FRED SWAN REVISITED!

It was a relief to see Fred Swan’s Op-Ed in The Sunday Republican (February 21, 2010), which provided him with an opportunity to counter the skewered vitriol of past articles with a balanced set of facts about himself. It tells us a lot about the character of the new publisher, who, it appears, prizes fairness over journalistic hyperbole.

 

I AM ALIVE AND WELL AND HOPE TO STAY THAT WAY FOR AWHILE

Needless to say, I was a little taken aback by an insurance letter sent to my wife expressing sympathy to her on the passing of her spouse. Word of my demise was clearly exaggerated and I want to assure everyone, friend and foe alike, that I am alive and well and have no plans to depart this earth any time in the near future, God willing. 

 

BEFORE I DIE

“Before I die I want to know that I have done something truly great, that I have accomplished some glorious achievement the credit for which belongs solely to me. I do not aspire to become as famous as a Napoleon and conquer many nations; but I do want almost above all else, to feel that I have been an addition to this world of ours.” (By Edmund Carpenter, age 17, 1938, as reprinted in The Wall Street Journal, February 6, 2010)

 

MAYBE HE SHOULD BLEED A BUCKET OF BLOOD

Tiger Woods could not have done more by way of the televised apology he offered to his wife, mother sponsors, fans and especially to the many kids who he admitted he let down. Yet, some still say he hasn’t apologized enough. Maybe Woods should hold a second public session and bleed a bucket of blood for distribution to those who continue to doubt his sincerity.

 

FORGIVE TIGER WOODS FOR THE SAKE OF THE $?

None other than The Wall Street Journal, January 23, 2010, bemoaned the loss of revenue from Tiger Wood’s absence from the PGA tour.  Three of the tour’s 46 tournaments for 2010 don’t have a lead corporate sponsor and thirteen of next year’s tournaments have none, while the viewership of the first two events of this year’s tour are way down. Not to mention that PGA tour revenues have dropped by more than 20%. Even as we recall Black men who were lynched for merely looking at White women, it’s our bet that Woods is one Black guy who will be forgiven for the sake of the almighty dollar no matter how many White women he slept with and wronged!

 

THINGS HAVE CHANGED FOR THE BETTER

I know it is time to stop being surprised by the Black faces working for the city of Springfield, but I continue to be. My last encounter, after having been pleasantly surprised after a brief visit to the Mayor’s diverse outer office, was a visit to the clerk’s office of the Springfield police department where I encountered a more significant level of diversity than I expected. We still have a way to go, but things have certainly changed.

 

POLICE COMMUNITY REVIEW BOARD: NO ELECTIONS, PLEASE!

Thank goodness judges in Massachusetts are not elected and, therefore, not subjected to the whim of voters or to lobbyist influences. The election of judges that takes place in some states is one of the worst and most corrupt thing that ever happened to our system of justice. Those who are pushing for an elected police review board with punitive powers— a board that would, in effect, be a quasi-judicial body that hears cases and imposes punishment, just like our judges—  might want to rethink the matter of elections. An objective process that guarantees the selection by an independent body of appointees who would be qualified to objectively weigh the facts and apply the law without being intimidated by the electorate or inhibited by the administration or its Police Commissioner would be far more acceptable.

THE TEA PARTY IS REVEALING!

It is so funny to watch the country’s conservatives struggle over who they are, especially since it has spurned a long overdue discussion about race among White folks, where the discussion has always belonged. And, it is also amusing to watch how progressively difficult it is becoming for well-meaning White folks, who want so badly to deny the influence of race in our politics, to deny the significant race factor in the White-dominated Tea Party movement.

 

EVEN THOSE NUMBERS DON’T TELL THE TRUTH

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate for Black male adults in January was 17.6%. What most folks don’t understand about the number is that it does not include those who have become frustrated and stopped looking for work.

 

CHECK YOUR MALE EGOS AT THE DOOR, PLEASE!

1.3 million more Black women are employed than Black men and the unemployment rate for Black women is only 13.3% as compared to 17.6% for Black males. Don’t fret. The trend toward superior female employment is growing across racial lines with overall unemployment for males at 10% and females at only 7.9%. And, besides, female wages are now rising faster than men’s.

 

GOODBYE, OFFICER!

The White Boston police officer who called Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. a “banana-eating jungle monkey” has been fired! The fired White police officer’s response to the controversy resulting from a Cambridge police officer’s arrest of Gates in his home, turned out to be worse than the original controversy that President Barrack Obama abated with a “beer” sit down at the White House. And, it also pointed out why innocent Black men like Gates are suspicious of White officers who confront them in their own homes.

 

RACE REDUCTION

Mitch Landrieu, with 66% of the vote, became the first White person to be elected mayor of New Orleans since 1978. Watch out, Atlanta!

 

CHARTER SCHOOLS SEEM TO BE WORKING

“A recent study showed that students in New York City’s charter schools—who are selected randomly, by lottery, and are 90% African American and Latino—have closed 86% of the gap in test results between the poorest neighborhoods of the city and ritzy suburbs like Scarsdale, which is known for its excellent schools.” (Joe Klein, Time, February 8, 2010).

 

HE DIED AN ACE!

Retired Air Force Colonel Lee Archer, the first and only Black ace pilot, who shot down five German planes in World War II, died recently at age 90. He was a member of the famous Tuskegee Airmen who escorted bomber planes throughout World War II. After retiring from the Air Force in 1970 he went to work for General Foods Corp. and became one of the few Black corporate vice presidents of a major American company.

 

AND MIAMI HERALD’S LEONARD PITTS PUTS IT WELL!

“It is the enduring paradox of our centuries here,” Pitts writes as he lays out the Black warrior’s involvement and sacrifice in every significant American war from the American Revolution to the present time. “Black men, it (the paradox) asks, will you defend America? Leave skin and blood in foreign lands fighting for ideals that do not include you? And always, the answer has been the same. Yes.” And, of course, Pitts is right. Black men, my brother who died in Vietnam included, and his uncles who fought, one in the Pacific theatre and the other in Europe—and his brother who also fought in Vietnam and the other who was stationed on the Korean DMZ, when it briefly erupted, served America valiantly and soldiered on even as we fought on the home front for the most basic of civil rights. n