W. E. B. Du Bois

One ever feels his twoness—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.…He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of Opportunity closed roughly in his face. W.E.B. DUBOIS http://www.biography.com/articles/W.E.B.-Du-Bois-9279924?part=1

Rachel permitted a well known writer, Ms. Goldie Taylor to chime in on the birther movement this week:

"Show me your papers!"

Major Blackard, then just 19 years old, dug into his trousers in search of his wallet. He patted his jacket, but could not find his billfold.

"Sir, I done left my wallet..." Blackard said. Before he could finish his sentence, the young man was posted against the brick wall, cuffed and taken to the St. Louis city jail. Unable to prove his identity, he would spend the next 21 days in a cramped, musty cell. That's where his older brother Matt found him, beaten and bloodied. Matt returned with Major's employer later that day, wallet and identification card in hand, to post bond.

The year was 1899. Major Blackard was my great, great grandfather.

Goldie Taylor http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#42791793

http://www.thegrio.com/politics/why-obama-shouldnt-have-had-to-show-his-papers.php

What the hell is this? Major Blackard knew the rules. St. Louis had rules and he intentionally ignored those rules!

The Republican-controlled Oklahoma House of Representatives passed a proposed constitutional amendment yesterday that would eliminate Affirmative Action in state government. The offical GOP reasoning for the change is that while “discrimination exists,” “I don’t think Affirmative Action has been as successful as we like to believe,” the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. T.W. Shannon (R), explained. But perpetual extremist state Rep. Sally Kern (R) offered her argument for ending the system that helps minorities advance: “blacks” simply don’t work as hard as whites:

Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma City, said minorities earn less than white people because they don’t work as hard and have less initiative.

“We have a high percentage of blacks in prison, and that’s tragic, but are they in prison just because they are black or because they don’t want to study as hard in school? I’ve taught school, and I saw a lot of people of color who didn’t study hard because they said the government would take care of them.”

Kern said women earn less than men because “they tend to spend more time at home with their families.”

http://thinkprogress.org/2011/04/28/sally-kern-blacks-dont-work-hard/

If only African-Americans would aspire to be something in this great land of opportunity.

If only African-Americans would attempt to better themselves, to better their circumstances, to better their status.

Last week, a woman was sent to jail for ten days, placed on two years probation, and ordered to complete 80 hours of community service for a felony conviction. Her crime was fudging documents so that she could send her two daughters to the “wrong” school district, in the richer Akron, Ohio suburb where her father lived. She was led away in handcuffs.

One cannot honesty discuss this case without discussing the fact that Williams-Bolar is a black woman, raising black children in a city that has a large non-white population, living in a home secured through the local Housing Authority, while Copely is a very comfortably middle-class and overwhelmingly white town. Williams-Bolar is a mother who has been jailed for sending her kids to the “wrong” school district. But she’s also a black mother who has been jailed for sending her kids to a white school district.

http://thecurvature.com/2011/01/25/mother-jailed-for-sending-her-children-to-the-wrong-school/

Something for nothing.

That is all these minorities are looking for.

Something for nothing.

A homeless mother has been arrested for sending her child to a public school in an area where they didn’t live.

Tonya McDowell is being charged with first-degree larceny for stealing $15,686 in education funds from the Norwalk, Conn. school district, the Stamford Advocate reports.

McDowell and her 6-year-old son don’t have a permanent address, but split their time between a homeless shelter and a friend’s apartment in Bridgeport. McDowell, however, used her son’s babysitter’s address to falsely register him for a Norwalk elementary school.

McDowell’s arrest is a startlingly severe punishment for her crime. Most families caught sending children to schools in areas where they don’t live are allowed to pull the students from the school without consequence.

The babysitter, Ana Rebecca Marques, is also being punished. She has been evicted from public housing for her role in helping McDowell get her son into the school.

http://www.askdro.com/2011/04/qotd-would-you-go-to-jail-for-over-your-childs-education/

Pretty soon they are going to let any Tom, Dick or Barack go to school for chrissakes!

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/04/27/trump_to_obama_now_release_your_college_records.html

The ultimate existential question confronts all of us: