Racist debate continues …
June 21st, 2007 by Alex Pickett in Flashbacks & Updates, The Morning PapersWell, reporter Cathy Salustri finally hit the front page of the St. Petersburg Times’ Floridian section. But not as a freelance writer.
The self-proclaimed “racist†and Gulfport Gabber reporter is the subject of a profile done by Rodney Thrash, a black journalist with the Times. Just as the debate seemed to be dying down, this article is already the firestorm up again, possibly fiercer than before.
I first revealed Salustri’s admitted biases in an April blog entry written after my CL cover story about gentrification in Bartlett Park. At that time, “I Had A Dream,†was just a buried post on Salustri’s personal blog. Then, after talks with her Gabber editor Ken Reichart, the blog post was turned into a front-page article for the 15,000-circulation Pinellas County weekly. My subsequent blog post on that prompted a fierce Internet debate and an invite to Salustri to attend the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists’ June meeting.
The one thing that has piqued my interest throughout this whole debate is not Salustri’s newfound racism. The introspective journey of a white woman’s move to a predominantly black neighborhood reeks of predictability and tired stereotypes.
What utterly confuses me is why a journalist would readily admit to being a racist, perhaps without even fully knowing what that word means, and then expect to break into an African-American beat.
As the Gabber tries to expand its Midtown coverage, I’m curious to see how the black residents, neighborhood association presidents and city officials will take to her snooping around their ‘hoods, no matter how good her intentions were in writing the piece.
June 21st, 2007 at 1:08 pm
What utterly confuses me is why a journalist would readily admit to being a racist, perhaps without even fully knowing what that word means
THAT says it all.
I didn’t feel she had good intentions. I felt she was angry that some guy had stolen her scooter. I wish he had been white. We could go back to real life, already.
It doesn’t smack of sincerity to me. As well, when she commented at my blog she chastised me for citing a conversation between a black friend and myself but at her own blog it’s then okay to cite a conversation with her black neighbor.
Does this make her black neighbor more credible than my black friend?
It makes her look foolish. Cathy, that is.
I am astounded at the st pete times for putting this on it’s cover. More astounding? Elijah dukes mother just took top billing. that’s enquirer stuff.
Better yet was the Tampa Trib giving voice to the wife of the latin king guy. What the hell?
The blacks and whites should be up in arms. We’re never given the opportunity to stand by OUR men on the front pages of the MSM. (just kidding)
It’s not fair.(again, just kidding)
Neither is it fair that a white man can run over a black man and they call it justified.
No one spoke to THAT parent.
He was all alone in that trial.
If I felt it was sincere and not an attempt to drive hatred I would feel better about it.
BUT, to me, it feels like a smokescreen. There’s a war and any number of huge things going on that the paper is not COVERING.
And, I’ll cite my favorite current example: A congressman of the United States has issued articles of Impeachment against the VICE President of the United States. This is historic and gravely important.
Where is the MSM on this??
Even fox covering it.
Meantime, back at the ranch the population is expected to be beige by 2000 something. what will race-baiters do for a living then?
Fight the imaginary war on terror?
June 22nd, 2007 at 4:59 am
I read Salustri’s article today and it made me angry with nothing but hateful rage, after Don Imus, the racial circle jerk that revolved around an issue of common basic respect for college kids playing their hardest in a championship game and Imus’s “flipping the script’ and making the issue about black male sexism in popular culture instead of hs nearly 40 years of unabated racism and sexism now we have this white woman who calls herself a ‘racist’ because she lost a
weed wacker
sandals
scooter
ladder
she now hates black people . Three weeks ago while waiting to for a ride after work I had 5 police cars pull up on me and for the second time in 20 years I had guns drawn on me . My crime, waiting for my ride to pick me up, after my friend came and talked to the cops after I was raging with nothing but anger after I told them I was waiting for my ride she said it was because I looked suspect because of some robbies by Black Males. I have to swallow my pride and anger but I have not been back to work or outside in nearly 3 weeks because I realized that if the next white person in any way however innocent would have bothered me I would have either killed him/her or sent them to the hospitial because I hand nothing but rage and hate because of the continual lifetime crap I as a black male have to put up with in this society from people like her and the rest of the 299 million SOBS I have to deal with in our lives.
I am certian that Bill Maxwell will write an article Sunday with sympathy and blame Blacks in tampa for making Salustri a racist because some 19 y.o. idiot and other criminals stole her belongings in Bartlett Park. I am sorry she can and should move to a safer neighborhood but some Black Men feel just like me are sick and tired of White folks who cry ‘reverse racism’ because some black person called them a racist word or look at them with utter contempt, or because she was robbed and some kid waved to his family. We never get a platform to air of anger or concerns because it might be too anti- P.C. for Americans of all stripes to handle the depths of our anger and utter contempt towards the people of this society.
If Slaustri and Thrash wanted dialouge on race and crime they got it and I don’t feel sorry for her “white angst” one bit because she has white privledge and can move to a safe place without being bothered but unlike her, I have don’t any peace of mind I can’t listen to my music and block out the world or separate from whites because my skin color is more important than my character unlike the phony – ass rhetoric that comes from White People’s mouth I have to deal with whites and wear a mask and hide my rage whether I like it or not and that’s life for some Black Men in America.
You may call me a racist after this but I could care less because it takes one to know one doesn’t it.
June 22nd, 2007 at 8:03 pm
I have lived in SP for five years, and during this time I have watched as the crime and drugs have taken over.
I live in the “Uptown Area” which I have heard was cleaned up compared to what it used to be. The area now is crack and crime ridden. I’m a white woman who has a dog….and I very thankful I do. My dog has alerted me to many men, all black who have wanted to break in or steal something off my porch. Many things have been stolen even in open daylight. I’ve had blacks doing drugs on my porch……and in front of the apt..
My take on all this……SP has a huge problem…..that no one in the city seams to want to deal with. Instead building condos and townhouses seems to be number one thing to do. Meanwhile the decent, lawbiding, working hard, people become targets of crime………So, my solution is to move out of state…….after living in Fla for 30 years……I cant take it any longer. The blacks here seem to have a free run of drugs and crime. SP police when called do not even respond. And when they do …its like you hope you get someone that has a brain. Try shopping at the local Save-A- Lot on 9th st……..its like your shopping in the getto.
I’m over it and I relate to Cathy’s feelings……..some can call it racist….i call it self preservation of my sanity.
June 25th, 2007 at 10:23 am
Ms Gernon proves my point, Thank god I have purchased a gun because I am wary of white people and will defend myself against their tryanny. If that Dago Guilliani wins office next year I will stock up on every permit to defend myself against the cops, white racists like Salustri and Gernon and any psycho and criminal of any race. I blame the black elites and people like MLK who thought that whites were good at heart and their liberal allies . We should have listened to Malcolm X and other black nationalists and fought violently for a nation/state on U.S. soil. Everytime I have to go out I have to deal with White America now thanks to your gun laws and those cops, now I have a permit and will defend myself against whites like Slaustri and other conservatives.
June 26th, 2007 at 10:51 am
Geez, Cathy. Great job you did here.
Maybe you can single-handedly drag the whole country back to before
women’s suffragage TOO.
Eric, Giuliani will never make it to the Presidency. Over the dead bodies of too many liberals which I’m sure they have no qualms about since they’ve killed off a number of us.
Just try to remember that lots of white guys in tampa have been at the end of a gun for just speaking out to change what is being done to you and to others. One of my friends was hauled out of his car and surrounded because ‘he drove a car just like a murder suspect’ — another was yanked out of his car and beaten about half to death by latino cops. AND white cops. Still another was accused of watching small children at the park. Which, by the way, is not illegal and wasn’t happening either.
So, please don’t blame it on color. Maybe it’s because you speak up. Some pretty shitty stuff happens when people SPEAK UP. Martin Luther King, Bobby and Jack Kennedy, Ghandi, Princess Diana, the list goes on and on and on.
It’s not black/white it’s THEM against US.
The more they are able to keep the working class divided the easier it is to keep robbing us and taking things from us.
Cathy is great, isn’t she?? Giving permission for every other closet racist in America to pretend they are just having ‘these emerging feelings’.
LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey, Cathy — when you manage to drag the country back to before suffragage, will you be happy???
For christ’s sake.
June 26th, 2007 at 11:20 am
Here from Racialicious…
ED: Who’s going to defend us from you, Eric? Being racist back doesn’t solve a damn thing – so leave the epithets and threats to the racists, lest you become.. shucks, Too late. You have nothing to fear from my white family members, but evidently, they have something to fear from you.
Tammy Grenon – I think you need to look around more. Stealing is linked to poverty, drugs, and immature ethics (the “want-take-have” mentality) – none of that is innate or based on ethnicity. I know a ton of poor white neighborhoods here in PA where you can’t leave things out. And last time I checked, there were a lot more white junkies than minority junkies in the US, just based on sheer demographics. It’s not just your community, it’s the whole damn country.
June 26th, 2007 at 6:35 pm
Eric,
I’m disappointed you chose to use Malcolm X’s legacy to support your arguement when it is obvious you know very little about his beliefs or mission. He supported separation “by any means necessary” when he was just out of prison and deeply under the influence of Elijah Muhammad and his faction of the Nation of Islam. However, his life experience and the eventual acceptance of the Elijah’s dysfunctional tactics and deeply flawed leadership forced him to accept that “by any means necessary” was a self-centered mission doomed to fail. It was a lie. How sadly ironic that his creed of promoting a seemless culture based on love over hate and dialog over violence led to his death at the hands of his own people. I’ve studied his teachings for 17 years and he was an outstanding world leader that we are all blessed to have as an example in our lives. I hope you will someday reconsider your decision about the gun and devote your energy to learning more about how races can live together in harmony. The world could us more people with your level of passion to help close racial divisions with communication instead of creating them with violence
June 27th, 2007 at 2:30 am
Wild! Wild! My neighbor in Argentina stole my work boots and now I just can’t look at them damn Argentines the same…
As Immortal Technique put it:
My enemy is not the average white man, it’s not the kid down the block or the kids I see on the street; my enemy is the white man I don’t see: the people in the white house, the corporate monopoly owners, fake liberal politicians those are my enemies. The generals of the armies that are mostly conservatives those are the real Mother-Fuckers that I need to bring it to, not the poor, broke country-ass soldier that’s too stupid to know shit about the way things are set up.
In fact, I have more in common with most working and middle-class white people than I do with most rich black and Latino people. As much as racism bleeds America, we need to understand that classism is the real issue. Many of us are in the same boat and it’s sinking, while these bougie Mother-Fuckers ride on a luxury liner, and as long as we keep fighting over kicking people out of the little boat we’re all in, we’re gonna miss an opportunity to gain a better standard of living as a whole.
In other words, I don’t want to escape the plantation I want to come back, free all my people, hang the Mother-Fucker that kept me there and burn the house to the god damn ground. I want to take over the encomienda and give it back to the people who work the land.
…viva la revolution…
June 28th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
Eric wrote :
“I would have either killed him/her or sent them to the hospitial because I hand nothing but rage and hate”
Way to go! You just reinforced the stereotype of the stupid violent black man!!!!
June 28th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
I was raised to be “liberal” and taught “we are all the same”.
I became a “racist” after being violently attacked 5 times by black men. These attacks were not even robberies, just unprovoked attacks. In one of these attacks I was stabbed 4 inches deep in my neck and almost died.
Don’t try that tired old “you hate blacks for the color of their skin” BS.
I know many people from India who have skin much darker than most American blacks, yet these Indians are far more intelligent and civilized than just about every black I have ever had dealings with (which has been a lot).
Black men and their stupid violent behaviour were the only things that ever made me a “racist”. I too went through an agonizing period of transition from “tolerant liberal” to “racist”, and it is all because of BLACK MALE CRIME.
June 28th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
I used to love diversity and multi-culturalism – I’m fed up with it. It’s the biggest scam in America.
Sure, there are good decent black people, but maybe 10% of them are. That’s a bad return on investment. 90% bad, thuggish, gang-banger wannabes.
Most people don’t see any problem getting a divorce to get out of a bad relationship … well … this is a bad relationship … it’s time we divorce diversity and to our separate ways.
Black folk can go back to Africa, no one’s stopping them. They could be around their kinsmen and women, celebrated and not discriminated. It doesn’t make sense to me why you’d want to hang around people that you felt hated you.
June 29th, 2007 at 7:07 pm
Anytime Abe, I now have my gun and will use it against people like you Slaustri and Tuthseeker. Like Bin Laden I am ready for white people like you, Neo- Nazis, Guillani the police and other people like you. The right to bear arms works both ways.
If I can find some hollow points.
June 29th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
Now Abe and truthseeker know that if we ever meet I will deal with you people like I would deal with Skinheads, Neo- Nazis, white conservatives and police officers. With a gun and warning “If you step to me in any way that I deem a threat against my life I will defend myself and take your life”.
That’s how I deal with enemies of law- abiding black people like myself and others not trying to appeal to the majority’s sense of right and wrong. She fears black men I fear white people as a whole now. She is being honest about her feelings unlike many whites in this country. Lyonside, there is no need to have a conversation on race anymore we know we stand on race in America.
July 1st, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Eric, you are going to “shoot yourself in the foot”.
I have never threatened you or any other black person.
You, on the other hand, have now threatened to kill me because I said that the violent behaviour of many black men has made me be afraid of them.
You are threatening me with violence because I said black men are violent!!!!
Way to PROVE the stereotype of the stupid, impulsive violent black man.
July 4th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
Those Black Men should have killed you that night Abe, I would have given them a medal, dug Johnnie Cochran up from the grave and pay for their defense of killing you white boy and would have pissed and shited on your corpse.
HAPPY NATIONAL CRACKER DAY abe !!!!!!!
July 5th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
eric daniels is just another Internet Tough Guy Just type it into Google if you want a definition. Most likely not even black, but even if so, impotent enough to think threatening anonymous strangers on the Internet somehow validates him. It might be funny if it wasn’t so tragic. Too bad his energy is directed at being part of the problem instead of working toward a solution.
August 5th, 2007 at 10:37 am
DO YOU THINK TROY KELL (RACIST ) DONE ANY 1 A FAVOUR KILLING 2 BLACKS ??
August 11th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
ERIC DANIELS WHO ARE YOU COME TO ME PLZ WANA CHAT