Month: October 2012

Another Halloween, another blackface controversy. This time, it’s at the University of Florida, where members of a fraternity dressed up as rappers for a “Rock Stars and Rappers”-themed party.  Those involved have since apologized, claiming ignorance of history. Here’s some of the history. Blackface was used in 19th and early 20th century “minstrel shows.”  These popular offerings featured white performers in blackface who sang, danced, and clowned around for the benefit of white audiences. They did not portray blacks so much as they parodied them by perpetuating stereotypes of stupidity and laziness. One of the most popular minstrels was Thomas Rice, who perfected the “Jim Crow” persona, a caricature that served to reinforce white supremacy. It’s no accident that the term “Jim…

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From the Associated Press: WASHINGTON (AP) — Racial attitudes have not improved in the four years since the United States elected its first black president, an Associated Press poll finds, as a slight majority of Americans now express prejudice toward blacks whether they recognize those feelings or not. Those views could cost President Barack Obama votes as he tries for re-election, the survey found, though the effects are mitigated by some Americans’ more favorable views of blacks. Racial prejudice has increased slightly since 2008 whether those feelings were measured using questions that explicitly asked respondents about racist attitudes, or through an experimental test that measured implicit views toward race without asking questions about that topic directly. In all, 51 percent of Americans…

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Once upon a time, signs at the Forsyth County line let black folks know they weren’t wanted there—and not very politely, either. Those signs are gone, but a series of anti-Obama messages on an electronic billboard on Georgia 400 near Exit 13 in Cumming has raised some eyebrows. The most incendiary message compares the president to Hitler and calls him “Comrade” (talk about mixed messages), but at least these latter-day signs don’t use the  N-word. Atlanta’s 11Alive has the story. I don’t know why the person or people behind this billboard’s messages bothered to post them. Forsyth County is the most Republican County in Georgia and will deliver more than 80 percent of its votes to Romney, anyway.  For the record, local Republican officials disavow the…

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This amazon.com review comes from Julio A. Campos, who gives Brambleman 4 1/2 stars.  Unfortunately, this translated to 4 stars on Amazon.com. Round up peopple, round up! I like a review to say it how it is….This is a good book ! You should get it! Read the other reviews to see what it is about. I won’t waste your time on that, but listen up–it’s a fun read and worth your time. I will also add, I read this as part of my book club. It is an excellent book club selection as the book leaves the reader with intrigue, shallow doubt, and many details to ponder and hash out in a group!

Two Forsyth County officials, Commissioner Patrick Bell and Commission Chairman and Jim Boff,  cannot get along, thus requiring a deputy sheriff at meetings until Bell leaves office in December. Their latest argument involved trading insults and a low-grade threat by Bell.  You can read more here. By the way, Bell won’t let it go. Half the comments on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution article are from him.      

This 5-star review comes from the Forsyth County Library website. Until Monday, when I met with the Ashebrooke Book Club, I hadn’t realized that the local library carried the book, but now I see that they have a couple of copies, and there’s a waiting list for Brambleman. “Koord” writes: “Brambleman has a fast pace and interesting character development. It is an unpredictable journey with a cental figure who was once a typical husband and father. Just when you think you’ve seen him through the worst, Grant pushes him beyond human limits. Then he does it again… and again. Then he does it once more! I found myself clutching my throat more than a few times. I’m out of breath from this…

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