Compared To WHOM?

That’s the first question any journalist should be asking when police officials say they’re looking for a “dark skinned” suspect. The goal is to avoid repeating the huge mistake recently by CNN’s John King, who used an “unofficial” description of an alleged suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing. No I’m not calling John King a racist, but I think veteran reporters should know better and press their sources for clarification when these kinds of “facts” are issued or leaked. Example:

Police:  “The suspect we’re looking for is a “dark skinned male!”

Reporter:  “Question, You say “dark skinned”, but compared to whom?”

Police: “What do you mean compared to whom?”

Reporter: “I mean who saw this suspect? Was this witness an extremely white person, or a tanned white person? Or was this witness a light skinned Black or Hispanic person? In other words, was this witness saying the suspect was “dark skinned”, compared to them?”

It’s a legitimate question in today’s America, because people don’t just come in one or two colors and phrases like “dark skinned” are only comparative terms, not definitive ones. This controversy reminds me of the days when selective racial identifications were common in local reporting. If a crime was committed, the newspaper would write: “The suspect, a Negro..” On the other hand, no racial identification always meant the suspect was white and the newspaper chose not to print it. Because of that biased journalism history, some are suspicious today of reports claiming an alleged suspect is “dark-skinned”.  After all couldn’t those be code words to let the world know the suspect is not white?

But the problem goes both ways. When I was a reporter in Denver, there was an ongoing story about a rapist who was preying on women in the Capital Hill area. Police called a news conference to announce a breakthrough in the investigation and our station was there covering it live. The police chief told us they had a new description of the suspect. The man was described as a “light-skinned” black male, 25-40 years old, weighing between 180-230 pounds and about 6’4” tall”. As I was taking notes I realized all of the white reporters were peeking in my direction, because I matched this general description.

I quickly raised my hand on live TV and asked, “Excuse me chief, do you realize that you’ve just made suspects out of nearly half of the Black male population in Denver? I mean, I match this vague description! Can you be more specific, or should I turn myself in for questioning?”

My question left the chief flustered since reporters rarely challenged these vague descriptions of black suspects. It became even more confusing later when the cops solved the case, with the arrest of a very brown-skinned, black man. It turns out the original description came from a “dark skinned” police detective, who interviewed a rape victim. She said she was raped by a man, much lighter than the dark skinned detective, so the detective called the suspect “light skinned”. But the guy they arrested had a skin color somewhere between Denzel Washington and Will Smith, darker than most Caucasians and lighter than most Africans. What we need are more official police sketches of suspects, not someone’s very subjective idea of what is light or dark.    

As this recent controversy over John King’s words was raging, a journalism student named Patrick told me on Facebook he was furious at a white friend who said the “dark skinned” report is no big deal. Patrick replied it is a big deal, because the bombers were NOT “dark skinned” or black at all! But his white friend replied dismissively, “Well the suspects were “dark skinned” by Caucasian standards!” (WOW!)

I’ll tell you what I told Patrick to tell his friend. Those so called “Caucasian standards” are prejudiced and biased and no longer apply in this wide open, diverse world. We’ve lived in a society where white Americans have worshiped their whiteness, while demonizing the color black and connecting it with evil, and inferiority. That mindset is unacceptable now; it will not be tolerated and we’re not going back. It's not our fault that people of color actually have a skin color.

If you think I’m being petty, just answer this question. How would white Americans react if any black journalist described a bombing suspect as, “Lily white, sickly white, or ghastly white?”  I can feel their pain and here’s my advice if it happens. Ask some official to explain one thing:

 “Lily White compared to whom?”

Who voted for Obama because he was Black?

It's amazing what foolishness is slipping out of the mouths of desperate Republican Presidential candidates during this campaign. Enter Newt "Tiffany Credit Line" Gingrich who said in a speech Thursday night that Obama is such a bad President, that Blacks will vote Republican!

Now that's funny because it suggests that the only reason African Americans voted for Mr. Obama in the first place is because of his skin color. Black voters have proven their ability to choose candidates based on the issues and what they believe to be the best person for the job. It's true that Barack Obama was the first African American candidate to be nominated by a major party in history. But Black voters have been casting ballots for white candidates throughout history. In truth, the 2008 Presidential election might have been the first time that many White Americans have voted for a Black candidate in a major election.

If Black voters only voted for Black candidates, then the campaigns of Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, Rep. Shirley Chisholm and others would have done much better. Those candidates got some support from Black voters during the primaries. But that support disappeared, when it came down to making the votes count in the Presidential election.

Gingrich and the others continue to hit at Obama because of the weak economy. They ignore the mess that he inherited from George W. Bush, who left us with full blown recession. Once again they are trying to rewrite history to suit their fictional account of reality. They hope that we'll forget the financial nightmare that was revealed during the 2008 campaign when President Bush admitted that the economy was in a free fall because of what happened during his two terms in office.

Bush and his administration had 8 years to create this mess. But Republicans say today that it’s Obama's economy now, even though he's only been in office for less than 3 years. Even though things are starting to improve, the conservatives will never admit it.

Blacks didn't vote for Obama because he's Black. He got the votes because he was an energetic figure who excited the whole country. But if Obama hadn't won the 2008 Democratic nomination, Black support would have gone to Hilary Clinton because she was also focusing on issues the mattered to us.

Come on Newt, you can do better than that. You can start by explaining why you had two interest free lines of credit at Tiffany, worth about $1.5 million dollars? Is that how you're going to create jobs, stimulate the economy and balance the federal budget deficit? I didn't think so!

As someone who grew up in the 60’s, I’m still trying to figure out when it became a crime to be a liberal? The answer is never, it’s just that the folks in the Party of “No” don’t understand history, because they’re too busy trying to rewrite it to suit them.

Sarah Palin proved that recently when she tried to reinterpret the famous midnight ride of Paul Revere. When asked about it, she got mixed up and said Revere was riding his horse, ringing a bell and repeatedly firing and reloading his musket with only two hands. She also said Revere was warning the British that the Americans were coming, which is a complete reversal of the truth. But instead of admitting her mistake, she stuck to her “guns” and looked foolish. A few days later, some of her supporters were caught trying to edit the Paul Revere entry on Wikipedia so that it would match Palin’s fictional version. Perhaps their revisionist history mindset is why conservatives look at people like me and snarl, “Oh, you’re a liberal! Humph”, acting like we have something to be ashamed of, as if they have room to judge anyone.

For me, being a Liberal means being willing to challenge the “status quo” and being open to change. Meanwhile the Conservatives of the 60’s and the ultra Conservatives today seem to believe that everything was just fine the way it was before (like before we could vote).

Those who fought Liberals in the 60’s were mostly against the “I” word, which was “Integration”. Many of these “haters” were Democrats from the South (known then as Dixiecrats) who were clinging to segregation and the Jim Crow laws that kept Negroes in their place. But after the Kennedy assassination in 1963, Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson of Texas became the President. LBJ was determined to make a name for himself and used all of his political influence to get sweeping Civil Rights legislation passed. The new laws ensured the voting rights of Blacks and all minorities, outlawed segregation in the work place, and made it illegal to deny housing to minorities simply because of their race.

But once these changes became law, the Southern “Dixiecrats” felt betrayed by their own party. So when Republican Ronald Reagan ran for President in 1980, he reached out to the “Dixiecrats”, asking them to help him build a new a conservative coalition and they answered his call. Many of these new conservatives were aligned with the racists of the 60’s who fought all efforts to change America into a society that offered equal opportunities for all. The ultra conservatives today, who look at Ronald Regan as a hero, don’t understand the recent history of their own party. But many of them still hate the thought of the word “Diversity” and a multicultural American society.

These same radical conservatives today claim President Obama is in over his head because he was just a community organizer; ignoring that he was elected to the US Senate. They suggest that he is “ignorant”, while at the same time claiming he is “arrogant”, and an Ivy League “elitist”. Plus for the first time in history, they also demanded that a sitting President prove he’s an American citizen by showing his Birth Certificate. But if proving citizenship is so important, when will they also demand the birth certificates of all of the current 2012 Presidential candidates, as well as paperwork from 2008 candidate Senator John McCain, and all living former Presidents; Carter, Bush 1, Clinton and Bush 2? If they don’t demand this proof from everyone, they are giving ammunition to the growing chorus of Americans who think these attacks on the President are based on race.

Then we have the right wing talk shows like the one hosted by Sean Hannity who heaps daily criticism on President Obama. Back during the 2008 Presidential campaign, he boasted that his program was the place for the most comprehensive and complete election coverage in the country. But in the next breath he proclaimed his show to be the home of the “Stop the Liberal, Stop the Obama Express”. How could Hannity’s election coverage have been “comprehensive and complete”, if he’d already decided that one of the candidates must be stopped? Why should anyone with an ounce of objectivity, listen to anything he has to say now?

Yes I’m a liberal and proud of it, because I am open to change and new ideas when they are presented in a logical and rational way. Yet at the same time I know that we’ve got a lot of problems in this country that were created by politicians on both sides of the political spectrum. If you’re a conservative and want to work to improve the quality of life for all Americans, then we can work together!

Let the Healing Begin

The controversy over the Eddie Long case is not going away just because of a reported multi-million dollar settlement with four young men who accused him of using his religious authority to obtain sexual favors from them. While the lawsuit from the four men was pretty specific, the settlement is even more frustrating for those who sought the truth and hoped to find it in court. Three days after the settlement was announced, one of the Church elders, Rev. Bernice King, announced that she was leaving Long’s Mega- Church New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. The youngest daughter of Martin Luther King Jr did not say her departure is because of the lawsuit and the settlement. But she spoke with her feet and the timing speaks for itself.

There are those who continue to support Pastor Long and say that it’s time to move on. Others outside of his flock are laughing and mocking him because he didn’t step up and try to prove his innocence. Part of that attitude on both sides comes from what Long said in the very beginning, “I’ve got five smooth stones”, he said as he walked away from the pulpit in dramatic fashion, “And I haven’t thrown one of them yet!” That reference is to the Biblical story of David and Goliath and how the tiny young David, used a sling to defeat the mountain of a man called Goliath. As we know now, Pastor Long chose not to throw any of those stones, perhaps because of one ironic fact: If anyone was Goliath in this battle, it was Eddie Long.

Long is the leader of a 25,000 member congregation and is wildly loved and admired by his throng. His four accusers are former church members, who claim that Long used his position as their trusted minister to have his way with them. They were powerless and alone before they found a respected attorney to represent them and craft a lawsuit. Perhaps the most damming evidence against the Pastor, are those strange and provocative pictures of him in his underwear that he allegedly emailed or sent by phone to at least one of the young men. He could say the accusers were all lying to make him look bad and to get money from him. But nothing made him look worse than those images of him, standing in front of a mirror in his undies, and showing off his physique while holding a cell phone camera. What kind of a heterosexual man would send pictures like that to another man; especially someone who has led at least one anti march and spoken out against gay marriage? What kind of “Spiritual Leader”, who send those kinds of images to anyone, male or female. Those pictures remain the lingering images from this case and they may haunt Eddie Long for the rest of his life, because they will live on the internet forever.

After the settlement, when Long appeared in the pulpit this past Sunday he made no mention of the settlement, deciding instead to focus on the future and moving forward. The only real statement came from the church in a press release released last week.

"This decision was made to bring closure to this matter and to allow us to move forward with the plans God has for this ministry," the statement read.

That is the tone that many of his supporters on Facebook have continued to press. They say he did not admit to any guilt; that he merely decided to settle to keep the nightmare case out of the media headlines. They press on that if you’re truly a Christian, you believe in forgiveness and redemption. Now they say, is not the time for mocking, but for healing and rebuilding a powerful ministry.

Those are powerful arguments, if you believe that the case shouldn’t be discussed any further. Personally I don’t care about the sordid details of the allegations, nor did I want to see this dirty laundry become front page news every day in an ongoing media circus that would have embarrassed the entire church community. But there’s a teaching moment here that makes continuing the discussion worthwhile for the congregations of all churches. A powerful preacher can deliver a strong message that makes all of us feel better about ourselves and make us want to work harder to be part of God’s plan. But too often church congregations seem to credit that message to their local messenger, the preacher.

The congregation channels their love of God through their preacher in an unhealthy way that resembles worship. But why should any Pastor be given the means to live in huge mansions, wear expensive tailored suits, drive expensive cars and travel the world in his own private jet? What preacher needs this kind of materialistic and lavish lifestyle to be an effective “Spiritual Leader”?

The Bible shows us that Jesus the Christ walked in sandals and lived among the people that he ministered to. Jesus abhorred materialism and was angered when he saw the Synagogues of his time being abused by the heretics and money changers who used the religion to get rich. But somehow that lesson isn’t preached today by many ministers who see the church as a source for their personal wealth. But it wasn’t Eddie Long who placed himself on this pedestal of prosperity. His congregation did this; because they wanted him to live large and somehow believed that they would follow him to this promised land on earth. Even to this day, he has followers who will tell you, “The Bishop needs his own jet, because he has a very tight schedule and needs to be able to come and go at a moment’s notice”! When I first heard that logic from a friend of mine, I could only look in her eyes and shake my head. Those are not the words of a Christian; those are the words of a member of a cult. No man or woman NEEDS that kind of power, no matter how big the church. There’s an old saying that applies here for New Birth Church and all others who think bigger is better or worship. Absolute Power corrupts Absolutely! If you place a fallible and mistaken prone human being in that kind of position, with no checks and balances, bad things will happen.

Yes I am willing to forgive because as a sinner, I am in constant need of forgiveness. But like most of us, I have never sent pictures of myself in my underwear to anyone, male or female, let alone to people that I am supervising, mentoring or advising. Those are not the actions of a responsible adult—PERIOD!

If Eddie Long truly wants to move forward, he needs to begin by apologizing to his congregation and the entire faith based community, because of the horrible distractions that were caused by this case. He needs to show his humility for once, instead of acting like he can just get on his jet and fly away from the problem. Forgiveness and redemption are there for the asking, but he needs to ask! Now the members of his congregation and other similar churches have a choice to make. Will you hold your pastors accountable for their actions, and treat them as mere human beings, or will you continue to worship them and allow this kind of behavior to continue? If your answer is no, as it should be, then LET THE HEALING BEGIN!

Three Little Blessings

I was out for a walk after being snowbound for a week; determined to start trying to get in shape and to put off the problems of work, life and the Falcons loss in the playoffs. I’m usually in a pretty good mood when I walk, because I love talking to my neighbors and waving at people. I want folks to know that everyone they see is not a thug, thief, gang banger, or a burglar, despite the propaganda that we read and see on the news about black neighborhoods being so dangerous. My neighbors always respond with a wave and a smile, which returns the love that I’m sending out. It makes me feel good; but this day was an unexpected joy.

It was my usual four mile trek thru the two subdivisions I walk in, when I saw them at the top of the hill. Four children, two girls and two boys, playing in the street and practicing what looked like a line dance as they laughed and teased each other. Being the nosey neighbor I am, I couldn’t resist asking,

“Hey there, what’s that dance you guys are doing?” I said with a smile.

They looked up as they saw me for the first time. At first they were a little shy, but when they saw me smiling they opened up with four big grins.

“It’s the Jerk,” said one of the boys whose name is Jordan.

“See it goes like this,” he said as he showed me some steps that looked somewhat familiar. As he danced, the other three youngsters joined in and tried to give me dancing instructions.

“Come on you can do it, it’s easy. You try it!”

“No, I can’t do it now. I’ll have to watch the video,” I said with a laugh. I enjoyed talking to them but I was concerned that someone might see me and think I was a pervert trying to lure these little kids away. Plus I was just trying to get my workout on.

“No guys, I gotta keep walking guys. I better go,” I said as I patted one of the little girls on the head, “I need to keep doing my workout. So I’ll see you later.”

“Can we walk with you?” It was the little girl whose head I had just patted. She looked at me with a big smile and pleading eyes. In that instant, I realized that we had connected on that very innocent and beautiful human level. All of the kids wanted to follow me and I was shocked. I wasn’t ready for this and I didn’t want the responsibility. I had to escape somehow. After all I was the adult, I could figure out something. (Right)

“No you can’t come with me; I’m going a long way. I’m walking the whole subdivision and that’s too far for you to go.”

“We can go! We walk that far all the time!”

“No you can’t, I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

“We won’t get in trouble. It’s okay mister, please?”

I tried everything I could think of and they kept trying to follow me as I slowly backed away. But they wouldn’t budge and I was stumped! Finally I thought of a new tactic, one that would emphasize my authority as an adult.

“You can’t go… cause… you can’t catch me!” Then I wheeled on my back heel and started running, planning to catch them by surprise. I figured they would just look at me sprinting away and give up. Boy was I wrong, because they took it as a challenge. Seconds later I heard squeals of laughter as they came running behind me.

“Wait for us, we’re coming too! Hahahahahahahhaha!!! Come on let’s catch him.”
Three of the four kids took off behind me in hot pursuit. We were running downhill which was a big help to me, because I don’t really like to run anymore.

Suddenly I was a child again too, laughing as I ran. It was so funny because I was running away from them and they loved it. They chased me for 5 blocks, all the way down the hill, laughing the whole time. It was almost an out of body experience, especially for someone who is no longer close to childhood. Everytime they got closer, I slowed down a little until they were almost even, and then I “sprinted” away again. They just laughed harder and kept chasing me. I guess I was a tad more interesting than dancing in the street. Finally I decided to start walking again (because I didn’t want them to see me have a heart attack) and they caught up within moments. They were still laughing, although they were out of breath.

“Man, you’re fast! You just kept running away from us,” said the beautiful little girl who I’d patted on the head. She had pretty brown skin, dark piercing eyes and a smile that would melt your heart. I was glad I wasn’t her Dad because I would have spoiled her rotten. Her name was Brittany, 10 years old, in the 5^th grade and she loves math.

Running beside her was little 6 year old Rene who was in the first grade and could run like the wind. She was also a doll, with medium brown skin, long pony tails and a missing front tooth. She wants to be a scientist and she loves dogs.

Then there was little Jordan, an 8 year old who was a ball of fire and all boy. He was dark-skinned with curly hair and beautiful white teeth. He too had a smile that could light up the night sky. Jordan is Brittany’s brother and they were both so proud of each other that you could feel it. He’s still full of the little boy dreams of playing baseball and football, but he loves to talk and is very curious.

They walked with me for nearly three miles, up and down steep hills, laughing and asking me questions the whole time. But they kept up with me, even though I was taking long strides because I was trying to keep a brisk pace. With them, I felt like the leader of the pack, on a mission to go to the grocery store and get candy and go play in the park.

I was quickly becoming attached to each of them as they told me about their likes and dislikes, and how they’d enjoyed being out of school because of the snow. As we walked, Jordan noticed that I had a blue tooth in my ear.

“I have a phone,” he said, “Wanna see it? Here it is.” Jordan proudly pulled out his cell phone and handed it to me. It wasn’t fancy, but I was impressed that he had one.

"Wow, you have a phone, that’s great!”

“I have one too,” said Brittany, as she pulled it out of her pocket and showed it to me.

“Me too,” said little Rene. “See here’s mine!”

“Boy you guys are really high tech,” I said as I gave them my approval. They looked at me proudly and smiled. Normally I might have wondered why these little squirts would have cell phones? But then I realized that if they were playing in the neighborhood, their parents could call them and tell them to come home. Plus, the kids weren’t playing with the phones, they were just glad to have them.

A bit later, Jordan stopped to talk to another boy on a bike, as we continued to walk.

“You guys go ahead, I’ll catch up,” he said with a grin. I looked back to keep an eye on him to make sure he was okay. I guess I was responsible after all and I kinda liked it. Moments later Jordan came running down the street to catch up with us and in his excitement, he cut across someone’s front lawn. I was disappointed in that, but I understood that he was a child and he was just excited. Still I had to say something.

“Jordan, you shouldn’t cut across people’s yards. They don’t like it.” Then I turned to his sister Brittany and told her that she should remind him that people work on their yards and they don’t like it when kids run across them. She looked at me and got a serious look on her face.

“I know, one time a lady told me she was going to call the police on me because I was in her yard.”

“Well why were you in her yard?” As I asked the question, I could tell that she saw the disappointment in my face. As a homeowner, kids running through my yard are one of my pet peeves. I wasn’t worried about them ruining the grass. I just think kids today aren’t being taught to respect other people’s property. Brittany looked down and then looked back at me with an explanation.

“I was just trying to get my rubber band back,” she said. “I was doing my hair as I was walking and the rubber band snapped off my pony tail and flew into her yard. I didn’t mean it.”

“Well did you apologize to her and tell her what had happened?”

“Yes I did,” she said, “The lady got quiet and looked at me, but then she said she’d call the police anyway”.

“Well.. did you at least get the rubber band back?”

“Yep, but I was scared”

I thought to myself that I would never threaten to call the cops on a kid for running through my yard. I’d rather talk to them and remind them that they need to respect everyone’s yard.

“Well Brittany, maybe the lady was frustrated because too many kids run through her yard. She probably wouldn’t call the police on you, at least not for that. Just try not to do it again.”

“Don’t worry, I WON’T!” Two seconds later she was smiling again after she saw that I accepted her explanation. Just then we looked back and Jordan had fallen behind again, being the little social butterfly he is. So it was just me and the two little girls, power walking up the hill. They giggled as I worked my arms and legs together and then they imitated me as we pretended to be in a race. About 5 minutes later, Brittany’s phone rang; it was Jordan calling her because he’d lost sight of us. She chatted with him for a second and then hung up.

“That was Jordan”, she said with a big grin. “He always checks on me. He’s very attached to me!”

“Really, well that’s good that y’all are so close!”

“Oh yes! You know one time I was at the eye doctor, and they were squirting those drops in my eyes? And Jordan went to the doctor and said, ‘What are you putting in my sister’s eyes? That’s not poison is it!” We both fell out laughing as she continued to tell the story.

“Then Jordan asked the doctor if he could come in the room with me. He said he wanted to keep an eye on me and the doctor.” She laughed as she told me the story about her relationship with her brother. But you could tell she was proud of him and loved him very much. With each moment, I was more and more fascinated with the kids, especially Brittany. They just blew me away with how bright they were. They were so happy and full of life, and open to learning. As we got close to the end of our walk, I turned down the last street that was a dead end, with a circle.

“Well this is my last street. Let’s go down here and walk this curve and go around the cul- de- sac.” Brittany looked at me with a frown on her face that was really a question mark with a grin.

“A cul de sac, what’s that?”

I realized that then that I was using an older term that people don’t use much anymore. But I was happy that I had one more tiny, teaching moment.

“ A cul de sac is a French term that means dead end. But it’s not really a dead end, because there’s a circle where you can turn around.”

“Hmmm, I never heard of that before.”

“Well you should Google it. Its spelled cul-de-sac. Can you remember that?”

“Yes, I’m going to look it up when I get home,” said my new little friend Brittany. You could tell that her mind was like a sponge, just soaking up knowledge. They were all so beautiful and I realized I was enjoying their company a million times more than I expected. As we rounded the last corner, I told them something they didn’t want to hear, that I had to spilt off and head back to my neighborhood.

“Well guys, I gotta go home now. You better head back home before your parents start to worry. I really enjoyed our walk.”

“Okay,” Brittany said slowly, with a sad face. “But wait Mister, you never told us your name?”

“My name is Ray, but you can call me Mr. Ray if you want.” Brittany looked up at me as if she was deep in thought, and then she said with a serious look,

“I don’t like calling adults by their first names,” she said, “I think it’s disrespectful!” I was nearly speechless because she said exactly what I was thinking, almost like she was reading my mind. Yes Brittany, you get it!

They each gave me a big hug and another smile. Then they taught me a new cool handshake that starts off with a fist bump. It reminded me of the handshakes we had back in the day of Afros and Black Student Unions, when I was in college. But I decided to tell them that story the next time we went for a walk, after I let them teach me the “Jerk”.

“Bye Mister Ray, see you later!”

“Yes, I’ll be looking for you the next time I walk”

As I walked on home, I couldn’t help but smile from this amazing experience that warmed my heart and gave me new hope for the next generation. I’ll never walk past another group of kids again, without looking at them in a different way and wondering what they are thinking about. Those three little blessings related to me, because I saw them and they saw me too. Oh, and I promised myself to be more patient the next time a little kid runs through my yard. Because who knows, they might be looking for a very special rubber band.