Am I being overly sensitive?

[MADem]

Or does our esteemed website harbor a few clueless assholes?

I am referring to some of the snark found here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014581996#top

[gopiscrap]

1. annonimity sometimes lets people be their true selves.

[MADem]

7. I'm afraid so...! nt

[politicasista]

8. +1 n/t

[Turbineguy]

2. Thanks.

I consider it a teachable moment.

[JustAnotherGen]

3. The one person was not snarky per se

Just a naive child. Probably got their panties in a bunch when the cracker word came up in the trial for that piece of crap that murdered Trayvon Martin. If not - they had a black friend once. You know the type.

[freshwest]

4. Haha! I went and commented over there thinking I was here! OOPS!

[MADem]

6. I felt like I'd fallen into one of those alternate universes that were popular in the SUPERMAN

comics when I was a kid....

I just got a very strange vibe...

[freshwest]

5. I must have 'em on Ignore! Sorry some posters acted up there. Yes, that was clueless, that ad.

[Number23]

9. MADem, the only thing "esteemed" about this web site is the recognition it regularly gets for having

the loudest, wrongest "liberals" in cyber-space.

GD is absolutely ROTTEN with simpletons. These folks don't get ANYTHING so why the hell would we be surprised that the complex and multi-dimensional topic of race is something that they are incapable of comprehending? Even this forum isn't free from it anymore.

On a completely different topic, I've always found it interesting how POC from the Caribbean deal with race issues. To be honest, a large part of me is starting to believe that they may be on to something.

[MADem]

10. You are the wisest person in the room!!!!

I have got to associate myself with your comments!!

[Number23]

11. You are such a sweetie!

But if I'm so "wise" why in the hot, crispy Deep Fried Hell do I keep coming to this web site??!!

[MADem]

12. It's bad for us, but it's sometimes ... delicious!

Artery-clogging deliciousness!!!!!

[1StrongBlackMan]

13. How do ...

how do POC from the Caribbean deal with race issues? Should I ask?

[Number23]

15. Well, this is a very general statement and I'm sure that alot of folks from the

Caribbean don't do this at all but I've noticed that it seems as though alot of folks from the Carib are much more concerned with geography than skin tone. Black Jamaicans (or whatever) will identify with Jamaicans of other skin colors seemingly before they identify with a black person from somewhere else.

I've met alot of folks from Carib and they are absolutely baffled by black Americans' "fixation" on race. Even knowing America's complex history with race alot of them still don't get it and it's more about national pride than anything else (in my experience). That's why I'm starting to think that they may definitely be on to something. I hope I've explained my scattered thinking on this okay.

[MADem]

19. Iz all about de GREEN, mon!

Dat's de color dat unifies!!!


The Jamaican culture (the Caribbean culture, really) is very strong. Black, white, Chinese, Indian--everyone loves curried goat and ackee and saltfish, too. The music is in the blood. In JA, national pride isn't just a sometime thing--and the ability to mock "dumbass stuff" without taking it as a personal affront upon the dignity of the culture is a strength, too. And of course, everyone claims to have a little Arawak in them--true or not.

And Jamaicans are cohesive even in diaspora. Miami, Atlanta and Houston have incredibly active Jamaican communities, as do Boston, NYC, CT and NJ suburbs, etc. Ernie Smith (well known singer) has been known to make an appearance at some of the larger parties in these locations (he appeals to people of a certain age, now, mind you).

Your point IS entirely valid, though--because it's money that brings privilege, not race, in societies that are accustomed to a a more colorful majority, and it's culture, not color, that unifies. Oddly--or maybe not so much if you consider historical attitudes and oppressive colonial influences --you'll find a bit more of that money in the hands of lighter individuals, but that too is changing the further JA gets from Independence (fifty years now), and that never controlled how people felt about themselves and their place in the world.

What's curious, though, is you will see that same "fixation" (and I know what you mean,it's really less of a fixation and more of a "personal concern" I'd say) among the CHILDREN of Caribbean immigrants, and if not them, the GRANDCHILDREN.

It's all down to "Never mind that I don't share the historical culture of this country as a result of my immigrant heritage; I was born here, I live here, I am a citizen, and it's not about MY perceptions, it's how the people around me perceive and react to me." Some prominent examples, born in New York, are Louis Farrakhan (father was Jamaican, mother from St. Kitts), and Harry Belafonte (father from Martinique, mother Jamaican).

Even Colin Powell (also NY born of JA parents--a clueless Jamaican immigrant-child who joined the wrong party and became corrupted as a consequence) acknowledged this in an oblique way in his biography. His Jamaican heritage didn't prevent him from being treated like a good ole American when he was driving through the segregated south...!

The first generation doesn't always see this--the subsequent ones do, though. Not sure if it's the whole "losing the accent" thing, or identification with the American culture more than the historical Jamaican one... or something else...?

I wouldn't be surprised if some smart person has done a study of this, perhaps a graduate thesis, that breaks it all down and better illustrates the points I'm clumsily trying to make.

[Number23]

20. MAGNIFICENT post!!

I knew about Farrakhan's and Powell's Caribbean heritage. And I'm glad that someone here was able to figure out what I was garbling in my post! The concept of race is not only so complex but so regionally specific that it can be hard for an outsider to explain any intricacies.

[JI7]

14. not you, after seeing the thread on Assad's wife

and some shit about black men going after white women allowed to stand it's just the way DU is. DU has never been good when it came to things like race .

and that ad is totally racist. asia can be very racist . anyone who thinks that ad has nothing to do with race just doesn't get it or doesn't want to.

[Number23]

16. Like I said in that pitiful thread about Assad's wife

That thread easily wins worst thread in a forum full of REGULAR contenders for that title. That thread was the most moronic thing I've seen in a long time.

[MADem]

18. That one blew my mind.

I always thought that, on average, DU had a smarter group of commenters.

I am starting to realize that this is not the case in all groups/forums. There's a whole lot of stupid up in that thread, to say nothing of others-- the only question is: Where to start?

[heaven05]

17. al jolson

google blackface minstrel performers to all who can't see what the fuss is about. No MADem you're NOT being to sensitive. Lots of ignorant insensitivity in the thread mentioned though. You have to remember also, lots of zimmerman apologists on this site and in the world.