Sundae treats served up by MultiCultClassics Minutes…
• Uncle Sam wants you — especially if you’re fluent in Arabic. Seems the government has lots of spy tapes that need translating, but not enough spy employees. Plus, there are plenty of covert efforts requiring bilingual experts. The pay is good, with five-figure signing bonuses. But the standards are high and complex. Don’t think a weekend listening to Rosetta Stone recordings will do the trick.
• Uncle Sam sort of wants you — especially if you’re willing to work hard for low wages to rebuild New Orleans. Illegal immigrants continue to flock to the decimated city, but the results are a mixed bag of controversies. The pay sucks, and certain employers really suck. Latinos are a prime target for mistreatment and even getting stiffed for wages. These folks would have an easier time and greater success by learning Arabic.
• Protesters continue to harass retailers like Wal-Mart for wishing customers “Happy Holidays” versus “Merry Christmas.” Fifty folks marched outside a Wal-Mart superstore in California, trying to stop shoppers and initiate boycotts. “It is insulting that Wal-Mart has chosen to ignore the reason for the season,” one religious fanatic argued. “Taking the word ‘Christmas’ out of the holiday implies there’s something sinful about it. ... This is a part of our culture.” Seems the protesters are being extreme in their interpretations, particularly when insisting it’s all “a part of our culture.” Exclusivity has never been the cornerstone of religions espousing positive values and beliefs. Plus, these protesters need to get a grip on reality. Retailers like Wal-Mart are based on servicing large groups of customers. If Wal-Mart started catering to exclusive audiences, they’d go out of business. Then even the protesters would be forced to stampede elsewhere for cheap plasma TVs and sterling silver jewelry.
• Protesting the holidays in New Zealand took a new twist. About 40 mostly drunken men in Santa suits stormed Auckland, robbing stores and fighting security guards. It was all part of an effort dubbed “Santarchy,” an alleged worldwide movement to protest Christmas’ commercialization. Santa Claus is coming to town — and he’s a vandalizing, thieving alcoholic.
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Essay 287
The following appeared in The New York Times…
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Elite French Schools Block the Poor’s Path to Power
By CRAIG S. SMITH
PARIS, Dec. 17 - Even as the fires smoldered in France’s working-class suburbs and paramilitary police officers patrolled Paris to guard against attacks by angry minority youths last month, dozens of young men and women dressed in elaborate, old-fashioned parade uniforms marched down the Champs-Élysées to commemorate Armistice Day.
They were students of the grandes écoles, the premier institutions of higher education here, from which the upper echelons of French society draw new blood. Few minority students were among them.
Nothing represents the stratification of French society more than the country’s rigid educational system, which has reinforced the segregation of disadvantaged second-generation immigrant youths by effectively locking them out of the corridors of power.
While French universities are open to all high school graduates, the grandes écoles - great schools - from which many of the country’s leaders emerge, weed out anyone who does not fit a finely honed mold. Of the 350,000 students graduating annually from French high schools, the top few grandes écoles accept only about 1,000, virtually all of whom come from a handful of elite preparatory schools.
Most of the country’s political leaders, on both the right and the left, come from the grandes écoles. President Jacques Chirac and his prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, studied at the National School of Administration, which has produced most of the technocrats who have run France for the last 30 years. Two opposition leaders, François Hollande and Laurent Fabius, did, too.
“It’s as if in the U.S., 80 percent of the heads of major corporations or top government officials came from Harvard Law School,” said François Dubet, a sociologist at the University of Bordeaux.
These schools - officially there are 200 but only a half dozen are the most powerful - have their roots in the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Empire. Just as the SAT’s were meant to give all American students an equal shot at top universities, the examination-based grandes écoles were developed to give the bourgeoisie a means of rising in a society dominated by the aristocracy.
It worked for nearly two centuries. Throughout the 19th century, French administrations drew establishment cadres from the loyal ranks of the grandes écoles, avoiding the universities, which, outside the control of the government establishment, they saw as potential pools of dissent.
Even in the 20th century, the merit-based system allowed young people from modest backgrounds to move up into the corridors of power.
But children of blue-collar workers, who made up as much as 20 percent of the student body of the top grandes écoles 30 years ago, make up, at best, 2 percent today. Few are minority students.
In the 1950’s, only a small proportion of French students pursued higher education, leaving room for a slice of the working classes to get into the schools, said Vincent Tiberj, a sociologist who studies social inequalities in France. Since then, the number of candidates for the schools has expanded far faster than the schools themselves.
At the same time, the channels leading into the schools have narrowed: the vast majority of students entering the grandes écoles today come from special two-year preparatory schools, which draw their students primarily from high schools in the country’s wealthiest neighborhoods. “The top five or six grandes écoles recruit students from fewer than 50 high schools across France,” said Richard Descoings, director of the elite Paris Institute of Political Studies, better known as Sciences Po.
Administrators at the grandes écoles say students who do not follow the focused, specialized curriculum of the preparatory schools have almost no chance of being accepted. And while, theoretically, top students from any high school in the country can apply for the preparatory schools, the system has become so rarefied that few people from working-class neighborhoods are even aware that the opportunity exists.
“There’s a lack of information, no one talked to us about the preparatory schools,” said Alexis Blasselle, 20, the daughter of working-class parents and now a student at the exclusive École Polytechnique. She learned of the preparatory schools by chance the summer after graduating from high school. “The solution isn’t to open up another avenue to get into the grandes écoles, but to make people aware of the possibility.”
Sciences Po (pronounced see-ahns po), alone among the elite schools, has opened a new avenue of entry for students. High schools from disadvantaged neighborhoods nominate students, and Sciences Po then gives them oral examinations for intellectual curiosity and critical thinking. This year, 50 students were admitted through the program, while 200 entered through the normal examination process.
The Conference of Grandes Écoles, an association of the 200 schools, has also started a program that reaches out to top students in working-class neighborhoods to help guide them through their high school years and better their chances of getting into a preparatory school.
But the top half-dozen grandes écoles, those that provide the country’s leaders in politics and business, remain more or less closed.
The barriers for second-generation immigrants are enormous. Schools in poor, often immigrant neighborhoods get the most inexperienced teachers, who usually move on as soon as they have gained enough tenure for a job in a better area.
The initial fork in the lives of many young people comes when they are about 13 and have to choose between a general course of study or vocational training. Many young second-generation immigrants are guided into technical classes or, at best, post-high-school associate degree programs in marketing or business that are of little help in finding a job.
Second-generation immigrants also often “live in an environment that is outside of French culture,” said Mr. Descoings of Sciences Po. “They are not in the proper social network. There isn’t the socialization that exists in a wealthy family in an exclusive neighborhood of Paris.”
Sitting outside Paul Éluard High School in Saint-Denis, one of the poorest suburbs north of Paris, Bélinda Caci, 16, calls the school guidance counselor “the head of disorientation,” saying that the school cares only about making sure that the students graduate, not what happens after that.
“To become part of this crème de la crème, you have to have benefited from a favorable social environment and education,” the sociologist, Mr. Dubet, said, calling graduates of the grandes écoles a sort of state nobility. “It’s like the Olympics; you have to begin very, very early.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Elite French Schools Block the Poor’s Path to Power
By CRAIG S. SMITH
PARIS, Dec. 17 - Even as the fires smoldered in France’s working-class suburbs and paramilitary police officers patrolled Paris to guard against attacks by angry minority youths last month, dozens of young men and women dressed in elaborate, old-fashioned parade uniforms marched down the Champs-Élysées to commemorate Armistice Day.
They were students of the grandes écoles, the premier institutions of higher education here, from which the upper echelons of French society draw new blood. Few minority students were among them.
Nothing represents the stratification of French society more than the country’s rigid educational system, which has reinforced the segregation of disadvantaged second-generation immigrant youths by effectively locking them out of the corridors of power.
While French universities are open to all high school graduates, the grandes écoles - great schools - from which many of the country’s leaders emerge, weed out anyone who does not fit a finely honed mold. Of the 350,000 students graduating annually from French high schools, the top few grandes écoles accept only about 1,000, virtually all of whom come from a handful of elite preparatory schools.
Most of the country’s political leaders, on both the right and the left, come from the grandes écoles. President Jacques Chirac and his prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, studied at the National School of Administration, which has produced most of the technocrats who have run France for the last 30 years. Two opposition leaders, François Hollande and Laurent Fabius, did, too.
“It’s as if in the U.S., 80 percent of the heads of major corporations or top government officials came from Harvard Law School,” said François Dubet, a sociologist at the University of Bordeaux.
These schools - officially there are 200 but only a half dozen are the most powerful - have their roots in the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Empire. Just as the SAT’s were meant to give all American students an equal shot at top universities, the examination-based grandes écoles were developed to give the bourgeoisie a means of rising in a society dominated by the aristocracy.
It worked for nearly two centuries. Throughout the 19th century, French administrations drew establishment cadres from the loyal ranks of the grandes écoles, avoiding the universities, which, outside the control of the government establishment, they saw as potential pools of dissent.
Even in the 20th century, the merit-based system allowed young people from modest backgrounds to move up into the corridors of power.
But children of blue-collar workers, who made up as much as 20 percent of the student body of the top grandes écoles 30 years ago, make up, at best, 2 percent today. Few are minority students.
In the 1950’s, only a small proportion of French students pursued higher education, leaving room for a slice of the working classes to get into the schools, said Vincent Tiberj, a sociologist who studies social inequalities in France. Since then, the number of candidates for the schools has expanded far faster than the schools themselves.
At the same time, the channels leading into the schools have narrowed: the vast majority of students entering the grandes écoles today come from special two-year preparatory schools, which draw their students primarily from high schools in the country’s wealthiest neighborhoods. “The top five or six grandes écoles recruit students from fewer than 50 high schools across France,” said Richard Descoings, director of the elite Paris Institute of Political Studies, better known as Sciences Po.
Administrators at the grandes écoles say students who do not follow the focused, specialized curriculum of the preparatory schools have almost no chance of being accepted. And while, theoretically, top students from any high school in the country can apply for the preparatory schools, the system has become so rarefied that few people from working-class neighborhoods are even aware that the opportunity exists.
“There’s a lack of information, no one talked to us about the preparatory schools,” said Alexis Blasselle, 20, the daughter of working-class parents and now a student at the exclusive École Polytechnique. She learned of the preparatory schools by chance the summer after graduating from high school. “The solution isn’t to open up another avenue to get into the grandes écoles, but to make people aware of the possibility.”
Sciences Po (pronounced see-ahns po), alone among the elite schools, has opened a new avenue of entry for students. High schools from disadvantaged neighborhoods nominate students, and Sciences Po then gives them oral examinations for intellectual curiosity and critical thinking. This year, 50 students were admitted through the program, while 200 entered through the normal examination process.
The Conference of Grandes Écoles, an association of the 200 schools, has also started a program that reaches out to top students in working-class neighborhoods to help guide them through their high school years and better their chances of getting into a preparatory school.
But the top half-dozen grandes écoles, those that provide the country’s leaders in politics and business, remain more or less closed.
The barriers for second-generation immigrants are enormous. Schools in poor, often immigrant neighborhoods get the most inexperienced teachers, who usually move on as soon as they have gained enough tenure for a job in a better area.
The initial fork in the lives of many young people comes when they are about 13 and have to choose between a general course of study or vocational training. Many young second-generation immigrants are guided into technical classes or, at best, post-high-school associate degree programs in marketing or business that are of little help in finding a job.
Second-generation immigrants also often “live in an environment that is outside of French culture,” said Mr. Descoings of Sciences Po. “They are not in the proper social network. There isn’t the socialization that exists in a wealthy family in an exclusive neighborhood of Paris.”
Sitting outside Paul Éluard High School in Saint-Denis, one of the poorest suburbs north of Paris, Bélinda Caci, 16, calls the school guidance counselor “the head of disorientation,” saying that the school cares only about making sure that the students graduate, not what happens after that.
“To become part of this crème de la crème, you have to have benefited from a favorable social environment and education,” the sociologist, Mr. Dubet, said, calling graduates of the grandes écoles a sort of state nobility. “It’s like the Olympics; you have to begin very, very early.”
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Essay 286
MultiCultClassics Minutes presents Web-based Weekend News…
• Hip hop radio personality Ed Lover is back on the air after cold-cocking a woman in a trendy Manhattan nightclub (see Essay 280). “His actions were totally justified. He did nothing wrong,” Lover’s lawyer argued. Totally justified? Now this is going to be interesting.
• Six White firefighters in Chicago won $3.5 million after suing for discrimination. The firefighters claimed the city’s affirmative action initiatives denied them promotions. Discrimination in the workplace sucks. But you have to wonder how many minority firefighters were denied promotions prior to the city’s affirmative action plan.
• Workers remodeling an old Arkansas store discovered a blast from the past: the words “White” and “Colored” painted where water fountains used to be. The building is now being reconstructed as loft apartments and retail space. Wonder if the new area will be integrated.
• A billboard in North Carolina has sparked protests from Arab-Americans. The photo image features a man clad in traditional Arab head scarf with a hand grenade and local driver’s license. The headline reads, “Don’t license terrorists, North Carolina.” The group behind the billboard — The Coalition for a Secure Driver’s License — defends the work. “We’re not going after Arab-Americans. We’re going after terrorists,” said the group’s leader. A spokesperson for the Arab American Institute countered, “The message of the ad says that Arabs are dangerous and violent people and that therefore they should not get driver’s licenses and I think it’s bigoted. It’s racist.” A Google search showed supporters of The Coalition for a Secure Driver’s License include an organization called White Revolution.
• Actor Morgan Freeman blasted Black History Month during an interview on CBS 60 Minutes. “You’re going to relegate my history to a month? I don’t want a Black history month. Black history is American history,” Freeman argued. Ironically, countless Black History Month ads sport headlines proclaiming, “Black history is American history.” Freeman also observed there is no “white history month.” Well, technically, every month celebrates White history. Don’t look for Freeman to do voiceovers for Mickey D’s 365 Black campaign. Which is good news for Tom Joyner, since that’s his gig.
• Hip hop radio personality Ed Lover is back on the air after cold-cocking a woman in a trendy Manhattan nightclub (see Essay 280). “His actions were totally justified. He did nothing wrong,” Lover’s lawyer argued. Totally justified? Now this is going to be interesting.
• Six White firefighters in Chicago won $3.5 million after suing for discrimination. The firefighters claimed the city’s affirmative action initiatives denied them promotions. Discrimination in the workplace sucks. But you have to wonder how many minority firefighters were denied promotions prior to the city’s affirmative action plan.
• Workers remodeling an old Arkansas store discovered a blast from the past: the words “White” and “Colored” painted where water fountains used to be. The building is now being reconstructed as loft apartments and retail space. Wonder if the new area will be integrated.
• A billboard in North Carolina has sparked protests from Arab-Americans. The photo image features a man clad in traditional Arab head scarf with a hand grenade and local driver’s license. The headline reads, “Don’t license terrorists, North Carolina.” The group behind the billboard — The Coalition for a Secure Driver’s License — defends the work. “We’re not going after Arab-Americans. We’re going after terrorists,” said the group’s leader. A spokesperson for the Arab American Institute countered, “The message of the ad says that Arabs are dangerous and violent people and that therefore they should not get driver’s licenses and I think it’s bigoted. It’s racist.” A Google search showed supporters of The Coalition for a Secure Driver’s License include an organization called White Revolution.
• Actor Morgan Freeman blasted Black History Month during an interview on CBS 60 Minutes. “You’re going to relegate my history to a month? I don’t want a Black history month. Black history is American history,” Freeman argued. Ironically, countless Black History Month ads sport headlines proclaiming, “Black history is American history.” Freeman also observed there is no “white history month.” Well, technically, every month celebrates White history. Don’t look for Freeman to do voiceovers for Mickey D’s 365 Black campaign. Which is good news for Tom Joyner, since that’s his gig.
Essay 285
The following appeared in The New York Times…
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Australia’s Dangerous Fantasy
By EVA SALLIS
Adelaide, Australia
LAST Sunday on Cronulla Beach, a suburb of Sydney, thousands of drunken white youths attacked anyone they believed was of Arab descent. Inspired by reports that Lebanese-Australians had assaulted two white lifeguards, text messages calling for a Lebanese “bashing day” appeared on thousands of cellphones. Some of Sunday’s assailants wore T-shirts that proclaimed, “We grew here; you flew here,” or, “Ethnic cleansing unit.”
For many, the Cronulla Beach incident did not come as a surprise. Rather, it was the bubbling up of an undercurrent that is increasingly evident in Australian life.
Newcomers, especially those who form linguistic or ethnically distinct groups, always have a hard time in Australia at first. But Australia is a country that has been created by many streams of immigrants and has come out the better for it. Greeks and Italians are among the largest non-Anglo groups and are fully integrated. Melbourne has the world’s third largest Greek community. Vietnamese immigrants experienced racism and hostility when they first arrived in the late 70’s and early 80’s, but time, and the entry of increasing numbers of Vietnamese-Australians into public life, have eroded that prejudice.
While this country is less diverse than the United States, its minority communities are a core part of its national identity. The notion of an all-white Australia is a fantasy and an anachronism. No dark-haired, dark-eyed Australian would have been safe on Cronulla Beach last Sunday, yet Australia is - has always been - substantially dark-haired and dark-eyed. And the expressed hostility toward “Lebs” as recent intruders belies the history of Australia, where people of Lebanese ancestry have lived for more than a century.
Several recent events have made this latest eruption of racism and xenophobia different from those of the past. While denying even that racism exists, our leaders have given tacit approval and support for it through policy, whether this is policy on refugees, security or Indigenous affairs. The policy of mandatory detention of asylum seekers was strongly linked with border protection from 2001, and, as most asylum seekers of recent years have been from the Middle East and Muslim South Asia, “border protection” has become protection from Muslim refugees in the popular imagination.
Like the United States, Australia has new anti-terrorism legislation, first passed in 2002 and significantly strengthened just recently. Such laws have helped to validate broader community mistrust of Arab and Muslim Australians.
Our government has done little to substantively allay fear of Muslim and Middle Eastern Australians generally or to increase public understanding and appreciation of their culture and contribution to Australian life. Arabic is the fourth most commonly used language after English in Australia, and the most commonly used language after English in New South Wales, Sydney’s home state, yet it is taught in only a handful of schools and universities.
In the last five years there has also been evidence of an increase in violence toward people of Arab appearance. An Iraqi writer I know begged his wife and daughter to stop wearing the hijab because of the potential of violence on the street. An Afghan refugee taxi driver in Adelaide said to my partner last night that he thought he would have to quit because his younger passengers were so nasty. In recent years high-profile cases in which Arab-Australian youths were charged with violent crimes generated a storm in the news media, as well as unchecked vilification on talk radio.
Prejudice creates what it fears by curtailing young people’s prospects. Young Arab-Australians are increasingly ghettoized in Sydney’s poor suburbs, where they struggle for education and jobs. Their families are often prejudiced against non-Arab Australians; the racism of the minority and that of the broader society reinforce each other.
I have Muslim friends who used to feel that they were Australians, but now cannot identify themselves in the negative space created for them in our community. I have non-Muslim friends who are furious at being mistaken for Muslims because of their Middle Eastern background; they are doing all they can to differentiate themselves from people they too are starting to openly dismiss. It has become fashionable, perhaps, to be racist, although none of us, not even our prime minister, is willing to call it what it is.
What happened on Cronulla Beach warns us that our self-inflicted wounds are festering. A volatile part of our community is deeply alienated, unable to belong, and another volatile part has retreated to an irretrievable past and a mythical notion of racial purity. If contemporary Australians are to live at ease with ourselves, we need more education, less fear mongering and, not least, greater honesty about the culture of racism that is so damaging us.
Eva Sallis is the author of six books, including “Mahjar,” a collection of short stories.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Australia’s Dangerous Fantasy
By EVA SALLIS
Adelaide, Australia
LAST Sunday on Cronulla Beach, a suburb of Sydney, thousands of drunken white youths attacked anyone they believed was of Arab descent. Inspired by reports that Lebanese-Australians had assaulted two white lifeguards, text messages calling for a Lebanese “bashing day” appeared on thousands of cellphones. Some of Sunday’s assailants wore T-shirts that proclaimed, “We grew here; you flew here,” or, “Ethnic cleansing unit.”
For many, the Cronulla Beach incident did not come as a surprise. Rather, it was the bubbling up of an undercurrent that is increasingly evident in Australian life.
Newcomers, especially those who form linguistic or ethnically distinct groups, always have a hard time in Australia at first. But Australia is a country that has been created by many streams of immigrants and has come out the better for it. Greeks and Italians are among the largest non-Anglo groups and are fully integrated. Melbourne has the world’s third largest Greek community. Vietnamese immigrants experienced racism and hostility when they first arrived in the late 70’s and early 80’s, but time, and the entry of increasing numbers of Vietnamese-Australians into public life, have eroded that prejudice.
While this country is less diverse than the United States, its minority communities are a core part of its national identity. The notion of an all-white Australia is a fantasy and an anachronism. No dark-haired, dark-eyed Australian would have been safe on Cronulla Beach last Sunday, yet Australia is - has always been - substantially dark-haired and dark-eyed. And the expressed hostility toward “Lebs” as recent intruders belies the history of Australia, where people of Lebanese ancestry have lived for more than a century.
Several recent events have made this latest eruption of racism and xenophobia different from those of the past. While denying even that racism exists, our leaders have given tacit approval and support for it through policy, whether this is policy on refugees, security or Indigenous affairs. The policy of mandatory detention of asylum seekers was strongly linked with border protection from 2001, and, as most asylum seekers of recent years have been from the Middle East and Muslim South Asia, “border protection” has become protection from Muslim refugees in the popular imagination.
Like the United States, Australia has new anti-terrorism legislation, first passed in 2002 and significantly strengthened just recently. Such laws have helped to validate broader community mistrust of Arab and Muslim Australians.
Our government has done little to substantively allay fear of Muslim and Middle Eastern Australians generally or to increase public understanding and appreciation of their culture and contribution to Australian life. Arabic is the fourth most commonly used language after English in Australia, and the most commonly used language after English in New South Wales, Sydney’s home state, yet it is taught in only a handful of schools and universities.
In the last five years there has also been evidence of an increase in violence toward people of Arab appearance. An Iraqi writer I know begged his wife and daughter to stop wearing the hijab because of the potential of violence on the street. An Afghan refugee taxi driver in Adelaide said to my partner last night that he thought he would have to quit because his younger passengers were so nasty. In recent years high-profile cases in which Arab-Australian youths were charged with violent crimes generated a storm in the news media, as well as unchecked vilification on talk radio.
Prejudice creates what it fears by curtailing young people’s prospects. Young Arab-Australians are increasingly ghettoized in Sydney’s poor suburbs, where they struggle for education and jobs. Their families are often prejudiced against non-Arab Australians; the racism of the minority and that of the broader society reinforce each other.
I have Muslim friends who used to feel that they were Australians, but now cannot identify themselves in the negative space created for them in our community. I have non-Muslim friends who are furious at being mistaken for Muslims because of their Middle Eastern background; they are doing all they can to differentiate themselves from people they too are starting to openly dismiss. It has become fashionable, perhaps, to be racist, although none of us, not even our prime minister, is willing to call it what it is.
What happened on Cronulla Beach warns us that our self-inflicted wounds are festering. A volatile part of our community is deeply alienated, unable to belong, and another volatile part has retreated to an irretrievable past and a mythical notion of racial purity. If contemporary Australians are to live at ease with ourselves, we need more education, less fear mongering and, not least, greater honesty about the culture of racism that is so damaging us.
Eva Sallis is the author of six books, including “Mahjar,” a collection of short stories.
Friday, December 16, 2005
Essay 284
Thank [insert politically-correct deity here] It’s Friday with MultiCultClassics Minutes…
• In light of the recent rioting, Australian leaders continue to ponder whether the country is racist. Let’s see. 92 percent Caucasian population. Official “Whites only” policies through the 1970s. No official apology to the nation’s Aborigines for generations of bad treatment. Crikey, they’re crackers.
• Atlanta is the first U.S. city with an official hip hop anthem — The ATL. Like all things hip hop-related, the tune has its critics and controversies. The ATL was written by Dallas Austin, a music producer based in Atlanta — and it was commissioned by Mayor Shirley Franklin. The lyrics include, “Get ‘em up, get ‘em up, get ‘em up, get ‘em up, get ‘em up, let’s go…” A local TV personality griped, “Not a good line for a city with a high crime rate.”
• The American Family Association is threatening to restart its boycott of Ford Motor Company now that the automaker has renewed its commitment to advertise in gay publications. “We had an agreement with Ford, worked out in good faith. Unfortunately, some Ford Motor Co. officials made the decision to violate the good faith agreement," AFA Chairman Don Wildmon stated. “We are now considering our response to the violation and expect to reach a decision very soon.” This guy needs a visit from the Queer Eye team riding in a Land Rover.
• Chicago is launching Park Boulevard, the first new mixed-income housing development. “We’re the only city in the nation attacking this problem. If they don’t attack the problem and do something about it…You keep reading all about Paris, outside of Paris. Isolation of the poor, what has taken place there. That could come very quickly to the United States,” Mayor Richard Daley said. Um, you mean like South Central or New Orleans?
• Rev. Al Sharpton will repay over $100,000 in public matching funds he received during the 2004 presidential race. Critics reported Sharpton led a swanky lifestyle on the campaign trail, staying at expensive hotels. At the same time, it’s unlikely other candidates were bunking at the Red Roof Inn. Plus, Sharpton is the first candidate since 1976 to give back all matching funds to the FEC. “They found no impropriety…There were no fines. There was no violation,” Sharpton proclaimed. Yeah, but he’s probably got suitcases filled with hotel toiletries and plastic shower caps.
• Now for sale: The home and log cabin referenced in the classic book, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” Seems like the perfect getaway place for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
• Donald Trump hired Randal Pinkett on the fourth season of The Apprentice. Pinkett becomes the first Black candidate to win the prize. However, it’s highly unlikely he’ll ever match the success of first season loser Omarosa.
• In light of the recent rioting, Australian leaders continue to ponder whether the country is racist. Let’s see. 92 percent Caucasian population. Official “Whites only” policies through the 1970s. No official apology to the nation’s Aborigines for generations of bad treatment. Crikey, they’re crackers.
• Atlanta is the first U.S. city with an official hip hop anthem — The ATL. Like all things hip hop-related, the tune has its critics and controversies. The ATL was written by Dallas Austin, a music producer based in Atlanta — and it was commissioned by Mayor Shirley Franklin. The lyrics include, “Get ‘em up, get ‘em up, get ‘em up, get ‘em up, get ‘em up, let’s go…” A local TV personality griped, “Not a good line for a city with a high crime rate.”
• The American Family Association is threatening to restart its boycott of Ford Motor Company now that the automaker has renewed its commitment to advertise in gay publications. “We had an agreement with Ford, worked out in good faith. Unfortunately, some Ford Motor Co. officials made the decision to violate the good faith agreement," AFA Chairman Don Wildmon stated. “We are now considering our response to the violation and expect to reach a decision very soon.” This guy needs a visit from the Queer Eye team riding in a Land Rover.
• Chicago is launching Park Boulevard, the first new mixed-income housing development. “We’re the only city in the nation attacking this problem. If they don’t attack the problem and do something about it…You keep reading all about Paris, outside of Paris. Isolation of the poor, what has taken place there. That could come very quickly to the United States,” Mayor Richard Daley said. Um, you mean like South Central or New Orleans?
• Rev. Al Sharpton will repay over $100,000 in public matching funds he received during the 2004 presidential race. Critics reported Sharpton led a swanky lifestyle on the campaign trail, staying at expensive hotels. At the same time, it’s unlikely other candidates were bunking at the Red Roof Inn. Plus, Sharpton is the first candidate since 1976 to give back all matching funds to the FEC. “They found no impropriety…There were no fines. There was no violation,” Sharpton proclaimed. Yeah, but he’s probably got suitcases filled with hotel toiletries and plastic shower caps.
• Now for sale: The home and log cabin referenced in the classic book, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” Seems like the perfect getaway place for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
• Donald Trump hired Randal Pinkett on the fourth season of The Apprentice. Pinkett becomes the first Black candidate to win the prize. However, it’s highly unlikely he’ll ever match the success of first season loser Omarosa.
Essay 283
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb always seems to face extraordinary criticism. It’s bad enough that he plays for a franchise whose fans are notoriously ruthless and unforgiving. And the local press is pretty brutal too. In recent months, the man has also taken heat from his own teammates. Despite helping to make the Eagles a consistent force in the league — and even a Super Bowl contender — McNabb still finds himself the target of professional and personal abuse.
Now comes the latest attack from J. Whyatt Mondesire, president of the Philadelphia branch of the NAACP. Mondesire brought a new level of ugliness to it all with a racially charged rant against McNabb. “This has nothing to do with the NAACP. It’s my opinion,” Mondesire insisted. Mondesire is either extremely naïve or ignorant. Probably both.
NAACP CEO Bruce Gordon appeared to be irked by the incident. And with good reason. Since taking the top position this past year, Gordon has strived to bring new passion and professionalism to the organization. Gordon has weighed in on Supreme Court nominees, the Hurricane Katrina aftermath, the Stanley Tookie Williams execution and more. “The NAACP has many civil rights issues that require our attention,” Gordon declared. “Criticizing Donovan McNabb is not one of them.” Gordon intended to apologize to McNabb. Not sure what his intentions might be regarding Mondesire.
Below is Mondesire’s published critique.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Donovan McNabb: Mediocre at best
By J. Whyatt Mondesire
Hey McNabb!
Yo--Donny! I’m calling you man.
Hey, soup guy, over here!
Donovan E. McNabb, you hear me callin’ you. Will you please pay attention?
For a whole lot of years now, we’ve heard you crying aloud about being taken seriously as a black quarterback who can camp out in the pocket and deliver rifle shots across midfield right into the fingertips of the fleetest of wideouts and tight ends. Say, like a Doug Williams, the brilliant Grambling star quarterback of a generation ago who went on to break a Super Bowl record for touchdown passes in 1988.
Well....well...I’ve seen you Donovan E. McNabb--in your formative years as well as your mid-career development--and one thing is certain. Donovan E. McNabb you’re no Doug Williams.
(The Grambling all-star completed 18 of 29 passes for 340 yards and four touchdowns, capping it off with 35 points in the fourth quarter alone. He followed that performance with three conference championships in 2000, ‘01 and ‘02.
Your record is another matter entirely. In fact this whole dismal season so far has really been a testament of fallen dreams and lost opportunities most of which belongs at your feet (or should I say hands) and that of your coach, Andy Reid who has allowed you to perpetuate a fraud on the field while hiding behind excuses dripping in make-believe racial stereotypes.
Normally this column talks very little about sports because the games that grown men play pale in comparison to the great issues of racism, politics, social calamities, health crisis’s, war and peace, etc.; which gives us plenty of fertile territory to explore and pontificate about.
However, this week I felt compelled to offer some personal thoughts about your horrific on-field performances this season because at their core, there is a lie you have tried to use to hide the fact that in reality you actually are not that good. In essence Donny, you are mediocre at best. And trying to disguise that fact behind some concocted reasoning that African American quarterbacks who can scramble and who can run the ball are somehow lesser field generals than one who can summon up dead-on passes at a whim, is more insulting off the field than on.
Your athleticism and unpredictability to sometimes run with the ball earlier in your career not only confused defenses, it also thrilled Eagles fans. At last, said many of us, now we have a multifaceted offensive threat whose talents threaten to not just dominate the NFC East Division, but maybe the whole NFL for several years. We were elated. We were in awe.
We celebrated the boss’s giving you that huge lifetime salary deal which meant we’d have you around until it was time for you to join the other retired stars in television’s broadcast booth.
But then you played the race card and practically all of us fell for your hustle. You scammed us man and there’s no way any longer to refrain from “keepin’ it real.”
We could have remained silent too, if you had found another way to remain effective and a winner. But when your mediocre talent becomes so apparent it’s time to call it out.
Through the first four games, you completed 110 of 174 passes (63.2 percent) for a league-leading 1,333 yards and 11 touchdowns.
However, in your last five games, you connected on just 101 of 183 passes (55.2 percent) for 1,174 yards and five touchdowns, while throwing six interceptions, two of which clearly were game losers.
The sports hernia you suffered after the team’s Week 3 win over Oakland clearly is a mega factor in the latter numbers.
But who can forget your mind numbing fourth-quarter collapse in last year’s Super Bowl against New England.
Andy Reid may not have seen it. Owner Jeff Lurie may have missed it on the videotaped replay. But Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder “saw” it. You choked brother.
The brash and bombastic Terrell Owens may have committed the unpardonable sin of going public with his put down, but was he fundamentally wrong? The pressure, the hype, the clock--they all just converged and your nerve collapsed under their combined weight. Mediocre isn’t horrible in and of itself. Most of us don’t live up to our dreams. It’s when we fake it that most of the rest of us get irritated.
So, for you to continue to deny we fans (as well as yourself) one of the strongest elements of your game by claiming that “everybody expects black quarterbacks to scramble” not only amounts to a breach of faith but also belittles the real struggles of black athletes who’ve had to overcome real racial stereotypcasting in addition to downright segregation.
College football in the South didn’t drop its White Only wall until 1966 four years after James Meredith, while trying to enroll at Ole Miss, which went 10-0 that year, even as its practice field was covered federal troops who had bivouacked there.
Earlier this month Sports Illustrated reporting pioneering black players in the vaunted SEC had to endure serious hardships, such as “Fritz Pollard, the black all-America at Brown during World War I, (who) had learned to spin on his back and thrust his cleats in the air when tackled, to protect himself from late hits; how Iowa State’s Jack Trice was trampled to death during a 1923 game against Minnesota; and how in 1951, on the first play from scrimmage, an Oklahoma A&M player broke the jaw of Drake running back Johnny Bright, forcing him to abandon football and causing the school to withdraw in protest from the Missouri Valley Conference.”
Hey Donny, see any difference yet in your trumped up racial views and those pioneers?
Taken together, your pretty decent arm, strong desire to win, and your instinctive ability to scramble in the backfield gave you an awesome package. Take away any one of the legs from this tripod, and whole thing falls flat as you are right now as you recuperate from the surgery that was long overdue the day you entered the hospital.
Finally, your failure as a team leader off the field to my mind did as much as anything to exacerbate the debacle that has become synonymous with T.O.’s full name.
Professional football is really more about money that sport. The fans know it. The players signs contracts for it. And, of course the owners know it, since they are first and last ones to count it when the season ends.
Just think how the whole media circus could have been avoided had you had the courage to offer only a tiny fraction of your bonus this year to Owens and running back, Brian Westbrook.
The gesture alone would have prompted these guys to run through walls for you. The rest of the team would have praised you. And what the heck were Lurie and team president Joe Banner going to do publicly if they objected or thought you had reach out-of-bounds. Fire you?
Yeah right. Let’s really do “keep it real.”
Leaders who make sacrifices are the stuff of legends. Who remembers a hoarder except for maybe Midas?
Hey Donny...soup guy! Pull your head out of your million-dollar Campbell’s soup bowl for a moment ask which current quarterback in fact made a gesture like that for members of his squad.
Does the name Tom Brady ring a bell? Isn’t he the guy who took home last year’s Super Bowl ring while you standing in the soup line?
Now comes the latest attack from J. Whyatt Mondesire, president of the Philadelphia branch of the NAACP. Mondesire brought a new level of ugliness to it all with a racially charged rant against McNabb. “This has nothing to do with the NAACP. It’s my opinion,” Mondesire insisted. Mondesire is either extremely naïve or ignorant. Probably both.
NAACP CEO Bruce Gordon appeared to be irked by the incident. And with good reason. Since taking the top position this past year, Gordon has strived to bring new passion and professionalism to the organization. Gordon has weighed in on Supreme Court nominees, the Hurricane Katrina aftermath, the Stanley Tookie Williams execution and more. “The NAACP has many civil rights issues that require our attention,” Gordon declared. “Criticizing Donovan McNabb is not one of them.” Gordon intended to apologize to McNabb. Not sure what his intentions might be regarding Mondesire.
Below is Mondesire’s published critique.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Donovan McNabb: Mediocre at best
By J. Whyatt Mondesire
Hey McNabb!
Yo--Donny! I’m calling you man.
Hey, soup guy, over here!
Donovan E. McNabb, you hear me callin’ you. Will you please pay attention?
For a whole lot of years now, we’ve heard you crying aloud about being taken seriously as a black quarterback who can camp out in the pocket and deliver rifle shots across midfield right into the fingertips of the fleetest of wideouts and tight ends. Say, like a Doug Williams, the brilliant Grambling star quarterback of a generation ago who went on to break a Super Bowl record for touchdown passes in 1988.
Well....well...I’ve seen you Donovan E. McNabb--in your formative years as well as your mid-career development--and one thing is certain. Donovan E. McNabb you’re no Doug Williams.
(The Grambling all-star completed 18 of 29 passes for 340 yards and four touchdowns, capping it off with 35 points in the fourth quarter alone. He followed that performance with three conference championships in 2000, ‘01 and ‘02.
Your record is another matter entirely. In fact this whole dismal season so far has really been a testament of fallen dreams and lost opportunities most of which belongs at your feet (or should I say hands) and that of your coach, Andy Reid who has allowed you to perpetuate a fraud on the field while hiding behind excuses dripping in make-believe racial stereotypes.
Normally this column talks very little about sports because the games that grown men play pale in comparison to the great issues of racism, politics, social calamities, health crisis’s, war and peace, etc.; which gives us plenty of fertile territory to explore and pontificate about.
However, this week I felt compelled to offer some personal thoughts about your horrific on-field performances this season because at their core, there is a lie you have tried to use to hide the fact that in reality you actually are not that good. In essence Donny, you are mediocre at best. And trying to disguise that fact behind some concocted reasoning that African American quarterbacks who can scramble and who can run the ball are somehow lesser field generals than one who can summon up dead-on passes at a whim, is more insulting off the field than on.
Your athleticism and unpredictability to sometimes run with the ball earlier in your career not only confused defenses, it also thrilled Eagles fans. At last, said many of us, now we have a multifaceted offensive threat whose talents threaten to not just dominate the NFC East Division, but maybe the whole NFL for several years. We were elated. We were in awe.
We celebrated the boss’s giving you that huge lifetime salary deal which meant we’d have you around until it was time for you to join the other retired stars in television’s broadcast booth.
But then you played the race card and practically all of us fell for your hustle. You scammed us man and there’s no way any longer to refrain from “keepin’ it real.”
We could have remained silent too, if you had found another way to remain effective and a winner. But when your mediocre talent becomes so apparent it’s time to call it out.
Through the first four games, you completed 110 of 174 passes (63.2 percent) for a league-leading 1,333 yards and 11 touchdowns.
However, in your last five games, you connected on just 101 of 183 passes (55.2 percent) for 1,174 yards and five touchdowns, while throwing six interceptions, two of which clearly were game losers.
The sports hernia you suffered after the team’s Week 3 win over Oakland clearly is a mega factor in the latter numbers.
But who can forget your mind numbing fourth-quarter collapse in last year’s Super Bowl against New England.
Andy Reid may not have seen it. Owner Jeff Lurie may have missed it on the videotaped replay. But Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder “saw” it. You choked brother.
The brash and bombastic Terrell Owens may have committed the unpardonable sin of going public with his put down, but was he fundamentally wrong? The pressure, the hype, the clock--they all just converged and your nerve collapsed under their combined weight. Mediocre isn’t horrible in and of itself. Most of us don’t live up to our dreams. It’s when we fake it that most of the rest of us get irritated.
So, for you to continue to deny we fans (as well as yourself) one of the strongest elements of your game by claiming that “everybody expects black quarterbacks to scramble” not only amounts to a breach of faith but also belittles the real struggles of black athletes who’ve had to overcome real racial stereotypcasting in addition to downright segregation.
College football in the South didn’t drop its White Only wall until 1966 four years after James Meredith, while trying to enroll at Ole Miss, which went 10-0 that year, even as its practice field was covered federal troops who had bivouacked there.
Earlier this month Sports Illustrated reporting pioneering black players in the vaunted SEC had to endure serious hardships, such as “Fritz Pollard, the black all-America at Brown during World War I, (who) had learned to spin on his back and thrust his cleats in the air when tackled, to protect himself from late hits; how Iowa State’s Jack Trice was trampled to death during a 1923 game against Minnesota; and how in 1951, on the first play from scrimmage, an Oklahoma A&M player broke the jaw of Drake running back Johnny Bright, forcing him to abandon football and causing the school to withdraw in protest from the Missouri Valley Conference.”
Hey Donny, see any difference yet in your trumped up racial views and those pioneers?
Taken together, your pretty decent arm, strong desire to win, and your instinctive ability to scramble in the backfield gave you an awesome package. Take away any one of the legs from this tripod, and whole thing falls flat as you are right now as you recuperate from the surgery that was long overdue the day you entered the hospital.
Finally, your failure as a team leader off the field to my mind did as much as anything to exacerbate the debacle that has become synonymous with T.O.’s full name.
Professional football is really more about money that sport. The fans know it. The players signs contracts for it. And, of course the owners know it, since they are first and last ones to count it when the season ends.
Just think how the whole media circus could have been avoided had you had the courage to offer only a tiny fraction of your bonus this year to Owens and running back, Brian Westbrook.
The gesture alone would have prompted these guys to run through walls for you. The rest of the team would have praised you. And what the heck were Lurie and team president Joe Banner going to do publicly if they objected or thought you had reach out-of-bounds. Fire you?
Yeah right. Let’s really do “keep it real.”
Leaders who make sacrifices are the stuff of legends. Who remembers a hoarder except for maybe Midas?
Hey Donny...soup guy! Pull your head out of your million-dollar Campbell’s soup bowl for a moment ask which current quarterback in fact made a gesture like that for members of his squad.
Does the name Tom Brady ring a bell? Isn’t he the guy who took home last year’s Super Bowl ring while you standing in the soup line?
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Essay 282
MultiCultClassics Minutes for Mature Audiences…
• Ford Motor Company will run advertising in gay publications after all, reversing an earlier decision to cut the media. “It is my hope that this will remove any ambiguity about Ford’s desire to advertise to all important audiences and put this particular issue to rest,” wrote a company official. Great, now the automaker can resume submitting press releases about the impending layoffs of 30,000 employees.
• Nova Iguacu, a small city in Brazil, may create a law requiring public places to create a third restroom for transvestites. “A lot of lawmakers didn’t want to deal with this issue, but it’s a serious problem in society,” said Councilman Carlos Eduardo Moreira. It may also be a serious problem for the graphic designer who must create an icon to post on the restroom doors.
• The Wendy’s Chili Finger Couple had their sentencing delayed because of an incomplete probation report. Perhaps the report was missing a finger.
• Four Minnesota Vikings players were charged for participating in the infamous October 6 party boat scandal. News reports listed the various lewd acts. Moe Williams got a lap dance. Bryant McKinnie performed oral sex with a woman on a bar. Fred Smoot used sex toys on two women. And quarterback Daunte Culpepper received a lap dance from a naked woman. No word yet if backup quarterback Brad Johnson ultimately replaced Culpepper in this game too.
• Ford Motor Company will run advertising in gay publications after all, reversing an earlier decision to cut the media. “It is my hope that this will remove any ambiguity about Ford’s desire to advertise to all important audiences and put this particular issue to rest,” wrote a company official. Great, now the automaker can resume submitting press releases about the impending layoffs of 30,000 employees.
• Nova Iguacu, a small city in Brazil, may create a law requiring public places to create a third restroom for transvestites. “A lot of lawmakers didn’t want to deal with this issue, but it’s a serious problem in society,” said Councilman Carlos Eduardo Moreira. It may also be a serious problem for the graphic designer who must create an icon to post on the restroom doors.
• The Wendy’s Chili Finger Couple had their sentencing delayed because of an incomplete probation report. Perhaps the report was missing a finger.
• Four Minnesota Vikings players were charged for participating in the infamous October 6 party boat scandal. News reports listed the various lewd acts. Moe Williams got a lap dance. Bryant McKinnie performed oral sex with a woman on a bar. Fred Smoot used sex toys on two women. And quarterback Daunte Culpepper received a lap dance from a naked woman. No word yet if backup quarterback Brad Johnson ultimately replaced Culpepper in this game too.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Essay 281
The following appeared in newspapers nationwide...
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Pryor’s flawed legacy
Comedian’s vulgarity made him no role model
by Stanley Crouch
Richard Pryor's world was filled with prostitutes, pimps, winos and those others of undesirable ilk.
This past Saturday Richard Pryor left this life and bequeathed to our culture as much darkness as he did the light his extraordinary talent made possible.
When we look at the remarkable descent this culture has made into smut, contempt, vulgarity and the pornographic, those of us who are not willing to drink the Kool-Aid marked “all’s well,” will have to address the fact that it was the combination of confusion and comic genius that made Pryor a much more negative influence than a positive one.
I do not mean positive in the way Bill Cosby was when his television show redefined situation comedy by turning away from all of the stereotypes of disorder and incompetence that were then and still are the basic renditions of black American life in our mass media.
Richard Pryor was not that kind of a man. His was a different story.
Pryor was troubled and he had seen things that so haunted him that the comedian found it impossible to perform and ignore the lower-class shadow worlds he had known so well, filled with pimps, prostitutes, winos and abrasive types of one sort or another.
The vulgarity of his material, and the idea a “real” black person was a foul-mouthed type was his greatest influence. It was the result of seeing the breaking of “white” convention as a form of “authentic” definition.
Pryor reached for anything that would make white America uncomfortable and would prop up a smug belief among black Americans that they were always “more cool” and more ready to “face life” than the members of majority culture.
Along the way, Pryor made too many people feel that the N word was open currency and was more accurate than any other word used to describe or address a black person.
In the dung piles of pimp and gangster rap we hear from slime meisters like Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent, the worst of Pryor’s influence has been turned into an aspect of the new minstrelsy in which millions of dollars are made by “normalizing” demeaning imagery and misogyny.
What is so unfortunate is that the heaviest of Pryor’s gifts was largely ignored by so many of those who praised the man when he was alive and are now in the middle of deifying him.
The pathos and the frailty of the human soul alone in the world or insecure or looking for something of meaning in a chaotic environment was a bit too deep for all of the simpleminded clowns like Andrew Dice Clay or those who thought that mere ethnicity was enough to define one as funny, like the painfully square work of Paul Rodriguez.
Of course, Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam is the ultimate coon show update of human cesspools, where “cutting edge” has come to mean traveling ever more downward in the sewer.
In essence, Pryor stunned with his timing, his rhythm, his ability to stand alone and fill the stage with three-dimensional characters through his remarkably imaginative gift for an epic sweep of mimicry.
That nuanced mimicry crossed ethnic lines, stretched from young to old, and gave poignancy to the comedian’s revelations about the hurts and the terrors of life.
The idea of “laughing to keep from crying” was central to his work and has been diligently avoided by those who claim to owe so much to him.
As he revealed in his last performance films, Pryor understood the prison he had built for himself and the shallow definitions that smothered his audience’s understanding of the humanity behind his work.
But, as they say, once the barn door has been opened, you cannot get all of the animals to return by whistling. So we need to understand the terrible mistakes this man of comic genius made and never settle for a standard that is less than what he did at his very best, which was as good as it has ever gotten.
Originally published on December 12, 2005
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Pryor’s flawed legacy
Comedian’s vulgarity made him no role model
by Stanley Crouch
Richard Pryor's world was filled with prostitutes, pimps, winos and those others of undesirable ilk.
This past Saturday Richard Pryor left this life and bequeathed to our culture as much darkness as he did the light his extraordinary talent made possible.
When we look at the remarkable descent this culture has made into smut, contempt, vulgarity and the pornographic, those of us who are not willing to drink the Kool-Aid marked “all’s well,” will have to address the fact that it was the combination of confusion and comic genius that made Pryor a much more negative influence than a positive one.
I do not mean positive in the way Bill Cosby was when his television show redefined situation comedy by turning away from all of the stereotypes of disorder and incompetence that were then and still are the basic renditions of black American life in our mass media.
Richard Pryor was not that kind of a man. His was a different story.
Pryor was troubled and he had seen things that so haunted him that the comedian found it impossible to perform and ignore the lower-class shadow worlds he had known so well, filled with pimps, prostitutes, winos and abrasive types of one sort or another.
The vulgarity of his material, and the idea a “real” black person was a foul-mouthed type was his greatest influence. It was the result of seeing the breaking of “white” convention as a form of “authentic” definition.
Pryor reached for anything that would make white America uncomfortable and would prop up a smug belief among black Americans that they were always “more cool” and more ready to “face life” than the members of majority culture.
Along the way, Pryor made too many people feel that the N word was open currency and was more accurate than any other word used to describe or address a black person.
In the dung piles of pimp and gangster rap we hear from slime meisters like Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent, the worst of Pryor’s influence has been turned into an aspect of the new minstrelsy in which millions of dollars are made by “normalizing” demeaning imagery and misogyny.
What is so unfortunate is that the heaviest of Pryor’s gifts was largely ignored by so many of those who praised the man when he was alive and are now in the middle of deifying him.
The pathos and the frailty of the human soul alone in the world or insecure or looking for something of meaning in a chaotic environment was a bit too deep for all of the simpleminded clowns like Andrew Dice Clay or those who thought that mere ethnicity was enough to define one as funny, like the painfully square work of Paul Rodriguez.
Of course, Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam is the ultimate coon show update of human cesspools, where “cutting edge” has come to mean traveling ever more downward in the sewer.
In essence, Pryor stunned with his timing, his rhythm, his ability to stand alone and fill the stage with three-dimensional characters through his remarkably imaginative gift for an epic sweep of mimicry.
That nuanced mimicry crossed ethnic lines, stretched from young to old, and gave poignancy to the comedian’s revelations about the hurts and the terrors of life.
The idea of “laughing to keep from crying” was central to his work and has been diligently avoided by those who claim to owe so much to him.
As he revealed in his last performance films, Pryor understood the prison he had built for himself and the shallow definitions that smothered his audience’s understanding of the humanity behind his work.
But, as they say, once the barn door has been opened, you cannot get all of the animals to return by whistling. So we need to understand the terrible mistakes this man of comic genius made and never settle for a standard that is less than what he did at his very best, which was as good as it has ever gotten.
Originally published on December 12, 2005
Essay 280
MultiCultClassics Minutes whips out Wednesday Wonders…
• Dave Chappelle was a no-show on Chappelle’s Show. Now his former manager is saying, “Show me the money!” Chappelle is being sued for nearly $1 million by the ex-manager, who claims he helped the comedian climb to the top. Wonder if the inevitable trial will play on Comedy Central or CourtTV.
• Europeans expressed outrage over the execution of Stanley Tookie Williams. Austria was particularly testy, despite being the native country of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Damn, the man can’t even get respect from his own peeps.
• Ed Lover, a hip-hop radio DJ from New York, punched a woman in a trendy nightclub — sending the fly girl flying with a facial wound that required 20 stitches. Guess he’s a fighter, not a lover.
• Wal-Mart fired the store manager who called sheriff’s deputies when a Black businessman tried to buy $13,600 worth of gift cards (see Essay 262). Company officials stated the termination resulted from “poor judgment and poor customer service.” Aren’t “poor judgment and poor customer service” integral to the Wal-Mart experience?
• Dave Chappelle was a no-show on Chappelle’s Show. Now his former manager is saying, “Show me the money!” Chappelle is being sued for nearly $1 million by the ex-manager, who claims he helped the comedian climb to the top. Wonder if the inevitable trial will play on Comedy Central or CourtTV.
• Europeans expressed outrage over the execution of Stanley Tookie Williams. Austria was particularly testy, despite being the native country of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Damn, the man can’t even get respect from his own peeps.
• Ed Lover, a hip-hop radio DJ from New York, punched a woman in a trendy nightclub — sending the fly girl flying with a facial wound that required 20 stitches. Guess he’s a fighter, not a lover.
• Wal-Mart fired the store manager who called sheriff’s deputies when a Black businessman tried to buy $13,600 worth of gift cards (see Essay 262). Company officials stated the termination resulted from “poor judgment and poor customer service.” Aren’t “poor judgment and poor customer service” integral to the Wal-Mart experience?
Essay 279
A blogger in Florida responds to Hadji Williams’ Talent Zoo column. Then some dude from India responds. Then Hadji responds. Then MultiCultClassics responds (though it remains to be seen if the blogger accepts the comments).
Respond by clicking on the essay title to join the dialogue.
Respond by clicking on the essay title to join the dialogue.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Essay 278
The Tuesday Ticker with MultiCultClassics Minutes…
• Stanley Tookie Williams was executed at 12:35 am by lethal injection. Officials allegedly had difficulty finding a vein in his muscular arm, but ultimately managed to do the deed. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger could not manage to grant clemency, as he allegedly had difficulty finding just cause. “Stanley Williams insists he is innocent, and that he will not and should not apologize or otherwise atone for the murders,” Schwarzenegger wrote. “Without an apology and atonement for these senseless and brutal killings there can be no redemption.” Hasta la vista, baby.
• Time Inc. told 105 employees their time is up. The company cuts affected all levels, including executive VPs. Probably not quite the holiday bonus folks were hoping to get. However, they are still eligible to receive twelve bonus issues with each subscription renewal.
• Ford Motor Company met with gay and lesbian organizations unhappy over the automaker’s decision to cease advertising in gay publications. No details on the results of the conference. But don’t look for the Queer Eye team to choose a Ford Explorer for their new ride anytime soon.
• Associated Press research revealed Blacks are 79 percent more likely than Whites to reside in areas where industrial pollution can make you sick. However, moving Blacks to areas where Whites reside can make people sick too.
• Of the 7.9 million immigrants to arrive in the United States since 2000, 3.7 million entered illegally. Why is it possible to count these folks, but impossible to counter them?
• Australian Prime Minister John Howard denied that the problems and riots facing his country are rooted in racism. Right, folks are just protesting the unequal distribution of Vegamite. Or the continued presence of Paul Hogan and Steve Irwin.
• President George W. Bush denied that the problems involving the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina are rooted in racism. “You can call me anything you want, but do not call me a racist,” Bush said. Wow, what an irresistible offer.
• Stanley Tookie Williams was executed at 12:35 am by lethal injection. Officials allegedly had difficulty finding a vein in his muscular arm, but ultimately managed to do the deed. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger could not manage to grant clemency, as he allegedly had difficulty finding just cause. “Stanley Williams insists he is innocent, and that he will not and should not apologize or otherwise atone for the murders,” Schwarzenegger wrote. “Without an apology and atonement for these senseless and brutal killings there can be no redemption.” Hasta la vista, baby.
• Time Inc. told 105 employees their time is up. The company cuts affected all levels, including executive VPs. Probably not quite the holiday bonus folks were hoping to get. However, they are still eligible to receive twelve bonus issues with each subscription renewal.
• Ford Motor Company met with gay and lesbian organizations unhappy over the automaker’s decision to cease advertising in gay publications. No details on the results of the conference. But don’t look for the Queer Eye team to choose a Ford Explorer for their new ride anytime soon.
• Associated Press research revealed Blacks are 79 percent more likely than Whites to reside in areas where industrial pollution can make you sick. However, moving Blacks to areas where Whites reside can make people sick too.
• Of the 7.9 million immigrants to arrive in the United States since 2000, 3.7 million entered illegally. Why is it possible to count these folks, but impossible to counter them?
• Australian Prime Minister John Howard denied that the problems and riots facing his country are rooted in racism. Right, folks are just protesting the unequal distribution of Vegamite. Or the continued presence of Paul Hogan and Steve Irwin.
• President George W. Bush denied that the problems involving the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina are rooted in racism. “You can call me anything you want, but do not call me a racist,” Bush said. Wow, what an irresistible offer.
Welcome, New and Old Readers.
Welcome to MultiCultClassics.blogspot.com
The blog launched in March 2005. The initial goal was to spark discussions and debates about multiculturalism in the advertising industry — including all the good, bad and ugly complexities and contradictions.
Admittedly, there wasn’t a master plan or long-term strategy. Just decided to begin typing and see where it might go.
Many essays and months later, the plan is no clearer. The strategy is being reworked daily too.
Nonetheless, the conversation continues — despite the fact that it’s more of a monologue versus dialogue.
Here’s what MultiCultClassics.blogspot.com offers you:
If you’re deep into the multicultural advertising scene, this is the place for relatable, relevant insights and more. It’s all the stuff you’d toss around the virtual water cooler.
If you’re semi-clueless to the world outside of your personal universe, this is the place for you as well. One deliberate tactic here is to expose the masses to progressive, 21st century diversity. It’s not something exclusive to the human resources department. Think of the blog as delivering a recommended daily allowance of culture.
Please read the blog starting at Essay One (click on the essay title). You’re encouraged to agree or disagree with anything posted.
Please visit often. Admission is free. Open to the public 24 hours a day.
Finally, please share the blog with everyone you know. It works best with an inclusive spirit.
Click on the essay title and join the revolution.
The blog launched in March 2005. The initial goal was to spark discussions and debates about multiculturalism in the advertising industry — including all the good, bad and ugly complexities and contradictions.
Admittedly, there wasn’t a master plan or long-term strategy. Just decided to begin typing and see where it might go.
Many essays and months later, the plan is no clearer. The strategy is being reworked daily too.
Nonetheless, the conversation continues — despite the fact that it’s more of a monologue versus dialogue.
Here’s what MultiCultClassics.blogspot.com offers you:
If you’re deep into the multicultural advertising scene, this is the place for relatable, relevant insights and more. It’s all the stuff you’d toss around the virtual water cooler.
If you’re semi-clueless to the world outside of your personal universe, this is the place for you as well. One deliberate tactic here is to expose the masses to progressive, 21st century diversity. It’s not something exclusive to the human resources department. Think of the blog as delivering a recommended daily allowance of culture.
Please read the blog starting at Essay One (click on the essay title). You’re encouraged to agree or disagree with anything posted.
Please visit often. Admission is free. Open to the public 24 hours a day.
Finally, please share the blog with everyone you know. It works best with an inclusive spirit.
Click on the essay title and join the revolution.
Essay 277
Marketing y Medios, the Hispanic marketing magazine from the publishers of Adweek, never fails to deliver interesting material. The December 2005 issue features an interview with Graham Hall, Chief Insights Officer at The Bravo Group.
Hall has worked in research, planning and brand development since 1983, playing on the client and agency sides in the U.K. and U.S. He founded youth brand agency Informer in the 1990s, focusing on 15- to 30-year-olds. The Bravo Group hired Hall around September 2005.
Hall is an anomaly in his new position. Mostly because he’s an Englishman who just started learning to speak Spanish. While he acknowledges the controversies of his appointment, he also makes statements that might fuel criticism.
For example, when asked about his lack of linguistic fluency, Hall says, “It takes [more] years to get the expertise in strategic planning than it does to learn how to speak Spanish.” Perhaps, but some might argue that mastering a language is not nearly as complex as understanding the meanings behind and beyond the spoken words. There’s serious immersion involved in honing these skills.
Some of Hall’s most provocative comments are left dangling for details. When probed on the challenges of Hispanic marketing, he offers, “A lot of the issues troubling this market are based on hegemony and vested interest.” Unfortunately, Hall sidesteps any deeper explanations.
When discussing the changes needed for progress, Hall proclaims, “Take away this whole Hispanic overlayer. [We] would move a lot more quickly if we get out of this idea that there is an Anglo market and a Hispanic market.” Let’s hope he didn’t mean for this notion to be taken literally.
Regardless of how you interpret the interview, Hall represents a unique twist in the category. Sadly, he’s discovering things that multicultural specialists already know too well — from inferior budgets to superior general market agencies. And his observations about the culture are hardly revolutionary. But maybe Hall’s outsider status can provide others with a fresh perspective. Time will tell.
Read Hall’s dialogue and decide for yourself. To view the interview, click on the essay title or simply continue scrolling.
--------------------------------------------------
The interview
Graham Hall
Born and raised in England, Graham Hall only recently began taking Spanish lessons, after landing at Young & Rubicam’s The Bravo Group this summer as chief insights officer, a newly created position. Prior to joining the New York-based shop, he ran Informer, a brand development firm in London. Marketing y Medios’ Mariana Lemann spoke with Hall about strategizing for the U.S. Hispanic Market.
Q: Chief insights officer? What does that mean?
A: You have to ask [Bravo chairman and CEO] Gary Bassell. Y&R has a chief insights officer, so we probably just got [the title] from there. The idea behind it is that Bassell wants Bravo to be planning-centric. One of our main goals is to elevate planning in the Hispanic agency and in the Hispanic world. He wants to make planning part of the decision-making, not just a department.
Q: What are the biggest challenges you face as a planner?
A: The U.S. Hispanic market, the second largest Spanish-speaking nation in the world, [has] fairly rudimentary marketing techniques. A lot of the issues troubling this market are based on hegemony and vested interest.
Q: Vested interest?
A: I don’t want to paint a picture of anything sinister going on. At least, within the Hispanic market, there is a good reason to question how we think about consumers.
Q: Do you think there is a misperception about consumers?
A: I am talking about how we define Hispanics: By country of origin? Who they think they are? What language they speak? It is actually more complicated than that. It is the same way in the general market. We put too much emphasis on income level and educational experience. From those definitions, an awful lot is assumed of somebody, but that is too simplistic. More controversial is that the Hispanic market is still patronized; there are a lot of assumptions in the general market of the less sophisticated audience, which isn’t true. But there is also the assumption that because you are Hispanic you are [all] the same. Good marketing addresses primal needs.
Q: So what needs to change?
A: Take away this whole Hispanic overlayer. [We] would move a lot more quickly if we get out of this idea that there is an Anglo market and a Hispanic market. There are markets full of consumers, and we have to start developing techniques and specialties that understand the various needs of the consumer.
Q: What, in your opinion, are the barriers to the best practices?
A: Clients are beginning to realize and allocate higher budgets, but they’ve got to start having much more of a dialogue with all their agencies and align their Hispanic agencies to contribute more to the general marketing strategy of their brands. The Hispanic agency has to be at the beginning to contribute to the strategy.
Q: Do you find any resistance from the people you work with?
A: Yes. I still see a [skeptical] mentality in general-market agencies. The clients are more aware of the numbers than general-market agencies. I still talk to my [former] colleagues and they are not aware of why I moved to the Hispanic market. They think it is a small, marginalized audience.
Q: How do people react to the fact that you don't speak Spanish?
A: Obviously there is a debate [about] me coming to Bravo. It takes [more] years to get the expertise in strategic planning than it does to learn how to speak Spanish. I am not a woman, but I can market to women. You can generally come up with a great strategy regardless of whom you are talking to.
Q: You said recently that the Hispanic market is not the melting-pot model. What is it then?
A: If you imagine a big pot and you have some ingredients, then you add some more ingredients, the flavor will change gradually. America's culture is being inundated with Hispanic culture to the degree to which the nature of the meal has changed dramatically. This is a torrent of ingredients in a short space of time. The melting pot idea assumes that the status quo remains constant and that is not what is going to be happening here. The status quo is changing because of the scale of the influx of new culture.
Hall has worked in research, planning and brand development since 1983, playing on the client and agency sides in the U.K. and U.S. He founded youth brand agency Informer in the 1990s, focusing on 15- to 30-year-olds. The Bravo Group hired Hall around September 2005.
Hall is an anomaly in his new position. Mostly because he’s an Englishman who just started learning to speak Spanish. While he acknowledges the controversies of his appointment, he also makes statements that might fuel criticism.
For example, when asked about his lack of linguistic fluency, Hall says, “It takes [more] years to get the expertise in strategic planning than it does to learn how to speak Spanish.” Perhaps, but some might argue that mastering a language is not nearly as complex as understanding the meanings behind and beyond the spoken words. There’s serious immersion involved in honing these skills.
Some of Hall’s most provocative comments are left dangling for details. When probed on the challenges of Hispanic marketing, he offers, “A lot of the issues troubling this market are based on hegemony and vested interest.” Unfortunately, Hall sidesteps any deeper explanations.
When discussing the changes needed for progress, Hall proclaims, “Take away this whole Hispanic overlayer. [We] would move a lot more quickly if we get out of this idea that there is an Anglo market and a Hispanic market.” Let’s hope he didn’t mean for this notion to be taken literally.
Regardless of how you interpret the interview, Hall represents a unique twist in the category. Sadly, he’s discovering things that multicultural specialists already know too well — from inferior budgets to superior general market agencies. And his observations about the culture are hardly revolutionary. But maybe Hall’s outsider status can provide others with a fresh perspective. Time will tell.
Read Hall’s dialogue and decide for yourself. To view the interview, click on the essay title or simply continue scrolling.
--------------------------------------------------
The interview
Graham Hall
Born and raised in England, Graham Hall only recently began taking Spanish lessons, after landing at Young & Rubicam’s The Bravo Group this summer as chief insights officer, a newly created position. Prior to joining the New York-based shop, he ran Informer, a brand development firm in London. Marketing y Medios’ Mariana Lemann spoke with Hall about strategizing for the U.S. Hispanic Market.
Q: Chief insights officer? What does that mean?
A: You have to ask [Bravo chairman and CEO] Gary Bassell. Y&R has a chief insights officer, so we probably just got [the title] from there. The idea behind it is that Bassell wants Bravo to be planning-centric. One of our main goals is to elevate planning in the Hispanic agency and in the Hispanic world. He wants to make planning part of the decision-making, not just a department.
Q: What are the biggest challenges you face as a planner?
A: The U.S. Hispanic market, the second largest Spanish-speaking nation in the world, [has] fairly rudimentary marketing techniques. A lot of the issues troubling this market are based on hegemony and vested interest.
Q: Vested interest?
A: I don’t want to paint a picture of anything sinister going on. At least, within the Hispanic market, there is a good reason to question how we think about consumers.
Q: Do you think there is a misperception about consumers?
A: I am talking about how we define Hispanics: By country of origin? Who they think they are? What language they speak? It is actually more complicated than that. It is the same way in the general market. We put too much emphasis on income level and educational experience. From those definitions, an awful lot is assumed of somebody, but that is too simplistic. More controversial is that the Hispanic market is still patronized; there are a lot of assumptions in the general market of the less sophisticated audience, which isn’t true. But there is also the assumption that because you are Hispanic you are [all] the same. Good marketing addresses primal needs.
Q: So what needs to change?
A: Take away this whole Hispanic overlayer. [We] would move a lot more quickly if we get out of this idea that there is an Anglo market and a Hispanic market. There are markets full of consumers, and we have to start developing techniques and specialties that understand the various needs of the consumer.
Q: What, in your opinion, are the barriers to the best practices?
A: Clients are beginning to realize and allocate higher budgets, but they’ve got to start having much more of a dialogue with all their agencies and align their Hispanic agencies to contribute more to the general marketing strategy of their brands. The Hispanic agency has to be at the beginning to contribute to the strategy.
Q: Do you find any resistance from the people you work with?
A: Yes. I still see a [skeptical] mentality in general-market agencies. The clients are more aware of the numbers than general-market agencies. I still talk to my [former] colleagues and they are not aware of why I moved to the Hispanic market. They think it is a small, marginalized audience.
Q: How do people react to the fact that you don't speak Spanish?
A: Obviously there is a debate [about] me coming to Bravo. It takes [more] years to get the expertise in strategic planning than it does to learn how to speak Spanish. I am not a woman, but I can market to women. You can generally come up with a great strategy regardless of whom you are talking to.
Q: You said recently that the Hispanic market is not the melting-pot model. What is it then?
A: If you imagine a big pot and you have some ingredients, then you add some more ingredients, the flavor will change gradually. America's culture is being inundated with Hispanic culture to the degree to which the nature of the meal has changed dramatically. This is a torrent of ingredients in a short space of time. The melting pot idea assumes that the status quo remains constant and that is not what is going to be happening here. The status quo is changing because of the scale of the influx of new culture.
Monday, December 12, 2005
Essay 276
Wondering out loud with MultiCultClassics Minutes…
• Gangs of White youth rioted and assaulted immigrants on a public beach. Immigrants retaliated by attacking police, vandalizing cars and property. The nation’s leader condemned the ruckus, but insisted, “I do not accept that there is underlying racism in this country.” Paris? Arizona? New Mexico? No, it’s Australia — where the citizens are facing off with Arab immigrants. One rioter’s back presented the painted statement: “We grew here, you flew here.” Wonder if it’s another reason for the koala bear to mutter, “I hate Qantas.”
• Conservative immigration activists in California are taking their fight to a new level — by attempting to expose and embarrass the people hiring illegal immigrants. The groups shoot photos of people hiring the workers, ultimately posting the pictures and more on sites like wehirealiens.com and operationshameonyou.org. Wonder if Al Gore still wants to take credit for having invented the Internet.
• Deputies in Los Angeles can’t keep up with gang violence. Gang-related homicides rose 30 percent in the past year. The force is apparently grossly understaffed. Plus, the officers are not properly distributed according to the needs of communities. Experts warn things could inevitably get ugly. “People need to realize that Compton’s problems won’t stay in Compton. Absolutely, they ought to be concerned about what’s happening, and they ought to help…We give foreign aid to other countries so they won’t fall apart. How about some domestic aid?” one law official stated. Wonder if someone should consider deputizing illegal immigrants.
• A new Black television network launched three weeks ago. “I was never able to identify with what I saw on television,” the network’s creator said. “What I saw was not part of my reality…nor did it embody the racial plurality that prevails [in the country]…Blacks will have starring — and not just secondary — roles as in other channels.” Should BET be worried? No, it’s TV da Gente, or our TV, in Brazil. Wonder how long it will be before the majority of its programming is music videos.
• The San Francisco police officers who created obscene videos continue to insist they did nothing wrong. “The precinct where they work is the Iraq of the city of San Francisco,” said a police union spokesperson. “They are outgunned and outmanned, and just a year ago one of their numbers was murdered…And so a bunch of officers, White, Black, Asian, women and gay, got together and made a video they thought was going to be shown at their captain’s retirement dinner. It was their way of dealing with the futility of their jobs.” Wonder if their captain would have preferred a gold watch.
• California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger refused to grant clemency to Crips gang founder Stanley Tookie Williams. “After studying the evidence, searching the history, listening to the arguments and wrestling with the profound consequences, I could find no justification for granting clemency…The facts do not justify overturning the jury’s verdict or the decisions of the courts in this case,” said Schwarzenegger. Williams is scheduled to be executed tonight.
• Gangs of White youth rioted and assaulted immigrants on a public beach. Immigrants retaliated by attacking police, vandalizing cars and property. The nation’s leader condemned the ruckus, but insisted, “I do not accept that there is underlying racism in this country.” Paris? Arizona? New Mexico? No, it’s Australia — where the citizens are facing off with Arab immigrants. One rioter’s back presented the painted statement: “We grew here, you flew here.” Wonder if it’s another reason for the koala bear to mutter, “I hate Qantas.”
• Conservative immigration activists in California are taking their fight to a new level — by attempting to expose and embarrass the people hiring illegal immigrants. The groups shoot photos of people hiring the workers, ultimately posting the pictures and more on sites like wehirealiens.com and operationshameonyou.org. Wonder if Al Gore still wants to take credit for having invented the Internet.
• Deputies in Los Angeles can’t keep up with gang violence. Gang-related homicides rose 30 percent in the past year. The force is apparently grossly understaffed. Plus, the officers are not properly distributed according to the needs of communities. Experts warn things could inevitably get ugly. “People need to realize that Compton’s problems won’t stay in Compton. Absolutely, they ought to be concerned about what’s happening, and they ought to help…We give foreign aid to other countries so they won’t fall apart. How about some domestic aid?” one law official stated. Wonder if someone should consider deputizing illegal immigrants.
• A new Black television network launched three weeks ago. “I was never able to identify with what I saw on television,” the network’s creator said. “What I saw was not part of my reality…nor did it embody the racial plurality that prevails [in the country]…Blacks will have starring — and not just secondary — roles as in other channels.” Should BET be worried? No, it’s TV da Gente, or our TV, in Brazil. Wonder how long it will be before the majority of its programming is music videos.
• The San Francisco police officers who created obscene videos continue to insist they did nothing wrong. “The precinct where they work is the Iraq of the city of San Francisco,” said a police union spokesperson. “They are outgunned and outmanned, and just a year ago one of their numbers was murdered…And so a bunch of officers, White, Black, Asian, women and gay, got together and made a video they thought was going to be shown at their captain’s retirement dinner. It was their way of dealing with the futility of their jobs.” Wonder if their captain would have preferred a gold watch.
• California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger refused to grant clemency to Crips gang founder Stanley Tookie Williams. “After studying the evidence, searching the history, listening to the arguments and wrestling with the profound consequences, I could find no justification for granting clemency…The facts do not justify overturning the jury’s verdict or the decisions of the courts in this case,” said Schwarzenegger. Williams is scheduled to be executed tonight.
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Essay 275
“Born from Jets” — the new advertising brainstorm from Saab — appears to be utilizing stealth tactics to defend the position.
When the campaign launched about a month ago, the industry reaction was a collective shrug and yawn. Ernie Schenck panned the work on his blog, and AdPulp.com questioned Saab’s ability to push the envelope (which incidentally, is a phrase rooted in aeronautics). Adfolks joined the threads, agreeing the idea sucks. After all, it’s not the first time carmakers featured such imagery. Nissan once produced a stunning spot with a jet fighter pursuing the Turbo Z. Volvo unveiled an inane Super Bowl commercial comparing its rides to a space rocket. In addition, Saab has tapped its own airplane heritage before. So the latest stuff seemed very “been there, done that” — and others had even done that better.
Now, it’s hardly extraordinary for bloggers to critique new campaigns. But this Saab story is a little different. As pundits posted comments, rebuttals started to pop up. The opposing viewpoints gushed over the new ads and cars, reading suspiciously like the writings of Saab brand managers, Saab advertising agency executives and Saab dealers. It almost looked as if the people responsible for “Born from Jets” were firing counterstrikes.
Then the December 5, 2005 issue of Advertising Age ran a full-page promotional ad from Lowe (Saab’s AOR). The headline declared:
“‘Born From Jets’ has to be one of automotive history’s greatest marketing taglines.” Advertising Age, 11/7/05 on Saab’s new advertising
A review of the November 7, 2005 edition referenced in the Lowe promo piece failed to uncover the quoted praise. MultiCultClassics will send an autographed photo of Jet Li to the first person that locates the real puffery.
Advertisers today are hyping their goods and services via vehicles beyond traditional media. But it’s bizarre that anyone deemed it necessary to confront bloggers and assorted online smart alecks.
In the end, the responses from Saab backers seem born from desperation and paranoia.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(To view one of the Saab-related threads mentioned above, click on the essay title.)
When the campaign launched about a month ago, the industry reaction was a collective shrug and yawn. Ernie Schenck panned the work on his blog, and AdPulp.com questioned Saab’s ability to push the envelope (which incidentally, is a phrase rooted in aeronautics). Adfolks joined the threads, agreeing the idea sucks. After all, it’s not the first time carmakers featured such imagery. Nissan once produced a stunning spot with a jet fighter pursuing the Turbo Z. Volvo unveiled an inane Super Bowl commercial comparing its rides to a space rocket. In addition, Saab has tapped its own airplane heritage before. So the latest stuff seemed very “been there, done that” — and others had even done that better.
Now, it’s hardly extraordinary for bloggers to critique new campaigns. But this Saab story is a little different. As pundits posted comments, rebuttals started to pop up. The opposing viewpoints gushed over the new ads and cars, reading suspiciously like the writings of Saab brand managers, Saab advertising agency executives and Saab dealers. It almost looked as if the people responsible for “Born from Jets” were firing counterstrikes.
Then the December 5, 2005 issue of Advertising Age ran a full-page promotional ad from Lowe (Saab’s AOR). The headline declared:
“‘Born From Jets’ has to be one of automotive history’s greatest marketing taglines.” Advertising Age, 11/7/05 on Saab’s new advertising
A review of the November 7, 2005 edition referenced in the Lowe promo piece failed to uncover the quoted praise. MultiCultClassics will send an autographed photo of Jet Li to the first person that locates the real puffery.
Advertisers today are hyping their goods and services via vehicles beyond traditional media. But it’s bizarre that anyone deemed it necessary to confront bloggers and assorted online smart alecks.
In the end, the responses from Saab backers seem born from desperation and paranoia.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(To view one of the Saab-related threads mentioned above, click on the essay title.)
Essay 274
Open on Sundays with MultiCultClassics Minutes…
• The neo-Nazi rally in Toledo failed to spark any riots this time, thanks to police efforts that separated the protestors and counter-protestors by quite a bit of distance. Also, the cops stood about 700 strong, with at least two snipers and an M113 armored personnel carrier. That’s quite a force, considering there were only 63 neo-Nazis and 170 counter-protestors. In the end, police made 29 arrests, including two photographers. Nazi-paparazzi, perhaps?
• Jesse Jackson made another appeal to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on behalf of Stanley Tookie Williams. Jackson presented an argument over Williams’ original conviction, attempting to imply the trial and investigation were flawed. “We know if you are [Robert] Blake or O.J. [Simpson] with a dream team of lawyers, you walk free,” Jackson said. “If you don’t have a dream team of lawyers, you will die.” Not sure this is making a strong case in Williams’ favor.
• Comments collected by the Associated Press on comedian Richard Pryor, who died Saturday:
“By expressing his heart, anger and joy, Richard Pryor took comedy to its highest form.” — comedian Steve Martin.
“Richard Pryor was one of the true pioneers of his art form. He was the Charlie Parker of comedy, a master of telling the truth that influenced every comedian that came after him. Our friendship went back to his days as a young comedian at Cafe Wha in New York, and although I will miss him like a brother, the legacy that he leaves will forever be with us.” — music producer Quincy Jones.
“He was the single most seminal, comedic influence in the last 50 years. It was so appropriate that he received the inaugural Mark Twain prize, as they both did the same thing. Mark Twain showed us what it was like on the frontier and living on the Mississippi and what it was like living at the turn of the century, and Richard Pryor showed us what it was like to live in the inner city. His concepts are so hysterically funny and unique.” — comedian Bob Newhart.
“I wish that every new and young comedian would understand what Richard was about and not confuse his genius with his language usage.” — comedian Bill Cosby.
“The Comedy Store could never thank you enough for the gift you gave us all - the gift of yourself ... to the audience, to the other comics and the elevation of your humor to a one-man art form.” — Mitzi Shore, owner of The Comedy Store club in Los Angeles.
• The neo-Nazi rally in Toledo failed to spark any riots this time, thanks to police efforts that separated the protestors and counter-protestors by quite a bit of distance. Also, the cops stood about 700 strong, with at least two snipers and an M113 armored personnel carrier. That’s quite a force, considering there were only 63 neo-Nazis and 170 counter-protestors. In the end, police made 29 arrests, including two photographers. Nazi-paparazzi, perhaps?
• Jesse Jackson made another appeal to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on behalf of Stanley Tookie Williams. Jackson presented an argument over Williams’ original conviction, attempting to imply the trial and investigation were flawed. “We know if you are [Robert] Blake or O.J. [Simpson] with a dream team of lawyers, you walk free,” Jackson said. “If you don’t have a dream team of lawyers, you will die.” Not sure this is making a strong case in Williams’ favor.
• Comments collected by the Associated Press on comedian Richard Pryor, who died Saturday:
“By expressing his heart, anger and joy, Richard Pryor took comedy to its highest form.” — comedian Steve Martin.
“Richard Pryor was one of the true pioneers of his art form. He was the Charlie Parker of comedy, a master of telling the truth that influenced every comedian that came after him. Our friendship went back to his days as a young comedian at Cafe Wha in New York, and although I will miss him like a brother, the legacy that he leaves will forever be with us.” — music producer Quincy Jones.
“He was the single most seminal, comedic influence in the last 50 years. It was so appropriate that he received the inaugural Mark Twain prize, as they both did the same thing. Mark Twain showed us what it was like on the frontier and living on the Mississippi and what it was like living at the turn of the century, and Richard Pryor showed us what it was like to live in the inner city. His concepts are so hysterically funny and unique.” — comedian Bob Newhart.
“I wish that every new and young comedian would understand what Richard was about and not confuse his genius with his language usage.” — comedian Bill Cosby.
“The Comedy Store could never thank you enough for the gift you gave us all - the gift of yourself ... to the audience, to the other comics and the elevation of your humor to a one-man art form.” — Mitzi Shore, owner of The Comedy Store club in Los Angeles.
Essay 273
The following appeared in The Chicago Sun-Times…
-------------------------------------------------------------
Elders ‘misinformed’ about hip-hop, young CEO writes
December 11, 2005
BY MARY MITCHELL SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
Recently, I ran into Carl West, the 30-something CEO of MIDWEST GAP Enterprises, a publishing and promotional company. West challenged me to a debate about hip-hop, an exercise I deem pointless. It took the births of my two granddaughters for my own son -- a hip-hop artist himself -- to listen to my point of view.
But I invited West to use my column to have his say. So without further ado, this is West’s response to my criticisms of hip-hop over the years:
“I’ve had the same conversation with misinformed old heads, which prompted me to organize a town hall meeting next month with three dozen prominent businessmen to defend and explain the importance of hip-hop. The theme of the meeting is ‘Bridging the Generational Gap Between the Misinformed and the Misunderstood.’ Guess who’s who?
“You’re in the group that continues to down play and criticize the hip-hop generation. That makes you misinformed. You know me and many other young men like me who are educated, neatly dressed, very well mannered and game-fully employed or self employed for that matter, and we’re hip hop heads. That means we love, breathe and many even make our business in this multi-billion dollar industry.
“Kenard Gibbs, one of the coolest brothers around, is deeply embedded in hip hop [and] is the president of VIBE magazine, but if you saw him, like me and millions of other men and women, you wouldn’t know that Tupac or Common was our music of choice.
“Another example is the hottest criminal defense attorney has hip-hop flowing through his veins like no other. Attorney Andre Grant met some young brothers from Rockford ten years ago while defending them in another matter. Today they are blowing up like the world trade, and Mr. Grant’s investment is about to come back ten fold.
“I hang with shorties on the block. I chill on Thursdays at Blu 47 with the bourgeois, or you might find me posted up with Bill Garth and Larry Huggins listening to tales of old wise men.
“But the one missing denominator is respect for a culture that has dominated America’s appetite for all things hip-hop. Fashion, music, style, bling, language and entourages have captured the hearts and souls of every race from every corner of the globe.
“Think about these several facts. One is that when the old heads criticize hip-hop, they’re dogging out their sons, daughters and grand kids, who most likely love and live hip-hop. Secondly, in the next ten years, most political figures, business and community leaders will have all come from the hip-hop generation.
“With all those things said, why not get involved in the movement, so you and other old heads can have some say about what’s booming from my jeep and into the minds of the next generation.
“I suggest to you, the same thing I tell my other misinformed homies. Support and invest in future hip-hop leaders, because the other man has, and check out how he’s living.”
In reply: ‘You’ve shamed me’
Dear Carl:
Obviously, you know as well as I do that not everyone who listens to hip-hop wears their pants off their butts. So we aren’t talking about fashion, are we? My objection to hip-hop’s influence has nothing to do with how much money the industry has made, either. After all, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?
Think about this: The illegal drug trade, too, has made people millionaires.
But drug dealing has also sent tens of thousands of black men to prison, scattered their children to the wind, and drove their women to early graves.
Unfortunately, too many hip-hop artists are just as poisonous. They glamorize violence (we won’t even get into the number of gangsta rappers who have killed each other), the sexual abuse of women, and poison the environment with their profane use of the “N” word.
But more importantly, I oppose any music genre that consistently depicts black people as only being interested in having sex, getting drunk, and killing each other.
When black sons and daughters find fame and fortune by marketing their mothers and sisters as ‘hos and Bs’, they deserve to be dogged out by elders who are the guardians of our culture.
With the help of powerful media moguls, members of your generation gave the world a distorted view of the African-American community and partied all the way to the bank.
The hip-hop culture was an assault on the “black is beautiful” image of our era. Today, we have “educated, neatly dressed, very well mannered and game-fully employed or self employed” hip-hop heads to thank for the thuggin’, sexin’, pimpin’ and killin’ images that are being broadcast 24/7 around the world today.
And we have these same people to thank for the resurrection of the “N” word as both a racial slur and an endearment.
So you see, Carl. You didn’t win me over. You’ve shamed me.
We should have put you hip-hop-heads in check a long time ago.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Elders ‘misinformed’ about hip-hop, young CEO writes
December 11, 2005
BY MARY MITCHELL SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
Recently, I ran into Carl West, the 30-something CEO of MIDWEST GAP Enterprises, a publishing and promotional company. West challenged me to a debate about hip-hop, an exercise I deem pointless. It took the births of my two granddaughters for my own son -- a hip-hop artist himself -- to listen to my point of view.
But I invited West to use my column to have his say. So without further ado, this is West’s response to my criticisms of hip-hop over the years:
“I’ve had the same conversation with misinformed old heads, which prompted me to organize a town hall meeting next month with three dozen prominent businessmen to defend and explain the importance of hip-hop. The theme of the meeting is ‘Bridging the Generational Gap Between the Misinformed and the Misunderstood.’ Guess who’s who?
“You’re in the group that continues to down play and criticize the hip-hop generation. That makes you misinformed. You know me and many other young men like me who are educated, neatly dressed, very well mannered and game-fully employed or self employed for that matter, and we’re hip hop heads. That means we love, breathe and many even make our business in this multi-billion dollar industry.
“Kenard Gibbs, one of the coolest brothers around, is deeply embedded in hip hop [and] is the president of VIBE magazine, but if you saw him, like me and millions of other men and women, you wouldn’t know that Tupac or Common was our music of choice.
“Another example is the hottest criminal defense attorney has hip-hop flowing through his veins like no other. Attorney Andre Grant met some young brothers from Rockford ten years ago while defending them in another matter. Today they are blowing up like the world trade, and Mr. Grant’s investment is about to come back ten fold.
“I hang with shorties on the block. I chill on Thursdays at Blu 47 with the bourgeois, or you might find me posted up with Bill Garth and Larry Huggins listening to tales of old wise men.
“But the one missing denominator is respect for a culture that has dominated America’s appetite for all things hip-hop. Fashion, music, style, bling, language and entourages have captured the hearts and souls of every race from every corner of the globe.
“Think about these several facts. One is that when the old heads criticize hip-hop, they’re dogging out their sons, daughters and grand kids, who most likely love and live hip-hop. Secondly, in the next ten years, most political figures, business and community leaders will have all come from the hip-hop generation.
“With all those things said, why not get involved in the movement, so you and other old heads can have some say about what’s booming from my jeep and into the minds of the next generation.
“I suggest to you, the same thing I tell my other misinformed homies. Support and invest in future hip-hop leaders, because the other man has, and check out how he’s living.”
In reply: ‘You’ve shamed me’
Dear Carl:
Obviously, you know as well as I do that not everyone who listens to hip-hop wears their pants off their butts. So we aren’t talking about fashion, are we? My objection to hip-hop’s influence has nothing to do with how much money the industry has made, either. After all, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?
Think about this: The illegal drug trade, too, has made people millionaires.
But drug dealing has also sent tens of thousands of black men to prison, scattered their children to the wind, and drove their women to early graves.
Unfortunately, too many hip-hop artists are just as poisonous. They glamorize violence (we won’t even get into the number of gangsta rappers who have killed each other), the sexual abuse of women, and poison the environment with their profane use of the “N” word.
But more importantly, I oppose any music genre that consistently depicts black people as only being interested in having sex, getting drunk, and killing each other.
When black sons and daughters find fame and fortune by marketing their mothers and sisters as ‘hos and Bs’, they deserve to be dogged out by elders who are the guardians of our culture.
With the help of powerful media moguls, members of your generation gave the world a distorted view of the African-American community and partied all the way to the bank.
The hip-hop culture was an assault on the “black is beautiful” image of our era. Today, we have “educated, neatly dressed, very well mannered and game-fully employed or self employed” hip-hop heads to thank for the thuggin’, sexin’, pimpin’ and killin’ images that are being broadcast 24/7 around the world today.
And we have these same people to thank for the resurrection of the “N” word as both a racial slur and an endearment.
So you see, Carl. You didn’t win me over. You’ve shamed me.
We should have put you hip-hop-heads in check a long time ago.
Essay 272
Nighttime is the right time for MultiCultClassics Minutes…
• Ford Motor Company may ultimately lead GM in one category — employee layoffs. Analysts predict Ford will shut down 10 plants and eliminate 30,000 jobs. GM planned similar numbers; however, GM is a larger company. One expert said, “Ford and GM are now in a race to shrink.” Or maybe disappear.
• Thanks to the 140-year-old 14th Amendment, any child born in the U.S. — even the offspring of illegal immigrants — automatically receives American citizenship. Now Congressional conservatives want to change things, which is sure to piss off Latino voters. But it’s also another indicator of the growing issues surrounding illegal immigration. You know it’s bad when legislators seek to revise the Constitution.
• There’s a California campaign supporting the execution of Stanley Tookie Williams. However, the effort is the brainchild of a pair of radio shock jocks hosting “The John and Ken Show” on KFI-AM. The Los Angeles Times wrote, “Their broadcasts have drawn outrage from those who perceive whispers of racism coursing through radio dialogues that have included one of the hosts reading Williams’ co-written ‘Gangs and Drugs’ book in an affected street accent, mocking the speech of some of Williams’ African American defenders.” Regardless of your personal stance on the issue, one thing is clear: John and Ken need to be eliminated from the public airwaves.
• NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal is now an official reserve officer for the Miami Beach police department. Wonder if Philip Michael Thomas is still available to be Shaq’s sidekick.
• The case involving the Ohio couple whose foster children slept in cages continues to be bizarre. A social worker testified in support of the couple, saying the cages actually protected the children — because some exhibited destructive behavior. Sounds like the social worker needs to be placed in a cage too.
• The Farrelly brothers are working on a new movie — and the source of the laughs will be Special Olympians. However, the filmmakers have the support of the Special Olympics. “The risk was that it would further the stereotypes of people with intellectual disabilities as the brunt of jokes rather than the teller of jokes,” said a Special Olympics executive. “But the payoff was even more valuable.” Jeez, is this guy retarded or something?
• Police in Toledo braced for possible problems with a scheduled neo-Nazi rally and opposing protests. An October gathering sparked a riot by counter-protestors. The neo-Nazis had planned the original gathering to speak against gangs and rising crime. Wait a minute. Aren’t the neo-Nazis essentially a gang whose activities are often criminal — if not simply offensive?
• Verizon Wireless won two legal cases versus telemarketers making unwanted calls to its customers. As if Verizon Wireless isn’t equally guilty of ringing people to hype their shitty services.
• Richard Pryor — actor, comedian and American icon — died on Saturday at age 65. And there’s nothing funny about that.
• Ford Motor Company may ultimately lead GM in one category — employee layoffs. Analysts predict Ford will shut down 10 plants and eliminate 30,000 jobs. GM planned similar numbers; however, GM is a larger company. One expert said, “Ford and GM are now in a race to shrink.” Or maybe disappear.
• Thanks to the 140-year-old 14th Amendment, any child born in the U.S. — even the offspring of illegal immigrants — automatically receives American citizenship. Now Congressional conservatives want to change things, which is sure to piss off Latino voters. But it’s also another indicator of the growing issues surrounding illegal immigration. You know it’s bad when legislators seek to revise the Constitution.
• There’s a California campaign supporting the execution of Stanley Tookie Williams. However, the effort is the brainchild of a pair of radio shock jocks hosting “The John and Ken Show” on KFI-AM. The Los Angeles Times wrote, “Their broadcasts have drawn outrage from those who perceive whispers of racism coursing through radio dialogues that have included one of the hosts reading Williams’ co-written ‘Gangs and Drugs’ book in an affected street accent, mocking the speech of some of Williams’ African American defenders.” Regardless of your personal stance on the issue, one thing is clear: John and Ken need to be eliminated from the public airwaves.
• NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal is now an official reserve officer for the Miami Beach police department. Wonder if Philip Michael Thomas is still available to be Shaq’s sidekick.
• The case involving the Ohio couple whose foster children slept in cages continues to be bizarre. A social worker testified in support of the couple, saying the cages actually protected the children — because some exhibited destructive behavior. Sounds like the social worker needs to be placed in a cage too.
• The Farrelly brothers are working on a new movie — and the source of the laughs will be Special Olympians. However, the filmmakers have the support of the Special Olympics. “The risk was that it would further the stereotypes of people with intellectual disabilities as the brunt of jokes rather than the teller of jokes,” said a Special Olympics executive. “But the payoff was even more valuable.” Jeez, is this guy retarded or something?
• Police in Toledo braced for possible problems with a scheduled neo-Nazi rally and opposing protests. An October gathering sparked a riot by counter-protestors. The neo-Nazis had planned the original gathering to speak against gangs and rising crime. Wait a minute. Aren’t the neo-Nazis essentially a gang whose activities are often criminal — if not simply offensive?
• Verizon Wireless won two legal cases versus telemarketers making unwanted calls to its customers. As if Verizon Wireless isn’t equally guilty of ringing people to hype their shitty services.
• Richard Pryor — actor, comedian and American icon — died on Saturday at age 65. And there’s nothing funny about that.
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Essay 271
The following was originally published in national newspapers on December 8, 2005. Definitely worth reading.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Stop blurring the lines between maniac & martyr
By Stanley Crouch
Tonight in California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to have a closed meeting with those trying to get Stanley (Tookie) Williams clemency and those in law enforcement who want Williams to meet his end on Tuesday.
Williams, who was sentenced to death after being found guilty of murdering four people in 1979, has the dubious honor of being one of the founders of the vicious street gang, the Crips.
Still, Williams is being held up as an example of redemption because he has supposedly turned his life around. He has written children’s books that speak out against gang violence. But the actor and writer Joseph Phillips discovered that the highest selling children’s book written by Williams has sold only 330 copies. Not exactly a universal audience. The murderer has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times. But almost anyone can nominate you. That does not prove universal acknowledgment of importance.
What does all of this mean? Little. When we see the NAACP, Jamie Foxx, Danny Glover and that paragon of public morality, Snoop Dogg, calling for Williams to receive clemency, one is sure that they have bought into the big con that has as its foundation the interconnectedness of the death penalty and race. The two elements have become so interwoven that some assume that if a black man is on Death Row it has something to do with bias and an unrepresentative jury pool. One of the men crying for Williams to get clemency cites the fact that he was tried by an all-white jury, none of whom were his peers. Does that mean that Williams should have had a jury of ruthless gang leaders? Williams, like all criminals, is a lawbreaker first and has an ethnic identity second.
The hard fact is that since 1980, street gangs have killed 10,000 people in Los Angeles, which is three times the number of black people lynched throughout the United States between 1877 and 1900, the highest tide of racial murder in the history of the nation.
Our commitment to redemption is fundamental to our civilization. But since the death of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, we have seen the same games run on the black community by the identical kinds of political hustlers who almost never met a criminal or a murderer who was not the real victim of society and should be forgiven all crimes, which, as in the Williams case, shouldn’t even be discussed. Look to the bright side. Give the brother a break.
I wouldn’t touch that kind of thinking with a garbage man’s glove. Yesterday was the anniversary of Colin Ferguson’s rampage on the Long Island Rail Road. Maybe he should come out of his mental fog and start writing children’s books. Ferguson might join Williams in a nomination for the Nobel Prize and watch the chumps line up in support of clemency for his bloody acts. Who knows? Hope springs eternal.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Stop blurring the lines between maniac & martyr
By Stanley Crouch
Tonight in California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to have a closed meeting with those trying to get Stanley (Tookie) Williams clemency and those in law enforcement who want Williams to meet his end on Tuesday.
Williams, who was sentenced to death after being found guilty of murdering four people in 1979, has the dubious honor of being one of the founders of the vicious street gang, the Crips.
Still, Williams is being held up as an example of redemption because he has supposedly turned his life around. He has written children’s books that speak out against gang violence. But the actor and writer Joseph Phillips discovered that the highest selling children’s book written by Williams has sold only 330 copies. Not exactly a universal audience. The murderer has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times. But almost anyone can nominate you. That does not prove universal acknowledgment of importance.
What does all of this mean? Little. When we see the NAACP, Jamie Foxx, Danny Glover and that paragon of public morality, Snoop Dogg, calling for Williams to receive clemency, one is sure that they have bought into the big con that has as its foundation the interconnectedness of the death penalty and race. The two elements have become so interwoven that some assume that if a black man is on Death Row it has something to do with bias and an unrepresentative jury pool. One of the men crying for Williams to get clemency cites the fact that he was tried by an all-white jury, none of whom were his peers. Does that mean that Williams should have had a jury of ruthless gang leaders? Williams, like all criminals, is a lawbreaker first and has an ethnic identity second.
The hard fact is that since 1980, street gangs have killed 10,000 people in Los Angeles, which is three times the number of black people lynched throughout the United States between 1877 and 1900, the highest tide of racial murder in the history of the nation.
Our commitment to redemption is fundamental to our civilization. But since the death of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, we have seen the same games run on the black community by the identical kinds of political hustlers who almost never met a criminal or a murderer who was not the real victim of society and should be forgiven all crimes, which, as in the Williams case, shouldn’t even be discussed. Look to the bright side. Give the brother a break.
I wouldn’t touch that kind of thinking with a garbage man’s glove. Yesterday was the anniversary of Colin Ferguson’s rampage on the Long Island Rail Road. Maybe he should come out of his mental fog and start writing children’s books. Ferguson might join Williams in a nomination for the Nobel Prize and watch the chumps line up in support of clemency for his bloody acts. Who knows? Hope springs eternal.
Friday, December 09, 2005
Essay 270
Friday facts, figures, funnyman and filmmakers with MultiCultClassics Minutes…
• Best Buy’s biased, according to a lawsuit filed by female and minority employees. The suit charges the retailer with enforcing “stereotypes that steer women, Latinos and African Americans into lower-paying jobs as cashiers and warehouse workers.” Best Buy’s slogan is “Get Yours.” Looks like the suing employees aim to do just that.
• A new Gallup poll shows 31 percent of Asians reported facing workplace discrimination. Blacks came in second place at 26 percent. The most frequent types of reported discrimination were sex bias (26 percent), racial bias (23 percent) and age bias (17 percent). The number of Whites who don’t give a shit about any of this remains steady at nearly 100 percent.
• Chris Rock’s sitcom is titled, “Everybody Hates Chris.” And now it appears the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences doesn’t like him either, failing to extend an invitation to host the next Oscars telecast. Last year Rock joked, “You want Denzel [Washington] and all you can get is me? Wait.” Looks like the Academy voted to wait.
• A lawyer for the filmmaker cop who produced controversial videos (see Essay 269) is vigorously defending his client. Referring to a scene where a cop runs over a Black homeless woman with a squad car, the lawyer argued, “I think it’s anti-racist. I think it’s pro-understanding. First of all, I don’t know why that woman is homeless. I think some people are labeling her as homeless due to their own misconceptions that Black people who live in that area might be homeless. She is a nice, kind woman. That’s what I see when I watch that video.” Wonder what he saw while watching the Rodney King video.
• Best Buy’s biased, according to a lawsuit filed by female and minority employees. The suit charges the retailer with enforcing “stereotypes that steer women, Latinos and African Americans into lower-paying jobs as cashiers and warehouse workers.” Best Buy’s slogan is “Get Yours.” Looks like the suing employees aim to do just that.
• A new Gallup poll shows 31 percent of Asians reported facing workplace discrimination. Blacks came in second place at 26 percent. The most frequent types of reported discrimination were sex bias (26 percent), racial bias (23 percent) and age bias (17 percent). The number of Whites who don’t give a shit about any of this remains steady at nearly 100 percent.
• Chris Rock’s sitcom is titled, “Everybody Hates Chris.” And now it appears the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences doesn’t like him either, failing to extend an invitation to host the next Oscars telecast. Last year Rock joked, “You want Denzel [Washington] and all you can get is me? Wait.” Looks like the Academy voted to wait.
• A lawyer for the filmmaker cop who produced controversial videos (see Essay 269) is vigorously defending his client. Referring to a scene where a cop runs over a Black homeless woman with a squad car, the lawyer argued, “I think it’s anti-racist. I think it’s pro-understanding. First of all, I don’t know why that woman is homeless. I think some people are labeling her as homeless due to their own misconceptions that Black people who live in that area might be homeless. She is a nice, kind woman. That’s what I see when I watch that video.” Wonder what he saw while watching the Rodney King video.
Essay 269
Late-breaking MultiCultClassics Minutes…
• Walgreens is becoming a regular newsmaker on this blog. After facing accusations of racial discrimination on numerous occasions, the drugstore chain is now charged with religious discrimination. Three pharmacists allegedly refused to fill prescriptions for emergency contraceptives, and the company placed them on unpaid leave. An advocacy group complained the pharmacists were “effectively fired” — although Walgreens insists they violated a state rule requiring the prescriptions be filled. “The Pharmacy America Trusts” may soon be changed to “The Pharmacy America Busts.”
• Coca-Cola changed its slogan to “Welcome to the Coke side of life.” The new campaign will probably feature supermodel Kate Moss.
• A report in USA Today showed Black Baby Boomers are heading south. Meanwhile, Mexican immigrants are moving north. It must be a fucking nightmare for White folks.
• California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger heard lawyers argue over the fate of Crips gang founder Stanley Tookie Williams. Now let’s see which role Schwarzenegger will play — The Terminator, Kindergarten Cop or The Running Man.
• A new cable TV show will let a Black family and a White family switch racial identities through the art of makeup. The series will debut in March on FX. But the Black family will probably launch a spin-off with BET.
• A San Francisco cop has been suspended for producing movies for a Christmas party that included a racy takeoff on Charlie’s Angels. “It is shameful, it is offensive, it is sexist, it is homophobic and it is racist,” proclaimed Mayor Gavin Newsom. The movies will probably run on FX soon.
• Walgreens is becoming a regular newsmaker on this blog. After facing accusations of racial discrimination on numerous occasions, the drugstore chain is now charged with religious discrimination. Three pharmacists allegedly refused to fill prescriptions for emergency contraceptives, and the company placed them on unpaid leave. An advocacy group complained the pharmacists were “effectively fired” — although Walgreens insists they violated a state rule requiring the prescriptions be filled. “The Pharmacy America Trusts” may soon be changed to “The Pharmacy America Busts.”
• Coca-Cola changed its slogan to “Welcome to the Coke side of life.” The new campaign will probably feature supermodel Kate Moss.
• A report in USA Today showed Black Baby Boomers are heading south. Meanwhile, Mexican immigrants are moving north. It must be a fucking nightmare for White folks.
• California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger heard lawyers argue over the fate of Crips gang founder Stanley Tookie Williams. Now let’s see which role Schwarzenegger will play — The Terminator, Kindergarten Cop or The Running Man.
• A new cable TV show will let a Black family and a White family switch racial identities through the art of makeup. The series will debut in March on FX. But the Black family will probably launch a spin-off with BET.
• A San Francisco cop has been suspended for producing movies for a Christmas party that included a racy takeoff on Charlie’s Angels. “It is shameful, it is offensive, it is sexist, it is homophobic and it is racist,” proclaimed Mayor Gavin Newsom. The movies will probably run on FX soon.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Essay 268
MultiCultClassics Member (title officially bestowed upon all blog visitors) Hadji Williams made a guest appearance at TalentZoo.com — click on the essay title to check it out.
Essay 267
Mexicans, Minorities, Morons, Motor Mouths, Magazines and Military Maneuvering from MultiCultClassics Minutes…
• A new survey debunks the belief that most Mexican immigrants head north because they’re jobless. The report released by the Pew Hispanic Center shows the majority of immigrants left behind jobs for an opportunity to work here instead. Which means there must be a greater incentive for relocating to the U.S. — like being able to watch The Jerry Springer Show.
• An exclusive Advertising Age survey showed nearly 82% of respondents believed their Hispanic ad budgets would increase in 2006. However, the respondents still won’t pay minority agencies nearly as much as White agency counterparts. Note to respondents: increased budgets aren’t meaningful if folks are still embarrassingly underpaid.
• President Bush wants to use an unmanned fleet of airplanes to spot illegal immigrants crossing the border. There’s a parallel to be made between Bush’s presidency and flying without a pilot.
• Foxy Brown will be flying without an attorney. The rap diva fired her lawyer for telling the press about her hearing loss. Wonder how she heard about that.
• The Source has gone from hip hop to homeless. The magazine was booted from its offices, apparently after not paying $156,000 for rent. Unlike the Source Awards, there were no stabbings or shootings involved with the eviction incident.
• The U.S. Army selected McCann Erickson in New York to handle its account, speculated to be worth $1.35 billion over five years. Looks like Leo Burnett employees will soon be calling recruiters. But definitely not military recruiters.
• A new survey debunks the belief that most Mexican immigrants head north because they’re jobless. The report released by the Pew Hispanic Center shows the majority of immigrants left behind jobs for an opportunity to work here instead. Which means there must be a greater incentive for relocating to the U.S. — like being able to watch The Jerry Springer Show.
• An exclusive Advertising Age survey showed nearly 82% of respondents believed their Hispanic ad budgets would increase in 2006. However, the respondents still won’t pay minority agencies nearly as much as White agency counterparts. Note to respondents: increased budgets aren’t meaningful if folks are still embarrassingly underpaid.
• President Bush wants to use an unmanned fleet of airplanes to spot illegal immigrants crossing the border. There’s a parallel to be made between Bush’s presidency and flying without a pilot.
• Foxy Brown will be flying without an attorney. The rap diva fired her lawyer for telling the press about her hearing loss. Wonder how she heard about that.
• The Source has gone from hip hop to homeless. The magazine was booted from its offices, apparently after not paying $156,000 for rent. Unlike the Source Awards, there were no stabbings or shootings involved with the eviction incident.
• The U.S. Army selected McCann Erickson in New York to handle its account, speculated to be worth $1.35 billion over five years. Looks like Leo Burnett employees will soon be calling recruiters. But definitely not military recruiters.
Welcome, New and Old Readers.
Welcome to MultiCultClassics.blogspot.com
The blog launched in March 2005. The initial goal was to spark discussions and debates about multiculturalism in the advertising industry — including all the good, bad and ugly complexities and contradictions.
Admittedly, there wasn’t a master plan or long-term strategy. Just decided to begin typing and see where it might go.
Many essays and months later, the plan is no clearer. The strategy is being reworked daily too.
Nonetheless, the conversation continues — despite the fact that it’s more of a monologue versus dialogue.
Here’s what MultiCultClassics.blogspot.com offers you:
If you’re deep into the multicultural advertising scene, this is the place for relatable, relevant insights and more. It’s all the stuff you’d toss around the virtual water cooler.
If you’re semi-clueless to the world outside of your personal universe, this is the place for you as well. One deliberate tactic here is to expose the masses to progressive, 21st century diversity. It’s not something exclusive to the human resources department. Think of the blog as delivering a recommended daily allowance of culture.
Please read the blog starting at Essay One (click on the essay title). You’re encouraged to agree or disagree with anything posted.
Please visit often. Admission is free. Open to the public 24 hours a day.
Finally, please share the blog with everyone you know. It works best with an inclusive spirit.
Click on the essay title and join the revolution.
The blog launched in March 2005. The initial goal was to spark discussions and debates about multiculturalism in the advertising industry — including all the good, bad and ugly complexities and contradictions.
Admittedly, there wasn’t a master plan or long-term strategy. Just decided to begin typing and see where it might go.
Many essays and months later, the plan is no clearer. The strategy is being reworked daily too.
Nonetheless, the conversation continues — despite the fact that it’s more of a monologue versus dialogue.
Here’s what MultiCultClassics.blogspot.com offers you:
If you’re deep into the multicultural advertising scene, this is the place for relatable, relevant insights and more. It’s all the stuff you’d toss around the virtual water cooler.
If you’re semi-clueless to the world outside of your personal universe, this is the place for you as well. One deliberate tactic here is to expose the masses to progressive, 21st century diversity. It’s not something exclusive to the human resources department. Think of the blog as delivering a recommended daily allowance of culture.
Please read the blog starting at Essay One (click on the essay title). You’re encouraged to agree or disagree with anything posted.
Please visit often. Admission is free. Open to the public 24 hours a day.
Finally, please share the blog with everyone you know. It works best with an inclusive spirit.
Click on the essay title and join the revolution.
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Essay 266
The Art Directors Club created a messed-up entry campaign for its 85th Annual Awards competition (click on the essay title to view the shit). The program is titled, “Pimp My Brand” — complete with bling-sculpted typography and a Black man dressed as Ronald McDonald. Not sure how Mickey D’s would feel about such a tribute. A theme line reads, “Ain’t No Such Thing As Too Much Gold.” The judges are labeled, “The Big Dogs Of The Business.” The credits are headlined as “Shout Outs.”
Damn.
What’s up with the advertising business? Advertising Week and the Effies promoted events with sexist imagery. Now an allegedly prestigious organization goes for cheap racial laughs.
An industry that has traditionally excluded Blacks shamelessly bites the culture without hesitation. How typical. Or stereotypical, to be more accurate.
Damn.
What’s up with the advertising business? Advertising Week and the Effies promoted events with sexist imagery. Now an allegedly prestigious organization goes for cheap racial laughs.
An industry that has traditionally excluded Blacks shamelessly bites the culture without hesitation. How typical. Or stereotypical, to be more accurate.
Essay 265
The article below appeared in the December 5, 2005 issue of Adweek. It was inspired by Ernie Schenck’s blog discussion on Baby Boomers — and a few of Schenck’s lines were inspired by MultiCultClassics comments. Click on the essay title to review Schenck’s original post.
-------------------------------------------------------
The Boomers’ Legacy
December 05, 2005
By ERNIE SCHENCK
In his book Balsamic Dreams: A Short But Self-Important History of the Baby Boomer Generation, Joe Queenan cites April 21, 1971, as one of 10 days that rocked the world for boomers. That, of course, would be the day that Carole King released her album Tapestry.
The emergence of Tapestry, Queenan writes, was as ignominious and cataclysmic an event as the Battle of Hastings or the fall of Constantinople to the Turks.
Why?
Because when King lamented that so many people couldn’t seem to stay in one place anymore, she was in effect telling an entire generation that, hey, it’s OK to be nostalgic, even if you’re only 18. You’ve seen fire. You’ve seen rain. Relax. Go with the flow. Let’s put that four-dead-in-O-hi-O thing behind us.
Thus, Queenan argues, the boomers went from being a generation of bomb throwers and firebrands hellbent on changing the world to a generation more concerned with SAT scores and porcini mushrooms than world hunger or the impending collapse of the Arctic icecap.
In 2006, the first of the baby boomers will turn 60. There will be TV specials. Documentaries. Entire issues of news magazines dedicated to the boomers and their impact on society. But what about advertising?
After reading an essay in Newsweek by Albert Brooks in which the actor lambastes Madison Avenue and Bob Dylan for sinking so low as to use “The Times They Are A-Changin’” in a TV spot for Kaiser Permanente, I threw the question out on my blog: What impact, for better or worse, have baby boomer creatives had on advertising?
I’ve never been on a battlefield. But if reader comments were bullets, I’d be dead by now. Stretched out in that Jerry Garcia-themed coffin that one very pissed-off kid suggested all us boomers consider purchasing as quickly as possible.
The post hit an intergenerational nerve, one that advertising people don’t like to talk about much. The good news is, I think we all learned a few things from it. And they are:
That a goatee and pierced tongue don’t make you any more creative today than a Woodstock ticket or a Velvet Underground album once did.
That boomers won’t hand over the keys to the kingdom to Gen X any more than the Greatest Generation was willing to hand them over to us.
That if Michael Jordan and Madonna can reinvent themselves as they get older, it’s hard to know why so many of us advertising boomers can’t.
That there’s not a lick of difference between the highly paid veteran ballplayer currently hitting .150 and the highly paid veteran ad executive currently hitting, well, not much better.
That even if every boomer in the business were to woof down a Jonestown cocktail tomorrow morning, chances are that 99.99 percent of all advertising would still be dog dung.
That if you want to be Sarah McLachlan and save the world from starvation, genocide and landmines, well, you might want to quit advertising and go work for Sarah McLachlan.
That boomers should worry more about what we're putting on the screen than what we’re putting in our 401(k)s.
That anyone who thinks Dan Wieden sold out by doing a Nike spot with a Beatles song, thereby giving permission to countless hacks to take the conceptually easy way out by dropping a culturally iconic tune onto a nice piece of film, is either a) a moron or b) sadly mistaken.
Yeah, I think we all learned something, young and, er, not so young alike. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m late for my proctologist appointment.
-------------------------------------------------------
The Boomers’ Legacy
December 05, 2005
By ERNIE SCHENCK
In his book Balsamic Dreams: A Short But Self-Important History of the Baby Boomer Generation, Joe Queenan cites April 21, 1971, as one of 10 days that rocked the world for boomers. That, of course, would be the day that Carole King released her album Tapestry.
The emergence of Tapestry, Queenan writes, was as ignominious and cataclysmic an event as the Battle of Hastings or the fall of Constantinople to the Turks.
Why?
Because when King lamented that so many people couldn’t seem to stay in one place anymore, she was in effect telling an entire generation that, hey, it’s OK to be nostalgic, even if you’re only 18. You’ve seen fire. You’ve seen rain. Relax. Go with the flow. Let’s put that four-dead-in-O-hi-O thing behind us.
Thus, Queenan argues, the boomers went from being a generation of bomb throwers and firebrands hellbent on changing the world to a generation more concerned with SAT scores and porcini mushrooms than world hunger or the impending collapse of the Arctic icecap.
In 2006, the first of the baby boomers will turn 60. There will be TV specials. Documentaries. Entire issues of news magazines dedicated to the boomers and their impact on society. But what about advertising?
After reading an essay in Newsweek by Albert Brooks in which the actor lambastes Madison Avenue and Bob Dylan for sinking so low as to use “The Times They Are A-Changin’” in a TV spot for Kaiser Permanente, I threw the question out on my blog: What impact, for better or worse, have baby boomer creatives had on advertising?
I’ve never been on a battlefield. But if reader comments were bullets, I’d be dead by now. Stretched out in that Jerry Garcia-themed coffin that one very pissed-off kid suggested all us boomers consider purchasing as quickly as possible.
The post hit an intergenerational nerve, one that advertising people don’t like to talk about much. The good news is, I think we all learned a few things from it. And they are:
That a goatee and pierced tongue don’t make you any more creative today than a Woodstock ticket or a Velvet Underground album once did.
That boomers won’t hand over the keys to the kingdom to Gen X any more than the Greatest Generation was willing to hand them over to us.
That if Michael Jordan and Madonna can reinvent themselves as they get older, it’s hard to know why so many of us advertising boomers can’t.
That there’s not a lick of difference between the highly paid veteran ballplayer currently hitting .150 and the highly paid veteran ad executive currently hitting, well, not much better.
That even if every boomer in the business were to woof down a Jonestown cocktail tomorrow morning, chances are that 99.99 percent of all advertising would still be dog dung.
That if you want to be Sarah McLachlan and save the world from starvation, genocide and landmines, well, you might want to quit advertising and go work for Sarah McLachlan.
That boomers should worry more about what we're putting on the screen than what we’re putting in our 401(k)s.
That anyone who thinks Dan Wieden sold out by doing a Nike spot with a Beatles song, thereby giving permission to countless hacks to take the conceptually easy way out by dropping a culturally iconic tune onto a nice piece of film, is either a) a moron or b) sadly mistaken.
Yeah, I think we all learned something, young and, er, not so young alike. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m late for my proctologist appointment.
Essay 264
MultiCultClassics Minutes presents Goodbye Rapper Tuesday…
• Up-and-coming rapper Steven Zorn accidentally killed himself while playing with a pen gun he thought was jammed. Zorn was celebrating an impending record deal when he allegedly shot himself in the head. Note to up-and-coming rappers: Getting shot gives you street cred, but not if you shoot yourself.
• Rapper Ran Rover is over too. His decomposing corpse was found in a car along with another dead body in Miami. Authorities refused to disclose any details. But it’s unlikely he died of natural causes. Although the natural causes of death for rappers is an ever-evolving category.
• The children and sisters of a Black woman killed during race riots in York, Pennsylvania will get a $2 million settlement from the city. What’s the catch? The murder happened in 1969. Justice delayed is justice denied. Or just a typical day in York, Pennsylvania.
• Dave Chappelle is rising from the dead. Comedy Central plans to air a few episodes featuring sketches produced before the comedian quit. “We thought it was time to start unearthing the material we had,” said a network executive. Especially since D.L. Hughley’s show sucks so bad.
• Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld complained the media is too negative in its coverage on the conflict in Iraq. Well, Rumsfeld is certainly an expert on being negative. At the same time, he’d be hard-pressed to present positive news from the war.
• Ford Motor Company will stop advertising in gay publications. The automaker insisted it was a business decision, but critics claim Ford bowed to pressure from conservative Christian groups. Can’t imagine gays will be upset to no longer see the contrived campaign featuring Chairman and CEO Bill Ford.
• Expect to see more advertising on the silver screen. Spending for marketing in movie theaters rose 18% last year, and analysts predict significant and steady increases for years to come. However, Ford will no longer run spots in gay theaters.
• Up-and-coming rapper Steven Zorn accidentally killed himself while playing with a pen gun he thought was jammed. Zorn was celebrating an impending record deal when he allegedly shot himself in the head. Note to up-and-coming rappers: Getting shot gives you street cred, but not if you shoot yourself.
• Rapper Ran Rover is over too. His decomposing corpse was found in a car along with another dead body in Miami. Authorities refused to disclose any details. But it’s unlikely he died of natural causes. Although the natural causes of death for rappers is an ever-evolving category.
• The children and sisters of a Black woman killed during race riots in York, Pennsylvania will get a $2 million settlement from the city. What’s the catch? The murder happened in 1969. Justice delayed is justice denied. Or just a typical day in York, Pennsylvania.
• Dave Chappelle is rising from the dead. Comedy Central plans to air a few episodes featuring sketches produced before the comedian quit. “We thought it was time to start unearthing the material we had,” said a network executive. Especially since D.L. Hughley’s show sucks so bad.
• Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld complained the media is too negative in its coverage on the conflict in Iraq. Well, Rumsfeld is certainly an expert on being negative. At the same time, he’d be hard-pressed to present positive news from the war.
• Ford Motor Company will stop advertising in gay publications. The automaker insisted it was a business decision, but critics claim Ford bowed to pressure from conservative Christian groups. Can’t imagine gays will be upset to no longer see the contrived campaign featuring Chairman and CEO Bill Ford.
• Expect to see more advertising on the silver screen. Spending for marketing in movie theaters rose 18% last year, and analysts predict significant and steady increases for years to come. However, Ford will no longer run spots in gay theaters.
Monday, December 05, 2005
Essay 263
Monday MultiCultClassics Minutes Minis…
• Foxy Brown is def. Actually, she’s deaf. At least that’s what her lawyer is insisting. Now a judge has adjourned Ms. Brown’s court case until later in the month. Remember, the rap diva is charged with attacking nail salon workers with a cell phone. Maybe she was frustrated over being unable to hear her calls.
• Westin Hotels announced plans to completely ban cigarette usage in its rooms, becoming the first smoke-free major hotel chain. Guests will also be prohibited from puffing in the hotel restaurants, bars and public areas. However, it’s still completely acceptable to stay in your room and drink to excess, do drugs and cavort with prostitutes.
• Diddy did a decent deed. The hip hop star visited a teenage cancer patient. It was part of efforts from Chris Evert’s charity tennis tournament and the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which included celebrities like Jon Lovitz, supermodel Frederique and singer Michael W. Smith. Can’t imagine any kid wishing to meet Jon Lovitz.
• Foxy Brown is def. Actually, she’s deaf. At least that’s what her lawyer is insisting. Now a judge has adjourned Ms. Brown’s court case until later in the month. Remember, the rap diva is charged with attacking nail salon workers with a cell phone. Maybe she was frustrated over being unable to hear her calls.
• Westin Hotels announced plans to completely ban cigarette usage in its rooms, becoming the first smoke-free major hotel chain. Guests will also be prohibited from puffing in the hotel restaurants, bars and public areas. However, it’s still completely acceptable to stay in your room and drink to excess, do drugs and cavort with prostitutes.
• Diddy did a decent deed. The hip hop star visited a teenage cancer patient. It was part of efforts from Chris Evert’s charity tennis tournament and the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which included celebrities like Jon Lovitz, supermodel Frederique and singer Michael W. Smith. Can’t imagine any kid wishing to meet Jon Lovitz.
Sunday, December 04, 2005
Essay 262
MultiCultClassics Minutes for the First Sunday of the Last Month…
• Acquitted Murder Inc. rap mogul Irv Lorenzo planned to attend church services with a juror from the case. “[The juror] really moved me,” Lorenzo admitted. “She gave me a hug [and] said, ‘We love you. I wasn’t going to let anything happen to you.’” Look for the juror’s church choir to record a demo soon.
• The Michigan Supreme Court approved a new rule prohibiting the selection of jurors based on race, sex, religion or nationality, “even in cases where the purpose would be to achieve balanced representation.” So much for being tried by a jury of your peers.
• Howard Dean is hollering again, this time over the political issues surrounding immigration. “Once again, the Republicans created problems so they think they can come in and solve them,” Dean bellowed, arguing the GOP will use immigration to divide voters in the next election. Gee, there’s another example of the keen political mind that inevitably failed to win a bid for the presidency.
• Better look both ways at least twice before crossing the street if you’re Hispanic and living in Southern states. Hispanic pedestrian deaths are highest in the South, with Mississippi recording 4.72 fatalities per 100,000 Hispanics. A CDC study conducted in the late 1990s showed pedestrian death rates for Hispanics in four Atlanta counties were almost 6 times higher than for non-Hispanic Whites and more than 2.5 times higher than for Blacks. Which ultimately proves again the benefits of being White in America.
• Wal-Mart treated a Black customer poorly, and it will minimally cost the retailer about $50,000 per year. A representative from a roofing company went to a Wal-Mart store in Florida to pick up $13,600 worth of gift cards for employees. Reginald Pitts, who is Black, was accused of trying to pass a phony check and interrogated by sheriff’s deputies — despite first showing plenty of IDs and having an accounting supervisor call Wal-Mart to confirm the check was fine. “I keep going over and over the incident in my mind,” Pitts said. “I cannot come up with any possible reason why I was treated like this except that I am Black.” Wal-Mart apologized and claimed it will investigate the matter. Meanwhile, Pitts’ company, which usually buys about $50,000 worth of gift cards per year, has taken its business to Target.
• Acquitted Murder Inc. rap mogul Irv Lorenzo planned to attend church services with a juror from the case. “[The juror] really moved me,” Lorenzo admitted. “She gave me a hug [and] said, ‘We love you. I wasn’t going to let anything happen to you.’” Look for the juror’s church choir to record a demo soon.
• The Michigan Supreme Court approved a new rule prohibiting the selection of jurors based on race, sex, religion or nationality, “even in cases where the purpose would be to achieve balanced representation.” So much for being tried by a jury of your peers.
• Howard Dean is hollering again, this time over the political issues surrounding immigration. “Once again, the Republicans created problems so they think they can come in and solve them,” Dean bellowed, arguing the GOP will use immigration to divide voters in the next election. Gee, there’s another example of the keen political mind that inevitably failed to win a bid for the presidency.
• Better look both ways at least twice before crossing the street if you’re Hispanic and living in Southern states. Hispanic pedestrian deaths are highest in the South, with Mississippi recording 4.72 fatalities per 100,000 Hispanics. A CDC study conducted in the late 1990s showed pedestrian death rates for Hispanics in four Atlanta counties were almost 6 times higher than for non-Hispanic Whites and more than 2.5 times higher than for Blacks. Which ultimately proves again the benefits of being White in America.
• Wal-Mart treated a Black customer poorly, and it will minimally cost the retailer about $50,000 per year. A representative from a roofing company went to a Wal-Mart store in Florida to pick up $13,600 worth of gift cards for employees. Reginald Pitts, who is Black, was accused of trying to pass a phony check and interrogated by sheriff’s deputies — despite first showing plenty of IDs and having an accounting supervisor call Wal-Mart to confirm the check was fine. “I keep going over and over the incident in my mind,” Pitts said. “I cannot come up with any possible reason why I was treated like this except that I am Black.” Wal-Mart apologized and claimed it will investigate the matter. Meanwhile, Pitts’ company, which usually buys about $50,000 worth of gift cards per year, has taken its business to Target.
Saturday, December 03, 2005
Essay 261
MultiCultClassics Minutes presents The Saturday Evening Post…
• Wal-Mart wants to improve its image, particularly with urban and coastal markets. The holiday campaign stars celebrities Garth Brooks, Martina McBride, Queen Latifah and Destiny’s Child, a distinct departure from the real people that have built the retailer’s corny personality. “[The] associates and customers look like they came from Memphis or Birmingham — and they usually did,” a company vice president said. “They didn’t resonate with people in the metropolitan areas and the coastal areas.” But the spot with Beyoncé and the crew makes the glamour girls look as plain and homely as the folks in past ads.
• The guy who bashed the knee of skater Nancy Kerrigan in 1994 sought to have his record cleared; however, a judge denied the request. Convicted whacker Shane Stant wants to become a Navy SEAL, but the military won’t accept candidates with felony records. Which is great, because this moron doesn’t even deserve to work as a SeaWorld seal.
• Various media groups delivered report cards to ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, rating the diversity of programs. Chairman of American Indians in Film and Television Mark Reed graded the four major networks with an ‘F’ and declared, “The American Indian is invisible in primetime television.” Except when the Washington Redskins battle the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football.
• After years of unintentionally inspiring a lot of comedy, the Reverend Al Sharpton is launching a CBS sitcom. The show in tentatively titled, “Al In The Family.” It’ll probably be just like “Everybody Loves Raymond.” Except everybody will be Black. And nobody will be funny.
• Wal-Mart wants to improve its image, particularly with urban and coastal markets. The holiday campaign stars celebrities Garth Brooks, Martina McBride, Queen Latifah and Destiny’s Child, a distinct departure from the real people that have built the retailer’s corny personality. “[The] associates and customers look like they came from Memphis or Birmingham — and they usually did,” a company vice president said. “They didn’t resonate with people in the metropolitan areas and the coastal areas.” But the spot with Beyoncé and the crew makes the glamour girls look as plain and homely as the folks in past ads.
• The guy who bashed the knee of skater Nancy Kerrigan in 1994 sought to have his record cleared; however, a judge denied the request. Convicted whacker Shane Stant wants to become a Navy SEAL, but the military won’t accept candidates with felony records. Which is great, because this moron doesn’t even deserve to work as a SeaWorld seal.
• Various media groups delivered report cards to ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, rating the diversity of programs. Chairman of American Indians in Film and Television Mark Reed graded the four major networks with an ‘F’ and declared, “The American Indian is invisible in primetime television.” Except when the Washington Redskins battle the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football.
• After years of unintentionally inspiring a lot of comedy, the Reverend Al Sharpton is launching a CBS sitcom. The show in tentatively titled, “Al In The Family.” It’ll probably be just like “Everybody Loves Raymond.” Except everybody will be Black. And nobody will be funny.
Friday, December 02, 2005
Essay 260
The article below appeared in the Wall Street Journal. It is directly followed by the MultiCultClassics response.
-----------------------------------------------------
‘We Are All Racists At Heart’
By AMY WAX and PHILIP E. TETLOCK
December 1, 2005
It was once easy to spot a racial bigot: The casual use of the n-word, the sweeping hostility, and the rigid unwillingness to abandon vulgar stereotypes left little doubt that a person harbored prejudice toward blacks as a group. But 50 years of survey research has shown a sharp decline in overt racial prejudice. Instead of being a cause for celebration, however, this trend has set off an ever more strident insistence in academia that whites are pervasively biased.
Some psychologists went low-tech: They simply expanded the definition of racism to include any endorsement of politically conservative views grounded in the values of self-reliance and individual responsibility. Opposition to busing, affirmative action or generous welfare programs were tarred as manifestations of “modern” or symbolic racism.
Others took a high-tech path: Racists could be identified by ignoring expressed beliefs and tapping into the workings of the unconscious mind. Thus was born the so-called “implicit association test.” The IAT builds on the fact that people react faster to the word “butter” if they have just seen the word “bread” momentarily flashed on a screen. The quicker response suggests that the mind closely associates those concepts. Applying this technique, researchers such as Mahzarin Banaji of Harvard have found that people recognize “negative” words such as “angry,” “criminal” or “poor” more quickly after being momentarily exposed to a black (as opposed to a white) face. And this effect holds up for the vast majority of white respondents -- and sometimes even for majorities of blacks.
What do investigators conclude from their findings that “blackness” often primes bad associations and “whiteness” good ones? According to some, it shows that prejudice permeates our unconscious minds and is not just confined to the 10% of hard-core bigots. Know it or not, we are all vessels of racial bias. From this sweeping conclusion, based on a small if intriguing scientific finding, social scientists, legal scholars, opinion leaders and “diversity experts” leap from thought to conduct and from unconscious association to harmful actions. Because most of us are biased, these individuals claim, we can safely assume that every aspect of social life -- every school, institution, organization and workplace -- is a bastion of discrimination. The most strenuous measures, whether they be diversity programs, bureaucratic oversight, accountability or guilt-ridden self-monitoring, cannot guarantee a level playing field.
What is wrong with this picture? In the first place, split-second associations between negative stimuli and minority group images don’t necessarily imply unconscious bias. Such associations may merely reflect awareness of common cultural stereotypes. Not everyone who knows the stereotypes necessarily endorses them.
Or the associations might reflect simple awareness of the social reality: Some groups are more disadvantaged than others, and more individuals in these groups are likely to behave in undesirable ways. Consider the two Jesses -- Jackson and Helms. Both know that the black family is in trouble, that crime rates in this community are far too high, and that black educational test scores are too low. That common awareness might lead to sympathy, to indifference, or to hostility. Because the IAT can distinguish none of these parameters, both kinds of Jesses often get similar, failing scores on tests of unconscious association.
Measures of unconscious prejudice are especially untrustworthy predictors of discriminatory behavior. MIT psychologist Michael Norton has recently noted that there is virtually no published research showing a systematic link between racist attitudes, overt or subconscious, and real-world discrimination. A few studies show that openly-biased persons sometimes favor whites over blacks in simulations of job hiring and promotion. But no research demonstrates that, after subtracting the influence of residual old-fashioned prejudice, split-second reactions in the laboratory predict real-world decisions. On the contrary, the few results available suggest that persons who are “high bias” on subconscious criteria are no more likely than others to treat minorities badly and may sometimes even favor them.
There is likewise no credible proof that actual business behavior is pervasively influenced by unconscious racial prejudice. This should not be surprising. Demonstrating racial bias is no easy matter because there is often no straightforward way to detect discrimination of any kind, let alone discrimination that is hidden from those doing the deciding. As anyone who has ever tried a job-discrimination case knows, showing that an organization is systematically skewed against members of one group requires a benchmark for how each worker would be treated if race or sex never entered the equation. This in turn depends on defining the standards actually used to judge performance, a task that often requires meticulous data collection and abstruse statistical analysis.
Assuming everyone is biased makes the job easy: The problem of demonstrating actual discrimination goes away and claims of discrimination become irrefutable. Anything short of straight group representation -- equal outcomes rather than equal opportunity -- is “proof” that the process is unfair.
Advocates want to have it both ways. On the one hand, any steps taken against discrimination are by definition insufficient, because good intentions and traditional checks on workplace prejudice can never eliminate unconscious bias. On the other, researchers and “diversity experts” purport to know what’s needed and do not hesitate to recommend more expensive and strenuous measures to purge pervasive racism. There is no more evidence that such efforts dispel supposed unconscious racism than that such racism affects decisions in the first place.
But facts have nothing to do with it. What began as science has morphed into unassailable faith. However we think, feel or act, and however much apparent progress has been made, there is no hope for us. We are all racists at heart.
Ms. Wax is professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Mr. Tetlock is the Lorraine Tyson Mitchell Endowed Professor in the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
-----------------------------------------------------
This article is difficult to decipher, as it’s nearly impossible to distinguish what is serious, sarcastic, scientific and simply stupid. One can only guess what resides in the authors’ allegedly racist hearts. Or their heads. But hey, combining a law professor with a business professor rarely adds up to common sense.
Why focus on racism from a Black and White perspective? The U.S. is a nation of equal opportunity bigots, generously applying biased behavior to Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, Asians, Middle Easterners, Native Americans, Hawaiians and more. And ethnicity is further sub-segmented by gender, lifestyle, age, size, disabilities, class, cliques, religion, politics, location, intellectual and emotional capacity and even hair color. Any individual characteristic is fair game for unfair treatment.
Can’t help but think the authors are feeling the paranoia associated with White cluelessness. Perhaps they’ve been accused of being racist after a Freudian slip, and the essay is their attempt to plead liberal innocence. Although seeking to explain things by proclaiming we’re all racists at heart seems extreme, if not downright dumb.
To recognize there is little credible proof of racism in business certainly doesn’t mean it isn’t real and rampant; rather, the observation says much about our legal system and its complex rules and procedures.
The thinly veiled attacks on “advocates” and “diversity experts” reveal an unconscious disgust. And the condescending lecturing, while somewhat predictable for academic professionals, is a little annoying.
Again, it’s difficult to figure out this article. And responses from other sources indicate varying degrees of misunderstanding and misreading the authors’ intent.
Sorry if these musings don’t make sense too.
-----------------------------------------------------
‘We Are All Racists At Heart’
By AMY WAX and PHILIP E. TETLOCK
December 1, 2005
It was once easy to spot a racial bigot: The casual use of the n-word, the sweeping hostility, and the rigid unwillingness to abandon vulgar stereotypes left little doubt that a person harbored prejudice toward blacks as a group. But 50 years of survey research has shown a sharp decline in overt racial prejudice. Instead of being a cause for celebration, however, this trend has set off an ever more strident insistence in academia that whites are pervasively biased.
Some psychologists went low-tech: They simply expanded the definition of racism to include any endorsement of politically conservative views grounded in the values of self-reliance and individual responsibility. Opposition to busing, affirmative action or generous welfare programs were tarred as manifestations of “modern” or symbolic racism.
Others took a high-tech path: Racists could be identified by ignoring expressed beliefs and tapping into the workings of the unconscious mind. Thus was born the so-called “implicit association test.” The IAT builds on the fact that people react faster to the word “butter” if they have just seen the word “bread” momentarily flashed on a screen. The quicker response suggests that the mind closely associates those concepts. Applying this technique, researchers such as Mahzarin Banaji of Harvard have found that people recognize “negative” words such as “angry,” “criminal” or “poor” more quickly after being momentarily exposed to a black (as opposed to a white) face. And this effect holds up for the vast majority of white respondents -- and sometimes even for majorities of blacks.
What do investigators conclude from their findings that “blackness” often primes bad associations and “whiteness” good ones? According to some, it shows that prejudice permeates our unconscious minds and is not just confined to the 10% of hard-core bigots. Know it or not, we are all vessels of racial bias. From this sweeping conclusion, based on a small if intriguing scientific finding, social scientists, legal scholars, opinion leaders and “diversity experts” leap from thought to conduct and from unconscious association to harmful actions. Because most of us are biased, these individuals claim, we can safely assume that every aspect of social life -- every school, institution, organization and workplace -- is a bastion of discrimination. The most strenuous measures, whether they be diversity programs, bureaucratic oversight, accountability or guilt-ridden self-monitoring, cannot guarantee a level playing field.
What is wrong with this picture? In the first place, split-second associations between negative stimuli and minority group images don’t necessarily imply unconscious bias. Such associations may merely reflect awareness of common cultural stereotypes. Not everyone who knows the stereotypes necessarily endorses them.
Or the associations might reflect simple awareness of the social reality: Some groups are more disadvantaged than others, and more individuals in these groups are likely to behave in undesirable ways. Consider the two Jesses -- Jackson and Helms. Both know that the black family is in trouble, that crime rates in this community are far too high, and that black educational test scores are too low. That common awareness might lead to sympathy, to indifference, or to hostility. Because the IAT can distinguish none of these parameters, both kinds of Jesses often get similar, failing scores on tests of unconscious association.
Measures of unconscious prejudice are especially untrustworthy predictors of discriminatory behavior. MIT psychologist Michael Norton has recently noted that there is virtually no published research showing a systematic link between racist attitudes, overt or subconscious, and real-world discrimination. A few studies show that openly-biased persons sometimes favor whites over blacks in simulations of job hiring and promotion. But no research demonstrates that, after subtracting the influence of residual old-fashioned prejudice, split-second reactions in the laboratory predict real-world decisions. On the contrary, the few results available suggest that persons who are “high bias” on subconscious criteria are no more likely than others to treat minorities badly and may sometimes even favor them.
There is likewise no credible proof that actual business behavior is pervasively influenced by unconscious racial prejudice. This should not be surprising. Demonstrating racial bias is no easy matter because there is often no straightforward way to detect discrimination of any kind, let alone discrimination that is hidden from those doing the deciding. As anyone who has ever tried a job-discrimination case knows, showing that an organization is systematically skewed against members of one group requires a benchmark for how each worker would be treated if race or sex never entered the equation. This in turn depends on defining the standards actually used to judge performance, a task that often requires meticulous data collection and abstruse statistical analysis.
Assuming everyone is biased makes the job easy: The problem of demonstrating actual discrimination goes away and claims of discrimination become irrefutable. Anything short of straight group representation -- equal outcomes rather than equal opportunity -- is “proof” that the process is unfair.
Advocates want to have it both ways. On the one hand, any steps taken against discrimination are by definition insufficient, because good intentions and traditional checks on workplace prejudice can never eliminate unconscious bias. On the other, researchers and “diversity experts” purport to know what’s needed and do not hesitate to recommend more expensive and strenuous measures to purge pervasive racism. There is no more evidence that such efforts dispel supposed unconscious racism than that such racism affects decisions in the first place.
But facts have nothing to do with it. What began as science has morphed into unassailable faith. However we think, feel or act, and however much apparent progress has been made, there is no hope for us. We are all racists at heart.
Ms. Wax is professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Mr. Tetlock is the Lorraine Tyson Mitchell Endowed Professor in the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
-----------------------------------------------------
This article is difficult to decipher, as it’s nearly impossible to distinguish what is serious, sarcastic, scientific and simply stupid. One can only guess what resides in the authors’ allegedly racist hearts. Or their heads. But hey, combining a law professor with a business professor rarely adds up to common sense.
Why focus on racism from a Black and White perspective? The U.S. is a nation of equal opportunity bigots, generously applying biased behavior to Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, Asians, Middle Easterners, Native Americans, Hawaiians and more. And ethnicity is further sub-segmented by gender, lifestyle, age, size, disabilities, class, cliques, religion, politics, location, intellectual and emotional capacity and even hair color. Any individual characteristic is fair game for unfair treatment.
Can’t help but think the authors are feeling the paranoia associated with White cluelessness. Perhaps they’ve been accused of being racist after a Freudian slip, and the essay is their attempt to plead liberal innocence. Although seeking to explain things by proclaiming we’re all racists at heart seems extreme, if not downright dumb.
To recognize there is little credible proof of racism in business certainly doesn’t mean it isn’t real and rampant; rather, the observation says much about our legal system and its complex rules and procedures.
The thinly veiled attacks on “advocates” and “diversity experts” reveal an unconscious disgust. And the condescending lecturing, while somewhat predictable for academic professionals, is a little annoying.
Again, it’s difficult to figure out this article. And responses from other sources indicate varying degrees of misunderstanding and misreading the authors’ intent.
Sorry if these musings don’t make sense too.
Essay 259
MultiCultClassics Minutes proclaims, “Thou doth protest too much!”
• You better watch out. You better not cry. The neo-Nazis are coming to town. Toledo approved a return engagement for the group, despite the fact that the previous rally sparked a major riot. Property was vandalized and police arrested over 120 people during the incident last October. And it all happened after the neo-Nazis’ gathering was canceled before it began.
• Students at the University of Maryland staged a protest against campus police. The rally was sparked by a November 13 incident, where the cops broke up a mostly-Black party. Officers claimed they were responding to a noise complaint and ultimately arrested three people, including two U-Md. students. The partygoers insisted the cops waved nightsticks, brandished their pistols and blasted pepper spray. Chief Kenneth W. Krouse wrote a letter to the school paper, contending the police force has strived to “embrace the diversity that encompasses our campus community.” Perhaps he meant to write, “…MACE the diversity…”
• Seven students from Hampton University may be expelled for staging an anti-Bush protest last month. The students are accused of not following proper protest guidelines outlined in a school handbook. Wonder if the procedures incorporated dealing with pepper spray and riot police.
• The Murder Inc. trial is over, and the Lorenzo brothers were acquitted of all charges. Ja Rule originally called the case, “a war against hip hop.” Well, at least one war has ended without major protests, excluding the commentary by Ja Rule and Russell Simmons.
• You better watch out. You better not cry. The neo-Nazis are coming to town. Toledo approved a return engagement for the group, despite the fact that the previous rally sparked a major riot. Property was vandalized and police arrested over 120 people during the incident last October. And it all happened after the neo-Nazis’ gathering was canceled before it began.
• Students at the University of Maryland staged a protest against campus police. The rally was sparked by a November 13 incident, where the cops broke up a mostly-Black party. Officers claimed they were responding to a noise complaint and ultimately arrested three people, including two U-Md. students. The partygoers insisted the cops waved nightsticks, brandished their pistols and blasted pepper spray. Chief Kenneth W. Krouse wrote a letter to the school paper, contending the police force has strived to “embrace the diversity that encompasses our campus community.” Perhaps he meant to write, “…MACE the diversity…”
• Seven students from Hampton University may be expelled for staging an anti-Bush protest last month. The students are accused of not following proper protest guidelines outlined in a school handbook. Wonder if the procedures incorporated dealing with pepper spray and riot police.
• The Murder Inc. trial is over, and the Lorenzo brothers were acquitted of all charges. Ja Rule originally called the case, “a war against hip hop.” Well, at least one war has ended without major protests, excluding the commentary by Ja Rule and Russell Simmons.
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Essay 258
Political statements brought to you by MultiCultClassics Minutes…
• A couple of businesswomen, Lama al-Sulaiman and Nashwa Taher, became Saudi Arabia’s first female elected officials. In fact, the recent election was the first time women were permitted to run and vote. News stories offered little information on the pair, who could not be reached for comment. Maybe Saudi Arabian women are not yet allowed to speak to reporters.
• The California Supreme Court rejected the latest legal efforts to stop the scheduled execution of Crips gang founder Stanley Tookie Williams. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger can still swoop in like the Terminator and grant clemency. “What I want to do is make sure we make the right decisions, because we’re dealing here with a person’s life,” Schwarzenegger said. It wasn’t clear if the Governor was actually referring to his own political life.
• “Poverty and ignorance is more of a problem in our community than convicting our poets,” said Russell Simmons at the continuing trial of Murder Inc. Yeah, but poverty and ignorance in our community won’t attract an audience that includes Simmons, Jay-Z, Damon Dash, Ja Rule and Ashanti.
• The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo recently won a Significant Achievement Award from the American Zoo and Aquarium Association for participating in Cleveland Metroparks Diversity Initiatives. Yeah, but what’s the ratio between Black Bears and Polar Bears at the zoo?
• A couple of businesswomen, Lama al-Sulaiman and Nashwa Taher, became Saudi Arabia’s first female elected officials. In fact, the recent election was the first time women were permitted to run and vote. News stories offered little information on the pair, who could not be reached for comment. Maybe Saudi Arabian women are not yet allowed to speak to reporters.
• The California Supreme Court rejected the latest legal efforts to stop the scheduled execution of Crips gang founder Stanley Tookie Williams. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger can still swoop in like the Terminator and grant clemency. “What I want to do is make sure we make the right decisions, because we’re dealing here with a person’s life,” Schwarzenegger said. It wasn’t clear if the Governor was actually referring to his own political life.
• “Poverty and ignorance is more of a problem in our community than convicting our poets,” said Russell Simmons at the continuing trial of Murder Inc. Yeah, but poverty and ignorance in our community won’t attract an audience that includes Simmons, Jay-Z, Damon Dash, Ja Rule and Ashanti.
• The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo recently won a Significant Achievement Award from the American Zoo and Aquarium Association for participating in Cleveland Metroparks Diversity Initiatives. Yeah, but what’s the ratio between Black Bears and Polar Bears at the zoo?
Essay 257
The following appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution…
--------------------------------------------------------------
What is so “un-black” about being intelligent?
By RICK BADIE | Thursday, December 1, 2005
Mandisa likes Abercrombie & Fitch, not FUBU.
She speaks proper English, not Ebonics.
She takes honor classes and belongs to the Beta Club and National Arts Honors Society at Parkview High. She plays the violin and has danced and sung in area productions of “The Nutcracker” and “My Fair Lady.”
Mandisa Surpris, a 15-year-old sophomore, is all this.
And she’s black.
Some of the other black students don’t know what to make of her. The way she dresses, the way she talks, the grades she earns. She’s an anomaly. To them, she’s more white than black. They’ve even told her so to her face.
“It’s the most ignorant statement I’ve ever heard,” Mandisa told me. “A lot of black students have the ability, but they think that being smart isn’t cool. So they hide it.”
She can talk about her experience now because she knows how to deal with it. That hasn’t always been the case.
Last year, the comments, slights and snubs took a toll. Mondays, the start of the school week, were especially tough. She’d complain of pain in her limbs. Mom and Dad took her to several doctors. Tests were taken and exams were given. Nothing.
Then, a doctor at Emory University wondered if her illness wasn’t psychosomatic. Something, he said, must be going on in Mandisa’s life that’s making her body ache. It was a breakthrough.
Mandisa, crying, had a heart-to-heart with Mom and Dad. She told them how some — not all — black students treated her as an oddity because she didn’t succumb to their idiotic and destructive views of the black diaspora. My words, not hers.
“It was painful,” said Renald Surpris, her father. “Some black kids don’t have the education and understanding to accept people for who they are, not what they look like.”
I know what some of you are thinking. Here Rick goes again. Writing about race. Stirring up trouble. Critics say it all the time. I don’t care. I write about racial issues carefully and selectively, and sometimes, when I’m ticked off.
Like now.
My people, my people. Some of you disturb me. There’s something terribly wrong when black students — even one — at Parkview or any other Gwinnett campus criticize, ridicule and question the “blackness” of someone like Mandisa simply because she wants to excel.
It’s even sadder in this case because Parkview High is no ghetto school. Its student population doesn’t hail from lower-income apartment complexes and subdivisions. At Parkview, the parents and students consider their school the crème de la crème of public schools, the clientele upper-crust perhaps and at the very least middle-class.
So I blame parents. You black parents.
It’s your fault if your children think academic achievement is uncool, anti-black and pro-white. It’s your fault if your offspring are so enthralled with the so-called thug life that they devalue education, hard work and dedication.
And you’re especially to blame if your child’s sense of black culture means that you have to think and act a certain way, and that to do otherwise means you’re acting like whitey.
It's your fault. And you’re crippling your kids.
Mandisa wants to pursue acting or a career in the fashion industry. She plans to attend college in New York, her birthplace. I’m sure she’ll be fine.
It’s the kids who ridicule her that I worry about. When they succumb to this crippling ignorance, we all lose. We’ll have fewer doctors, teachers, artists and more. Fewer people to be proud of.
--------------------------------------------------------------
What is so “un-black” about being intelligent?
By RICK BADIE | Thursday, December 1, 2005
Mandisa likes Abercrombie & Fitch, not FUBU.
She speaks proper English, not Ebonics.
She takes honor classes and belongs to the Beta Club and National Arts Honors Society at Parkview High. She plays the violin and has danced and sung in area productions of “The Nutcracker” and “My Fair Lady.”
Mandisa Surpris, a 15-year-old sophomore, is all this.
And she’s black.
Some of the other black students don’t know what to make of her. The way she dresses, the way she talks, the grades she earns. She’s an anomaly. To them, she’s more white than black. They’ve even told her so to her face.
“It’s the most ignorant statement I’ve ever heard,” Mandisa told me. “A lot of black students have the ability, but they think that being smart isn’t cool. So they hide it.”
She can talk about her experience now because she knows how to deal with it. That hasn’t always been the case.
Last year, the comments, slights and snubs took a toll. Mondays, the start of the school week, were especially tough. She’d complain of pain in her limbs. Mom and Dad took her to several doctors. Tests were taken and exams were given. Nothing.
Then, a doctor at Emory University wondered if her illness wasn’t psychosomatic. Something, he said, must be going on in Mandisa’s life that’s making her body ache. It was a breakthrough.
Mandisa, crying, had a heart-to-heart with Mom and Dad. She told them how some — not all — black students treated her as an oddity because she didn’t succumb to their idiotic and destructive views of the black diaspora. My words, not hers.
“It was painful,” said Renald Surpris, her father. “Some black kids don’t have the education and understanding to accept people for who they are, not what they look like.”
I know what some of you are thinking. Here Rick goes again. Writing about race. Stirring up trouble. Critics say it all the time. I don’t care. I write about racial issues carefully and selectively, and sometimes, when I’m ticked off.
Like now.
My people, my people. Some of you disturb me. There’s something terribly wrong when black students — even one — at Parkview or any other Gwinnett campus criticize, ridicule and question the “blackness” of someone like Mandisa simply because she wants to excel.
It’s even sadder in this case because Parkview High is no ghetto school. Its student population doesn’t hail from lower-income apartment complexes and subdivisions. At Parkview, the parents and students consider their school the crème de la crème of public schools, the clientele upper-crust perhaps and at the very least middle-class.
So I blame parents. You black parents.
It’s your fault if your children think academic achievement is uncool, anti-black and pro-white. It’s your fault if your offspring are so enthralled with the so-called thug life that they devalue education, hard work and dedication.
And you’re especially to blame if your child’s sense of black culture means that you have to think and act a certain way, and that to do otherwise means you’re acting like whitey.
It's your fault. And you’re crippling your kids.
Mandisa wants to pursue acting or a career in the fashion industry. She plans to attend college in New York, her birthplace. I’m sure she’ll be fine.
It’s the kids who ridicule her that I worry about. When they succumb to this crippling ignorance, we all lose. We’ll have fewer doctors, teachers, artists and more. Fewer people to be proud of.
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