Arizona School Withdraws Request for Artist to Lighten Faces on Mural

A Prescott, Arizona school has occupied the center of a controversy for nearly a week. The school commissioned an artist to paint a mural with an environmental theme using pictures of students who attended the school. A Latino child is among the most prominently displayed figures in the mural.

During the painting of the mural, passersby hurled racial epithets at the artist. Steve Blair, a member of the city council, criticized the mural during his radio show, invoking the jaded "I'm not a racist, but. . . " and the "I have black friends" lines in the same breath:

"I am not a racist individual, but I will tell you depicting a black guy in the middle of that mural, based upon who's president of the United States today and based upon the history of this community when I grew up, we had four black families - who I have been very good friends with for years - to depict the biggest picture on that building as a black person, I would have to ask the question, 'Why?'"

On Wednesday, Blair again emphasized that "I'm not a racist by any stretch of the imagination, but whenever people start talking about diversity, it's a word I can't stand."

Blair questions whether the mural is representative of Prescott, noting, "The focus doesn't need to be on what's different; the focus doesn't need to be on the minority all the time."

Blair said he has received a number of calls from long-time Prescott residents who ask, "Who authorized that graffiti on the wall?" He added: "What these people don't like is somebody forcing diversity down their throats."

Apparently, the mere presence of a Latino child is unsettling to some people in the community. Although the child is an actual student at the school, his presence in the mural means that the artist is "forcing diversity down the[] throats" of whites in Prescott.

Furthermore, the nonracist Blair describes the Latino child as black and somehow manages to connect him with President Obama (who happens to be black). Equality is so beautiful!

The school also received complaints, which led officials to ask the artist to "lighten" the faces of children depicted in the mural. School officials denied any racist intent and said that they were not responding to angry callers.

After a national uproar, however, school officials have now switched their position and have withdrawn the request to have the mural altered to depict lighter children. The school principal said he made a mistake; the superintendent also said that the request to lighten the students' faces was wrong.

Meanwhile, Blair has lost his radio show. And he is still complaining about the mural:

"It looked like a guy, in my opinion, a black guy, brown guy holding a stick, and flowers and stuff, what was it supposed to mean?

Perhaps he'll blame some "black guy, brown guy" for the loss of his radio show.

OpenLeft Announces The Death of Amateur (White Heterosexual Male) Progressive Blogging

Recently, the New York Times announced that it was incorporating the liberal blog FiveThirtyEight, authored by Nate Silver. In response, Chris Bowers of OpenLeft has declared that amateur progressive blogging has died.

What evidence does Bowers cite for this proposition? Several liberal bloggers have taken paid jobs at professional sites like the Washington Post and Salon.Com. Also, other progressive blogs have become large professional and money-making operations. Finally, bloggers have used their blogging experience to obtain paid consulting positions, which they perform along with blogging. Ergo, the amateur liberal blog has died.

Ahem. There are many liberal bloggers who make little or no money from their efforts. Bowers' essay indicates a pesky problem within the liberal blogging community. Larger, more established blogs -- often those run by whites, men or heterosexuals -- are the only ones that get serious attention among many so-called liberals. Developments at these blogs supposedly represent the status of the blogging world at large. Therefore, if many or most of these blogs are chasing dollars and becoming professionalized, then amateur blogging no longer exists.

Well, there are many liberal bloggers, especially many who write on feminist, race and LGBT politics. Bowers' essay attempts to recognize the power of monied interests, but to make this point, he slights the efforts of people who represent diversity in the blog world.

Bowers laments the death of amateur progressive blogs, suggesting that liberals are being co-opted by larger institutions. Perhaps Bowers should read blogs outside of his comfort zone. Let me know if you need a list of suggested reading, Chris.

CBS Says Documents Show Kagan Is A Liberal

CBS legal correspondent Jan Crawford believes that she has unearthed material that proves Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan has a "liberal opinion on social issues." Perhaps that conclusion depends on the meaning of the word liberal. It also depends upon the facts and issues presented in the cases the documents analyze.

The documents are legal memoranda that Kagan prepared during her clerkship with the late Justice Thurgood Marshall. Kagan has said that writings she authored during her clerkship reflect the position of Justice Marshall, rather than her own personal views. Nonetheless, some of the documents explicitly describe Kagan's own beliefs.

In one memo, Kagan was possibly worried that the Court would use the particular case at issue to undo precedent protecting the right to an abortion. Crawford implies that this proves Kagan supports abortion rights. But even moderate and center-right judges (like Anthony Kennedy and Sandra Day O'Connor) have agreed that the Constitution protects abortion rights.

Another case involved a school district's voluntary desegregation plan. Kagan wrote that the plan was "amazingly sensible" and that lower court rulings recognized the "good sense and fair-mindedness" of local officials. Crawford does not provide any facts regarding the case, but this language alone does not prove that Kagan is a liberal. As recently as 2007, Justice Kennedy asserted that under certain circumstances, local officials would not violate the Constitution if they adopted voluntary desegregation plans that intentionally took race into account. At most, Media commentators often describe Kennedy as a moderate, but he most often votes with conservatives in split decisions.

Crawford also cites a memo in a case in which a plaintiff argued that New York must recognize his proxy marriage performed in Kansas. These marriages were prohibited by New York law. Marshall suggest to Kagan that the "Full Faith and Credit Clause" required recognition of the marriage. Kagan said that the position was "at least arguably correct."

Crawford says that this language shows that Kagan could support same-sex marriage rights. This is probably a stretch. First, the language cited from Kagan's memo does not represent a ringing endorsement of plaintiff's position in the case. Also, the case was about Full Faith and Credit, not a constitutional right to a particular type of marriage. Furthermore, during her confirmation as Solicitor General, Kagan, answering a Senate questionnaire, stated that there was no constitutional right to same-sex marriage. At best, it is unclear what position Kagan would take on this issue.

The strongest evidence Crawford presents is language that suggests Kagan disagreed with a case that made it tougher for criminal defendants to prove a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. Marshall was the lone dissenter in that ruling, which predated Kagan's clerkship.

Finally, Crawford does not state what position Kagan advised Marshall to take in these cases. Other commentary regarding Kagan indicates that she often disagreed when Marshall tried to push more liberal positions than she believed existing law allowed. Even if Kagan has some liberal instincts, it is unclear how this fact would shape her positions as a justice on the Supreme Court.

Rue McClanahan Dead at 76

Rue McClanahan, one of my very favorite television actresses, has died at the age of 76. She had a "massive stroke." McClanahan is best known for her remarkable portrayal of the Southern seductress Blanche Devereaux in the campy hit series Golden Girls. RIP, Rue!

Three Questions Regarding White House Job Offers to Political Candidates

The Internet is buzzing with reports that President Obama, to some extent, tried to secure employment for at least two Democratic congressional candidates. Last month, Representative Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania said the White House offered him a position to coax him out of a race against Arlen Specter. The White House confirmed that statement. Now, Andrew Romanoff says that the White House offered him three different positions in order to persuade him not to run against incumbent Senator Michael Bennett from Colorado.

The story has become a leading news item, but most of the reporting fails to address three important questions. First: is this conduct illegal? Second: is it unethical? Third: is this common or traditional behavior among presidents?

I suspect that the conduct is not illegal. Whether it is unethical is a more philosophical point, but people should at least address it, rather than implying that the actions are inherently wrong. Finally, I also suspect that for a large part of U.S. history, presidents have dangled potential employment and other incentives under similar circumstances.

According to Obama's critics offering jobs to political candidates makes him a "Washington insider," which betrays his rhetoric of "change." Running as a Washington outsider is a popular strategy among political candidates -- especially those candidates desperately seeking a job in Washington. But, if people actually believe that the Washington insider label has any substantive value beyond its use as a campaign slogan, they are too gullible to engage in political analysis.

Gore v. Gore: Al and Tipper Ending Marriage

Former Vice President Al Gore and his wife Tipper Gore released a statement today stating that they are ending their 40-year marriage. Politico has the news:

In an “Email from Al and Tipper Gore,” the couple said: “We are announcing today that after a great deal of thought and discussion, we have decided to separate.

“This is very much a mutual and mutually supportive decision that we have made together following a process of long and careful consideration. We ask for respect for our privacy and that of our family, and we do not intend to comment further.”

This is one political couple that I actually believed could remain together. At least the separation does not appear to involve a lot of acrimony.

Amateur Sociologist Richard Cohen Has A Theory About Class and Crime

Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen has published a provocative essay that attempts to analyze the relationship between class and crime. Cohen asks whether liberals got "it wrong" on class and crime. He concludes that they did.

Cohen argues that acts of violent crime are dropping across the nation -- even though the country is experiencing a "Great Recession." Accordingly, Cohen concludes that liberals are wrong to link class and crime: "[T]he latest crime statistics strongly suggest that bad times do not necessarily make bad people. Bad character does." Cohen's essay suffers on many levels.

First, Cohen simplistically portrays liberal social theory regarding crime. Sociologists have definitely linked the absence of meaningful economic opportunity with crime, but they have never advanced this as the sole cause of criminal behavior.

Furthermore, theories that do link crime and class address the relationship in a far more complicated fashion than Cohen even attempts to do. Cohen believes that if crime and class are indeed related, then a short-term economic downturn should necessarily give rise to a spike in crimes. The academic research on criminal behavior, however, does not centralize this simplistic aspect of the crime/class relationship.

Although sudden economic deprivation could certainly motivate some criminals, sociologists have focused on the longterm effects of poverty. After decades of empirical research, some of the brightest minds have concluded that entrenched and concentrated poverty can present such a formidable barrier to legitimate economic opportunity, that individuals turn to crime. The removal of jobs can also lead to behaviors that seem rational under the circumstances, but which harm the law-breaking individuals and their communities even more. William Julius Wilson's informative book When Work Disappears could have informed Cohen's analysis.

Finally, Cohen's use of statistical information is sloppy. Cohen cites to a recent preliminary FBI report which finds that in 2009, violent crimes decreased over 2008 levels. Cohen, however, fails to place those statistics within an historical context. The 2009 FBI report, for example, makes the following observation about robberies:

Although robbery overall showed a decrease, cities with populations less than 25,000 showed increases in robbery. Robberies also increased in both metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties, 0.7 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

Also, as the FBI's own disclaimer states, the data are compiled as a result of voluntary reporting by local law enforcement. The FBI warns readers not to use the data to make strong conclusions -- particularly of a comparative nature by jurisdiction:

Figures used in this Report are submitted voluntarily by law enforcement agencies throughout the country. . . . Valid assessments are possible only with careful study and analysis of the range of unique conditions affecting each local law enforcement jurisdiction.

It is very important to test and rethink established theories. The relationship between crime and class, however, deserves more than Cohen's pseudo-sociology.