All posts by Amok

blog, news, politics

In death, Corazon Aquino becomes spirit of Philippine democracy

I’ll always see Cory Aquino as the demure amateur thrust into the limelight.

I first saw her in 1983 in the Santo Domingo Church in the Philippines. I was there for KRON-TV/ San Francisco doing a story for the NBC network. I was covering the funeral of Aquino’s late husband the charismatic Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, the former journalist and Philippine Senator who was considered the main foe of Philippine autocrat Ferdinand Marcos.

Cory Aquino wore a black, not yellow dress, as she took to the vestibule in mourning and asked the entire country  to “not let Ninoy die in vain.”

She then led a crowd of at more than a million people through the streets of Manila in what was a magnificent funeral procession and a harbinger of the “People Power” revolution that would take place within three years.

Cory Aquino didn’t do half bad, really, as political wives go.

The feelings for Benigno Aquino and the negative feelings for Marcos were so strong, that the momentum was set up for anyone who dared to stand in the spotlight.

Cory Aquino was it by default.

She had enough in her to inspire the millions ready for change to boldly stand with her in 1986 against the dictator. This was the peaceful revolution known as People Power. The assassination, the distraught situation of the Philippine people, and the unwillingness of the country to accept a fraudulent Marcos election bestowed on Aquino a kind of  sainthood. Cory was the Philippines patron saint of democracy.

That was Cory Aquino’s ideal role. She was perfect at that.

But as president, she was a bit lacking.

In interviews, she admitted she had no real idea what she was doing. The devout Catholic had her sincerity, her earnestness. But we learned that public policy is not built on prayer alone. Aquino did manage to survive and keep things together, no small task considering that by the time she left office in 1992, she had survived six coup attempts.

The real disappointment of her reign, however, was not that Cory couldn’t do it, but that the Filipino people who thrust her into power couldn’t do it. With Marcos gone, the deck was merely reshuffled among the governing class. The Ins were Outs. The Outs were In. Net change: Zero.

Exiled leaders came home to their lost fortunes. Former leaders came to America, or accepted lesser posts. The poor did not/could not rise. The country’s collective fate did not improve.

Unfortunately, it’s still debatable if the Philippines is better off now than it was under Marcos.

Since Aquino left office, the Philippines has been reliving watered down versions of its past. Corruption is dialed back, but not eliminated. A bad president (Estrada) is thrown out by “mini-people power,” and is replaced by another oligarch, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Arroyo, who was with President Obama this past week, is the anti-Cory in every way. Cory wore yellow. Arroyo wore red.

It’s safe to say Arroyo is no Cory Aquino.

I’ve called Arroyo Marcos Lite. All the taste of the former dictator, but with fewer calories.

Even Cory Aquino marched in protests that called for Arroyo’s resignation.

Ironically, Cory Aquino’s death may actually make her an even more powerful force in such a devoutly Catholic country.

Death should only solidify Aquino’s role as the spirit of a democratic ideal for the Philippines.

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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.

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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.

blog, diversity, news, race

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?