The Institute for Public Accuracy has Fisked Bush's speech the other night about why we need to attack Iraq.  The comments are from a varitey of sources and include links to the original source material.  Interesting reading...

'White community should help pay off debt’
Web Posted - Thu Oct 10 2002

THE sponsoring organisation for the recently concluded racism conference will be turning to the local white community to pay off its $200 000 debt. [...]

[...] “We have employed staff of CARB, but have not been able to pay them. We have contracted some people to do work for us, but we have not been able to pay them and we have to find that money to honour our contract and to make sure that no one is left wanting based on their giving up their time...for some of them, their jobs have been at risk to support us,” he said yesterday. [...]

[...] “The white-owned businesses in Barbados need the support of black people. They depend on us for their businesses and I’m saying this conference (was) to help the black people of Barbados out of their ignorance and poverty and if white people don’t see it fit to contribute towards that, then I will be asking black people to look very carefully at how they spend their money with white people... [...]

Last week, over at Bitchqueen (where I write about human stupidities in all their wonder), I wrote an article about an anti-racism conference were all non-black attendees were kicked out, because the organizers felt that it was too traumatic to discuss issues of slavery in front of them.  I found the idea of a racist anti-racism conference to be absurd.  This latest news, however, pushes it beyond even those bounds. 

One theme you will probably see me visit more than a few times is that racism is racism, no matter what the colour of the person commiting it is.  Society seems to have a great deal more tolerance for all-black or all-hispanic groups (or any other minority, for that matter, including women, minority religionists and more), but it's considered racist if whites or, worse, white men, want to have a group of their own.  As far as I'm concerned, if they're not being supported by or benefiting from public tax dollars - if they're a truly privately organized and funded group - then go for it! Have your exclusive group!  If you want someone else (who isn't a memeber or a customer) to pay for it, though - and especially if you want the goverment to pay for part of it - then you'd better be willling to welcome everyone.

This conference that was held in Barbados was organize and run by a group and focused solely on the concerns of blacks in regards to what kind of reparations should be made to compensate for their ancestors having been enslaved.  The organizers admit that they hired or contracted with people, and that some of them apparently took time away from their jobs to work on the conference; but now they're not getting paid because the conference doesn't have enough money to honour it's obligations. Rather than calling upon their members, however, or attendees to help raise funds to help cover these costs (which, maybe, they should have budgeted for before they hired people, but that's a somewhat different matter), they're now saying that they believe the white community should help pay for it.

Remember, these are the same people who felt it was too traumatic to have non-blacks participate in their conference.  It's not traumatic, however, to expect them to pay for it.  There's just something fundamentally wrong with that mentality.  Yes, it's true, whites have not always treated blacks well, but at some point, if minorities truly want to be equal with the majority, then they need to start accepting some responsiblity for themselves. 

I'm not saying that they're the only ones to blame for the problems that exist - by far, they are not.  But in this situation, I have a hard time seeing where their inability to pay is, in any way, caused by their being victims of racism.  They knew what they had to work with and they knew what they were going to need to spend.  No one came in and made them spend more money than they had available, and I'm not aware of any accusations that they were overcharged or otherwise pushed or tricked into paying more for things because it was a black conference.  They simply spent more than they had to work with. By saying that they expect the white community to help cover their costs because the whites "owe" it to them, they are effectively shirking their own responsiblity and attempting to coast by on the coattails of victimhood in a situation where is simply not warranted (unless there are other factors I'm unaware of).

This is where the issue of taking responsiblity comes in.  In situations where a problem exists and it is clearly related to issues of subtle or blatant racism, I don't have a problem with expecting those who are practicing the racism to help resolve the issue.  That is basic fairness.  Expecting non-minorities to step in and take care of situations where racism was not a factor in creating the problem, however, is wrong-headed and does little but impede progress.  Whites see that kind of behaviour and begin to wonder when it stops being "their" fault, or if the minorities are simply planning to maintain an air of perpetual victimhood in order to obtain ongoing benefits from the sympathy that generates.  After a while it stops sounding like a legitimate grievance and more like an opportunity to take advantage of.

And just to be clear, let me reiterate - there are legitimate issues in regards to racism and there are situations currently that do have their roots in slavery and for which it may be reasonble to expect some assistance from the majority - but those situations have to be clearly identified and handled on a situation-by-situation basis.  All minorities deserve - and have the right to expect - equal opportunities. No one, however, has the right to expect that they can just whip out their victim card and have everything handed to them, whether its related to the wrong that has been done to them or not.

Sopranos march into New York row. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he will not march in the Columbus Day parade because organisers have refused to let him bring actors from the hit television show "The Sopranos".
[Yahoo! News: Oddly Enough Reuters UK]

The first thing to understand is that Mayor Bloomberg did not ask the performers to march with him because they are on "The Sopranos".  Dominic Chianese was invited because of his participation in the post-9/11 public service announcements that were produced to help encourage people to keep coming to New York City as tourists (since tourism is an important part of New York City's economy). Lorraine Bracco was invited in recognition of her work as a spokeswoman for environmental issues.

Unfortunately, the Columbus Citizens Foundation, and Italian-American group which has run the Columbus Day Parade for over half-a-century, is offended by the portrayal of Italian-Americans on the show, and refuses to allow Bracco and Chianese to participate.  Personally, I think that's a bit on the silly side, but apparently it's their parade, so they can be silly if they want to. 

Mayor Bloomberg responded to the CCF's decision by saying:

"I'm sorry if anybody is annoyed but if my friends can't march, or people that I think have done things for the city, then I'll find some other way to celebrate the Italian heritage."

Personally, I think that's a bit on the silly side, too.  As Mayor, he has many ways of honouring whomever he so chooses.  If he wants to thank Bracco and Chianese for their work on behalf of the city, I'm sure he can find another way.  He doesn't need to push the CCF to accept his guests in their parade.  They may be being a bit silly in choosing to be offended by the roles they play as opposed to wanting to recognize the contributions they have made, but the Mayor is being just as silly in basically saying he's going to take his ball and go home.