Discrimination and necessity brought about minority media outlets

By Gregory Moore

Last week I had the privilege of doing a local radio show and discuss the NY Post cartoon that was printed last Wednesday.

In the midst of doing the show, the show host had asked me why did I run a publication/website that catered only to the African American community and not the whole community at large.

To paraphrase his comments, "It seems that you do not want me to read your publication."

This isn't the first time I've heard that statement or to have been asked that question. But being that we are in the last days of Black History Month, I thought it would be very appropriate to not only address why there is a separate media for minorities but to also show that even today, the very reasons why discrimination and racial stereotypes gives credence to the separatist mentality for the minority press.

When the New York Post allowed an editorial cartoonist to show the now infamous cartoon of a dead primate who was shot by a police officer with the bubble caption, "I guess they'll have to find another author for the next stimulus package", they overstepped their ethical duty as a news medium. Both the cartoonist and the publication violated several code of ethics that the Society of Professional Journalists adhere to. Among those codes are: Make certain that headlines, news teases and promotional material, photos, video, audio, graphics, sound bites and quotations do not misrepresent. They should not oversimplify or highlight incidents out of context; avoid stereotyping by race, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, geography, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance or social status; and show good taste. Avoid pandering to lurid curiosity.

Sean Delonas, the now infamous cartoonist of the afore mentioned political cartoon has said that he did not mean for his cartoon to be racist.

"Do you really think I'm saying Obama should be shot? I didn't see that in the cartoon," Delonas said in his brief comment, read by anchor Kyra Phillips on "CNN Newsroom." "It's about the economic stimulus bill. If you're going to make that about anybody, it would be [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi, which it's not."

Delonas and others who have never had to endure racism or be a part of a community that has to deal with the media stereotypes simply don't get it. It is a slap in the face, especially in this day and time, to think that you will not offend anyone by such actions. It is a thought pattern of stereotyping in this country over the years that has led to the minority press not only being formed but in some cases booming.

BATTLING THE MAINSTREAM STEREOTYPES FROM MAINSTREAM MEDIA

When the San Antonio Informer was formed back in 1988, it was developed to bring about a different way of covering African Americans in this city.

Are we a business? Sure we are and we are about making a profit like any other. But we are also about providing something that many news portals of our genre cannot provide and that is thought provoking, constantly changing news coverage.

Granted like all news media, the economy has hit this industry just like any other but that doesn't stop us or other minority owned media outlets from being the voices of the minority communities.

So the question asked not only perturbed me but it was almost infuriating to have to educate an audience where the good majority of the city is of Hispanic descent.

Now I'm sure the show host was only prodding the question to get an educated response and that's fine but you have to ask the question, "Would you ask Tito Duran why he started La Prensa or why the Express News started Connexion?"

It seems that only the Black press gets questioned about why it is in existence and that is just another stereotype that is fought on a daily basis.

Black newspapers, radio stations, television stations/programming and other media outlets are formed and developed for the same reason that Hispanics have their own media outlets, why the Indian culture have their own media outlets, or why those of Arab/Muslim descent have their own media outlets; they are formed to combat the pervasive stereotypes that the mainstream media in this country still inflicts on the American public.

Yet unlike many other minority media outlets, which are formed not just to inform that particular community but to also showcase its heritage to the rest of the world, the Black press has been developed out of the necessity of being shunned by White America back during segregation days and even in today's times.

Coverage of the Black community is often very tainted in the mainstream press with many images showcasing nothing but the bad imagery of poverty. Many anchors and news stations will run stories at the top of their newscasts that show the brutality of gang life, poverty, etc.

When it comes to musical entertainment, all the mainstream press really understands is the supposed imagery that rap music brings out and yet fails to realize that there is a whole facet of that musical genre that does not depict a woman as a whore or a Black male as a dope pusher, gangster or hustler out to make illegal gains.

The Black press, just like probably all other minority owned media outlets, tries to make sure that the rest of society sees the contributions that African Americans have made to society. It tries to enforce the fact that like everyone else, African American families have the same hopes and dreams like everyone else and also face similar family unit problems. But most importantly, the Black press tries to bring a conscious balance as to how this particular minority group is portrayed and that no matter how sophisticated we all may think we are in the country, that racism towards this one particular minority group is brutally consistent and unforgiving.

Several emails have come across this author's desk asking why can't there just be one type of media and I even tried to answer that on the air.

In today's times that simply is not going to happen.

As great as this country is, there is still a very distinct difference between those that have and those that have not.

I watched an HBO documentary over the weekend entitled, "Right America Feeling Wronged".

The documentary, done by Alexandria Pelosi, was a snapshot of some of the most enthusiastic conservative Americans, once labeled "the silent majority" of the voting American public. Many of them feel so alienated over cultural and political issues that they say they will never trust the new president, the Congress or the media.

What struck me about Pelosi's documentary was the fact that the documentary also showed the very public denunciation of Barack Obama's historic achievement in our history.

Pelosi visited 28 states and in much of the documentary you could tell that the majority White subjects did not care for Obama or the fact that a Black man had the gumption to run for the office of President of the United States. What I found myself doing was shaking my head, throwing balled up paper wads at my television, cursing in broken Spanish and French, and being utterly sickened even more by the so-called base of the Republican Party.

Keep in mind that this was the party that Lincoln represented; the party that freed Black slaves from their unjustified servitude. This was supposed to be the party that said that slavery was a moral injustice and that the then Democrats were morally corrupt in wanting to keep hold of an institution that enslaved another human being.

Yet is also very ironic that the only time the Republican Party as a whole picked a Black man to lead the RNC. Michael Steele wasn't picked because he was qualified for the job; he was picked because Obama became the first Black president of this country and that was how they were going to try and bring in the Black conservatives to the Republican fold.

However Pelosi's documentary may have thwarted that attempt by bolstering the very reason why the Black press is in existence; to confront the racial injustice, bigotry and idiocy that still plagues much of this country about who African Americans are and what the Black community is really about.

Should the Black press be constantly defended by those who are uneducated as to it's founding?

No.

But you can't expect this country to understand the most uncelebrated minority group in the country either. The un-celebration comes from the standpoint that the Black community is taken for granted more often than other groups simply because many in this country think everything is fine between Blacks and Whites.

In reality, these two groups have a long way to go to heal the racial divide. There is a mistrust that goes back generations and centuries that cannot be undone even with the historic election that was just witnessed. For the Black community, there is no rest for total equality until there is an acceptance that this particular community is known more than just athletes, great orators or entertainment models on the big and small screen.

Until that happens, the Black press is going to continue to try and balance the scales against the bigotry and overt racism that is targeted at the Black community.

It is the same charge that every other minority media outlet will do for their community because in this country, we are not at racial peace.

We have racial tolerance and somewhat of racial understanding.

But racial peace comes when everyone believes that each other is equal in the eye of the stranger and that no one is any more special in whatever task or societal grouping comes forth.

When that happens, then the minority press, as a group can be a full fledged member of the mainstream press.

NY Post cartoon is racist; not ifs, buts or 'bananas' about it

By Gregory Moore

Ever since President Barack Obama became this nation's president and even when he was running for the office, political satire involving him has been very "tame" compared to other cartoon depictions of political figures.

Maybe that has been because no cartoonist wants to offend the millions of African Americans but that has never stopped cartoon strips or editorial cartoonists from pushing the envelope.

Remember when the New Yorker came out with their cover about Obama and his wife? You remember the one? With Obama in a turban, the American flag burning in the fireplace and an AK-47 assault rifle strapped to an Afroed Michelle Obama?

Yeah that was every bit as racist and stupid as what NY Post's Sean Delonas shows just how insensitive this country still is towards African Americans and our accomplishments.

Let's put this into a perspective that everyone can understand.

This month, today (February 18, 2009) is Black History Month. Here we have what I am going to assume is one minority, Delonas, having the unmitigated gall to portray a chimpanzee as the "author" of the stimulus package that was recently signed by President Obama and the NY Post, a news medium that is own by a minority group, has the nerve to not even want to respond to the criticism the cartoon is getting?

What the Post and Delonas have done is actually openly pimp slapped Black America and say, "No matter what your accomplishments, you are still n****s and nothing is going to change."

You know what the funny thing is? There is still a good percentage of this nation's populous that thinks the way Delonas' cartoon portrays African Americans.

That perception also is extended to other minority groups but if you notice, not one American is upset that the current climate of our economic state may be the fault of a group of minorities who many perceive as money hungry, stingy ingrates. Notice how there are no cartoons depicting Jewish bankers or stockholders in a demeaned fashion?

But yet this country expects African Americans to sit back, gaggle, giggle and snort with laughter at such a depiction of what we consider one of our greatest leaders even if he is a neophyte on the political spectrum.

The anger that should be felt by many African Americans should also be felt by others because the cartoon is offensive to anyone with common sensibilities.

Here we are saying that this country is the greatest country in the world and a cartoonist has the audacity to think it is okay to use a chimpanzee as his main subject in a cartoon that has political influences?

Is the Post that insensitive that they simply don't give a crap about their minority readers?

They must be because they fired a freelance writer, who is African American, because they didn't think he was being racially profiled by NYPD. He sued the department and he won his case because there is a settlement.

But this cartoon is very disturbing simply because no one should ever have to see the imagery of a dead animal, two police officers and a crazy caption that Delonas used.

If the Post's editors don't care about who they offend, then maybe it is time that African Americans REALLY asserts how much buying power they have on the Post's advertisers.

If the Post doesn't think it exists maybe they need to call Don Imus and ask him what it felt like being stripped of your magical wand on a national stage.

The Suns' problem lies with GM Kerr and Robert Sarver; not coaching staff

By Gregory Moore

Al Davis. Daniel Snyder. George Steinbrenner. Donald Sterling. Jerry Jones.

You know what all of these rich team owners have in common? Robert Sarver.

Now you're asking yourself, "What does Sarver have to do with these five owners?"

It's quite simple. Sarver is now as meddlesome with his team as these other five owners and he is as clueless why the team doesn't win as the rest of his new found fraternity is too.

By the time this is posted, Terry Porter will be out as the head coach of the Phoenix Suns and Alvin Gentry will be in. Sarver thinks that a change in leadership is needed but in reality what is needed is a change in philosophy and that starts with his general manager; Steve Kerr.

If anyone needs to go, Kerr does.

What many fans don't realize is that Kerr, with Sarver's blessing, has derailed the Suns from what they used to be. When you trade away key pieces of what made the eight second offense effective, you are not going to get the same personnel. But Kerr doesn't see that as the problem; he only sees Porter as the problem and that has now filtered into how the team acts as well.

The firing of Porter only does one thing; it delays the inevitable.

The sun is setting in Phoenix and nobody can save this franchise from being on the outside looking in any longer.

You would have thought Sarver understood this when he replaced Mike D'Antoni as head coach. Under D'Antoni the team did thrive in making the playoffs. Granted defensively the team was suspect but when you are capable of throwing up huge amounts of points and you can play a modicum of defense with Shaquile O'Neal in the middle, the system works for the moment.

But Sarver wanted NBA championship caliber effort and with the way the team was structured, he wasn't going to get that result. Kerr should have realized that and instead of signing off on replacing a coach, he should have found a way to keep guys like Shawn Marion on the roster and push for a common goal.

In other words Kerr is a lousy team leader from the GM slot and Sarver is even worse as an owner. The two of them aren't about winning. They couldn't be if they are thinking replacing Porter is the answer.

Maybe its my new found wisdom of team concepts and goals because of the classes I've taken already while going back to school. Yeah I'll admit that the team collaboration and conflict resolution course actually opens up my eyes and pinpoints where sports teams fall as top contenders but I'm not paid millions to figure that out.

Then again, maybe I should be. I know what the problem is with the Suns.

If you replace Terry Porter, you have to fire Steve Kerr at the end of the season. Alvin Gentry is a good guy but he isn't going to be the head coach next season.

There is way too much turnover in that organization for it to be successful and compete with the likes of the Lakers, Spurs and Hornets. Those three organizations have solid team leaders as general managers and they have a support staff that can get the job done. Phoenix on the other hand is a total mess of a situation that is brought on by what Sarver has fallen victim to; microwavable results.

Was Porter the right pick for the head coaching job two seasons ago? Maybe not. But then again what could he do with all the turmoil that was thrown at him by Kerr and Sarver.

Suns' fans should be up in arms about the fluctuation of the team by the front office.

If the Suns make the playoffs it is not going to be because of how they play or because they have new inspiration. Somebody outside of the big three I mentioned earlier will falter. That's five other teams from Denver to Golden State that will help them along the way.

The team will be an eighth seed and if they get Los Angeles, San Antonio or New Orleans in the first round, they will be unceremoniously swept or embarrassed in five games.

What will Gentry get? Nothing.

What should he get? A medal for dealing with the tom foolery that is the front office.

What should Sarver and Kerr get?

How about a one way ticket out of Phoenix.

The Suns' fan base deserves strong leadership at the top and Sarver is a very rocky leader at the helm of this team. But its hard to fire an owner so the next logical candidate after Porter's dismissal this week is Steve Kerr; Sarver's right hand man.

Somebody needs to take the blame for this and Kerr is as good a choice as any.