Kidist and race

[Freyacat]

cameraluc.blogspot.com/2013/01/hypocrite-in-chief-part-ii.html

OK, so I'm not a regular Kidist follower, mostly because the times I've tried reading her site, she confuses the crap out of me. Her ramblings often are not just annoying like the fundamentalists we often snark on here, they're also nonsensical and weird. But with all the upheaval here, I thought "Hmm, no one's posted any insanity from Camera Lucida lately, I'll check it out." So I found this post, and now I'm really confused. She says things like this:

I think there's a more insidious reason for Obama's zeal. Much of gun violence and gun-related deaths are committed by blacks, both against blacks and whites. Their guns are illegally acquired.

Rather than target this small, but toxic group of criminals and murderers, Obama has made it a generalized "gun control" issue. He has made it a national issue, rather than a racial one.

Ordinary citizens who could protect themselves from any criminal or murderer, black or white, now have less ability to do so, at least according to Obama's desires.

So, rather than identify the problem, Obama is making ordinary (white) citizens pay for the crimes of blacks.

Really? "Ordinary" citizens are white? But Kidist isn't white. WTF is she even trying to say here? As usual, when reading her, I'm pissed off but also rather confused.

[lilith]

How dare Obama make gun control about gun control stead of race! Doesn't he know that in Kidist's world everything is about race? How dare his reality not line up with her delusional thinking!

[thoughtful]

Kidist considers herself white (or Caucasian), since her ancestry is Amhara.

amnation.com/vfr/archives/015068.html

[RosyDaisy]

I just don't get Kidist. How can she look into a mirror and not see that she's not white? She's delusional.

[jessablessa4realz]

She is the poster child for self-hating. On top of her other delusions, this one is not shocking.

[TheSassyOne]

I just don't get Kidist. How can she look into a mirror and not see that she's not white? She's delusional.

Tiger Woods anyone?

[miffy]

Tiger Woods anyone?

I thought he said he was open about the fact that he is mixed race & has gave his ancestry a name?

Kidist looks a lot like (a dead in the eyes, less attractive version of) somebody I know who says she is coloured Sth African.

But Kidist's claim to white ancestry is very dubious, its sort of like a somebody from Kent identifying as Norman/French. Whilst its probably true that there her 'race' isn't 100% African. Its not like she can say '2 of my grandparents were white' it happened a very long time ago.

[Maggie Mae]

I don't understand her obsession with US politics when she is, in fact, a Canadian.

[Miggy]

Kidist doesn't seem to understand that race does not indicate skin colour. I am Australian. My background is mostly Scottish. My husband is a New Zealander. His background is Irish and Scottish. Anyone want to have a guess at the colour of our skin? We have basically the same racial background but our skin colour is quite different. The Wiradjuri* teacher at school has pale white skin and blonde hair. She describes herself as "a white skinned black-fella". Kidist might be a different race to the majority of Ethiopians. She might even be closer in appearancee to Caucasian than Negroid in appearance. However, she is still black. Are the "blacks" she describes, who commit ever crime possible, just Africans or does she include First Nation people? Would my Wiradjuri students be counted as "black" or do they get a pass because they are Australian? What about my Maori student? She is a mix of Maori and European background so has caucasian features but with the beautiful dark hair, skin and eyes of a Maori. Is she to be hated because she is "black" or does she get a pass because, like Kidist, she has a more caucasian face shape. Kidist just makes me .... aaarrrrgggghhhh .... I hope one day she will be able to accept who she is and that she will somehow overcome her hatred of "blacks".

*Wiradjuri are the indigenous people of a large part of western New South Wales. My children are fortunate enough to go to a school that teaches Wiradjuri language and culture.

[Cran]

Yes, I think she is delusional. I showed the picture on her blog to a friend, and he said: "Definitely not white. What is she thinking about?"

To me, it doesn't matter if her skin is brown, yellow or pink with yellow stars, but to her, it matters, and she identifies herself as white/Caucasian and she isn't. That's so confusing!

Perhaps she knows it, deep down, and therefore feels like an outsider in Canadian society and tries to compensate in this way.

Remember the post she made about the Lebanese girls, on whom she snarked mercilessly? I remember thinking that those Lebanese girls were probably no darker than herself, and what does it matter if your background is Lebanese or Ethiopian? It doesn't make you better or better suited to be part of the Canadian people.

One of these days, I am going to write her an email: "Girl, no matter how hard you try, you are NOT WHITE. Stop it already and see a shrink."

[fakepigtails73]

She is the poster child for self-hating. On top of her other delusions, this one is not shocking.

I just saw "Django Unchained" last friday night (great film, btw, for those into Tarantino) and she does reminds me of "Stephen", played by Samuel L Jackson in said film. If you've seen it you know what I mean. Yes, it can be seen as an insult but hey the truth hurts...

As someone IRL having something "up there between the ears"(lol!!) I'm weary to diagnose someone I don't know just by their blog posts (add also the fact that I'm no shrink, general practicioner or psychologist), but K seems to have either some untreated paranoid delusions or a major personality disorder. May I suggest that she runs to take an appointment to the TO Women's Medical Hospital or whatever it's called? I had great care there when I lived in her city ages ago.

[fakepigtails73]

I don't understand her obsession with US politics when she is, in fact, a Canadian.

US politics influence the world in such a big way compared to , say, Canadian or German politics, so it's normal to be interested in American political stuff even if you don't live in the US. I love following your country's political shenanigans, but K seems a bit too over- invested for a non-American. It is strange; she likely spent last election night crying because Mittens lost.

Sorry for my 2 posts in a row.

[keeks21]

I haven't heard of her before. I've read 1 page of her blog and my instant reaction is that she's vile. She's got some sick obsession with race.

I can't read anymore of her blog it's disgusting. A picture of her wearing a KKK outfit would be a fitting profile picture for her blog.

[thoughtful]

Finding previous threads about Kidist might be worthwhile for those who are new to her.

There may well be some illness involved, and Kidist is a kind of poster child, I think, for the "is this person so evil we should condemn them utterly, or so ill that we should just lay off" issue. I admit I find discussions about her interesting, and prefer neither extreme.

Cran, her obsession with distancing herself from people who are "black" goes way beyond her wanting to fit in with the "white" folks in Canada. There is a big picture involving Ethiopian history and her personal history.

This post may give some insight. Her childhood moment of glory:

http://cameraluc.blogspot.com/2012/02/f ... peror.html

[TheSassyOne]

I thought he said he was open about the fact that he is mixed race & has gave his ancestry a name?

Kidist looks a lot like (a dead in the eyes, less attractive version of) somebody I know who says she is coloured Sth African.

But Kidist's claim to white ancestry is very dubious, its sort of like a somebody from Kent identifying as Norman/French. Whilst its probably true that there her 'race' isn't 100% African. Its not like she can say '2 of my grandparents were white' it happened a very long time ago.

Here's an article from a few years ago, many more can be found on the internet. Yes, he came up with a name for himself that embraced "all" of his ancestry, but he seems in real life to only embrace one; and black is not the one!

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mod ... cablinasia

[JesusFightClub]

I was intrigued. I have two nieces, Small and Smaller. Their mum was half black and half white and their dad is white.

Small looks like a white person with African features. Smaller looks like her mum. You look at her and see "mixed race".

Is one black and one white? Are they both black? Are neither of them?

S&S have started to get confused about it themselves. So I am now confused, too, about this issue. They've started to notice racial differences and ask "are we black, are we white?" I dunno, they could be either. No-one would look at Small and say instantly "She's black." She's as pasty as I am, but she looks different than me in her face. Smaller would be mistaken for a wee Pakistani girl. Is one black and one not? They have the same mum and dad.

[Marian the Librarian]

Finding previous threads about Kidist might be worthwhile for those who are new to her.

There may well be some illness involved, and Kidist is a kind of poster child, I think, for the "is this person so evil we should condemn them utterly, or so ill that we should just lay off" issue. I admit I find discussions about her interesting, and prefer neither extreme.

Cran, her obsession with distancing herself from people who are "black" goes way beyond her wanting to fit in with the "white" folks in Canada. There is a big picture involving Ethiopian history and her personal history.

This post may give some insight. Her childhood moment of glory:

http://cameraluc.blogspot.com/2012/02/f ... peror.html

I land on the "so ill" side - I've always thought she's in serious need of therapy and/or medication.

Kidist, Lawrence Auster ("View From the Right" amnation.com/vfr/) and Laura Wood ("Thinking Housewife" thinkinghousewife.com/wp/) have a long-standing blog three-way going. They stroke one another's egos with regular "Isn't he/she brilliant" citations.

(Edited to break links, sorry!)

[Guest Anonymous]

I was intrigued. I have two nieces, Small and Smaller. Their mum was half black and half white and their dad is white.

Small looks like a white person with African features. Smaller looks like her mum. You look at her and see "mixed race".

Is one black and one white? Are they both black? Are neither of them?

S&S have started to get confused about it themselves. So I am now confused, too, about this issue. They've started to notice racial differences and ask "are we black, are we white?" I dunno, they could be either. No-one would look at Small and say instantly "She's black." She's as pasty as I am, but she looks different than me in her face. Smaller would be mistaken for a wee Pakistani girl. Is one black and one not? They have the same mum and dad.

I've seen you write about this before, JFC, and I suspect that you are the best person to guide Small and Smaller in this. Race is political, and you know politics. Everyone has to forge their own a racial identity in the same way they have to work out their own political identity. It's a deeply personal thing, you just have to be a supportive voice.

When asked whether I am black or white I tend to say "both". To me, it makes more sense to embrace both than to embrace neither. I have the advantage of having fairly recent Nigerian ancestry. The strong Nigerian presence in Britain means I have access to a ready-made cultural heritage: I have easy access to music, dance, language, history and food that represents my family background. Of course, I can just as easily pick up my family's English, Scottish, and Irish cultures.

What I am trying to say, in my own ridiculous way, is that there is no reason to frame it as an either/or.

My opinion on Tiger Woods is largely based on this article: http://www.salon.com/2007/03/05/kids_5/

I'm not whole-heartedly endorsing everything she says, and I have only skimmed over her other articles, but I do agree with what the author says about not being a 'brood mare'.

[sewingmom2]

JesusFightClub wrote:I was intrigued. I have two nieces, Small and Smaller. Their mum was half black and half white and their dad is white.

Small looks like a white person with African features. Smaller looks like her mum. You look at her and see "mixed race".

Is one black and one white? Are they both black? Are neither of them?

S&S have started to get confused about it themselves. So I am now confused, too, about this issue. They've started to notice racial differences and ask "are we black, are we white?" I dunno, they could be either. No-one would look at Small and say instantly "She's black." She's as pasty as I am, but she looks different than me in her face. Smaller would be mistaken for a wee Pakistani girl. Is one black and one not? They have the same mum and dad.

I married interracially nearly 40 years ago and raised three children. Two of my children are racially ambiguous; one is identifiable as black. I raised them to identify as black or biracial, in spite of their differences in appearance. Imo, it was easier. None of them identifies as white, even though one was fair and blonde as a child! I did used to tease my dh, though, telling him we should go for #4 because that one would likely end up with my blue eyes.

A good book to read re: your family members is "Black, White, Other" by Lisa Funderburg. It's oop but you can find it used at Amazon.

[Lostie]

US politics influence the world in such a big way compared to , say, Canadian or German politics, so it's normal to be interested in American political stuff even if you don't live in the US. I love following your country's political shenanigans, but K seems a bit too over- invested for a non-American. It is strange; she likely spent last election night crying because Mittens lost.

Sorry for my 2 posts in a row.

This. I'll be honest here, I'm a Canadian who is way more into American politics than Canadian. Not only does American politics have more importance in the world it also tends to be more interesting IMHO.

i'm a political science student - outside of mandatory Canadian politics classes (1 lower level, 1 upper level) and bare minimums of paying attention to the news so that I know the basics of what's going on I pretty much ignore Canadian politics. However, I can (and do) talk my classmates ears off about American politics.

While kidist is disturbing in many ways, I don't think her interest in American politics is weird or problematic.

[Marian the Librarian]

Another great book about race: "The Color of Water," by James McBride.

[JesusFightClub]

Thanks! I find that really helpful, and I'm going for the book suggestions.

I didn't quite know what to say to them. I understand race as a political construct, and the necessity for them to define their race in their own ways, and the intersection between race and class structures, but I don't know how to say that to kids.

I love "biracial" as well. That might be a small and simple way to explain it to them so they can feel confident in who they are. They maybe don't have to worry if they are black, white, mixed or who are ya.

This is why I haven't yet left FJ. You get really good insights and suggestions from people.

[TheSassyOne]

JFC, I understand what you're saying. I tend to just say children are bi-racial and leave it at that. Yet when 9-11 happened, my SIL was frantic to get to her son's high school because as she stated "even though they're black kids, they have seemingly Middle-East features". I never thought that, neither does my brother, her hubby. Of course you can be black with ME features, but ummm no one sees that but her.

On the other hand, the USA just re-elected our very first African American President (no matter what Bill Clinton thinks...just no!). Yet Obama's parents are white and black. Maybe because he self-identifies as black. To me the difference between him and Tiger (oh heck there are LOTS of differences) is that though Obama identifies as black, but he doesn't discount his white ancestry. Tiger does discount his. He never seemed to be comfortable to identify with anyone black who has broken barriers. I admit, I had forgotten about him speaking when Obama was first elected. My first thought was, "what a hypocrite".

On a side note, in the salon article, the mom was saddened she hadn't shared "speaking black" with her children. Let me say as a black person, I think both sides tend to paint blacks with this - so much so that's it's become a stereotype, IMO. I was in high school (almost 35 years ago) when I first heard about speaking black. I was so stunned because I wondered what this special gift was only to find out that no one in my family nor most of my extended family spoke in that manner. Yet it didn't stop classmates from speaking black to me and wondering why I look at them in confusion. On the other hand, the other black student in my class said yes this was true of her family. Yet instead of viewing this as some do and some don't, it became yes all blacks speak this way.

Even in my college years the same views popped up. I went to a private college in New Orleans and I remember one of my Psych professors stating how proud he was to watch a black member of Carter's team [i thought it was the UN Ambassador, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't Andrew Young] speak so eloquently but he just knew when he was home he spoke black English. I remember going to a Speech Pathology conference in college too. Said illustrious speaker went on and on about the beautiful black language. My soon to be SIL kept my hands pinned to my sides when I tried to raise them to ask a few questions. Look, I'm not saying that this isn't spoken in some black families and white ones too. But I hate the assumption that all of "us" do.

I also hate being told I speak like I'm white. Really? Really? I know I'm going off point, but it reminds me of when I worked in my Church's office and one summer a family friend of the priest was hired to do yard work. He was a teen and at the end of the first week he said to me and I quote, "Miss X, you're so nice I had no idea. I told my Dad last night that when you take off your clothes (yeah umm ok) at night to take a shower, your skin that we don't see must be totally white. I laughed and explained no, I was just a good person and thanks for saying that. But he became upset and couldn't understand why I didn't think being called white was something I would embrace. As I told him, being white is great - but so is being black. Can I say he never spoke with me after that.

Oh one more. I teach in a pretty conservative school where most families are well off. Yet, I've encountered some guys (a few black, but mostly white) who love to call themselves "gangstas" :roll: Yes, I know - the follies of youth and all that - but one day I said to a group of guys who were going on about how gangsta they were, that after school I'd be happy to take them to the hood and drop them off to get acquainted to their gangsta friends. Let me say they got really really pale. I guess they thought I hang out with gangstas every weekend. My BIL did the same to a friend's brother who was here for college. Immediately off the plane he annoyed the BIL with every phrase he'd learned from rap songs. So my BIL did the same thing, except he drove to a particularly crime ridden part of the city and told him to get out, because his homies were waiting for him. Needless to say, the kid toned down his delusions of gangsteur [grandeur :shifty: ] from that point on.

[JesusFightClub]

TheSassyOne, I imagined "speaking black" like speaking Scots. An error, maybe?

I heard of a dialect called Ebonics and I found the structure and grammar very interesting. There were also spin-offs to me which sounded like Scots? I might be super mistaken here.

[thoughtful]

I land on the "so ill" side - I've always thought she's in serious need of therapy and/or medication.

I lean that way, as well. I was just saying that I have a hard time not discussing her at all, because she is interesting - some prefer to stay out of these discussions altogether, because of the likelihood that she is not well.

I'm no Ethiopian history scholar, I admit that freely. :D When I tried reading about it, I mostly saw what one always sees when studying the history of an area with lots of diversity -- various groups have sometimes fought and sometimes co-existed, and it's really complicated. Some people look down on other ethnic groups, some people have gotten over their divisiveness and bigotry.

Kidist's mind seems to have settled on the idea that her ethnic group, the Amhara, were the "non-Negroid" (as she put it in the article I linked above) group, that she feels deserved to rule Ethiopia forever.

I think that's her troubled mind latching on to one aspect of the history, as she lived it. And any suggestion that she may be non-white is anathema to her.