dear tony, what do you do about racists?

junior highmama mia

for a long time i tried to ignore them.

i tried to believe that some people are mean and some people just sometimes act mean.

i guess i felt like in this modern world, surely people are smart enough to know whats racist and whats not and they wouldnt act racist to your face.

but either something changed when Trump got elected and they were emboldened or i had just given them more credit than they deserve.

because i am a child of God i dont back down.

i dont think God wants his kids to cower. he wants us to be brave and strong and reflect his coolness — even when we dont feel those things ourselves.

so i dont block them on twitter or facebook or wherever , and if they engage with me, ill engage right back.

if this was the basketball court and two guys showed up talking crazy racist smack, why would you leave? play them. beat them. talk the whole time. run your mouth, make your moves, show them the Black excellence they obviously showed up to witness.

but win. definitely win.

same goes for using words online or in person or wherever.

how is a racist gonna beat me, a person who has written poems and novellas and countless news and opinion articles on the basketball court of Words?

on this blog alone there are over 12,000 posts. how are the ignorant who can barely spell gonna beat me in a tweet or a facebook comment?

use your words.

how do i deal with racists? racists are not my problem.

the demons in my head are.

the ones who say you cant do this or youre too old to do this or that or youre too fat to do this or that or youre not enough this or not enough that.

racists are small potatoes.

small, soft, delicious starch in the Chunky Soup of life.

dunk on them every time and when they’re panting, sweating, and broken, buy them a Coke like the child of God you are.

in the days of chimpanzees i was a busblog

spent part of the weekend fighting with people on Twitter about why NFL players were kneeling during the National Anthem.

It’s tough to argue on Twitter for a few reasons:

1. some people want to remain in the dark

2. im a verbose SOB thus it’s tough to stick to just 140 letters

3. i was watching football and forgot that i was arguing with half of the South.

the biggest problem was these people kept wanting to say that by kneeling during the Anthem, the players are disrespecting the flag.

as if the flag has feelings. it’s cloth i told them.

THESE PLAYERS ARE PROTESTING THE FACT THAT COPS MURDER BLACK PEOPLE AND GET AWAY WITH IT. I’d say.

but they didn’t want to hear it. and it was curious.

im sorry they arent protesting the way they want people to protest. when Trump tried to impose the racist Muslim ban, people took to the streets. The Trumpsters whined accusing the protesters of being paid. They complained that the traffic was bad now. They bitched that the signs were painting them in a bad light.

so here you have a protest that doesn’t affect anything. it doesn’t keep the flag from flying. it doesn’t keep the singer from singing. and it doesn’t even affect the game.

so they bring the military into it: “these selfish millionaire football players are disrespecting all the veterans who fought for this country!”

as if these Trumpsters care about the military. Aren’t a good chunk of homeless people veterans? Where were these defenders of the troops when W was cutting the VA?

but more importantly: is a veteran more American than a schoolteacher or a Community Organizer?

hey man, some of my best friends fought in wars. but members of the military are just Part of America. firefighters, nurses, farmers, fruit pickers, union bosses, seamstresses, and even your neighborhood blogger are all important parts of our society and we are all Americans who, when we are at our best, contribute to what makes the USA the second-greatest country in this continent.

hi baby.

long live every man woman and drone who defends this country and all the things we stand for but at what point is someone going to say, please stop using veterans as pawns for your bullshit argument?

the actual issue at hand is kids, teens, adults and even women have been straight up murdered by police and those cops paid no price even when they said

I DON’T KNOW WHY I SHOT THAT BLACK MAN WHO HAD HIS HANDS UP.

Yes. Yes you do. You know damn well why you do. And until we get that unsubstantiated fear out of the minds of our police force we are going to continue to have innocent dead black folks and athletes kneeling in protest.

but we can’t get there until we knock off this fucking shit about the flag or the military or the “country”.

until the flag murders a kid holding a toy gun, no one has any problem with the flag.

until the military says “i’m gonna kill this MFer”, kills a citizen, plants a gun on him and gets away with it, no one has a problem with the military.

athletes are kneeling because it is working. it is getting the word out there that police brutality and murder will not be tolerated.

the President of the United States wants to pretend that this is not about race or cops or anything other than the flag.

which is why you know it’s not about the freaking flag.

and now i wish i had learned how to run a Post Route so i could kneel

with my clenched fist up

during every anthem my team played on Sundays.

 

hello from the other side

i ran into some racism growing up in the sticks outside of Chicago but thats not why i flew to LA the day after high school graduation.

i came here for the weather and the pretty girls and a fresh start.

they say you are capable of completely changing every seven years and they say that lots of people do it.

even though i was popular in school and had lots of good friends, i knew from visiting california in the summers that there was something here that was me that would be very difficult to fulfill in the midwest.

there is a drive here. a spirit of creativity, acceptance, freedom.

now 33 years removed it shocks me sometimes to read the things i do on facebook from the people i went to high school with.

the racism is out of control, not to mention the fear and hate and absolute close mindedness.

where did it come from? why does it fester?

we see it so clearly in and around St Louis and gradually now in Wisconsin and Indiana but Sweet Home Chicago?

and why isn’t it here? i know in the 70s and 80s the gangs in South Central were serious business, all based on race

but maybe that was just a totally different thing.

of course theres racism here too but it’s more “i will Not buy a house in Inglewood, Mandy.”

not “omg please don’t ask me to take yoga from Jamaal again.”

i think the secret might be in the stirring of the pot.

in the midwest everyone pretty much stays in the same neighborhoods and area codes.

in the west people are moving in, moving out, swirling and mixing.

especially when you’re young, if you meet a group of people and you call women “girls” or “gals” or “bitches” thinking you’re funny you will get pushback reminding you that you are not funny and if you wish to be funny, make some, you know jokes. real jokes.

but if you grew up with a crowd and you say dumb shit, they’ll let it slide because thats how the tribe survives – you can’t eat your own, you adapt TO THEM not to the whole wide world.

but in the swirling pot of the west you have to adapt to the whole wide world because you want to get along with your neighbor, your boss, your new friends, and that hot babe across the table from you who is from a totally different country entirely.

and so you learn that certain words are unacceptable, but better, that certain ways of thought will stop you from getting laid.

rightfully.

if you wanna be some narrowminded racist sexist modern day archie bunker AND get laid, you might be able to find a small portion of hot babes who will tolerate that sort of nonsense but the world will not be your oyster.

because the world, in general, does know the deal.

and the deal is racism and being a fucking dumbshit is for another time

and another place.

namely the past and not here.

here is the place where new ideas sprout up and solve old problems.

here is the place where i want to swirl the best of what ive got

with the best of what youve got and i dont mean surfacey bullshit things

but things pertaining to the soul

as a starting point.

when i get depressed it is when i start thinking that i have not lived up to the great potential that i dove into when i moved here

and im not living up to what i am capable of.

i know i am no longer slacker from the sticks.

and it’s liberating to know there is nothing here to hold me back

but it’s also frightening because then why are you still back.

why arent you front.

why am i not front.

leading the way.

or even close to the light.

and thats when i appreciate the supportive words of the enlightened who say

your concepts about front back darkness and light

are old

and wrong.

do better.

which is what i almost always need to hear.

a trio of Ask Tony questions appeared on my Facebook

jack and cokechris asks, Whats the protocol for calling BS on friends of friends racist posts? 

it’s so interesting that you ask this because im about to finish reading the bible for the 3rd or 4th time (but who’s counting?) and Sunday i read this line in 2 Timothy that totally reminded me of Facebook

23Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 24And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

Here St. Paul (the author of the letter to Timothy is Paul) starts off by saying “just totally ignore the haters because you’ll end up in a flame war, and those are for sucker MCs.” but then he says if we are really going to try to be good Christians we have to be super chill with everyone, totally patient, and if you are going to correct someone do it in the smoothest way ever. which in a way is the opposite of a flame, and eventually it’ll work out.

Personally i have never seen a racist stop being a racist because of words on a Facebook wall. my experience of racism is it is the culmination of years and years of ignorance that starts with someone’s parents and friends and is fertilized over time by a fucked up environment. so i dont see where even the coolest exchange of facts, hyperlinks, and well-turned phrases could undo what years of bullshit formed. so i don’t even try very much any more, even though it can seem so tempting to jump in there.

Instead I think there are far better places to place ones energies within Facebook, namely the good people in your life who, for whatever reason, Facebook hides from you because you haven’t engaged with them very much. Chill with them instead.

Peter asks: Is it too soon for Brangelina jokes? 

on one hand, it is super sad whenever any couple breaks up, especially those with many kids, because divorce affects some kids very emotionally – not to mention the once-happy couple.

on the other hand, Comedy Is Not Pretty. some of the funniest jokes are dark, tasteless, rude, foul, biting, and OMG WHAT?comedy is not pretty

but we need comedy, particularly when we see ourselves in others who apparently are having it worse than we are.

the problem with bashing on Brad and Angie is for all apparent appearances they’re really sweet people. Brad built houses in New Orleans for the poor after a couple of those hurricanes. he produces films that tackle tough issues in artistic ways (The Big Short, 12 Years a Slave, The Normal Heart, Selma, etc)

And Angie’s list of charitable endeavors was so long that the Academy gave her a humanitarian award a few years ago where even her acceptance speech was selfless, touching and inspiring, focused on her mom who taught her early on that all of us who live a safe, healthy life are extremely fortunate and downright lucky because we could have just as easily been born in another part of the world devoid of clean water, plentiful food or peace. so those of us whose head is above water should help those who aren’t.

so since there are plenty of more deserving people to make fun of, i will be aiming my barbs at those who are far more selfish and foolish and worthy of my incredible barbs. perhaps you will feel the same way.

Asher asks: If Tony is at Wrigley Field for the Word Series, how does he react to the national anthem?

First of all, aint no way I’m going to be at Wrigley for the World Series. The cheapest tickets are going for close to $9,000 and even though i love the Cubs with all of my heart and wear a Cubs hat almost every day and have dozens of Cubs gear, and have lived this way my whole life, i’ve never had $9,000 laying around for such a thing and i sure as hell don’t now.

But let’s say a miracle ticket comes my way and there i am in the bleachers and someone great like Billy Corgan or Cheap Trick or Bruce Springsteen starts singing The Star Spangled Banner: as much as i am angry and dismayed by so many innocent victims of the police murdering black men, i don’t see how one blogger in a sea of 40,000 Cub fans kneeling or raising my fist would impact anything in the slightest other than making my fellow Cub fans around me feel uncomfortable.

What has made this protest so fascinating and powerful is it is coming from the players, most of whom have the cameras pointed at them. Because of these players the protest has gained momentum and kept the conversation going. Even if 1,000 fans knelt, the odds of the cameras catching it are minimal, especially on Fox, who will be broadcasting it, who care so little about the game or the viewers that they insist on having Joe Buck ruin it for everyone.

So no, for once in my life, I would not be trying to change the world. I would be entirely focused on watching my little Cubby world change.

i wonder what its like to be like the instapundit

headless horsema hole for anyone from the right to stick their fist into.

do they have to grease it up first?

do they have to ask please first?

thirty to thirty five times a day the right just shove it in and he takes it. but its more than “he takes it”, he loves it. he smiles. hes gleeful.

nobody does anything thirty times a day unless theyre seriously into it – nay obsessed by it.

at first i used to read his page and think, oh great i get to read what a law professor thinks about stuff. how cool that he’ll look at both sides of things and show you and then tell you what he thinks.

that quickly changed and he just showed one side.

then that changed and he only showed you the side that the uber-right wanted to see. and boy did his popularity shoot through the roof.

some would say, damn its scary that so many people agree with him, and others would say they dont all agree with him theyre just watching the spectacle of someone so diluted and insincere faking being openminded faking being an libertarian and trying his hardest to be as conservative as humanly possible.

i used to belong to a gym where these old guys used to have naked competitions where they tried to be more naked than the next guy. youd think once youre naked you’d win, but nope, one dude started brushing his teeth naked, then another guy watched tv in the locker room area naked, then another guy started shining his shoes naked. he won cuz nobody shines their shoes anymore.

at first instapundit was beating everyone at the most conservative in the world by being less balanced than even matt drudge, but even drudge got tired of that game. and now the powerline blog and instapundit are trying to out-conservative each other but its no contest, the professor beats the three lawyers from nowhere hands down cuz hes so conservative he doesnt even bother to write opinions, he lets other people do his dirty work. which is sorta badass, but mostly cowardly, and borderline lazy. if you could call 30+ posts a day lazy.

some people call little green footballs a hateful site. [2016 editors note update, today LGF is a completely different blog] and pretty much nobody knows why i used to call instapundit my favorite blogger or why i am still trying to get a podcast going with charles from lgf, but people often misunderstand me.

for the record instapundit has pretty much lost all my respect, and charles has pretty much kept my respect. both of these opinions are based on the Bill Bennett “if you want to lower the crime rate, abort all the Black babies” scandal which each of the right-wing bloggers have handled quite differently.

charles chose to ignore it, which doesnt mean he disagrees with Bennett, but it’s pretty much the most one could hope for from lgf which rarely criticizes fellow righties for being… themselves.

airplanethe southern professor on saturday made two posts. on the first he quoted powerline who complained that Bennett is “taking unjustified heat for comments he made on the subject of abortion.” (as if any of this is about abortion)

on his second bennett post he linked to three conservative blogs all of whom basically supported the indefensible comments.

it’s a shame that republican Black blogger, baldilocks hadn’t posted earlier in the day because perhaps glenn would have read her post which denounces Bennett, albeit mildly.

her “however clause” is one that any rational person desperately trying to make sense of the idiocy would have, “that Mr. Bennett could have used a different outrageous example and that I found it curious that black babies were the first thing that popped into Mr. Bennett’s mind.”

glenn doesnt have such thoughts. and if he does he doesnt dare utter them outloud on his blog. thats not his job. his job is to echo the rightest of the right. his job is to ignore what needs to be played down, and amplify what most needs to be added to the noise.

Bennett went on hannity and colmes and defended himself against Ted Kennedy’s criticisms by lamely bringing up 36-year-old chappaquiddick and refusing to take back what he said.

“I will — I’ll not take instruction from Teddy Kennedy. A young woman likely drowned because of his negligence. I’ll take no moral instruction with him. That’s much worse than legal gambling what Teddy Kennedy did. He should make no judgments at all about people.” – Bill Bennett 9/30/05

a rational man would have said, “yeah, that was an unfortunate example, and a ridiculous one. obviously it was just downright stupid. and im sorry.” but no he tries to smear sen. kennedy for being just as outraged as the white house.

there’s a reason why Bennett went on hannity and colmes, its the same reason the instapundit never links to the white house when theyre apologizing about something or condeming a repub: because its soft over there.

why didnt hannity and colmes say, “bill, kennedy and dean and pelosi and pretty much everyone including bush said that what you said was inappropriate. nobody gives a shit about Jonathan Swift, nor does anyone think that you’ll ever go down as a famous satirist, and by the way, didnt Swift die of madness and leave his fortune to create a nut house, im sorry a mental institute?”

only a lunatic or a racist would stand behind the statements that bill bennett posed this week.

its one thing to spew them on the radio before your second cup of coffee, its another thing to soberly defend them a day later and then go on the offensive while refusing to apologize.

when asked if he felt he should apologize Bennett said, “I don’t think I do. I think people who misrepresented my view owe me an apology.”

pride is one of the seven deadly sins.

is dumbfuckery?

heres who’s a dumbfuck: Bennett and anyone who tries to pretend that aborting Black babies just happened to pop in his head as a way to fight crime. that after he read that passage in Freakanomics that he didnt think, “oh but what about the largest percentage of criminals: white males.”

waterladythats the problem with Bennett’s bizarre theory: to abort a minority of people from a minority group you only get a small percentage. why on earth if you wanted to seriously cut down on crime wouldnt you go for the highest percentage?

i’ll tell you why, because then he’d be targeting his audience. the white republicans who have the AM radio turned on during the afternoons. sure it would still be reductio ad absurdum but homie dont play that when youre talking about their babies.

black kids didnt blow up the world trade center, black kids didnt shoot up columbine, black kids didnt beat rodney king, black kids didnt blow up oklahoma city or eat people in wisconsin, or bury kids in their driveway in illinois.

yes blacks commit crime. of course we do. everyone commits crime. when i worked at Sears many years ago i saw someone in a wheelchair grab a walkman and slip it under his leg and toss his blanket over his lap.

on hannity and colmes Bennett didnt want to talk about how poverty affects crime, he wanted to change the subject into how colmes had been boohoo mean to him earlier on radio. because bill bennett’s feelings are somehow more important than the root of crime, which is typically poor education, disproportional unemployment, and the fact that the poor have a shitty chance of getting a fair trial in court. and Lord lets not ask the former drug czar what prisons would look like if we legalized drugs, taxed them, and released those convicted of non-violent drug crimes – something the professor claims to support.

but instead of glenn delving into little things like why Blacks are disproportionately in prison he convienently ignores all that and lets the righties have their way with his blog.

“oh we’re supporting bennett? ok, cool. send me links, i’ll post em.”

which is why im through with him and the oldest profession.

Update: Baldilocks says she was misunderstood, she says she has no issue with Bennett, she says she has an issue with the media for twisting his words around.

beautiful art by maggie taylor