From despair to where?

Last week I had one of the best media-induced highs in recent memory... No, not the Pack beating Philly! No, it was Steve Buckley's "coming out party" on WEEI. For those not in New England, Buckley is a known and respected sportswriter/commentator, and his column in last week's Herald prompted a fascinating four-hour conversation on sports-talk radio about the politics of coming out, gender and sports, etc. Amazing stuff, no kidding.

But by the weekend, all that feelgood got swept away with a phone call from my brother, saying that the congresswoman from Tucson had been shot--that a lot of people had been shot. Nils reminded me that Mom & Dad had volunteered for her campaign this past fall, that they'd met her at our neighborhood friends' house where we always do Thanksgiving and Christmas... That first day had a lot of phone calls checking in on folks, emails inquiring about possible family connections with those killed, etc. Awful. Just awful.

(Among other things, I learned that Congresswoman Giffords went to UHS--but I don't recall running across her there.)

And now that the initial shock is over (well, maybe--IS it over?), the killings have become major political fodder. I was AIMed by a student who wanted to blame Fox News et al, but that seemed too simple. Palin's "target map" speaks more as an overt representation of the overheated rhetoric than anything else I can point to tonight...but that's too easy, too.

This needs to be a real gut-check for all of us, folks. As a state, as a nation, as a global community: who are we becoming? Who do we want to become, and how do we get there?

I want to keep working this through for myself this week--and I'm particularly anxious to hear from AZ folks, to get a sense from them about the state of the state, from their personal perspectives.... Be in touch?

Gates' arrest: "...a local issue..."?

My COMM 229 summer web class is discussing race and media representation this week, and the arrest Dr. Gates in Cambridge has certainly enlivened discussion.  Here's the latest snippet I posted to our discussion board, complete with ongoing tie to local sports-talk radio station WEEI (which does great local sports coverage, but way too often veers off into right-wing political diatribes--listen to their 6-10am morning show on the web in the next few days to get a taste of how they're discussing the issue).... 

Did you all catch the Obama press conference last night?  If not, here's the Yahoo article from this morning w/ relevant quotes, plus the rebuttal from the Cambridge officer.... as quoted on WEEI!  Unreal....  

In view of our discussion on the phrase "playing the race card" this week (it's not about race until Gates says it is), I want to highlight something the officer said that again shows the lack of understanding of the context of this issue:

"I support the president to a point, yes, I think it's disappointing that he waded into what should be a local issue and something that plays out here," Crowley told WEEI. "As he himself said ... he doesn't know all the facts."

So not only would this not be about race (if Gates would have JUST SHUT UP), but it would also not be of national attention (if The [national / liberal (ha!)] Media and/or Obama would JUST SHUT UP).

There is the event itself, and there is the perception of the event.  And there is the discourse surrounding the event, which is part of a larger discourse on race in the USA.  The pattern I see emerging from the Right is the attempt to not only refute any perception of racial injustice but as well any possible linkage from this to any wider social context.

Nothing to see here, folks--drive on by.  Wow.