Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/440645
Sincethe2008electionof Barack Obama to our high- est office racism has again become a much discussed topic, especially with the recent kill- ings of young black men by white cops. What I can- not determine is whether racism is getting better or worse? Our President said earlier this week that it is getting better. I know that profiling is prolific, but I think that's what humans do. Do you remember how many of us profiled the Rever- end Wright as hating Amer- ica? Much negative publicity prompted Mr. Obama to leave his church as a result. I know that Bill Clinton likes to think of himself as America's first black presi- dent, but that is far from the truth. That really only ap- plies to Mr. Clinton's pub- lic policy positions. Remem- ber, President Obama is only 50% black. So he may not be the first black president ei- ther. However, our coun- try's troubling history pretty much says that just a drop of black blood is all that is needed to be labeled black, a really ridiculous bit of pro- filing. As Americans I think we all do way too much pro- filing, judging, labeling and polling. Sometimes all we need to see in order to do some pro- filing is the way people wear their clothes. I know I do. Are men's pants being worn too low? Do woman find that appealing? I even saw a mannequin dressed with pants below the buttocks re- cently at Macy's. In a re- cent conversation, I was told by my own pharmacist that those baggy pants started in our prison system. I think that would be a good place to leave that silly fashion statement. I did some research- ing before I wrote this col- umn. Wikipedia says "sag- ging" pants are worn by "sag- gers." Sagging was adopted in the United States prison system where belts are some- times prohibited, to prevent inmates from using them as weapons or to commit sui- cide. I say bring back cinched up belts. I have been told it has apparently become a symbol of freedom and cul- tural awareness. I know it must make it more diffi- cult to simply walk down the street when you have to keep one of your fingers hooked under a belt loop just to keep your silly saggy pants up. And, did you see all those tattoos? I think we also pro- file people if we see tats, many times with improper conclusions. Some businesses ask their employees to cover their tattoos. And, what about the lan- guage people enjoy these days? LOL, you got it, enjoy, do you know what I'm sayin' yo?, have a good one, you got it, it's all good or it's all bad? If my dad were alive today he would say; "When do you think we as a society started to bastardize the King's Eng- lish? Even today I still feel that most of the rest of our world, to put it bluntly, was sur- prised and pleased to see America elect Mr. Obama. Are we making much prog- ress getting over much of our history of racism? I still remember that July 24, 2008 speech Mr. Obama made in Berlin at the height of his first campaign. He was already profiled as a ce- lebrity by much of the en- tire world. Today however, the popularity of "Barack" compares to his predeces- sor "W." It is just about the same as it was in each of their terms. A bare 6% is all that separates them now as recently reported by Time magazine. This is a tough topic. Please let me know what you think of profiling. I promise to respond. StanStathamserved1976- 1994 in the California As- sembly and was a television news anchor at KHSL-TV in Chico 1965-1975. He is presi- dent of the California Broad- casters Association and can be reached at StanStatham@ gmail.com. Mytake Profiling and racism in America Even today I still feel that most of the rest of our world, to put it bluntly, was surprised and pleased to see America elect Mr. Obama. RedBluffadelightthis holiday season Editor: What a delight our little town has been this holiday season. Thank you to the Red Bluff Main Street merchants for the winter beauty of the blue-toned lights. Thank you for the very cool merchandise and warm welcomes we received as we shopped. Thank you to the volunteer container gardeners, especially to Becky Tranbarger, who works faithfully and modestly to bring nature's best to downtown. Thank you to all who worked to light up the State Theater in such spectacular fashion. It still takes our breath away to see the magic. And thank you again Red Bluff Rotary Club and supporters for revitalizing and decorating the corner of Walnut and Main. Main Street merchants and volunteers have brought the heart of our town back to life, and I am so grateful. Happy New Year to all. — Barbara McIver, Red Bluff A political conundrum Editor: Miracles never cease and a contemporary Horatio Alger story still tends to surface on oc- casion. For instance, the exem- plary success story of an un- named Tennessee based mod- ern day entrepreneur, who has been richly rewarded for his in- genuity. To wit: He lives in a 250-room mansion, modeled af- ter George Vanderbilt's Biltmore, owns two private jets, a 157 foot yacht and even maintains a reg- ulation sized football field on his expansive property. To be bestowed with such wealth and opulence, should be indicative of rendering an excep- tional product or service which actually benefits our country and fellow citizens. Au contraire, he happens to be the founder and CEO of one of the largest payday lenders in the country, famous for charging usurious interest rates of up to 400% and exploiting the grow- ing throng of downtrodden and starvation wage earning men and women in our midst un- able to make ends meet, despite working multiple part time ser- vice type jobs unsuited for ex- portation. This is but one example of the country's descent to a third world level as evidenced by pov- erty and the widespread fleec- ing of its own citizens. One fam- ily alone in this country controls more wealth than the bottom 42%, while combined holdings of the notorious 1% exceed that of 90% of ours. Meanwhile 16 million of our children live in poverty and 2.5 million are considered homeless. This is an equal opportunity rip- off regardless of political affilia- tion, Democrat and Republican alike, and represents a mark of shame on the reputation of a so called leader of the free world. A plausible remedy would be to raise the minimum wage to $15, which is symbiotic, because it simultaneously creates a direct massive stimulus to the econ- omy. Admittedly, it requires a hefty dose of government sup- port to protect many struggling small business owners from go- ing under, at least until the in- fusion of these raises and circu- lation of spendable income pro- vides the intended boost to all levels of our economy. A herculean effort, no doubt, but lets consider the alterna- tive, such as further erosion and eventual collapse of the mid- dle class — once the backbone of this country — and transposition of untold citizens from working class to destitution. Financing could be read- ily available by simply diverting current annual tax payer funded subsidies of $154 billion from corporations to the aid of these citizens and raise living stan- dards to a level befitting inhab- itants of the richest country on earth. Unfortunately, the powers that be and current beneficiaries of this ongoing give-away will not take kindly to the idea of being deprived of what they have long considered an entitlement. Implementation in this case solely rests with our two political parties, but wouldn't you know it, both are held captive and ob- served feeding at the same green back filled corporate trough which in the wake of such action would dry up and seriously de- stabilize the existing political or- der of things. However, an even more practi- cal solution exists, which means putting and end to waging war and sticking our finger into hor- nets nests in the Middle East and other places around the world, including ill conceived ef- forts to revive the cold war with Russia by way of Ukraine. This step would free trillions for use not only on this project, but also a much needed investment in the renewal and maintenance of our crumbling and long neglected domestic infrastructure. Reaction by the military-in- dustrial complex, a most formi- dable and immutable force in this country, would be decisive and swift, the nature and ex- tent of which is way too fright- ening to contemplate here and therefore better safely left to the imagination. End of rumination, folly and pipe dream, lets therefore decide to embrace reality instead and observe a fitting caveat: Folks, hang on to your hat and attempt to apply the brakes wherever possible, because the downhill ride is by no means slowing, nor soon coming to an end. — Joe Bahlke, Red Bluff Your opinions Cartoonist's take Just a reminder: January 8 marks the 200th anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans, the last major encounter of The War of 1812. Depending on your perspec- tive, you may greet that news in different ways, such as "Wow! Time flies" or "I need to dust off my old history textbook" or, if you work for the Veterans Ad- ministration, "Keep your shirt on! We're almost up to that point on the backlog of cases." Perhaps you assumed you'd al- ready missed the bicentennial of the end of the War of 1812; but the conflict actually ranged from June 18, 1812 until Febru- ary 18, 1815. The Federalist Party couldn't raise enough votes to dub it The War of 1812 And Change. Many Americans at the time of the war fancied it "the sec- ond American Revolution." Of course this sequel was lack- ing George Washington, Betsy Ross, Paul Revere and the Min- utemen. It was sort of the "straight to video" war. Larry the Cable Guy was probably peddling grapeshot ammuni- tion for this one. If you think the War of 1812 gets little respect in the U.S., it's barely commemorated at all in Great Britain. That's partly because they considered it just an offshoot of the Na- poleonic Wars and partly be- cause they're still mad about not trademarking "The Empire Strikes Back." When I was in high school, I had a hard time grasping one of the causes of the war. The "im- pressment of American sail- ors" meant that the British did not recognize British-born sail- ors on American ships as Amer- ican citizens and began kidnap- ping them to serve in the Brit- ish navy. All I heard was that the British navy was "impress- ing American sailors." I could just imagine them bragging, "Check out these abs! Pretty good for someone who eats limes, huh? And watch me wig- gle my teeth..." One lasting aspect of the War of 1812 was our national an- them. The unsuccessful Brit- ish bombardment of Baltimore's Fort McHenry inspired Fran- cis Scott Key to pen "The Star- Spangled Banner." Imagine if the anthem had been inspired by America's attempts to an- nex Canadian territory. ("This land is your land, this land is my land...and, oh, yeah—THAT land is your land, that land is my land...") Remember August 1814 and the British burning of Washing- ton, D.C.? The first impulse of First Lady Dolly Madison was to save priceless paintings from the White House. Today if the city was on fire, the first impulse of the first lady would be to de- mand, "Who let Biden play with matches?" The Battle of New Orleans is best remembered for inspir- ing a 1959 country song written by Jimmy Driftwood and per- formed by Johnny Horton. ("In 1814 we took a little trip/Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississipp...") His mili- tary service helped propel Ma- jor General Andrew Jackson to the presidency, although Old Hickory later told a biographer, "Community organizer! That's what I meant to sign up for in- stead of major general." Although the War of 1812 weakened the Native Ameri- cans and emphasized the value of the U.S. Navy, most histori- ans consider it a military/polit- ical stalemate. The status quo remained and there were no boundary changes. That's right: it changed nothing. ("Sort of like Mom's birthdays," sighed Prince Charles.) Spend January 8 remem- bering the war's casualties. And contemplating life with a Bruce Springsteen anthem. ("Yaaaaaankee Doodle's comin' to town...Yaaaaaankee Doodle's comin' to town...") Danny Tyree welcomes reader e-mail responses at tyreetyrades@aol.com and vis- its to his Facebook fan page "Tyree's Tyrades." Danny Tyree The Battle of New Orleans bicentennial approches GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIAL BOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@red bluffdailynews.com Phone: 530-527- 2151ext. 112 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS Stan Statham OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, January 1, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6