Responses To Racism In Australia - Hilda's Story

Written by Hilda Fish (February 6, 2006)

Note:
This post was written by "Hilda Fish" on a Mudcat discussion thread entitled "Responses To Racism" http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=88950. Hilda Fish" is the screen name for an indigenous female from Australia who also used to post on Mudcat, an international online Blues & Folk music discussion forum.

I consider Mudcat to be a rich resource for lyrics and information about many songs from those genres & some other genres including my primary interest "children's playground rhymes". Members & guests routinely discuss other subjects besides music in that forum's BS section. I was an active poster on Mudcat Discussion Forum from August 2004-December 2009, but I rarely post there now.

Hilda Fish gave me permission to include this post in a book concept that I've since put aside. Unfortunately, I've lost touch with Hilda, but I don't think that she would be opposed to my publishing this post on this blog. Also, the owner of Mudcat (and my facebook friend) Max Spiegel, has given me permission to repost forum members' comments as long as I have prior written permission from them.

“Freda” is a White Australia woman who is a Mudcat member, Hilda Fish’s close friend, and also is my online friend. “Strange Fruit” is a Billie Holliday song about lynching.

I started that "Responses To Racism" thread in the hopes that members of that forum would discuss others ways to respond to racist posts except ignoring them. In one of my posts to that thread I wrote that it’s important for Black people and other People of Color to know that “someone's got our back”. What that saying means is that when people find themselves in a difficult situation, it helps for them to know that they can count on support from other people regardless of those persons' race/s or ethnicity/s.

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Hilda's Story

I just can't see that there is a problem saying THAT IS OFFENSIVE - THAT IS RACIST - IT DEMEANS ME - IT DEMEANS YOU - IT DEMEANS WHAT IS HUMAN IN US ALL. IT IS NOT RIGHT. IT IS NOT SOMETHING I'M PREPARED TO LET GO BY UNCHALLENGED. IT IS CRUEL, DANGEROUS AND MURDEROUS AND IF I WAS IN YOUR FACE YOU'D CERTAINLY FEEL HOW I FEEL ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING. GET THIS INTO YOUR HEAD - RACISM IS AN INSULT. I AM CALLING YOU A RACIST. GO AWAY!!!!! To name it and attack it is a good start I think.

A story - I was once at a pub with a friend. It was a social meeting between a big group of people of like mind. Various people were getting up to talk about things. It was all pretty progressive and 'good'. Then this guy got up and in response to an article in a newspaper stated that Aboriginal people were more aligned with animals than human - that white people were superior and it was time that Indigenous (Black) people got the picture. And so on. Everyone listened politely while I started steaming. Oh dear I thought, waiting for my 'friends' to rip him to shreds one way or another. They didn't. There was a lot of polite discussion about how what he said was unacceptable. Un...f...acceptable! I was dying there by what he said and I was dying there because no-one (here you are Azizi) was watching my back. Here we go again I thought. I have to stand up and name this crap and condemn it because no-one else is gonna. They don't even see it. Or they believe in 'freedom of speech', 'politeness'. I thought for a minute and realised no-one was going to listen so I launched myself out of my chair and gave him a mighty smack in the mouth. Everyone grabbed me but I did get a good kick in. I was hauled out of the pub and banned. Well. I was shaking and in a shocking way but I felt good - not belittled or victimised - but good.

Now those who know me know that I am pretty mouthy sometimes but not violent. The worst I mostly do is getting into a swearing frenzy and walk away but truly, mostly I am polite, ladylike, blah blah blah. Some Koories* in the front bar came out and sat with me. We sat together and then various people including my friends came out and condemned me at first for being 'violent'. We talked and basically I said they were gutless for not naming and challenging it - they said they had left that to me. Why me? They saw it too. Why always us to deal with this stuff? Everyone knows about the lynchings and the shootings and all the terrible stuff that is given permission through racist words and racist deeds. Sometimes I am beyond words as my people are sometimes so beyond words that all we can do is scream, go mad, and yes, smack someone in the mouth. The guy said he'd never speak like that again in front of me if that is the result. What did I care what the racist creep thought. He hadn't cared about me or my blood. All I can say is name it, challenge it, reject it in all its forms. Its not a polite discussion you know. Good phrase Azizi - "need to know and see is that somebody's got our back". I'd like to rely on that as one human being to another. Life has shown that I can't - yet.

And yeah, come to Sydney Azizi and stay with me or Freda. You can see how Australia practises its racism!! There are many forms (just joking heh heh). Oh, the first time I heard "Strange Fruit" was in Melbourne at a folk club such a long time ago. Everyone thought it was a terrific song - I was the only Aboriginal there and I cried and cried and cried once I got what it was about. Everyone thought I was drunk!! How awful and sad is that song? What can I say?

Rest in peace all my brothers and sisters on this planet who no longer walk the earth because someone did not like your skin. I honor your short lives and your suffering and will not forgive so easily and well not let racism have a healthy life wherever I meet it. Rest in peace. That's the bottom line isn't it?

* "Koories" is a self-referent for certain populations of Australian indigenous people. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koori

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Here's a video of Billie Holliday singing "Strange Fruit":

Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit



Uploaded by MonsieurBaudelaire on Nov 25, 2006

Rare Live Footage of one of the first anti rascism songs ever.

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The Changing Meanings Of Being Sassy

Written by Azizi Powell

This is Part I of a post on the word "sassy". Part I provides a general overview of meanings that have been given to the word "sassy".

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/09/changing-meanings-of-being-sassy-part-2.html for Part II of this post.>

Part II continues an exploration of the meaning of "sassy", particularly as it has been used in referent to Black females.

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Part I

Is “sassy” a compliment or an insult? Your response to this question might depend on which definition of the word you mean. And, to a considerable extent, which definition of this adjective you mean may depend on your age, race, and/or the sexual orientation of the person you are describing. Your geographical location within the United States or elsewhere and the historical context may also factor into what you mean by the word “sassy” and whether you meant something positive or negative when you used that word.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sassy indicates that the word "sassy" is an alteration of the adjective “saucy”. According to that site, the first documented use of the word “sassy” was in 1833. Merriam-Webster gives the following meanings for "sassy":

1. Rude and disrespectful, impudent
2. Lively and spirited, jaunty
3. Stylish, chic

The synonyms listed by Merriam-Webster for sassy are ”arch, audacious, bold, bold-faced, brash, brashbound, brassy, brazen, brazen-faced, cheeky, cocksure, cocky, fresh, impertinent, impudent, insolent, nervy, saucy, [and] wise”.

The antonyms of sassy that Merriam-Webster lists are “meek, mousy (or mousey), retiring, shy, and timid.”

All of the antonyms listed are still familiar words. In contrast, a number of the synonyms are outdated and/or words whose contemporary meanings have added nuances.

As of 9/3/2011, the online site Urban Dictionary http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=sassy has 36 entries from its visitors for the word "sassy". The highest rated [by visitors] definition of “sassy” on that site was entered by Tittillesworth on July 16, 2004:
Sassy:
“possessing the attitude of someone endowed with an ungodly amount of cool.”

Sarah K. Smith is unusually sassy.
-snip-
Many of the urbandictionary.coms definitions for the word "sassy" are synonyms for “cool”, "hip", and/or "spirited".

And entry #7 shows that even when contemporary definitions for a word are basically the same as older definitions, more positive meanings have been given to the words:
Sassy:
“Someone who is full of themselves but in a good way. They're cheeky, lively, smart, saucy, slightly impudent, mouthy, cocky, energetic, loud and extremely talkative.”
[its not like I’m Maddy, Feb 13, 2011]
-snip-
It's important to note that some contributors to that Urban Dictionary site indicated that the word “sassy” is more closely associated with African American females. Furthermore, the contemporary use of "sassy" appears to have expanded to include males who are effeminate. For example, here's the #5 rated entry:

Sassy:
“rude and disrespectful but in a way that is cute, adorable, or entertaining (or at least regarded by others as such). Originally "sassy" was commonly used to describe young children, but in today's pop culture, has become a term commonly used to describe both young children and women of any age (particularly African American women); the term typically isn't used to describe teenage males and adult men unless effeminate.”

"Girl, you better watch your mouth before you find yourself hurt," snapped sassy Yolanda.

Mark, a metrosexual man, is so sassy; he snapped his fingers in our faces and told us we didn't meet his standards before kicking us out of the building.
[Crocker 33, January 13, 2009]
-snip-
Entry #23 is another example of a racialized definition of the word "sassy":

“An angry black woman.”

Did you meet Clara's sassy black friend Monique?
[ToastyPastry Sep 8, 2006]
-snip-
And #28 provides these definitions for “sassy”

1. The art of being rude and angry with a combination of emotionalgestures and attitude.

2. Queen Latifa.

3. Angry and rude black women in general.

I'm so sassy, you go girl!
[GUnit Feb 6, 2004]

I’m just guessing, but those racialized definitions strongly suggest to me that most of the contributors to Urban Dictionary (at least regarding the word “sassy”) are non-Black.

Certain comments posted to a November 2008 Huffington Post article on Sasha Obama are the best online examples that I have found to date of the what “sassy” means for a number of African Americans, including me:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/13/sasha-obamas-sassiest-mom_n_143505.html#s13035 by Anya Strzemian, 11/13/2008

Here's a comment from that article from IWillCallYouOut; 11/16/2008

"While I think she [Sasha Obama] is adorable...It is problematic to characterize a seven year old black girl as sassy, or any black woman as sassy at this late date.

For all of you not possessing black skin and ovaries, I’m here to let you know that “sassy” is a no no. It’s a played out stereotype that I’m sick of. I got my foot run over by a coworker and complain about it only to be informed that I am “sassy” and then told to calm down. This example is clearly hyperbole, but sadly it’s not far from reality.

This is an esteemed paper with esteemed editors, diction matters. This whole article could have been (and seems to be mostly about) spunk, stage presence, cuteness, precocity, why couldn’t we choose a different word? Because the ingrained stereotypes in our brained reached for the word “sassy” and it resonated with an image of a black girl?...

Just sayin’..."
-snip-
Some commenters mentioned that [former Governor of Alaska, and former Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s daughter] Piper was also featured in a similar Huffington Post article. In response, commenter jdmba wrote on 11/15/2008

"Now, if you go to look at Piper Palin’s pictures, no one in the comments calls her ”sassy”. In fact, one commenter says that she doesn’t see what’s so sassy about Piper since she’s not “flipping the bird” or “rolling her eyes”

jdmba also wrote several other comments to that article about the meaning of “sassy” for African Americans. Here are two more of those comments:

jdmba (11/13/2008)

“The funniest thing is that growing up as a Black female, “sass” was never a good thing. If you acted sassy toward your elders, you were in all kinds of trouble.

I’ve never heard a Black female compliment another one by calling them “sassy”."
-snip-
Jmbd (11/13/2008)

"...I’ve personally never heard “sassy” used to describe white girls.They’re “bold”, “strong personalities”, or “spunky”. For Black women, it’s the whole neck/eye rolling stereotype. “Attitude”. These are the subconscious perceptions/expectations that other races project onto Black women. I get that at work all the time-if I’m not goon-grinning then I’m read as sassy and intimidating.

That is why Michelle [Obama] had to play down her brilliance for the election. She was “scary” and “sassy”.

Apparently I’m not alone in having this experience and I’m not going to be shouted down because people are uncomfortable with the subtleties of their racial schema."
-snip-
Most comments on that above mentioned Huffington Post article appeared to define “sassy” as a complimentary term which means “spirited, and/or “spunky”. But jackson1015 [11/13/2008] notes that there are negative and positive meanings of the word “sassy”
“There’s nothing sleazy about calling a child sassy; sass is backtalk, and sassy is being impudent or giving backtalk-in the negative sense – in the positive, it is another way of saying that she is cute and precocious.

My pov=sassy means a self-assured person who isn’t afraid of speaking up for herself or himself (usually refers to females). Opposite of reserved, shy, not confident”.
-snip-
However, a few White women confirmed the statements of those Black commenters that “sassy” was something that wasn’t cool to be:

littlepitcher 11/167/2008 responded to IWillCallYouOut‘s comment by writing
"I can sympathize—They do it to us low class hillbilly gals too.”Sassy” is the first warning. “Insubordinate” is the second and usually the last one. And it’s always for saying something a guy could use to get a laugh with, and get away with."

And carolcobra1947 (11/14/2008) wrote:

"...I’m a 61-year-old white woman. When my parents called me sassy it was because I was being disrespectful. I dearly remember the phrase “Don’t you sass me!” Maybe it’s a southern thing...I was raised in Georgia...

Word connotations do change over time, as word usage does...But the emotional responses to certain type of visual stimuli doesn’t change and I know that this photo will elicit emotional responses that I don’t even want to think about from sensual to hateful."
-snip-
The visual stimuli that carolcobra1947 may have meant is the lead photo for this article which shows 7 year old Sasha Obama in a typical “sassy Black female” stance: Sasha is standing leaning slightly back with both hands on her hips, looking straight at a person or persons with a slight closed smile on her face.
-snip-
One commenter to that same Huffington Post article, Isis (11/13/2008) suggested that a person’s age determined the meaning she or he gives to the word “sassy”:
"The 30 and under crowd use sassy as a compliment. It’s like “cool”. My kids are all “sassy”.
-snip-
In response to that comment jmbd wrote on 11/13/2008
I’m a 27 y/o Black female. I repeat. My friends and I never use the term for one another. But people of other cultures use it on us.

White people consider it to be the same as fun, spirited, spunky, lively, Black people equate it with “attitude” meaning a bad, confrontational attitude."
-snip-
On 11/14/2008, HuffPost moderator propitiousmoment wrote:
"I am a white female, and we were told not to sass, don’t give me no sass,don’t get sassy-it means backtalk,impudence etc. And it evolved to over the course of a generation or so to mean cute and spunky. Of course it has been co-opted by the porn types to mean spunky in a sexual way...

I do empathize with women who have had the term used against them in a racial context, and I’m not implying that I agree with that usage.However, I hardly think that HuffPo used it with that intention at all."
-snip-
It should be mentioned that some African Americans may use “sassy” in at least somewhat complimentary terms. Take, for example, this title of an October 1997 Ebony Magazine article:

“Viveca A. Fox, Hollywood’s Sassiest New Star-African American Actress" by Aldore D. Collier
Viveca A Fox, Hollywood's Sassiest New Star
-snip-
Also, “Sassy” was the nickname given to jazz great Sarah Vaughn”.
According to Sarah vaughn "Band pianist John Malachi is credited with giving Vaughn the moniker “Sassy”, a nickname that matched her personality. Vaughn liked it and the name (and its shortened variant “Sass”) stuck with colleagues and, eventually, the press. In written communications Vaughn often spelled it “Sassie”."
-snip-
And Maya Angelou included this somewhat complimentary reference to Black females sassiness in her now famous poem “Still I Rise”:

"Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room. "
-snip-
So what does “sassy” mean and how did its meanings change-if you think that they have changed? Well, it’s complicated.

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RELATED LINK
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/09/changing-meanings-of-being-sassy-part-2.html for Part II of this post.>

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