Obama Supports Gays, So What?

I am writing a research paper for this class that explores the correlation of minority elected officials and the erasure of discrimination.  I found that blacks tend to vote within their group if there is a black candidate, (as do women, to a much lesser extent) and that this can occur even when there is extreme ideological differences.  It brought up a point which I am very interested in, but didn't have the time to explore this semester.  surely, there is a groupthink mentality that is happening when blacks vote for blacks.  Within our class, that has historically been a way we describe a fallacy.  When it comes to elected officials, it seems blacks vote for blacks because they share a common interest, as do women, asians, and white men.  Is this still groupthink? And is this an instance where it is a good thing?  I read an interesting article today that highlighted blacks support of Obama even after he has come out as supportive of gay marriage, when homosexuality has always been generally "frowned upon" by a large majority of the black community.  As the article says,  "Part of the tension between gays and blacks comes from comparisons of their struggles. Some cast gay marriage as the last frontier of equal rights for all; others counter that minority status comes more from how you look than what you do."  Blacks are feuding with gays now as to who's more repressed?  Should have included LGBT attitudes in my survey.  Anyway, here's the article.  Interesting read.  


http://news.yahoo.com/many-blacks-shrug-off-obamas-view-gays-221003333.html

Sarah Palin's Head is a Giant BBQ Pit

How would we apply critical thinking techniques to thinking about art?  It's an abstract idea I have in my head when trying to understand people's reactions to art.  Case and point, a sculpture of Sarah Palin's head as a working bbq smoker.  It's amazing, it's epic, and it's provocative, to say the least.  Of course, the only town in America that would host it indefinitely is Chicago, that city and it's tolerance of art is definitely a model of how we should think of art objectively, collectively.  As you can imagine, MANY people have a problem with this!  Perhaps in no small part because the sculpture is awesomely terrifying, and immediately makes you remember hearing that Palin supports hunting from helicopters (which the writer references).  About 10 fallacies are committed by the dopes who don't approve, the artist said, "Amid the hate speech, I have also been called 'gay' in what is I presume an attempt to insult me by a particular demographic of individuals."  Peep this it's amazing. 

http://m.theatlanticcities.com/arts-and-lifestyle/2012/04/hellish-sarah-palin-sculpture-roasts-whole-pigs-chicago/1885/

Think and Grow Less Spiritual

Our class seems to talk about religion and the belief in God alot!  It's fun, I'm not complaining but I posted a link to a scientific study that theorizes that analytic thinking can decrease religious belief.  In my case, this is certainly true.  Brought up in a fanatically Christian household did not afford me questions brought up when considering faith critically and not intuitively.  When I thought about spirituality and God in an analytical way it led me to question if the fantastic stories about spirit beings who would save me from an incredible evil created by God were true.  Though this study states anylitical thinking alone is unlikely to change the minds of "believers" it is clearly present when people do change their minds.  Very interesting!


http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/27/study-analytic-thinking-can-decrease-religious-belief/

Critics: Far From Critical Thinkers

Tribeca Film Festival madness has begun!  There are few NYC events I anticipate more each year than the fest. I love the movies, obviously most of all.  But I love the chatter amongst the movie goers, and I love to chatter myself about movies I love.  More accurately, movies I hate.  I also hate movie critics.  As a filmmaker I have a vested interest in how well a movie does and how well vision is presented, and because I see myself as a part of the indie filmmaking community, I think it's ok if I have a  strong opinion on my colleagues work.  That line of reasoning surely has some roots in the "one of us/one of them" error, and maybe I should temper how critical I am of film because of how I view film critics.  I hate them.  I hate that they have so much power to drive an audience to see a persons work.  I hate how much importance people give to a movie critic when considering seeing a film they were at first interested in.  I'll detail two reasons why for you here.

-Emotional reactions

Critics often critique films that they are interested in or have emotional attachments to.  For instance, there are a million LGBT critics who exclusively critique films that have commentary on the homosexual community.  Often, these people are only focused on the particular aspect of how sensitive the film is to the LGBT community without a view to the entire film as a whole, in some ways a fallacy of composition. And depending on how they feel about that they have a wide influence on discrediting a film based on an ideal that is not aligned with the intent of the film.  And people don't go see it.

-Methods of critical analysis

Critics are often products of their tastes.  They enjoy a certain type of film, like we all do.  Some critics criticize only the types of film they have an expertise in.  But a lot of critics are paid to review any type of film.  The problem is not only that they may have some outside bias (sometimes critics are cozy with filmmaker and filmmaking houses) but also that no film will evoke the same feelings between 2 people. Critics often have very different views on films, because like us they like what they like.  

These people should not be taken as experts on a film they had no hand in creating. And we should not put too much stock in the way they critique a film we may have an inkling to see.  

That said, I art directed a film called "Revenge For Jolly" premiering this week at the Tribeca Film Festival! Go see it, it is probably the greatest single piece of art ever created.  In history. I haven't seen it yet but I'm going this weekend if you want to come along. Here's some horrible, biased, way off the point "critics" review.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/tribeca-review-revenge-for-jolly-doesnt-exactly-earn-that-exclamation-point-20120422#

How do we talk about any issue in an election year?

Trayvon Martin.  Anyone who hears his name understands what is at stake, and the issues that underly the tragedy he is at the forefront of.  So why does Newt Gingrich call Obama's remarks about it "disgraceful" and "divisive"?  I think it's because it is an election year and the dogs have to attack each other because they're in the ring until Nov.  But maybe it's something much more sinister, and much less childish.  I believe it is because the dialogue we have publicly about race is ALWAYS taken out of context, and the people who don't want to deal with it are quick to toss a red herring into the ring, hoping that if there is a distraction the issue will just go away.  We will never deal with this prolific problem if we cannot be honest about what is going on.  And especially if our leaders take the lead in scuttling it under the rug.  The truth as I see it, is that this is something that has happened as long as I can remember.  And it has become a reality of life for myself, personally.  I have been stopped in NYC streets by plain clothes and uniformed officers on at least 3 separate occasions.  All while wearing a hoodie and sneakers.  The most harrowing was when I walked around Queensbridge after playing basketball headed to the subway.  A black van with dark tinted windows stopped in front of of me just before I crossed the street.  5 guys jumped out, 2 clearly with their hands on their weapons, and two others stpped and grabbed me.  The other said, "I saw you put something in your pockets, where's the weed?" The searched me turning my pockets inside out, insisting they were doing it for the good of the neighborhood.  Turns out what they saw me put in my pocket was a book, and when they let me go, they acted as if it was a justified volation of my civil rights.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist or bleeding liberal to admit that these stop and search (and sometimes shoot - ala Sean Bell) happen in predominately black, hispanic and arab neighborhoods.  It comes from the blinders people like Newt have to the huge problem America has with racism and unfair stereotyping, and with people like Newt whom we regard as a leader, we will never overcome it.  As a black man, it terrifies me to consider what could happen to my future son.  I am Trayvon Martin.  

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/03/gingrich-calls-obamas-trayvon-martin-remarks-disgraceful/

Something to be said for breaking down racial barriers

Well it looks like I will be writing a research paper that has something to do with the last article I wrote about here.  The thing that cemented it for me?  A letter my sister in law wrote, and sent to President Obama.  It is a beautiful, heartfelt letter that gets right to the point of my earlier post.  If you thought my topic was somewhat interesting, you will love this letter:

February 23, 2012

Dear President Obama,

I am a Kindergarten teacher at Potomac View Elementary School in Woodbridge, Virginia.  We have been studying about presidents and I just wanted to share a few insights the children had.  My class is made up of approximately 85% English Speakers of Other Language students.  Many are first generation Americans.  I have a laminated placemat with the pictures of all forty-four presidents.  I held it up and we read through all the president names from George Washington to Barack Obama.  The children were so excited to see how you “look like us” which I translated to mean that you do not have white skin.  We discussed how you are our first African American president and what a wonderful pillar of hope it is to see someone who “looks like us” on that placemat.  I then asked them what was the same about all of the presidents and we discussed how they are all men.  I asked them if a woman could be president.  Over half of the class thought that women were not allowed to be president. This, of course, led into a big discussion of its own.  I look forward to the day when there is a placemat of presidents with a woman’s face to create the same spark of “it could be me on there” as your face has with children in my class and all over the world.

After our discussions, I gave each child a paper that says, “If I am president of the United States…” They all had wonderful ideas like, “I will keep our country safe, I will make good schools, I will take care of old people, I will give everybody food, etc.”. One that stuck in my mind was from an ESOL student who wrote, “I wot abbre to have mne”.  Translated, it says, “I want everybody to have money”.  I wish your email correspondence had a way for me to send a jpeg so you could see it. She drew the most presidential looking picture of herself.  I feel her message hits to the heart of what most Americans want, money to go to the doctor, to buy food, to pay the mortgage, to pay credit card bills, money to stay afloat. 

I appreciate you taking time to hear some thoughts from a Kindergarten class in Woodbridge, Virginia.  Thank you for all you do to keep our country safe, make sure everyone has the opportunity for food, clothing shelter, education, and medical care.  We are blessed to have you as our president, and I wish you the best with your 2012 election.

Sincerely

A Kindergarten Teacher

Elections...HOORAY! (<---facetious)

Surely the most exciting time of an Americans life every 4 years is presidential election time! YAAY! Incessant indoctrination, over heated emotion and conniving, manipulative politicians.  Basically a chance for the people we decided we trust the most to put up as many blinders to critical thinking as possible, mislead people until they have their trust and attention, and then exploit it for all it's worth.  I know this is a cynical view.  Please understand that my cynicism is less about the candidates, but is squarely placed on the process of selecting a president, the Americans who select the president, and the office of the President of the United States of America itself.

I figure the nature of the job would force you to have to make impossible decisions, between 2 wrongs, or compromise and do things you don't necessarily agree with.  It's got to be tough to deal with well over 300 000 000 voices and opinions.  Surely, whatever policy you adopt is going to be over-scrutinized and dissected and turned into a perversion of the idea.  Simply, the job is hard, it has to take an incredible human to assume that responsibility and do it well by the opinion of 51% of the population.  So making an informed and intelligent choice between candidates is extremely difficult, at best.

Samuel L. Jackson revealed in an interview with Ebony magazine that he simplified all of this in '08 by deciding he would vote for Obama because he was a black candidate.  The various comment sections for the article (it was written up by several news sites) are very heavily weighted on the side of (seemingly white) people who are disgusted that anyone would have taken race into consideration when voting, and I find their thought process seems to come to a screeching halt when they consider the racial implications.  At least this is what I hope, though my instinct is that on some level they have fully processed it and their conclusion was that it was a chance to point the finger and scream AHA! black people are generally racist too!  Personally, I voted for Obama because he was black.  Not because he had better ideas, or he was a Democrat, or he is kind-of from Chicago (like I am kind-of from Chicago).  My thought process included a reflection of past elected officials and the process of electing them.  I understood that I can't really believe what they are promising, Nixon put the kybosh on that decades ago.  I understood that a vote for the party I identify with the most doesn't say much for my vote, other than that I had adopted one of the 2 choices between parties. I also understood the implications of having a "black" president.  It gave me a chance to have meaningful commentary on my beloved nation.  And to me and Sam Jackson, the exclusivity of the white boys club was the most important issue that we were 100% sure our candidate could address.  Not even directly, he didn't have to preach racial equality.  By winning the presidency he empowered millions that are a part of the minority population.  He gave a voice and a feeling of hope to an entire race, and conversely anyone who is not white, and solidified that race cannot qualify you for president.  Before Barack Obama, I would have bet my life I would never see a black president, after him, my nephew wants to be the president and everyone in his family genuinely believe and encourage him to pursue his dream.  Even further, I'm optimistic we will have a female president soon.

I'm saddened that such a historic influence would be taken at face value and be branded as racist, and stupid.  In the end, it underlines the fact that America has swept the race issues under the rug even though Jim Crow laws were on the books as recently as 50 years ago, I suppose because the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1968, and that year the highest voter turnout among blacks ever was recorded.  Until '08.  With the influx of immigrants in this nation and the feeling that The American Dream is dying, we need more people who understand that empowering the entire nation to equally present opinions will quickly help us come up with sustainable solutions, and regain the international community's opinion of us as a rational, sane, and enviable nation.  It's sad I feel like racism is simply veiled now, just as sinister for anyone in my generation as it has been for generations before us, and when reading the comments on the silly article about Sam Jackson, it doesn't make me feel any more comfortable about what my children may have to endure.  

http://news.yahoo.com/samuel-l-jacksons-racist-reason-voting-obama-because-112400362.html