All around the world, abortion rights are increasingly seen as an individual choice, not an area for government intervention.

Criminal Penalties for Abortion Rejected Across the Globe
Jill Filipovic

When you live in a country where abortion rights remain a contentious issue in every election and anti-choice activists are emboldened enough to demonstrate against the birth control pill, there are a lot of reasons to be pessimistic about the future of reproductive freedom. But internationally, there’s a glimmer of good news: Around the globe, individual citizens support abortion rights, even when their own governments criminalize abortion.

The Program on International Policy Attitudes surveyed men and women in 18 countries that collectively make up 59 percent of the world’s population. In 17 out of the 18 countries, a majority of respondents rejected criminal penalties for abortion. In nine of the 18 countries, majorities said that abortion is an individual decision that governments should butt out of. Of those nine countries which thought the government should intervene in abortion rights, only a majority in one — Indonesia — supported criminal sanctions for women who terminate their pregnancies.

Have pro-choice values been embraced ’round the world? No. But the effects that anti-choice policies have on public health and family life around the world are difficult to deny. It’s also clear that the legal status of abortion has no correlation with the abortion rate in any given country — that is, outlawing abortion doesn’t mean that it’s less common. In fact, some of the countries with the highest abortion rates in the world are places where the procedure is totally outlawed. By contrast, the countries with the lowest abortion rates in the world have a few things in common: Safe, legal and accessible (often free, covered by national health care systems) abortion and contraception, plus comprehensive sexual health education and a culture that treats sex as both a pleasure and a responsibility, not a shameful act. Other things that correlate: The fact that lack of access to contraception jacks up the abortion rate, and the fact that illegal abortion often means unsafe abortion, which leads to significantly higher rates of maternal injury or death.

It’s not hard to see why an increasing number of people would support abortion rights.

For the rest of the story, click here. 

Muslim Woman Demands Obama Apology

A Detroit Muslim said that she was refused a seat behind Barack Obama’s podium at a campaign rally because she was wearing the traditional head scarf. What do you think?

Kambri Spencer,
Systems Analyst
“I thought we agreed to keep the Muslims in the nation’s attic until the election was over.”

Christian Bauer,
Sculptor
“I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t let anybody sit behind me in Detroit

Doug Simmins,
Store Detective
“Maybe she just wasn’t worthy of sitting behind the head Muslim.”

Today’s photo of the day also doubles as our Embarrassing Negro Moment. WTF?

Today’s video of the day comes from Soulja Boy, who recently recorded this video response to Ice T. For those who don’t know, Ice T recently blamed Souljah for “singlehandedly killing hip-hop”.

Melissa Harris-Lacewell

Marc,

I am not sure what took me over the edge.  Maybe it is FoxNews referring to Michelle Obama as Barack’s “baby mama”.  Maybe it is the R. Kelly acquittal.  Maybe it is just having to share blog space so close to Jimi Izrael’s unrelenting misogyny.  One thing is for sure, I have had enough of how we talk about, think about and treat black women as objects deserving sexual ridicule and abuse.

 The myth of black women as lascivious, seductive and insatiable has consistently been used to create moral space for everybody else while limiting the lives of sisters.  By framing black women as hypersexual breeders, Southern enslavers could justify the abuse of black women and the control of their fertility to maximize plantation profits. Today our government can use the idea about black women’s warped sexuality to promote state control of black reproduction in an  effort to  “reduce the welfare rolls.”  

Of course black communities are equally guilty.  Black men, not white, are the main perpetrators of sexual assault against black girls and women.  African  American culture from the music, to the church, to the academy, is quick to define black girls and women as promiscuous, “nasty” and “fast”. Far too many of our own folks argue that black women’s sexuality and the children it produces are destroying the community’s values.

I am really sick of it. The deliberate and painful characterizations of us are everywhere. Now, Marc, I am no prude. I don’t think we need to lower hemlines and use PC language in order to set the world in order.  Quite the opposite; I am convinced that the politics of respectability is always a failure.  The vast majority of black women try to live with dignity and modesty; to make choices about their own sexual partners; control their own fertility and work to form lasting, loving relationships with men and with other women. But these choices occur in a context of profound degradation of black women’s characters and real threats to black women’s physical safety.   The real lives of black women make little dent in the ugly lies told about us.  

In other words, I don’t think we can fix this problem by being “good girls.”  I think most sisters are good girls in every meaningful moral sense. The issue is a deeply racist and sexist culture that sees us with a warped vision.  

I am sick of it. I am sick of seeing black women’s sexual vulnerability treated as a joke, a personality flaw, a parenting failure or a genetic trait. I am tired of black women being silent and complicit in the face of appalling and vicious attacks on our sisters, daughters and nieces.   

Enough all ready.

Melissa

Marc Lamont Hill

Melissa,

Thanks so much for your comments yesterday. Like you, I was overwhelmed by the recent barrage of  reminders that black girls still aren’t worth very much in society. For me, the most painful reminder of this reality was Friday’s not-guilty verdict in the R. Kelly trial.

For the first time that I can remember, I was actually disappointed that a black man wasn’t convicted and incarcerated. Why? Because, like most black people, I have little doubt about R. Kelly’s guilt. Although I hoped that Kelly’s trial would be fair, I knew that its outcome would not hinge upon his guilt or innocence, but upon the prosecution’s ability to prove what we already know. Unfortunately, this informal consensus has failed to translate into any credible reaction from the black community. In this sense, R. Kelly has become a metaphor for the black community’s tragic indifference to the welfare of black female bodies.

Unlike the allegations against Michael Jackson or even OJ Simpson, which remain hotly debated by many observers, the R. Kelly scandal is generally believed to be true by most observers. From standup comedians to barbershop conversations, most black people will happily concede the point that R. Kelly has had inappropriate relationships with underage girls. Beginning with his mysterious affair with 15-year-old singer Aaliyah to the now-infamous sex tape, R. Kelly’s pedophilic proclivities are a taken-for-granted assumption within the black public sphere. Nevertheless, R. Kelly has received a virtual free ride within the Black community.

Since being leaked to the public, the videotape showing R. Kelly (or his evil doppelganger) having sex with a teenager has spread like wildfire. Through millions of purchases and Internet downloads, the “R. Kelly Tape” has become a lucrative commodity in the ‘hood. To be sure, such consumption is not restricted to black public culture, as artists like Tommy Lee, Dustin Diamond, and Fred Durst have proven to be equally profitable in the “reality porn” industry that has become a staple of 21st century life. Unlike the aforementioned celebrities, all of whom were adults, the R. Kelly Tape is willfully marketed as a sexual encounter between a man and a child. By categorizing it as another “celebrity sex tape” rather than child pornography, the viewing public is able to sidestep its own culpability. As Mark Anthony Neal points out, such maneuvers conspire to conceal the black community’s own failure to prevent or appropriately respond to the sexual abuse of black girls.

In the 72 months following his arrest, R. Kelly has sustained, if not increased, his popularity among black consumers. While he lost some of his crossover appeal –prior the scandal, “I Believe I Can Fly” was set to become the next pop standard—Kelly’s music continues to rule the urban Top-40 music charts. This success cannot be merely attributed to collective amnesia, since Chocolate Factory, which debuted at number at #1 on the Billboard charts and has sold more than 3 million copies in the United States, was released barely a year after the scandal broke.

R. Kelly’s prolific sales numbers are particularly staggering given the overwhelming number of young black women that comprise R. Kelly’s fan base. Unlike many gangster rap artists, whose prolific sales are often attributed to voyeuristic suburbanites, Kelly’s actions are being financed by the very people being abused on the tape. As a father, this literally makes me cry.

Of course, R. Kelly’s popularity among consumers is only possible because of the continued support of his industry peers. To date, Kelly has yet to be banned from any major award shows, even those sponsored by black owned and operated companies. Since the release of the sex tape, R. Kelly has continued to produce, write, and perform with dozens of mainstream artists. Even image conscious superstars like Jay-Z and Usher have collaborated with Kelly, largely because there are few stakes attached to working with someone accused of abusing young black girls. Now, with an acquittal in his back pocket, the sky is the limit for Kelly’s career.

Another measure of the black community’s indifference is the lack of outcry from traditional black leadership. Despite the existence of tangible evidence, far more than what was available during the Duke rape case, there have been no calls for protest marches, economic boycotts, or other sanctions against R. Kelly and his backers. When questioned on the subject, many leaders have suggested that they are “waiting until he gets his day in court.” Such a response is both disingenuous and ahistorical, given the breakneck speed at which the black activist community has responded to the videotaped beatings of black men like Sean Bell and Rodney King. Sadly, the videotaped abuse of black women does not warrant the same outrage. After all, how different would the public outcry be if the girls were white instead of black? More interestingly, how different would the black community’s response be if the videotape featured little boys instead of girls?

It is not my intention to suggest that the black community is uniquely or exclusively engaged in the mistreatment of black girls. Without question, the exploitation of black female bodies is a quintessentially American practice inaugurated by white patriarchal authority. Still, as we enter the 21st century, the black community must come to terms with its own failure to take seriously the plight of black women. As the R. Kelly verdict reminds us, however, we have a long way to go.