Pigs in A Blanket

When the campaign manager for presidential candidate John McCain, Rick Davis, said this election would not be about issues but about personalities – you knew where McCain’s campaign strategy was headed.



It would be about character assassination and the good old Republican playbook of “distract and attack.”

That's what’s happening in the Lipstick on the Pig controversy. Again, the Republicans think the American people are stupid. And maybe the Republicans are betting Americans will be, when they vote in November. However, I hope not! It is clear that if the focus is on the issues that concern Americans—the Republicans would loose hands down.

But if you work to disqualify Obama by derision and charge him with playing the race and gender card – you might cause him to fight defensively and not offensively—changing the main focus of his campaign: Change.

Further investigation reveals John McCain used this same folksy metaphor when he criticized Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on health care.

Someone once wrote: “The secret to success is knowing who to blame for your failures.”
In other words shift the focus. I believe with the Lipstick on the Pig—that’s what the Republicans intend to do.

Beware; the worse is yet to come.

Here We Go Again

Just when you thought Election 2008 couldn’t get more dramatic, here comes something that I feel might affect the election outcome, depending on the resolution. It’s not the budget deficit; it’s not the war, or the economy or the emergence of hockey mom Sarah Palin on the Republican vice- presidential ticket. It’s none of the above.

It’s a mess that has been haunting race relations in this country for 13 years: OJ Simpson. Just when you thought this country was ready for change (McCain’s or Obama’s), the memory of the most racially divisive trial in the history of American jurisprudence comes back to test the American psyche on what I call America’s lingering terminal disease: Racism.

As I write, jury selection begins at the Clarke County Regional Center in Las Vegas. Simpson charged with armed robbery and kidnapping, faces possible life imprisonment. Judge Jackie Glass says to the prospective jurors: “IF YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING TO PUNISH Mr. Simpson for what happened in 1995, this is not the case for you.”
Yeah right! Finding jurors who were not affected by the Trial of the Century, is like trying to find a man who was not aroused while watching the Halle Berry love scene in Monster’s Ball,( I’m not counting those men on medication).

Don't get me wrong—I think Simpson had something to do with the murder in 1995, and he was stupid to try to retrieve trophies in “Sin City.” But Simpson regardless of his contemptuous character represents a conversation that America needs to have about race.

Even if Simpson is convicted this time – racial acrimony is not going away.

Judge Glass says the third Simpson trial will last about five weeks.Beyond
five weeks from now another closing argument will be given, not to a jury in Las Vegas, but to a jury of voters who will decide the fate of the nation.

Time will tell if the verdicts in both trials will heal the sickness America refuses to confront.

Obama, E:60

The presidential election is less than sixty days. Americans will decide a new political destiny for our nation. As it relates to Barack Obama, this election could make American history, if he’s elected the first president of African descent.

Having imagined the amazing possiblies Obama’s election would bring, not just for African-Americans, but for all America- I’m going to act as his political strategist and outline what he has to do in the next sixty days to seal the deal and win over a nation that is desperately in need of leadership.

1. Keep associating McCain with Bush. Just like the Republicans keep pounding on the “inexperience mantra” as relates to Obama, Obama has to keep in the minds of Americans that McCain is another version of President George Bush. Senator McCain voted 90% of the time with George Bush. It’s the George Bush administration that is responsible for high gas prices, astronomical rates of foreclosures and high unemployment rates. Tell the truth that both the economy and foreign policy have been horribly mismanaged by the Republicans and John McCain means more the same. Keep sticking McCain with Bush like starch on rice.
2. Exhibit Pastoral leadership not Pit-bull Aggression. The Republican game plan was revealed by both vice presidential nominee, Gov. Sarah Palin, and McCain campaign manager, Rick Davis: engage in character assignation and the politics of fear, and avoid the issues. Palin’s speech at the Republican National Convention spoke more about Obama than issues relevant to Americans. Furthermore, Rick Davis was quoted as saying “this election would be decided, not on the issues, but on the voters’ views of the candidates’ personalities.” This tells you that the Republicans will use the usual scare tactics to transmogrify the character of Obama. What Obama has to do is maintain the high road. He and his campaign team most avoid at all costs the belittling, dehumanizing ways used by anyone who is afraid and unsure of themselves and short on substance. When people are hurting, they need a pastor and not a pit bull. If America sees the heart of a caring shepherd in the character of Obama, in contrast to the bombastic ways of the Republicans- this will work in his favor.
3. The Bubba Vote. This is shorthand for white, working class voters who often live in rural areas. Obama has to win them over and sell them on the glaring reality that their interests are united with all Americans. He has to attack the notion of the reality of underlying racism that former House Majority leader Dick Armey spoke about. Armey was quoted as saying,” There are an awful lot of people in America… who simply are not emotionally prepared to vote for a black man.” How does Obama transcend underlying racism? Identify with the hurts and pains of small town America and trumpet patriotic values.
4. Grass roots Mobilization. This is Obama’s strong suit, and it has to be intensified: Voter registration, Election Day watch dogs to guard against voting irregularities, campaign advertising on every level.
Election 2008 must be played like a John Coltrane song on Blue note records (you dig the Obama jazz button?). Like poet Sterling Brown wrote, “the strong man keep on com’in,’ that’s what its going to take- a lot of resiliency and fight if Obama is to win the presidency.
In The House,
KJ

Palin! No Payoff!

Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate, reminded me of one of the most exciting plays in the NFL called the Flea flicker. The Flea flicker is one of those trick plays when the quarterback after the snap, hands off to a running back, who runs toward the line of scrimmage, laterals the football back to the quarterback, who then throws the ball to an eligible receiver, who is wide open.

The Flea flicker is play designed for deception. It freezes the linebacker and safety having them thinking to stop the run- when the play is a pass. In the selection of Sarah Palin, John McCain is running a Political Flea Flicker on those who are gullible to the tactics of subterfuge.

He thinks by selecting a female vice presidential running mate, he can draw in his camp those disgruntled Clinton feminists who feel disenfranchised because their candidate was not selected to be Obama’s second in command. He thinks he can turn America’s attention away from eight years of economic mismanagement by George Bush.

However, I have news for you. Although the play was brilliant, the goal of winning the White House is going to be much tougher than trying to win by choosing a female for V.P.
Here’s what I believe the choice of Gov. Palin says about McCain:

• He’s Desperate. There is no way around this feeling I get that the McCain is in more trouble than what the news media is letting on. This is a desperate attempt to secure the conservative Republican base and woman. McCain’s choice of Palin says to females that he believes they will vote gender before they will vote the issues.
• His Judgment. McCain only met Palin once. He only talked to her over the phone once. Yet, this was enough in his mind to choose this woman to possibly be the next commander in chief. Did I miss something?
• He’s pro Affirmative Action. Yea, I said it! Aren’t the Republicans always belly aching about those affirmative action people of color and females who get hired because they were unqualified. Well, doesn’t Palin fall under this category? And he has the nerve to say Obama’s unqualified. Oops, there goes that argument.

Whatever the outcome of this presidential election, its sure surpasses any drama I’ve seen lately.
In The House,
K J

No, it’s not Barack Obama or John McCain. The American Savior is a new book by Roland Merullo that paints the unlikely scenario of Jesus Christ coming back to earth to run for president of the United States.

USA Today says this about the book:”Merullo gently satizes the media and politics in this thoughtful commentary on the role religion plays in America. The book showcases Merullo’s convictions that Christ’s real message about treating others with kindness is being warped by those who believe they alone understand the messiah..”

No doubt, the author develops an interesting premise of Jesus running for a political office. Nevertheless, if the truth be told—Jesus – if you examine the positions he took on various issues from the Bible-- would never be elected president. Let me give you four reasons:

1) Jesus would not be gender exclusive or misogynist. Jesus was radical in his day as it relates to the treatment of woman . In Jesus’ day it was considered politically incorrect for a Jewish man to speak to a woman alone. Yet, in the gospel of John chapter 4, Jesus is shown in dialogue with a five time divorcee, who was not only gave up on marriage and was “shacking-up,” but belonged to the despised ethnic group of his day: The Samaritans. Women were apart of his evangelistic entourage(Luke 8:1-3). Jesus’ position would not be a politically correct one in the face of a country that still struggles with sexism.

2)Jesus would take a stronger stand against racism that most Americans would be comfortable with. Jesus attacked the racism in this day like a pit bull. He often associated with Samaritans, the hated mixed race people of his day(John 4:39-40).He assailed the unconscious racism in the hearts of his hearers, by answering the question:” Who is my Neighbor?” in Luke 10:29-36, making the loathed Samaritans the hero of the story. Jesus himself was called a Samaritan (John 8:48), the equivalent of being called “the n-word,” or some other racial epithet. When 3 out of 10 Americans say they struggle with racism , Jesus would make us shamed of our racial problems.

3) Jesus would not be popular with the Religious Right of his day. Presidential politicians are often concerned with the appasesement of Evangelicals for the purpose of gaining a tactical edge. Jesus didn’t care about votes- he was concerned about character- especially those who claimed to be God’s representatives. The scathing bombast he gave the religious leaders in Matthew 23, lets me know that Jesus did not care about political correctness. Jesus saw the religious establishment in his day as Tartuffe and power hungry.

4) Jesus would be passionately against modern day hedonism. Jesus was careful to warn those who would misinterpret his message by gaining the world at the expense of losing their soul(Matthew 16:26). He rebuked sexual immorality( Matthew 5:27-30), serial divorce(Matthew 5:31-32), and defined marriage in a culture of rampant homosexuality as between a male and female (Matthew 19:1-6).

5) Jesus would not be a good model of bi-partisan leadership. He called Herod, the most powerful politician in Galilee “a fox”(Luke 13:31-32) and ignored Pilate, the governor of Judea (Matthew 27:13-14).

It is quite reasonable to believe from the study of Biblical evidence, that Jesus by his behavior would be deemed a political liability. Jesus would have never been popular in a nation that wants their politicians to be Sisyphean and milque- toast.

A matter of fact, Jesus did not resort to politics, because it was his stern belief that social change is not a matter of legislation but inner transformation ( John 3:3-7).

Well, so much for an American Savior.
In the House,
KJ

An Anti-Racism Curriculum

History doesn’t just teach us, it clears a path.-Stephen A. Smith

So America finally apologized for slavery. The media reported the House of Representatives issued an apology for an act that in my thinking has been the “Achilles Heel” of American social history. (You can find the apology at:www.tracesofthetrade.org).

The news report of what surely should have been an important milestone in our history, barely registered a blip on the radar screen of the electronic media. This is because America has found it difficult to deal with a painful, embarrassing era in this country. As professor Joe Feagin wrote:

“The American slave past is that ghost which we have
not entirely faced, the memory of that institution is a
haunted house we fear to inhabit.”

Perhaps, that is why the news media did not make a big deal out of the apology. America is afraid of that haunted house called slavery. Slavery exposes our nation’s hypocrisy. It demythologizes that democratic cornerstone: “all men are created equal.”

Even so, an apology for slavery is not enough to confront and overthrow the demons unleashed by this horrendous “business arrangement,” constructed by our forefathers to develop American capitalism.

The reason Black America gets so upset over this subject, is because slavery is often trivialized—it’s often treated as a side order on the menu of our nation’s history by mainstream America.

I believe in order to move toward racial reconciliation in this area, we need to educate ourselves to face the unpleasant past of slavery in order to move America from guilt to grief to glory.

For America to do this, Americans must take the initiative to educate themselves about the history of racism and slavery. Most people in our nation know as much about slavery as Paris Hilton knows about being president of the United States.
Due to widespread ignorance about this subject, I have developed what I call: Anti-Racism Curriculum.

This curriculum includes DVD's and books—giving those who want to learn – a starting point to deal with history -- most people in our nation want to forget and forgive too easily.

Here are just a few recommendations:
Traces of the Trade: A Story of the Deep North (DVD). Featured this year on the PBS program, POV, Traces of the Trade is the riveting and disturbing story of a New England family's discovery of their patriarch James Dewolf as head the largest slave trading family in U.S. history. One great line spoken by a family member during a dinner table discussion was this: “white people (when dealing with the issue of the slave trade) must move from guilt to grief.” This documentary will help African-Americans understand why white Americans find slavery a subject difficult to deal with.

Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present, Harriet A. Washington. Winner of the 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award for the best in non-fiction, this is a book that chronicles the awful use of Black slaves as medical guinea pigs. Often operated upon without anesthesia, The New York Times calls Washington’s book: “A book of outrage.” Medical Apartheid helps us come to the sobering reality that slavery was evil beyond our wildest imagination.

In The Matter of Color: Race and The American Legal Process1: The Colonial Period, A. Leon Higginbotham. The late Judge Higginbotham was a federal appeals court judge and receipt ant of the presidential Medal of freedom. Do you wonder why many minorities often complain about the unfairness of the U.S. justice system? It is because the foundation of juridical bigotry was laid during the era of slavery .A must read for anyone connected with the American justice system.

Systemic Racism: A Theory of Oppression, Joe Feagin. This is one white guy you won’t see on Fox news or CNN when race is discussed. Dr. Feagin is the leading anti-racism activist in this nation. Author of over fifty books on this subject, Dr. Feagin demythologizes the so called heroism of “Founding Father’s.” Dr. Feagin has a website that addresses race in the media called:Racismreview.com

Oxford African American Studies Center (www.oxfordaasc.com). For a small annual fee, you have access to in my opinion-- to the most comprehensive contemporary and historical study of the black experience from Africa to America and beyond. Developed by Dr. Henry Louis Gates and other scholars, the Oxford AASC is like having a research library at home. The database on the Transatlantic slave trade is powerful.

From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans, John Hope Franklin.
This is the classic book on the history of black people in America. Before there was Dr. Henry Louis Gates, there was John Hope Franklin. No one Has done a greater job in telling the tragic, yet rich history of African Americans, then Dr.Franklin.

Other Recommendations: Roots (DVD), the 25th anniversary edition; Unforgiveable Blackness- The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, by Ken Burns; and White Like Me, Tim Wise.

This is just a few items for your consideration. Slavery is a subject that can no longer be trivialized. Americans must be able to speak intelligently about this subject.

The only way to do so is to gain knowledge by research and study.
I believe Francis Beacon said it best, when he said:” knowledge is power.”

Love Them or Hate Them

I was reading the August 1, 2008 edition of USA Today and found something that triggered this blog. It was a review in the what’s New on DVD section. It was a report on the DVD: Joe Louis: American’s Hero... Betrayed.

Here’s the interesting sentence that it hit me like a knockout punch from the “Brown Bomber" himself --"The first black sports hero beloved by whites…"

After reading that line, I said to myself hmm, let me compile a list of black sports heroes historically beloved and loathed by whites. I chose seven:

Black sports heroes loved by whites:
Tiger Woods
Michael Jordan
Joe Louis
Jackie Robinson
Willie Mays
Joe Frazier
OJ Simpson (that was before the murder)

Black sports heroes hated by whites:
OJ Simpson (that was after the murder)
Barry Bonds
Jack Johnson
Muhammad Ali (He could be in either category. Those who love him now have short memories)
Jackie Robinson (April 15, 1947)
John Carlos and Tommie Smith
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Do you notice the character traits of those loved and loathed by whites?
Those in the” love list” tend to be non-confrontational, easy going, non- threating.

On the other hand, those in the “loath list” have what Ken Burns said in his documentary on the first black heavyweight champion Jack Johnson: Unforgiveable Blackness.
These sports heroes tend to be confrontational, protest about racial inequality, or seem to have an intimidating persona.

I’m sure you can name many others. However, the point is that many in mainstream America don’t just judge a black athlete by his or her gifts alone. They bring the same racial bias in the sport arena as they do in society. They would like black athletes to adhere to the philosophy: Just shut-up and play.