Monday, December 24,
2018
Note to Grandpa Alan:
The world is a very crowded place, which guarantees the appearance of almost
every conceivable brand of nutsiness and craziness. However, a few items
that I noticed recently show a disturbing similarity.
First, we have the first black woman to serve as American University’s
student body president successfully suing several on-line harassers. One
of the bullies has agreed to apologize, renounce white supremacy, undergo
counseling and help civil rights groups fight hate and bigotry. He
is currently 22-years old.
Then, we have a couple who named their child after Adolf Hitler,
who have been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison after they were
convicted of being members of a banned neo-Nazi group that had sought to start
a race war in Britain. Pop is 22, Mom is 38.
Finally, we have the
matter of a male college baseball player tweeting about Little League World Series star Mo'ne Davis, an
African-American, the first girl to earn a win and to pitch a
shutout in Little League World Series history. Her singular
accomplishment earned her the title of "slut" from this college
junior.
Aren't our bigots
supposed to be grizzled old men needing dental work? Shouldn't our young
people, benefiting from modern education and creature comforts, be tolerant,
accepting and understanding of differences? Or, should we scrap the idea
that the the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice, a
phrase associated with Martin Luther King, Jr., and instead simply substitute
hard work, because we are the only ones responsible for our fate?
. . .
The Sunday real
estate section has an interesting compilation of interurban movement under the
headline "Which Cities Are People Leaving --- and Where Are They
Going?" https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/20/realestate/which-cities-are-people-leaving-and-where-are-they-going.html
In sum, people are
leaving expensive cities for less expensive cities. Outflow is greatest
from San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, while inflow is greatest to
Sacramento, Atlanta and Phoenix. If only we could choose which of our
neighbors should be on the next bus leaving town.
. . .
. . .
Not everyone is
moving, as I noted last week. Rather, we have developed a breed of
stay-at-homes who curse their fate, curse their benefactor and support policies
that (and policy makers who) make their lives (and ours) more difficult. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/21/business/economy/harlan-county-republican-welfare.html
(Discuss. Write
on one side of the paper in pen only. 20 minutes.)
. . .
. . .
Last week, I also
mentioned race-blind theatrical casting in a somewhat dismissive fashion, which
does not befit the complexity or seriousness of the issue. Actors chose
what seems to be a rotten career, if measured in terms of conventional success
-- money, status, security. One source reports that the 63,800 employed
actors have a median hourly wage of $18.70, the lowest 10% earned less than
$9.39, and the highest 10% earned more than $100.00. https://collegegrad.com/careers/actors#outlook
I am unable to find a
count of self-identified actors or what percentage of the whole are working as
actors. Anecdotal evidence leads one to believe that actors/waiters/Uber
drivers have concatenated into one job category. There is authoritative
data on black vs. white unemployment, however, roughly twice the former to the
latter, even as both approach record lows. https://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cpsee_e16.htm
So, who should be cast
as the friendly folks next door on the new situation comedy that I am unlikely
to watch? Were we a race-blind society, it wouldn't matter. But,
race-blind is not the American way and, in the past, was often considered quite
un-American. When Chief Justice John Roberts stated that “[t]he way to
stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discrimination on the basis
of race,” he seems to have forgotten most of what he learned as a history major
at Harvard. Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle
School District No. 1, 551 US 701 (2007).
It is the burden of
history that bends our view of race in America as a prism bends white light
into its component colors. Should what we see on the stage or screen
mirror our "normal" experiences or expectations, probably monochromatic
couples and families? I find a parallel with our historic immigration
policy. The Immigration Act of 1924 enshrined the National Origins
Formula, introduced during WWI, which established immigration quotas on the
basis of preexisting proportions of the population, the goal to preserve the
Protestant, Northwestern European ethnic character of the country. For
the majority of Americans subsequently (not living in the immediate vicinity of
13 Essex Street), their new neighbors looked, acted, spoke and worshiped very
much as they did.
How far removed may
our culture be from our daily lives? "Guess Who's Coming to
Dinner" was released in 1967, almost simultaneous with the United States
Supreme Court decision in Loving v. Virginia, 388 US 1 (1967), striking
down all state laws banning interracial marriage. So, I have no
conclusion. The logical part of me reaches for a formula -- Jackie
Robinson was black and Harry Truman was white and they should be portrayed as
such. But, what of Oscar and Felix, Cagney and Lacey, Batman and Robin,
Amos and Andy (!!), Archie and Veronica?
Tuesday, December 25,
2018
We spent the last two
days visiting the second and third generations in Massachusetts, returning
today with #2 grandson in tow. What I learned on the ride home is that
the owners of roadside diners of Connecticut are either more devout or kinder
to their employees than I imagined. Not a one was open as we sought a
lunch break. Even the large Blue Colony Diner, Newtown, exit 10 on I-84,
usually open 24/7, was closed. I wasn't the only one surprised by this;
while we sat in the parking lot considering non-existent alternatives, car
after car pulled in seeking sustenance. Had I known this, I might have
set up a charcoal grill with hot dogs and hamburgers to offer a quick fix.
Instead, we pushed on
to the Holy Land, very hungry when we arrived at 3 PM. Choosing between
Chinatown and Curry Hill as likely havens for heathens, we went to DB Dhaba,
108 Lexington Avenue, a reliable favorite for Indian food, and found that South
Asians are as likely as Jews to go out to eat on Christmas Day. A good
time was had by all, especially our 8-year old guest, who ate his Chole Punjabi
(curried chickpeas), Basmati rice and 4 pieces of naan as if he were
auditioning for a remake of "Gunga Din." For another
perspective on this general topic, read "Nothing Is More American Than
Chinese Food on Christmas."
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/25/opinion/christmas-chinese-food.html
Wednesday, December
26, 2018
In high
grandparent-entertaining-mode, we took our Harry Potter-obsessed guest to the
very impressive Harry Potter exhibit at the New-York Historical Society.
Even with his expert guidance and insights, it was all Hogwarts to me.
. . .
. . .
I've tried to avoid
year-end best-of lists, which are designed to embarrass us ordinary folks
without a lot of time on our hands to sample the culinary/cultural/cocktail
landscape, but I'll share the Best Crime Novels of 2018.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/21/books/review/best-crime-fiction.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/21/books/review/best-crime-fiction.html
Friday, December 28,
2018
The
New York Times
offers a not-entirely sorrowful look at those we have lost this year.
In
addition, Amos Oz, one of Israel greatest writers, died this morning. He
wrote: "I like being Israeli. I like being a citizen of a country where
there are eight and a half million prime ministers, eight and a half million
prophets, eight and a half million messiahs. Each of us has our own personal
formula for redemption, or at least for a solution. Everyone shouts, and few
listen. It’s never boring here."
We should also mourn
the intangibles, the values, standards, dignity and honor that have been washed
away in the acid bath of the present administration. Admittedly, they
were hard to achieve and nearly impossible to maintain day-to-day, but most of
us, regardless of other differences, recognized their importance to our society.
This afternoon, I
received a little boost of encouragement. Shopping at Fairway Market,
2127 Broadway, I rounded a corner and ran into Jerrold Nadler, Democratic
Congressman from this district, the next chair of the House Judiciary
Committee. Jerry, who went to Stuyvesant High School before settling for
Columbia University instead of CCNY, knows how to spell subpoena, but this
afternoon he was shopping at Fairway, as I have seen him do many times in the
past. Standing patiently in line, just like you and me, insulting no
one. He was accompanied by a tall, silent, broad-shouldered man who did
not seem to be scanning the shelves for a bargain.
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