, or that Trumpers are going to deport us somewhere, anywhere will do.

Being harassed at airports and border crossings is as American as apple pie for someone whose Christian Biblical name doesn't match our brown face. Working in the IT field with brown skin is a daily exercise in restraint from punching someone in the face. I work with a lot of brown Americans, some are military veterans or played football in college but are still somehow stealing jobs away from real Americans.

June 20, 2017

Debunking the perpetual foreigner myth

San Francisco. My mother’s womb. None of your business.

These are the answers I want to give when I’m asked, “Where are you really from?”

But, because I lack the nerve and am too afraid of upsetting the other person, I don’t.

A couple of months ago, I was at a church in Mount Vernon when the man in front of me turned around to greet me.

“Ni Hao,” he said.

“Good morning,” I replied, forcing a tight smile.

“Oh,” he frowned, clearly disappointed. “You’re not from China?”

“Nope.”

“So where are you from?”

“California.”

“No, where are you really from?”

I sighed internally.

“San Francisco,” I said. “I was born here; I’m actually a fifth generation American.”

The man lowered his head in embarrassment and turned away. Later, in the middle of a hymn, he looked back at me.

“I hope you don’t think I’m racist,” he whispered.

http://www.jhunewsletter.com/2017/04/13/debunking-the-perpetual-foreigner-myth/

Easily the biggest problem I face in my career with government contracting and security clearances. It shocks people when they find out my accent and birth certificate are as fake as President Obama's. Unfortunately too many DUers also believe I'm stealing jobs away from Americans despite being born here.