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Monday, May 23, 2011

Why the Richard Showers Incident is about White Privilege

"Well, there's a certain mean spiritness that's out there, not only in Alabama but it's in America. And that makes this election extremely important."~ Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders (D)

These prophetic words by Senator Sanders haunt me because they exemplify what happens to African Americans and liberal Democrats, not only in the case of Huntsville City Council member Dr. Richard Showers, Jr., but in Alabama, and our country.

Senator Sanders words caused an uproar, or as my Daddy says, a whole lot of pigs started squealing, because he spoke the truth. Instead of Anderson Cooper and others focusing on WHAT was said, they chose to focus on WHO said it, because that was  easier for the panel of pundits to discuss.


Cooper asked Sanders what evidence he had that the Republican opponents would take Alabama back to Jim Crow days. Sanders said, "Well, there's a certain mean spiritness that's out there, not only in Alabama but it's in America. And that makes this election extremely important." Which is true, but not at all what the robocall said. Following the interview with Sanders, Cooper continued to discuss "race in the race" with a panel of pundits.
There is a certain mean spiritness that's out there, not only in Alabama but it's in America, and it's being enabled by the predominately white male dominated mainstream media. Which is why I find the lack of diversity in the mainstream media appalling because they promote racist stereotypes like this;
It not a way to feel it's to show you and others what is really going on!!!! You like to write these stories of how blacks are done wrong etc. it's not as bad as it was. There have been improvements and yes we could do a bit better but with that said look at situations were whites are treated unfair in order to get the so called ratio up etc.The more important story is black on black crime, absent fathers, the uneducated blacks, when there is free money and programs everywhere for the black man or woman but most do not take advantage because we as a society have gotten them use to a handout (whites too) like welfare etc. Why work when the government will pay the bills? It's an entitlement society!!! If all you know is to apply for free money health care etc when will anyone better themselves? It's called FREE WILL but most do not have it.

And this;
Gerrymandering. It's ugly and it's unhealthy, no matter which party does it.

Gerrymandering is a practice of political corruption that attempts to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating geographic boundaries to create partisan, incumbent-protected, and neutral districts. To equate the creation of minority voting districts in accordance with the Voting Rights Act with corruption is not only racist it's wrong.
Following the 1964 election, a variety of civil rights organizations banded together to push for the passage of legislation that would ensure black voting rights once and for all. The campaign to bring about federal intervention to prevent discrimination in voting culminated in the voting rights protests in Selma, Alabama, and the famous Selma to Montgomery marches. Demonstrations also brought out white violence, and Jimmie Lee Jackson, James Reeb, and Viola Liuzzo were murdered. President Lyndon B. Johnson, in a dramatic joint-session address, called upon Congress to enact a strong voting rights bill. Johnson's administration drafted a bill intended to enforce the 14th and 15th Amendments, aiming to eliminate various previously legal strategies to prevent blacks and other minorities from voting.
There are some who want to believe the Richard Showers incident is not about racism, but about an ethics violations. It's just a coincidence the violations were filed the day after Showers protested a wrecker service contract award accusing the company owner of unethical conduct. They want us to believe Richard Showers is unethical in an attempt to destroy his credibility.

It's takes power to exercise white privilege. Showers encountered white privilege from the time he protested the award of the contract, to trying to help his daughter in emergency in the aftermath of the deadly tornadoes. All the press about Huntsville/Madison County residents pulling together and helping each other after the devastating tornadoes was nothing but spin.
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Huntsville City Councilman Richard Showers may have violated state ethics law by allowing his daughter to get gas at a government fuel terminal on the day after the tornado.
City Attorney Peter Joffrion reported the April 28 incident to the Alabama Ethics Commission on Friday. The Times obtained a copy of the two-page letter through an open records request.
According to the letter, Showers and his daughter drove in separate vehicles to a generator-powered city fueling station on Governors Drive -- one of the few places in town that had gas in the immediate aftermath of the storm. Two Huntsville police officers were posted there to ensure that only city employees providing "essential public services" got fuel.
The letter says Showers called City Administrator Rex Reynolds after being told he could not refuel both vehicles. Reynolds told Showers he could pump 10 gallons into his daughter's vehicle if he planned to use that car for city business.
Well, well, well
Want some irony? In Thursday night’s city council meeting, the city was poised to award a contract for wrecker services to a local company. Showers objected, accused the company owner of unethical conduct, and tried to get the council to award the contract to a company in his district that had submitted a higher bid.

So given Showers’ infamous sensitivity to all matters racial, I just have to ask: Would it be racist here to invoke the old saying about the pot and the kettle?
See what I mean? We know more about Shower's ethics than we know about the wrecker contract and the owners ethics. Instead of the policeman and the City Administrator showing some compassion they decided to exercise their authority.

So here was their chance to treat Richard Showers like a boy instead of a man. From the white male officer who told him NO, to the City Administrator who told him NO, to the City Attorney and the Mayor who filed the ethics violations, white power and privilege was on display.

Voter suppression with the Alabama State Seal of approval is OK.

Moving outside of the District you are elected to represent and lying about it is OK.

Violating the open meetings laws over and over again is OK.

Relocating a Homeless Shelter into a neighborhood without notifying residents is OK.

A City Council member trying to help his daughter in an emergency is an ethics violation.

Privilege of the powerful.

Power of the privileged.

It's not about that thing you SAID, it's about that thing you DID.

But I'm NOT A RACIST / HOW DARE YOU."

Thing is they're ALWAYS going to come at it from that point of view, because being called a racist has become more taboo than actually being one. People get more upset about the possibility they might have been called racist than the fact that their actions are racist as hell. They'll harp and linger on all their deeds in the past and what clubs they belong to and who their friends are. They'll START any rebuttal to your first words with that. And in the end you end up talking to yourself or talking to the wind, because they've drawn a crowd to chant the "I AM NOT A RACIST" mantra to the point where any on lookers without reading/listening to the whole thing, think that's what it's all about. Then people start picking sides and - boom- it's all over.


God Bless America?

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

The example that you posted is not RACIST at all it just speaks about how that person feels. You have said blacks can and should speak what they feel but when a white person does you call them racist!! You should write a story about the cities and country's that are mostly black ie New Orleans, Memphis, Detroit, Haiti, most African country's etc Those places are run down slums!! The top 10 cities for crime in the U.S. are mostly black, write about that. The blacks were convicted by a jury of their black peers because those places are 8f% black!

Anonymous said...

I did not say you did.
Read my first sente "The example that you posted is not RACIST at all it just speaks about how that person feels"

This is what I am commenting on...

It not a way to feel it's to show you and others what is really going on!!!! You like to write these stories of how blacks are done wrong etc. it's not as bad as it was. There have been improvements and yes we could do a bit better but with that said look at situations were whites are treated unfair in order to get the so called ratio up etc.The more important story is black on black crime, absent fathers, the uneducated blacks, when there is free money and programs everywhere for the black man or woman but most do not take advantage because we as a society have gotten them use to a handout (whites too) like welfare etc. Why work when the government will pay the bills? It's an entitlement society!!! If all you know is to apply for free money health care etc when will anyone better themselves? It's called FREE WILL but most do not have it.

From reading your blogs it seems you are like the many other blacks....it's ok for blacks to point things out to make change but not whites! When whites do it they are considered racist stupid or backwoods etc.

Redeye said...

This is a racist stereotype;
to get the so called ratio up etc.The more important story is black on black crime, absent fathers, the uneducated blacks, when there is free money and programs everywhere for the black man or woman but most do not take advantage because we as a society have gotten them use to a handout (whites too) like welfare etc. Why work when the government will pay the bills? It's an entitlement society!!! If all you know is to apply for free money health care etc when will anyone better themselves? It's called FREE WILL but most do not have it.

So is this;
I'd like to add Birmingham top 10 most years for murders...black on black 98% of the time but blacks do not care they are to busy playing the race card!!

If this is how the person feels....

Redeye said...

Anonymous, what gives you the right (pun intended) to come over to my sandbox and tell me to STFU?

Anonymous said...

It's funny how you have a DOUBLE STANDARD like most that cry racism or equal opportunity etc. I gave you an example of what is double talk by you. I will say sorry for the STFU. I'm just tired of seeing you have that DOUBLE STANDARD...here's the proof again for ya...

There is a certain mean spiritness that's out there, not only in Alabama but it's in America and it's being enabled by the predominately white male dominated mainstream media.

That can be considered a racial stereotype like you called the other two peoples comment!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FED UP said...

I'd also like a comment on how company's schools etc require a black to be interviewed but yet the NFL does not require a team to interview a white corner back or running back not many of those in the NFL but hey there white so it's ok. It's not ok because if blacks have to get an interview based on their skin color because there are not many black coaches so should the cb and rb positions!! There was an outcry years back about more black qbs but now that the NFL has some you do not here we need white corner backs or running back!!!!. This is just one company example there are MANY!!! I'm all about fair hiring etc but it is suppose to go both ways. I look forward to a day soon when we cry about no white corner backs or running backs or ....etc etc wait by your standards that would be a racial stereo type....ha ha ha ha ha

undre pinchon said...

He has a point!! The last time I checked there are no white starting corner backs in the NFL. The Patriots had Danny Woodhead (white) but he was/is not the starter.

yellowdog said...

"What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?"

What Langston Hughes is saying, and what you can't hear, is your failure to understand the results of our American history of racism, slavery, discrimination, and inequality.

The sad thing is so many people just don't care, acknowledge a problem, or want to do anything about it.

Am I my brother's keeper?

Redeye said...

Notice how all 10 Cities are located in STATES that have right wing republican GOVERNORS and right wing republican LEGISLATURES who control the purse strings? Notice how up until 2008 the Oval Office, the Supreme Court and the Congress were controlled by a republicans?

Maybe if your right wing friends would spend more on book than on bombs the crime rate would decrease in urban cities.

Maybe if you right wing republican friends cared more about creating JOBS than keeping gay folks from getting married and women from choosing to have an abortion crime would decrease in major cities.

Despite the Fox News and the other Lords of Loud have lead you to believe, black people are not criminals just because they are black.

Is there black on black crime? Yes. Is there white on white crime? Yes. Is there black on white crime? Yes. Is there white on black crime? Yes. Are blacks out of control when it comes to crimes? No.

Here is a great story from the Alternet showing how How Fox News Uses 'Big, Scary Hip-Hop' to Race-Bait its Viewers

http://www.alternet.org/story/150986/how_fox_news_uses_%27big%2C_scary_hip-hop%27_to_race-bait_its_viewers

Here is another link for you about "A new study by researchers at Tufts University and Harvard Business School shows that whites believe they are victims of racism more often than Blacks."
http://field-negro.blogspot.com/2011/05/under-siege.html

BTW, thanks for the compliment
"now there's a real story for an excellent write like you!"

Redeye said...

You know what worries me Yellowdog? That people who think like Fedup and Anonymous are in control of our government. I fear there are more of THEM than there are of US. Strike that, I fear there are more of THEM that get out and VOTE than there are of US who get out and VOTE.

FED UP said...

I am scared that people like Common (who glorify a cop killer in a rap song) etc are gonna be in control of our Government. I knew you would have an excuse to blame someone else. It's never the black mans fault...is it? The right winger did not put the gun in the black mans hand or the crack or weed etc. in these cities!! I'll say it again it's free will to do right or wrong. I grew up POOR on food stamps at times but I never chose to steal,rob sell dope etc.!! Poverty is no excuse!!!The majority CHOOSE not to work it's not that there are no jobs it's the entitlement society. The thinking that someone else will pay for my food apartment medical needs etc!!!!!!!!!! I am independent. I do not like most Republican or Democrats ideas. I stand for what's right black or white!!!! I'd like to see my taxes used for roads,teachers etc. not for welfare and free medical. I do not mind welfare for a short term solution but 24 months should be enough!! The article is right on whites do believe they are victims of racism more often than Blacks, because it's true. We as a society are so afraid to hurt a black persons feeling because of what happened years ago. I never owned a slave and you were never a slave so MOVE ON. It did not affect either of us!! IT WAS WRONG but we were not there!!!!!!!!

FED UP said...

I'll mention the NFL again you never commented.The NFL is one company example where a black must be interviewed when a coaching opening comes up.There is not 1 WHITE starting corner back in the NFL but the NFL does not require at least one of the 32 teams to have one or have one try out etc. We do not have Miss White America or N.A.A.WHITE .P. or W.E.T. or The United Hunky College Fund etc. The KKK is a racist group and was labeled one as they should be but the new Black Panther Party is also racist where is there label? Find and EXCUSE to say I'm wrong as usual or blame whitey again!

John said...

Kids are out of school on MLK day but not Robert E. Lee day that's another example. MLK is celebrated but why do we not mention he was a HO had a few in his room when he was shot....Al Sharpenton Jessie Jackson are hos and racist but the black community follows them and their racial rhetoric.
http://cofcc.org/2011/05/15706/
check that site out if justice is not served then there is a DOUBLE STANDARD!

Redeye said...

^This is your mind on Faux News and "News Talk" radio.^

FED UP said...

I watch CNN so you are afraid to touch the topics due to the FACTS. I am right about the NFL Jessie Al the black panther party etc. It's ok I'll still read the blogs so I can have a rebuttal! If this is on Fox why make fun of it as long as it is ture and what I posted is!!!!!!!!!!

Redeye said...

"Well, there's a certain mean spiritness that's out there, not only in Alabama but it's in America. And that makes this election extremely important."~ Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders (D)

End of story for me Fedup/Anonymous.

FED UP said...

You are 100% correct and it is people like Al Sharpenton, J.Jackson, Louis Farakan, The Black Panther Party,and organizations like the KKK.

Anonymous said...

I have complicated reasons for wanting to call myself a Democrat. Those reasons are firm and cannot be swayed, even from within. But for all of those other moderates out there, doesn't this come across as just berating and ignorant type of campaigning? It sounds like something I would hear from a wannabe civil rights activist who has Venerable Reverend preceding their name. The black vote is very important. More important than the vote, is actually serving the black people of Alabama with meaningful representation. Does Hank Sanders represent anyone other than a small segment of the uninformed race voting blacks? This embarrasses me to have some association with it. I know you guys get tired of me harping on the same old point, but if Democrats want to keep swapping power every four to eight years, then let Hank Sanders types keep preaching. I know that there will always be a extreme element of both parties. But those elements only account for very small percentages of the parties as a whole. 10% representation is not what America needs. I am so concerned that the polarization will continue due to foolish actions such as the Hank Sanders campaigning phone message above. Mad as Hell, Hell no, No way in Hell, Hell freeze over! I think Hank Sanders is caught up on words that begin with H and end with ell.

I think it better to do right, even if we suffer in so doing, than to incur the reproach of our consciences and posterity.
Robert E. Lee

Anonymous said...

One of the wounds (self inflicted) of the ADP (IMHO) was/is the creation of the Super minority districts. Not only do they remove a lot of Democratic votes from the other districts, they allow the election of legislators (see Sanders and Alvin Holmes) who can make statements like these with no risk of harming their own elections. The statements however make the ADP look as radical as the far righters.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
Edmund Burke

Redeye said...

Welcome to RedEye's Front Page Old Prosecutor.

Without the creation of the Super minority districts as you call them Alabama's blacks would have taxation without representation and would have to depend on the good white folks to "take care of us". :)

Redeye said...

Welcome to RedEye's Front Page fundmaker.

You asked:
Does Hank Sanders represent anyone other than a small segment of the uninformed race voting blacks?

Who says the people Sanders represents are uniformed?

You said:
if Democrats want to keep swapping power every four to eight years, then let Hank Sanders types keep preaching.

If so called democrats care more about "Hank Sanders preaching" than they care about the agenda, values and principles of the democratic party then so be it. It's easier to hate on Hank Sanders "preaching" than to listen and act on WHAT he's preaching about.

You said:
I know that there will always be a extreme element of both parties.

Hank Sanders is not an extreme element of the Democratic party because he dares to speak out and stand up for the rights ALL Alabamians, black, white, red, yellow, old, young, rich, poor, male, female, gay or straight. He's not out here advocating violence or discrimination.

You said;
I am so concerned that the polarization will continue due to foolish actions such as the Hank Sanders campaigning phone message above. Mad as Hell, Hell no, No way in Hell, Hell freeze over! I think Hank Sanders is caught up on words that begin with H and end with ell.

See my first comment above. I think you are more caught up with Hank Sanders than Hank Sanders words.

FED UP said...

http://www.warriorsfortruth.com/blackracism.html

FED UP said...

http://ronbosoldier.blogspot.com/2010/12/black-racism-against-whites-on-public.html

FED UP said...

What a great article!!! Who will you blame, after reading it? I know it's old but it's good. Why did the Japanese maintain control after the Tsunami and the BLACKS in New Orleans did not?!!!!!!!!

http://www.amren.com/ar/2005/10/index.html