That is my experience Steven. Also the CIA, the Cultural Cold War gang that instituted the socialist arts programs in Europe to combat the Soviet message that we were all self-interested dopes over here with little culture but the Beatles, claimed credit for much of the civil rights advances, also to combat Communist advances in Africa. One of the people that they claimed credit for was Leontyne Price the great operatic soprano. What is not usually known is that her brother was the first black general in the army as well. They were both from a very poor background in Mississippi. But they were also superior in their work although trained here. Leontyne was trained and supported by the black community which has some of the greatest artists and voice teachers in the nation. They were segregated except in radio where the blindness of the medium found work for many of the great black actors and elocutionists. Television ruined all of that and returned the medium to "white bread" and threw most of them out of work in New York. There is a very layered history here that most of the dominant population which is tied to the visuality of literacy is blind to.
Ray Evans Harrell ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen Straker" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Karen Watters Cole" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2003 12:46 PM Subject: Re: [Futurework] Ten simple rules > ED brought to our attention ---> > > <<<<<The current issue of Atlantic [which] contains an > article by Robert Kaplan entitled "Supremacy by Stealth"... > It sets out ten rules that America, as the new Rome, should > use to govern the world and make it safe for freedom and > democracy, American style.<<<<<<<<<< > > My first reaction on reading this piece was "Whoa! Reality > check!" and was mightily struck to find out in how many > countries the US has on-the-ground military operatives doing > their thing (often in very small numbers) and, as Kaplan > sees it, doing so quite effectively. > > As you note, he portrays these operatives as highly talented > and well-educated folks ... more like James Bonds than GI > Joes (and I also wondered if there was a place for Jane > Bonds in this picture of the New American Century). > > RAY made a good point when he noted ---> > > >>>>>>>>>that the military is the only truly equal opportunity employer in the nation... the most democratic institution in America ... performance oriented and not built upon the European aristocratic model. Prejudice against the military is unseemly and we should not carry that prejudice over into creating the kind of anger carried by the police. We pay the military poorly but train them well and demand much from them. They, more than any other Americans, can truly speak to the values of equality and equal opportunity.<<<<<<<<<<< > > I think Ray is right about this. And not just as applies to > multi-lingual graduates of poli sci departments & army war > colleges. > > Perhaps you recall back when he was Sec'y of DEEEEfence (in > the LBJ admin) Robert McNamara proposed that the Pentagon > should play a large role in *civilian* job training. This > was greeted with hoots of derision by everybody in my > liberal-minded crowd, and I well remember being drawn up > short when McNamara made just Ray's point, assuring us > smugly liberal types that the surest route out of the ghetto > and poverty into highly skilled well-paid work was via the > US Army. A very high proportion of African-Americans with > steady jobs in heavy construction, for example, had gone > from the ghetto into the army where they learned how to > operate bulldozers, cranes, graders, and every other sort of > heavy equipment. I imagine much the same is true also these > days in electronics & computer stuff. (FWers! Are there any > reliable data on this phenomenon??) > > So when KAREN asks ----> > > >>>>>>>>Have we undermined public education so much or lost all confidence in it that we only trust the military to train our leaders?<<<<<<<<< > > I'm reminded to underscore the point about democratic > ACCESSIBILITY that Ray made. Not only is the military an > equal-opportunity operation, it is an educational > institution with scholarships for all: you get PAID to be > trained up. > > Somebody mentioned Colin Powell as an example of the > military as an agent of social mobility. It is relevant to > note that although Powell grew up as a shopkeeper's son in > the Bronx, he did go to tuition-free City College in the > 1950s and was thereby already on a trajectory that could > have landed him a professorship somewhere. [A friend of mine > (from the same neighborhood in the Bronx, not far from > Yankee Stadium) was a classmate of Powell at CCNY and he > told me a little-known fact, that Powell is a fluent speaker > of Yiddish, learned, of course, in the shop. The people who > delivered ice to my friend's apartment building were blacks, > also conducting their business in Yiddish. I'll bet it's > something to behold when Powell starts up a conversation > with some of his colleagues in the Israeli diplomatic > corps.] > > best wishes from summery Vancouver, > where I am only about a week behind in my FW mail ... > > Stephen Straker > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Vancouver, B.C. > [Outgoing mail scanned by Norton AntiVirus] > > > _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
