They walk among us

[DixieBelle]

Oh my. I stumbled onto this blog post and I really couldn't pass up sharing it. I was looking for something about Southwest and this popped up on the search page. Ii caught my eye when the blurb mentioned "White power". Go ahead, "What's her DUmmie name" right? 

I'm going to edit for the sake of everyone's sanity. This woman is "an educator and writer living in Philadelphia". I shudder. And this is posted on a liberal frothing at the mouth site so....

http://kenyonfarrow.com/2008/03/03/southwest-airlines-%E2%80%98the-souls-of-white-folk%E2%80%99/

I therefore detail the situation here both to document it and to theorize its relevance for understanding contemporary white supremacy.
As is practice with Southwest, I had boarded the plane when my category of seating was called. Having been lucky enough to download the boarding pass for category A, I was among the first to pick my seat. Shortly after sitting down, an older white man sat in the seat next to mine. He then proceeded to spread his legs wide open as if, to quote a wise person I know, “he thought he had balls the size of pumpkins.” In response to the uninvited pressing, I requested room for my legs. The man then proceeded to imperiously point his finger to the floor to emphasize that his feet were within the boundary of his seats. He never addressed the fact that his legs were spread beyond them so as to invade my space and press up against my body. Instead, he said to me, “You’re a big girl.” Talking on my cell phone, I interrupted my conversation to calmly tell the man “Don’t ****ing talk to me that way.”

With his right hand, the man reached across himself to grab my left arm. With my arm in his grip, he looked me in the eyes through his glasses and replied, “I’m going to slap you in your mouth.” I freed myself from him and then stood up. I called out to the steward at the front of the plane that I needed assistance since I had just been grabbed by the person sitting next to me. Hurriedly, the man bolted out of his seat, muttering that he would move. As he exited the row he made it a point to emphasize that I had cussed at him, neglecting the fact that he had made the comment that initiated our negative exchange.

I turned around to be met by a young, white woman steward named Crystal G. Webb. When I told her that I had been assaulted by the man who was now making a mad dash for a seat a few rows back, she began to laugh. As she bit her lip, a smirk escaped. I informed her that I did not appreciate her laughing and that I did not pay to be assaulted on a plane. She then asked me if I wanted to speak to her supervisor, to which I said yes.

Ms. Webb returned with an older white woman named Ms. Terri Parker. Wearing a Southwest uniform that was more official than that worn by Ms. Webb, she led the two of them as they approached my seat. Before she reached me, another older white man had sat down in the seat that had been vacated by my assailant.

I repeated my story to Ms. Parker, adding that Ms. Webb had laughed at my concerns. Ms. Parker asked me if I would like to press charges. I said yes. However, I changed my mind when I learned that it would require me to get off the plane with the man who had assaulted me and be placed on a later flight.

That should have been the end of it since I should have been able to choose whether or not to press charges. But, as Du Bois pointed out, the nature of white supremacy requires that white people own everything, including the last and final word. True to form, Ms. Parker made it a point to remind me that I had cussed at the man, an issue I never concealed when describing the situation. I reminded Ms. Parker that the man had said to me that I was a big girl. Notwithstanding the fact that I am a grown woman in my thirties, I am also an Asian American. And I am an Asian American woman who does not meet the racialized and sexualized body expectations that is omnipresent in the white racial imagination. Overall, as I mentioned to Ms. Parker, I thought that the man had felt comfortable pressing his leg into mine and then defending his actions with insults because I was a non-white woman.

Nevertheless, white supremacy does not yield to rationality. Instead, appeals to rationality will often make white people angrier. It appears that my incident with Southwest was no exception. Throughout the conversation, Ms. Parker rebuffed practically all of my concerns. For example, when I pointed out that the man had made a comment about my body that I thought was racist and sexist, Ms. Parker responded that she did not know what he meant. I pointed out to her that she did not have to think very hard to imagine what he meant since his comment was fairly explicit. When Ms. Parker continued to emphasize that I had cussed at the man, I asked her if this gave me license to grab, and threaten with another assault anyone on the plane who might cuss at me. Appearing to grow angrier with my appeals to her rationality—which was simply an act of bad faith, or a lie to myself—Ms. Parker repeated that I had cussed at the man. I asked her if she thought that I “brought” being manhandled and threatened “on myself.” She said no. I then told her that I did not need her to lecture me regarding my language since no one was addressing the man who had assaulted me.

Perhaps unable to watch a fellow white person being held accountable by an Asian American, the white man who was now sitting next to me jumped in the fray. He interrupted us to tell me that he did not think that Ms. Parker was lecturing me. She thanked him. I calmly turned to him and replied, “This situation does not concern you.” Ms. Parker, perhaps encouraged by—but not requiring—the support of this white stranger then told me that she would have me removed from the plane for attacking him. I had never raised my voice, pointed a finger, or laid a hand on this man. But somehow, telling the man to mind his own business when he was defending a white woman constituted an attack.

At this point I was not only stressed out, I was very scared. I was aware that I was on a plane that had, as I had estimated, about five non-white people on it. And this included the racially ambiguous individuals that I included in my count just so I didn’t feel so isolated. But isolated I was as I watched Ms. Parker apparently grow more livid and confident. At one point, she told me that I was “cussing at her,” to which I tried to explain that I was merely repeating what was said during the initial exchange. At another point she began to yell at me that she wanted to see my “ID.”

snip.....

I was, in my mind, morally accused of going outside of the boundaries expected of me as an Asian American woman. While Asian American women have become, as scholar Susan Koshy describes, the desired partner of white heterosexual men due to racist and sexist perceptions of being both appropriately submissive and sexually deviant, my behavior was probably viewed as similar to that racistly associated with Black people. Consistent with white supremacist images of Blacks, I was taken as loud, unwilling to compromise, unapologetic, inappropriately masculine, and making stuff bigger than it is.

A Black person would have most certainly been arrested and forcibly removed. I was, most probably due to being Asian American, not. I was nevertheless racially guilty of transgressing three boundaries. First, I had demanded parity with a white person. Second, I had attempted to hold a white person accountable for his actions. And third, I had the nerve to describe my situation and critically assess it within an understanding of anti-white supremacist racial and gender politics. Indeed, it appears that transgressing the second and third boundaries was perhaps what invoked the most hostility. For example, while she chastised me loudly, Ms. Parker dealt with the white man who had assaulted me quite differently. Now hunched down in seat 12a, the man was approached by Ms. Parker who asked him if he had grabbed me. I did not hear his reply but I did hear Ms. Parker ask him if he apologized. Apparently he said yes because Ms. Parker returned to my row to inform me that the man had apologized, as if that was that.
snip
.....
I have, as have many of my friends, indeed, the majority of the world, experienced this type of situation so many times: having white people tell you that what happened to you does not matter, that it is your fault, or that it did not even happen. I also wept because I was scared. I knew I had no way out because in the end I could not win against white moral authority because they owned what is taken as true. While I could write out the facts of my case, it made no difference. Indeed, consistent with various U.S. court cases that restricted non-white people’s ability to testify on their own behalf or on behalf of their kin, I was basically reminded over and over again throughout the incident that I had nothing to say that was legitimate. Indeed, I was threatened with further discipline if I spoke at all.

snip.....

While white supremacy does not require any rational basis for its moral authority, the notion of white suffering is, and has always been, a stated reason for white violence and disciplinary actions against non-whites. In my experience with Southwest Airlines, I was punished for not simply taking what a white man gave me. A gesture that again is associated not with Asianness but with Blackness, I apparently caused this man to suffer by not keeping quiet when his leg pressed against mine. Instead, I was assaulted and threatened by him, laughed at by a young white woman, chastised and disciplined by an older white woman, and then forced to listen to another white man next to me basically try to say he was helping me out. My situation, along with those that mirror it, shows that in the end white moral authority or appeals to it are the only politically recognized truths. The way in which the notion of white suffering informs contemporary white moral discourse therefore requires a looking backward into the souls of white folk that Du Bois interrogated over 85 years ago.

[bijou]

Sorry Dixie, I tried but only made it part way through before I lost the will to live.  As I understand it a white man and a fat Chinese woman had an argument on a plane, she was such a moonbat that everyone else involved laughed at her.  So, what's her DU name? 

[DixieBelle]

BWAHAHAHA!! Yes, I know it was painful to read. You summed it up much better.

Asian woman with a huge chip on her shoulder gets pissed because some white guy didn't take kindly to her telling him to "f*ck off" when she mentioned "his leg touching hers". Hilarity ensues.

[Chris_]

Arghhhh......My eyes are bleeding.........

Translation:  I am a 490 pound, loud, obnoxious asian woman with a warped sense of self-worth........

doc

[PatriotGame]

Summarize:
"Fat ugly Asian chick on plane is ignored and goes ape-shit nuts demanding attention".

[Scoobie]

Tamara K. Nopper...she is an equal-opportunity racist and typical left-wing nutjob activist. Google her name and you'll find all kinds of vitriol infested rants spewing hatred and loathing of all kinds of fun things. 

And this woman is a PhD candidate and Professor at Temple University. I can't even imagine sitting through one of her lectures. Take a look at this little gem, written before she changed her name to a more likeable white moniker (which is really funny since she hates all white people)...you'll get the idea.

To White Women Who Think They’re Different

Stop ****in’ Touching Me

By Kil Ja Kim (aka Tamara K. Nopper)


This is one for all the white women,

Who think they’re sisters in the struggle.

I guess you don’t get it.

You can...

walk around with your colored lover.

read the same books as me.

get that happy “oh, it’s a person of color” smile when you see us non-white folks.

and most insultingly, listen with aggressive sympathy as I talk about…

The racism and sexism I experience

and the

white men who feel at will to touch me.

You say things like, he better not do that to me

I guess you don’t get it, huh?

If you’d notice all along,

he only touches women of color.

But I guess you thought we were in the same boat, huh?

Think again.

You’re still a white woman, which means…

Your body is valued more.

People are more concerned with how you feel.

People are more afraid to do something to you

because they know people would be more outraged

that he is touching you.

You see, people don’t care much what white men do

To Black, Brown, Red, Yellow women.

So you can stop trying to think we alike.

Stop thinking

that just because we use the same bathroom in public spaces

mean we in the same boat.

Stop thinking

that if I reach out to you

and give you a hug once in a while when you're sad

that I want you to violate me.

But I guess that’s something you like to secretly think

     (even though publicly you tell me your theories on racism and how you know you’re different).

That must be why you don’t think twice about…

telling me you like my long (Asian) hair,

telling me you like my ass (as if you’re one to judge),

sharing with me your ideas about race, sex and the rest

     (don’t you notice I just look at you when you speak?),

standing all up on me,

‘bout to bust a nut because I have some pigment and dark hair and eyes,

getting that giddiness in your white flesh, turning pink from delight

that i’m a colored girl,

getting excited cuz I’m an “angry Asian woman,”

that I’m not being “submissive” like the people of color YOU don’t want to hang around,

getting all excited cuz my thick (Asian) body with my “Asian anger”  reminds you of…

all the black people you want to ****

(just like you want to **** me).

And when I am just standing there,

Or just sitting in a chair,

you touch me so easily.

Just like all of the white men.

But I guess you think that it’s cool, that we’re like that, that we’re sisters.

<snipped due to forthcoming foul language>

Rest of Screed Here

[mamacags]

Margaret Cho writes really stupid.

[CactusCarlos]

... a white man and a fat Chinese woman had an argument on a plane, she was such a moonbat that everyone else involved laughed at her.  So, what's her DU name? 

 

H5!

[Flame]

Talk about having a chip on your shoulder!

This chick has the whole damn Redwood on hers!

[DixieBelle]

Tamara K. Nopper...she is an equal-opportunity racist and typical left-wing nutjob activist. Google her name and you'll find all kinds of vitriol infested rants spewing hatred and loathing of all kinds of fun things. 

And this woman is a PhD candidate and Professor at Temple University. I can't even imagine sitting through one of her lectures. Take a look at this little gem, written before she changed her name to a more likeable white moniker (which is really funny since she hates all white people)...you'll get the idea.

Damn good find scoobie!!!! I had no idea. I love google searches.

I just read some of her screeds. The one about Cindy Sheehan and White Supremacy is comedy gold!

It must be really tiring to be perpetually offended AT EVERYTHING. Imagine viewing the world through those lens everyday. Yikes.

[Chris_]

Talk about having a chip on your shoulder!

This chick has the whole damn Redwood on hers!

You're only saying that because she is a Womyn of Colour.

[mamacags]

They took my comment down there.

[Chris_]

They took my comment down there. :bird:

What was it?

[mamacags]

Something along the lines of......

So this woman acts like a total bitch and gets all offended when they treat her like a bitch.  I will be crucified for calling a bitch a bitch anymore.  It doesn't matter what color a bitch is if she is still a bitch.  Stupid perpetual victims freaking piss me off.

[Chris_]

Something along the lines of......

So this woman acts like a total bitch and gets all offended when they treat her like a bitch.  I will be crucified for calling a bitch a bitch anymore.  It doesn't matter what color a bitch is if she is still a bitch.  Stupid perpetual victims freaking piss me off.

Hey, it's a lifestyle for many.

:)

[mamacags]

I know it is a lifestyle.  That is what pisses me off.  How can people live like that?  They are the people that walk into a room and suck the joy and life out of everyone there.

[Chris_]

I know it is a lifestyle.  That is what pisses me off.  How can people live like that?  They are the people that walk into a room and suck the joy and life out of everyone there.

Like DU.

[VelvetElvis]

Tamara K. Nopper...she is an equal-opportunity racist and typical left-wing nutjob activist. Google her name and you'll find all kinds of vitriol infested rants spewing hatred and loathing of all kinds of fun things. 

And this woman is a PhD candidate and Professor at Temple University. I can't even imagine sitting through one of her lectures. Take a look at this little gem, written before she changed her name to a more likeable white moniker (which is really funny since she hates all white people)...you'll get the idea.

Damn good find scoobie!!!! I had no idea. I love google searches.

I just read some of her screeds. The one about Cindy Sheehan and White Supremacy is comedy gold!

It must be really tiring to be perpetually offended AT EVERYTHING. Imagine viewing the world through those lens everyday. Yikes.

In spite of the fact that she's a first class hateful moonbat bitch, I find myself almost pitying her.
No matter what happens in her life, be it good or bad, her poisoned outlook dooms her to a life of misery.  It's a hell of her own making, but she cannot see that fact.

[CactusCarlos]

They took my comment down there.

You should invite her over. 

[mamacags]

I should invite her to my house.  I would show her what real verbal abuse is.  I would make white supremacists look like preschool teachers and the old lady greeters at walmart.

[delilahmused]

This is one for all the white women,

Who think they’re sisters in the struggle.

I guess you don’t get it.

No matter how hard I try I just can't muster enough white guilt to care. The last struggle I had was with a 50lbs bag of chicken feed. Don't worry, someone like you could NEVER be my sister, spiritually or otherwise. Too much anger is toxic. I'm guessing she must be gay also because she seems to have a triple dose of victim hate.

Cindie

[CactusCarlos]

I should invite her to my house.  I would show her what real verbal abuse is.  I would make white supremacists look like preschool teachers and the old lady greeters at walmart.

H5 for being a badass! 

[Chris_]

I should invite her to my house.  I would show her what real verbal abuse is.  I would make white supremacists look like preschool teachers and the old lady greeters at walmart.

That's why we love you. 

[Ptarmigan]

What the **** is her DU name? I googled her up and she is Korean. She's one of them God damn race hustlers.  If she wants to see racism, she should go to Afghanistan (Taliban) or Iraq (Baathists). Those regimes were ruled by extreme racists that would make any white supremcist green with envy.

[Ptarmigan]

Margaret Cho writes really stupid.

I am Korean and I cannot stand her. She makes me want to puke.