"When the Slave-Catcher Came to Town"

From Daniel J Sharfstein's The Invisible Line, which chronicles the sometimes brutal history of three families as they journey, over the course of generations, across American color lines.

Following in the footsteps of Blogger Field Negro , who awards Field Negro and House Negro status to those whose behavior merits the special designation, Eye (pun intended) am going to start calling out Slave Catcher behavior for those who merit the distinction.

What is a Slave Catcher you ask?  I turn the floor over to Field Negro:

You see a house Negro simply stayed in the house with massa, and he liked the house and everything in it. He would do everything to stay in the house, and would protect the house at all cost because he had a stake in it. It was where he lived, and it was where he found comfort. He would never speak against massa like the field Negroes, because he didn't want to risk losing all of that. But, even worse than the house Negro, was the slave catcher. This was the Negro who searched hardest to find us when we ran away. It was the slave catcher who the master would give the whip to tear into us when we stepped out of line. It was the slave catcher who ran right behind the blood hounds and in front of the master, when he thought one of us was hiding in the woods. It was the slave catcher who always did the master's most barbarous and sadistic deeds that even the master would not do. The slave catcher hated us even more than the master did. Who knows why? Maybe some sick demented sh#t in his past, maybe some psychological sickness that prevented him from wanting to be a part of something he has no control over. Or, a sick desire to be accepted by only those who didn't look like he does. Only the slave catcher and his shrink knows for sure.

So, here are my picks for Local, State, and National  Slave Catcher(s) of the Week:



Reynard Jones was elected President, and Carlos Matthews  was elected Vice President of the J.O.Johnson PTSA by a vote of 21-2.  Neither of these persons has children attending J.O. Johnson,  nor are either J.O.Johnson Alums. Jones and Matthews are the Local Slave Catchers of the Week for enabling the  Coup d'etat of  the J.O.Johnson PTA.

Goldy(Trey) Brown III  earned the title of State Slave Catcher of the Week.  While we are fighting for the right for all children to have equal access to quality public schools, he is advocating for Charter Schools and privatizing public education. 

Charles Barkley Isn't Shedding  Light on the Black Communities Problems.  He is the Problem.  He is also the National Slave Catcher of the Week for enabling the media driven racial stereotyping of African Americans.

Eye HOPE all my readers have a happy and safe Halloween.

"Zimmerman got away with murder" Blame Juror B-29

H/T The Field Negro

Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda, but Didn't, Juror B-29 (Maddy  too scared to give her last name) offers a little something for everyone in an attempt to quiet her guilty conscience because she didn't understand the law (thanks to the judge and the prosecutors), and, because she had no courage of conviction (pun intended)

 She didn't understand the difference between intentional murder and manslaughter.
She didn't understand what constitutes evidence and proof.
She didn't realize that the jury can draw conclusions from the entirety of the evidence.

I said it first, and I'll say it again, there was no way this 100% female 0% African American jury was going to find George Zimmerman guilty.   This trial was over at jury selection.

The “not guilty” Simpson verdict sparked great divisiveness across the country. Some alleged that Simpson was only found not guilty because the predominantly black jury did not want to convict a fellow member of the African-American community.
The George Zimmerman prosecution and defense teams should have considered the potential for such a response in this case, because race was at issue from the outset.
This case should not be about race, but the attorneys’ failure to pick a more diverse group of six people is certain to reignite the issue, especially if the 100 percent all-female/non-African-American jury finds Mr. Zimmerman not guilty.

You won't hear/read/see this in the mainstream media because they are focused on  Anthony Weiner's private life, but Change.org submitted a petition to Judge Debra Nelson calling for an investigation into jury tampering.  If the latest revelations by these jurors don't make the case for  Civil Rights charges being bought against George Zimmerman, I don't know what will.

3 Black Alabama Legislators Defend Racism, After They Opposed Racism

Sigh.  Poor Alabama State Senator Scott Beason (racist, Gardendale).  In a pathetic attempt to defend himself against allegations of racism, three House Negroes  are defending the indefensible.  The only problem is,  two of the three black legislators are on VIDEO speaking at a press conference in OPPOSITION to Scott Beason. Ooops!  h/t CM

 This situation is proof White people fail to see how racism harms white people, as well as black people.  Instead of accepting responsibility for his  words and actions, Beason resorts to the Plantation Mentality and finds 3 black people to defend him against his own words and his own actions. What gets me is they honestly believe they are credible, and we the people are stoopid.

Judge Myron Thompson said Scott Beasons' motives were racially and politically motivated for becoming a whistler blower in the alleged vote-buying scheme to pass pro-gambling legislation in Alabama.  Key word, motives.  What Scott Beason said was racist.  I don't care how many black legislators come forward to defend him.  Watch how to tell people they sound racist.

I don't care what Scott Beason IS, I care about what Scott Beason DID.

Today's Must Read

5 Right Wing Governors Gutting Schools to Fund Prisons, Tax Breaks for the Rich...and a Bible Theme Park.  Yes, Alabama made the list.

Sunday Shorts

Geek Pavaler reminds us there’s more to life than working to make our public officials do their jobs. I agree, but I'm thankful there are people who care enough to make a difference.

Field Negro says they can put Honorary Field Negro on late Oakland Raiders Al Davis headstone for his commitment to diversity.

Why not question Rommney's religion? They certainly questioned President Obama's, remember how the media made him throw Rev. Jeremiah Wright under the bus? Sorry, but every time I see Mitt Rommney I think about the HBO series Big Love.

A sistah is weary……of the assumption that people of color possess unlimited quantities of understanding and forgiveness.

Support our Troops. Bring them home before more die or are maimed and wounded for life.

Since Sweet Home Alabama is on the Voter Suppression Map of Shame, does that mean I have to re register to vote in order to get one of them there Voter ID cards? If so, who is going to pay for it?

Speaking of voting SagaciousHillbilly says (warning language)Now the question you have to ask yourself is, "who ya gonna vote for?" Some twisted right wing whack job who panders to the lunatic fringe, and by lunatic fringe I mean every right wing republican white assed racist mother fucker with an opinion, or are you going to vote for the intellectual, rational and reasonable man who, despite his short comings is trying to enact a more progressive agenda for the United States of America and push us away from the rabis ignorance of the radical right.

Whatch gonna do?

Redeye's Weekend Round Up

Won't be watching THIS.

The House Negro Cometh. O-tay?

Where are the J-O-B-S the TeaPublicans said they were going to create?

All war all the time, UNfair and UNbalanced.

There's a whole lot of U-G-L-Y going on.

About that ongoing oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico....

I swear that you just don't know who to trust these days.

Word. You just don't know who to trust these days. *Sigh*

Redeye's Week in Review~edited

My Daddy says if you can't get in the front door, go around to the back door, so that's what I did after I couldn't get in the front door of Left in Alabama. I'm not calling any names, and there is a long list of possible suspects, but someone(s) want to dictate who I can or can not blog about, and what blog I can or can not link to. Ain't I a progressive blogger too? Don't I have the right to express my point of view too? Life for me ain't been no crystal stair and I've earned the right to speak my mind. Hope will never be silent, and neither will I.

The Teapublicans were on a roll this week. They aren't even pretending anymore.

If you have served as the League of the South's western Arkansas chapter chairman, you might be a newly elected member of the state House of Representatives.

This is who they really are.

I'm sure the American people went to the polls two weeks ago thinking that it would be a good idea to put a racist in charge of immigration policy in the House of Representatives.

Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! The Auto Bailouts worked! Funny how we the peeps are finding this out AFTER the midterm elections.


I am going to have to give credit where credit is due, the Teapublicans don't give up until the last dogs dies. If only democrats would remember where they came from and fight for what is right (no pun).

there was a time, yes, distant, but not so distant, when to be a Democrat meant you fought for the cause of making the lives of the poor and disenfranchised better. And that "fighting" meant fighting; it meant being willing to take a bullet or a bomb if that's what was needed. Now we're not at that point by any stretch of the imagination. But when's the last time Democrats went on a crusade to help the poor? When is the last time the poor or the workers decided to fight for their rights (other than the right not to buy health insurance)? Now, it's all about the mythical middle class or about how much money rich people need in order to, maybe, perhaps, if we're nice and grovel, create a job or two.

The lesson of the 2010 midterm election...never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Forty-one percent of the electorate were self-identified conservatives. In 2006, only 32% of exit poll respondents identified with the same label. In comparison, self-identified liberals made up 20% of this year's electorate; in 2006, the percentage was identical.

The *ahem* ethics panel says the big House should lynch, I mean censure Rep. Charlie Rangel. And yes, the lynching, I mean censure will be televised.

The ethics panel had already decided that Rangel was guilty of 11 ethics violations, a result Rangel said was unfair. He said it was the committee's fault that he did not have a lawyer and walked out of the hearing, but the panel decided to go ahead.

The 11 charges against Rangel stemmed from four allegations: that Rangel used Congressional resources to raise money for an educational center bearing his name; did not report taxable income on a Dominican Republic rental villa; filed financial disclosure forms with inaccuracies; and set up a campaign office in a rent-controlled apartment in Harlem.

There was not a set precedent for House members found guilty of similar ethics violations, but the chief counsel of the ethics panel had recommended censure.

None dare call it racism, but President Obama just can't get no R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

I see the republi-clowns have their swag back. They basically told O to take his little kumbaya summit and shove it. We will meet with you on our time nigg...I mean Mr. President. We shellacked you, remember? Rather than sit down with O, their leaders met with those federalist society folks. How is that bi-partisan thing working out for ya? I say it's time to double down O, you can only play nice for so long. This is getting old. It seems like every few months the field has to tell you the same thing, but you won't learn. You still believe that these folks will play ball with your beige behind. News flash! It. Is. Never. Going. To. Happen.

It's not like it's the first time POTUS has been publicly dissed as the young people say. Psst Joe Wilson! It's a good thing your name isn't Charlie Rangel and you have an R behind your name instead of a D.

But Wilson's shocking disrespect for the office of the president - no Democrat ever shouted "liar" at W. when he was hawking a fake case for war in Iraq - convinced me: Some people just can't believe a black man is president and will never accept it.

"A lot of these outbursts have to do with delegitimizing him as a president," said Congressman Jim Clyburn, a senior member of the South Carolina delegation. Clyburn, the man who called out Bill Clinton on his racially tinged attacks on Obama in the primary, pushed Pelosi to pursue a formal resolution chastising Wilson.

What's that you say? The FBI is investigating Auburn Football Star Cam Newton? Why?

Yes, the same DOJ that has ignored the activities of Karl Rove, Dick Cheney and Co. is examining the recruitment of Cam Newton, Auburn University's star quarterback and the front runner for this year's Heisman Trophy.

The Cats, Twitter and the blogosphere are implicating, I mean feuling the speculation..

This is Alabama where football trumps all, but politics and gambling are close runners up. We've hit the trifecta this year with news that the FBI is getting involved in the Cam Newton recruiting controversy -- and asking questions about gambling magnate Milton McGregor. Combine a potential Heisman winner, a federal investigation and the state's most famous already indicted gambling promoter with accusations that young athletes are "being shopped to colleges" and watch the speculation soar.

Dubya broke ground on his pResidential Library this week *gag*. I wonder if his Mission Accomplished Banner will be put on display? Naahhh.

I would like to extend a warm welcome to Field Negro readers. I am honored and humbled to be a member your blogroll. Field Negro behavior is welcomed and encouraged here.

Redeye tiptoeing away from the computer to go pray.