Archive for July, 2009
Inconvenient moment: Obama misses chance to have the “national” conversation
The Beer Summit? The “teachable moment”? What happened?
What we’ve learned is when the Obama folks want to kill a story, it gets done. Not any different from the campaign. So with the health care debate flagging and approval ratings dipping, this was just not the time to have that national conversation on race many of us want to see happen.
The Gates/Crowley affiar was a real opportunity. But as soon as Obama could frame the issue to his satisfaction, it seems he couldn’t get rid of it fast enough.
Once again, the “race avoider” reverted back to form. Obama prefers race in a minor key. With a deft political hand he soothed over his stupid comment on the Gates arrest by offerring a beer. But then he dashed our hopes by diminishing its importance. He kept the Thursday meeting private and offerred up to the press some diplomatic theatrics with the red-suited President of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
It all aided in Obama’s slieight of hand.The man prefers to stay focused on his agenda.
Race? It returns to the backburner for now until another Gates/Crowley-type moment bubbles up in America.
Obama modeling a new way to talk about race in America
President Obama was pitch perfect with his comeback to the reactions to his remark that the Cambridge cops acted “stupidly” in the arrest of Harvard scholar Skip Gates.
The cop in question did. But apparently so did Gates.
It has provided Obama with a nice set-up to position himself as the grown up and to model a new way to talk about race in America.
I’m still surprised how Obama blew up his health care press conference in the first place by even mentioning the Gates arrest, and then responding as casually as he did with the “acting stupidly” comment.
But Friday, Obama was back to being the winning politico. Normally, Obama addresses race by not addressing it. Race is an obvious part of who he is. Race is subliminal. But as president he has other business. I’ve dubbed him a “race-avoider.” The tactic has served him well.
During the campaign, all the baiting by the right, and then from Rev. Wright, never rattled Obama. In fact, the speech he gave during the Wright situation, elevated him to a point in the race that Clinton could never recover from.
Now with the Gates situation, Obama acknowledged his poor diction, but comes back to position himself as our consoling leader, the grown-up, inviting the two parties to talk. Beer at Camp David, a summit on race?
It’s the perfect way to defuse this particular hot button issue, partially because of the two parties involved. We have Gates, the Harvard professor and Sgt. James Crowley, who actually teaches cadets on racial profiling.
To get to a better place on race, you need rational people talking, and working things through. You don’t get that if people are angry, stand-offish, scared to address each other
A typical race incident is normally an emotion filled event full of violence and rage.That’s the thing that gets people out on the street in vigils and protest.
Yet the Gates story didn’t inspire race riots or public demonstrations. He was a member of the intelligentsia, the elite. When things happen to them, they don’t riot, they talk in court. Or they just talk.
The whole things has the potentially to inspire something this country really needs. A talk with the president and Crowley is one thing. Could it inspire a national teach-in on things like the history of racism, or the Kerner Report? People under 40 weren’t even born for that.
A teach-in? Beer-optional? A new America seeking a better way to talk about race, may be in need of just that.
The Skip Gates arrest: Is this the national conversation on race we were meant to have?
I still think the Skip Gates incident is an example of the kind of racism we have now in America. If Gates wasn’t black, the officer in question would have been a lot more courteous to a man such as Gates. But Gates doesn’t look like a distinguished professor. Take away his Harvard ID and would he look like a crackhead looking to lift a TV in some expensive home?
That’s how far we have come on race in America.
I do want to be fair to the cop. So let’s take color out of the equation.
Then what do you have?
A pure battle of egos. The police officer and the distinguished professor, each of whom was pulling a little one-upmanship on the other.
A prominent black scholar gets asked to come out of his house by an officer. He knows the history of race in America and gets irritated as hell. He calls the chief of police on his cell phone.
Meanwhile, the officer at the scene reacts to said prominent professor pulling rank with the only thing he can do to show his authority and preserve his alpha maleness. He makes a meaningless arrest, and thus documents his abuse of power.
At the core, it’s all ego, more than race, though race was there for sure, like tossing gasoline in a field of straw.
Get rid of race, and you still have an ego problem. And isn’t that the center of all our problems, especially when it comes to power and the exertion of power in unfair ways over those with less power (who more often than not are people of color)?
So now that the Senate isn’t going to pass health care by August, maybe we’ve just been given something to chew on as a nation on vacation.
When Eric Holder called for honest frank discussions on race during Black History month, all he needed was something like the Gates arrest to kick things off. It’s actually quite fitting for those summer discussions at the beach house. Over mojitos or a few brews, go ahead ask your friends who they think was right: Gates? The cop?
Hot enough for you?
Henry Louis “Skip” Gates arrest is the new barometer for racism in America
People trying to make sense of the Skip Gates arrest story should know there are two Cambridge’s in Massachusetts. There’s the one where typical “town and gown” conflicts are the rule. And then there’s the Cambridge divided by race and class and snap judgments are made before you can pull out your Harvard ID.
For that reason, I was always surprised when white friends of mine forever downplayed their Harvard connection, even to this day. I always was quick to raise it at all times.
It’s stereotype insurance. My friends’ half-hearted attempts at modesty are quaint. Me, I needed the protection.
Keeps you from having to do a lot of awkward explaining, i.e., “Hey I’m not here in a tuxedo as one of the waiters, I’m a damn dinner guest!” In other words, I belong here. It’s not always apparent to observers.
If people could only see Gates and realize he was the distinguished professor and head of the African American studies department, then we’d all be fine. But that’s not what you see in America when you see a person of color, or more specifically a black man, who looks as if he is trying to break into a home. You don’t think, it’s the black man’s home, of course. Because they couldn’t afford the home, unless it was a Section 8 rental, perhaps. You think, he must want the television set inside for drugs, or maybe he’s looking for sex. You know what they say about black men and sex. You think those thoughts and you call 911 as quickly as one woman did, a citizen on the watch, which brought police out to Gates’ door. When the Cambridge cops arrived, they didn’t do much better than the woman. They were suspicious of Gates even after he was inside his own home.
He just didn’t whip up that Harvard ID fast enough.
I visited Harvard in May, and actually was struck by how diverse it had become. There were Asians, Latinos, blacks, whites, it was a different kind of place from my days as an undergraduate. It seemed less colonial, more modern, almost as diverse as California. But Harvard can be its own oasis. Walk outside of Harvard Square toward Central Square and the Charles, and the diversity of Harvard clashes with the urban reality of Cambridge. It’s not necessarily crime-ridden. It’s just crowded, gritty and very urban. Full of life. Real people, real problems, often divided by race and class. That’s the world of the Cambridge cop. They see a lot of life.
Because of that, it’s a bit rough to say they acted as the president said “stupidly” the night they interacted with Gates. They may not have realized when they crossed back into the H-Zone.
But this is how a lot of Americans act when they see a person of color doing something that doesn’t make sense to them. It’s just downright puzzling to them. And then they react to the stereotypes they know. The familiar racist ones. Not the new ones of accomplishment in a time when a black man calls the White House home.
At the Wednesday night press conference, when President Obama talked about as if it were him breaking into his ‘home,” he joked, “I’d be shot.” There was laughter. But I didn’t laugh. There was more truth there than joke.
Could the Gates affair have been avoided? Maybe if Skip Gates was wearing his Harvard ID on his forehead. But probably not. We just don’t live in that America yet.
A NEW BAROMETER FOR RACISM IN AMERICA?
Skip Gates is a kind of hero of mine. The Afro-American Studies department was always good at Harvard. But Gates made it great and made ethnic studies both hip, intellectually rigorous and respectable. No basket-weaving here.
So what about Asian American studies at Harvard? A South Asian friend of mine who was an undergrad with me at Harvard, liked it so much he’s been a tenured professor there for over 20 years. I asked him why Harvard doesn’t have an Asian American studies program like the African American program, and he said matter-of-factly, “Because Asians don’t have a Skip Gates.”
He was serious. Gates is respected, and he has power. Asian Americans aren’t even close to that level in the academic world.So I’ve always wished we had an upfront scholar like a Gates advocating for Asian America. The Cambridge cops actually did Gates a new lease on his academic life. When Gates gets treated like he was by the local cops, they’ve just handed him his next best-seller. They’ve made him into a 21st Century Rosa Parks. Overall, the whole thing is humiliating, sure. But it’s also a sad reality check. If it can happen to Gates in a time when a Barack Obama lives in America’s house, what more to the poor, the powerless, the less distinguished? Nothing has changed.
For some reason, I just doubt you’d see the Cambridge cops give the same treatment to had someone like the late John Kenneth Galbraith, or former Harvard president Larry Summers lost their keys and had to jimmy a door.
It’s no sin to be a forgetful white person. But a black person with no key? Katie, bar the door. Skip Gates is trying to get into his own living room.
Here’s the way it is: TV news has never been quite the same after Walter Cronkite
Posted by Amok in blog, journalism, news on July 17th, 2009
As a former TV news guy, I’m saddened by the news that Walter Cronkite has died at age 92.
Hard to imagine that before anchors in all their high def glory stood up to read the news all we really needed at night was someone warm, friendly and trustworthy to sit in front of us and tell us how everything was.
Good or bad, Cronkite told it all straight, in a non-digital world. He was a “just the facts guy,” who popularized the term “avuncular.” Avuncu-what? That’s just a guy who is like an uncle, a man who had your trust from the word go. What Uncle Sam did for recruiting, Uncle Walter did for the country and for TV news. He was the industry’s face. And then it all took a turn when TV glammed up for ratings.
I met Cronkite once after a dinner in Washington. It is one of the few pictures I ever sought out and kept from my time there. I was at NPR at the time, a Filipino American anchoring “All Things Considered,” imagine that. I’d look at that picture whenever I questioned something I did or an approach on a story. What would Walter do? For journalists of my day, Cronkite represented a standard. His picture remains on my desk.
I never quite understood why Cronkite had to be forced out of the anchor chair. In my mind, no one has ever quite matched what Uncle Walter brought to the table.
For all the technology and all the hair spray, something has always been missing. Anderson Cooper has something. But avuncular ain’t it.
So tonight Cronkite makes news as his life fades to black. It’s been years since he’s been on TV. But the image is indelible. Walter Cronkite will always be my anchorman.
And that’s the way it is.
No-hitter by Sanchez “unlikely”? Not when you’re given a chance to shine
Posted by Amok in blog, diversity, everything else, news on July 11th, 2009
Here’s a lesson we can all take away from the magnificent no-hitter thrown last night by the Giant’s Jonathan Sanchez.
The baseball was great last night. Near perfect. But the non-baseball lesson was even better.
Give people with talent a real opportunity, don’t give up on them, and eventually they will rise to their talent level.
In social terms, some people would call that a form of “affirmative action. “ It’s just about giving people who would ordinarily be ignored a chance to fulfill their maximum potential.
Before last night, the Giants almost gave up on Sanchez. Fans were calling for his head. The club needed a hitter and had a surplus of young arms. But apparently no GM was willing to trade for Sanchez or give him a chance.
The lefty was unceremoniously sent to baseball’s woodshed and demoted to the bullpen.
By every statistical standard, the Giants should have dumped Sanchez, a massive underachiever. If there was a less anal, bean-crunching GM in the league, Sanchez surely would have been dealt off before Friday night.
But circumstances like Randy Johnson going to the disabled list, left Sanchez as the Giants’ only option for a Friday start. They had to believe.
It was the opportunity a real gamer relishes. Sanchez, who has shown real glimpses of greatness inthe past, perhaps every third inning he pitched, was set up to prove himself.
It was the opportunity everyone with a strong belief in their talent relishes.
All you need is the chance. Or someone to give you one. After the game, Sanchez mentioned how he put some extra time in with Giants pitching coach Dave Righetti. Rags certainly didn’t give up on Sanchez.
Last night, Sanchez emerged as a different pitcher. The hook and sink on all his pitches seemed to be guided to their spots perfectly. And the Padre hitters seemed totally mystified.
The game had its dramatic moments and disappointments. The Uribe error, the Rowand catch. All that and the Giants were hitting! The baseball part was great last night.
But the non-baseball parts were even better. Sanchez’ father was in the stands watching for the first time. And for the first time, it all came together for Sanchez.
When people with promise are given a chance to shine, they can and will.
The Giants extended Sanchez another chance, and he affirmed their belief and his own talent by throwing a gem, the first no-hitter in the majors this year.
It was nine innings for all of the Jonathan Sanchez’s in life, the ones often described as “unlikely.”
Imagine the amount of potential unfulfilled because people have been deemed “unlikely” all their lives.
You are only “unlikely” if you’re never given an opportunity.
But with a chance, you can surprise and amaze.
Surprising. Amazing.
That’s exactly what the Giants’ Jonathan Sanchez was at AT&T Park.
The Media and Michael Jackson: Welcome to the Jackson School of Law, Public Health and Race
Posted by Amok in blog, diversity, everything else, journalism, news, politics, race, sports on July 9th, 2009
I had to stop watching. The orgy over Michael Jackson was deserved to a point, and then with 24-hour cable channels pumping out to a “Thriller” beat, it just got embarrassing with the media practically pandering to the mass audience the story is attracting.
Leave it to the Wall Street Journal to put things in perspective. Wednesday’s front page featured above the fold horizontal photos of Uighurs and Hans! (The Uighars? Did they sing a cover of “I Want You Back”? ) Where was Jackson in the new hip Journal? MJ was in a small box, a photo of his coffin and a caption on the left under the masthead.
A triumph of journalistic restraint!
The story now unfolds like any other emotion-filled mega-story before it , i.e., the O.J. trial. that’s when the news became our de facto public school of law. O.J was our criminal law class. MJ is our our family law and probate class.
As we learn of the details of Jackson’s life, you’ll be asking yourself if you have a will or an estate plan. You can count on that. You wouldn’t want to end up in the mess the courts are about to untangle.
So the news will become part law school, part business school case study , and potentially a seminar in the Jackson school of public health; that is, if we ever during the course of the next few months discover what killed Jackson, what tormented him, and what he was running away to or from.
We have lots to look forward to!
Notice I have avoided taking the contrary approach like one blogger on Alternet which called Jackson an icon of mediocrity who wasn’t a good dancer, singer, musician. Like what’s the fuss? That’s an elitist approach, to which I’ll confess to using it in the past. But save that tack for denigrating mass love shown for Donny Osmond. Or at the passing of one of the Monkees.
Jackson was far too complex and gifted. And troubled.
His most complicated role that’s worth examining may well be the psychological toll race had on his psyche.
Jackson wanted to transcend race as if he were music and the dance, the universal forms that made him the King of Pop.
He couldn’t do that as a person, no matter how he tried. Jackson didn’t survive his fight against race and identity, no matter how he tried to transform himself.
But his music triumphed and that shall live forever.
Michael Jackson: America’s Princess Di?
I’ve heard the comparison today a few times, and as far as mass funeral media spectacles it appears appropriate–to a point.
But I’d say Michael is getting short-shrifted in the comparison.
Diana was born into her fame and dazzled the world with her beauty and humanity.
Michael was born with such immense musical gifts that simply had to be shared with the world. For once, here was a man whose overwhelming talent warranted extreme celebrity. It was the music that fueled his ginormous fame and touched all our hearts. When the music stopped, the notoriety and scandals took over. But all that noise is temporal, merely yesterday’s tabloids.
It’s the music that will live forever, to be discovered by future generations. You can’t stop the music.
That’s the tragedy with a life cut short.
Mere celebrity warrants 15- minutes of fame. No more.
But there was never a 15-minute clock on Michael Jackson.
With his infinite talent, celebrity truly was royalty.
The 4th of July: Celebrating the rebel in you
Proud to be an American of Asian descent? Or just proud to be here in the U.S. of A., free, but maybe not debt-free?
California’s giving out IOU’s, what can we give our creditors?
Before you blow off your safe and sane fireworks (from China) this week, or watch a replication of war played out in the night sky, just remember what a great thing revolutions are.
Where would we be without them?
Doing things the old way?
For some that could be a good thing, if you’re on the oppressor side of the equation, you’re likely wringing your hands in exile somewhere, dreaming of counter-revolution.
For the rest of us though, July 4th commemorates all the good revolution has brought.
Celebrate it vigorously! Go AMOK!
Sarah Palin resigns? Horrors! I could see it coming from my backyard…. (updated)
Sarah Palin to step down citing a desire to affect change outside of government, reports the NY Times.
What does that mean? She’s going to be some kind of renegade activist type with some non-profit. (I assure you, it’s not PETA).
Or maybe she just felt tired of being the butt of comedians’ jokes the last year.
It was clear from last year’s campaign that Palin was both too unpolished for the GOP, but also too real. She chafed under the limitations of handlers, talking points, and all the protocol. But who needs a loose cannon as your standard bearer? Palin isn’t the GOP’s answer. Unless she were to enroll in the “Dick Cheney Charm School for Politicians,” I doubt she would be viable for any higher office in the Lower 48 anytime in the future.
Politics did,however, give her celebrity, so she’s perfectly positioned not for the White House, but for some kind of reality TV or a talk show.
What does Rachel Ray have over Sarah Palin? Or “The View” girls?
Jay Leno called politics showbusiness for ugly people. Palin might have been too cute for the room. Ah, but showbiz. More fun. More money. Less explaining.
Power? Do you think Palin misses her chance to sit through sessions of Congress? Not unless she were able to shoot off a few shotgun rounds to wake up all the CSPAN viewers.
On the other hand, showbiz gives SP all the fame she wants , without any of the headache.
For sure, she won’t have to know how to say “Ahmadinejad” anymore.
And now she can market her Tina Fey impersonation.
UPDATE: July 4
As Alaskans celebrate their independence from Sarah Palin, the rest of us in the lower 48 are wondering what that spectacle was called a “Palin News Conference.” Was that her audition for some cable show?
Wow. If she wasn’t a “political leader” it would be OK. I’d love to see her a hearbeat away from Kelly Ripa’s seat next to Regis.
But what has she done by quitting? I think she’s said goodbye to serious politics … for now. The people who were stupid enough to put her up for VP may be stupid enough to put her in play again. But the country’s politcos would have to sink to new low to do that.
What’s tragic is hearing SP’s tortured logic in thinking she is doing some good for Alaska by quitting as a leader before her term is up. Now that takes some ballsy spin.
Either she’s running from something about to hit her hard. Or she’s running to something that is so lucrative and apolitical.
One thing, when the curtain rises on the next act, we will probably be watching.
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