Wednesday
May212008
R Kelly and the Polygamists: Delusional Female Defenders.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 3:44AM The Blogmother
The R. Kelly trial is currently underway after about 15 years of delay. Its big news that the jurors in the case viewed the infamous video yesterday.
"
If you have not read "R Kelly Can Always Count on His WOmen" by Mary Mitchell of the Chicago Sun Times, you must. Mary lays it all out there after a group of Black women staged a rally on behalf of R. Kelly. Since Mary did an outstanding job reading my mind, I will let her article speak for the both of us. My Sisters, we are not alone!!!
I won't give you any more quotes take your page clicks over to the Sun Times and show a Sister some support for breaking it down like a fraction, but
We have previously covered the mental illness that causes some Black people to parrot the thoughts of antebellum slave owners. The idea that there is no such thing as a "virtuous" colored girl over the age of 14 and the concept that Black women CANNOT under any circumstances be the victims of sexual exploitation.
Notice that when they went in to the polygamous cult to take away 400 children you didn't see any people rallying at the court house. White teenage girls have to be protected to the tune of millions of dollars and the state taking bus loads of kids away, but Black teenage girls are out of luck. Even if there were large numbers of arrests of predatory older men and boys, I can assure you the NAACP, Rev. Al et al. would be rushing to complain that these men were being treated "unfairly".. Tell that to Warren Jeffs.
What about equal protection under the law for Black teenage girls??? The full weight and force of the law is coming down on the heads of the Texas polygamists while 48% of Black teen age girls purportedly have an STD.
Our "leaders" and delusional supporters will fight like Hell to keep folks out of jail, even when they prey on other members of the community, but did anybody ever think that the victims of these criminals are living in jails of their own? Tell me a 13 year-old who purportedly got pregnant by a fully grown old Karl Malone wasn't "confined" What would she have grown up to do. What places would she have seen? What dreams did she have to defer? What struggles did she endure? Let's not even talk about disease, mental health, and poverty which is its own form of violence. Despite assertions of too many Black folks to count, statutory rape is not a victim-less crime.
R. Kelly Archive
The 27-minute homemade video shows a man having sex with a young female, who is naked for most of the recording except for a necklace with a cross dangling from it.At the start of the videotape, the man hands the female money and she mouths the words, "Thank you." She is often blank-faced, impassive. The man speaks to the female in a hushed, monotone voice, and she calls him "Daddy."Songs from the Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys blare from a radio. The female dances — the man out of view. Back in view, he has sex with her. The man walks up to the camera to adjust it a few times, but his face is often obscured.Prosecutors say the man in the video is Kelly, and that the female is a girl who was as young as 13 when the tape was made between Jan. 1, 1998, and Nov. 1, 2000. Associated PressDespite all this, can you believe that a group of BLACK WOMEN went down to the courthouse to hold a demonstration on his behalf? Of course you can if you have been reading this blog for any length of time. When it comes to the dehumanizaiton of Black women in this country, don't sleep, many Black women don't value their own lives, let alone the lives of other Black women. Black Acheivement USA, a regular podcast listener loved to say "We love our sons, and raise out daughters.... WITH CONTEMPT!
"
If you have not read "R Kelly Can Always Count on His WOmen" by Mary Mitchell of the Chicago Sun Times, you must. Mary lays it all out there after a group of Black women staged a rally on behalf of R. Kelly. Since Mary did an outstanding job reading my mind, I will let her article speak for the both of us. My Sisters, we are not alone!!!
I leave you with this from Mary's column:I can think of only one reason young black women would go down to 26th and California and rally around R&B singer R. Kelly.
Ignorance.
Although the women who rallied last Friday outside of the courthouse live in a metropolitan area, they are as ignorant about what constitutes appropriate sexual behavior as the women who were locked away on the polygamous compound in Eldorado, Texas. Chicago Sun Times
Ironically, while Texas officials raided a polygamous compound to stop older men from marrying underage girls, underage black girls are being impregnated every day by older black men, and these men are rarely held accountable. Mary MitchellTHANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!! AMEN! COSIGNING!
I won't give you any more quotes take your page clicks over to the Sun Times and show a Sister some support for breaking it down like a fraction, but
We have previously covered the mental illness that causes some Black people to parrot the thoughts of antebellum slave owners. The idea that there is no such thing as a "virtuous" colored girl over the age of 14 and the concept that Black women CANNOT under any circumstances be the victims of sexual exploitation.
Notice that when they went in to the polygamous cult to take away 400 children you didn't see any people rallying at the court house. White teenage girls have to be protected to the tune of millions of dollars and the state taking bus loads of kids away, but Black teenage girls are out of luck. Even if there were large numbers of arrests of predatory older men and boys, I can assure you the NAACP, Rev. Al et al. would be rushing to complain that these men were being treated "unfairly".. Tell that to Warren Jeffs.
What about equal protection under the law for Black teenage girls??? The full weight and force of the law is coming down on the heads of the Texas polygamists while 48% of Black teen age girls purportedly have an STD.
Our "leaders" and delusional supporters will fight like Hell to keep folks out of jail, even when they prey on other members of the community, but did anybody ever think that the victims of these criminals are living in jails of their own? Tell me a 13 year-old who purportedly got pregnant by a fully grown old Karl Malone wasn't "confined" What would she have grown up to do. What places would she have seen? What dreams did she have to defer? What struggles did she endure? Let's not even talk about disease, mental health, and poverty which is its own form of violence. Despite assertions of too many Black folks to count, statutory rape is not a victim-less crime.
Previous Posts:
Where's the Outrage about R. Kelly and Genarlow Wilson?
"Why Aren't the Lives of Black Women Treasured
R. Kelly Archive
Don't forget to like our Facebook Page. We shut down our NING network. My book More Than Words is now available for download for $3.99 | 21 Comments | Share Article
21 Comments | Share Article tagged Genarlow Wilson, R Kelly
Genarlow Wilson, R Kelly
Reader Comments (21)
Ms. Mitchell definitely was on-point. I loved how she compared the R. Kelly case to the polygamous compound case.
This is disturbing. We have to break these stereotypes that black girls are fast with an attitude.
We project and expect them to be like this (fast) ! They are living up to 'our' expectations!
Gina,
I clicked on the hyperlinked Sun Times but it sent me to a Blogger log in page. I wasn't sure if you knew this, an error of some sort?
The first Chicago Sun link works just fine.
Haven't read the article yet but I will after I am done typing.
I love reading the twisted logic of some of the commenters in the article. They trot out "he's innocent until proven guilty!" regarding Kelly in the same breath as "these young girls develop early and men can't help themselves." Wow, just WOW.
I remember a couple of years back when I was watching the news and a reporter asked a young lady what she thought of R. Kelly (this was just after that tape was releaesed.) The girl said "I don't care what he did! I still love him!" I was appalled. This girl looked about 18 or 19 years old. I just shook my head when I heard that.....when will we stop supporting mediocrity?
A few months ago I was around a couple of bw. One of them put partial blame on the girl thinking that she probably lied to him about her age. I was rendered speechless that she would assume that the gal did something like that without any proof.
BTW I did not read the article. I got enough just knowing that some messed up bw would support a nasty man like R Kelly.
It comes as no surprise that sistas would back that dirtbag. Far too many of us, no matter how old, are still Black girls lost. We blindly support those who devalue us and we act as foolish men and lambast female victims.
Internalized racism and sexism (with people of color) is one hell of a mental poison. This notion of blaming victims, viewing children as adults, and seeing no value in yourself is not at all popular in the White community.
When parenthood rolls around for me, I'll make sure that the buck stops here.
Hello Gina,
This is just baffling. The behavior of these women protesters is beyond caricature.
I posted a few lines on Pinkys blog about how this reminded me of the old Boondocks episodes made 2-3 years ago.
In the Boondocks episode there are women who show up and swoon over Kelly.
It was funny when it was a cartoon, seeing it in real life is just sad.
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/boondocks-the-trial-of-r-kelly/4247304786
Not surprising. A group of black women also came out in support of Kwame Kilpatrick, that disgusting, lying pig of a mayor in Detroit. They had t-shirts printed up and everything, had the nerve to call a press conference to announce their undying allegiance to him for all he'd done for them. It was so embarrassing to observe.
U know after he gets out of jail (keeping fingers crossed) he will be back on tour. Those protesters will have V.I.P passes and he will be scanning the crowd for some womens 13 or maybe 17 year old daughter.
Interesting comments. I would also lay the blame on the Cult of Celebrity. Remember all those crazed fans who turned out for Michael Jackson when he was on trial?
I remember jamming to R. Kelly's "Step in the Name of Love," but once I learned about the underage sex tapes and pedophilia? Ugh! I cringe everytime I recognize his voice on the radio.
We have to stop excusing black men just because they are "celebrities." It doesn't surprise me that some black women are coming out to support him. Internalized misogyny is a widespread thing. Especially when most of our black men with die-hard black woman-hating ideas are being raised BY BLACK WOMEN!!
Great article! I admit, when I first learned about it, I didn't care, but at the time I was a freshman/sophomore in high school with VERY low self esteem. I didn't know how a woman was supposed to be treated. My, how much have I grown since then! I hope R Kelly FINALLY go to jail for this - this ain't right!
The first time I heard about him was his song 'I Believe I Can Fly'. Sad to say the next time I heard anything about him was this incident. The next time he did a song called 'I'm Saved' or something like that. I just did even try to pay much attention after finding out abou this incident. THEN when Aaliyah died I hear that he married her at 15.
No I have no real interest in R Kelly other than to see him stopped once and for all.
I hope that Kelly is put in a cell with some new "special friends" who haven't had sex in a long time... Light's Out!
These "smart" [sarcasm] women do not surprise me but they do sadden me. Don't they see what kind of message they are sending to our young girls?
Well, although I enjoy when “Kels” gets a good lashing from Black Media, I have to say that the polygamist thing is not a fair comparison with R. Kelly’s (accused) crime.
Fact is, R. Kelly is guilty (in my opinion) of criminal Sexual assault against a minor, simple as that. I am sure that if some Black religious leader started a compound somewhere on American soil were young girls were being impregnated, it wouldn’t last long; however, I am sure that some group of brainwashed women would be defending it.
As for the culture of underage Black girls dating and having sex with older Black men, we just have to raise community standards and stop accepting this crap. Many Black men protested Kels on the outset of these charges, we protested WGCI for continuing to play his music, and we were shouted down by droves of Black women, it was really said and eye opening to say the least.
Let's stop calling these women delusional. They are desperate and trifling.
Delusional implies that they aren't in control of their actions and I can't issue that kind of pass to women who enjoy engaging in irresponsibility.
Black Adam, like you, I have been shouted down and cursed out for trying to defend a woman's right to NOT be objectified and I was shouted down and called all kinds of expletives.
Some people don't want to do better and it's high time we leave them behind.
Well I got banned from Concrete Loop for responding to another person commenting about RK. They wanted to know why the web site would post reviews and other positive entries with no mention of the trial and I said it's because entertainment blogs get paid for those reviews and how disappointed I was that a blog run by a Black woman would not at least acknowledge the situation. There's other entertainment blogs that will have a post about him but some like crunk and disorderly have it under the tag "shouldn't you be in jail by now". Anyway when I was younger I couldn't figure out why nobody ever seemed to discuss these situations or seemed upset like when he eloped with Aaliyah. I thought she was trying to say she was 'grown' and I thought if her parents allowed her to do it who was I to judge. I'm glad we have a forum to analyze these dynamics and learn and grow.
Some of the comments to Ms. Mitchell's article are absolutely mind-boggling. People seem to actually enjoy living in blissful ignorance. Sad.
Well, although I enjoy when “Kels” gets a good lashing from Black Media, I have to say that the polygamist thing is not a fair comparison with R. Kelly’s (accused) crime.
Fact is, R. Kelly is guilty (in my opinion) of criminal Sexual assault against a minor, simple as that. I am sure that if some Black religious leader started a compound somewhere on American soil were young girls were being impregnated, it wouldn’t last long; however, I am sure that some group of brainwashed women would be defending it.
My response:
IMO you raised an excellent point here, one that is BEING OVERLOOKED.
Their AREN'T any black communities that exist where it is APPROVED by the majority of the adults that grown men sleeping and impregnating girls is "okay".
By the way I have to point out that while the blog originator was lauding the "protection" the "White race" was giving white girls and the PUNISHMENT they were giving that compound, the APPARENT facts appear NOT to suppot those conclusions.
In fact DESPITE NUMEROUS young girl marriages to MUCH older men, DESPITE numerous YOUNG girls being pregnant, those "white children" are being returned to their WHITE parents in a WHITE community that OPENLY condones the sexual exploitation of children ALL the WHILE the majority WHITE government and law enforcement DOES NOTHING.
And does ANYONE think the "white race" will be DEMONIXED OVER these NUMEROUS compounds the same way the black race is demonized whenever some idiot says or does something stupid?
That will be the day.
I am perplexed at how R. Kelly's trial is indicative of BLACK people.
First, we aren't responsible for the PROSECUTION TAKING so many years to bring this case to trial, We aren't responsible for the direction of this case.
Also, it is FAIRLY widely suspected that R. Kelly LONG ago paid off that girl and her family, is that fact the black races' collective fault also?
It is ALSO interesting that the SAME people who "demonize" the young girl in the R, Kelly case Use the SAME logic as those that DEMONIXE the black communities' repsonse to the R. Kelly case.
"They say things like black parents have to teach their daughters better, "black girls have to respect and value themselves, black people have to take responsibilty etc and on so on.
IMO BOTH perspectives are wrong. IN this regard, first it supposes that MOST black parents AREN'T telling their daughters not to behave in that manner a grotesque distortion as well as it gives the EQUALLY grotesque distortion that the majority of black people are supporting R. Kelly and approve of his sexual behavior.
Bottomline, It is WRONG to hold young girls responsible for the sexual PREDATORY behavior of GROWN MEN, and it is EQUALLY as wrong to HOLD a WHOLE "race" responsible for the inaction of the criminal justice system, a celebrity obseesed culture's response to celebrities on trial, and the ignorant opinions of a few internet bloggers as HOW MOST of that "race" FEELS or thinks about ANYTHING.
Excellent post and right on point. These women that went down to protest fall under the category of colluding women. They don't even know what is in their best interests.
NPR did a thing on this. i was shocked . really shocked.
I loathe rap because it it celebrates failure and deviance. Why is anyone attracted to that? I loathe R. Kelly, for too many reasons to go into here. Lots of people can sing, so what?Why do we as black people have to be saddled with so much degrading self-hate, especially that embodied in hatred of the black woman.
Black women are so brain-washed with self hate that they can't even see it. They can't acknowledge that they are abused verbally, physically and psychically every day by the men (and women) who are supposed to love and support them.
The outpouring of black female love for monsters like Mike Tyson and R. Kelly is stunning. Could it be that if Bws acknowledged that they really were abused the shame would be too overwhelming to bear? Is that why they deny it?
And where are the hypocritical churches, talking about God and morality and keeping silent about the silent killer of black women?