PBS Special Forum "The Issue is Race"

Panelists include:

Alan Keyes (then black republican candidate for Senate), Richard Nathan (then director of Rockefeller Institute/researcher), Sister Souljah (then raptivist/PoliSci major), Jonathan Kozol (educator and author) Anna Deavere Smith (playwright), Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly (then mayor of Washington) , Dhoruba bin Wasad (former political prisoner/wrongly imprisoned Black Panther, activist) Tony Brown (then journalist/author), Cornel West (then director of African American Studies at Princeton), and Sylvester Monroe (then of Time Magazine).

This was in 1992. One of the main questions then was "What have we overcome?" It is now 2012. What have we "overcome" since then?

Really, this show sums up so much of what we discuss here. It reflects the different positions that we see here from different sides.

Trust me, Troy, I've seen this one and you're going to want to que this one up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZKM-6wg2Z8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YJIw1LFzjc&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGpJ-yQKZss&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obHn3GLck0A&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkjzr6cw0MA&feature=relmfu

(The last video:)

What do you think Tommie Smith and John Carlos overcame when they raised their fists at the 1968 Olymphics. WaterStar? Constantly carping about how the "more things change, the more they become the same" neutralizes the very people whose accomplishments you supposedly want to revere.

How do all of these panelists reflect the the points of view on this site?? Of the few people who comment on the subject, none are deluded about how things are today. Actually, Cousin Souljah, you and your much-vaunted optimism are the one who is out of step.

Did you even watch the show?

Many of the viewpoints held by the panelists actually are viewpoints that are expressed here. Not all of course and not identically so yet one can easily see the similarities and it goes beyond the discussions that "we" who frequent this board and participate in such discussions have but to the dialogue (and often lack thereof) in general. The issues and the the discussions about them or the discussion about the avoidance ret the discussions (& collective action in response to them) behind them remain.

As Jonathan Kozol remarked re: his experiences and participation in such discussions, not much has changed.

Who besides you and Troy and me and sometimes WriterGirl and Milton are expressing any viewpoints here? Those who follow these discussions are loud in their silence, most apparently preferring to lurk. Who other than someone that is deaf and blind and illiterate doesn't know that things haven't changed much?? But carry on.

Have you watched the show?

Some of it. I figured that since you claim it showcases views reflected here, that there would be nothing new for me to learn. Unlike you, I find no "joy in repetition".

Indeed. A foolish dog barks at the bird flying in the sky who is going his own way.