This website will serve to educate the general public on Black people and the Stuff That Black People Don't Like. Black people have many interesting eccentricities, which include disliking a litany of everyday events, places, household objects and other aspects of their everyday life.
Black people are an interesting subject matter and this website will chronicle the many problems in life that agitate this group of people.
To suggest material, please contact sbpdl1@gmail.com
But two months away from the first kick, soccer fans everywhere are counting down the moments until their beloved nations compete for the FIFA World Cup Championship from the haven for criminality or, the nation of South Africa.
South Africa will host the 2010 World Cup, but it will also continue to be host to a murder rate of nearly 50 people per day. Compound that shockingly high murder rate with the influx of hundreds of thousands of tourists sporting cash and other tangible goods on their person and we at SBPDL expect a 30 - 50 percent increase in the murder rate during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa (already, soccer fans from countries participating in the World Cup are afraid of the crime rate and will stay at home in droves, denying a major economic impact to not only merchants in South Africa, but looters and muggers as well, not to mention prostitutes).
Two recent stories showcase life under Black rule in South Africa. One, includes the war against White farmers that the African National Congress (ANC) has been waging since the takeover (handover) of that nation in 1994:
THE gunmen walked silently through the orchard. Skirting a row of burnt-out tyres, set ablaze months earlier to keep the budding fruit from freezing, they drew their old .38 revolvers.
Inside his farmhouse Pieter Cillier, 57, slept with his 14-year-old daughter Nikki at his side. His 12-year-old son JD was having a sleepover with two teenagers in an adjoining room.
As the intruders broke in, the farmer woke. He rushed to stop them, only to be shot twice in the chest.
In his death throes he would have seen his killers and then his children standing over him, screaming and crying.
The attackers, who were drug addicts, simply disappeared into the night. Cillier’s murder, at Christmas, was barely reported in the local press. It was, after all, everyday news.
Death has stalked South Africa’s white farmers for years. The number murdered since the end of apartheid in 1994 has passed 3,000.
In neighbouring Zimbabwe, a campaign of intimidation that began in 2000 has driven more than 4,000 commercial farmers off their land, but has left fewer than two dozen dead.
The vulnerability felt by South Africa’s 40,000 remaining white farmers intensified earlier this month when Julius Malema, head of the African National Congress’s (ANC’s) youth league, opened a public rally by singing DubulaIbhunu, or Shoot the Boer, an apartheid-era anthem, that was banned by the high court last week.
The Times Online of the London mentions the song Shoot the Boer, and yet another story discusses the egregious refusal of the ruling Black people to denounce the signing of this song, only further fanning the flames of racial violence by the ruling Black people against the dwindling white population whose ancestors dared to build a nation out of the wilderness of Africa:
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's ruling party on Tuesday defended the singing of an apartheid-era song with the words "Kill the Boer" in a row that has raised fears of increasing racial polarisation.
The African National Congress dismissed a ruling by a regional high court last week that uttering or publishing the words would amount to hate speech and violate the constitution put in place after the end of white minority rule.
"These songs cannot be regarded as hate speech or unconstitutional," ANC Secretary General GwedeMantashe told a news conference. "Any judgment that describes them as such is impractical and unimplementable."
The recent singing of the song by firebrand ANC youth wing leader Julius Malema, who argues that black South Africans have not benefited enough from 16 years of democracy, drew anger from whites and other minority groups.
The lyrics of the song, sung in Zulu, translate as "kill the farmer, kill the Boer", referring to the former ruling white minority.
"Most people realise that this is a struggle song but many whites cannot help but feel that they are being targeted," said Marius Roodt a researcher at the South African Institute of Race Relations.
"The ANC needs to be sympathetic to the feelings of minorities especially if there is a perception created that they endorse inflammatory statements.
President Jacob Zuma has repeatedly stressed the importance of reconciliation in what became known as the "Rainbow Nation" after the relatively peaceful transition from apartheid.
The World Cup will be a failure (here is a great, balanced, website about crime in South Africa). If Mandela dies before or during the World Cup, "Kill the Boer" could become "Kill any White Devil" in the country.
Black people in not just America, but around the world must understand the serious implications of what a disastrous World Cup in Post-Apartheid, Black-run South Africa will mean: Black people are incapable of running anything significant; from a county in America (like Jefferson or Clayton); to a city (like Detroit); or to a nation they earned by killing every white person on the island (like Haiti); to a simple sporting event.
Sports create the idea of equality through the vast inequality of the athletes participating in the games. White people receive positive images of Black people and thus, Black people are allowed to participate in a society that would otherwise reject them.
For the sake of the future of Black Run America (BRA), the World Cup must be moved from South Africa. If not, be prepared for the destruction of the egalitarian myth that holds together this nation (and world) with the strength of badly stretched rubber band.
It's almost ready to rip apart. The World Cup in South Africa will supply the final amount of pressure necessary to cause it to break apart forever.
If Mandela passes away then "Kill the Boer" will transpire, and yet the spirit of Epic Beard Man will manifest itself with righteous indignation across the globe.
Again, SBPDL encourages the cancellation of the World Cup from the unsafe cities and stadiums of South Africa.
If not, the irony of the sporting world destroying the fragile world order it helped create will not be lost (see the film Invictus and any American movie made about race and sport).
Cooperating with police has long been an act Black people find unnecessary and in some cases, reprehensible. Doing so creates a disconnect between the Black person who finds common ground with the officer of the law and thus, they turn their back completely on the Black community at large, long suspicious of cops ulterior motives.
Life in Black communities across the nation can be difficult, as the constant struggle "to get rich or die trying" plagues those who find the notion of Acting White a pathway to riches. These idea are constantly at war with one another and never the twain shall meet.
Cities with a preponderance of Black people provide one constant regardless of the latitude or longitude: crime.
Crime is a gateway to riches in the Black community, but also represents a door to either the penitentiary or the morgue. Drug sales represent a thriving Black Market - no pun intended - that help fund gang activity, but beset a community already ravaged with hardship and heartache further, creating a vicious cycle of death and governmental promise to help eradicate the problems of the economic depressed areas.
The United States Government has worked hard over the past 50 years to help Black people in their communities succeed by spending quadrillions of dollars (factor in opportunity costs) to uplift the Black race in America.
These efforts have largely failed, providing one of the worst Return on Investments (ROIs) in the history of investments, but have yielded a net growth of corruption in majority Black cities and a complete hollowing of the infrastructure that made these metropolises (Detroit, Baltimore, New Orleans) so attractive in the first place.
Black children fed a steady diet of ESPN believe that financial rewards await them in the NBA or NFL and if those hoop dreams fade, a career in rap will yield money, women and prestige that surpasses even those of sports stars.
And when they make it big, an entourage of childhood friends and family will be "made men" and living the life of luxury provided by the one kid from the 'hood staying true to his roots.
But few Black people taste the success that is surprisingly fleeting for many Black sports or rap stars, and having eschewed education as a form of Acting White, the only way to make a living revolves around a life of crime.
It would be misguided to quote crime statistics now, for a glance at the nightly news cast reminds even the most faithful Disingenuous White Liberal of why they send their children to private schools.
Yet one thing is certain in Black communities as many crimes go unpunished thanks to one of the unwritten rules that governs Black Run America (BRA): never, ever turn your back on a brother or sister.
Black people view anyone who fails the paper bag test or whose skin appears darker than a glass of 2 percent of milk as a member of their tribe, a permanently disadvantaged group that is discriminated against by outside agitators bent on destroying their communities through clever ruses and guile.
No matter how heinous or insidious a crime is done within the Black community by a Black person, none dare dissent from the rule of never turning your back on a brother. To do so would have you branded with a letter far worse than one Hester Prynne was force to wear in The Scarlett Letter.
Black people must never be branded with an "S", a dreaded word that is on-par with an Uncle Tom or a Clarence Thomas. Deviating from the script of perpetual victim-hood and admitting that Black-on-Black crime is a hindrance to community development and trust would jeopardize the whole enterprise of Black Run America.
One must always work for the betterment of Black people and if that means turning your back on wanton criminality and violence, then so be it. Better to allow the endurance of evil then to admit that white people aren't the cause of Black peoples lot in life.
The "S" word is the true "whose name must not be spoken" and the fear of being labeled one in the Black community is greater than that of Voldemort in the Harry Potter stories.
Black-on-Black crime doesn't happen. Rapes, murder, petty thievery, larceny, drug deals and violence are all creations of "The Man's" mind intent on keeping Black people in their rightful place.
Snitching is that "S" word that Black people fear to utter in any speech, for the repercussions of being branded one are rarely survived. You see, Black people don't like snitches and have placed an imaginary bounty on any head of the Black person who dares go against their one and sides with the police and the corrupt United States judicial system that dares go after Wal-Mart PA announcers who demand the involuntary expulsion of all Black people from the store.
Those who snitch are no better than the police who patrol the Black community hoping to engage in a Rodney King incident of their own.
Stop Snitchin' refers to a controversial 2004 campaign launched in Baltimore, United States to persuade criminal informants to stop "snitching," or informing, to law enforcement. Some public officials and others[who?] say that it is a campaign used by criminals to frighten people with information from reporting their activities to the police.[citation needed] "Stop Snitchin" is the name of a specific Baltimore-based home-made DVD that threatened violence against would-be informants, and the name or theme of several hip hop recordings.
While the slogan "Stop Snitchin' had existed since at least 1999, when it was used by Boston-based rapper Tangg da Juice,[1] the Stop Snitchin' campaign first gained national attention in late 2004 in Baltimore, Maryland, when a DVD released by Rodney Bethea [2] titled "Stop Snitching!" began to circulate. In some footage, a number of men claiming to be drug dealers address the camera, and threaten violence against anyone who reports what they know about their crimes to the authorities. This threat is directed especially towards those who inform on others to get a lighter sentence for their own crimes. Notably, NBA star Carmelo Anthony, a former Baltimore resident and now a part of the Denver Nuggetsbasketball team, appeared in the video.[3] In subsequent interviews, Anthony claimed that his appearance in the video was a joke,[4] the product of his neighborhood friends making a home movie. Anthony claims that the film's message should not be taken seriously.[5] The publicity of Stop Snitchin' identified several drug informants and corrupt police officers in the Baltimore area such as former BPD officers William King and Antonio Murray who were sentenced to 315 and 139 years in prison, respectively, following an investigation caused by the DVD which identified the officers as drug dealers.
The important book Snitching: Criminal Informants and the Erosion of American Justice painstakingly documents the reality of the stigma that has been placed on Black people who dare snitch. The are pariahs, shunned by the Black community and in some cases end up beaten or worse, dead.
Witness a rape? Better not snitch, or else your family will pay! A drug deal gone wrong that takes a turn toward violence and ultimately homicide? Best be keeping those lips sealed, boy!
At a subsidiary of The Black Planet Universe (Blackplanet.com), a writer questions the validity of snitching:
The main misperception about the controversially popular “Stop Snitching” ideology that is now considered a staple of the Black community is that it’s ubiquitous. Black people are, in no way and under no circumstances, ever supposed to volunteer, aid, assist or even acknowledge law enforcement efforts in our communities.
Of course, the origin of the “Stop Snitching” ethos made a lot more sense. The term was originally coined to govern the conduct of coexisting criminals, sort of a Black take on the Mafia’s omertá-or code of silence.
In other words, if you and I were together in a criminal enterprise and I got busted, I was not supposed to snitch on you. I was supposed to do my time like a man or a “standup guy” and trust that you’d be on the outside handling my affairs in return for my silence.
Michael Vick could have used such friends. So could TI.
Eventually however, both the expression “Stop Snitching” and the mentality behind it extended to the point where it more or less suggested that if something, even something criminal, didn’t have a directly adverse affect on you then you should mind your business and stay out of it.
Needless to say, “Stop Snitching” has gone way too far.
We no longer live in Africa, folks, where our elders police our communities. If a gang of us were to get together now to beat up or kill some pedophile or serial killer, we’d all go to jail!
SBPDL lives by one motto: Those who do evil to others must be punished. Black people live by an entirely different ethos: those who do evil to others within their community must be protected from snitching.
Stuff Black People Don't Like includes snitching, one of the highest offenses against Black solidarity that can be occur (up there with Acting White), as the Black people must maintain strength through the unity of their community.
Black life expectancy is low and Black levels of incarceration are high. Black people commit more crime, thus the reason for the high level of incarceration and low levels of life expectancy. There is a correlation between the two.
What do you think would happen if snitching was tolerated? A lot more Black people in jail and a life expectancy rate much, much lower.
In 1987, the Pontiac Silverdome- long since sold for less than 1 percent of what it cost to erect the impressive stadium - was home to one of pop cultures most enduring moments.
The Super Bowl? The NCAA Final Four? The Academy Awards? How about Wrestlemania III:
The event is particularly notable for the reported attendance of 93,173, the largest recorded attendance for a live indoor sporting event in North America.[1][2][7] Though the attendance number is subject to dispute, the event is considered to be the pinnacle of the 1980s wrestling boom.[1][8][9] Almost one million fans watched the event at 160 closed circuit locations in North America.[1] The number of people watching via pay-per-view was estimated at several million,[1] and pay-per-view revenues were estimated at $10 million.
The brainchild of entrepreneur Vince McMahon, Wrestlemania has become a worldwide phenomenon that brings an economic impact of 1/6 that of the Super Bowl to the host city:
The Super Bowl is done, the Oscars have been handed out. Now World Wrestling Entertainment is gearing up for its signature event: WrestleMania.
While not the enormous moneymaker the Super Bowl is, the annual main event in pro wrestling has brought WWE and its host city good returns in recent years.
The granddaddy of wrestling PPVs has created revenue of more than $30 million for WWE in each of the past three years. Total company revenue for 2009 amounted to $475 million.
Its 26th edition takes place March 28 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., following a slew of related weekend events.
In last year's second quarter, WrestleMania generated about $8.4 million in live-event revenue and $21 million in PPV sales thanks to nearly 1 million buys, which helped lay the groundwork for a WrestleMania revenue contribution of $32.2 million.
That compares with the $68 million-$81 million in annual ad revenue recorded for the Academy Awards telecast for the 2007-09 time frame and the $154 million-$213 million annual ad haul during the same three-year period for the Super Bowl, according to Kantar Media.
Meanwhile, WrestleMania's bottom-line contribution has fluctuated more, with profits ranging from $7.1 million to more than twice that in recent years. The company succeeded in improving the profit contribution since a weaker 2008 result...
The showcase doesn't bring the same economic impact that the Super Bowl brings to a region, but it does stimulate commerce and tax revenue in host cities to the tune of tens of millions, according to Enigma Research, which has measured the impact of WrestleMania for WWE in recent years.
The regional gains in the $50 million range in the past couple of years compares to studies that estimate the Super Bowl's economic impact in the hundreds of millions, depending on location and what is calculated.
Houston hosted WrestleMania last year and the Super Bowl in 2004. Despite a recession, WrestleMania XXV at Reliant Stadium created $49.8 million in direct, indirect and induced economic stimulus, according to Enigma. About 600 full-time jobs for the area were created, and local and regional authorities raked in $5.7 million in tax revenue.
Greg Ortale, president and CEO of the Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau, said at the time, "The direct expenditure demonstrates that WrestleMania is indeed economically on par with the world's greatest sports and entertainment offerings."
Super Bowl XXXVIII brought $300 million-plus to Houston and surrounding areas, the city noted when it announced that it would bid to host the NFL title game in 2012.
Fans from around the world travel to whichever city hosts the event to help ensure that Wrestlemania is a financial success:
From the numbers above, WrestleMania is making a fair amount of change. Looking at the three most recent years, let us break down WrestleMania in terms of the WWE's total numbers.
WrestleMania 23 generated $31.4 million in revenue and $6.6 million in profit net of tax. For that same year, the company had $485.7 million in revenue and $52.1 million in profit, meaning WrestleMania accounted for 6.5% of revenue and 12.7% of profit.
WrestleMania 24 saw $31.3 million in revenue but just $4.6 million in profit net of tax. In that year, the company had $526.5 million in revenue and $45.4 million in profit. With that, WrestleMania accounted for 5.9% of revenue and 10.1% of profit.
WrestleMania 25 had $32.2 million in revenue and $9.7 million in profit net of cash. This was in comparison to $475.2 million in revenue and $50.3 million in profit. This lead to margins of 6.8% of revenue and 19.3% of profit.
Black people love wrestling. Some might argue they believe the choreographed sport is actually real, unable to discern the intricate planning that goes into a "worked" match that closely resembles two dancers instead of gladiators fighting to the death.
Wrestling might be fake, but its still real to Black people. And thus, the lack of Black wrestlers to cheer for has always been a source of contention for Black people who have consistently found sports the best way to identify with the eternal struggle for Civil Rights.
William Rhoden wrote in his oddly titled book 40 Million Dollar Slave - since so many Black athletes decide that the money they earn in sports isn't worth saving - that Black people have always identified with Black athletes as part of the eternal struggle to gain legitimacy in American life. Having Black people to cheer for in the NBA, MLB and NFL made life as second-class citizens easier to digest.
The World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) corporation has had an interesting relationship with Black performers that contradicts the NFL, NBA and MLB's glorious integration, as Black athletes competing in the sport of professional wrestling have a notoriously difficult time at "getting over" with the crowd.
In wrestling, the crowd dictates who is accepted as either a heel - bad guy - or a face - good guy - and Black people in the WWE have had difficulty generating any heat - crowd reaction - either way.
A Gallup Poll in 1999 looked at the demographics of wrestling fans and came up with startling conclusions:
Still, despite the hoopla, wrestling remains a preoccupation with only a minority of the American public. A new Gallup poll conducted August 16-18 shows that only 18% of Americans consider themselves to be fans of professional wrestling. This compares to Gallup's estimates that about 59% of Americans are professional baseball fans, and that 41% are professional basketball fans.
Not surprisingly, wrestling fans tend to be young males with high school educations who earn less than $30,000 annually -- and their political ideology tends to lean Democratic. Very few college graduates claim to be professional wrestling fans, and the fan percentage among those over age 30 is also quite low. One interesting note: despite the predominance of white wrestlers on wrestling shows, the percentage of black fans is greater than the percentage of white fans by a two-to-one margin (33% of blacks count themselves as professional wrestling fans, compared to 16% of whites). There are few regional differences, except that the East has fewer wrestling fans than other regions of the country do.
So, Black people love pro wrestling yet rarely does a Black wrestler succeed in the sport. Again, wrestling is fake and the ending of the matches is predetermined before the match participants enter the squared circle.
However, the wrestler must use his charisma and skill to connect with the fans and generate interest in his character in order to further his "push" - how the company will promote him with wins in building his character - or else he will be lost in the shuffle and become fodder to help "put over" more promising stars.
Black people in wrestling routinely become "jobbers" and "enhancement talent" as they can perform admirably and athletically in matches, but the crowd in attendance doesn't connect with them in ways they do with white wrestlers.
In the important book on the rise of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Blood in the Cage, the author L. Jon Wertheim points out the similarities between real fighting and pro wrestling, mainly the link between the white fans having white athletes to cheer for and identify with.
Wrestlemaniais the ultimate showcase for pro wrestling, as we have shown, and yet Black people have been left off the top of "card" - those who are booked to wrestle - in many of the 25 previous Wrestlemania's. Conspicuously absent from the main events of the prior main events of Wrestlemania, Black people thus have a difficult time of getting over with fans on their own accord.
Without handouts and being pushed down the throats of wrestling fans, Black people find themselves lacking the popularity and appeal that enduring stars such as Hulk Hogan, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, John Cena, the Ultimate Warrior and other white stars maintain (indeed, Black wrestlers are relegated to the match-up entitled "Money in the Bank" at Wrestlemania, and even there, a Black wrestler has never won).
The Weekly Standard published an interesting article 11 years ago about pro wrestling and how it correlates to the idea of the nation-state:
The state of professional wrestling today thus provides clues as to what living at the end of history means. It suggests how a large segment of American society is trying to cope with the emotional letdown that followed upon the triumph of capitalism and liberal democracy. If the vast wrestling audience (some 35 million people tune in to cable programs each week) is a barometer of American culture, then the nation is in trouble. Indeed, the very idea of the nation-state has become problematic. For wrestling has been denationalizing itself over the past decade, replacing the principle of the nation with the principle of the tribe.
The erosion of national identity in wrestling reflects broader trends in American society. If one wants to see moral relativism and even nihilism at work in American culture, one need only tune in to the broadcasts of either of the two main wrestling organizations, Vince McMahon's Worldwide Wrestling Federation and Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling. (It is no accident that one of the pillars of professional wrestling is Turner's cable TV empire, which also brings us CNN, the anti-nation-state, global news channel.) Both the WWF and the WCW offer the spectacle of an America that has lost its sense of national purpose and turned inward, becoming wrapped up in manufactured psychological crises and toying with the possibility of substituting class warfare for international conflict. And yet we should remain open to the possibility that contemporary wrestling may have some positive aspects; for one thing, the decline of the old nationalism may be linked to a new kind of creative freedom.
The nation-state might be eroding, but tribal beliefs are hardly an anachronism when McMahon's WWE promotion is considered in terms of white wrestlers getting over with the crowd, such as Randy Orton, Edge, Chris Jericho, John Morrison and The Miz. White fans want to cheer for white wrestlers, as they are deprived of this same gesture in other sports.
The Rock - Dwayne Johnson - is a former WWE superstar that would be pass the paper bag test and represents the only Black athlete to headline a Wrestlemania (yes, Lawrence Taylor was at the boring Wrestlemania XI, but he wasn't a full-time wrestler).
Yet, he was never truly accepted by wrestling fans and left for the fertile grounds of Hollywood (which aren't as fertile for him in terms of box office receipts anymore).
Here is a list of Wrestlemania main events. The prestigious club of wrestlers who have a main event of Wrestlemania on their resume is nearly an all-white affair.
In days before Vince McMahon Jr. and the territorial system, African-Americans have been stereotyped as either the Vaudevillian clown or the militant, angry black man. The promoters never put the World title on a black man for fear fan rioting or the illusion a black man cannot carry a company and represent as a champion. The other stereotype was African-Americans belonged in boxing, while whites were wrestlers. In the early times of pro wrestling, a promoter would not dare to put a white wrestler against a black wrestler, how would the crowd react to a black man pinning a white man...
In today's wrestling environment, the wrestling public does not see race as evident as before and the majority of the white viewing populace does not see a problem with a black world champion or an African American beating up on white wrestler. The audience mostly sees it as one wrestler beating another wrestler. Sometimes a promoter will still use a stereotype for a black wrestler, such as the case of the Gangstas, N.O.D. and CrymeTyme, but the use is generally used to tell a story or get a wrestler or team over with the fans. The Gangstas were used and were thought of because at the time Gangsta Rap was the music craze, and what better place to showcase a pair of thugs but on Extreme Championship Wrestling.
Wrong. There hasn't been a Black Heavyweight Champion in the WWE since the comedic effort put forth by Booker T, who once called Hulk Hogan a "nigga" in a hilarious promo.
Wrestlemania is an important revenue stream for the publicly traded company WWE and to trust Black people with bringing in profits is a task Vince McMahon has only entrusted the incredibly white acting Dwayne Johnson - The Rock - with, and no other Black star (Mr. T was Hulk Hogan's tag partner at the initial event, but Hogan and Roddy Piper were the real "draws").
Thus, Stuff Black People Don't Like includes Wrestlemania Main Events, for these bouts have always included a white star battling a white star. For a company worth 17 dollars a share finds the notion of entrusting a Black athlete with carrying the promotion a difficult concept to digest, since wrestling fans have yet to find the "push" of a Black athlete worthy of getting behind. And WWE has stock holders to answer to if the product suffers.
You have to get over with the crowd to be accepted in wrestling. Black people live in a world governed by BRA (Black Run America) where the media, school systems and entertainment industry constantly pushes them. Yet in wrestling, they live in a governed by white fans who yearn to cheer for white athletes.
Black people don't want to pay for health care. The Obama Administration turned to a Webster look-a-like to ensure that his cuteness would deflect criticism of his Health Care Bill. Marcelas Owens - the Emmanuel Lewis, Webster wannabe - is the beloved Black boy capable of engineering tears of pity in even the sternest heart of Randian Objectivism and will be the poster child for the forthcoming Michael Oher Act (more on this later) that removes deprived Black children from broken homes and into the loving arms of white families capable of turning around the 80 percent illegitimate rate that plagues the Black community.
Thankfully, the good Rev. Jeremiah Wright is back to bestow theological wisdom upon the masses.
Enjoy the video. SBPDL is on vacation (and has some great entries forthcoming), but wanted to post this clip for your enjoyment.
In the annals of literature, the image of pitiful Tiny Tim resonates deeply with readers of Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, as the handicapped infant represents the personification of hope.
His frail body is the embodiment of nature's cruel neglect, yet the grief stricken Scrooge - after three ghosts persuade him to drop his miserly ways - bestows riches upon the Cratchit family that rescue Tiny Tim from an early grave.
Tiny Time Cratchit fate was reversed by the generous largess of Scrooge, thus enabling him to give breath to the fitting denouement of the story: "God bless us every one!"
Black people love this tale, for they feel emboldened by the tale and notice similarities in the wake of the passing of Universal Health Care (UHC). Black people don't like to pay for their own health care and now find Congress voting to mandate that this unfair practice is no longer a nuisance after a visit with a doctor is greeted with open arms by the Black community.
The health care bill that grants provisions for the training of more minority doctors would never, ever have passed were it not for the ace in Mein Obama's hand, Marcelas Owens, or the Tiny Tim that represents hope and inflicted the change on America's indifferent health care system that caused his mother to pass away:
Marcelas Owens, an 11-year-old from Seattle, headlined a press conference with Senate Democratic leadership on Thursday, telling a packed room of reporters that he wanted the president and Congress to come together and pass health insurance reform.
"I am here because of my mom," said Owens. "My mom was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension in 2006. She missed so much work she lost her job. And when my mom lost her job, she lost her health care. And losing her health care ended up costing her her life."
He continued, "I don't want any other kids to go through the pain that our family has gone through. My grandma and I want Barack Obama and Congress and everybody to come together and to help get the health care bill passed."
Owens became the crutch that those desiring the takeover of the medical industry by the government leaned upon and was championed as the human face of pity and malevolent neglect of the insurance agency to those uncovered.
Were it not for Bob Cratchit's suffering son Tiny Tim, Scrooge wouldn't have a familiar face to represent the poor and downtrodden of London and thus, might never had converted from a greedy, selfish accountant to one prepared to right every societal wrong.
Were Owens not paraded around as the poster child and victim of a pitiless, capitalistic system that allows citizens to perish when they lack the medical coverage, the Obamacare would never have passed.
Strategically though, Owens became a real-life Tiny Tim through the marketing genius behind Brand Obama and helped shape the health care debate into the framework of eradicating an evil system that denies coverage to 40 million + people who decide to spend money pursuing happiness elsewhere.
Joshua Welter, spokesperson for the family, states Marcelas' mom lost her job in October 2006 where she had worked as an Assistant Manager at a fast food restaurant. After she got sick and couldn't work, she lost her job and couldn't afford regular doctors' visits.
In December 2006 she was diagnosed with Pulmonary Hypertension at an Emergency Room visit. It is believed if she could have afforded to continue doctors' visits after she lost her job, she may have been diagnosed earlier. During the half year between her diagnosis and her death, it is believed if she had health insurance, she could have been receiving proactive, ongoing treatment for Pulmonary Hypertension. According to the Pulmonary Hypertension Association, while many Pulmonary Hypertension patients go too long without an accurate diagnosis, some receive prompt, effective treatment and are able to manage their disease for 20+ years.
Without health insurance, Marcelas' mom had little chance to survive. She went to the ER when things got really critical – it got to the point where Tifanny was vomiting blood three or four times a day. She died in June of 2007.
With health insurance, it is believed she would have had a fighting chance to battle a tough disease. Marcelas has been advocating for health care in honor of his mother since she died in 2007. Washington CAN believes everyone in America deserves a fighting chance when they get sick to beat back the disease and be there for their family. No kid should lose their mom because they didn't have health care.
Fact, Marcelas's story is the story of millions of people across the country. 45,000 people die every year because they don't have health care. Every minute 8 people are denied coverage, charged higher rates, or discriminated against due to pre-existing conditions
We at SBPDL won't even bother to pose the question of where the father was in this melancholy story, for the answer is one we have already addressed.
Owens, an 11-year-old child who suffered the tragedy of losing a mother, made the decision himself to enter the health care debate and as a minor has became the target of attacks from a hateful right-wing media bent on destroying the credibility of an administration using him as impenetrable edifice of hope, deflecting all criticism with but a wry smile:
Marcelas Owens, whose mother got sick, lost her job, lost her health insurance and died, said Thursday he's taking the attacks from Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Michelle Malkin in stride.
"My mother always taught me they can have their own opinion but that doesn't mean they are right," Owens, who lives in Seattle, said in an interview.
Owens' grandmother, Gina, who watched her daughter die, isn't quite so generous.
"These are adults, and he is an 11-year-old boy who lost his mother," Gina Owens said. "They should be ashamed."
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., told Marcelas Owens' story to President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden at the White House health care summit last month. Murray also has spoken about it on the Senate floor. Last week, Owens was in the nation's capital to speak at a health care rally and to meet with Senate Democratic leadership.
Limbaugh, Beck and Malkin are skeptical about the story, saying there were other forms of medical help available after Owens' mother, Tifanny, lost her health insurance. They lambasted Democrats for using the story.
Not once was the question asked why a mother who works at a fast food restaurant is reproducing (Owens has two siblings) nor where the father of this most inauspicious coupling is to be found. These are questions that merely produce hate facts and must be sheltered from ever entering public discourse or debate, for the bashful eyes of young Marcelas Owens are guards against unacceptable dialogue that pollute the waters of change.
Health care for all is now the law of the land and were it not for pulmonary hypertension inflicting Marcelas Owens mother and eventually leading to her untimely demise, this bill wouldn't have passed (like 80 percent of Black women, Ms. Owens was morbidly obese). Disingenuous White Liberals (DWLs) needed a Black face for people to identify the inhumane struggle that uninsured people deal with daily, and in Owens they found a most accommodating subject. Unlike in the unrealistic movie John Q, a Black man whose son was near death and also lacking insurance wouldn't have been enough to convince people of the necessity to pass universal coverage for all.
However Tiny Tim, er Marcelas Owens represented the Trojan Horse of Black Cuteness that could hide the Myrmidons who would work to destroy one of the few industries in America that still works efficiently and is the envy of the world.
For some reason, white people find young Black males cute and DWLs use this inherent weakness to foster billions in aid to Africa, Haiti and other lands where elderly Black people have perpetuated ruin and chaos. The poor children, merely the offspring of these people incapable of sustaining or creating civilization, are innocent and only need the guidance of Western Thought and traditions to become free of the barbaric practices of their people.
White liberals are truly white supremacists who view the world through the glasses elite, educate and yes, xenophobic lenses. They can't believe the whole world isn't liberalized and accepting and tolerant, and equally educated and capable of enjoying the pleasures of life from the ethnocentric standpoint of white people.
DWLs hope all people on earth attain their level of sophistication, tolerance and understanding and cast incredulous sanctimony at those who scoff at their world view.
Throughout the interview, (Ali) Velshi understandably treated the 11-year-old very politely, asking him about how he got involved in the political process, how he felt about being at the bill signing, and other softball questions. He repeatedly complimented Owens for his vest, which is also a trademark of the CNN anchor.
VELSHI: Marcelas, you- your mom passed away, and there are some people who think it was because she didn't get health care. She lost her job. How did you get involved in this whole effort to get health care reform done?
OWENS: Well, Washington [unintelligible] helped me get all the interviews and start doing public speeches, and they all led up to this.
VELSHI: Did you ever do anything like this? Have you been a public speaker? Have you been on TV before all of this?
OWENS: Before I became a health care activist- no.
VELSHI: All right. Well, listen, you talked to my friend, Ed Henry, the other day, and- you know, people asked you, how did you feel when you were up there? How were you when you were with the President? Were you nervous when he was signing that bill?
OWENS: I wasn't nervous. I was excited that the bill was being signed....
VELSHI: What does this mean for your life? How has it changed for you? And you're an 11-year-old kid. Most 11-year-old kids are busy going to school and playing afterwards and doing video games. What's your life like now?
OWENS: I've been meeting more people who are involved in- and I've been not- having people just think of me as an 11-year-old kid, and I'm now known as a health care activist....
VELSHI: You got called back in for a little private meeting with the President. How did that go? Are you allowed to tell me what happened there?
OWENS: Well, he started taking pictures and signing autographs for everybody, and after the end of the meeting, he said he couldn't do it without everybody who got involved....
VELSHI: What does the future hold for you? You now played some part in this health care reform. You feel good about being a health care activist. Now what does a guy like you do?
OWENS: I believe there are more interviews, but other than that, I don't know yet.
VELSHI: And where did you get into the snappy dressing? I like that idea. You know, I wear a vest, too.
OWENS: Well, we were- on my first trip to D.C., we- I asked my grandma if we could go get a suit and tie, but all they had were vests, and I chose the vest and because everybody in D.C. always is dressing up.
VELSHI: And you didn't realize it by choosing that vest, you were making this remarkable fashion statement and joining a very- you know, sartorial group of people?
OWENS: Yeah.
VELSHI: Well, I think you should stick with it. You are a hard worker, and- very impressed to see a guy of your age, no matter what your- whatever your politics are, that you went out there and made a difference. I think that's a great message....I'm almost afraid to ask you what you want to do when you grow up, because you're more grown-up than a whole lot of people I know. What do you- have you ever thought about that? What do you want to do when you grow up?
OWENS: I want to become the president of the United States.
VELSHI: Oh! Well, all right, you heard it first here! He declared his intentions to run for the presidency of the United States. This may not mean much to all of you out there right now, but remember, I had the first declaration live on my TV. Marcelas, we wish you very well. You just keep smiling like that and it could work out for you, and remember, stick with those vests, no matter what anybody tells you.
OWENS: Okay.
VELSHI: Marcelas Owens, 11 years old, health care activist, proud of it, and one snappy dresser. Keep this image in your mind. I got to take a break and pay the bill. See you, Marcelas.
All that was needed to pass Health care was a young Black male child complete with sorrowful biography to create sympathy and a human face to create the ultimate misery machine that was unbeatable in its ability to tug at your heart strings.
Marcelas Owens accomplished this task. Although the father is suspiciously never mentioned - you see, DWLs automatically assume Black men are incapable of taking care of their own, hence the Michael Oher story - Owens is paraded around as Tiny Tim for the 21st Century.
Stuff Black People Don't Like includes attacks on Marcelas Owens as the indefatigable remarks about the usage of him to pass health care are unwarranted and disgusting reminders of the uncivilized time when health care wasn't a right.
History will remember Owens as the human symbol of Pre-Obama America, for only Mein Obama could muster the political clout needed to pass such a revolutionary bill. He joins the pantheon of Black crusaders who reinvented America into a paradise free of hate and bigotry.
Scrooge needed his Tiny Tim to seal the deal on his dramatic moral turnaround, just as Obama needed a young Black face with a tale of woe to transform the debate into a true Black vs. white, disadvantage vs. privileged story that only a Grinch could ignore.
In the end, we at SBDPL believe Marcelas Owens will be merely the 21st Century version of Nurse Nayirah:
Nayirah al-á¹¢abaḥ (Arabic: نيره الصباØ), called "Nurse Nayirah" in the media, was a fifteen-year-old Kuwaiti girl, who alleged that she had witnessed the murder of infant children by Iraqi soldiers in Kuwait, in verbal testimony to the U.S. Congress, in the run up to the 1991 Gulf War.[1] Her testimony, which was regarded as credible at the time, has since come to be regarded as wartime propaganda.[2] The public relations firm Hill & Knowlton, which was in the employ of Citizens for a Free Kuwait, had arranged the testimony.[1]
Yes, we dare question the validity of his story, which is why the media continually states that his mother is believed to have died because she lacked medical coverage.
Again though: where in the hell is Owens father? And to paraphrase Rev. Wright, it is fitting to leave you with the revised ending of A Christmas Carol, as Owens has ensured to: "God damn us every one."
The flash mobs have raised questions about race and class.
Most of the teenagers who have taken part in them are black and from poor neighborhoods. Most of the areas hit have been predominantly white business districts.
In the flash mob on Saturday, groups of teenagers were chanting “black boys” and “burn the city,” bystanders said.
In a Feb. 16 melee, 150 teenagers spilled out of the Gallery shopping mall east of City Hall during rush hour and rampaged through Macy’s, knocking down customers and damaging displays.
The police arrested 15 of the teenagers and, according to one report, some had not been allowed to call their parents six hours after they were detained.
Clay Yeager, a juvenile justice consultant and former director of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in Pennsylvania, said he believed the flash mobs were partly a result of a decline in state money for youth violence prevention programs.
Financing for the programs has dropped 93 percent to $1.2 million in this year’s budget compared with $16 million in 2002. City financing for such programs has dropped to $1.9 million in the past three years compared with $4.1 million from 1999 through 2002, a 53 percent drop.
Mayor Nutter, who is black, rejected the notion that race or the city cut in services was a factor.
“I don’t think people should be finding excuses for inappropriate behavior,” Mr. Nutter said. “There is no racial component to stupid behavior, and parents should not be looking to the government to provide entertainment for their children.
Atlanta was once burned by Sherman, but Black youth have decided to have 21st Century fun in the city by engaging in Smash and Grab techniques at stores causing massive damage and a lot of stolen property. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports:
In 2006, there were 17 so-called “smash and grab” burglaries in Atlanta, causing more than $51,000 in damages and losses.
By 2008, according to Sen. Preston Smith, that number jumped to 130 such burglaries with more than $1.4 million worth of windows broken and fancy sunglasses and hip jeans stolen.
“This has become a prolific activity,” said Smith of Rome. “Especially in Atlanta.”
To combat the sudden wave of activity, Smith passed legislation in the Georgia Senate on Wednesday that would actually make smash and grab a new crime and a designated felony act.
Senate Bill 423 creates a new statute in Georgia law that defines smash and grab burglaries as entering a retail establishment without authority with the intent to commit theft and causing more than $500 of damage. Under this legislation, these burglaries will be considered a felony, punishable from two to 20 years in prison and/or a $100,000 fine. A second conviction carries a prison term of five to 20 years and/or a $100,000 fine.
Previously, property damage and burglary were two separate crimes. Juveniles, many of whom were committing these crimes, were rarely, if ever charged, because of their ages.
Now, under SB 423, burglars under 17 would be charged with a designated felony in juvenile court and could face the toughest legal penalties, Smith said.
Smith estimates that of the 363 retail burglaries in 2008, about 44 percent of them were smash and grab.
TBW - This is a Black World - is a new game that Black youth engage in, knowing full well that public sentiment will never allow any punishment nor condemnation of these mere juvenile exploits. Indeed, the only crime worthy of police investigation and national news is the scandal of the public address system at Wal-Mart.
Stealing the PA equipment and making derogatory remarks about Black clientele is sin that even Dante himself couldn't pen a suitable punishment for in hell.
Help Stuff Black People Don't Like out: send an email to us stuffblackpeople@gmail.com about any TBW activity in your city, on part with Smash and Grab in Atlanta and Flash Mobs in Philadelphia.
What's going on in Memphis? Baltimore? Washington DC? Miami? New York City? Chicago? Durham?
How is TBW being played in your city? SBPDL is a one man operation, but we get a lot of emails that help pace editorial decisions. Thank you. Keep them coming.
We'll be back tomorrow with two new posts. In the meantime, relax. Some places exist where TBW can never be played. America and planet earth is headed to 365 Black.
The Urban League is reporting that the gap in nearly every category that is quantifiable between white and Black people is growing and CNN is worried about the nearly irreparable damage to those who happen to be Black in America. The Urban League put out a list of how this can be accomplished and the mere redistribution of wealth can stop the growing rip in racial relations:
Grant proposes that a movement to foster equality for blacks in all realms of American life should be "fashioned" after ideas promulgated by the Obama campaign. Those ideas include blending personal responsibility and "principled ideas" with pragmatism, and building grass-roots movements crossing racial, ethnic, generational, gender and regional lines.
"We must use this moment to reinvigorate the movement and re-engage the nation in a struggle to finish the job of equality, liberty and justice for all ," she said.
The report lists policy recommendations in the areas of home ownership, jobs, health and education. Here is a sampling:
Increasing funding for underskilled workers' job training programs.
Steering workforce investment dollars to construction industry jobs.
Funding infrastructure development for public building construction and renovations of schools, community centers, libraries, recreation centers and parks.
Creating a temporary public service employee program.
Passing a home buyers' bill of rights that would protect and educate consumers and provide home-buying help.
Restoring a small business loan program and continuing tax credit funding.
Implementing "a comprehensive and universal health insurance system for all Americans."
Developing "a comprehensive health infrastructure for the delivery of health education, prevention and intervention initiatives" for blacks.
Studying health care in the criminal justice system as it relates to black inmates.
Examining economic, sociological and environmental contributors to "chronic health conditions."
Expect a push for a nationwide Michael Oher Act (the Black guy from The Blind Side) in the vain hope that the tides will change for Black people. Sadly, they will not.
So, for those who love the inadequate postal service; trips to the DMV that last months; dealing with surly TSA agents while being treated like a hardened terrorist and a education system capable of creating a near illiterate people, then you'll love health care.
Stuff Black People Don't Like started as a joke. We are proud to say we have been chronicling life in Black Run America (BRA) for nearly a year, and have created a most unpleasant panorama of life in the United States as the nation limps to a whimpering finale.
Disingenuous White Liberals will never stop prodding Black people about their current failures to attain equilibrium with white people and Black people will never stop blaming the past transgressions of white people for their current failures.
Reparations are coming to rectify historic inequities and the current inability for Black people to market themselves adequately outside of government employment. So is a financial judgment day that will make the 50,000 Black people who lined up in Detroit on the mere rumor of a stimulus check in 2009 look like a mere line for a roller coaster.
That dear reader, will truly be a big f***ing deal.
