Duke Lacrosse

Draughon, Dennis. "Duke Lacross." Cartoon. Cagle Slate>Com. 03 November 2007 .

This media portfolio entry is a cartoon found at Cagle Slate.co, and it depicts lady liberty saying “he looks like one of the guys who assaulted me sorta”. She is in a police station making a report, and on the computer screen is a characters of a man with the caption “Nifong.” Lady liberty also has her face concealed by a black censure spot. I picked this cartoon because I thought that the Duke Lacrosse rape case was unnecessarily radicalized.

The cartoon infers that a grave injustice has taken place. It creatively superimposes lady liberty in place of the accuser in the Duke Lacross rape investigation. The injustice has quite a few dimensions. First is the dimension of gender. A woman accused three men of rape. Second is the dimension of race. The accuser was black and the accused were white. Third is the dimension of class/income. The accuser was of low income/class and the accused were of high income/class. The overall case was being prosecuted by the Durham District Attorney Nifong, who used these dimensions for his own political reasons. He stirred up racial fervor in order to motivate people to vote for him. He succeeded in winning election, but he was unable to escape the fact that he circumvented a number of aspects of due process. Since this cartoon was published the three men accused by a black woman of rape have been exonerated. The Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong has admitted to wrong doing in the case and has since been disbarred. The cartoonist is from Durham and must have a closer perspective on what really happened during the investigation.

This whole situation was an exercise in making racial issues where they may not have existed only for political gain. Not only did Nifong commit grievous errors and stir up racial tensions, others like Al Sharpton used the events to further their own political agenda. The news media also used this event to further racial tensions not just on a local or regional level, but on a national level. The Duke Lacross rape case is a shining example of individual political agendas manipulating racial issues in a negative way, and setting back the cause of racial harmony for some time. I am reminded of the class discussion about the Gena 6 case. The discussion had many elements of indisputable truth, but was rife with speculation. After our in class discussion I found out that Michael Bell had an extensive criminal history that included violent behavior. This fact would explain why he was kept in jail while the perpetrators of a similar crime were not held. The judge in the case made the proper decision in the interest of public safety and due to the defendants past criminal behavior. I can only conclude that the Gena 6 case and the Duke Lacrosse rape case are similar that they at time ignore fact and over dramatize and irresponsibly manipulate racial tensions for the political gain of others.

Funeral for the "n word"

Anonymous. "NAACP to Host 98th Annual Convention." Michigan Chronicle, Ethnic Newswatch (2007). 03 Nov. 2007 .

This Media Portfolio entry is about an even that took place in July. I chose this article because it is a step in the right direction.

At the NAACP meeting in Detroit, local community leaders staged a funeral for the “n word.” The word is used by racists, but is also used in modern hip hop music. It was part of a new initiative to stop a variety of behavior that is detrimental to the African American community. The symbolic funeral was a nice way to get the message out and encourage people to stop using the word. As I recall the meeting was a good success, and many people supported the idea of not using the “n word” anymore.

I think that the African American community should come up with a new word to describe themselves. I am thinking about the term Chicano as used in Takaki chapter 12. The term Chicano is a unique word that describes a race of people that is not derogatory. The “n word” has been used at times in the way that Chicano is used to describe people of Latino dissent. In those cases the “n word” is not the proper word to use, but no alternatives exist. Black is a color and does not characterize African Americans. Brown would be more accurate, but would not be a reasonable word to describe a race. Also there are unfavorable connotations around the word black that further make the word impractical. African American is a technically accurate term, but it is a product of political correctness. It is an antiseptic term also doesn’t denote any cultural or racial heritage. I do not have an answer to what word to use, and I feel that it is not my place to come up with one. The African American community should come to a general consensus about a word to describe themselves and go with it.

I applaud the efforts to stop the use of the “n word.” It has been used too often and has no place in reasonable speech. Maybe the funeral can put this hideous and unacceptable word out of the collective consciousness forever.

Return of the King

"Season 1 Episode 9 "Return of the King"" The Boondocks. Cartoon Network.

This media portfolio entry is about an episode of the popular comic strip turned cartoon show The Boondocks. I choose this item because it really made me think about how civil rights leaders of the 1960’s might perceive the current state of affairs in the black community. The idea to explore historical yet fictional portrayal of Dr Martin Luther King came to me after reading Kindred. The episode received a tremendous amount of media scrutiny and rightfully so. It dealt with a very creative scenario that had Dr. Martin Luther King being the recipient of a non-lethal gunshot.

King falls into a coma and wakes up in early 2001. A typical multimedia promotional tour spawned a film about Dr King’s live entitled “King” as well as a book. The timing of the release of the movie is the key, as it comes out September 21, 2001 (ten days after 9/11). While out promoting the movie on Politically Incorrect, Dr King reiterates his philosophy of non-violent intervention only to find out that it runs contrary to the mood of the country. He is branded a coward and is voted one of the top ten most unpatriotic Americans by Time magazine. After a period of depression Dr King joins with Huey Freeman (a main character on the show) to form the first African American political party. The movement starts out with some real momentum but quickly spirals out of Dr King’s control upon hiring an urban promotion specialist. The situation comes to a head when Dr King and Huey are forced to bribe a doorman to get into the very first meeting of their political party. Inside they find that there is less attention being paid to the political aspects of the movements and that the emphasis had shifted to the party. After witnessing what can only be described as stereotypical and exaggerated behavior including a rapper truce, a pandering preacher, and the inevitable fight; Dr King delivers a fiery speech condemning of the group’s behavior. Dr King’s fierce chiding of the assembly comes to a head when he utters the word nigger. The crowd is shocked but captivated, and at the end of the speech he announces that he is moving to Canada. The empowering speech sets in motion a series of events that culminate in the election of Oprah Winfrey to President of the United States.

The episode had some real close connection to Wright’s “The Ethics of Living Jim Crow” article. The media attention and particularly the condemnation by the Rev Al Sharpton given to the episode seem to have the same sort of feel that the main character of “The Ethics of Living Jim Crow” must have had in the optical factory. Regardless of whether creator Aaron Magruder was right or wrong regarding the portrayal of blacks in America it seemed that because he used the n word he cannot be made out to have any legitimacy.

Personally I feel great respect and admiration for Aaron Magruder. He has shown real moral fortitude to question the behavior of his fellow blacks. Not only did he confront the establishment and leadership of the black community, he did it with creativity and humor. Should we take the cartoon too seriously; absolutely not, however there is real value in the exercise of speculating what the civil rights leaders of the 1960’s would think of the current state of the black community.

Grant Comes East

Forstchen, William R, Gingrich, Newt. Grant Comes East. New York: St Martins P, 2004. 218-233.

This media portfolio assignment is about a book that I read about the Civil War. The book is called Grant Comes East and it is about the period of the war after the Battle of Gettysburg. In it are interesting perspectives about some of the Southern power players of the time. I chose the text because I find the racial and political motivations for the Civil War fascinating.

The book engages in “active history” which is a fictional yet historically responsible accounting of North and South after a Confederate victory at Gettysburg. The meeting is between Rabbi Samuel Rothenberg, Judah Benjamin the Confederate secretary of Defense, and General Robert E Lee. The conversation starts out as cordial as they discuss the progress of the war. The conversation turns to the issue of slavery and the potential use of blacks in the Confederate Army. Rothenberg makes the point that if the South does not win the war the institution of slavery will not endure and so why not abolish slavery and take the North’s righteous cause away from them. Judah acknowledges that he has given the matter some real thought, but laments that if they were to grant blacks their freedom and arm them, then what would it say about the cause they believe in (and why wouldn’t they just rise up against the Confederate Government). General Lee remains quietly resigned and does not want to enter the political conversation. Benjamin persists that the black man would make an inferior soldier, and Rothenberg points out that Africans have been soldering in elite units in the Middle East. Lee finally asks why President Davis was not invited, and he is met with a reply that it would only inhibit the conversation. Lee begins to drop his resistance to the conversation and starts to express some of his views. As per the bible, Lee was much more tolerant of Blacks and had a reputation of treating them with dignity. The conversation turned to the political implications of freeing the slave’s voluntarily. The most interesting potential outcome discussed was the potential for France or England to enter the war on behalf of the South once the abolition had taken place. In the end the conversation concludes and the night is adjourned.

One of the first things that goes against contemporary thinking is that the Confederacy as a whole was racist. While I will not argue that they were not racists toward blacks, they were surprisingly not racist toward Jews. Judah Benjamin was Jewish and a prominent and intelligent member of the Confederate government. Robert E Lee was a devout Christian and was tolerant of the Jewish religion. It is an interesting exercise to think what outcome the Civil War may have had if the South had preempted Lincoln’s emancipation proclamation and freed their slaves. It potentially may of let the righteous wind out of the sails of the northern cause, and the addition of the much needed soldiers into the Confederate Army would have had at least a delaying effect on the end of the war, gave the green light to foreign armies to enter the war on the side of the confederacy, or it could of provided the catalyst to envelope and destroy the Union Army and thus sealed Lincoln’s defeat in the presidential election. The part of the conversation where Benjamin alludes to possible uprising by blacks against the Confederate government is a theme that is congruent with Takaki’s “Giddy multitude” chapter, as well as Zinn chapter 9. It is important to note that the Confederacy painted themselves into an ideological corner with their exercise of controls over blacks. By arming them and allowing Blacks to serve would have given them a legitimacy that would ultimately have unraveled the ideologies supporting slavery. They were intern unable to make the changes discussed in the book that would have allowed the Confederacy to survive.

I think it is very important to look back into history and attempt to understand that there is always more to the story then what is presented in High School history books. The Confederacy was always presented as something akin to evil incarnate, when history rarely makes those sorts of distinctions. General Lee, the deity of the southern cause was a tolerant and religiously devout man who was motivated by duty and service, and not by the political trade winds of the day.

My Hometown

Springsteen, Bruce. "My Hometown." By Bruce Springsteen. Rec. 04 June 1984. Born in the USA. Sony.

I was eight years old and running with a dime in my hand
Into the bus stop to pick up a paper for my old man
I'd sit on his lap in that big old Buick and steer as we drove through town
He'd tousle my hair, say son take a good look around this is your hometown
This is your hometown, This is your hometown, This is your hometown

In `65 tension was running high at my high school
There was a lot of fights between the black and white
There was nothing you could do
Two cars at a light on a Saturday night in the back seat there was a gun
Words were passed in a shotgun blast
Troubled times had come to my hometown
My hometown, My hometown, My hometown

Now Main Street's whitewashed windows and vacant stores
Seems like there ain't nobody wants to come down here no more
They're closing down the textile mill across the railroad tracks
Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they ain't coming back to your hometown
Your hometown, Your hometown, Your hometown

Last night me and Kate we laid in bedtalking about getting out
Packing up our bags maybe heading south
I'm thirty-five we got a boy of our own now
Last night I sat him up behind the wheel and said son take a good look around
This is your hometown


The song My Hometown by Bruce Springsteen is one of the few songs I have heard that directly deals with the issue of racial tension and violence.

The song is very simplistic, and is devoid of the wailing guitars and staccato drum beats typical to Springsteen’s catalogue. With a feeling of innocence and delicateness, he tells a story about the lives of average people living in New Jersey cities like Bayonne, Trenton, and Asbury Park. The second verse is where Springsteen confronts head on racial tensions of the mid 1960’s. He states that fights between black and whites were common in his High School, and even alludes to exchanges of gunfire. The verse includes a definitive statement that any intervention was indeed futile.

I am struck by all the elements present in this song that influence race. The irrationalism of youth, the struggle of classes, economic factors such as excess labor in a depressed economy, as well as the power of tradition and upbringing are all present in this fine ballad.

The song connects to any number of different pieces of coursework. The lyrics and Takaki’s “the giddy multitude” chapter remind me of the way the ethnic groups react in a tight labor market where jobs are scarce as detailed in verse three. The first person narrative reminds me of the way Kindred was written, and just as the book was a window to life in the 1800’s this song is a window to life in the 1960’s. I am also reminded by the last verse of Johnson’s fundamental reasoning for privilege or lack there of. The family clearly was of without much privilege, and was forced to deal with the circumstances as best as they could.

I really enjoy Springsteen’s commentary on social issues. He is remarkably talented at presenting complex issues in simple and easy to understand ways. Beyond the single My Hometown, Springsteen devotes entire albums like Nebraska and the Ghost of Tom Joad to dealing with social and ethnic injustice, and I challenge anyone to listen to the lyrics of Born in the USA and explain why the song was hailed as a patriotic anthem.

Uncle Ruckus

Magruder, Aaron. "The Boondocks." Comic Strip. Various Newspapers.

This blog is about Uncle Ruckus who is a character in the comic strip The Boondocks as well as the television show based on the comic strip on the Cartoon Network. I chose this character because he is remarkably complex from an ethnic point of view.

Uncle Ruckus is a large black man living in the suburban town of Woodcrest. He is outspoken and opinioned about black people. Uncle Ruckus appears throughout the series of episodes as an antagonist for the racial activist main character Huey Freeman. He rises in strong support of Jim Crow laws, professes his devotion to and admiration of the white race, and is not above hurling bricks at civil rights leaders.

I tried to get my arms around this character. At first I thought he was a male version of the “mammy” character we say in the film “Ethnic Notions.” He clearly has many of the characteristics of the stereotype, such as unattractiveness and is overweight. After some contemplation I feel that the male mammy notion is only superficial.

When introducing himself he says his name is “Uncle Ruckus, no relation.” This would denote that there is no familial bond and in-turn is a tacit acceptance of the racist title. As a student of ethnicity I find this interesting. The overall philosophy of the Boondocks is to confront racial stereotypes head on and then make fun of them, but why slip in the racist meaning? I think it is for people who have the sort of knowledge we are learning in this very class, and I think it is an intellectual way of inserting meaning into a show that can be considered silly.

On reflection of the character of Uncle Ruckus, I am still wondering what he means to me. I laugh at his antics because they are so far over the line. I struggle to see the creator’s message hidden in this character, but I know that it is there. I do feel that I am much closer to seeing the overall meaning behind this character, and he has challenged me to not give up on the quest to find the answers.

Sopranos Episode 45

"Episode 45 "Everybody Hurts"" The Sopranos. HBO.

Transcript: http://www.hbo.com/sopranos/episode/season4/episode42.shtml

I chose this episode of the Sopranos because it portrays two rival ethnic groups in a struggle to express what they both think is right.

The story starts with a group of Native Americans planning to disrupt the Columbus Day parade in an undisclosed northern New Jersey city. Soprano family Consigliore Silvio Dante, rallies a group of fellow made men and Vesuvio restaurant owner Arthur Bucco in an effort to stage a counter protest. The two rival ethnic groups clash and the Italian faction is driven off. One of the group members receives a severe head injured from a thrown beer bottle.

The episode reminded me of Chapter 3 of Ronald Takaki’s “A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America.” In the reading Takaki outlines how the upper class managed to pit the lower classes against themselves, specifically the black slaves and the white non-property owners. Although the book makes a direct connection between the manipulators and the manipulated, the episode is without a direct higher power “pulling the strings” of the two groups. Both groups do indeed exist under an unnamed upper class that benefits from class rivalries and keeps the groups distracted and thusly unable to turn their attention to challenging the power of the upper class.

Zinn made the strong case that Columbus couldn’t really have “discovered” America if the Native Americans were already here, but the holiday is really only meant to celebrate the origins of our nation much like Independence Day. Both groups have warped the definition of Columbus Day into something it was never really meant to be. The Italians have in recent years made Columbus Day into a uniquely Italian holiday, much like the Irish have made St Patrick’s Day a uniquely Irish holiday. The Native Americans seem to have made Columbus Day into the anti-Native American holiday.

Interestingly the episode doesn’t just highlight rival ethnic groups, but it also details some inter-group prejudices. While the mobsters are formulating a strategy for confronting the Native Americans, they launch into a diatribe about Northern Italian people. The mobsters express their distain for the Columbus because he was a northerner.

Overall I am quite impressed by the scope and breadth of the ethnic issues portrayed in the Sopranos episode. The writers certainly made insightful observations not present in regular television programming. In regards to the issues raised in the episode, both groups should take a step back and understand that the celebration of our countries origins is not meant to honor or dishonor any particular group. All of the participants (except Furio, a native of Italy) were born in this country and share the title of Americans.