A White Smokescreen

People, look. If we want to use President Obama’s election as a measurement of racial progress in this country (which I admit is pretty laughable at this point of the game. Birther movement, anybody?), this has to cut both ways.

Simply put, if a white student wins a Homecoming crown at an HBCU, so be it:

Cultural history will be made tonight in a college town in southern Virginia when a lissome 22-year-old student in a tiara hosts a car show and singing contest modelled on American Idol. Nikole Churchill will look good, and on the evidence of the past few days will handle the microphone with aplomb.

However, she will have to be ready for hecklers. She is the first non-black Homecoming Queen in her university’s history and not everyone is happy that she won the title. Her victory this month triggered a beauty pageant walkout and veiled accusations of black racism from the aggrieved new Miss Hampton University. She also wrote a long public letter to President Obama, saying: “I feel as though you could relate to my situation.”

And some people are NOT happy.

From what I’ve read, much of the criticism stems from the fact that Ms. Churchill is a student at a satellite campus of Hampton U. That would certainly provide just cause in opposing Ms. Churchill’s win. Personally, I have never fully subscribed to the belief that students at satellite campuses should be affored equal opportunities in certain areas as those on a main campus. Students on satellite campuses are often the beneficiaries of lower tuition, more financial support, and lower admissions standards. So any expectation for a student at a satellite campus to be on par with the student on that institution’s main school (whether it’s for student football tickets, diplomas, or – yes – homecoming crowns) is farcical on its face. Eligibility for said opportunities from a college need to start and end with the student’s enrollment status at that college. On that, I would agree with the anybody not supportive of Churchill’s victory.

But to address the people who are making this about race – and I KNOW there are some out there – get over it. In a climate where we consistently witness attempts to de-legitimize our current President based on racist ideology (what’s up, Orly?!), how bad would it look it we did the same thing in this situation? Before I get people aroused unnecessarily, I certainly don’t think that most criticism of Obama – or, in this smaller case, Churchill – is primarily motivated by racism. But to dismiss the role of any racism is to display delusion of the worse kind. This notion applies to anybody; whether it’s a black man leading the free world or if it’s a white student winning an award at a predominately black college.

I suppose I should give Hampton University some credit. While I generally think pageants like this aren’t worth the cheap plastic tiara the queen gets to wear, I do think sending a message of diversity and multi-racial inclusion is always a good look; especially for HBCU’s. It’s just unfortunate the judges decided on a person who makes a suitable target for opposition; if for no other reason but because of where she is actually taking classes. Sadly, that justification – much like questions about a certain President’s citizenship status – allows opponents to conceal the real source of their antagonism. That’s where the real problem lies.

What say you?

- ACL

Paranormal Politics

Halloween will never be the same without George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. When they were in office, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and Number One Observatory Circle were the scariest haunted houses in the world.

- ACL

South Caro-lie-na

Random and pointless thought of the day: maybe Joe Wilson should change his famous line from “You lie!” to “You lie…down with strippers in cemetaries and mistresses in Argetina.” Inspired, no doubt, by his colleagues in South Carolina.

Just a thought.

- ACL

Birds Fly Away

Note to all the so-called music “artists” out there (Britney, Miley, I’m looking at you), take a close look:

- ACL

Popping the Balloon

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m still waiting for the media’s apology for obsessively following this Ballon Boy nonsense. Scratch that. The media can skip the apologies (since I’ve never been big on apologies anyway) and simply start focusing their attention on pressing matters.

That’s all for today.

- ACL

True Bipartisanship

Here’s one you don’t see everyday. Apparently East Cleveland’s incumbent mayor Eric Brewer has put himself in a pretty compromising position as he is set to launch his re-election campaign. Scratch that. It’s more like compromising positions.  See for yourself.

Uh…well…uh…you see…um. Sigh. Never mind. What’s the point? I couldn’t defend men in drag when Tyler Perry did it. I can’t defend it now.

- ACL

Behind the Gun Smoke

I will NEVER bask in a person’s death, especially when they’re senselessly murdered. And as much disdain as I have for the NRA and for the nonsensical argument that guns are the best thing since sliced bread, I try to become increasingly more tolerant of gun owners and their rights to pack heat.

But then I read a rather odd and ironic story on CNN:

Soccer mom Meleanie Hain, who made national headlines last year by having a loaded, holstered handgun at her 5-year-old daughter’s soccer game, has been found shot dead in her home along with her husband, police said Thursday. Information from 911 calls shows that it took a SWAT team nearly an hour and a half to gain entry to the Lebanon, Pennsylvania, home Wednesday evening. Inside, they found the bodies of Hain, 31, and her husband, Scott, 33, police Capt. Daniel Wright said.

Police have avoided labeling the incident a murder-suicide. However, they do not believe that another person was involved, Wright said. A full investigation is under way, he added.

[...]

Meleanie Hain became an overnight celebrity and, to some, a steward of Second Amendment rights when she carried a Glock strapped to her belt to her daughter’s soccer game September 11, 2008.

Days later, on September 20, her permit to carry a gun was revoked by Lebanon County Sheriff Michael DeLeo, who claimed that she showed poor judgment at the child’s game. County Judge Robert Eby later reinstated the permit.

Weisberg, Hain’s attorney, said the sheriff’s action violated Hain’s First, Second, Fourth and 14th Amendment rights.

Read the rest of the article here.

I have to admit: when I first read this, my initial thought was that this was an ironic and real life manifestation of the ”…live by the sword, die by the sword” metaphor.  But then another part of me saw the story behind the story: yet another tragic display of violence at the hands of people with no respect for human life; others or their own. Added to that is the ongoing reality of domestic abuse against women and the gross consequences that rise from it. Regardless to how people may feel about Meleanie Hain and her belief in carrying heat, she was also a mother, daughter, and friend to people. Besides, not all women who are victimized by domestic abuse meet their end at the barrel of gun. These days, other weapons of choice include knives, belts, pans, or bare hands. Unfortunately these subtextual aspects of the story always seem to get forgotten during the discussion.

On top of all that, I suppose one of the reasons why I won’t politicize this case as a reason to push for more gun control is because of the futility of it all. Like all the other killings, murder/suicides, and accidental shootings that have occupied the media over the years, there is nothing noteworthy enough about this story to change the complexity of the debate. If anything, I suspect all this story will do is give gun opponents a little more aummunition (no pun intended) to support their arguments…while giving gun defenders the opportunity to flash their own stats and anecdotal evidence as refutation of those claims. So to both sides: relax. Most assuredly, there are going to be plenty more gun deaths in the future to keep this debate alive. No need to come to come out firing on all cylinders right now.

For now, let’s just concentrate on yet another victim of domestic violence.

- ACL