POST-racial

The cartoon above appeared in the NY Post this morning. My initial reaction was to take offense, and I have been thinking about the extent to which this is a legitimate response. Clearly, the paper is well within its right to have published this. Nonetheless, I am surprised and disappointed that an editor saw fit to let this go to print.

To put the cartoon into context, let’s take a look at the relevant facts:

1. Yesterday, a domestic monkey in Connecticut went berserk, attacked somebody, and had to be killed by police.
2. Congress recently passed a large stimulus bill, considered by many to be inadequate to the task at hand. In some respects, this can be considered to be President Obama’s first major legislative success.

The benign interpretation is that the cartoon merely illustrates how attempts by the government to solve the economic crisis are qualitatively no different than those chimps would have come up with; that is, garbage. To be fair, this is not an altogether new image: think about the now trite idea of an infinite number of monkeys at an infinite number of keyboards. In this context, the shooting of the monkey is nothing more than an attempt to link the political activity with the bizarre topical story from (1).

Indeed, Col Allan, Editor in Chief of the Post, said (according to Gothamist):

"The cartoon is a clear parody of a current news event, to wit the shooting of a violent chimpanzee in Connecticut. It broadly mocks Washington's efforts to revive the economy"

Setting aside the poorly established link, and hence, the violence of that combined image, consider the more insidious racial implications.

Historically and presently, African Americans have often been degraded by being compared to monkeys (among many, many other forms of degradation). I find it hard to believe that the editors of even the NY Post would be unaware of this historical social context. Given the prominence of the Obama Administration in the development and passage of this legislation, it is not a very tenuous connection to link the image of the monkey to President Obama himself. This is racist and I believe inappropriate. Further, I find it completely implausible that the editors who allowed this to print would be unaware of this reading.

In my mind, this connects to a broader notion that Barack Obama’s historic election somehow moves us into a post-racial mode of interacting with each other. While few would explicitly suggest this, I sense an extent to which many believe his election has given them license to stop worrying about sensitivity in race relations.

I wonder, in other words, whether there are people who believe that the above cartoon is now ‘fair game.’

In my mind, of course, the answer is still a resounding NO.

I would love to hear some discourse on this topic--

in the flowers

A few weeks ago, I picked up the latest Animal Collective album, Merriweather Post Pavillion. When I've listened to this band in the past, I haven't responded very much, but I really love this new album. It resonates with me, and the soundscape is dense, novel and beautifully crafted.

I suggest you listen to the opening track, In The Flowers, as an example of song construction at its best. I love the way the acoustic tension builds to this powerful, exciting climax starting at around 2:30.

Thoughts?

"i never thought i'd be on a boat..."

can you tell this apart from an actual t-pain song?

protectionism

Watching the economic stimulus package chaotically come together here in the USA, I can't help but be troubled by the dramatic increase in protectionist rhetoric and activity as of late. The "Buy America" provisions seem archane and unhelpful, and the bizarre ammendments that seek to further reduce the availability of H-1B visas to foreign visas are in my mind, completely misguided.

So why restrict visas for skilled foreign workers?

Opponents typically attack the program on two fronts: firstly, that it is abused, and secondly, that it takes jobs away from American workers. The first argument seems to be flawed logically. If the H-1B program is being abused, the solution surely is to implement it better, not to attack a fundamentally sound program. I would note, for example, that as engaged, employed residents of this country stimulate the economy through their activity in the same way that an American would.

On the second point, as well, I would argue that systematically closing your society off from skilled foreign workers does a serious disservice. I have failed to have my H-1B application reviewed twice, because they quota has always run out before my application was evaluated. In neither case did this result in an extra American job. In the first case, my role was transferred to London, which took away from the US economy. In the second case, I was able to work under a different status. In recent years, in fact, both Microsoft and Google have opened up large new offices in Western Canada instead of the US West Coast simply because they've been unable to get the visas for the workers they need.

I am curious to hear what others think about the recent rash of protectionism in general, and the issue of skilled foreign worker visas in particular.

The Long Walk to Vegetarianism...

I'm planning a slow, manageable transition to vegetarianism. I like cold turkey, and will continue to eat it until the end of this year. The idea here is to lay out my plans so that I have some sense of public accountability. I dropped seafood as of the beginning of this month, so I am down to chicken, turkey and fish. So, the plan is as follows:

1 January 2010 - No more turkey
1 January 2011 - No more fish
1 January 2012 - No more chicken

Thinking about 2012 terrifies me.

King of Pop Eternal?

The video below is ten minutes long, but I promise you will be glad to have watched it.



Will anybody else ever be able to do this again?

Let's set aside the technical aspects of the question, because in this case, the answer is an unambiguous and resounding NO. The singing, dancing, presence on stage, and the extent to which he has captivated the audience are basically unmatched. All of this is especially impressive when you consider how minimal the set and light show are compared to modern acts. It's just him out there.

What I am trying to get at is that it seems unlikely that anybody today can have the kind of universal, cross-cultural, cross-demographic appeal or commercial success that Michael Jackson enjoyed in his heyday.

Commercially: MJ has sold literally hundreds of millions of records. Given the way that the music industry has transformed, and given how music sales have been steadily declining, how will anybody even come close to this?

More to the point, the social landscape has changed. As media channels have grown in number and diversity, the notion of 'popular music' has become increasingly fragmented. Simply put, there is more music out there, and no 'common music' that we share as a society. While MTV may dictate what many people listen to, people are also finding new music through independent radio and blogs, through online sharing, through services like pandora, and any number of alternative channels.

On the one hand, this seems to be a positive development, as far creating a broader, more diverse creative public space. It is nice that there are more avenues for performance and distribution of work that may not have wide, mainstream popularity. On the other hand, it's hard to shake the notion that we're missing out without these massive communal experiences. We don't have MJ to bring us together. The energy in the video above is vivid and exciting. As liberating as it is to have ready access to the kind of music that speaks to us, it is just a little more lonely now.

A thought: I think the closest thing I've experienced has been the shared sense of hope and excitement over the election of Barack Obama. I can't help but think that the video above reminds me more of being at the inauguration than it does of any concert that I've been to.

Anyway, Michael Jackson: King of Pop.
Good God, what a performer.

gawking at clouds

Somebody has to lie there
in the grass that covers up
the causes and effects
with a cornstalk in his teeth
gawking at clouds.

--Szymborska