Maynard Institute archives

Columnists of Color Reflect on 9/11

by richard0421

Writers Weigh Impact on Issues, Our Psyches

On this fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, columnists of color assess its impact on aspects ranging from immigration reform to personal safety and our collective psyche, to the racial makeup of the troops who have since died.

The South Asian Journalists Association is sponsoring a global conference call with Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International, from 12:25 p.m. to 1 p.m. Eastern time. He will be interviewed by SAJA’s Sree Sreenivasan.

The Miami Herald Web site features columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. reading his column of Sept. 12, 2001, delivered with “hot tears and disbelieving eyes.” Readers deluged him with more than 26,000 e-mails, and Editor & Publisher magazine named him columnist of the year. In 2004, he won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary.

“A ‘Registered Traveler’ program seems to have captured the fancy of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. His agency is reportedly ‘evaluating about 20 proposals’ from private vendors who, for a fee of anywhere between $80 to $100 annually, will collect travelers’ personal information and run it by the relevant government agencies to certify who is safe to fly. Hmmmm. Here we go again, privatizing and creating yet another opportunity for generous campaign donors to hustle the war on terrorism.”

“President George W. Bush has been boasting about his administration’s anti-terrorism strategy and its determination to stay the course in Iraq. Well, that’s one perspective. I wonder if the rhetoric would be as rousing, if the talk would be as tough if Bush and more Americans spent more time in the shoes of others.”

“People finally have started to wonder out loud whether the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and against terrorism are achieving their intended purpose. The only answer is no. The wars aren’t righting the wrongs of the Sept. 11, 2001, tragedy. They’re just expanding the horrors and global contempt for us.”

  • Tim Giago, “Notes from Indian Country”:

“America missed a mighty lesson and opportunity when it did not learn how to treat the rest of the world after its mistreatment of its indigenous people. America has still never settled its debt, either morally or financially, with its indigenous people. America, as a nation, wept when nearly three thousand of its citizens died at the World Trade Center on 9/11. The Indian people still weep for the thousands killed in the more than five centuries of terrorism foisted upon them by a Nation that did not care. They also weep for those lives lost on 9/11 and for the lives of the many soldiers lost in Iraq.”

“The very leaders who failed to protect countless New Yorkers from the toxic pollution after Sept. 11 are now trying to blame each other. What they should be doing is owning up to their lies and deceits.”

“Though the average person can recite a long list of changes he or she has enacted since that fateful day, the government of these United States appears to be mired in the past — at least at the uppermost levels. . . . Vice President Dick Cheney . . . is a sick man. That much hasnâ??t changed.”

“Last week, the city’s Department of Health issued some long-awaited guidelines to help doctors diagnose and treat Ground Zero-related illnesses. But advocates say the guidelines suggest that only those who had acute and prolonged exposure to conditions at Ground Zero, such as first responders and volunteers, are affected. They say the guidelines ignore a health threat to people who simply live and work in lower Manhattan, and whose homes, schools and workplaces were also contaminated.”

“The media . . . have given short shrift to those Americans who want increased border security not because they want to preserve Anglo-Saxon culture, but because it just makes sense when you’re at war with vicious fanatics.. . . There are plenty of good people in this debate whose concerns are strictly about national security â?? not cultural purity. We in the media have to tell that story.”

“El Rushbo, hero of the right, . . . leaked word via his national radio show that the Clinton administration, target of the right, was about to be trashed in ABC’s docudrama, ‘The Path to 9/11.’. . . At a time when many Americans believe oddball conspiracy theories about the Sept. 11 attacks, we need to have more facts and less fiction in our pursuit of the truth.”

One-time CBS News correspondent Randy Daniels, New York secretary of state under Gov. George Pataki, “made a run for governor on the GOP ticket, withdrew in April and threw his support behind John Faso. He has withdrawn from politics and is focusing on his new family and developing his real estate investment business in Asia. ‘Nine-eleven lit a fire under me,’ Daniels said. ‘I don’t want to waste another day of my life while pursuing what I want to achieve. Tomorrow is promised to no one.'”

“Sept. 10, 2001 . . . was the last day of the good old days and we didn’t even know. Not that the days were good and old. Not that they were doomed. But then, you never know the good old days when you are in them.”

“The full story of what has taken place at Guantanamo Bay and in the CIA’s overseas prisons will come out someday. But even with the little we know so far, I remain convinced that history will view these acts of arbitrary detention, extraordinary rendition and coercive interrogation with strong censure and deep shame. The president’s claim that ‘the United States does not torture’ comes with an asterisk, since his definition of torture is as tortured as Bill Clinton’s definition of ‘is.'”

“A three-part series by Eva Sanchis, a reporter for the Spanish-language daily El Diario-La Prensa, published last month . . . shines a powerful light on the disproportionate contribution in blood and guts of immigrant and minority communities to this senseless war. According to her second article, dated Aug. 29, of the 38 New Yorkers killed, 21 were Hispanic, eight black, four Asian and five white. . . . Let Sanchis’ findings be a wakeup call for immigrant and minority young people and their parents all over the city.”

“It comes as no great surprise that, five years after Sept. 11, Afghanistan has reverted to a [cauldron] of violence and corruption, a haven for jihadists and narco-terrorists, a miserable backwater teeming with contempt for central government authority.”

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Critic Says Media Rediscovering Backbone

In the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, “we had a shellshocked media establishment — largely centered in New York City — which was ready to support a World War II-style galvanizing of national will,” Eric Deggans, media critic of the St. Petersburg Times, wrote today on his blog.

“And when Bush used that opportunity instead to pursue the political and fiscal goals that benefitted a more narrow segment of the population, journalists slowly began to react. . . .

“I would suggest mainstream media has only truly found its voice as a watchdog and check on government power in the last couple of years — as it has become increasingly obvious to the population that the war in Iraq has brought great cost with limited benefit, and media outlets grow more incensed at the way the administration has tried to manipulate them.

“Stranger still, the original stars of 9/11 coverage five years ago have met some questionable ends,” Deggans says, updating readers on Ashleigh Banfield, Aaron Brown, Howell Raines and Geraldo Rivera.

2 Editors Answer Why the Day Is Covered at All

Two public editors explained the thinking behind their papers’ decisions on covering the five-year anniversary.

“I’ve mentioned here before that I’m no fan of anniversary stories. I think that generally they’re manufactured news, a turn of the calendar page their only reason for existence,” Ted Diadiun wrote Sunday in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “But they can be good for providing perspective, and readers have come to expect — demand, actually — an acknowledgment of certain anniversaries. That certainly includes the five-year anniversary of the most horrific event in recent history.

“Not all readers feel this way, of course.

“Deputy Metro Editor Clara Roberts, who directed the local coverage of the anniversary, said the goal was to tell the story in a way that other media wouldn’t, approaching it as a look ahead rather than a look back. So her reporters checked in with Northeast Ohioans who had lost loved ones in the attack; interviewed people from the local Muslim community, who have been victims of the attack themselves in a far different way; and talked to local terrorism experts to see how their perspectives have changed since 2001. Monday’s Plain Dealer will feature interviews with people talking about how the events have changed them over the past five years.”

In the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Kate Parry wondered, “When do we stop marking the five-year intervals?

She concluded, however, that, “As I page through the morning newspaper, I know I’ll be sharing in a ritual of remembrance playing out in house after house, from downtown lofts to neighborhood bungalows, from suburban cul-de-sacs to farmhouses.

“As those pages turn, the coffee is poured and the breakfast table conversations begin, we’ll take stock of the past five years together. That’s how newspapers help bind us into families, communities and a nation, looking back for common perspective on our past, struggling through our differences, moving confidently into our future.”

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Hunger, Iraq, Congo Among “Most Censored” Stories

“The mainstream media’s fascination with unimportant stories isn’t anything new,” Sarah Phelan writes in the alternative San Francisco Bay Guardian. “Professor Carl Jensen, a disenchanted journalist who entered advertising only to walk away in greater disgust and become a sociologist, says the media’s preoccupation with ‘junk food news’ inspired him to found a media research project at Sonoma State University about 30 years ago to publicize the top 25 big stories the media had censored, ignored, or underreported the previous year.

“That was the beginning of Project Censored, the longest-running media censorship project in the nation â?? and it drew plenty of criticism from editors and publishers.”

Topping this year’s list:

  • The Feds and the Media Muddy the Debate Over Internet Freedom
  • Halliburton Charged with Selling Nuclear Technology to Iran
  • World Oceans in Extreme Danger
  • Hunger and Homelessness Increasing in the United States
  • High-Tech Genocide in Congo
  • Federal Whistleblower Protection in Jeopardy
  • U.S. Operatives Torture Detainees to Death in Afghanistan and Iraq
  • Pentagon Extempt from Freedom of Information Act
  • World Bank Funds Israel-Palestine Wall
  • Expanded Air War in Iraq Kills More Civilians

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Sun-Times Sportswriters Take Own Paper to Task

“The influx of new black sportswriters has stalled for years. Most papers maintain a strict quota of one or two. This same color bias discolors reporting.”

The speaker wrote with some authority. “In the summer of 1964, Richard B. Fowler, editor and president of the Kansas City Star, made me an offer I couldn’t refuse,” Lacy J. Banks said in the Chicago Sun-Times:

“‘How would you like to become the Jackie Robinson of the Kansas City Star?

“‘We’ve never had a Negro reporter on our staff,’ he said. ‘It’s time for a change. We’ll give you a grant to help you finish your last year [at the University of Kansas], and you’ll have a job waiting for you when you finish KU.’

“That’s how my journalism career started in 1965,” Banks continued. “I became the first black reporter for the Kansas City Star, then the Indianapolis Star (1967) and lastly the first black sportswriter for the Chicago Sun-Times in 1972.”

Banks’ comments were part of a package in Sunday’s Chicago Sun-Times led off by a column called “Color us hypocrites” by Roman Modrowski, an assistant sports editor, and including short pieces by reporters Banks, John Jackson and Vaughn McClure.

“Sadly, a majority of major metropolitan newspapers — including the Chicago Sun-Times — never have employed a black sports columnist. Even worse, almost no one seems bothered (or even embarrassed) by that fact,” Jackson wrote.

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Columnist Mitchell Ends Trip Impressed by Jackson

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell wrote Thursday that she came away impressed after 10 days of covering Jesse Jackson on his trip to the Middle East. “There were four other journalists on the trip, but I was the only journalist who had never covered Jackson for an extended period,” wrote Mitchell, who won this year’s National Association of Black Journalists award for commentary.

“I also saw the bigger picture of why, despite criticism, Jackson continues to inject himself into world affairs. He’s made the world’s business his business for good reason: The news from the Middle East is one-sided, at best.

“Had I not gone on this journey, I would have never known that millions of Palestinians are living on parched land in near squalor, or that entire residential neighborhoods in Beirut were bombed into rubble.

“More important, if African-American journalists waited to be invited onto the world stage, few of us would ever get there.

“Jackson may be a manipulator of the media, and an intimidating negotiator across a bargaining table, but during our journey I came to see that he is also a tireless peacemaker and a remarkable teacher.

“Although Israeli officials basically gave him the runaround, I witnessed Jackson’s ability to maintain his focus. Instead of giving up, Jackson turned around and took a 12-hour trek across four nations to return to Lebanon in an attempt to get Israel to negotiate with Hezbollah for the release of the two captured Israeli soldiers.

“And I witnessed him use his incredible stature to open doors that are ordinarily closed to journalists like me.”

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“Survivor” Host’s Explanation Gets Juices Flowing

“I couldn’t believe how angry I was getting,” media critic Eric Deggans wrote Friday on his St. Petersburg Times blog.

“Survivor host Jeff Probst thought he was making a wonderful point: noting how much the decision to segregate contestant teams by race rejuvenated the aging reality TV series.

“‘It was literally the biggest casting endeavor we’d ever gone through in 13 seasons,’ he enthused during a conference call Thursday. ‘But we found the freshest cast in years. When you put on a show with a lot of people who are white, and only white people watch, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. We started looking at these people and saying, “Wow – we have fresh points of view again.” All of a sudden, the show, in our minds, rebirthed itself. . . . It really did re-energize us.’

“Why did this piss me off so badly? Because this was exactly the argument critics like me had been making to Burnett and his cohorts since the very first Survivor.

“As I have written before, I remember asking Burnett why Survivor was so lacking in diversity during a press party held by CBS in Los Angeles. Back then, he jumped back like I had touched him with a hot poker, insisting that race was not a factor on the show and complaining about a lack of diversity was just foolish.

“It’s the kind of response I’ve come to expect from many [in] network TV during discussions about diversity. Many of them — including CBS president Les Moonves — seem to view such discussions, especially when raised by a person of color, as a thinly-veiled excuse for a more selfish agenda. They see someone seeking fame, or professional status or a part for their cousin; what they don’t see, is the validity of the argument.”

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Did You See the Black Journalist from South Dakota?

“One of the things I enjoy about visiting other states is watching people react when I tell them South Dakota is my home. Often, it’s hilarious,” Yvonne D. Hawkins wrote Wednesday in the Sioux Falls (S.D.) Business Journal.

“The most recent example occurred when I attended a national convention of black journalists. During the event, I was treated like a cross between celebrity and novelty.

“The convention drew 2,500 journalists to Indianapolis for four days, and it appears I was the only one who came from the Rushmore State. Many conversations started something like this:

“‘Hi, I’m Rodney. I work at Hometown Newspaper in New Jersey. Where are you from?’

“‘Hello, Rodney. I’m Yvonne, and I work for the Sioux Falls Business Journal in South Dakota.’

“(Silence and a pause.)

“‘South Dakota? You’re kidding.’

“‘No, I’m not. I’m the editor of a startup newspaper in Sioux Falls, and I’ve been there for three years.’

“(Silence, stares and another pause.)

“‘I don’t believe you.’ (Someone actually said that.)

“‘Really, it’s true. And I enjoy it there, too. We even have a Starbucks.’

“(Widened eyes, silence and more pausing.)

“‘Reaalllly?’

“‘Yes, really. And two Wal-Marts.’

“Apparently, word got around the convention that there was this woman from South Dakota attending the event.

“And it seemed as if some folks needed to touch me to see if I were real. You know, kind of like Thomas after the Resurrection.

“Repeatedly, while riding the elevator at the convention hotel, a fellow passenger would look over at me and say: ‘So I hear you’re the one from South Dakota.’

“I started to ask whether they wanted to poke my side.

“The whole affair spurs an idea for a new slogan for the state’s tourism folks to consider. Forget ‘Great Faces, Great Places.’

“How about this: ‘South Dakota – Yes, It’s True!'”

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Short Takes

  • “WLTV-Univision 23 is considering what action to take after The Miami Herald reported Friday that the Miami station’s weekend sports anchor, Omar Claro, is one of several South Florida journalists getting paid by the U.S. government for side work at Radio and TV Marti,” the Miami Herald reported on Saturday.
  • “Six months after being forced out of The Source, Dave Mays is set to return to magazine publishing with a new title that’s being described as an urban version of In Touch, Radar magazine reported on Friday. “Joining him in the effort are failed 38-year-old MC Ray ‘Benzino’ Scott, his partner at The Source; surgically-enhanced radio yapper Wendy Williams; and Mimi Valdes, the former Vibe editor in chief who was canned, along with most of her staff, after BlackBook owner Ari Horowitz bought that title in July.”
  • The Washington Post repeated its call for the NFL’s Washington Redskins to change its name. “We take team owner Daniel M. Snyder at his word that he sees the nickname as an honor, and we appreciate how hard it is to abandon well-loved traditions. By the same token, it really is not up to the offender to characterize the nature of the offense. We can’t imagine Mr. Snyder, or anyone else for that matter, sitting in a room of Native Americans and referring to them as Redskins,” an editorial said today.
  • The Federal Communications Commission announced Friday that the first public hearing on media ownership issues will be held in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Oct. 3. Chairman Kevin Martin said hearings would be held “in diverse locations around the country.”
  • An investigator for Hewlett-Packard Co. secretly obtained phone records of nine journalists, including reporters for Cnet Networks, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, adding a bizarre twist to a boardroom drama that has transfixed Silicon Valley and has prompted an investigation by the state attorney general,” Verne Kopytoff reported Friday in the San Francisco Chronicle.
  • “The National Association of Hispanic Journalists awarded an unprecedented $378,500 in scholarships this fall to 47 students pursuing a career in journalism in the most competitive selection process in the association’s history,” the organization announced Wednesday. “More than 200 students applied for the scholarships, which ranged from $2,000 to $13,600, nearly doubling the number of applications from just last year and demonstrating an increased awareness of NAHJ’s educational programs.”
  • “The lack of black awareness in journalism at USF is startling,” columnist Shemir Wiles wrote Friday in the Oracle of the University of South Florida. “In all of my classes, issues of race are either skimmed over or never mentioned at all. I will admit, several of my teachers have tried to address race in journalism in their classes, and I appreciate it. However, it’s USF that should try to reach out. I think an elective class on race and gender issues in journalism would be a step in the right direction.”
  • Korva Coleman and Fred Child will have to move from Washington to St. Paul, Minn., if they want to continue hosting “SymphonyCast” and “Performance Today,” respectively, Sarah Lotman, vice president of content and media at American Public Media, told Journal-isms today. As Paul Farhi reported Thursday in the Washington Post, “National Public Radio said it will end production and distribution of ‘Performance Today,’ the most popular classical music program on the air, and eliminate 11 jobs in its Washington headquarters as a result.” Starting early next year, “Performance Today” and “SymphonyCast” will be produced by St. Paul-based American Public Media, he wrote.
  • “The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Inc. and Dell launched an online library Wednesday that features primary documents chronicling the contributions of the more than 100 African-Americans who have served in the Senate and House since the 1870s,” Patrice Relerford reported Thursday for Cox News Service. “The electronic library, called Avoice, or African-American Voices in Congress, aims to preserve personal and societal milestones, such as a black-and-white photo of black soldiers at an Army base in Vietnam celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day.”
  • “Former ‘CBS News This Morning’ weathercaster and one-time WNEW radio host Mark McEwen will appear tomorrow on CBS’s ‘The Early Show’ to talk about his recovery from a massive stroke last November,” Richard Huff wrote today in the New York Daily News. “McEwen, who left New York for a job at an Orlando TV station, was close to death after the stroke. His recovery has been difficult, he tells Harry Smith, who visited McEwen in Orlando.”
  • Ernesto Schweikert of Guatemala is planning to open a Spanish-language television station for New Orleans, to build on the success he has had with radio there, Greg Flakus reported Thursday for the Voice of America. Schweikert and the staff of Spanish-language radio station KGLA recently won the Broadcast Journalist of the Year award from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists for their service to the Hispanic community after Hurricane Katrina.
  • “He’s the likable BBC newscaster who is more used to reading the headlines than making them. But the publication of his provocative new book has shot George Alagiah into the limelight,” reads the headline in Friday’s Guardian, of London. “He talks to Tania Branigan about becoming British, his struggle to accept his racial identity, and why he thinks multiculturalism isn’t working.” Branigan writes, “He says that his previous reluctance to be identified as an Asian or black journalist ignored a huge part of his own identity. Now, at 50, he is finally ready to explore these issues.” Alagiah’s parents moved from Sri Lanka to Ghana and sent Alagiah to a British boarding school.

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