Jack & Jill Politics

I figured my first turn at the racial roundup post should be inspired by an extra black authenticity. Thus, it is one day late! CP Time, yall. CP Time. Here we go:

Is Tupac’s home changin?
Booker Rising discusses the declining black population of Oakland, CA and the impact on black businesses. Berkeley’s North Gate News provides the context:

Barnett, who lives in East Oakland, has considered moving to the suburbs. He said he understands why people go. “People are leaving because it’s so hard in Oakland right now,” he said. “There are few jobs, high crime, and the schools are horrible. People want to go somewhere where their kids have a chance.”

Sounds like “Black Flight” to me, and it’s hard to blame folks, but some see a solution in joining up. From the same article:

Other black businesses have even joined the Latino Chamber of Commerce.

Meanwhile, further downstate…

Black folks try to give Heismann to brown folks
The Daily Breeze is reporting about attempts from some black residents in Gardena, CA to block a Latino market from coming to town.

About 75 neighbors packed the Gardena council chambers on Tuesday night to express opposition to the Numero Uno Market slated for the corner of Rosecrans and Normandie avenues.

“Everything coming into Gardena on our side is in Spanish,” resident Dorothy Dawson said. “I thought we were in America.”

That’s funny, Sista Dorothy. I’m pretty sure white folks said the same thing about your people when yall decided to leave the plantations.

Is integration necessary for Survival?
After only two weeks of its race-based team structure, Survivor has forcibly integrated its teams for the remainder of the season. The AP explains:

…after only two episodes, producers merged the black, white, Asian and Latino tribes into two mixed-race gangs on the CBS reality show Thursday night. No explanation was given for the quick abandonment of segregation; it seemed to pass by so quickly as to mean nothing.

“We’re back to America. We’re a melting pot,” said Parvati, a boxer on the new Raro tribe. “I love it.”

Parvati clearly got hit in the head too many times. What an idiot. I suppose next he’ll add, “now we can all get along happily ever after and pet kittens.”

Sambo continues expansion to include WWE
The HeraldSun in Durham, NC reported on a local activist outraged by two soon-to-be-released wrestling characters known as Cryme Tyme. Check out the ads that have been running in the leadup.

Here’s a partial transcript.

Announcer: “Yo, yo, yo, yo. Pop a 40 and check your rollies. It’s Cryme Tyme.”

[scene of stereotypical, cell phone-chatting white male walking through stereotypical ghetto.]

Announcer: “Oh snap. looks like homeboy made a wrong turn coming home from Banana Republic.”
GenericWhiteGuy: “You know I haven’t seen a Starbucks in like five blocks?”
Announcer: “You want coffee, G? Well, the good news is there’s something tall black and smooth right behind you.”

[on screen, stereotypical, large, menacing, black man approaches stereotypical cell phone-chatting white male walking through stereotypical ghetto.]

GenericWhiteGuy: “I think I’m in the hood.”
Announcer: “The bad news is this ain’t no venti skim latte. This is Cryme Tyme.”

Amazing. I guess wrestling isn’t the place you go for lessons in racial tolerance. All of its characters are extreme stereotypes, but that doesn’t make this latest entry any easier to follow.