Furst Draft

Doesn't EVERYONE want to be white?

Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. had a tough but powerful column last week (published Friday in the P-B) on Sammy Sosa and his apparent effort to lighten his skin color. That story's been all over in the media, of course.

Here's a comment from a reader who goes off on Pitts and us:

Dear PB,
 
This column "Leonard Pitts Jr.: A whiter shade of male" is offensive and is an anti-white racists rant.  Is this what passes as journalism these days in the PB?   I hope not - you are really letting your standards down and also letting your readers down.  This should never had been published in your paper.
 

Melissa

How in the world is this column anti-white? Because it's critical of black people who want to become more "white"? Pitts is writing about people (truly of any race) being comfortable in their own skin, and how tragic it is when a person, for whatever reason, takes drastic cosmetic measures to change their appearance.

Pitts could have delved into various cosmetic procedures that, in my opinion, are just as regrettable as Sosa bleaching his skin, and Pitts was speaking especially about blacks such as Michael Jackson doctoring their appearance to look lighter-skinned. Personally, I thought the column was too intensely personal (as in, addressed directly to Sosa) and more shrill than necessary. But the comments are fair -- and hardly "anti-white."

Unless, of course, Melissa thinks everyone on earth SHOULD want to be white, and it's insulting to whites that anyone would NOT want to be white.

...and with this, I'll ask Marge to just take me off her mailing list

Another CC from Marge Wilson to the school superintendent, school board members and local media:

Two questions on follow up about the Historical Black Colleges and Universities-----African American History and African American Culture/Heritage.   
 
Can White , Asian, American Indian, Oriental, Mexican, (other) students apply to Black colleges?
If so, are they admitted?

Marge Wilson

My note back to her:

Marge, just take me off your mailing list, please.

But I think comments like hers reveal some of the undercurrents at work in controversies at the Rochester public schools, which is why I've posted them -- and also, she's sending these things to about 20 public officials and media, so she's hardly bashful about her views.

'I suggest the white Colleges and Universities'

Marge Wilson is a frequent letter-writer to the paper and to public officials -- at least a few times a week I'll get either a direct note or a CC on some diatribe or another. Here's the latest, which is a CC of an e-mail to the Rochester school superintendent, one of her major targets...you be the judge whether this is in exceedingly nasty taste:

As I reviewed the Nov. 10, 2009, school board meeting, I was impressed with the presentation about the Historical Black Colleges and Universities-----African American History and African American Culture/Heritage. 
 
I eagerly look forward to the next several RSB meetings’ presentations learning about Historical (brown, red, yellow, white): Mexican Colleges and Universities (culture/heritage), Native American Indian Colleges and Universities (culture/heritage), Asian Colleges and Universities (culture/heritage), India Colleges and Universities (culture/heritage), Oriental----Chinese and Japanese----Colleges and Universities (culture/heritage), Caucasian (white) Colleges and Universities (culture/heritage), to name a few.
 
I trust that you, Superintendent Dallemand, and you, school board members, will honor the same suggestions to comply with the guidelines ‘you’ list for community input to the Revenue Generating Committee:  “….provide equitable access….by students in all schools….”.
 
I also trust that you, Superintendent Dallemand, will not deny any one of these other student groups the ‘opportunity’ to celebrate themselves as did the black students with their impressive presentation------or can your two favorite words “ALL students”  not be considered truthful?
 
            Which and when is the next group to give their presentation in November?  I suggest the white Colleges and Universities  (culture/heritage).
 
Marge Wilson
 

Wild goose chase for a news video

Rochester's KTTC aired a story Monday night called  "Where Stolen Guns Go," on a recent rash of gun thefts and whether stolen guns are being sold to local dealers. The story reported by Crystal Oko didn't get into what  accounts for the thefts, but she and her crew went to Wild Goose Sports in Rochester to learn how one local dealer takes measures to avoid buying "hot" merchandise.

Fine story, as far as it goes...but wait...isn't that a KTTC cameraman in the video, pretending to sell a gun to the Wild Goose owner? Yes, it is, though there's nothing in the video to reveal that it's a "News Leader" employee, a "re-enactment" or some other type of charade. This story clearly wasn't an undercover investigation. So what gives?

Standard practice would be to just videotape a customer at the counter, whether the customer was actually in the process of selling a gun or not. Let's assume there wasn't an appropriate customer around at that time -- at least KTTC could identify their own employee and make it clear this wasn't a real transaction.

Is Pawlenty a slob hunter?

 

You might be interested in today's Answer Man question, which strays into the woods of hunting ethics with Gov. Pawlenty...the pic above is NOT of Pawlenty...

Today’s question:
Dear Answer Man, the governor has taken some heat for not tracking a deer he shot on the hunting opener -- he was called a “slob hunter” by some for not spending the rest of the day trying to find it. As a nonhunter, I’m curious about the ethics of what I consider an unethical pastime -- is there a hunting ethics panel that determines these things? -- Vegetable Hunter

There’s no deer death panel, of course, but the code of the wild calls for a hunter to pursue an animal he or she has wounded until all likelihood of finding it is exhausted. Nobody expects a hunter to search the woods indefinitely, but tracking a wounded animal for hours is a reasonable outcome for a less-than-perfect shot.
    Gov. Pawlenty’s hunting party pursued the wounded deer for a number of  hours, apparently, though the governor himself did not. Most experienced deer hunters would say the governor’s party met its obligations, though they might quibble with the Hail Mary shot the governor took that wounded the buck.
    Some states allow the use of dogs to track wounded deer, but Minnesota isn’t one of them, and don’t look for that to happen anytime soon. That’ll just produce more slob hunters, most hunters say.
    Some day, when all questions are answered, you’ll have no further need for the Answer Man. Until then, send questions to P.O. Box 6118, Rochester, MN 55903 or answerman@postbulletin.com.

Tonight on 'Almanac'

FYI, I'll be on the KTCA-TV public affairs program "Almanac" tonight at 7 p.m., talking with Eric and Cathy about recent doings in Austin -- the neo-Nazi matter, in particular, and how we and other media have covered it.

In the course of reviewing our recent stories and other coverage online, I've come across all sorts of pro and con blog posts about the P-B's work, the usual goofy rants from my favorite right-wing critics, etc...I didn't know what I was missing on this subject. Or maybe I did.

'Feed a meter, help the homeless'

A reader passed this along -- this story link, not the pic above, which comes from a blog called the Austin Probe. The story's about how a Colorado city is dealing with its panhandler problems.

Which reminds me, I need to check in with City Council President Dennis Hanson regarding his interest in requiring panhandlers to register.

'Never. Not. Ever.'

Here's a poem for today by Jane Belau, poet laureate of the Soldiers Field Veterans Memorial:

OUR VETERANS

It matters not which war
It matters that they served
Our gratitude to them
Is great and well deserved.

All veterans share a bond
Unknown by any others
From home to war and then,  beyond
Experiences from which one never quite recovers

A call was heard from a nation in need
Each answered and left comforts of home
Relentless training and preparation
In the midst of many,  each all alone

Firing weapons at enemy soldiers
Seeking refuge in foxholes or tanks
Witnessing carnage among new friends
No chance of saying good-bye or thanks

Some came home welcomed as heroes
Others reviled in an unpopular war
Others were fallen soldiers buried there
Some are wounded warriors who will always hear the battle's roar

Veterans share a deep and visceral bond
Unaffected by the mere passage of time
Of uncommon devotion to defense of their country
To the stoic acceptance of fate, resigned

And we who missed them
And joyfully welcomed them home
And kissed them
Or tearfully carrying flags and coffins,
Said goodbye
That we all owe them big time,
No one can deny

A thank you, a touch and a smile
Helps tell them their gift
was worthwhile and appreciated

To the families whose loss and grief
Demand our respect and belief
Who made the ultimate sacrifice
Who paid the highest price

To those families and all veterans
We promise and assure you
That we will never forget.
Never.  Not.  Ever.

'The reality that women have to live with'

A note from a Rochester area psychiatric counselor regarding a pic we shot Friday at John Adams Middle School. While I wouldn't call this a common "reward" in schools, it's not unheard of -- I'm curious if others had the same reaction to this event.

On the face of it, whether you agree with this comment or not, it's a strikingly odd photo, and an unusual event...one of the criteria for news, of course.

I'll bet I'm not the only one who had a visceral reaction to the photo of a pretty, young woman helplessly taped to a wall in Saturday's P-B.  If only the PTSA members realized how many women are duct-taped to be raped and murdered each year, they would have found another way to raise funds for John Adams.
 
If you haven't already done so, please remove that photo from your online files before someone downloads it onto a pornographic website.  I hate to scare anyone, but this image is exactly the kind of fantasy used by sex offenders who are into S&M, and it has the ability to endanger the teacher.
 
I know none of this was done maliciously, but this is the reality that women have to live with.  

'This is nuts...you should be ashamed of yourself'

We took a few calls Friday from readers (only one of whom left her name) who thought the Fort Hood tragedy deserved space on the front page. That day, we had a ribbon across the top of A1, referring to a relatively tiny story on page A7.

No question, we goofed up and should have made more room for the story inside. More arguably, we could have made room for a stronger presence on the front page, though we keep the front page as devoted to local/area news as possible. That's far and away the main reason people buy us -- local news -- and we take that seriously, maybe too seriously when a major story like this breaks.

Here are the calls I took:

I just picked up my paper  and of course again, it hardly mentioned anything about Fort Hood on the front page. I don't understand it. It's the most important news in our nation and you devote a little bit of a line item to it. This is nuts, this is supposed to be a newspaper, and yeah, the jury convicts an Austin cop is probably of some interest also, but I just don't see how that compares to our nation. Something is drastically wrong with this newspaper.

+++

I subscribe to the paper and I'm just wondering why you don't have more on the Fort Hood killings when people from Minnesota are involved and you stick (the story) on a little back page. I think it's very upsetting and I don't know if I'll keep getting your newspaper. Thank you for your time.

(I'm not aware of a strong Minnesota or Southeast Minnesota angle on this story. We did our best to find a local/area connection for Friday's edition and were unsuccessful...if we had, the story would have been on the front page.)

+++

We're subscribers to the paper, we've bought it for 30 years, and my husband and I are really disappointed -- looking at the paper tonight, we see that on page A7 is a little four-paragraph story on the Fort Hood rampage...his is the worst mass killing in U.S. military history and we get it on the seventh page, a little column. We buy our newspaper to get the news. We're very disappointed. You put other things on the front page that aren't important at all.

+++

I receive your paper and I'm truly disgusted that you didn't have on the front page the Fort Hood rampage, and all you had on page 7 was this tiny little corner. You should be ashamed of yourself. Your Post-Bulletin newspaper is becoming so liberal that I know many people are just going to cancel their subscription. I cannot believe you didn't think that was important enough to make the front page. You should be ashamed.

That last comment is intriguing -- I guess our supposed "liberal" bias kept that story off the front page since the alleged gunman is an American-born Muslim? Not sure if the reader really intended to connect those dots.

At bottom, though, we haven't given this story enough coverage. We'll get more Tuesday and henceforth.