Exploring the Intriguing
Category: Current Affairs
This is among the most 'positive' poems included in Myths. And it's mostly true.
I’m looking towards the future
At peace and justice
Freely given
Joyously received
Setting my faith
On the world we’re building
The world
Tomorrow longs to see
© Gayle Force Press 2009
Yes, this is the appropriate name for the Henry Louis Gates Jr.
arrest controversy. It would (might) help us see how ridiculous we are in
denoting everything that interests as a crisis.
I have been
asked my opinion on this whole fiasco by several folks so here it is.
First- Yes, I
think there's a racial component to the arrest. Gates was clearly in his own
home and was clearly no physical threat to the officer. Small, crippled, middle-aged folks should not be intimidating to young, armed police officers. I have
not heard any suggestions as to why Sergeant Crowley felt it necessary to arrest
Gates. I know that he chose to do so but I still do not know why he thought it
necessary.
Here's a simple thought experiment: Replace Skip Gates with Bill Gates at the front door in Cambridge and what do you think happens?
Second- Were I
arrested instead of Skip Gates, the story might make the local news. Maybe.
There would be no hue and cry. I'd tell folks about it and we'd shake our
heads, curse the police and go do the next thing on our list. It is only
because of his stature that this has become a media event. Sad but true.
More below…
TP
Third- The President's comments were unhelpful but
correct. Arresting someone in his own home even though he has committed no
crime is stupid. Clearly it’s stupid. In the US today though, there is very
little effort to find the right answer in public discourse. Instead the thrust
is to find the angle that helps you gain the most. So instead of asking if the
President were correct, most of the attention has focused on his word choice.
Fourth- The police organizations that united
yesterday to loudly complain (basically) that the President has turned his back
on law enforcement looked silly. Calling a stupid arrest stupid should hardly
have broader implications even if you’re the President. Gaining attention,
money and public sympathy was all these groups could have hoped to achieve. There
was no public safety agenda here. The focus was on the word ‘stupidly’ not
thoughtful policing or constructive resolution. Sargeant Crowley seemed stunned
by the whole thing almost as though he were strapped to the lead car of a
roller coaster. I hope he gets more than one beer when he meets with President
Obama and Professor Gates, he's gonna need it.
Finally, do any of us think that this situation will
keep me from getting the 'random' extra security check at the airport? (Yes, my
beard is close to maximum length right now; it's been a challenging summer.)
Will there be fewer groups planning to assassinate President Obama? Will Black
suspects be kinder and gentler to police officers? Will there be a surge in
support for affirmative action? Will there even be a wave of police departments
across the country creating diversity or sensitivity training programs?
I doubt any long-term positives will happen as a
result of this incident. If there be any, I think they will come out of Skip
Gates’ new recognition that his race still counts more than it should. He may
begin to step away from his post-racial analysis a bit and I think that could
be constructive for his work. (Here’s an excellent read on just how post-racial
Gates has been.)
No, this seems to me like another media frenzy such as Joe
the Plumber. Lots of sound and fury signifying nothing. See, I knew I’d have to
say a lot. A lot about a little.
TP
… in response to a question about bringing diversity into the GOP, Michael Steele responded (with help from someone off camera who shouted something about collard greens) that he'd bring the fried chicken and potato salad.
Of course, I'm not certain why those foods denote Blackness as opposed to Southerness but if they did not, there would have been no reason for Steele to have mentioned them.
The best quote I've seen about Sarah Palin so far…
"[Sarah Palin] may resurface as a latter-day Hannity or she may
found some Palin-specific Anti-Defamation League dedicated to calling out
obscure bloggers who've written mean things about her. But what very little
shot she had as a future presidential candidate (and it was a much longer shot
than I think many realized) is over. She's done. She's back to what she was —
a small person looking for someone to be angry at."
Josh Marshall
Talk about a tribute…
In a new Orbitz commercial featuring four guys on the golf
course, one of them is wearing a shirt with a Human Rights Campaign logo
visible. There’s nothing overt about the commercial, the guy is not marked as
gay, it’s just part of his outfit to support marriage equality. Good stuff.
TP
Please
explain to me…
Why is
Sarah Palin giving interviews while fishing on a Tuesday? Isn’t she supposed to
be working? Her resignation has not gone through yet, she’s still the governor.
My goodness.
TP
Mestizo mulatto hyphenated hybrid
Mixed up creole cultural mélange of meaning
As who we are and what we used to be pale
next to tomorrow’s endless postmodern possibilities of
Perpetual people driven progress
All the ‘I’s and ‘US’s can become ‘They’s and ‘We’s sooner
than YouTube presents the next
Macaca spewing hate monger would be divider
Who unites us in disdain
For his antiquated rhetoric of race,
Religion and righteousness
The 3 Rs that used to keep the South backwards,
Black folks scared and the rarely compassionate
conservatives
entrenched in their oh so corrupting power
The beauty of the remix
And the America it is frenetically remaking
Is that all the little boxes
Will mean the very same thing in the end
More empty spaces we can fill
Exactly as we choose
© Gayle
Force Press 2008
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