Kramer the Racist

I was going to post some comments about Mr. O.J. and his "If I Did It" book this week. What a joke! Anyway, considering his book got scrapped by the publisher, that issue is now moot. SO, instead, I was sitting in the nail salon watching the news, and saw a clip of Kramer* from Seinfeld fame ranting while on stage at the Laugh Factory in L.A. (*Because I don't know this man's real name -- because he's never been on anything except Seinfeld -- he will hereinafter be referred to as Kramer.) If you haven't seen this video, YOU HAVE TO SEE IT. Go to www.tmz.com and scroll down the page until you reach "Kramer's Racist Tirade." However, I'd like to briefly share with you some of his...let's call them sentiments.

Apparently in response to two black hecklers, he screams at the men stating, "Fifty years ago we'd have you upside down with a f***ing fork up your ass."

WOW, for real? It's like that? He continued, "You can talk, you can talk, you're brave now motherf**ker. Throw his ass out. He's a nigger! He's a nigger! He's a nigger! A nigger, look, there's a nigger!" In response to the crowd's obvious confusion, he says, "They're going to arrest me for calling a black man a nigger."

For anyone who thinks racism is dead, this serves as your wake up call! The interesting thing will be to evaluate how this plays out in the media. Mel Gibson was almost crucified in the media (in true "Passion" form) for making derogatory remarks about jewish people (and also for calling the female cop "Sugar Tits," which, by the way, is now one of my all-time favorite comments). Anyway, I digress. I am almost willing to bet money that the media will talk about Kramer's racist remarks for all of two seconds, and then quickly move on.

And yes, although the Laugh Factory has now banned Kramer from performing there, DON'T GET IT TWISTED, it didn't do so until TMZ posted the video on its website. The Laugh Factory actually allowed Kramer to perform the very next night after his racial tirade.

Isn't it funny how these white folks get all up in arms about derogatory jewish comments, but just expect us to get over it when white folks call us Niggers and tell us how back in the day we'd be hanging upside down with forks up our asses? Puh-leeze!!!!

--Notta

P.S. - HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! :)

We'll Miss You Gerald!

Gerald Levert is dead, gone, taken away from us. Can ya'll believe it? I still can't. He was supposed to be my husband one day! :) He was only 40-years-old, and died of a heart attack. It's really a shame that his body gave up on him at such a young age.

Black folks, when are we going to realize that we need to start taking better care of our bodies??? We can't eat everything fried! We can't eat fat-infested soul food everyday! According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular diseases are the leading causes of death for black folks, both men and women.

It's time we do something about this. We have to change the way that we live, by changing our diet and engaging in physical activity. (I am guilty of not doing the latter, so I have to change too!) We also have to instill these values in our kids. I hate seeing overweight kids. It really bothers me because I know that for the most part, their weight can be controlled by diet and excercise, but instead, they're allowed to sit on their butts and play video games all day.

Come on black folks, when 40-year-old men are dying from heart attacks, we need to start making some changes in our lives! If not for you, do it so your kids will learn healthy habits, and also so they can see you grow old. With so many diseases and illnesses out there that we can't control, we need to be more aware of lifestyles to ensure that we prevent the preventable diseases such as heart disease.

--Notta

P.S. -- I would be remiss if I didn't also recognize the passing of our consummate newsman, Ed Bradley. We'll miss you too Ed!

Don't Fall for the Banana in the Tailpipe!!!

Alright black folks, Tuesday is the BIG day! Tuesday is the day that Democrats can take back control of Congress, and clean up this mess that Republicans have caused. Republicans are working overtime to ensure this doesn't happen. One way they do this is by trying to confuse us by pitting black Republican candidates against white Democratic candidates, and then use the fact that their candidate is black to appeal to black voters.

Case in point: Michael Steele v. Ben Cardin, Maryland's contentious Senate race. Although Steele, the African-American ex-Lt. Governor of Maryland, is considered a moderate conservative, many of his views still contradict the welfare of African-Americans. However, when targeting black voters, Republicans do not address these issues; rather, they focus on their candidate's "blackness" to try to sway black voters. I remember living in Maryland the first time that Steele ran for Lt. Governor with Gov. Ehrlich, the radio ads on WPGC, WHUR, and the other black radio stations were more than insulting. They went something like this (in my best homegirl voice):

-- "Girl, did you know we could have the first black Lt. Governor in Maryland?"

-- "Yeah, girl. And like my momma said, 'What have the Democrats done for us lately?'"

I remember cringing everytime that ad came on the radio, and wondering, "Do they really think we're stupid enough to fall for this mess?" Well, apparently we were stupid enough, because Ehrlich and Steele won. Steele went on to become an ineffectual Lt. Governor for Maryland; spending 3 years studying the death penalty with no results, taking undeserved credit for the improvements in Maryland's teacher pensions, proposing big ticket programs with no ideas on how to pay for them, and knocking special-interest politics while his campaign reaps the benefits of having GOP lobbyists in his corner.

With Maryland being traditionally a Democratic state, of course Steele has to try to distance himself from the Bush administration, of course he has to seem like he is only moderately conservative. That's how politics are played. Do what you have to do to sound appealing to voters during election season, and then do what you do once you're in office.

DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN, in Maryland or elsewhere (Pennsylvanians -- the same goes for you with this whole Lynn Swann mess)!! We are too smart to fall the banana in the tailpipe! These candidates want you to vote for them, not because you agree with them on the issues, but because their skin is the same color as yours. DO NOT FALL FOR THIS! These people are out of touch with what is important to black folks (perhaps growing up in San Mateo, CA, Swann was never in touch with what's important to black folks). Their tax cuts hurt social programs that benefit us. Their international policy kills our children in Iraq. Their reticence about or support of the death penalty, in a justice system that often fails black Americans, results in the inequal application of the death penalty against us.

Please get out and vote on Tuesday; however, vote for a candidate because you agree with his/her policy, not because they are black.

--Notta