Seinfeld!

Every so often I get sucked into the world of Seinfeld. It is far and away my favorite show of all time and as such I have the entire series on DVD. When these spells hit me I will just rip through episodes and eventually find myself watching the entire series. I think the writing is clever and quite ingenious. Since I the semester has started I have tried to look at things with a more analytical eye, specifically dealing with diversity and race. This mindset jogged my memory to about a year ago. I was watching Pardon the Interruption (PTI) on ESPN. Tony Kornheiser (who is white) made a reference to Seinfeld to which Michael Wilbon (who is black) said "I don't know what you're talking about, black people don't watch Seinfeld". I thought it was a bit off-color at the time but now it really makes me question it. This is a rather "iffy" thing to say. Wilbon didn't receive any "talking to" about what he said. I feel though that if Kornheiser said "You know white people don't watch Cosby Show", I feel that he would be hit with an onslaught on scrutiny. I'm not suggesting that Wilbon is racist or was even saying it in a defaming way I just think it was a questionable thing to say. I realize that the things white people say are subjected to much higher magnified scrutiny than any other race. I think it's a double-standard but at the say time I can certainly understand why. My other problem with this is that Seinfeld is just plain funny I don't understand why black people wouldn't like it. I have heard this argument before that Seinfeld is geared for specifically white people. I can understand the audience being predominantly white but there is no reason why black people wouldn't enjoy the show as well. It just makes me mad because there is a viewpoint that Seinfeld is racist, which couldn't be further from the truth. I've been a fan since I was 8 years old and seen every episode an obscene amount of times, not to mention I'm just in the process of watching them as we speak. This show is completely harmless. The show actually pokes fun at the situation when George has to prove to his boss who is black that he black friends. George doesn't have any black friends, not on purpose, it just never worked out for him. Seeing George scramble to find a friend who is black is funny and an interesting commentary about the world we live in. I like George don't really have any black friends. This is not because I choose not to but rather by coincidence and circumstance it just so happens that I don't have any black friends. I'm sure that there are black people who don't have any white friends. This is not because of any racial preference, it is just the way it worked out. I think Seinfeld was, and still is, light years ahead of itself. The show was such a perfect vehicle for social commentary and pinpointing the human condition. Seinfeld touched on some many areas of human's everyday lives, it is really quite amazing. The show was anything but racist, and I say that as not a casual fan but an extremely hardcore enthusiast. I think what Wilbon said was certainly questionable, but I don't think he meant it in a racist way. I still love PTI and Wilbon...I just gotta defend my Seinfeld! Viva la Seinfeld!!!

Obama's School Message

I'm a Howard Stern fan. I know he has his detractors but he has a solid following. Love him or hate him you must give him credit for sticking around for as long as he has. I think Howard is entertaining and funny, but I also think he is extremely intelligent and insightful. During one of his recent broadcasts the topic of Obama's speech to school children came up. Obama delivered a speech specifically for the students of America that was to air around lunchtime. The speech was basically about not letting circumstance dictate the direction and eventual outcome of your life. Adversity must be met head on, a truly simple and invaluable lessen which is the basic principals of which America is built upon. The controversy came in as there were many parents reportedly pulling their children out of school in order to avoid seeing the speech. Why would they do this? Isn't the President addressing the youth of America a pretty important thing? There has been a whirlwind of supposed reasons for this but Howard was able to cut through the bullshit and be straight. It is a race issue. He contested that people are still uncomfortable with having a black president and as such react this way. I know that it is a sort of easy reason, but to me its true. When a President like JFK or Reagan had a speech to deliver, you better believe that parents weren't pulling their children out of class. Bear in mind that this was completely non-political, non-partisan, non-agenda piece that was meant to do nothing but inspire children to push themselves to their highest potential. Howard pointed out what a disgrace it was that this happened. He is the President of the United States, he deserves respect. I hated George W. Bush for all the same reasons as most people, however, I always respected him and the office that he represented. Some interviewed parents said they were didn't want their children to hear the speech because they couldn't be sure that Obama's speech would inappropriate or not. He is the President with Ivy league speech writers helping him, I'm fairly certain that he isn't going to say anything politically-incorrect or offensive. I know you might be thinking I misinterpreted what these parents were saying. but you'd be wrong. There actual excuse, whether it be fabricated or not, was that they couldn't trust that his words would be something school children should hear. I'll say it again, HE IS THE PRESIDENT. I agree with Howard that it is unfortunately a race issue, and it is despicable. What message does these parent's action send to children? They are essentially demonize Obama and turning him into a villain instead of an ally. What message does it send to other countries? As the unofficial pace car for the world, we set the tone for the world. The world often looks to us as an example. What does it say when "we" don't even trust our leader to speak to school children? These "Americans" should be completely ashamed of what they did, I know that I certainly am.

What's in a name?

I was working on the discussion boards last week and found many of the posts to be inspired as well as insightful. The subject of the class seems to foster genuine thoughts and discussion between classmates. It's pretty cool. I commented on a particular post on the board, but I wanted to discuss it further and hence this blog is immediately coming in handy. The original post was about how the term "African-American" seemed to lessen the stature of black people. For full disclosure, I am a white male. I agreed with the postee that the term did seem to be somewhat disparaging. I mean I wouldn't consider myself "European American". I mean I don't know any more people in Europe than most black people know in Africa, so why the need to label them and not me. I think that we spend too much time in this country worrying about meddlesome things such as this. Not to say that it doesn't have value but I feel there are more pressing issues that deserve our attention. I feel there is a sentiment in this country to go above and beyond in order to avoid being offensive. I mean I am all for equal rights and the right to live in peace and freedom but it's just a name. Whenever I am around a black person I am always hesitant to use the term "black". To me I don't know exactly how they might feel about it because again I'm just a white dude. I mean to refer to someone as "black", is that offensive and/or racist, I don't know. I mean if someone reffered to me as "white" I wouldn't even bat an eyelash. However, I realize that African-Americans have gone through much more struggle in the way or equal rights, so I almost feel that I don't have the right to comment. Even within this post I don't know whether to use the term "black" or "African-American". I think that black may have a negative connotation to some people perhaps. I don't know, it's all just so confusing about what is right and wrong. It's a slippery slope. I couldn't be further from a racist and don't want to offend anyone, I'm just trying to refer to something. To me we are all Americans, no more no less. If you want to get technical, if we were born in America, doesn't that make us Native Americans? That little nugget I will save for another post.