Who Would Have Thought?

That I would care about the presidential election so much?  What with gender and race and so many other factors that have explicitely colored the coverage and progress of the presidential campaign, I guess I have some really strong feelings about what’s going on in Washington D.C. lately.

This article, by Melissa McEwan (via MaryTracy ), is one of the best articles I have ever read about the important decisions being made, and the fine lines being walked, by feminists and womanists all over the U.S. in regards to this presidential election.

It’s really tough being a woman, particularly a woman of color, and trying to wrap my head around the sexism and racism being made even more apparent because of this election. I just got my citizenship about 2 or so years ago, and I have been so jaded with the government and electoral system in this country that I haven’t bothered to vote. This particular quote from McEwan’s essay really struck me:

Shaker CE once said in comments, “Knowing that the alternative is worse actually makes it harder for me; it just reinforces that sense I often get from some Dems, including Sen. Obama in this cycle, that they think they can do whatever the fuck they like to me, because I don’t have any other option. The worst part? They’re right.”

They are right. And I am not sure I am going to vote this election either. That’s the most disturbing thing about this election: the decisions that many of us feminists have to make are extremely difficult and complex. And I am tired of being threatened, cajoled, and manipulated by self-proclaimed “liberals” into supporting a presidential candidate (i.e. Obama) that has benefitted passively and actively from sexism and misogyny.

This sandnigger bitch is not takin’ that white liberal male bullshit anymore. Thanks.

Just go read the McEwan essay! Go, go, go!

I love love love Staceyann Chin

Listen to her. You will see that her passionate and honest words have everything to do with my first post and discussion in the comments.

“…A revolution once pregnant with expectation flounders,
Apathetic and individualistic, no one knows where to vote
Or what to vote for anymore,
The faces that now represent us,
have now begun to look like the ones who used to burn crosses,
and beat bulldaggers
and fuck faggots up the ass with loaded guns…”

Thanks for the inspiration ekitty

Never trust liberal white men

 

Oh yeahh, totally seeing the "satire".... :/

 

So some idiot who thinks he’s the smartest and most edumacated person (re: white male) in the world says this.

Satire?  Really?  Where, exactly?  There is no frame of reference, no juxtaposed image of, say, racist sexist wife-beating McCain* to make this a satire.  Must everything that’s straight up offensive, racist, and misogynist be labeled “satire” by privileged white males who never suffer the effects or consequences of these horrid images and stereotypes?

What you’ve got here is basically a pin up poster for tons of racist and sexist bigots and conservatives here in this country.  I am no genious, but I am certainly not among “the basest” of American society.  Oh, I GET this poster:  it’s racist, sexist BS.

People like me, ya know, angry good-for-nothin’ sandnigger raghead camel jockeys, are the ones who suffer directly from the perpetuation of this racist bullshit.  With the prevalence of racist and Islamophobic stereotyping, abuse, and hate crimes in this country, how can a cover like this on The New Yorker be anything but offensive, downright irresponsible, and a slap in the face to African Americans, Muslims, and peoples of Middle Eastern descent?  White male liberals like the author of the above-mentioned article (Knowles) can bask in their self-righteous glory, unharmed by the effects of these racist images, all the while believing that they are incapable of racism and bigotry, and that only the “basest” (I guess Knowles is referring vaguely to working-class/formerly-uneducated white people :/ ) among Americans wouldn’t be “in on the joke.”

Screw you, and your arrogant white male writing, Knowles. 

Something else important:  anyone notice too the light brown highlights in Michelle Obama’s afro?  Allusion to Angela Davis, much?  For those of you not as familiar with African American/women’s herstory, Davis has been an outspoken activist and writer against sexism, racism, classism, and the prison establishment for years now.  She was, and still is, considered such a threat to governmental white male hegemony that she was thrown in prison years ago based on false charges of intent to murder the President.  Oh, and to add insult to injury, observe the portrait of Osama Bin Laden (or is that the Ayatollah?) above an American flag burning in the fireplace.  Looks like white Americans are scared of what might happen to the White House should Black and/or mixed race folk run it.  If Blackness or Browness is the downfall of American government and society, one must wonder what many (white) Americans think America stands for….

*McCain has made jokes about beating his wife and lots of other wretched stuff, so his being depicted as a wife-beating bigot is not a stereotype so much as very likely.

P.S.: This is my first blog post ever.  How do I create links?  I tried the whole < and href thing and it didn’t work.  If you have any solutions to this problem, let me know.  Thanks!