Links – A Little Bit of Everything
by Racialicious Special Correspondent Latoya Peterson
*Amanda Marcotte of the blog Pandagon has endorsed John Edwards as her favorite candidate. I raised an eyebrow at this statement:
I’m sad that I feel that I have to endorse the one white guy running in the race. I’d love to say vote for the woman or vote for the black man, because this country really does need a break in the endless stream of white men holding onto this office. But this seems to be one of those “only Nixon can go to China” moments. The other two major candidates have felt like they have to be centrists in order to compensate for their minority status, which means that they’re less progressive than the white guy. While I think that role modeling is an important issue in identity politics, the practical needs of women and people of color come before the need to see role models in the White House, and Edwards looks like he’s the best prepared to deliver on the emergency need issue, which is mainly the lack of economic opportunity. More than role models or reproductive rights, women and people of color are being held back in this country because they aren’t getting economic opportunities or basic services. That needs to be fixed first; we are in an emergency situation, as the fallout from Hurricane Katrina amply demonstrated.
*I am waiting to see if this Pimp My Vote forecast is correct.
*Salon publishes a piece on adoption – or rather, an international adoption that did not happen:
Are we bad, selfish people for wanting our luck to continue, for wanting a child with a normal IQ? How could we refuse a baby whose only “fault” was to be born to a mother too poor to keep her? And yet, we knew that if we said no, she’d likely be matched with another American couple, one more eager to welcome this child despite the risks.
Neil didn’t think we should accept the referral, and I couldn’t bear the responsibility of being the one who said we should. I wanted to be the person who would take on such a parenting challenge, who would prove the doctors wrong. I wanted to be the one who would convince Neil, and myself, that this child was ours. But already, in my mind, she’d become a burden. She was no longer adorable and perfect. Her needs frightened me.
*Cary Tennis continues to treat racism as if it is completely trivial.
*Sepia Mutiny posts on “dubious trend line” stories in the NYT. This edition: Japanese Envying India’s Schools.
*Completely unrelated link, but WTF? DMX is releasing a gospel album. (Hat tip to Stereohyped.)
*From Talking Points Memo, you have to read it to believe it:
The ad is basically ‘vote for me or it’s a big Islamofascist whuppin’ comin’ your way! In other words, campaign Rudy has now devolved into a primal 9/11, 9/11, 9/11 scream.
But when you actually read the script, there’s something even weirder. The announcer reads (italics added) …
An enemy without borders. Hate without boundaries. A people perverted. A religion betrayed. A nuclear power in chaos. Madmen bent on creating it. Leaders assassinated. Democracy attacked …
The whole people is perverted? Depending on how you interpret the ad, Rudy’s either saying that Muslims as a people have been ‘perverted’ or the people of Pakistan are perverted.
Either way, that seems more than a little problematic.
*An extensive article from the NYT magazine on the “Next-Gen Taliban.”
*The NYT on the riots in Kenya. It apparently takes 8 paragraphs before we can explain what caused the protest-turned-riot in the first place. Also, check out the editorial. Notice a theme?
*Lockheed Martin is about to pay out $2.5 million in a racial discrimination settlement:
Daniels, 45, “was the target of persistent verbal abuse by coworkers and a supervisor whose racial slurs and offensive language included calling him the N-word, and saying, ‘We should do to blacks what Hitler did to the Jews,’ and if the South had won then this would be a better country,” the EEOC said in a statement. “Daniels was also subjected to multiple physical threats, such as lynching and other death threats after he reported the harassment.”
The alleged harassment took place while Daniels worked at Lockheed plants in Florida, Washington state and Hawaii.
*Relations between the US and Libya are improving (read: we’re ready to trade with them again.)
*Interfaith dialouge planned between the Vatican and Islamic leaders.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
RoyceD wrote:
I cannot believe that Cary Tennis reduces racism to basically a different belief structure worthy of respect.
Posted 03 Jan 2008 at 11:43 am ¶
Latoya Peterson wrote:
RoyceD – Seriously. He had another column where someone talked about having a racist song stuck in their head, and he basically said that there were bigger things to deal with than racism. Like homelessness, etc.
I honestly wonder why people write him asking for advice with serious issues.
Posted 03 Jan 2008 at 12:22 pm ¶
Katie wrote:
“While I think that role modeling is an important issue in identity politics, the practical needs of women and people of color come before the need to see role models in the White House.”
Thanks for clearing that up for me, Ms. Marcotte. I’m so glad that you know what my needs are better than I do.
Posted 03 Jan 2008 at 1:21 pm ¶
Thank you white man wrote:
Re: I’m sad that I feel that I have to endorse the one white guy running in the race. I’d love to say vote for the woman or vote for the black man, because this country really does need a break in the endless stream of white men holding onto this office.
Wtf… seriously. Only a white man can save people of color and women? White man’s burden with a dash of Dangerous Minds? Fascinating… How original.
I’ll stick with June Jordan: WE ARE THE PEOPLE WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR!
Posted 03 Jan 2008 at 2:47 pm ¶
Daomadan wrote:
“While I think that role modeling is an important issue in identity politics, the practical needs of women and people of color come before the need to see role models in the White House.”
I still can’t wrap my mind around this statement. Bon dieu…
Posted 03 Jan 2008 at 3:14 pm ¶
gandalf mantooth wrote:
Latoya,
Don’t know if you forgot, but Marcotte was briefly hired to blog for Edwards’ campaign, then “resigned” when some controversial post she made got aired out. The hand-wringing about voting for the White guy . . . BOLLOCKS, mate. Somebody get her a tissue.
Posted 03 Jan 2008 at 3:23 pm ¶
Anonymous wrote:
Somewhat OT: I was wondering whether any follow-up post would be made about MTV’s The Real World: Sydney, which garnered its own blog entry a couple months back when it premiered. Its season finale is next Wednesday and if anyone else was watching this season, there’s quite a lot of things to be said, racial-wise.
The foremost of course was castmate Parissa, a Persian American who spent much of her time in Sydney being viciously ostracized, bullied and insulted by her (white) roommates. At one point, one roommate stated that she had a “better religion” than Parissa, a horribly offensive comment which seemingly went without controversy among the other roommates. It should be noted that the same roommate also mimicked the Asian accent of a McDonald’s worker early in the season, which caused some controversy.
Throughout the season, an interracial relationship has been portrayed in which a white Jewish castmate, Issac, has been seeing an Irish tourist of African descent, Noirin. While their relationship is potrayed as nothing out of ordinary, it was disappointing in last night’s episode in which Noirin and Issac talk about traveling together to Thailand, and Noirin jokingly complains that he’d probably run off with a “dirty little Thai whore for twenty bucks… that’s how cheap they are”, which they laugh over.
Ironic that a black and Jewish couple would giggle over cheap Asian sexual stereotypes, but an interesting example of racial dynamics.
I’d really like to see someone’s take over this season of Real World. They’re avaliable to watch for free on streaming video online at mtv.com
Posted 03 Jan 2008 at 3:29 pm ¶
Latoya Peterson wrote:
Gandalf – I don’t read Pandagon on a regular basis. I generally just skim unless there is something of immediate interest.
The statement I reprinted caught my eye. I was unaware that she was blogging for the Edwards campaign. Thanks for the insight.
Anonymous –
The most likely person to do this, Wendi, is still on break (much to my chagrin). However, those are really good examples, so I will make an effort to break my TV fast and try to catch up with the series.
Posted 03 Jan 2008 at 3:42 pm ¶
Jenny Jingles wrote:
Something similar to what Anonymous said:
You guys posted a little thingy a few months ago about the CW’s new show, “Aliens in America”. It would be great to see a follow-up to that too, and perhaps an analysis of what I noticed to be some problematic undercurrents. Apparently, the show is quite popular, and I thought it would be timely for an update now that the show has actually been on the air
Posted 03 Jan 2008 at 5:55 pm ¶
Wendi Muse wrote:
hi anonymous,
i did a mini-post on RW:Sydney a few months back before it came out…and just a follow up 2-liner on my personal blog about the racism and religious-based hatred toward parissa during the fight that resulted in her roommate’s departure. i missed last night’s episode, but i need to catch up. i’ve been on hiatus writing-wise, hence my not doing any follow up formally on racialicious for the season, but thanks for your feedback and maybe i will put something together on it once the season ends and i get back to writing.
also, Jenny,
I watched aliens in america for the first time the other day and actually liked it. it’s funny and they actually play up the relationship between the exchange student and the local police and other community members as more of a satirical look at how these things play out in the real world. i saw an episode about the boys starting a rocket club, and the police freaked out when they saw the exchange student buying explosives, gunpowder, etc to make a rocket, thinking he was going to make a bomb. they make light of it in an intelligent way that just makes the people who harass the boy b/c he is muslim look like idiots. then again, i have only seen one episode, so i can’t speak on the series as a whole.
Posted 03 Jan 2008 at 6:07 pm ¶
Laretta Jackson wrote:
This is exactly what scares me about John Edwards. People who believe that economic issues are what need to be fixed first tend to believe it wins out. While I would never argue that poverty is not an issue or that is does not disproportionately affect women and people of color, it does not “win”. This thinking almost always leads people to think that if we work for economic equality, then that will fix race and gender problems. That is simply not how it works and it is also the reason that only white men ever seem to make this argument. Racial disparities did not evolve from poverty although they are often confounded by it. It is crucial that the next President does not address one problem as if it is the avenue to fix all problems. John Edwards has shown over and over that he does not know how to separate these issues. When he claimed to represent women better than Hillary Clinton because he supports women’s issues (like poverty eradication) it showed that he is not offering women specific solutions and instead clumping groups together. It is not simply wrong to lump race and gender under economic inequality, it is dangerous. Unless we are willing to acknowledge the differences and similarities between different oppressions, we cannot possibly expect to find comprehensive solutions to oppression and inequality.
Posted 03 Jan 2008 at 6:18 pm ¶
Jenny Jingles wrote:
Wendi, “Aliens in America” is enjoyable, but I think it relies too much on the “funny brown man” stereotype, where we’re laughing at Raja just because of his stupid accent or whatever, you know? I found that to be really annoying, and also, I find the show a bit too preachy sometimes, like its constantly trying to teach the audience a lesson. I’d really appreciate the perspective of someone else, though, since I don’t actually know anyone who watches the show other than myself.
Posted 03 Jan 2008 at 8:58 pm ¶
bemf wrote:
Thanks for the Giuliani link, that is almost unbelievable.
Posted 04 Jan 2008 at 11:05 am ¶
zawadi wrote:
Thanks for pointing out the horrible reporting of the Kenyan crisis on the NYT. The US media I’ve seen has been shockingly bad and irresponsible. The Kenyan newspapers (http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgindex.asp for example) and to some extent the BBC and Al-Jazeera are doing better.
Most of the mainstream and US media I’ve seen so far love to throw around the terms ‘tribal war’ and so on because it’s a simple narrative that they know will be read by most of its ignorant readership and will make sense to them: it’s Africa, of course there are tribal clashes that make countries ungovernable.
When in fact it’s a struggle for political power in which the poor are being manipulated now to act along ethnic lines. The government is accusing the opposition of ‘genocide’ to distract from their original crime of stealing the election. It’s shockingly irresponsible on all sides.
Posted 04 Jan 2008 at 1:38 pm ¶
kina wrote:
as a woman of color, i feel the same way that marcotte does. i wish i felt that obama or clinton would be a better president than edwards, but i really feel that edwards is the best candidate. also, i have seen no evidence of obama or clinton being particularly supportive of programs specifically for minorities or women. margaret thatcher, anyone? on another note, did anyone see cnn’s coverage of the caucus? one man’s comment after obama was predicted to win caught me off guard. it was something about blacks not having to speak like jesse jackson to get elected.
Posted 04 Jan 2008 at 10:16 pm ¶
Colin wrote:
Edwards, I believe, is not prepared to truly undertake progressive action if elected President. He is currently prepared to talk really, really harshly, though. (NOTE: Joe Trippi, former Howard Dean advisor, is a key message man for the Edwards campaign now, for what that’s worth.) I do not think, looking at Edwards’s centrist track record, that he can point to anything but his own shrill, harsh tone when he says he will change Washington. Maybe Obama hasn’t done much, but at least his tone and his message has been consistent — hope, hope, hope. Edwards, though, has never been this progressive nor this shrill until now. That makes him seem duplicitous to me, and THAT is not something we need.
Also, on the idea about racial and gender issues versus poverty for people of color and women, I’d say that while neither category is actually MORE important than the other, I think one could say that economic inequality could definitely be filed as symptoms of the underlying racism and sexism central to American society, though economic inequality is not excluded to those categories.
Next, Marcotte’s example of Katrina for economic inequality is going somewhere, but it’s inaccurate almost into the realm of incoherency and offense. Hurricane Katrina was effective in killing over 1800 people and displacing so many others because, for the most part, an uncaring and incompetent government at all levels basically refused to put forth the effort to warn, evacuate or safeguard the people of the affected areas. Not BECAUSE so many of the people were poor.
That in itself smacks of the false empathy John Edwards reminds me of. I do not doubt he or Marcotte care about those less fortunate than they. They have true compassion, but they do not seem to truly UNDERSTAND other peoples beyond what they can keep at arm’s length. That lack of empathy worries me greatly.
Posted 04 Jan 2008 at 10:31 pm ¶
Latoya Peterson wrote:
Word, Colin.
Kina, I feel you, I truly do. In all honesty, I am just happy that people care enough to discuss the caucus and pay attention to the issues. It is a huge step in the right direction.
Posted 05 Jan 2008 at 1:33 am ¶
Colin wrote:
Latoya,
It feels good to agree…kinda.
Kina,
1. That man was Bill Bennett I believe. Link below…
http://mediamatters.org/items/200801040004?f=h_latest
2. I support Obama not because I am mesmorized by his “glitz” or “glamor” as Sen. Edwards would put it, but because I think out of the big three he’s the most qualified to be the president we need as a country. I do not trust HRC to have my interests at heart. Sen. Edwards, as I have tried to point out, seems to have been quite the centrist in the Senate, and only recently has changed tune, conveniently when out of the Senate himself. He seems duplicitous and that makes it tough to get behind him. So, this, to me, is not about race, gender, or even nice speeches, though I do like them, this is about consistent progressive principles, and John Edwards and Hillary Clinton DO NOT have them. Barack Obama is not Paul Wellstone, to be sure, but his progressive beliefs have been there since he was a State Senator from Chicago, and I believe that they will stay with him.
I honestly am interested in hearing how John Edwards is somehow more interested in womens’ and minorities’ issues than Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Or even how he can be depended on to be on the right side of the issues. I think his campaign of shrill noisemaking turning into passionate populism (it started as populism, then morphed into rabid anti-Hillary and anti-Obama attacks, and now is a mix of both) has been effective only at muddying the waters, making sure none of the top tier candidates looks good, so that maybe he can grab votes for seeming like at least he’s the one with passion, when he’s just acting a little unhinged.
Posted 05 Jan 2008 at 12:02 pm ¶
michelle wrote:
I’m posting because I was so glad to see a link about the reporting on Kenya. In almost no reports have I read commentary about what has lead to such intense inter-tribal violence. The LA Times (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-spiral4jan04,0,7771562.story) basically said violence has “spread” from other East African countries, fueled by “tribal tensions.” As if people were just sitting around waiting to murder each other because of their identities. The election might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back but it took Archbishop Desmond Tutu interviewed on CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/01/04/kenya.newelection/index.html) to point to the widespread poverty people live with in a context of a privileged ruling power to begin to explain what could possibly incite such violence. He even legitimized the anger – if not the violence -and said that solutions could be found if people were willing to address this root cause of Kenya’s problems. (p.s. you have to watch the video of the interview to hear his analysis. CNN’s written version doesn’t include it.)
Posted 06 Jan 2008 at 3:28 pm ¶