Sunday, January 11, 2009

A Conversation About Race...

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is starting up a new blog on race.

Blink.

This bitch is beyond curious to see how A Conversation About Race goes…particularly since The Post’s website, Stltoday.com, has had some….ummm, well ig’nant as hell racist bullshit pop up in comments to articles in the past. As a matter of fact, some of the comments to the stltoday.com article announcing their new blog are evidence that St. Louis needs to have some conversations about race…stat.

Lawd, give me strength.

Suffice it to say this bitch will be watching and reading closely as The Post attempts to move beyond the School of Tolerance into the real.

Buckle up, because this is sure to be a bump-based ride...

8 comments:

Unknown said...

I don't know what to say after reading just two pages of the comments Shark Fu..except:

That is some sick shit ain't it?

Anonymous said...

The comments in general on the P-D website (and I tend to not read them) are ignorant and at a low level of discourse, not to mention racist whenever a story has a person-of-color involved. The frustrating thing is that I know people like us have to be on there providing intelligent challenges to ignorance, but it's so damn frustrating. I don't even want to engage assholes like that.

Sigh.

dinthebeast said...

I try to stick to stuff I actually know about when commenting, so speaking as a former line cook: Dan Quayle would not last one shift as a dishwasher. Aside from that, I found the blog-intro to be assumption-based for the most part. In my experience, when I want to know more about this ethnicity or that, I can find out what's what by just talking to people. It helps to live in a city with a diverse population, where I am likely to have interactions with folks of different backgrounds. I don't need to perform a scientific study on "subjects" because for one thing those studies have already been done, and I do have an internet connection if I want to read them, but more importantly people aren't "subjects" to study (not being an anthropologist or a sociologist) they are people to meet and know about and do business with. The author's comment about fear of making inapropriate or offensive statements in multiracial settings got me to wondering about his feelings in supposed non-multiracial settings. Myself, I don't assume that my thoughts are OK to voice just because I thought them. I have also found that racial similarity does not substitute for empathy about another person's point of view.
On the other hand, if this does start a conversation, it could be a good thing. Things somtimes get better when people talk about them.
-Doug in Oakland

The Future Was Yesterday said...

I could be mistaken, but if the Post is like most newspapers, their primary purpose is to make money, THEN worry about what they write. The only thing that will make money (bring readers) quicker than a flaming racial crap throwing contest, is a religious racial crap throwing contest.:)

I have no access to the Post's thinking, but controversy sells: mundane sits there and rots.

Anonymous said...

Oh my effing gawd. The crowd that posts the the Post is not to be believed.

There was an article not too long ago about my school district - which is inner ring and the student population is predominantly African American. The sickos that crept out of the woodwork made my skin crawl. (I always say, it's hard to scare me. I'm a white girl from outstate Missourah.)

Stltoday.com is the biggest waste of bandwidth on the innertubes.

Anonymous said...

I have never been able to read the comments on STLToday without immediately wanting to move out of this city. I'll check out the blog but I have a feeling if I start reading the comments I'm going to be an Angry Black Bitch too..(ok maybe I already am.lol)

Kit (Keep It Trill) said...

We can and should anticipate more ignorant statements and outright hate this month and next. I did a related post on today that you and your readers might be interest in: Open Season On Black Men: Is It Obama Related?

Anonymous said...

I grew up in St.L and have lived in all sections of the city, including crossing the river to E.St.L. I still read online the PD which seems to be like all major newspapers..'make it drama, make it stir up people... cause we got to make that buck'..! What it isn't going to do is solve the problems that have been into hide-n-seek since I have been on this earth; nor, do I believe they will be solved by the time I die. I have spent a life-time fighting injustice, ie, bias based on race, sexual preference, handicap, etc. and I am tired. My hope is that the younger generation will stand tall in the face of ignorance. It takes EACH person not to ignore or let pass comments, to bring it out in the open. If we don't stand up in real life then we remain ignorant.

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