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| | Taylor Swift: Take down all of the statues & monuments to 'despicable' racists | | Added 4 years ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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I remember when that white supremacist sh-thead killed nine black people at bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in 2015, and the state of South Carolina decided, days later, to remove the Confederate flag from the state buildings. As it was happening, I thought it was too little, too late. But the reaction from the African-American community in SC was so positive, it became a reminder (to me) of the power of symbolism in our everyday lives. Especially here in the South, where CB and I live (not together!), there are those kinds of Confederate symbols, statues and iconography everywhere.
Growing up around those symbols warps you. It warped me. ?It?s just a dumb statue,? I would tell myself, ?yes it?s awful, but doesn?t matter.? But those dumb statues matter to neo-Nazis and those statues matter to the marginalized people who pass them every day. So now I say: rip them all down. Burn the Treason Flag. Behead every Columbus statue. Dismantle every memorial to slave traders and traitors. Taylor Swift has gotten to that point too. She posted this on her social media on Friday:
As a Tennessean, it makes me sick that there are monuments standing in our state that celebrate racist historical figures who did evil things. Edward Carmack and Nathan Bedford Forrest were DESPICABLE figures in our state history and should be treated as such.
Edward Carmack?s statue was sitting in the state Capitol until it was torn down last week in the protests. The state of Tennessee has vowed to replace it. FYI, he was a white supremacist newspaper editor who published pro-lynching editorials and incited the arson of the office of Ida B. Wells (who actually deserves a hero?s statue for her pioneering work in journalism and civil rights). Replacing his statue is a waste of state funds and a waste of an opportunity to do the right thing.
Then we get to this monstrosity. Nathan Bedford Forrest was a brutal slave trader and the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan who, during the Civil War, massacred dozens of black Union soldiers in Memphis. His statue is still standing and July 13th is ?Nathan Bedford Forrest Day.? Due to social pressure, the state is trying to overrule this, and Tennesseans might no longer have to stomach it. Fingers crossed.
Taking down statues isn?t going to fix centuries of systemic oppression, violence and hatred that black people have had to endure but it might bring us one small step closer to making ALL Tennesseans and visitors to our state feel safe not just the white ones. We need to retroactively change the status of people who perpetuated hideous patterns of racism from ?heroes? to ?villains.? And villains don?t deserve statues.
I?m asking the Capitol Commission and the Tennessee Historical Commission to please consider the implications of how hurtful it would be to continue fighting for these monuments. When you fight to honor racists, you show black Tennesseans and all of their allies where you stand, and you continue this cycle of hurt. You can?t change history, but you can change this.
[From Taylor Swift?s Twitter]
When I find myself nodding in agreement with Taylor Swift on a regular basis, you know we?re through the looking glass. I have no problem with anything she said, nor do I have a problem with Taylor being the one to say it. This is an area where women like Taylor Swift succeed she?s using her inherent Karen-ness (or her inherent Darth Susan-ness) for good deeds. She wants to speak to the manager of racism in Tennessee and she?s demanding that the manager of racist statues speak to her concerns immediately. This is called ?using your privilege.? And Taylor knows the power of symbolism too. [Insert snake emoji]
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
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| | Kristen Bell's new children's book is a variation on 'I don't see color' | | Added 4 years ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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Kristen Bell has a new children?s book out called The World Needs More Purple People. Her message tells kids to be ?purple people,? which she presents as this trans-racial concept that teaches children to look for similarities before differences. People are pointing out that it sounds just like white people dismissing any criticism of racism by saying ?I don?t see color? and ?I don?t care if you?re purple.? It?s an antiquated and harmful way of looking at race and many people are saying it makes kids feel like they have to fit in and be small instead of being themselves. It basically tells them to stay positive and turn themselves into a ?purple person.? One of the lines toward the end is ?purple people come in every color you can dream of, and every size you can think of. The only way to be purple is just be you.? It sounds like shes saying ?We?re all the same honey. Let?s all just be positive and not pay attention to our differences. This may be well-intentioned, but its tone deaf, misses the point and tries to erase people.
You can see the book being read on YouTube here. The Independent has a good breakdown of the criticism of this book:
Actor Kristen Bell has been accused of writing a children?s book glorifying ?colourblindness? rather than acknowledging the differing life experiences of people of different races.
The Good Place stars book, The World Needs More Purple People, is about a ?purple person? who ?looks for similarities before differences?.
Speaking to the Associated Press, Bell said: ?The world loves debate, I do, and debate talks about differences. It?s layering difference upon difference upon difference, ?I think this?, ?no, you should think this?, it?s just constantly pointing out divisive narratives.
?Our kids are absorbing all of that and maybe we needed a bit of a road map to show them that it?s actually great to start with similarities first.?
She continued: ?Hopefully that will allow kids to have a little bit more of a social identity and be able to see similarities and through that have their mind opened by some people who they thought were different.?
However, her comments caused division on social media, as many people accused the actor of promoting ?colourblindness? rather than acknowledging that people of different races have very different life experiences.
?I don?t see colour?, the book,? one Twitter user joked, while another added: ??I don?t see colour? people need to go, be quiet, listen to actual people?s experiences, read some educational pieces instead of writing about nonsense.?
?Colourblindness isn?t the path forward,? a third person responded. ?I know she probably means well but she needs to get better people on her team who can give her a dose of reality.?
Some people pointed out the similarities between the purple character and the phrase ?I don?t care if you?re black, white, purple? which is often used to shut down conversations about racism, with one critic writing: ?The world does not need more fictional purple characters. We already have Barney and Tinky Winky.?
?You guys will do everything but teach your kids about racism against actual Black and brown people, because reality makes you ?uncomfortable,?? they continued, while another echoed: ?Justuse actual races instead????
[From Independent.co.uk]
I would ask how this book happened but we know how white publishing is, and who makes the decisions in that industry. Representation matters and there are so few Black leads and secondary characters in children?s literature. Plus it?s so much harder for Black authors to get published, and established best-selling Black authors get lower advances than novice white writers. (Also credit to Pixie Carlisles video.) This book was in the works before George Floyds murder, I saw her promoting it weeks ago and it came out earlier this month. First of all, it never should have been published, but someone at Random House should have at least pulled it when they realized the optics at this time!
Oh and Kristen also plays a biracial character on the Apple+ cartoon Central Park, by the creator of Bobs Burgers, Loren Bouchard. When trying to explain casting Kristen, Bouchard said that he always saw Kristen in the lead role, and he always saw the lead character as biracial. Then he went on to say that at least he hired women. (Of course he talked around it and thats my interpretation of his word salad.) I wonder if Kristen takes responsibility for that. I also wonder how and if shes going to address the criticism of this book. Shes tried to be an ally and I wonder if shell admit that this wasnt the way to do it.
I KNOW I didn?t see Kristen Bell in the ?I Take Responsibility? video when shes literally voicing a POC on tv. Go back to Arendelle please. pic.twitter.com/9gOha77arJ
Yonklerr (@Yonklerr) June 11, 2020
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