The Elliot Rodger Phenomenon-Hate...Misogyny...Racism....Fascism...and Elitism

There are many distinct viewpoints on the life and death of Elliot Rodgers, but I only want to discuss two distinct schools of thought.

The tell-alls and the tell-nothing-at-all.

Which school do you fall in?

See, I'm writing this now, 5 days after writing my initial blog, Elliot Rodger and visions in His Twisted World, in response to all that has happened since that fateful day on May 24th, 2014, when Elliot Rodger decided to go on a killing spree that killed 7, including himself, and wound 13 others in Isla Vista.

I was prompted to write this second article, based on the multitude of conflict the the Elliot Rodger massacre has created in the media--or not. Five distinct interaction or exchanges prompted me to write this second installment about the subject, and I will name them as follows.

1) Take 10 news blog on Facebook
2) Pia Glenn on twitter @PiaGlenn
3) Charlie Peach on twitter @PoliticsPeach
4) youtube
5) The Elliot Rodger manifesto

The last one on the list came first. I write. I seldom blog, nor do I pretend to be a journalist of any repute. I delve into shit that most people will never venture into out of fear or ignorance. It's called history. Everyone has one. Almost everything has one. Then you have current events. Then you have those blurred lines in between the two, where they simultaneously meet and join and become one and the same. This would be the case with Elliot Rodger. He is both a current event and history, at the same time.

I woke up Saturday, May 24th, 2014 to find an odd invitation in my twitter DM's. It was from a group called Take 10. They're a group of journalist who just hit the pavement, hot and hard, and are trying to make a name for themselves in the world of journalism. I'm not a journalist. I'm a writer. That didn't stop one of their people from looking at a story I wrote on google, called Racism--Oakland--and other stories, and asking me to join their ranks as a contributor.

I was excited, to have such and offer. See, any writer loves to be asked to join a group that will get their writing seen, by placing it before the public eye. This was not to be though. Being the Saturday before Memorial Day, I was given two major assignments to complete. 1) I had two days of smoking Barbeque and making my homemade-by hand-from scratch family barbeque sauce and 2) write my first article for Take 10. I was thinking about something simple for them, but a rarely do simple when I write. I like to sink my teeth into the subject I'm writing about, and they breaking news on Elliot Rodger seemed like a good idea at the time.

Here's where I went wrong,---but my intentions were honorable.

I get gut feeling about news and history. I see how things will play out by the way thing are being reported in the mainstream media. So, as a historian, I try my best to capture the moment as it happens, while it's happening, because all of this social networking we are privy will one day be used to study past events. Like reading the works of Mary Chesnut's 'Dairy From Dixie', and relaying the message via Ken Burn's Civil War. Yes--I read extensively. That's when I had read in one on the many 'flash' articles that there was a Elliot Rodger manifesto on-line. I was excited, because the news hadn't been very forth coming about why Elliot had decided to go on this shooting rampage that was breaking news everywhere, with little breaking about the reasons.

As I prepped my grill and dry rubbed the brisket, ribs, tri-tip and chicken, I began to ponder what I would find in this manifesto of this man's twisted mind. When I finally sat down to read it, it made my brain hurt. 141 pages, with the last few left blank, which means there was a bit of editing going on as it was written. There are things we will never know about Elliot Rodger. but there are things we know for certain.  The excerpts below are from My Twisted World: The Story of Elliot Rodger; By Elliot Rodger [1]

1) He did not like African American people at all.

2) He did not like Hispanic people at all.

3) His parents knew he was troubled and even sent him to Morocco, only to weaken and bring him back to America after one week.

4) That he admittedly had 'fascist' leanings

5) That he tried to whore out his own mother for the sake of living in a well-to-do family

6) That he was visited by police officers who never took the time to really look into his videos.

So, after reading Elliot's full manifesto which took two whole days, in order to write my first article about this lost elitist, I began to see a number of article pop up on the internet, from major news sources, although none of them addressed any of the findings within his manifesto. I also found in odd, as of this writing that not one article I've read mentioned how Elliot acted out his massacre exactingly in accordance with manifesto. I was so eager to have my first article post by Take 10 that I pushed hard for someone to review it so I could move on to this one. Alas, it would never come to fruition. See, Take 10 wanted me to make a choice between using their weblink address or my own blog address. I was under the impression that when you ask someone to work as a "contributor", that they link to your page, or figure out a way to work with you. This was not the case.

I'm not a journalist.

I have no journalistic aspirations.

I document events, tell stories, and cite facts.

So, before I began my new career as a contributing journalist, I was fired--which was fine with me, because if not done appropriately, journalism can be a time eater and cut into your literary aspirations. I think the group had nice people in it, and I think that using the pseudonym "21 Century Mark Twain" confused the editor-in-chief as to what I was all about. She was stuck on "Mark Twain"--not "21 Century". After a bit of choice words between us, we decided that I didn't fit their mold and visa versa. I wish I could care more, but I think I asked her too many pertinent questions like, "What does Take 10 stand for?", and I didn't like the answer I was given because the title stands for 10 writers, and at the point of accepting their offer to publish my work, they had 17 in-house writers stable.

I guess they forget to ask me if I do math.

I do math.

A few of you nice people looked at the article, and I appreciate that. Supposedly--in order to write for Take 10, they prefer if you write at the 8th grade level--which is merely a suggestion based on internet hits and a "score made by" some guy named "Flesch" (of Flesch-Kincade). I'm pretty sure the editor-in-chief didn't think I knew what she was talking about--but I did. I just wanted to hear her reasoning for such an inane concept about why a newly established, web based, liberal bastion of truth and supposed wisdom would want to lower their standards, to compete with the likes of Breibart and The Drudge Report. I also have my own personal writing deadlines to meet, which meant being a full time writer for Take10 for free did not fit my concept of writing, and it did not fit their "team player" concept of being involved as a contributor to their start-up web-zine.

I'm smart enough to know when smoke is being blown up my ass, and I also did a internet search on the name Take 10. In less than .48 of a second you'll get over 8.870,000 results, in which none of them has anything to do with a group of 'liberal journalist involved in liberal media. Again, when mentioning SEQ in a FB chat-meeting, it might be prudent to name your organization accordingly so that it won't be the last one on the search engine list when looking it up. If you want to be like HuffPo or better, and be at the top of the internet engine search request, please--pick a name that hasn't been used by everyone, for everything.

Again, they came and asked me to write for them, not the other way around.

I saw no need in doing so--so I hedged my bet and continued to questioned her actual motives for trying to recruit me by asking her if she actually read, Racism--Oakland--and other stories, and what she liked about it. Of course, I knew that she hadn't read the actual story, but had only "skimmed it", (one of the 6 suggestions if one decided to write for Take 10) to see if it fit Take 10's platform, which it didn't. She was seeing if she stroked my ego by asking if she could post one of my stories, would that be sufficient enough to get me fully on board with writing for Take 10. I guess I had too many pertinent questions that she wasn't ready to answer, yet--the clock was still ticking on the Elliot Rodger story--as we watched the information about Elliot Rodger disappear or transmorgrify from new and ever exciting concepts with the formal media. Seeing that both my stories were about racism, when I talked about about the era of Jim Crow, the editor-in-chief of Take 10 was interested. But when I wrote about modern day white supremacy in 'America's, in supposedly today's post-racial society' in the upper echelons of wealth (I laughed as I wrote the last bit), she wasn't one bit interested in reading it at all.

And she made no bones about it.

In fact, she told me she wasn't interested in anything I had written.

Now, she was beginning to make sense, so I cut her loose.

I knew she wasn't looking for writer. She was looking to turn a writer into a journalist, while wasting his time. Don't confuse the two. It only makes the journalist mad, and the writer should always have better things to do with their time.

I pondered this a bit and went back to twitter to see what was trending.

I follow this beauteous spirit called Pia Glenn.

Pia Glenn was upset with me for posting the Day of Retribution video on her time line. I don't blame her. I didn't do it to intentionally make her angry. I did it because I thought she, or the people she were conversing with  couldn't find it anymore. My bad. She's right, I should have read her time line. See--when this thing went down, this Santa Barbara Massacre, this Elliot Rodger Massacre, this PUAhate,com connected Massacre, this unnamed as of yet Massacre--the video was up and running on youtube, and within a few hours, it was gone. I found and alternate copy of it on Hatewatch, which if they posted it, they felt it was pertinent enough for people fighting against hate to watch it in its entirety. I'm a firm believer that we would have never stopped lynching in America if we hid the ugly truth it entailed, in its numbers and in its cold hard, facts. We could have never stopped the Jewish Holocaust if we couldn't stomach the hideous images that genocide produces, placed directly in our face.

Pia Glenn wrote a piece on it called--Not All Men Are Dangerous, But Yes, All Women Do Live With The Fear Of Elliot Rodger's Fury. 

Never the less, we parted, Pia and I, with a mutual understanding.

My world wasn't totally shot to hell by this exchange between Pia and myself, because I learned something about one side of this issue, on how some people are dealing with this awful tragedy. 

Still, the videos on youtube, played a significant role in understanding the wherewithal of how a twisted mind--one that had every advantage in the world given to him on a silver platter seems to contemplate murder and suicide as the only solution to not feeling like you could ever have enough; or that others are not worthy to have what you don't have. Like sound relationships with people.

The clock was formally ticking down--and the message I was trying to disseminate was that, IF--we allow mass media--and social media to place their own twist on what is right in front of us, without looking at the facts while we still can,--if we are wise enough to view it, then we won't be ignorant enough to accept whatever they want to tell us about it when it happens again (the next time), or they try and make it happen again because we didn't heed the warning the first time. In other words, when someone tries to tell me that the Civil War was fought over "states rights", I tell them to check the Southern Redneck bullshit at the door.

I'm a historian.

I don't have time for nonsense. 

Then I ran into this other beauteous spirit on twitter named Charlie Peach. Her main concern with Elliot Rodger is how mass mainstream media had silenced the racist aspect of Elliot Rodger's Massacre. She was correct. They had totally shut it down, because Elliot Rodger had come from seemingly well-to-do family, and shot up a seemingly well-to-do town. Charlie felt much like I did, that this man-child was cultivated and nurtured to hate people of color and kill his own people for engaging with them.

People like Elliot never associate with people of color.

Those that do, in some circles, are called race traitors.

Among the wealthy--one can only suspect what they are called at Sunday Brunch at La Dome!

I'm not privy to the conversations that Donald Sterling has with people that are his financial equals.

Charlie Peach is a fireball--and to put it simply--when she said this, she was on target.

She's right, because society is actually in the process of breeding literally thousands of Elliot Rodgers.

The reason I focus on this, because from the aspect of who he was and where he lived, has some bearing on how entitled he thought he really was. One of my best friend's in college father was Head Master at Harvard-Westlake Prep. Kids who live 'South of the Blvd.'--or in the gated communities of Calabasas or Hidden Hills, who grow up with platinum spoons can be quite annoying. Those that are raised in Woodland Hills and West Hills think that way. They'd prefer to be the kid who lived South of the Blvd. It's called privileged, but the "P" word seems to be an ugly thing to say out loud today.

People get very defensive about it, because they don't understand that just because privilege exist--that doesn't mean you have to exercise it.

That "P" word is also attached to race, respectfully speaking.

White Privilege is defined as:

When you can write a hate-filled manifesto about how you want to destroy white women who date outside of their race and people of color who date them, killing 6 people and yourself, while wounding 13 more, just for good measure, and you complete the mission of doing so, by having youtube delete ANY trace of your existence at all, then you have White Privilege.

When 7 law enforcement officers come to your apartment, fully ready to arrest take you (they don't send 7 to say "hi"), because you've made internet threats of mass murdering people, but you can talk them out of it, then you have White Privlige.

When you have people change the focus of your manifesto's racist dissertation to fight for their own social causes, while they totally disavow any knowledge of your original real intent, then you have White Privilege.

When social media and mainstream media completely minimize your racist viewpoints about inter-cultural dating, or Conservatives blame your actions on President Obama, then you have White Privilege.

When evidence of your real intentions can be deleted and not archived, (so they can be studied to help end the ugly racial hatred you intended to represent in the first place) then you have White Privilege.

When I saw this article this morning-I felt a chill.

Youtube Removed All Of Elliot Rodger's Video.

5 days later, we've removed the all remnants of one of the biggest problems in America, because as much as we'd like to believe with the election of a bi-racial President, America's media would like to conflate their premise of a "post-racial" America, by erasing history one piece of evidence at a time. It's the reason that most people think that African Americans have had an equal playing field in America since 1865. These are the same people who think that Jim Crow was a Southern institution. Well, I'm old enough to know that it wasn't, so I guess you can believe me or not. That's even if you have an interest in level playing fields at all.

We can continue to read post about the evils of a young weed smoking, Trayvon Martin, but the evils of Elliot Rodger are disappearing in record time. The facts will be entombed, never to be objectively discussed. That, as a historian, fascinates the crap out of me, in this supposed "post-racial" America, that chooses what evils it will erase, based on the color of one's skin, and not the content of their character.

The content of Elliot Rodger's character is right here, if you choose take the time to read it from beginning to end, before they delete that too!


[1] My Twisted World: The Story of Elliot Rodger; By Elliot Rodger, Scribd, 141 pages, uploaded by Mathew Keyes

As a side note: 

I don't write for 8th Graders,  nor do I write for people who "skim". Just thought I'd put that out there. I also don't change, ignore, or delete historical facts to please my reading audience. 

 

Elliot Rodger and visions in His Twisted World

The stark realities of raising a sociopath among America’s upper-crust, while maintaining denial about one’s parental and social responsibility to the world at large, is and always has been a money based problem. The wealthy has always projected the reasons the poor commit atrocities, but when it comes to the own, the standard answers fall in a single category, “they suffered from mental problems”.

It’s been three days now, since America’s most recent serial massacre has taken place, in the beautiful city of Isla Vista, California—just a stone’s throw from Santa Barbara and Montecito. Luxurious homes, perched ever so gently on rolling, catching the daily costal breeze, of the Pacific Ocean, as it soothingly pounds the shore, not far from University of California Santa Barbara. (UCSB)

Here’s where the story of Elliot Rodger—begins. Without the killing of seven innocent people, we may have never know how this serial killer gestated from their very beginnings, till that One Final Mad Act on May 24^th, 2014.

We’ve heard this story all too often. Silver spoon fed children, neglecting the reality of mental illness within their own family structure, hoping that one day, the birth of this child with a twisted mind, will eventually straighten out--if only the parent could throw enough money at their embarrassing offspring. Elliot Rodger is a Max Factor redux. A hypersexual deviant, recognizable to all, and well hidden among the well-to-do until that fateful day, when his overriding sexual frustration translated into murder and mayhem.

 It seems, Elliot Rodgers walked the same path that many mentally ill, neglected rich children do, only to act out his final fantasy, called The Day of Retribution. The day he would be “godlike” to all those who he apparently felt misjudged his outstanding “superiority”. In his final words to the world—found in “My Twisted World: The Story of Elliot Rodger; By Elliot Rodger [1], a 141 page Elliot Rodger manifesto, published by Elliot Rodger, and long before going on a massive drive-by killing spree, Elliot Rodger explains in fine detail, to anyone that wishes to listen, that he—was never, ever normal.

That he—had ever intention of killing women and the men that flaunted them, ever so boldly in front of him, without possessing all considerations for his delicate senses. See-Elliot Rodger had almost everything a young adult male could ask for, except for, the ever elusive “sex” with “beautiful, blonde women”—which he claimed as his birthright.
 

I read the manifesto. It was not an easy piece to embrace. Filled with misogyny and your basic terminal psychopathic reasoning for having ill feeling toward women, people of color, his parents, his traitorous friends, and the system in general, it’s hard to believe that Elliot never stood out like a sore thumb within his community, and that his mental shortcomings were not noticeable to the average person that crossed his path. Possibly because they people he engaged with on some level felt the same way he did about racism, misogyny, and fascism--but never considered taking it to such extremes like he did when acting out his Day Of Retribution.

The devil was always in the details, but when one is seemingly wealthy, the ball is not only dropped, the pattern of continued excuses for such behavior usually leaves a trail of dead bodies, broken siblings, stalled parents, and very confused authority and law enforcement figures. They played Elliot's fiddle while Rome burned, and now they are all silent about the young man that was raised in their presence. It shows their culpability in this predetermined assassination of people they felt little for--by the extension of Elliot's actions.

Hypersexuality, is a common factor in the case of most serial killers. We can point the finger at the weapons used, or the video games absorbed by a feeble, un-expansive young man, who abhorred diversity in the American population in general. Even in today’s modern world, his hypersexuality is far over shadowed and outweighed, or misrepresented as misogynistic behavior towards women. Was Elliot really any different that an Donald Sterling? Or Cliven Bundy? Those that feel entitled to use the platform of race as an excuse to be abusive within American society?  

While reading Elliot’s manifesto, I came across a section near its last pages—those which he begins telling us that he will definitely complete this Day of Retribution at all cost, with no more delays. He had recently received a visit from seven well-armed and well-trained law enforcement officer’s to his meager apartment in Isla Vista, which he felt that this particular visit was instigated by his biological mother for one reason or another. It seems that he’s posted some disturbing videos on his youtube account, but took them down before law enforcement visited his humble apartment to discuss what his actual intention are. I viewed those that remained posted. The ones that were left up by Elliot, or those that were not taken down by youtube for violating Terms of Service.

 Elliot Rodger: The Retribution Video ***

Yet, reaching deeper in his manifesto, we’ll find that he set the date of mass destruction as May 24^th of this year. He detailed the exact timing that he’d execute his Day of Retribution, and the manner in which he’ll act it out. He tells us what weapons he’ll use are the one that he’s recently bought in Goleta, and how he will end it all with a final blow to himself, by his own hand, with simultaneous self-inflicted gun shot wounds, bolstered by a deadly cocktail of Xanax and Vicodine, washed down with hard liquor, just to ensure his death.

All of this was within his final manifesto to the humanity that he hated, along with every detail of his misogynistic war he felt that he must wage against the female population of the world. He refers to his treatise as “a dark story of sadness, anger and hatred”.  He says this by the second paragraph, so no one should have ever been confused of how deeply disturbed the young man was. He’s a member of PUAhate.com (Pick Up Artist), which is a social networking site for men who quickly become victims of the own hypersexuality, taken advantage of by the purveyors of the get laid quick scams, fed alternately and fueled by hours of overly sexualized on-line gaming, Girls Gone Wild videos and internet pornography. The rip offed male, who disassociates he outward actions, as part of the problem—when it come to people in social setting in general.

I found myself intrigued by the fact that he tells us of being outed by someone who must have witnessed his ultimate plan videos on youtube and reported him to the authorities. He amused himself with their audacity, but they must have feared him, because if it was his mother or psychiatrist, to have him a adjudicated as a danger to others and himself is a process that was over looked by those who cared for him. He may not have been able to by handguns, had the authorities been warned about his problems long before May 24^th.

I find it fascinating that those that came to stop him, seven law officers strong, trying to incite furtive action between themselves and Elliot failed--while allowing themselves to be talked out digging a little deeper into his on-line threats of annihilating the sexually active young men and women of Isla Vista, one by one at their own sorority houses, or wherever he may find them on that fateful day of May 24^th. He socially referred to his own school as the ‘University of California Spoiled Brats’, while never seeing it in himself.

The list of violations he acted out prior to May 24^th, were signals being sent to his parents, and quite recently, parents of these murderers in waiting, spoil them beyond reality. Elliot just had been the recipient of a 2014 BMW 3 Series. Why yes, why not give a $32,000 plus vehicle to a college student, who’s not only failing in school socially, but one who’s never worked a day in his life, and wasted money like there’s was no tomorrow. 22 years old and still receiving a substantial allowance, with a fully paid for shared apartment housing, and car with car insurance, tells me that such a young man could never understand his peers. Never having to work a single day in his life, he had too much time on his hands. So, he used that free time to execute a plan to kill everyone who rejected him, including his stepmother, brother, and father if necessary.

He was angry at world, and the world around him pretended that he wasn’t angry at all. His story is not a unique one, other than the fact that he documents and spelled out for us all how one should never raise a child. How one should not throw money at a child and his problems, like that will fix his social ills. How one should never ignore the signal that a child has degenerated into a loathsome, vile, wretched human being—and there may be no turning him around by throwing money at the situation. Elliot was a walking, talking, breathing red flag of  ‘something bad will eventually happen”, but his parents got on board too late to fix what they created. His tantrums were allowed, and money and distance were how his parents chose to deal with the life they created.

He documented his grievances, and gave us insight what steps to take when a child feels entitled. He shows us who built him to be exactly as he was, from the day of his birth—or as far back as he can actually remember. Whether it’s bullshit or not, it’s in our face to deal with. As far as I can see, he’s being honest about it all—as we watch his eventual demise played out with the precision of a serial killer-created because he never bonded with anyone, and the daily routine of just being in the Elliot was a harsh reality of being spoiled rotten to his evil core. Kindness never entered his mind, nor did it enter in one paragraph of his manifesto against his fellow man. Telling us, that he allowed us to fail him at every turn, never having to look out for him self, is testimony of how deeply engrained his hatred of life became over the course of 22 years.

Some serial killers go down in history, for the purpose of being studied by sociologist and psychiatrist. I don’t see Elliot being one of those people, even if he has written his final words for us to ponder. Yet, given this reality, maybe we should give his writings a view, to see where things may go wrong, with even the most well intentions of well off people, and those of high social standing who influence our society.

Elliot had every reason to live yet chose not to, and took seven people with him, acting out his Day of Retribution in his Twisted World, that no one acknowledged until it was too late. 

[1] My Twisted World: The Story of Elliot Rodger; By Elliot Rodger, Scribd, 141 pages, uploaded by Mathew Keyes

[***] As of May 29th, 2014, youtube has removed/shutdown ALL of Elliot Rodger videos, and none can be viewed unless they were captured on your personal P.C. As a side note--the dissemination of this video was being used in conjunction with other informational studies, such as Elliot Rodger 'mainfesto', not for the sole purpose of encouraging adherence to such hate filled messages, but for historical documentation purposes of America's dysfunctional youth in a supposed post-racial society. 

The deletion of ALL of Elliot Rodger videos by youtube proves once again that media is not free in America and is controlled by certain powers, and that when it comes to racism, misogyny, and practiced fascism by America's elite families--the truth of such practices will be continued to be hidden from the 99%. I watched ALL 27 Elliot Rodger videos before writing this piece. Most of them were him driving around the Isla Vista-Santa Barbara area--listening to 80's music in his car. Unless you've seen them, you cannot validate my assertion that that was the actual bulk of his 'vlogging'. In my opinion--the choice was made to hide another one of America's sickest children from the public's view, because he was bred and raised to be a monster--and there are literally thousands, if not millions of Elliot Rodger in America, reared under the same pretext as he was.

If we cannot address the issue of racist hatred in America and how it develops, by looking it in the face and being repulsed by it, then we cannot pretend like we live in a post-racial society. The year is 2014. The child was raised in a home that condoned and obviously practiced racism and misogyny no matter how you slice it. This cannot be just chalked up to a young man that 'mental issues', for the foundation for those mental issues can be determined by reading his manifesto in full. Elliot left it so America could be aware how not to raise your child, unless you want them to go on a killing spree based on the acceptance of white supremacy in the family household.

Racism--Oakland--and other stories

On twitter, there is a lot of overt racism and other things--which I see, observe, and comment on from time to time.

These conversations can get very heated, even convoluted beyond belief. Just add one gun nut or two and stir for effect. I'm never surprised by the outcome, because a lot of people are on edge today, and the subject of race is a tender one. Whether we are discussing the recent tenure of President Obama or talk about Cliven Bundy, one side or another cannot stress how racism affects them personally in one or another. When they push the limits, the chickens that one hatches eventually come home to roost.

Some would say--that being "P.C." is no longer necessary, or is even advantageous to their point of view. Which--when based on their 1st Amendment rights, because they have the floor to speak their mind--that when they use tokenism, deflection, or hidden sub-textual phrasing to get their racist views across, they sound like someone who has lived their entire life in a vacuum.

We see it time and time again, usually purposefully placed in abstract angles, nailed to the wall, for us to view and ponder, "What the hell did he just say? It's 2014! Did he just say that?". These people annoy me, but not in the way they think.

One, they are dishonest, about who they are.

Two, they actually have the audacity to think they are hiding behind some hidden code that only they understand.

In their refusal to accept that they are in fact,  transparent to most everyone, their childishness pretense continually acted out with such clueless abandon and innocence, is above all-- a waste of human energy. We all see right through them. They are the masters of flipping the script on someone who calls them on their lack of humanity, because when you call them on their intent--which is usually weak and not that well thought through--they backtrack, mumble and fumble--and show their true colors.

Which is racism. 

Here's the thing about racism--sometimes when you think you understand just how it works, you are always in for a big surprise. I was just chating with some family, in the Bay Area, where I am originally from, and we discussed my research on the second novel I'd like to write about West Oakland during its heyday. Yes, Oakland, California was once known as the Harlem of the West Coast. It beat out Los Angeles for that moniker, in the days when swing music and jazz were all the rage. That story began and ended with the Pullman Palace Car, the Pullman Company, and the Pullman Porters of Oakland California. Oakland was the end of the line for transcontinental travel by train.

A Pullman Palace Car allowed you to travel in style--if you were white.

 
If you were African American--you worked for slave wages in 1865. Even if you were free to make money, no one was willing to hire an African American. Slavery was recently outlawed, and George Pullman capitalized on the needs of others. He hired former domestic slaves, who worked at very low wages, if the ever wanted to work again at all in the Reconstruction Period. Hired on to work an average of four-thousand, eight hundred hour annually. That's four hundred hours a month, averaging a minimum of 13 hours a day, 5 days a week or 9 1/2 hours a day for 7. You got a straight wage of $67.50 per month, and you worked for tips, if you got them. "To Insure Prompt Service"--in case anyone was wondering what the acronym stood for. Put another way, you made about $0.17 and hour, and deal with certain things that the average person would never put up with.

 
Pullman began his company in 1865, shortly after the Civil War, using black-only service personnel, as cheap-to-almost-slave labor, from former slave labor, because his idea was based on 'excellence in service' to all travelers. It was Pullman's main selling point to America. He felt that former house slaves possessed every quality he needed and desired to please his paying clientele. Miles-Of-Smiles as he'd like to refer to it. Every Pullman Porter and Maid was African American, and lived by the rules of the Pullman Company to keep their jobs. It was American segregation at its finest, and sent a message throughout the nation, that even though slavery had ended, equality was not going to follow it any time soon. Victorian travel, where the average white American who never owned a slave would be treated like a slave master by former slaves as required by Pullman rules and regulations, because that was the Pullman concept of how national travel should be. The luxury of the Pullman Palace adventure from coast to coast, became known far and wide. George Pullman made his fortune institutionalizing and continuing racism, and all those who engaged his services by riding on the Pullman Palace coaches and Dining Cars, made racism comfortable in America by traveling in Pullman comfort and style.

People paid Pullman to extend racism beyond the end of the Civil War for close to 100 years after is was over.

Lost identities in the form of being called "George" or "Boy", "Gal" or "Girl" gave rise to a feelings of racial superiority by some, as well as deeply rooted class and cultural discrimination. It's funny how certain historical concepts remain intact even though their root element has been crushed. I for one heard little about such powerful concepts, growing up in the East Bay, even though this history, which in now being ignored and forgotten (or hidden) seeps out every now and then, when the subject of Oakland and urban blight makes its way into the news. We tend to forget our roots out of embarrassment or denial. We tell ourselves, that to talk about it is 'too much', or 'negative'. We think that things magically appear or disappear, out of nowhere, hardly accepting the humanity of our struggle to better ourselves as sentient beings, while unlocking the cycle of Samsara to free ourselves. We place barriers up, or pull them down, never understanding where they came from in the first place, unless some archeologist digs up an artifact from long ago and tries to piece together the events that took place. Oakland is one of those places America hates to discuss. When it is discussed, it is never from a historical viewpoint, where the total essence of America is concerned.

It wasn't always that way.

Thrust beyond the agrarian society into multiple urban environments across the nation, through their employment by the Pullman Company, the Pullman Porters of America were the links throughout  African American society in America shortly after the Civil War. Communication that linked them from state to state, came in the form of Miles of Smiles[1], with newspapers and music, industries and word of educational opportunities for their children, even with the reality of low wages and institutionalized racism, the Pullman Porters forged ahead and built a valuable and notable history, which is still being studied today. Because it paved the way to much greater things. The building of a future of African American culture within America.

They made the best of a terrible situation.

They had to.

But these things are often forgotten, and very few of us can tell the true stories of history, of a place and time, unless people are interested in hearing about it. I for one, have no problem telling real history, or hearing about it. I still find, there are a number of people who have a problem hearing about the truth how thing were in the past, and how it affects the future as we know it today.

There are so many missing pieces and parts, that involves history, that are never told-never hear mention of, and if you've ever watched AMC-Weiner's' Mad Men, and you think that you've actually witnessed the history[2] of America in the 1960's in all its glory, well then--my stories of how things really were will never delight your fancy. My stories are based in truth-and although they are not told for dramatic purposes, they sometimes shock the senses of those--lest I say--those in particular, who are less than well-read. I choose rare, and sometimes odd stories that really happened to drive home a point. I do this for those who thought the world they lived in was wrapped up in a package--all nice and neat, with so many preconceived ideas about how life was lived in one place or another, and how things went down--in one way or another.

Racism is the subject were talking about--so I'll continue.

When racism affects people, it seldom shows up in a form that they hardly understand-- or could ever conceive that would it would apply to them, affecting the very nature of their being. It shakes their world to the core, beyond their expectations. It's not simple word-racism. It's has institutional foundations. It's evil, it's ruthless, and it's cunning. My world is not your world. It never could be. When I speak about my life, I get called I a 'liar', and I have to laugh because I'm not bragging or lying.

I'm sharing.

I've rarely express my experiences openly, but the moment I do, I get insulted by racist people who live in a very limited world, who still wear blinders and have done very little in their life, or have seen very little. Their life sucks, I guess.  It's really not my problem. It shouldn't stop me from sharing mine. Oft times, it does though.

I ran across this piece of family memorabilia, because it reminded me of my grandfather's house and the people that used to drop by his 'spot', so to speak--when I was nothing more than a kid--and didn't think that life that much. How things are created, or why we meet certain people. There was always someone dropping by Sharkey's place. In fact, there was always a party, or an event, or someone I "needed" to meet-n-greet, and to tell you the truth, as a kid--I really only wanted to go outside and play at San Pablo Park. It didn't matter if I was playing baseball in a pick up game or league play--outside was way cooler than listening to old people and old people's music.

 

Jumpin' At The Woodside-Count Basie

'Jumpin' At The Woodside' was one of my family's favorites--and when uncle Gene started to dance, look out--everyone started to rock the front room, which--if it was Friday--it may not end till Sunday afternoon. As a kid you never get it. You don't get it till you get much older. You don't understand why your grandfather wanted you to shake this person's hand, or say "hi" to that person. Uncle Gene and Uncle Richie were those kinds of people I needed to shake hands with. There were many more. I literally shook hands with hundreds of people. Not paying an awful lot of attention, because these people were 'friends or family'. It was a symbol, back then, of growing up and meeting people who would mean something to you or others in the future. "Look them in the eye, and shake their hand", my grandpa would say. My Dad would laugh at this, and I would inevitably be embarrassed because they laughed, and I hadn't a clue why they laughed.

 Uncle Richie and Uncle Gene

Uncle Gene was Eugene Patton, one of my Dad's running buddies. Yes, and if you're wondering why Uncle Gene was important to shake hands with, it's because he was an African American trailblazer in America where racism was ever present. You may only know him for his dance skills. I know a lot more about him.

My Uncle Gene opened doors for African Americans in IATSE.

Gene Gene The Dancing Machine

So, here's my situation in a nutshell. Do I continue to share my life with you? Are you interested? Just a passing question, because life is short and I don't want to waste my time. I have a ton of real stories about real people, and real things. Family history, and history in general. And, you must remember, your biggest crossroad challenge is whether or not you can handle the truth of other people's lives. No one likes to be labeled something they are not, and while I cuss people out on twitter for being your basic ignorant redneck-with no life or life's experience--I must confess, while I'm on my laptop, I'm laughing my ass off, even as I'm being suspended by twitter for tweeting past the limits or insulting the crap out of someone in a heated twitter battle between me and one of the many gun-nut nitwits. 

Or...

If you're not interested--in these stories, but like wrapping your mind around history and gaining from it, you'll like this little story, and it might interest you to see how racism really works. Yes, this story still has to do with American racism, and how deeply rooted it is in American culture. So--here it goes. It how Jim Crow in American really works. Some people are already salivating and readying themselves to claim "He's playing the Race Card again".

Here we go.

Are you ready?

Suppose you had a chance to see Count Basie, performing "ONE NIGHT ONLY" in Oakland at Sweet's Ballroom, and oh my god! You can't believe it. The Count will be in town. Here's your opportunity to hear him live and dance to his music--cut a rug-- as they say. The "joint will be jumpin"--but there's only one problem. Racism might rear its ugly head and you might not get to see him perform up close, because you choose to participate in the status quo of the day.

Jim Crow.

Yes, you are not man enough to stand up to racism, so they send you to--excuse the phrase--to "Nigger Heaven"[2], up in the balcony--where you can't dance--but only listen to the screaming music of Count Basie, and you have to watch everyone else have fun, and you paid the same money to get in the door as everyone else!

To think...

You paid good money for those tickets too!

The Afro American, Oct. 21, 1939 Count Basie-Sweet's Ballroom

Some shit is real. 

It's how you deal with it that makes the difference. 

************

I dig deep for language and its use in American History. It is not my intention to offend people, but to educate them to the realities of the society in which they live. Please bear with the use of such language, for I did not invent this word, but used it in its historical sense and true meaning. When we toss away what really happened during these periods in history, like the period of  Jim Crow, we toss away a lot more history that we care to acknowledge. I personally, cannot and will not let that happen, over a word that I did not invent. African American history is worth more than one single, fucked up word, which didn't even come from African Americans in the first place.

[1] Miles of Smiles: It was a job requirement of a Pullman Porter to 'smile'. (This was a Pullman Company rule for African Americans to maintain their employment, and set the tone for most of America's racism against African American males and females who did not. If you've ever wondered where the concept of 'having to smile,..if you're black--so white people don't feel threatened' came from, it's a carry over from slavery, which the Pullman Company reinforced by employing only African Americans, and requiring them to smile 100% of the time, 100 years beyond slavery. This  racist institutional standard, set by an American corporation, set the tone for mainstream hiring of the African American.

[2] AMC-Weiner's' Mad Men: witnessed the history: Mad Men Highlight Invisible Black People and Stain of Racism. The Daily Beast, March 27, 2012. (I've always found this show intriguing, based on the fact that the 1960's were my formidable years, growing up in the Bay Area. I do believe, nationally, that African American culture had reach a pinnacle during this period, yet Mr. Weiner deemed it necessary not to include a period in American history which will live on, not hatter how many season Mad Men runs. He's mini-series is a wonderful example of revisionism when it come to history in general, which is perhaps why it's become so popular. The real story of the 1960's is above his ability to recapture, therefore eliminating him from the running as person who's TV show should be taken seriously. Much more went on than he had the ability to be honest about.)

[3] Urban Dictionary: Nigger Heaven: definition 2. "The Upper deck at a stadium, arena or theater. It comes from the Jim Crow era when black people were forced to sit in the balcony of a movie house. (This was the actual historical term used for segregating African Americans from whites during the period of Jim Crow, which lasted from 1865 to 1968, and slightly beyond. It was one of the segregating economical forces of the institution known as Jim Crow; used by the media, when media was in its heyday, and was used to keep the distance between whites and blacks beyond slavery. You may have difficulty finding the definition in today's world, as so much has been hidden from view, when discussing race, culture, and language use within American culture throughout history)