Why do people have a problem with Michelle Obama?

[LucyParsons]

It's because they're racist, in my experience.

I have heard numerous relatives of mine (all small-town Southerners, all Christians, all white) say they don't like her. Some won't go farther. Some will. My own father says he thinks she's "a racist" and "hates white people". When I ask for evidence , he says "You can just tell." My grandfather has made similar comments. My stepmother says she's "got a high opinion of herself" and even went so far as to (on the phone last week) tell me she thinks she's "really just a blue gum - you can tell."

:grr:

All this is obviously racist, right? How dare a black woman be well-educated, smart, and outspoken? Much less showing "anger" in public? Right? I don't get that impression at all from Michelle. She strikes me as a great example for younger women and girls, very thoughtful, intellectual, and, yes, honest in her "anger". They expect any woman, and especially a black woman, to be nice and nonconfrontational and non-challenging. Right?

Am I missing something?

[BlooInBloo]

1. Black women do get the worst of both worlds typically.

[helderheid]

66. Indeed

[stevedeshazer]

2. You're not missing a thing.

She's "uppity". She should "know her place".

These are comments I've heard personally.

It's disgusting.

[LucyParsons]

3. It's sickening

I guess I've lived away from East Texas too long. My mouth drops open. Not because I'm surprised they feel this way, but I'm surprised that they'll SAY it.

:shrug:

[movonne]

9. I have gotten down right nasty with my family when they make racist

remarks...I ask them please do not talk that kind of stuff to me...it is not nice..we are all humans no matter what color...

[LucyParsons]

18. How I turned out different from them

I credit the fact that I've never heard my mother utter a racist statement against anyone in my life, nor has anyone on her side of the family. We were talking about this on the phone the other day (specifically the "uppity" type of comments about Michelle Obama), and she said to me something I hadn't heard her say before, which pinged my sad heart with a little bit of unexpected pride, and hope. She said, "Well, in all the years I lived with Granny (her grandmother), I never once heard her say anything bad about black people, or any people. There were some black people in our little community out there (in rural East Texas), and they did a lot of work together, and they would share canned fruit, and things, and stop by the house. I never, ever, heard anyone on my mama's side of the family say a word against black people. They just treated everyone like people."

I was surprised to hear this. I had assume that ALL my old, white, rural relatives were necessarily racist by definition. And I know most of the ones on my dad's side were and are, from firsthand experience, unfortunately. So that made me feel hopeful. Then I started thinking about some of my mom's aunts and uncles, and I realized she was right - they had NEVER said any of that shit in front of me growing up. And I couldn't imagine them doing so. So perhaps my incidental contact with them (we lived "in town") helped form a worldview in me that was inherently egalitarian.

I remember when I was about 5, and my dad took me aside to ask me if I knew any black people, or what they were. At the time, I was in kindergarten in Denton, Texas (a "liberal" - for Texas - place), and there were several black kids in my class, so I told him that. I remember being confused, but somehow, already, at age 4, knowing where he was going with this. He said, "Lucy, you know, don't you, that they're not the same as us? They're good people, too, but we're just different. And you should always treat them the same way you treat anyone else, but just remember that they're different. You can be friends with them, but don't ever let one spend the night at your house. And don't date one. You can't marry a black. God doesn't want that. Did you ever see a horse and a cow have babies? No." And I remember saying, "Daddy, that's wrong. They're people, just the same as we are. We're all the same."

I'm only 28. This happened in 1984. Now I realize that I must've somehow gotten that idea (crazy, huh?!), from my mother. And for that I credit her.

Sorry if this was hard to read; I'm sure it's harder for black Americans to experience than to read. I've just been thinking about this a lot lately, and trying to figure out the best way, as an adult, to try to make a crack in my relatives' racist craniums.

[jwirr]

32. That is really the only way to handle this kind of bigotry because

our families are merely parroting what they learned as children. We need to ask them to grow up.

[havocmom]

4. Intelligent, strong, healthy, young, lovely... beats me

Especially when so many of those people who have a problem with her claim to be all about advancing women's issues.

FINOs maybe? ;)

[TahitiNut]

46. She sure is.

Of all the personalities on the "public stage" today, I find her the most attractive by far. (Yeah... I'm just a guy who ONCE had a libido, but that doesn't make it untrue.)

Smart, quick, feisty, accomplished, pretty, fit, loving parent, a true partner to her husband, diligent, honest, courageous ... sheesh! What's not to like? What's not to LOVE?

While my political ideology is markedly to the left of Obama (Kucinich!), she's probably the best "character reference" for Barack I could imagine.

[Tatiana]

5. We can't win.

That's something I've understood since I was a young girl.

[LucyParsons]

6. I feel that way, too

:cry:

And I'm white. It just makes me so mad. I don't know what I can do, except continue to openly and forcefully challenge them each and every time they say some stupid shit like that.

My relatives don't even have any socioeconomic reasons to scapegoat their fellow black Southerners. They're all doing pretty well for themselves. And yet they resent anything a black person does to show that they're more than a silent servant to the white folks. I. Don't. Get. It.

I guess it's a positive thing, though, that I came from that background and turned out to be, well, sane. So there's hope. I just don't understand why none of my cousins have moved on from that tired, poisonous mentality. It's like going to a George Wallace rally. Maybe my cousins never learned to read - they show no evidence of ever having done it.

:(

[Tatiana]

15. I think it's sort of a "stay in your place, don't try to rise above your station" sort of thing.

I guess that's why all the women of color I know are so strongly supportive of Michelle Obama.

Look at the hate mail Oprah got when she endorsed Obama. It was ridiculous. Ask yourself if she would have been receiving hate mail if she had announced her support for Hillary Clinton or... someone like John Edwards.

No one would have batted an eye.

I deal with it in my workplace on a daily basis. And honestly, the most venom I get is from white women. White men are, in my experience, pretty respectful.

I figure maybe it's some sort of ancestral instinctive remembrance of the time when we used to nurse their babies, wash their laundry and clean their houses.

But whatever. I'm still going to do me.

[FlaGranny]

35. You cannot imagine my shock

in doing geneaology research when I found out at least one of my ancestors owned slaves - in New Jersey in the 1700s!! I didn't even know that people had slaves in NJ. It certainly wasn't in my school history books. Southerners are always blamed for slavery, but I'll bet many northerners would be shocked at having ancestors who held slaves. It somehow makes me feel ashamed 250 years later.

[LucyParsons]

41. Pretty much all white people in America during those years profitted off of slavery

Though those who owned slaves were, obviously, most directly responsible. Northern cities were very involved in the slavery trade triangle, and, yes, slavery was legal in the North for a long time, as well. Sojourner Truth was born in Swartekill, New York.

Check this out as an example:

http://www.yale.edu/glc/priscilla/opala.htm

"But the Hare’s records held yet another surprise — the ship’s homeport. Edward Ball had concluded that the Hare was a British ship owned by Bunce Island, but the records showed that while the Hare stopped at Bunce Island and conducted some of its business there, it was actually a Rhode Island vessel owned by Samuel and William Vernon, wealthy merchants in Newport. The foremost center in North America for ships engaged in the Atlantic slave trade, Newport sent nearly 1,000 voyages to Africa and exiled almost 100,000 people to bondage in the West Indies and the Southern Colonies.

"I knew that some Rhode Island community leaders had been trying to tell the story of the Newport slave trade for years, but were meeting resistance. I was sure that the story of Priscilla — the story of just one little girl exiled by a Newport ship — would be the best way to get the message across, and so I shared my findings. Community leaders soon established 'Project Priscilla' with the goal of raising one dollar each from 10,000 Rhode Islanders to send Thomalind Martin Polite to Sierra Leone and then bring her up to their state after she returns. Project Priscilla aims at joining together all three communities — Rhode Island, Sierra Leone, and South Carolina — in an 'act of remembrance.'"

Incidentally, in doing geneaological research, I have found out that some of my relatives owned slaves. Since all my relatives are Southerners, all the way back to Jamestown, I was not at all surprised to discover this, but actually finding and reading some of their wills, in which they leave human beings to various of their offspring, really made it so much more real,and horrific. Reading those lists, I am MUCH more curious about the lives of the slaves, who are granted only a first name and no other human attributes, than I am about the dead white guy in question. I want to know THEIR stories far more than I want to know my own ancestors'. But, sadly, that's mostly impossible.

"In the name of God amen, April 24th 1782, I Drury Malone of Mecklenburg
County being low and weak but of sound and perfect sense and memory
praised be God for it and calling to mind that it is appointed of God for
man once to die do make and ordain this my last will and testament
causing all other will heretofore made by me to be absolute and of none
effect and first of all I give my soul to God that gave it to me hoping
for the resurrection of eternal life and my body to the dust from whence
it came (to be buried) in such descent and Christian like manner as my
executors hereafter mentioned shall think proper and as for my worldly
estate which God of his infinite mercy hath bestowed on me I give and
devise as in manner and form following.

"Item my will and desire is that all my just debts be first and truly paid.
I give and devise unto my eldest son Isham Malone one Negro man named Will,
one Negro boy named Hardy, one Negroe girl named Mall and one Negroe girl named
Amey also a set of blacksmith's tools, two pewter dishes to him and his heirs
forever. Item I give and devise unto my eldest daughter Martha Holmes
one Negroe girl named Selah, one Negroe boy named Bob, one Negroe girl
named Anica and one Negroe girl named Edey all these to the said Martha
Holmes during her natural life and my will and desire is that at her
death all the said Negroes and all their increase may they be equally
divided among all the children of the said Martha Holmes that is living
to them and their heirs forever. Item I give and devise unto my daughter
Amy Taylor one Negroe girl named Cate, one Negroe boy named Manuel and
one Negroe boy named Bob and one Negroe girl named Delph and one Negroe
boy named Jimmey unto the said Amy Taylor during her natural life and my
will and desire is that at her death the said Negroes and all their
increase may then be equally divided among all the children of the said
Amy Taylor that is then living to them and their heirs forever."

[FlaGranny]

47. That is how I found out an

ancestor was a slave owner. He also mentioned them in his will. One 13-year-old boy was to be set free when he reached 30. The others were left to relatives with no notation to set them free.

It's something they don't teach you about in public schools. Perhaps they should.

[LucyParsons]

51. Yeah, there's a LOT they should teach in public schools that they don't.

Right?

[remember2000forever]

7. My Mother 84 year Old Mom Said The "Strangest Thing " About Michelle Obama

I even emailed the Obama campaign about it.  Mom usually is a
liberal and this just floored me.

She said: 
"That uppity Michelle Obama thinks she is another Jackie
Kennedy.  She even wears a sheath and pearls like
Jackie."
I said: 
"Mom, have you been watching Fox news?"
She said: 
"Well yes, they are entertaining".

Anyway, I haven't seen a sheath on Michelle since.

[LucyParsons]

8. No offense to anyone, but Michelle is WAY more interesting than Jackie Kennedy

I like how she speaks in an adult voice, for one thing.

Jackie was certainly very intelligent and well-educated, but you can't compare her to Michelle, career-wise - just fashion-wise. But I guess that's all First Ladies and women are supposed to be - hangers.

[Benhurst]

13. I think she would have made a better candidate than her husband.

Certainly more real issues would have been raised and debated.

[TahitiNut]

55. I agree. I'm one who admired Jackie ... and old enough to remember her.

... not from a child's pespective, either. I was an adult, graduating from high school the year JFK was inaugurated. The times were different, of course. It was the "Gidget Era" ... Sandra Dee times. Jackie was regarded as more "liberated" ... fancy that. At the same time, she was still a bit too saccharine in her presentation style for my taste.

Michelle is "keeping it real." Michelle selected a fashion designer from Chicago - damned good taste.

[Fredda Weinberg]

10. Excuse me, but I have never had a problem w/the sistas. If I did,

I wouldn't survive the subway.

My legitimate beef w/this person is that she denigrates the work I, and countless others have done, when she claims that for the first time in her life, people are rolling up their sleeves.

I am sickened to see a husband threaten others who offend "his wife". Her childish demeanor offends me.

I've heard Barry say he rejects Wright's outrageous lies, like the US gov't introduced AIDs deliberately as genocide, but not she. That really makes me wonder ... is she like the public school girls next door to my parochial elementary school, who had a problem w/us Jews?

These are rational questions that have nothing to do w/America's race problem. In this context, Michelle and I should be in solidarity ... in Florida, the signs used to read, "No niggers or jews". Now, they serve Jews but keep the Blacks in the kitchen.

When the Obamas can work w/someone like me, we'll see progress. Michelle doesn't help. It ain't personal ... she's upsetting lots of us - as you note.

[FlaGranny]

40. Well, I guess we better notify

the campaign that they need you to help run things.

Michelle Obama is saying for the first time in her life people are coming together in great numbers to work for change and that makes her proud. Sure, lots of people have been working for change for a long, long time, but their percentage of the population was such that it was hard to make a dent in poverty (or politics). Why shouldn't she be happy that many people are getting excited and wanting to help? How is that denigrating others who have been trying all along? And why call her husband Barry when you know it annoys Obama's supporters.

I had no problem understanding what she meant, although she could have said it better. She wasn't trying to be exclusive of people working for change in the past.

I can't believe you could think his defense of his wife was a threat to anyone. I'd call it a plea. It feels bad to have a loved one crucified. Bill has certainly come to the defense of Hillary plenty of times. I have yet to hear anyone call it threats.

I know many black people in Florida. Some are in the kitchen. Some are doctors, lawyers, lawn workers, computer techs, nurses, nurses aides, laundry workers, and any other job you can think of, just like everywhere else in the country.

[truth please]

61. What you just said makes no sense

How grown ass women can look back into childhood and associate it with their lives now baffles me. How can you be so shallow as to not try to examine or even listen to what Michelle was trying to say. Most of you are so caught up in the vitriol of the Hillary campaign it wouldn't matter what the Obama's said. You women that pick apart this woman's comments to justify your hate of her is sickening. Your statement "when the Obama's work with someone like me", What the hell does that mean? It reminds me of my Great-Grandma that never spoke to me because her son married a African American woman. I know the hate that Jews can feel for African American people firsthand. I know how my Grandfather felt to be disowned by his on family. Your hate also offends lots of people including me.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

11. Get a load of the stuff that so-called 'feminist' Clinton supporters say about her here sometimes.

[BlooInBloo]

14. Yup. It's an excellent way to tell what's more important to a person - to mix the variables.

[LucyParsons]

21. Yes.

Don't get me started on the sexist Hillary supporters.

I hate to have to say that, but there is it.

(Not all of them, obviously.)

[BlooInBloo]

23. It's for precisely this reason that black women working in academic feminism splintered off...

of mainstream (i.e. white) academic feminism, if I understand that dynamic correctly.

[against all enemies]

12. She was truthful - very dangerous near an election.

[hfojvt]

16. I don't know what a blue gum is supposed to be

I am not sure it is all about racism. I heard a few negative comments about Teresa Heinz-Kerry too, and I seem to recall there was some negativity about Hillary Clinton too when she was first Lady or running for first Lady. There was also a little stir about Howard Dean's wife.

I think it is just the methodology of the Right Wing Noise Machine - attack the liberal, attack their spouse, attack their children, their parents, their dog, their siblings, their pastors, their neighbors, etc., etc. Their strategy is - throw as much dirt as possible in their direction and some of it will stick with at least some part of the canaille.

[LucyParsons]

26. It's just another of the many derogatory terms for black people

I think she actually said, "I'm not racist but..." prefacing it.

If she'd used the N-word, she couldn't have used the "I'm not a racist, but...". Apparently, calling someone this racist name came be justified. She was saying, essentially, that Michelle Obama may have degrees, she may be successful, she may be well-spoken, she may be rich, she may be in high society, but, deep down, and as evidenced by her displaying "anger", she's really just a lower-order person. You know, like all black people. Except maybe Oprah. And J.C. Watts.

?!

[2rth2pwr]

17. No, you are absolutely right. Anyone who doesn't like or support the Obama's

has to be racist.

[LucyParsons]

27. "Obamas" not "Obama's"

nt

[Merlot]

30. Did you forget your "sarcasm" icon?

I hope so. We have to be able to diasagree with people of diffrent races without be called racist.

[TahitiNut]

50. Gotta love that "plausible deniability" huh?

:puke:

[tokenlib]

19. Because they've never taken the time to listen to her give an entire speech

Yeah, she is one hell of a strong woman. Some people get put off by that. But she has empathy and compassion. She is a "no bull" person. I think she is just what we need after all these damn "stepford" types...

[cbc5g]

20. My own father says he thinks she's "a racist" and "hates white people" - Projection n/t

[chitty]

22. I was at a party last night

and the conversation drifted to the election. One woman who was there said she didn't like Obama's wife.

I asked her why.

Her response - I don't know why, I just don't.

I pressed her a little but got the same response.

Go figure.

[PM7nj]

24. She is the Hillary of 2008.

I don't know, why did people hate Hillary in 1992?

[LucyParsons]

28. I now despise Hillary, but I also despitse the sexism she's faced, mainly from the media

and I totally agree with your assessment.

[johnaries]

68. I was about to post the same thing!

I remember when they had to tell Hillary to "tone it down". That was when she first cut her hair short. Michelle in 2016? :)

Edit to add: and why aren't all those people crying "sexism!" running to Michelle's defense?

[swishyfeet]

25. Barack is a more comfortable shade of brown

Michelle... not so much.
That she's intelligent, strong, and possibly bitter doesn't help.

[LucyParsons]

29. That's it! "Bitter" !

That's what it is.

And why I like her.

[swishyfeet]

56. If you're not bitter, you're not paying attention.

[JoFerret]

31. I didn't know they did

but if they did i would expect it's beacuse she's a woman.
or some such
or black
or opinioated
or a little wifey
or educated
or rich
or went to Princeton
or angry
or married to a dreamboat
or arrogant
Or religious
or unAmerican
or too much like Jackie Kennedy
or intelligent and outspoken
or ambitious
or bakes terrible cookies
or grew up without spoons
or some other outrage that can be manufactured to turn her into a faux victim of faux Obama hate.

So tell me - what does your research tell you?

[GoldieAZ49]

33. yes you are missing something

Michelle is not disliked because she is black but because she bitter and angry. Her arrogance is not appealing.

I have to laugh when I think of the pundits that compare her to Jackie, what a joke. Jackie had class, Michelle...not even close.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

65. Why compare her to Jackie ?

Why can't people just let her be Michelle Obama ?

[GoldieAZ49]

71. Beats me. There is no comparison.

Jackie is in a class of her own. By who she was, what she tolerated, and what she endured.

Her life experiences made her the woman she was. No one can 'imitate' that. I cannot imagine anyone wanting those life experiences.

[Straight Shooter]

34. Condi Rice

We all hate Kindasleezy Rice because she's black, right? Got nothing to do with her personally? So many racists in the Dem party. On the other hand, lots of GOP voters like Ms. Rice, want her to run with McSame. So they don't harbor a racist attitude towards her, but they are racist if they dislike Michelle Obama?

That's the conclusion that follows when you accuse people of being racist for disliking a black woman who is "well-educated, smart, and outspoken," and known to show "anger in public." Since when is Condi Rice "nice and nonconfrontational and non-challenging"? She's gotten in a lot of people's faces over the years.

Not everything is justifiably explained by the prism of racism. Sometimes it's just a visceral dislike of a person or how they come across to the person viewing them.

[LucyParsons]

36. Did you read my relatives' comments?

I think calling someone a "blue-gum" is racist.

Sorry.

And they support Condi Rice because she is an anti-feminist, warmongering reactionary whose policies further the power and control of the elites (who are 99.9% rich, white, male assholes - like, oh, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney).

I don't support Hillary for the same reason.

If some people think Michelle is too bitter and angry, and say they dislike her for that reason, I can respect that, though I totally disagree.

[Straight Shooter]

39. I'm responding to your OP, "Why do people have a problem with Michelle Obama?"

That's the discussion that you opened the door to.

Yes, "blue-gum" is racist and the term makes me cringe.

Yes, I think Michelle is angry. So what. Everyone seems to be angry these days. x(

[GoldieAZ49]

37. It's all they got.

I had to laugh when, in passing, I heard Dean was accusing repubs of racism. Ha! He should look at the dems, Obama supporters as well.

[cbc5g]

38. Condi Rice supports the status quo and white establishment

Trust me, if she started coming out against the white establishment they would throw her under the bus immediately.

[Straight Shooter]

42. Condi Rice supports herself and her own ambitions.

She's doing a lot better than I thought she would as Sec. of State, I'll give her credit for that. My problem with Condi is that the level of her ethics is an insult to the level of her intelligence.

Who knows what the GOP would do. Anyway, Kindasleezy would never let them down. She's GOP, through-and-through.

[cbc5g]

43. I go to college in Appalachia

The people who call her or him arrogant really are covering up their distrust of black people who don't support the entrenched white establishment. If you ask me, thats racism. Racism isnt popular in America anymore. So a black guy who runs against the status quo isnt going to necessarily be attacked with names and slurs, instead they'll make up excuses to not like him. They'll believe the idea that hes a muslim even though its been discredited. They'll believe he hates America. They'll believe hes an arrogant asshole. We have to call it what it really is though, racism.

[Straight Shooter]

52. I lived in Appalachia for 15 years, still have friends and family there.

Sometimes calling a person "arrogant" is because you perceive that person thinks they're better than you. In Appalachia, where low self-esteem is common, they perceive a lot of people as arrogant, not just Michelle. She's a public figure; thus, their ire gets directed towards her. And again, because she's a public figure, their feelings toward her become public knowledge.

Appalachia may also still be somewhat stuck in the "women should be seen and not heard" attitude.

Probably a bit of jealousy factors into their dislike, as well. She's further up the ladder in life.

[truth please]

63. Get it right!

They say they like Condi, but if she becomes viable I guarantee the old hate will bubble up to the surface. Condi is only liked because right now she is doing what they want. Let her try to make her own way and see how uppity she gets.

[Straight Shooter]

69. I think she has made her own way. That's why she is where she is today. n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

44. She's a troublemaker.

Which is exactly what this country needs more of.

Hillary may have been, and still is, a lot of things, but being a troublemaker who dares to go against the tide and conventional political wisdom, never was, and still isn't, one of them.

[TahitiNut]

59. I prefer boat-rockers.

We should all get wet and swim occasionally.

[JerseygirlCT]

45. I think it's both racist and sexist, so far as I can tell

she gets the race thing, plus the guff that's reserved for women who actually dare to speak their minds. Especially when what they have to say makes some uncomfortable.

From what I've seen, I'm perfectly comfortable with her. She's of an age with me, so perhaps that's it. She reminds me of most of the women I know today - regardless of color.

[GoesTo11]

48. She's a force in her own right

When she speaks, she talks about what's going on in the country. She speaks like a progressive candidate herself. She speaks for 45 minutes without notes and thinks on her feet. Like the greats - Barack, Bill, not Hillary.

First ladies are supposed to just say how nice America is and how much they stand by their man. Cindy McCain is good at that. America will just love Cindy McCain.

[samsingh]

49. she doesn't fit a preconceived notion of a first lady?

remember how people felt about Kerry's wife?

[Straight Shooter]

54. Bingo.

Before I read your post, I was going to mention Teresa. Remember her "Shove it!" comment? LOL. Ruh-roh, though.

[LucyParsons]

57. And Mrs. Dr. Dean?

Yup.

[LWolf]

53. I haven't heard anything like that.

I probably wouldn't, since I don't generally talk about the Obamas with anyone.

While I don't want Obama to be POTUS, I don't have a problem with his wife.

Without having heard the kind of thing you are referring to, I'd suggest that being both a person of color AND a woman is 2 strikes for some people.

[LucyParsons]

58. (I was for Kucinich, too)

:hi:

[hokies4ever]

60. what's a 'blue gum'?

Oh, and I reject and denounce myself for not knowing, but am curious as to what a 'blue gum' is? :patriot:

I also don't understand why some people hate Michelle Obama. She seems to be a great mother, wonderful wife, and would be a superb first lady. I think most black people (including myself) feel that the media loves to play up the angry black man stereotype. Turns out they love the angry black woman stereotype as well. Trying to convince people that blacks want to get into power to enslave the white race. :rofl: What a crock of crap. I've never heard any black people suggest this, but it's still a popular stereotype out there.

[LucyParsons]

62. I've heard people say this too

re: "they will enslave white people"

residual guilt, anyone?

Pfft.

As to derogatory and racist name-calling, I am glad you've never heard the term before. It's just another term used by racist white people to describe blacks who they view as archetypal. So, as applied to Michelle Obama, my stepmother is saying that, no matter how "big" she thinks she is, she's still just a poor, uneducated, n*****.

:grr:

[hokies4ever]

64. One glimmer of hope

is that the younger generations seem to be more open to racial harmony than the older generations, probably from what they experienced back during the Civil Rights struggle. Obama does best among young people and worst among seniors. I doubt that's a coincidence.

[truth please]

67. What white people call anger, black people call passion.

I have on several occasions been asked by my white neighbors "Why are you angry" and I look at them with confusion. I sometimes wave my hands or move around a little and white women grab my arms and tell me to calm down. I look at them like they're crazy because I am not mad, just excited about what I am talking about. So maybe this is one of those cultural things, where passion means anger if it is coming from a black person.

I have also found in my almost 53 years that racism trumps vagina in many situations. I pray everyday that things will change and you will be judged by deeds and not race. I think that's what the place the Obama's are trying to bring this country to. As I have said in an earlier post, my Great Grandmother who was Jewish couldn't even look or speak to her own flesh and blood. I touched her arm when I was 9 and you would have thought her skin was going to fall off by the look in her eyes. She went to the grave with her hate and we are living just fine without her.

[LucyParsons]

70. This applies to white feminists, too

Some of my male friends think that by playing the "bitter" card, they can dismiss my legitimate beefs with the patriarchy. Rather than address my points, they just say, "But... you seem so... angry! You need to calm down."

Why the fuck should I calm down?

I'll be a post-feminist in the post-patriarchy.