Have the Real Conversation on Race in America

Last week the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial opened to the public on the National Mall.  The unveiling of this long overdue memorial will provide a reason for us as a nation to examine race relations in the United States.  However, with all the pomp and circumstance the real dialogue about race in America won’t be had at the King Memorial dedication.  Why? Because since the March of Washington, I believe that we as a country have yet to have a serious and honest dialogue about race in America.

To me, the King memorial is important for a myriad of reasons, none more important though then this: the fight for racial and social equality in America belongs to every citizen, and not solely to one generation. If we are to truly honor Dr. King’s legacy, then we as citizens should not be afraid to have an adult conversation.  The King Memorial provides us with the perfect opportunity and we as a nation should seize upon the moment.

Having the adult conversations means stopping the segmentation of society.  There are no strictly black issues, gay issues, north/south issues: in America there are only American issues. We as country need to stop thinking about crises in singular terms and rather look at their overall effect on our society.  Furthermore it means ceasing to silence people because they haven’t been black, white, gay, straight, protestant etc.  Every one of us brings a unique perspective to the table and our limitations shouldn’t disqualify us from joining the dialogue.

From our political system and leaders, the adult conversation means having the maturity to understand the significance and importance of equality in America.  President Obama, it means no more beer summits.  The memorial provides a moment where you can be the transformative leader you write about in The Audacity of Hope.  For my Republican friends, this moment means living up to the mantle of Lincoln.  Don’t be afraid of the political repercussion, no one ever lost in the endgame because they championed the cause of equality.

For all our faults, we as a society have never given up on striving to achieve Dr. King’s dream.  As proof I point to Washington, DC and the revival of Oklahoma at the DC-based Arena Stage Theater. Washington, DC was devastated by the 1968 riots which were incited by Dr. King’s assassination.  The riots devastated the predominately black areas of our nation’s capital, many of which are only starting to recover in the last decade.  Yet, in the southwest corner of DC, art is providing a reflection on the progress of society.

At the Arena Stage revival of Oklahoma, director Molly Smith is breathing new life into an old classic by featuring an interracial love story between the characters of Laurey and Curly.   Even more fascinating is the audience, nor the press, seemed to notice.  Four decades ago this revival would have been unthinkable.  Now, not only is it thinkable, it’s proof that we as a society can move forward.  One can only imagine the advancements if a real dialogue on race in America were had.   Oklahoma is a perfect companion to the King Memorial because it too shows our capacity to move beyond even our toughest struggles.

I know that not every citizen shares my belief about civil right in America.  We still have injustice in our country and probably always will.  That doesn’t mean we should stop aspiring to Dr. King’s vision.  My only lament about the King Memorial is that the message of the man will be lost in the splendor of the monument.  And if I am wrong, I hope President Obama and our civic leaders will be reminded of Dr. King’s words:

“We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.”

For more information on the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial please visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr._National_Memorial

For more information on, or to purchase tickets to, Arena Stage’s production of Oklahoma please visit: http://www.arenastage.org/shows-tickets/the-season/productions/oklahoma/

Barack Obama and the Easy Choice

William Shakespeare use to begin performances by asking for an indulgence from his audience on a variety of issues.  It is in his spirit that I to ask for an indulgence from you, the reader.  I will not be using art to comment on our country this week but rather write a purely political piece about what I view to be a broken campaign promise. 

The catalyst for this entry was an August 9^th Politico article entitled “Obama Plan, Destroy Romney.”  It detailed how the Obama reelection campaign plans to use, “A ferocious personal assault on Mitt Romney’s character,” to defeat Romney should he be the Republican nominee in 2012.   I found the article’s content to be an outright rebuke to the vision Obama set forth in his presidential campaign.  In 2008, Obama won be presenting a vision of this country which included political civility. 

Even though I greatly disagreed with candidate Obama, I was hopeful that President Obama would be successful in changing the tone of our country’s politics.  The challenges we face are too numerous, and the consequences too grim for us as a country to continue engaging in a political system that adheres to adolescent antics.  For me, “change you can believe,” was a change in the tone politicians used to describe each other.  Until this week, I still held out hope that Obama could change this.  Hope, being the operative word, was lost when I read the Politico article.

What I found most disturbing about the article was the openness in which Obama’s advisors seemed to brag about their strategy.  That, to the Obama campaign, this next election was about personality, rather than policy, is shocking.  For a country facing massive economic turmoil, the notion that Obama wants the next election to be decided on a caricature his campaign would draw of Mitt Romney should be insulting to the electorate.

In life we are often faced with two choices: The Right Choice and the Easy Choice.  Far too often American political candidates have taken the Easy Choice.  They have scored electoral victories by using vicious personal attacks on their opposition.  Elections should be about policy positions and not character assassination.  There are some who would say I was too naïve and foolish to believe that one person could change our political culture.   They were and still are wrong. 

Those who have truly changed our country did so by making the Right Choice alone.  It’s about Rosa Parks taking a seat on the bus by herself or Betty Ford speaking about breast cancer while the subject was still taboo.  Leadership is about having the courage to do the right thing when no one else will.  For Obama this means ending petty political attacks by his campaign and the DNC, and instead focusing on issues.  I’ll concede that Republicans are equally guilty of this flaw; however both parties have the opportunity to change this.  Americans are smart, and will favorably recognize those candidates who run “grown-up” campaigns.

I understand that every day the president is personally attacked by people because of his race and questions of birth, along with a plethora of other ridiculous issues.  Those people are wrong and ignorant and the President is right to ignore them.  He is wrong though to engage in and use their tactics against his own political opposition.   

William Shakespeare once said, “It is a good divine that follows his own instructions.”  President Obama, take note.  In 2012, the issues are too serious for us as a country to focus on anything less.  Furthermore, should Obama use character assassination to defeat Mitt Romney, he will essentially be the antithesis of the very many who ran for president in 2008.  In conclusion, I believe Shakespeare would best classify this as a tragedy. 

And with that, I thank you good reader for the indulgence. 

To Read “Obama Plan: Defeat Romney” from Politico please click here: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/60921.html

The Debt Ceiling: America’s Cabaret Syndrome

There was a cabaret, and there was a master of ceremonies… and there was a city called Berlin, in a country called Germany…and it was the end of the world.

Witnessing Congress vote on the debt ceiling, I was reminded of the first time I heard these words spoken.  It was during the finale of the musical Cabaret, and it wasn’t until that moment that I realized the show was a metaphor about a nation on the verge of a political nightmare, whose citizens sat in cabaret and pretended to be oblivious to the pain they were about to endure.  And now with a debt deal enacted in the US that does little to address the root of the problem I’m left to wonder if America is at the same point – the end of the world.

Cabaret is a musical about a group of people living in Berlin before and during the rise of the Nazis.  While the show will forever be associated with the songs Willkommen, Maybe This Time and Cabaret, it is about much more than life at a German social club on the eve of Hitler’s ascent.  The show is a statement about how even good people are guilty when they fail to address problems, whether they be political, social or cultural.

This entry is not to be a comparison of America to Nazi Germany.  No, to do that would be ignorant of history, dramatic, and just plain stupid.  This entry is meant to question whether we as Americans have demanded solvent answers to our on-going financial crisis.  Or rather, have we as the characters in Cabaret did, assumed that even our dysfunctional political system will simply do what’s best for the country and turn a blind eye to the crisis at hand.

President Obama and Speaker Boehner’s comments during the debt ceiling debate made one thing clear: this very real problem is in no way about to be solved.   Regardless of the deal that was struck, I don’t believe our government has yet to truly cope with an addiction that will forever prohibit the United States from regaining its status as an economic leader. While I wasn’t surprised that default did not occur, I do lack confidence in the government’s ability to honesty address our debt problem.

Why?  Because regardless of political/economic ideology, our debt is not a spending question, it’s a vision question.  As a country, we need to ask what we stand for and what our vision is for the 21st century.  Furthermore, how do we ensure a revenue stream that can afford even the modest American dream?  Currently, no elected official or political candidate has even dared to answer these questions.

The next great political leader will be a transformative one, regardless of party.  He/she will present a vision for this country that reaches beyond the next electoral cycle.  Debate, whether it be heated or not, will of course be a part of this process.  But that’s what makes our country great, and it’s those freedoms we risk losing.

An honest debt solution must include a mixture of spending cuts and tax increases.  Anyone who tells you otherwise is just pandering for your vote.  It will also require politicians to touch not only the 3rd rail of politics, entitlement spending, but the electric chair.  They will need to find a way to make Social Security and Medicare financially feasible; reform defense spending; address the need to make quality education affordable to ALL Americas; raise the funds to restore our country’s crumbling infrastructure, and so much more.

I’m aware that the grand deal I propose sounds like a laundry list of big ticket items.  And it does.  However, failure to address only one of these problems condemns the United States to a debtor’s prison.  It restricts us from achieving our God given potential as a country. 

The debt deal which was passed must be applauded for at least attempting to cut the deficit.  Still, cuts are not enough.  Our country is growing, baby boomers are retiring, and we once again punted the political football.

Earlier, I stated that this entry was a question: Have we as American’s demanded solvent answers to the on-going fiscal crisis?  In truth, there is no answer, it’s a trick question.  What this entry was meant to do was to have you think about your role in our democracy and to see if you have been paying attention.

After seeing Cabaret, I left the theater feeling nauseated.  For two plus hours I fell in love with characters who I felt we’re not only relatable, but real.  I observed how even decent, hard working human beings turned a blind eye to the crisis around them.   The result was a political ideology so crude and evil, that its wounds are still being healed on the human psyche.

What allowed the characters in Cabaret to permit this?  They had just been through a long war, their economy was in the tanks and the only joy to be found was from bawdy entertainment venues.  Sound familiar?  Regardless, America is not Germany; however the lesson cannot be lost.  We as citizens cannot ignore our country’s problems.

Challenges, problems, crisis; the United States will always haven them.  Why? Well that’s a philosophical question and one that requires several martinis to answer.  But problems aren’t the issue.  It’s making sure that we don’t simply ignore them, but rather rise to the occasion.

Berlin in Cabaret may have been the end of the world because its citizens choose to ignore a growing political crisis.  The debt crisis in 2011 doesn’t have to mean the same fate for the United States.

This entry is dedicated to the memory of my Grandfather, who took me see Cabaret on Broadway at Studio 54 many overtures ago.