Volume I No. 23
 10-11-02
 "Harry Belafonte! Harry Belafonte! What Was 
  That You Said?" 
 author: Vance Cureton
 © Copyright 2002

 America was introduced to a cold dose of reality the other day. 
 Celebrities are human too. And sometimes they really step into 
 it. 

 -- What a revelation. 

 Ohhhhh my,...famous calypso crooner Harry Belafonte made 
 the "house slave" reference to Colin Powell on a radio program. 
 He could have as easily said "house n-word." Although, he did not
 use that particular word. But the implication was there nontheless. 

 Subtle. Hanging in the air. Unspoken.

 House slave. Or house n-word. { what people actually say when
 not in polite company } That why the house slave reference is so
 low. It's an ugly insult. And an embarrasing one certainly, for the 
 proud African-American Secretary of State. And now Harry Belafonte 
 is suffering severe criticism in the media by both conservatives 
 and liberals, alike. 

 Frankly Harry deserves what he is getting. -- Not for disagreeing 
 with the politics of Colin Powell. But for how he stated that disagreement
 in a public forum. The language he used. His choice of terms. I have
 always thought much better of Harry Belafonte than that. 

 Harry Belafonte is certainly entitled to his personal opinion about 
 Colin Powell, or any other important political figure, black, white, 
 purple, or whatever. But there must come a point in the history of 
 African-Americans in this country, when this "not quite black enough" 
 type mentality is no longer seen.

 It is a yoke. A chain of its own.

 A similar personal insult that Hasim Rahman hurled at heavyweight
 champion Lennix Lewis a few months back - in the weeks before their 
 second fight - is part of the same depressing mentality on display. The 
 insult - vulgar enough on its own - was really code that Lennox Lewis 
 is "not black enough." That he doesn't speak in rhymes, or is colorful 
 and entertaining in front of the microphone. That he doesn't project
 attitude. -- As if this is a characteristic that all blacks are supposed to 
 possess. 

 When African-Americans bash themselves this way. Call each other 
 out in public, it is evidence of a pathology of self-hatred. This need
 to hold each other to some impossibly high-standard. Dare be imperfect
 and you're subject to public vilification by other blacks.

 Colin Powell is a Republican. He has a right to be a Repuplican. And
 to agree or disagree with the policies of that party. But it certainly
 has no bearing on whether Colin Powell is a "real black".  Which is 
 what Harry really implied.{ Another way of making the house slave
 reference. Just question if someone is a "real black." } 

 Does Harry Belafonte believe that the only "real black" people in 
 this country belong to the Democratic party? 

 Or are liberals?

 There is no such thing as a real black. African-Americans, just like 
 all the other races, run the entire spectrum. Smart. Dumb. Religious. 
 Non-Religious. Conformist. Nonconformist. The "real black" is 
 as ugly a stereotype as any that was ever invented in Hollywood.
 Or written about in some racist book. The opposite of the thorougly
 subjugated "Uncle Tom."

 What will come next?

 The Super Black?

 The Maximum Black?

 Or the Extreme Black?

 Or maybe the big Mandingo Black.

 Uh oh... Back where we started.

 It is all so completely rediculous.

 Maybe Colin Powell is a fool to stand with the Republicans. A 
 party that has been hostile to the aspirations of liberal-thinking 
 Blacks. And most Blacks in the U.S.A. are certainly more liberal 
 than conservative. I don't think there can be much dispute about 
 that.

 But I don't think Colin Powell is a fool. Anymore than Clarence 
 Thomas is a fool. But as men, they have the absolute right to 
 believe in, or disbelieve in whatever they want. It doesn't make 
 them less as men. And it certainly doesn't make them less Black. 
 -- Oh, and it doesn't make them traitors to their race, either.

 Question their judgement. Yes.

 Question their politics. Yes.

 Even question whether or not they are fools.

 But leave this measuring of black-ness. Alone. Alone.

 Alone.
 

 ReadingPost.Com
 © Copyright 2002

_______________________________

 Liberal Rights Announcement Group

 Enjoy this article? Subscribe to our list and
 have our latest liberal rants delivered right
 to your mailbox. We will never SPAM you.

 Comments sent to editor may be republished
 on our site or in our announcement list at our 
 discretion. Comments containing crude language
 and/or vulgarites will be deleted and your 
 email address permanently banned.

_______________________________

 Detective Service Or Detective Software? 
 Your Choice...

 Net Detective Software
 Web Detective Service

_______________________________
 

 ARTICLE SEARCH:
 use keywords or phrases to locate 
 other ReadingPost.Com articles

_______________________________

 Having link partnerships is one of the ways to increase the link popularity of your web site.
 The search engines have a high regard for sites that have plenty of incoming links from
 similar sites.

 Therefore, working together to achieve our goals certainly makes a lot of sense. With that
 in mind we'd like to invite you to add your site to our Political Links Directory. Only
 sites that are related to political news, social commentary and opinion, political blogs and
 rants, election websites, political activist sites, media websites, political humor and satire,
 political forums, news commentary sites both mainstream and independent, religious opinion, 
 and miscellaneous sites, that are in some manner related to politics or current events, will 
 be accepted.

 All manner of sites are welcome from those on the Far Right, to the Far Left.

 Hate sites, extremist sites, sites containing an excessive amount of vulgarity or material
 unsuitable for children or young teens { a disclaimer should be located prominently on the 
 index page } and sites promoting bigotry or intolerance of any kind, will be rejected!

 Here's our EMAIL ADDRESS. <<---

 Send this information in your email:
 * web site title
 * a brief description
 * your url address

 Here's our information to post on your site:
 * our web site title: Politics, News Analysis, and Social Commentary for American Liberals.
 * our description: Political commentary from the left, with a special emphasis on politics,
   religion, sports, culture, and current events.
 * our url address: http://readingpost.com/

 Thanks For The Link Trade!