Marathons, Movements and Black Lives...Oh My!

Recently, there has been a lot of concern raised around the plan of the Black Lives Matter movement to disrupt the Twin Cities Marathon and I don't think I'll have a better opportunity to combine double entendres with offering perspective on this issue and my unsolicited advice. Numerous friends and family of mine have expressed anxiety, apprehension and even outrage over the plan. However, I think what is not being understood completely is the comparative value of the marathon to the lives of black people.

Let me start off by saying that I don't agree with the idea to protest the marathon, but I do understand it, and the logic is sound. My wife and I discussed this at length last night and she raised all of the arguments I've heard: "Why would you do this to people who would support you, you're going to alienate them?" “I don’t see the point, the runners have nothing to do with this issue.” "These aren't government or corporate power structures, these are people who have trained for years to do this event and you're taking away their opportunity to fulfill a personal goal and do something positive."

In response, let me ask what about the young black man going to school for years, training to be an engineer or tennis player who gets assaulted and/or killed? What about the millions living in abject poverty and shunted through systems because their value isn't affirmed? How do you compare someone not being able to continue their marathon because of an intentional act by an organized or loosely affiliated group to someone not being able to finish their life because of an intentional act by an organized or loosely affiliated group? How do you hold those two up and call them the same?

Therein, in my opinion, lies the point of this protest: that people's lives are more than inconvenienced by the lack of affirmation that Black lives matter and the ingrained racism within our society that allows the systemic marginalization and decimation to occur; the point that you don't get to decide which event gets disrupted, or how this group should protest in a way that is convenient and acceptable to you any more than we, as Black people, get to decide when we get pulled over, beaten, marginalized or shot and scheduled it for a time and way that's convenient to us. The events and acts that I believe BLM is trying to raise awareness of often come with little warning and cannot be stopped, they disrupt our lives and prevent us from finishing our own races, often through death. We live daily with this concern and fear and even direct action with no choice in matter. The fact that we do not get to weigh in on and decide when racism and brutality will occur is EXACTLY the reason why this protest would happen. It is holding a mirror up to our reality through a lens that the broader community can't help but see, if they look. We do not get to choose when we are impacted, that is the point, I believe, of the protest.

Again, I don't agree with the decision to do it, and would not were it my call, but I DO understand why it is being done and for that reason, cannot condemn it. You may not like it or agree with it, but hopefully, now, you understand why someone would do it.

I will not condemn this plan, but I will offer a piece of unsolicited advice to the organizers or those involved. The idea of this plan has raised public concern to a level where numerous public officials are offering to meet with you, and if you do, there will be offers of assistance and suggestions, take them. The major point of protests is to raise awareness and perception and to attempt to gain a voice.
You have one.

You have the key stakeholders, decision makers and gate keepers who have opened their hands and minds to this message. Some because it is politically the best option, but many because they believe in the ideas, value the sentiment and honestly want to help. This is the brass ring as it were because it is an opportunity to not only achieve some of the change you want to bring about, but also firmly secure a political position that is validated and have allies to work alongside you. You will not get everything you want, negotiation and compromise is the very nature of the politics of change, but you will get more done than continually working from the outside and you will lay a solid foundation to continue advancing the issues and working towards solutions in partnership with those who have authority and power, and who may need this connection in order to fully understand and in turn support, the battle which must be won.

Now I can understand there may be some within the movement who will say no: no compromise, no negotiation, no surrender! But that reveals a lack of understanding of how society operates. People come from diverse backgrounds and perspectives, and in any given situation, especially ones which challenge ideas and principles deeply entrenched, not everyone is going to agree on everything. To refuse to consider any level of compromise is to be guilty of the same dogmatic practices and positions that have brought us to this point, of course you have to add racism and classism to the mix for the original, but beneath that lies an unwavering obstinacy and refusal to embrace change that you run the risk of emulating if you are unwilling to even have a conversation.

Being willing to negotiate and compromise allows for a broader circle and the construction of an effort or initiative that not only brings more people to the table, but also ensures that the solution has support from a wider set of stakeholders and in doing so a greater audience to promote to and engender buy-in from. It may not be what everyone wants, but it will be something everyone can support and live with, and at that point the second, more powerful component of the battle begins, that of the heart. You see, once you achieve a compromise that everyone can live with, then people have to actually live with it. They have to experience it, they have to be confronted with it in a non-threatening manner and they have to think about it, day in and day out. And when that happens, all of the bluster and rage objections and soundbites fall away to reveal just the truth of the ideas, and that is when true lasting victory occurs.

The idea that Black lives matter, that they have value, that they are equal to all other lives is an idea so simple, so pure and so true, it is a mystery why anyone would oppose it, but there are people who do, and they do it out of ignorance and fear. The more they are presented with a target, the more you try to bludgeon the idea into them, the firmer they will dig in and resist. It is what we do here in America. It is what we’re known for, and we’re very good at it. But you take away that forced compliance, you take away that adversarial tactics, you build instead an agreement, an understanding, a compromise based on shared values that is accepted by leaders and representatives that people know, agree with and respect and all they are left with is the beautiful truth that is intrinsic to so many of us, that Black lives do matter and to oppose this is stand against what is right without some excuse to hide behind or some foil to pass one’s prejudice off to. To oppose this is to admit to world that the problem is not people disrupting races but one’s own insecurities, fears and biases.

It is to admit you are wrong.

And that compels the world to change, not by force, but by choice.

And that, my friends, is the battle won.

Why Does It Always Have To Come Down To A Race Thing?

Over and over I have heard the same question arise from the average person: "Why does it always have to come down to a race thing?"

It's on Fox "news", it's in my news feed, it's been tweeted, etc. etc. Often followed by them saying that the don't care about color, and why don't people just do the right thing? Why does there have to be such disparity? Why can't people just get along? Why can't we just trust the system? Why can't you just use the courts to get justice? Isn't this just about upholding the law and those breaking it?

Why does it always have to come down to a race thing?

Why?

You asked (or at least read the questions), so I will tell you.

The problem comes down to understanding the issue and the scope. It is not simply a matter of respecting authority, and you cannot view it as an isolated incident and be honest. Understand that that while you may not care what race, color or creed a person is, many people in positions of authority, positions of control and just in large numbers do care about what race, color or creed a person is, and they bring those biases, prejudices and beliefs into the systems that should have no place for them...but time and time again they do, as evidenced by the over representation of brown people within the prison system, the armed forces and the impoverished neighborhoods across the country. You ask why does there have to be such a disparity and the answer is that our country was built upon that disparity and ingrained in our way of life.

Our country was constructed on slave labor and the creation of a permanent underclass. I don't mean this in the general way that our high school history covers things, with a fleeting glance that talks about plantation slaves and cruel overseers, Jefferson Davis and the South versus the North...I mean it in the little known facts that are a significant part of our history and laying the foundation for the society that exists today. The fact that Wall Street was where you could rent out your slaves for the day, that the Capitol building in Washington DC was built by slave labor, that many companies started with slave labor to build themselves up. That it was so interwoven into our culture that we didn't give it a second thought. For 242 years in this country, one group was in bondage, providing free labor and economic growth that bolstered the coffers and position of another, all while enduring rape, murder, mutilation, and all manner of atrocities that psychologically and morally decimated the soul of brown people. And once slavery was abolished, the same practices continued under Jim Crow LEGALLY until just over 50 years ago. As a people we have been enslaved longer than we have been free, and when you add in Jim Crow, we are barely two generations out.

This is not hyperbole or rhetoric, these are facts, easily researched, difficult to read and accept. They are a part of our history. A dark and shameful part, that we don't like to think about because it hurts.

It hurts to think about it and this makes people defensive. Why? Because when you talk about white privilege and the advantages gleaned from it, people automatically assume there's an active component. That there is an accusation inherent in talking about White privilege that they actively participated in the oppression...

No.

The vast majority of White people had no more to do with the development of the system and the creation of the advantages anymore than the vast majority of Black people had anything to do with the disparity that exists for them...of course some people erroneously believe that Black people are exclusively responsible for the position they are in, but the truth is that these are integrally linked. You cannot have one without the other. They are the results of the circumstances of our country's history and action and even inaction.

To put this in perspective, think of a relay race with two teams. The rules are set by the first team because it's their track (well, actually the claimed it from another school that was still in session, but I digress) and they decide the members of the second team have to carry them for the first half of the race. At that point the first team climbs down, rested and ready, but only they get credit for the number of laps already run. So the second team not only is starting from a point further back in the cycle of the race, but they are tired and worn down. So they have to run harder and faster in order to just keep up, to compete they are going to have to run twice as much. Meanwhile, the first team keeps questioning why the second can't compete, after all, they both started at the same point on the track at the halfway mark...

And to bring it full circle, it's a relay race, with each generation being new to the race, but being handed a baton that carries with it the position and the laps completed by the previous generation. So even though they weren't involved at the beginning, they claim the position of their forerunners...

That is what privilege and systemic racism is in an allegorical nutshell.

It's not about wanting it, or liking it, or pursuing it, it's where you are in the race.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being…Black in America

Over the past several weeks, our country has been inundated with images, articles , rhetoric and friendship ending soundbites around the Michael Brown case, that has sparked a national conversation on the subject of race and race relations in this country. To say the discussion has been divisive would be to call the Winter in Minnesota slightly chilly.

And coming forward from that, people have gotten so entrenched in their positions, so solidified in their defense, that when the clearer, less ambiguous case, the strangulation of Eric Garner, has resulted in the same outcome, they have remained ensconced within positions that defy logic, reason, and, in fact, truth. I cannot recall a time when there were so many speeches and so many people so defensive, so certain of sanctity and so desperate to justify injustice in order to avoid culpability, self reflection and being American…

Wait. What?

Yes, I did say that. I’ll get to that part in a moment.

And I know this will come as a shock, but so many people have gotten their definition of what being American is from pundits and talking heads at bias “news” networks, that they forgot to actually look up the definition and the principles on which our country and rights are based. They hear words that sound good and fit their argument and regurgitate them out into the internet from the brave space behind a computer screen because they don’t have to listen to responses, examine the logic or look people in the eye. It is the conversational equivalent of singing and dancing in your underwear in front of a mirror: no one is there to give you critical feedback and you don’t have to listen to the truth that is staring you right in the face…that you’re just not Star Search material Sherman.

In America, we are happy to condemn tragedy and injustice as long as it is outside of our country: Nazis? Worst people on the planet ever; Khemer Rouge and Cambodia-Horrific human rights violations to be condemned; Idi Amin, Muammar Gaddafi, Slobodan Milošević, Kim Jong-il the list is so plentiful that you could sell trading cards and people would eat them up like they were Skittles. But you begin to turn that lens to the United States and suddenly the unified response against human oppression and tragedy becomes debates on the character of individual victims, criticism of the response of people opposed and defense of the system that exists regardless of its impact. I am quite sure that not every single one of the over six million Jews murdered as part of the Holocaust were model citizens, yet no one ever puts forth an argument of “I Stand With The Nazis”….And nor should they…Ever! We all agree on that. But the minute we start examining the inherent oppression and extermination of African Americans in the U.S. it becomes a squirrelly conversation that brings out the inner bigot in people cloaked under defending the Constitution, the 2nd Amendment and of course freedom...well, freedom for some people...

And freedom is the issue at stake here.

Now I know that people are confused, and wondering why someone like Michael Brown would inspire the expression of outrage and be an individual that protesters would rally around. They think that it invalidates the anger and indignation, that protesting following the outcome is pointless, and yet Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States who said "A society will be judged by how it treats its weakest members"...

But it is not Michael Brown alone or specifically that people are angry about. It is the sheer injustice of a system ingrained with racism and from individuals in positions of power and especially law enforcement, who abuse their sacred trust and privileged position to do harm rather than protect and serve. We are angry at the system and those who abuse their power:

For protecting them, by a mock trial from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For exciting domestic insurrections amongst us

In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury...They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

Those are not my words, they are Thomas Jefferson’s with a minor tweak or two from the Declaration of Independence. Stop and think about that for a minute. Better yet go read the full text and recognize that the charges leveled in there, many of which are reflective of our country today, led to the wide spread protests, and often violent insurrections that would eventually lead to the overthrowing of the government to establish something more just and fair to the people…think about that and then turn back to the protests and riots and maybe you’ll understand that what’s happening is not wrong, it’s American.

Yes, all the things happening in Ferguson and across the country, all of the actions are as American as baseball, George Washington and Apple pie...they are the same beginnings of our first Revolution. How, then, can anyone criticize or condemn these acts and still call themselves an American...How can one not see that the major difference between that one which we hold in such high regards, and this one, is race.

I know it may be hard to wrap your brain around, but it doesn’t make it less true.

“You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.” Morpheus, The Matrix

End Part One

JP Calling Orson, Come In Orson...

I don't generally mourn entertainers. They, by definition, entertain. I do enjoy them, but they are paid to do a job that some do well, some do poorly and most fall somewhere in the middle. Whether it's movie or pop star, comic or cartoonist, writer or sports star, they are regular people with a skill (hopefully) and a career. They may have green room peculiarities but they put their pants on one leg at a time like the rest of us...they are mortal.

Robin Williams was not. He was so much more.

Robin had an infectious style that couldn't help but make you laugh; he had a provocative mind that couldn't help but make you think; and he had a careless abandon that couldn't help but make you dream. He was not merely a comedian or movie star, he was an artist.

I grew up with Robin...well not literally, but ever since I first saw him appear to Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) on Happy Days as Mork from Ork, I was hooked. When Mork & Mindy started, I was right there watching religiously each week, saying "Shazbot" when things pissed me off and "Na-nu Na-nu" when I wanted to say goodbye. My years can be marked by the time a grown up Peter Pan showed up on the show (ironically enough) or the arrival of Mearth (Jonathan Winters) his son as Orkans aged backwards (sorry Benjamin Button, Mork was here first). And I'm pretty sure Raquel Welch jump started puberty for me when she showed up as Captain Nirvana. I learned how to first wade into the pool of irreverent silliness with Robin and never looked back.

But like so many of us, life does not stand still. I marveled at him in Popeye, expanded my horizons in The World According to Garp and laughed and cried in Good Morning Vietnam; each new venture peeled back a layer of the man, exposing another dimension that was as deep and crazy as the former. But it was in 1989 when the world changed for me with Dead Poet's Society. I had enjoyed many a movie over the years, but that was the first time I was touched to a depth that reached my soul. Life seemed so much more after that. I came out of the theater wanting to form my own DPS, because the words of that film had resonated so deeply I though I might never be the same again. I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life...

It was then that Robin became my muse.

I listened to his comedy performances and laughed out loud each time my world seemed dim. Every movie he did broadened my horizons and stirred fresh imaginings. The Fisher King brought home all the crazy ideas that roll through my head and the imaginary life that awaits out there. And Good Will Hunting encouraged me to find what is out there and not be barricade behind defenses and pain. Patch Adams made me want to be a doctor, leaving with me the lasting message that everyone brings something to the table.

But I think the movie I most loved him in, besides DPS was Hook. No other person could have epitomized the boy who never grew up than Robin. It was the character he was meant to play and he breathed life into that role so deeply that I regularly shout "bangarang" at random. It constantly reminds me to use my imagination and dream bigger. That life is full of wonder. Pan the Avenger will ever be my hero, my guide and my happy thought.

Words cannot fully express what Robin meant to me, but I will be forever grateful that my life was touched and transformed by this man that I never met in person, but shared an almost metaphysical connection to across the imaginary distance that separates us from one another. I cannot thank him, but I hope somehow that he knows now of at least this one life that he changed and channeled and made better through the gift of his craft. He was my hero. He was my friend. And I will always remember him and no matter what the future may bring or what dreams may come.

Fare ye well Robin Williams, fare ye well, I'll meet you on the other shore.

I Too Sing America Revisited

“To him, as to the man by whom salvation has been wrought unto our people, we are bound both by law and by his merits that our freedom may be still maintained, and by him, come what may, we mean to stand.”
-Declaration of Arbroath, Scotland 1320

Nearly 700 years ago, these words were inscribed on parchment declaring the support of Robert the Bruce and in doing so the independence of Scotland. It was a proclamation to set a country free from the tyranny of those who would subjugate it, oppressing its people to their own ends.

Seven centuries later, and we are again standing on the precipice of decision and behind a man who represents the best of us. A leader, a president, an American in the truest sense of the word. Not because of the color of his skin, but because of the content of his character.

We hold these truths to be self evident, but over the last four years, they have been anything but. From casual dismissal to blatant disrespect and disregard in scenes all too common to those of us who too “sing America”. But each step he has taken proudly, confidently and always on the tightrope of the “Color Line”.

For make no mistake, beneath all the rhetoric, pundits and campaign slogans lies the truth of the race…Race.

If you want to vote for Romney because you like his positions, economic policy or even his hair, By all means, do so. Support the candidate you believe in, but be willing to accept the consequences of your choice.

But if you’re voting for him to be against Obama, because you believe that the economy, unemployment or even Hurricane Sandy is his fault; if you believe that he’s a secret Muslim socialist out to destroy the American way of life, or because Chuck Norris or Rush Limbaugh told you the country would be destroyed if Obama was re-elected, then you have been hoodwinked, bamboozled and led astray. You have been duped by one of the oldest forms of subtle racism that permeates the tapestry of our country. It is interwoven into phrases like “taking our country back”, “restoring America”, and “class warfare”. And because our country cannot as yet, have an honest an open dialogue about the history of racism, Slavery and the impacts today, they are able to deny the very existence of this phenomenon…like some erstwhile Kaiser Soze or Someone Else’s Problem generator…we are scared to admit our failings and culpability, and so it is easier to blame it on fictitious assertions…it’s just not the truth. It’s not your fault if you fell into this, but it is your responsibility, once you are aware, to pull yourself out and refuse to go back in. To cast off the shackles of lies and misinformation used to create fear.

Most importantly, you vote should not be against a candidate but rather for one, one that you believe in wholeheartedly and will never regret. Too many generations fought for the vote, honor it by doing the right thing and voting for who you believe in.

I believe in Barack Obama.

I believe in him because he acts with honor and integrity. I believe in him because he puts the people ahead of his own agenda. I believe in him because I see the same nobility that was embodied in the Bruce, 700 years ago; I see the same courage that charged the field at Bannockburn for freedom.

I see the Warrior Poet.

And just as my Scottish ancestors, cast off the yoke of oppression, and refused to give in and submit to tyranny, so, too, must we cast aside the lies and misinformation and elect the person who is honestly and truthfully the best person for the job.

For “it is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.”

I will fight for my and America’s freedom today by casting my vote for honesty, integrity and truth. I will fight by voting for Barack Obama. Not because he’s the “Black man”, but because he is the "Best man".

An Open Letter to the Granite City Board of Education

April 4, 2012

An Open Letter to the Granite City Board of Education


Granite City School District #9
Board of Education
c/o Superintendent Dr. Harry Briggs
1947 Adams St.
Granite City, IL 62040

Dear Members of the Granite City School District Board of Education:

I am writing to you today as an American of Scottish descent, imploring you to reconsider your decision to not allow a kilt to be worn to the Granite City High School prom. My great grandmother Lily Boyden MacFarlane was the first of our family born in America. We are from a small town called Dunkeld in central Scotland, while my ancestors of Clan MacFarlane hail from the Highlands. I am the Director of Gatherings and the Minnesota Commissioner for the International Clan MacFarlane Society, President of the Minnesota Coalition of Scottish Clans, Board Member of the Minnesota Scottish Fair and Highland Games, Member of the Minnesota Tartan Day Cooperative and a Trustee of the Clan MacFarlane Charitable Trust. I have traveled to my ancestral homelands three times.

I say all this so that it is clear Scottish heritage and culture is both traditional and very much a part of the daily life of myself and those of us involved in our local, national and international Scottish communities. We honor this tradition by donning our cultural attire for annual celebrations, including Burns Nights, Highland Games, and Tartan Day annually on April 6th, the recognition of the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath, Scotland’s Declaration of Independence.

I am also African American. I mention this for two reasons: 1. Due to our nation’s dark past of Slavery, records and information are much harder to locate for this side of my heritage, making my Scottish history that much more important and accessible to me. 2. Due to this history, I risk alienation from those on both sides of my heritage who have difficulty reconciling both in one, making it that much harder to honor my heritage. Even so, I do everyday because it is a part of who and what I am, and to have anyone deny this or how I chose to honor and recognize it is an affront to my very being. It is offensive and it is wrong, and it is what you have done to William Carruba.

More to the point, the reason you have given for denying him the right to wear a kilt to his prom is inaccurate, based upon both the Granite City High School Student Handbook as well as the very history of Granite City itself.

To begin with, there is nothing in the Student Code of Dress which prohibits the wearing of a kilt, merely prescriptive guidelines for color of various articles of clothing, length and condition, etc. There is no regulation which states that either a kilt cannot be worn, or that pants must be worn by males. Further, the handbook gives teachers and administrators the discretion to make decisions on a case-by-case basis, and it gives the superintendent the authority to amend the policy.

So, since your policy does not prohibit the wearing of the kilt, and teachers and administrators have the ability to make decisions and exceptions if they wrongly believe that it does, the question then arises as to why William Carruba is really not being allowed to dress in traditional Scottish attire. Is the discriminatory statement that Principal Jim Greenwald is alleged to have made, and its sentiment, more reflective of an unwritten policy of discrimination in the District? Ironically enough, your decision reflects a bleak time in Scottish history when King George II imposed the “Dress Act” as part of the Act of Proscription in 1746 which outlawed all Highland Dress for the next 32 years as a means of suppressing Scottish heritage and culture. Whatever the reason, discriminatory or not, prohibiting the kilt is not listed in your policies, and therefore is an arbitrary and unnecessary decision.

The Code of Dress for Granite City High School prohibits "see-through" apparel, scantily clad outfits and gang-related apparel, all of which are inappropriate attire customarily worn by miscreants who disrupt the educational environment and generally cause trouble in society. When you group traditional Scottish attire in with these outfits like this, you are denigrating not only members of the American Scottish community, but the very history of Granite City. Your first mayor was James G. McRoberts, a Scot of Clan Donnachaidh. Over the years your mayors have included Kirkpatricks, a Kennedy, a Robertson, a Hodges, a Davis, etc. – all people of Scottish and Irish descent. Many of your first settlers, including Caldwell, Cummings, Waddle and Griffins, were also Scots and Irish. Further, your first mayor was also the first superintendent of the American Steel plant, helping to establish industry in Granite City…meaning that as with America and so many American states and cities, Scottish and Irish people and their culture and heritage have been intimately intertwined with the origins and establishment of your own city. What could be more traditional than that?

Finally, the Student Code of Dress states: “Granite City CUSD #9 encourages a standard in behavior, dress, grooming, and appearance that reflects pride in self, home and school.” And the District Mission states: “This learning environment must offer students the opportunity to practice and adopt the principles, values, and ideals which will help them to become self-sufficient and effective citizens in today’s democratic society. Our goal is to promote learning as a life-long process.” Is not an outfit that has been a part of our tradition for centuries, traditional enough for a high school prom? Is not the support of a student who is honoring his history and heritage, an opportunity to practice and adopt principles, values and ideals to help them to be more self-sufficient? What message are you imparting on this young man and his peers by negating his opportunity for self expression and honoring his heritage? What message are you imparting in emulating a historical oppression of Scottish culture? What lesson are you, as a Board of Education, teaching your students here?

In closing, I wore my kilt for my wedding. There is no more formal, traditional occasion. I have worn it for nearly every formal occasion since. It is a symbol of my family and my pride. It is a symbol of my heritage. Every instance I wear it, I honor my ancestors and our traditions. Every instance I wear it is an opportunity to enlighten people about my culture and heritage. Is this not part of what makes America the multifaceted tableau of cultures that it is? Is this not part of what makes America great?

I would hope that the opportunity to encourage even one of your students to learn more about his culture and heritage would far outweigh any outdated notion of what is “manly” to wear, and that in preparing children for a global society, perhaps it is time to rethink the definition of “traditional” to be more inclusive of other cultures and heritage. Perhaps then, a young man and his peers will learn acceptance rather than discrimination as part of his education in Granite City.

Sincerely,



Jonathan Palmer
President, Minnesota Coalition of Scottish Clans
president@mncsc.org

In Defense of Jon Stewart: An Open Letter to FOX "News"

Dear FOX "News",

I just wanted to say "Thank you". Thank you for all that you do to bring the absurd to light and make clear that which is cleverly hidden by reason and accountability...

You recent media blitz insinuating that Jon Stewart is defaming Herman Cain because he's Black could not have made it more clear just how hypocritical your tagline "fair and balanced" is. Perhaps it is because you're working under a different definition of "fair and balanced" than the rest of the world uses, maybe your commentators have no journalistic integrity that makes them do more than read off cue cards instead of actually examining the merits of statements, or, and this is my favorite, perhaps your entire network escaped from the Bizarro world of Superman comics where everything is the opposite. I'm really banking on this last one because I know where we can get a whole case of Blue Kryptonite to solve this whole thing, quick snap and in a hurry.

Oh, would that it were that easy to defenestrate an entity with the parasitic impact that you have on the body that is the United States of America.

But I digress...

Stop it. Please just stop it.

You are a cancer on the very conscience of our country. Not because you represent a conservative viewpoint, not because you go after those you view as liberal and "left leaning", but because you consistently omit facts, stretch the truth and frame the simplest of things in the most heinous light possible in order to forward your agenda and scare people into following you.

You are fraudulent and a blatant lie that has been perpetrated on the American people.

I hope this is clear and understandable. I'm trying to think of what you would say in this instance and then express the opposite...just so I can express a balanced and fair viewpoint.

To be clear, I love the Daily Show and the Colbert Report.

I think Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are two of the funniest and smartest people in media today, more importantly, they are honest and they have integrity, something which seems to have excused itself from the FOX "News" studios right around the time we started trading in CDs for MP3s. I went to the Rally, I watch the show, but more importantly, I trust them because they are honest about their intentions, their information and what they do.

Oh, and you can actually verify what they say on their shows with reference, sources and research.

The same, unfortunately, cannot be said for FOX "News".

"With great power there must also come great responsibility." A comic book taught me that. A fictional cartoon character espouses a principle so basic yet it escapes the grasp of your network. FOX "News" has one of the largest spheres of influence in the world, but it is squandered away on propoganda and malicious political rhetoric cloaked in the label of "fair and balanced".

So Jon Stewart made fun of Herman Cain and he's a Black man. I'm a Black man and I make fun of Herman Cain. More to the point, I am a fellow Morehouse Man and if Herman Cain were the standard, I would be ashamed to call myself one. But he isn't. He is a sad example of how a significant segment of the Republican party, the Tea Party and FOX "News" continue to use African Americans for their own agenda, not because any of you care about the issues of African Americans but simply because it is expedient and you somehow got the impression that we're all interchangeable.

Expressing an alternative viewpoint is not only healthy, but needed to ensure balance in our world...lying about it, falsely representing yourself in this light knowing full well that all your rhetoric is to cover the agenda you have is so bereft of morals, Rod Blagojevich would back off.

With great power, does come great responsibility and as such, FOX "News", you have a responsibility to your viewers, more importantly to the American people, to stop the intentional misdirection, stop the misleading information and honestly and accurately report the news using actual facts, not something Karl and Sarah put together on a bus ride over. You have a responsibility to be honest, truthful and act with integrity.

So I am writing this, and I'm asking you, FOX "News", to just say "no" and put away the falsehoods, put away the misrepresentation, to put away the lies and be forthright as a news organization should. Because Jon Stewart has done nothing but be fair and balanced in the truest sense of the words, even when having to report on issues that hit close to home.

So you have a choice. You can step up to the plate and do the right thing, or you can continue down a path that will further erode your reputation, sensibility and whatever remains of principles in your studio. The choice is yours, but whichever route you go, leave the hatchet jobs alone. Like him or not, Jon Stewart has been the consummate professional, even when dealing with your network. Stick to battling CNN and MSNBC, rather than using a whole network to attack one man, because, quite frankly, you aren't in his league.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Palmer

If Fox News Is Singing Your Praises, That Should Be A Sign...

and not a good one either...

The recent firing of Juan Williams over some personal profiling comments he made on Fox "News" which subsequently resulted in his being hired by Fox "News" got me to thinking. When I first heard, I wasn't shocked since in our overly PC-ed world, you usually cannot say "boo" in a venue or enclave without getting three complaints against you for defaming the cultural identity of "living challenged Americans" (hey, I worked in a Halloween reference...go me!), but I wasn't sure it was warranted...that is until I started hearing Karl Rove and friends singing his praises like he was the ice cream man and they had just gotten their allowance...and that gave me pause.

See, I like Lou Reed as much as the next person, and don't mind taking a "walk on the wild side" every once in awhile...it's the "Crazy-and-Evil-Side" bus tour where I like to pull the chord and ask the bus driver to let me off.

And if Karl Rove is talking about you like he's giving your eulogy, well, then you're already in the ninth level...

Realistically, Juan's switch is like going from Broadway to the WWF. You're still acting, one of them just has a little more credibility...the simple fact that they call themselves Fox "News" when it's clearly not, should be a clue...

It won't be long now before Bill O'Reilly shows up in a feathered boa and some Zubaz to challenge Wolf Blitzer to a cage match.

But I digress.

When the Dark Lor- I mean, Karl Rove is all over you like white on rice in a glass of milk on a paper plate in a snow storm, I tend to ask a few questions and after looking into things a little more, I can't say that Juan's firing was right or wrong...but as Chris Rock said, now I understand.

See Fox "News" and NPR arguably represent opposite ends of the spectrum and Juan liked to play on both sides of the fence. This was not his first incident of conflict with NPR or controversy. He'd also been a contributor since 1997 on Fox, appear on many of the shows, most notably the O'Reilly Factor where he'd even been a guest host...(guest host?!?!?) Fox loves this kind of thing. Any time they can take a moderate or liberal and turn them to the dark side, even a little like having them straddle the fence, it's a victory. If you can infect light with one sliver of darkness...that darkness will grow, as it did for Juan.

NPR, on the other hand, and I believe rightly so, hates this kind of thing.

Not in the least because the chances of cleansing someone of the bile that is Fox "News" is like curing a terminal disease, miraculous. I mean for all our efforts, all we've managed to get is Alan Colmes (not Alan Keyes, thank God. Really, you all can keep all of that right over there, we have enough crazy on this side).

But the two key points that I think bear noting:

1. Juan has been straddling this fence for too long. You can't "dance with the Devil in the pale moon light" and go to church on Sunday as if nothing has happened, and in this day and age with the culture war that's underway, you can't afford to stand on the sidelines anymore, you have to pick side, X-Men or Brotherhood, and roll with it;

2. With great power comes great responsibility...Juan is certainly entitled to his opinion, but as someone who millions of people listen to and whom Fox would exploit, he has a responsibility to be more judicious in his timing, words and phrasing. Juan's been doing this for a long time and he was well aware of the sensationalistic impression and sound bite that would be created by his "stating his fear", and could have made his point a dozen other ways...why, then, didn't he?
Further having been around Fox before and knowing their racist anti-Muslim sentiment that permeates every broadcast, ever show and every commentator the way your best friend in college puking in the back of your car and then leaving it in the hot Sun for 3 days does your upholstery, he knew they would take this ball and run with it.

And they have.

They have been all over their 24-hour "news" channel calling for a cessation to funding, attacking NPR, wild accusations of racism against them...and Juan has stayed silent...well, except to defend himself and promote his narrative. I get that he's angry. I know he's not happy with them, but responsibly he should be telling Fox to stand down; to allow this to used to attack an institution that he supposedly has believed in and supported like NPR is stepping to the side, standing by and letting the crap happen. Even in the face of adversity, if you're on the sides of the angels, you step up and step in to ensure what's right happens. You don't stand idly by and you don't let setbacks stop you...

There's a battle going on right now for the soul of America. It is being waged on the airwaves and the internet and in the corner store. Fox "News" and the far Right are not merely acting irresponsibly, they are actively and hypocritically undermining our country; more specifically, they are strategically disseminating misinformation to tear asunder the fabric of the very country that they claim to love because it doesn't fit their outdated "old timey" image of what should be...

And we, moderate and liberal, we open-minded have a responsibility to counter this sabotage, to stand against this tyranny that is being thrust upon us and say "No More!" We have a responsibility to pick a side and fight on that side with every strength of sinew we may muster to ensure our country is that which it is meant to be. A shining beacon of hope and truth that is open to everyone.

Coming out of the Bush Administration, we've been dirty for a long while, it's about time we got clean.

It's about time we ante up and kick in.

It's about time WE take our country back from the insanity that has gripped in through fear and prejudice and brave-behind-the-teleprompter sycophants and narcissists.

It's time.

Wake Up America, It's Time To Ante Up and Kick In...

It's been a long time,I shouldn't have left you, without a strong rhyme to step to; think of how many weak shows you slept through, time's up, sorry I kept you...
-I Know You Got Soul, Eric B. & Rakim

I picked that quote by Erik B. & Rakim because it has been a long time since I've written, and when I look at all of the insanity that has gone on around that I might have helped to stem the tide of, I cannot help but feel remorse for not being here when I should have. So from now, at least until the election, I'm going to write as much as I can to show my supporty and loyalty to our President and to our country.

So lend me your ears, my Fellow Americans, for I have words that I would impart to our country...Because that's what it this is about, OUR country.

Recently, our President said something that struck a chord within me:

"It is inexcusable for any Democrat or progressive right now to stand on the sidelines in this midterm election."

Inexcusable.

Unable to be excused.

Unjustifiable.

Unpardonable...

Indefensible.

The mission may not be accomplished, but the message has been received. Time to ante up and kick in...

You see, as someone who has severe constraints on his time, there is often a lot I can't do to get some skin in the game...I don't have the free time to do doorknocking and phone calling; lit dropping does not go well with my plantar faciitus and in this tight economy, there is only so much fundraising one can do...

But, I can write.

I can write and say the things that need to be said. Things that must be said and are not. Things that need to be heard.

And so, I am answering our President's call, to do what needs to be done in the way that I can...by writing. For in writing, I can speak truth to power, I can say what needs to be said, and hopefully, just hopefully, snap some people out of the Matrix-like slumber they have descended into.

Our country has been besieged by terrorists from within, small minded hysterics with delusions of grandeur that prey upon the fears of the populace, igniting blind rage and panic that have loosed an evil upon our country, heretofore unknown...

When did this all change?

When did it become okay to dress up racism as patriotism and avoid culpability?

When did it become okay to limit the diversity between us and call it "family values"?

When did it become okay to shout epithets and and spew intolerance under the guise of protecting freedom?

When did America, stop being America?

It did not, but we have been asleep at the wheel.

We have nodded off in the dead of night, threatening to veer into the ditch of ignorance and lose our way along this path.

We must wake up. WAKE UP!

Our Founding Fathers held to be self evident that all men (people) are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, chief among them being life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness...

In case you didn't realize, that means you can marry whoever you damn well please, regardless of race, color, creed, gender or orientation. There was no asterisk on the Declaration of Independence with a footnote that said: "except 'those' people." To deny this nullif ies your ability to wave the flag and cry freedom.

America, beyond the colonialism that devasted the indigenous people, carried within its founding the principle of religious freedom away from persecutions...

In case you didn't realize, that means that you can build a mosque wherever you damn well please, and standing against this invalidates your right to call yourself a patriot.

They also incorporated into the Constitution the manner and balloting for electing the President and which, when followed, rests the fate of the Country on this one person.

In case you didn't realize, that means that whether you voted for him or not, he IS the President of the United States and should be afforded the same rights, privileges and responsibilities as any before him. To disrespect the man, is to disrespect the office, which is to disrespect the Constitution, and within that, the Country. That does not make you an American, it makes you a coward...

We cannot be the Land of the Free, while any amongst us must hide or deny who they are for fear of retribution.

We cannot be the Home of the Brave, if we are so frightened by culture and individuals that are different from us that we cease to stand up for the founding principles of America--Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

We cannot call ourselves America and not embody and exemplify these principles...principles which only truly count when they're not convenient, when you have to struggle and sacrifice to support them, when you have to stand for them.

So here I stand.

This is a serious time, and we need serious people. Sarah Palin, Glen Beck, your 15 minutes are up. Stop wasting the time of the American people and find a new gig...maybe something in the exciting electronics field or check out Brown College...

Really.

Tea Party, you want to take this country back, then start moving forward and understand that it is not enough to put on a tricorner hat and yell, you have to have substance, and actually study your history.

America, stop following whatever talking head pops up with an idea about a fence or following the money (as long as it doesn't connect to them) and begin to look at the truth behind the rhetoric and shouting to see who is really pulling the strings.

Wake up!

Wake up my country, my fellow Americans, and come together now. Cast aside the tyranny of ignorance and recognize the folly in the ways of the past. Be true to the principles on which we were founded, be true to the best of what is in us, be true to the ideal of what is must mean to be an American...Stand with pride, act with honor and live with integrity.

Wake up and be "one together America", with all the differences of opinion and thought that entails, but with civil discourse and honest debate.

Wake up because we are ONE country and it is time we started acting like it.

(Re)Birth of a Nation

I used to think that our country had reached the magnitude of which I could be ashamed.

Under George W. Bush (or as I call it, the Dark Ages), I thought, foolishly, that the practices and policies which went far beyond free market economics and defending our shores had descended to the lowest depths of reflecting that which is ugly about our country. That which exists as the dark underbelly, tarnishing the bright shining light that is America, land of the free, home of the brave...

I'm sad to say that I was wrong.

I watched the Presidential Address tonight, and was appalled to watch as Republicans held up signs, and legislation, and sat intentionally in their seats, even while Republican-favored platforms were put forth...and one arrogant soul (Representative Joe Wilson, R-SC, who has changed his official Congressional website (http://www.joewilson.house.gov/) so that it only posts his bio and removes contact information, however you can find the contact form here and contact information for him here) called him a liar...

and I was ashamed, once more, to be an American.

Not because there is discord or disagreement amongst politicians, not because they don't wish to support the positions or bills that the President puts forth, but because of the fundamental disrespect inherent in the casual disregard they show for the highest office in the land and the leader of our country. A disrespect and disregard that has never, EVER been there before.

Ever.

But let's be honest, when looking at the 44 Presidents next to each other, it's clear that as they used to sing on Sesame Street, "one of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn't belong..."

Or so some would have you believe.

And though it may be couched in terms such as protecting us against socialism, high taxes and death panels, the reality is they believe they are protecting us from something much more dangerous...the Negro!!!!

In 1915 DW Griffith released his "groundbreaking" masterpiece, Birth of a Nation, widely hailed for its technical innovations in camerawork, achievement of the visual language of the cinema and solidification of "Blockbuster"/feature length films...which almost makes you forget that it's a racist piece of propaganda original called the Clansmen and used as a recruiting film for the KKK on into the 70s....

Beginning to see the connection?

No?

Let's step a little further into the Wayback machine and see if history does, in fact, repeat itself.

See the Clansmen--sorry, Birth of a Nation, tells the "heroic" story of how the KKK "saved" the South and by extension the country from the tyrannical rule of Northern (aka East Coast Elite) oppression, and "Negroes" run amuck. The film depicts the common fantasy that African Americans in positions of power, not only have no right to be in office but also disgrace the noble profession through wanton disregard for protocol and sophistication and a socialist agenda to take over the jobs and resources of hard working, upright White people in a gluttony of avarice and sloth. The KKK is so powerful as to move former union and confederate soldiers to join forces against the menace that is...the Negro and his willing White accomplices....routing those forces of evil and saving the country... (like maybe in 2012...)

well, for good upstanding White folk that is...

And now you flash forward to 2009, and that nightmare has become a reality.

The apocalypse has come.

The end of the world is nigh.

For the anti-Christ sits on his throne....

Really???

And every one of them secretly wishes to be "the Little Colonel" (look it up), standing against the wave of Negro injustice and propogation, garnering the forces to deliver the country from the clutches of this modern day Silas Lynch.

Unfortunately, this phantom menace, bent on destroying the country through Health Care Reform and Stimulus packages is no more real than the fiction of Birth...it is a weak attempt at couching the underlying racism that permeates through the hearts and minds of some of our citizenry, given voice through false "teabagging movements" and "average unscripted Americans" showing up at town halls; voices that ring hollow with the taint of that inescapable disease...racism.

Yes, I said it, racism.

See, on the national stage, people are afraid to call this what it is, and the moment you say the word, a huge number of preconceptions arise around what I mean and where this discussion took a turn, but it is, plain and simple. Racism.

Just not your father's brand...

"How do you know?", some will ask. "You can't be sure..." others will say.

No, but while in life there is nothing you can be absolutely sure of...what is clear is that a segment of our country's citizens and elected officials show a blatant disrespect for the holder of an office that two years ago they would have burned you in effigy for merely disagreeing with, the difference is an African American now holds it. And there in lies the key to the riddle.

Like Bilbo's ring, the question of what is and what isn't in the pocket of what we call racism has so many definitions and connotations, that most people shut down when it's mentioned and can't examine the multifacet conundrum that it is.

Racism isn't just burning crosses and race riots, it has transformed and adapted into a quieter, subtler form of the same virulent strain: it is the quiet decision to redistrict and redistribute resources, it is the glass ceiling never shattered, the casual difference in the way people act around different groups, it is a blatant disregard for the office and the authority of the leader of our country. The sheets may have been traded in (well some of the sheets) for business suits, congressional pins and "News" shows, but no matter how much it has changed, the game has remained the same...fear.

We have come so far as a country...crossing racial and cultural boundaries in life, in love, in purpose...the youth today don't see the racial divisions our parents grew up with amongst their friends, corporations engage the communities once oppressed with social conscience and commitment and for the first time in our history, citizens rally around causes ignoring cultural divides, and a person of color is elected to the highest office in the land.

And yet, I am ashamed, because as a country, we have failed. We have failed because we have allowed the least of us, to co-opt our country in an immoral way and stand idly by while they spout lies.

Charlatans and con artists with little to espouse other than hate broadcast it on the airwaves and call it free speech. Manipulators work behind the scenes to organize opposition and stage protests and call it a movement. Scripted pretenders arrive at town halls to read their lines and we call them hard working, honest Americans...and we stand idly by while they pump bile and poison into our life.

We must expect better, we must do better, we must be better. Disagreement and discourse are a part of politics and the American way of life, but without respect, without honorable action, without truth it is little more than pseudo intellectual slam dancing. We are a great nation, but we can be greater. And to do that, we must be a country that puts truth and justice ahead of profit and property and we must shine a beacon on deception and call out those who would hide behind falsehoods and fearmongering.

We must speak truth to power and hold to the light those who would drape their bias and prejudices in scare tactics. We must stay the course as we forge ahead towards a new national conscience of principled idealism. We must cast of these last vestiges or bleaker times and forge ahead bringing the best of us to bear on improving our world, and rising from the ashes of intolerance like a Phoenix onto a new land bringing with it the (Re)Birth of a Nation.

Amen.