Racing Arizona

Politicians and their sheeple have done a great job this year of bringing back race as a wedge issue.

We were all really concerned that once a black president was elected we would all finally move beyond race and racism, but it's a relief that they have recognized that race as a political wedge issue is still very valuable.

Just look at how well it has been used. If you think we're over taxed, it's because you're racist. If you think the government is spending money on the wrong thing, you're a racist. If you disagree with passing a law mandating 30 million new customers for the insurance industry, it must be because you are a racist.

If you think hundreds of teens should be home studying or working at a productive job on Friday nights instead of rioting on the Country Club Plaza? Well son, you're a damn racist.

Yes sir. Despite all of the hope and change, the race card is alive and well in politics today. Just look at all of mileage the race baiters are getting out of this new Arizona Illegal Immigration law.

Before even reading or understanding the law at all, Koolaid drinkers flew off the handle calling it unfair and racist. I'm no lawyer, and I haven't gone through the legislation with a fine toothed comb, but my friend R.Sherman is, and he has. He's a great guy despite being a lawyer and he points out that the Arizona law essentially takes current federal law and makes it Arizona State law, except that the Arizona law is more lax than federal law.

Look, I'm on record as being pretty status quo on illegal immigration.I certainly don't condone it anymore than I condone any other illegal activity. But then again, of all the problems we have in our country, I don't think illegal immigration is the worst.

To the people who are acting all outraged about the supposed racial injustice of the Arizona law, I question your sincerity. I don't think you're really worried about the rights of illegal immigrants. More likely, your worried about your voting blocks and creating a wedge issue.

That's to bad because there are real, legitimate reasons to not like the Arizona law. Just from what I've read I don't think it's racist, I just don't like the idea of giving the police more excuses to hassle us. Frankly, I think we're putting ourselves at more and more risk when we give the government more reasons to stop us and demand identification.

I mean let's face it. The human rights train left the station long ago. We've already pretty much established that the Bill of Rights is more of a punchline than a protection against government abuses.

But rather than trying to limit government abuses, we've done everything we can as a society to encourage it. We basically said "Here Uncle Same, take half my income. Take care of my neighbors so I don't have to. While you're at take care of my health and retirement planning as well. What? You say you need to read my emails and listen to my phone calls so that you can keep me from doing something that it bad for me? Well, okay. You know best."

And now you're worried about abuses in Arizona? Well, you should be. But as I've said before, we have ourselves to blame. When we put too much faith in "the authorities" to look out for us you can't be too surprised when those abuses inevitably occur. If we make the government collectively responsible for everything, then the governed aren't individually responsible for anything.

You can't have a nanny state without also having a police state.

tagged: race, politics, Arizona, immigration, law, illegal

Movie Mini Review: The Blind Side

Title: The Blind Side

Cast: Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron

Plot Summary: An affluent white Southern family adopts an athletically gifted homeless black teen. They provide a bed, home, food and educational assistance that eventually allows the teen to pursue a football career.

My Thoughts: The Blind Side is based on Michael Lewis' book (same name) about physically gifted but socially disadvantaged teen Michael Oher.

The story is fairly well known by now, and the movie is directed as the quintessential holiday feel-good hit. It wastes no time charging the emotions with a sad soundtrack to match the tragic life circumstance of the principal character, Oher.

I have some pretty mixed feelings about the film, and it could be that I'm just over thinking it.

It does deliver on the tugging-at-the-heartstrings mission of the typical holiday hit. Pretty much all of the ladies in the theater were tearing up within 20 minutes of the start of the movie. By the time Michael Oher admitted that "I've never had a bed before" there wasn't a dry female eye in the house.

But there was something about how the film was executed that just made me felt a little uneasy. It's a good story, don't get me wrong. But I don't know if it was the directing or the editing or what, but it just came across to me a bit exploitative.

One problem is that the story is rife with stereotypes. From the affluent southern bigot to the redneck southern bigot to the black gangster thug to the poor ghetto junkie mother, there was no real character development even in the primary characters.

The other problem I had was what I perceived to be a not-so-subtle mixture of white guilt and White Man's Burden. The implication was that these white folk could save the black folk. It was a simplistic portrayal of race relations, where there was an opportunity to take a serious and sincere look at social issues that still exists.

Finally, Sandra Bullock's portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy really was tragic. I guess it could have been the director's fault, but Bullock managed to take what should have been one of the most sympathetic characters -- the woman who took a black kid from the projects into her home, fed him, clothed him and championed his education -- and make her an unlikable shrew.

Bullock's interpretation of Tuohy was that of an uptight, bossy, entitled harpy. Really, I remarked to my Supermodel Wife at about the 30-minute mark that "That woman hasn't smiled once yet." A few minutes later, she managed to squeeze out the ghost of a grin, but made it look painful, like it was about to break her face.

It was really almost enough to make me racist in reverse.

The rest of the cast did an okay job. Tim McGraw played an Everybody Loves Raymond househusband and Jae Head channeled Macaulay Culkin circa 1990 as the youngest sibling. Kathy Bates... was in the movie.

The best acting job probably goes to Quinton Aaron as Michael Oher, though the sparse dialogue and understatedness of the character made it easy for him.

I hate to get too down on the movie. Like I said, a lot of people really liked it and it is a good story -- maybe even inspiring if you don't think too much about it. I would recommend the book over the movie, though.

Final Rating: Two out of five stars.



tagged: movie, review, The Blind Side, Sandra Bullock, Michael Oher, football, Tim McGraw

Journey man

Against my better judgment, I watched the KMBC so-called local so-called news tonight. It's just been so long since I've had a good dose of homeless pet coverage, and I wanted to subject myself to the sickening stream of political ads.

I'm crazy like that.

So any way, anchorgeezer Larry Moore led off the news with the story of Keith Slater, the 22 year-old KC resident who found a racial slur printed on his receipt after returning a pair of shoes at the Journeys store in Overland Park's Oak Park Mall.

This isn't going to be a commentary on KMBC's coverage, although you can bet your Kenneth Cole's that since the story went national they'll be blanketing their coverage with senseless follow-up stories for the rest of the week.

Rather I just wanted to ask, nay implore, Slater's parents to take a higher road on this issue. Sure, they have every right to be pissed off. Who doesn't get angry when called a name -- even more so for a racially charged one.

But KMBC aired footage of a room full of local media hacks invited into Slater's home where his father threw out not-so-veiled threats of a lawsuit against a store that was clearly screwed by an employee (an employee who has been summarily and rightfully fired).

This goes dangerously close to perpetuating a stereotype.

So please, Slater family, don't play the role of the victim on this. Please don't wax melodramatic about your pain and suffering and the pain and suffering of your children.

Instead, be magnanimous and accept the store's apology. Lament the fact that this kind of thing can still happen in our day and age and try to make something positive out of it.

Teach your son that there are assholes in the world, but he doesn't have to be one. Teach him that he isn't defined by someone's ignorant opinion of him, but rather by the way he treats others.

Teach him, when being hated, not to give way to hating. Teach him to battle a stereotype by showing that the stereotype isn't true.

But don't be swayed by a pack of slimy lawyers trying to cash in on an insulting incident. Doing so may give you an extra 15 minutes of fame. But is that really what you want to be famous for?

tagged: race, Slater, Journeys, Kansas City, Overland Park, Oak Park Mall

Carefully taught

I overheard an unpleasant conversation recently that made me think of these lyrics from South Pacific.

You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught

Interesting that Rogers and Hammerstein wrote this in 1949, and here we are nearly 60 years later and some people still haven't learned. Or maybe they've learned too well.

tagged: race, prejudice, South Pacific, Rogers and Hammerstein

Prepare for glory!

My fellow Latinos make no mistake: Events of the past week are a victory for Latinos everywhere!

The despot Francis Semler may still be the ruler of the Kansas City Parks Board, but we have demonstrated that the men and women of La Raza submit to no ruler.

By withholding our support for the NCLR convention, we have proven that although there may be only 300 of us on the Westside, we are more than a match for the godless heathens in the Mayor's office.

And this is only the beginning of the fight! Soon, the world will know that free men stood against a tyrant, that few stood against many, and that before this battle is over, even a god-king can bleed.

tagged: Kansas City, La Raza, convention, 300, humor, Latino

What we pretend to be

Some of Tony's recent posts reminded me of this quote I saw on the AV Club a few months ago when Kurt Vonnegut died...

"We must be careful about what we pretend to be."

In Mother Night, apolitical expatriate American playwright Howard W. Campbell, Jr. refashions himself as a Nazi propagandist in order to pass coded messages on to the U.S. generals and preserve his marriage to a German woman—their "nation of two," as he calls it. But in serving multiple masters, Campbell ends up ruining his life and becoming an unwitting inspiration to bigots. In his 1966 introduction to the paperback edition, Vonnegut underlines Mother Night's moral: "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." That lesson springs to mind every time a comedian whose shtick relies on hoaxes and audience-baiting—or a political pundit who traffics in shock and hyperbole—gets hauled in front of the court of public opinion for pushing the act too far. Why can't people just say what they mean?

tagged: Kurt Vonnegut, race, blog, blogging, Tony's Kansas City

Imushamed

Well thank god science that's over.

CBS has made the right decision in listening to the clamoring mob and firing washed-up radio talk show host Don Imus for saying what nearly every hip-hop artist spews at 50 words per minute.

And I for one couldn't be happier. It's not that I really care what happens to Imus, or freedom of speech, or racial equality or the hypocrisy of cultural leaders or that the traumatized members of the Rutgers women's basketball team can now begin the process of healing and trying to avoid the fate of becoming crack whores because of the debilitating abuse of an old white geezer.

What I'm most grateful for is that now that our long national nightmare is over -- a nightmare that the mediots dutifully pasted wall-to-wall across the 24-hour news cycle -- we can begin to focus once again on the other important stories of the day.

Stories like:

• Who is really the father of Anna Nicole Smith's child?
• Who is poisoning our pets and elderly?
• Do these genes make me look fat?
• How will we survive the attack of the drug-resistant gonorrhea?

As you can see, we've got a lot to worry about. But at least Don Imus won't be darkening the 9-11 terrestrial AM radio frequencies of irrelevance anymore.

tagged: Imus, race, culture, black, ho, Rutgers, Anna Nicole Smith, obesity gene, pet food, gonorrhea, free speech, hypocrisy

The new N-word

I'm not sure whether it's good or bad that I'm just now learning about this Don Imus fiasco.

I have F-Bombs and Dan to thank for cluing me in (interesting how I'm learning about the "news" from bloggers now).

If you're clueless like me, here's the 411: Don Imus is in Dutch with the Blacks because he referred to the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos". Offended Blacks and the PC Police want him fired for using the racial slur "nappy".

The aforementioned F-Bombs points out that even black people are racists when they use the term "nappy".

Dan throws in with Jason (half)Whitlock who notes that this is much ado about not very much and that "the gangsta rappers and their followers in the athletic world have far bigger platforms to negatively define us than some old white man with a bad radio show."

That's a good point, and one that I've tried to make before.

Personally, I wonder why there is so much fury over Imus' use of the term "nappy," but nobody really cares that he called the women "hoes"?

tagged: Imus, race, culture, black, ho, Rutgers, Whitlock

Blacklash

It's February. You may know it as Black History month, a time of great reflection and introspection for my people, the Black Irish.

But let's face it. The Irish have never been worth the potatoes we eat in terms of culture. Sure, there have been some notable authors, few flash-in-the-pan musical acts, and really creepy horror characters.

But really the story of the descendants of a small, cold, rocky island in the North Atlantic isn't worth and entire month. And besides, there's always St. Patrick's Day.

No, let's focus on largely ignored plight of the black Americans of African decent. Actually, I'm being a bit flippant, which isn't fair. I do want to take a look at black history from a semi-serious perspective. Specifically, I want to look at recent black history.

F-Bombs recently posted at The Philosopher King a righteously indignant rant against some university students who dressed up as hiphop-esque rappers/thugs at parties last month during MLK day.

F-Bombs drops a heavy dollop of "offendedness" on these stupid kids, and rightly so. But he misses the opportunity to be angry at both sides of the fence.

More importantly, if you're told to 'dress like Black people' and you show up with fake golds, doo rags, fried chicken, plastic guns, 40oz's, and flashing gang signs----obviously this is what you think about Black people in our entirety. That makes you a racist bigot, and I sincerely hope that your insensitivity and social retardation follow you for the remainder of your life.

One might ask why a bunch of half-wit white kids would consider bling and grillz and thug life to be representative of black culture.

In fact, more than one has asked that. I tend to think Penni Brown has a good point.

Remember when you first saw the movie Hollywood Shuffle and you laughed because the scenes were so ridiculous and far fetched. You could look at that movie and know that it was a satire...a stab at how main stream Hollywood stereotypes Black Americans.

Now, fast forward to movies and videos available today. Those once satirical images are no longer meant to be facetious. They're meant to show 'the real' life of people in 'the hood'. So, now, we're claiming these representations as valid and fair examples of how we live. So, can we really get angry when white people, who are trying to be like us, don the same gear and have a party...calling it a an MLK celebration?

In my opinion, you can get mad at the kids dressing like thugs/gangstas/pimps/whatever, but such misplaced anger doesn't accomplish anything. It's like getting pissed at the Wayans Brothers and calling them racists because of White Chicks.

As I mentioned in F-Bomb's comments, the anger would more productive were it directed at the hiphop role models who promote the thug culture. People like Ludacris or 50 Cent who refer to women as bitches and hos, boast of popping caps in asses and advocate promiscuous sex with no responsibility (okay, it's not all bad).

Get rich or die tryin', but don't waste your time on an education. Ironically, successful black people like Oprah and Bill Cosby -- the role models worthy of emulation -- are roundly criticized and ostracized if they speak out against such misplaced cultural priorities.

I don't know what the solution is. Obviously hiphop music and all its accouterments is fulfilling a demand in the cultural marketplace. Hopefully we'll see some strong leadership stand up and say "Come on. I mean COME ON!"

tagged: racism, race, black, culture, music, hiphop, Black History Month

Our better angels

My supermodel wife and I attended a social function (since that's what us society types do for fun) at the KSU Alumni Center in Manhattan.

The happy hour/dinner was in honor of the "retirement" of renowned political science professor Dr. Michael W. Suleiman after 41 years at K-State. Dr. Sulieman is one of the foremost academic experts on Arab American studies. He has written numerous books and consulted with dignitaries and heads of state from around the world. He has a remarkable personal story as well.

That's not really germane to this post. I just like dropping names. Actually, you can imagine what it must have been like spending an evening with mostly gray-haired academics. It was all I thought it would be.

But there was an anecdote that did stick in my mind, and I want to share it with you here.

During the long parade of speakers that came to the podium to sing Dr. Suleiman's praises, came former student and current professor Fadi Aramouni. I'll present his comments here, to the best of my memory:

"When I first came to K-State I saw an article feature Dr. Suleiman on the front page of the student newspaper. I immediately called him and he agreed to meet with me the next day.

"We started a conversation and eventually came to the topic of racism and prejudice. He told me "Because you are an Arab American, you will encounter racism. But, you will never encounter racism or prejudice here at KSU."

"And he was right. I never have."

So what does this mean? Does it mean that there is no racism in Kansas? No. There is racism everywhere (although I think much of it is in the eye of the beholder).

Does it mean that KSU is a special place, better than others, because this person hasn't experienced racism there? No. KSU is special, and much better than some other places, but not for this reason.

So what's the point? I don't know really. Just that it made me feel good that someone has had a great experience.

And perhaps, hopefully, in the end we'll all be judged by the better angels of our nature.

tagged: racism, prejudice, KSU, Kansas, K-State, Suleiman, academics, angels

Perish together as fools

I know I should have something important to say today, MLK day.

But the truth is that the biggest impact it has on me is that I get the day off. Martin Luther King was a great American. Maybe the greatest. So it's appropriate to remember him the way we remember other great Americans like Lincoln and Washington. Unfortunately, as I've said before, I don't really think focusing on race is a good way to end racism.

Also, I'm not so sure that there is really a focus on ending racism on this day. For some reason, I get the feeling that it's all about political opportunism and power grabbing.

The excellent blogger at Tony's Kansas City has a great post about the real meaning of MLK day (along with some impressive eye candy, as always).

One of my favorite lines...

All of the senseless speeches and scenes of churchgoing today is so much propaganda that we all tolerate in the name of diversity. I contend that the only unifying principle of the whole day is that almost everyone finds the platitudes about racial equality laughable.

So I guess I'll enjoy the day off, hit a few sales and get some projects done around the house. I know, I'm an arsehole.

tagged: race, black, Martin Luther King, MLK, Lincoln, Washington

Black talk

Sunday night I watched an interview of actor Morgan Freeman on 60 Minutes. Not my usual Sunday night viewing fare, but I was too busy clipping my toenails to change the channel.

Anyway, Freeman made a comment that was spot on something that's been going through my mind a lot lately. Interviewer Mike Wallace asked the tough question about what Americans should do to end racism.

Freeman's answer? "Stop talking about it."

"I'm going to stop calling you a white man. And I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man. I know you as Mike Wallace. You know me as Morgan Freeman. You wouldn't say, "‘Well, I know this white guy named Mike Wallace."’ You know what I'm sayin'."”

I do know what he's sayin'. It pretty much goes against the politically correct left, that segment of society that says in order to respect other races we must make sure to recognize (label) them.

This is something that was on the forefront of my mind a few weeks ago when my alma mater announced a new head football coach. University bigwigs and media mouthpieces alike proclaimed that KSU's hiring of former University of Virginia assistant Ron Prince was a seminal moment in college sports.

Newspaper articles proclaimed "KSU hires black head coach" and "KSU makes Prince 4th black head coach." Columnists wrote about the great opportunity and pressure on this black head coach.

Unfortunately, the theme couldn't be around "KSU new young head coach" or "KSU's promising new head coach."

Maybe someday we'll get to a point where race truly doesn't matter, when there won't be any black Americans, Asian Americans, Latino or Hispanic Americans. Maybe someday, we'll all just be Americans.

But I think in order for that to happen, we'll have to take Freeman's advice and stop talking about it.

tagged: race, black, Morgan Freeman, 60 Minutes, KSU, Ron Prince