Ludacris - Hatin' on Obama Deniers
Topic: Race and Racialism

These are the lyrics to rapper Ludacris' new pro-Obama rap:

I'm back on it like I just signed my record deal
yeah the best is here, the Bentley Coup paint is dripping wet, it got sex appeal
never should have hated
you never should've doubted him
with a slot in the president's iPod Obama shattered 'em
Said I handled his biz and I'm one of his favorite rappers
Well give Luda a special pardon if I'm ever in the slammer
Better yet put him in office, make me your vice president
Hillary hated on you, so that b____ is irrelevant
Jesse talking slick and apologizing for what?
if you said it then you meant it how you want it have a gut!
and all you other politicians trying to hate on my man,
watch us win a majority vote in every state on my man
you can't stop what's bout to happen, we bout to make history
the first black president is destined and it's meant to be
the threats ain't fazing us, the nooses or the jokes
so get off your a__, black people, it's time to get out and vote!
paint the White House black and I'm sure that's got 'em terrified
McCain don't belong in ANY chair unless he's paralyzed
Yeah I said it cause Bush is mentally handicapped
Ball up all of his speeches and I throw em like candy wrap
cause what you talking I hear nothing even relevant
and you the worst of all 43 presidents
get out and vote or the end will be near
the world is ready for change because Obama is here!
cause Obama is here
The world is ready for change because Obama is here!

Editor's note:  he got his name right.  He just misspells it.

"Black Hole" Called Racist
Topic: Race and Racialism
In Dallas, a county commissioners meeting erupted into pandemonium when two black commissioners objected to a white commissioner's use of the term, "black hole."

Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, referred to the Central Collections Office as a "black hole" because it had gained a reputation for losing paperwork.  John Wiley Price interrupted, saying that it should be called a "white hole."  Judge Thomas Jones demanded that Mayfield apologize for racial insensitivity.  

Mayfield tried to explain that the term "black hole" was a scientific term as well as a common figure of speech.

That is reminiscent of the 1999 firing of David Howard for using the term "niggardly," which means "miserly," and has nothing to do with race.  In that case, as well, black officials, who were ignorant of the word's meaning and overreacted, insisted that he should have realized how it sounded to black listeners.

Similarly, earlier this year, National Public Radio apologized for using the term "Dark Continent" to describe Africa.

Do we really expect electing Barack Obama to solve this racial hypersensitivity, or would that only make it worse?

Read about it:
http://cityhallblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/07/dallas-county-meeting-turns-ra.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/jan99/district27.htm
http://www.npr.org/ombudsman/2008/02/should_npr_have_apologized_for.html

Yuk! Political Correctness Runs Amok!
Topic: Race and Racialism
The National Children's Bureau, a British government-funded group, suggests that toddlers who say "Yuk!" in reaction to ethnic food, refer to other children as "those people," or say that another person smells, may be racist.  The group issued a guide, the 366-page "Young Children and Racial Justice," to nursery school teachers, which states that "No racist incident should be ignored" and should be censured, whereas anyone who disagrees is racist.

The spectre looms that offhand remarks by innocent children might result in a criminal record, or their parents being hauled into court.  A 10-year-old boy has already been charged with racist slurs.

So are children who do not like Brussels sprouts anti-Belgian?

Read about it:
http://www.ncb.org.uk/Page.asp?originx_8761oq_5113477690040g44a_20086125657e
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/education/2261307/Toddlers-who-dislike-spicy-food-racist,-say-report.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1032650/Children-young-reported-racism-Government-funded-group-claims.html

Racializing the National Anthem
Topic: Race and Racialism
Around 1970, the small Czech-Bohemian town of Crosby, near Houston, was forced by government mandate to integrate its schools with the black community of Barrett, four miles away.  One problem:  the Crosby school mascot was the Buffalo.  The new black constituency associated the buffalo with a racial stereotype, so it was changed to the Cougar.  Similarly, another area school district, C. E. King, changed from Rebels to Panthers.  Their "old" mascot looked like a Confederate soldier.

Fair enough.  Call it sense and sensibilities.

On July 3, 2008, jazz singer Rene Marie was scheduled to sing the National Anthem at the Denver mayor's State of the City address.  What she did not bother to tell the mayor's office was that she had decided, "months ago," to no longer sing the national anthem.  Instead, she substituted her own version, to which she had adapted lyrics from the Black National Anthem.  The Black National Anthem was written by James Weldon Johnson, best known for his poetry series about black preachers, entitled "God's Trombones."

See:  http://www.black-network.com/anthem.htm
http://www.afrikation.com/BlackNationalAnthem.htm

Ms. Marie, who justified her choice in the name of "artistic expression," seemed to relish the deception.  She told a reporter, "I pulled a switcheroonie on them," and said she "wouldn't change a thing" about what she had done.  Apparently, Ms. Marie has never been "really proud of her country."

There is nothing wrong with Johnson's song, but it is not our national anthem.  Is this what is to pass for unity today -- the submersion, or subversion, of our historical culture, the product of the great Melting Pot (or as some say, Stew Pot) of cultures, in deference to the overworked sensibilities and sensitivities of a minority of one minority?

Moreover, how radical and emboldened, if Barack Obama is elected president -- or if he is not -- can we expect this minority of racialists to become?

Read about it:
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-anthem4-2008jul04,0,1711041.story
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=20135
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,375164,00.html