Limbaugh's NFL Bid In Limbo

As many of you know, Rush Limbaugh is part of a group attempting to purchase the St. Louis Rams of the NFL. If the bid is approved, it appears that Rush would be a limited partner who wouldn't be actually running the team. However, due to the fact that Rush is such a polarizing figure who's made several controversial statements, many people are opposing his bid to buy the Rams. Over the past few days, there have been racist quotes attributed to Rush that many (including him) are deeming false. Since there appears to be no way to prove their validity, I'm not including them here. If someone has planted racist quotes and falsely pinned them to Rush in an effort to smear him, that's flat out wrong and unfortunate because there are plenty of statements made by him over the years that can't be denied. Below are just a few of the gems that have come from the mouth of Limbaugh on his radio show:

Limbaugh's 2003 comments about Philadelphia Eagles QB Donovan McNabb:

"I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve. The defense carried this team."

On the recent beating of a white kid by two black kids aboard a school bus:

"It's Obama's America is it not? Obama's America white kids getting beat up on school buses now. You put your kids on a school bus you expect safety but in Obama's America the white kids now get beat up with the black kids cheering 'yeah, right on, right on, right on right on.' And of course everybody said the white kid deserved it he was born a racist, he's white.




On why blacks have failed to progress in the U.S.:

"We thought that it was just liberal welfare policies and all that that kept blacks from progressing while other minorities grew and prospered, but no, it is these wackos from Bill Ayers to Jeremiah Wright to other anti-American Afrocentric black liberation theologists with ACORN, and Barack Obama is smack dab in the middle of it, they have been training young black kids to hate, hate, hate this country, and they trained their parents before that to hate, hate, hate this country."

On feminism and Hillary Clinton's 2008 Presidential bid:

And if they -- you know, if Hillary doesn't get it -- you have to understand the mindset of a lot of these feminists and women. They think they're owed this -- just like Obama supporters think they're owed this. These women have paid their dues. They've been married two or three times; they've had two or three abortions; they've done everything that feminism asked them to do. They have cut men out of their lives; they have devoted themselves to causes and careers. And this -- the candidacy of Hillary Clinton -- is the culmination of all of these women's efforts. And if it gets stolen from them, in their minds -- not actually stolen, but if the country or if the Democrat [sic] Party rejects this wonderfully great, lying woman in exchange for a rookie, radical black guy who can't tell the time of day, they are going to be so miffed.

On Michael J. Fox's 2006 appearance in a political ad:

Now, this is Michael J. Fox. He's got Parkinson's disease. And in this commercial, he is exaggerating the effects of the disease. He is moving all around and shaking. And it's purely an act. This is the only time I have ever seen Michael J. Fox portray any of the symptoms of the disease he has. I know he's got it and he's raising money for it, but when I've seen him in public, I've never seen him betray any of the symptoms. But this commercial, he -- he's just all over the place. He can barely control himself.

Here are a couple of quotes from NFL players on the prospect of Limbaugh becoming an NFL team owner.

New York Jets linebacker Bart Scott:

I know I wouldn't want to play for him. He's a jerk. He's an ---. What he said (about Donovan McNabb) was inappropriate and insensitive, totally off-base. He could offer me whatever he wanted, I wouldn't play for him. ... I wouldn't play for Rush Limbaugh. My principles are greater and I can't be bought."

New York Giants defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka:

All I know is from the last comment I heard, he said in (President) Obama's America, white kids are getting beat up on the bus while black kids are chanting 'right on. I mean, I don't want anything to do with a team that he has any part of. He can do whatever he wants, it is a free country. But if it goes through, I can tell you where I am not going to play."

"I am not going to draw a conclusion from a person off of one comment, but when it is time after time after time and there's a consistent pattern of disrespect and just a complete misunderstanding of an entire culture that I am a part of, I can't respect him as a man."

To the best of my knowledge, none of the St. Louis Rams have come forward with their thoughts on the possibility of Limbaugh purchasing the team.

Of course, Rush has the right to purchase the team. Having said that, the NFL also has the right to block his bid. Part of me hopes the NFL does reject Rush because it would show him and the world that being a race baiting, sexist scumbag has its consequences. On the other hand, there are a couple of reasons why I hope he is allowed to buy the Rams. For one thing, we'd see whether or not any current or future St. Louis Rams who are anti-Limbaugh are willing to put money aside and stand up for their principles. Secondly, if the NFL does block his bid, it would allow Rush to pull the victim card out of his stacked deck and starting ranting about how he was done such a great injustice. The bottom line is that however this story plays out, Rush wins.

Mattel Introduces the "So In Style" Line of Black Barbies

'Barbie So In Style' designer Stacey McBride-Irby. Photo courtesty of AP

In an effort to inspire young black girls and promote their self-images, Mattel launched its "So In Style" line of black Barbies last month. The dolls come in varying skin tones, have fuller lips, a wider nose and more pronounced cheek bones and two of them (Trichelle and Kianna) have curlier hair. This is a vast improvement over Mattel's previous attempts at creating a black Barbie (Francie and Christie were basically white Barbies painted brown). The designer of the dolls, Stacey McBride-Irby, said her goal was to address the needs of the African-American community.

While many black women have praised Mattel for the "So In Style" line, the dolls aren't without their detractors. There are some who have expressed concern over the fact that none of the dolls have shorter, natural hair. The thin frames of the dolls have also raised eyebrows (the unrealistic body image issue has been an ongoing criticism of Barbie, regardless of skin color).

Although the criticisms leveled at the "So In Style" line are valid, Ms. McBride-Irby did get many things right. In addition to the varying skin tones and facial characteristics, the line also stresses the importance of education/career aspirations and promotes mentoring among females.

The dolls are experiencing success already and there are plans to expand the line. Hopefully, the concerns raised will be addressed and we'll see "So In Style" dolls that look like this:

and this:

For more on the "So In Style Line", please click here to read the story by Megan K. Scott.

If you'd like to hear Barbie designer Stacey McBride-Irby discuss the "So In Style" line, you can do so by watching the following videos:

So In Style 1

So In Style 2

You Make The Call.........

KUMBAYA / Sir Ivan / I AM PEACEMAN



I couldn't make the decision on if I should be mad at the condescending nature of this video, or laugh my butt off at the out right tackiness of the whole thing including the song.

What it looked like to me was some one with good intentions just making a mess of things, like a little kid who tries to cook breakfast for mom but burns the house down, kind of like liberal racism.

Hell, the truth is I was more pissed with the blacks in the video than the "musician" Sir Ivan.

I wanted to hit them over the head with a history book and say wake your ignorant butts up, or are y'all that hard up for some chump change?

As for Sir Ivan I am going to say that he might have been innocently trying send a peaceful message out their, unfortunately he failed miserably.

If anything he is guilty of making the "Soul Plane" of music video, and I got to question his future in music after this.

But than again I might be more sensitive to this type of stuff, might be seeing things that are not there.......maybe.........doubt it though.

What say you?

Guest Post by RKL: How To End Racism In America

One of the goals of Diversity Ink is to have differing viewpoints on the issue of race relations. Earlier this month, I came across the following post on the blog RKL Writes. I contacted the blogger (RKL) and asked him if he'd be interested in letting me use it as a guest post at Diversity Ink; he gave me the thumbs up. The following post was written by RKL on July 30, 2009:

If you ask me the simple question, "How can we end racism in America?" I'll give you a simple but true answer. "Stop making an issue of it." Think about it for a minute. Do you really know anyone who is driven by racism? I don't mean an off the cuff remark now and again. I mean do you know someone who defines their life based upon hatred of others due to race? I don't know anyone like that, and I never have even growing up in the south. The truth is, the largest majority of the people in the United States are long past racial issues. Whites especially. And yet if you were to believe the media or some activists you'd think that we were still living in segregation.

Here is the way I look at it. I would be willing to bet that a huge percentage (90% or more) of Americans live their daily lives with no thoughts of racism. If you go along with that, then who benefits from racial divisions in this country? When you look at it that way, it's easy to pick them out. I heard the term "Race Hustlers" a while back and I think it hits the mark perfectly. Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, John Wiley Price, and many others build their entire careers off of just one issue, Race. And because Race Hustling works for them they keep churning up the same tired, false, hate-filled ideas and in reality, they do more damage to the people they are supposedly trying to help than does "the man."

So when I see our President who during his campaign styled himself as a person who could break down racial boundaries drinking a beer with an seemingly honest white cop and a black race hustler professor, it makes me sick. The truth is that Obama got caught trying to tow the line for the race hustlers. That's the kind of "racial healing" he gives, and he knew he had to backtrack. But honestly would you expect anything less from a man who spent time in Jeremiah Wright's pews?

RKL

Breaking Point

I believe that I've told you that I live in a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. I love living here and have never felt like an outsider. It is a friendly, welcoming neighborhood where the people are helpful and actually smile at you when you are in the store. I moved here for the schools, so my son would not be set up for failure, as I felt he was in the school district of Kansas City. So far, I've been very happy here.

Until I got that e-mail last week.

You see, I, along with every other parent in our school district, received an e-mail outlining the details of President Obama's speech today. As parents, we were told that participating in the speech was not a mandatory assignment, and any relating assignments were not mandatory either. The teacher emphasized that the discussions would not include any of his/her own political views, and if parents did not want their child to participate, they would be given an alternate assignment to complete in the Library.

I call bullshit.

I really cannot fault the school district or the teacher...they are simply trying to cover their asses. This whole situation, however, is weighing heavily on me. Why does it have to be like this? Why so much furor over the President addressing our students to stay focused on their school work and strive to be better?

All of this talk about President Obama trying to push his agenda on the children is a bunch of bullshit. These are just excuses to mask what the true issue is. It has been 8 months since President Obama took office and the opposition still cannot grasp the fact that the President does not look like his predecessors. I never thought that I would give in to the "racism" theory, but I have no other answer at this point. All of the socialism, Marxism, whatever-ism talk is code for the fact that there are some folks out there that cannot accept the fact that we have a biracial President.

And that saddens me to no end.

But the school thing? I have taken the stand that my son will be there, front and center. And he will not only complete the main assignment, but turn in the extra credit assignment as well.

The best way to fight ignorance is with education. It is my job to ensure that my son has that education. It is too bad that the parents who decide that their children shouldn't listen to this speech don't feel that way.

originally posted @ Conversations With Marva