Katrina Kills Hundreds
The governor of Mississippi estimated that the death toll in Harrison County alone could be as high as 80. Biloxi has already reported over 30 dead. Coast Guard operations have begun search and rescue attempts. The financial devastation is said to be over $9 billion. One man said he wrapped himself around a tree branch and waited four or five hours to be rescued.
Sharpton’s Hair Only Thing Relaxed
Yesterday Jarrett Maupin, 43, was driving Al Sharpton to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport after Sharpton visited with anti-war activist, Cindy Sheehan just outside President Bush’s Crawford estate. Maupin is Sharpton’s regular driver. Authorities say that Maupin was driving 110 mph in a 65 mph zone and drove for over nine miles before adhering to police requests to pull over. Maupin was arrested and his rental car was impounded. Sharpton and his two riding partners were said to have hitched a ride and made their scheduled flight back to New York.
On Blast
Today’s Caspar is On Blast with:
I want to know why individuals compare racial discrimination with discrimination against homosexuals. I want to know why performers like Kanye feel they are justified in making statements like the above on the hard work, blood, sweat and tears of civil rights leaders like Malcom and Martin. Discrimination is wrong no matter how you look at it, but to compare the right to interracial marriages to the right of same sex marriages is going OVERBOARD.I love my gay brothers and sisters, but I would like to be put On Blast with this one...
Can you really compare interracial marriages to same sex marriages...whats more, do you think Malcolm and Martin had the same thing in mind as Kanye?Enlighten me please....Would people have been beaten hosed and had dogs attack them if the rights they were marching for was the right to have sex with whom ever you choose? PLEASE FEEL FREE TO LET IT ALL HANG OUT FOLKS!
Keep passin' the open windows...
6 comments:
Let's see...
If we asked Tina Brandon what she thought of discrimination against gays and lesbians when she was being beaten, raped and murdered by folks who couldn't accept her masculinity, she'd probably agree with Kanye. If we asked Matthew Sheperd what he thinks about Kanye's statement he'd probably say he prefered not being beaten and tied to a fence; left to die in the cold and all alone. If we asked millions of gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals whether their struggle to "just be" has been paved with heartache, loss of family, loss of friends, physical, emotional and verbal abuse, I'd say, they might agree that the homosexual struggle is virtually the same as the struggle of minorities in this country. I would venture to say that they would feel they are entitled to civil rights that protect them from discrimination in housing and employment. I even think they might want some type of hate crime legislation to protect them from getting the life snatched out of them by some fool that can't accept that there are people different from themselves.
That said, I'll post your question Caspar. Seems like a fair enough quesiton to ask.
I will say this though... It is difficult for those outside of any oppressed group to understand the true hardships encountered by minority groups.
Enough said...
racial discrimination = Hatred
discrimination = Hatred
discrimination against homosexuals = Hatred
discrimination against the right to pursue happiness as you choose to = Hatred
discrimination of who you can financially secure in case of your untimely death = Hatred
discrimination of interracial marriages = Hatred
interracial marriages = the right to pursue happiness as individuals
…over….
same sex marriages = the right to pursue happiness as individuals
= LOVE
Martin = Love
Malcolm = Rights
Martin + Malcolm = the Right to Love
Oop!
Signed
J'Moo
Now explain it to me like I'm a five year old...
:)
Caspar... no one is questioning your ability to sympathize or empathize. That said, oppression, discrimination, hatred and prejudice are the same without regard to what group is suffering the transgression. A black person called a "Nigger" is as offended as a gay person being called a "faggot". A beat down for not fitting into someone's picture of what is acceptable, normal or equal is still the same whether that ignorant behavior is being weilded against someone for their race or their sexual orientation. When blacks and whites struggled to marry in the 50s many felt the same way. They felt that race mingling was horrific, against nature and God and Lord knows what other ridiculous reasoning. Today, we see how insane these beliefs were. I never have felt the need to validate my relationships by marrying any partner I've had, but it would be great knowing that I could. That my rights were EQUAL to those around me. That's what civil rights and liberties are about. We may not ALL agree with how the other guy lives, but our beliefs cannot infringe on their RIGHT to be equal - to share the same rights and priveleges afforded everyone else. Oh sure, there are still those who don't agree with race mingling or believe that disabled folks shouldn't be allowed to work in our offices if they can't function the way we do or maybe we might feel that women shouldn't be allowed in clubs that were primarily for men, but thankfully someone stood their ground back in the day and today, regardless of personal beliefs, folks have rights; they're protected by the law and equality is encouraged. Hopefully we'll look back on this ridiculous battle of judging adults for loving other adults of the same sex and say - Wow, on the real, that was so silly, especially when it wasn't my f*cking business who anyone loves. Ultimately, equality is equality. Rights are rights. Denying those civil rights is wrong. It was wrong to deny blacks their rights, it's wrong to deny gays their rights and if an adult crippled green martian lands in America and wants to marry an adult transgender Cherokee Indian with one leg, I say MORE POWER TO THEIR NASTY ASS!
OK, I'M SORRY THAT I CAME TO THIS DISCUSSION A LITTLE LATE BUT ITS IMPORTANT TO ME. MY ANSWER IS COMPLICATED. ITS YES. IN THE BROADEST SENSE OF THE WORD, GAY/LESBIAN RIGHTS IS A LIGITIMATE PEROGATIVE-----THE RIGHT TO EQUAL TREATMENT UNDER THE LAW. THERE IS NO ONE IN THESE UNITED STATES WHO SHOULD NOT SHARE IN THESE RIGHTS..... PERIOD. NOW I'M A BLACK MAN AND AN OPENLY GAY BLACK MAN AT THAT, BUT I'M A BLACK MAN FIRST. AS SUCH I HAVE EXPERIENCED MORE DISCRIMINATION AS A BLACK MAN THAN I HAVE EXPERIENCED AS A GAY MAN, SO IT IS OBVIOUS THAT I MIGHT TEND TO PLACE MORE VALUE ON RACIAL CIVIL RIGHTS. BUT HAVING SAID THAT I WILL STATE EMPHATICALLY THAT GAYS AND LESBIANS ARE ENTITLED TO THOSE SAME INALIENABLE RIGHTS AND A GOOD NUMBER OF THEM HAVE DIED BECAUSE OF THEM. I DON'T THINK WE SHOULD BE BOGGED DOWN IN SUCH A NORROW COMPARISON AS TO WHICH IS MORE VALUED. AFRICAN AMERICANS AND MINORITIES ARE AMERICANS WHO WERE ENSLAVED AND ARE DISENFRANCHISED AND DISCRIMINATED AGAINST, BUT WE ARE FAR FROM THE ONLY AMERICANS SUFFERING AND DYING FROM THAT DISCRIMINATION. AS A GAY MAN, I'VE LIVED WITH THAT DISCRIMINATION EVERY DAY, IN HOUSING; BY THE POLICE; IN CHURCH; BY THE IRS AND BY ANTIQUATED LAWS STILL ON THE BOOKS. MOST RECENTLY MY VERY BEST FRIEND WAS NOT ALLOWED TO BE AT THE BED SIDE OF HIS DYING LOVER OF 17 YEARS BECAUSE "HE WAS NOT CONSIDERED A "FAMILY MEMBER" OR "SPOUSE". SOME PEOPLE WHO OBJECT TO GAY RIGHTS HAVING THE SAME IMPORTANCE AS MINORITY RIGHTS SEE BEING GAY AS A CHOICE AND A SOCIAL BEHAVIOR OF MOSTLY PRIVILEGED WHITES, BUT SCIENCE HAS DEBUNCKED THAT CONCLUSIVELY AND SHOWN THAT SEXUAL DISPOSITION IS INHERENT AND NOT AN OPTION OR AN ALTERNATIVE WE SELECT. IN THAT REGARD IT EXACTLY PARALELS RACE DISCRIMINATION. BEING TREATED EQUALLY IS NOT A SPECIAL RIGHT IT IS AN EQUAL RIGHT, AN ORDINARY ENTITLEMENT OF AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. NOW I DON'T EVEN LIKE KANYE WEST...I THINK HE IS A POMPOUS ASS AND A POSTERBOY FOR OUR SHALLOW AMERICAN CULTURE...BUT I BELIEVE HIS COMPARISON IS A VALID ONE.
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