Listen to the interview HERE

H/T to Allison Kilkenny for letting us know about this.

Jan states that the pool was very crowded on the day of the incident. I’ve read a few places that the capacity of the pool was for about 45 people. This? Is a completely reasonable reason to have to renegotiate the terms of an agreement of using the pool. Perhaps the management didn’t understand that there as that many kids involved. Perhaps there was a miscommunication.

So can someone please explain to me the statement from Valley Swim Club President John Duesler?

According to the same interview the children were incredibly well behaved. There wasn’t any incident of crazy mccrazed crazy kids doing crazy things that would scare anyone. Why on earth if it was simply an overcrowding issue would you release a statement that the Clubs concern was “the children changing the complexion and atmosphere of the pool”?

People, of course, want to say that Black folk over react. We call racism first, ask questions later. This isn’t one of those times. Sometimes its simply reading words on a screen.

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We covered it earlier but felt like we had no choice but to drop a video to make sure the word gets spread around.  Get the word out people!

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I won’t lie to you folks. I’m sort of in shock.

“More than 60 campers from Northeast Philadelphia were turned away from a private swim club and left to wonder if their race was the reason.

“I heard this lady, she was like, ‘Uh, what are all these black kids doing here?’ She’s like, ‘I’m scared they might do something to my child,’” said camper Dymire Baylor

…”There was concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion … and the atmosphere of the club,” John Duesler, President of The Valley Swim Club said in a statement.”

Um, I’m sorry what?

I can’t possibly imagine this story is being reported accurately. Not because I believe that this type of thought can’t possibly exist or that this sort of racism has gone the way of the DoDo, but why would you think you could say this out loud? Lets say you HATED young Negroes in your pool being all, Negro-ey singing their Ship-Shop, Rock Flop, Blip Bop music – why would you think that it would be reasonable to possibly ever say it?

Could John Duesler have thought the best terminolgy for this situation would be “change the complexion?” I can’t believe I’m writing about this. I was born ‘78. I’m not supposed to write about White’s only pools. I’m supposed to write about the subtle racsim one finds in corporate America or perhaps while being followed in a department store.

I’ve never wished someone peed in a pool more than right now. Please, oh PLEASE let one of those young Black kids have had the quick thought “Are you kicking me out of this pool because I’m black? R. KELLY TIME.”

Un-Eff’ing acceptable.

Source: NBC Philadelphia

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Yes, we here at TWiB have been quiet concerning the death of Michael Jackson(besides our…ahem…very vocal take of BET’s coverage)  but an interesting article was written by  Princeton Professor, Ware Lecturer and Friend of the show Dr. Melissa Harris-Lacewell over at The Nation.

The death and remembrance of Michael Jackson has been an interesting window into American culture, its relentless cable news cycle, and the overwhelming but false sense of intimacy our celebrity culture engenders. But for me it was the peek into African American culture that was most intriguing.

Within a week of Jackson’s death I watched the avatars on my twitter feed turn from Iran-solidarity green to iconic photographs of Michael Jackson. But the photos were exclusively of “black” Michael Jackson: some from his childhood, some from the Off The Wall era, and many from the Thriller era. Few of my African American tweeps were visually remembering the Michael Jackson of the past decade with diminished features and whitened skin.

Read the rest here.

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In Episode 3 of the 2nd Season of “This Week in Blackness” Brooklyn Comedy Company’s Elon James White discusses the Sarah Palin’s sudden departure from politics and a possible new Black charismatic GOP Presidential hopeful

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If you were paying any attention to our Live Blog you realize that we here at “TWiB!” We’rent exactly in love with the 2009 BET Awards. Well, if anything can get Elon off his ass to shoot another episode it would HAVE to be this. The Brooklyn Comedy Company is proud to present episode 2 of season 2 of “This Week in Blackness.” Enjoy.

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Thats right folks.

We don’t really have a choice here do we? TWiB! is in fact about Black people and this is the BLACK ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION awards right? Think of it as “Black Star Power” meeting “Black Snark Power.” Tonight Bassey Ikpi (HBO’s Def Poetry Jam) & TWiB!’s on Elon James White (VH1, Huffington Post) will be throwing down what you’re probably thinking but too polite to say. 7:45pm. watch it HERE – http://thisweekinblackness.com/betawards09/

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To Whom It May Concern:

Greetings. My name is Elon James White. I’m Black.

I write this letter on behalf of alot of people that fall into the category of Average Black People. (Yes, I capitalize it, as if it were a title.) I do not claim to represent them because that would be absurd. I really, truly don’t. I don’t even represent my circle of friends. At any point in time one of my Black buddies will, in fact, tell me to go to hell when speaking on concepts of race, politics, or religion.

I do, however, qualify as an Average Black Person. I am neither a part of the Black intelligentsia, nor do I fall into the category of your garden-variety street Negro. A lot of folks see Black people in one of these two categories. Normally, let’s be honest, it’s the latter.

I don’t qualify.

I do come from “the Hood.” That’s right. I am a born and bred Brooklynite raised in the middle of Bed-Stuy. If you aren’t familiar with Bed-Stuy, perhaps you have never listened to gangster rap. You’re probably also unfamiliar with Jay-Z, Biggie Smalls, or the thousands of songs that yell out “Brooklyn!” and then give a shout-out to Bed-Stuy. It’s fine. Just understand that Bed-Stuy has a primarily negative connotation and for many years was used in boasts to gain respect or fear because it’s an incredibly violent environment.

In other words, you could get shot, son.

Speaking of which, I am the son of a single mother. My father is in prison. My grandfather was a pastor and I grew up in the church. I, without shame, also enjoy fried chicken, watermelon, ribs, and orange soda. I can have an incredibly in-depth debate on the best five MCs ever. My credit isn’t great and I’ve been shot.

With facts like this I qualify as a STEREOTYPICAL Black person right?

But I am also a computer programmer. I’ve been known to quote Nietzsche. I, on occasion, host dinner parties where I serve five-course meals, including a specialty of mine, White Truffle Tilapia (It’s delightful). I have the entire John Williams discography and wear a backpack that is emblazoned with the Thundercats insignia.

Those with one half of that story shake their head at the sheer mass of stereotypes I carry. Then those with the other half question if I even understand the Black experience at all. Some refer to me as someone who “made it out.” I currently live in Crown Heights. Some say “You’re not like the others.” Most people I interact with are very similar to me.

I am an Average Black Person.

So, as an ABP I have a few requests:

Media.
Please stop referring to blacks as a monolith. I can’t possibly express to you the different types of Black people that exist. We neither move as an entity, nor do we move as three or four entities. For every Sharpton, there’s a Steele. And for every Sharpton and Steele there are a hundred folks in the middle. What we share is a past, which on occasion helps shape our view on things. Also? Obama is not a unicorn. Please stop acting like Obama and his family are magical in the Black community. Just because some of you may not have seen a Negro like this doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Lots of smart black folk living with their smart mates and their cute smart kids. So please remember. Obama? Not a unicorn. Black people? Not one voice: I don’t care what the supposed Black leaders try to claim.

Supposed Black Leaders.
Please stop speaking for us as if we were a monolith. This is NOT the 1960s. We don’t need a Martin Luther King, Jr. or a Malcom X. You speak for yourselves and your view on what’s happening. You also can’t police black people. THERE ISN’T AN US. Are there issues within the Black community? Absolutely, but its not everybody as much as it’s certain groups, most time classes that are in need of help and focus. Hence you can’t speak for “Blacks.” There are people who NEED your help and don’t want you SPEAKING for them. Oh, and for the love of all that is holy, could you please stop critiquing Obama simply to show you aren’t drinking the kool-aid. I get it. You’re sugar-free. Got it.

Critics Of Obama
Hey, um . . . guess what Black people are not? A monolith. We are not holding Obama on a pedestal. Some critique him harshly (and personally I feel unjustly) and others love him. This is the case WITH EVERY PRESIDENT. Obama is not the spokesperson for Black people. He is a symbol of hope. He is a symbol of opportunity in a land where opportunity for us seemed nonexistent. He’s a symbol of a fight where people cried and died and sacrificed in order for the opportunity for HIM to exist. But his actions are his actions and have to be judged. Just not 4 months after he walked in the door with one of the worst clean up jobs in the countries history. You may critique him without critiquing Blacks’ ability to critique him.

The hypocrisy of saying we are not One, and yet speaking for the exact group for which I just emphatically denied exists, is not lost on me. Perhaps there are Black people who absolutely want to be spoken for and referred to as if we were one big team. I acknowledge the possibility, but if this was the majority people like Dyson and Smiley would be way more important, and let’s be honest: they aren’t. After reading this, the next time you talk to a Black person you can feel comfortable in NOW KNOWING with every fiber of your being that you have no clue what they think or feel based on their skin color.

But if they’re wearing a Soulja Boy shirt you may disregard this essay and judge them immediately.

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If you happen to have perused the latest Rolling Stone you might have come across an interesting comment by celebrated Black academic Dr. Cornell West:

That’s not my calling. Yeah, brother, you find me in a crack house before you find me in the White House. I’ll go into the crack house before I ever go that far inside.

Dr. West was answering a question about whether he would ever accept a position in the Obama adminstration’s White House. On the surface this might seem like the rebel response. No, he won’t join the institution that is holding down Black people across the land. He is a free thinker who will not be bound by a country who still doesn’t take the plight of all of its citizens seriously.

Or you could see this for what it is. Sheer lunacy.

>>> Cont

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• None found

For example, almost every prime-time television show features romantic inter-racial relationships, most notably between its Caucasian and African-American continuing characters. While there are certainly more such situations in our current life than in former decades, is it as prevalent as depicted? As commonplace so as not to be noticed or rarely discussed?

Here is a partial list of such shows on CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX and CW, just from the last few seasons:

Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, ER, House, Boston Legal, Gossip Girl, Dirty Sexy Money, Bones, One Tree Hill, Everwood, Lost, Heroes ,The West Wing, Desperate Housewives, Chuck, Kings, Lipstick Jungle, 90210, Cold Case, Ugly Betty, Privileged, October Road and Brothers and Sisters.

…Why do they do it in such great numbers, when it goes against statistics, according to a 2007 piece by Harvard professor Roland G. Fryer, Jr:

… In Gossip Girl every grouping has a rainbow assortment of races. Equal opportunity bitchiness on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace with the main high school clique consisting of white girls, black girls, Asian and Hispanic. As if life conforms to a quota system, which for the most part just isn’t so.

It’s funny. My response while reading this article initially was “Go Fuck Yourself” because I immediately took offense to it (I do that sometimes).  He also pointed out that there aren’t that many black doctors, surgeons, lawyers and judges. I quickly realized that my anger stemmed from the fact that I know a bunch of black lawyers and doctors. I know tons of interracial couples. Hell I’m IN one. I’ve known so many that I started to think there was something in the water. For me that aspect, the professional Blacks and interracial unions, isn’t fantasy.

But I also live in New York City.

Cities in general have a more diverse backdrop. Yes, if you’re in the Midwest a Black doctor might be strange.  But I’ve worked at 2 different hospitals in NYC. It’s not strange at all. I’ve worked at Fordham University. There’s tons of Black kids going for the Bar.

When Minorities are in environments with Whites, are we supposed to NOT mix? Sure there are plenty of White people who have no connection to blacks, but is it that way in reverse? Past a certain class, almost ALL Blacks I know have white acquaintances and friends. Not to fill a quota, but because that’s JUST LIFE.

SOURCE

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