More travel

I mean, not that I'm complaining. I'm just explaining why blogging will--again--be a bit light. Headed up to the Aspen Ideas Festival for a week to rub elbows with people much smarter than me. Gonna try to keep up, and do some blogging in between. Should be a lot of interesting stuff to talk about.

Why Ta-Nehisi and Kenyatta aren't married

I promise you a long post on this soon guys. But for now, understand that an admitted John and a closeted gay dude are trying to ammend the constitution so that other gay dudes (and dudettes) can't get married. Hmm, feels like a Chris Rock moment.

Notes on how to play yourself

I have no idea whether Bill Clinton really said that Obama will have to "kiss his ass" in order to get his support. But I am curious as to exactly where this dude thinks his leverage is coming from. Last time I checked, two in ten Dems and four in ten independents said that Bill Clinton would be a problem if Hillary were the VP. More to the point, exactly what country does Bill represent? Obama is beating McCain among women. He's beating McCain among Hispanics. He's even beating doing well among working class whites. So who exactly is Bill Clinton supposed to be wooing for Obama? Am I missing something here? Did Obama actually lose the primary?

I don't quite get hecklers

A good time for a Random Quote Of The Day, No?

Look how far Eldorado's and wine bottle's drug us,
Least God and the Sun love us..
--Common

McWhorter's New Book On Hip-Hop

The less said the better, no? Especially since my label-mate Adam Mansbach said quite a bit:

Simultaneously smug and beleaguered, "All About the Beat: Why Hip-Hop Can't Save Black America" raises the question: Who, exactly, is claiming it can? No one -- academic, artist or critic -- has made any such argument since roughly 1988. This puts Manhattan Institute senior fellow John McWhorter in the awkward position of playing provocateur to an empty house, and gives his prose the tone of a petulant undergrad being shouted down in a dorm lounge. It also raises serious doubts about his engagement with either hip-hop or the large body of scholarship about it.

OK, so I'll violate and say a few words. Megan has this whole thing about being polite to people you disagree with. I think it's--generally--a good principle. I disagree with McWhorter quite a bit, but that isn't my beef. I think his book (which I recently received in the mail) is deeply dishonest. As Adam points out, it's the strawmanship that leaves me so cold--I just haven't heard anyone make a claim like that recently. If anything the kids, and the rest of us, have been doing the opposite. McWhorter is allowed to be dishonest because, in his circles, he really doesn't have to worry about people calling him out. This is basically the same scam that box-minded reporters have been pulling while purporting to cover "Obama and race." First you flatten your subject until he resembles a cartoon, and then you "argue" against the cartoon.

It's like watching a fighter who shrinks away from his most formidable opponents and builds his rep whipping up on jobbers and journeymen. It's also a sort of bullying, because you never have to deal with the most potent arguments of your potent critics. I have never known how to be polite with bullies. So I'll simply say this: For a young black boy coming up in these times, I would play Illmatic, De La Soul Is Dead, The Infamous, Word...Life five hundred times over before I would offer him a single word written by John McWhorter.

Random quote of the day...

Fopp me right, dont you fopp me wrong
Well be here foppin all night long
I'm too short, and you're too tall
But when were foppin' that don't mean a thing at all
I'm too young, child, and you're too old,
But that don't mean that you got no soul...

For absolutely no reason...

More evidence that the blacks may, in fact, be humans

Heh, from the department of "Black people found to be capable of language" comes a new study which tells us that blacks, "don't share similar views of the world." I'm tired, and I've been beating this drum for months now. Needless to say that anyone out there who's shocked that tend to not always agree with each other, is in trouble. The study, which was commissioned by Radio One, actually doesn't look as stupid as USA Today presents it. I can't figure out whether journalists--in particular--are just clueless, or whether this is symptom of a great ignorance and prejudice at work in the country. More likely, journalists are working on deadlines, and in that scenario, complexity in general tends to be a casualty.

On that note, check out One Drop's thread debating who has the right to define what it means to be black. I'm not sure anyone has that right. But I know who doesn't--people whose livelihood depends on drawing stark contrasts, regardless of how much said contrasts reflects the actual world. If you think reparations is a voting issue, if you haven't even given Dreams Of My Father a thorough read, but feel comfortable saying that Obama is "more white than black," if you believe that actual black people still use phrases like "Whitey" or "Black Is Beautiful" in everyday parlance, your credentials are fraudulent. More simply put, if you don't really know many black people. you probably should sit back and listen--and read. There is a reason you don't see me opining on the impact of immigration reform on the Latino communities in the Southwest...

Kane vs. The God

And now for a detour: Avery Tooley basically reprises my entire 9th grade year of high school by resurrecting the greatest debate of our time--Rakim or Big Daddy Kane. Non-hip-hop heads, leave while you can. This discussion is headed into the realm of a black nerd, whose ghetto pass hinged on his ability to offer a flawless rendition of The Symphony.

Those were the days, no? I always thought Kool G Rap killed that joint, and then I started really started listening hard to Kane. He was a master of MCing in its purest form--braggadocio, humor, timing and rhythm. I've heard very few MCs who sound more natural. I love Jay, but Kane was Jay in his time, but so much smoother--"I can let lyrics blast like a bullet\My mouth is a gun, on suckers I pull it\The trigger, you figure, my pockets getting bigger\Cause when it comes to money, yo Grant's my nigger."

That said, for my money, Rakim was the first dude I heard who took the simple and egotistical claim at hip-hop's core ("I'm badder than you.") and raised it to literature. To the day I die I will maintain that the greatest statement of the power of African-American identity and culture is contained in this simple couplet:

I can take a phrase that's rarely heard
Flip it, now it's a daily word.

Of course, Rakim was specifically talking about his own MC abilities, but this is what I mean about his greatness as an MC. At his best, he managed to make the standard claims of the usual braggarts, but he always manged to say more. When I was writing my book, all I wanted to know was to be able to write like Rakim (and his progeny Nas, Black Thought etc.) wrote. I love Kane, but Rakim was just nasty. Anyway, a bit of nostalgia below.

Heh, keep it classy folks

Grover Norquist proves himself highly evolved on matters of race.

Unity

So I am watching the live stream of Hill/Obama's Unity rally. Go here to see it. Call me foolish, but I find it incredibly sad that a Unity Ticket is basically impossible. Some have dissed Clinotn by charging that she only got where she was by hitching her wagon to a dude. Of course this misses the unseen work that women often perform in other marriages. In other words, folks who say that Bill Clinton's presidency made Hillary's political career possible, seem to somehow assume that Bill could have president without Hillary in the first place. Knowing how long-term relationship work (ten years deep over here, fam) I kind of doubt that.

That said, I really think that the deal-breaker for a Clinton/Obama ticket is really Bill's inability to control himself. It's hard for me to hold her penchant for saying anything against her--she's an effing politcian. That's what politicians do. In varying degrees obviously, but in general, politicians lie. Maybe Hillary just wasn't deft enough about it. I don't know. But, even to this moment, her husband is holding a grudge against Barack--essentially--because Barack killed the dreams of restoration. I don't understand how a guy who was--and by some is--considered to be the greatest politician of his generation could go down like this--and take his wife with him.

My politics...

...are a bit to the right of John Conyers, but I really, really, really appreciate him holding David Addington's feet to the fire. For those of you who don't know the 411 on Addington, check out this lovely piece of journalism by one of my favorite writers working today, Jane Mayer.

Megan and Mugabe

So Megan is catching heat for claiming that Zimbabwe was likely better off under Ian Smtih than Robert Mugabe. She sees Smith as the lesser of two very evil evils. I don't know how much I disagree--mainly because I'm not equipped with the details of it all, but I do think I have a bead on what gets people's hackles up, that being a sense that there's something behind the need to compare the two. As I said, on facts she may be right, but it's a hallow right--we're talking about comparing the thuggish Mugabe, to the terrorist Ian Smith. I'm not saying that for any dramatic effect, or lefty hyperbole--these cats were literally terrorists who were responsible for the largest outbreak of anthrax (at least at that point) in history.

To the extent that blaming Mugabe's craven thuggery on colonialism or some such is fallacious and beside the point, I'd contend the same about a Rhodesia/Zimbabwe comparison. Mugabe may well be worse, but I think people are seeing in the comparison (rightly or wrongly) a tradition wherein white pundits revel in blacks doing what humans do to each other--exploit, kill, torture, main--and then using that as an excuse to expunge themselves, This is the "black people kill more of each other than the Klan ever did" argument, or the "colonialism was great and the blacks screwed it all up" case,

That said, I really don't believe Megan meant it that way, but I think folks are connecting other dots, and for that reasons, I'm not shocked that the comments went somewhere she really wasn't heading. People are nasty on the net.

Ta-Nehisi and his Pops on Tavis

A teaser at least. Check your local listings folks. I'll have video when the whole thing is online.

More on Nadar v. Obama

Last post on this, but yeah, seems we wouldn't want a nice tidy story-line getting ruined by something as trivial as facts. Furthermore, this idea that Obama is "talking white" and is using "white guilt" is pretty out there. How do you even deal with that?

Ta-Nehisi isn't black

I just realized this after reading Ralph Nader--that druken master of Ebonics--give his take on Obama and race. Nader, along with many other penatrating scholars of the black experience, have helped me to understand not just Obama's true nature, but my own. Seriously, I can't remember the last time I used the phrase "black is beautiful"--and wasn't trying to be ironic. I've said my share of awful things about white people, but I've never made it to "Whitey." Now I know I why--it's because I'm not black!

In fact, judging by these standards--which apparently require you to fall somewhere between Maulana Karenga and Jesse Jackson--there are roughly 317 black people in America. All of them live in the projects. All of them earn thier keep by making white people feel bad.

This is such a relief. Now, without any guilt, I can finally get to those keg parties, cucumber sandwiches, and most importantly, white women. Wait, if I were a black man, I'd still be chasing white women...Hmmm, seems there are still some kinks to work out...

Imus? Again??

Ugh. Can we stop paying attention now? I have no idea what he meant. Don't much care. I say this as a Cowboy fan who hopes Pacman has 20 interceptions and five TD returns--Dude, get off of it. The good news is thus far, this looks like media trumping up this story. I haven't heard any news about protests, or marches. Which is good. Keep it moving. Nothing to see here...

Sorry I don't have more guys. I'm out on the road. Talking to the LA Times in an hour or so, then chatting it up with Tavis, then a Red Eye back to the Rotten Apple. Wish me luck folks. Best.

How the West was won

Folks,

I'm out today and tomorrow. Headed to L.A. to read at Eso Won Books and to do a Tavis Smiley with Pops. I'll let everyone know when it's supposed to air. Will try to post some while I'm out there. If not, I'll check for you Thursday

Message to Obama reporters: Stop talking about black people

You aren't qualified. Here is Post reporter Jonathan Weisman discussing the intricacies of Barack Obama's ethnic identity:

He really did not become immersed in black American culture until he left college and went to Chicago. The great irony is that he is much more white than black, beyond skin color.

This is false. In fact Obama had quite a bit of exposure to black culture in Hawaii and at Occidental. But be that as it may, the worst part of this whole campaign season is watching us get defined by people who don't know us, and have no interest in knowing us. They throw some Jigga on the Ipod, and they're ready to go. Can't get through the first verse of "Lift Every Voice." Wouldn't know Elijah Muhammad from John Allen Muhammad. But they know us. Watching these fools talk about Obama and race is like watching a bunch of biologists discuss the finer points of corporate law--and discuss it with authority. Like they know.

UPDATE: I just thought about this--by dude's standard we would lose roughly a third of the black middle class. My spouse would be white. Half of my black friends, are apparently not black either. Amazing.

Anyway, something else. This post will attract trolls. Do yourself--and this blog--a favor and don't feed them please. If it's serious, than debate it seriously. If not, don't let yourself get drawn into ignorance. Do the right thing ya'll.

Obama and the Muslims

He deserves this hit. What often goes unsaid in his repudation of being a Muslim is the idea that it's something wrong with being a Muslim. It's disturbing that Obama lets the underlying logic stand.

MORE:Apparently Ellison and Obama got into it about the head-scarf fiasco. But here is why I support Obama for president, despite the fact that his campaign was dead wrong:

The conversation got so heated that CBC Chairwoman Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-Mich.) banged her gavel to try and quiet Ellison. Obama though asked Kilpatrick to let Ellison speak.

After Ellison finished, Obama told the caucus that he regretted the incident, but said that he had not ordered the women to be removed. Following the meeting, Obama called the women to apologize.

Classy. Very classy. That said, I am glad that Ellison called Obama to task. We have to hold him accountable.

Playerhate much?

Karl Rove basically advising Republicans to do what they've done since Nixon:

ABC News' Christianne Klein reports that at a breakfast with Republican insiders at the Capitol Hill Club this morning,  former White House senior aide Karl Rove referred to Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, as "coolly arrogant."

"Even if you never met him, you know this guy," Rove said, per Christianne Klein. "He's the guy at the country club with the beautiful date, holding a martini and a cigarette that stands against the wall and makes snide comments about everyone who passes by." 

I didn't know Puffy was running for president. Seriously, is this political advice, or psychotherapy. Karl seems like he's dealing with some, uhh, issues. Did Obama snatch his girlfriend too? Did he take his bike when they were five?

I'm with Matt. I mean, how did you even get in the country club to see this "cooly arrogant" martini drinking, cigarette smoking dilittante with the hot date? I haven't had the pleasure of being some place where I would have seen this fellow. And I keep my elitism credentials fairly current. Live in Manhattan. Enjoy a latte or two. Like fancy resteraunts. Why don't I know this dude??

How to not alienate whites

Having born witness to Obama's bold rejection of the all-powerful "Black Reparations Lobby," I am taking suggestions for how Obama can better prove to white people that he has no love for the darkies, without losing the vote of said darkies. I am thinking Obama should....

1.) ...address the NAACP convention. Denounce said convention and reveal their integrationist agenda for what it truly is--a plot to ensure easy access to white women,

2.)...visit 125th street. Repudiate Harlem as evidence of the ancient evil of  reverse discrimination.

3.)...get Sista Souljah another record contract. Denounce her again.

4.)...praise the Boston Celtics. These days, that's a win-win.

It's a delicate dance guys. We need your suggestions. Only with your help can Obama prove to whites that his election isn't the triumph of some Marxist-Muslim-Miscegenist-Afrocentric-Red, Black and Green-waving,  Frantz Fanon quoting cabal, while still getting the votes of those who are members of the Marxist-Muslim-Miscegenist-Afrocentric-Red, Black and Green-waving-Frantz Fanon-quoting cabal

Today's stupid analysis of Obama and blacks

Well at least they did some reporting, but really:

Obama's formula for energizing blacks while appealing to whites relies in part on demonstrating independence from the more militant traditions of black politics and using rhetoric that spans race. He has opposed monetary reparations for descendants of slaves, for example. And he has said that he does not think his daughters should benefit from affirmative action, because they have had a "pretty good deal," and he has expressed openness to programs that could help disadvantaged whites, Latinos and women.

Wow, I'm impressed risking the support of the crucial "Reparations Lobby." You know it was the "militant tradition" that elected Adrian Fenty, Corey Booker, Deval Patrick, David Dinkins, Doug Wilder, Carol Mosely-Braun, Anthony Williams, Kurt Schmoke etc. I mean seriously. When was reparations ever a voting issue for black people? Obama is going to clean up among black voters and do really well among other voters--not because of deft machinations, but because black people are--say it with me MSM--Amer-i-cans. You know all those people complaining about the housing market, pissed of about the war. and shaking their heads at the public school system? Some of them happen to be black. I'm just waiting for the story that touts up Cynthia McKinney's efforts to challenge Obama for black voters. It's coming.

A strange, strange libertarianism

So as some of you have probably noticed, I've got a quasi-libertarian thing going on here. Andrew had a link to Bob Barr, and though I know I'm voting for Obama, I decided to take a look. It's all very nice, except one thing--the dude is against gay marriage. I lost all respect for everything he said after that. On one level it's just hypocritical--either you want government out of your life or you don't. Then on another level it sounds eerily familiar. It's like no government interference, liberty for all--except those people who make me uncomfortable. Anyway, roll tape.

Marcus Garvey, Bill Cosby and Affirmative Action

A couple things have me thinking about the AA debate below. I don't want to contest the theory of Ivy League fraternity. But implicit in that seems to be this idea that if you get into the club, in the final analysis--once you become, say, a lawyer--it doesn't matter that you got in through AA. In other words, in terms of actual job performance, are we saying that AA Harvard law grads are no worse than someone who was just a star? If we aren't saying that, than are you setting someone up for failure in the market. If you are saying that, then it seems like the whole "standards" for admission are pretty trivial and should be thrown out anyway. Either the very idea of Ivy League is flawed, or AA admissions to Iv Leagues are--at the end of the day--inferior products, no?

Second--and here comes that old BookerT\Garvey\Malcolm shit in me--I think we need to talk about how power is wielded in this country. For the longest blacks have been focused on political power, and AA just seems to be an extension of that idea--go to a prestigious school so you can use government to influence policy. But what black folks really lack in this country is wealth. Read some Dalton Conley. Do we need an empty credentialism to make this happen? Or do we need some straight up hustlers? Dig this piece in the WSJ about how most CEOs don't attend elite colleges. We've got to find a way to fix our foundational problems (black families, our public schools etc.) and make use of what we have (HBCUs, state schools).

One of the things which gives me great, great pride is that I'm competing (with varying amounts of success) in a field (long-form journalism) where the Ivies ruled. But I come from something totally different. Like those cats, I have my support network, my own fraternity, but it came from the people who I was raised around and grew to love. The root is, of course, the family--my mother, father, brothers and sisters. It extends out into my father's business where I was forced to works as a child, and learned the value of work ethic (though, I still am the lazy journalist working today. I swear man). I did my Rights of Passage ceremony at Nationhouse\Watoto Shule up on Park Avenue and Georgia in the heart of Chocolate City. I played the djembe with Sankofa dance theater (then) down in North Avenue, where outside, the Crack wars were running wild.

Continue reading "Marcus Garvey, Bill Cosby and Affirmative Action" »

Sunday Conversation: Affirmative Action and the Ivies

Here's JP responding to my lukewarm feelings toward Affirmative Action:

You're right -- many more black doctors and lawyers come from HBCUs than from Harvard or Yale. But many more black mayors in major cities (Cory Booker, Kurt Schmoke), governors (Deval Patrick, David Paterson), Supreme Court justices (Clarence Thomas), and presidents to be (Obama) tend to come from the Ivy League.

"Elite" by definition means a small group of people -- even the people of color within that elite. But it's important that "we" make sure that we are represented in that tiny circle. Because those are the folks who shape the policy of who gets a tax break and who doesn't, whether we invade a country or not, and whether a woman has a right to decide what happens to her body.

It's important that there are black faces in the corridors of power. The Ivies (and Berkeleys and Stanfords and Dukes) of the world are the pathways to that power. In New York, the black neighborhood doctor undoubtedly affects the lives he touches. But so does the black Columbia alum who sits in the governor's mansion, who may decide how much funding the public schools will get next year.

And here is is Amitav responding to JP:

I would push back on JP's defense of the value of AA at Ivy League schools for three reasons. First-- why should we assume that the people mentioned needed race-based AA to get into their elite schools? Cory Booker obviously didn't; he played football at Stanford. And as a Rhodes Scholar, I doubt he was a borderline applicant at Yale Law. The idea that the Bookers and Obamas wouldn't be at top schools without race-based AA is not clear to me.

Second, such anecdotes imply a causation (Harvard --> political success) that is misleading and probably backwards. Douglas Wilder went to Virginia Union. JC Watts went to University of Oklahoma. Colin Powell went to CCNY and Condi Rice went to University of Denver. Willie Brown went to San Francisco State and David Dinkins went to Howard. For that matter, Richard Nixon went to Whittier, Ronald Reagan went to Eureka College, LBJ went to Southwest Texas State, and I don't think Harry Truman even went to college. It's true that an elite college can open doors-- but it's not the sole determinant of future success. The people JP named have the intelligence, work ethic and people skills to have been extremely successful coming from any school.

Finally and most important-- Economic empowerment comes from more poor people who are literate, numerate, and not in jail (to start), and who are ultimately in college-- not from a larger Congressional Black Caucus. Rather than pushing to get an upper middle-class kid into a Northwestern rather than a U of Illinois, we need to focus our resources on getting "at-risk" youth of all backgrounds to (a) graduate high school and (b) pursue some sort of higher education-- trade school, community college, or 2nd Tier State U would each be a huge improvement. The battle to have it both ways (race-based affirmative action without regard to income) allows people to stop and think that the problem is solved when it is manifestly untouched.

Most of you know that I favor the Amitav argument--I'm much more concerned with getting people "in the game" than getting them a higher seeding. At some point you just have to accept that you're in the game and compete like everyone else. Also, I'm bias--I think anyone who didn't attend Howard is deranged.  While this mostly applies to black folks, you aren't exempt white people. Anyway, I'd love to hear the rest of the room. As I always say, keep it civil please.

A good comment

From Reader ML. I'll try to keep this in mind when I'm talking.

You said, "I don't really want to talk to people who are convinced they know black people because, as I've said, they get BET in their cable package, or see black kids acting a fool on the train." Certainly there will be those who glance at, for example BET, and feel qualified to make sweeping generalizations. I can't speak for them. In fact, I’d venture that they’d have made those generalizations anyway. But there are others who have a genuine curiosity and reverence, for black culture, black opinions, and black history whose only window is through the media and/or random encounters in daily life. Sometimes people aren’t trying to Monday morning quarterback the black experience. Rather they, quite simply, care. They see the black experience in America not as “your” culture, but as among the many fabrics that make up “our” culture, and want to learn.

Not everybody knows how to say it right. Not everybody possesses the tact, the manners or the sensitivity to express this without sounding like an idiot. And maybe educating the clueless shouldn't be your cross to bear. But don’t admonish those who at least try.

As the product of a self-described “redneck” Appalachia-grown father, and a city-slicker, Tokyo born-and-bred Japanese mother, I’ve done my fair share of educating the clueless. My opinions on Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, Korematsu, or sushi for that matter, are far from definitive. But who knows when the person I’m talking to will have another change to get real in-the-flesh personal opinion. So, I do what I can. Curiosity (however awkwardly expressed) today can become awareness tomorrow.

Random TV On The Radio Sighting

Expect these from time to time. Watching this makes me realize how much I need to take Kenyatta (my better half and a big TVOR fan) to see these guys--except that she might leave me for them. If I could write like these guys make music...

UPDATE: Might help, if I posted actual video.

Barack schilling for Kia??

Courtesy of the wonderful Dayo Olopade

And now for a moment of cheap partisan hackery

There is a lot of talk about the various swing groups--suburban white women, Appalachian white people, Jewish white people, working class white people, Southwest brown people etc. I actually expect most of those cats to rally to Obama's side. But just like in the primary, one of the most decisive demographic group in this election will be black folks down South--particularly black people in Georgia, North Carolina and maybe Florida. At this moment, Obama is running neck and neck with McCain in Georgia and within four points in North Carolina.

I don't think that polls this early don't mean much, except this--all this talk from the primaries about what Obama can and can't do is pretty much out the window. The goes for (as I've called) the varying tribes of white people, and for the varying tribes of us. I think an Obama win, while winning some of the states that Dems have traditionally lost would say so much about where we are, racially, in this country. As for the "us," the Southern Tribes really need to come through on this one. With significant numbers, we may not win, but we can McCain sweat bullets. Should they lose North Carolina and Georgia, the math gets really tough. Some of you walked through night-sticks and police dogs for a chance to alter the world. We're not asking you to do that again. Just walk into the voting booth. Do that and some things--not everything--will change.

The politics of Ta-Nehisi

I got to thinking about this yesterday after I was on a panel discussing the Left and Barack Obama. It was a great panel, with a great crowd (lots of young people). And yet I had the same feeling as I did circa 1994 when I realized, "Oh, maybe I'm not a black nationalist." I still think I'm a lefty, maybe just a pragmatic one. Anyway, I thought about it again when I saw a guy below attack Megan McArdle for having "bad politics." And I thought, hmm what are my politics? Maybe I'm an Obamacon!!! I did vote for MIke Bloomberg and if he ran against David Paterson, I'd have to think long and hard.

Anyway I got to thinking about arguments that I will and won't entertain. There are very few things I've completely made my mind up about. Most of the ones that I have, are social issues.  I can't listen to anyone make a case against gay marriage--I just don't think there is one that doesn't involve prejudice. To me, this is the most disappointing aspect of the Obama campaign. I can't listen to anyone make a case for the government prohibitions in regards to women's health. I understand being pro-life, to the extent that you think that abortion is wrong, but not to the extent that you think the state should outlaw it.

Don't ever say the words "intelligent" and "design" in that order around me.  My eyes will glaze over, and I will stop paying attention. Don't talk to me about how black people--all 30 million of us--have a "culture of failure" or anything like that, as I'm likely to assume that you're either a racist or someone who keeps the company of racists. I think I want drugs legalized--maybe all of them, I'm not sure. I think I want aggressive prosecution of violent criminals--a couple weeks ago some punk rolled up and down Lenox Ave. spraying fools. That dude is out of his mind, and is a danger to my son. I want him treated as such.

I didn't think the guys who killed Sean Bell should have gone to prison. I just didn't buy the idea that they set out to murder him, and prison for negligence horrifies me, especially for people who are trying to be good guys. I did think they had no reason to be on the force anymore, and I hope that comes to past. I looked at it like someone botching a major surgery, and letting a patient die. You probably aren't fit for the job, and we need to instituite some reforms to make sure people like you aren't on the job. But I don't think those cops--minus thier badges--are a danger to society. I generally hate jail, across the board. It strikes me as wrong to argue for leniency for first-offenders, and drug dealers, but not for public servants doing a job that would scare me silly.I think government should do something to help poor people--but I want that help to be premised on a partnership that enrolls poor people in the possibility of one day not needing help. I'm prepared for the possibility that there will be some people who will always need some help.

Outside of that, I'll basically listen to anything, mostly because I just don't know enough yet--even at the old age of 32--to draw many conclusions.. I try to stay up on my reading, but there is such a deluge of info out there. It's one of the reasons I'm considering quitting blogging at some point. I talk way too much. I want to go back to just listening for a while.

UPDATE: I didn't expound much on race, and that's because it's an area I'm fairly open on. I don't really want to talk to people who are convinced they know black people because, as I've said, they get BET in their cable package, or see black kids acting a fool on the train. That said, I'm "meh" on race-based Affirmative Action, not out of any great sympathy for those who yell "Unfair!", but because  I'm not convinced it does much for those amongst us who need it most. I'm not convinced that black kids in Cali or Florida are any worse off because of Ward Connerly. I'm sorry, I'm just not gonna fight for your right to go to Berkley--so many more never even get a sniff of college. I kinda like class-based Affirmative Action--plenty of poor white folks who need help. I don't like it as a cheap Sista Souljah move, but as a matter of policy. More to the point, I want college period to be more accessible. I think color often functions as a lazy proxy for very specific issues that need to be addressed--por ejemplo, the problems of coming from a family with little or no wealth.

Anyway, I'd love to hear you guys chime in on your own politics, and those things which you just can't compromise on.

The economics of hiring ex-cons

Megan McArdle was kind enough to indulge me and do a post on ex-cons and the job market. I wanted to get the perspective of someone who wasn't like me (self-professed pinko, commie) and yet who I respected. Furthermore, I've really enjoyed the comments on Section 8, so I figured it'd be good to look at some other social issues. Anyway, I enjoyed her formulation of the problem. Also here are some of the solutions:

1) Reduce the number of crimes to things like assault, so that poor kids have as few opportunities as possible to make those sorts of permanent mistakes.

2) Less prison. Prison is awful for us as well as the prisoners. I'm not saying we shouldn't punish kids who rob liquor stores, but we could try to think of ways that don't involve shoving them into a metal box with a lot of other criminals. Here's where Mark Kleiman's ideas have a lot of merit--use intensive monitoring instead of warehousing. There's a lot of garbage that needs picking up on the streets of American cities; this is one example of something that would be a better use of low-level criminal time then staring at bars.

3) Tax breaks for hiring ex-felons, say for the first two years of employment. It will cost us more money up front, but less money if the felons stay out of prison--prison is extremely expensive, not only in the direct cost, but also because it makes criminals about as socially and economically unproductive as possible. Add a bonus for anyone who gets a sizeable promotion/raise, or skills training. Yes, this will be in part a boondoggle. So are prison building projects ardently supported by the prison guard's unions.

4) Small bonuses for the criminals themselves (or perhaps a reduction in monitoring) for things like getting their GED or staying clean for a year.

This is not perfect; the poor, and the criminals, we will probably always have with us. But it would be a hell of a lot better than what we have now.

Pretty good list, say I. But I wonder how much of our approach to crime is--dare I say--cultural...

Even More Section 8

Check out this critique from commenter Amitav. Also follow the discussion here and here. One meme I see popping up is that Section 8 rewards irresponsible behavior. That seems pretty broad-brush, unless the mere status of being poor is considered irresponsible. People are poor for all sorts of reasons. Even if you contend that there are more irresponsible people among the impoverished, it doesn't follow that Section 8 is necessarily a hand-out to those who are irresponsible.

I gather from Amitav that screening is left up to the landlords. It seems that one way to get around this--and to relieve the waiting list--is for the administers of the actual vouchers to do the screening. Something that came through in Nicholas Lehmann's book The Promised Land is that certain projects in Chicago actually did work. But the moment folks stopped screening, it was downhill. We need partnership, an effort to enroll everyone into the society. That means, to my mind, requiring standards of people who take government help, and at the same time, committing to giving that help as long as those standards are met.

Blacks and Gay Marriage

Jasmyne Cannick and Jamie Kirchik go at it over how much of a priority gay marriage should be for the gay rights movement. Hmm, I think--just off the top--I'm with Jamie--it probably should be a big priority. I'm not married. Been with the same woman for ten years now, and we've got a beautiful black boy who's gonna turn eight this year (Maybe I'll throw up a picture, if I can find a good one). But we both have our qualms about marriage and weddings, which I'd gladly expound on in another thread.

That said, I think marriage is such a core institution in this country, that it's hard for me not to see why it's a top priority for so many gays. Segregation affected every black person in the country. The North didn't have signs, but there is a long history of housing covenants which enforced segregation. Anyway, I think gay marriage is a similar issue--it bans all gay people from an institution that's central to American life. That said. People need to stop putting words in Jasmyne's mouth--at no point in her piece does she claim that gay marriage is racist.  Fight her on the merits--or lack of merits--of her argument. Strawmanship only makes it look like you have something to hide.

Cucumber sandwiches for black people

The other thing that people should know about me is that I am a foodie. My Dad was nasty in the kitchen, and he imparted some of that on to me, sorta like how Galactus touched the Silver Surfer. Anyway, just out of curiosity I am gonna try this, maybe as soon as this weekend. Something about the combo of the mayo and pepperidge farm white bread seems sketchy, but what the hell. I used to think sushi was sketchy too...

UPDATE: LOL. Postbourgie on cucumber sandwiches: Ya'll lost me at the mayonnaise family.

I may have this wrong but there is a black wariness toward anything that runs--mac and cheese has to be baked within an inch of its life, chicken has to be fried extra-hard, steak needs to have not a drop of blood. That last part is changing some--I see more brothers going with medium every day. Of course we also gave the world chitterlings--shudder. Anyway black people, please correct me if I'm wrong on this one

How to end racism, and all talk of racism

I'm not picking on commenter Nate, but I wanted to draw this out. Nate is referring to a piece I did on Cosby in the Atlantic.

Yeah, I read the article when the magazine came out. I remember being a bit confused by it, because it seems to me this embrace of a culture of personal responsibility should be more widely known, and yet it's not. You might perhaps attribute that to the ignorance of mainstream media, but my thought was that this is because black folks would rather whites not be privy to this difficult self-examination. Consequently, the conversation goes on over kitchen tables and on front porches, but not in any public forum. (Note the absences of press at the Cosby event you attended. You cited a different motivation, but perhaps this sense of the subject being a private affair is more of a driving force?)

I realize this is a difficult issue, since it involved black people airing their dirty laundry in the presence of white people. And on a visceral level, that is very hard to stomach for many blacks, due to the fact that whites were the authors of the past injustice that put them in this predicament. But look at the upside.

I have a notion that if black America were to expose this internal debate they are having to a wider realm of people, and risk exposing themselves to shame, they might be surprised at the level of support they would get. If defensive whites got a sense that blacks are trying to deal with these issues in a way other than complaining about grievances and injustice, and whites got a good look at this side of the black community that is not about anger, I think they would have more sympathy, and be less racist, and more open to supporting the kinds of social and economic programs the black community desires.

I mean, even if one feels anger is justifiable, there is the larger question of whether it is useful. I'm postulating that it isn't, and that a focus on problems other races can relate to would bear more fruit. I'm open to dissenters, since after all, I'm speaking as an outsider here.

One of the reasons many of us did not believe Obama could win in states where the population of black people dipped into the single percentage digits. We basically accepted that in states like that, there would be an immediate rejection of anyone black. That theory has been proven false, and its worth noting that most--OK I--drew those conclusions having never so much as visited Iowa, for instance.

With that in mind, here is what I suggest: Go see some actual black people in their own environments. There's nothing private about a black church, a black barbershop, or a black bar. If you've got money, they'll cut your hair. If you've got money they'll pour you a shot. Bring a friend, and just sit back and take it in. As soon as the subject turns to race--and at some point it will--I promise you will witness a vigorous debate, and it won't be censored because you're there. No BS, the day before Obama's big fatherhood speech, I was getting my own fresh Caesar and a young barber was arguing with an older one. The young dude was saying that if Obama wins, it's over, no more excuses that begin with the word "white." The old head took a different perspective.

No doubt some of us black folk need to do the same. Can't talk about Wyoming if you've never been there.

I am not saying that there is nothing to this diry laundry thing, but it gets overplayed. The one place where Cosby was doing a call-out did indeed ban reporters, but that had to do with the specific issue of fathers in child-support arrears. I saw Cosby give an incredible speech--with much the same themes--at a Connecticut prison, and the audience was totally mixed. The Million Man March targeted black men, but there wasn't much private about it. Anyway, my point is this--the truth is knowable. It's out there if we want it. Some funny looks may come with the deal, but it's out there.

Black men and R. Kelley

Brothers,

Here's a statement put together by my comrade and colleague Jelani Cobb. Needless to say I agree on all the points. Please link to your various blogs. Let's not let this thing feed into all the crap we've been talking about the past few days. I made my statement on this dude some years ago:

Statement of Black Men Against the Exploitation of Black Women

Six years have gone by since we first heard the allegations that R. Kelly had filmed himself having sex with an underage girl. During that time we have seen the videotape being hawked on street corners in Black communities, as if the dehumanization of one of our own was not at stake. We have seen entertainers rally around him and watched his career reach new heights despite the grave possibility that he had molested and urinated on a 13-year old girl. We saw African Americans purchase millions of his records despite the long history of such charges swirling around the singer. Worst of all, we have witnessed the sad vision of Black people cheering his acquittal with a fervor usually reserved for community heroes and shaken our heads at the stunning lack of outrage over the verdict in the broader Black community.

Over these years, justice has been delayed and it has been denied. Perhaps a jury can accept R. Kelly's absurd defense and find "reasonable doubt" despite the fact that the film was shot in his home and featured a man who was identical to him. Perhaps they doubted that the young woman in the courtroom was, in fact, the same person featured in the ten year old video. But there is no doubt about this: some young Black woman was filmed being degraded and exploited by a much older Black man, some daughter of our community was left unprotected, and somewhere another Black woman is being molested, abused or raped and our callous handling of this case will make it that much more difficult for her to come forward and be believed. And each of us is responsible for it.

We have proudly seen the community take to the streets in defense of Black men who have been the victims of police violence or racist attacks, but that righteous outrage only highlights the silence surrounding this verdict.

We believe that our judgment has been clouded by celebrity-worship; we believe that we are a community in crisis and that our addiction to sexism has reached such an extreme that many of us cannot even recognize child molestation when we see it.
We recognize the absolute necessity for Black men to speak in a single, unified voice and state something that should be absolutely obvious: that the women of our community are full human beings, that we cannot and will not tolerate the poisonous hatred of women that has already damaged our families, relationships and culture.

We believe that our daughters are precious and they deserve our protection. We believe that Black men must take responsibility for our contributions to this terrible state of affairs and make an effort to change our lives and our communities.

This is about more than R. Kelly's claims to innocence. It is about our survival as a community. Until we believe that our daughters, sisters, mothers, wives and friends are worthy of justice, until we believe that rape, domestic violence and the casual sexism that permeates our culture are absolutely unacceptable, until we recognize that the first priority of any community is the protection of its young, we will remain in this tragic dead-end.

We ask that you:

o    Sign your name if you are a Black male who supports this statement:

     

http://www.petitiononline.com/rkelly/petition.html

o    Forward this statement to your entire network and ask other Black males to sign as well

o    Make a personal pledge to never support R. Kelly again in any form or fashion, unless he publicly apologizes for his behavior and gets help for his long-standing sexual conduct, in his private life and in his music

o    Make a commitment in your own life to never to hit, beat, molest, rape, or exploit Black females in any way   and, if you have, to take ownership for your behavior, seek emotional and spiritual help, and, over time, become a voice against all forms of Black female exploitation

o    Challenge other Black males, no matter their age, class or educational background, or status in life, if they engage in behavior and language that is exploitative and or disrespectful to Black females in any way. If you say nothing, you become just as guilty.

o    Learn to listen to the voices, concerns, needs, criticisms, and challenges of Black females, because they are our equals, and because in listening we will learn a new and different kind of Black manhood

We support the work of scholars, activists and organizations that are helping to redefine Black manhood in healthy ways. Additional resources are listed below.

Books:
Who's Gonna Take the Weight, Kevin Powell
New Black Man, Mark Anthony Neal
Deals with the Devil and Other Reasons to Riot, Pearl Cleage
Traps: African American Men on Gender and Sexuality, Rudolph Byrd and Beverly Guy-Sheftall

Films:
I Am A Man: Black Masculinity in America, by Byron Hurt
Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, by Byron Hurt
NO! The Rape Documentary, by Aishah Simmons

Your daily Ha-Ha

Yeah I know I'm late on this one, but this is pretty great. From Melinda Henneberger over at Slate:

Political consultants are always yammering about what a good idea it is to get the most damaging information out in the open ASAP, and on the candidate's own terms. Which is why I suspect Michelle Obama of cannily revealing that secret terrorist handshake in literally the very first moment it was safe to do so, on the very night her hubby acknowledged that he had closed the deal. The true genius, of course, was in the foresight and field work of spending the last 15 years getting millions of hapless suburban tweens and their hopelessly unhip parents thinking that this menacing shout out to fellow jihadists was harmless as a high-five; is there no end to this woman's perfidy? And that "baby mama" thing? Doubtless a plant, designed to deflect attention from the soon-to-be-released video of Michelle complaining about her husband's general messiness, and shouting, "Why'd he leave out the butter? Why'd he leave out the socks?'' Not to mention—oops, just did!—the shocking follow-up footage in which she asks a neighbor, "D'you see that?'' Let's just say I'll be curious to see what job that Fox "producer'' gets in the Obama administration.

Negro Please: William "Dollar Bill" Jefferson running for re-election

You folks know what I wanted to title this post. But this is a respectable establishment. It's funny. When I was working for Washington City Paper we always wanted to do a story on the only place more poorly ran than Washington D.C. (these were the Barry years) on New Orleans. So when I saw that Dollar Bill was running for re-election, I of course thought of Barry. Anyone interested in how William Jefferson should check out this lovely Jason Berry profile from the estimable Washington Monthly.

Another view on Obama's fatherhood speech

Different than mine. But perhaps more perceptive. I keep vacillating on this one. I am sooooo down with the whole "Fatherhood At All Costs" deal. In fact, on an individual level, I think poverty is simply not an excuse for potentially screwing up a kids life. But that's not a "public policy" point of view--the sort of perspective that looks at the behavior of a mass group of people. It's like something I'd want to hear in a church (yes, I know) or something my own