The Hypocrisy in Hate: From Anti-Obama to Anti-Immigrants

Jason Thompson, whose father, Tommy Thompson, is running as the GOP nominee in a tight contest in Wisconsin, is caught up in a web of hypocrisy and ignorance for his ‘birther’ comment he made this past Sunday that may cost his father some much-needed votes. Jason stated that, “The election here in November will chart our course as a country not only for our generation, but our kids’ generation. We have the opportunity to send President Obama back to Chicago…or Kenya.”Thompson’s words were captured on video at the Kenosha County Republican Party fall brunch in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Attendees were not stunned or silent as he spoke, to the contrary, he was interrupted several times by applause and comments from attendees. One woman even yelled out, “We’re taking donations for that Kenya trip.” 

Thompson’s father was not at the brunch but supposedly had a ‘talk’ with his son according to the GOP nominee’s communications director, Lisa Boothe who emailed a statement to CNN that said, “The Governor has addressed this with his son, just like any father would do. Jason Thompson said something he should not have, and he apologizes.“

But you have to ask yourself, “what is he apologizing for?”

If Jason Thompson truly feels this way about the President and he believes like others (who speak and act the same way he does) that is okay to utter such ignorance (repeatedly), then why apologize? He knew before and after he said those words that his father is in an extremely close race against Democratic Rep. Tammy Baldwin. He knew after the woman chimed in with her comments about taking donations for the Kenya trip that what was being said was cruel. He knew that he was not only speaking to a group outside of the confines and comfort of his home, but that he was being videotaped. He knew that this video could be released to the public and media. Yet it didn’t stop him from saying it or stopping it.

So then why did he say it? Because that is obviously what he thinks, believes, and feels. So is his father’s apology on his son’s behalf sincere or is it vote-motivated? Why isn’t Jason standing in front of more cameras and making a personal apology?

The Hypocrisy

Why do we have all of these educated people saying the most ignorant things as though they are not intelligent enough to filter their thoughts and the words that come from their mouths, or better yet, just think? Why do these people have uncontrollable mouths one moment and then later they want to apologize? Because the truth can never be hidden. Your true self will always be revealed. You can only fake it for so long. People like that want to apologize for their inability to hide their beliefs—based on ignorance, bigotry, racism and sexism—they are not apologizing for being ignorant bigots, racists or sexists. They want to apologize for revealing their true selves because they have done such a great job at showing only the mask that they want voters and supporters to see. They are not apologizing and seeking atonement, and an opportunity to right their wrongs. They are embarrassed for being found out and exposed. Let’s not even start on the so-called Christians out there flapping their lips while they are brewing up hate.

It must be painful that they spend so much time smiling in the faces and shaking the hands of people they despise, fear, and hate. They tell lies to get votes and financial support. Then they have the audacity to tell someone else to be honorable and truthful. A bunch of hypocrites is what I see. So you apologize for speaking what is on your mind and in your heart, and then you later apologize because the reality of losing a political race (or financial support) is now your focus.

Gotta get those votes. Gotta get that money. Gotta love this country—because if we were in several other countries that I’m thinking of right now, many people would not have the luxury of the First Amendment or any bill of rights. Some people would be punished for treason if they (were in other countries and) said and did what they do here in the U.S. 

I say to anyone who has no problem speaking, breeding, and nurturing hate behind closed doors to stop being cowards and liars in public (especially after your ignorance has been highlighted on the Internet and TV). You said what you said because you meant it and you still mean it—isn’t that the right you claim to have under the First Amendment? Isn’t that what they yell, scream, and fight over when they are in their rallies, conventions, and meetings? 

It’s Not Isolated

No different than the person in Morgan Hill, California (within the county of Santa Clara) who was protesting against President Obama last Tuesday with a “birther” sign (designed to look like a teleprompter) that read “Go back to Kenya you idiot“. Nearby was a chair that held watermelons with nooses around them, and a sign supporting Mitt Romney posted on a fence behind the chair. The Santa Clara property owner, Blake la Beck refused to comment when contacted by the media but did say that the display speaks for itself and didn’t mind if a picture of it was posted online. I agree, it definitely speaks loud and clear. Check it out for yourself.

Thanks to Blake, now you and I know that Morgan Hill, California exists. Go Blake!

Some people think that maybe Blake wasn’t being racist, that somehow it’s tied to Halloween approaching. Yeah okay. Hmmm or maybe Blake and others around the country placing nooses on/near watermelons with “Go back to Kenya” signs are actually telling the government and consumers to send watermelons back to Africa (the origin of watermelons). Maybe their message is speaking directly to the President so that he can make an executive order to no longer import or produce watermelons. Maybe that’s the real reason for the hanging watermelon and signs. Maybe just maybe. I hope you can truly sense my sarcasm here.

 

Some of you not from California are probably a little shocked to see a lynching scene displayed in California. I’m not. With so much anti-Mexican, anti-Latino, anti-immigrant, and neo-nazi nonsense throughout that state, nothing surprises me. Heck, American Third Position Party is a political party that was launched in California with a mission to protect the political interests of White Americans, and it is on the radar of numerous watch groups. Fear and ignorance is everywhere and comes from even the unlikeliest of people. 

Some of you have an expectation of racism and bigotry coming mostly from the south, such as the stories that I recently read that came out of Texas (Bud Johnson’s lynched chair) and Virginia where property owners created their own lynching scenes with wooden chairs and anti-Obama signs. I chuckled when I read that someone in Iowa spray-painted on the building of Obama’s local headquarters, “Muslim Lier” and misspelled ‘liar’. That’s a shining example of the ‘other side’ of what we’re dealing with.

So it seemed as though Bud Johnson from Texas was going to stand by his First Amendment rights when he told a journalist, “I don’t really give a damn whether it disturbs you or not. You can take [your concerns’ and go straight to hell and take Obama with you. I don’t give a shit. If you don’t like it don’t come down my street.” He even later added an American flag to the chair. Maybe Bud would be one of those I’m-gonna-speak-my-mind kind of people who have no problem telling you how they feel even if it’s mean. But Bud changed his tune, somewhat, days later when he takes down the hanging chair and flag, and then claims that the symbolic lynched chair representing the President was not racist. Some of his neighbors were upset by the image and said that they are glad he took it down. Watch Bud taking down the chair here

A Solution

We have a ton of imbeciles amongst us my friends, both educated and uneducated. If I had the money and resources I would give them all DNA tests and then tell them, “Now go back home to Africa!”Now that’s a sight I would love to see and experience.

 

Sources:

Jason Thompson video: http://youtu.be/ahav7acT30E

Thompson “apology”: http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/political/jason-thompson-obama-birther-joke-tommy-thompsons-son-apologizes#ixzz29TfqFHhR

 

Morgan Hill/ Santa Clara article: http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/political-display-morgan-hill-home-called-racist/nSX3C/

Bud Johnson article: http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/12756/republican-lynches-empty-chair-in-racist-presidential-effigy-in-northwest-austin

Virginia article: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/20/13989510-empty-chair-lynchings-anti-obama-protests-gone-too-far?lite

“Muslim Lier” article: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20121005/NEWS01/121005003/-Muslim-Lier-Poor-speller-vandalizes-Obama-s-Iowa-HQ?nclick_check=1

 

Copyright 2012. Natasha L. Foreman. Some Rights Reserved.

My Response to John Hope Bryant’s Article “If Bill Gates Were Black”

By Natasha L. Foreman, MBA

 

I wanted to share my thoughts regarding John Hope Bryant’s brilliant article that was posted on and by Bloomberg BusinessWeek today. I also wanted to have a healthy dialogue with those individuals who showed their lack of critical thinking skills before they reacted, and quickly responded in the negative, to the article.

It is my opinion that the moment many of us don’t understand something or it rubs us the wrong the way, the remaining of what we read or hear turns more into an episode of Charlie Brown, just a bunch of whah whah whah blah blah blah…and we don’t hear or interpret anything else. We are then too focused on a counter argument, but never on seeking clarification. Here is the link to John Hope Bryant’s article: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-04-04/if-bill-gates-were-black-dot-dot-dot

Below is my comment that I submitted to Bloomberg, that they will hopefully post in their comments section below the article. After you read John’s article and the comments made by other readers, please share your thoughts about the article and comments (inclusive of mine). Let’s have some healthy dialogue and if possible, some positive solutions to issues facing the Black community specifically, and all underserved communities in general. Here you go:

Economic empowerment and the eradication of poverty first begins with understanding the history of how this country was built, how we rebuild during economic downfalls, and how the least of God’s children are impacted. It requires us to look at the missing piece between the have’s and have not’s. 

So yes, possessing a bank account versus being robbed blind at check cashing centers is a bonus. Yes, having a credit score around or higher than 700, instead of 550 and lower, is a huge predictor of a community’s growth and prosperity—as well as an individual’s ability to thrive not just merely survive. Yes, being financially literate is imperative, because if you aren’t then you run the risk of falling prey to predatory lenders who can smell your desperation miles away.

If you don’t have a bank account then how are you depositing or cashing checks? Are you going to check cashing centers and giving them a portion of YOUR money to gain access to YOUR money? That doesn’t sound like the wisest of choices when you have a choice. Show me one millionaire or billionaire who doesn’t have a bank account. Show me one entrepreneur without a bank account. Show me. I’m sure you can’t.

The banking system isn’t corrupt, there are corrupt INDIVIDUALS in the banking system; just like there are corrupt individuals in countless other systems including government, religious organizations, educational institutions, charities, etc. You can’t blame a crisis caused by unethical behavior on an entire system, because just as there were predatory lenders who knew customers were potentially high risk for loan defaults, there are some ‘victims’ of this economic downfall who knew they bought more house than they could afford, who knew that they didn’t have true job ‘security’ but gambled with the odds anyway, who claimed to earn more than they actually had (and eventually they had more month than money). So unethical decisions from individuals caused our country to suffer these past few years.

This is a brilliant post by John Hope Bryant, that clearly expresses the sentiment that if African Americans had a Bill Gates-type-entrepreneurial role model then the vision for the Black community would not be limited to a mindset of ‘only the lucky get out’, and the ‘victory’ would not be narrowed to simply having a ‘Black President”.  

Think about it, if Bill Gates was a Black man, the money he donates and invests would be injected within his community first and then worldwide. Don’t most of us consider taking care of ‘home’ before we take care of the rest of the world? Don’t we start local and then go global? Well if this were the case, then Black communities would be resuscitated through Gates community giving, and the country (and world) would see a different ‘picture’ of these communities. 

John Hope Bryant is NOT saying that Black people don’t have entrepreneurial role models; he is saying that we need MORE business owners who are employing thousands, not merely hundreds (or less). He’s saying we need more innovators, more businesses in technology, etc. that provide a competitive advantage within the U.S. in general, and within Black communities specifically. He’s saying we need MORE Black entrepreneurs going into the community, going into the schools and teaching and sharing the ‘magic’ in their success. 

He is saying that in order to eradicate poverty and gain economic empowerment in the Black community it is going to take the Black community, not government, not charity, not handouts, but hard work and each person reaching back to an open hand and providing a hand up out of the pit. It’s going to require Black people with 700+ credit scores teaching those with 550 and lower credit scores how they did it. It’s going to require Black entrepreneurs to hire within their community, to bring on interns to learn the ropes at their company, and to mentor young Black children.

The majority of our role models that our children regularly see come from entertainment and sports backgrounds, which there is nothing wrong with that, except if you lack talent in either area, then what? 

Additionally, and no disrespect, but Oprah Winfrey, Magic Johnson, Bob Johnson, and others have built BRANDS that employ–but none to the extent of a Bill Gates level; and all three brands represent entertainment or sports. In 2007, Microsoft employed a reported 79,000 people. That was in 2007. Name one Black-owned company that employs 79,000 people?  

So John Hope Bryant’s article says, “what if Bill Gates were Black?” What changes would you see in the Black community? What would Black children aspire to become if they saw a Black employer hiring thousands of people within their community? How many Black people could be employed (since unemployment is HIGHEST in the Black community)? How many of our children would be encouraged to excel in STEM courses and pursue careers in those fields so that they too could grow up to ‘be like Bill’?

We need to take the emotion out; we need to stop wanting to attack everything we don’t understand, and start acting like we are intelligent enough to ASK for clarification if needed, and to ASK how we can individually and collectively help solve the problem.

How many of you volunteer in the Black community? How many of you work with the underserved and underrepresented? How many of you are helping to work towards a solution? Or are you merely only focusing on picking at and tearing down the things you don’t understand, and the things you are against? If you aren’t doing anything to help the Black community, and other underserved and underrepresented communities, then what does your opinion really mean, and what are you truly adding to this conversation? 

John Hope Bryant you did an awesome job with this piece. We need our children to aspire to be entrepreneurs as much as (or more than) they aspire to be athletes and entertainers. Great, they want to be a football star, but let’s teach them to also start and build a business (now) as an additional revenue stream—so when their football career ends, they still have a career…and wealth, not just temporary riches! 

A broke mindset only gets the same results…an unfinished puzzle!

 

 

Copyright 2012. Natasha L. Foreman. All Rights Reserved.

“Frankie Leg”: A Fun Image of Grandmothers Shedding their Frail Stereotype, or is this Adding to a More Negative One?

 

I’m really not sure what to say about this video, its message, and the impact (if any). I also am not sure what it says overall about the people it will ultimately reflect upon and clump together into one classification. Is this a fun and possibly healthy image of grandmothers and grandfathers shedding and shaking away the frail stereotype normally associated with getting older? Or is this somehow only adding to the negative stereotypes about Black people?

I start thinking of the buffoonery we once used to fight so hard against, and I wonder if we really have gone full-circle and found ourselves smack-dab in the middle of where we once were; if we have grown to accept not only other nationalities laughing and mocking us, but also embracing it as a reality for ourselves–so we too take part in this…we too find it acceptable; so we laugh, dance, smile, shuck and jive, and roll around comfortably in mediocrity.

Are we really in that much pain that we would rather entertain ourselves in this manner than uplift ourselves out of our pit of shame and despair? What message are our children really getting? Where is our dignity? When is enough truly enough? I believe that music and dance is healthy, healing, and cleansing–but does the “Frankie Leg” fall into those categories?

I am still letting all of this soak into my mind (which may be dangerous). But let’s have a healthy conversation about it shall we?

 

Copyright 2011. Natasha L. Foreman. The Paradigm Life. Paradigm Life. Rights Reserved.
Video provided by YouTube

>Natasha’s Deep Thought of The Day 1.10.11

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They say that imitation is a form of flattery. Hmmm well to those who spend many moments imitating me I would say, “look close then do what I do…you own thing, and be unique doing it.” There is a difference between looking at someone we admire and modeling their behavior that led to their success or their sense of confidence- but it is quite another thing when we begin to assume their identity on some level; when we start dressing like them, acting like them, speaking like them, assuming positions and roles identical or similar to theirs, picking up their hobbies and so on and so forth.


You lose yourself when you’re busy trying to be like someone else. Soon you will grow to hate yourself (more) and ironically (and subconsciously)…the very person you imitate.

The same is true in competition. You should be concerned with what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. Your biggest competition is yourself so stop looking around you and start looking within. Live your life purposely not reactionary. Don’t do something because you see me doing it and you think it will make you look better or smarter. Sometimes the things that others do that seem so effortless are the very things that you will fail at repeatedly as you discover that it takes great effort, hard work, and a diligent thought process- they just make it look easy.


Look at how much time you wasted trying to outdo or be like someone else when you could have ran your own race, took care of your own needs, and found your own ‘self’- by your own set of rules.

I write because it is a God-given gift, because it makes me feel good and is my way of releasing and letting go. Just like music, I have loved writing and the written word since I was a small child. I began reading at the age of two, and words and books have been a major part of my life since. I was editor of my high school paper, wrote for the city paper and the Los Angeles Times, and found a way to continue writing in other environments since.

There will never  be a point in my life where I look at a piece of paper and pen, my laptop, or any other instrument that I can use to express myself and say, “I’m through with this nonsense“- I can confidently say that until I take my last breath I will be a writer, and I will share my work with the world. I say that to say, my passion may not be yours- so why imitate me?


My other passions are music, business, fitness, education, working with the under-served and underrepresented, and working with women and children who struggle for the right for self-empowerment and self-sufficiency. All the days of my life I hope to be blessed enough to continue working for and within these areas that bring me such joy and completeness. I would not consider stretching my arms into other realms because in my heart I believe that I am where I am supposed to be and doing what I was called to do…not imitating someone else!



If people stuck to what they do best and did it consistently every day they would be the most successful person in that area. Instead, people start hop-scotching into other areas that they are only vaguely familiar with- or out of envy they pursue because they see someone else succeeding at it- then they scratch their head and kick the dirt in frustration when they are mediocre in the same role. 

Follow your passion not your ego. 

Follow your gift not your greed. 

Look at your clock not over the shoulder of someone else.

Live with passion not out of fear. 

Be you and not the cheap knock-off of someone else.

I am pleased and humbled when people tell me and say to others, “Natasha is one-of-a-kind. I have never met anyone like her…” that is a major compliment because I have lived my life doing what feels right in my gut and what comes as natural as blinking my eyes. I have spent my life always as a leader- not a follower. I have made choices in life not because it was the popular thing to do, or the easiest. I chose the most rugged paths because I wanted to do something other people weren’t considering. I choose to look deeper than others because people are comfortable with surface-level results. 

I dress in what feels comfortable and flatters my body- not what the industry says is ‘in’. I listen to music that moves my soul, not to what the industry says is ‘hot’. I read what makes me think, ask questions, and desire more- not what the industry says is a ‘must read’. I’m attracted to the kind of man that makes my toes curl for both obvious and not-so-obvious reasons, not just what the status quo calls ‘hot and sexy’. I write what I think, what I feel, what I see, what I know, what I want to know, and I could care less what the industry or powers-that-be would say to the contrary.

I have mentors but no idols. I mentor women and young girls- but I don’t want them to be just like me. I worship one God and follow the examples of His son, yet I embrace my fellow brothers and sisters of different faiths regardless of our differences because I know that we are more alike than not. So at the end of the day I look within myself to motivate, push, and compete with- not at the next woman…or man. There’s me, myself, and I…and that’s a lot to handle for one person, and I don’t have the time, inclination, or low self-esteem to be concerned with what another person is or isn’t doing.

So I say to those who would imitate me or others…do your own thing and be unique doing it!


 
Natasha L. Foreman, MBA


 
Copyright 2011. Natasha L. Foreman. All Rights Reserved.

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