The DISH
"Unbossed and unbought news and information you can use"
Volume 4 Issue 51…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…December 28, 2001
In Black-face
The uniquely American theatrical entertainment - the minstrel show - developed during the first half of the 19th century. Consisting of songs, dances and comic repartee, minstrel shows were typically performed by white actors made up to appear black. Whites used burnt cork to darken their skin, a method known as black-face. Usually, they portrayed African slaves and their descendants as lazy, child-like providers of comic relief. This evolved into Vaudeville-style shows with entire casts of whites made up to appear black.
According to http://encarta.msn.com, minstrel shows probably evolved from two types of popular American entertainment before 1830: the impersonation of blacks by white actors between acts of plays or during circuses, and the performances on city streets by black musicians with banjo accompaniment.
Encarta and http://www.bamboozledmovie.com credit Thomas Dartmouth "Daddy" Rice with being the "father of American minstrel shows." In the 1830s, he enjoyed immense popularity with "a song and dance routine in which he impersonated an old, crippled black slave named Jim Crow." After the Civil War, black actors put on black-face and played black stereotypes.
Minstrel shows began to decline at the turn of the 20th century, but the tradition of white actors in black-face continued in the radio, television and film industries. One of the most popular silent film characters became "Uncle Tom," a head-scratching old black man portrayed by whites in films such as For Massa’s Sake, Ten Pickaninnies and The Wooing and Wedding of A Coon. Other popular film stereotypes included Mammy, the big, waddling black woman, who chased her man with a cast-iron skillet, and the chicken-stealing, shifty-eyed black hooligan, often called Rufus.
One of the most shocking examples of black-face in silent films is D. W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation. The film glorified the Ku Klux Klan, and it is filled with vivid scenes of white actors in black-face raping, killing, stealing and threatening good Southern white people.
Black-face continued into the 'talkies' with the popular character Stepin Fetchit, "the laziest human being in the world." Portrayed by black comic Lincoln Perry, who became Hollywood's first major African American star to join the ranks of other early film millionaires, Stepin Fetchit films included Hearts of Dixie, The Galloping Ghost and Helldorado.
The 1951 black sit-com "Amos and Andy," which actually began as a radio show, arose out of the stereotypical entertainment of the black-face tradition in the American minstrel show. Indeed, the stereotypical faces of blacks in American broadcast media and entertainment have not significantly changed though minstrel shows are no longer performed in black-face.
There is nothing new under the sun. Man still negotiates with a gun or some other weapon capable of untold destruction, like those seven ton cluster bombs dropped on Afghanistan. As 2001 ends, I wish for mundane things like the eradication of poverty and world peace. With nothing new under the sun, I wish for the simple things yet to come.
Disgruntled wants to know:
Joe Reid, former Atlanta Empowerment Zone official, says payoffs are business as usual in Atlanta government. If Reid is right, Atlanta corruption began long before Bill Campbell. Shouldn't Reid's confession send the Feds looking at former mayors Andrew Young, Maynard Jackson and the white ones that gave them valuable lessons?Disgruntled feels:
Joyous! For the first time since childhood, X-Mas came and went and I was not bamboozled by the white Christmas myth of Santa Claus.
by John Burl Smith
Clinicians and diagnosticians identify, classify and categorize symptoms during assessment. Theoretically, they describe unresolved conflicts as pathologies or behavioral consequences in terms of antecedent causes. Problematically, their predisposition may discount or exclude historical and extra-personal factors as behavioral determinants. This fact is particularly important in diagnosing America's attitude and response to reparations for slave descendants.
Auto-hypnosis or repression of thoughts, emotions and experiences is natural and therapeutic. However, at some point, blocking out certain memories slip into neurosis and can skid all the way to extreme psychosis. Consequently, patient behaviors reflect particular symptomatologies, which indicate the seriousness of the patient's problem. America's unwillingness to broach reparations, as though whites have no memory of their history as slave masters and participants of and witnesses to lynch mob activities, is indicative of the tangent on America's slippery slope.
Mention reparations and whites become catatonic. Immediately sliding into some altered state of consciousness, they grow rigid and their eyes glaze over as their lids flutter. Clinicians define such symptoms or responses to mental demands as seizures, amnesia or some other episodic events. Under such circumstances, primary defense mechanisms fail. Secondary measures like symptom-substitution kick in, i.e., delusion, depersonalization, compulsion, denial and phobias. Such mental barriers delimit and confine the memory to particular recollections or experiences. In the context of slavery, lynching and institutionalized racism, catathymic, epochal or focal amnesias serve to wall off true circumstances encasing them in whatever whites wish to believe about the chasm of inequality to which they relegate slave descendants.
A diagnosis turns dramatically grave when patients begin hallucinating, manifesting delusions of grandeur, major hysterical fixations and obsessive-compulsive behaviors. Unlike Germans in the early 1930s, Americans spent the 1900s fixated on black male genitalia. Acting out obsessive-compulsive ritualistic hangings, burnings and dismemberments, they sold body parts of murdered black victims as a major form of family entertainment. A brief remission in civil rights during the 1960s and '70s gave way to a full-blown psychotic episode of racist and religious megalomania brought on by Ronald Reagan.
Today, America stands like a psychopath, emerging from a cave still covered in blood and stench of victims to declare that he is the savior of the world. Raining bombs on defenseless Afghanistan peasants, G. W. Bush portrays his war as an act of mercy. The clearest example of America's delusionary psychosis, Bush came into office behind a Supreme Court led coup d´etat. Demanding the court disenfranchise millions of black voters, Bush declared that not counting their votes protects American freedom and democracy. The personification of Adolf Hitler's fascist Germany and without reparations, Bush's politics 2000 lynching keeps slave descendants horse and buggy niggers competing in a new millennium space race. John 2001
by Kristle Haynes
Unleashing a dog, a dog laden with hate.
Used stolen goods and ill-gotten gains as bait.
The dog easily bit the hand from which he fed.
Left millions wounded; 3 to 6,000 dead.
Hell nobody knows convenient amnesia.
That's today's new phrase...this sounding familiar?
A government ruse performing experiments
in front of our backs...Tuskegee and syphilis.
I remember that...history repeats itself for those
that don't know that the rich get more wealth...
The poor get worse health ..a terrible hand dealt
where nobody wins...Korea, Vietnam..
Enough is enough, but you're still dropping bombs
Poppy seeds or oil, which is it that you need?
Your diagnosis regurgitating greed.
Minions flag-waving...jumping on bandwagons
Disregarding tapes of background explosions,
then the world falls down right in front of your eyes
as you are wasting time pretending to be blind...
As-salaam-u-alaik...oh I almost forgot,
uttering those words just might get you shot.
So, is it safe saying "Black Power?" "Peace?"
Or are we still bound by this governmental leash?
When will the madness cease?
When will the hate decrease?
Your battle cry is war...the people prefer peace.
This bull shit war...carnivorous attacks,
Cipro, smallpox, hell no just give us all the facts.
by John Burl Smith
Never having been drawn into a Spike Lee movie, I was reluctant to rent Bamboozled for holiday viewing. Misled by critics' comments, I was expecting laugh-a-minute slapstick. Starring Damon Wayans, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Savion Glover and Tommy Davidson, Bamboozled is not comedy. Fortunately, Lee is a director who understands the difference between funny and humor. Had Bamboozled been a satire about people other than blacks, critics may have recognized a Shakespearean tragedy unfolding.
In the context of satires, like Gulliver's Travels, Alice in Wonderland, Don Quixote, and The Wizard of Oz, humor takes on a whole new meaning and comedy is not the aim. Classically, satire is a form of humor that employs allegory, irony and metaphors to illuminate or illustrate absurdity. Quintessentially, Bamboozled portrays a timeless absurdity of American life
Taken in full, Bamboozled places the past in relief by bringing into the present a time when blacks were ridiculed and lynched for family entertainment. Whites demanded slaves and their descendants be self-deprecating in all endeavors by reflecting negative self-concepts. Therefore, "blacking up" was the most humiliating expression of their willingness to oblige the exigent caprice of whites.
As writer and director of this satirical tragedy, Lee received scathing reviews for attempting to enlighten the world about the degree to which lynching continues in America. In this reviewer's opinion, Spike Lee did his profession and America a great service in making this movie, because he showed that success does not make one a slave to the bottom line. More important, it shows that America's great social issues are still unresolved. If you have seen it and missed my points or were like me psyched out by critics, pick up a copy and watch it again with the kids. You can help them understand Bamboozled is no laughing matter! John 2001
The Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro is out of school for two weeks. When asked for his comments, the Dark One/Ninja/Zorro declared, "Now, I can go over to grandma's house for a real visit."
Dan Destroys Centrist Media Myth
by Dot
What a difference a year makes! Last year, The DISH did blahs on US Rep. Dan Burton and his company of conservative Republicans that dogged Clinton on the rule of law. Rather than look like hypocrites, these arch conservatives have to view Bush through the same lens. Though right of center, in standing on principle, Burton effectively joins the left; Bush is so far right as to be fascist. Mainstream media look ridiculous for claiming Bush is centrist.
Burton said, "You tell the president there's going to be war between the president and this committee. His dad was at a 90% approval rating and he lost, and the same thing can happen to him. We've got a dictatorial president and a Justice Department that does not want Congress involved. Your guy's acting like he's king."
Bush's Executive Privilege
"It would be easier if I was a dictator." -GW Bush, shortly after inauguration 2001. According to Associated Press reports, Bush's sweeping assertion of executive privilege creates a shift in presidential policy, which dates back to Warren G. Harding (1921). Yet, it follows a pattern the Bush administration followed in limiting access to presidential historical records, refusing to give Congress documents on the vice president's energy task force, and unilaterally announcing plans to use secret military tribunals to try suspected terrorists.
Democrats and Republicans see an inevitable constitutional confrontation. The House Government Reform Committee is looking into the FBI's use of informants in New England organized crime. It wants information on deals Boston FBI struck with suspected murderers Stephen "the Rifleman" Flemmi and James "Whitey" Bulger. It is also exploring what FBI officials, including former Director J. Edgar Hoover, may have known about the innocence of Joseph Salvati.
Salvati spent 30 years in prison for the 1965 murder of Edward "Teddy" Deegan in Chelsea, but the Governor's Council commuted his sentence in 1997. His conviction was overturned in January after a judge concluded that FBI agents hid testimony that would have cleared Salvati to protect an informant.
Email: mark07e@aol.com This is a quote from "War Against Civilians?" by Mark Weisbrot. "What is terrorism? Edward Herman, Emeritus Professor from Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, has offered a politically neutral, straightforward definition of terrorism that is difficult to argue with: "the use of force or the threat of force against civilian populations to achieve political objectives."
A strategy to "squeeze" Afghanistan, through bombing and starvation, "until the people of the country themselves get the leadership changed" would certainly qualify as terrorism. Most Americans would like to see Osama Bin Laden, and anyone else that was responsible for the atrocity of September 11, brought to justice. But they would certainly be ashamed if they knew that their government was pursuing a strategy that involved starving hundreds of thousands, and possibly even millions, of innocent people."
Email ahuguley@ix.netcom.com "Will there even be a presidential election in 2004 or, will a state of emergency in the "War against Terrorism" be conveniently declared to avoid one? Would Democrats in Congress truly be opposed to such a possibility, or would they only pretend to be? What assurances are Democrats demanding of the president to ensure a free presidential election in 2004 regardless of the "War against Terror?" There are no assurances, except that the beast herself is evil and refuses to humble herself
Email editors@tbwt.net: Excerpt from The Atlanta Declaration written by Richard Adams, Jr. "We declare that restitution for the enslavement of Africans, and the rape, pillage, depravity and disadvantages engendered by colonialism, neo-colonialism, apartheid and other forms of discrimination, racial oppression, political repression and economic exploitation, is essential to the process of achieving liberation and reconstruction for people of African descent the world over. Therefore, the struggle for reparations must be intensified everywhere. We call for the creation of united front structures in various countries to massively mobilize and organize to win reparations in its many forms. Reparations is an indispensable element in the formula for the liberation/reconstruction of people of African descent in the 21st century.
Let the words reverberate across generations that people of African descent, remembering the glory and suffering of our ancestors, gathered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, November 28- December 2nd with a firm and fervent resolve and commitment to "Create Our 21st Century."
Email: mwbrown@patriot.net I believe the final acts toward creating a dictatorship here in America have been put in place, with the public in agreement. After the recent attacks on embassies, barracks and ships, I just don't buy the idea that no one knew this was going to happen, when and by whom. It is so easy to prey on ignorant people. Keep up the good work!
Sparks Over the Potomac
Ears to the ground and nose in the air, deep cover operative Peep City Barnabas spied sparks over the Potomac. Reminiscent of the Erlichman and Halderman days in the Richard Nixon Administration, friction over Vice President Dick Cheney and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott's quail shooting excursion in the Georgia mountains signaled some 2004 wannabees that the hunt was on in earnest for the VP's replacement.
According to Peep City, sparks flew with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's "Pattonisque" flag pose last week. With the dogs sniffing blood around the Enron debacle and U.S. Reps. Bob Barr, Dan Burden and other arch conservatives "standing on principle," fence-sitters believe Cheney's energy connections and health mean everyone holds a dagger under their tunic.
Barnabas says Bush, who has been pretty raw over the clench fighting and inside moves, is thinking about bringing in Tom Ridge, an old frat buddy, to get heads together. Ridge would maintain a national focus between Justice, State and Defense Departments as a part of his Homeland Security responsibilities. That idea was quickly shot down by Justice representatives as too ham-handed. They felt Ridge would be an enforcer, while increasing his power at the expense of some cabinet staffers. Barnabas says, the week ended with bruised knuckles and skinned elbows all around. However, only smoke and ashes came from the Department of Justice. What does that mean?