[MCP] [Race, Racism and the Law] Worst Persons in Campaign 2008: MSNBC, Tim Russert, Brian Williams

Tue Jan 22 00:57:33 EST 2008

i dont' know if it's that simple, JL. 

I think his statement wasn't challenged because he owned it with his
personal experience of not having a father around, and had a white
candidate tried to make the comparison in the same "i grew up without a
father too" sense, it may not have been challenged either?

I think Russert and whoever else could have said "so you agree with Bill
Cosby's statements about black parenting and the lack thereof?" but they
didn't. I'm not sure of how many white moderators 1. would have wanted to
moderate a "black and brown issue" debate in the first place or 2. know how
to moderate it by asking appropriate questions or requesting clarification.

________________________________

From: mcp-bounces at edchange.org on behalf of John Lindsay
Sent: Sat 1/19/2008 4:13 PM
To: African-Americans in Higher Education; AFRIKAN HOLOCAUST;
awp_project at yahoogroups.com; McPavilion; sarn;
SpeakingOutAgainstRacism at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [MCP] [Race, Racism and the Law] Worst Persons in Campaign 2008:
MSNBC, Tim Russert, Brian Williams

Why was Obama's statement below not challenged?

Because it was reflective of the other candidates' stereotypical beliefs.
People tend not to challenge statements that are parallel to their beliefs.

John L. 

A traitor to the white race is someone who is nominally classified as white
but who defies white rules so strenuously as to jeopardize his or her
ability to draw upon the privileges of whiteness.

--http://racetraitor.org/abolishthepoint.html

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________________________________

	From: Vernellia.Randall at notes.udayton.edu
	To: letters at msnbc.com; steve.capus at nbc.comphil.griffin;
countdown at msnbc.com; brian.willims at msnbc.com; tim.russert at msnbc.com
	CC: SALT-LIST at lists.umn.edu; aalsmin-l at ube.ubalt.edu;
Race_and_Racism at lists.udayton.edu
	Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2008 08:10:39 -0500
	Subject: [Race, Racism and the Law] Worst Persons in Campaign 2008:
MSNBC, Tim Russert, Brian Williams

	Aired on MSNBC January 15, Martin Luther King's Birthday, sponsored
by Black and Brown organizations, the debate was pegged as a debate
covering Black, Latino and Asian-American issues.   The problem was that
MSNBC's moderators, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams and Tim Russert
of "Meet the Press," apparently decided to ignore that as they focused none
of their questions on issues of racial inequality (nor did the candidates).
Furthermore, they allowed Obama to make a unchallenged statement that I
can't imagine would have been allowed if made by a white candidate.  

	In response to a question by the 100 Black men, Obama spoke of
parents' responsibilities for establishing respect for educational
excellence. "We have to have our parents take their jobs seriously,
particularly African-American fathers, who all too often are absent from
the home," said Obama. "As someone who grew up without a father, I know how
important this is."   This statement is particular troubling because
ignores the long standing support in the black community for education. 

	Black men have been encouraging their sons and daughters to get
educated even when education was practically useless. But perhaps more
important, Black fathers are not a particular problem, especially when it
comes to education, when you consider that in 2005, black males had a 10%
drop-out rate compared to 30.5% drop-out in 1967; that the drop-out rate
has been continuously falling.  On the other hand, White males had a
drop-out rate of 6.6% in 2005 compared to 14.6% in 1967.  Who has made the
biggest progress and is continuing to make progress. Furthermore, even if
you focus on the disparity between white and blacks (3.4%) it is not the
widest gap. Hispanics have the largest drop-out rate in 2005 with 22%. 

	What I see for black men is significant continuous progress despite
significant obstacle: a welfare system in 50s, 60s and 70s that literally
drove black men out of the home and that continues to penalize a single
mother if the father provides any help; school funding mechanism that
assures that poor and predominantly black schools communities are
under-funded; an educational still focused on training for college and not
enough on training for skills and occupation; and, the wholesale
criminalization of the black man not only in the law but more important in
the news and the media. 

	What is remarkable is that Black men are doing as well as they are.

	 The debate in Nevada had an opportunity to have a clear discussion
on racial inequalities in America society and how the democratic candidates
would address them instead it focused (a bit) on the pseudo-skirmish over
race between Obama and Clinton. 

	I have to assume that it was deliberate because at least twice
during the debate Clinton said to the moderators and the other candidates
that debate was supposed to be issues of concern to the "black and brown"
communities. Both the moderators and the other candidates ignored her. 

	Thus, Worst Person in Campaign 2008 goes to  MSNBC,  MSNBC, Brian
Williams and Tim Russert for ignoring the issues of racism and racial
inequality during a debate about Black, Latino and Asian-American Issues. 

	2008 Presidential Election, Race and Racism

	http://academic.udayton.edu/race/2008ElectionandRacism/index.htm

	Vernellia R. Randall 
	Professor of Law  
	Phone: (937) 229-3378 
	Fax: (937) 229-2469 

	Dying While Black 
	http://www.dyingwhileblack.org/ 

	The JD Project 
	http://www.thejdproject.org <http://www.thejdproject.org/> 

	Race, Racism and the Law 
	http://academic.udayton.edu/race/ 

	Race, Health Care and the Law 
	http://academic.udayton.edu/health/ 

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