How to be a Racist Without Trying!
June 2020 Newsletter
John C Abercrombie – Editor
We have seen a change in the ability to speak to issues of race in America. This Newsletter focuses on some of the many times and ways that we silently endorse racism without even trying. We look at such a benign issue like the Ice Cream Truck and you will be amazed.
Anger can be cured with education and ACTION; you will find that here.
Not many people are aware of the racist song that many of associate with the summer treats delivered by the Ice Cream Truck. While it is an individual matter. I for one do not like it. I must admit that I did not know the racist nature of the Ice Cream Truck jingle.
Continue to read, view the videos and you will see some eye-opening information. In this issue, we examine this jaw dropping song, explore another well-known song, examine its meaning, examine the issue of Confederate States of America statures, and finally look at the marketplace where we look at demeaning but well-known brands.
Warning, there are some disturbing words and concepts in some of the material. It is being used here because it is widely distributed and familiar, and it is part of the conversation that needs to be discussed.
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Personal Recommendations – we include links to Amazon as we receive a small royalty when you use our links. Use them anytime you are shopping on Amazon, you do not have to purchase the product in the link!
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So, You Want to Talk About Race
In this New York Times bestseller, Ijeoma Oluo offers a hard-hitting but user-friendly examination of race in America
Widespread reporting on aspects of white supremacy–from police brutality to the mass incarceration of Black Americans–has put a media spotlight on racism in our society. Still, it is a difficult subject to talk about. How do you tell your roommate her jokes are racist? Why did your sister-in-law take umbrage when you asked to touch her hair–and how do you make it right? How do you explain white privilege to your white, privileged friend?
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For many there is an association of the watermelon as a demeaning symbol, although it was brought from Africa and was a source of prosperity to those raising them, a cruel turn of fate has changed it all.
Reclaiming the Watermelon
Did you know the watermelon is from Africa? The delicious treat has become a symbol of the racist trope of black people in America. But that’s over. It is time to reclaim the watermelon.
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White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
The New York Times best-selling book exploring the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality.
In this “vital, necessary, and beautiful book” (Michael Eric Dyson), antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo deftly illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility and “allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to ‘bad people’ (Claudia Rankine). Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue. In this in-depth exploration, DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.
Where did the N-word come from?
Don Lemon explains the origins of the N-word in relation to black people.
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The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
New York Times Bestseller • Notable Book of the Year • Editors’ Choice Selection
One of Bill Gates’ “Amazing Books” of the Year
One of Publishers Weekly’s 10 Best Books of the Year
Longlisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction
An NPR Best Book of the Year
Winner of the Hillman Prize for Nonfiction
Gold Winner • California Book Award (Nonfiction)
Finalist • Los Angeles Times Book Prize (History)
Finalist • Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize
This “powerful and disturbing history” exposes how American governments deliberately imposed racial segregation on metropolitan areas nationwide (New York Times Book Review).
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I do not subscribe to the notion that the N-word is not intended to be offensive and that we take the sting out of it by calling ourselves by that term. After visiting Africa, comedian Richard Pryor even stopped using it. Yes, he used it profusely beforehand.
At this point, we get real. I have always associated the ice cream truck with a hot summertime treat. The sound of the ice cream truck has been seen by many a pleasant memory. That is until you find out the name of the jingle that is being played.
N***er Love a Watermelon, Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
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Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America (National Book Award Winner)
The National Book Award winning history of how racist ideas were created, spread, and deeply rooted in American society.
Some Americans insist that we are living in a post-racial society. But racist thought is not just alive and well in America–it is more sophisticated and more insidious than ever. And as award-winning historian Ibram X. Kendi argues, racist ideas have a long and lingering history, one in which nearly every great American thinker is complicit.
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N***er Loves a Watermelon Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! (Recorded 1916) (Columbia A1999 Minstrel Song) · Harry C Browne
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The Hate U Give Collector’s Edition
This collector’s edition of the acclaimed, award-winning novel contains a letter from the author, the meanings behind the names in the book, a map of Garden Heights, fan art, the full, original story that inspired the book, and an excerpt from On the Come Up.
8 starred reviews ∙ Goodreads Choice Awards Best of the Best ∙ William C. Morris Award Winner ∙ National Book Award Longlist ∙ Printz Honor Book ∙ Coretta Scott King Honor Book ∙ #1 New York Times Bestseller!
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The Ice Cream Song- Racism in Children’s Cartoons and Music. Many depictions of Blacks as dumb, fun loving and buffoons, in the absence of any material showing otherwise and limited contact leaves a generation with a negative stereotype of Blacks. History has been cruel in leaving out positive contributions out.
We are therefore bringing attention to subject matter that has so shaped our opinion of people only wanting an equal status.
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Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation’s Capital
Monumental in scope and vividly detailed, Chocolate City tells the tumultuous, four-century story of race and democracy in our nation’s capital. Emblematic of the ongoing tensions between America’s expansive democratic promises and its enduring racial realities, Washington often has served as a national battleground for contentious issues, including slavery, segregation, civil rights, the drug war, and gentrification. But D.C. is more than just a seat of government, and authors Chris Myers Asch and George Derek Musgrove also highlight the city’s rich history of local activism as Washingtonians of all races have struggled to make their voices heard in an undemocratic city where residents lack full political rights.
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Superior: The Return of Race Science
2019 Best-Of Lists: 10 Best Science Books of the Year (Smithsonian Magazine) · Best Science Books of the Year (NPR’s Science Friday) · Best Science and Technology Books from 2019” (Library Journal)
An astute and timely examination of the re-emergence of scientific research into racial differences.
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Racism in song – Chattanooga Choo-Choo
This song is one that shouts racism to me. During the period of the song, many people were riding trains. Among the workers were Red Caps, typically older Black men working to support their families. While some may view the job as menial, it was sometimes filled with highly qualified men who had been denied employment based on their education and ability.
The term “boy” was applied as a show of disrespect to all Black men as it implied, they were less than fully grown men and needed to serve White people. Thus the “Boy” may be a 70-year-old grandfather providing for his family the best he could and the person calling him by this derogatory term may be a young White boy in single digits.
Other ways of showing the same disrespect was to call familiar people “Uncle” or “Aunt” anything to avoid saying Mr. or Mrs. or even Miss.
Pardon me boy – the term “boy” in that era was a racist term for any Black male irrespective of his age, and the theme continues “give me a shine” – embodying the term “shine boy” another term for the typically menial job permitted to the Blacks at that time. The term “boy” was also used to refer to people who shined shoes in a railway station (or elsewhere).
Chattanooga Choo-Choo – The Andrews Sisters w/onscreen lyrics
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Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out
“Racism is a heart disease,” writes Ruth King, “and it’s curable.” Exploring a crucial topic seldom addressed in meditation instruction, this revered teacher takes to her pen to shine a compassionate, provocative, and practical light into a deeply neglected and world-changing domain profoundly relevant to all of us.
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The subject of Confederate monuments is a frequent topic today. Here we examine the issue and have provided videos for discussion. On a personal note, it has always been a mystery why we were celebrating the men who had been so willing to keep me and my people in slavery. Slavery was cruel and dehumanizing. The depictions of it were written by slaveowners, not slaves. Slaves were worked to death, beaten, had families split, denied decent housing and food. Frequently freed when they were too old to be productive and take care of themselves. It was not a pretty picture.
Why Are There SO Many Confederate Monuments?
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Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?
The classic, bestselling book on the psychology of racism — now fully revised and updated
Walk into any racially mixed high school and you will see Black, White, and Latino youth clustered in their own groups. Is this self-segregation a problem to address or a coping strategy? Beverly Daniel Tatum, a renowned authority on the psychology of racism, argues that straight talk about our racial identities is essential if we are serious about enabling communication across racial and ethnic divides. These topics have only become more urgent as the national conversation about race is increasingly acrimonious. This fully revised edition is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the dynamics of race in America.
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The shifting history of Confederate monuments
The backdrop of Saturday’s violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, was a plan to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from the city’s downtown. What’s the story behind such monuments and why do we continue to struggle with the legacy of the Civil War? Edward Ayers of the University of Richmond joins William Brangham to offer some historical context.
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We’re Different, We’re the Same (Sesame Street) (Pictureback(R))
Who better than Sesame Street to teach us that we may all look different on the outside—but it’s important to remember that deep down, we are all very much alike. We all have the same needs, desires, and feelings. Elmo and his Sesame Street friends help teach toddlers and the adults in their lives that everyone is the same on the inside, and it’s our differences that make this wonderful world, which is home to us all, an interesting—and special—place. This enduring, colorful, and charmingly illustrated book offers an easy, enjoyable way to learn about differences—and what truly matters. It is an engaging read for toddlers and adults alike.
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The Truth About the Confederacy in the United States (FULL Version)
Jeffery Robinson, the ACLU’s top racial justice expert, discusses the dark history of Confederate symbols across the country and outlines what we can do to learn from our past and combat systemic racism.
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Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
“This is a book that was begging to be written. This is the kind of book that demands a future where we’ll no longer need such a book. Essential.” –Marlon James
“The most important book for me this year.” –Emma Watson
Selected by Emma Watson as the Our Shared Shelf Book Club Pick for January/February 2018
Sunday Times Bestseller
Winner of the British Book Awards Nonfiction Narrative Book of the Year
Winner of the Jhalak Prize
Foyles Nonfiction Book of the Year
Blackwell’s Nonfiction Book of the Year
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Understanding the Lost Cause Myth
The Lost Cause Myth has changed American history. Though it is a hateful ideology today, to ignore it is to give it power. We must understand the myth in order to defeat it.
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The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
Named one of the most important nonfiction books of the 21st century by Entertainment Weekly‚ Slate‚ Chronicle of Higher Education‚ Literary Hub, Book Riot‚ and Zora
A tenth-anniversary edition of the iconic bestseller— “one of the most influential books of the past 20 years,” according to the Chronicle of Higher Education—with a new preface by the author
“It is in no small part thanks to Alexander’s account that civil rights organizations such as Black Lives Matter have focused so much of their energy on the criminal justice system.”
—Adam Shatz, London Review of Books
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You are Probably Wrong About Confederate Monuments
Misinformation abounds about the removal of Confederate monuments in across the Southern United States. In this video, I discuss the common misconceptions about this controversial issue. Join me in making treason odious.
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Lies My Teacher Told Me
“Every teacher, every student of history, every citizen should read this book. It is both a refreshing antidote to what has passed for history in our educational system and a one-volume education in itself.”
—Howard Zinn
A new edition of the national bestseller and American Book Award winner, with a new preface by the author
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Many may be aware of the rebranding of a couple of products that have been considered offensive for decades. No more Aunt Jemima, and Uncle Ben, plus the guy on the Cream of Wheat packaging. Some are wondering what is wrong with them. They are good products, but since the days of slavery, Whites have commonly referred to Blacks as Aunt or Uncle, anything to avoid calling them MS or Mr. Subtle ways of disrespect.
The result of this disrespect is a devaluation of the value and worth of a person and in this case a significant portion of our population. As this being written, I am aware of a person who died in police custody in Tucson, Arizona. He was handcuffed and laid on his stomach for 12 minutes. Although he cried “I can’t breathe”, asked for water and called for his grandmother, he died in police custody. Today, the upper echelons of the force admitted that they did not even review the video until now June 25, 2020. How many police and even civilians are so callous as to not even be concerned enough to review the body cam footage.
People of color have been complaining of this type of disregard for decades, no centuries, yet the cry for change has gone unheeded because of the stereotypical nonsense that we are just like that.
It is time to place value on all citizens. Everyone who is not part of the solution is part of the problem. Silence is not an option.
As we view current events, we become aware of more and more instances where police have failed to watch, let alone act on acts that have resulted in serious injury or death of our Black citizens. Cries of outrage have been forthcoming for decades, no centuries to no avail. It is time for this inhumanity to our citizens to STOP!
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We greatly appreciate your suggestions on future topics. It is almost embarrassing to think about the ice cream truck, but I don’t know it all and welcome suggestions on people, places, and events.
Use the following link to contact us http://amazingblackhistory.com/contact-us/