New School Politics

If you're a first time visitor, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed, which will keep you up to date with all the latest New School Politics posts. Thanks for visiting!

No but I shudder at the fact that he actually said it.

Below is the video from Mitt Romney campaigning at a MLK day rally. While taking a photo with a group of young black kids, the Mormon Governor exclamed, “Who let the dogs out! Woof! Woof!” referencing the 2000 one hit wonder of the Baha Men. Apparently, it is the only rap song that Romney has ever heard of.

At the very end of the video you can also hear him pointing out to a young boy, “I see you’ve got some bling-bling there.”

Henceforth, I shall refer to the Governor as “Vanilla Mitt.” Lire le reste de cet article »

Popularity: 35% [?]

Last week, after calling the African-American members of the Rutgers University women’s basketball team “nappy-headed hos,” Don Imus was fired in a storm of controversy. Imus’ comments prompted a frank discussion of race in America. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, two black individuals at the head of the African-American lobby, immediately chalked up Imus’ comment to overall racist sentiments. They called for rallies and boycotts. Imus, simulcast on MSNBC and broadcast over CBS radio, faced a two-week suspension for his misconduct. Sharpton, even after interviewing Imus, refused to back down. Reacting to pressure, MSNBC fired Imus. Several days later, Les Moonves, the President of CBS, did the same, claiming that the network didn’t support the racial injustices Don Imus had mentioned.

The incident, however, seems to have stirred up activists throughout the country. It’s not out of character for “shock jocks” like Don Imus to discuss controversial topics. Rush Limbaugh, perhaps the best known conservative commentator, has been caught doing far worse. Limbaugh’s numerous offenses include criminal acts (illegal painkillers). What’s worse, however, is the way he speaks on the radio, often maligning those who don’t think the way he does. Unlike Don Imus, who most view as an “equal opportunity offender,” Limbaugh offends only those who dare to disagree with him. Groups that come to mind include blacks, homosexuals, and liberals. Imus, however, makes one slip-up and he’s without a job.

I’m not doubting Imus’ malfeasance. It is, however, rather shocking how quickly the entire ordeal was over. I find Al Sharpton’s immediate success with this issue disheartening. Days after he threatened a boycott for advertisers on Imus’ program, Don Imus was fired. CBS and MSNBC should have stood up for Imus, a character who brought them millions of dollars in advertising revenue throughout the years. The networks, afraid to lose millions, canceled Imus’ recently signed (5-year $50 million) contract. Standing up for free speech wasn’t a priority. As is the case with most corporations, profit was the priority. Yet the two networks failed to stand up for a principal that their very organizations rely on. Caving quickly to Sharpton’s pressure shows the existence of an overly strong race lobby. Never should one organization be able to fell a giant corporation like MSNBC or CBS.

Sharpton’s actions are besides the point, however. What shocked me about the situation is the new double standard, this time one overwhelmingly in favor of minorities. For hundreds of years, blacks fought for equality. I’ll be the first to admit we’re far from it. Creating a double standard with affirmative action, however, is not the way out. Several commentators, among them the conservative Michelle Malkin, have drawn attention to the words contained in rap music. “Ho,” the word Imus used, appears dozens of times in popular rap songs.

Disrespecting women and blacks seems to be the norm in rap music today. The n-word, once taboo (as it should be), has begun appearing in rap songs. Several pundits claim rap music publicizes rather sordid aspects of our society, including drug dealing and violence. Yet rappers like Mims, whose new top 10 hit “This is Why I’m Hot” single includes (by my count) six mentions of the n-word in four minutes of music, go unpunished. The aforementioned article by Michelle Malkin has YouTube videos of several other offensive songs.

Sharpton, just like the rappers, enjoys immunity when it comes to racial issues. As he criticizes Imus, rappers record new songs with the very same parlance he sought to ban from the airwaves. America, for some reason, sees the music industry and pop culture as exempt from the tolerance status quo. While the rest of America must adhere to a strict set of racial tolerance guidelines, the music industry is free to parade racial slurs and degrading images all over our television sets.

The double standard is visible yet again in the Duke rape case. The case, stoked by racial issues, made national news and provoked critiques from Sharpton. Sharpton’s somewhat inflammatory comments fueled the fire that snowballed into national news. Last week, however, the Duke students were acquitted of all charges. Now, the prosecutor in the case, Attorney General Michael Nifong, faces a lawsuit for misconduct. Yet the most vocal critics of the Duke students, Al Sharpton and others, have yet to come forward. Imus himself, several days before his show was cancelled, wondered where Sharpton’s apology was.

It’s clear that something has to be done to race relations in the US in order to move on. Hate-fueled incidents like those caused by Imus and the purported Duke rape case continue to fill our media. It shouldn’t be this way. Unfortunately, nobody’s leading the charge for equality. Activists like Al Sharpton demand more than equality. They demand the double standard; one that’s clearly shown itself in Imus’ proceedings. One can only hope that the future will destroy this new impediment to racial equality and bring real equality to all Americans.

Popularity: 47% [?]

Late last week, British Prime Minister Tony Blair claimed that “black culture” is causing many of the recent murders in London. With harsh frankness in his final weeks at the top of Britain’s Parliament, Blair was not afraid to confront political correctness head on. Meanwhile, a large majority of responses disagreed with the Prime Minister, declaring the real problem was “social deprivation”. In staunch retaliation, Blair stated that “Economic inequality is a factor and we should deal with that, but I don’t think it’s the thing that is producing the most violent expression of this social alienation. I think that is to do with the fact that particular youngsters are being brought up in a setting that has no rules, no discipline, no proper framework around them.”

I find it particularly intriguing how politicians tend to let their true feelings known when they have the least to lose. Their thoughts are always provocative, and Blair’s message was head-on with one of the largest issues concerning crime in developed countries. Frankly, I do basically agree with him, although I would perhaps word it differently. The problem here is the gang culture, which you can be born into or just as easily dragged into. It’s almost as bad as the poverty cycle. However, the fact remains that the majority in this culture are black people.

Not to blame pop culture, but just listen to the lyrics of rap music. That is the prime example of what gang culture is. Whether or not a teenager falls into it during drug experimentation relies very heavily on his or her upbringing and current situation in life. Although, if born into it, it’s quite natural that you yourself would join in the “family business”.

Obviously, the whole issue is quite a large and hard one to tackle. But, I assume one would want to eliminate the gang culture itself to make any real progress. Drug legalization would go quite far in reducing what is the main feature of the culture. With no drugs to deal, or perhaps rather far less people to sell to, the market would be literally destroyed. This would immediately reduce the number of gang attacks.

From here, by properly funding and aiding organizations who help people get out of the poverty cycle, we could ensure those formerly in the gang culture get proper training or education to get real jobs. This in turn helps create a stable financial situation in which a more acceptable lifestyle can be adopted.

Of course, it’s necessary to boost policing to get the crime leaders off the streets and into a rehabilitation process. Couple that with proper education to teenagers about drugs, alcohol, sex, and the law, as well as extracurricular activities abound. Ta-da: Gang culture eliminated!

Whatever the case, I think the PM made a very strong and important statement by throwing political correctness out of the window. It needed to be said by someone.

Popularity: 69% [?]