Cynique

Instead of coming together and merging into a monolithic citizenry that embodies a distinct national character, America has become fragmented and polarized due, in no small part, to color, nationality and religion, factors which divide people and give rise to extreme political differences. This situation does not make this country unique, it just exposes the myth that it is the United States of America. Donald Trump is an insidious dangerous force because the precedents he sets are not effectively stifled by those opposed to him. His detractors are so frustrated by his blatant incompetency and outright lies that they can't mount viable defenses against him. Trump is in the vanguard of what lies ahead, and this nation will never be the same as a result of his legitimizing dishonesty, racism and misogyny, not to mention making social media his personal mouthpiece. Like the Roman Empire, America is on track to self-implode and the great experiment in democracy attempted by this Republic will have failed, defeated by Capitalism, and an aversion to diversity. IMO.

@Pioneer1 I think you're overlooking what i wrote. Didn't I say that "blacks are their own worst enemy and are not united"? In fact you pretty much recycled what I implied in attempting to defend yourself. But you continue to underestimate how the capitalistic racist white power structure stacks the deck against blacks. Instead, you offer simplistic solutions for complicated problems.

Not to be overlooked is the uproar that erupts any time an animal is abused or shot by hunters; especially one that is an endangered species. The only widespread public outcry that occurs when endangered blacks youths are murdered, is if the perpetrators are white cops, - who are sympathized with for simply "doing their duty".

Oh, puleeze, Pioneer. You may call yourself a loyal American citizen who belongs to the black race but I am very close to calling you an Uncle Tom Apologist who thinks that racism only impacts of black people who are acting fools. You actually think that if black people don't rock the boat and maintain a nonthreatening demeanor things would be just fine. Can you say institutionalized racism? A dynamic that is rife with white privilege and tainted with the residue from slavery where blacks were regarded as 2/3 human. Are you actually saying that back in 1917 if 13 white soldiers were involved in a riot where blacks were among those killed that they would've been executed? And are you saying that today only black felons are stopped while driving black? Are you claiming that black cops aren't enforces for criminal justice system that is stacked against blacks? SMH Your idealism is fraught with naivete. Yes, blacks are their own worst enemy because they are so frustrated that they act irresponsibly and are they not united. But this does not exonerate racism; the white power structure enables it. Obama wasn't acting a fool and he was stifled and thwarted at every turn by white men, unable to deal with a black leader, - the same white men who are now besmirching his legacy and blaming him for all of the problems Trump is exacerbating - Trump whose support base is unabashedly racist. And how do you know why Puerto Ricans and other ethic hispanics call themselves what they do? You are pontificating. IMO they take pride in their heritage and refer to it when identifying themselves, the same as European "Americans" do. But keep on waving that flag that has never represented freedom and justice for all and I'll continue to have no qualms about disrespecting it..

This may be slightly off point. But I have been watching the PBS series on the 100th anniversary of America's entry into the the First World War and any semblance i ever had to patriotism was quickly banished. This country have never lived up to its promises. President Woodrow Wilson was racist, misogynistic, 2-faced and Southern-born, in the forefront of ignoring women's suffrage movement, not supportive of equal rights for Blacks, praising the blatantly racist movie "Birth of a Nation," all the while championing the war as being fought to "preserve democracy". He also gave silent consent to other citizens turning on German Americans and, in one case, did not condemn the lynching a WHITE German suspected of being a sympathizer of the Kaiser. When this war broke out, thousands of young black men wanted to show their love for America by enlisting in the army where, once they were inducted, were treated like dirt, not allowed to train at regular military bases, assigned to ditch diggin, and dangerous tasks like like loading ammo. While stationed in South Carolina 13 black soldiers were sentenced to death and executed for participating in a riot started when black service men ventured off base and were met with hostility by the nearby townsfolk. All of the famous military brigades refused to annex black units into their ranks and it wasn't until they were shipped off to France at the urging of this country, which was desperate for soldiers of any color to help stave off the "Huns", that black troops were allowed to prove themselves in battle, and eventually were cited by American General John J. Pershing for their bravery. They were also decorated by the French government, having had to leave their own country to gain the recognition which still wasn't granted when they returned to America. This situation was duplicated to a lesser degree during World War 2. I couldn't care less about being an "American". To me America is just a country I happened to have been born in and I have no love or take no pride in its revisionist history and tainted legacy. If I have to choose a label for myself, I would just say I'm "black" because I am neither white nor African, so black wins by default. I don't care how other people classify me. As for Jenifer Lopez , if she says she's Puerto Rican, has a surname that identifies her as Hispanic, then to me she's a Puerto Rican. This seems to be an issue that inspires self-contradiction among debaters. Obviously in "The World According to Pioneer" he is a do-it-yourself arbitrator.

i still cannot pull up anything from my personal files, but I can copy and paste, which is what I did with this cover. I'm Shannon's Facebook friend, and he just posted the cover there yesterday and I copied it from his thread and pasted it here. I guess this is its paperback release.

@Troy This is "Yukio's" book. You should find it interesting for many reasons.

Today, April 8th, is the birthday our fearless leader, Troy Johnson. I'd like to wish him a good one along with many happy returns. I'd also like to express my appreciation for how he conducts this forum and his sincere dedication to all things black and positive. He is an "Alpha Male" who makes this world a better place. More power to you, ol buddy! Luv ya.

I'm jaded because I am old and, to me, Trump is an omen of what's to come, - when people will make their own rules and promote fiction as fact and the world will be just one big virtual lie. This is a recipe for chaos. America is very polarized and I am not optimistic about the durability of the United States. If a Universal Intelligence is involved in what's going on in this world, it can't be happy with the direction things are going in. If left to its own devices, Humanity may destroy itself. A Master Designer might let this happen so it can go back to Square on and get it right next time. My pessimism may also have to do with my being on the perimeter of Chicago, which has become a killing field of wanton murders, and nothing seems to be able to stop this escalating lethal epidemic that has infected the black males of this city. What's noteworhy is that half of the killings are not-gang-related.

Nobody wants to be categorized just to make people comfortable. But people want to be made comfortable and their collective attitude prevails over an individual's yearning to be unique. The ubiquitous insatiable ego convinces its owner that he or she is special, But others might think he or she is crazy, moody, cranky, anti-social, conceited, cocky, obnoxious, or stupid. Which is why self-deprecating people can be the most endearing and charming, and laid back ones the most mesmerizing. IMO Slow day...

LOL I repeat what i said in my post: ..."What I see occurring all around me are examples of inevitability. Time changes and people change with it, embracing whatever makes things easier and provides instant gratification and elevates status.Currently, electronic devices isolate us from our surroundings and social media provides a stage for our alter egos. Lies are the new truth. Delusion the new reality. Xenophobia the new diversity. Society has evolved into being an enabler for self absorption..." "...as for the future, unfortunately, I am not optimistic. I wonder if humanity will just evolve into oblivion,- just program itself out of existence..." Do you 2 think things will turn themselves around in the future?

What I see occurring all around me are examples of inevitability. Time changes and people change with it, embracing whatever makes things easier and provides instant gratification and elevates status.Currently, electronic devices isolate us from our surroundings and social media provides a stage for our alter egos. Lies are the new truth. Delusion the new reality. Xenophobia the new diversity. Society has evolved into being an enabler for self absorption. The 1950s were my era, the time when I grew into adulthood, and although there was turbulence associated with the civil rights struggle, in my part of the country it wasn't all crusading and no play; we knew how to have a good time and to fully embrace life. I look back on those innocent days with fond memories, because life was simpler. Television was just coming into its own, no PCs or cell phones; just books, and movies, and our favorite musical artists available on vinyl records and, most of all, good conversation and social interaction. I do miss the "good old days". Memories of them take the edge off the not-so-good-old days.. Now, most of my friends and loved ones have passed on and I'm just taking things one day at a time. As for overt racism and sexism, I don't know what it says about me, because these things did not greatly impact on my day-to-day existence in the past. I've always maintained my sphere of blackness was one where me and my associates were comfortable in our skins and did not need integration to validate us because we did our own thing. Even so, I did benefit when racial barriers were broken down. Me, personally, I worked at the Post office, and the only bias I encountered there was practiced by black management against white labor. This is not to say that I wasn't aware of institutionalized racism. Sexism? Back then sistas were always able to hold their own with the brothers, and if they didn't, it was because we wanted black men to take charge and competently exert authority. I understand that males in the civil rights hierarchy and militant black groups were very chauvinistic but I was never put in these situation. Feminism has always been more the domain of white women. As for the future, unfortunately, I am not optimistic. I wonder if humanity will just evolve into oblivion,- just program itself out of existence...

Once again what you call yourself and how people see you could very well not coincide because Society has discriminating eyes! A woman could tell a friend that her daughter is dating an American and when the friend met the daughter's boyfriend, the first thing she would say to the mother was was why didn't you tell me your daughter's boyfriend was black, if he was black. You could tell your friend that you just got a new pet animal. And the first thing the friend will ask is what kind of animal because animal like American isn't explicit enough for a curious society. A friend who you haven't seen in a long time has just lost 10lbs, She sees herself as thinner but since thinner doesn't make her resemble the way she did the last time you saw her, you will see her as fatter. What is the point of putting humans all in the same category and expecting everybody to just overlook their distinctive traits??? Why should people not identify with a group who they share a similar appearance and culture with? What is wrong with hyphenated ethnicity? As for Obama, his mother's white genes didn't prevail because he simply looks like a light-skinned black person with hair that isn't straight and a broad nose. He is a perfect mixture of his parentage.

Puerto Ricans are people born in Puerto Rico, just like people born in Cuba are Cubans. They come in all colors. Singer Jennifer Lopez, actors Rita Moreno and Rosie Perez, John Leguizamo, Supreme court Justice Sonia Sotomayer, and the creator of the musical "Hamilton", Lin Manuel Miranda are of Puerto Rican ethnicity by virtue of of either they or their parents being born there. And they all identify themselves as Puerto Rican. Mexicans distance themselves from Puerto Ricans and look down on them.Then there are the Dominicans. All these groups have Hispanic surnames and speak Spanish but they claim the heritage of the country they or their parents are from and they come in all colors. If you want to see black Hispanics, look no further than major league baseball.

The mother of a friend of mine, both of whom are now dead, used to always say that in America, especially during the 1920'and 30s, Negroes were also called "Moors". And of course, in the Shakespeare play "Othello" this character is referred to as a Moor and the role has traditionally been played by a black actor, most notably Paul Robeson. It has also been played by white actors in black face. People always talk about the bible describing Jesus as having woolly hair like lamb.

Deepak Chopra put it very succinctly in his quote: Religion is believing in someone else's experience; Spirituality is having your own experience.

I do and always have used the term "nigga" around other blacks. I refuse to empower the word by allowing it to make me not say it. So, it doesn't particularly bother me when other blacks use it in public. If using it around whites makes them uncomfortable, then that's good.

The term Alpha male can be applied to a lot of scenarios. Alpha males exist within a group. An athlete may be an Alpha male on his team, but the coach operating at the behest of higher up is the Alpha male when it comes to policy. A musician my be an Alpha male when it comes to producing music, but his agent and management will exert authority over him. Trump has surrounded himself with a lot wanna-be Alpha Males and they are ruining the country exemplifying what happens with there are "all chiefs and no Indians".

I have a problem with not having a broad perspective when it comes to the hood. Saying that everybody who comes from the hood is not crude and ignorant is fine. Similarly everybody who doesn't come from the hood doesn't have to surrender their credentials just because they weren't born and raised in the hood. If you know hood people, it rubs off on you and you are able to embrace that unique black flexibility that allows you to shift between cultures. Ms Mommy, don't resent Troy's responses to your comments. This is an open discussion board and opposing points of view are what make it interesting!

Black people are consumers as are most people. Why? Because it's easier and more convenient to let others manufacture and provide goods and services. It's a sign of success if you afford to buy the luxurious trappings that other have produced to provide you with pleasure and privilege. We are all slaves to materialism. Unless what an industrious person has to offer is better and more efficient than the competition, this person is destined to be second rate. And it doesn't matter what color their skin is. Black people seem to have an affinity for providing entertainment. Both a blessing and a curse.

Folks can make all the declarations that want about what they are and who they are when it comes to "race". But they are deluded if they think how they identify themselves resonates in society-at-large if the way the look doesn't coincide with the physical appearances that are associated with Europeans, Asians, and Negroids. What you think you are is voided by how an unsophisticated world sees you. A person may consider themselves black but if they have fair skin blue eyes and straight hair, they will spend a lifetime, trying to convince people that they are black no matter what persona they adopt. If you have brown skin with frizzy hair and a flat nose, nobody but a blind person is going to perceive you as white just because you say are white by virtue of having one black parent and one white one, and you have chosen to be white. If you have yellow skin and slanted eyes and straight black hair, you cannot declare yourself to be black because you dig Rap music and like collard greens It doesn't matter what you say you are. People will decide for themselves what you are to them and their eyes will be the final judge, not the superficial affectations of people trying to transcend "reality".

@Pioneer1 I don't remember where I got that figure from but it somehow stuck in my mind. The black population always seems to be quoted in terms of percentage with regard to the total population. How many blacks are there in America approximately? I will stand corrected, when you give me an accurate number.

Last I heard there were 39 million black people in America. The idea that there is a common black experience or an official approach to dealing with the word "nigger" and all its variations, is ludicrous. There are only 2 instances that I would consider invariably offensive to all of us and that is for a white person to call a black man "boy" or refer to a black group as "you people".

Jordan Peele and Keegan Michael Key had a weekly comedy show on Cable TV which I watched regularly. They did not in anyway shy away from "ghetto" humor and many of their skits dealt with "niggaz", characters they were very adept at portraying. To me, their biting humor was comparable to Dave Chappell's. They spoofed white people and made caricatures of black ones. I don't think they catered to white audiences. White audiences responded to them because their humor was quirky, Both races were entertained by their Obama and his ghetto interpreter bit. "Keanu", the movie Peele and Key made together didn't make a big splash maybe because its humor wasn't edgy. Keegan Michael Key, who is also "bi-racial", was a cast mate of Aries Spears on Mad TV. Rumor had it that Spears left the show because he was not particularly happy with the ensemble comedy format so he went solo. But because Spears was just a run-of-the-mill black comic his career never really blew up big. Peele's huge success has to pour salt in his wounds. The fact that "Get Out" evokes so many different reactions from people is a tribute to its "genius". It's like the Rorschach inkblot test. Influenced by their subconscious, everyone views it in a different way.

@TroyWell, what you think doesn't matter when it comes to how Jordan views himself. This film might be a personal statement. He might have mixed loyalties as well as an appreciation for being an embodiment of diversity, and these factors may have inspired the film.. His movie script was not perfect, but it was provocative and - profitable.