Is this product racist? It seems tacky but funny. I can understand the outcry given the implied unfortunate link between black hair and a brillo pad. I think I would be a lot more upset if they were Barack Obama and Michelle Obama sponges, because that would be a more blatant political statement; somewhat generic sponges are less problematic. Seeing the whole line at the bottom also somehow makes the product more palatable as a range of races and hairstyles appear. 
Cute kid photo–do guys post these?
In our family, I am the designated Facebook user. I am the one who posts photos and updates regarding activities and I am the one who reads posts by our friends and then tells my wife what has been posted. This relay system works well as it seems I have more time to dedicate to online communication (teaching is such a laid back profession). What strikes me is that this division of labor is the reverse of what I usually see on Facebook. Usually it is the female member of the couple who posts the cute kid photos, the updates, and does the social networking of that sort. I see few guys from church or college making these kinds of posts. I wonder why that is? Is Facebook a 21st century reflection of the eternal maternal predilection?
The protagonist of Smoky Night looks out his window at a looter and the smoke of the LA Riots
A combination of the twentieth anniversary of the LA Riots and buying baby presents for some friends, reminded me of Smoky Night by Eve Bunting, a Caldecott award winning children’s book on the LA Riots. It is one of the only books we have ever bought for our daughter then returned. We have tons of books, all kinds of books; we believe in a welcoming bookcase. I might want to eliminate Amelia Bedelia due to negative gender roles, but she stays. My wife might want to send the Cat in the Hat and his annoying tactics of home invasion packing, but he stays.
Nonetheless, Smoky Night left after one reading. It does have a positive message. During the riots the black protagonist whose family refused to shop in the local Korean store, comes to understand and respect his Korean neighbors as they share a concern over missing cats. But there are just lines I do not like in a children’s book. For example, the page starting, “Mama explains about rioting…” followed by the illustration of looters taking a television. Then there is the section where the protagonist explains that he and his family do not shop at the Koreans’ store because “It’s better if we buy from our own people.
Looters taking a television in Smoky Night
This is a book I would enjoy analyzing in a college seminar on children’s literature, but it is not a book I can see reading to actual children. I might be wrong, it could be a first step to awareness for preschoolers, but do preschoolers even have a conception of race? I wonder why I find the violence, smoke and fire, and rage in this book worse than the violence, smoke and fire, and rage found in, say, Sleeping Beauty, but I do.
I know, perhaps we should send out copies to friends with children and see what they think. Don’t worry, we’ll be sure to include a gift receipt.
Two people in this picture are Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who is the other guy?
Black Power Protest, Mexico City Olympics, 1968
The other guy is Australian Peter Norman who ran a personal best time to surprise everyone and get the silver medal. He wore an “Olympics Project for Human Rights Pin” showing solidarity with Carlos and Smith. As a result he was shunned by the Australian athletics community, not being selected for the next Olympics despite being well qualified. This piece on CNN reminded me of his choice. It would have been easy for him to stay neutral, do nothing and go on with his life, but he quietly took a stand. I am not saying to celebrate the story of the white guy in place of or above the story of the black individuals to whom the cause belonged (that is done enough in movies and documentaries), but this bit of history is a great example for those who feel that due to pigmentation or circumstance they cannot do anything.
I am feeling old and prudish. I understand the point behind the Sluts across America website: showing support for the right to birth control, reclaiming a word that has been used to demean and discredit women, striking back at Rush Limbaugh. Still, I find the whole concept jarring and vaguely inappropriate. I guess as a guy who grew up in a rather conservative environment I am supposed to feel that way. Perhaps if the campaign succeeds the word will not engender that unsettling connotation.
Just watched Lady and the Tramp for the first time. I was reminded of how movies from 1955 can present stereotypes in the ways today’s films cannot (unless claiming irony). The Siamese cats are such a stereotype of sinister Oriental evil, from the eyes, to the gong, to the movements. Then there are the names and countries of origin. There are the cats, from Siam another word for Thailand, but presented as a more generalized regional stereotype. Then there is dog, Lady (a title of gentility), a Cocker Spaniel, a breed originally of British origin, who tries to do the right thing, but is terrorized by the cats. Thus, we have the foreign, inscrutable, Oriental menace threatening the well-meaning innocent British protagonist. Wait, that sounds like James Bond films but I digress I know our 4 year old daughter does not recognized the dated geopolitical conflict expressed in this bit of film, but I really enjoyed breaking it down. In terms of whether this bit should be taken out of the film, or the film should be off limits due to these stereotypes, I really do not think so. However, the crows in Dumbo are another story.
A quick observation.
Joel Ward scored the winning goal for the Washington Capitals leading them to a series victory over Boston on Wednesday. While greeted with acclaim by Capitals fans it was greeted with an outburst of racist venom on Twitter. Various individuals offered comments along the lines of it’s bad to lose but its even worse when an African-American scores the goal that defeats you. (Substitute racial epithets to get the idea.)
Then there was the NFL draft starting last night. This event is strikingly race neutral at least on the surface. One could consider which positions which players of which races tend to play, the race of commentators, team owners, team management and coaches. Still, in terms of selecting talent and during the season reacting to games, the league seems rather race neutral. Whoever plays well or has the potential to play well is celebrated.
An entire dissertation could be written on why some sports have more overt racial issues than others (see European soccer for example). There are also issues of geography, the cities involved, as well as considerations of postseason vs. off season intensity. Still, the juxtaposition is intriguing.
Teammates celebrate after Joel Ward scores winning goal
Gordon Hirabayashi, who resisted Japanese internment during World War II, is receiving the Presidential Medal of Honor. This story connects with a slideshow of “Top 10 Iconic Japanese American Photos” posted recently which also emphasizes the internment experience and reactions to it. When I lived in California,this part of history received a lot of emphasis and I remember going to the Japanese American Museum. Now that I am in Ohio, I do not hear as much about these historical events. Still, I think it is important though to remember the way United States government imprisoned its own citizens. ”Today is the first time, so far as I am aware, that we have sustained a substantial restriction of the personal liberty of citizens of the United States based on the accident or race or ancestry” wrote Justice Murphy concurring in the Supreme Court decision authorizing the internment. It is also important to note that the government and the Supreme Court make mistakes, that bodies comprised of human beings are fallible, and that the key is to recognize, admit, and rectify errors. Individuals like Gordon Hirabayashi play a key role in forcing this process to occur.
Internment camp barracks flying the American flag
Japanese American children behind barbed wire
Bainbridge Island, Washington, Japanese American mother and child
Check out this sign from a Williamsburg Bar and the not so subtle message it sends:
While those items could be worn by anyone, there is a certain potential clientele being excluded here. I think this is what they mean by racial code, although I also see class playing a role here.
Looting during a Riot or Proletarian Redistribution during a Rebellion? [Photo by Kirk McCoy (LA Times)
For the Korean-American community the name is the date, 4.29. For mainstream media and reference sources (NPR, Wikipedia), the title is LA Riots. For other commentators particularly on the left, the title is LA Insurrection or LA Rebellion. For example Maxine Waters was quoted as saying ,”If you call it a riot, it sounds like it was just a bunch of crazy people who went out and did bad things for no reason. I maintain it was somewhat understandable, if not acceptable. So I call it a rebellion” (Wall Street Journal). For a longer analysis along the same lines check out “LA ’92: The Context of a Proletarian Uprising.” This article justifies looting saying, The direct appropriation of wealth (pejoratively labelled “looting”) breaks the circuit of capital (Work-Wage-Consumption) and such a struggle is just as unacceptable to capital as a strike.” That sounds like reasoning some of my college professors would offer.
I am generally sympathetic to the idea that illegal actions in an oppressive society constitute justified rebellion (see Nat Turner for example), but, and this is crucial, only if there is no other outlet for expression or social change. I may sound naive or like a hopeless white liberal trying to protect my white privilege and my place in the capitalist power structure, but I assert that in LA in 1992 there were other outlets for expression. Thus, I prefer to call the events a riot. I understand the logic behind the other labels but cannot agree with their authors’ assumptions about American society.
