Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts

20 Videos that Won't Change Your Mind on Race in America

The Background
What opinions deligitimize the views and opinions of a black person in the eyes of other blacks?

Although my contention is that black (and any) individuals should be able to hold any opinion they want, especially about matters related to their own communities, I wanted to see if I could compose a slightly more complete picture other than my own conjecture and presuppositions. To that end I sought out the opinions of the black community in their own words by looking for discussions and interviews about this subject matter.

To that end I have compiled a number of videos to attempt to get a better picture of the viewpoints that exist among black Americans today. What these videos demonstrate is just how much variety of opinion exists in the black community. What I think is strange is how some people, more-often-than-not white Liberals, assume that being a black American indicates an unwavering commitment to all elements of the Liberal ideology. What I think the opinions in these videos do is complicate that vision just a bit, perhaps offering a higher resolution image.

For instance, if legitimacy and "street cred" are measured by experiencing hardships, poverty, and/or racism, are wealthy, educated, privileged black Americans disqualified as legitimate representatives of the black community if they are conservative? Do they forefeit their membership by having overcome such obstacles? Are their views tolerated and judged on their merit, or are they seen as having turned their back on the black community and experience? Are they seen as people speaking out for the welfare of black America, or are they regarded as self-hating Uncle Toms? These, by the way, share something in common with conversations that take place among Jews, although the subject matter is somewhat different.

The Videos
The finer points about which I sought to understand are, but not limited to, institutionalized racism, racial profiling, government involvement, affluence, and crime. I have as well made an effort to present disparate and opposing views and have included videos from "different social tiers" as follows:


Note that some of the viewpoints contained herein are from videos that precede the George Floyd murder, but pertain to general sub-topics related to this subject matter.

Everyday People
The videos in this section were made by "everyday people" with social media accounts. In my estimation, this is the type of people that you encounter on a day-to-day basis, and it is this constituency whose opinions seem to be the most relevant to explore in light of the point made by my debate opponent.


Video 1 - Joel Patrick (11:28 minutes long)
Joel Patrick "is a conservative from Beavercreek who is fed up with the constant attacks from the left on everything that he holds dear." According to his site, Patrick uploads new podcast episodes every Monday.


Video 2 - Is It Time To Get Over Slavery? Black Liberals vs Black Conservatives (25:54 minutes long)
A Jubilee Media films hosts a discussion between black conservatives and liberals."



Video 3 - Black Woman Shares Her Views on White Privilege (8:24 minutes long)
Black Texas woman shares her views.



Video 4 - Ami Horowitz: Do cops' lives matter? (3:53 minutes long)
"With the Black Lives Matter movement sparking national conversation, satirist Ami Horowitz ventures to white, gentrified Brooklyn and predominantly black and Hispanic Harlem to ask if cops' lives matter, too."



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Personalities



Video 5 - Charlemagne tha God (6:06 minutes long)
"Lenard Larry McKelvey, known professionally as Charlamagne tha God, is an American radio presenter, television personality, and author. He is a co-host of the nationally syndicated radio show The Breakfast Club with DJ Envy and Angela Yee, and stars in Guy Code, Guy Court and Girl Code."



Video 6 - Joe R. Hicks - The United States is Not Institutionally Racist (8:57 minutes long)
"Joe R. Hicks is an African-American conservative commentator and community activist. He is currently vice president of Community Advocates Inc., and the former Executive Director of the Los Angeles City Human Relations Commission, where he served from 1997 to 2001 under Mayor Richard Riordan." Note: Joe R. Hicks was born on July 13, 1941 and was deceased on August 28, 2016.



Video 7 - An interview with the founders of Black Lives Matter | Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi. (16:05 minutes long)
"Born out of a social media post, the Black Lives Matter movement has sparked discussion about race and inequality across the world. In this spirited conversation with Mia Birdsong, the movement's three founders share what they've learned about leadership and what provides them with hope and inspiration in the face of painful realities. Their advice on how to participate in ensuring freedom for everybody: join something, start something and "sharpen each other, so that we all can rise."



Video 8 - Terrence K. Williams (8:00 minutes long)
Terrence K. Williams from Oklahoma City spent much of his youth in the foster care system. His gradual frustration with the situation in America inspired him to "post videos on social media about the hottest controversies in America," devoting "his platform and comedic career to improving the lives of underprivileged children everywhere."



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Academics


Video 9 - Thomas Sowell on the Myths of Economic Inequality (53:33 minutes long)
Thomas Sowell, "an American economist and social theorist who is currently a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University," discusses economic inequality, racial inequality, and the myths that have continued to falsely describe the system of poverty among different racial and economic classes. He explains the economic theories behind these pervasive myths and proposes fact-based solutions for seemingly intractable situations.



Video 10 - Megan Ming Francis Professor of Political Science (19:37 minutes long)
Megan Ming Francis is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Washington.



Video 11 - Napoleon Wells Clinical Psychologist (18:19 minutes long)
Dr. Napoleon Wells is "a Clinical Psychologist, husband and father, Professor, lover of all things Star Wars, Wakandan refugee, TEDx performer, and believer in human potential proposes a mental health approach to curing racism."



Video 12 - Brookings Institution - Academic Panel (01:30:06 minutes long)
The Brookings Institution is "a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, DC." According to their site, their "mission is to conduct in-depth research that leads to new ideas for solving problems facing society at the local, national and global level." On June 3, Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution "co-hosted an event with Contexts Magazine, featuring an expert panel that discussed the causes, consequences, and policy solutions to the racial wealth gap."



Video 13 - Larry Elder on the Rubin Report (21:41 minutes long)
Radio talk show host Larry Elder "will entertain, inform, provoke and hopefully uplift" and provides "thoughtful insight on the day's most provocative issues." Elder gets interviewed by Dave Rubin about his perceptions on racism in America today.



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Celebrities and Actors


Video 14 - LL Cool J Raps About Floyd and Black Lives Matters (3:00 minutes long)
A short and powerful rap written and delivered by hip-hop artist LL Cool J.




Video 15 - Nine Rappers Criticize Black Lives Matters (9:00 minutes long)
The viewpoints of ASAP Rocky, Kevin Gates, Wales, The Game, Snoop Dogg, Lil' Boosie, Hopsin, Prince Ea, and Lecrae.




Video 16 - Lil Wayne on His Experiences with Racism (8:16 minutes long)
"Lil Wayne discusses Colin Kaepernick's protest with Skip and Shannon."



Video 17 - Denzel Washington Shares Some Wisdom (1:34 minutes long)
American actor, director, and producer Denzel Washington, shares his views on racism today.



Video 18 - Morgan Freeman On Race (2:23 minutes long)
 American actor and film narrator Morgan Freeman offers his thoughts on race in America.



Video 19 - How white liberals really view black voters (4:23 minutes long)
Ami on the Street: Are voter ID laws racist and suppress the black vote? Satirist Ami Horowitz goes to UC Berkeley and Harlem to find out.



Video 20 - Key and Peele (4:28 minutes long)
Key and Peele help lighten the load a bit after all that!



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Do We Still Need Feminism?

November 26, 2019 - Cheshvan 28, 5780

Frum Feminism

Supposed I said the following:

Never send a woman do to a man’s job.

The immediate gut reaction is to cringe at the sheer chauvinism needed to utter such a thing. This statement implies that a woman is incapable of performing a job designed for a man, indicating her essential inferiority. I would tend to agree that at least in certain cases such a statement may in fact indicate that sentiment.

Therefore, reversing the nouns in this statement should in theory end up with the reverse idea that men are less capable than women:

Never send a man to do a woman’s job.

The strange and unintended effect of the statement above, however, is quite unexpectedly the opposite. Instead of reversing the sentiment indicated in the first statement as expected, it is interpreted as well as expressing the equally chauvinistic concept that a woman is restricted into pre-defined tasks or careers.

In other words, saying “a man’s job” exists indicates womens’ general inferiority, but saying “a woman’s job” exists indicates womens’ being restricted into certain molds. You lose either way you cut it. It isn’t the syntax or grammar of the above sentence that forces this misinterpretation, but rather our pre-conditioned sensitivities to any subtleties that seem to imply sexism. It operates sort of like a heat-seeking device designed to search and identify any elements of chauvinism, even ignoring the general context of in which a statement is made.

Herein lies the interesting double-standard that seems to underline this dilemma that we find ourselves in. The modern expression of feminism is not about ensuring womens’ rights, suffrage, equal access to the workplace, equal pay for doing the same jobs, or freedom from sexual harassment. Today’s manifestation of feminism is almost purely ideological in character, seeking to establish the superiority of women while emasculating men. In its worst form it regards men as petty, miserable, useless, and gross. It is a gut reaction and hypersensitivity to even the most subtle indication that women need men in any way, shape, or form and sees it as a sacrilege.

The Effect on Religion

Suffice it to say that while this will certainly exact its toll on the already-suffering institution of marriage, it poses additional issues from the perspective of religiosity. Certain modern concepts of equality are supported by the traditional Torah perspective of Jewish living. In short, if something does not outright violate either the letter or spirit of Torah precepts, I imagine that there is room to consider it completely acceptable or even noble. The issue begins when a conflict arises between Torah values and modern values.

But without even mentioning feminism yet, it is noteworthy that the very Torah lifestyle is prescriptive and restrictive in nature, which is true whether the adherent is a man or a woman. Both men and women who are observant find themselves with obligations that they may feel contradict their personal desires in a number of ways. A Jewish man is required to wake up every morning for the rest of his life to pray with a minyan. While he’s at work (if he works) he is required to drop everything in the middle of the day and daven Mincha. When he gets home from work, when he may be tired and seeking the security of his family and home, is required to once again leave his safe circle and daven Ma’ariv. Even on Friday mornings, which in Israel is not customarily a work day, on the only day that he is not susceptible to the daily run-of-the-mill and he can theoretically sleep in, he is required to wake up in the morning as on any other day. In most cases it is ideal or even obligatory for him not to eat until he returns from the prayer service, which can take up to an hour. If he is a working man, he may pray on the train and then hurriedly eat a small breakfast at work before starting his day.

Temporarily setting aside other requirements placed upon a religious man, it is clear that the scenario described above may prove difficult for many a man. However, while one may certainly perceive this as a conflict between Torah and modern values, we do not imagine that he has any right to reject it on the grounds that it simply doesn’t suit him. Many men struggle and fail repeatedly in this area, which is nevertheless entirely different than casting it off due to inconvenience or to some imagined concept of entitlement or immunity from it.

We can understand a religious woman’s struggle in light of the description above. A Jewish woman has her own set of day-to-day difficulties, many in response to obligations placed upon her either by Halacha or Minhag. I have heard several married Jewish women speak of the difficulties and discomfort of keeping their hair covered at all times in public and of abiding by regulations of modest attire. Their arguments are often not frivolous or trivial, but express a genuine difficulty from either a practical or ideological perspective, or both. I can empathize because I myself have my own issues with certain obligations that I have.

Ideological Struggle

The issue begins when we add the fire of ideological motivation into the equation. I have heard several feministically-inclined religious women express their revulsion that a man has the nerve to dictate the Halacha for them. When a woman assumes that she is free from Halachic obligations only on the grounds that the people who legislate Halacha are men, she is in fact simply saying that she does not care what the Halacha says. It is no different whether I as a man reject Halacha or whether a woman does. I can certainly make the case that the rabbi’s cannot fully comprehend or appreciate the difficulties that I experience as a working, religious man. It makes no difference that we are the same sex, because aside from that similarity our lifestyles are completely different. In fact, many men who struggle with their observance to the point where they discard it often make this very argument – the goals of Judaism do not line up with my own. In religious circles we have a term for that, it’s called “going off the derech”.

Could we imagine, for a moment, if the shoe was on the other foot? Could we imagine a parallel universe in which women were the rabbi's, and a women gave me a psak to daven three times a day and that women are only required to daven once a day? Would I have the right, or would it be sensible for me, to disqualify her psak on the grounds that she was a woman? If women were the leading religious authorities, then their gender is completely irrelevant to the power vested in them to generate Halachic legislation.

A married Jewish man expects his wife to be committed as he is to a lifestyle that they have each chosen, just as a married Jewish woman expects from her husband. It cannot work if one commits to this lifestyle while the other does not.

At the end of the day one must make a choice, whether man or woman, of whether to find the best optimal solution in light of a lifestyle that comes with obligations, knowing full well that part of the territory is occasional failure, or to simply reject that lifestyle.
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