Radical Right Update

The radical right is seething at the moment as they try to run against the tides of an increasingly different political landscape. The anger seething amongst many on the right stems from an increasingly different racial makeup, the state of the economy (loss of jobs, bailout of bankers and elites), and the passing of many liberal policies that have been termed as “socialist” by many conservative pundits. According the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) the number of hate groups has ballooned with the number of hate groups rising by an estimated 54% between 2000 and 2008, as there has been an increasingly angry backlash against non-white immigrants. As highlighted by the video posted below, many of these people, hiding behind the veil of free speech, are spewing truly insulting remarks towards a wide group of people. In a truly deplorable attempt at comedy one of the klansman says that half the Mexicans coming over “live in mud huts” and that living in a van is like living in the Taj Mahal. Another man interviewed hinted that the gestation period of a Mexican is no more than three months, while also saying that he does not “need black people.” What use is this rhetoric in our national narrative? I do not believe that the maligning of a group of people was an imagined use for the first amendment.

The United States is truly a special country. No other country has been founded by a diverse group of immigrants and risen to prominence on the world stage—the most powerful country in the world to be exact. Many, however, it seems have forgotten the history of this country. If we are to be truly correct, we are all, no matter if you’re Irish, Mexican, Jewish, been here since before your great grandpappy could remember, immigrants. Over 61% of Americans polled believe that the United States is in decline. If this is true, we have no one but ourselves to blame. We focus on everything and anything that divides us, and can never come together in beneficial ways. I believe that the reason that progressive initiatives such as healthcare have failed is truly a racial question. It is much harder for people to help others that are different from themselves, be it a racial, religious, or socio-economic difference.

I’m sorry if this post seems like nothing more than me rambling, but really I’m tired of this shit. In 2010, are we really acting like this?

Souther Poverty Law Center: Raging on the Right

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Event: The Myth of a Post-Racial Society

Check out this event this Saturday, Feb 20th, 7pm: The Myth of a Post-Racial Society.

Post-Obama, has America become colorblind-and is that even a worthy or achievable goal in this country? How does the supposed "post-racial" society measure up to the reality of poor and working people's lives, 60 years after the Black civil rights movement? Join a freewheeling discussion and celebrate the ongoing struggle for "Freedom Now!"

Speakers include: Norma Abdulah, a retired school teacher and longtime Harlem civil rights leader; Kenyon Farrow, from Queers for Economic Justice and co-editor of Letters from Young Activists; and Emily Woo Yamasaki, representing the Comrades of Color Caucus of Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women.


Door donation, $3. Savory southern supper, 6pm, $9 donation. Work exchanges available for students, low-income and unemployed people.


Freedom Hall, 113 West 128th Street, Harlem (b/t Malcolm X Blvd. & 7th Ave.) Childcare is provided.

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Negrita Closes

Spec and Bwog have been covering this for some time now, and I've only started going this semester. Lets try for a different take

Two years ago, Joanna Eng at Racialicious wrote

"There is something extremely disheartening about walking into a bar called “La Negrita” to find it full of white people, and white people only. I already cringe when someone brings me to a bar in New York City where I’m the most “ethnic” face in the room; it hits me over the head in a city as diverse as this. But La Negrita is especially bugging me, not only because of its name and lack of explanation for the name; but because we’re on 109th Street and Columbus—Manhattan Valley—a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood where most of the longtime residents are black and Latino (and most of the newcomers are white)."

But its not that simple. La Negrita, like the other bars in the neighborhood (and even the Malcolm X and Donaldson Lounge on campus), are what Ray Oldenburg would call a "third place". According to Oldenburg, third places “host the regular, voluntary, informal, and happily anticipated gatherings of individuals beyond the realms of home and work.”

Places like Negrita are crucial spaces for a democratic society and civic engagement and--yes, gentrification. I'll be there at some point this weekend, regretful that I never went until now.

(Photo: La Negrita, the patron saint of Costa Rica in Cartago, Costa Rica)

P.S. This is my first post at el participante! Thanks to Rudi for bringing me into the dialogue. Keep that feedback coming.

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