Culture/Society
Look, white people, just don’t touch African American culture in any way, shape, or form. Just don’t. It’s not going to end well for you, no matter how benign your usage of black tropes are. Take it from poet Anders Carlson-Wee, who employed black vernacular in a poem and has had his reputation trashed for it.
If there was ever any doubt about the intentions of Sacha Baron Cohen’s Who is America?, Sunday night’s episode settles it. Three out of the four segments in tonight’s episode of the Showtime series mocked conservatives while none mocked liberals.
New York Times' Alice Hines has blessed us with “The Ultimate List of Cool Happenings -- Man-free zones, a Native gathering, a leather weekend, witch camps, a trans pageant and music and dance events.” The full-page article was radically counterculture even for the Times -- so far left that segregating by race and sex, reviled in all other contexts, became totally “cool” again. “A gathering for non-binary Native Americans, and perhaps most “problematic” (to coin a phrase): “Sweden’s inaugural 'man-free' music festival.”
The entertainment media industry recently revealed the Emmy nominations for 2018. Of course, it came packaged with all the fanfare and excitement that they assume Americans are famished for – even though viewers are probably still reeling from all the liberal hypocrisy and self-preening celebrity antics from the last awards show.
One might expect Jerry Seinfeld's latest edition of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, "2018: Freshly Brewed," on Netflix to get political, since comedians just can't seem to help themselves right now in jumping on the Trump bashing train, so I was pleasantly surprised to find the focus on funny instead of on politics. In fact, when guests tried to get political, Seinfeld quickly shut them down, or - shock - they talked about liberal intolerance!
Amid all the raging political headlines and hyperventilating tweets of the Summer of Resistance, a searing ember of news stopped me in my tracks this week. Jahi McMath has passed away. I never had a chance to meet the young California teen, but her fight for life gripped me three years ago and was never far from my mind or heart -- especially as my own daughter, the same age as Jahi, battled her own health crisis.
Monday on FNC's Tucker Carlson Tonight, a former liberal who started a campaign to help disenfranchised liberals leave the Democratic Party appeared as a special guest. Brandon Straka was a member of the Democratic Party, even voting for Hillary in 2016. However, Staka explained that even before the election he started to have some misgivings about the direction the left was taking. He disagreed with the focus on identity politics, as well as political correctness.
A Friday article from NPR drew attention to three teenaged artists, whose politically-charged work were recently featured at the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Education. L.A. Johnson detailed how a non-profit organization chose the creative activists as part of an exhibit that "gathered the work of student artists" on the subjects of "empathy, tolerance and acceptance." Johnson interviewed the three artists on their "queer" poetry, "androgynous" painting, and portraits memorializing victims of police violence.
On Thursday, CNN.com's Hunter Schwarz spotlighted the recent victory of Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and underlined that the left-wing congressional candidate's electoral win could be a sign that future millennial politicians "might include Democratic socialism" in their platforms. Schwarz pointed out that "for many cash-strapped millennials in debt, Democratic socialism isn't radical, it's a way to fix a system they believe failed them." The journalist also cited a two-year-old poll that found that "Millennials are OK with socialism."
Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale is becoming more bizarre by the episode, but this week is probably the peak of silliness this season. After child brides, whipping women, and denouncing campus speakers, season two now proudly presents us with voice of the Resistance, Oprah Winfrey. Houston, I think we’ve jumped the shark.
As a longtime resident of Virginia, I am well aware of its sordid history when it comes to slavery, racism and discrimination. I can still remember "colored only" restrooms, water fountains, poll taxes and African Americans forced to ride in the back of the bus. Virginia public schools in the 1950s were mostly segregated, as they had been since first established in 1870.
NewsBusters has documented some of the initial reaction to Justice Kennedy's retirement, but it continued hours later with CNN legal analysts Laura Coates and Jeffrey Toobin on The Lead. The pair warned that “more progressive-minded notions and ones that, frankly, are in line with our democratic principles” are at stake with Kennedy gone with gay people likely to face discrimination and being banned from bakeries, hotel rooms, and restaurants under the name of religious liberty.