Butch
Marvin
Jose
Harlen
Frank
Have any of these ever been hurricanes?
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In the same spirit, black guys I work with: |
Lou
William
Donnie
Ted
Nate
Wayne
Aaron
Posted on 08/05/2003 11:41:42 PM PDT by JohnHuang2
"Do devastating hurricanes need help from affirmative action?"
It might seem like a ludicrous question. And it is. But, nevertheless, at least one member of the House of Representatives thinks so.
She says she feels the current names are too "lily white," and is seeking to have better representation for names reflecting African-Americans and other ethnic groups.
"All racial groups should be represented," Lee said, according to a report in the Hill. She hoped federal weather officials "would try to be inclusive of African-American names."
I tried very hard to persuade Lee to come on my radio program this week and explain her "thinking." She was polite. She said the article in the Hill was "wrong." But she declined to set the record straight – either on or off the air. She said she was on her way to Israel. None of her staff members were willing to discuss the matter either.
Not surprising.
I don't think there was any mistake.
I think people like Lee – American black political leaders – have basically run out of things to complain about. Now they are grasping at straws to show institutionalized discrimination and bias where none exists.
What is a "black" name?
Is Sheila a black name? There have been hurricanes named Sheila. Is George a black name? There have been hurricanes named George.
The very idea that there are names that are black seems like something of a racist notion. Does Lee think there are no whites in America named Keisha, Jamal and Deshawn?
Names are names. They do not have skin colors.
This is where racial preferences take us. There is no end to the stinking thinking they inspire.
It's bad enough that Lee and her ilk have heightened race consciousness in America at a time when discrimination and bias were fading from the scene. But now race needs to be injected into all areas of life – and even non-life. Inanimate objects are now getting racial scrutiny by the race police.
People like Lee are simply without ideas, without issues, without solutions. They are in search of problems that aren't real, that don't exist. What does that tell you about them?
Though there's a temptation simply to laugh off her proposal, doing so is dangerous. These bankrupt, racially divisive ideas are indeed winning the day. They are being implemented as public policy, despite overwhelming rejection by the people – both white and black.
No, we probably won't see affirmative action for hurricanes any time soon, but the race cops are getting their way on a thousand other fronts.
What will be next?
Will we have to paint the White House black?
Will we have to rename "White Christmas"?
Will we need to breed multicultural lilies?
And how will any of those ideas, or the notion of "black hurricanes," help to improve race relations in the United States by even one degree?
In the 1960s, Martin Luther King Jr. helped this nation have a dialogue about race. Since then we've been in danger of talking the subject to death. We've become obsessed – or at least some of us have.
King wanted this nation to reach the point where we would judge people on the basis of their character rather than the color of their skin. In other words, he wanted to de-emphasize the role race played in decision-making. Lee and the race-mongers want to do just the opposite – make us a nation that thinks of race even in areas of life where it plays no part.
And they don't want to have dialogue. They want to shoot from the hip, throw a bomb and move on to the next subject without a debate or a discussion.
It's time to reject this kind of racial politics, once and for all.
I hope not. "S" is the 19th letter in the alphabet, and I live on the Texas Gulf Coast. I would hate to have to worry about that many storms in one year.
Butch
Marvin
Jose
Harlen
Frank
Have any of these ever been hurricanes?
Keisha and Jamal are Arabic names that non-Muslim African-Americans have taken a liking to, probably from the movies. And I guarantee there are white Deshawns in Utah.
"At the meeting, the senate also voted to approve a mural to be placed in the Commons. There was some concern voiced by the senate about the contents of the mural.
"I see some pilgrim invaders here," said Elisa Haro, academic affairs director. "It kind of reminds me of my colonization, and I don't like that."
The artist of the mural said that the pilgrim invaders were meant to be Shakespearean actors and that he would try to make that more clear.
Other concerns with the mural included the depiction of white cranes, which the senate demanded be changed to color cranes."
|
In the same spirit, black guys I work with: |
Lou
William
Donnie
Ted
Nate
Wayne
Aaron
I would answer a resounding "YES". since the very outset of the hurricane naming procedures there has been ingrained descrimination that persists till the present day. There is no evidence within NOAA or the pertinent congressional committees that there will ever be change to right the perceived wrongs.
The real discrimination is against people with names beginning with X, Y, or Z. There has never been a "Z" named hurricane. As long as the Anal Retentive Alphabeticists are in control there never will be.
For the sake of the Republic and for fairness and equality, the order should be reversed next year and hurricane names for 2004 should begin with the letter Z rather than the Alpha biased ABC.
Maybe I should write MS. Lee and invite her to visit the Hill Country!
:)
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