The Black Elephant in the Room

The political milestones for people of color continue.

Michael Steele, former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, has been selected as the first African-American chairman of the Republican National Committee. According to the AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michael Steele was elected Republican National Committee chairman on Friday, defeating the incumbent party chief and three other challengers over six rounds of voting to become the first black to lead the GOP.

The former Maryland lieutenant governor takes over a beleaguered GOP as Republicans seek to rebound from back-to-back defeats in national elections that gave Democrats control of Congress and the White House.

“As a little boy growing up in this town, this is awesome,” said Steele, the most moderate candidate in the field and considered an outsider because he’s not a committee member.

In a brief acceptance speech, the new GOP chairman struck a tone of inclusiveness.

“We’re going to say to friend and foe alike: We want you to be a part of us, we want you to with be with us, and for those who wish to obstruct, get ready to get knocked over,” Steele said.

He won 91 votes out of a possible 168 in the sixth round. A simple majority of 85 was needed, but it took six rounds for Steele to win.

This move was not only another step in the right direction for the country, but it was notably significant for Republicans.  For starters, this puts the GOP in a much better position to recapture moderate voters who have slowly moved away from the party. While much of the attention typically falls on the Democrats and their inability to dent Republican electoral strongholds in the South, the 2008 election was more of a referendum on the GOP. No two ways about it: they were  flat-out embarrassed in just about every part of the country. Voters who should have been all but secured found themselves on Team Obama during the general election. Additonally, Republicans were losing House and Senate seats all over the South, clearly an indication that their ability to connect with moderates was severely compromised. However, having someone like Steele - who, by the way, has hinted at adopting a 50-state strategy – should make things interesting in future elections. 

Also, I think Michael Steele will bring a new and objective definition to a decidedly one-faced party. I appreciated when he essentially cosigned with Colin Powell’s earth-shattering sentiments on MTP; when he emphasized the “image problem” facing his party.  For much too long, the party has been co-opted by a lone group of idealogues who promote certain things which are in direct contradiction to ideologies of the more  sensible conservatives and moderates out there.  With Steele, the GOP could transform into the party who would rather provide healthcare than bomb other countries, who would commit themselves to defending the lives of living as much as the lives of the unborn, who could devote more to aiding the needy and less to aiding the greedy.

Finally, this was an important move toward more diversity in politics. While Colin and Condi were some of the most important faces in the Bush Adminstration, that was not enough to quell the doubts that Republicans had the potential for diversity. It will take the Republicans a while to shake the images of all-white rallies and racist comments from the likes of Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and – most recently – former RNC chair candidate, Chip Saltsman. But having a person like Steele as the face of the RNC is a certainly a step in the right direction. It’s not likely that an entire wave of black people will break ranks with the Democrats in favor of Steele and his GOP friends. Recall this year’s Republican National Convention where less than 2% of the delegates were black. But for people who were looking for the Republicans to embrace diversity, Steele’s selection could not have come at a better time. 

President Obama managed to secure a staggering 95% of the black electorate. With black people generally subscribing to the Democratic Party, that level of support was to be expected. But it was still approximately 3 points higher than what Gore received in 2000 and closer to 7 points more than John Kerry. Add to that, the fact that black people turned out in record numbers. Quite frankly, black people became a group the GOP can no longer afford to ignore.   

Admittedly, there was something enjoyable about watching the GOP crash and burn during the 2006 midterm elections and the 2008 general election. But I also recognize that multiple parties are necessary for a healthy democracy to flourish. That said, I’m interested to see if the appointment of Michael Steele will do anything to help the GOP reclaim the political authority they recently boasted.

I guess we’ll find out in 2010.

- ACL

A Murderous Economy

I thought after hearing about the killing at VT, I was done with depressing news for the next month. Wrong again.

Earlier this week a Los Angeles resident, apparently dejected over losing his job, killed his wife and his five children before taking his own life.  Authorities indicated that among the dead were an 8-year-old girl and two sets of twins — 5-year-old girls and 2-year-old boys. Read more about this horrible story here.

When I hear about vicious killings like this, I try to have an open mind even when my anger urges me to do otherwise. But I simply cannot understand how losing a job should automatically become a death sentence. What’s worse is that this man did not simply enforce a  death sentence on himself, he also carry it out with his loved ones. It’s been rumored that he and his wife planned out this type of scenario in the event that they were driven to this point. But I cannot speak to the veracity of those claims.

Chalk up this tragedy to yet another causualty of job loss. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. It’s not likely to be the last time it happens. I should point out that there is a major difference in some of these stories: Lupoe and his wife were fired from their positions because of fraud. They were not laid off or downsized due to the state of the economy. Still, they faced the prospects of a world without an immediate economic solution. That can lead to just as much despondency as getting laid off.

On the one hand, stories like each of these are pretty predictable. In a country where one’s identity, self-worth, social value are directly tied to their employment status, education, etc., people unable to live up to certain expectations are probably more likely to commit acts like this. But I simply cannot fathom – perhaps as a product of my privilege as a person happily employed - ever arriving at the point where I would choose death over unemployment. I make no bones about it: I love my job (I wish I made more money, but I’m good…). But in the event that if I lost everything tomorrow – heaven forbid – I would like to believe that I would not go on a killing spree; especially when the victims are those I hold dear the most.

Please remember the family in your prayers.

- ACL

Is Virginia Tech cursed?

Methinks so. No less than two years after the tragic and unforgettable shooting on the Virginia Tech campus, something like this happens:

Xin Yang’s head was cut off with a kitchen knife, just weeks after arriving in the United States from China to study accounting.

Her alleged attacker, Haiyang Zhu, also from China, was arrested at the scene by an officer who arrived less than a minute after receiving an emergency call.

On January 7, he wrote on a Chinese-language blog he had been so frustrated over stock losses and other problems that he thought “only of killing someone or committing suicide”.

Miss Xin, 22, was believed to have been having coffee with Haiyang in the campus Au Bon Pain cafe.

Seven witnesses from the cafe have said there was no argument or shouting prior to the killing on Wednesday at 7pm.

The officer on the scene reported finding 25-year-old Haiyang holding her head in his hand, according to a police affidavit.

He has been charged with first-degree murder.

It is understood the pair had recently made friends and PhD student Haiyang was listed as one of Miss Xin’s emergency contacts, according to university records.

He was not known to the university team who deal with mentally disturbed students.

Virginia Tech president Charles Steger said the killing had stirred up memories of the 2007 massacre.

“Once again we are challenged as a community to offer support to one another as we process this recent event. Once again we will rise to the occasion,” he said.

My heart hurts for the Yang family. I simply cannot imagine having to receive the news that my loved one was brutally killed in a school cafeteria because of another person’s stock portfolio.

Sometimes I’m glad I’m not God. Sending some people to an eternal torment would be all too easy for me.

Please keep the VT student body, the Yang family, and the Zhu family in your prayers.

- ACL

The DC Divas

Sorry DC Divas. You’ve been replaced.

It took President Obama’s inauguration for me to figure it out, but now I remember why I can’t stand Mariah Carey and Beyonce.

That’s it. As you were.

- ACL

Lift Every Voice and STING!

How could anything starting off with lyrics from Lift Every Voice and Sing wind up being so disasterous?

I distinctly remember the controversy brewing a few weeks ago when it was announced that Pastor Rick Warren would deliever the invocation at President Obama’s inauguration. But in the end, the controversy actually came from the other guy. For your viewing pleasure, here is Rev. Methuselah Lowery sharing what was supposed to be an enlightening and stirring benediction:

Words cannot begin to express the level of abject capitulation I have with old vanguards of the past like Rev. Lowery. While many black folks have openly embraced candid and inept ministrations like this as a refreshing divergence from “being polite”, I see it as an unfortunate move overshadowing the significance of the day. As I mentioned in my previous post, we should never lose sight of the fact that – for centuries – folks have used their blood, sweat, and tears as currency, purchasing the future that we enjoy today. I remain committed to that philosophy. But honoring past deeds does not mean that I have to pardon the misdeeds of the present-day.

“Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back; when brown can stick around; when yellow will be mellow; when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right…”

One of the pictures forever etched in my mind will be the dazed look from a white spectator next to me. While thousands of people all around me shared some kind of inside joke, my eyes stayed fixed on this bewildered woman. For the briefest of moments, she turned in my direction; though I’m sure she did not notice me noticing her. I immediately turned away, embarrased to look at her. Perhaps more than anything, I was hurt for her.

During the long ride back to Michigan, several thoughts raced in my head. I thought about the woman next to me and – perhaps – the thousands of  other anonymous white people who took part in this event with the expectation of joining in on the joyous celebration. I thought about the sense of depreciation that must have been theirs as they listened to a prayer wholly bereft of any acknowledgment of their role in the phenomenon we know as Obama. I thought about the white brothers and sisters with whom I had the pleasure of working during the election. The same people who had doors slammed in their faces while preaching the Gospel of Obama. The same people with whom I traveled to neighboring cities and states. The same people whose voices were heard in the voting booths. The same people who shared in the solemn pride of hearing the words “President Barack Obama.” Obama’s win was not merely a victory for people of color. Indeed, it was a victory for us all. But by lumping white people into a group who apparently has an inability to “…embrace what is right…”, Rev. Lowery’s flaggellating words trumped their involvement in history.

I suspect that there were just as many white people who found Lowery’s prayer entertaining as there were white people who saw it as something which outraged their moral sensibilities. Similarly, I am sure that it was not Lowery’s intention to monolithically place all white people in the same group. But this was neither the time nor the place to allow residual indignation from past events to surface. We were celebrating the historic election of a person of color to the highest office in the land; an election which could have never taken place without some of the same people being attacked – directly or indirectly – by this man’s words. As I said on another blog, if after that spectacle, white people decided to pack up, leave the event, and give up on standing alongside black people, they would be justified. They are stuck in a perpetual conundrum best summed up in one phrase:

“Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”

- ACL