As regular readers to this blog know, I have a very low threshold of tolerance for the diversity crowd right now. After years of being bombarded by their political correctness and their manipulation of reality in order make everyone feel good, I have come to realize that this is all a waste of time and a lost cause. Instead, if everyone would just treat people with respect and dignity, as best they can, we wouldn't need all this.
To be honest, I totally understand where they are coming from. I agree with their concerns that we are not just a white or male society and we have to acknowledge others for their contribution to history and future contributions. I just don't believe in the way they have gone about it, especially in limiting the speech of others who don't agree with them.
The point though of this rant is the upcoming Conference for National Media Reform scheduled for June. Personally, I agree with a lot of what these folks are talking about. Not all of it, but a lot. We'll agree to disagree on the loosening of newspaper ownership rules by companies that own radio and television stations. We'll also agree to disagree that, instead, they should be organizing to get the Congress to deregulate the radio and television industry, instead of getting bogged down in minutiae.
So I went to check out the site this morning. On the masthead, there are flashing pictures of some of the folks who are a part of this movement. I thought, Oh, that's cool. Real people. The real faces of America fighting for media reform. But as I turned to another part of the homepage and saw the repeat of faces, I began to notice something. Let's see if you notice it too:
Barbara, Librarian, middle-aged white woman
Natalia, Newspaper editor, late-30s white woman
Alice, Intern, young Asian woman
Kathy, Concerned Citizen, middle-aged white woman
Mari, professional, young Latina-looking woman
Anand, Musician, mid-30s Arab-looking male
Michael, Producer, late-30s/mid-40s black man
Chip, Student, young black man with dreads
I stopped and watched it run through again to see if I had seen what I saw. I then refreshed the page, thinking it might reload a new round of faces, which it did not.
Essentially, the FreePress.net, the sponsor of this conference is sending us the following messages. First, that there are no white men who are supporting this cause or interested in this conference. Second, that we are not worthy of a spot on their roster because we are not a reflection of America. Third, that our views about media are not important. Fourth, they may even be telling us that somehow, those of us who are white males and can't get access to media ownership to either promote a different point of view or expand localism, are somehow not worthy of showing representation to the cause.
Wow. So much for the big tent. So much for respect for diversity. So much for building coalitions with others [you can continue to put your favorite diversity crowd mantra here].
Similar to being angry about commercials and programs produced by Madison Avenue and Hollywood which portray fathers as idiots and nothing but the family wallet or that men don't know how to wash dishes or operate a washing machine, this stuff is infuriating. We all have to fight it.
With all due respect to the FreePress.net, white males are one of the highest population segments in the United States and we give a damn about these issues. White men have been fighting along side all the repressed segments for gender and race equality and access to fair media coverage for a long, long time. To basically treat us like second class citizens or to somehow insinuate that we don't matter in the media reform movement is outrageous and offensive.
In fact, this is all kind of personal for me. I, and other white males, have been involved in the media reform movement for a very long time. I was so critical of the media I became the media! I can trace back my roots to the early 1990s when I first started doing community radio and became something of an on-the-air media critic. And I'm not alone. In Boston, look at John Grebe at WZBC and Chuck U over at WMFO, formerly of WMBR, guys who have been at this longer than I have. But, for whatever reason, we didn't warrant inclusion in the faces. We're white. We're male. Our contributions don't seem to matter to them.
In closing, I will say if the whole point of not including white male faces in the collection of people involved in the media reform movement was to make a point, it has been recognized. But a question to those folks making the point: When are we, as the white men of America, granted forgiveness for the sins of our fathers? Please, let us know so we can all move forward from all of this divisiveness and polarization based on gender and race instead of respecting what is in the hearts and minds of all Americans and respecting everyone for differing opinions and thoughts which may not agree with yours ... you know, true diversity and all.
To paraphrase MLK, I have a dream that we will one day live in a nation where everyone will not be judged by the color of their skin or their gender, but by the content of their character.
To be honest, I totally understand where they are coming from. I agree with their concerns that we are not just a white or male society and we have to acknowledge others for their contribution to history and future contributions. I just don't believe in the way they have gone about it, especially in limiting the speech of others who don't agree with them.
The point though of this rant is the upcoming Conference for National Media Reform scheduled for June. Personally, I agree with a lot of what these folks are talking about. Not all of it, but a lot. We'll agree to disagree on the loosening of newspaper ownership rules by companies that own radio and television stations. We'll also agree to disagree that, instead, they should be organizing to get the Congress to deregulate the radio and television industry, instead of getting bogged down in minutiae.
So I went to check out the site this morning. On the masthead, there are flashing pictures of some of the folks who are a part of this movement. I thought, Oh, that's cool. Real people. The real faces of America fighting for media reform. But as I turned to another part of the homepage and saw the repeat of faces, I began to notice something. Let's see if you notice it too:
Barbara, Librarian, middle-aged white woman
Natalia, Newspaper editor, late-30s white woman
Alice, Intern, young Asian woman
Kathy, Concerned Citizen, middle-aged white woman
Mari, professional, young Latina-looking woman
Anand, Musician, mid-30s Arab-looking male
Michael, Producer, late-30s/mid-40s black man
Chip, Student, young black man with dreads
I stopped and watched it run through again to see if I had seen what I saw. I then refreshed the page, thinking it might reload a new round of faces, which it did not.
Essentially, the FreePress.net, the sponsor of this conference is sending us the following messages. First, that there are no white men who are supporting this cause or interested in this conference. Second, that we are not worthy of a spot on their roster because we are not a reflection of America. Third, that our views about media are not important. Fourth, they may even be telling us that somehow, those of us who are white males and can't get access to media ownership to either promote a different point of view or expand localism, are somehow not worthy of showing representation to the cause.
Wow. So much for the big tent. So much for respect for diversity. So much for building coalitions with others [you can continue to put your favorite diversity crowd mantra here].
Similar to being angry about commercials and programs produced by Madison Avenue and Hollywood which portray fathers as idiots and nothing but the family wallet or that men don't know how to wash dishes or operate a washing machine, this stuff is infuriating. We all have to fight it.
With all due respect to the FreePress.net, white males are one of the highest population segments in the United States and we give a damn about these issues. White men have been fighting along side all the repressed segments for gender and race equality and access to fair media coverage for a long, long time. To basically treat us like second class citizens or to somehow insinuate that we don't matter in the media reform movement is outrageous and offensive.
In fact, this is all kind of personal for me. I, and other white males, have been involved in the media reform movement for a very long time. I was so critical of the media I became the media! I can trace back my roots to the early 1990s when I first started doing community radio and became something of an on-the-air media critic. And I'm not alone. In Boston, look at John Grebe at WZBC and Chuck U over at WMFO, formerly of WMBR, guys who have been at this longer than I have. But, for whatever reason, we didn't warrant inclusion in the faces. We're white. We're male. Our contributions don't seem to matter to them.
In closing, I will say if the whole point of not including white male faces in the collection of people involved in the media reform movement was to make a point, it has been recognized. But a question to those folks making the point: When are we, as the white men of America, granted forgiveness for the sins of our fathers? Please, let us know so we can all move forward from all of this divisiveness and polarization based on gender and race instead of respecting what is in the hearts and minds of all Americans and respecting everyone for differing opinions and thoughts which may not agree with yours ... you know, true diversity and all.
To paraphrase MLK, I have a dream that we will one day live in a nation where everyone will not be judged by the color of their skin or their gender, but by the content of their character.
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