The demands of the March on Washington weren’t about reshuffling the racial order; they repudiated racial hierarchy: http://t.co/M9hiyqxJmX — Rinku Sen (@racialjustice) August 26, 2013
“If our goal is indeed to take the racial order apart rather than just to make it work for one group or another, everyone with a stake in the American race debate has to be engaged.” -Rinku Sen
The diseased host or pathogenic model of American society is my name for that thing where America is seen as a white country but suffers from the presence of people of colour. Blacks are blamed for…
Ethnic is a Eurocentric way of saying non-Western. In America since the 1920s it has meant something not part of White American culture: ethnic foods, ethnic beauty, ethnic neighbourhoods, etc. “Et…
Community Village‘s insight:
Part of Mixed American Life is recognizing that EVERYONE has an ethnic background.
Much of our attention this past week has been focused on Boston. The Boston Marathon bombings which occurred this past Monday shut Boston down in their effort to find the bombing suspects. While I am thankful for a speedy conclusion to that disaster, I have also spent much of my week trying to research my heritage. Harvard University professor, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., is one of many bright spots in the Greater Boston area and I remembered a show he aired a few years ago.
Growing up in a mixed race environment that centered primarily on African-American traditions, there were also the stories, told by my great-grandfather and great-great-grandmother, of the Creek, Blackfoot and Cherokee in our family. The Germans (great-great-grandmother) that immigrated to Illinois told the story of a Creek Indian that married an aunt; while the black side (my great-grandfather) told stories of Blackfoot and Cherokee. As children, we all listened raptly about horses being ridden into bars, crazy Indians that would cut you before talking to you and a people that always stayed close to nature. The stories were endless.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., airedAfrican American Livesin 2006 on PBS, where he traced the backgrounds of several well-known celebrities, to include Morgan Freeman, Chris Rock and Tina Turner, and where there true lineage leads. In the segment below, you will hear that much of what African-Americans heard about their Native American Indian lineage just is not what it seems. When I went back to watch the segment, I begin re-digging into my own family’s background and heritage. I wonder now, if those were tall tales that we heard as children, or if there is substance to any of it.
I am very happy that the citizens of Boston are now safe. Boston is a city of great diversity and can teach us a lot. And so we do this remembering Boston University grad student Lu Lingzi of China (呂令子); Martin Richard, a sweet Irish-American 8-year old that advised us not to hurt each other; Krystle Campbell, restaurant manager from Medford, Massachusetts and; MIT police officer Sean Collier who died protecting the students of MIT. Peace.
As Congress begins debating an overhaul of immigration, many sense that the country is beginning the same evolution California experienced over the last two decades.
“In the United States, anyone with even a trace of African American ancestry has been considered Black. Even as the twenty-first century opens, a racial hierarchy still prevents people of color, including individuals of mixed race, from enjoying the same privileges as Euro-Americans. In his book, G. Reginald Daniel argues that we are at a cross-roads, with members of a new multiracial movement pointing the way toward equality. Presented as part of the Humanitas Lecture Series at UC Santa Barbara. Series: “Humanitas” [2/2003] [Humanities] [Show ID: 7094]”
Via Scoop.it – Artful Muse
I’ll share with you a list of a few artists whose back story and music speak to the fundamentally mixed roots of our country’s internal groove. Behold, a not so complete list of artists on Michelle’s American Mix Tape. Show original
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