MID-WEEK POST MLK DAY MUSINGS

HOW DID I HONOR MLK DAY?

When I did my laundry, I put the whites and the coloreds together in the same machine.
It was not premeditated. The appropriateness of the tribute was noted some time during the spin cycle.

On a more serious note: I saw Charlie Rose’s interview with the celebrated African-American historian John Hope Franklin. In the course of the show, Franklin spoke with hard-earned moral authority about racism being the great unacknowledged truth of our nation and argued that the deep racial divide in this country will never be bridged until there is some collective confrontation with both the fact of slavery and, more important, the consequences of slavery . He was speaking of the ways in which our nation built its wealth on the slave economy and the way the black culture and nuclear family continue to suffer the pernicious effects of this institution to this day. He wasn’t interested in monetary reparations or any such thing. He was simply interested in some kind of real and honest dialogue. Race and racism are the elephant sitting in the national room that no one is willing to talk about. Not that anyone knows quite what might be said or done about it. But simple acknowledgement would seem to hold some long term therapeutic promise. Despite Rose’s efforts at liberal optimism, Franklin didn’t hold out much hope that the “shock” and “outrage” over black urban poverty in the aftermath of Katrina would lead to any serious redressing of the inequities. He claimed that most Americans have long been aware of the fact that poverty and unemployment plague the African- American population disproportionately and simply don’t care. They don’t want their illusion that “ America is doing quite well thank you very much ” to be challenged. In his mind, what was revealed by Katrina was less the scandal of the poverty, than the scandal of our collective callousness as a society. And he doesn’t hold much hope that this has been or will soon be changed. I applauded his bracing skepticism—delivered less with bitterness than with fatigue and disappointment. In this age of lies and evasions and diversions and entertainments and info-mercials and advertorials and false promises and miracle cures, it’s nice to hear something soberingly, sadly real being said every now and then.

RACE RELATIONS IN THE CINEMA:

That said, I would like to at some point write a letter to the Amsterdam News, or some appropriate black publication –in the role of a concerned citizen—about the phenomenon of African-American youth talking out loud during the movies, as if no one else is there in the room with them. (Let me qualify: This phenomenon is not exclusively a black youth thing, but it is certainly largely so.) I would like to say, hey I’m perhaps the least racist white person you’re ever going to meet, so I figure better that it come from someone like me, than from some grand wizard in disguise. The point is, responsible adults in the black community might want to make their kids aware of the effect this behavior has on the other people in the cinema. It makes them feel angry and aggressed and it tends to feed all kinds of negative racial stereotypes. My suspicion is that it’s not usually an act of intended aggression or disrespect so much as it’s a symptom of cultural difference and a certain lack of awareness. Anyhow, I only bring this up in the hopes that it might help in some small way to break the cycle of racial animosity.

I can only assume that white people do all kinds of unconscious and inconsiderate things as well and encourage having those kinds of correctable activities pointed out.

Yours, just looking for some kind of honest dialogue unfettered by the paralyzing fear of violating the strictures of political correctness,

Teddy Vegas.
Non Racist, Concerned White Guy.

TEDDY VEGAS IN THE CINEMA

The truth is I often confront such vocal viewers in the cinema, as a mouthpiece for the passive-aggressive mumblings of the white people around me. And I am usually quite direct, if not inflammatory—as I think it’s more racist to treat them with fear and kid’s gloves than to treat them like you’d treat anyone else. I’ll usually say something like “Excuse me, but do you think you could save your comments till after the movie’s over?” And if they persist, I’ll usually say something like “Would you please shut the fuck up?” (Note the diplomatic addition of the “please.”) Anyhow, I mentioned this tactic to my mother once and she got very concerned: “That’s dangerous, honey. You never know what hostile crazy person will just wait till after the movie and knife you or something. Promise me you’ll stop doing that.” So to reassure her, I told her I’d adopt a more deferential M.O. I’d say, “Excuse me, but your talking is sort of bothering everyone around you. Either it’s an act of hostile aggression or merely an act of obliviousness. If it’s the latter, I’d just like to make you aware of the effect your behavior is having, so that you can make an informed decision about whether you’d like to continue it or not. But of course if your behavior is a conscious act of hostile rebellion then, by all means, carry on…and I apologize for the interruption.”

MISSED OPPORTUNITY OF THE DAY:

Damn: Maybe I should have included that whole thing as a Cartoon Without Illustration. Hey, maybe I’ll still do it. There’s no law against repeating myself, is there?

ATTEMPT TO CAPITALIZE ON MISSED OPPORTUNITY OF THE DAY:

Cartoon without illustration #17

Visual: We see a skinny follicularly-challnged white guy in a cinema addressing some talkative inner city youth:

Caption: Copy and paste little monologue above.

MODIFICATION OF THE DAY:

Actually, on second thought: It might be better to address this as a generational thing rather than a racial or socio-economic thing. And to appeal to MTV to do some kind of funny public service announcements to address it.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DAY:

The peculiar theatrics of a subway fart. Everyone becoming simultaneously a suspect and a sleuth. Of course, one suspect is just pretending to be a sleuth but you don’t know who it is. And that’s the strange beauty of it.

SLOW MOVING PRODUCT OF THE DAY:

The Collected Air Drumming Recordings of Gregory "Styx" Greenstein.

SINGLE SENTENCE PORTRAIT OF THE DAY:

She had the unique ability to call you and, when you picked up, to make it seem like you had just called HER and awakened her from a deep sleep.

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Posted on 1/18/2006 ( Permanent Link )
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