[lit-ideas] Re: How to Draw a Crowd
- From: "Mike Geary" <atlas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:13:23 -0600
EY:
Classic example: Tawana Brawley. It made Sharpton's career! Now he gets
the big bucks.
I like Sharpton. He doesn't deny he's a showman. So were most of the
campus radicals of the 60's. So is every public figure to one degree or
another. That doesn't diminish the relevance of their cause. Showmanship
is part and parcel to leadership. You must get the attention of the media
and the people if you want to bring about any political change.
What is it that offends you about Sharpton? That he promotes himself
through advocacy of social issues? Or do you think that he jumps on or even
invents grievances just to promote himself? Twana Brawley was a regrettable
affair to be sure, but the fact that many others as well as Sharpton
believed Twana's story is not surprising. A year before Twana Brawley there
was the racial incident at Howard Beach in which Sharpton was instrumental
in getting a special prosecutor appointed to investigate the events. Racial
prejudice was certainly at play within the New York police department in the
Abner Louima killing in 1997 and in the Amadou Diallo abuse in 1999, a full
decade after the Brawley affair, so Sharpton was not inventing racism as a
real and significant problem in New York. Does the nature of Sharpton's
showmanship detract attention from the issues he embraces or does his
celebrity help bring attention to them? That, I think, is a legitimate
question.
What I read in your posts is an accusation that complaints about racial or
gender discrimination are prima facie fraudulent because the laws of this
country prohibit such discrimination. "Done deal", as you say, so shut up.
But laws only become Law in the enforcement and therein can be injustices
that need to be called to the public's attention. So too, we are always
enlarging our understanding of social justice in response to expanding
values and mores, changes that are always in conflict with the status quo
and thereby giving rise to new discriminations.
So saith
Mike Geary
of Memphis
----- Original Message -----
From: "Eric Yost" <mr.eric.yost@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2009 2:22 PM
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: How to Draw a Crowd
Mike: Those wily Filipino-American leaders lead their people from demand
to demand like shyster shepherds, demanding they all flock together or
wander lost forever on a cattle farm.
Classic example: Tawana Brawley. It made Sharpton's career! Now he gets
the big bucks.
[see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tawana_Brawley for more on that bonfire
of the vanities.]
Mike: Compared to Eric, I suspect that I have a lot less estimation of
people's selflessness.
Here's an international example. When Bush went to Brazil he was greeted
with many "Fora Bush!" signs. News picked this up as a spontaneous crowd.
After Bush left and the media went away, Brazilians discovered that the
money for the protest (lodging, food, signs, etc.) had been paid for by a
"donation" from Hugo Chavez to the Brazilian labor unions. Chavez even
sent organizers. However, nobody but the Brazilian media picked up the
story.
It's not that hard to get a prefab "crowd" out for a "spontaneous"
protest. Everyone has seen how in 2000, both GOPs and Dems rallied
protesters over the Florida recount. Consider GOP Tom Delay's buses of
protesters.
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