When John Stewart steps down from the Daily show, he will
create a void that will be incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to
fill. He is a Jew who does not mind
criticizing Jewish leaders (can you say Benjamin
Netanyahu?) when they are in the wrong.
While most of his targets are right wingers (they tend to be in the
wrong) he still has the integrity to go after those on the Left when they are
inappropriate). But of the many
services he provides, I think the one I will miss the most is the lens he holds
up for us to see the blatant inconsistencies, contradictions and utter
hypocrisies of the ultimate propaganda factory,
Fox News. On the same program in
which he announced he was leaving the show, he presented shots of all of the
Fox personnel groaning that if only President Obama were more strong and
decisive like King
Abdullah of Jordan, America would be a much stronger and secure place. These shots were followed by another set of
the same people virulently criticizing Obama for acting a like a king. I depend on people like Stewart to know what
is happening with Fox News because I find looking directly at Fox News would be
as mentally harmful to me as looking directly at the sun would be to my
eyes.
Yet, despite all the services he provides in that comedic
format, there is one thing for which I will always remember John Stewart. When white folks speak about race, there is
always some subtle, yet salient nuance or aspect that desperately needs to be
said, but never is. Yet Stewart made,
what was for me, the single most profound, perspicacious, statement about race
ever made by a white person when he said, “White people, if you think you’re
tired of hearing about race, can you
just imagine what black people must
feel like living it every day?”
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The Republicans got stuck with a real dilemma. They hate attorney general, Eric
Holder’s guts, but they are stuck with him until his replacement, Loretta Lynch is
confirmed. (The Senate Judiciary committee has approved her). In
order to get rid of Holder, they have to confirm an Obama appointment. They had to figure out whether they are more
committed to blocking any and all Obama appointments or getting rid of the
first Black attorney general of the United States. Their dilemma was inevitable. If one is negative all the time, it is only a
matter of time before a double negative is incurred. Students of English know that the double
negative results in a positive. A block
of Obama’s attorney general nominee is a vote to keep Holder. If you
don’t know nothing, then you must
know something. Unless, of course you’re a Republican!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The Unsung Hollywood program
featured, the television show, “A Different World,” and some interesting
observations ensued. A Different World was
a sitcom set on the campus of a fictional HBCU, Hillman College. Several
of the cast member talked about how young black kids came up to them and told
them that they wanted to go to college because of that show, and often that
they were inspired to become a doctor or lawyer because that’s what the actor’s
character was pursuing. All of the cast
members related that the show made it hip to be smart for a lot of black
children. I was struck, once again, by
the power of the television medium. I
was also struck by the lack of such positive black role models on television now.
I was even more struck by this phenomenon when I glanced at a
few minutes of “Blackish” the sitcom about “keeping it black.” In this
episode, the father, played by Anthony
Anderson, encouraged his son to verbally
attack his opponents, rather than engage in physical violence. In the show, they called it “roasting.” When I was coming up, we called it “capping.” While I applauded this aspect of the show,
the son eventually got caught up in the roasting and roasted his mother
vociferously. Rather than intercede and
explain to his son that such tactics should never be used on parents, the
father, continued to praise his son, even as the child disparaged his own
mother!!! And we wonder why and how our
kids get messed up??
www.williamgriggs,net
www.williamgriggs,net
