Dr. James Watson calls Blacks inferior - 10.18.2007.2

This is an excerpt of a post and the comment I made at Black & White Blog where I am co-author. I invite you to see the original post and leave comments on either blog.

With great sadness I have to say that ignorance pervades even at the top of the scientific community. There is no excuse for the words of Dr. James Watson. They are blatant, racist, and ill-informed at the least. But historically, this is an argument that has long persisted.

Perhaps all those that continue the line of ill-reasoning stated by Dr. Watson as

“inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa ... because all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours – whereas all the testing says not really”

...

The part that truly worries me is that men of this type are the ones that led the cry for a master race. They ran experiments of the most inhumane nature, in the hopes of creating that race. And now there is Dr. Watson who is researching DNA, and god knows what his ultimate goal for this research may be. I can only hope there are several groups and individuals watching what he is up to.

As for your question:

“What if one race was scientifically inferior to another in terms of learning ability? Let’s say, for example, what if the black race was scientifically inferior and if that could be proved through a trusted scientific trial? Would blacks throughout the world accept it or would it be labeled as a racist trial?”

...

Actually there are 2 things you are incorrect about. The first is that African Americans do not “blame their woes” but rather highlight injustice and inequality in America that has been created and promoted through centuries of the existence of America.

...

I invite you to visit the post and blog to read the full story and leave your own comments.

Compare White and Black news coverage Part 2 - 9.25.2007.2

Continued from Compare White and Black news coverage Part 1...

Beyond the fact that the Jena 6 just got a lot of coverage over the inequality and unfairness of the punishment, there is no difference on the face of it. Now what if it’s proven the police that the White teenager did something to provoke this, like beating on a younger Black kid or selling drugs to someone? Will the media still follow this case? Will they still feature the video tape? What if this was an arranged fight that was meant to go on YouTube? Will the media still be implying the boy’s innocence?

Let’s go to an even bigger issue. In West Virginia there were 6 Whites that tortured, sexually abused and violated in the worst ways, a Black woman. Ms. Megan Williams had boiling water poured on her, stabbed, and raped. This lasted for DAYS. Sadly for the news media there is no video of this vile torture, but there is of Ms. Williams in the hospital. Where is the sympathy for this woman and her SEVERE injuries?

This boy has gotten 2 days of coverage so far. In day 2 he has gotten more than twice the coverage of Ms. Williams of West Virginia. In fact the coverage, in day 2 has been maybe 5x that of the West Virginia case in total to date.

Where is the local police interview? Where are the city council members denouncing this repeated and aggravated attack? Why has the federal government not filed hate crime charges?

The bias sickens me. If a boy being beaten with minor wounds is worthy of news (and I don’t doubt that) then why is the rape, kidnapping and torture of a woman not?

I want to know from CNN, Fox News and all the other major news media why they don’t care about Ms. Megan Williams of West Virginia. I want to know why it takes MONTHS before the injustice of the Jena 6 is acknowledged though bloggers were aware and constantly speaking on it. I want to know why this one situation deserves more attention and investigation while these others do not. I demand to know why Jonathan Riches can evade prosecution and gain local legal authority protection for DECADES, and when he is finally brought to justice there is no coverage for his double murders.

Can anyone explain why I can have found and investigated information about these issues, and discussed them, but the major news media with dozens, if not hundreds, of employees and reporters cannot. Why is it that bloggers can see bias and inequality but major news media can’t?

What agenda is being promoted by the major news media? There must be one as I cannot see another reason why one case is followed and others are ignored. Corporate policy is dictating that one is a higher priority than the other. Does that bias benefit or detract from America?

This isn’t some loony extremist vision. This is what major news media is doing. This is the coverage they are presenting to America and the world. What messages are they providing and why? That is an issue that I feel must be addressed.

This is what I think, what do you think?

Letter to Sheppard Smith of Fox News Part 2 - 9.19.2007.2

Continued from Letter to Sheppard Smith of Fox News Part 1...

I noted that in your Studio B program of that same Friday, you spent approximately 40 minutes covering the aspects of the OJ case. Roughly half of that time was review of coverage that had been expressed consistently on Fox News since at least 10am that day. Other items of news, particularly a storm warning as I recall, received barely 30 seconds of coverage. Why did you focus so much time to this one story?

Over the past year and a half, you have consistently referred to OJ Simpson’s prior case when referring to any questionable murder involving family members or interlinked persons. I believe that you have made such references roughly 7 times a month over the last year and a half on average. In each case your usage of the OJ murder trial inferred, or outright declared as I recall, guilt on the part of OJ. But as you are aware from the coverage you did of the trial, 12 peers found Mr. Simpson innocent of the charges. What justifies your tacit implication of Mr. Simpson as a murderer?

Do you feel that your negative commentary about Mr. Simpson and the outcome of his case on national television has had a negative impact on African Americans in the nation? If not, how do you justify that belief?

On September 13th, you were the only individual in national televised news media, that I am aware of, to cover the then breaking news on the torture, rape, and abuse of Ms. Megan Williams of West Virginia. To my knowledge your roughly 3 minutes of time on television was the only televised coverage to date. Why has this story not been covered?

In your coverage, and that of Fox News and other major news media, of the Bobby Cutts case, you were able to learn of every job Mr. Cutts had ever had. You were able to report on every child and relationship he had, within the first 3 days of the breaking news as I recall. You also presumed, apparently from your words and tone, his guilt from the first day of coverage. That same presumption of guilt, in depth fact finding, and emotional responses were not provided to coverage of Mr. Christopher Vaughn who murdered his wife and 2 children at the same time. Why is that?

Do you believe that there is a bias in the media against African Americans?

Why was there no coverage, that I am aware of, on the conviction of Mr. Jonathan Riches, who murdered 2 Black men 42 years ago and has only just been brought to justice, although authorities knew at the time of the murders of his guilt?

I want to note that while I have asked hard questions here, I realize that some answers can only be your speculation and that you have no control over what is done at the corporate level. I also want to commend you on much of your reporting.

As I mentioned, only Studio B covered the news about Ms. Megan Williams, to my knowledge. I share your love of this country, and those in the Armed Forces that protect us. I agreed with your anger that you received more emails about an injured dog as opposed to homeless vets being dumped on the streets instead of receiving medical treatment. And I continue to watch Fox News and your coverage daily.

Again, my purpose is to provide you an opportunity to respond to my questions and to allow my readers and myself the chance to understand how the news is covered. Perhaps more importantly this is a chance for my readers and I to learn what determines coverage and degree of depth we see on televised national cable news.

Mr. Smith I look forward to your response, in part or in whole, and I will publish it verbatim as I stated previously. If you and/or the staff of Fox News would like to reach me directly on this matter or any post I have made, you may contact me at info@vassconsult.com or 718-344-6921.

Sincerely,

Michael Vass
President – M V Consulting, Inc.
718-344-6921
info@vassconsult.com

How do you feel about what Jerry Lewis said? - 9.5.2007.1

What a unique world we live in today. There are just some things I would never expect to see happen and just leave me with mixed emotions when they do. And the best part is the special moments that the news media and the general media provide every day. Or perhaps I should say, the items they forget to provide us everyday.

Obviously, there was a recent news that Mr. Jonathan Riches finally was brought to justice after 43 years without law enforcement harassment or attention for his murder of two teenage Black men in Mississippi. Aren't we lucky that those in charge of the major media news felt we needed to be protected from the news that our justice system, moving at a pace so slow as to make snails look like jet engines, only works in the most abysmal manner sometimes.

Of course, that is not to say that the legal system is always accurate. There is of course the 41 years that it took for Mr. William Barnes to be convicted of shooting a police officer. Mind you that the police officer in question did not die those many years ago. I know this because Fox News took the opportunity to tell me about this case five times today. Now I'm quite happy about that, especially in retrospect, that Fox News took the opportunity to spend 30 seconds in discussing the incarceration of Jonathan Riches.

I know some may say that "well, at least it covered the story." While that fact is true I find an inherent imbalance in their actions. In 24 hours to spend only 30 seconds on an injustice done to people on the basis of an example for an entire race, that's a slap in the face. Compounding that slap would be taking a similar story and spending 15 minutes in another 24-hour period. Essentially, it's just saying, one group of people aren't worth remembering and another group are. It's just that simple.

But that actually is not what I want to speak about. What I had not expected to happen and what did happen involves Mr. Jerry Lewis. For those who are not familiar with Mr. Jerry Lewis, he's a comedian. And he's 81 years old. He's made at huge number of movies and special programming. That does not include the advances in television programming and equipment he's developed over the years. Focusing on his comedic career he has made movies such as Cinderfella, the Nutty Professor (I'm talking about the original film. Not the one's Mr. Eddie Murphy made), the Geisha Boy, the King of Comedy, and many others. His comedic genius is regarded so highly that in France his last film premiere was made a national holiday so people could see it.

On a more personal level, from what I can tell about it as I don't know the man, there is one thing that stands out above everything else. He is absolutely committed to the muscular dystrophy telethon. He was one of the first celebrities to lend their name to cause and to seek out donations from the public for that cause. In 46 years, Mr. Lewis has never missed a telethon, and during each telethon he spends virtually the entire time awake. It honestly is an amazing display of absolute dedication. The reason why Mr. Lewis does this is completely unknown. It has been said that Mr. Lewis will only reveal the reason why he does this every year after he is dead in a document read during a telethon so that it can raise even more money for this cause.

Given this ability and looking at the dedication to such a worthy cause I was very upset to learn of comments made by Mr. Lewis. 18 hours into this year's marathon he told a joke, actually he started to tell a joke. To call it off-color would be marginalization on a grand scale. Essentially he started to insult gay people. He has since apologized for his comment. He hasn't gone to a rehab, or some other ultraliberal pro-PC excuse. He took the blame, and all he has asked for is for this to not affect the telethon.

So I'm stuck. On one hand, I find it deplorable for anyone to use any group as the butt of the joke. That is especially true when the joke is based on race, ethnicity, or some other factor solely used to distinguish one group from another. On the other hand, is the fact that on a regular basis we all have made those jokes and found them quite funny. Comedians such as Mr. Carlos Mencia say jokes based on exactly that same thought every day.

So which one is right? Should Jerry Lewis be condemned for making a gay joke, or forgiven? Does this one statement justify the end of the muscular dystrophy telethon, and all the positives it has provided? Does the fact that a significant good is happening out way and negative? If the earth were filled with utilitarians, the answer would be easy, but the reality is far from that. I don't know, what is the right answer and honestly that troubles me.

This is what I think, what do you think?