The Black Commentator - e-Mailbox - Ghettopoly vs Monopoly

For the Bush men, life’s Holy Grail is The Market – the place where morality and eternal truths, reside. Taiwanese immigrant David Chang, a 28 year-old acolyte in the Church of the Living Dollar, has learned well the tenets of free market Americanism: blessed are the profit-takers. Chang’s calling led him to bring forth Ghettopoly – a cardboard and plastic talisman that, for $30, reveals the demonic, subhuman nature of those darker Americans who have been rightfully banished to a place of iniquity: the ghetto.

The continuing vitality of White Supremacy is evidenced by the fact that even non-white immigrants are invited to assimilate American culture through rituals of Black-bashing. Since America is a frivolous society in which culture can be purchased by credit card, its most authentic rituals often arrive by mail, in a game box.

“Somehow I doubt that Chang’s father left Taiwan so his son could profit off the misery of people trapped in desperate poverty,” wrote Tim Wise in his Guest Commentary, “Ghettos are Not a Game: Making Money off the Misery of Others.”

Chang’s biggest offense is in reinforcing the notion of the ghetto as a free-standing entity, with an inherent culture, separate from the rest of the society. But in truth, the ghettos of this nation are the product of deliberate decisions made by political and economic elites. Whatever culture springs up in such places is not some intrinsic pathology unique to the urban poor, but largely the consequence of institutional racism and economic oppression.

Chang’s game allows us to continue ignoring the most important issue: namely, how did the ghetto become the ghetto in the first place? Answers are easy to find, though apparently Chang wasn’t interested in discovering them, seeing as how doing so might have cut into his video game playing and MTV viewing schedule.

An anti-racist writer and activist, Tim Wise is chronically overworked in the U.S.A. His job is made more grueling when evangelical race-baiters like Chang, moved by the spirit of hate-hucksterism, find boutique outlets for their WMDs (Weapons of Mass Defamation). Chang’s retail distributor, Urban Outfitters, caters to the “postcollegiate slackerati” through “51 stores in North America and flagship locations in London, Dublin and Glasgow,” according to Philadelphia Weekly magazine. The chain’s president, Richard Hayne, “turned a few hippie beans into a hip $700 million empire.” Apparently, former hippie Hayne believed that Ghettopoly deserved a place on his empire’s shelves. Hayne’s former wife and Urban Outfitters co-founder, Judy Wicks, is a self-described “diehard liberal activist.”

How resilient American racism is! In the New American Century, Taiwanese immigrants and diehard white liberals feel no shame in hawking racist parlor games, proof that their piece of the nation has truly gotten over the “pain” of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movement era.

Urban Outfitters was the target of Black protest in a number of cities. NAACP President Kweisi Mfume gave Chang a personal tongue-lashing, reported the October 12 Washington Post.

Mfume said Ghettopoly's images "represent the worst stereotypes that anyone can conjure up." The Organization of Chinese Americans, Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.), the National Coalition for Civil Rights Under the Law and other groups also have condemned Chang.

Chang's Web site promises the release of four other games: Redneckopoly, Hoodopoly, Thugopoly and Hiphopoly. Now, he said, those releases could be in doubt.

"I'm not a racist person," Chang said. "That's not my intention. My intention was to show America that stereotypes are ridiculous. I never knew it would be like this.

"It does take a toll on you, reading mail after mail," Chang said. "What have I learned from this? I don't have time to think. I've been so busy."

Then he paused and said: "For every bad mail I get, I get 10 orders for the game at the same time."

Tim Wise didn’t like that picture, so he worked on the big fellas of the board game business. We got this email from Wise, last Friday:

Good news. I received a notice from Hasbro/Milton Bradley that not only are they highly disgusted by GHETTOPOLY, but they have made clear to Chang their intention to sue him if he does not cease and desist from making it and selling it. Here is their statement:

“We want to make it clear that Hasbro has absolutely no connection to the reprehensible ‘Ghettopoly’ game,” said Frank Bifulco, President of Hasbro’s U.S. Games. “Mr. Chang’s game violates our MONOPOLY game intellectual property rights and Hasbro plans to bring suit against Mr. Chang if he does not immediately stop selling the game.”

Hasbro is a worldwide leader in children’s and family leisure time entertainment products and services, including the design, manufacture and marketing of games and toys ranging from traditional to high-tech. Both internationally and in the U.S., its PLAYSKOOL, TONKA, MILTON BRADLEY, PARKER BROTHERS, TIGER and WIZARDS OF THE COAST brands and products provide the highest quality and most recognizable play experiences in the world.

Hopefully, Hasbro will squish Chang like a bug – finally, a beneficial social role for a corporate monopolist.

Roslyn Ferguson, of New Haven, Connecticut expressed her appreciation to Mr. Wise.

Thank you for your article in the Black Commentary. Just today (October 10th) the local NAACP, here in New Haven successfully forced a local branch of Urban Outfitters on Yale University campus, (apparently, Chang's intended audience is white, affluent, elitist college students) to take this so-called game off its shelves. It was only in today's paper (The New Haven Register) that I became aware of this latest nasty piece of work.

Several friends and I have been attempting to telephone David Chang – it’s impossible, the line is constantly busy, so we've sent individual emails.

Again, thank you Mr. Wise and Black Commentator for giving you the forum.

Urban Outfitters must learn that insults can be costly, writes Makemba:

I say we should never use this store again. We don't need to give someone a second chance in this day and age to prove they are not racist. The first time out the Black community should make them a loser. Stop supporting Urban Outfitters!

From Plainfield, New Jersey, high school student David Marcus Rutherford writes:

That Ghettopoly game is sick. After reading the article, I saw how disgusting it was, but the online visual (ghettopoly.com) made it worse. It looks disgusting and savage, like somewhere where animals live. I guess that's how he views black people.

I will never understand how people's struggles could be funny, though it's only one of many elitist views of a lot of white Americans that I can't understand. How could this humor be worth $30.00 dollars plus shipping?

The Ghettopoly web site is no longer active, but the racist entertainment market flourishes. According to a self-selective poll by the Miami Herald, 68 percent of respondents consider Ghettopoly to be “harmless satire,” while only 32 percent rate the game “racist and offensive.” Opportunities abound for the free market faithful.

Poet Arthur Flowers cautions that Urban Outfitters and Mr. Chang aren’t the only folks dealing in African American denigration. He titled this piece, Ghettopoly Follies:

Blackfolk up in arms about that ghetto monopoly game
Forcing us to face the perception of black culture today

Apparently he got his ideas of what black culture
is like from watching MTV and BET

Hard to get the indignation up to critical mass
When we are the biggest perpetuators of these images
For the same reason Chang did it.

Because it sells.

Rootsletter Vol. II by Arthur Flowers
Timely Observations on Politics, Literature
Culture, Struggle and the Hoodoo Way
http://www.rootwork.com/blog.htm

Who’s pimping who?

readers may note that we seldom use the term, “conservative.” American politics is so permeated by racial subtexts, eighteenth century capitalist icon Adam Smith would find few sensible openings to join in the conversation. Besides George Bush, the loudest voice in that profane discourse is Rush Limbaugh, currently undergoing de-drugging treatment. Limbaugh works hard to be hated by Black folks, since that makes him beloved among a huge audience of whites. This singular talent has made him a multi-millionaire. Big corporations fatten his accounts.

Last week, Guest Commentator Reynard Blake, Jr., sent a “Message to the Programming Pimps Who Hired Limbaugh at ESPN.”

When he decided to criticize Donovan McNabb’s performance this season based on race, implying that the National Football League had an affirmative action program for quarterbacks, he went too far….

Ok, ESPN… You have had your day in the sun, with increased ratings; despite the clear disrespect you have shown your somewhat diverse on-air talent (that has few, if any, Asians, Latinos, or Native Americans – but I digress) and viewers by hiring Rush Limbaugh. You knew what you were getting with Limbaugh, and you got it. You pimped him to get more money. He was a willing “ho.” However, if you hire someone like that again (like Michael Savage – sorry, I did not mean to give you any ideas) not only will I not look at any of your programs or any other programs affiliated with the Disney conglomerate, you will probably lose hundreds of thousands, if not millions of fans that just want to enjoy quality sports programming (ok, cut the log chopping competition programs) that you create. Don’t do it again!

Paul Whalen suspects that Limbaugh’s success is rooted in mass psychosis.

Mr. Reynard Blake’s commentary was up to your excellent, cogent standards. Prior to the assault and invasion of Iraq, Norman Mailer wrote an article positing that the reason for the hostilities was to provide a balm to soothe the descent of the white male ego from its privileged position. Mailer opined that especially distressing to the white male ego was its diminishing role as sports star, with even an African-American besting the country club set at its last stronghold.

Thus the question is begged – is Rush a Mailer devotee?

No, Mr. Whalen. Limbaugh is an Oxycontin devotee.

Freedom Rider’s debut

Margaret Kimberley’s weekly Freedom Rider column debuted in excellent form in The Black Commentator, October 9. Kimberley, a New Yorker born in Ohio, keyed her column to the sins of omission committed in the September 28 60 Minutes piece on the arrest, imprisonment, and final exoneration of 10 percent of the Black population of Tulia, Texas.

Tom Coleman, the undercover, unrepentant, perjuring cop who framed 46 Tulia residents on drug charges, provided the title for Kimberley’s piece: “I’m Proud of What I Did in Tulia.” Coleman’s personal racism is self-evident on the tube – but, then what? The CBS news magazine danced around the obvious: “The sad truth is, these convictions occurred because of white supremacy,” wrote Kimberley. “The words white supremacy are so loaded, and conjure up such horrible images that it is no surprise most people aren’t willing to own them… We acknowledge racism but don’t dwell on it too much because we want to live our lives without anger and bitterness.” Kimberley continued:

But we are still angry and bitter. We waste time asking questions that more often than not have an obvious and simple answer. “Why am I followed around in the store?” Answer: white supremacy. “Why does the world stop brutality in Bosnia but not in the Congo or Liberia?” Answer: white supremacy. “Why doesn’t Angela Bassett get more and better roles?” Answer: white supremacy. I could go on with important and unimportant issues alike but you get the idea. When these questions arise we should take a deep breath, count to ten and then say, “White supremacy.” The initial discomfort will be overcome by a feeling of freedom. Our circumstances may not be any different, but the willingness to tell the truth will be liberating.

D. Ray Ellis sent Ms. Kimberley his greetings, and some background on Texas justice.

As a reader of Black Commentator, Welcome!

Speaking of Coleman and what happens in the South, maybe this will add to the picture.

Charles W. Williams, who was the chairman of the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Education board, was appointed to head this14 member board by then governor Bush for a six-year term. The board’s purpose was to set guidelines for training and standards for all law enforcement officers in this state (including Tom Coleman).

See following standard statement of the commission.

“As professional law enforcement officers, we commit to a zero tolerance for racial, sexual, gender or religious biased behavior.”

Mr. Williams did not consider the word nigger to be offensive, but as a term of endearment. Giving testimony in 1998 at a discrimination lawsuit (he was chief of police in Marshall, TX) filed by one of his officers, he stated that " porch monkey" was not a racial slur and that blacks did not mind being called "niggers."

So it seems those standards above did not apply to him, the chief standard-setter in the state.

From Birmingham, Alabama, Farook Chandiwala writes:

I am an Asian American of Muslim faith. I can and did empathize with the plight of our black brothers who were unjustly targeted in the Tulia drug case. Here we are trying to bring order from chaos in Iraq, and here we have chaos created in the lives of our very own innocent citizens. Of course, justice did eventually prevail, and I am glad it did. Power to you for doing a good story on this in the Black Commentator. I was very disturbed viewing this program on 60 Minutes. I hope we eventually get over this race and ethnicity bias, and learn to live as decent and fair human beings, children of Adam and Eve.

Deborah D. Clanton is an insurance company product manager. She also welcomes Margaret Kimberley to these pages.

Great article on Tulia. Welcome to my favorite spot on the web. I look forward to reading more of your columns.

Kenneth Nunn specializes in the study of systematic injustice. He’s a professor at the University of Florida’s College of Law, in Gainesville.

Loved your column on the travesty in Tulia, TX and how it was caused by white supremacy. You are right on the mark. I have addressed the root causes of African oppression through the criminal justice system in a recent law review article, "Race, Crime, and the Pool of Surplus Criminality: Or Why the War on Crime was a War on Blacks," 6 Iowa Journal of Race Gender and Justice 381 (2002). It is available on Lexis-Nexis. Keep up the good work.

For more of Ms. Kimberley’s work, go to her Freedom Rider blogspot. She adds new items throughout the week.

Clark vs his own book

With the publication of his second book, Winning Modern Wars, in late September, retired general Wesley Clark revealed himself as a man not to be trusted to tell the truth – about anything, at any time. Clark waited nearly two years, from November 2001 until just weeks ago, to announce his personal knowledge of U.S. plans to launch a five-year campaign of warfare “beginning with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia, and Sudan.”

During that period, Clark used CNN and numerous other national podiums to raise his own political profile, never once revealing to the public that the Iraq invasion was to be Act One of a seven-war play. Now, he claims to have been “deeply concerned” the entire time about Bush administration policy – as well he should have been! What a different light Clark’s knowledge might have shed on the Bush men’s lying orchestrations, had the general been kind enough to have shared the facts of the larger game plan. It is just possible that the Iraq war might have been aborted.

Clearly, Clark was betting that the invasion and occupation would be successful; he feared that going public would put him on the wrong side of history. Now that Iraqi resisters have wrecked the Bush plan, Clark allows the public into his confidence, and expects to be welcomed as a seer and a certified member of the Democratic opposition. What amazing logic! And yet, Clark has hordes of admirers, including among Black voters.

The corporate media – as well as, to date, the other eight Democratic candidates – have chosen not to nail Clark to the wall with his own, published words. We shall see how long that gaping hole in the political conversation can be avoided. In the absence of a spotlight on Clark’s “revelations,” he appears as simply one among several candidates scrambling to distance themselves from the Bush war. However, as we wrote in last week’s Cover Story, “Wesley Clark: Dishonest to the Core, and Probably Nuts,” Clark’s sins are of a rather different kind.

Did he scream to high heaven, Stop the madness? No, Clark assumed the pose of mildly skeptical CNN analyst, occasionally picking here and there at the edges of Bush policy, as if trying to fine-tune and perfect it.

Edward Schaffer is largely in agreement with us, but supports Clark, anyway.

The incredible article "Two Civilized Men" is as good and truthful as any I have read. If my choice, General Clark – as the only candidate who can beat the miserable BUSH – wins, his feet must be held to the ideas of your writers.

Wesley Clark's life seems to be a frenzied dance (foxtrot) to the center of the ballroom. His feet don't stand still long enough to be set afire.

At some point, Clark will self-combust.

Gail Swan is one of Clark’s African American supporters. Her position seems to be, Bush is a bigger nut than Clark.

I read with interest your article about Gen. Clark. Please tell me what politician can we believe and who isn't a little nuts to go into politics in the first place.

Once again, the African American community is divided and George Bush will be reelected.

In my opinion, George Bush is not about telling the truth, especially to the African American community who he is afraid of and yet knows how to handle by getting us to not focus on voting Democratic for President.

If Wes Clark is the nominee, I will not split my vote as the Republicans want us to do. I will vote for the Democratic Nominee.

It would be great if the nominee could be Al Sharpton but unless something magical happens, that will not be the case.

And, speaking of nuts, George Bush is at top of my list for NUTS and yet there were and will be African Americans who will once again vote for him because they have been brain washed to believe that the Democrats have not done anything for them. My question is... "and what have the Republicans done for us lately? " Oh yes, they have given us Colin and Condi – who feel they have to lie for their boss and master.

I continue to be shocked and awed that so many African Americans want to "split their vote" or " vote their beliefs" or " believe that it doesn't matter who we vote for…no one cares what happens to us" or " the Democrats take our votes for granted so we will punish them and vote for the Green party."

The only ones that will punish us will be us!

Wes Clark for President!

Kathleen O'Connor Wang writes from an intriguing address: Diamond Bar, California.

Good article. Thanks for publishing all Clark’s remarks about the War. Like we need a man who oversaw the bombing of Kosovo to take over where Bush left off. Like we need a man who thought our soldiers swarming over Baghdad after the immoral and brutal Shock and Awe campaign was a wonderful sight, to be Bush's successor. Hell No!

Al Buono recoils at the scent of spit and polish.

Excellent read on Clark. I wonder at this country's fascination with generals – Washington to Jackson to Grant to Eisenhower; we'd probably have elected Custer if Sitting Bull hadn't saved us the problem; which makes me think of Charles Bronson's famous last line in 'THE DIRTY DOZEN": "I could get used t'killin' generals."

The civilizational divide

Mail continues to arrive in response to our October 2 Cover Story, “Two Civilized Men Among the Barbarians: Democrat debate reveals vast moral deficit.” The piece began, “The character of much of what passes for debate in the United States signals that the nation has become the moral equivalent of Tobacco Road, a backwater of civilization.” For example:

The “top tier” is oblivious to the obscenity of their Social Security retirement age debate. Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean is in trouble for having once suggested that the age be raised to 70, to ensure the continued “solvency” of the system. However, Dean’s sin is worse than the rest of the media-favored pack only in degree – they all discuss Social Security retirement in insurance company actuarial terms, morbid calculations that fail entirely to address the basic questions: why are people expected to work hard for much of their lives, and what is the value of life after one’s time in the workforce is over? These are the logical, natural and civilized questions with which societies grapple once there is enough wealth to provide acceptable standards of food, clothing, education and shelter for all. It is at this point that human populations can envision the larger possibilities of existence, as individuals, as nations, and as a species.

Sarah Santora works with the Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity. From Manchester, Connecticut, she writes:

Bravo Black Commentator! Your article on Sharpton and Kucinich gives me hope that not everyone in America is delusional! Isn't it ironic that Sharpton and Kucinich consistently draw standing ovations from their audiences, yet are mocked by the media as "bottom tier" candidates. As a volunteer for the Kucinich 2004 campaign I talk to people every day about the coming elections. Those who are not already completely brainwashed are more open to change than ever before. We must remember that we are not alone in this struggle. All across the rest of the planet, eyes are focused on our next election. Other nations now realize with stunning clarity that it MATTERS who is running the USA. It can have a direct and swift effect on their quality of life and health.

Dennis Kucinich will have a book published next month titled "A Prayer for America" and Rev. Sharpton's book "Go And Tell Pharaoh" has been out for some time. Let's renew our dedication to humanity and make these two books bestsellers both here and abroad! It is time for us to evolve to the next level as humans and stop solving our problems by dropping bombs on other humans! Barbarism does not have to be our destiny!

Doc James Menton was among the swarm of new visitors to this past week, introduced to us through Alternet.

This was my first intro to The Black Commentator via Alternet. I read “Two Civilized Men,” and feel like I can breath again. Refreshing and challenging, poetic and pithy dancing around an ever expanding spiral of truth and clarity unfettered by the tidal wave of ignorance that pervades our times. Thanks for the light.

We got light-headed reading that one – while spiraling, expanding and dancing.

Irwin Wingo is also a newcomer.

Just today I became aware of Black Commentator on Alternet. I greatly appreciate the refreshing and innovative approach taken by Glen Ford and Peter Gamble in their assessment of the Democratic candidates. The part about our lack of a social contract in this country should be a required preamble to any American history course.

In which case, we would gladly forgo royalties.

We were pleased to hear from Marla Crites, an ESL teacher at Shasta Community College, California.

A million thanks to Glen Ford and Peter Gamble for their insightful and intelligent analysis of the Democratic candidates' positions on the important issues facing us as well as to The Black Commentator for publishing it. I absolutely agree with them that Kucinich and Sharpton are the only candidates who make any sense. They are both so denigrated by the media that it is truly heartening to read an honest and "civilized" assessment. We need to see more of this kind of press if America is to be saved from its own worst tendencies.

George Bush claims to see light at the end of the Iraq tunnel. Jeff Richardson sees the light over the exit door.

This article was well-written and truly inspiring. You have touched the heart of what sets these men apart from the pack. "Cut and run" is exactly what we should do, leaving the money we can afford to go to humanitarian purposes and rebuilding efforts instead of "security".

Mr. Richardson is referring to Carol Moseley-Braun’s insistence that the U.S. not “cut and run” in Iraq. The former Illinois Senator went on to say, “it's going to be important for us to come up with the money to make certain that our young men and women and our reputation as leaders in the world is not permanently destroyed by the folly of preemptive war.” We fail to grasp the meaning of this sentence, and appeal to Ms. Crites, the politically astute English teacher from California, for assistance.

Dr. Lora Chamberlain is having a good time reading in Chicago.

Thank you for such a thoughtful article about Kucinich and Sharpton. I have been saying for some time now that these two men are stealing the show. I wonder sometimes if the rest of them are just virtual candidates, holograms of the men they used to be, because of their plastic demeanors! It is certainly obvious that Kucinich and Sharpton are the MOST passionate about what they are saying and Sharpton also appears to be having the most fun!!! Civilized, intelligent, passionate and with good senses of humor, what's not to like about these two! Please give them as much press as you can.

Kucinich supporter Carla Herwitz is quite protective of her candidate – be advised to watch your mouth in her presence.

"Two Civilized Men Against the Barbarians" was almost perfect. There's just one little thing that I think you might want to re-think.

You termed Dennis Kucinich a leftist. This not only is likely to make him less electable in this country if too many people hear it, but is inaccurate as well.

Kucinich, whom I support and am campaigning for, is not a leftist. He is an old-fashioned, American liberal. We have come so far from the basic liberalities of the United States Constitution, that pure liberals can look like leftists to us. I'm hoping you'll make a correction to that one sentence and publish it soon.

Other than that, I think you were right on.

is, of course, not written for people who shun "leftists," and we will not shape our language to suit those who do. Kucinich would be a centrist in the (ruling) Swedish Social Democratic Party. Here in the U.S., that puts him decidedly to the left of the spectrum. This is also the political space where most African Americans are clustered. In the African American spectrum, Sharpton is a man of the Center. We explored this subject in depth in our November 21, 2002 analysis, “Poll Shows Black Political Consensus Strong.”

Sharpton and Kucinich share positions on most matters. They are both lefties in the general American scheme of things – a political landscape dominated by racism and reaction.

As discussed earlier in this column, we try to avoid the terms "liberal" and "conservative," since they have become devoid of meaning in American discourse. We prefer to order people and tendencies from left to right.

Writer Al Buono cited Charles Bronson on General Clark. George McCalip is a more peaceful correspondent.

Your wonderful article, "Two Civilized Men Among the Barbarians," reminded me of a quote from Mahatma Ghandi, when asked what he thought of Western civilization: "I think it would be a good idea."

Keep up the good work.

Putting out a political journal involves more than words and attitude. Alana Lea understands.

As an avid Kucinich supporter, I received the URL to your cover article this last week from someone in our network. The first thing I noticed was the fabulous graphics – but I was too busy to read the article until just now. What wonderful journalism lies within these fine clothes! And certainly, I agree wholeheartedly with the opinions of the writer. But then there's more...

You have created the most outstanding online magazine I've seen to date. I'm the Art Director of American Northwest Vintage Homes online magazine, and recognize the beauty, ease and simplicity. It's absolutely elegant.

Cheers, cheers and more cheers!

Design credit belongs to our art director, Susan Gamble, who also designs gardens and whose background includes creating beautiful environmentally friendly clothing for women.

Julian Vigo likes our work.

"Two Civilized Men Among the Barbarians" is one of the most beautiful critiques I have ever read! Wow! When I read this I thought: "I want to meet these two humans!"

We assume that Ms. Vigo means Kucinich and Sharpton, rather than Ford and Gamble. The former are much better company, although not as good looking.

The Un-American French

At the time of this writing the United Nations Security Council appeared set to vote on another U.S. resolution on Iraq. As we pointed out in our September 18 Cover Story, “What’s Up With the French? The Not-American Strategy,” France “speaks for world, not just European, opinion” when it upholds the principle of national sovereignty for Iraq.

But of course, France was a global colonial power, itself, and remains a neo-colonial actor in the world. It is the U.S. lunge for planetary domination that has placed France in the forefront of international order and legality. We wrote:

One million white Frenchmen lived in Algeria in 1956 when the U.S. thwarted French-British-Israeli plans to seize the Suez Canal from Egypt. The British soon acclimated themselves to the American shadow, while the French later developed their own nuclear weapons capability and withdrew from the command structure of NATO. Believing themselves peculiarly conversant with Third World perceptions and sensibilities (based largely on the intimate Algerian experience), and determined to preserve French business interests and international stature, successive governments positioned Paris as an “alternative” Great Power. What the blustering, bulldog Americans mistook as French pretension was, in reality, a sophisticated strategy that played against crude, racist American bullying tactics in the Third World. Yes, the French are imperialists, but at least they are not Americans.

Akili, a writer who prefers one name, sent us his analysis of the American predicament:

Much like Cinderella, the true state of our natural condition has been laid bare for all to see.

While our venerable leaders were indulging in childish chest beating, and creating "Freedom Fries" on Capitol Hill, America quietly fumbled the torch of world leadership to an opportunistic France who probably couldn't believe the new fortune that just befell them. Those of us who are more than consumers of corporate potato chip news, and actually read books and have familiarized ourselves with history should know, that the white folks will never advocate a position that is counterproductive to the goals of their friends and allies, unless it is to decide who should rule the world. Over that small matter, white folks have no problem spilling each other's blood.

BushMob Inc. truly over reached themselves and never even knew it. The Transatlantic buddyship that America has enjoyed over half a century, was borne of the blood shed in W.W.II and the communist threat that followed shortly thereafter. Maybe someone should have broken it to the Bushites that the Berlin Wall came down in the late Eighties, and communist Russia not too long after. The very need of NATO's existence crumbled along with it.

The learned were shocked that WE were shocked when Europe refused to heel like the well trained dog it pretended to be when the Russian Bear was prowling and prancing about. The only world body that was relegated to irrelevance in this new little war against Saddam was NATO, but my position is, if it wasn't this, it would have been some other crucial matter. Europe has placed its bets on a new vision: the European Union.

France seeks to establish itself as a point of leadership in this new vision. America has served Europe's purpose, and their need of us is virtually extinct. Ironically, we were in complicity with this last minute conspiracy of our own making. We traumatized the world as they recoiled in horror as we broke international laws, overstepping many a boundary that we ironically helped to create, and against fierce international opposition, rained fire on poor brown folks. WE, in the collective subconscious of the international community have shown ourselves to be no more than the polished gangsters and thugs they always suspected we were but couldn't truly prove, although there have always been rumors of covert proxy wars, coups, and the propping up of brutal dictatorships run on the behalf of the American taxpayer, in far away lands where poor indigenous folks who are not white and therefore cannot be trusted with democracy in its truest sense, reside in death and misery.

The PR campaign that we've run for decades to prop up the mirage of our idealistic leadership, that purportedly seeks to bring the pursuit of happiness to all peoples on God's green earth has now become moot, and the world now whispers behind our back in fear. They will seek new alliances, with good reason, to solve the problems of their peoples, and France is falsely shining the torch to the EU. When empire eventually comes to the EU (and mark my words that empire will come), and reaches its apex, they will prove to be cut from the same cloth of the phantom empire they just replaced.

I do not understand why we people of color are more than content to leave our social, cultural, economic, and political future in the hands of an openly hostile majority (that would probably be happier to see us still swinging from trees), and the ready-made-for-TV, microwaveable black political leaders and role models they plant for our viewing pleasure.

That...is reality.

The pivotal Indian vote

We haven’t had the opportunity to do a piece on the ascension of Arnold Schwarzenegger and the demise of Ward Connerly’s Racial Privacy Initiative, in California. So writer Joseph Osorio, from Oakland, filled us in on the essentials.

The day following Tuesday's California Recall, a close friend commented he'd spent the evening watching lemmings run off the cliff on his local news channel. The demographics I read indicate that among all voting groups, Schwarzenegger had by far the least support from Blacks. Although the data I read had no mention of how Indians voted, I conducted an exhaustive poll within my own household. With five of us representing three tribes and all voting, NONE of us voted for Ahh-nold !

Maybe our respective people just instinctively realize we have the most to lose. Ahh-nold says California Indians "aren't paying their fair share" of casino profits. Somehow I don't feel too bad about lacking gratitude for all the White man has done for us.

On a related subject, and following Columbus Day, a gentleman named Pedro wrote to us from London, to point out a repetitive and embarrassing error.

I keep reading the same misspelling in different US publications, including yours:

"For a start,

recommends Trinicenter.com, from which the December 26 article was reprinted; Narco News, the best, daily coverage of the U.S.-financed, cocaine-fueled war in Columbia, which has been disastrous for the Black population; and AfroCubaWeb, an excellent cultural and political source.”

It should read Colombia. Columbia is your NY University.

Thanks to you, too. I love very much. It’s simply great. Thanks for mentioning our site (www.afrocubaweb.com).

We did a search of our archives and found that we had misspelled Colombia scores of times. We’ve fixed them all, and apologize for each one.

We cannot begin to apologize to the unknown number of readers whose mailboxes were filled with multiples of our October 9 Issue messages. The barrage was caused by a software problem at the company that sends out our weekly notifications. They assure us it will never happen again.

Fortunately for Charles Birchwood, the glitch passed over his address. He’s not mad at us, one bit.

What beautiful analytical insight. I am going to spread the word among my friends to join up and give support to your magazine. Finally, we have a vehicle that stimulates our thought processes and provokes us to action. Thanks.

And Pam Shorey, in Willimantic, Connecticut, makes us feel – almost redeemed.

This is the best online magazine I've seen! Keep it coming!

On that note, we can close out this week’s column with our dignity intact.

Keep writing.

gratefully acknowledges the following organizations for sending visitors our way during the past week:

Alternet

All Facts and Opinions

Democratic Underground