***UPDATE - due to the overwhelming and gratifying response to this diary - it has now become almost impossible for some people to get it to load, and we are struggling to add all of the names of people who have endorsed this statement. We apologize for being slow - we will be posting a fresh diary later today (after we get some sleep) where the discussion can continue, and anyone who missed it yesterday, can join us.
Thank you,
Black Kos
"No One Else Should Define Your Self Identity (or your Pain): A Collective Statement of Opposition to Racist Labels Used by Kossacks to Criticize President Obama"
As the editors of Black Kos we (Dopper, Sephius, Denise Oliver Velez and Justice Putnam) bring the wider community a broad cross-section of news and views each week from multiple black perspectives. As an editorial group we have stayed out of taking "sides" on any of the many issues that confront us as we move forward. We present news and views from multi-opinioned parts of the internet and media.
We have decided today to suspend the usual offerings from Black Kos to make a statement, which we hope you will consider in the spirit with which it is proffered. This is a collective statement joined in by Black Kossacks who have signed their names and handles, effectively drawing a line in the sand against rhetorical practices which many of us individually have many times called out as the racism they are, but which we continue to encounter here far too often. We have also been joined in this statement by other Daily Kos members who represent segments of the Kos community who also deal with issues around race, racism and cultural survival on an ongoing basis.
For years, we have participated in Daily Kos in good faith. We represent many varied opinions, and come from many different walks of life. Some of us are political pragmatists; some of us are fierce progressives. Some of us are Democratic Party loyalists; some of us Democrats for practical reasons given the nature of the Republican party. Between us there are as many opinions, favorable and oppositional, about the Obama Administration and its policies as there are signatures to this open statement. We signatories who are Black in no way claim to represent all of the opinions of all Black people in the US. We do not even claim to speak for other Black Kossacks who are not signatories, let alone the 40 million members of the US-based Black community or the hundreds of millions in the diaspora.
Daily Kos routinely holds itself as a thought leader in liberal and progressive politics. Kossacks, by and large, pat themselves on the back as "reality based" and "well educated" and regularly point with derision to the "ignorance" of others with whom they claim political disagreement, referring to them as "low information voters" and other similar insults. Collectively, Daily Kos members claim to be more enlightened, more reasoned, more informed, less trapped by false narratives and more open minded. Especially when it comes to racism. Yet when it comes to the issue of racist rhetoric, and, in particular, the complex impact of well-known anti-Black racist rhetoric upon what might otherwise be legitimate discussions of President Obama and/or administration policy, this celebrated thought leadership is too often nowhere to be found. It is often not only absent, but the dialogue when its absence is noted too often becomes painful proof that unconscious racism is alive and well on the Left and at Daily Kos no matter how many Kossacks claim differently.
This statement is not about criticism of President Obama. Amongst the signatories to this statement you will find staunch defenders of the Administration. You will find those that have made clear their fierce disagreement with much Administration policy. Some of us have been regularly called "Obama haters". Others, "Obamabots." Our opinions run the gamut. What you will not find, however, is anyone who finds acceptable here on a Democratic Party, liberal and progressive blog the continued use of racial pejoratives wielded alongside of genuine critiques of Administration policy.
On one issue we are in complete unanimity: there are some rhetorical devices which are beyond the pale as inherently racist when used to criticize the President. All of these have been discussed ad infinitum in individual conversations here at Daily Kos for years, and called out for what they are by Black Kossacks and allies. Yet they continue to be used with impunity, even defiance at times, by those who appear to believe that they are entitled to ignore the voices of those who are offended and harmed by such behavior and in whom that behavior evokes painful reminders of how it used to be in terms of race relations and continues to be in many ways. These folks are too often encouraged/supported by upraters who lack the bravery of those Kossacks willing to directly employ them even after they have been educated as to the problematic nature of these arguments.
We also want to make it crystal clear, that we just as strongly oppose attacking ANY politician, or person using racist, homophobic, sexist, anti-semitic or any other discriminatory language. The issues that prompted this open letter may have been started based on comments directed specifically at the President, but they are equally unacceptable if they are directed towards any politician. As both members of the party and the ideology that best represents the diversity of America, it saddens us that we have to remind our community to uphold its own values. As more woman, ethnic, religious, and racial minorities, and people of who no religious affiliation rise to leadership positions in our progressive movement, our party, and our country, if this issue is not confronted head on, it will continue to rear its ugly head. That is not something we as a community should find tolerable or acceptable.
We realize that this post focuses on the President, but do not think we are unconcerned with how these issues play out in our society in general, and here at Daily Kos specifically. There is still much more work that needs to be done, and we need to continue that work right here in the liberal, progressive community.
Here are the arguments that in our view are unacceptable as patent racism in any context in which they are raised by those not part of the Black community.
(please continue reading below the fold)
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