King's Hearing Promotes Hate, Undermines Homeland Security

“We need to conduct a thorough, fair analysis and do no harm. The approach of today’s hearing, unfortunately, does not meet these standards.

Today’s hearing is entitled, “The extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community’s response.”

It is true that specific individuals, including some who are Muslims, are violent extremists. However, these are individuals – but not entire communities. Individuals like Anwar Al-Aulaqi, Faisel Shazad, and Nidal Hasan do not represent the Muslim American community. When their violent actions are associated with an entire community, then blame is assigned to a whole group. This is the very heart of stereotyping and scapegoating, which is counter-productive.

This point is at the heart of my testimony today. Ascribing the evil acts of a few individuals to an entire community is wrong; it is ineffective; and it risks making our country less secure.”

Minnesota representative Keith Ellison articulated the problem with the approach the House of Representatives is taking in addressing perceived areas of homeland security in his testimony at the House’s Homeland Security Committee’s March 10th hearing, “The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community’s Response.”

The committee is chaired by representative Peter King and the hearing focused exclusively on Islamic extremism and the threat Islam poses to the United States. Rather than look at new solutions to improving homeland security, King’s hearing paraded witness after witness and drummed up the same type of destructive, divisive rhetoric seen in Samuel Huntington’s “clash of civilizations.” Although King’s stated intentions of this first hearing in the series were to examine Al Qaeda’s targeted recruitment of American Muslims, none of the testimony actually addressed this.

Ellison is exactly correct in his assessment of these hearings. Placing blame on an entire community for the actions of very few individuals does not help solve any problems. And this blame is not applied to all communities uniformly when one individual characterized in a certain manner happens to act violently. Stereotyping serves to only further alienate an important part of the American population, and an approach such as King’s might in fact serve Al Qaeda and other extremist groups’ interests in the United States.

And this is a serious problem. Of all the testimony of the course of the several hours that the hearing lasted, only Ellison, Laura Richardson, and Sheila Jackson Lee actually spoke out about the counterproductive and discriminatory nature of this hearing. Why are they standing alone while 3 million Americans are reduced to nothing more than one aspect of their identity and held accountable for actions perpetrated by a miniscule minority?

As Richardson writes in a letter imploring King to cease such discriminatory hearings, “Our concern is that holding a hearing targeting this community, will have the unintended consequences of breeding alienation and fostering feelings of resentment. As a result, we risk hindering law enforcement’s efforts to detect, deter, or prevent potential threats that hide themselves within these communities.”

GTA Goes Back in Time

In light of the demonstrations that are taking place across Iran, understanding victims and oppressors is crucial in determining how to address and make sense of such complex issues. Navid Khonsari, creator of the Grand Theft Auto video games, is developing a new game for the market that he believes will help its players to understand all of the complexities of an issue. “I came to realize that there’s a number of different sides to a story,” Khonsari said, “and this aspect, if introduced in a game, could kind of revolutionize how we play games.” For Khonsari, situations are always more complex than the traditional good guy vs. bad guy dichotomy. “It’s not a matter of bad guys going after good guys or good guys going after bad guys…these are all different stories and to be able to actually convey that and let people interact as those players I thought would just open up this entire genre of gaming.”

Khonsari’s game does not just create any scenario in which players can interact. His game is “1979 – The Game.” Aside from the obvious fact that this is a controversial move to say the least, Khosari hopes that players can interact with and understand a multifaceted issue. While there are a wide range of characters and storylines to play, Khonsari is also taking huge risks in the creation of such a game.

Although his description of helping players learn to understand the greater complexities behind the “victim/oppressor” dichotomy are noble, he runs the risk that this message is lost. One can only theorize as to the effectiveness of his message, as no game-play videos or other visual and audio information exist for the game. If “1979 – The Game” is anything like Rockstar’s GTA franchise, then the game’s narrative will be grounded in violence and the storyline would advance based upon the player committing criminally violent acts. If Khonsari’s project really does follow this same model even with its multiple storylines and characters from which to select, he runs the risk of his message of exposing players to different perspectives to yet another caricature of angry, anti-American terrorists, etc. Such a stereotype is something with which Khonsari, as an Iranian-American himself, is surely intimately familiar.

I still question the wisdom of using such an event as the story and setting for a video game (intended for players over 18), but I hope that his intended message of exposing players to and helping them understand perspectives different from their own is well conveyed and received. However, until the game is actually released, I remain extremely skeptical of the effectiveness of Khonsari’s concept in doing anything other than reinforcing destructive stereotypes.

Hate Where Everyone Can See It

Recently, a billboard in Grand Junction, Colorado, became noticed by a larger audience. The billboard features offensive caricatures of Barack Obama and encourages its viewer to vote “DemocRAT.” David Williams of Real Aspen describes the billboard:

…The billboard depicts “President Barack Obama as a terrorist, a gangster, a Mexican bandit and a gay man. The four ‘Obamas’ [are] sitting around a table with playing cards showing only sixes bunched in groups of three.

“Also on the table is a copy of the Declaration of Independence, a liberty bell, a toy soldier and a statue of Justice holding a balance.

“Beneath the Obama caricatures are numerous rats, some of which are labeled as the IRS, trial lawyers, the EPA and the Fed. Sitting above all that is a line, ‘Vote DemocRAT. Join the game,’ which is positioned between two vultures, one of which is labeled the U.N. and the other with the name Soros, a reference to George Soros, a major national Democratic financial supporter.”

It is clear from the illustrated scene that the billboard is a racist and homophobic commentary on Barack Obama, personally, and his administration’s leadership. While I am not questioning the rights of the artist or the unnamed group that paid him to display these hateful images, but rather the dangerous attitude that allows for this type of representation and bigotry towards many different groups. While criticizing a leader is perfectly acceptable, the criticism should be directed towards things other than the leader’s race, religion, or sexual orientation. Criticism of policies is very different than a racist and hateful caricature and the latter should not be accepted as a legitimate piece of discussion about the first.

Op-Ed: R E S P E C T

Is anybody else sick of Michelle Obama being judged day to day on her appearance, fashion, arms, and nothing more? What about the fact that she is an extremely intelligent, capable, successful, driven woman who has a lot more to contribute to the world aside from being somebody's wife? It's disgusting that already society has tried to define and contain her sphere of influence to the realm of women's fashion, as if to say that a woman cannot be beautiful, a mother, or an intellectual all at the same time. This is ridiculous. She's the First Lady, and the first black First Lady. Get over it and let her define herself and what she wants her role and influence to be.

Upon winning his Oscar for best leading actor in 1964 (the first black American to do so for a leading role), Sidney Poitier had this to say when confronted with all the media hype about what this win in particular meant to him: "I am artist, man, American, contemporary. I am an awful lot of things, so I wish you would pay me the respect due."

So please, America, pay Michelle Obama the respect she's due, too.

~J-Mad


*Not that by acknowledging a blog post as an op-ed piece is too different than what the blog format is all about in the first place, but I just thought I'd make it clear exactly what's going on here. This post is a little different than most other, headline-driven blog posts but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless.

Busta Rhymes Busts His Brain

Busta Rhymes bust a few too many this time with his video "Arab Money." While BET has been playing the video, Busta Rhymes pulled it from play after controversy surrounding it.

The video is here:


Muslims and Arabs in the USA and the UK called for the video to be pulled due to the song's wrong (and racist) characterization of the Middle East, Arab culture, and using Islamic verses from the Quoran in a derogatory manner.

So, Dubai-based rapper The Narcicyst put out a song, "Real Arab Money," in reply to Busta Rhymes' video.

Check it out here:


Although this article reports that after Narcicyst released his song, Busta Rhymes contacted him apologizing for the video and stating that he would take the necessary steps to correct the action.

As Billy Johnson, Jr. of Hip-Hop Media Training writes,

So what prompted the re-release?

Has Busta done enough damage control and effectively communicated to the Arab and Muslim communities the message that there was no disrespect intended with the track and has since received their blessing to fully distribute the video?

Did Busta just let the controversy calm enough so that he could take full advantage of an otherwise great, graphics-enhanced video with arguably more A-list cameos than any other video of the past year? Are the multiple remixes with Diddy, Bow Wow, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana, Akon, T-Pan, Swizz Beatz, Ron Browz, Lil' Wayne, etc. too good to toss, controversy or not?

Or has Busta just received enough support from fans who understand that he meant no ill will and was merely doing the ultimate hip-hop metaphor, bragging and boasting about experiencing all things lavish?

While I agree with Narcicyst about Busta's video, I guess it's nice that at least some segment of the American culture is for some portion of the Middle East, calling it "cool" and glorifying it, however terribly it's being done.

But that just leads us to what is "Cool"...

"The Cool" from Lupe Fiasco's album...

"The Cool is the physical manifestation of History's debt to humanity. Payback for every user abused and every family torn apart by History, The Cool walks amongst the living as a zombie. “He” – that term used lightly, considering The Cool isn't human – reeks of death, an ironic contrast to his polished three-piece-suit appearance. Searching for his purpose, The Cool haunts The Streets."

Headlines, 9-25-08

"Obama calls on McCain to keep Friday Debate Date," LA Times.

Either McCain has the worst campaign manager ever or he is afraid to debate Barack Obama or he truly wants to lose the election. Or, all of the above.

"NYPD investigates two officers in Taser death of naked Brooklyn man," Daily News.

The NYPD lieutenant who ordered the second officer to Taser Inman Morelas was stripped of his badge and gun and assigned to desk duty. Yet another example of persistant problems with NYPD officers' aggression towards minorities.

"Energy Drinks can cause caffine intoxication," LA Times.

Lay off the caffine. From the LA Times, "Caffeine intoxication is a recognized clinical syndrome. It is described as nervousness, anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, gastrointestinal upset, tremors, rapid heartbeat, restlessness and pacing. In rare cases, caffeine intoxication can cause death."

"Judge Orders Mistrial in P2P Piracy Case," PCMag.com.

From PCMAg.com, "Jammie Thomas, who was ordered to pay $222,000 to a group of music labels for allegedly pirating songs using the Kazaa peer-to-peer service, has been granted a new trial...The key word and definition was 'distribution,' which both the labels and Thomas' lawyers disputed. Both sides agreed that the only copying of files in the case was by MediaSentry, a firm hired by the labels to seek out pirates. The lawyers for Thomas had argued that a copyright holder or its agent, MediaSentry, can not infringe its own copyright."

"Johnny Depp Signs on to bring back Captain Jack in 'Pirates 4,'" MTV.

Oh, please. Give it a rest. The man is 45 years old and his most famous role is a pirate with make-up and the movie is based off of a roller coaster. Time to move on.

Veiled Racism abord the "Straighttalk" Express

New York Governor David Paterson today gave a statement at a business conference in which he states that the McCain campaign is using the term "community organizer" as a shield for their veiled racism against Barack Obama.

As stated by Governor Paterson, "I think the Republican Party is too smart to call Barack Obama 'black' in a sense that it would be a negative. But you can take something about his life, which I noticed they did at the Republican Convention – a 'community organizer.' They kept saying it, they kept laughing."

For the video, please see below.



Matt Damon gave an interview with the Associated Press that also critiques the McCain/Palin campaign. He compared it to a "really bad Disney movie" and stated that "...this [McCain/Palin campaign] is absurd...I want to know if she really thinks dinosaurs were around 4,000 years ago...because she will have the nuclear codes...I want to know if she banned books or tried to ban books because we can't have this."

911 is a Joke

Lose your arms and legs to them, it's compilation
I can prove it to you, watch the rotation
It all adds up to a funky situation
So get up, get get down
911 is a joke in your town
~"911 is a Joke," Public Enemy, Fear of a Black Planet, 1990

Since Flava Flav of Public Enemy cackled these words over a decade ago, the emergency services in New York City have only proven him correct. During the racial tensions of the 1990s, there were several instances of attacks on black Americans, especially black males. However, while many would hope that the situation has improved since then, today is yet another stunning example of the lack of progress made and the lack of accountability for institutions that perpetuate racism.

Today, Justice Arthur Cooperman delivered the verdict that the three NYPD detectives who shot the unarmed, 23 year old Sean Bell on his wedding day were to be acquitted of all charges. However, instead of murder charges, the most serious charge facing Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora and Marc Cooper was the manslaughter charge facing Isnora and Oliver.

While some may think that even though it is extremely suspicious for three police officers to shoot a man 50 times and believe that this is an isolated incident, the history of race-related killings by the NYPD proves otherwise, as the Associated Press reports:

In 1999, NYPD officers killed Amadou Diallo, an unarmed West African immigrant who was shot 19 times in the entry to his apartment building.

The four officers in that case were acquitted of criminal charges. In 2003, Ousmane Zongo, 43, a native of the western African country of Burkina Faso, was killed during a police raid on a warehouse where he repaired art and musical instruments. Zongo was shot four times, twice in the back.

If progress really has been made by this country in its race relations, the NYPD should step forward to condemn these detectives and take its role seriously, instead of joking around with the lives of innocent Americans, like Sean Bell.