The President, Professor and the Police

A week ago, President Obama delivered his best speech ever at the NAACP 2009 convention. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv6EAaoFNno. Obama’s address was a thoughtful and sometimes impassioned tour de force on race in the US. Most compelling for me, was his acknowledgement of continuing racial discrimination. The President cited new, perhaps more invidious ways in which racism manifests itself in today’s experience. He presented his presidency as an example of progress, but encouraged greater personal responsibility within black community.

In the context of this multi-layered speech, Obama said that black folk should find “no more excuses” and “seize our own future, each and every day.” For me, the President was saying that despite remaining systemic impediments, blacks should press on and strive to succeed nevertheless. Others heard the President berating African Americans for needlessly whining about racial bias, in a country where he could have risen to be commander in chief. His “no excuses” utterance was lifted out of the speech as the banner headline of numerous newspapers around the world, with a narrative that cast Obama’s words as the seal of new, post- racial America.

If the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jnr after Obama’s speech had been scripted in a movie, one could have been forgiven for dismissing the plot as contrived. America’s leading scholar of Afro American studies became his own case study when he was arrested inside his home after police responded to a call of suspected burglary. It turns out that “Skip” Gates was returning from travels and had needed to jimmy his door open with the assistance of his driver, who is also black. Someone called the police to report what was perceived as suspicious activities. The police arrived after Gates had managed to let himself inside his house. Despite furnishing the police with two pieces of identification, the cops – perhaps annoyed by something the professor said in their exchange – arrested and handcuffed him for “disorderly conduct.” (Skip Gates is 58 years old, five feet nine inches and walks with a cane after hip replacement surgery). The charge was later dropped, with a statement of "regret" from the police authorities. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090721/ap_on_re_us/us_harvard_scholar_analysis

The arrest of Professor Gates – and Obama’s full throated intervention in the ensuing public debate – has energized a discussion on race relations in America. At a press conference dealing with his healthcare reform, the President acknowledged that Gates was his “friend” and let rip that he felt the police had acted “stupidly” in arresting the professor. He was careful not to charge that this incident was an act of racism, but laid the context for this conclusion being drawn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvYTNYPDmgQ.

For me, these events are a jarring reminder of how exceptionalism could warp the discussion of race progress in the US. By exceptionalism, I mean the disingenuous way that an exceptional state of affairs may be made to seem like part of normal or customary experience. Barack Obama won the presidency, whilst he was in his first term as the member from the state of Illinois in the 100 member US Senate. He was the only black Senator then, and his nominated replacement after leaving the US Seanate, is also the lone black member now. That Obama rose to be President of the US, is an extraordinary event and does not negate the fact that race still plays a huge role in organizing power relations in the US – often to the disadvantage of people of colour. America still has significant problems of race to contend with, though to say this, presents an inconvenient truth.

Whether deliberately or not, the Obama presidency is drawing attention to the subject of race through not just statements, but actions and symbolism. Earlier this year, the US Congress apologized to African Americans for slavery. In his trip to Ghana recently, President Obama cast the impact of the slave trade on African Americans in the same terms as the effect of the holocaust on Jews. He and his family toured the site where Africans were last held, before they were forcibly sent on slave ships to the Americas. Obama might have been nervous about wading fully into this discussion during his campaign, but now as President, he is showing greater willingness to take on these issues.

Obviously, talking about race carries many political risks. After calling out the police actions in Skip Gates’ arrest, Obama might have been stunned at how much his comment dominated the 24 hour news cycle. Since then, he has dialed back the starkness of his critique and is now inviting Skip Gates and the arresting officer to have a beer with him to discuss what happened. Having been the political beneficiary of hopes for a “colour blind” society, Obama understands the dangers of appearing too coloured. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25403.html

I suspect that Obama will not resolve the debate on race over a beer or two. But I like that a robust conversation on race is now taking place in many different forums in the US and elsewhere. Progress comes through maintaining an open dialogue, even if there is a risk of anger and frustration.

Going green ?

Here is my effort.

Want to figure out what the empty pram means ? Nothing silly, just hanging with a friend and his rambunctious two year old. Thank God for small mercies!

A wise Latina

In my first post, I marveled at the curious game of trading places that has gripped the world. Middle Englanders, who had voted for the openly racist British National Party (BNP), blamed their extreme choice on disaffection with the political process. Their plight, they argued, was wrought by immigrants and the recession. And no one was standing up for white people.

In the USA, Obama’s choice of Hispanic judge Sonia Sotamayor for the US Supreme Court has met with howls of protest from conservative white men. The discussion at her hearing for confirmation by the US Senate has largely centred on speeches she made off the bench. In what almost seems tongue in cheek, she remarked in those speeches that the “richness of [her] experiences” as a “wise Latina” makes her as good a judge, if not better than, a white male counterpart. Her detractors argue that this discloses an inherent bias on race. What if a white southern senator had said that his racial origin uniquely qualifies him for public office? Conservative loud-mouth Rush Limbaugh has called her an “angry” “reverse racist.” For this camp, Sotamayor is the embodiment of repugnant identity politics.

Judge Sotamayor has explained that her comments were intended to inspire minority students thinking about a career in the law. She urged her critics to look at her nearly three decades as a big city prosecutor, corporate litigator, trial and appellate judge and appreciate the “fidelity to the law” that she has demonstrated in all these roles.

I am watching with amusement, as republican senators deploy the civil rights ideal of a “colour blind” society to negate any effort to countenance difference based on race. The reasoning seems to be that if Obama and Sotamayor can rise to the top, considerations of race are now passé. In the world as conservatives have re-imagined it, Sotamayor need not exhort any racial group through rhetorical flourishes, since all shows of preference are odious. A resurgent call for objective, neutral and equal (meaning, the same) standards, becomes the protection of newly endangered white men.

I hope that Judge Sotamayor continues to make similar speeches as a Supreme Court justice. It is important to encourage women and coloured folk into roles for which they are under-represented. The project to correct historical disadvantage of minorities is still incomplete and requires self-identification and positive action. Until it becomes trite for Latina women to become Supreme Court justices, the likes of Sonia Sotamayor will have a moral obligation to hark back to their roots and rally those who are left behind.

Bruno

I saw Sacha Baron Cohen's movie "Bruno" last night. I hope this is the end of his “Borat” brand. In “Borat,” Sacha captured opinions on topical issues, through comedic antics designed to get honest reactions from unsuspecting persons. He wove all these snippets into a narrative for his movie or "mockumentary, " as one critic described his film making approach.

My friends and I spent most of “Bruno” wondering whether the cast of characters were all acting or had been spoofed, as in "Borat." That question was never resolved. One got the impression that Sacha's desire to shock, overtook attempts at lampooning. The jokes were simply crass.

When “Bruno” managed to be funny, it was for the wrong reasons. There were plays on stereotypes of gays, blacks, Muslims, Africa, red necks and Valley girls. Other times, you could find yourself laughing, just for the industrial sized effort to amuse. Sacha will win no prize for originality next award season.

The American Dream

In America, you can become all you aspire to be if you are sexy enough. George W Bush channeled cowboy hero John Wayne and beat nerdy Al Gore, in the US presidential election in 2000.

Bill Clinton could run again and win political office, I bet. He maintains a roguish charm, even with the silver hair of an elder statesman. Clinton shone, despite a career that was distracted by womanizing and other charges. His damning personal flaws would have sunk the ambitions of a lesser mortal.

Barack Obama is still a blank canvass. To black folk, he is a living dream. For many, he is evidence that America is now certifiably colour blind. Others just see a regular guy – one who could be a geek, but for his hoop shooting swagger. Before the White House, this dude went online and used a blackberry. At least for now, you could believe that the Prez is actually cool.

Sarah Palin is the most fascinating of them all. Despite her bizarre resignation in the middle of her first term as governor of Alaska, her political stocks could still rise higher yet.( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/06/sarah-palins-resignation_n_226462.html ).This moose-shooting mother of five, sexes up small town provincialism in a cheesy, made-for-reality-TV way. Just when we thought God fearing pro-lifers were near extinct, the former beauty queen strutted in, designer clad. Never mind her intellectual challenges: Palin’s lure is precisely the fact that she is not cerebral. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/06/fox-news-contributor-rips_n_226370.html)

America’s mood will eventually shift from Obama and his neo - cool. In a return to small townism, Sarah Palin is poised to become the iconic down-homer, waiting to lead America back into the future. Can she win national political office after her inexplicable political maneouvres last week? American voters have already shown through the election of George W Bush, that they are capable of choosing a beer buddy over a braniac to be commander in chief.

All this discussion could of course be moot, if Sarah Palin simply self-implodes. And there is good reason to think that she is well advanced with that. The Daily Beast has posted 10 most awkward Sarah Palin moments. See: http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-07-05/sarah-palins-ten-most-awkward-media-moments/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsR1.

Slamming Serena

Congrats to Serena Williams for getting the better of sister Venus in Saturday’s final at Wimbledon.

That said, does Serena make you nervous when she goes behind a microphone? According to the Tennis Tim blog, Serena is now slagging off the WTA number 1 seed Russian Dinara Safina again. http://www.womenstennisblog.com/2009/07/04/serena-williams-ridicules-dinara-safina%e2%80%99s-no1-ranking/. You will recall that Serena openly questioned Safina’s number 1 ranking before Wimbledon- a fact due to the Russian playing the full complement of WTA tournaments and amassing more points for seeding. Both Williams sisters play less than the other girls on the circuit. They dust off their best game mainly for Grand Slam events, between acting, designing and other interests.

Maybe the indulgence one gets from being the youngest in a large family, has made Serena the greatest competitor in the women’s game. If Venus censures her joy on winning against her younger sister, Serena shows unrestrained glee when the tables are turned. Her instincts are completely self-centred. She will love Venus after she’s beaten her into the ground, but not before. It’s all about Serena Williams.

There is much to be said about that type of drive in a dog-eat-dog world, even if Venus’s measured ways and elegance are more attractive. Winners, it seems, are not ham-strung by compulsive kindness. I find it instructive that there is now a love –fest on Twitter between Serena and the uber venal, Star Jones, former co-host of the American chat show The View. ( http://www.serenawilliams.com/blog_message_detail.php?msg=99 ). Both understand how to move doggedly ahead and enforce their will on others, even if they get flack in the process. This does not often cut a pretty picture. But it seems to make them better competitors.

Asia Rising

Yesterday, an Indian court struck down an old colonial law that criminalises buggery, or consensual sex between two men. This criminal offence – derived from an 1861 British Victorian statute – has also been invalidated in Hong Kong and Fiji. Last year, the Supreme Court in Nepal ordered its legislature to review laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation. A wind of change is moving swiftly across Asia.

The trend of these court decisions is irresistible. Former British colonies are now emphatically saying that criminalising consensual same sex activity violates the individual’s right to privacy and ability to live free from discrimination. Liberal approaches towards homosexuality can no longer be dismissed as reflecting only European or North American attitudes. Here are “traditional” societies that have considered taboo sex and found room for accommodation within their cultures.

All these developments tee up a debate in the rest of the developing world, especially in Africa and the Caribbean. It is becoming harder for the likes of Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding to argue that buggery laws are necessary to protect intrinsic national values. Recent Asian happenings rebut this point of view and encourage tolerance over historical prejudice. An important argument is being won.