Although I would love to write more on this subject, time simply does not permit due to my professional obligations. However, I thought this was important enough to at least start the discussion.
Almost a year ago, Don Imus made some statements that were strongly denounced and rejected by many, and eventually followed by much hand wringing and the start of a discussion on race. It was followed by two reactions.
Reaction A: This isn't who the real man is, I have never heard him talk like that in private, and he has done great thing for minority communities.
Reaction B: How can you say that and still go on his show, after hearing these types of remarks on a regular basis??
The dichotomy between the reaction to the Wright and Imus issues are very interesting and thought provoking, in my humble opinion. Craig Crawford, Pat Buchanan, Joe Scarborough, David Gregory, Howard Kurtz, even Chris Dodd, couldn't for the life of them figure out why people would take various specific statements outside of an entire body of work so harshly. And on the other side, many others who unfortunately I don't recall as vividly, likely due to my point of view, were taking an opposite tack. There was pure outrage that anyone would have the audacity to ever go on Don Imus' show ever again, and to do so would endorse his views,
As I watched Morning Joe, I found it interesting in the role reversal...ON BOTH SIDES!!!
I am not sure what this means, but my gut says that Sen. Obama is right. As long as we refuse to openly and frankly address these issues as a nation, each time we spasm into this type a racial discussion, spurred by some comment or event, we will never actually address the root of the issue.
Yes, Morning Joe and the other MSNBC morning show contenders had a round robin of black pundits and comedians initially when the lineup change occurred, but the people selected actually were not that great I assume because they rarely show up anymore. But it would seem like a precursor to having an open and honest ongoing discussion, a little bit more diversity in the lineups of those responsible for driving the conversation would be helpful. As far as I know, outside of an occasional guest host on Countdown (Stewart) or the NewsHour (Ifill), there are no African American or Hispanic hosts of major cable or network news show, including Sunday. That is not meant to say someone should run out and hire someone, it really needs to be organic. However, I wonder if this plays any role in why the conversation seems to stop and start in spurts. Where is the driving force? And why does it require a minority group to drive the discussion. Maybe Paula Zahn was ahead of her time.
Again, I want to be clear. I think people who fall on both sides of the argument now have a view into the inner contradictions of human nature, and may come to realize that things are not as black and white, for better or worse, as they seem.
The question is when will we have a leader who will be ready willing and able to address these issues head on. It may not be Sen. Barack Obama as this again may hit too close to home. But I would ask, if not now, when will the country be ready to address this like the Americans we all aspire to be.
Unfortunately, I will not be able to comment on this now, but I will come back and join the discussion this evening. I hope I have at provoked some thoughts, and maybe gotten the attention of someone out there in media land to address this interesting analogy on one of their shows this evening (Uh, Mr. Olbermann, I may be talking to you :) )