Quick!

Someone get Senators Clinton and Obama into a "The U.S. in the Antebellum Era" or "The U.S. in the Civil Rights Era" class!

Because when I hear that they both think it should be "left to the states" to decide the "issue" of marriage, I can't help having flashbacks of how well states' rights positions worked to secure and protect the rights of other marginalized/viciously discriminated against people.

I Love My Babies

My goddaughter Belle graduated from kindergarten last night. Her silly godmother left the memory card for the digital camera at home, so I have to wait on pictures from others.

Anywhoo, as she is officially out of school, being a graduate and all, she spent the night with me last night. I just told her again how proud I was of her. She said, "You thought I was gon' cry when I had to say my part?" And I told her no, I knew she could do it.

I was a bit worried though--she usually does refuse to say whatever she's supposed to at these events. But she was all bold and happy last night. And so damned cute that I wanted to just kiss her to death (not that I'm biased).

So I got a bit maudlin as I was talking to her, "Belle, I can't believe you're almost six. I remember when you were a baby. After a while, you won't even be thinking about your godmama cuz you'll be grown."

She looked at me all askance. "I'm just goin to first grade," she reassured me.

"No," I said, on a tangent, "After a while you'll be grown and I'll be calling you trying to check on you and you'll be telling your friends, 'Ugh, my godmama gets on my nerves!' "

She laughed at the dramatic faces I was making then came and put her chin on my shoulder.

"I'm gon' still spend the night with you even when I'm twenty-one or twenty-three or something," she said.

Awwww!!!

"We do have safe places for processing and detention during times of a hurricane"

Via Noemi at Hermana, Resist

From the Rio Grande Guardian:

If a hurricane hits the Rio Grande Valley this season, residents evacuated via school buses will be prescreened for citizenship by Customs and Border Patrol.
[snip]
Anyone who is not a citizen or is not a legal resident will be held in specially designed areas in the Valley that are “made to withstand hurricanes,” said Dan Doty, a Border Patrol spokesperson for the Valley sector.

And am I the only one saying, "Yeah, right" to this?

We would not put someone's life in jeopardy, but at the same time we would do our job, we would take them into custody, and we do have safe places for processing and detention during times of a hurricane.

In fact these people are so good at their jobs that

Agents are very good at picking up on things that would lead them to believe somebody isn't a U.S. citizen or does not have legal residence.

So loaded.

Apparently these people have no memories of Hurricane Katrina, of the devastating effects of governmental delays and the arrogance to believe they know, without a doubt, what can "withstand a hurricane." Just because a building remains standing doesn't mean it's fit for people to inhabit for days, especially if they will be cut off from communication and supplies.

Is being a citizen really more important than being a human? Really?

Trying to Understand the Division

**What I was trying to say, much more eloquently**

Kim sent me a link to this article that I believe is a must-read. By Marie Cocco, it's entitled Misogyny I Won't Miss:

As the Democratic nomination contest slouches toward a close, it's time to take stock of what I will not miss.

I will not miss seeing advertisements for T-shirts that bear the slogan "Bros before Hos." The shirts depict Barack Obama (the Bro) and Hillary Clinton (the Ho) and are widely sold on the Internet.

I will not miss walking past airport concessions selling the Hillary Nutcracker, a device in which a pantsuit-clad Clinton doll opens her legs to reveal stainless-steel thighs that, well, bust nuts. I won't miss television and newspaper stories that make light of the novelty item.

Erica Barnett's Women In Politics: The Same as It Ever Was is even more detailed about sexist tactics and attacks used against Senator Clinton:

This kind of shit ought to be behind us: Hillary Clinton is a bitch. A big ol' bitchy bitch. And a cunt. A "big fucking whore." Fortunately, you can "call a woman anything." She's "Nurse Ratched." She'll castrate you if she gets a chance. She would like that. She's a "She-Devil." She's a madam, and her daughter's a whore.

I am linking these pieces both because I find them significant and so on point in their own right and because I think it's ridiculous to claim that anyone can miss the misogyny directed at Sen. Clinton, in particular (and the idea of powerful, politically involved women in general), during this campaign, even if s/he won't acknowledge it. I received an e-mail that really, quite politely took me to task about this post in which I discussed my perceptions of (what has turned out to be) the battle for the Democratic nomination in terms of race and racism. The e-mail began with the question of whether or not I believed sexism had played a role in this campaign in the way that I argued race had and it (d)evolved into a sort of kinder, gentler, elle-you're-letting-race-trump-gender scolding. And, I thought, no, no, no--not this again.

I am not blind to the misogyny from various sources--the media, Obama supporters, blogs, Republicans--that has been horribly evident during Senator Clinton's campaign. I do not think it is less significant or has any less impact than the racism Obama has had to endure. I know I'm not the only person who sees the effects of both. So when I say that I have been put off and disheartened by the campaign, let me explain quite simply why.

I have seen the writings and exclamations of the most ardent supporters on both (Democrats') sides. I have seen them accuse each other of pretty near apocalyptic offenses. And I wanted to write a partially-irritated post about how I don't get it. But I think my intended tone may have made light of some people's very real concerns and what they perceive as righteous anger. So, in all seriousness, I have to say, the viciousness, the hatred, I don't get it.

I realize that my cluelessness may be a result of my studied indifference towards the race once it began to get so ugly. But it is also a result of who I am—southern, black, woman, historian. I am the daughter of people who remember when their parents couldn’t vote. I am the granddaughter of a woman who so cherished finally getting the franchise that she voted up until the end of her life. That may seem insignificant, but at some point, diabetes led to my grandmother having her legs amputated. The recreational center that was her polling place did not have access for disabled voters and one of my last memories of her is that she insisted that she be driven to the center and that people lift her wheelchair through the door.

I live in a region where “W, the President” bumper stickers usually exist side by side with confederate flag stickers and majority white/white-only “Christian” school stickers. I have studied about the Southern strategy and still see it in force here—you wouldn’t believe (well, you might) the code words and innuendos used to appeal to Republicans. When I lived in Texas, I remember an incident where a black woman ran for some office as a Republican. Her slogan? “She’s one of us.”

My impression of the Republican Party and what it’s all about is shaped by those things. That’s part of the reason why I don’t believe the world will end if Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee. And I don’t believe the world will end if Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee.

I don’t think an Obama candidacy equals the end of racism in this country. Neither do I think it will usher in the Most. Sexist. Administration. Ever. Similarly, I don’t think a H. Clinton candidacy means the days of entrenched misogyny are over. Neither do I think it will mean “gender has trumped race.”

So when I read that if Sen. Obama is denied the nomination, African Americans may just not vote anymore, I think, surely, given our history, that is not true. And when I read that if Sen. Clinton is denied the denomination, millions of working class whites and (white) feminists will flock to the Republicans, I think, surely, that is not true. In the end, even if I feel a grave injustice has been done by the Democratic Party in choosing, I won’t not vote. And I will not vote for the Republican Party that is so repugnant to me. The more I think about it, I might defy my past practices and vote for a third party candidate. Or, I might decide that, whoever was my preference, either Democratic candidate is better, in my opinion, than John McCain. But please trust, I will exercise my right to vote. I don’t think staying home is the answer. And I don’t think that feminists and working class people voting for a party known for its anti-feminist, race-baiting, let’s-treat-corporations-like-they’re-people-and-treat-working-class-people-like-they’re-shit stance is the answer, either.

The saddest thing? Before this primary season, I think many of us thought of both of them as good, accomplished, typically-on-the-right-side-of-an-issue Democrats. Why has that been lost?

More on the Stemilt Cherry Pickers

Background here.

I just received this via e-mail:

Help Stemilt Cherry workers get food, housing and justice.

Late Friday we told you about the situation in Shafter CA, where more than one hundred cherry pickers were evicted after talking to news media about their working and living conditions. Today we want to ask you for financial help so we can continue to aid these farm workers and fight the company responsible for this travesty, Stemilt Growers Company--which boasts of being the largest shipper of fresh-market sweet cherries in the world.

If you can and have the desire, please donate.

Instilling Fear in Poultry Processing Workers

It's one of the most effective tools poultry processors have used over the past 6 decades or so to keep workers "docile," willing to accept less, afraid to ask for more. One such scenario is playing out with the Pilgrim's Pride Plant in El Dorado, Arkansas right now. It seems a textbook case. How it's unfolding from my perspective:

Step One: While suffering from the closure of seven sites, realize that the silver lining in this cloud might be newfound leverage to use over historically vulnerable black employees and newly vulnerable Latin@ employees who are afraid of losing their jobs.

Step Two: Further intimidate your immigrant employees, who's labor you rely upon heavily, by turning many of them into ICE.

Step Three: Go to your employees, tell them that their jobs are in danger because their work is substandard and that the plant might close... unless, of course, they improve immediately. Use phrases like,"There isn't much time" and "We have to see significant and immediate changes,"* to heighten anxiety and the sense of urgency. In simple terms, you tell them work harder, produce more, and you might keep your jobs--this, in an industry in which work speed is already inhumane.**

Step Four: Plan to have "discussions" with the United Food and Commercial Workers local, a local for which many employees express distrust and the sense that the union is on the side of the company.

Step Five: Hold a meeting at which you have employees sign a blank piece of paper that is to serve as a loyalty oath of some kind. Have supervisors walk around collecting the papers, while talking about faxing them to corporate headquarters. Leave employees to wonder what the ramifications are if their names are not on that paper. (Recently, employees of the plant told me that their supervisors asked them if they were dedicated to their jobs. If they were, they could indicate that by signing a blank piece of paper. Some employees refused, uncomfortable with placing their signature on a page with nothing else.)

Step Six: Cut an hour of the work day, an ominous sign.

Step Seven: And now that other plants have been closed, employees have been arrested, and hours have been cut, have the union present the first set of results of the "discussions" to your worried workforce (Keep in mind that the Union and the plant only recently negotiated a new agreement):

1. Elimination of paid rest periods. Employees currently have two 10-minute and one 45-minute break, for which they are paid. They are being asked to agree to two 30-minute non-paid rest periods.
2. Holiday Pay. Employees currently are paid double-time if they work on a holiday. They are being asked to accept time-and-a-half instead.
3. Insurance Costs. Currently, Employee insurance contribution is 20 percent of total cost. On 1 January 2009, that would go up to 25 percent.
   

And of course, once they refused to accept these terms, they were warned over and over that the alternative was no job at all. I talked to my mom about it and she's sick of the worry and fear. Tonight she told me she wished, "if they're going to close it, they'd just close it, or stop talking about it!" ***
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*There was a much more detailed article in the Houston Chronicle but it's no longer available. I even searched the archives. I'd saved a copy to MS Word, but dang, I wish it still existed.
**Plus, the onus is upon the employees--if the plant closes it becomes primarily "their fault" for not working harder, instead of the result of all the other factors (feed and fuel costs) that Pilgrim's Pride cites.
***I recognize that times are difficult right now, but you have to understand my skepticism as someone who's watched family members work in this plant for over two decades and has heard the threat of closure over and over.

Really?

Coti and Deuce

My friend Coti works as a correctional officer. She has some... interesting co-workers. She called me the other night, mid-shift, to tell me about one guy and to let me hear him talk.

This particular co-worker decided to take it upon himself to explain to her how this country's major problems are caused by "homosexuals taking over the world." He tried to cite biblical evidence and opined at length about how being gay is wrong and immoral.

Now, Coti is a lesbian, a self-identified "stud," so I was pissed that the co-worker would even approach her with that bullshit.* But she is rather soft-spoken, so she listened to his lecture with an admirable level of patience.

She is also wickedly sarcastic. And so, when he was done, she had him reiterate his definition of immoral that was supposedly rooted in biblical text.

Then she asked him, "Aren't you living with a married woman?"

After a momentary loss of words, he tried to explain why his situation, of course, was justifiable.

But I never cease to be amazed at people's nerve, hypocrisy, and interpretive skills.
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*Which is not to say, as I re-read this, that I wouldn't have been pissed had he approached anyone else with this, but that it seemed to me to be a sort of attack upon her.

Happy Mama's Day!!

To all the mommies, grandmommies, and taking-care-of-kids-like-you're-mommies!