Two female firefighters in Houston filed grievances after finding racist and sexist graffiti in the firehouse, and faced serious backlash. Now the women are returning to work, with the situation never really addressed. (Thanks to Stephanie for the heads up!)
A brief history of American racism.
The Lt. Gov. of Mississippi tells girls to be good, abstinent Christians. This was in response to a lawsuit from the ACLU over a state-sponsored abstinence rally where students chanted "Stop! Don't touch me there! This is my no-no square!"
The First Nations Women's Alliance and its member organizations are working to support victims of domestic violence and sexual assault on North Dakota Indian reservations.
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As long as people can "other" someone "not like them" and project their fear, anxieties, doubts, and insecurities onto them when honesty would be better served, we'll still have some degree of racism in this country.
It's such an easy thing for us to do that dismissing this as cowardly might not be a satisfactory explanation for why it exists. Still, this is the struggle of civilization, personified, and yet again I encourage everyone to acknowledge his/her role in shaping it.
Thanks for pointing that out, captain obvious.
People who don't understand what you're saying won't care. People who do understand the jargon probably have already gone over this and find what you're saying redundant.
Yeah, we totally cannot see this for ourselves and need beloved visionary Kevin to show us the light.
IMO less with the acknowledgment seeking and more with the presenting solutions. I hope you're not here to have people agree with you.
wtf is your problem??
Um... I'm pretty sure he did offer a solution. Asking people to acknowledge their role in shaping our racist culture is definitely part of the solution for changing our racist culture. YOUR attitude, on the other hand, is DEFINITELY not helping.
"Stop! Don't touch me there! This is my no-no square!"
I can't stop laughing at this. The sheer level of fail has scarred my brain.
Mine's more of a no-no triangle. Without the no-no.
There's actually more to the rhyme, which I learned from a Evangelical Christian friend-of-a-friend. it even has actions. It goes as follows:
Stop! (hand outstretched)
Don't touch me there! (wagging finger 'no')
This is my private square. (draw square with fingers from shoulder to shoulder, to hips)
PURE! THOUGHTS! SET! ME! FREE! (hands on hips)
Because I know Jesus loves me! (hugging yourself around the middle)
See, I'd heard that rhyme before, but it was about sexual harassment.
Stop! (stop hand) Don't touch me there!
This is (making square with hands) my private square!
R! A! P! E!
Get that thing away from me!
Everyone made fun of it, of course.
The comments to the article on racism make me sad. Why are people so ill-informed about basic things?
Are you implying they care, but have no access to the information? If so, I have some beachfront property in Buffalo to sell you.
From the firefighter harassment article:
A picture of Draycott and her daughter, who had been killed in a car accident, kept in Draycott's locker had the words "Die (female slur)" and "Dead" written over their faces.
Wow. This is some hateful, sick shit. And then people bitch and complain about not enough women wanting to go into traditionally male "hero" jobs?
And this reminds me of the hazing story in the armed forces that I read about the other day. A fellow soldier was hog tied and put into an animal cage...I won't even repeat the rest because it is disgusting.
Seriously these are people supposed to be protecting us. And now, I'm going to get on my faux conservative bandwagon:
THESE ANIMALS ARE ABUSING PEOPLE AT TAX PAYOR EXPENSE. ---USING MY MONEY, MY MONEY TO ASSAULT FELLOW AMERICANS...
how about that for a FOX news clip?
When local politicians tried to get involved, the firefighters union pretty much shut them down, with the old "move along people, nothing to see here."
"Stop! Don't touch me there! This is my no-no square!"
If Lady Gaga sang it and Timbland mixed it, I'd buy the single. I can even see a dance similar to the Macarena.
Yes! Please touch me there! This is my go-go square!
And yet another "ZOMG, Christian girlz neez to be teh purest!" freak in power.
Haha, they said "no-no square." And they expect kids to buy that shit? I'd love if they kept that up, we'd win by default.
The Tubes said it best:
Oooo baby,
Move closer to me
I've had all that I can stand
Take hold of me with your hands
Oh baby,
You give me the chills
Whisper low in my ear
Let knows how it feels
just to know you are near
Your body gives me a thrill
as it leans against mine
I love how it feels
with your jeans against mine
The smell of burning leather
as we hold each other tight
As our rivets rub together
flashing sparks into the night
At this moment of surrender darling
if you really care
Don't touch me there
Unzip that jacket
That leather smells so sweet
Put your chest against mine
Feel my heart beat
I love the way your belt fits
The way it hangs so low
So low on your hips my darling
I want you so
I love your sweet, sweet lips
I love your salty taste
I love your finger tips
When I reach for your waist?! Uh-huh...
The smell of burning leather
as we hold each other tight
As our rivets rub together
flashing sparks into the night
At this moment of surrender darling
if you really care
Don't touch me there
I will give my love forever
if you promise me you'll
never never never touch me there
Don't touch me there
Don't touch me there
Please don't
Don't touch me there
Oh no not there
Don't touch me there
Anywhere but there
Don't touch me there
Never--don't ever
Don't touch me there
Do you care?
Don't touch me there
Then don't touch me there
Don't touch me there
Even though I AGREE with the position of the author of the article on the Mississippi Governor, it irritates me when people misstate the Constitution.
"The ACLU just brought forth a lawsuit against the state of Mississippi last week for violating the First Amendment, which prohibits the government from promoting one religion over another."
At best, that's one interpretation of what the First Amendment might imply, but the First Amendment most certainly does not say anything about the behavior of state Governors re: promoting religion.
I'll add that SCOTUS precedent does imply that the intent of the 1st amend. should cover state govts. but that's not what the amendment actually SAYS.
Eh? Imply? You might need to head back to Con Law for a brush-up. The 1st Amendment's prohibition against the establishment of religion was incorporated (which means that parts of the Bill of Rights are extended to apply to the State governments using the Due Process Clause of the 14th amendment) in 1947 in Everson v. Board of Education. There are things in the Bill of Rights that haven't been incorporated, but most of it has and none of it is "implied." And because of incorporation, stating that the 1st Amendment prohibits the government (when referring to a state government) from promoting one religion over another is not a misstatement.
What upsets me as much as the story about the women firefighters, are the comments from the readers of the Houston newspaper. Most of them are saying that these women did these things to themselves, ignoring the fact that both of these women have several years experience as firefighters. They also ignored the fact that alot of these crimes were commited while they were not at the station, durning their off time.
Many did not see this as anything to be concerned with, including women. I see the person and or persons that commited these acts as someone to be worried about. Anyone that can go this far can and may cause physicial harm to the women involved, or even another, such as their wife, gf or daughter.
This is a story all women should follow. Maybe letters and phone calls to the Texas AG from women across the country demanding not only a real investigation, but an arrest and conviction could light a fire under the investigators (cough) to step it up. I can not imagine the fear of going back to work at that station.
I am a woman working in what is considered a 'man's job'. I drive a truck OTR. I will admitt, I had to prove myself. But once I did prove myself while demanding and accepting nothing but respect, I have few problems. The difference between myself and women firefighters is, I am in my truck alone, they are forced to live with these guys for days at a time. I would fear the person doing this would endanger my life durning a fire.
Sorry for the long comment, but this has me greatly disturbed.