| || amaze, after, hyphen, concur, human race.
Image from the Internet.
The opening poem contains all the words (or variations of them) from today's Jumble.
Comments are welcomed!
Do not explicitly reveal any of the actual answer words until after closing time, but embedding them surreptitiously in comment sentences is encouraged.
12 comments:
FLN, Sandy ~
1950! Of course--that's perfect. I'm glad you re-checked the date. I was in 6th or early 7th grade then. (I was nearly a year ahead of my classmates because of my birthdate.) Thanks for the update.
Kind of an obvious Jumble today. The cartoon characters are clearly ectomorphic runners. I ran one marathon & was happy to finish. No need to discuss my time. Let's just say I am of a different physique.
Although firearms were rarely used by British crooks, this particular holdup caught Sherlock's attention because the victim went after his armed robber with his own revolver.
"By Jove, Watson," he cried. "We must call this the Case of the Two-Gun Chase!"
~ OMK
A quote that's going round the Net
Is Teddy Roosevelt expressing his regret
At Americans who hyphenate their race.
He considered it to be a disgrace!
It's a view with which I generally concur,
Tho it's human it might sometimes occur.
But the usage that continues to amaze
Is African-American as a common phrase!
Most have been here for many generations!
And Africa is the source for all nations!
After how long can this dichotomy go on?
All men are one, why can't we all get along?
Delightful poem, Owen--many thanks. Found the Jumble words a bit crunchy, but was happy that I got it all--with a little help. Cute cartoon and solution, and cute gloss on the answer, Ol'Man Keith.
U had to work at #3 and #4. And sloppy handwriting gave me an extra R. I finally worked out the riddle-solution.
"Why can't we just get along?"? The theme of Owen's poem and applies to the CC too.
Although far more apt to the Rex Parker blog. I'm liking the Evan Birnholz XW from the Washington Post which is an insert to tbtimes on Sunday
Maybe the Fiend" blogs it .
WC
Today's jumble clues were generally easy, though I had to look at the fourth one for a few moments before it came to me. The solution took some thought as well, but seemed obvious once I had it. Kinda cute, but not outstanding.
I really loved your poem, Owen -- until the very last line. What about women!! I know "men" is traditionally a synonym for "human being", but it's a tradition that should be eliminated. What about "All people are one..." ?
Really liked the poem, Owen!.
I'll add another complaint regarding the use of African-American. Commentators have grown so used to it as a synonym for blacks, they use it incorrectly for any black athlete in international sporting events, calling Jamaicans and black British citizens African-Americans at times.
Sandy ~ I concur. While "people" might throw off the meter, "Humanity's one" might work.
~ OMK
When it comes to slicing & dicing, how far do people take it? African-American seems so broad, it can include, as Owen says, the entire species.
To be precise, some black citizens may be Zulu-Americans and others distinguished by national titles, such as Nigerian-Americans. Why do we never hear that?|
It could be hard to decide. Am I a Brit-American, or a Anglo-Celtic-American? The mind boggles.
Ol' TR was right!
~ OMK
I consider myself to be a mongrel American. So many different progenitors!
I don't like this poem. If it were just decrying the linguistics (my original intent), it would be okay, but it's not. It is a racist poem. I am a racist. I say that with shame and regret. I am a racist because I am a white person who has not yet figured out how to not be a racist.
Let me share an article from a Black website I stumbled on:
2. Recognize Your Privilege
The concept of “white privilege” can be a distasteful concept to some white people because it implies that you have received something extra. For some, this negates their hard work, talent or ability. This is why I define white privilege in easy-to-understand terms.
White Privilege is the absence of racism.
Everyone should be able to live in any neighborhood they can afford; shop in stores without being scrutinized or interact with law enforcement without fearing for their life. Employers should hire people according to their abilities. Schools should punish children according to their individual infractions.
But in America, only white people get to do this.
Once white people can grasp this fact, they can understand why black people have to affirm that their lives matter. They’d see why Colin Kaepernick can’t stand on sports’ biggest stage and pretend—if only for two minutes—that “The Star-Spangled Banner” waves over the land of the free. They’d know why we’re uncomfortable with MAGA hats and Confederate flags—because they represent an ideology that threatens our existence.
Whiteness offers respite. The greatest privilege that whiteness affords is the ability to overlook racism, hate, and inequality. Whiteness is a fireproof suit in a world that is on fire and no one—not even me—is even asking you to help us extinguish the blaze. But please stop acting like the heat is all in our head or that you figured out how to make yourself inflammable.
You were just born with a fireproof suit.
3. Know Things
This is very important. One of the reasons that white people dismiss or ignore white supremacy is because they either won’t admit or don’t know how pervasive it truly is. It’s easy to believe that black kids could get ahead if they had more role models and studied harder. If they knew black school districts were underfunded by $23 billion or understood that white schools have more books in their libraries and more computers in their classrooms, they might reconsider the “bootstrap” myth.
If they knew the socioeconomic link to crime and violence, instead of asking about black on black crime, they’d ask why the wage and wealth gap persists. If they knew the data on immigration and crime, they wouldn’t want to spend billions on a Mexican wall.
Or, maybe they still wouldn’t care.
Perhaps its easier to believe that black people are genetically predisposed to violence, ignorance, and laziness than to accept the fact that a country that has fulfilled all of your white dreams can be so cruel to others just because of the color of their skin.
But willful ignorance is still malevolent if you choose to ignore the facts.
4. Talk to Your People
If you are truly interested in being a better person, you don’t have to inform a single black person of your intentions.
Black people cannot fix white supremacy or racism. If it were up to us, we would have quashed systematic inequality a long time ago. But white people built this system. White people control this system. It is white people who have tacitly agreed to perpetuate white supremacy throughout America’s history. It is you who must confront your racist friends, coworkers, and relatives. You have to cure your country of this disease. The sickness is not ours. We’re not asking you to stab your bosses, grandfathers, and girlfriends with a broadsword when they display signs of prejudice. Just say something.
You’ll rage about a YouTube video when someone mistreats a kitten but sit silently when you see bodycam footage of cops killing a black boy. You’re willing to reform and update taxes, health care, social security, medicine, the Country Music Awards and every other societal ill that presents the slightest problem to your people. Yet, white supremacy remains.
I think it was Martin Luther King Jr. who said: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
But if a white person is involved, the universe’s moral arc can turn on a dime.
5. Talk to Black People
If you have to ask: “Is this racist?” It probably is.
You can’t just ask questions. You have to listen... You should also understand that black people are not a monolith—another black person might have an entirely different answer to your question. That’s why we don’t care if you have a “black friend” or if your great-grand-cousin is in an interracial relationship. Candace Owens doesn’t speak for me and I don’t presume to know what Ben Carson thinks.
That’s why “people” is plural.
When you see black guys loitering at Starbucks, ask if they are waiting for someone before you call the cops. When you wonder why a student is acting up in class, ask them if everything is ok at home. If you see a black woman with a 3-C curl afro or locs, ask her if you can touch her hair.
On second thought, scratch that last one.
6. Think
I know I make this sound easy but I understand that there are shades of gray when it comes to doing the right thing. Even after you implement these suggestions, you may find yourself at a crossroads, wondering which path to take. So, here is a rule of thumb to use whenever you have to make a difficult decision:
Think about the men who owned no slaves but built slave ships to bring black people to America. Channel the ethics of the people who lived next door to people who enslaved human beings. Conjure up the thoughts of the people standing in the town square who silently watched lynchings. Pretend you were one of the people who stood quietly while segregationist mobs spit on little black children who were integrating schools. Imagine you were mute on that Montgomery bus when Rosa Parks refused to move.
For a brief second, assume you were one of the billions of idle, ambivalent or apathetic white people who objected to slavery, Jim Crow, inequality and injustice but didn’t do a goddamn thing. In your moment of deliberation, think long and hard about what those white people would do.
Then, just do the opposite.
About the author, Michael Harriot: World-renowned wypipologist. Getter and doer of "it." Never reneged, never will. Last real negus alive.
Thank you, Owen.
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