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Lest We Forget--April 4, 1968


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April 4, 1968--

Martin Luther King got his brains blowed out in Memphis. I am so crude because everybody likes to act like he just "passed away" or something.

No. His brains were blowed out, all over the balcony at the Lorraine Hotel, like he was a crip or a blood or something.

He had his pants hitched up. He used the King's English. He preached non violence. He was married to the mother of his children and supporting them--best he could while he was running all over the country trying to do right by folks. He was not strapped. Nor any of his associates.

Remember--

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April 4, 1968--

Martin Luther King got his brains blowed out in Memphis. I am so crude because everybody likes to act like he just "passed away" or something.

No. His brains were blowed out, all over the balcony at the Lorraine Hotel, like he was a crip or a blood or something.

He had his pants hitched up. He used the King's English. He preached non violence. He was married to the mother of his children and supporting them--best he could while he was running all over the country trying to do right by folks. He was not strapped. Nor any of his associates.

Remember--

tired-sleeping-smiley-36.gif

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I think it is very important to remember that he was murdered simply because he wanted to improve the lives of Black people. If anything, this should be a reminder of the risk of being a Black leader and why there are so few today: because they fear being assassinated. I say press on and understand that to be a leader is to risk your life for the advancement of the people. I take that lesson in everyday and his memory and legacy will not be distorted while I'm around.

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Dr. King was a great man. The emoticon was a response to the nonsensical pro-coonery blather.....

What he wrote was PRO COONERY blather?

How you figure?

He simply said MLK jr. got his brains blown out, which he did. Was that a graphic description? Yep....sorta like how Mel Gibson wanted to make it CLEAR just how Jesus suffered at the hands of Romans AND JEWS.

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I think it is very important to remember that he was murdered simply because he wanted to improve the lives of Black people. If anything, this should be a reminder of the risk of being a Black leader and why there are so few today: because they fear being assassinated. I say press on and understand that to be a leader is to risk your life for the advancement of the people. I take that lesson in everyday and his memory and legacy will not be distorted while I'm around.

Good points.

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Oh lord, here we go again. Xeon does not hate black folks. It's my opinion that he's hard on anything or anyone that displays a way of life that reeks of coonery. His choice of words can sometime be disturbing (imo) but hey, he's consistent and he stays on the side of the issue. He's not afraid to voice an opinion that may be counter to a croonie.

See, fools flock together.

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Xeon does seem to have become increasing fixated on the "coon" label, playing fast and loose with it. The origin of this word might shed some light on this subject.

We can dismiss how white people used it as a shortened form of racoon, an animal they thought resembled black people. Instead, consider that "coon" is also a literary classification, used to distinghish the sterotypes in bygone black dramas. These predictable casts of characters included such people as the jolly gun-totin sportin daddy, the low-life trickster bent on separating folks from their valuables, the seductive hot mama, the righteous preacher, the sympathetic mammy, the respectable matron, the conflicted everyman, the tragic mulatto and the coon - the minstrel who provided comic relief with his shuckin and jivin and clowning.

A modern day black person who is serious in his intent and is not providing some form of crude entertainment, may be many unsavory things but, technically, he is not a "coon".

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Oh lord, here we go again. Xeon does not hate black folks. It's my opinion that he's hard on anything or anyone that displays a way of life that reeks of coonery. His choice of words can sometime be disturbing (imo) but hey, he's consistent and he stays on the side of the issue. He's not afraid to voice an opinion that may be counter to a croonie.

You just saved me some writing. Thank you very much. And you are correct, my objection is to inexcusable bad behavior. I reserve the term coonery for such wanton irresponsible and arrogant deportment and antics. Chris and I are on opposite sides of the street on this issue. In his tormented world, so called ghetto debauchery and reckless behavior is the benchmark of black authenticity. For him, it is encouraged, condoned, romanticized and any criticism of it will not be tolerated. To me, bad behavior is exactly what it is - bad behavior and will not be given a race waiver or a free pass simply because the offenders are black. I have no use for it (coonery) nor will I retreat from condemning it in the face of retaliatory fraudulent accusations of self-hate, self-loathing, Uncle Tomism and most specious –hatin’ black folks. I can’t say it any clearer….

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I understand the disgust certain behavior inspires in you, Xenon, but I persist in questioning how you paint people as coons. There is inexcusable behavior, and then there are actions people engage in which you relegate to the coon category because it personally offends you.

Contrary to your assertion, bad behavior is in the eye of the beholder. One person's bad behavior is another person's "protest demonstration" or display of "ribald humor".

You have set yourself up as a judge of what is bad behavior. So when you judge people by your standards, they can do the same and decide that you are an "uncle tom". I wouldn't call you this because I don't think you are the type to grovel around white folks and, by the same token, your labeling as "coonish" Chrishayden's observations about an esteemed man like Martin Luther King being shot down like a drive-by victim is, to me, a stretch.

I know you and Chrishayden are combatants in an ongoing feud and it's clear exchanging insults has usurped intellectual dialogue. You're as bad as me and Kola Boof.

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I understand the disgust certain behavior inspires in you, Xenon, but I persist in questioning how you paint people as coons. There is inexcusable behavior, and then there are actions people engage in which you relegate to the coon category because it personally offends you.

The label reflects the behavior. When black people indulge in anti-social self-destructive behavior and openly celebrate and act out the worst negative stereotypes and beliefs of black Americans, well, it is what it is. And I make no apologies for correctly identifying it....

Contrary to your assertion, bad behavior is in the eye of the beholder. One person's bad behavior is another person's "protest demonstration" or display of "ribald humor".

There is truth in that but my reference is to universally acknowledged bad behavior. The behavior I refer to with my epitaphs is the most egregious and indefensible (music that glorifies pimping, referring to black women as bitches and hoes’, extreme violence, walking away and disowning the children you sire, cursing and physically intimidating innocent people in public, elevating incarceration, violence and illiteracy over academic excellence and civil behavior, etc, etc,….).

You have set yourself up as a judge of what is bad behavior.

Cynique, what I have defined as bad behavior is what it is. It’s not the same as judging a painting. The behavior I refer to is openly hostile and contradictory to what people know as positive, intelligent and productive behavior (e.g., dropping out of school vs. staying in school and acquiring as much education as possible, abandoning your children vs. being in their lives and supporting them, using and selling illegal drugs vs. not involving yourself with drugs, refusing to work vs. actively taking work, etc., etc…). Again, it is what it is. The behavior unquestionably leads to negative and life self-crippling consequences. I can’t say it any clearer…..

So when you judge people by your standards, they can do the same and decide that you are an "uncle tom".

An Uncle Tom? How so? Because I encourage young people stay in school and get an education? Because I condemn men who wantonly walk away from their responsibilities as fathers? Because I loathe music that glorifies a gang lifestyle, pimping, misogyny, profanity and violence? Or is it because I preach the criticality of voting, reading, being aware of political issues and making your political voice heard (e.ge. calling and writing your congressperson)? This makes me an Uncle Tom? So the antithesis of all of the aforementioned would be the opposite and that would be a good thing for blacks? Ok….I’ll concede. I’m and Uncle Tom……

…..your labeling as "coonish" Chrishayden's observations about an esteemed man like Martin Luther King being shot down like a drive-by victim is, to me, a stretch.

OK….Ok…Let me explain this again. MLK was a great man. My comment was a dig at Chris. It had nothing to do with the history and significance of MLK.

I know you and Chrishayden are combatants in an ongoing feud and it's clear exchanging insults has usurped intellectual dialogue.

Let me clear the murky waters over Chrishayden. To be honest, Chris is one of my favorite posters on his board. The brother is very entertaining and I like his acerbic quips and digs even when he is directing them at me. He has made comments about me that had me in stitches. I enjoy the banter and digs at one another. I have a great sense of humor (contrary to what other posters may believe) and I never take these things seriously. It’s all in fun. Never serious….

You're as bad as me and Kola Boof.

Really? Wow! Well…I guess………

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Well, Xeon, what you define as universally bad behavior does not include some of the things you call coonish, a term you apparently think is synonymous with bad behavior. Are people who protest what they think are the injustices of white society, engaging in bad/coonish behavior? This is what got me started on the subject. You referred to the latter-day black panthers who were demonstrating against racism, as coons. I thought they were embracing a lost cause but since they were sincere and earnest in their actions, I also thought they had a right to do what they were doing without being referred to as coons.

And once again, a person can act like a coon by engaging in harmless clowning and shuckin and jivin, and if such behavior entertains certain people, then by these people's standards, the coonish-acting folks are not behaving badly.

And finally, the people who might call you an Uncle Tom may consider you one because you expect black folks to project a decorum which you have deemed as acceptable, - a decorum which others may not exemplify but who, in not exemplifying, by the standards of some, are not doing anything bad.

I confess that black people do things that embarass me, so I can understand how you wish they'd act differently in some situations. But I have to repress my snobbishess and remind myself that just because other black folks don't conform to my standards, does not necesssary make them bad. The same goes for ghetto folks who want to put down members of the black middleclass because they have become assimilated into the mainstream. Just because they don't want to speak Ebonics does not make bougie people bad.

We are a diverse race of people, and nobody denies that there is a bad element among us but there is a difference between a drive-by shooting and backin up that bootie down at the club, - a difference between a negligent baby's daddy and a baby's mama giving her child a crazy-assed name. One is bad, they other is just "niggas bein niggas".

Chris Rock in his stand-up rountine makes a mockery of black life, but is this muti-millionaire comedian a grinning coon or a satirist? Jay-Zee prowls up and down the stage, spitting out his lyrics about the street life but is this multi-millionaire rapper a low life coon or a poet??? Filthy rich Tiger Woods plays golf really well when not engaged in promiscuous behavior. Does this make him a pussy-mongering coon or an athlete entitled to lead his own private life? Just depends on your point of view.

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Well, Xeon, what you define as universally bad behavior does not include some of the things you call coonish, a term you apparently think is synonymous with bad behavior. Are people who protest what they think are the injustices of white society, engaging in bad/coonish behavior? This is what got me started on the subject. You referred to…….

Cynique, I have been very clear about what I correctly define as bad behavior and its relationship to coonery. I’m not politically correct and I don’t soft peddle the ugly and hard issues. So, as you suspect, my opinions often times leads to confrontations and disagreements. But I have no desire to sanitize nor censor my true beliefs in order to not offend someone’s racial sensitivities (white, black, whatever, it doesn’t matter….).

Yes, I put it (the term) in a pejorative context since I know the people who are flexing this behavior are shamelessly making spectacles of themselves, defining their circumstances as if they are helpless victims, blaming others for their horrific and inexcusable failures and acting in a manner in what has been historically characterized as coonery. You can argue the technicalities and subjective defining of what coonery is. You can also attempt to argue the bad behavior of others who are non-black and label their antics as coonery. This is true. But my reference is to black people and not others. I could care less about their alleged coonish behavior nor am I interested in presenting a technical matrix or a reference database of coonery and non-coonery behavior.

I have no interest in climbing the volatile slippery slope of coonery definitions and present it as if I was arguing a complex case in a federal court. You and I obviously have different interpretations and acceptance of coonish behavior. I have no problems with that because I respect your differences and your arguments. But at this point, I think we can agree to disagree and be civil about our differences. It serves no purpose to ping pong back and forth. We could spend the rest of our lives debating this issue and never come to an agreement. Ok…Ok….I’m done…..

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Hummmm. Conceding that white people could qualify to be called coons is your suggestion not mine, Xeon. Me, I reserve this term for Blacks because it is derived from a derogatory epithet coined by white people.

And I feel no urgency to try and convert you to my way of thinking or to discredit your rationale for the position you have taken. Interesting enough, the caveat is that when we define our own terms in branding others, then they can do the same. This is how people end up being called "uncle toms", much to their indignation.

As I previously contended, and what you have agreed with is that it all depends on your point of view. C'est la vie.

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