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You are here: Home / Civil Rights / Racial Justice / Post-racial America / Fun for All the Girls and Boys

Fun for All the Girls and Boys

by @heymistermix.com|  April 3, 20128:30 am| 63 Comments

This post is in: Post-racial America

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I missed this yesterday, and in case you did, too, don’t miss Ta-Nehisi Coates utter destruction of Juan Williams’ assertion that there are no marches protesting black-on-black violence. And TNC is right that the Interrupters, which is streaming on PBS, is well worth watching.

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63Comments

  1. 1.

    Egg Berry

    April 3, 2012 at 8:35 am

    Was Juan Williams always this much of an idiot, or did it take going to FOX News to turn him?

  2. 2.

    PurpleGirl

    April 3, 2012 at 8:39 am

    Just the other day — maybe last Friday — there was a rally/march in a Bronx neighborhood about guns/youth/street violence. (I’m too lazy to go looking for a cite.) They (rallies/marches) occur quite often in NYC neighborhoods and housing projects. Juan Williams is a jerk.

  3. 3.

    Comrade Javamanphil

    April 3, 2012 at 8:40 am

    And then there are pundits who write more than they read, and talk more than they listen, and prefer an easy creationism to a Google search.

    That’s going to leave a mark.

  4. 4.

    Libby

    April 3, 2012 at 8:44 am

    Please forgive the off topic bleg but my friend’s daughter, whom I’ve known since she was a baby, is a contestant on The Voice. If you’re so inclined could you please vote for Naia Kete on Team Blake? Polls open till 10am. Vote on-line or call toll free 866-856-8305. TIA.

  5. 5.

    jibeaux

    April 3, 2012 at 8:45 am

    Someone wrote a letter to the editor the other day asking why there was no protest about the murder of black man X, which had been committed by black man Y, “who is now in custody.” I wonder, brain trust, if that detail has anything to do with it?

  6. 6.

    c u n d gulag

    April 3, 2012 at 8:49 am

    @Egg Berry:
    He was never an idiot.

    He knew where to go to get the money.

    “There’s GOLD IN THEM THAR SHILLS!”

  7. 7.

    beltane

    April 3, 2012 at 8:57 am

    What will it take to drill this into the thick skulls of the RW noise machine? It is not the murder per se that has people marching, it is the apparently state-sanctioned nature of this murder that has sane people up in arms. Black-on-black crime is not comparable to the legal stalking and killing of innocent, unarmed black people.

  8. 8.

    gnomedad

    April 3, 2012 at 8:57 am

    They’ll just move on to “where are the marches protesting black on white violence?”

  9. 9.

    Schlemizel

    April 3, 2012 at 9:03 am

    @Egg Berry:

    He is paid to be an idiot on TV, it could be he knows better but knows that his income depends on never making it obvious that he knows better or it could be that he works to remain ignorant, its a lot less work & does not cause the sleepless nights knowing you are a bought and paid for whore can cause.

  10. 10.

    sparrow

    April 3, 2012 at 9:05 am

    @Schlemizel: Obligatory Upton Sinclair, “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it.”

  11. 11.

    handsmile

    April 3, 2012 at 9:07 am

    Appreciate your bringing this column to my (and others) attention. An inspiring example of how to confute “pundits who write more than they read, and talk more than they listen, and prefer an easy creationism to a Google search.”

    Of course, in response to one underinformed commenter, TNC writes: “You need facts before opinions.” Just imagine if such a directive were to be adopted by this blog.

  12. 12.

    beltane

    April 3, 2012 at 9:11 am

    There is almost no point in addressing Juan Williams’ argument in factual terms. His role in all of this is to provide cover for the “I’m not a racist, but…” white people who can now pat themselves on the back saying “See, even the African-American liberal Juan Williams thinks the Trayvon Martin case has gotten too much attention.”

  13. 13.

    nitpicker

    April 3, 2012 at 9:11 am

    Why has no one asked Juan Williams yet how his claim that it’s natural to fear Muslims wearing traditional garb is different than George Zimmerman’s fear of black kids in hoodies?

  14. 14.

    Boots Day

    April 3, 2012 at 9:11 am

    I have no doubt that Fox News, with its deep concern for black-on-black violence, never mentioned a single one of those protest marches.

  15. 15.

    different-church-lady

    April 3, 2012 at 9:15 am

    You know what else we hardly ever see? We hardly ever see white people march against black-on-black violence.

    Was Juan Williams always this much of an idiot, or did it take going to FOX News to turn him?

    Based on my memories of him from “Talk of the Nation”, he always was, but it took Fox to let his freak flag fly. He used to just sit there passively for most of the show, making the occasional tepid interjection. Now we know why: he had to play it straight on NPR, and that meant he couldn’t be himself.

  16. 16.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    April 3, 2012 at 9:15 am

    @Comrade Javamanphil:

    True… and sadly, not enough of one…

  17. 17.

    dmsilev

    April 3, 2012 at 9:19 am

    Off-topic, President Obama is shrill:

    This Congressional Republican budget, however, is something different altogether. It’s a Trojan Horse. Disguised as deficit reduction plan, it’s really an attempt to impose a radical vision on our country. It’s nothing but thinly-veiled Social Darwinism. It’s antithetical to our entire history as a land of opportunity and upward mobility for everyone who’s willing to work for it — a place where prosperity doesn’t trickle down from the top, but grows outward from the heart of the middle class. And by gutting the very things we need to grow an economy that’s built to last — education and training; research and development — it’s a prescription for decline.

    How terribly uncivil; the ghost of David Broder is weeping.

  18. 18.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    April 3, 2012 at 9:22 am

    @handsmile: And maybe, someday, you will have learned enough that you won’t have to have your hand held to be able to recognize the lies on Fox and what is actually true. Maybe there is hope…..hahahahaha!

  19. 19.

    Scott

    April 3, 2012 at 9:23 am

    Yes, Juan Williams has always been an idiot. That’s why he’s on TV all the damn time and Ta-Nehisi Coates isn’t.

  20. 20.

    geg6

    April 3, 2012 at 9:24 am

    @PurpleGirl:

    They are a common occurrance here in the ‘Burgh, too. They’ve been going on for years, from anti-gang rallies to general decrying of black-on-black violence to police brutality and indifference to the community.

    I guess Juan Williams just didn’t notice.

    And, yes, TNC completely drinks his milkshake.

  21. 21.

    Libby

    April 3, 2012 at 9:25 am

    You might have noticed that there’s never any protests against white on white violence. Not like that doesn’t happen.

  22. 22.

    The Snarxist Formerly Known As Kryptik

    April 3, 2012 at 9:29 am

    I’m just going to repeat what I said in TNC’s post on this:

    “The big problem isn’t the nebulous media not reporting this kind of thing (as TNC has pointed, out, they do). It’s those who end up crafting and perpetuating the political and cultural narratives ignoring these instances, because they get in the way of narratives. Thus, they must be ignored. As someone else noted, it’s the same way with those Muslims who go out and decry terrorism: It happens, people report on it, but it never seeps its way into people’s psyches because as far as the narrative is concerned, those people, those incidents are and should be invisible.

    They’re inconvenient facts. It’s more comforting to buy a story that people protesting something like Trayvon Martin must be insincere because ‘Hey, their folks do this all the time to themselves and they don’t care!’, than it is to accept that there’s something rotten institutionally in a lot of ways.

    It’s all a lot of self-affirming ignorance, really.”

  23. 23.

    Schlemizel

    April 3, 2012 at 9:35 am

    @Scott:
    TNC couldn’t make it on TV because calm, rational, reasonable discussions based on facts and evidence would bore most people to death. His blog OTOH is a real delight to read, enlightening and entertaining.

  24. 24.

    beltane

    April 3, 2012 at 9:37 am

    @Libby: There is no such thing as “white-on-white” violence because society always treats white people as individuals and not as generic members of a race. Therefore, whenever one white person murders another it is always considered to be a crime committed by one person on another and not as some “white people being bad to each other” kind of situation.

  25. 25.

    Schlemizel

    April 3, 2012 at 9:38 am

    @Libby:

    Sure there are protests against white-on-white violence. Usually they are domestic violence rallies. This is further proof that white men are the truly disadvantaged group in America!

    Sorry, I just throw up in my mouth as it occurred to me that there are people out there that believe this crap.

  26. 26.

    WyldPirate

    April 3, 2012 at 9:40 am

    Lovely. Another thread where the guilty white liberals at BJ –to show how “down wit dat” they are–obediently fall on one point TNC brings up (which was miniscule in the scheme of Williams article) and beat it to death, while ignoring the rest of Williams points.

    Some of you fuckers can’t see the forest for the trees you run into. Get your daily rage on, though

  27. 27.

    Schlemizel

    April 3, 2012 at 9:40 am

    @beltane:
    You mean if one white guy does or says something outrageous the news networks don’t drag in every random white guy they can find & demand that they justify/refute/apologize for the original speaker? THATS UNPOSSIBLE!

  28. 28.

    Schlemizel

    April 3, 2012 at 9:42 am

    @WyldPissant:

    Oh please, oh great one true non-racist on BJ, oh please enlighten us.

    And with that this thread is dead.

  29. 29.

    Villago Delenda Est

    April 3, 2012 at 9:44 am

    @beltane:

    Even after that woman praised Newt Gingrich for putting Wan Williams “in his place” after a less than fawning question during some SC Presidential debate?

  30. 30.

    Villago Delenda Est

    April 3, 2012 at 9:47 am

    @WyldPirate:

    Stick a sock in it, dumbass.

  31. 31.

    jibeaux

    April 3, 2012 at 9:48 am

    @WyldPirate: down wit dat?

  32. 32.

    Satanicpanic

    April 3, 2012 at 9:49 am

    These marches are always on local news, you would have to be deliberately not paying attention to miss them. Oh, yeah.

  33. 33.

    Chyron HR

    April 3, 2012 at 9:49 am

    @WyldPirate:

    Get your daily rage on, though

    Ha ha, I get it. It’s funny because your idea of rational discourse is screaming about the, quote, “Obotomized Obots who mindlessly lick shit from the anus of Black Jesus”, unquote.

  34. 34.

    Face

    April 3, 2012 at 9:51 am

    Fun for All the Girls and Boys

    And here I thought the post would be about this

    Where’s William Donahue to tell me how this just shows how much the RCC cares about their summer campers’ sleeping habits?

  35. 35.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    April 3, 2012 at 9:54 am

    @WyldPirate: If something ever happens to you, I promise to hold a rally derying the violence against you. And then a party afterwards.

  36. 36.

    handsmile

    April 3, 2012 at 9:57 am

    @Belafon (formerly anonevent):

    Charitably, I suspect you might be confused. As most of my BJ comments include links to the Guardian or other liberal sites, I am quite capable of tottering along on my own. But thanks for your concern and for demonstrating TNC’s point.

  37. 37.

    Cacti

    April 3, 2012 at 10:06 am

    @WyldPirate:

    Lovely. Another thread where the guilty white liberals at BJ —to show how “down wit dat” they are—obediently fall on one point TNC brings up (which was miniscule in the scheme of Williams article) and beat it to death, while ignoring the rest of Williams points.

    Pretend emo-prog WyldBedfordForrestPirate just can’t hide his white sheets in threads like these.

  38. 38.

    scav

    April 3, 2012 at 10:10 am

    @handsmile: as a fellow haunter of the Guard, I can’t see it and the word “tottering” in close proximity today without an OT Huzzah for the tottering of Murdoch fils off the board of BSkyB!

  39. 39.

    General Stuck (on self glorifiication)

    April 3, 2012 at 10:12 am

    Washington Post: “The chief of the General Services Administration resigned, two of her top deputies were fired and four managers were placed on leave Monday amid reports of lavish spending at a conference off the Las Vegas Strip that featured a clown, a mind reader and a $31,208 reception.”

    Bunch of Bozos. And maybe Wildlypeerat has got him a gig on the side.

  40. 40.

    Maude

    April 3, 2012 at 10:28 am

    @General Stuck (on self glorifiication):
    General, we missed out on that party. I promise you that if there’s another one, we’re going.

  41. 41.

    JoyfulA

    April 3, 2012 at 10:43 am

    The smallish city of Harrisburg, now in the news for other reasons, often has rallies or marches against crime, typically black-on-black crime and typically including some white participants, particularly clergy.

  42. 42.

    Forum Transmitted Disease

    April 3, 2012 at 10:46 am

    “down wit dat”

    @WyldPirate: Another WyldPirate racist twitch. You try and you try, but you just can’t stop yourself, can you?

  43. 43.

    Mnemosyne

    April 3, 2012 at 10:58 am

    @WyldPirate:

    Wow, pointing out that George Zimmerman is going to get away scott-free for stalking and shooting a black teenager is really starting to get under your skin, isn’t it?

    So tell us, WP — if one of your kids was walking home from the store and realized that a strange guy was following him in his car, would you advise your kid to run away?

    And if that strange guy got out of his car and tried to grab your kid, would you expect your kid to try to fight him off and get away, or would you advise your kid to just let a stranger grab him off the street?

  44. 44.

    DougJ, Head of Infidelity

    April 3, 2012 at 10:59 am

    How can Williams not know that there are marches, candlelight vigils and such ALL THE TIME about black-on-black violence? Has he never watched the local news or read a newspaper from a city with a high African-American population?

    I can’t believe anyone could be that obtuse.

  45. 45.

    Forum Transmitted Disease

    April 3, 2012 at 11:05 am

    I can’t believe anyone could be that obtuse.

    @DougJ, Head of Infidelity: He’s not. He simply has a job to do, and is doing it.

  46. 46.

    scuffletuffle

    April 3, 2012 at 11:13 am

    @Villago Delenda Est: Stick a sock in it in a sock, dumbass.

    fiqqsed

  47. 47.

    scuffletuffle

    April 3, 2012 at 11:19 am

    FYWP … since when am I undefined. Is it because I tried to edit???

  48. 48.

    scuffletuffle

    April 3, 2012 at 11:19 am

    @scuffletuffle: And now it’s me again…OY!

  49. 49.

    The Snarxist Formerly Known As Kryptik

    April 3, 2012 at 11:28 am

    I refuse to link to it on the basis of it being on Fucker Carlson’s special dirtsheet, but…apparently, someone in the Zimmerman family has made out a letter claiming that if ZImmerman dies, it’ll all be on the hands of those dirty dirty reverse racists wanting to lynch him. You know, no remorse that Trayvon himself is already dead and that Zimmerman flat out admitted to shooting him already. No, just froth about race baiting and race pimping and whatnot…

  50. 50.

    JR in WV

    April 3, 2012 at 11:28 am

    Juan was always the least insightful of all NPR staff, and I always saw that he was edging towards wing-nut viewpoints as close as he could. I was so not surprised that he had a $2,000,000 contract with Faux the very instant NPR finally fired him for spewing non-factual nonsense.

    I suspect he had a contract with News Corp long before he took his position…

    He knows he was is spewing untruth, and loves it, because it pays so well.

  51. 51.

    gwangung

    April 3, 2012 at 11:33 am

    @WyldPirate: Fuck off, bigot.

    You could, at least, do us the courtesy to READ what’s been posted, but you can’t be bothered to do that.

  52. 52.

    different-church-lady

    April 3, 2012 at 11:43 am

    Certain dude seems to be confusing discussing politics with grading papers.

    Certain dude seems dedicated to not getting it.

  53. 53.

    General Stuck (on self glorifiication)

    April 3, 2012 at 11:50 am

    @Maude:

    If you go, Bring a Toga, just to be on the safe side.

  54. 54.

    Marcellus Shale, Public Dick

    April 3, 2012 at 11:53 am

    @WyldPirate:

    yeah, why didn’t mary todd lincoln tell us how she enjoyed the play.

  55. 55.

    Marcellus Shale, Public Dick

    April 3, 2012 at 11:53 am

    @WyldPirate:

    yeah, why didn’t mary todd lincoln tell us how she enjoyed the play.

  56. 56.

    Jamey

    April 3, 2012 at 12:12 pm

    Speaking of obtuse, it still eludes me why the subject of black-on-black violence now “suddenly” gets its moment of Winger outrage.

    /whoocoodanood

  57. 57.

    Snowwy

    April 3, 2012 at 12:26 pm

    I can’t help wondering what the result would be if the non-racist community adopted all the tactics of the forced-childbirth lobby – public cries for the deaths of those who commit racist hate crimes, shunning, shaming, assault of those who supported such killers no matter how peripherally, and of course outright classical terrorism like planted bombs, drive-bys, and assassinations.

    Oh who am I kidding? Wingnuts can’t take what they dish out…

  58. 58.

    Laertes

    April 3, 2012 at 12:30 pm

    I honestly feel sorry for Williams. I’d feel like a shit sandwich if I got pwned that hard here on BJ under my pseudonym. To get a pants-down spanking like that in front of an audience of, at least, many thousands, must be near to unbearable.

  59. 59.

    Mnemosyne

    April 3, 2012 at 1:10 pm

    @Jamey:

    Speaking of obtuse, it still eludes me why the subject of black-on-black violence now “suddenly” gets its moment of Winger outrage.

    Assuming you’re not being sarcastic, the complaint is, “Why are you people complaining about a white guy killing a black kid when black people kill each other all the time?”

    Of course, if the races had been reversed, the shrieks from the right would be about this whole incident says something frightening and profound about how all black people are violent criminals by nature, but being a right winger means never having to be consistent, even (or especially) with your own arguments.

  60. 60.

    "Fair and Balanced" Dave

    April 3, 2012 at 1:28 pm

    @Libby:

    Please forgive the off topic bleg but my friend’s daughter, whom I’ve known since she was a baby, is a contestant on The Voice. If you’re so inclined could you please vote for Naia Kete on Team Blake?

    I wish Naia the best of luck. She’s a very talented young woman with a lovely voice.

  61. 61.

    catclub

    April 3, 2012 at 2:09 pm

    @JR in WV: “Juan was always the least insightful of all NPR staff”

    and there was stiff competition for that title from Cokie Roberts.

  62. 62.

    Heliopause

    April 3, 2012 at 3:50 pm

    Can I toot my own horn for a moment? A few days ago I posted some links that sat in moderation for a while and represented just minutes of searching on Google. Well-known African-Americans have been speaking up about black-on-black violence for decades and anybody who says otherwise is, to use the technical term, making shit up.

  63. 63.

    guckertgannon

    April 3, 2012 at 9:01 pm

    I live in the very poor and violence-ridden section of one of America’s ten largest cities. My neighborhood is about 60% black, 35% Hispanic, with just a few whites like me and a smattering of Asians.

    We have anti-violence/crime demonstrations all the time. Every few weeks, there’s another local church group working a corner somewhere, holding up signs and doing chants pleading for the violence to stop.

    Juan Williams obviously lives in a wealthy place with relatively little violence, and he apparently doesn’t bother reading much.

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