White People Are Running Scared As Their Long Reign Crumbles

Anti-racist blogger Shay Stewart-Bouley of Black Girl in Maine shared news of white backlash against Black History Month in the U.S. generally and targeting her specifically. She posted the above photo to social media platforms with her commentary and the predictable backlash from terrified, angry white people ensued. 

Her analysis of the "It's OK to be White" message is worth a read.

Coincidentally, my weekend kicked off with my 6 year old grandson sharing that he had watched Portland City Councilor Victoria Pelletier read a nasty letter she received and decided to publicize on social media.

(Note: I greatly appreciate my grandchildren's parents for their active anti-racist educational efforts in our mostly white family.)

My grandson remembered Councilor Pelletier from the community television show we do together as he and his mom had been in the studio audience last year. As a young constituent of Portland's 2nd District, he was concerned that people were "being mean" to Councilor Pelletier. 

Yup, me too, and kudos to Pelletier for lifting the rock and showing us the ugly racism that she and other people of color face constantly when elected to public office.

All this on the weekend of the Chinese weather balloon theatrics.

White people locally, nationally, and internationally are expressing their perception of being backed into a corner where their power over others and control of common resources is eroding rapidly. 

NATO, a white supremacist military alliance, has bombed, occupied, and pillaged populations around the globe. Now that Ukraine is being used in a proxy war to weaken China's strongest ally, Russia, the violence is targeting whites -- as it did in air strikes on Yugoslavia in the 1990's.

But NATO and its U.S. masters are watching their economic power slip away. 

This is what working class white people are experiencing domestically as well.

Arguments about fairness and equity fall on deaf ears. The fact that Black households in the U.S. have a mere 11% of the household wealth of white households doesn't matter to these terrified white folks. They can't afford enough food or heat and are panicking. Their healthcare options are pathetic, and access to luxuries like regular dental care are almost non-existent.

Media owned by billionaires have people in the U.S. trained to blame each other rather than the root of their common problems: corporate government that allows, even facilitates, profit from misery. 

Example of a false dichotomy narrative common in the U.S.

Big Pharma and weapons manufacturers spring to mind but there are many more.

The U.S. doing business as NATO is panicking, too. The Ukraine war sanctions on Russia harmed Europe's economy, not Russia's, and hastened the abandonment of the U.S. dollar as a currency for international trade. Billions of dollars and weapons later, Ukraine's military cannot prevail, and it has already lost in the humanitarian sense with neo-Nazis steering the ship of state.

Enter the weather balloon and cue the China-bashing hysteria in the press.

Most likely the PR aspect of hyping this appearance of a hot air balloon (there have been many in the past, but did you ever hear about them?) was to create a pretext for U.S. Secretary of State Blinken to cancel his announced visit to Beijing to meet with President Xi. This small step toward peaceful relations with China had to be stopped by those who want war and are very rapidly arming up in the Pacific region.

White supremacy has had its day. 

Delaying tactics are in some cases hastening its demise. Decisions made from fear are often not logical or ultimately beneficial to those making them.

It's logical to be fearful of losing the major privilege accorded those who appear white. Although they play the victim, white privilege is very much something they benefit from all the time. Enslaving labor plus other plunder of colonized populations and their resources has created an artificial standard of living for white people that could never have endured on a level playing field.

So, as loss of status plus economic disaster overtakes this group, they lash out in myriad ways to stave off the inevitable. 

From the micro level where leaders of color are insulted and threatened to the macro level where NATO moves nuclear weapons into place all over the globe and ramps up anti-China rhetoric, white people are running scared.

Apology To The Black Woman On The Path At Willard Beach

Photo: Soul Cap

Greetings to the Black woman I met on the path at Willard Beach in South Portland on Friday, July 16. Our brief encounter has stayed with me because I regret my choices and hope that by reflecting on them I can do better. 

This is a story about how intentions don't matter nearly as much as impact matters.

It was late on a warm, muggy day when I arrived at the beach. My husband went ahead with two little grandkids eager to get on the playground after a long car ride. After reorganizing the car a bit I hurried to catch up with them and found my way to the path by the outdoor showers. It was wet and puddly and there were wild roses crowding it on both sides. Meant to be a two-way path, but only if both parties skirted the puddles in the center and scraped the edge of the roses.

I was about halfway up the path when I saw you at the other end. You had almost shoulder length curly dark hair and a blue print dress. I'm not sure how old I thought you were but definitely an adult and definitely younger than me.

I kept to my edge of the path and continued as you began walking toward me. When we were about six feet apart, skirting our respective edges around the puddles, I said, "Excuse me" in what I thought was a polite tone. I thought about stopping to let you pass but I didn't. As you passed me you said distinctly but quietly, "She's everywhere I go." There was no one else nearby that you might have been talking to or about, though I suppose it's possible you were on the phone talking into a bluetooth device I couldn't see. My impression was that you were speaking both to me and about me.

Doing the work to examine my own racism within a system of enforced white supremacy that has benefited me for 64 years, I found these feelings: surprise that you spoke; hurt that my "excuse me" wasn't viewed as the polite expression I intended; annoyed that I was being lumped in with all the white women hogging all the paths; compassion for the weariness in your tone; confusion about what, if anything, I had gotten wrong; fear at the iceberg that your brief sentence is the tip of; exasperation that a Black person in the whitest state in the nation expressed annoyance at being surrounded by whiteness.

Reflecting on my brief utterance, it occurred to me that the words "excuse me" can be weaponized with sarcasm and undoubtedly are by passive-aggressive white women.

Reflecting on how my body took up space that could have been yielded, I realize that my upbringing in a society dominated by white privilege was worse than useless. As the older person and the one who was already on the path, I assumed my right to keep using it.

As a white person, I have never expected a person of color to step off the sidewalk to let me pass. But I look like a whole lot of people that not only expected it but might use violence to enforce it. Even a woman definitely too young to have lived through the Jim Crow segregation practices that traumatized my young parents in Georgia in 1955 probably knows this in her bones.

Even if she was not the descendant of enslaved Africans, but possibly part of the diaspora communities from Somalia, Sudan, and Democratic Republic of Congo that now live in southern Maine. Because Jim Crow doesn't care what country you were born in or what language you learned to speak as a toddler. The fact that you don't look white is the only salient fact for segregationists.

So I want to apologize to you, Black woman on the beach path. 

I wish I had paused on the path and let you pass without comment. I might have said "hello" as you passed by, but I wish I had not said "excuse me."

Thank you for saying what you did. Without it, I would have quickly forgotten our brief encounter.

I would have gone on clicking heart on the Instagram posts of both ___brick and the group blacksand.surf who are claiming the right to surf and otherwise enjoy the beach while Black in California. 

Source: How the memory of a black resort refused to fade "A bather at Bruce’s Beach. The Shades of LA Collection, LA County Library"

I know the history that a Black resort owned by the Bruce family was thriving until 1924 when it was stolen from them by the City of Manhattan Beach.

I know that when I got up this morning both Huntington Beach and Proud Boys were trending on Twitter, because of a white supremacist rally yesterday in another southern California beach town. Some history on that location, as reported by Mark McDermott in easyreadernews.com:

in early 1926, the most ambitious Black resort of all, the Pacific Beach Club, which was near completion in Huntington Beach and intended to be “the grandest escape of all” for Black Californians, complete with Eygptial Revival architecture, was destroyed by arson. The project had been headed by Ceruti and was clearly intended not only as a resort but as an act of economic activism, a statement that Black people would not only have a place at the beach, but build the “Queen of the Pacific.” It had all gone up in flames. Though no arrests were ever made, the Ku Klux Klan’s very active presence in Southern California at the time caused many to believe that they had started the fire. 

I would have gone on shaking my head at the 2020 Olympics committee that banned swim caps that could be worn comfortably by Black women and others with thick, curly hair. Their reasoning: such caps don't follow "the natural form of the head."

Photo: SoulCap.com

Whose head is the natural form? 

I'm going to remember your words -- "She's everywhere I go" -- the next time I have an opportunity to hold space for a person in a Black body. And I'm going to do better at using that opportunity, because I sincerely want to, and to honor the work that you did for me when you spoke up. Because only impact matters.

Black Lives Matter 2021: #SoHoKaren Miya Ponsetto Found In Calif.

Emmett Till's funeral which was open casket because his mother wanted the world to see what the false accusation by a white woman had done to her child.

What are the impacts of the "Karens" of the world? Many on Twitter are pointing out that a false accusation by a white woman led to 14 year old Emmett Till's brutal murder by a white mob in 1955.

Is it petty for social media users concerned with racial justice to focus on #SoHoKaren, a white woman who assaulted a 14 year old Black male on December 30 after falsely accusing him of stealing her phone in SoHo's Arlo Hotel?  (FYI, SoHo Arlo Hotel's phone number is 212-342-7000.)

Source: https://www.keyonharrold.com/

The teen's father, accomplished jazz musician Keyon Harrold, said:

"I want my son to grow up whole. That's all we want...

"I can't even come downstairs in New York City...and just go get brunch without being attacked and wrongfully accused of something."

Does it matter that the incident happened in New York City where a false report that a Black man bird-watching in Central Park was threatening her life led to Central Park "Karen" Amy Cooper being charged?

"Karen" has long since entered the lexicon to refer to women who use their white privilege to harrass and, often, endanger Black men, women, and children.

So when 22 year old Californian Miya Ponsetto is tagged "Karen" for literally tackling a young teen she decided had her phone (when she had actually lost the phone in an Uber) we all know what that means.

She's dangerous. 

In an interview she gave to CNN she claimed she was assaulted, despite both hotel security cameras and the teen's dad's cell phone video which show otherwise.

Ponsetto turned up next getting McDonald's takeout in Simi Valley, California after returning quickly from NYC. Where she does not reside. Nor was she a guest at the Arlo Hotel where the manager had her back rather than that of the Black family who were actually guests.

Ponsetto's statements to the videographer that she's 22 (i.e. 8 years older than the kid she assaulted while his dad defended him) and "I'm also Puerto Rican" may indicate privilege and may also indicate that she's not very bright.

Doubtful that she's as talented as the dad who tried to defend his son from her. Playing a mean jazz trumpet got Grammy-winner Keyon Harrold out of Ferguson, Missouri by his own account. Ferguson, where in 2014 officer Darren Wilson shot unarmed teenager Michael Brown in the back over an alleged theft of cigars from a store --  and then left him to bleed out in the street. 

Our history of racial violence in the U.S. means that every Black parent must reckon with the risks to their self or their beloved children at any time of the day, in any location -- including home.

I'm living in Oakland, California for the next few months within sight of the spot where another notorious Karen, "BBQ Becky," called police on a Black family for using charcoal to cook in Lake Merritt Park. (If you watch the video to the end you will see great restraint on the part of a white Oakland police officer who manages not to laugh in her face -- or kill her.)

I wrote about that incident at the time but here's an update: that particular spot in the park became wildly popular with the Bay Area's Black community for BBQ's, parties, rallies, and performances. Many Black Lives Matter marches either began or ended there during the burning hot summer of 2020. Neighbors despaired of ever getting a quiet night's sleep as firecrackers went off all night, every night.

Some boarded up their storefronts and fled to the suburbs. Which is actually where BBQ Becky was from. Thanks, Jennifer Schulte of Walnut Creek, CA.

White privilege means that fragile women feel free to call law enforcement to impose their own personal decisions about right and wrong -- even when they are not on their home turf.

White privilege means white people consider anywhere their turf.

Like the lobby of a hotel where they are not even staying.

My Response To Leah Baldacci

The Maine Bar Association inexplicably entertained a racist diatribe from attorney Leah Baldacci of Lipman & Katz this week. You can hear the recording of their meeting here on YouTube, and Ms. Baldacci's remarks begin around the 23:00 mark.

I used her firm's contact form to send her the following feedback just now, in the spirit of the message I hear often from Black, Indigenous, and other people of color: 

Y'all white people need to get your girl i.e. talk to other white people and challenge their racist statements and/or behavior.

June 20, 2020

Dear Ms. Leah Baldacci,

I would like to explain white privilege to you, and why it is neither an accusation nor biased to observe that white women like me and you have it. My dad explained it to me when I was about 6 or 7 years old by saying, You are white and that makes you lucky. It does not make you better than people of other races, but it does mean that many doors will be open to you that wouldn't be if you were not white.

Throughout my years in central Maine I've heard a lot of pushback on the notion of white privilege. This is usually from low-income white people who say some version of, I may have grown up white but I certainly didn't grow up privileged, thus confusing class privilege with white privilege. 

There is also quite a history of white, privileged women making remarks such as you did recently to the Maine Bar Association. Sufragettes we were taught to revere as champions of women deliberately excluded Black women from their movement, or literally relegated them to the back of the parade. Not a good look.

Here's how I've successfully explained white privilege in the 21st century to those open to considering the notion: 

Did your teenager ever do dumb stuff that brought him or her to the attention of police? Most people in Maine will answer in the affirmative. My second question is: Were you afraid they would die as a result? Most will answer no. And that, in a nutshell, is white privilege.

You may want to do some more reading on the subject of intersectionality (how various systems of oppression such as sexism and racism intersect and amplify each other). Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw developed the theory of intersectionality. She's a professor at the UCLA School of Law and Columbia Law School, specializing in race and gender issues, and worth a read.

Finally, I will pass along what Black, Indigenous and other people of color tell white people who have made blunders in speaking about race in public: impact counts more than intention. And also: white people, you need to do the work with other white people around their racism.

Respectfully submitted,
Lisa Savage

Solon

Report Back On Maine For Mainers Anti-Immigrant Picnic #mepolitics

Here's the report back from Andy Bourassa who stood with Stacie Bourassa and Ryan Celli on the road outside the "Maine for Mainers" anti-immigrant picnic.

The event had been publicized by unknown actors who mailed this flyer to residents living nearby in Canaan:

Several Maine newspapers, and even the Associated Press, carried the story of the flyer and the push back from organizers who objected to being characterized as white supremacists (despite their online history as such).

This is Andy's account:

We arrived at about 1:40. At that point, Ryan Celli was already there and parked on the opposite side of the street-about 500 yards from Camille's property. Fox/ABC channel 7, was already there also. 

As soon as we parked our car TOM K approached us. He asked us if we were supporters, protesters, or something else. 

I stated we were here to watch, document, and make it know we didn’t support his mission or presence. 

I began to record at this point, as he and Ryan began debating where we could and could not stand or be. 

Ryan stated he had spoken with the road commissioner and was clear on what he could and could not do. Stacie and I also had consulted on the law in Canaan. 

TOM argues that we could not follow those guidelines. Ryan made him aware that Camille had threatened him, and TOM said Camille has a tendency to give over excited and carried away. We never addressed him until he spoke to us. After I called him out on this-because he said we were arguing with him...he walked away to complete his FOX interview further up the road. 

After reporter finished with him-she came down and interviewed all three of us.

Her questions were things like-do we expect more people, how did you hear about this, and what did you think about the flyer (they say they didn’t send it)?

At 2:00- Ryan and I walked up the street and planned to stand about 50 yards away from Camille's driveway in the shade-on opposite side of the road and document. As we walked by the property, Camille came out and engaged Ryan. She started arguing with him about us being there and saying she had called the police. At that point -Ryan stopped walking and said, I guess I’ll stand right here. Just off the property line-on the side of the road. 

Camille has some young guy in a Gandhi shirt (go figure) stand guard at the entrance to the drive. He silently shadowed Ryan for awhile.

A car arrived, with two older white men (60+). They pulled up and asked me if this was the white supremacist picnic. I planed my video up so they wouldn’t see me recording and wouldn’t get their faces. But you can hear the exchange on the video. They were from out of town and saw the event and wanted to come support TOM and Camille.

Because they stopped and chatted with me, when they tried to go in- Camille stops them and says they need to leave immediately and that they are on camera trespassing. She gets upsets and tells them to leave now! All that is on video. She actually turned away supporters-because she was so worried about infiltrators.  

After they left, Camille again addressed and argued with Ryan and then walked away. The guy that had been shadowing Ryan, suddenly took three steps toward him and reached into his pocket. It happened so fast I didn’t catch it on video-just saw it. Ryan pulled up his shirt and showed the guy that he was carrying a weapon and warned him not to approach any further. The guy pulled out his phone and started recording, (this I have on video I shared) as he narrated a false tale. In my video I correct him and he changes his story three times-but eventually says exactly what I said in his own words.  

Camille comes back out and starts yelling at Ryan again. 

At this point, Camille says: “Have you ever heard the phrase don’t shit where you sleep? You have kids-you fool. Someone could come to where you live...” 

At this point Ryan called the state police and reported threatening of his family. Police said they were on their way. 

After 25 minutes the police showed up. State police Sgt. Bryant. 

He was kind and calm. He spoke to Ryan first, then me, then went to speak with Camille and party. Stacie recorded this interaction with us-it is 15 mins long. 

Officer took a very long time with them at the picnic. We waited for 45-60 mins in the sun like he asked us to. I made the comment that I would have left sooner than that if he hadn’t made us stay-it was state sponsored protesting because he wouldn’t let us leave the scene:) 

We waited at the end of her drive while he spoke to TOM, Camille and other party goers. At some points they got heated with the officer and seemed quite upset. Overall they had the state police at their picnic for about an hour-so hard for TOM to talk.

While waiting to be released, two people left the party. One looked right at Ryan and I as he left in his pickup and said: “those people are friggin nuts!” 

The officer finally came back and told us we were being warned for Disorderly Conduct. He acknowledged we had not broken any laws but said if we persisted and they were called back we would be arrested. I challenged that as I had reported to him as a cooperating witness with video that he reviewed. How was I being disorderly. I also challenged his notion we were invading her space. All interactions happened in the easement or public roadway so it was a disagreement between two parties in public-not on privately owned land. We asked if Camille was also getting a warning and he said he would “talk” to her. We challenged that and said if we are being warned -she has to be too. Ryan also asked that the officer provide a formal warning of harassment and cease and desist on any further contact -per threats and warnings she had already sent and received. Based on evidence Ryan provided he did issue her and official no contact. Camille violates that the same night by posting at and about him on Facebook. Which the officer said specifically was not allowed. 

There were about 8-10 people in total. Camille and her partner Dave, and TOM...were three of the 8-10, and two people left. So overall, maybe 5 members showed and stayed.

We left at 4:15 when the officer released us. At that point they were mostly done.

For context, here are a few screenshots of hostess Camille Cheaney Patterson's threats posted to Facebook prior to the picnic.

To put faces with names:

A couple of thoughts about all this:

*  White privilege probably allowed Stacie, Andy, and Ryan to feel safe interacting with a state trooper the way they did. It also protected them as they stood in a public space witnessing the picnic and documenting who attended:

* People of color would not likely have felt safe in this space or these interactions.

* I wouldn't have felt safe knowing that Ryan was carrying a concealed weapon. The probability of someone being injured or killed goes up significantly in spaces where guns are present. I have asked Ryan to comment on his choice to do this, and thus I won't guess what his motivation and reasoning may have been.

* Why is avowed white nationalist Tom K. wearing an Indian kurta in the photos with his wife and Camille's partner Dave? Because Hindu Brahmins were the original white supremacists?

White Privilege On Display In Skowhegan Mascot Controversy Is Ugly

White privilege on display in the Skowhegan mascot controversy has not been particularly appealing.

Firstly, there is the business owned and operated by an actual member of the school board that oversees Skowhegan Area High School and its team names. Maine Fire Equipment owner Todd Smith advertises many products with the name and cartoonish depictions of "Indian" human beings on them.

Screenshot from Maine Fire Equipment website provided by Ann McMichael

I shared some of the racist imagery from their website in an open letter I wrote to both Smiths (wife Karen is on the board also) pointing out that they might have a financial interest in voting on issues related to the team name/mascot. I later found out that both of them had in fact voted against holding a public forum on the mascot issue which took place on January 8.

The only feedback I got from the board or this local business is that Todd's employee Jessica Pinkham asked politely that I take down the screenshot with her elementary school age daughter wearing an Indians scarf. And I did that on my online post of the letter. (A redacted version of my screenshot can be seen above.)

So, it's okay for a white parent to use her child's photo to sell merchandise that is harmful to other people's children, but it's not okay to use the child's photo in an argument about why board members who profit from selling racist merchandise are unqualified to vote on the issue. Got it.

The Skowhegan "Indian Pride" group has made it abundantly clear that they feel is also okay to disregard and even insult Native parents who argue that the stereotyping represented by continued use of mascot is harmful to their children.

Several of them called the Penobscot Nation tribal office this week to demanding to speak to "someone with a brain" i.e. not the tribal ambassador Maulian Dana. SIP leader Jennifer Poirier, also a board member, emailed Penboscot chief Kirk Francis to say that the tribe would be subject to a lawsuit unless he reined in Maulian on the mascot retirement campaign.

Then came the comment thread on this article by Doug Harlow about a bill introduced in the new legislature sponsored by Rep. Ben Collings, An Act to Ban Native American Mascots in Maine Schools (LR 2188). I was quoted in the article saying that a lot more education about Maine Native history and culture is needed in Skowhegan. This is a screenshot from part of the thread:

Disclaimer: I do not now nor have I ever had "something to do" with the prestigious summer residency art program founded by, among others, the late social realist artist Ben Shahn.

Another disclaimer: I am unaware of any effort to change the team name to Savage's [sic], as was alleged by this Facebook post with an unidentified photo of gratuitous violence (presumably committed by Natives because of the arrows?).

The reason that violent language and imagery is dangerous is that hearing hate speech primes your brain for hateful actions. 

A study by cognitive psychologists at at Arizona State University goes a long way toward explaining a persistent aspect of hate crimes: they are virtually always preceded by hate speech. Rehearsing an act of violence activates the very same neural pathways in the brain as actually committing the same act of violence. Thus, all genocides are preceded by a long campaign of violent language against the targeted group.

Fragile white people will no doubt attack me again for using the r-word to describe their actual cultural appropriation of the images and ceremonial objects of people that survived attempted genocide.

More education is also needed about white privilege -- why it exists, and how it works.

For those interested in learning more than they know, here's a good place to start. "White fragility: why it's so hard to talk to white people about racism" by Dr. Robin DiAngelo can be read and pondered at The Good Men Project website.

Do You Have To Talk To A Beloved 8 Year Old About How Not To Get Shot By Police? #WhitePrivilege

Image: Say Her Name

I am going to keep sharing the video below until it no longer makes me cry. So, probably for the rest of my life. 

As the demagogue with bad hair yesterday announced a ramped up "war on drugs" -- white supremacist code for ramping up violence on black people -- it's worth remembering that blacks are no more likely to use or sell drugs than whites. In some cases, less likely.

Despite the facts, this is how loving parents feel they must educate their children. For survival.



When I try to explain white privilege to whites who claim they are not and never were privileged, I almost always use some example of how their children are dealt with by police when said children do something illegal. Or even don't do something illegal, but are driving a car or walking or skateboarding. One of my children did a lot of dumb things that drew the attention of police, but as an articulate white boy he never experienced their violence and never went to jail.

I'm aware that police also target and harass white people who are visibly poor, especially the homeless. That does not change the fact that EVERY parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle or cousin of a young man of color worries that their loved one will end up dead after a routine encounter with law enforcement. 

Graphic: MappingPoliceViolence.org

And statistically speaking, they are quite right to worry.

Graphic: MappingPoliceViolence.org

Black and brown women and girls also face disproportionate levels of violence from police, often sexual violence. Many have died in custody. Say Her Name is a resource that helps us remember who they were and how they died.

I do not have a good feeling about the safety of innocent black and brown children in the U.S. under the new regime. 

Police who are not held accountable for extrajudicial execution of 12 year olds like Tamir Rice are likely to go on killing. If you also fear this deadly trend, please join me in sharing the video. Until the madness stops.