We want to hear from you about what you would like to see on a future episode of Shades of San Diego. This little show that started last year continues to grow and showcase San Diego's diverse cultures and people.
Our show is about our community, so we want to hear your point of view. From show topics, to local events, to feedback on our show.
We're excited to keeping showing you all the Shades of San Diego.
Sandra Torres
Producer
Friday, January 9, 2009
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Obama - Not the First Black President?
I know that a couple of weeks ago, I wrote a blog entitled, “Our First African American President,” but I could be wrong. According to one historian, Barack Obama is not the first black U.S. president. Historian Leroy Vaughn has found that Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge also have black ancestry. Here are some of his findings:
- Thomas Jefferson was described as the “son of a half-breed Indian squaw and a Virginia mulatto father. “ He’s believed to have destroyed all the papers and portraits of his mother to hide that part of his identity.
- Andrew Jackson was the son of an Irish woman who married a black man. His oldest brother had been sold as a slave.
- Abraham Lincoln’s mother said he was the illegitimate son of an African man. Lincoln’s law partner said his mother came from an Ethiopian tribe.
- Warren Harding had black ancestors on both sides of his family. It’s also believed he attended Iberia College, a school founded to educate fugitive slaves.
- Calvin Coolidge claimed his mother was dark because of her mixed Indian ancestry. His mother’s maiden name was “Moor,” which was a name given to all blacks in Europe, like the name “Negro” was used in America.
- Thomas Jefferson was described as the “son of a half-breed Indian squaw and a Virginia mulatto father. “ He’s believed to have destroyed all the papers and portraits of his mother to hide that part of his identity.
- Andrew Jackson was the son of an Irish woman who married a black man. His oldest brother had been sold as a slave.
- Abraham Lincoln’s mother said he was the illegitimate son of an African man. Lincoln’s law partner said his mother came from an Ethiopian tribe.
- Warren Harding had black ancestors on both sides of his family. It’s also believed he attended Iberia College, a school founded to educate fugitive slaves.
- Calvin Coolidge claimed his mother was dark because of her mixed Indian ancestry. His mother’s maiden name was “Moor,” which was a name given to all blacks in Europe, like the name “Negro” was used in America.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
This Veterans Day
On this Veterans Day, I’d like to reflect on one segment of our community that, no doubt, adds to the diversity and culture of San Diego – the military. In a time when we’ve made obvious progress in achieving equality among Americans, there are parts of our population – including the military – that still have a long way to go. This article from Diversity Inc. magazine emphasizes that point.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Veterans Day: Remember the Forgotten Soldiers
By Daryl C. Hannah
November 11, 2008
When most people join the military, they don't think about ending up homeless or jobless. But this is a reality for nearly 200,000 veterans who are currently homeless and more than 12,000 veterans who have been expelled from the military thanks to "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT).
Today marks the 54th Veterans Day. While this is certainly a time to celebrate the lives and contributions of our soldiers, it's also a time to acknowledge the many veterans who are victims of a major shortage in affordable housing, a livable income and access to healthcare, according to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, and to recognize those who have been kicked out of the military because of their orientation.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) estimates that 195,000 veterans are homeless, making up 23 percent of the nation's homeless population. Forty-seven percent of homeless veterans served in the Vietnam War. And despite more veterans having completed high school or having earned a GED than the rest of the country--85 percent, compared with 56 percent--some 45 percent of homeless veterans still need help finding a job.
And the numbers are equally as bleak for LGBT soldiers.
Currently, DADT permits the dismissal of servicemen and women for being openly gay. Under the policy, an average of two people every day and a total of more than 12,000 servicemen and women have been discharged since the policy was enacted, according to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), a national, nonprofit policy organization dedicated to ending discrimination against and harassment of military personnel affected by DADT.
SLDN also says the policy has ousted dozens of Arabic linguists and hundreds of people with critical skills, costing more than $360 million in taxpayer funds between 1994 and 2003.
New data from the SLDN shows that a disproportionate number of women have been targeted under DADT. For example, 46 percent of those discharged from the Army under the policy in 2007 were women, although women only make up 14 percent of its personnel. While women only make up 20 percent of the Air Force, 49 percent of those discharged because of DADT were women, reports The New York Times.
"Women make up 15 percent of the armed forces, so to find they represent nearly 50 percent of Army and Air Force discharges under 'don't ask, don't tell' is shocking," SLDN's executive director, Aubrey Sarvis, told The New York Times.
President-elect Barack Obama pledges to make veteran affairs a top priority come January. During his campaign, the president-elect said he'd work to repeal the antiquated DADT.
"I would never make [DADT] a litmus test for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I think there's increasing recognition within the Armed Forces that this is a counterproductive strategy," Obama told The Advocate. "We're spending large sums of money to kick highly qualified gays or lesbians out of our military, some of whom possess specialties like Arab-language capabilities that we desperately need."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I did a San Diego Insider story a year or 2 ago about the issue of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. I featured some of the statistics you read in the article above and noted how so many valuable and hard working service members have been discharged for being gay. But I also interviewed some new Marines from Camp Pendleton who made the point that they would feel uncomfortable serving with and being in such close quarters with someone who’s openly gay, and that it could create hostility and segregation in a unit – risks the military can’t take in combat situations. Some veterans I interviewed felt the same way. But the majority of service members and veterans I interviewed said someone’s sexual preference doesn’t matter, as long they’re doing their job. I can see both sides, but I don’t think it’s fair for anyone to have to live a lie…I guess it’s hard to say unless I’m in the situation myself.
We plan to focus an upcoming Shades of San Diego episode on diversity in the military to tackle some of these issues, as well as feature the accomplishments of the Tuskegee Airmen and the Japanese Americans who fought for the United States Army, despite having been incarcerated in internment camps by the American government. Please write us if you have any ideas for this show or responses to this blog entry.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Veterans Day: Remember the Forgotten Soldiers
By Daryl C. Hannah
November 11, 2008
When most people join the military, they don't think about ending up homeless or jobless. But this is a reality for nearly 200,000 veterans who are currently homeless and more than 12,000 veterans who have been expelled from the military thanks to "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT).
Today marks the 54th Veterans Day. While this is certainly a time to celebrate the lives and contributions of our soldiers, it's also a time to acknowledge the many veterans who are victims of a major shortage in affordable housing, a livable income and access to healthcare, according to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, and to recognize those who have been kicked out of the military because of their orientation.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) estimates that 195,000 veterans are homeless, making up 23 percent of the nation's homeless population. Forty-seven percent of homeless veterans served in the Vietnam War. And despite more veterans having completed high school or having earned a GED than the rest of the country--85 percent, compared with 56 percent--some 45 percent of homeless veterans still need help finding a job.
And the numbers are equally as bleak for LGBT soldiers.
Currently, DADT permits the dismissal of servicemen and women for being openly gay. Under the policy, an average of two people every day and a total of more than 12,000 servicemen and women have been discharged since the policy was enacted, according to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), a national, nonprofit policy organization dedicated to ending discrimination against and harassment of military personnel affected by DADT.
SLDN also says the policy has ousted dozens of Arabic linguists and hundreds of people with critical skills, costing more than $360 million in taxpayer funds between 1994 and 2003.
New data from the SLDN shows that a disproportionate number of women have been targeted under DADT. For example, 46 percent of those discharged from the Army under the policy in 2007 were women, although women only make up 14 percent of its personnel. While women only make up 20 percent of the Air Force, 49 percent of those discharged because of DADT were women, reports The New York Times.
"Women make up 15 percent of the armed forces, so to find they represent nearly 50 percent of Army and Air Force discharges under 'don't ask, don't tell' is shocking," SLDN's executive director, Aubrey Sarvis, told The New York Times.
President-elect Barack Obama pledges to make veteran affairs a top priority come January. During his campaign, the president-elect said he'd work to repeal the antiquated DADT.
"I would never make [DADT] a litmus test for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I think there's increasing recognition within the Armed Forces that this is a counterproductive strategy," Obama told The Advocate. "We're spending large sums of money to kick highly qualified gays or lesbians out of our military, some of whom possess specialties like Arab-language capabilities that we desperately need."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I did a San Diego Insider story a year or 2 ago about the issue of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. I featured some of the statistics you read in the article above and noted how so many valuable and hard working service members have been discharged for being gay. But I also interviewed some new Marines from Camp Pendleton who made the point that they would feel uncomfortable serving with and being in such close quarters with someone who’s openly gay, and that it could create hostility and segregation in a unit – risks the military can’t take in combat situations. Some veterans I interviewed felt the same way. But the majority of service members and veterans I interviewed said someone’s sexual preference doesn’t matter, as long they’re doing their job. I can see both sides, but I don’t think it’s fair for anyone to have to live a lie…I guess it’s hard to say unless I’m in the situation myself.
We plan to focus an upcoming Shades of San Diego episode on diversity in the military to tackle some of these issues, as well as feature the accomplishments of the Tuskegee Airmen and the Japanese Americans who fought for the United States Army, despite having been incarcerated in internment camps by the American government. Please write us if you have any ideas for this show or responses to this blog entry.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Our first African American President
History is made. Barack Obama is the United States’ first African American president. I don’t think it’s really sunken in for me yet – the magnitude of what that means. It demonstrates just how far our society has come in our perceptions of who is capable of being our country’s commander-in-chief and representative. It shows just how diverse our country is – that being American has much more global implications now. Someone whose father was from Kenya and whose mother was from the Midwest, and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii is now our nation’s top leader. That’s so empowering to Americans whose families immigrated from other parts of the world. His election to the presidency will hopefully give people of any background and any race the hope and the strength to go after their dreams – no matter how impossible they seem.
Recently, we did a Shades of San Diego episode on the minority and the youth vote, so I was curious to see how Black, Latino and Asian Americans voted yesterday. Here are some of the statistics I was able to find from articles on the internet:
96% of the Black vote went to Obama. 3% of the Black vote went to McCain.
67% of the Latino vote went to Obama. 30% of the Latino vote went to McCain.
63% of the Asian vote went to Obama. 34% of the Asian vote went to McCain.
Overall, about one in five new voters were black, double their proportion in the overall electorate, and another one in five were Hispanic.
Obama won two-thirds of voters under 30; four years ago, a bare majority in that age group backed Democratic nominee John Kerry over Bush. McCain ran best among those over 65.
Record turnout by African-Americans, many of whom never believed they would see this day, was also key. Obama won virtually all their votes. In 2004, Bush got about 11 percent of the black vote.
Obama also won about two-thirds of Hispanics, which boosted him to victory in emerging Southwest battlegrounds of Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado. Four years ago, Bush took more than 40 percent of the Hispanic vote, part of a concerted drive for the nation's largest and fastest growing minority. McCain drew only about 30 percent, in spite of his political roots in Arizona.
Recently, we did a Shades of San Diego episode on the minority and the youth vote, so I was curious to see how Black, Latino and Asian Americans voted yesterday. Here are some of the statistics I was able to find from articles on the internet:
96% of the Black vote went to Obama. 3% of the Black vote went to McCain.
67% of the Latino vote went to Obama. 30% of the Latino vote went to McCain.
63% of the Asian vote went to Obama. 34% of the Asian vote went to McCain.
Overall, about one in five new voters were black, double their proportion in the overall electorate, and another one in five were Hispanic.
Obama won two-thirds of voters under 30; four years ago, a bare majority in that age group backed Democratic nominee John Kerry over Bush. McCain ran best among those over 65.
Record turnout by African-Americans, many of whom never believed they would see this day, was also key. Obama won virtually all their votes. In 2004, Bush got about 11 percent of the black vote.
Obama also won about two-thirds of Hispanics, which boosted him to victory in emerging Southwest battlegrounds of Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado. Four years ago, Bush took more than 40 percent of the Hispanic vote, part of a concerted drive for the nation's largest and fastest growing minority. McCain drew only about 30 percent, in spite of his political roots in Arizona.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thank you all who participated in our World Dance shows. Not only were they outstanding performances that featured so many different cultures in our city, but we also learned a lot about each dance and it's origins. Stay tuned for World Dance Part 2 coming up on Sunday November 23rd.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Race and the Race for President
This is a clip from DiversityInc Magazine. The co-founder of the magazine is a white man and has an online Q & A section called “Ask the White Guy.” Here’s one of the recent blogs:
Question:
If Obama were a white man with the same ideas for economics, healthcare, the wars, energy AND the message of unity going against McCain, do you think this campaign would be such a big deal? I personally think that for those who so strongly oppose him, it merely comes down to the fact that he's a Black man. They hide behind the "issues" but when it all comes down to it, I think that many who so strongly oppose him do so solely based on the color of his skin. What do you think? Keep up the good work.
Answer:
Thank you. Every poll I've seen shows that there is a certain segment of the American population that will not vote for Senator Obama simply because he's Black. What seems to have changed, however, is that those people don't hide their feelings anymore.
According to the Pew Research Center, the so-called Wilder effect, where white people say one thing to pollsters and do another in the voting booth, seems to have gone away.
However, I think there's another very important point: I'm not sure Senator Obama would have made it this far if he weren't Black. It's my observation that the everyday racism that hurts the majority of oppressed people by destroying ego, self-esteem and by putting one too many unfair race-based obstacles in a career path, galvanizes a small percentage of especially strong people.
To head off the usual "I had obstacles too" e-mails from white people, let me add that the injustice of racism (or sexism, or discrimination against people with visible disabilities, etc.) is in ADDITION to the regular obstacles that we all face. Not only is it additional, but it is focused on a facet of being that is out of our control--we are born the way we are (or may become that way in the case of a disability). That feeling of out-of-your-control, yet personally directed injustice cannot be fully understood by majority men who are heterosexual and have no ADA-defined disabilities.
Would Senator Obama have risen to go to Columbia and Harvard Law School--where he eventually became the president of the Harvard Law Review--if he were not strengthened by living every day in the crucible of being a Black man in America? Would he have had the empathy to work as a civil-rights lawyer and community organizer? Would he have had the gumption to successfully run for the state Senate twice and then the United States Senate? Could he have run a campaign that defied all media predictions, raised unprecedented money from an unprecedented number of people and derailed the anointed party candidate with the strongest brand name in politics?
I don't think so.
If Barack Obama had been born a white man in a comfortable, middle-class household, I think he'd be successful, but I don't think it's likely we'd know who he is.
I will add that the same goes for Sen. McCain. Yes, he had the advantage of having a father and grandfather who were admirals who had influence in his acceptance into the Naval Academy. But plenty of people go to the Naval Academy--and there were over 1,000 POWs in Vietnam. Why did he resist his captor's torture with such integrity? Why did he continue his career in the Navy after he was released? Why did he run for Senate? Why was his response to the debate question about torture so unequivocal and firm? Why do we know so much about this one senator out of 100? Sen. McCain has grit, character, intelligence and almost superhuman perseverance. There are no polls that indicate his support is in any significant way due to anti-Black sentiments--and I don't think it would be fair to imply so.
--------------------------------------------------------
When I interviewed random people on the street for our Shades episode on the minority vote, I was surprised to find out how many people said that race doesn’t factor into their vote for president. Many people say they’re looking for change and that they’re basing their decision on the issues, but I feel part of that change and his stance on the issues does involve his race, his cultural and socio-economic background and his experience as a black man. Like the “White Guy” says, would he have had the gumption to beat the odds, achieve all that he has and be this close to the presidency if he were not strengthened by living as a black man in America? I don’t think so, either.
Question:
If Obama were a white man with the same ideas for economics, healthcare, the wars, energy AND the message of unity going against McCain, do you think this campaign would be such a big deal? I personally think that for those who so strongly oppose him, it merely comes down to the fact that he's a Black man. They hide behind the "issues" but when it all comes down to it, I think that many who so strongly oppose him do so solely based on the color of his skin. What do you think? Keep up the good work.
Answer:
Thank you. Every poll I've seen shows that there is a certain segment of the American population that will not vote for Senator Obama simply because he's Black. What seems to have changed, however, is that those people don't hide their feelings anymore.
According to the Pew Research Center, the so-called Wilder effect, where white people say one thing to pollsters and do another in the voting booth, seems to have gone away.
However, I think there's another very important point: I'm not sure Senator Obama would have made it this far if he weren't Black. It's my observation that the everyday racism that hurts the majority of oppressed people by destroying ego, self-esteem and by putting one too many unfair race-based obstacles in a career path, galvanizes a small percentage of especially strong people.
To head off the usual "I had obstacles too" e-mails from white people, let me add that the injustice of racism (or sexism, or discrimination against people with visible disabilities, etc.) is in ADDITION to the regular obstacles that we all face. Not only is it additional, but it is focused on a facet of being that is out of our control--we are born the way we are (or may become that way in the case of a disability). That feeling of out-of-your-control, yet personally directed injustice cannot be fully understood by majority men who are heterosexual and have no ADA-defined disabilities.
Would Senator Obama have risen to go to Columbia and Harvard Law School--where he eventually became the president of the Harvard Law Review--if he were not strengthened by living every day in the crucible of being a Black man in America? Would he have had the empathy to work as a civil-rights lawyer and community organizer? Would he have had the gumption to successfully run for the state Senate twice and then the United States Senate? Could he have run a campaign that defied all media predictions, raised unprecedented money from an unprecedented number of people and derailed the anointed party candidate with the strongest brand name in politics?
I don't think so.
If Barack Obama had been born a white man in a comfortable, middle-class household, I think he'd be successful, but I don't think it's likely we'd know who he is.
I will add that the same goes for Sen. McCain. Yes, he had the advantage of having a father and grandfather who were admirals who had influence in his acceptance into the Naval Academy. But plenty of people go to the Naval Academy--and there were over 1,000 POWs in Vietnam. Why did he resist his captor's torture with such integrity? Why did he continue his career in the Navy after he was released? Why did he run for Senate? Why was his response to the debate question about torture so unequivocal and firm? Why do we know so much about this one senator out of 100? Sen. McCain has grit, character, intelligence and almost superhuman perseverance. There are no polls that indicate his support is in any significant way due to anti-Black sentiments--and I don't think it would be fair to imply so.
--------------------------------------------------------
When I interviewed random people on the street for our Shades episode on the minority vote, I was surprised to find out how many people said that race doesn’t factor into their vote for president. Many people say they’re looking for change and that they’re basing their decision on the issues, but I feel part of that change and his stance on the issues does involve his race, his cultural and socio-economic background and his experience as a black man. Like the “White Guy” says, would he have had the gumption to beat the odds, achieve all that he has and be this close to the presidency if he were not strengthened by living as a black man in America? I don’t think so, either.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Phew! Figured out how to start my blog!
So after an hour or so of playing around on blogger and being stuck on the Postgame blog, I am now finally starting my Shades blog! Welcome to the new age of journalism! It's kind of scary to think about how the industry is changing so much and how I have to change with it, but it's a good thing...broadening my horizons. ;) I wonder, though, if people will actually be interested in reading what I have to say and what I'm thinking. We'll see...
