Thursday, July 13, 2006

Melva Gweyn:  Westwood More Important Than Rest of Hamilton County

Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati

Melva Gweyn, the controversial community leader of Westwood who many believe an insufferable racist, issued a public letter this week—railing against Pat DeWine and Todd Portune for deciding not to hold a meeting about the new jail proposals in a location convenient only to Westwood residents.  The letter shows just how far Gweyn and her band of renegades will go to punk their agenda over the rest of the County.

The full text of her outrageous letter is copied below, but I want to draw attention to two of its exceptionally ridiculous moments.

1.  Melva Gweyn hates the City of Cincinnati.

Don’t believe me?  Check out this excerpt:

Wow!  Only someone who avoids the City entirely could be so delusional!  I have never had trouble parking within walking distance of the portion of Court Street in question.  In fact, I have even found free parking not too dreadfully far.  During my walks on and around Court Street, I have never had my car robbed, and therefore never felt like it needed protecting.  And I have never been offered drugs or sex downtown.  Never!  Not in Over-The-Rhine, near the Courts, near the Library, near City Hall, near the Stadia.  Not at Findlay Market, Alabama’s Fish House, Ollie’s Trolly, or Tucker’s. 

So what is Melva Gweyn talking about?  Surely, I look more like someone who would buy drugs or sex than Melva Gweyn—yet it has never happened!

2.  Melva Gweyn thinks Westwood is the center of the Universe.

Really?  Because downtown is much more convenient to all the neighborhoods than Westwood.  Downtown resides at the convergence of both major highways.  These two arteries filter through all of Hamilton County—and all the regions connect to them through various lifelines—I-74, Norwood Lateral, Cross County, even I-275.  Easy in; easy out.  A natural nexus.

And if Downtown is really that inconvenient of a location, then the alternative should not be Westwood—which is not easily accessible to most of the County.  Perhaps somewhere more central to the County geographically.  But Westwood?  Please. 

Anyway, don’t take my word for it.  Here is the full text of her public letter:

Socializer!

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Heimlich's a whimp says:
13 Jul 2006  at  04:07 pm | #

This whole thing just shows what a whimp Heimlich is. He knows his proposal is completely dead and unpopular, so he gets whipping boy Pat Thompson to put it in two home-turf settings.

1) Westwood Concern (and even there it will likely be a divided crowd)
2) Sycamore Township--where his campaign hack Tom Weidman (the same one who put out the false press release on Colerain Township) is Township Trustee and can build a crowd.

These hearings are not efforts to get opinions of average citizens; they’re just a continuation of the political hackery of Phil Heimlich.

Right On, Melva says:
13 Jul 2006  at  04:46 pm | #

Dean:
You are wrong on this one.  The city’s housing voucher program helped shift a middle class, safe neighborhood to poor and crime infested in less than a decade. Sorry, but crime and blight seem to follow the poor more so than anyone else, much as that statement pains you.  How would you like to live in a home for 20 years peacefully only to see your city allowing thugs and worse to move in next door and cause your property value to drop?

The city DOES owe them - and all the rest of us- who are trying hard not to run to the burbs.  The city introduced the crime, cause the property decline and now wants to make it tought to take action.

Mary and Melva are doing a good thing.  Why should the bad guys win?

says:
13 Jul 2006  at  05:29 pm | #

The bad guys should not win.  That’s why I oppose Melva Gweyn.

Anon says:
13 Jul 2006  at  09:00 pm | #

Dean, have you ever lived in an area where there was a drive up & buy house next door to you? Did you ever make lists of dates, times, duration of the stop, make, model, color of the cars, license tags, number & description of occupants & turn them over to the police, week after week, & wait for something to happen?  Have you been wakened in the middle of the night because a customer rang your doorbell & hammered the door so hard the windows rattled, only to realize he had the wrong house, that the drug house was next door?

Have you attempted to sleep in a chair by the door with a tire iron & baseball bat on a frosty night because the boyz were shooting it out at the end of your street for the territory because the boss boy was going to Court the next day on sentencing for bulk trafficking of drugs?

Have you been kept awake until 3AM because of a wild house party where there was featured a drive up & honk service, complete with blaring music that closed windows & the A/C couldn’t cover up?

Have you ever called up a slumlord to complain about the criminal & unsavory behaviors only to be told that as long as the rent is paid, you don’t have a legal complaint?

Right or wrong, there are many of us in all 52 neighborhoods in this City who feel threatened and under siege. We’ve worked hard to purchase a residence & ploughed even more into keeping the place up, neat & tidy.  All of the above instances are very true. These examples give the clear perception that a community is unsafe & therefore, undesirable to live & raise a family.

Yes, it is the moral obligation of this country to provide decent housing for our poor & needy. But it’s against the law for these so-called poor & needy folks to engage in criminal behaviors while residing taxpayer funded housing. I respect the honest underprivileged people who manage as best as they can on their meager funds who keep their rental properties neat & tidy. These folks raise their children & conduct themselves within the proprieties of the neighborhood. These residents can be counted on to help anyway they can in civic & charitable projects within a community, even though they are living below the margin themselves.

Think about the true examples & see if you can answer them honestly. If you haven’t experienced all of them, then you have no idea how hard working folks in this city & other areas are being persecuted by those sucking off the system.

Monica says:
13 Jul 2006  at  09:03 pm | #

Melva and Mary are nothing more than two racist white women who function under the illusion that there concerns outweigh the concerns of every other person in Hamilton County. They lack both the vision and the know how to do more than what they are doing. Westwood is no better than OTR, Avondale, Walnut Hills or any other neighborhood that is struggling against crime and poverty. The people who live in Westwood are no better than those who do not. I have walked up Vine street at 2am, I parked my car on 13th and Republic for several years, I was never offered drugs nor had my car stolen. Additionally, “protection money” for cars went out with Kojak. Give me a break!!!

says:
13 Jul 2006  at  09:34 pm | #

Anon #4…

I can’t believe I’m taking the bait… Let’s see.  You did the whole “Have you ever” bit, so I guess my response to that call will be something lame, like “I have so.”

I have so been playing in the backyard with my infant son, wondering what it meant about thirty seconds after taking him inside to hear the rapid fire of several rounds constituting a drive-by shooting in the empty lot one corner of which touches my backyard.  I think about the stray bullets.  Did any fly in to my trees?

I have so wondered what it meant after walking my son to the neighborhood playground, seeing some teenagers, smoking and cussing, walk just past the swing sets to piss on a tree.  Like they were marking territory.  We just kept playing.  They went away.  My son looks forward to going back so we can grill out hot-dogs on the grill right next to the playset. 

I have so walked out to my front porch, only to have the police chopper spotlight shine in my face while my block was flooded with cops—watching in shock as the perpetrator dashed right past me and my neighbors, up my driveway, over my garbage cans, and into the night.  I saw cops opening my trash cans looking for criminals.

Do you have a point?

If a meeting were downtown instead of in my neighborhood, and if I thought the meeting was important, I’d stop flapping my jaws about it and go attend.

JoeRo says:
13 Jul 2006  at  10:21 pm | #

First, please don’t call Melva a “community leader”—my family has lived in the same house in Westwood for 20+ years, and Melva isn’t any leader of ours. Just because a title is self-applied doesn’t make it valid (which is also why I don’t call you The Dean).

Anon, the problems on my family’s street aren’t caused by Section 8 housing. They’re caused mostly by the rowdy teens in this one family that moved in recently (who happen to be middle-class, white, and are most likely drug dealers). It might just shock Melva to know that the black people who have moved into our neighborhood have actually FIXED UP run-down properties on the block and take good care of their homes.

And her rant about downtown is ridiculous. I went out to my car this morning—parked along Race near 12th Street—and realized I’d left the doors unlocked all night—yes, all four doors. And ya know what? Nobody got into my car. My stereo was still there. In fact, so was the spare change I keep in my glove box.

I wonder what she means by “coping” her e-mail to these commissioner(sic)?

Anon says:
13 Jul 2006  at  10:24 pm | #

Dean, you weren’t being baited. If you think that way, that’s your choice. I was merely stating reality that is occurring in Avondale, Evanston, College Hill, Price Hill, Sayler Park, Riverside, etc., on a continuous daily basis. It’s good you’ve “wondered”. For me, I gave up that “wondering” business a long time ago. “Wondering” didn’t make the community safer. But if that’s your thing…

You didn’t get the point, did you?  I spelled it out completely - residents in the communities feel threatened & under attack. Some couldn’t sell their property & move to Warren County even if they wanted to - the real estate agents tack up a sign & don’t bother to market, because they have witnessed the horrors from their gleaming BMWs & MBs. These residents have seen their investment whither & die because of crime & individuals not conducting themselves with some sensibilities. See a police chopper from your porch? Oh please. Dean, I’ve come home from work only to find a bum passed out from some sort of substance abuse on my porch furniture. He left the outside faucet running a steady stream.

I agree, if I lived in Westwood, I’d go downtown to the Commissioners Meeting, so that my voice was heard & I would be doing the right thing for my community by speaking up & being counted.  Actually, I’ll move the stuff on my calendar & go anyway. I don’t believe they’d turn someone away from a different neighborhood.

It’s your choice & your freedom to defend the criminals, thugs & drug dealers. But then, it’s our choice to hold them accountable for violating the laws. I’m not siding with Melva or Mary here. I don’t live in their community & I won’t meddle in their business or judge their deeds. But I believe they have the right & freedom to speak up & take action for a safer, cleaner community.

says:
13 Jul 2006  at  11:00 pm | #

Where’s Andrew Warner’s “Tough Enough” piece?

one advocate says:
14 Jul 2006  at  12:31 am | #

Does the Mary and Melva crowd support Heimlich?  Let’s see what Heimlich did to address the problem of disproportionate numbers of public housing concentrated in county suburbs… They closed down the county’s office that had control over section 8 and pawned it off on the city’s cincinnati metropolitan housing authority that purchased a majority of those properties in their neighborhood and mine without concern for over saturation.  instead of maintaining control of the program and fixing and RETAINING RESPONSIBLITY for the problem, they heaved it off to be blamed on the city and washed their hands of your problems.  Community block grants were just distributed to the county from the federal housing and urban development office.  did westwood get monies for extra patrols?  how about relocation of a police substation or a new one?  no - check out where some of this money went in the “select” and privledged communites not suffering from “blight” or housing significant “low and moderate income families” - these monies went to pet projects like roadways, upgrading parking lots, etc—pet projects to appease the “rich folks” watching from the hills the deteriorating near- city suburbs from their condescending perches.  i ask Heimlich… what have you done for me lately?  Cut senior services, cut services to MRDD, cut the health care programs, give away Drake,....  All to save about $27 bucks a year on property taxes.  Whooppee!!!!  That’ll get me a little more than a half tank of gas and the bird. 
that’s great governance by the majority on the BOCC that makes me want to vote or puke..

says:
14 Jul 2006  at  03:40 am | #

Dean, its an old refrain but it deserves repeating.  I don’t know who this Melva is but you insinuate that you believe her to be a racist above.  I am pretty certain that you would never use such harsh terms to describe Nikki X and company.  My educated guess is that Melva doesn’t use near the hateful speech Nikki does, so why do you still insist on applying this double standard?

says:
14 Jul 2006  at  05:55 am | #

"The Dean of Cincinnati says:
13 Jul 2006 at 07:29 pm | #

The bad guys should not win.  That’s why I oppose Melva Gweyn. “

“The Dean of Cincinnati says:
14 Jul 2006 at 01:00 am | #

Where’s Andrew Warner’s “Tough Enough” piece? “

Just what do these answers mean?

“Right On, Melva says:
13 Jul 2006 at 06:46 pm | #

Dean:
You are wrong on this one.  ...”

Dean is sooo wrong on this one and he is so illogical in his thinking that he is seldom getting the picture. In fact, the title Dean seems so inappropriate that I am going to start using the name Jason. No more tenure.

Dieter

funnelcake says:
14 Jul 2006  at  06:25 am | #

Why would Melva insist on having the meetings in Westwood if she is worried about crime, drugs & safety.  According to her the place is overrun with crime.

And there is plenty of free parking downtown after 6pm.

says:
14 Jul 2006  at  06:52 am | #

Dieter, what in the hell does that mean? 

Obviously, the comment about Andrew Warner was meant for, well, Andrew Warner.  He keeps playing with writing a piece on how he moved to short Vine—wondering if it is “tough enough” for him to have an opinion.  Apparently drive-by shootings next door and a police chopper above my house shining a light on my face doesn’t make the cut for anon above.

On Melva the racist:  I haven’t written about Melva since my former website that is now offline.  I’ll see what I can find.  I used to have copies of a Westwood newsletter where she had some pretty outrageous quotes, and I also used to have an mp3 of her speaking before council where she talked about certain kids being “predatory by nature.”

(Actually, Peter Deane once wrote out the transcript of that one...)

I’ll see what I can find.

says:
14 Jul 2006  at  06:54 am | #

Found the speech!

Melva.mp3

says:
14 Jul 2006  at  07:53 am | #

funnelcake says:
14 Jul 2006 at 08:25 am | #

Why would Melva insist on having the meetings in Westwood if she is worried about crime, drugs & safety.  According to her the place is overrun with crime.

And there is plenty of free parking downtown after 6pm.

I think it would be for the convenience of the western hills people to weigh in on the issue. Instead of having a hundred people trapsing downtown, which people seem to dislike more and more, she would have three commisioners come to an easier to reach location. You know the bringing the mountain to Mohammed saying?

Making government easy for the people is a novel idea though.

says:
14 Jul 2006  at  07:58 am | #

Yes, Dieter, which is why a County meeting on the Westside is a bad idea.  A central location would be key.

Oh yeah! says:
14 Jul 2006  at  08:27 am | #

On Melva the racist:  I haven’t written about Melva since my former website that is now offline.  I’ll see what I can find.  I used to have copies of a Westwood newsletter where she had some pretty outrageous quotes, and I also used to have an mp3 of her speaking before council where she talked about certain kids being “predatory by nature.”

Right, let’s see. That would have been around election time when you were defending the factuality of Michael Bailey’s statements “Jews Killed Jesus, Owned Black Slaves, Drink Baby’s Blood”. I remember.

says:
14 Jul 2006  at  08:56 am | #

Anyway, the speech is available for download above in comment #15.

says:
14 Jul 2006  at  10:30 am | #

Dean, I am cheap and use public computers without sound, so I’ll just take your word that Melva’s speech is beyond the pale.  But you seem to be avoiding the question of why you don’t describe Nikki X and Nate L. with the same opprobious term of racist?  My guess is they have spoken far more cruelly of whites than even this Melva.

Anon says:
14 Jul 2006  at  05:41 pm | #

Melva Gweyn, the controversial community leader of Westwood who many believe an insufferable racist,

Jason, you’re the one who believes Gweyn is an insufferable racist. Why don’t you make it clear & get it over with? Melva Gweyn is the racist, but Nicole Davis & Nate Livingston are suffering, misunderstood blacks attempting to make a pioneering difference in this city. (There folks, I’ve answered the question that Jason REFUSES to address.)

Apparently drive-by shootings next door and a police chopper above my house shining a light on my face doesn’t make the cut for anon above.

Oh no it doesn’t make the cut. Not by a long shot, boy.

I think about the stray bullets.  Did any fly in to my trees?

That statement of yours was the dead giveaway. When the bullets are flying, the trees are pretty far down on the pecking order thought list when one has gone through the misery first hand.

And I guess what happened down at the Metropole Apartments today was oh so wrong in your mind. Taxpayer money to foot the freight of drug dealers & prostitutes so they can start the necrosis process in yet another area of this city.

says:
14 Jul 2006  at  06:01 pm | #

I am sorry my son was not shot dead.  Apparently, that’s what it takes to have the right to speak.

Anon says:
14 Jul 2006  at  07:42 pm | #

Right, let’s see. That would have been around election time when you were defending the factuality of Michael Bailey’s statements “Jews Killed Jesus, Owned Black Slaves, Drink Baby’s Blood”. I remember.

Oh yeah!, let’s don’t forget how Michael Bailey taunted the widows of dead police officers. That was OK to defend, too.

With the “Jews Killed Jesus” business, there was Nicole Davis, right with Michael Bailey. And if the attention he was getting wasn’t fueling his ego enough, then he’d thump Davis & then they’d kiss & make up.

However, Melva Gweyn is the racist, because Jason has said so & has put his stamp of approval on it. We either have to go along with Jason or move on. He’s correct. Ilk like Davis, Livingston & Bailey are saints in this city. They do no wrong because they’re “persecuted” daily.  They’re given the wide latitude to spread their messages of race hatred & fueling the divide. They have supporters who agree with this modicum of spreading fear & hate. Oh yeah!, it’s not worth talking about. I know of several people who’ve been taunted & harrassed by Davis, Livingston & Bailey just because they showed up at City Hall & said what was on their minds. And the bulk of these folks were white. The filth & torment by those thugs showered on those people was criminal. I’ve been accosted by Livingston more times than I care to count, however, it won’t happen again. I put a legal stop to that. I don’t have to resort to ghetto Beatty crap.

Westwood resident says:
14 Jul 2006  at  10:40 pm | #

One reason to hold the meeting in Westwood is that people will actually show up.
Another reason is that action will be taken as a result of the meeting.
Melva is a leader who doesn’t spend a lot of time hunched over a computer criticizing others.  She is fighting for her community and winning.  She isn’t a lackey for any politician, but her position in the community is respected by them, and they listen to her.

From Dictionary.com-
dean-
The senior member of a body or group: the dean of the Washington diplomatic corps.

Dude- Turn off your computer, get out there and do something to earn your title and get over your leadership envy.

The Internet: Transforming Society and Shaping the Future Through Chat.
-Dave Barry

Monica says:
15 Jul 2006  at  04:21 am | #

I find it interesting that application of the term “racist” is not easy for many of you when it comes to a person like Melva, however application of the same term to persons of color who express a view in which you may not agree is quite easy. Just another example of the duality that exists in this city and in this country. Apparently its okay for Melva to make the reference that all of the problems that we face are a direct result of the changes that occurred in the 60’s. But it is not okay for black folks to make the reference that all of our problems or many of them relate to the era known as Jim Crow maybe even slavery. I can hear the groans as people say...."that is ancient history...I never owned slaves. It is hard for everyone. How sad is it to have men and women in Iraq dying for an ideal that is not fully realized in this nation, in this city today. How can we not understand that the civil unrest experienced in 2001 was not simply the fault of one group but in fact we all share the blame. The overall lack of leadership shown by many of our elected officials during that time was at fault as much as anything else. The overall lack of leadership since can also be added to the mix. Its okay I guess for Melva to rant about black folks being predatory by nature but not okay for black folks to make similar statments about their white counterparts. Clearly according to her the downfall began with the civil rights movement. Prior to that time I suppose we were all treated exactly the same?? I mean lets face it why would a white or black person have reason to complain about the way things were?? There are inequities in this nation which are based soley on race. Its not pretty but it is the way that thinsg are. To deny that leaves us squarely in the predicament that we are in today. As long as crime and or drugs were in OTR people like Melva were content to liv in their enclaves safe and sound. When people of crime ridden neighborhoods were crying out for better policing and safer drugfree streets, they were basically ignored by city leaders and other communities. Now that some of those problems have extended beyond the borders of places like OTR and Avondale into places like Westwood I guess time must stand still until the problem is solved in Westwood. It appears that its not okay to publicly state that “Jews killed Jesus” but I do not recall furor when statements such as “Die Nigger Die” made their way across the square! Where was the outrage? How many of you who were up in arms about the former statement felt equal outrage about the latter statement? What I distinctly recall hearing from mainstream media as well as the overall white community was that as an expression of free speech such speech had to be tolerated. Well why doesn’t the same free speech notion apply equally across the board? When the Black Fist called for prison for police officers who commit murder, where were all of you? When it became clear that Roger Owensby, Jr. was choked and beaten to death where were you? Are any of you aware that in the federal trial the judge asked the Owensby family to strongly consider settling the case as to not cause a potential “race riot” as the details of the case and the tragic circumstances surrounding the death of his son would have become public? Some of you may think that the criminal cases of the officers involved in his death may have come back with not guilty verdicts therefore the system functioned as it should, but when black folks make the same argument regarding the OJ trial outcome somehow that old refrain does not apply. The fact of the matter is in my opinion Melva is a racist. My opinion is based soley on my personal experience with the woman and not the views of anyone else. Unlike many of you in cases like this I make my decisions based on personal interaction and not soundbites and hearsay.

says:
15 Jul 2006  at  05:49 am | #

Let’s make a deal, all you anons who refuse to say a white person like Melva is a racist.  You agree that she is a racist, and I will agree to call Kabaka one.

Deal?

Anon says:
15 Jul 2006  at  09:55 am | #

Let’s make a deal, all you anons who refuse to say a white person like Melva is a racist.  You agree that she is a racist, and I will agree to call Kabaka one.

Deal?

No deal. Actually, it’s chicken s#$t & rather lowdown, because Michael Bailey isn’t around to defend his statements. To condemn a person after the fact will resolve absolutely nothing. If anything, you’ll set yourself up for further attacks on your credibility

There are others out there making racial epithets & who are unmistakably biased toward the white people & let their feelings known on a daily basis.  But you won’t call them out. You have absolutely no problem zeroing in on Melva. And so what if Melva’s a so-called racist?  Last I looked, Nate has active racist proclivities as does Nicole Davis. No one is attacking them or holding them accountable. Why is that?

Monica, in answer to your diatribes, the blacks sound off all the time about Jim Crow, the Honkies, the Klan, and so on, ad nauseum. And they get “hands off the blacks latitude” to do so. Fortunately/unfortunately, free speech must be tolerated. That exact subject was brought up again in Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas this week during closing arguments of the Beatty murder trial. It had been decreed earlier that Michael Bailey was exercising his rights to free speech. The double standard here is Bailey was successful at getting away with his hate rhetoric, but Gweyn’s feet & hands will be held to the fire because (1) she’s white, and (2) she’s a woman.

When the blacks start with their racial hatred rants, including slavery reparations, Jim Crow, & all the other jazz that’s stuck in their craws, I hit the off button. Not interested.

And according to this morning’s Enquirer, the Commissioners Meetings in Westwood AND Sycamore are public hearings. Everyone is invited to show up & speak their minds. I see a bent toward the West Side here. I haven’t heard any rants & racial taunts toward the Sycamore meeting site. Those folks will change zoning codes over night to keep out Section 8 housing & the black drug trade. Further, Section 8 landowners live in such areas as Sycamore. Do you think they want this sort of criminality in their backyard? I think not.

says:
15 Jul 2006  at  01:10 pm | #

Now that I think of it, here’s the funny thing, anon.

The reason you defend white Melva Gweyn’s racist rants is because I do not call out Nate or Nikki for what you think are their racist rants.  But what does one have to do with the other?  And further, what if Nate and Nikki’s rants are meant as a direct response to the free pass racists like Melva Gweyn get in this town?

Defend Nate or Nikki, lose your credibility; defend Melva Gweyn, and you’re a hero.  That kind of thinking is sick, twisted, illogical, unhealthy—need more adjectives?

says:
15 Jul 2006  at  02:42 pm | #

Monica, I think you are missing the very simple point I, and I believe some of the other commenters, are trying to make.  Its simply that some white liberals like Dean have a double standard when applying the derogatory term of racist to people.  They feel no qualms about applying the term to whites who speak rudely of blacks (like Melva I guess: I honestly haven’t heard of her before) but can’t bring themselves to apply the same standards to blacks who speak rudely about whites. Anyone with a passing familiarity with Cincy politics know that Nikki X and Nate L. have really cut loose on whites before. Look at Nikki’s website and she calls whites every name in the book, so the simple question is why doesn’t Dean define her as a racist?  If this society is going to attach such dishonor to the label of “racist”, we should at least try to come up with a fair definition which applies to all people, not just Dean’s political opponents.

says:
15 Jul 2006  at  02:54 pm | #

Here’s why:  I don’t actually believe that Nate and Nikki have a problem with people just because they are white.  I have had beers with Nate before.  I have talked with Nikki extensively.  They do not hate white people.  They write outrageous stuff on their blogs as an experiment, if you will—invoking the double standard that you play right into when you excuse Melva and point the finger at them.

Why not point the finger at Melva first?  Why are you hellbent on indicting Nate and Nikki?

says:
15 Jul 2006  at  04:30 pm | #

Dean, thats just dumb.  So your definition is that if you feel friendly toward someone of a different race , then that person isn’t a racist. I bet Melva would get along fine with Kenneth Blackwell, so I guess that means she is not a racist.  Dean, fess up; your definition of a racist is a white person who doesn’t agree with your political position on race relations and speaks up in public.

says:
15 Jul 2006  at  04:33 pm | #

By the way Dean, I think Nate is a pretty good political speaker but if the definition of a racist is someone who belittles another race in public, then Nate would have to be called a racist by definition.

says:
15 Jul 2006  at  05:59 pm | #

No, I use this definition of racism.  It is a good definition, and it doesn’t give me any trouble.

says:
15 Jul 2006  at  06:04 pm | #

BTW, Trey, Ken Blackwell is “ideologically white.”

Anon says:
15 Jul 2006  at  06:37 pm | #
No, I use this definition of racism.  It is a good definition, and it doesn’t give me any trouble.
Like everyone told you before, you give license to Nate & Nicole Davis for threatening & slandering white people & Melva is the racist because she allegedly points fingers at the blacks.
In today’s society, racism is a multi-edged sword & it has gone in many directions. Your definition is rather old & outmoded.
Apparently, you’ve never been at the other end of Nate & Davis’ venom spewing. Many people in Cincinnati have. The filth that flowed out of Nate’s mouth toward a woman in City Council chambers was horrifying. I admired that woman, because she sat there, very still & stonefaced while he carrying on with his pathetic racial remarks to her & exactly what should happen to her. He finally quit seeing this woman would not be moved or provoked into a response. I was sitting right behind this woman & I saw & heard it all. He belittled this woman in public because of her race & her comments in City Hall weren’t to his liking & in line with his hatred agenda. And the woman was not Melva.
Nate’s rants & Davis’ diatribes are not experiments, not by a long shot. Those two have made it perfectly clear they hate white people. Nate also hates black people who own their own properties & refuse to knuckle under to his demands. He calls them House Ni&&ers. A couple of years ago, he went through a neighborhood taunting black homeowners & threatening white residents, telling them he’d have them eliminated. The white people were no good, evil, & needed to be destroyed immediately.
That’s not racism. Oh no. It’s just an experiment to test reactions of people. Yeah, right. No one did anything about it because everyone’s aware that neither Nate nor Davis carry any weight in this city.
Dean, you’d never call them out because they’d make your life miserable in their blogs. It’s OK that you stay cuddly warm with them while they besmirch other people based solely on their race & different points of view.
BTW, Trey, Ken Blackwell is “ideologically white.”
Dean, you’d better tell this to your trusted buddy Nate over a few beers. He’s supporting Blackwell solely on his black color.
says:
15 Jul 2006  at  06:53 pm | #

In today’s society, racism is a multi-edged sword & it has gone in many directions. Your definition is rather old & outmoded.

The definition is from 1999.

Please show me your extended definition (not from a dictionary) that is more contemporary.

Apparently, you’ve never been at the other end of Nate & Davis’ venom spewing.

Actually, I have been at the other end of his “venom spewing.” And he at the other end of mine, too.  We were laughing about that together not too long ago…


Dean, you’d never call them out because they’d make your life miserable in their blogs.

What, is it better to be made miserable by you on my own blog?

Dean, you’d better tell this to your trusted buddy Nate over a few beers. He’s supporting Blackwell solely on his black color.

Nate is free to support a black candidate who collaborates with white racists and who disenfranchises black voters all across the state.  That’s the beauty of America!

one advocate says:
15 Jul 2006  at  11:02 pm | #

the definition, per a recent college class called MInority Groups , requires the person who bears derogatory views of group or class to have a POWER over that group or class ( nto technical, just frommemory).  In other words, minorities really can’t be classifieds as racists become they lack the dominate (not numerical majority, authority)power and clout to effect a result from their derogatory beliefs or statements.  whites, men, heterosexuals, high economic status, ...
nikki and nate have no power to exert control or authority therefore, technically, ....  i believe they and kabaka said those outrageous things to get provoke a shocked response and to satirocally mimic the white racists .  to me it doesn’t matter, i try to understand, but i find it offensive and does them more harm than good for their goals.  they should take the high road and rely on facts rather than rhetoric.

says:
16 Jul 2006  at  06:04 am | #

Yes, one advocate, the most modern views of “racism” posit that only those from a position of power can exert “racism.”

Now, this does not make non-whites free from wrong-doing.  Blacks can be bigoted, prejudicial, discriminatory, and so on.  Just not “racist.” The dynamics of racial hatred are different when originating from within the hegemonic group. 

This is why, for example, you’re hard pressed to find anyone who is really and truly and deeply offended by the word “honkey.” White so-called “rage” at such slurs is more intellectual than anything else.

Monica says:
16 Jul 2006  at  08:54 am | #

I have not missed any point made on this strand. 

“Its simply that some white liberals like Dean have a double standard when applying the derogatory term of racist to people.”

If that is true than it is certainly a trait that seems to be shared by most of you as well as many of the white folks in this town. If free speech is in fact free speech and that is the guideline than why did the phrase “Jews killed Jesus” raise such a ruckus? Afterall it is just free speech. If anything it should be ignored. I recall being told that...just ignore them and what they are saying? Maybe a little practicing of the preaching should be applied. Its not as easy to take the high road when you are being called a Nigger and ropes shaped with lynch knots are swung in your face. I have experienced these things and worse right here in the streets of Cincinnati. If Nate and Nikki are racists than so are Melva, Mary, and police officers who verbally and physically abuse black folks. I also have been on the receiving end of that. You people kill me!! I notice that only one of you have addressed the issues that I have raised. Why??? I wonder?

one advocate says:
16 Jul 2006  at  03:56 pm | #

Monica , I really don’t understand what you are wanting anyone to respond to.  THe Jews killed Jesus” is racist because Jews are a minority (as opposedto christians who have the majority in numbers and in power in this country and most)that has experienced many of the same atrocities of african americans.  so a black man ( lets think of ken balckwell for instance) can be racists (anti-semetic) if he makes negative comments about non christians, he can also be a sexist ( discriminates against or holds views that negative and harmful to a group or class of people) of the opposite sex, etc.

or ,like me, you are too long winded and people don’t really want to read long comments - you and i need to work on that if we want people to read and respond.

Monica says:
16 Jul 2006  at  05:13 pm | #

I am not long winded. Additionally my point was cyrstal clear. Where was the outrage when racist comments were directed at black folks?

says:
17 Jul 2006  at  01:39 am | #

Dean, not again with this Dr. Page guy.  A bunch of politically motivated academics have been trying to steal the word racism for decades.  They find it useful that the label has such a negative connotaion, so they try to weave a tricky verbal web where only there political opponents can get caught.  If you ask 95% of Americans the meaning of the word, they would say something like : racism is when someone habitually treats people of a different race in a highly unfair way.  But I guess academia has done so much for you (like make you nearly unemployable with a high inclination for sounding arrogant) that you naturally follow their largely ignored dictates.