Edited by Azizi Powell
There he goes again. Businessman & presumptive 2016 Republican nominee for President of the United States said something else racist.
From http://www.politicususa.com/2016/06/07/trump-smears-african-americans-racist-attack-save-campaign.html
"Trump Smears African-Americans With Racist Attack While Trying To Save His Campaign" By Jason Easley on Tue, Jun 7th, 2016 at 10:04 pm
"As he tried to save his campaign, Donald Trump smeared African-Americans with a new racist attack.
Trump said, “We’re going to take care of our inner cities which are absolutely a shame and so sad. We’re going to take care of our African-American people which have been mistreated for so long.”
Donald Trump was reading from a teleprompter, and he still couldn’t resist slipping in a bit of racism towards African-Americans. Republicans told themselves that the problem with Trump was that he was unscripted, so they scripted him, and their nominee was still a racist.
Trump’s line about African-Americans echoed his behavior recently on the campaign trail when he blurted out in the middle of a rally, “Look at my African-American.”
What Trump doesn’t understand is that African-Americans aren’t property. The United States doesn’t own African-Americans. African-Americans are not “ours,” and somebody may want to let the racist presumptive nominee that all African-Americans don’t live in inner cities"...
-snip-
There's lots of commentary about Trumps' latest racist comment. Here are two things I thought of when I first read those remarks:
1. Donald Trump's "OUR" African Americans indicates that he still thinks of Black people as belonging to someone else. In that sentence, the word "our" means non-African Americans. And Trump probably thinks that "non-African American" means White people.
"Our African Americans" sounds like slavery to me. And Trump's June 7, 2016 comment reminded me of the Black acting school scene in the 1987 movie Hollywood Shuffle, a scene in which Black actors are shown portraying slaves who are running away. In that scene one enslaved Black man has second thoughts about trying to escape slavery because he's grown used to being taken care of. He says "I don't why we leavin massa. he feed us sataday , cloth us on sunday & then beat us on monday".
Here's a video of that scene:
[Warning: The beginning of this video includes profanity.]
Hollywood Shuffle (1987): Black Acting School Scene
trademarktaz, Published on Jan 11, 2013
Scene from the 1987 film Hollywood Shuffle starring Robert Townsend
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093200
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/10/hollywood-shuffles-black-acting-school.html for a pancocojams post about this scene. That post includes the video embedded above and a video of a subsequent scene in which a Black man shares how he learned to play the part of a slave and a "jive talking" man from White instructors at "Black Acting School".
****
2. Donald Trump's latest racist comment about "taking care of our African Americans" reminded me of James Brown's 1969 song "I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing".
Here the repeated verse from that song:
"I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself"
-snip-
Here's a video of that song:
James Brown I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing MDS 1969
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYNJK5sHHeo
Embedding disabled by request
1993pug405mi16 Uploaded on Jan 7, 2007
June 30, 1969: JB doin' the tune "I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door I'll Get It Myself)"
-snip-
UPDATE: June 9, 2016: The lyrics to this song are found in the Addendum to this post.
-snip-
Selected comments from this video's discussion thread:
(These comments are numbered for referencing purposes only.)
2010
1. bishop88fingers
"Growing up during this time and Actually seeing this performance on the Mike Douglas Show in the afternoon after school, I'm always perplexed that of all of JB message songs, this one seemed to get swept under the table.........Truer words never said or sung.... JB inspired Black Pride and just a chance to get an opportunity to do my thing(1969 okay !) It's a shame we still as a people haven't got over the threshold....."
**
2. The1962Misslady
"this a song that children today need to hear maybe we could decrease violence self hatred and learn that we are a beautiful strong people thank u JB for the knowledge we need it still today even with a black prez"
****
2011
3. Paul Gleave
"When U consider the time and who the guy singing is, this song is immense. Respect. :)"
**
4. Savvynlady
"JB did this song after Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud so that folks will understand that we can do for self."
**
soulburst
5. "I preach this to my kids all the time. Thanks JB for the"Funky" parenting lesson.
"You got to carry the ball""
**
6. heresynco
"i always thought the message was more about allowing civil rights and political access, rather than merely a criticism of the welfare state."
perhaps i'm wrong, but if you listen to it, that's what he's demanding."
**
2012
7. sherry doolin
"James brown words are power!"
**
8. bordersj
"Preach Godfather Preach! Happy Friday"
**
10. pdddddp1
"Say it again bro/sis, i been sayin it for years. Glad to hear everybody ain't 'sleep'. :D"
**
2014
11. browndude12
"what is so interesting is, this is a message not just a brilliant piece of music..you really have to listen.He doesn't just sing and holler."
**
12. Eliza Queen
"This song has always been a favorite. Not only is the beat funky, but the band is tight and on point. Most of all, James Brown is speaking universal truth about self empowerment. It don't get no better. "
**
13. Reginald Powell
"Seven months after King's Assassination"
-snip-
I believe this commenter meant that James Brown performed this song seven months after Martin Luther King, Jr's assasination.
**
14. Christopher Alsobrook
"Did this many times in an front of audiences that were mostly white, with supreme confidence at a time when no one else was. That is COURAGE!!!!"
**
15. Christopher Alsobrook
"True Dat. How about the time he performed on Laugh-in many years ago, by himself no band, performing "Say it loud" in front of an all white audience except for Teresa Graves (Get Christie Love). They loved him."
****
ADDENDUM - Lyrics To I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing (Open up the Door I'll Get It Myself)
(James Brown)
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Do you hear me?
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Don't give me degeneration
Give me true communication
Don't give me sorrow
I want equal opportunity
To live tomorrow
Give me schools
And give me better books
So I can read about myself
And gain my truly looks*
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Do you hear me now, now?
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Some of us try
As hard as we can
We don't want no sympathy
We just wanna be a man
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Do you hear me?
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
We got talents we can use
On our side of town
Let's get our heads together
And get it up from the ground
When some of us make money
People hear about our people
Gotta grab out a honey
Forget about honey
Do you now, let me hear, hey
Come on, I got to have it
Come on, I need it
I got to have it, come on
I got to have it, oh, ha
Lordy, Lordy, Lordy
Lordy, Lordy, Lordy
Play with your bad self
Come on, baby
Come here
Gotta get it
Got to get myself together
So many things I got to do
So many things I got to do
I don't need no help from you
Tell everybody, everybody else
All of these things, baby
I got to do it myself
Come on, hey
I got to have it
I, said I, said I
Said I, said I, I
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
With you I'll sweat and blood
To put out any fire and block off every plug
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Do you hear me?
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
I'm not gonna tell
You what to do
I'm not gonna raise a fuss
But before you make another move
Let's start by taking care of us
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Do you hear me?
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Kids get that education
And don't you take no more
'Cause if we gonna get
This thing together
Then you got to carry the ball
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
Open up the door
Open up the door
Open up the door
Open up the door
Hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Can you dig the groove?
Can you make the move?
Can you dig the say?
Can you make the pay?
Dig the groove?
Can you dig it?
Tell me, can you dig it?
Tell me, can you?
Come on now, come on now
Come on, come on, come on
Come on
Come on, all right
Come on fly
Hey, hey, hey
Lord have mercy
I got to have it
Got to have it
I got to have it
Don't need no cupid
Don't be no stupid
Come on
We, we don't have time to hate
We need all the time we got
To try to communicate
Come on
Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, Lordy
Baby, baby, baby, baby
How can I get myself together
When you keep on packing your bag ?
How can I get myself together
When you keep on packing your bag?
How can I get myself together
When you keep on packing your bag?
How can I get myself together
When you keep on packing your bag?
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Oh, no, no, no, no
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
I'm not gonna tell you what to do
I'm not gonna raise a fuss
But before you make another move
Let's start by taking care of us
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Kids get that education
And don't you take no more
'Cause if we gonna get
This thing together
Then you got to carry the ball
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door, open
Open up the door
Open up the door, hit it
Open up, here I come
Open up and let a man come in
Open up, let a man come in
Open up, let a man come in
Here I come, here I come
I'm comin' in any type of weather
Comin' 'cause I got myself together
Open up, open up, open up, up
Source: http://www.metrolyrics.com/i-dont-want-nobody-to-give-me-nothing-open-up-the-door-ill-get-it-myself-lyrics-james-brown.html for the complete lyrics to this song.
-snip-
Several commenters in the discussion thread for the video given above wrote that their interpretation of the phrase ""truly looks", a phrase which wasn't and isn't used in everyday conversation. Those commenters wrote that "truly looks" meant Black people wearing their hair in an afro (and probably other natural hair styles- i.e. not chemically treating their hair or using heat such as a "straightening comb' (also called a "hot comb") to try to replicate the hair textures and hair styles of most non-Black people. Those comments were part of or sparked a larger discussion about Black people wearing their hair in afros and other natural hair styles.
In the embedded video, James Brown seems to gesture toward his naturally worn hair when he sings that line. But the phrase "truly looks" is included in the lines "so I can read about myself and gain my truly looks", I think that "truly looks" might also refer to the dashikis and other traditional West African (actually adapted West African*) clothing styles that some African Americans (such as his band in that video?) began to wear in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/02/dashikis-adaptation-of-yoruba-dansiki.html for a pancocojams post about the history of the dashiki which is an African American adaptation of the Nigerian (Yoruba) dansiki.
****
The content of this post is presented for political and cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all persons who are quoted about Donald Trump's comment and all persons who are quoted about James Brown's song. Thanks also to Robert Townsend, producer & writer of Hollywood Shuffle and all those who are featured in that movie clip. Thanks also to James Brown for his musical legacy. And thanks to the publishers of those videos on YouTube.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Showing posts with label racism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label racism. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Thursday, October 8, 2015
Comments About Rubert Murdoch's "Real Black President" Tweet
Edited by Azizi Powell
On October 7, 2015 media tycoon Rubert Murdoch's tweeted that Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson and Carson's wife are "terrific". In that same tweet Murdoch asked "What about a real black president who can properly address the racial divide? and much else".
This post showcases selected comments from a Huffington Post article about that tweet.
The content of this post is presented for sociological and cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to Robert Townsend for his movie "Hollywood Shuffle" and thanks to the YouTube publisher of the video that is embedded in this post.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT RUBERT MURDOCK AND BEN CARSON
Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Murdoch for information about Rubert Murdock.
Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Carson for information about Ben Carson.
****
EDITOR'S COMMENTS
These selected comments from that Huffington Post article particularly address the notion that Rupert Murdoch, in particular, or any other non-Black person can define who is or isn't a real Black person-even if that were a legitimate concept, which I don't believe it is.
That said, generally speaking, I don't have any problem with referring to a Black person as an "Uncle Tom" as I believe that people can determine that a Black person is operating against the best interests of Black people as a whole.
****
COMMENTS FROM A HUFFINGTON POST ARTICLE ABOUT RUBERT MURDUCK'S "REAL BLACK PRESIDENT" TWEET
Editor's Note: These comments are given in relative order based on their posting date with the oldest comments given first, except for replies. However, these comments may not be in consecutive order. I've assigned numbers to these comments for referencing purposes only.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rupert-murdoch-black-president_5615c40be4b0fad1591acbb5
Rupert Murdoch Says Ben Carson Would Be A 'Real Black President'
Ed Mazza Posted: 10/07/2015 09:50 PM EDT
1. Kenneth Lee, October 7, 2015
"The fact that rupert murdoch likes ben carson proves to me that carson is not fit to be president."
**
2. Susan Hottinger, October 7, 2015
"Rupert could call him Uncle Ben."
**
Reply
3. Augie Gallegos. October 7, 2015
"Susan Hottinger you mean Uncle Tom"
**
Reply
4. Jim Pyacek, October 8, 2015
"Augie Gallegos / Hey Mr. literal, his name is Ben, like the black guy on the rice box. I think she knows about uncle Tom."
-snip-
Here's information about "Uncle Ben's Rice" from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Ben%27s_(rice)
"Uncle Ben's is a brand name for parboiled rice and other related food products. The brand was introduced by Converted Rice Inc., which was later bought by Mars, Inc. It is based in Houston, Texas. Uncle Ben’s rice was first marketed in 1943 and was the top-selling rice in the United States from 1950 until the 1990s.[1]
Marketing origins
Uncle Ben’s products carry the image of an elderly African-American man dressed in a bow tie, said to have been the visage of a Chicago maître d’hôtel named Frank Brown.[11] According to Mars, Uncle Ben was an African-American rice grower known for the quality of his rice. Gordon L. Harwell, an entrepreneur who had supplied rice to the armed forces in World War II, chose the name Uncle Ben’s as a means to expand his marketing efforts to the general public.[12] "Uncle" was a common appellation used in the Southern United States to refer to older male Black slaves or servants.[11]
Uncle Ben's promotion
In March 2007, Uncle Ben's image was "promoted" to the "chairman of the board" by a new advertising campaign.[13]"...
**
5. Reply
Ron Ranft, October 8, 2015
"Augie Gallegos Maybe she didn't. The reference is much funnier and subtle when you consider that she refers to the Rice which is refered to a converted rice which also triggers the Uncle Tom image as well. Well played Susan!
-snip-
**
6. Brian Amberg, October 7, 2015
"By "address the racial divide" he means, "keep white privilege around longer"."
**
7. Jack McCallister, October 7, 2015
"As a black man I don't consider Obama black. He's mixed race. This idea that if someone's got one black parent, they are just categorized as black is offensive to me, they are just as much the other race, as they are black. But society pushes them towards black as if they are tainted and can't embrace the white portion of their background. I can hear it now, "He's not one of us!"..."
**
Reply
8. Jeff Mintz, October 7, 2015
"Welcome to America home of the" One drop policy" Since 1607
**
Reply
9.Jens Ole Stilling, October 7, 2015
"I for one nver understood how being born by a white woman can make a man black. Oh yes the land of the biggots can make it."
**
Reply
10. Marion Brooks, October 8, 2015
"Well the father is black that probably helps..."
**
Reply
11. Rita Prangle, October 8, 2015
"Marion Brooks: When Obama eas [was] running for office back in 2008, he said that those who thought he wasn't really black should come & watch him trying to get a cab on the south side of Chicago!"
**
12. Donyale Three, October 8, 2015
"Robert Townsend was right! Afros! I wants revenge!"
**
Reply
13. Sarah Ann Davies, October8, 2015
"Good one"
**
14. Debra King, October 8, 2015
"Rupert means a black man he can tell what to do. He clearly already tells him what to think as Ben pretty much is scripted by Fox."
**
15. Patricia Gitsanasopon, October 8, 2015
"By real he means "really easy" to control."
**
16. Coventry Kessler. October 8, 2015
"Just what we need--an Australian immigrant's opinion on what it means to be black in America. (face palm)"
**
17. Warren Schroeder, October 8, 2015
"So this old rich white guy defines what a "real black President" should be? This is too funny."
**
18. Mike Daniels, October 8
"Murdock wants a black puppet."
**
19. Jhayson Jones, October 8
"So I guess if one were to extrapolate, then George Washington would have been a "real" white president, huh? If there were 5 more 'handkerchief' heads like Ben Carson, they'd bring back slavery as a way to teach job skills!"
-snip-
"Handkerchief head" is another term for "Uncle Tom", a Black man who acts against the interest of other Black people and demonstrates that he is subservient to White people. Black females who talk or behave this way are sometimes also called "Uncle Toms". They may also be called "Aunt Jemimas", after the Black woman on the pancake syrup and pancake mix products.
**
20. Gloria Murphy-Flynn, October 8, 2015
"ahh come on black folks, you know white folks are the ones who decides who's "really black" - and once they do, you're all suppose to run and vote for the real black person carson - LMAO!"
**
21. Brian Vinson, October 8, 2015
"I wonder if Rupert checked with Dr. Carson becuase I don't think Dr. Carson thinks he is black.
**
22. BJ Gage, October 8, 2015
"Real Black" , read subservient. The term when I was young was, "he is a credit to his race." Meant," he knows his place." This is the sub text of Rupert Murdoch's words. The good old days when " they" said " yas suh" and didn't eat in the same restaurants. What Murdoch really yearns for his a " White " WhiteHouse.
**
22. Kiah J. Gordon, October 8, 2015
"In all seriousness, the fact that “blackness” is something that anyone, especially someone of another race, feels that they can “define” as valid or not is just….I can’t even put what I’m feeling into words right now because I’m filled with pure rage at the audacity of it all. I just can’t do this anymore with certain white people, especially certain white men. Not all…but the ones who in any way feel this way, I’m done with. Donald Trump did the same when he said that there wouldn’t be another “black President” bacause of Obama. To judge a man that is so much more accomplished in every aspect of his life than Trump by the sole factor of his race, not his policies…but the color of his skin again, I have no suitable words. No one ever said there would never be another white President after Bush. It never happens. But we get real vs. fake in the black community.
The reason Rupert Murdoch said what he said publically about Carson is because he has said these very words privately to Carson. Men like Ben Carson are comfortable in allowing white men like Rupert Murdoch to validate their existence and in this case to validate HIS blackness, to authenticate it, because he has worked his entire life on being “an acceptable black man” that makes white people who think like Rupert Murdoch comfortable. It is 2015 and a white man still feels he has the authority to define blackness. For Carson it has worked for him and he has reaped the benefits of his acceptability by saying the things they can’t as a vessel for their hatred.
The most painful part though in all of this is waiting. Now we wait. And we’re waiting to see if Ben Carson is the bought and paid for acceptable black man that we believe him to be or is he going to step up and make clear that he is not a black man looking for validation from Rupert Murdoch and that he is in no way any blacker or otherwise than the President. Will he allow himself to be defined by this man’s perception of him or will he stand up for himself as an individual and American that wishes to be judged on his own merits and not played against the man in the White House based solely on the only thing that they have in common. Will he question why no one is comparing and contrasting the whiteness of his opponents? See this is nothing new folks. This is how white people have been playing black people for centuries. You’ll never see Rand Paul or Donald Trump or Jeb Bush being compared and contrasted based on their whiteness. Their policies will never be considered good or bad for the “white community”. Their policies are either good for the middle class or the working class or the poor or for blue collar workers, etc. Their policy positions are American positions good or bad for Americans. Never good or bad for the white community. But Carson is good for the black community and will be a REAL representation of blackness. What will Carson do? What will be his response? I’m waiting."
****
UPDATE: Rupert Murdoch apologizes for ‘real black President’ remark: ‘No offence meant’
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS / Updated: Thursday, October 8, 2015, 9:10 AM
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/rupert-murdoch-apologizes-real-black-president-remark-article-1.2389851
****
UPDATE #2
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ben-carson-rupert-murdoch-racist_5616acf1e4b0e66ad4c6df15
Ben Carson Says Rupert Murdoch Is No Racist
Carson said Murdoch was "just expressing his opinion" on Twitter.
Posted: 10/08/2015 02:19 PM EDT
..."Carson, who has made a habit of denouncing political correctness on the campaign trail, said he understood the point Murdoch was making.
"I believe what he was making reference to was the fact that here was a man who is a black president that the black community was very excited about, who came in and whose policies have not really elevated the black community," he said.
Asked whether Obama was a "real black president," however, Carson demurred.
"Well, he's the president and he's black," he said, laughing."
Pressed on the matter once more, Carson responded, "We're dealing with semantics. I'm the last person who wants to play around with semantics and political correctness."
****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE MOVIE "HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE"
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Shuffle
"Hollywood Shuffle is a 1987 satirical comedy film about the racial stereotypes of African Americans in film and television. The film tracks the attempts of Bobby Taylor to become a successful actor and the mental and external roadblocks he encounters, represented through a series of interspersed vignettes and fantasies. Produced, directed, and co-written by Robert Townsend, the film is semi-autobiographical, reflecting Townsend's experiences as a black actor when he was told he was not “black enough” for certain roles.[2]...
Bobby Taylor (Robert Townsend) is a middle class black male aspiring to become an actor. He practices his lines in the bathroom, with his younger brother Stevie (Craigus R. Johnson) watching as he plays a stereotypical “jive” character for the audition for "Jivetime Jimmy's Revenge", a movie about street gangs.
-snip-
In the movie “Jivetime Jimmy’s Revenge”, White writers and White directors instruct Black actors how to act Black and how to speak “jive talk”. In this context, "jive" means "stereotypical African American street lingo." In other contexts, another meaning for the word "jive" can is something that is of poor quality or worthless.
-snip-
Warning- This movie contains profanity and what is commonly known as "the n word".
****
A CLIP FROM "HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE"
Afros I Want Revenge!
koolcalscott, Published on Apr 25, 2012
Hilarious scene from Robert Townsend's 1987 Movie " Hollywood Shuffle". This is where Gang Member Johnny shot Afros Gang Member Tommy, then Jimmy comes on the scene.
-snip-
This late 1980s movie depicted all the members of the fictitious "Afros" gang wear their hair in large afros (also known as "naturals" and 'fros). Calling that gang "Afros" and having that gang wear their hair that way was meant to be an example of White people stereotyping urban African Americans.
Although afros were popular in the 1970s among mostly teenage and young adult African Americans, by the 1980s few African Americans wore their hair that way. However, since at least 2010 or so, that natural hair style and other natural hair styles is becoming increasingly popular among all age groups of African Americans.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
On October 7, 2015 media tycoon Rubert Murdoch's tweeted that Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson and Carson's wife are "terrific". In that same tweet Murdoch asked "What about a real black president who can properly address the racial divide? and much else".
This post showcases selected comments from a Huffington Post article about that tweet.
The content of this post is presented for sociological and cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to Robert Townsend for his movie "Hollywood Shuffle" and thanks to the YouTube publisher of the video that is embedded in this post.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT RUBERT MURDOCK AND BEN CARSON
Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Murdoch for information about Rubert Murdock.
Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Carson for information about Ben Carson.
****
EDITOR'S COMMENTS
These selected comments from that Huffington Post article particularly address the notion that Rupert Murdoch, in particular, or any other non-Black person can define who is or isn't a real Black person-even if that were a legitimate concept, which I don't believe it is.
That said, generally speaking, I don't have any problem with referring to a Black person as an "Uncle Tom" as I believe that people can determine that a Black person is operating against the best interests of Black people as a whole.
****
COMMENTS FROM A HUFFINGTON POST ARTICLE ABOUT RUBERT MURDUCK'S "REAL BLACK PRESIDENT" TWEET
Editor's Note: These comments are given in relative order based on their posting date with the oldest comments given first, except for replies. However, these comments may not be in consecutive order. I've assigned numbers to these comments for referencing purposes only.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rupert-murdoch-black-president_5615c40be4b0fad1591acbb5
Rupert Murdoch Says Ben Carson Would Be A 'Real Black President'
Ed Mazza Posted: 10/07/2015 09:50 PM EDT
1. Kenneth Lee, October 7, 2015
"The fact that rupert murdoch likes ben carson proves to me that carson is not fit to be president."
**
2. Susan Hottinger, October 7, 2015
"Rupert could call him Uncle Ben."
**
Reply
3. Augie Gallegos. October 7, 2015
"Susan Hottinger you mean Uncle Tom"
**
Reply
4. Jim Pyacek, October 8, 2015
"Augie Gallegos / Hey Mr. literal, his name is Ben, like the black guy on the rice box. I think she knows about uncle Tom."
-snip-
Here's information about "Uncle Ben's Rice" from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Ben%27s_(rice)
"Uncle Ben's is a brand name for parboiled rice and other related food products. The brand was introduced by Converted Rice Inc., which was later bought by Mars, Inc. It is based in Houston, Texas. Uncle Ben’s rice was first marketed in 1943 and was the top-selling rice in the United States from 1950 until the 1990s.[1]
Marketing origins
Uncle Ben’s products carry the image of an elderly African-American man dressed in a bow tie, said to have been the visage of a Chicago maître d’hôtel named Frank Brown.[11] According to Mars, Uncle Ben was an African-American rice grower known for the quality of his rice. Gordon L. Harwell, an entrepreneur who had supplied rice to the armed forces in World War II, chose the name Uncle Ben’s as a means to expand his marketing efforts to the general public.[12] "Uncle" was a common appellation used in the Southern United States to refer to older male Black slaves or servants.[11]
Uncle Ben's promotion
In March 2007, Uncle Ben's image was "promoted" to the "chairman of the board" by a new advertising campaign.[13]"...
**
5. Reply
Ron Ranft, October 8, 2015
"Augie Gallegos Maybe she didn't. The reference is much funnier and subtle when you consider that she refers to the Rice which is refered to a converted rice which also triggers the Uncle Tom image as well. Well played Susan!
-snip-
**
6. Brian Amberg, October 7, 2015
"By "address the racial divide" he means, "keep white privilege around longer"."
**
7. Jack McCallister, October 7, 2015
"As a black man I don't consider Obama black. He's mixed race. This idea that if someone's got one black parent, they are just categorized as black is offensive to me, they are just as much the other race, as they are black. But society pushes them towards black as if they are tainted and can't embrace the white portion of their background. I can hear it now, "He's not one of us!"..."
**
Reply
8. Jeff Mintz, October 7, 2015
"Welcome to America home of the" One drop policy" Since 1607
**
Reply
9.Jens Ole Stilling, October 7, 2015
"I for one nver understood how being born by a white woman can make a man black. Oh yes the land of the biggots can make it."
**
Reply
10. Marion Brooks, October 8, 2015
"Well the father is black that probably helps..."
**
Reply
11. Rita Prangle, October 8, 2015
"Marion Brooks: When Obama eas [was] running for office back in 2008, he said that those who thought he wasn't really black should come & watch him trying to get a cab on the south side of Chicago!"
**
12. Donyale Three, October 8, 2015
"Robert Townsend was right! Afros! I wants revenge!"
**
Reply
13. Sarah Ann Davies, October8, 2015
"Good one"
**
14. Debra King, October 8, 2015
"Rupert means a black man he can tell what to do. He clearly already tells him what to think as Ben pretty much is scripted by Fox."
**
15. Patricia Gitsanasopon, October 8, 2015
"By real he means "really easy" to control."
**
16. Coventry Kessler. October 8, 2015
"Just what we need--an Australian immigrant's opinion on what it means to be black in America. (face palm)"
**
17. Warren Schroeder, October 8, 2015
"So this old rich white guy defines what a "real black President" should be? This is too funny."
**
18. Mike Daniels, October 8
"Murdock wants a black puppet."
**
19. Jhayson Jones, October 8
"So I guess if one were to extrapolate, then George Washington would have been a "real" white president, huh? If there were 5 more 'handkerchief' heads like Ben Carson, they'd bring back slavery as a way to teach job skills!"
-snip-
"Handkerchief head" is another term for "Uncle Tom", a Black man who acts against the interest of other Black people and demonstrates that he is subservient to White people. Black females who talk or behave this way are sometimes also called "Uncle Toms". They may also be called "Aunt Jemimas", after the Black woman on the pancake syrup and pancake mix products.
**
20. Gloria Murphy-Flynn, October 8, 2015
"ahh come on black folks, you know white folks are the ones who decides who's "really black" - and once they do, you're all suppose to run and vote for the real black person carson - LMAO!"
**
21. Brian Vinson, October 8, 2015
"I wonder if Rupert checked with Dr. Carson becuase I don't think Dr. Carson thinks he is black.
**
22. BJ Gage, October 8, 2015
"Real Black" , read subservient. The term when I was young was, "he is a credit to his race." Meant," he knows his place." This is the sub text of Rupert Murdoch's words. The good old days when " they" said " yas suh" and didn't eat in the same restaurants. What Murdoch really yearns for his a " White " WhiteHouse.
**
22. Kiah J. Gordon, October 8, 2015
"In all seriousness, the fact that “blackness” is something that anyone, especially someone of another race, feels that they can “define” as valid or not is just….I can’t even put what I’m feeling into words right now because I’m filled with pure rage at the audacity of it all. I just can’t do this anymore with certain white people, especially certain white men. Not all…but the ones who in any way feel this way, I’m done with. Donald Trump did the same when he said that there wouldn’t be another “black President” bacause of Obama. To judge a man that is so much more accomplished in every aspect of his life than Trump by the sole factor of his race, not his policies…but the color of his skin again, I have no suitable words. No one ever said there would never be another white President after Bush. It never happens. But we get real vs. fake in the black community.
The reason Rupert Murdoch said what he said publically about Carson is because he has said these very words privately to Carson. Men like Ben Carson are comfortable in allowing white men like Rupert Murdoch to validate their existence and in this case to validate HIS blackness, to authenticate it, because he has worked his entire life on being “an acceptable black man” that makes white people who think like Rupert Murdoch comfortable. It is 2015 and a white man still feels he has the authority to define blackness. For Carson it has worked for him and he has reaped the benefits of his acceptability by saying the things they can’t as a vessel for their hatred.
The most painful part though in all of this is waiting. Now we wait. And we’re waiting to see if Ben Carson is the bought and paid for acceptable black man that we believe him to be or is he going to step up and make clear that he is not a black man looking for validation from Rupert Murdoch and that he is in no way any blacker or otherwise than the President. Will he allow himself to be defined by this man’s perception of him or will he stand up for himself as an individual and American that wishes to be judged on his own merits and not played against the man in the White House based solely on the only thing that they have in common. Will he question why no one is comparing and contrasting the whiteness of his opponents? See this is nothing new folks. This is how white people have been playing black people for centuries. You’ll never see Rand Paul or Donald Trump or Jeb Bush being compared and contrasted based on their whiteness. Their policies will never be considered good or bad for the “white community”. Their policies are either good for the middle class or the working class or the poor or for blue collar workers, etc. Their policy positions are American positions good or bad for Americans. Never good or bad for the white community. But Carson is good for the black community and will be a REAL representation of blackness. What will Carson do? What will be his response? I’m waiting."
****
UPDATE: Rupert Murdoch apologizes for ‘real black President’ remark: ‘No offence meant’
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS / Updated: Thursday, October 8, 2015, 9:10 AM
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/rupert-murdoch-apologizes-real-black-president-remark-article-1.2389851
****
UPDATE #2
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ben-carson-rupert-murdoch-racist_5616acf1e4b0e66ad4c6df15
Ben Carson Says Rupert Murdoch Is No Racist
Carson said Murdoch was "just expressing his opinion" on Twitter.
Posted: 10/08/2015 02:19 PM EDT
..."Carson, who has made a habit of denouncing political correctness on the campaign trail, said he understood the point Murdoch was making.
"I believe what he was making reference to was the fact that here was a man who is a black president that the black community was very excited about, who came in and whose policies have not really elevated the black community," he said.
Asked whether Obama was a "real black president," however, Carson demurred.
"Well, he's the president and he's black," he said, laughing."
Pressed on the matter once more, Carson responded, "We're dealing with semantics. I'm the last person who wants to play around with semantics and political correctness."
****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE MOVIE "HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE"
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Shuffle
"Hollywood Shuffle is a 1987 satirical comedy film about the racial stereotypes of African Americans in film and television. The film tracks the attempts of Bobby Taylor to become a successful actor and the mental and external roadblocks he encounters, represented through a series of interspersed vignettes and fantasies. Produced, directed, and co-written by Robert Townsend, the film is semi-autobiographical, reflecting Townsend's experiences as a black actor when he was told he was not “black enough” for certain roles.[2]...
Bobby Taylor (Robert Townsend) is a middle class black male aspiring to become an actor. He practices his lines in the bathroom, with his younger brother Stevie (Craigus R. Johnson) watching as he plays a stereotypical “jive” character for the audition for "Jivetime Jimmy's Revenge", a movie about street gangs.
-snip-
In the movie “Jivetime Jimmy’s Revenge”, White writers and White directors instruct Black actors how to act Black and how to speak “jive talk”. In this context, "jive" means "stereotypical African American street lingo." In other contexts, another meaning for the word "jive" can is something that is of poor quality or worthless.
-snip-
Warning- This movie contains profanity and what is commonly known as "the n word".
****
A CLIP FROM "HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE"
Afros I Want Revenge!
koolcalscott, Published on Apr 25, 2012
Hilarious scene from Robert Townsend's 1987 Movie " Hollywood Shuffle". This is where Gang Member Johnny shot Afros Gang Member Tommy, then Jimmy comes on the scene.
-snip-
This late 1980s movie depicted all the members of the fictitious "Afros" gang wear their hair in large afros (also known as "naturals" and 'fros). Calling that gang "Afros" and having that gang wear their hair that way was meant to be an example of White people stereotyping urban African Americans.
Although afros were popular in the 1970s among mostly teenage and young adult African Americans, by the 1980s few African Americans wore their hair that way. However, since at least 2010 or so, that natural hair style and other natural hair styles is becoming increasingly popular among all age groups of African Americans.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Comments From The Viewers Of The Video "T-Paining Too Much: The Meme-ification of Charles Ramsey"
Edited by Azizi Powell
This post features 26 selected comments from the video comment thread of Jay Smooth's [illdoctrine] video blog "T-Paining Too Much: The Meme-ification of Charles Ramsey".
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/05/transcript-of-vblog-t-paining-too-much.html for that video, for my transcription of that video, and for related links.
The content of this post is presented for historical and cultural reasons.
****
SELECTED COMMENTS
(These comments were posted on that video's viewer comment thread from the date of the video's posting May 8, 2013 to May 13, 2013. The comments are presented in chronological order with the oldest comments posted first. The numbers are given for referencing purposes only and the commenter's screen name is given after that assigned number. To date [May 14, 2013 at 9 PM EST] there are 145 comments to that video).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id8Vj2sUXDQ&list=UUjj9EnVJUY7pTkP5MX8F9gQ&index=1
Comment #1: bbbnnnlll
"To me, the autotuning is just a part of the larger trend of exploitation, mockery, and caricaturizing of black people like Antoine Dodson, Sweet Brown, and now Charles Ramsey."
**
Comment #2: [Reply] craigslist176
"If you have watched the popular autotune videos you would know that it extends beyond the African American community, as illdoc1 also acknowledged in this video."
**
Comment #3: DUGMAC1973
"It was only a matter of time. Every sensational news story, especially those that feature such interesting characters, tend to gravitate towards focusing specifically upon the cast, as opposed to the story. The fact that this guy is not particularly articulate, not aesthetically pleasing to the eye and non-white automatically makes him a target for all kinds of crude stereotypes and generalisations. This seems to be the norm for the way the media operates in the States. I fear it will get worse
**
Comment #4: nibunni
"it doesn't have to be "focused" on them for it to be problematic. that anyone is tying to make commodity and make jokes at the expense of someone else for something like being uneducated or "unekmpt" is inherently manipulative and there's really zero way around that whatsoever. It's not about "what else is autotuned," it's the racism/classism involved in why the seemingly uneducated are specifically targeted for humor - especially when they are black."
**
Comment #5: facephoenix
"It did bother me because if he was a well kept blue collar Caucasian I think they would be handing him a medal and talking about how great he was but with a ton more respect. Maybe we [society] are too ravenous for a quick laugh to notice that a man stepped out of the "Mind your own Business - Isolationist" Mind State we have as Americans and helped a person in need. Would they have done this if an EMT in Boston had his same personality during the bombing? I doubt it."
**
Comment #6: homosaur
"Preach it Jay, I don't understand why the sh&t on its own wasn't enough, why does it have to become a ridiculous character thing? Charles Ramsey doesn't deserve a meme just because he had a great one-liner. And let's be clear, that was a massively amazing one-liner."
-snip-
That "s" word was fully spelled out in that comment.
**
Comment #7: Sumkilla
..."Some problems are perceived, and some problems are actual. This strikes me as a "perceived" problem. I'm a little more concerned about the self righteous ppl who are calling this guy a minstrel & these videos racist b/c there's a working class black man being made fun of. There are assumptions being made about why ppl find him funny (even in this video's comments). To me those assumptions are more racist than any meme I've seen so far. That strikes me as more of an "actual" problem."
**
Comment #8: Jake Stephens
"I've never been one to like the auto-tuning of people to poke fun at them, when really there should be more dialog about what happened and how to prevent it from happening again. Also, not a fan of "Auto-tune The News". I just don't care for it. News is meant to be news. But that's just me."
**
Comment #9: MouseAria
"Thank you so much for saying so eloquently what I wanted to. I think this trend is specifically problematic when you think about how race factors in, and how a lot of memes surrounding black people are in a sense laughing at them, in a 'oh those crazy black people' kind of way, which is entirely and completely f***ed up. Instead of appreciating Ramsey's courage, people are laughing at his elocution, or the lack there of, which is anything but endearing and is just plain racist."
-snip-
The asterisks are used because this pancocojams blog is supposed to be profanity free.
**
Comment #10: Roxie21
"I don't know if the meme is taking us to weird places or just truly revealing how weird/classist/racist it's been this entire time."
**
Comments #11: Lovelyn Bettison
"Glad you're back. I've missed your videos. I think the whole autotune thing is tired. I feel like it's usually used to make a joke out of poor, black people and makes light of the real issue"
**
Comment #12: Carlyle V.Smith
"Well said. I agree dude is funny but shouldn't be objectified like he, and others, have."
**
Comment #13: xXMissFoxyXx
"Completely agree. It gives me a slight chill to see how completely detached from the reality of the situation so many people are. It's not a movie and Charles Ramsey isn't some comic relief character to leaven the mood for the audience. Those women were raped and tortured for a DECADE."
**
Comment #14: iomegapencils
"While I agree with your points on the whole youtube-meme-machine-dickriding phenomenon, I feel like the gregory brothers version wasn't in such bad taste. What happened in Cleveland was horrifying, to the level of being literally dumbfounding. Sometimes humor can be a tool to pull that kind of stuff down to a level where we as humans can actually look at it and deal with it. In my case, I watched that video and was laughing WITH Charles, not AT him, which to me is what makes it non-Chappelle."
**
Comment #15: silvike
"It's interesting that you bring this up. Being from Sweden, we don't get the same news coverage about what happened as you do (obviously) so after hearing you out, I went to check out the interview with Charles Ramsey and what hit me was that I saw a man who was tired (probably because everyone wanted to talk to him right away), still very perplexed over what had happened and what had been going on right infront of him without him knowing and dealing with being on national tv."
**
Comment #16: silvike
"Cont.
I didn't really see the funny part in this and I think it's because in my country, but I think in general for all of Europe, making fun of people on the news has not become a part of our culture (yet), not even on the internet, in fact, it would be frowned upon. I loved the Martin Luther King tune by the Gregory Brothers, and Antoine dodson was borderline not ok (but sounded great) but after that, I stopped listening. I do think that if we start making fun of everything, we'll end up"
**
Comment #17: silvike
"Cont.
not feeling anything about anything in the end, some news aren't meant to be laughed off so we can feel better, some news are meant to shake us up so we'll take action for things to get better. We just had a father forgetting his child the car for 8 hours while working (he forgot to drop him off att the kindergarten) and he died from heat stroke. This has launched a debate about parents being over stressed, schools not warn when kids don't show up. News help us evolve."
**
Comment #18: Anne Shelly
"I don't see a problem with it if the person gets something out of it. They are real. There is nothing ghetto or stereotypical about them."
**
Comment #19: Anne Shelly
"The thing about it is that they pay these ppl for memeing them and I'm not going to knock anyone's money.
Moreover, black ppl need to think about what offends us and what doesn't. Ppl find these ppl embarrassing or perhaps stereotypical when they are real ppl commenting on something real that happened. There's nothing stereotypical about that. We'll support terrible black movies and agree to be stereotypical black characters on shows and support those shows. But these REAL ppl are embarrassing?"
**
Comment #20: WernerVonWallenrod
"I was blissfully unaware of any autotuning of this guy. I knew of the news story, heard the 911 call (which, seriously... why are 911 calls being released as public entertainment? How is that okay?), and thought he was charming and funny like everybody else. But somehow I missed the following stuff that you're responding to. Maybe you're just on the wrong internet. ;)"
**
Comment #21: Big Bambu
"The reason people become memes is because they have qualities that are laughable. The point of a meme is to laugh at a person's looks or behaviour."
**
Comment #22: Leslie T
"Given that the minstrel show and laughing at black people was one of the first forms of entertainment in America, it almost kind of makes sense that people have made a meme of Charles Ramsey. You ever been around someone who laughs a LITTLE too long at a joke? After a while, they're laughing at something else.
These people are laughing at their stereotypical view of BP and how they perceive/want us to be. Who knows, I can't really get in their head. But this isnt just surface humor. FACT."
**
Comment #23: Heather McManus
"Great to have a new post form you, especially one focused on a topic that I have had a hard time articulating my discomfort about to other people in my life. Very well said! Do you happen to have a transcript you could easily post in the comments that I could quote from?"
**
Comment #24:ktownshutdown21
"The biggest difference to me is that people GENUINELY respect Ramsey. With folks like Antoine Dotson or Sweet Brown, you could argue that it was a case "LOL look at these craaaazy black people!" But Ramsey...that was a MAJOR thing he was able to do and people GET that, 100%. Go through any comments section of any interview or article of the guy; there's nothing but straight up admiration for him.
The "white girl" line was MEANT to be a joke/quip by him instead of unintentionally becoming one."
**
Comment #25: Bob Urell
"Oh, thank God. I thought I was just being a fogey when I couldn't find the funny in the million versions of Mr. Ramsey singing an interview. The man did something when confronted with another human being in need. A lot of people wouldn't have. He deserves our respect."
**
Comment #26: Alanna Frank
"I honestly was so uncomfortable about the whole thing. I got Antoine Dodson...it made sense...but this Charles Ramsey thing wasn't even funny to me. It kinda just broke my heart instead...He saved lives and he put himself in danger...real danger to save people he didn't even know. I'd say that should be applauded and not made fun of. I'm tired of my people getting shot down"
****
ADDENDUM
This excerpt is presented for background about what some are referring to as Charles Ramsey's "meme-ification" and the "trope of the hilarious Black neighbor":
From http://news.yahoo.com/internets-instant-meme-ification-charles-ramsey-backlash-170500138.html
The internet's instant meme-ification of Charles Ramsey: The backlash By Lauren Hansen | The Week – Wed, May 8, 2013
"Does a Cleveland man's dizzying ascent to viral stardom expose America's racist underbelly?
No sooner did America hear about the miraculous story of three long-missing women being freed from captivity in a Cleveland home did Charles Ramsey, the neighbor.
Ramsey was one of the first to provide reporters with an eyewitness account of the rescue of Amanda Berry who, along with Georgina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, had been missing for a decade. (Read more about their rescue here.) Ramsey offered America a candid, self-effacing report that immediately caught the eye of thousands upon thousands of people all over the world. Like any good story, Ramsey peppered his tale with details ("I was eaten' my McDonald's") and offered a humorous analysis of an otherwise unbelievable situation: "Bro, I knew something was wrong when a little pretty white girl ran into a black man's arms. Something's wrong here. Dead giveaway." ...
"What's really getting everyone's attention isn't his intervention in saving the women's lives," says Roger Ratchet at Gossip On This, "it's his wide-eyed, tactless, and ebonics-peppered speech that has everyone in stitches."
Ramsey is not the first black American to be thrust suddenly into the spotlight this way. Remember Antoine Dodson of "Hide Your Kids, Hide Your Wife" or Sweet Brown of "Aint Nobody Got Time for That"? They also gave equally frank local TV interviews that were manipulated, memed, catch-phrased, and forwarded around for entertainment...
In the eyes of many critics of these memes, the common denominator among Ramsey, Dodson, and Sweet Brown is that they are poor and black. And to some, this kind of meme-ification reveals America's racist underbelly. "Laughter directed at Sweet Brown plays into the most basic stereotyping of blacks as simple-minded ramblers living in the "ghetto," says Aisha Harris at Slate. The root of such jokes are "disrespectful at best." Harris continues:
It's difficult to watch these videos and not sense that their popularity has something to do with a persistent, if unconscious, desire to see black people perform. [Slate]
Indeed, Ramsey's race and class are central to his temporary celebrity, says Gene Demby at NPR. And these memes are patronizing. Demby continues:
"Amid the hood backdrop — the gnarled teeth, the dirty white tee, the slang, the shout-out to McDonald's — we miss the fact that Charles Ramsey is perfectly lucid and intelligent"..."
****
RELATED LINK & EDITORIAL COMMENT
Click http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sweet-brown-aint-nobody-got-time-for-that for a post about Sweet Brown.
I believe that it's significant that some people who have been "memed" such as Antoine Dodson & Sweet Brown, although it appears not Charles Ramsey, actively participate in their meme-ification, after the fact by encouraging the public to remember their one liners that made them famous.
However, notice how in subsequent television appearances Sweet Brown and Antoine Dodson don't show up with their hair covered by a scarf (which is a typical bedtime night hair care custom for African Americans.) Instead, their hair is worn in appropriate going outdoor styles and their clothing is also appropriate for television show appearances. In his subsequent interviews, Charles Ramsey, also "upgraded" his physical appearance by wearing suitable outdoor clothing and not a white t-shirt, and covering his hair with a baseball cap.
My point is that if any of these persons who became internet sensations because of their unexpected interviews were truly wanting to be stereotyped as ghetto clowns, they would have continued to wear their hair covered with a scarf or their hair out (unbraided?)* as was the case with Charles Ramsey. And they would have continued to wear the types of clothing that they wore when they were unexpectedly caught up in that crisis which resulted in them being interviewed. In other words, the way they were dressed-including their hair- would have become a costume.
Thank goodness, it seems that none of those persons who have been "memed" have gone that far, and it seems from the linked article's update that Sweet Brown (and presumably the other persons who have been memed) have lawyers to protect their public images from being abused by those who would make money off of them. Good for them.
*I wonder if Charles Ramsey's hair was that long because he wears his hair in cornbraids and the braids were taken out in preparation for rebraiding.on interviews, he covered his hair with a baseball cap.
****
ACKNOWLEDGEMNT AND THANKS
Thanks to Charles Ramsey for his heroic actions. Thanks to all those whose comments I quoted in this blog post. Thanks also to Jay Smooth for his insightful and thought provoking video.
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This post features 26 selected comments from the video comment thread of Jay Smooth's [illdoctrine] video blog "T-Paining Too Much: The Meme-ification of Charles Ramsey".
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/05/transcript-of-vblog-t-paining-too-much.html for that video, for my transcription of that video, and for related links.
The content of this post is presented for historical and cultural reasons.
****
SELECTED COMMENTS
(These comments were posted on that video's viewer comment thread from the date of the video's posting May 8, 2013 to May 13, 2013. The comments are presented in chronological order with the oldest comments posted first. The numbers are given for referencing purposes only and the commenter's screen name is given after that assigned number. To date [May 14, 2013 at 9 PM EST] there are 145 comments to that video).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id8Vj2sUXDQ&list=UUjj9EnVJUY7pTkP5MX8F9gQ&index=1
Comment #1: bbbnnnlll
"To me, the autotuning is just a part of the larger trend of exploitation, mockery, and caricaturizing of black people like Antoine Dodson, Sweet Brown, and now Charles Ramsey."
**
Comment #2: [Reply] craigslist176
"If you have watched the popular autotune videos you would know that it extends beyond the African American community, as illdoc1 also acknowledged in this video."
**
Comment #3: DUGMAC1973
"It was only a matter of time. Every sensational news story, especially those that feature such interesting characters, tend to gravitate towards focusing specifically upon the cast, as opposed to the story. The fact that this guy is not particularly articulate, not aesthetically pleasing to the eye and non-white automatically makes him a target for all kinds of crude stereotypes and generalisations. This seems to be the norm for the way the media operates in the States. I fear it will get worse
**
Comment #4: nibunni
"it doesn't have to be "focused" on them for it to be problematic. that anyone is tying to make commodity and make jokes at the expense of someone else for something like being uneducated or "unekmpt" is inherently manipulative and there's really zero way around that whatsoever. It's not about "what else is autotuned," it's the racism/classism involved in why the seemingly uneducated are specifically targeted for humor - especially when they are black."
**
Comment #5: facephoenix
"It did bother me because if he was a well kept blue collar Caucasian I think they would be handing him a medal and talking about how great he was but with a ton more respect. Maybe we [society] are too ravenous for a quick laugh to notice that a man stepped out of the "Mind your own Business - Isolationist" Mind State we have as Americans and helped a person in need. Would they have done this if an EMT in Boston had his same personality during the bombing? I doubt it."
**
Comment #6: homosaur
"Preach it Jay, I don't understand why the sh&t on its own wasn't enough, why does it have to become a ridiculous character thing? Charles Ramsey doesn't deserve a meme just because he had a great one-liner. And let's be clear, that was a massively amazing one-liner."
-snip-
That "s" word was fully spelled out in that comment.
**
Comment #7: Sumkilla
..."Some problems are perceived, and some problems are actual. This strikes me as a "perceived" problem. I'm a little more concerned about the self righteous ppl who are calling this guy a minstrel & these videos racist b/c there's a working class black man being made fun of. There are assumptions being made about why ppl find him funny (even in this video's comments). To me those assumptions are more racist than any meme I've seen so far. That strikes me as more of an "actual" problem."
**
Comment #8: Jake Stephens
"I've never been one to like the auto-tuning of people to poke fun at them, when really there should be more dialog about what happened and how to prevent it from happening again. Also, not a fan of "Auto-tune The News". I just don't care for it. News is meant to be news. But that's just me."
**
Comment #9: MouseAria
"Thank you so much for saying so eloquently what I wanted to. I think this trend is specifically problematic when you think about how race factors in, and how a lot of memes surrounding black people are in a sense laughing at them, in a 'oh those crazy black people' kind of way, which is entirely and completely f***ed up. Instead of appreciating Ramsey's courage, people are laughing at his elocution, or the lack there of, which is anything but endearing and is just plain racist."
-snip-
The asterisks are used because this pancocojams blog is supposed to be profanity free.
**
Comment #10: Roxie21
"I don't know if the meme is taking us to weird places or just truly revealing how weird/classist/racist it's been this entire time."
**
Comments #11: Lovelyn Bettison
"Glad you're back. I've missed your videos. I think the whole autotune thing is tired. I feel like it's usually used to make a joke out of poor, black people and makes light of the real issue"
**
Comment #12: Carlyle V.Smith
"Well said. I agree dude is funny but shouldn't be objectified like he, and others, have."
**
Comment #13: xXMissFoxyXx
"Completely agree. It gives me a slight chill to see how completely detached from the reality of the situation so many people are. It's not a movie and Charles Ramsey isn't some comic relief character to leaven the mood for the audience. Those women were raped and tortured for a DECADE."
**
Comment #14: iomegapencils
"While I agree with your points on the whole youtube-meme-machine-dickriding phenomenon, I feel like the gregory brothers version wasn't in such bad taste. What happened in Cleveland was horrifying, to the level of being literally dumbfounding. Sometimes humor can be a tool to pull that kind of stuff down to a level where we as humans can actually look at it and deal with it. In my case, I watched that video and was laughing WITH Charles, not AT him, which to me is what makes it non-Chappelle."
**
Comment #15: silvike
"It's interesting that you bring this up. Being from Sweden, we don't get the same news coverage about what happened as you do (obviously) so after hearing you out, I went to check out the interview with Charles Ramsey and what hit me was that I saw a man who was tired (probably because everyone wanted to talk to him right away), still very perplexed over what had happened and what had been going on right infront of him without him knowing and dealing with being on national tv."
**
Comment #16: silvike
"Cont.
I didn't really see the funny part in this and I think it's because in my country, but I think in general for all of Europe, making fun of people on the news has not become a part of our culture (yet), not even on the internet, in fact, it would be frowned upon. I loved the Martin Luther King tune by the Gregory Brothers, and Antoine dodson was borderline not ok (but sounded great) but after that, I stopped listening. I do think that if we start making fun of everything, we'll end up"
**
Comment #17: silvike
"Cont.
not feeling anything about anything in the end, some news aren't meant to be laughed off so we can feel better, some news are meant to shake us up so we'll take action for things to get better. We just had a father forgetting his child the car for 8 hours while working (he forgot to drop him off att the kindergarten) and he died from heat stroke. This has launched a debate about parents being over stressed, schools not warn when kids don't show up. News help us evolve."
**
Comment #18: Anne Shelly
"I don't see a problem with it if the person gets something out of it. They are real. There is nothing ghetto or stereotypical about them."
**
Comment #19: Anne Shelly
"The thing about it is that they pay these ppl for memeing them and I'm not going to knock anyone's money.
Moreover, black ppl need to think about what offends us and what doesn't. Ppl find these ppl embarrassing or perhaps stereotypical when they are real ppl commenting on something real that happened. There's nothing stereotypical about that. We'll support terrible black movies and agree to be stereotypical black characters on shows and support those shows. But these REAL ppl are embarrassing?"
**
Comment #20: WernerVonWallenrod
"I was blissfully unaware of any autotuning of this guy. I knew of the news story, heard the 911 call (which, seriously... why are 911 calls being released as public entertainment? How is that okay?), and thought he was charming and funny like everybody else. But somehow I missed the following stuff that you're responding to. Maybe you're just on the wrong internet. ;)"
**
Comment #21: Big Bambu
"The reason people become memes is because they have qualities that are laughable. The point of a meme is to laugh at a person's looks or behaviour."
**
Comment #22: Leslie T
"Given that the minstrel show and laughing at black people was one of the first forms of entertainment in America, it almost kind of makes sense that people have made a meme of Charles Ramsey. You ever been around someone who laughs a LITTLE too long at a joke? After a while, they're laughing at something else.
These people are laughing at their stereotypical view of BP and how they perceive/want us to be. Who knows, I can't really get in their head. But this isnt just surface humor. FACT."
**
Comment #23: Heather McManus
"Great to have a new post form you, especially one focused on a topic that I have had a hard time articulating my discomfort about to other people in my life. Very well said! Do you happen to have a transcript you could easily post in the comments that I could quote from?"
**
Comment #24:ktownshutdown21
"The biggest difference to me is that people GENUINELY respect Ramsey. With folks like Antoine Dotson or Sweet Brown, you could argue that it was a case "LOL look at these craaaazy black people!" But Ramsey...that was a MAJOR thing he was able to do and people GET that, 100%. Go through any comments section of any interview or article of the guy; there's nothing but straight up admiration for him.
The "white girl" line was MEANT to be a joke/quip by him instead of unintentionally becoming one."
**
Comment #25: Bob Urell
"Oh, thank God. I thought I was just being a fogey when I couldn't find the funny in the million versions of Mr. Ramsey singing an interview. The man did something when confronted with another human being in need. A lot of people wouldn't have. He deserves our respect."
**
Comment #26: Alanna Frank
"I honestly was so uncomfortable about the whole thing. I got Antoine Dodson...it made sense...but this Charles Ramsey thing wasn't even funny to me. It kinda just broke my heart instead...He saved lives and he put himself in danger...real danger to save people he didn't even know. I'd say that should be applauded and not made fun of. I'm tired of my people getting shot down"
****
ADDENDUM
This excerpt is presented for background about what some are referring to as Charles Ramsey's "meme-ification" and the "trope of the hilarious Black neighbor":
From http://news.yahoo.com/internets-instant-meme-ification-charles-ramsey-backlash-170500138.html
The internet's instant meme-ification of Charles Ramsey: The backlash By Lauren Hansen | The Week – Wed, May 8, 2013
"Does a Cleveland man's dizzying ascent to viral stardom expose America's racist underbelly?
No sooner did America hear about the miraculous story of three long-missing women being freed from captivity in a Cleveland home did Charles Ramsey, the neighbor.
Ramsey was one of the first to provide reporters with an eyewitness account of the rescue of Amanda Berry who, along with Georgina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, had been missing for a decade. (Read more about their rescue here.) Ramsey offered America a candid, self-effacing report that immediately caught the eye of thousands upon thousands of people all over the world. Like any good story, Ramsey peppered his tale with details ("I was eaten' my McDonald's") and offered a humorous analysis of an otherwise unbelievable situation: "Bro, I knew something was wrong when a little pretty white girl ran into a black man's arms. Something's wrong here. Dead giveaway." ...
"What's really getting everyone's attention isn't his intervention in saving the women's lives," says Roger Ratchet at Gossip On This, "it's his wide-eyed, tactless, and ebonics-peppered speech that has everyone in stitches."
Ramsey is not the first black American to be thrust suddenly into the spotlight this way. Remember Antoine Dodson of "Hide Your Kids, Hide Your Wife" or Sweet Brown of "Aint Nobody Got Time for That"? They also gave equally frank local TV interviews that were manipulated, memed, catch-phrased, and forwarded around for entertainment...
In the eyes of many critics of these memes, the common denominator among Ramsey, Dodson, and Sweet Brown is that they are poor and black. And to some, this kind of meme-ification reveals America's racist underbelly. "Laughter directed at Sweet Brown plays into the most basic stereotyping of blacks as simple-minded ramblers living in the "ghetto," says Aisha Harris at Slate. The root of such jokes are "disrespectful at best." Harris continues:
It's difficult to watch these videos and not sense that their popularity has something to do with a persistent, if unconscious, desire to see black people perform. [Slate]
Indeed, Ramsey's race and class are central to his temporary celebrity, says Gene Demby at NPR. And these memes are patronizing. Demby continues:
"Amid the hood backdrop — the gnarled teeth, the dirty white tee, the slang, the shout-out to McDonald's — we miss the fact that Charles Ramsey is perfectly lucid and intelligent"..."
****
RELATED LINK & EDITORIAL COMMENT
Click http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sweet-brown-aint-nobody-got-time-for-that for a post about Sweet Brown.
I believe that it's significant that some people who have been "memed" such as Antoine Dodson & Sweet Brown, although it appears not Charles Ramsey, actively participate in their meme-ification, after the fact by encouraging the public to remember their one liners that made them famous.
However, notice how in subsequent television appearances Sweet Brown and Antoine Dodson don't show up with their hair covered by a scarf (which is a typical bedtime night hair care custom for African Americans.) Instead, their hair is worn in appropriate going outdoor styles and their clothing is also appropriate for television show appearances. In his subsequent interviews, Charles Ramsey, also "upgraded" his physical appearance by wearing suitable outdoor clothing and not a white t-shirt, and covering his hair with a baseball cap.
My point is that if any of these persons who became internet sensations because of their unexpected interviews were truly wanting to be stereotyped as ghetto clowns, they would have continued to wear their hair covered with a scarf or their hair out (unbraided?)* as was the case with Charles Ramsey. And they would have continued to wear the types of clothing that they wore when they were unexpectedly caught up in that crisis which resulted in them being interviewed. In other words, the way they were dressed-including their hair- would have become a costume.
Thank goodness, it seems that none of those persons who have been "memed" have gone that far, and it seems from the linked article's update that Sweet Brown (and presumably the other persons who have been memed) have lawyers to protect their public images from being abused by those who would make money off of them. Good for them.
*I wonder if Charles Ramsey's hair was that long because he wears his hair in cornbraids and the braids were taken out in preparation for rebraiding.on interviews, he covered his hair with a baseball cap.
****
ACKNOWLEDGEMNT AND THANKS
Thanks to Charles Ramsey for his heroic actions. Thanks to all those whose comments I quoted in this blog post. Thanks also to Jay Smooth for his insightful and thought provoking video.
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Big Bill Broonzy -"Black, Brown, And White" (A Song About Racism)
Edited by Azizi Powell
Revised October 8. 2018
This pancocojams post showcases Big Bill Broonzy's 1951 song "Black, Brown, And White".
The content of this post is presented for historical, folkloric, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes. The copyrights remain with their owners.
My thanks to Big Bill Broonzy for composing and performing this song. I honor & applaud Big Bill Broonzy for encapsulating in this song part of the past and present reality of Black folks in the USA and elsewhere.
My thanks also to the transcriber of the song's lyrics, the uploaders of this featured sound file, the author of the excerpted post, and other commenters who are quoted here.
****
FEATURED SOUND FILE
'Black, Brown And White' BIG BILL BROONZY (1951) Blues Guitar Legend
Uploaded by RagtimeDorianHenry on Apr 2, 2009
" Black, Brown And White " (1951)
The " RED HOT BLUES " (1925-1945)
Texas Alexander
Pink Anderson
Kokomo Arnold
Barbecue Bob
****
LYRICS: BLACK, BROWN, AND WHITE(Version 1)
by Big Bill Broonzy
(recorded September 20 1951, Paris)
This little song that I'm singin' about,
people you know it's true
If you're black and gotta work for a living,
this is what they will say to you,
they says, "If you was white, should be all right,
if you was brown, stick around,
but as you's black, hmm brother, get back, get back, get back"
I was in a place one night
They was all having fun
They was all buyin' beer and wine,
but they would not sell me none
They said, "If you was white, should be all right,
if you was brown, stick around,
but if you black, hmm brother, get back, get back, get back"
Me and a man was workin' side by side
This is what it meant
They was paying him a dollar an hour,
and they was paying me fifty cent
They said, "If you was white, 't should be all right,
if you was brown, could stick around,
but as you black, hmm boy, get back, get back, get back"
I went to an employment office,
got a number 'n' I got in line
They called everybody's number,
but they never did call mine
They said, "If you was white, should be all right,
if you was brown, could stick around,
but as you black, hmm brother, get back, get back, get back"
I hope when sweet victory,
with my plough and hoe
Now I want you to tell me brother,
what you gonna do about the old Jim Crow?
Now if you was white, should be all right,
if you was brown, could stick around,
but if you black, whoa brother, get back, get back, get back
From http://blueslyrics.tripod.com/artistswithsongs/big_bill_broonzy_1.htm#black_brown_and_white_version 1
Click http://blueslyrics.tripod.com/artistswithsongs/big_bill_broonzy_1.htm#black_brown_and_white_version 2 for Version #2 whose lyrics are slightly different from those found above.
****
COMMENTARY ABOUT BIG BILL BROONZY'S "BLACK, BROWN, AND WHITE" SONG
From http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/01/22/687894/-If-You-s-Black-Brother-Get-Back Thu Jan 22, 2009 at 08:15 PM PST. "If You's Black? Brother, Get Back!" by amnesiaproletariat
..."Black veterans who returned from war* found many changes, but the harsh realities of their lives remained the same. They were still the last ones hired and the first ones fired whenever there were employment opportunities. That's well known, but what's less well known is that there was also intraracial bias in the hiring practices of the time. The better someone could pass for white, the better chances they had at getting and keeping a job. If you were black and darkskinned, you were at the very bottom of the totem pole. Big Bill Broonzy didn't miss a beat, writing "Get Back (Black, Brown, and White)" the song that would get him a following in Europe, and a complete blacklisting from the American music industry.
American record companies refused to record the song, and it all but sank his career. Like many black Americans with talent in the arts, he spent plenty of time in Europe, and after a couple of years on the road, a French label recorded the track, and with time, he was able to do other, better quality cuts of the song. Like many musicians who put in years on the road, it only took a little luck to raise his stature enough that he could make a living off of his music.
The timing was bittersweet. By the 50's, the next generation of blues musicians was striking out into the world, and they gratefully acknowledged the debt they owed to his efforts. At the same time, Broonzy's own style was becoming outdated - the blues was transitioning to a more uptempo, electric style. Still, he became something of a senior ambassador for jazz abroad, directly assissting in the career of Muddy Waters, and serving as a major influence on Eric Clapton, who would go on to cover "Key To The Highway", another of Broonzy's songs, with rock supergroup Derek and the Dominoes."
-snip-
* The reference to "war" in this post is "World War II".
For the folkloric record, I recall chanting the verse "if you're white, you're alright/if you're brown, stick around, if you're black, step back" as a child in the 1950s (Atlantic City, New Jersey). I don't remember doing any movements while saying this verse, and I believe that I and other children in my neighborhood said this rhyme from rote memory because of its rhyming value and not as a taunt. Also, prior to 2005 I didn't know anything about Blues guitarist Big Bill Broonzy, and didn't know anything about the "Black, Brown, And White" song.
With regard to the "if you're white" etc. verse, TrueBlueMajority, a commenter on the discussion thread for that above mentioned Daily Kos post wrote:
"I remember hearing that rhyme as a kid in DC
in the 60s:
if you're black, get back
if you're brown, stick around
if you're white, you're all right"
-snip-
*"DC" is the United States' capital "Washington, DC" [District of Columbia].
That Daily Kos commenter also mentioned that he (or she) didn't know "the yellow and red lines" for that rhyme. I didn't know that there were "yellow and red" lines to that rhyme, but I found them online. Those lines were included in a March 2012 post decrying the actions of students from a majority White Texas high school who chanted "USA USA USA" to celebrate their basketball victory over a "mostly minority" Texas high school team:
"From the Texass poet laureate:
If you're black, better step back.
If you're brown, better not come around.
If you're red, you're better off dead.
If you're yellow, no need for you, fellow.
But if you're white - you're ALL RIGHT!
USA! USA! USA!"
(JGL53 - March 8, 2012 http://www.librarything.com/topic/133922)
A commenter who posted in response to JGHL53 indicated that those words were from "a Big Bill Broonzy song" and also indicated that JGHL53 gave those lines "backwards" (which I presume means that the "if you're white" line came first [in Broonzy's song].
It's likely that this "if you're white you're alright" etc verse was a folk saying before Broonzy included it in his song. I'm also sure that there are other song and rhyme examples of this verse after Broonzy's 1951 recording. For example, I don't know who the Texas poet laureate is, and which poem that laureate wrote includes that "if you're black step back" verse. If you know this, and/or know any other examples of these verses, it would be great if you'd share that information in this post's comment section. Thanks in advance.
****
RELATED LINK
Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bill_Broonzy for information about Big Bill Broonzy (June 26, 1903 – August 15, 1958).
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Viewer comments are welcome.
Revised October 8. 2018
This pancocojams post showcases Big Bill Broonzy's 1951 song "Black, Brown, And White".
The content of this post is presented for historical, folkloric, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes. The copyrights remain with their owners.
My thanks to Big Bill Broonzy for composing and performing this song. I honor & applaud Big Bill Broonzy for encapsulating in this song part of the past and present reality of Black folks in the USA and elsewhere.
My thanks also to the transcriber of the song's lyrics, the uploaders of this featured sound file, the author of the excerpted post, and other commenters who are quoted here.
****
FEATURED SOUND FILE
'Black, Brown And White' BIG BILL BROONZY (1951) Blues Guitar Legend
Uploaded by RagtimeDorianHenry on Apr 2, 2009
" Black, Brown And White " (1951)
The " RED HOT BLUES " (1925-1945)
Texas Alexander
Pink Anderson
Kokomo Arnold
Barbecue Bob
****
LYRICS: BLACK, BROWN, AND WHITE(Version 1)
by Big Bill Broonzy
(recorded September 20 1951, Paris)
This little song that I'm singin' about,
people you know it's true
If you're black and gotta work for a living,
this is what they will say to you,
they says, "If you was white, should be all right,
if you was brown, stick around,
but as you's black, hmm brother, get back, get back, get back"
I was in a place one night
They was all having fun
They was all buyin' beer and wine,
but they would not sell me none
They said, "If you was white, should be all right,
if you was brown, stick around,
but if you black, hmm brother, get back, get back, get back"
Me and a man was workin' side by side
This is what it meant
They was paying him a dollar an hour,
and they was paying me fifty cent
They said, "If you was white, 't should be all right,
if you was brown, could stick around,
but as you black, hmm boy, get back, get back, get back"
I went to an employment office,
got a number 'n' I got in line
They called everybody's number,
but they never did call mine
They said, "If you was white, should be all right,
if you was brown, could stick around,
but as you black, hmm brother, get back, get back, get back"
I hope when sweet victory,
with my plough and hoe
Now I want you to tell me brother,
what you gonna do about the old Jim Crow?
Now if you was white, should be all right,
if you was brown, could stick around,
but if you black, whoa brother, get back, get back, get back
From http://blueslyrics.tripod.com/artistswithsongs/big_bill_broonzy_1.htm#black_brown_and_white_version 1
Click http://blueslyrics.tripod.com/artistswithsongs/big_bill_broonzy_1.htm#black_brown_and_white_version 2 for Version #2 whose lyrics are slightly different from those found above.
****
COMMENTARY ABOUT BIG BILL BROONZY'S "BLACK, BROWN, AND WHITE" SONG
From http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/01/22/687894/-If-You-s-Black-Brother-Get-Back Thu Jan 22, 2009 at 08:15 PM PST. "If You's Black? Brother, Get Back!" by amnesiaproletariat
..."Black veterans who returned from war* found many changes, but the harsh realities of their lives remained the same. They were still the last ones hired and the first ones fired whenever there were employment opportunities. That's well known, but what's less well known is that there was also intraracial bias in the hiring practices of the time. The better someone could pass for white, the better chances they had at getting and keeping a job. If you were black and darkskinned, you were at the very bottom of the totem pole. Big Bill Broonzy didn't miss a beat, writing "Get Back (Black, Brown, and White)" the song that would get him a following in Europe, and a complete blacklisting from the American music industry.
American record companies refused to record the song, and it all but sank his career. Like many black Americans with talent in the arts, he spent plenty of time in Europe, and after a couple of years on the road, a French label recorded the track, and with time, he was able to do other, better quality cuts of the song. Like many musicians who put in years on the road, it only took a little luck to raise his stature enough that he could make a living off of his music.
The timing was bittersweet. By the 50's, the next generation of blues musicians was striking out into the world, and they gratefully acknowledged the debt they owed to his efforts. At the same time, Broonzy's own style was becoming outdated - the blues was transitioning to a more uptempo, electric style. Still, he became something of a senior ambassador for jazz abroad, directly assissting in the career of Muddy Waters, and serving as a major influence on Eric Clapton, who would go on to cover "Key To The Highway", another of Broonzy's songs, with rock supergroup Derek and the Dominoes."
-snip-
* The reference to "war" in this post is "World War II".
For the folkloric record, I recall chanting the verse "if you're white, you're alright/if you're brown, stick around, if you're black, step back" as a child in the 1950s (Atlantic City, New Jersey). I don't remember doing any movements while saying this verse, and I believe that I and other children in my neighborhood said this rhyme from rote memory because of its rhyming value and not as a taunt. Also, prior to 2005 I didn't know anything about Blues guitarist Big Bill Broonzy, and didn't know anything about the "Black, Brown, And White" song.
With regard to the "if you're white" etc. verse, TrueBlueMajority, a commenter on the discussion thread for that above mentioned Daily Kos post wrote:
"I remember hearing that rhyme as a kid in DC
in the 60s:
if you're black, get back
if you're brown, stick around
if you're white, you're all right"
-snip-
*"DC" is the United States' capital "Washington, DC" [District of Columbia].
That Daily Kos commenter also mentioned that he (or she) didn't know "the yellow and red lines" for that rhyme. I didn't know that there were "yellow and red" lines to that rhyme, but I found them online. Those lines were included in a March 2012 post decrying the actions of students from a majority White Texas high school who chanted "USA USA USA" to celebrate their basketball victory over a "mostly minority" Texas high school team:
"From the Texass poet laureate:
If you're black, better step back.
If you're brown, better not come around.
If you're red, you're better off dead.
If you're yellow, no need for you, fellow.
But if you're white - you're ALL RIGHT!
USA! USA! USA!"
(JGL53 - March 8, 2012 http://www.librarything.com/topic/133922)
A commenter who posted in response to JGHL53 indicated that those words were from "a Big Bill Broonzy song" and also indicated that JGHL53 gave those lines "backwards" (which I presume means that the "if you're white" line came first [in Broonzy's song].
It's likely that this "if you're white you're alright" etc verse was a folk saying before Broonzy included it in his song. I'm also sure that there are other song and rhyme examples of this verse after Broonzy's 1951 recording. For example, I don't know who the Texas poet laureate is, and which poem that laureate wrote includes that "if you're black step back" verse. If you know this, and/or know any other examples of these verses, it would be great if you'd share that information in this post's comment section. Thanks in advance.
****
RELATED LINK
Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bill_Broonzy for information about Big Bill Broonzy (June 26, 1903 – August 15, 1958).
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Viewer comments are welcome.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Two Versions of Nina Simone's Song "Mississippi Goddam"
Written by Azizi Powell
It's rare that I listen to any song that contains profanity, however this song is a definite exception.
Uploaded by jeff8323 on Oct 1, 2008
-snip-
Here's my transcription of the lyrics to the version of this song.
Nina Simone - "Mississippi Goddam" (1963)
The name of this tune is Mississippi Goddam
And I mean every word of it
Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
Can't you see it
Can't you feel it
It's all in the air
I can't stand the pressure much longer
Somebody say a prayer
Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
This is a show tune
But the show hasn't been written for it, yet
Hound dogs on my trail
School children sittin in jail
Black cat cross my path
I think every day's gonna be my last
Lord have mercy on this land of mine
We all gonna get it in due time
I don't belong here
I don't belong there
I've even stopped believin in prayer
Don't tell me
I'll tell you
Me and my people just about due
I've been there so I know
They keep on sayin "Go slow!"
But that's just the trouble
"go slow"
Washing the windows
"go slow"
Pickin the cotton
"go slow"
You're just plain rotten
"go slow"
You're too damn lazy
"go slow"
The thinking's crazy
"do it slow"
Where am I going
What am I doing
I don't know
I don't know
Just try to do your very best
Stand up be counted with all the rest
For everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
I made you thought I was kiddin'
Picket lines, school boy, cops
They try to say it's a communist plot
All I want is equality
for my sister, my brother, my people and me
Yes you lied to me all these years
You told me to wash and clean my ears
And talk real fine just like a lady
And you'd stop calling me "Sister Sadie"
Oh but this whole country is full of lies
You all gonna die and die like flies
I don't trust you any more
You keep on sayin "Go slow!"
Go slow!
But that's just the trouble
[go slow]
Desegregation
[go slow]
Mass participation
[go slow]
Reunification
[go slow]
Do things gradually
[go slow]
But bring more tragedy
[go slow]
Why don't you see it
Why don't you feel it
I don't know
I don't know
You don't have to live next to me
Just give me my equality
Everybody knows about Mississippi
Everybody knows about Alabama
Everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
That's it!
-snip-
Note: My transcription of this song differs from those found on online lyrics sites in these ways: I left off the "g" in words like "sitting"'; I believe the response is "go slow" and not "do it slow" ; and I think Nina Simone sang "picket lines, school boy, cops, and not "school boy cots".
-snip-
Here's another version of Nina Simone's song "Mississippi Goddam" :
Nina Simone -"Mississippi Goddam"
Uploaded by cartaxocriavideo on Apr 8, 2011
To differentiate it from this song's more widely known form, perhaps this version could be called "Mississippi Goddam" (Go Slow)
This is the video which is posted under the title "Nina Simone-"Mississippi Goddam" as #67 in Time Out London's list of 100 Songs That Changed History.
Here's the write-up that accompanies that song:
Here's my transcription of that version's lyrics:
Nina Simone - "Mississippi Goddam" ("Go Slow" version)
Hound dogs on my trail
School children sittin in jail
Black cat crossed my path
I think every day’s gonna be my last
Lord have mercy on this land of mine
We all gonna get it in due time
I don’t belong here
I don’t belong there
I even stopped believin in prayer
Don’t tell me
I’ll tell you
Me and my people just about due
I been there so I know
They keep on sayin
Go slow
That’s what they say
Go slow
That’s what they say
Go slow
That’s what’s the trouble
[Go slow]
Washin the windows
[Go slow]
Pickin the cotton
[Go slow]
With nothing but rotten
[Go slow]
We’re too damn lazy
[Go slow]
I think it’s crazy
[Go slow]
Where am I goin
What am I doin
I don’t know
I don’t know
Try to do your very best
Stand up. Be counted with all the rest.
Cause everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam.
Yeah! Hit it!
(Scatting)
Picket lines, school boys, cops
They try to say it’s a communist plot
But all I want is equality
For my sister, my brother, my people and me.
My people and me.
You lied to me all these years.
You told me to watch and clean my ears.
And talk real fine just like a lady.
You’d stop callin me "Sister Sadie."
Oh but my country’s full of lies
We’re all gonna die
And die like flies
Cause I don’t trust nobody anymore
They keep on sayin "Go Slow"
Yeah, that’s what they say.
Go slow
Well, that’s just the trouble
[Go slow]
Desegregation
[Go slow]
Mass participation
[Go slow]
Reunification
[Go slow]
Do things gradually
[Go slow]
Will bring more tragedy
I don’t see it
I don’t feel it
I don’t know
I don’t know
You don’t have to live next to me
Just give me my equality
Cause everybody knows about Mississippi
Everybody knows about Alabama
Everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam.
-snip-
I don't know whether this song changed history or not. But I do know that both versions of Nina Simone's Mississippi song articulate what I feel when I read or hear about another racial atrocity in Mississippi or wherever.
****
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It's rare that I listen to any song that contains profanity, however this song is a definite exception.
Uploaded by jeff8323 on Oct 1, 2008
-snip-
Here's my transcription of the lyrics to the version of this song.
Nina Simone - "Mississippi Goddam" (1963)
The name of this tune is Mississippi Goddam
And I mean every word of it
Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
Can't you see it
Can't you feel it
It's all in the air
I can't stand the pressure much longer
Somebody say a prayer
Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
This is a show tune
But the show hasn't been written for it, yet
Hound dogs on my trail
School children sittin in jail
Black cat cross my path
I think every day's gonna be my last
Lord have mercy on this land of mine
We all gonna get it in due time
I don't belong here
I don't belong there
I've even stopped believin in prayer
Don't tell me
I'll tell you
Me and my people just about due
I've been there so I know
They keep on sayin "Go slow!"
But that's just the trouble
"go slow"
Washing the windows
"go slow"
Pickin the cotton
"go slow"
You're just plain rotten
"go slow"
You're too damn lazy
"go slow"
The thinking's crazy
"do it slow"
Where am I going
What am I doing
I don't know
I don't know
Just try to do your very best
Stand up be counted with all the rest
For everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
I made you thought I was kiddin'
Picket lines, school boy, cops
They try to say it's a communist plot
All I want is equality
for my sister, my brother, my people and me
Yes you lied to me all these years
You told me to wash and clean my ears
And talk real fine just like a lady
And you'd stop calling me "Sister Sadie"
Oh but this whole country is full of lies
You all gonna die and die like flies
I don't trust you any more
You keep on sayin "Go slow!"
Go slow!
But that's just the trouble
[go slow]
Desegregation
[go slow]
Mass participation
[go slow]
Reunification
[go slow]
Do things gradually
[go slow]
But bring more tragedy
[go slow]
Why don't you see it
Why don't you feel it
I don't know
I don't know
You don't have to live next to me
Just give me my equality
Everybody knows about Mississippi
Everybody knows about Alabama
Everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
That's it!
-snip-
Note: My transcription of this song differs from those found on online lyrics sites in these ways: I left off the "g" in words like "sitting"'; I believe the response is "go slow" and not "do it slow" ; and I think Nina Simone sang "picket lines, school boy, cops, and not "school boy cots".
-snip-
Here's another version of Nina Simone's song "Mississippi Goddam" :
Nina Simone -"Mississippi Goddam"
Uploaded by cartaxocriavideo on Apr 8, 2011
To differentiate it from this song's more widely known form, perhaps this version could be called "Mississippi Goddam" (Go Slow)
This is the video which is posted under the title "Nina Simone-"Mississippi Goddam" as #67 in Time Out London's list of 100 Songs That Changed History.
Here's the write-up that accompanies that song:
The roots of one of one of the most nuanced protest songs ever were anything but calm. After a spate of Klan killings in 1963, the murder of four children at Alabama's 16th Street Baptist Church sent Nina Simone into such a rage that she initially attempted to assemble a crude zip gun. Talked down by her husband, she took her fury immediately to the piano and within an hour had 'Mississippi Goddam'. Incredibly, it transcends its manic creation. After lulling the listener in with a jaunty show tune rhythm, Simone subtly changes key from G to E at which point she bombards them with a relentless, beautiful torrent of anger and outrage over the slow speed of change. Though banned in several Southern states, it was a long-overdue articulation that resonated hugely until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and beyond.
Here's my transcription of that version's lyrics:
Nina Simone - "Mississippi Goddam" ("Go Slow" version)
Hound dogs on my trail
School children sittin in jail
Black cat crossed my path
I think every day’s gonna be my last
Lord have mercy on this land of mine
We all gonna get it in due time
I don’t belong here
I don’t belong there
I even stopped believin in prayer
Don’t tell me
I’ll tell you
Me and my people just about due
I been there so I know
They keep on sayin
Go slow
That’s what they say
Go slow
That’s what they say
Go slow
That’s what’s the trouble
[Go slow]
Washin the windows
[Go slow]
Pickin the cotton
[Go slow]
With nothing but rotten
[Go slow]
We’re too damn lazy
[Go slow]
I think it’s crazy
[Go slow]
Where am I goin
What am I doin
I don’t know
I don’t know
Try to do your very best
Stand up. Be counted with all the rest.
Cause everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam.
Yeah! Hit it!
(Scatting)
Picket lines, school boys, cops
They try to say it’s a communist plot
But all I want is equality
For my sister, my brother, my people and me.
My people and me.
You lied to me all these years.
You told me to watch and clean my ears.
And talk real fine just like a lady.
You’d stop callin me "Sister Sadie."
Oh but my country’s full of lies
We’re all gonna die
And die like flies
Cause I don’t trust nobody anymore
They keep on sayin "Go Slow"
Yeah, that’s what they say.
Go slow
Well, that’s just the trouble
[Go slow]
Desegregation
[Go slow]
Mass participation
[Go slow]
Reunification
[Go slow]
Do things gradually
[Go slow]
Will bring more tragedy
I don’t see it
I don’t feel it
I don’t know
I don’t know
You don’t have to live next to me
Just give me my equality
Cause everybody knows about Mississippi
Everybody knows about Alabama
Everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam.
-snip-
I don't know whether this song changed history or not. But I do know that both versions of Nina Simone's Mississippi song articulate what I feel when I read or hear about another racial atrocity in Mississippi or wherever.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams. Visitor comments are welcome!
Click on this post's title to read comments & to add comments. If you aren't sure how to add comments on this blog, follow the instructions found on this page Adding Comments
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Racial Attitudes In Caribbean Folk Songs ("Jesse Mahon" & "Bungo Moolatta" songs)
Written by Azizi Powell
Revised - January 17, 2019
In the summer of 2011 a blogger using the tag name of MorwenEdhelwenI arrived at a Folk & Blues music website called Mudcat.org. and started a number of discussion threads* about a host of very old Caribbean folk songs. That blogger indicated that she is a 17 year old Australian of Chinese ancestry whose goal in life is to be a Calypso singer in Jamaica. On one of her earlier threads I shared my suspicions that this blogger's identity might be fictitious. But whether that identity is real or not, I appreciate being able to read the lyrics and learn about the Caribbean songs and singers that Morwen has shared with the world via her posts on that Mudcat site. From 2004-2009 I was a very active poster on Mudcat. I very rarely post there now, but I've publicly thanked Morwen there & on my [no longer active] Cocojams website for helping to raise awareness about Caribbean folk songs through her postings. I've also publicly thanked Morwen for inspiring me to these pages to my Cocojams website.
An example of Morwen's Caribbean threads on Mudcat.org is Big Big Sambo Gyal
That thread focuses on various examples of Caribbean songs in which a woman is criticized because she isn't good with cooking or housework. The male voice in those songs also may threaten that he might send the woman "back to she ma" if she doesn't improve her cooking and housework skills. Here's the words to and a video example of one of the songs mentioned on that Mudcat thread "Jesse Mahon" (also known as "Pack She Back To She Ma)
CHORUS
Pack she back to she ma,
Oh, pack she hack to she ma,
Such a decent girl like Jessie Mahon,
Pack she back to she ma.
1. A pretty little girl name Jessie Mahon,
She lazy since she born, .
De girl couldn’ cook, she won’ read a book,
So pack she back to she ma.
2. A pretty little girl like Jessie Mahon.
Uh miss she now she gone
De girl couldn’ clean, she was so mean.
So, pack she back to she ma
Lyrics Of Barbados-Jessie Mahon
**
St Lucia National Youth Choir -Jessie Mahon
Uploaded by Glen Richard Morgan-Lake on Oct 13, 2007
Colors of Love Concert at Sandals Grande (2005)
-snip-
It's interesting that among the complaints about Jesse Mahone is that "De girl couldn’ cook, she won’ read a book". I wouldn't be surprised if that was a later version of this folk song. The song itself (or more accurately, a version of this traditional song was copyrighted in 1943 as "Pack She Back To She Ma" by Massie Patterson and Lionel Belasco. If I'm not mistaken, both of these individuals are of Afro-Caribbean descent, though they lived in the USA.
-snip-
These songs are more than a man's lighthearted banter about a wife who is a sloppy housewife who can't cook. Hints as to why "Jesse Mahon" may not have wanted to cook & clean or may not have known how to cook & clean are found in this similar song that was published in a 1904 book of Jamaican folk songs:
Bungo Moolatta, Bungo Moolatta
Who de go married you?
You hand full a ring an' you can't do a t'ing
Who de go married you?
Me give you me shirt fe wash
You burn up me shirt with iron
Who de go married you?
You hand full a ring an' you can't do a t'ing
-Walter Jekyll, Jamaican Song And Story 1904; Dover Reprints
-snip-
Walter Jekyll noted that ""Bungo" is "a rough, uncivilized African" and "Moolatta" is "the child of two Brown parents, Brown being the offspring of Black and White. He has rather a yellow skin."
And in the notes to another similar song that is included in his book (and whose lyrics are posted on that abovementioned Mudcat thread entitled "Big Big Sambo Gyal", Jekyll wrote that "A Sambo is a child of a brown mother and a black father, being a cross between black and white. The Sambo lady, being proud of the strain of white in her blood, turns up her nose at the black man. She wants a white man for a husband. Failing to find one, she will not marry."
-snip-
The implication here is that "Jesse Mahon" feels that she's too good to cook and clean for a Black man because of her White ancestry. Note that Jekyll described the offspring of a Brown woman and a Black man. The implication might be that a Brown man wouldn't "marry down" to a Black woman. Yet it's interesting to note that the song suggests that some White men would marry a woman of mixed Brown (or Black?)/White ancestry.
These old Caribbean songs have many more than what we may have been led to believe. It would be wonderful to say that no person of African descent nowadays has such racist (or is it classist?) attitudes about their race, but if I said that it wouldn't be true.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Revised - January 17, 2019
In the summer of 2011 a blogger using the tag name of MorwenEdhelwenI arrived at a Folk & Blues music website called Mudcat.org. and started a number of discussion threads* about a host of very old Caribbean folk songs. That blogger indicated that she is a 17 year old Australian of Chinese ancestry whose goal in life is to be a Calypso singer in Jamaica. On one of her earlier threads I shared my suspicions that this blogger's identity might be fictitious. But whether that identity is real or not, I appreciate being able to read the lyrics and learn about the Caribbean songs and singers that Morwen has shared with the world via her posts on that Mudcat site. From 2004-2009 I was a very active poster on Mudcat. I very rarely post there now, but I've publicly thanked Morwen there & on my [no longer active] Cocojams website for helping to raise awareness about Caribbean folk songs through her postings. I've also publicly thanked Morwen for inspiring me to these pages to my Cocojams website.
An example of Morwen's Caribbean threads on Mudcat.org is Big Big Sambo Gyal
That thread focuses on various examples of Caribbean songs in which a woman is criticized because she isn't good with cooking or housework. The male voice in those songs also may threaten that he might send the woman "back to she ma" if she doesn't improve her cooking and housework skills. Here's the words to and a video example of one of the songs mentioned on that Mudcat thread "Jesse Mahon" (also known as "Pack She Back To She Ma)
CHORUS
Pack she back to she ma,
Oh, pack she hack to she ma,
Such a decent girl like Jessie Mahon,
Pack she back to she ma.
1. A pretty little girl name Jessie Mahon,
She lazy since she born, .
De girl couldn’ cook, she won’ read a book,
So pack she back to she ma.
2. A pretty little girl like Jessie Mahon.
Uh miss she now she gone
De girl couldn’ clean, she was so mean.
So, pack she back to she ma
Lyrics Of Barbados-Jessie Mahon
**
St Lucia National Youth Choir -Jessie Mahon
Uploaded by Glen Richard Morgan-Lake on Oct 13, 2007
Colors of Love Concert at Sandals Grande (2005)
-snip-
It's interesting that among the complaints about Jesse Mahone is that "De girl couldn’ cook, she won’ read a book". I wouldn't be surprised if that was a later version of this folk song. The song itself (or more accurately, a version of this traditional song was copyrighted in 1943 as "Pack She Back To She Ma" by Massie Patterson and Lionel Belasco. If I'm not mistaken, both of these individuals are of Afro-Caribbean descent, though they lived in the USA.
-snip-
These songs are more than a man's lighthearted banter about a wife who is a sloppy housewife who can't cook. Hints as to why "Jesse Mahon" may not have wanted to cook & clean or may not have known how to cook & clean are found in this similar song that was published in a 1904 book of Jamaican folk songs:
Bungo Moolatta, Bungo Moolatta
Who de go married you?
You hand full a ring an' you can't do a t'ing
Who de go married you?
Me give you me shirt fe wash
You burn up me shirt with iron
Who de go married you?
You hand full a ring an' you can't do a t'ing
-Walter Jekyll, Jamaican Song And Story 1904; Dover Reprints
-snip-
Walter Jekyll noted that ""Bungo" is "a rough, uncivilized African" and "Moolatta" is "the child of two Brown parents, Brown being the offspring of Black and White. He has rather a yellow skin."
And in the notes to another similar song that is included in his book (and whose lyrics are posted on that abovementioned Mudcat thread entitled "Big Big Sambo Gyal", Jekyll wrote that "A Sambo is a child of a brown mother and a black father, being a cross between black and white. The Sambo lady, being proud of the strain of white in her blood, turns up her nose at the black man. She wants a white man for a husband. Failing to find one, she will not marry."
-snip-
The implication here is that "Jesse Mahon" feels that she's too good to cook and clean for a Black man because of her White ancestry. Note that Jekyll described the offspring of a Brown woman and a Black man. The implication might be that a Brown man wouldn't "marry down" to a Black woman. Yet it's interesting to note that the song suggests that some White men would marry a woman of mixed Brown (or Black?)/White ancestry.
These old Caribbean songs have many more than what we may have been led to believe. It would be wonderful to say that no person of African descent nowadays has such racist (or is it classist?) attitudes about their race, but if I said that it wouldn't be true.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
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