Racist Or Stupid?

Unbelievable.  So post Emmy showcare, people have taken to Twitter to complain about the tribute to Robin Williams with references that he is a racist.

how is Robin racist you ask?  Well he does what many refer to as a racist impression of a Muslim woman in Iran asking for help.

Ummm....have you looked at the Middle East of late ladies?  The politically correct police are once again demonstrating their utter ineptitude when it comes to the state of the world.

The young ladies to the left (and probably happy to sit there) are offended that Mr. Williams would do an improv sketch where he uses a scarf as a headdress as he impersonates a woman in totalitarian Iran.  You know the same place that supports Female Genital Mutilation.  The same place where women do not have the option to not cover their faces?  The same place where a woman speaking out on any issue - not authorized - she might be beaten.  That Iran ladies?

I do get that they are probably children or perhaps young women who are starting out their lives, but is this really the fight they want to wage?  Moreover, who are their friends making these tweets their favorites?

Robin Williams was always working for the little guy, the under dog, but he did so using a right we have in America called the First Amendment.  He used his free speech rights to push the envelope - often uncomfortably for people - and he offended many by doing so, but he wasn't racist.  If you were offended by this you miss the opportunity for comedy to provide a transformative change to policy discussions.  While you might not like Williams' take on stereotypical activity against women in Iran, that does not make it racist.  It must be very convenient to live in a world where you don't see or feel danger because it is all around you.  If anything Williams tried to make an unfortunate situation funny, but he didn't act as a racist.  I wonder if any of these ladies were bothered when Williams started a joke about Pavarotti walking into a comedy club: "Two jews walk into a bar..." or when he pushed at the Roman Catholic Church.  Somehow I doubt it which makes me wonder.  Are they racist...or just stupid?

Pessimism On Post-Racial Presidency

Again and again, President Obama seems to get it wrong.  Worse though, America hasn't seemed to figure it out that the President who wants to see the racial tensions of past erased, only seems to exacerbate them.

In July 2009, President Obama rushed to the defense of Henry Gates Jr. who had a confrontation with police after police were informed it appeared he was trying to break into his home.  Police responded to the incident and charged Mr. Gates with disorderly conduct.  President Obama rushed to judgement citing that the police "acted stupidly."

In 2013, President Obama rushed to defend Trayvon Martin who he had said "could have been me."  In the Martin case, Mr. Obama missed the fact that evidence on scene pointed towards the probability that Mr. Martin attacked George Zimmerman.

Now comes 2014 and an incident we are still learning about where President Obama decries the death of Michael Brown before evidence is in, but Mr. Obama seems to be the one who once again is playing the race card in the death of a black teenager.

The death of Michael Brown is heartbreaking, and Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to his family and his community at this very difficult time.  As Attorney General Holder has indicated, the Department of Justice is investigating the situation along with local officials, and they will continue to direct resources to the case as needed.  I know the events of the past few days have prompted strong passions, but as details unfold, I urge everyone in Ferguson, Missouri, and across the country, to remember this young man through reflection and understanding.  We should comfort each other and talk with one another in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds.  Along with our prayers, that’s what Michael and his family, and our broader American community, deserve.

Mr. Obama is very prevalent in this case, discerning evidence before it is presented.  What happens if the officer shot Mr. Brown because he was being attacked?  What happens if another innocent was shot because of his actions and not the officers.

One thing is for sure.  Mr. Obama has been conspicuously hard to find when it comes to issues like gun running to Mexican drug cartels by his ATF.  I do not remember this much effort on behalf of the Brian Terry family after the Border agent was killed by guns that Obama's Justice Department allowed to walk across the border.

Unfortunately, Mr. Obama can not figure out if he wants to be a post racial President or not.  Again and again, it is clear he sees through a race based lens.  If the leader of the greatest country on Earth does it, why wouldn't lesser people?  Mr. Obama needs to remember his campaign promise and start looking at issues of fact and not fear or his will be a post-racial Presidency based on pessimism and not promise.

Do Second Race Cards Trump?

Elections are always fun for me.  Maybe it is the wannabe political science major in me coming out.  (No, no polysci - economics.  When I was picking a major the first George Bush was losing an election because he didn't understand basic economics kind of like a current President so I chose economics.)

In any case, intra-party elections might be the most fun.  I always enjoy how we call them family squabbles where we all come together at the conclusion of the race because that only occassionally happens and usually is the result of some other back room deal.

In any case, it is fun to watch Charlie Rangel complaining about a primary opponent using his race to further his cause given Charlie Rangel has made a career of using his race to further his cause (himself).  It is even more fun to watch President Clinton come to Rangel's defense, as the "first black President" and President Obama, the first black President, sitting on the sidelines.

It is also telling that a major union in the city is staying out of the primary.  When a party owns a seat it is usually shocking to see groups stay out of a race, but particularly with a Member of Congress who is as powerful as Charlie Rangel arguably is, or was.  I am not here to tell 32BJ SEIU how or who to support in the race, but I do find it interesting.

I should also note I hate using ethnicity to curry votes.  Are minorities telling me they can not represent me because I am white?  That is a silly thought and pubescent politics.  If you are a woman or black or brown or green you can represent me....IF...we are in alignment on issues.  Issues matter, not the color of your skin.

Senator Tim Scott is black, but would better represent my views than Charlie Rangel.  It isn't that Charlie is black, it's that he isn't for an honest, fair tax code, he supports abortion on demand, and I am not convinced of his support for Israel.  It doesn't mean Congressman Rangel is a bad guy, it just means he doesn't represent me well.

To the original point though, for a guy who has used his race in his Harlem district for years to stay in Congress for over forty years, I find it entertaining to watch him complain about others playing the same game when the district changes underneath him.

Crimes Against Children, Not Parents

Recently I was harangued on Facebook about the utter injustice of a man sent to prison for overpaying his child support.  Incredulous I couldn’t believe that a father could be sent to prison for overpaying child-support.

However as you notice in the video that’s what happened except that isn’t what happened what really happened was the gentleman was late with child-support payments.  This of course is a crime in the State of Texas.  This gentleman is now paying a criminal penalty - he is serving time in prison not because he overpaid child support, but because he was late with the original payments.

For some reason local news stations seem to believe that it was a good story to focus on the gentleman's suffering for being sentenced to prison.  My question is where is the focus on the child when they needed assistance the previous several months and why are we concerned about a father who is responsibility to his children seems to be only when it’s convenient?

I get that the child support may have been paid up to the point, but the issue raised was that black men were being unfairly targeted.  This same race baiting discussion is part of the same one that has men thinking it is okay to father a child and then have no responsibility thereto.  That is a not a race based issue, but one of responsibility that no one seems comfortable bringing up.

It is time that children who are with single parents have the support they need.  That means single fathers caring for children should not be paying back social services for charges racked up by their errant ex-spouses who are kept away from children.  It means dads should be picking up the tab for the children they father and not running away.  It means perhaps we should be thinking about what marriage truly means and we consider the children who suffer their decisions.

Race Cards

Today the nation stops work and is supposed to reflect on the life of Martin Luther King, Jr.  Perhaps in New York and Washington, D.C. and so many other places they could reflect a little bit more.

Recently, a potential juror, Raeana Roberson, was given a "standard" jury questionnaire.  She was offended by questions about her race listing the options as Black, African-American, or Negro."  She wrote back on the form that it was 2014 and it was offensive.

Perhaps more offensive though is the idea we are still recording race at all.

Dr. King noted in one of his more famous speeches that he dreamt that “my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”  Somewhere along the line I think we missed this and my question is how can we ever lose race consciousness when our government day in and day out tries to pigeon hole individuals into categories whether they describe a color (black) or an area of migration (Caucuses).

Let me be clear. Raeana Roberson, the potential juror in New York was right.  The notecard is offensive and obnoxious and obtuse when consideration is given to Dr. King and the civil rights movement for which he gave his life.  It is time the government got out of trying to categorize us and treat Americans as just that.  Americans.

In the words of one of Dr. King’s contemporaries, Franklin Thomas, “One day our descendants will think it incredible that we paid so much attention to things like the amount of melanin in our skin or the shape of our eyes or our gender instead of the unique identities of each of us as complex human beings.”

They were both right and I wonder if we haven’t lost some of which they yearned in the fight for equality.