I wonder if 15 years from now we’d look back on XML and say the same things…why do we have an “all”?

How does shouting down to stop the conversation of the healthcare debate at town hall meetings, endears them to anyone. Especially when the organizations that are telling them where to go and what to do and say are Republicans political operatives, not real grassroots. How does shouting someone down or chasing them out like a lynch mob advanced the debate, it does not. So I think the American people will see through all of this and know, like the teabagger, the birthers, these lynch mobs types are just the same, people who have to resort to these tactics because they have no leadership to articulate what they real want. It’s easy to pickup a bus load of people who hate, and that’s all I been seeing, they hate and can’t debate. Too bad.

I wonder how the decision on Ricci vs DeStefano will impact Sotomayor’s nomination…

“And I hope I would say that regardless of my skin color.” I think you’re one of the few people I know who can say that genuinely.
So I understand what you mean.

Only, in this case I don’t think it’s hate. As someone else has already pointed out, it’s a case of self-defense. I think it’s also a release mechanism for pent-up anger and frustration, by a segment of society that rarely, if ever, has been given a chance to have it’s side of the story heard, must less listened to.

I’m hardly qualified to quote Gandhi (who had his share of faults) but in this instance I think he got it right - “hate the sin, love the sinner”. The riot wasn’t about attacking Sal. It’s about attacking the system, or at least the symbol of that system in their neighborhood.
(I also think that’s the difference between the violence in Iran, Gaza, Pakistan, etc. and say, Rwanda)

First of all, for most of my life, I have tried to universalize my perceptions of the world. Your statement, “I say that not as a white person, but as a human being,” is a very familiar one. What I have learned, though, is that everything I say, I say, not just as a white person, but as a white man. In this culture, everything about who I am coincides with power. My whiteness, my maleness, my middle class upbringing, even my height all are granted more value by our society. As a result, every encounter I have is influenced by those power dynamics. How do people view me? How do I view them? Who has the biggest megaphone? For example, my wife and I want our relationship to be one in which we have equal power, not one in which I lead because I’m male. That said, when she says something, I take it as a suggestion. When I say something, even if I mean it to be a suggestion, she takes it as a declaration. Why? We have both been told things about how to interact all our lives in a million different ways and she has learned to submit to men and I have learned that I don’t have to. We don’t like it. We’re working against it, but it is there. This doesn’t make your perspective more or less right or wrong. It just means that you are speaking as a white man, not a generic human. More that that, you are speaking as a white man with your experiences, including those at SCPA. Your subjectivity isn’t limited to your physiology, but those physiological differences have sociological implications.

The other thing that I want to point out is that the act of throwing the trash can, while an act of violence, need not be viewed solely as an act of hate. Given that he wrote, directed, and played Mookie, I think we must yield to Spike Lee about Mookie’s motivation, but even within that, there is more to be said. We must remember that Radio Raheem’s death was an unnecessary and senseless killing. The police had clearly subdued Raheem and one cop is even telling the one applying the choke hold to let up. Raheem was clearly fighting back, but who can blame him for doing so. I cannot believe that his experience of the police is in any way one which would engender trust. Regardless, he is in their control. What consequences will they face for killing a black man? None. The cops will say he was fighting back and that they had to apply force to gain control and he died during the scuffle. They will forget that one person was saying to let up and that the offending cop told him to “Shut the f*ck up!” It is easy to say, “Choose love,” by which you really mean “Choose non-violence,” when neither you nor those like you are being oppressed and murdered. It is a different thing when you feel your life is threatened. The destruction of the pizzeria was one of a very limited number of options available to the community to have their voices heard and to call to account the establishment that killed him. Sal didn’t kill Raheem, but he was part of the establishment that did. If we only view the characters as individuals, the destruction of the pizzeria is a senseless act of destruction. If we view the situation systemically, it was an act of self-defense by a community under attack. Particularly, given that African-American culture tends to be more communal than Anglo-American culture, I think it is safe to read the film with this subtext.

Pls suggest me wht to do with this…

“E-mail is alot like TV - if you don’t like the show change the channel, if you don’t like the e-mail delete it. I don’t understand why you think, I may think, we will ever agree or have any type of mutual understanding. I could really give a damn if you agree with me or not.

I respect your non-belief - so next year at Christmas (the time to celebrate the birth of Christ) exclude Richard and I from the exchange list. We will provide gifts to the rest of the family.”

We have had a family gift exchange for over 20 years. I know she said remove her but in effect it removes me. So, I am punished for my non-belief, even though she “respects” it, by being excluded from the family exchange. She had not spoken to me since.

I still stand by my “non-belief” because I did not come by it easily but I have found peace with it. I too have a deep sense of connectedness, awe and respect re: life and the universe. However, I am saddened because I have lost my sister because of her belief.

Judy