Misery at St. Anna

by Theloniousjay

Spike Lee is a master of his craft and one of the great storytellers of African-American experience. Yet, even the great ones catch an L sometimes.

Lee’s public spat with Clint Eastwood over the absence of African-Americans from his much-celebrated war dramas was the biggest promotional device for Miracle at St. Anna. Regardless of which side of the argument one fell on, expectations for Miracle were high, especially after taking on a so-called god of the industry. Justified as his beef is however (though I would argue less with Eastwood than with the Hollywood way in particular), I had a nagging suspicion that whatever Miracle would be, it wouldn’t be on a plane with other war epics – for better or for worse.

The sour relationship between Lee and the Hollywood guard is no secret, so when I read a Variety review of the film’s bow at Toronto, I figured that others might follow suit.  That particular reviewer seemed to take a bizarre pleasure in using the word ‘nigger’ in his assessment, although there is neither rampant usage of the epithet in the film nor is it one long ‘blame whitey’ tirade. Several other reviews I noticed, from traditional newspapers to black entertainment blogs all seemed to have their penknives drawn as well. How bad could it be?

It’s pretty bad.

Viewers assume that the characters they are meant to care about are the four men we follow in the Buffalo Soldiers regiment. However, there is less effort spent developing them than on the gaggle of Italian supporting characters they meet in the Tuscan countryside. Only in snippets of poorly-written dialogue are the soldiers’ feelings about their involvement in the war made evident. Conversely, the story of Angelo, the lad whom the soldiers encounter along the war path and who certainly plays a crucial role in the final moments, gets full treatment. Add this to the stories of two sparring Italian Partisans, father-daughter tensions, and general Nazi mania and you have a recipe for a disorienting narrative progression. And even as someone who doesn’t frequent many war flicks, there isn’t enough action to hold you through 160 minutes.

I actually don’t have that much of a gripe with the lack of, as the soldiers put it, ‘boom boom.’ American war epics have never been attractive to me, partly because I know as an historian that black contributions to every American conflict since the Revolutionary War (what up, Crispus Attucks!) have been overlooked. Additionally, my own taste for drama in films skews toward subtle, psychological thrills and less so pyrotechnics. But, especially as the sculpted head that plays talisman to the narrative is the result of a battle at Florence, more combat scenes would have grounded the film and solidified its place in the war film canon.

What excited me about Miracle, despite its letdowns in other areas, was its ability to present a brand new perspective on familiar events without simply being a black Patton. Through the film, you can see hints of the soldiers’ frustration with a country that denies them freedom in spite of their having fought and died to grant it to others. Especially in an Obama year, any reminder of past struggles serves as a tool to advance and evolve the black American narrative. Even with the difficulties Lee faced in finding funding for the film, I’m sure other black filmmakers will meet the challenge to bring the myriad other stories to light.

The film’s greatest accomplishment, then, is in its ability to inspire viewers to extract their own significance from it – but unfortunately, that’s the only one. You could read the Wikipedia entry for that.

Financial Crisis Blamed on Minorities

by Zohra N.

Anyone who has their senses about them should know that redlining, defined best as a working form of institutional racism, was never good for America. (You can read the history of redlining here). In 1977, an act known as the  Community Reinvestment Act  was passed in attempt to allow for access to affordable housing. When Bill Clinton was president, his administration revised the act. Now that Act:

1. requires strict numerical assessments to get a satisfactory CRA rating;
2. uses federal home-loan data broken down by neighborhood, income group,
3. encourages community groups to complain when banks do not loan enough to specified neighborhood, income group, and race
4. allows community groups that market loans to targeted groups to collect a fee from the banks

Note that nowehere do the provisions ask for individuals with bad credit to receive mortgages. CRA calls for every creditworthy American to have access to affordable housing; that they have an equal opportunity to secure a mortgage.

Meet, from Minnesota, Rep Michele Bachmann, who I cannot stand and who the local indy media has likened to our very own Sarah Palin. Bachmann had this to say during a House Financial Services Committee hearing:

[President Bill Clinton] turned the two quasi-private, mortgage-funding firms into a semi-nationalized monopoly that dispensed cash to markets, made loans to large Democrat voting blocs and handed favors, jobs and money to political allies. This potential mix led inevitably to corruption and the Fannie-Freddie collapse.”

Loans started being made on the basis of race, and often little else.

One of our Afropundits, Beve had this to say:

Funny, I didn’t know blacks and minorities carried that much weight–enough to bring the largest economy in the world to its knees.

Below is a statement from the Congressional Black Caucus:

We write as members of the Congressional Black Caucus asking that you clarify your caucus position on minority lending being the cause of the current financial crisis … There is no evidence to support Rep. Bachmann’s assertion that “minorities” caused the current financial crisis. Laws designed to open opportunities for equal access to credit does not require banks or thrifts to make loans that are unsafe or unprofitable. In fact, laws like the CRA mandate exactly the opposite. The law stipulates that CRA lending activities must be done consistent with safe and sound banking practices. Additionally, research clearly shows that the majority of the predatory loans that have led us to this financial mess were originated by non-bank financial institutions and other entities that did NOT have a CRA obligation and lacked strong federal regulatory oversight. Shifting the blame for the current economic crisis to laws that allow equal access and opportunity to communities of color is ridiculous.

Bachmann should know that, save for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the banks that have gone under, or in the process of going bankrupt are not subject to CRA regulations. Read here.

Finally, if you get a chance, and would like to read in detail about housing in America, check out a great book: Capital and Communities in Black and White: The Intersections of Race, Class and Uneven Development by Gregory Squires. The book is a great insight on global and US economic disparities.

Chris Matthews

Wow. Did Chris Matthews really just ask if Obama was un-ethnic? Yes! He did. So I guess the implication here is that all black men act like Flava Flay.  Can you believe it kids!? He didn’t even use ebonics! A+! This reminds me of how all the pundits and bloggers are asking “why is Obama so cool, why doesn’t he get angry!” I think Eugene Robinson’s answer in the above clip pretty much answers that question. That is, Obama has to come across as the “least aggreieved black person in America”. There is a stereotype of the “Angry Black Male” that is pervasive. He can’t once, loose his cool. I think most minorites (well black folks at least) understand this.  But the punditry is mostly white, and they do not. But I garuntee if Obama start flailing his hands and getting in McCain’s face it would be a game changer. Just look at McCain’s debate perforemces. If Obama had done what McCain did, he would be minced meat. There is an invisible double standard that he must tread. Well maybe not so invisible to some.

~Beve

Post Debate Post

by Beve

Ok so I kinda sucked at liveblogging. My eyes were glued to the tv! Sorry Rudy, I think I deleted your comment. (Feel free to comment on this post though!).

A couple points:

1. McCain saying Obama “doesn’t understand” and calling him “naive” didn’t work and here’s why. Obama is smart. He’s been called professorial and long winded (b/c he has so much detail).  These are not traits of a dumb person who “doesn’t understand”.
2. I think an interesting post debate story is how all the pundits seemed to call it for McCain and yet when the instant polls came out–one from Fox News (!), and CBS and CNN mostly of independent voters they overwhelming thought Obama won–like by a lot. Seems as Nate Silver points out, McCain did well with reports because that was his intendend audience while Obama reached out to the people at home.

Another Condi in Obama’s Administration?

by Beve

If Obama wins, who will be his Secretary of State? Susan Rice? I say “another Condi” cause Rice and haha, look at that Rice, are similar in only their gender and race..oh and their last name. Another black woman as Sec of State? Probably not, but at least we can bet she won’t be an enabler to war.

WAMU Foretelling?

By Beve

The most interesting thing a/b the WAMU failure: looking back at their commercials with a new set of eyes. RIP WAMU.

Hey, will I still have Free checking?? I HATE Chase by the way.

Are You a WalMart Mom or Shopper?

by Zorah N

The WSJ reports that Walmart, through independent pollsters, has polled its shoppers, mostly women, mostly “uneducated”, mostly blue-collar women.

Wal-Mart’s customer poll found that Wal-Mart women were slightly more likely to support Sen. John McCain in Ohio and Florida, and Sen. Barack Obama in Virginia, Nevada and Colorado, though only a few percentage points separated preferences in each state.

What is funny (and not ha-ha) about Walmart is that they are not really the best advocates for blue collar workers. With their dismal history on healthcare coverage and wages for its employees, Walmart is the last . Reminds me of this one party the Republican Party, who pretend to care for the rights of the people in the pretext as Rudy says in the post below, : whatever is good for business is good for the people. More from WSJ:

But as Wal-Mart Women take center stage in this year’s race for the blue-collar vote — and the economic slowdown makes Wal-Mart’s fixation on low prices fashionable with growing numbers of Americans — the criticism has quieted, a shift that is boosting the company’s efforts to burnish its image.

Let’s not forget who Walmart is, although they would like you to know that they have your interests at heart:

With more Americans turning to Wal-Mart for essentials such as food, health care and gasoline, candidates run a risk of alienating voters by assailing the company, said Neil Newhouse, a partner with the Republican polling firm Public Opinion Strategies. The firm coined the term Wal-Mart Women a year ago to categorize the voting bloc expected to be this season’s equivalent of the soccer moms of 1996 and Nascar dads of 2004. It found in a poll this month that nearly a third of expected voters now shopped at Wal-Mart. “You’re not going to bash a place that 30% of likely voters go to on a weekly basis,” Mr. Newhouse said. “It doesn’t make political sense.”

It is interesting to note that in the past year, Walmart has given more money to Dems than to the GOP (quite uncharacteristic), this according to WSJ. However, I remember during the primaries, some Walmart administrators were asking their employers to vote against the Republicans. (they are fearful that a Dem win would favor workers unionizing).

Unions or not, Walmart should realize that save for its CEO bonuses and such, the middle class, and Walmart thrive best in a Dem government.

The rest of the WSJ article here.

Interested in watching Walmart, during the elections and after? Visit this Wal*MartWatch.

Election Ramble

by Rudolph

Man, this election is getting ridiculous.

Between snow machines, increasing foreclosures, right-wing Christians, “red-neck” baby daddies, economic collapses, and postponed debates (I didn’t know you could do that!). What’s next?

All this is happening while this country is at such a critical time. We are no longer the supreme empire that we once were—we are now teetering on the edge of third world status.

I don’t say that to add to the paranoia around the condition of our country, but rather, to encourage urgency in everybody, not only in our elected officials, but in ourselves. We can no longer believe that a free market will work for us. It never has, and it never will. Fortunately, while republicans have long stood by their belief that whatever is good for business is good for the people, they are now seriously retrenching and seeing the benefit of regulation. Unfortunately, we need bailouts in not only the financial sector, but also in the inner-ciy, in the classroom, in the hospital, and in the home.

With all that said, I believe that with every crisis, there is opportunity. We have an opportunity to get engaged in what’s going on, vote for someone responsible, and encourage our elected officials to think in a nuanced way about the economy, foreign policy, and the serious issues happening in our community.

Let’s be responsible in November.

Sidenote: I’m watching CNN and they’re showing clips of poor Senator McCain running around the capitol trying to find something to do while Congress was finishing up an increasingly urgent bailout. Meanwhile, Obama is so graciously holding himself back from blaming the man for holding everybody back, and Palin is looking like a blithering idiot with Katie Couric. Also, Wamu just failed.

Bailout Analogies

by Beve

Here’s mine: an heir or heiress crashes his/her brand new Aston Martin and after consulting with mom and dad and promising that he/she will never, ever, ever do it again……gets a new on that weekend.

or….

An episode of Mad Men (which is a great show!) where “Peggy” goes to work and finds her things have been stolen out of her work locker.  However, instead of finding out who the culprits are or even doing anything about securing the locker, management fire the custodians who were on duty that night. Its pretty deep because they were black so of course they had to be involved in the thievery. But the audience knows that it was at the annual staff Christmas Party that her locker was broken in by mid-level staff.  What were they after? A some liquor for the par-tay of course.

The Cookout Vote

By Beve

For all the talk about hockey moms and working class, (another euphimism for white independents) it would be funny if Barack Obama wins this election because of the black vote. That is, if black people show upt to vote at 90-95% of the total black vote. I think that would be significant enough in some states (like North Carolina) to tip the scales.