#it’s the people who speak over the lgbtq community of this Asian country

[tim-hoe-wan]

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[burmanana]

the overlap between asian artists, stantwt and queer spaces

Out of all of the online spaces I have been in, I have noticed "stan twitter" is unintentionally one of the biggest platform for queer communities. Especially on kpop twitter, it is very rare to come across someone who identify as cisgender and heterosexual... most of the times your mutuals will be queer in some ways. It's so interesting how queer people have found a safe community for themselves and their interests through kpop.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Another case in point, the "Stan Loona" meme being created by gay kpop fans which became a whole twitter phenomenon lmaoooo there are even articles written about it ... I love the tweet that was saying how "Stan Loona" created a "portal between kpop twt and gay twt". That is so true lolll

In my opinion, finding a safe community with people who shares your interest on kpop twitter is probably very comforting for a lot of lgbtq+ people. Especially since enjoying kpop is not common in english-speaking countries, a lot of diasporic and queer fans are able to make a community for themselves instead of feeling like an outsider amidst mainstream western culture.

Personally, I love kpop twitter because it was the platform where i found a queer friend group. I met one of my greatest friend on there.... thank you kpop and stan twitter <3

[jennymanrique]

COVID-19 Pandemic Worsens the Mental Health of Minority Children

A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that surveyed more than 7,000 high school students, revealed that 55.1% described suffering emotional abuse, 44.2% reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness and 9% attempted suicide. More young women and LGBTQ+ youth saw a rise in suicidal behavior, more Asian kids confronted racism and hate, more Black youth and Native Americans experienced hunger and economic devastation and along with Latinos, suffered mental stress due to the pandemic.

A panel of experts convened by Ethnic Media Services explained that to avert a “pandemic” of future adults with serious emotional and mental disorders, it’s important to foster a positive ethnic racial identity. They argue that civic engagement in particular, can be a mental health intervention: building opportunities for young people to speak truth to power and connect with their communities is key for their development.

Angela Vasquez, MSW, policy director for mental health at The Children’s Partnership:

“Nearly 50% of youth who are severely impaired with a major depressive episode did not receive treatment… Black and Latino children were about 14% less likely than white youth to receive treatment for their depression… Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Native youth, so nearly three and a half times higher than the national average. And high school girls across all races and ethnicities made plans to attempt suicide more than boys.”

“Over half of Latina girls are worried about a friend or family member being deported. Nearly a quarter have been harassed because of their family name, or country of origin. Since the pandemic started, Asian youth have been experiencing harassment and bullying.”

“Family separation harms children’s mental and physical health; children of undocumented parents are at risk of behavioral problems. Having parents taken away undermines family economic security. The climate of fear further restricts children, access to education, public benefits, and other services.”

“Direct and vicarious exposure to police violence, including immigration enforcement are contributors to toxic stress…There is a large growing campaign for police free schools.”

Dr. Ilan Shapiro, Pediatrician, chief medical affairs officer of Altamed federally qualified health centers, Los Angeles

“As a pediatrician, they never tell you about all the tools that you need to bring on board for a pandemic, especially on the suffering of a community that has lost so much from life complications. And it’s not just the Latino Hispanic community… We need to make sure that we create structural changes.”

“There’s something called the Internet that most of my patients don’t have… There was a year that they were at home doing nothing, eating whatever, they were feeling depressed, anxious without moving, the (pandemic) ramifications were horrible.”

“At least 50% of the patients that I take care of, were directly touched by COVID-19: they were sick, they had a family member that was close to them that actually died, or they were harmed because of the pandemic.”

“We need to translate medical terms to an actionable language that our community can actually do something with… It’s up to us to make sure that we create open conversations and resources with media with healthcare providers.”

Dr. Myo Thwin Myint, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Tulane University School of Medicine, He serves on the American Academy of Child and Adolescent (AACAP) Training and Education Committee New Orleans, Louisiana:

“Disparity exists in terms of racial minoritized groups, as well as a gender and sexual minoritized groups. Particularly our LGBTQ and trans kids suffer disproportionately from the mental health challenges because of the unjust societal challenges. Across the country, many state legislatures are discussing passing laws that add additional stress to get appropriate care.”

“Our Surgeon General has put out a general mental health advisory and (recognized that) a crisis is happening. It was really good to see that there’s recognition from the federal government and we hope that what follows will be an investment in our youth’s mental health.”

“We should being able to go out to the youth where the challenges are happening rather than waiting in our clinic and ivory towers where we know there are systemic challenges such as transportation. We need to be thinking very creatively how we are going to be providing care.”

Sydney McKinney, PhD, Executive Director of the National Black Women’s Justice Institute based in Brooklyn:

“Addressing the mental health and wellness of black women and girls is really vital to reducing their risk of coming into contact with the juvenile legal and the criminal legal system… Among black teenage girls, suicide death rates increased from 2001 to 2017 by 182%.”

“Nearly 2 million young people are arrested by police every year. And data show that 75% of those have experienced traumatic victimization in their lifetime… Black girls account for 43% of girls who are in youth detention which is more than any other racial group.”

“The pandemic has exacerbated the mental health needs of black girls and gender expansive youth who are directly impacted by the foster care, the child welfare system and the juvenile legal system.” “Media can elevate and bring attention to mental health and wellness programs and services that are culturally affirming and gender-responsive. So much of what people know is clinical modalities, which many of the folks in our communities are reluctant to engage in for very well-founded reasons.”

Originally published here

[aajjks]

hey! so i’m no longer a muslim myself (as of like a year ago) but i am raised in a traditional muslim family and if i may i’d like to chime in on some of their religious beliefs/aspects and culture!

so as far as it was in my community (1st gen bengali-americans who are raised in muslim families) we started ‘fasting’ in a non-sequential way as soon as we were old enough to understand why and say we wanted to! so i started(sorta,, lemme explain) at around 9(?) basically i’d go as many days as i could following ramadan but i could not fast on days when i didn’t feel like i could/wanted to. as i grew older i grew more tolerant and patient (a key factor in ramadan as i was taught) and by 12 i could fast the full 30 days! soon after i started attending the usual after-eftar prayer (tarabi)

ok so the whole multiple wives thing is a bit more complex so i asked my parents about it (both full bengalis and have been muslim their whole lives…literally) so back in the day, when islam was first created, islamic people had to fight for this religion as most religions do. in that ear many men died and women most definitely did not have the rights or means to be single mothers to the children now left fatherless. so Mohammad said to take rose woken and make them your wife. because at that time the word ‘wife’ was much different than what it was 100 years ago and now. ‘wife’ was a highly respected title. if you were a wife, in the culture it meant you would be protected, nurtured and respected. also to be noted!! in most asian/middle eastern cultures, dating is not a thing. boyfriend/girlfriend is not a thing. it’s just husband and wife. so that’s how it started. but as it grew the scripture was more clear, if a man had a wife already, and wished to take another, he would have to have the consent of both women. there were no ifs and or buts. nowadays, while it is still practiced, it’s more as of a polyamorous relationship. it is also, heavily looked down upon for the last 100+ years. it is now believed that faithful muslims shall remain on faithful marriages with their only significant other.

so that whole situation is not actually written about in the Qur’an (or as my parents have told me and have been raised as) but was said by the prophet. it was stemmed from a time of patriarchy, and cultural times, and when speaking of these there is so much history. there’s much more to be said of it and if there are ever any wishes to know more please just ask! muslims (and former muslims) would love to speak of the religion, as there have been many assumptions made over time without ever asking.

whilst i left the religion, it was for no other reason than i just did not fully feel that spiritual connection to it, as is important in any religion.

ah also want to speak on this! : lgbtqia muslims!!

so as with any older generation it’s not that the Qur’an looks down on LGBTQ+ people, it’s just that culturally it’s not as accepted?? here in my community i, and a lot of others have come out as LGBT+ and have been eagerly accepted, and the religion has not changed but i cannot speak on other areas of islamic dominance. however i do believe that islam itself has no superior dislike of LGBT+. i feel as though it may be a cultural/generational fear/dislike as many people are. as we can see not only are muslim dominated countries repressed of LGBT+ members, it’s still very much a working movement around the world.

(i hope that made sense!)

Thanks, dear Rosie for always coming to help me explain things better. You’ve really explained everything super well! anon L, look! She said it better.

English’s my weakness damn 💔 and Rosie I hope you find your happiness one day! 💕

[annetteblog]

Intro & My take on KM

Hi!

I’m new around here so it’s supposed to be (not so short) introduction, since I don’t know how to start a blog heh. I hope to sprinkle my 0.5 cents into the KM conversation and maybe to bring a new perspective from someone, who is not a part of the typical English-speaking West.

Who /the hell/ Am I?  

(please, consider it to be said with NJ’s voice from Intro: Persona :D)

I was born in Siberia (it’s in the Asian part of Russia), currently live in the European part of the country while studying at a Uni (European in terms of geography, not in terms of everything else i’m definitely not shading rn lolllll). English is not my first language, I’ve just kind of learnt it to some extent. Due to this it takes me more time to write a post; and I may (and will) make some grammatical & other mistakes. Plus I’m lazy AND busy with Uni, so I won’t even promise to be consistent in posting smth lol. But I thought I need more practice in terms of writing in English, so here I am, actually scribbling something. This feels weird, because I’ve been around stan Tumblr since 2015, but never ever interacted, just read.

How I ended up around Jikook/Kookmin (and BTS) & My (long&messy) take on this matter

Although I had heard of BTS before, I became an Army only in October 2018. I had kinda avoided them, because you know... boybands.... sing songs about romantic love and how they love girls.......... (+I had been around Twitter when 1D been at their peak and I remember a quite toxic community of fans, whom always had scared me). Shortly, hello stereotypes. Obviously, after I got engaged I felt terribly sorry that I had been sleeping on them, but what is done cannot be undone. 

Someone I knew back then reposted one of their MVs and I, during my sad hours of procrastination, decided to watch it. Then I saw their live performance with the same song. And I thought “wow these guys can sing and dance and the music is kinda cool, i need to check this out maybe??” 

Then a funny thing happened. One of the next videos I watched (the same person had it added to their page) was a 2016 BangtanBomb where JM and JK practiced their Coming of Age dance. 

Do you know this moment with Gina from the 1st episode of Brooklyn 9-9:

Well, that was precisely me after I watched it. I don’t even know how to explain this, it was kind of a gut feeling? Whatever you call it, I started to get suspicious and couldn’t even explain to myself why. /actually now a do have questions to this vid and the main one - why does everyone cringe that much? if it’s a girly choreo than they had done some “girly” moves before. why is there such strong reaction??/

I started to get deeper and went to some ru-shipper communities. Shipping culture among Russian speaking fans is... well, weird to some extent, but I maybe address this topic some time later. You need to consider that (as far as you probably know) Russia is quite homophonic country and sadly is not the greatest place for LGBTQ+ community at the moment. The non-frienly influential attitudes hanging in the society + the general shippers’ weirdness = the result is not that nice honestly. 

I struggled for some time in order to find more mature people (not just in terms of age but in general sanity), failed, ended up with some EXTREMELY toxic ru-fans of TK, which was/is the most popular pairing here, spent among them like 15 minutes and ran away horrified. After that I didn’t even try to engage with shippers or believers or whatever of any pair and just decided to enjoy the music and the content (which is a great idea, highly recommend!)

After a couple of days I discovered that JK makes videos. I love video, films and visual art so I immediately found them on YT, saw the titles with names of different cities from all over the world and was like “Oh that must be so cool, he’s visited so many outstanding places I’ve never been to, so I really need to watch it! I shall enjoy some beautyyy”. Then I clicked on GCFt.

Well, what can I say. I did enjoy some beauty, but not the type I had initially anticipated. The biggest clickbait in my entire life. JK should be proud of himself.

                                       /as I said - the beauty/

I had already known Troy back then and I known the song’s lyrics so it would not be an underestimation to say - the video just blew my mind. I was like - hold on is this real? seriously?? no really really????? he manage to get away with something THAT obvious?????? dude how

As a person who edited videos AND is not a native English speaker, I don’t buy the explanation “oh he mustve didnt get the lyrics lmao”. You just don’t do that. You don’t. DON’T. You google and translate every shit you don’t understand, every word and idiom you’ve never encountered, because otherwise the possibility of an epic failure is very likely. You wouldn’t want to give your mum a video as a birthday present and then discover that you used a song with WAP-ish lyrics, right? (well maybe that would be okay in your family, I don’t judge, but that’s not the case for people I know). So don’t you dare to degrade JK’s intellectual capacities; such assumption is really offensive. He is a smart boii, he knows exactly what he’s doing in terms of his art.

So I was shocked, but decided to look for the context - maybe I missed some previous events regarding this Tokyo thing (another great idea - always check the context). Well, apparently I didn’t, because the whole narrative with the trip for two, lovely selfies etc. made my poor brain lowkey explode. (I still don’t buy the rings theory thing though)

But I didn’t give up lol! I’m a bit stubborn and it’s very hard to convince me in anything, so I decided to search for more context, more of their interactions, moreeee. Remember, the late October 2018, there were no swan lakes, RB, and even MMA18 hadn’t happened yet. 

This time I ended up watching content in more or less consistent way, and when I saw all of these scenes with affectionate JM and a cool badass i-don’t-care-about-anyone-i’m-a-manly-man-with-no-feelings-whatsoever JK, I just hysterically laughed. 

Homophobic Russia, remember? I recognized this. Growing up here being LGBT myself, taught me the same type behaviour during my high school days. When a girl I kinda liked but didn’t what to admit it to myself was nice to me or (oh god) flirted with me, I did something similar. It’s like a huge panic mode. Being an introvert doesn’t help either. The funniest thing is that you may not entirely realise what exactly is going on in terms of your own feelings, especially at that age (16-18ish). In my personal case, I thought I liked her but as a friend, only later to realise that well not as a friend oops :DDD The second thing (already not so funny) is that you actually consciously or unconsciously try to avoid the subject as much as possible, as long as possible and pretend that nothing is going on. We’re just bros. Stop doing this stupid gayish thing and don’t look at me like that, you’re annoying. If you ever do this again I (gently) kick you. I’m straighter than a straight line in my math textbook. IDK, but probably that’s your brain is somehow trying to protect you. Again, in my case&position I knew that the consequences for any non-straight person being outed would be bad (TW not to the point of being killed bad, but to the point of being excluded from a big part of society). So for me it was a mixture of the internalized homophobia + lack of self reflection + just being a bit emotionally slow + very! straight community around. Shit happens, I was a teenager and made my share of mistakes, but that experience helps me to recognize the same pattern of behaviour up to this day.   

So coming back to KM, because the post is already waaay too long and I just ramble. It’s been 2+ years for me being a part of this fandom, and what can I say... Things become more intense and eventful with every year passing by ;) Funny how I felt that vibe from the 2016 dance practice video. Seeing the Black Swan performance a week ago almost had me choked, no joking. They are amazing.

                                                    Pure Art

However, and I would like to emphasize that, I do not incline that KM are 100% romantically involved and/or gay or whatever. I tend to treat people with respect and not to make too much assumptions about their private life. That’s not my business. However, I’m also not a fan of heteronormativity, so I’m just sitting here and observe everything that’s going on putting some distance and not forgetting being generally polite and critical thinking. But if they are just straightest besties please give them an Oscar before Grammy

Anyways, I hope this blog won’t kick the bucket from the very start and I will post something every now and then. You can always ask me questions about some BTS/Jikook related stuff or something about Russia and a Russian view on mass culture topics, since I’m pretty sure some of you have very stereotypical view of what is going on here :) However, do note that I’ve never been to America or Europe, therefore I may not be aware of something verrrry obvious to you or just have a completely different experience. 

P.S.  And yeah, I’m used to say Jikook, since it’s the name which is used much more frequently in Russian.  i like it better and what will u do haha

[luna-is-disabled]

This account focuses on disabilities and abelism surrounding them. Although it is just one of the few minority groups that I am a part of it, it is just one of the many minority groups that exist. Too all of you who are a part of a minority group in any way, I stand with you, I salute you, and I see you. Too the Native Americans who had their land stolen and ancestors harmed, I am so sorry. Asians, I am so sorry that you are facing so much hate during this pandemic. I am also sorry that you get fetished by white people. Those of you who are black, I am sorry for the racism your people have faced for so long and still continue to face. Your skin color is beautiful, and you are amazing. Those of you in the LGBTQ+ community, I am so sorry that you face discrimination, homophobia, and transphobia. You are valid. Women, I am so sorry that you do not have control over your body and are being screwed over by men in so many ways. Those of you who are religious, I am so sorry that people disrespect your religion. Your beliefs are beautiful, and valid. Too everyone who's first language is not English, I am so sorry for any discrimination or hate you've faced for speaking your language in a different country. Your language is absolutely beautiful, please never let it go. Too any other minority group, I am sorry that you face hardships simply because you exist. I love each and every one of you. You are all so loved and so valid. Too everyone out there who is not a part of these minority groups, please consider doing what you can too help. Support black businesses. Buy from Native American shops. Go to pride. Go to rallies and events. Speak up. Use your voice. Use your platform. Protect, love, and cherish one another regardless of any differences. Make the world a better place, however you can.

[taekooktimeline]

i love this timeline and i congratulate you guys on how much effort you seem to be putting into it! however, I still can't 100% they have something, or ever had something. I do think theyre cute together and they do have. amor of questionável moments...but most of it is completly explained by a little logic thinking. I don't think two guys who grew up in small towns in Korea during the 90's/00's when there was no discussion at all about homosexuality would take this so lightly. Specially Tae, who was raised on a rural town by his grandparents. Could they have changed their minds by now? Absolutely, yes. But we also have to remember that kpop os built on encoraging performative homoerotic behavior in order to allure fans, because they know it sells. There are literally lots of testimonies from trainees that say that by contract they are obliged to do that. Sure that at this point in fame they wouldnt need to do it anymore, but they are bora dumb, they know it sells and they are well aware of the dynamics people want to see the most. Now, I do believe they love each other, but I also believe they don't make themselves that much available to one another outside working hours anymore (ex: one of the meetings for BE, the one they were diacussing the units, Hoseok said that it was hard to get all 7 of them together like that so they needed to say what they needed and get it over with), which is okay given that they lived together for years. So I do believe that most of the things taekook does that seems couply is simply performative bc they know it attracts attention, and they do it because they are confortable enough, yk? we also have to remember that asians society works very differently, men are expected to behave in a more community way. Anyways, I still think theyre very cute and If they do have something with eo or gfs, I just hope theyre happy. Once again, awsome work you two have been doing! congrats!

Kayla:hi Anon - thank you for the well wishes with the timeline. We are going to have to agree to disagree on this. If TK were solely doing all of this for marketing / fan service where is the subunit that people have asked for for years? The only subunit to trend at festa 2020 before units were announced .. Two big powerhouses who sell out everything .. yet BH never takes advantage of that? As a business, shouldn’t they want that? Why did BH visibly restrict TK or separate them in a lot of official moments? A lot of moments are subtle, caught by fan cams or sleuths .. so again, how is that marketing if it’s subtle and not bold, in your face, obvious, which is what fs is? And their actions and reactions don’t necessarily happen at concerts, where I would be inclined to agree some is enjoyed FS by them .. some of their actions are away from concerts .. and FS, by definition, is for a performance, so if it’s subtle, not at a concert .. it’s the exact opposite of that. We barely see TK anywhere in the 2019 dvd so again, and there’s a lot of other examples that are similar, so how are they selling themselves and appeasing shippers when official content in the old contracts really didn’t market them? Not only that but there are lgbtq people in every country, progressive or conservative, rural or more liberal household. It’s not like being born to a conservative family just negates out who a person is attracted to...I highly doubt Tae is professing love of LGBTQ artists, designers, photographers, etc, reading CMBYN and professing a fondness for rainbows for nothing. Besides that, people have spotted TK out and about in 2020 alone, and have commented on it. Unless you’re their best friend and know their day to day, you can’t confidently say they’re not spending time together, especially when there are people who have sighted them. Think about it, would people believe namsan without photographic proof? compound that by years .. how many times they may have spent time together but it was kept private. Besides that, I’m sure it’s hard to get 7 people with varying schedules and pursuits together. They’re all busy people and I’m sure they want to rest, have “me” time or visit with people they may not get time to see when work commitments hit. It’s not like Hobi said it for TK only. Hobi said they’re busy and need to plan the schedule out. That makes sense. Planning for a lot of people will always be tricky because you’re factoring in multiple timetables, multiple plans and preferences. That’s anyone in the real world planning for any gathering. It takes coordination.

Also BTS as a whole has been pretty outspoken about hating fanservice and not enjoying it (e.g. remember that variety show episode where Yoongi dropped the paper so they didn't have to that paper kissing game?). Plus this year has seen a very significant drop in fan service even with all their stuff from BE, including dynamite--so i fail to see how this makes sense? Also as already mentioned if BH is so aware about how much the pairings sell why don't they market them more? BTS has been around for 7 years, marketing them in the 7/8th year after none for like 3-4 years seems like a weird choice no?

Plus, Jk comes from Busan which isn’t a small town. And Daegu isn’t small either. South Korea is one of the most, if not the most technologically connected and 'linked up' countries in the world. Not being from Seoul doesn’t mean they’re in the boonies.

I’ll probably come back and edit this but I don’t see how being from a more conservative home means Tae can’t be gay (and Jk’s home was more progressive) or how Taekook are “marketed” when they’re the exact opposite of that by every definition. I’m fully aware of Kpop and shipping, but I stand by a lot of moments TK have are not on performance platforms and do not fit the criteria of fan service. Not only that, but I’ve said a million times Korea is getting more progressive. I’ve linked multiple articles with hard stats showing as much. And it takes brave people to push that change forward even more. It’s cool if you don’t see them as romantically involved .. but my stance doesn’t change on this. They don’t meet the criteria of fan service in a lot of instances and BH sure as hell isn’t marketing two of their most profitable members as a pairing, which is suspicious on its own. Unless Tae or Jk say different, their actions speak loud for me on who they are to each other.

Sara’s General Disclaimer: I may select some asks, think about them and answer in the future through either Tumblr, Twitter or YouTube. Kayla will take over the discussion section as she enjoys active debates and will make the time for it, but I still read them all. Be nice to each other 💜 As it’s natural, I may or may not differ with Kayla’s take/ words.

[ojandbathrobes]

thoughts on the closer by chappelle

I’lll preface this by saying I don’t think this was a a particularly great comedic performance out of Dave- it was alright comedically. I also don’t think he should have used the term TERF, and that he conflated gender with sex, but I understand his points. And I don’t speak for any community and only for myself.

Dave knows exactly how people would react to his special- he’s not stupid. His entire job is to understand what makes people react the way we do (such as laugh). And I agree with what he said.

The issue he has and why he has hammered it home so much- is that there are different rules for different people when it comes to comedy at the moment. Fundamentally, that you cannot make jokes involving the LGBT community if you yourself aren’t a part of it. As a comedian myself I wholeheartedly disagree. Its the same for people saying you can’t make jokes involving black people if you aren’t black. That’s not true. Neil Brennan makes jokes involving black people all the time and he’s white as snow. 

Thankfully, most people understand context and that you can joke about anything provided it’s funny. And it’s okay to be offended. It’s not okay to deny a comedian subject matter.

You can make jokes about everyone else- white, black, asian, jewish, midgets, fat people, religious people and Chappelle pretty much does make jokes involving all of those. But for some reason LGBTQ people are off limits.

Dave makes jokes about jewish people with little to no backlash. His critics are silent when he makes jokes using the hard r n word to raucous applause. Clifford the big black NWORD gets huge laughs- and that’s a joke about a black man getting shot by the cops. Maybe these jokes are acceptable because every other group has been in the public eye for much longer. I don’t know.

He hammers home these jokes- about how he beats up women, got molested as a kid and liked it, how he would lead the feminist movement just to get his dick sucked. No one was bothered by these jokes and characterizations. They’re considered fair game. His work is not meant to be taken at face value. No joke is supposed to be taken at face value. He hammers home the trans jokes because the community INSISTS that they are the one type of joke he isn’t allowed to make.  But that isn’t how life works. 

In a past special Dave said,

“To what degree must I participate in your self-image?”

That doesn’t mean he won’t respect your self image. He said re iterated many times that he’ll respect anyone’s name and their pronouns. The issue is that you cannot FORCE anyone to treat you a certain way. You cannot FORCE tolerance on somebody. The only way you can make sure someone always treats you the way you want to be treated is to exercise power over them.

You are not the complete arbiter of all that is right or wrong because of your sexual orientation. If you could get people to always respect you or react the way you want them to - well everyone would laugh at every single thing that comes out of my mouth. I’m happy to accept anybody and everybody. But stop forcing me. The woke olympics gets exhausting. Equality is not about destroying a foe that needs vanquishing. It is about everybody agreeing to be on the same page.

Dave also has an issue with the disparity between black justice in this country and the rapid strides of the LGBTQ movement. I agree with him. I sincerely believe the LGBTQ community would not have achieved the success it had the majority of the movement been non white. They have gotten most of the objectives they were fighting for, outside of eliminating widespread personal prejudice. Black people have been tormented by the dominant culture and by the government for four hundred years with little redress done to their community.

The claim has been made that this implies black LGBTQ people don’t exist- but anyone who watched the special knows that Dave mentions them several times- referencing a white gay dude calling the cops on him, and how a black gay dude would not have. He references black gay dudes hanging out with a white trans person - and how that trans person will never know what it’s like to be a double minority. He demonstrates that white gay people are a minority until they need to be white again. The criticism against him here as well as the criticism of Chappelle as a whole has mostly come from a white mode of thinking. We really do have a different way of thinking, reading, writing, and speaking for the most part. 

And that is the linear, completely logical (at the cost of all else) way of thinking that picks about small details without their greater context and point being taken into consideration, and believes the words you say are always exactly what you mean. This mode of thinking places everything at face value. This thinking style does not mesh well with comedy, as comedy is about taking that mode of thinking and flipping it on its head. 

He constantly used the African American rhetorical technique of “signifyin” which again is hard for the white audience to understand. Signifyin takes many forms but the basic premise is this:

It explores the difference between words and their literal meaning against what you mean to convey through context or shared knowledge. In simple terms it’s like roasting someone to show friendship, or in even simpler terms calling someone “bad” to mean good. He calls himself “transphobic comedian Dave Chappelle”- now through context we obviously know that Dave doesn’t believe he is transphobic. He uses that to poke fun at the people who inevitably called him that after the special dropped.

The concept flies over many people’s heads. It’s why white racists have sometimes enjoyed his work. He uses these tactics because ultimately he is a trickster. The trickster is not inherently good or bad. He is just searching for deeper meaning through the exploitation of language and through the feelings of the audience in search of truth about the human condition.

This is why he says things that offend when taken at face value. If you’re not offended by Clifford the big black NWORD, but you are offended by calling trans pussy “beyond pussy”, what are your feelings based in? I understand that joke being able to hurt a trans persons feelings  or why his claim that he is a TERF would also hurt. But he speaks truth. Trans women have a fundamentally different experience than cis women. That doesn’t mean they can’t be women and be allied with them.

A trans woman did NOT grow up with a period. Did not experience female puberty and the sexualization by others until their transition. That’s a different experience. And that’s OKAY. But it is not the same experience. He is exposing that. He DOES NOT have a problem with them. He has a problem with people trying to control his speech. Some say that still- he’s behind the times. The majority of audiences he speaks to don’t think that. As long as the audience is there- he isn’t behind the times.

To tell the trickster that he isn’t allowed to use certain tricks is the worst decision to make. He will always do the opposite of what you tell him to. If not for the simple reason of finding out what the opposite even is.

“To take a man’s livelihood is akin to killing him.” 

To take the tricksters ability to trick is to kill him.

The underlying point of the whole thing was never hatred. Or division. Rather, unity. He always builds this unity in a backhanded way. His jokes are not out of hate, but acceptance.

Dave obviously cares about the trans people he meets. he doesn’t want them to hurt. If you are hurt by words it’s because you allow them to hurt you. (see last special “Sticks and Stones”) He wants the opposite. Everyone else likes being in the jokes. They laugh. To laugh is to take the venom out of the bite of pain. He says things that sound painful at face value- in the hopes they will laugh. He is inviting this community to laugh with use- and in doing so, overcome their pain.

The greatest use of signifyin.

[popwasabi]

Civilization is coming: “Black Sails” and when rage is justified

(SPOILERS ahead! You’ve been warned...)

There’s a moment late in the first episode of the highly underappreciated series “Black Sails” that hints not only at the troubled past of its lead character Captain Flint but also describes the larger theme of the story.

Flint has gotten himself into trouble. Along with his crewmember Billy “Bones,” in an effort to secure the financing he needs to capture the gold from the Spanish warship known as L’Urca de Lima, his recklessness has gotten Nassau’s governor shot and injured and his plans all but evaporated. Billy feels they are now in too deep and they should not only turn back but perhaps new leadership is needed for Flint’s crew. It is here that Flint reveals a bit where his true ambitions lie.

(Toby Stephens, ladies and gentlemen.)

On the first viewing, Flint ominously declaring the pending arrival of “civilization” to the new world could mean anything from simply the imperialistic tendencies of the British and Spanish empire, to the draconian rulership of the crown or just “taxes” as he makes light mention of in this speech. But as the series progresses, especially in the second season, “civilization” begins to take a darker, more personal meaning.

The story begins to reveal that the dangerous pirates of Nassau are not at least inherently dastardly, although certainly violent, but victims of their various circumstances; a former slave turned prostitute turned keeper of secrets in Max, a neglected daughter becoming the bookkeeper of the pirates with Eleanor Guthrie, another former slave turned ruthless pirate captain in the vicious Charles Vane, and an abused woman turned deadliest pirate on the island Anne Bony, and none more painfully revealing than that of Flint himself.

You see Flint didn’t always go by this name, he used to be a prominent officer in the British navy named James McGraw until he met Thomas Hamilton, a wealthy proprietor tasked with solving the problem of the pirates of Nassau many years prior. Thomas had the radical idea of pardoning the entire island to bring them back into society, to avoid violence and bloodshed, and to better understand the people who would turn to piracy.

As James gets to know him more and his revolutionary philosophies of empathy and enlightenment the two unexpectedly fall in love and thus seal the fates of both their downfalls from “civilized” society.

With England unwilling to see any other way to end the pirates without exterminating all of them and looking to exploit weaknesses in Thomas to Parliament, he is outed and imprisoned. James along with Thomas’s wife Miranda, who lives in a polyamorous relationship between the two, are persona non-grata-ed and the two flee to Nassau to finish what Thomas started in an act of rebellion.

(This is seriously one of the most heart-wrenching, tragic reveals I have ever seen on TV. I totally knew it was coming at the time and I was still not prepared for how it was delivered.)

There are few things as personal as love and “Black Sails” uses this to show how far society can go to villainize people. Flint wasn’t born a monster, and he is not one for loving Thomas; he is a monster because “civilization” wanted him to be one.

As our own civilization enters a timeline that may promise great change, people who have been othered and victimized by society are finding themselves grappling with their pain and grief in the same way as Flint. People have tried peaceful reconciliation and conformity into society to avoid violence throughout history despite the labels they have been given for no other crime than being who they are, but civilization’s need for a monster always brings people down no matter how hard they try to do it the “right way.”

(Tell me if you see a justice system in this picture that looks interested in listening...)

Native Americans tried playing by the white man’s rules when America began moving west. Compromising over and over again and yet they were killed and still killed and neglected today for it.

African Americans tried becoming rich like their white counterparts in places like “Black Wallstreet” in Tulsa, Oklahoma  and were still bombed and massacred for it.

Asian and Latin Americans immigrated here to flee war and death largely caused by white imperialist countries, to survive and work jobs white Americans would not. Both are othered as foreigners, face violence from the state, and are deported everyday.

Poor working-class Americans try fruitlessly to keep their head above water as they become mired in debt, fighting a pandemic on slave wages essentially, all while our government cuts wealthy companies a fat paycheck annually with our own tax dollars. And anyone who fights back finds themselves without an income and health insurance during a recession and a pandemic.

And the LGBTQ+ community ask for the dignity to be left alone and treated normally but not only are they harassed for it but they are beaten, tortured, and killed for being different.

(Remember, Stonewall was a riot.)

Flint, himself, tries one last time, toward the end of season two, to peacefully resolve his vendetta with England and save Nassau from a war with them but instead finds himself facing the gallows anyways by the Charlestown government.

As they read out his charges, many of them real heinous things he did but also many that were fabricated, Flint stops them from proceeding any further and delivers a final act of defiance to the court.

“I have one regret,” he begins to the court of high society folks who are only interested in seeing him punished before the masses. “I regret ever coming to this place with the assumption that a reconciliation could be found. That reason could be a bridge between us. Everyone is a monster to someone. Since you are so convinced that I am yours, I will be it.”

It is at this point in the story that Flint, perhaps like other revolutionaries of the past, recognize that the system doesn’t want to reason with him, that these people aren’t looking to understand or empathize with him or even try for that matter. They wanted a monster, they made one in him, so he decides there that “civilization” as he had noted in the series first episode is not worth reconciling with and certainly not worthy of forgiveness.

And Flint spends the rest of the series in bloody war with them.

(From season 3. Again Toby Stephens, ladies and gentlemen)

“Black Sails” is about queerness, race, social politics, and the way conformity by force is used against it. It’s about the rage that boils underneath many of us as we are wronged over and over again by society, while being exploited to no end, and what happens when someone finally says “enough.”

Anyone who has experienced what it is like to be othered can find something deeply personal with the anger that Flint carries around with him in each scene of this series. We feel his pain of rejection by society, his grief for feeling ashamed of himself when he and the audience know he shouldn’t.

It's what makes the eventual reveal of his relationship with Thomas so cathartic, as we see the rage-filled guard of Flint drop as he reads Thomas’s words left for him in a book they both loved and shared.

(Again, I cannot emphasize enough how much of a gut-punch this reveal was watching this...)

"Know no shame” is so important to growth of this character and the message of this story. Civilization and those who wish to keep the status quo want those who do not fall in line with their authority and judgments to feel shame for who they are. They not only want monsters, they want you to feel like one and the reason Thomas line speaks so much to both Flint and the audience is that it reminds us there is no shame in who we are.

The country we live in is a powder keg right now experiencing the same rage that Flint feels and more specifically how he felt at the end of season 2. Though this country’s racist attitudes and subjugation of the vulnerable hardly started with this presidency it cannot be argued that it has brought all that hatred in our government and the people who support those views painfully to the surface. When people peacefully protest, peacefully assemble, and peacefully try to cast their vote and are still met with resistance, still met with hatred and violence, people have to start to wonder if operating within the system’s rules can actually affect change.

A lot has been made about the way protesters may have violently lashed out over the past three weeks, with media talking heads and privileged elites asking unironically why they couldn’t do things peacefully but more has been done as result of the rising tension than the previous 50 years combined. You can tell people to “#vote” all you want but it doesn’t change the fact that people have been trying that for decades and people are still getting quite literally killed for it.

(Again, I gotta ask, who is this protecting? Who is this serving?)

If there’s one takeaway I hope a viewer gets from “Black Sails” is that revolution, no matter how serious you are about it, should never be off the table when confronting systemic inequality. A racist, sexist, classist, and/or, in the case of Flint, homophobic power structure does not concede their power if you play to their convenience and when people are being put down, beaten, and often killed for showing their anger at this, calling for “law and order” becomes a slap in the face to the victims.

A government or system that treats you unjustly doesn’t deserve peace.

I’ll say it again.

A government or system that treats you unjustly doesn’t deserve peace.

No one wants it to get this far, I definitely don’t, and certainly not every peaceful mean has been exhausted yet in this fight perhaps but this country was literally founded on violent rebellion after being slighted all the same by out of balance power structures. I’m not advocating for violence or to take up arms against the state right now BUT no one should ever rule it out when the social contract keeps being broken and broken and broken again by those in charge who clearly don’t want to listen.

A government should always feel the threat of an uprising if it keeps wronging its people.

(See my blog post about “Do the Right Thing” if you need help understanding this quote.)

As the more fiery weeks of the protests seem to be in the rearview mirror and we find less activity and calls to action on our social media timelines, I want to remind you all to not let up with whatever you are choosing to do to help and keep fighting back out there. The people who stand to benefit from having angst of the general public leave and dissipate from our collective consciousness want us to forget how angry we are, they want us to feel fatigued and disinterested in continuing the push forward because “this is how they win” as Flint would say.

(Again, Toby Fucking Stephens, everyone.)

We have so much more power than we realize, just look at how much got done just by everyone uniting behind one marginalized group finally over the past three weeks. When we realize we are fighting essentially in the same battle for respect and dignity, justice in our society can be achieved. It can be done, and maybe just maybe we can finally change the world. Afterall who else has been as close to achieving it as we are right now?

Fight for your dignity and respect and stand in solidarity with others in their own fights as well, and always remember “know no shame.”

Raise the colors and Happy Pride, everyone! (credit: Luluxa on Tumblr)

[wehavethoughts]

How to Write an Autobiographical Novel Review!

How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Publication date: 04/17/2018

ISBN-10: 1328764524

Print length: 289 pages

Website 

Rating: 5/5 Hotteok’s

Summary: How to Write an Autobiographical Novel is an essay collection by Alexander Chee. He shares life events ranging from his teen years to current life: growing up as a biracial person in Korea and in the U.S., working as an activist in the LGBTQ community in San Francisco, struggling to make ends meet as a young writer, publishing his first book and much more.

Content Warnings for How to Write an Autobiographical Novel: the author shares his childhood sexual trauma and discriminations that he faced as a gay man.

Alexander Chee is a Korean American queer writer who has written the novels Edinburgh and The Queen of the Night (both of which I haven’t read yet but are definitely on my To-Be-Read list). I had heard about him through other Korean American writers, who all described him as a generous, kind-hearted, and talented author, colleague, and mentor. Of course, I do not know him personally, but through the small aspects of his life and thoughts that he shares through social media platforms, I could understand what they might mean. For example, I was finding warm joys watching his tiny kitchen scrap gardens grow.

So I finally set aside some time to read his essay collection, How to Write an Autobiographical Novel. It was in May 2020, two months into the COVID-19 lockdown in the U.S. Looking back, little did I know that the pandemic would keep me in isolation for the entire year, but back then I was already pretty devastated and shattered from helplessly watching the life I had envisioned for 2020 disappear right in front of my eyes. I was in search of a voice that could be with me through those dark days. Not something grand that could fix the state I was in, but something that could simply just sit with me. And I cautiously thought Chee’s words might be that.

The title of the book may make you think that this is a book with tips, guidance, and tutorials on how to write one's autobiographical novel. However, it is not that. It is a collection of essays with autobiographical events with the author's thoughts and insights on his personal life, as well as his nation's political events. Though, a short essay with the same title is included in the collection, which almost reads like a poem about the experience of writing an autobiographical novel.

In this collection, he writes honestly and beautifully about his life experiences, ranging from his stay in Mexico as a young gay man (“The Curse”), Taro-reading in college while trying to navigate through the grief from his father’s death (“The Querent”), his writing class with Annie Dillard at Wesleyan (“The Writing Life”), and cater-waiting for William F. Buckley, who had written an op-ed advocating “for the tattooing of people with AIDS on their buttocks and wrists” (“Mr. and Mrs. B”).

Each essay left me so overwhelmingly emotional that I had to take a break, especially the essay “1989”. In it, he shares the story about his participation in the march in San Francisco “to block traffic to protest government inaction in the face of the AIDS epidemic” on October 6, 1989. He ends the essay describing how he was standing at an ambulance with his unconscious and injured friend. He was told to put his hand on the ambulance so the police won’t arrest him. He writes: 

“I stand there, my hand on the ambulance, and a television news crew arrives and asks me to describe what I’ve seen. As I tell the story, I keep my hand on the ambulance the entire time. After they leave, I think about how, up to now, I have thought that I lived in a different country from this. But this is the country I live in, I tell myself, feeling the metal against my fingers. This is the country I live in.” 

Through his powerful storytelling, I almost felt like I could feel the metal too, as I read that last paragraph over and over again. Going through the unbelievable pain and grief at the end of May this year in this nation, I kept thinking about this essay. Tony Morrison wrote in 2015 that difficult times are precisely “when artists go to work... We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.” ("No Place for Self-Pity, No Room for Fear,” The Nation, March 23, 2015) There is still so much grief, and so much work to be done, but I’m grateful that those like Chee will be with us through their writing as we move toward healing.

In an interview with Subway Book Review, Chee mentioned that during this pandemic, he is holding onto words from authors who have gone through difficult times and picked East Goes West as the book he was relating to. (East Goes West is written by the first Korean American novelist, Younghill Kang. You can read more about Chee’s thoughts on East Goes West here.) To me, Chee’s How to Write an Autobiographical Novel was that book. If you are looking for a book that can help you navigate your own feelings, especially after this strange, lonely, and challenging year, I would highly recommend this book.

tldr: The author Roxane Gay writes on Goodreviews that this book is “nuanced, sophisticated, intelligent, intimate, sincere essays about writing, identity, and being alive” and I cannot agree more.

p.s. I have also read good reviews about the audiobook version narrated by Daniel K. Isaac. I will definitely be checking it out, too!

p.p.s. Here is another excerpt from the book. In the essay “Girl” he talks about Halloween in 1990 when he spent the night wearing makeup, a shoulder-length blond wig, a black turtleneck and leggings. Attaching as a postscript as I cannot fathom any words to accompany it, but would just like anybody reading this to feel all the feelings as I did.

“In this moment, the confusion of my whole life has receded. No one will ask me if I am white or Asian. No one will ask me if I am a man or a woman. No one will ask me why I love men. For a moment, I want Fred to stay a man all night. There is nothing brave in this: any man and woman can walk together, in love and unharassed in this country, in this world—and for a moment, I just want to be his overly made-up girlfriend all night. I want him to be my quiet, strong man. I want to hold his hand all night and have it be only that; not political, not dangerous, just that.”

[never-sated]

The identity of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s successor is now in the forefront of the news. The import of that appointment is self-evident. But as the gravity of that singular decision holds the public’s focus in its orbit, the American people must not lose sight of the entirety of the federal judiciary that is substantially controlled by whomever is president.

Over the past four years, the current president has had a tectonic impact on the judiciary, shaping it ideologically and demographically in his own image. The president has already placed 218 judges, all with lifetime appointments, on America’s courts—25 percent of the total federal bench. A partner in this transformation, the U.S. Senate has worked at a breakneck pace, at times confirming more than 10 judges in a day.

The judiciary crafted over the past four years does not look like America. Since January 20, 2017, the president has appointed 55 appellate judges, two of whom now sit on the Supreme Court and the remaining 53 on circuit courts of appeal. Of those 55 judges, 85 percent are white and 80 percent are male. Not one of those judges is Black. More than 90 percent were raised or currently identify as Christian. American jurisprudence will be influenced for years by these judges whose median age is just 49—not at the time of appointment, but today. Several of them are still in their 30s. These appointments now comprise nearly 30 percent of the total federal appellate bench.

This is in stark contrast to earlier strides to diversify the judiciary, and it reflects an unapologetic preference for the homogeneity of what many Americans hoped was a bygone era. For most of the country’s history, state and federal courts were 100 percent white and male. But over the past century, the previously impenetrable judiciary slowly saw an increase in racial, gender, religious, and LGBTQ diversity. In the federal courts, appointments began to increase in diversity in 1979 under President Jimmy Carter, and with efforts compounded by presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama, federal judges were 71 percent white and 73 percent male by the end of 2016. Since then, judicial appointments have taken a steep racial turn. In 2017, the current president’s first year in office, 90 percent of the judges appointed to the federal courts were white. That unrelenting course has continued, and as of August 2020, according to the Federal Judicial Center, cumulatively 80 percent of all federally appointed judges were white.

This historic reversal has caused the judiciary to become more demographically isolated from the population it serves. We are roughly half female and half male; 4.5 percent identify as LGBTQ. We speak more than 350 languages, and nearly all Americans are descendants of immigrants who come from every one of the 194 other countries in the world. Racially, we are approximately 60 percent white, 18.5 percent Hispanic/Latino, 13.5 percent Black, 6 percent Asian, 1 percent Middle Eastern, and 1 percent Native American. Within this mix are the millions of Americans who are multiethnic, and this population is growing by the day. In 2015, 14 percent of babies born in the United States were multiracial, triple the rate of 1980. Although the majority of Americans self-identify as religious (primarily Christian at 65 percent, followed by Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism), roughly one-quarter do not.

For the most part, the judicial appointments over the past four years happened quietly, eclipsed by the daily cacophony of controversies and crises reported by the media. Even in less tumultuous times, coverage of judicial nominations is minimal, as Senate confirmation hearings can be monotonous, and the individuals being vetted are largely unknown to the public. Americans are more familiar with members of the legislative and executive branches of government because those officials regularly engage the public through the press and social media and because their jobs are wholly dependent on votes. Judges, by contrast, serve the public discreetly, through written legal opinions crucial to the parties or related industries, and largely inconsequential to everyone else. Unless you are involved in civil or criminal litigation, your only interaction with the judiciary might be when you are called for jury duty.

There is a high price to pay, however, for complacency about the judges who are appointed to the courts. As a co-equal branch of government, the judiciary has the power to invalidate unconstitutional laws and orders enacted by either of the other two branches, thereby serving as a fundamental check on abuses of executive power and legislative overreach. Notwithstanding that power, in America’s democracy, it is the other two branches of government that select the country’s federal judges, the executive alone that nominates, and the Senate that decides whether to confirm the president’s selection. This interdependent power is, quite simply, both the beauty and the frailty of our system of checks and balances. It underscores that the judgment of those selecting the judges—foremost the president and each senator—is as crucial in this process as the wisdom of judges themselves.

But as of late, that wisdom has not produced a judiciary many Americans will feel they can fully trust. Each person is a complex combination of race, gender, geography, age, marital status, religion, experience, education, wealth, health, culture, political affiliation, beliefs, values, fears, sexuality, and countless other factors. Identity is the lens that filters everything and everyone we encounter. Studies have repeatedly shown that people believe their own judgments are objective, impartial, and correct, and in turn believe that others like them—in both appearance and experience—are more ethical, moral, and trustworthy. That means each American is more prone to have confidence and trust in the judicial branch of government if it includes judges who share their physical traits, experiences, or other aspects of their identity. It is hard to underestimate the value of a trusted judiciary. At its core, that trust is the only vaccine for anarchy.

For this reason, a diverse judicial branch is not a superficial optic. Judges must engage in balancing tests, considering what a “reasonable” person would believe, what norms exist in a community, and what rights society is willing to protect. These inquiries necessarily involve value judgments that are colored by life experiences. A judiciary that includes only perspectives of the dominant class will likely yield judgments that reinforce the experience and the values of the majority.

That is not a recipe for protecting the individual liberties that are at the core of the Constitution. The public might also feel skeptical about the judiciary’s objectivity and willingness to independently check the power of the other two branches of government if the judges are a demographic and ideologic reflection of both the president and a largely homogenous Senate majority. Diversity is America’s natural state, and when that diversity is not mirrored in places of power such as boardrooms and our courts, it can breed feelings of distrust, intentional exclusion, futility, lack of meritocracy, and, for some, contempt. A judiciary that lacks diversity invites the public to question why that is the case. If Americans believe that the process for selecting judges is fundamentally unfair, the destabilizing danger is that the courts become perceived as illegitimate.

A judicial robe is a powerful and provocative symbol of justice in the United States. If America wants federal courts that instill trust and reflect democratic principles, it must work harder to ensure that the people who wear those robes resemble the full range of people in America’s communities.

[pocmuzings]

Hi there is something I want to address in the roleplay community but before I do that, I would like to give my background. I am a Korean woman who’s grown up in Korea with Korean experiences raised with post Japanese Imperialism effects, who moved at a very young age to America. I have seen and heard that many of the writing content here is euro-centric or for a lack of better words, ‘white’. Anyways, [1/12]

( cont’d ) there is this roleplay that I came across which I was initially very excited about but at a second glance I noticed very alarming issues that were not brought to the forefront until recently. Prior to this admin’s announcements, there were no instances of drawing upon Korean Mythology, Korean culture or Korean culture research. It was denoted from my first glance that it would be heavily coded in specifically Chinese and Japanese history and inspiration. The admin’s roleplay previously was also using Im Jinah (임진아) a korean woman who is put in this japanese-chinese inspired verse without being appropriately aware of Korea. While the admin did attempt to amend she classified the situation as a “historical situation” which completely offends and upsets me. The society that exists in South Korea after all that has happened from Japanese Imperialism is not just a “situation” its lingering effects still exist. There are comfort woman who experienced brutal r*pe, people’s family members who were murdered and irreversible health and body damage. Family heirlooms and property were stolen or destroyed. Innocent people were used as animals as experiments. This is not just a “historical situation.” I followed up with my own anonymous message in hopes that this admin would readily apologize and acknowledge that she needs to learn more but from her response she states she is just “human and not perfect” when this is not about her. This is about saying you are wrong and you are sorry and that you will do better. But that did not happen. What upsets me further is seeing other people / anons being dismissive of her pulling “asian inspiration” and that she’s not “copy and pasting” countries histories. Well I hate to break it to all you white people (yes all of you who have invalided me, for making fun of my eyes, for eating smelly kimchi, for making fun of the fact that I have an accent when I speak) but inspiration or not, there is always historical context and awareness when you “pull from history.” I am beyond disappointed and upset at the Western hemisphere for its lack of awareness and willingness to see things from a NON AMERICAN point of view. Anyways as a korean woman with very real korean experiences, I do not think any of this is acceptable and I do not think any of those people who think this is a “big deal and waste of time” or “nit picky and ridiculous standard” is any excuse to address very real issues. To say that this is also “just fantasy, it’s not historical” and “it is fantasy, get over it.” It is impossible to say fantasy and history does not go hand in hand (Game of Thrones utilizes War of Roses, Harry Potter talks about World War II and H*tler). Does my life and my culture and heritage sound like a joke for you to use how you please? With no respect and awareness for my people and my existence? For saying all this you are ignorant and have no right to be portraying any aspect of the Asian experience. I want people to be held accountable for their wrongdoings and I apologize if my english is not perfect, it’s my second language. I send this to you because I heard your platform is a safe space for POC muns. I do not trust the admin to credibly and honestly answer all of this without trying to victimize herself first. @scarletsaints and @unholyempire. Thank you.

+ another anon : 

Hi G, I am absolutely appalled to witness racism in the roleplay community in 2020. I attempted to use my voice on a recent rolelplay @unholyempire speaking from my own Japanese experience growing up LGBTQ+ in Hawaii. However I am highly disturbed this admin has not apologized for her actions and I quote "has made you others uncomfortable I am happy to adapt" rather than acknowledge that she was wrong and that she sincerely apologies. To continue further, I am FURIOUS that people are commending her behavior and deny GLARINGLY racist viewpoints and shutting down POC voices as “rude and bullies.” How dare you all praise this admin for hardly even doing the bare minimum. How dare you dismiss voices of color and tell us WE’RE the ones overreacting when it is our culture and our history. This IS NOT OK! DO NOT PROMOTE RACISM. DO NOT STAND BY RACISTS

to both of you , thank you so much for speaking up and sharing your experiences with me . i know it’s really really hard to do especially when others are ‘ commending ‘ the person who has hurt you and your community , as respectively , a japanese and korean person . you’ve both spoken up and for that i really do appreciate and commend you . it’s such a hard thing to do . i don’t have anything to really say because you both said it perfectly and i think it’s extremely important to bring up and talk about . your experiences matter . the way this is dealt with matters . i hope we can get you some acknowledgement and proper apologies for how this was dealt with because it’s simply not okay . i stand with you both , i support you . 

as always , i’d like to invite @unholyempire into this conversation to properly , finally address this and offer an apology to both of these anons , and to the asian community who you have hurt with your roleplay and methods . please listen to muns of colour in the rpc . again , a general reminder : please don’t send any hate to anybody . this is an open space , for an open conversation , with genuine feelings and things that need to be addressed . 

[oliverzafar]

CHANGE WILL COME FROM THE CHILDREN

Oliver Zafar officially announced his bid for the presidency in February of 2019, doing so as a left-leaning Independent candidate. His core values are based on progressivism and looking towards the future, ensuring a better America for both its present and future citizens.

Read more below about where he stands on the core issues facing Americans today!

CLIMATE CHANGE. Incredibly vocal about doing everything possible to stop climate change and vouches that the Green Movement can boost economic growth and create millions of new careers for those in the fossil fuel industry worried about losing their jobs. Launch a 10 to 15-year plan to transition to 100% clean energy and net-zero greenhouse gas pollution. Remove subsidies and tax breaks for the fossil-fuel industry and implement a Carbon Tax. Ban fracking and all fossil fuel exports. Require plastic bags in stores only be given out at a price. His own campaign is incredibly clean, offsetting all carbon emissions produced from travel activities and events by investing in renewable energy and carbon reduction projects.

GENDER AND RACE ISSUES. Mandate a universal paid parental leave policy for either or both parents. Fight the gender and race-based pay gap by requiring businesses to report salaries, promotions, and dismissals as broken down by gender and race to the public. Codify Roe v. Wade to continue ensuring safe and legal abortions. Conduct regular random, unannounced investigations into police officers to ensure no race or gender bias takes place. Work to decrease the disproportionate amount of women of color affected by infant mortality.

LGBTQ+ ISSUES. Describes the murder of black trans women in America as a “national crisis”. Include members of the LGBTQ+ community in the Equal Housing Act. Remove all legal loopholes that allow individuals to lose their jobs due to their sexuality in twenty-two states. Ban conversation therapy. Repeal the FDA’s policy that disallows gay men from donating blood.

HEALTHCARE: Work towards “Healthcare for All” by: a) sponsoring a buy-in program for Medicaid so that not only low-income individuals have the option to use public healthcare, and b) expanding Medicare by allowing people ages 50 to 64 to still buy into it. Have the government manufacture cheap generic drugs if prescription drug costs rise too high to stop excessive pharmaceutical price-gouging. Allow Americans to purchase medications from other countries as a way to lower consumer costs. Push to pass the Affordable Medications Act in the Senate to allow the federal government to negotiate drug prices with insurance companies under Medicare.

FOREIGN RELATIONS. Build a public and private international coalition against China’s intellectual property theft and compete against China in Asia with a TPP-style trade deal. Limit drone strikes, if not discontinue them completely. No military intervention in Venezuela’s current political climate.

ECONOMICS. Cut taxes on small businesses and farmers, raise them on corporations. Incorporate a VAT Tax to pay for many of his proposals, which he loves to emphasize is a tax already used by every developed country besides the US. Encourage more union-positive thinking throughout corporate America (he’s very proud of the fact that his own staff is unionized!). Stronger anti-trust regulations to break up monopolies and encourage companies to invest profits in their employees and communities.

IMMIGRATION. Repeal criminal penalties for people crossing the border. Reexamine the current immigration process and try to expedite/ease the process so that families are not forced to enter illegally. Conduct a comprehensive review of current ICE procedures and implement serious retraining based on federally approved security protocols. If this is still unsuccessful, abolish ICE and redistribute its responsibilities to other agencies. Increase foreign aid to Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and other countries in crisis to thus reduce the flow of asylum seekers to the U.S.

STUDENT DEBT. Expand access to college by providing interest-free federal loans. Allow employers to make tax-free contributions to pay off their employees’ student debt and help those in work-study programs graduate without owing anything.  

EDUCATION. Introduce a free universal pre-K program to ensure all children have the same successful start. Introduce initiatives to increase the US’ advancement in science, technology, and mathematics when compared to other much more advanced developed countries. Research the amount of homework and schoolwork given at public schools and whether or not it’s the most productive to produce actual results.

DEFENSE. Lower military spending by ending regime-change wars and reducing the acquisition of nuclear weapons.

GUN REFORM. Enact the Disarmament Act with some modifications. Invest into research and development of “smart gun” technology and other technological preventative measures.

PACS: Reform campaign finance laws so that representatives don’t answer to donors, they answer to voters. Force every company that wants government contracts to disclose every campaign donation. Outlaw superPACs and overturn Citizens United.

— Please specify their target voter audience [age, ethnicity, region, income, etc]

Young, young, young! Oliver’s support is distributed between 18 to 44 years old, with very few older generations outside of his home state of Massachusetts willing to even hear him out. The quintessential Oliver voter is a grad student – high in education level but low in income. He’s also attracted a lot of support from people who are fed up with the two-party system that seems to permeate American politics and would instead prefer a more Independent candidate who doesn’t need to preen to Democratic powerhouses to make a decision. He polls very favorably among members of the LGBTQ+ community and people of color, especially Asians, Middle-Easterners, and Indians who want to see their region represented through either him or his fiancé. Both sides of the coast are the areas that his support is most concentrated in, especially Northeastern intellectual elites, while his spouts of passionate progressivism are lost on most of Middle America.

— What do their supporters love and believe in when it comes to their persona and campaign? AKA. What’s people’s reasoning for voting for your character?

The first thing Oliver’s supporters will cite as the reason that they vote for him is his passion. He speaks and campaigns with a kind of fire that most politicians lost before they even became elected. They love his youth after having grown up with generation of old white dirtbags ruling the country, and believe that as the first Millennial presidential candidate he understands the problems plaguing America’s most indebted, most stressed, and most socially conscious generation better than anyone else running. Progressives also appreciate how incredibly vocal he is about his experience as a gay man and a person of color who experienced an incredible amount of discrimination following 911.

— What does the opposition hate when it comes to their persona and campaign? AKA. What points are brought up when trying to convince others your character isn’t a good choice for the seat?

Take a seat y’all, this is gonna take a while: His youth is usually the first criticism people bring up, because it’s the one that’s least controversial as opposed to his sexuality or race (but we’ll get to that too). Even though he’s got over a decade of experience in politics, people hesitate to endorse someone who’s just a few years above the legal age to even run for president. His opposition will also bring up the hypocritical nature of his marriage, since Oliver’s this stalwart progressive while his fiancé writes for Republicans. Democrats and moderate Republicans usually stop there in terms of his personal life, but of course conservatives will reference his homosexuality as something “the country isn’t ready for” or bring up his Arabic roots as “something a post-911 USA shouldn’t trust”.

Aside from just personal issues, Oliver’s also received a lot of backlash for running as an Independent. Though he’s doing it for the sake of proving that a divisive two-party system is only going to ultimately hurt America (he’s got Madison 10 like… framed twice in his office), people are harsh to point out that he’s only going to take votes away from Berkeley and essentially hinder a Democratic victory. Oliver also doesn’t know how to just give no comment when asked questions by reporters (much to the exhaustion of his staff), which while seen as “endearingly passionate” by some is seen as “an inability to keep his goddamn mouth shut” by others. He’s also incredibly uncompromising on his key issues (climate change, healthcare, gun control, and student loans most prominently), which doesn’t resonate well with moderates who aren’t 100% committed to his radicalities. And as much as Oliver claims to fight for the people, he suffers from a chronic syndrome of Northeastern Elitism as a result of being an intellectually-raised, Harvard-educated, I’ve-read-The-Republic-in-its-original-Greek kind of guy that doesn’t hold Middle America at too high of a regard.

[blackcrawford]

Why Women of Color on Supergirl Deserve Better

 There are things that need to be said about Supergirl, its fans and its treatment of women of color. Specifically black women. [I will be speaking for my Asian and Hispanic sistas as well. But as a black woman, I mostly speak about that]

Thsi interaction sparked somewhat of a reaction in me. 

Azie Tesfai (who plays Kelly Olsen in Supergirl) is a black woman.

Now with the feminist rhetoric that will always surround this show, because it was the foundation it was built on, people tend to forget that women of color exist, because the show is peak White Feminism. Up there with Taylor Swift and Pink Vagina hats. 

All of the women of color on Supergirl excluding Kelly and the Colonel, has either been some sort of villain and/or dies.

National City is supposed to be LA and apparently only had one Mexican person and four black people. 

If you’re in LA and don’t see a Mexican or a black person, it’s cause you hid in your bathroom all day. 

That’s completely irresponsible and dangerous. It’s erasure. 

All of the witches in S3 except for one was a woman of color. Which is irresponsible and dangerous. 

Alex putting a gun in that black womans face, after breaking into her home based on Kara's DREAM, while the woman had on headphones, when she hadn't even committed a crime, is literally so insensitive considering the culture we live in.

Look up Korryn Gaines. Here I did it for you. 

(http://data.baltimoresun.com/news/korryn-gaines/)

It was something out of a white supremacist wet dream. Something black and brown people all over the country have to live in fear of. 

I refuse to watch that episode ever again. Irresponsible, dangerous and blatantly racist.

Supergirl was not and has not been a show that is friendly to women of color. (I would say ask Floriana, but she isn’t even a woman of color. She just TANS. Like really? Really? They had her playing a hispanic woman and she ain’t even hispanic? Not black face, but close. Disgustingly close)

Insert Kelly. 

During a season where the subject of profiling and discrimination was the main focus. 

Coincedence?! I think so. 

I doubt the Supergirl writers did that on purpose, because they are not that smart. 

The reaction to the treatment of aliens on this fictional show was more empathetic than the actual prejudice that those considered part of the African Diaspora faced is not only repugnant, it is cognitively dissonant. 

Supergirl is a show with mostly LGBTQ+ identiying people as fans. It has a lot to do with the people who tuned in for Sanvers on S2 and S3. 

Also a lot of people who want to see Supercorp, and also Katie Mcgrath has played WLW characters in the futre. 

(Speaking of Katie Mcgrath and Lena Luthor! READ MY OTHER WRITING ABOUT SUPERGIRL and that reveal!)

( https://lenashomegirl.tumblr.com/post/185024993045/why-lena-luthor-matters-even-when-others-actions)

LGBTQ+ community members tend to be some of the most racist people in the world, while also crying about equality. 

And that isn’t seen more clear than Sanvers fans treatment of Azie Tesfai.

Calling her an “IT”, numerous times, making sure she saw it. 

The dehumanization of black women is so ingrained in the psyche of white supremacists, that they don’t even consider it white supremacy at work. They just see it, as a Twitter feud. 

I have not seen her being called the N word, but based on how y’all treated Mechad those first couple seasons, I know for a fact y’all have got that slur locked and loaded in the chamber, for them extra bored days.

 https://www.instagram.com/p/BwDb221hTsM/

Mechad spoke about this less than two months ago. All of them spoke about it. With Candice from The Flash. 

Candice not quitting is a testament of how strong black women really are. I remember when it was announced. You Neo Stanzis came out to PLAY. I was so disgusted. 

You’re not going to do this to Azie y’all. We won’t allow this to happen. I won’t allow this to happen. I don’t care if I’m fighting by myself, writing an essay a week for the next 3 seasons, I will be here like Tony Montana at the top of your tags and timelines, emptying chamber after chamber. 

If you racist fangirls suspend me, I will make another account on another computer and keep going. 

Not liking a character is completely understandable. I wanna knock Kara’s teeth out most of the time. But I don’t comment under all of Melissa’s social media posts “Hey I wanna knock your perfect teeth out”

 Y’all bullying real people. 

And I see what y’all trying to do. I’m not stupid. 

Y’all bullied the guy (Rahul Kohli) that played Jack Spheer as well. He called the fandom “toxic” and “nasty”.  And he also, called y’all “racist”

HM! All of the people of color who have white love interest on this show has had a problem with racism on this show. Almost seems as if it’s a habit as opposed to a one off comment here and there. 

Y’all got Chris Wood (Not a man of color, but a good example of the toxicity that permeates the fandom) out the paint, by bullying him till his anxiety almost killed him. He spoke about it in his livestream for his clothing line. He was talking about his dad’s undiagnosed mental illness ended up killing him and he spoke about how dangerous social media is. Him and Melissa had to shut off the comments to their own engagement announcement. 

A dangerous precedent has been set by the Supergirl fandom. 

Y’all think you can bully people, until you get your way. Until people leave. 

And y’all say “It’s not racist, if we don’t like Kelly. She’s just not right with Alex”

Why is she not right? She’s smart, she’s beautiful, she speaks to Alex in a non condescending way (Maggie was a douche. I hated her.), Alex likes her. etc. What EXACTLY is not right about Kelly? Specifically. 

“They moved too fast” Give me a break. Maggie and Alex got engaged in six months. 

You guys speak about representation and seeing yourself positively, but that all goes out the window when people of color are involved, huh? 

Black women aren’t allowed to see themselves as nothing more than yellow eyed villains in National City? 

She’s here. She broke your illusion of Supergirls predominantly white world with a few tokens and now your SICK. 

Get used to it. She’s here. 

And the KKK rallies y’all host in her mentions, ain’t gonna drive her away. 

[bloodandrosesarenofun]

DEVASTATION

Devastation of a community passed off like we're only whining

While our children are crying

We say don't take it to heart

Well, it's rather difficult, to even take it to heart when you take mine out of my chest still beating

We as a whole have started so long ago to drift into we as a broken pieces of a disjointed puzzle!

We keep on repeating all these words while living in blind ignorance of their real meaning

Comfort, compromise, hope, silence

You tell and yell at me as an author to speak after you steal my pen and take my voice with hands and fingers wrapped tight vice around my throat!

I am tired, EXHAUSTED, of being told "you act white, you look white, so you can pass for white you'll be okay"

Spoken as though these words are a kind gentle lullaby that will help me sleep and keep away my nightmares at night

I do not want to be told "don't take it to heart" looking at you staring at me with my heart forced into your blade filled hand in the form of news of another dead man

Black, white, blue, all, who gives a damn

Either which way or how this was the life of a woman or a man

This was the future stolen from their eyes

This was their death nine out of ten times covered up with lies

This was a LIFE burned and overlooked without a glance as we sit and ask about Kim Kardashian's ass

This was a grateful because it could've been you when every day it isn't you decide there's nothing to do

This is DEVASTATION of a country

Boiling into an epidemic as we enter another senseless death cycle

Riding it along like a merry go round at a carnival

Pretending the spiraling doesn't make us sick because we've already paid for the ride

But when you've paid your bills with blood and lies

When you let bodies and bodies of people pile sky high

When you sit by and let the children cry

You don't think it's time to hop off this plain insane ride?

It's not fucking fun it never was!

You act as if we're all so safe and tucked away

As one day a little boy was gunned down for nothing in the park he loved to play

This carousel from hell is not new

But just because it's not a new ride doesn't mean every life in it is not enough to make the bloody news

The news lined with lies sprayed with blood it's filled with deceit and ignorant tongues

The devastating thing is while America dies

While it's children cry

You want to scream over each other who the fuck matters

While I'm here looking at the news and I don't have to see the future to tell you the next line will be hash tag no lives matter

Where is our hashtag human lives matter

Where is our believing any living damn thing matters!

Instead of seeing what we wear what color we are where we come from above all else why don't we open our eyes and why don't we see first that everyone is human

Repeat with me

Human lives matter

Black lives matter

Asian lives matter

LGBTQ lives matter

White lives matter

Indian lives matter

All lives matter

If you are a living breathing being

If you have a voice

If you have a story

If you have ever lived

If you have or will ever EXIST

You matter.

-

LHayes.

[patriotsnet]

Which Party Is Bigger Democrats Or Republicans

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/which-party-is-bigger-democrats-or-republicans/

Which Party Is Bigger Democrats Or Republicans

Democratic Candidate Joe Biden

Republicans or Democrats: Who is better for the economy?

Reuters: Carlos Barria

The Democrats are the liberal political party and their candidate is Joe Biden, who has run for president twice before.

A former senator for Delaware who served six terms, Biden is best known as Barack Obama’s vice-president.

He held that role for eight years, and it has helped make him a major contender for many Democrat supporters.

Earlier this year, Biden chose California Senator Kamala Harris as his vice-presidential running mate.

The 77-year-old has built his campaign on the Obama legacy, and tackling the country’s staggering health care issues.

He is known for his down-to-earth personality and his ability to connect with working-class voters. He would be the oldest first-term president in history if elected.

According to 2017 Pew Research Centre data, a vast majority of the African American population supports the Democratic party, with 88 per cent voting for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential elections.

Generational Divides In Partisanship

Generation continues to be a dividing line in American politics, with Millennials more likely than older generations to associate with the Democratic Party. However, over the past few years the Democratic Party has lost some ground among Millennials, even as it has improved its standing among the oldest cohort of adults, the Silent Generation. Gen Xers and Baby Boomers have seen less change in their partisan preferences and remain closely divided between the two major parties.

Overall, 54% of Millennial registered voters say they identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party, compared with 38% who identify with or lean toward the GOP. In 2017, the Democratic Party held a wider 59% t0 32% advantage among this group. However, the Democratic Partys standing with Millennials is about the same as it was at earlier points, including 2014.

Voters in the Silent Generation are now about equally likely to identify with or lean toward the GOP as the Democratic Party . This marks a change from 2017, when the GOP held a 52% to 43% advantage in leaned party identification among the oldest voters. Still, the partisan leanings of Silent voters have fluctuated over the past few decades, and there have been other moments where the two parties ran about even or the Democratic Party held a narrow advantage since 1994.

Across all generations, women remain more likely than men to associate with the Democratic Party.

Wide Divides In Partisanship Persist By Race And Ethnicity

Some of the largest differences in partisanship continue to be seen across racial and ethnic groups.

The GOP continues to maintain an advantage in leaned party identification among white voters . By contrast, sizable majorities of black, Hispanic and Asian American voters identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party. Among black voters, 83% identify or lean toward the Democratic Party, compared with just 10% who say they are Republican or lean toward the GOP.

The Democratic Party also holds a clear advantage over the GOP in leaned party identification among Hispanic voters , though the margin is not as large as among black voters.

Among English-speaking Asian American voters, 72% identify or lean toward the Democratic Party, compared with just 17% who identify with or lean toward the GOP.

The balance of partisanship among white, black and Hispanic voters has been generally stable over the past decade. However, English-speaking Asian American voters have shifted toward the Democratic Party.

Also Check: Who Said We Are All Republicans We Are All Federalists

How Increasing Ideological Uniformity And Partisan Antipathy Affect Politics Compromise And Everyday Life

Republicans and Democrats are more divided along ideological lines and partisan antipathy is deeper and more extensive than at any point in the last two decades. These trends manifest themselves in myriad ways, both in politics and in everyday life. And a new survey of 10,000 adults nationwide finds that these divisions are greatest among those who are the most engaged and active in the political process.

The overall share of Americans who express consistently conservative or consistently liberal opinions has doubled over the past two decades from 10% to 21%. And ideological thinking is now much more closely aligned with partisanship than in the past. As a result, ideological overlap between the two parties has diminished: Today, 92% of Republicans are to the right of the median Democrat, and 94% of Democrats are to the left of the median Republican.

Today 92% of Republicans are to the right of the median Democrat, and 94% of Democrats are to the left of the median Republican

Partisan animosity has increased substantially over the same period. In each party, the share with a highly negative view of the opposing party has more than doubled since 1994. Most of these intense partisans believe the opposing partys policies are so misguided that they threaten the nations well-being.

Many of those in the center remain on the edges of the political playing field while the most ideologically oriented and politically rancorous Americans make their voices heard

I Personally Align With Democrats

I believe that the Democratic party is a better party than the Republican party. One reason is that they allow for more freedom. The LGBTQ community mainly supports the Democratic party. This is mainly because the GOP states that being gay is a sin. No, Being gay is not a sin, Nor is it a disease or condition, But rather something you are born with. They still function like a normal human being. Transgenders, For your information, Are not simply swapping genders. In the head, They are one thing, But their body is another. Republicans make the claim that a boy is a boy and a girl is a girl. I have seen that some people in the Republican section have stated that the party flip was false, That is actually incorrect. If you are from the south, I could understand. Democrats who didn’t flip parties in the 1960s were/are known as Dixiecrats, And are mainly southern. Their political party is the Democratic party, However their views are conservative. Coming back to the party flip, Think of it more like this. Bill is wearing a black jacket and Joe is wearing a blue jacket. They switch their jackets. The same person is still inside, Just now they have differing appearances. My grandpa was a Democrat, But now he’s a Republican, However he has remained conservative.

Recommended Reading: What Are The Views Of Republicans

Urban Voters Grow More Democratic Rural Voters More Republican

Voters in urban counties have long aligned more with the Democratic Party than the Republican Party, and this Democratic advantage has grown over time. Today, twice as many urban voters identify as Democrats or lean Democratic as affiliate with the GOP or lean Republican.

Overall, those who live in suburban counties are about evenly divided in their partisan loyalties , little changed over the last two decades.

Voters in rural areas have moved in a more Republican direction over the last several years. From 1999 to 2009, rural voters were about equally divided in their partisan leanings. Today, there is a 16-percentage-point advantage for the GOP among rural voters.

While there are racial and ethnic differences in the makeup of rural, suburban and urban areas, this overall pattern of geographic divergence is also seen among whites. Among rural whites, the GOP enjoyed a roughly 10-percentage-point advantage throughout much of the 2000s; the GOP advantage among rural white voters is now 24 percentage points . At the same time, while urban white voters were roughly evenly divided in their political preferences for much of the last two decades, in recent years the Democratic Party has enjoyed a double-digit partisan advantage: Today, 54% of white urban voters are Democrats or lean Democratic, while 41% identify with the GOP or lean Republican.

Difference Between Democratic And Republican Party :

It is so tough to find out the difference between the republic and the democratic party. Here, there are some crucial differences between the democratic and republican parties to clear the audience and concerned people. We can point out ten dissimilarities in some categories. Such as:

1. Woman Abortion:

The first difference between the democratic and republican parties is womens abortion. Democrats believe at a sweet woman will have the right to do abortion in reproductive health care service. Whereas Republicans want to ban it from the constitution. Republicans stand against the killing of a fetus.

Read More: Major Symptoms of Democratic Backsliding

2. Same-Sex Marriage Rights:

Secondly, same-sex marriage legalizes the Democrats party. On the other hand, the Republican Party is against it. It is another difference between the democratic party and the republic party.

3. Climate Change:

Thirdly, Democrats believe that Climate change pretenses an urgent. It is a real threat to our national security, our economy, and our childrens health and futures. While Republicans doubt whether the climate is changing, rejecting the findings of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as a political mechanism, not an unbiased scientific institution with intolerance toward scientists and others who dissent from its orthodoxy.

4. Israel Issue:

Read more: Private Administration vs. Public Administration

5. Voting Rights:

6. Money in Politics:

7. Iran Issue:

Read Also: Who Are Richer Democrats Or Republicans

Quiz: Let Us Predict Whether Youre A Democrat Or A Republican

Tell us a few details about you and well guess which political party you belong to. It shouldnt be that simple, right? Were all complex people with a multiplicity of identities and values. But the reality is that in America today, how you answer a handful of questions is very likely to determine how you vote.

This quiz, based on recent surveys with more than 140,000 responses, presents a series of yes-or-no questions to predict whether someone is more likely to identify as a Democrat or a Republican. It captures divisions that should make you worried about the future of American democracy.

We wont collect your answers.

The first question is the most important: Its about race. Asking whether someone is black, Hispanic or Asian cleaves the electorate into two groups. Those who answer yes lean Democratic; the others are split roughly evenly between the parties. Among those who are not black, Hispanic or Asian , the second most important question is whether the person considers religion important. If they answer yes, they are probably Republican.

Its not just race and religion, though. Party allegiances are now also tied to education, gender and age. Americans have sorted themselves more completely and rigidly than any time in recent history.

How demographics predict party affiliation

The group most likely to be Democrats are black women older than about 30.

Meeting in the Middle

Reliable Republicans

Republican Vs Democratic Demographics

Marjorie Taylor Greene: Bigger Problem For Democrats Or GOP? | The 11th Hour | MSNBC

Interesting data about how support for each party broke down by race, geography and the urban-rural divide during the 2018 mid-term elections are presented in charts here.

The Pew Research Group, among others, regularly surveys American citizens to determine party affiliation or support for various demographic groups. Some of their latest results are below.

Read Also: Do Republicans Want To Impeach Trump

Where Do Trump And Biden Stand On Key Issues

Reuters: Brian Snyder/AP: Julio Cortez

The key issues grappling the country can be broken down into five main categories: coronavirus, health care, foreign policy, immigration and criminal justice.

This year, a big focus of the election has been the coronavirus pandemic, which could be a deciding factor in how people vote, as the country’s contentious healthcare system struggles to cope.

The average healthcare costs for COVID-19 treatment is up to $US30,000 , an Americas Health Insurance Plans 2020 study has found.

Left Wing And Right Wing Politics

Politics is said to be split in half and you either have left or right political views. Left-wing politics is typically associated with progressive ideas and equality. Democrats are viewed as left-wingers. Right-wing politics values tradition, equity, and survival of the fittest. Republicans are viewed as right-wingers. 

Left-Wing

Left-wing beliefs are liberal in that they believe society is best served with an expanded role of the government. Examples of an expanded role for the government include entitlement programs such as social security and Medicare, Medicaid, universal healthcare, food stamps, free public education, unemployment benefits, strong environmental laws, and other regulations on industries.

Right Wing

Right-wingers believe that the best outcome for society is achieved when individual rights and civil liberties are paramount and the role and especially the power of the government is minimized. Right-wing ideology would favor market-based solutions to the issues that these government programs aim to tackle. For example, encouraging a freer marketplace for healthcare, driven by consumer choice to drive down costs. Or privately held retirement accounts like 401 plans instead of government-guaranteed Social Security.

Read Also: Are Republicans More Wealthy Than Democrats

Republican Critics Of The Progressive Squad Are Quick To Ignore Their Own Lunatic Right

OPINION It was late June 1980 when I arrived in Washington after teaching political science for three years at Bucknell University. My job was to write for The Political Report, a little-circulated weekly newsletter that reported on House and Senate races.

The nations politics were in the process of changing more than I realized.

In November, Ronald Reagan would be elected president, Republicans would make significant gains in the House and win control of the Senate for the first time since 1954, and a new crop of conservative candidates were showing their political muscle sometimes by challenging relatively moderate GOP incumbents in both the House and Senate.

In Alabama, liberal Republican Rep. John Buchanan Jr. lost his bid for renomination to ultra-conservative Albert Lee Smith Jr. Even more noteworthy for me, growing up in New York, Al DAmato scored an 11-point victory over veteran liberal Sen. Jacob Javits in the states GOP Senate primary.

Also in the Senate, conservative Republican Steve Symms ousted Idaho Democratic incumbent Frank Church; conservative Republican Bob Kasten upset Wisconsin Democratic incumbent Gaylord Nelson; conservative Republican John East ousted North Carolina Democratic incumbent Robert Morgan; and Iowa Rep. Charles E. Grassley beat Democratic Sen. John Culver .

But while both the country and the GOP were moving right, the Republican Party still had room for a substantial contingent of moderates.

Women Arent A Voting Bloc

A persons gender is not especially good at predicting party affiliation at least not on its own. When combined with age and marital status, though, it becomes more relevant. Seventy percent of millennial women identify with or lean toward the Democrats, according to a 2018 report from the Pew Research Center, and about 57 percent of unmarried women leaned Democratic in a 2015 Pew report.

The gender gap has fluctuated

The age gap developed recently

The early 2000s saw younger voters break for the Democrats, possibly because of opinions on the Iraq war.

The difference between men and women peaked in the mid-1990s and shrank afterward.

Single voters are increasingly important. In 1960, 72 percent of U.S. adults were married; in 2016, only half were.

+30D

35 and older

The partisan gender gap developed in the 1980s as men drifted toward the Republican Party; it widened in the 2016 Trump versus Clinton election. Much like racial resentment explains support for Mr. Trump, researchers have found that hostile sexism measured by asking questions like whether someone believes women seek to control men is increasingly dividing the parties.

Also Check: Who Supported The Republicans In The Spanish Civil War

Democrats Or Republicans: Who Has The Higher Income

In the end, many people assume Republicans are richer based on these figures. Although, this is only a look at the richest families and politicians in America though. In everyday American households, it seems that Democrats have a higher mean salary. Its true that many of the wealthiest families in the country are contributing to Republican campaigns. On the contrary, families registered as Democrats have higher annual salaries than Republicans, statistically speaking.

These findings still have some loopholes in them, of course. For instance, the data was collected over the last 40 years or so. Moreover, it is only based on the most recently collected information. As you know, demographics are constantly changing. These figures may have been affected as well. There is also a margin of error with every type of data collection like this. So, what do you think? Who is richer? Democrats or Republicans?

Wide Gender Gap In Partisanship

As has been the case for more than two decades of Pew Research Center surveys, women are significantly more likely than men to associate with the Democratic Party. While the gender gap has changed little in recent years, it is as wide as it has been at any point during this period: Among registered voters, 56% of women affiliate with or lean toward the Democratic Party, compared with 44% of men.

From 2010 through 2015, about half of women identified with or leaned toward the Democratic Party. But the share of women who identify with or lean to the Democratic Party has risen in recent years, to 54% in 2016 and 56% in 2017. The partisan breakdown of men is relatively unchanged over this period.

The Democratic gains among women have not come from increased affiliation with the party. Overall, the proportion of women voters who identify with the Democratic Party has remained relatively constant for the past 25 years .

Don’t Miss: Are More Democrats Or Republicans On Welfare

Which Party Is The Party Of The 1 Percent

First, both parties receive substantial support. Much of it comes from registered voters who make $100K+ annually. However, Democrats actually come out ahead when it comes to fundraising for campaigns. In many cases, Democrats have been able to raise twice as much in private political contributions. But what about outside of politicians? Does that mean Democrats are the wealthier party? Which American families are wealthier? Republicans or Democrats?

Honestly, it is probably Republicans. When it comes down to it, the richest families in America tend to donate to Republican candidates. Forbes reported out of the 50 richest families in the United States, 28 donate to Republican candidates. Another seven donate to Democrats. Additionally, 15 of the richest families in the U.S. donate to both parties.

How Do Trumps Republicans Compare To The Rest Of The Worlds Political Parties

Which party has better plans for growing the economy?

An academic survey shows the American Republican party ranks as one of the worst in the world when it comes to standing up for the rights of ethnic minority groups.

On conventional left-right measurements, theres not much distinguishing Americas Republican party from mainstream conservative movements in Europe. In fact, when it comes to economic left and right, there are governing parties on the right in Europe who are more extreme.

On attitudes towards ethnic minorities and respect for liberal democratic values, however, its a different story.

The Global Party Survey , a project authored by Harvard Universitys Pippa Norris, has sought to allow international comparisons between political parties on a variety of issues by surveying almost 2,000 academic experts on their relative positions on various spectrums. Those include the social and economic views of those parties, as well as whether they are populist or pluralistic in outlook.

The surveys findings suggest Americas Republican Party remains mainstream in many respects but not when it comes to its defending the rights of ethnic minorities and standing up for liberal principles.

On those issues it is far more extreme than Europes centre-right governing parties and sits closer to the likes of Austrias Freedom Party, Turkeys Justice and Development Party, and Indias Bharatiya Janata Party the governing movement often accused of inciting hatred against the countrys Muslim minority.

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What Is The Democratic Party

Democratic Party is a big party in the USA. The Democratic-Republican Party processes this party. It is one of the two major political parties. It was most noteworthy in 1828 by Andrew Jackson, who was the first president of this party. Washington DC headquarters of this party. Its symbol is the donkey, and the color is blue. For instance:-

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History Of The Republican Party

The Republican Party came into existence just prior to the Civil War due to their long-time stance in favor of abolition of slavery. They were a small third-party who nominated John C. Freemont for President in 1856. In 1860 they became an established political party when their nominee Abraham Lincoln was elected as President of the United States. Lincolns Presidency throughout the war, including his policies to end slavery for good helped solidify the Republican Party as a major force in American politics. The elephant was chosen as their symbol in 1874 based on a cartoon in Harpers Weekly that depicted the new party as an elephant.

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In The Most General Terms The Biggest Difference Between The Parties Comes Down To The View Of The Proper Role Of Government

The Republican party generally believes that it is the responsibility of individuals and communities to take care of people in need.  The Democratic party generally believes that the government should take care of people.  In general, the Republican party believes that if government needs to do a job then it is best for the local governments like cities and counties to make those decisions.  The Democratic party believes that the federal government has more resources and is therefore in a better position to do those jobs.  

Practical example for a child: There are a lot of people who dont have enough food to eat. Republicans believe that people like you and me should help them, and our churches should help them. The Democrats believe that the government needs to spend its money to help them get food.

But When You Watch The Republican In The Media Being Attacked The Majority Tend To Handle It With More Grace Then The Majority Of The Democrats

I dont think its because the Republicans have more money because the Democrats tend to be the wealthier group.  The majority of the richest people in the world are Democrats or Liberals.  Yet, they sure dont look like a happy group of folks .  I think a lot of people who are rich were their happiest when they were working hard coming up through the ranks and earning their money.  I also think sometimes the social issues they get caught up in when they become wealthy can be frustrating causing many people to lose their tolerance over time.

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Cook Partisan Voting Index

Another metric measuring party preference is the Cook Partisan Voting Index . Cook PVIs are calculated by comparing a state’s average Democratic Party or Republican Party share of the two-party presidential vote in the past two presidential elections to the nation’s average share of the same. PVIs for the states over time can be used to show the trends of U.S. states towards, or away from, one party or the other.

Can A Religious White Republican Party Survive

The partisan gap between black and white voters is the most durable and powerful split in modern American politics. Soon after President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964, he remarked, I think we just delivered the South to the Republican Party for a long time to come. He wasnt wrong. Afterward, the Republicans courted racist white voters by opposing school and housing integration.

Among white people, religion is the most stable and important determinant of party choice. But the way religion shapes party attachment has changed. Today, the best way to sort the population of white voters is not by which religion they belong to, but by how religious they are.

Among white Americans:

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Religious

The number of religious white Americans is plummeting. In the long term, that spells disaster for Republicans. I dont think the Republican Party right now has a sustainable business model, said Alan Abramowitz, a political scientist at Emory University.

The party knows this. Or at least it should. After Republicans lost the 2012 election, the party leadership commissioned a report on how to move forward. One answer was clear: appeal to nonwhite and less conservative voters. But in the years since, the Republicans led by Mr. Trump have doubled down on white identity politics and seem to believe that their path to a majority is through gerrymandering, voter suppression or attempts to skew the census.

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