Comments on: Your Turn: Stereotypes From The White Corporate Media – Part 2

By: WriterWriter

WriterWriter — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:53:51 +0000

WHY, WHY, WHY are you in the US so obsessed with the colour of people’s body organs???
This focus on the most false of all concepts, ‘race,’ serves nothing other than to divert people from the core issues of their lives.
Take the unnecessary discussion skin colour out of ALL arguments and you will see that those arguments cease to have any value.
“Race” is a political construct and maintaining that construct is critical to keeping people from focusing on the truths of US politics – any politics.
“Race” and its ugly sister “Religion” need to quickly find their graves and go there without futher delay.

By: Lamb Cannon

Lamb Cannon — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:27:32 +0000

Much much much talk talk talk about very very very little; right up there with the endless pseudo-psychological discussions by blabbing heads on teevee about ‘body english’ and all the rest of it.
Neither of these covers says anything whatsoever to me except the usual bleat from Newsweek: “buy this shit or we’ll kill your [dog, candidate, remaining braincells]… why not make it green? chartreuse? lavender? No color of the rainbow can excise the obvious reality that all three of our candidates suck eggs, whether they promise a moon’s worth of change, nonexistent “savoir” or (god knows) at least four more years of prevarication, manipulation, obfuscation, and in the end, deep painful brain-sodomy for anyone who hasn’t already thrown their fucking television set out the window.
i expect better from this site.

By: eatbees

eatbees — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 08:13:09 +0000

Newsweek thinks too much of themselves to believe they can tackle this issue.

By: Robin Moore

Robin Moore — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:32:46 +0000

I think the one on the right is actually Frank Sinantra.

By: swarmofkillermonkeys

swarmofkillermonkeys — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 01:19:59 +0000

Better choice. Besides if they build him up, they can sell more copies on his rise AND decline. God I hate the media sometimes. I’m sure they’ll keep the “boogie-woogie” cover on file just dying to use it. Why so polar? Why? All the time, they can only incite fear or paint him as a Kennedesque demigod from a mythical black-and-white past…the duality. Pure evil or angelic.
Aren’t there other stories they could tell us visually that have a more nuanced and realistic take on the subject? Why don’t they even try anymore? I think that’s the real story of Obama, Race, and Us.

By: Donut

Donut — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 18:02:21 +0000

“and relaxed by the photo on the left.”
Oops, right, the photo on the right…I can keep the two straight, apparently…

By: Donut

Donut — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 18:01:14 +0000

I’m trying to put myself in the shoes of someone who is puzzled by or misunderstands or generally is afraid of Barack Obama, and I think that person would be unnerved by the photo on the left and relaxed by the photo on the left. Both shots are completely bereft of context, which is interesting in and of itself, too, but that said, the original is such a tight shot, it puts him right up in your face. If you are scared of people with brown skin, I think that’s a problematic photograph for you. The other shot isn’t much better in terms of what it conveys (tend to agree with those who see it as a little too wimpy/happy), but at least he’s not appearing menacing.

By: DennisQ

DennisQ — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:12:49 +0000

Newsweek again. It’s always Newsweek, isn’t it? Slanting the news, presenting it in some dirty-tricks way, putting its thumb on the scale. I used to think Time Magazine was bad, and of course it is. What happened to journalism in this country?

By: itwasntme

itwasntme — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:07:51 +0000

Ya know, I must be missing something. I can’t see any problem with either of these pictures – they both look great to me. One is more formal and serious, the other more informal. That’s all I can pick out. Are you guys talking about the fact that one is in color and the other is black and white? Toss me a bone here.

By: stevelaudig

stevelaudig — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 11:20:52 +0000

As a friend of mine is used to saying “Race isn’t the biggest issue in the United States…. it’s the only issue. Sometimes it looks like another issue but it isn’t. It is always there and always at the root.” Which makes sense as the issue of race was enshrined in the organic document of the country.
There is no “one” America and there is no “us” unless you count adherence to a tax code and having a favorite pro sports franchise evidence of a national culture. There is no “American” ethnicity. So Newsweek is not asserting, or asking, “Obama, Race and us” but rather is saying “Them and us.” It would be very helpful I think to know the identities of the individuals at Newsweek involved in the process so “I” know who “they” are that make pronouncements about “us.” It’s the old “we” problem. “We” implies “me” and “We” don’t have a race “problem.” “You” might, but I don’t, therefore no “we” as a plural first person. “I” know that some “theys” do. “I” know that some “theys” don’t. It is the imprecise use of language [and the inherent imprecision of language in the first place” that makes these discussions feel circular, tautological or pointless. I prefer the sunny optimistic photo on the right as more representative of the individual “I” think I know. But no one ever knows anyone merely from images and words.