Not Tan Enough To Speak Out
I continue to be attacked by the left for what they perceive as racism. Here, on the American Prospect's blog, some twit named Adam Serwer (not "sewer," but close) posted this:
...Palin's daughter intends to marry the father of her child, but I don't really understand why someone who isn't quite as fortunate as her should be subject to the kind of degrading, sometimes violent language used on the right when discussing single moms, especially when the moms in question are black.
That link on "violent language used on the right" goes to a blog item of mine, "Is It Racist If I Say This?" in which I trick-post this quote, which happens to be from the rather-more-tan-than-I-am blogger LaShawn Barber:
There is a crisis, to understate the matter, in the black community. About 75 percent (more in some cities) of black babies in the U.S. are born out-of-wedlock. That women should keep their legs closed until marriage is considered a naïve notion at best and a sexist/oppressive one at worst. Subversive is what it is.Some people are offended by the expression "keep your legs closed." Is it vulgar? Perhaps, but so is having babies with several different men without being married to any of them.
Of course, I personally don't believe in marriage, and would never get married or live with anyone, but I'm a 44-year-old who refers to herself as "BARREN!" When it comes to what I think you owe any child you bring into the world, I'm just to the right of Dr. Laura.
Here are the comments I left for the American Prospect twit who decided my criticism of the black community's tacit approval (by not loudly disapproving) of women who have multiple daddyless children means I'm a hater:
SERWER: I don't really understand why someone who isn't quite as fortunate as her should be subject to the kind of degrading, sometimes violent language used on the right when discussing single moms, especially when the moms in question are black.First of all, I understand that you have a need to pigeonhole me as "on the right." Count me as probably the only "right-winger" who voted for Kerry, Gore, and Clinton in the last three elections.
I'm actually not so easily pigeonholeable, although there's a mob of "progressives" from an attack site that's determined to do just that to me, for speaking in a way unapproved by "progressives."
Furthermore, while I refer to the 24-year-old woman who had six different children by five different drug dealers as having a "litter," I use the same terminology to refer to 1. Rich white women who have lots of children, 2. Muslims who have lots of children, and 3. Catholics who have lots of children.
I know, leftythink is that mere mention of somebody being black is RACISM! And perish forbid that you should, you know, offer a little criticism of the vast parade of unwed mothers in the black community and suggest that children do better with daddies, or at least two parents, in the case of gay and lesbian families.
Why is this case different? Because Palin's daughter is a minor. Tarika Wilson was 24.
Also, Palin's daughter had one accidental pregnancy and is marrying the father. Tarika Wilson had six children from five different DRUG DEALER "daddies" -- none who stuck around -- and then she had the nerve to take up with yet another drug dealer, endangering her children. That you can't see the difference, or aren't interested in seeing the difference, disgusts me to my core.
And I have to say, many on the right are no fan of what I write. The difference is, they simply post blog items about what an idiot I am. The left, via SadlyNo, sent over the 7,000 dwarves to my site to punish me for speech unapproved by "progressives," to intimidate me from further speech unapproved by "progressives," and to wage psychological warfare against me: posting 30 page pieces of spam and mucking up my comments section with hundreds of posts asking whether I'm "a tranny."
That's right, fight perceived racism by using being transgendered as a form of denigration.
This whole thing has been a real lesson about the left for me. I know, not all leftists are like this, but people I know on the right keep telling me the left are the real fascists, and I used to laugh at that.
Guess what: I don't laugh at that anymore.
I left this comment later, quoting Alinsky's Ghost, another commenter there:
But clearly most of the effort at improving black society must come from within the community itself, from pastors, teachers, pundits, artists, and other notables as well as the wider population. They need to discuss and use the power of persuasion to promote more healthy values in terms of family but also in other areas. To quote Voltaire, as I often do in reference to my own shortcomings (not just those of others): "Do better, miserable humans!"Totally agree. And to that end, I started a program in an inner-city school near me, where I go talk to kids once a month to demystify making it.
When I'm there, I tell the girls that becoming pregnant as a teen or as an unmarried or unpartnered early 20-something will likely mean they and their child will live in poverty and suggest that they wait until they develop themselves and a career and a stable partnership in order to do things like the fun, exciting stuff I've talked about (I'm a newspaper columnist and author who first sold her own column to papers when the syndicators laughed at the idea. I talk about how, with hard work, you can accomplish much, etc.)
And I do this with skin the color of fresh Wite-Out to kids who are mostly black and Latino. Yet, once again, I find myself, here above, being painted as some hateful racist -- simply because I recognize a problem and write about it, and simply because I'm actually not a racist, and thus refuse to do the leftist language pussyfoot around an issue simply because it involves people with skin more tan than mine.
I'm reminded of the time that I was once accused of being anti-semitic because I mentioned, in a bit on freedom and control, how you see Cubans floating here in their retrofitted cars, but you don't see, say, Jewish grannies floating off to Cuba in their big yellow Cadillacs: "Oy, Irving! I forgot my heart medication back at the condo!"
I got an e-mail from an older Jewish couple: "How dare you use your column as a platform for anti-semitism?"
I wrote back something along the lines of: "Shalom! If I am anti-semitic, I learned it at Temple Beth El. That's my bubbie I'm writing about, who drove a big yellow Cadillac around Pompano Beach. I thought she'd get a kick out of appearing in my column -- which she did. Mere mention that somebody is Jewish is not anti-semitism."
Likewise, criticizing the black community for not coming out more and saying children need daddies doesn't mean I'm racist.
And doing so doesn't change the fact that I am against our drug laws and think it's reprehensible that the police did a SWAT raid on a house with six children in it.
Finally, a note for those of you who spotted a comment here linked back to The Rogue Voice the other day, using the moniker "Some Hypocrite who is not transgendered."
That comment actually did not come from Stacey Warde, the Rogue Voice blogger. First of all, it turns out that he is at a different IP address. And when I contacted him to ask why a guy who wrote this:
"It's simple. Treat your enemies with respect. Love your neighbor and your enemy....I'll be voting for candidates who treasure the world and the people in it, who see others as themselves and wouldn't think of dehumanizing and degrading them."
...would join in the Sadly Pathetic campaign to punish me for speech not approved by "progressives," he wrote, "I have plenty of enemies, some of whom have done worse things than use my name to say nasty things," and also this:
Amy:Clearly you went to some trouble to find out a little bit about me, and from what you've read, I'd hope that you would realize I did not write or send the offensive comment. It's not me. I don't even know what was said.
My concern is that someone is using my email address to post material that I would never write or claim. Any information that you can provide in that respect will help me to eliminate the problem. Thank you.
I guess he offended the little SadlyPathetic turds, too. Which, although we're not exactly political peas in a pod, makes me like him instantly.
Amy, I am so fed up at this mess that I posted a comment on that board.
We have to continue to speak up and protest this weird reverse racism or it's not going to stop until all whites are repressed. (God, you know that's gonna be misconstrued as a racist statement when what I'd like to see is all people treated the same.)
Someone said Sadly, No! has jumped the shark by denigrating into a group of bullies. I never heard of them before they harrassed you but I can only hope that most would concur and likewise disapprove of their sick, twisted methods.
T's Grammy at September 3, 2008 5:07 AM
Problem is, T's Grammy, that all these people who have been screaming about racism are forgetting something - and it isn't "reverse" racism. Racism is racism, I don't care what friggin color anyone is. Affirmative Action was just the tip of the iceberg. The "politically correct" advocates are so wrong it isn't funny. There's nothing "political" or "correct" about it anywhere. If you can't get to where you want to be on your on merit, you don't belong there. I'm sick and tired of whiny crybabies who can't figure it out. I don't get special privileges because I'm an older white woman (my goddamn hot flashes have got me wondering if I'm responsible for global warming!). I have had to pay my own way since day one, and I'm not looking for squat from anybody. That any other people think they're entitled to anything of mine by virtue of the color of their skin just fries my ass. It's pathetic. What the hell ever happened to taking pride in oneself and one's achievements all on their own? If you can't accomplish one thing, try something else and keep doing it until you figure out what it is you are good at. And stop thinking the world owes you something! It doesn't. YOU owe it to the world to be the best you can. And those pathetic pussies at Sadly, No! need to get a grip as well. Assholes. Okay, sorry, rant over! o_O
Flynne at September 3, 2008 6:35 AM
"The left, via SadlyNo, sent over the 7,000 dwarves to my site to punish me for speech unapproved by "progressives," . . ."
If you are worried about SadlyNo denigrating transgendered people with their attacks on you, you might want to keep your language clean of references to a group of people who actually exist (dwarves) when you refer to these idiots.
I believe you are perfectly right to be pushing back against this mob, but no use in dropping to their level. I think "tiny little thugs" was a pretty appropriate moniker.
Jennifer at September 3, 2008 7:25 AM
The problem is these dumbasses at SadlyNo are vicious, illogical, and basically ignorant of history. A very dangerous combination. The other day they were stating that Amy was a hypocrite for saying that the the Palin kid should be left alone. That they would compare a mother that has had 5 or 6 kids with 5 different drug dealers to the Palin situation is simply disingenuous (I'm being generous here ... they're probably just too stupid to figure out how illogical their comparison is). The sad truth is that lefties have become totalitarian. It is now the right that stands up for free markets and free speech. The left simply wants its opponents silenced. Many on the left also seem to believe that minorities are incapable of performing on their own merits. I find that racist. Maybe it's just me ...
Charles at September 3, 2008 7:34 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2008/09/03/not_tan_enough.html#comment-1586894">comment from Jennifer"The left, via SadlyNo, sent over the 7,000 dwarves to my site to punish me for speech unapproved by "progressives," . . ." If you are worried about SadlyNo denigrating transgendered people with their attacks on you, you might want to keep your language clean of references to a group of people who actually exist (dwarves) when you refer to these idiots.
First of all, I have an acquaintance who's 3'10", and she told me she's "a dwarf." She doesn't find it derogatory; she prefers it.
Furthermore, this was a play on the Seven Dwarves, having nothing to do with people like my friend. Are we now going to go back and change the books and the Disney film to "Snow White And The Seven Little People"?
Amy Alkon
at September 3, 2008 8:01 AM
Oh, and I left a comment at the American Prospect in response to a completely ridiculous and disingenuous one by anono-weenie "D. Aristophanes," one of the apparent ringleaders over at Sadly Pathetic, who pretended, in the American Prospect comments, to be quite distressed at efforts to disrupt my speech! Here my comment is below:
This is rich, as this vile thug above, pretending to be for civilized debate, is one of the ringleaders over there at Sadly Pathetic ginning up their commenters to come post these punishment comments to hurt me and ruin the dialogue on my site.
Had they come over and engaged in a civilized discussion, even if they disagreed with me strongly, they would have been welcome at my site. The truth is, before I got attacked by these thugs (losing days of writing while I deleted the constant "Are you a tranny?" comments from commenters whose joke names google right back to Sadly Pathetic, I had banned maybe four people in four years.
Attacking the forums of perceived conservatives seems to be the entire reason for being for their site. Go there, there's no intelligent dialogue. They post about somebody they perceive to be conservative, and then their tiny little thugs go over and leave anonymous turds on that person's site...many of them in an in-joke name they all use.
Just to show you what a disingenuous scumbag this Sadly Pathetic "D. Aristophanes" is, here's one of his comments about me from his own site:
I only wish I hadn't deleted the awful comments he'd left on mine.
Note that these "progressives" over there didn't care (as this creep above doesn't) that I posted that I refer to anyone who has a lot of children as having a litter, white, black, rich, poor.
Furthermore, generally referring to a group of children as a litter, which has been done for quite some time in literary history, isn't the same as individually singling out a 16-year-old girl, picture and all, for the nastiest comments. And guess what? I didn't even refer to Tarika Wilson's children, specifically, as a litter! Look at how dishonest this guy is above. Check this out from my post they all went ape about:
And come on, I've got to laugh at this ridiculous pretense of this thug above...on his site, Sadly Pathetic, there are THOUSANDS of derogatory comments about me (I stopped counting after 2,000), and they're talking about how mean *I* am? It's not like he's disgusted about what people there are posting. Read the comments there and see.
Here's the post about how I'm really a drag queen:
http://www.sadlyno.com/archives/10811.html
In case there's any doubt of his intentions, here's this comment:
"Blog War"? I just want to discuss the issues, unencumbered by constant comments about whether I'm a transsexual mucking up the discussion on my site.
And get this -- this creep advocates the way somebody was using Tor, the proxy server used by Chinese dissidents to get around firewalls, as a way to disrupt my sites with those 30-page spam posts:
Was that you, you vile thug?
What I really want to know, as I comment on your site in my full name and real e-mail address, post on my site in my own full name, right next to a picture of myself, is who this anonymous "D. Aristophanes" is.
Yeah, I know, mob thugs who throw a bottle through your window don't tuck a calling card on it, either.
Amy Alkon
at September 3, 2008 8:04 AM
"Yeah, I know, mob thugs who throw a bottle through your window don't tuck a calling card on it, either."
Exactly. Small minded people do small minded things.
I like you Amy, I love what you have to say and the "no shit" way you say it.
People WILL disagree and I know you are ok with that, it's just too bad that these mofo's can't reciprocate the right to disagree, with respect.
Carry on girl, you rock.
Tez at September 3, 2008 8:53 AM
I keep thinking about people on the far left and the far right. And I think about the late comedian Richard Jeni, and what he said about this situation and these people: "If you are on the far right or the far left, you have a common problem: YOU HAVE GONE TOO FAR!"
Whenever I take one of those quizes that test your political affiliation, it always tells me I am a libertarian. I can see that in myself, and it kind of follows the joke/one liner: What is a libertarian? A republican that still gets high.
With that, my message to the libertarians: hang in there, and grow some balls. I'd vote for Ron Paul if he had a chance, but he doesn't. And anyone that thinks that we don't need a strong military to protect our shit around the world is full of said shit. Try leaving your car or house unlocked for a few days or a few weeks and see how far that get you to being safe.
Message to the Republicans: quit being such elitist pig dogs. Be honest. Tell us that we are fighting a war for oil and israel and keeping the islamist funamentalist from taking over our shit. Don't tell us Iraq did 911, we all know that is a crock of shit. And quit telling us which God to believe in, or what we can do with our peepees and hoohoos.
Message to the Democrats: many of your ideas are good on paper. But in practice, they suck donkeys. Make a note to yourself: all men (women) are created equal, but some are more equal than others. I work my balls off to take care of myself and my familty. Quit trying to make me pay for people that are too fucking lazy to work for their own shit. And remind your people that tolerance of other people is tolerance of all people, not tolerance of only people who see things your way. There are winners, and there are losers. Losers pick your asses up and try again, and quit trying to bring the winners down to your level.
Message to the Liberal rich: You can all go fuck yourselves. A cross country trip alone on a private jet that seats 20 just because you don't want to be late to speak at a conference on energy conservation? Blow me. Telling me to live green and not waste energy while you live in a 20 room mansion that's air-conditioned with a heated pool that nobody swims in? Bite me.
OK, rant=off
Sterling at September 3, 2008 9:10 AM
Many on the left have found that out and more to come will find that out. Deviation from the talking points du jour, even when they contradict long held leftist dogma is to be branded as a "hater".
Welcome to our world Amy, you haven't begun to see how vile they can be. Just ask Michelle Malkin. They'll try to show you how tough they are by stringing obsenities beginning with C's and F's. Wait till they invite all their comrades on Daily Kos and Democratic Underground to pile on.
kbdabear at September 3, 2008 9:47 AM
"First of all, I have an acquaintance who's 3'10", and she told me she's "a dwarf." She doesn't find it derogatory; she prefers it."
I don't think using the word "dwarf" in general is a problem, but it appeared that in this case you were using "dwarf" as a putdown to the people you've been dealing with (as some might use the word "troll"). If you weren't, I apologize.
I just wanted to point out that there are a group of actual people who identify with that label and that perhaps sticking to purely mythical creatures (Next time call them orcs! No, balrogs!) might be safer, if you don't want to give them ammunition to attack you with (or maybe they are not that smart; they seem to be awfully stuck on the tranny thing).
But then again, I've been reading you for awhile, Amy, and part of what keeps me coming back, despite the fact that I disagree with you on many topics, is that you don't always take the "safe" road and are always an interesting read. Sorry you've had to deal with this.
Jennifer at September 3, 2008 10:30 AM
Great, GREAT comments here! Amy, your REAL readers clearly have an average IQ (and writing ability) far above average. That alone should make you proud of the community you've created here.
Jennifer, to describe the Sadly Pathetic thugs all over the Internet I prefer using some combination of these terms: "Liberal Fascist Zombie Brown Shirts". Being half-German, I feel that I have full rights to use the F-word and the BS-term too.
From a psychological point-of-view, there are two weird things about so many of these thugs:
1. Someone else could espouse similar views as Amy and they will not be chastised at all. For example, his holiness, Barack Obama, has told the Black community that they need to improve certain aspects of their lives, such as rearing children and the role of fathers in that process. His many followers praised and admired him for having the "guts" to speak out. Yet when Amy points out similar problems, the Zombie Army attacks her en masse.
2. Liberal Fascists, like all fascists throughout history, do not debate you on specific issues. They just smear you as a "Neocon/Republican/Right wing Nut/Bush lover" and then you are forever "marked". It's the low-rent electronic equivalent of tattooing serial numbers onto concentration camp prisoners.
Just yesterday, on YouTube, I was smeared as a "Republican" by an Obamanation Disciple from Nebraska. Fascinating that when our upcoming Canadian election occurs, there'll be no Republican candidate to choose from. Fascinating that my views on abortion are quite different from the American Republicans. Fascinating that I absolutely abhor George Bush having the huge deficit in the U.S. these past many years.
But Liberal Fascists NEVER let facts get in the way of their hate. That's a truth you can count on!
Robert W. at September 3, 2008 10:43 AM
> If you are worried about SadlyNo
> denigrating transgendered people
> with their attacks on you, you
> might want to keep your language
> clean of references to a group of
> people who actually exist (dwarves)
> when you refer to these idiots.
I hate this comment.
I hate that there are people so naive, and so pussified, that they think such trivial boundaries of decorum are what make the difference between useful rhetoric and good discussion.
That's just really, really, stupid. Hate that.
(PS- Tez is the vandal! Maybe Jennifer too! And a bunch of other people!)
Crid [cridcridatgmail] at September 3, 2008 10:56 AM
I can't remember where I read this comment. I now employ it for shock effect. And it works!
"White liberal guilt - the new white supremacy!"
I'm Hispanic and when I've dropped this line the reaction from white liberals is priceless.
Israel at September 3, 2008 11:14 AM
"I hate that there are people so naive, and so pussified, that they think such trivial boundaries of decorum are what make the difference between useful rhetoric and good discussion."
Um, yeah, there are boundaries. Otherwise, people start screaming "tranny" and "dwarf" at each other. Have you read the internet?
(This is a joke, before anyone gets their panties bunched.)
I wouldn't have said anything except that Amy had pointed out several times how terrible it was that they were insulting transgendered people by calling her a tranny. How would it be different if someone used "dwarf" as an insult? Amy says she didn't mean it that way, but that is the way I originally read it. I like that Amy isn't afraid to go after the slimy toad hoard (there's another moniker--animals are OK too!), but I would like her to do it in a non-hypocritical way.
Fuck off, Crid. Is that better?
Jennifer at September 3, 2008 11:57 AM
I am still amazed that the dimwits at Sadly, No, including Aristophanes, are defending a government employee abusing government resources in any sort of revenge attack.
How different is it for a government employee to log on and write something nasty on your blog, or to log on, and drop your name into some list: no fly list, irs audit list, or any other list....?
jerry at September 3, 2008 12:00 PM
Good examples are always worth a thousand words. I was trying to have a debate with a fellow nicknamed "tuor1984" (who is sadly a fellow Canadian). I'm "vancouver57".
Have a good laugh about his debating technique and remember everything I previously wrote about Liberal Fascists:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imr6fD_WhQ8
Robert W. at September 3, 2008 12:20 PM
Robert W. you're a "six-year old brain damaged mule"?? Hilarious! That's the best that pea-brained wastrel could come up with? (Well, I guess everyone has an opinion, even if it's the wrong one!) o_O
Fuck off, Crid. Is that better?
Careful, Jennifer, you keep talkin' trash to Crid and he'll ask you out!
Flynne at September 3, 2008 12:29 PM
Damn dwarves, some hand out free ale, others like the drunk dark iron clan ones who run around with dynamite. Good thing is they usually blow themselves up.
"1. Someone else could espouse similar views as Amy and they will not be chastised at all. For example, his holiness, Barack Obama, has told the Black community that they need to improve certain aspects of their lives, such as rearing children and the role of fathers in that process. His many followers praised and admired him for having the "guts" to speak out. Yet when Amy points out similar problems, the Zombie Army attacks her en masse."
Quite true but I wouldn't give Obama any real credit for his "guts" since he did it on father's day and only went after black men for their failures. I really really don't see him doing the same to black women on mother's day at a political rally.
Sio at September 3, 2008 12:33 PM
> I would like her to do it
> in a non-hypocritical way.
Not making any particular accusations with regard to this particular comment stream, however: One of the tells by which we recognize the Vandal is that he constantly accuses Amy of hypocrisy. It's a teenager's obsession.
Meanwhile, this from NYpost's Peyser via Drudge:
| When Joe Biden tragically lost his
| wife and infant daughter in a car
| wreck in 1972, not a single
| colleague, friend or competitor
| advised him to quit his newly won
| Senate seat to raise his two
| little surviving sons.
Iddinnat sumpin'?
Crid [cridcridatgmail] at September 3, 2008 1:51 PM
Robert,
I love how Tuor mentions the lovely socialist policies employed by Canada and implicitely assumes that they have been a good thing. Priceless.
Charles at September 3, 2008 2:26 PM
I wonder what the folks at SadlyNo think of brilliant black conservatives like Walter Williams or Thomas Sowell.
Pirate Jo at September 3, 2008 3:21 PM
> I wonder what the folks at SadlyNo think of
> brilliant black conservatives like Walter
> Williams or Thomas Sowell.
It rhymes with "funkel bomb"...
PinkoPerforator at September 3, 2008 7:36 PM
The madness.
Always with the madness.
No matter what a person says, there is always someone around to be offended by it.
The key here?
Stop giving a rats shait if they're disturbed by every other word. Its not my job or anyone elses to validate the self esteem of an individual or a group, its not the job of any citizen to ensure nobody gets a boo boo on their delicate feelings.
If someone chooses to attach racist meaning to something that has never had racist connotation before, then that says ALOT more about them than it does about the person they managed to find a reason to be offended by.
"litter" is an excellent example, the focus of an offended party was on the target's color, not on the target's actions. Between color and action, action is the important part.
And fatherlessness, poor life choices, popping out kids without a means to support them, and shacking up with people destined for a lock down cell...those are all bad choices. But what was offensive to the left winger...? Multitudes began to deliberately attach a meaning to a word that was not there before, in an attempt to transform the debate and discredit the commentator.
By the reckoning of the far left every choice is equal in quality just for the mere fact that it is an available choice, the rush to NOT judge the poor choices of others, thus enabling those making poor choices, approval via lack of criticism if you will, and in turn rushing to judge those who DO make criticism.
The inherent hypocracy in that conduct is blindingly obvious to most of us...but not to those who walk through life already blind to the consequences, social and familial, which stem from poor role models, poor choices, and perpetual multigenerational poverty.
A social criticism of the source of that cycle of problems, is met with accusations of racism, because criticising a cultural issue within any group is suggesting one's own choices and way of life is somehow superior or yields better results.
The accusation is all the more hypocritical...since not a one of the raving lefties would want their own children living the way that those who make poor choices do. They criticise, accuse, and judge...but not the things that they should.
Like a blind person turned in the wrong direction. Ah well. Good luck Miss Alkon.
Robert H. at September 4, 2008 8:33 AM
I can't remember where I read this comment. I now employ it for shock effect. And it works!
"White liberal guilt - the new white supremacy!"
I'm Hispanic and when I've dropped this line the reaction from white liberals is priceless.
Posted by: Israel at September 3, 2008 11:14 AM
I posted that comment on here Israel. But I can't take credit for it - Sheldy Steeles very excellent book "White Guilt - How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era" lays it out in masterful detail.
WolfmanMac at September 4, 2008 2:58 PM
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