Commentary

COMMENTARY: Biden, Scarborough are creatures of the deep

FLORIDA COURIER —

Published

5 years ago

July 7, 2019

By Oscar H. Blayton

Former Vice President Joe Biden speaking in his “Aw shucks, I’m just Joe” style has set off a firestorm within the ranks of the Democratic presidential contenders.

During a June 18 fundraiser with wealthy potential donors, he lamented the lack of civility in government. To make his point, Biden recalled how well he got along with Southern segregationists in Congress, such as former Sens. James O. Eastland of Mississippi and Herman Talmadge of Georgia. This struck a sour note with many progressive and left-leaning Democrats.

Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey issued a statement calling for Biden to apologize for his insensitivity. New York City Mayor and presidential candidate Bill de Blasio also weighed in, pointing out that the segregationists with whom Biden had a civil relationship thought that his multiracial family was illegal and that his children should not exist.

Biden defended

House Majority Whip James Clyburn, an African American Democrat from S.C., argued that you have to work with people with whom you disagree in order to get things done.

Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi gave a more careful statement about Biden and said, “If he was able to work with Eastland, he’s a great person.”

Several of the hosts of the television show “The View” jumped to the former vice president’s defense and resolutely declared that Biden is not a racist.

Biden’s comfort level

But the issue here is not that Biden is a racist, and Booker did not call him a racist. What gives so many people concern about Biden is that he can be comfortable with racists without realizing that he is normalizing their hateful views.

The most glaring example of the tone-deafness of some of the advocates joining this debate is a statement made by TV host Joe Scarborough during the MSNBC show “Morning Joe.”

Scarborough likened Biden to former President Franklin D. Roosevelt when he said Roosevelt “had to deal with the same segregationists as we moved toward World War II to defeat Hitler.”

Think about it

President Roosevelt was willing to work with segregationists for the sake of the war effort. But Roosevelt, unlike the African American soldiers stationed in Southern states, was not humiliated and disrespected because of the color of his skin.

Black G.I.s suffered the indignity of watching Nazi prisoners of war they were guarding sit down and eat meals in restaurants where the Black soldiers themselves were barred by law.

Neither Roosevelt nor Joe Biden nor Joe Scarborough had a relative treated with less respect than the enemies fighting to destroy our country – a country that African Americans were giving their lives to defend.

People like Franklin Roosevelt, Joe Biden and Joe Scarborough can survive in the depths of a racist nation because they, like the segregationists they “work with,” are configured for survival.

Protective skin cover

They are “Creatures of the Deep.” They live and thrive in a racist America that is like the bottom of a deep ocean – an environment where such great pressure is exerted, only those equipped with protective shells can survive.

And while that protective cover may be the hard exoskeleton of a lobster at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, in America, that protective cover is White skin.

If Joe Scarborough gave an ounce of consideration to this issue, would he conclude that all Americans were setting aside their differences and prejudices in order to defeat Hitler during World War II?

Of course, Joe Biden could be civil with Sens. Eastland and Talmadge – because Joe Biden is White. But if Biden gave the slightest bit of thought to the matter, would he really believe those staunch segregationists would have shown the same civility and respect to a Black senator?

No empathy

The criticism of Joe Biden is not that he is a racist, but that he is a creature of the deep, blithely swimming around without noticing that others are being crushed by the enormous weight of racism.

And if he does not have enough empathy to recognize human suffering, why should anyone think that he deserves to lead a nation as diverse as America?

Oscar H. Blayton is a former Marine Corps combat pilot and human rights activist who practices law in Virginia.

This article originally appeared in the Florida Courier.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

Published

6 days ago

April 19, 2024

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

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Commentary

Opinion: Surviving the Earthquake, an Eclipse and “Emil Amok.”

Last Friday, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake shook New York City, reported as the “biggest earthquake with an epicenter in the NYC area since 1884” when a 5.2 quake hit. A bit bigger. The last quake similar to Friday’s was a 4.9 in 1783.Alexander Hamilton felt it — 241 years ago. That’s why New Yorkers were freaking out on Friday. They were in the room where it happens.

Published

1 week ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

In New York City, the eclipse was about 90 percent visible. Good enough for me. Though a full solar eclipse is a celestial rarity, blockages of any sort aren’t generally celebrated. My one-man play is about growing up with the eclipsed history of American Filipinos and how I struggle to unblock all that.

By Emil Guillermo

I’m a Northern Californian in New York City for the next few weeks, doing my one-man show, “Emil Amok, Lost NPR Host, Wiley Filipino, Vegan Transdad.”

I must like performing in the wake of Mother Nature.

Alexander Hamilton felt it — 241 years ago.

That’s why New Yorkers were freaking out on Friday. They were in the room where it happens.

And it just doesn’t happen that often.

Beyonce singing country music happens more frequently.

When I felt New York shake last week, it reminded me of a time in a San Francisco TV newsroom when editors fretted about a lack of news an hour before showtime.

Then the office carpeting moved for a good ten seconds, and the news gods gave us our lead story.

On Friday when it happened in NYC, I noticed the lines in the carpeting in my room wiggling. But I thought it was from a raucous hotel worker vacuuming nearby.

I didn’t even think earthquake. In New York?

I just went about my business as if nothing had happened. After living near fault lines all my life, I was taking things for granted.

Considering the age of structures in New York, I should have been even more concerned about falling objects inside (shelves, stuff on walls) and outside buildings (signs, scaffolding), fire hazards from possible gas leaks, and then I should have looked for others on my floor and in the hotel lobby to confirm or aid or tell stories.

Of course, as a Californian who has lived through and covered quakes in the 4 to 6 magnitude range, I tried to calm down any traumatized New Yorker I encountered by taking full responsibility for bringing in the quake from the Bay Area.

I reassured them things would be all right, and then let them know that 4.8s are nothing.

And then I invited them to my consoling post-Earthquake performance of “Emil Amok, Lost NPR Host…”

It was the night of the eclipse.

ECLIPSING THE ECLIPSE

For example, did you know the first Filipinos actually arrived to what is now California in 1587? That’s 33 years before the Pilgrims arrived in America on the other coast, but few know the Filipino history which has been totally eclipsed.

I was in Battery Park sitting on a bench and there was a sense of community as people all came to look up. A young woman sitting next to me had a filter for a cell phone camera. We began talking and she let me use it. That filter enabled me to take a picture of the main event with my iPhone.

For helping me see, I invited her and her boyfriend to come see my show.

Coincidentally, she was from Plymouth, Massachusetts, near the rock that says the year the Pilgrims landed in 1620.

In my show she learned the truth. The Pilgrims were second.

History unblocked. But it took a solar eclipse.

Next one in 2044? We have a lot more unblocking to do.

If you’re in New York come see my show, Sat. April 13th, 5:20 pm Eastern; Fri. April 19, 8:10 pm Eastern; and Sun. April 21st 5:20 pm Eastern.

You can also livestream the show. Get tickets at www.amok.com/tickets

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. He does a mini-talk show on YouTube.com/@emilamok1. He wishes all his readers a Happy Easter!

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Commentary

Commentary: Republican Votes Are Threatening American Democracy

In many ways, it was great that the Iowa Caucuses were on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We needed to know the blunt truth. The takeaway message after the Iowa Caucuses where Donald Trump finished more than 30 points in front of Florida Gov. De Santis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley boils down to this: Our democracy is threatened, for real.

Published

1 week ago

April 16, 2024

Oakland Post

It was strange for Iowans to caucus on MLK day. It had a self-cancelling effect. The day that honored America’s civil rights and anti-discrimination hero was negated by evening. That’s when one of the least diverse states in the nation let the world know that white Americans absolutely love Donald Trump. No ifs, ands or buts.

By Emil Guillermo

In many ways, it was great that the Iowa Caucuses were on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

We needed to know the blunt truth.

The takeaway message after the Iowa Caucuses where Donald Trump finished more than 30 points in front of Florida Gov. De Santis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley boils down to this: Our democracy is threatened, for real.

And to save it will require all hands on deck.

It was strange for Iowans to caucus on MLK day. It had a self-cancelling effect. The day that honored America’s civil rights and anti-discrimination hero was negated by evening.

That’s when one of the least diverse states in the nation let the world know that white Americans absolutely love Donald Trump. No ifs, ands or buts.

No man is above the law? To the majority of his supporters, it seems Trump is.

It’s an anti-democracy loyalty that has spread like a political virus.

No matter what he does, Trump’s their guy. Trump received 51% of caucus-goers votes to beat Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who garnered 21.2%, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who got 19.1%.

The Asian flash in the pan Vivek Ramaswamy finished way behind and dropped out. Perhaps to get in the VP line. Don’t count on it.

According to CNN’s entrance polls, when caucus-goers were asked if they were a part of the “MAGA movement,” nearly half — 46% — said yes. More revealing: “Do you think Biden legitimately won in 2020?”

Only 29% said “yes.”

That means an overwhelming 66% said “no,” thus showing the deep roots in Iowa of the “Big Lie,” the belief in a falsehood that Trump was a victim of election theft.

Even more revealing and posing a direct threat to our democracy was the question of whether Trump was fit for the presidency, even if convicted of a crime.

Sixty-five percent said “yes.”

Who says that about anyone of color indicted on 91 criminal felony counts?

Would a BIPOC executive found liable for business fraud in civil court be given a pass?

How about a BIPOC person found liable for sexual assault?

Iowans have debased the phrase, “no man is above the law.” It’s a mindset that would vote in an American dictatorship.

Compare Iowa with voters in Asia last weekend. Taiwan rejected threats from authoritarian Beijing and elected pro-democracy Taiwanese vice president Lai Ching-te as its new president.

Meanwhile, in our country, which supposedly knows a thing or two about democracy, the Iowa caucuses show how Americans feel about authoritarianism.

Some Americans actually like it even more than the Constitution allows.

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. He does a mini-talk show on YouTube.com/@emilamok1.