In 2003, I voted for Stan Glazer to be mayor. I didn't think he'd be a good mayor, but I didn't think he'd be awful. One thing I particularly liked about him was that he talked often of "the little guy." I thought he might bring a sort of bottom-up perspective to KC's power structure. He's not in the in-crowd. Which is good because I've only lived here for six years and I've long been fed up with the in-crowd.
I'd been planning to vote for Glazer the next time around until I read Nadia Pflaum's excellent profile of him. When I got to the part where he tells one of the most obnoxious racist jokes I've ever heard I decided there's no way in hell I'll ever vote for him.
It's not just that he told the joke, though that probably should be enough, because it was a truly awful joke, and I would never tell a joke like that in any company, and I'd be genuinely pissed at anyone who would. It's that he told the joke in the presence of a reporter from the only media outlet in the city that is guaranteed to publish it. I mean, that's just common knowledge. Say something stupid, the Pitch is gonna print it.
What a freakin' idiot!
And they say one of his most promising assets is that he'll be a good salesman for the city? Puh-lease! Like I want an uncivilized buffoon like that representing us. God knows what he might say.
Oh sure, he was quick to admit that the joke was racist, and that black comedians use the N-word all the time. And Nadia deftly included all the context. But it still shows that he ain't got a clue how to act. I mean, yeah, blacks use the n-word. But whites don't. Especially whites that are angling to represent blacks as mayor. Glazer should know that. (Might not seem fair. But when it comes to unfair, blacks clearly have a lot more room to complain.)
I think I'm gonna write in Michelle Singletary. She isn't eligible, and probably wouldn't take it if she were. But the city needs someone with her ethos.
A Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year
A Publisher's Weekly Best Book of the Year
One of Kansas City Star's 100 Noteworthy Books of the Year
Winner of the William Rockhill Nelson Award for Nonfiction
Winner of the Harry Chapin Media Award
. . .
Forget the nerdy reputation that debate has. Instead think of a scenario as exciting as a sports game with high stakes like triumphing over racism. bad politics and abject poverty... An important, thoughtful and provocative look at race and class in America.
- The Boston Globe
Joe Miller's enthusiasm is infectious and the plot creates the suspense of a good courtroom thriller.
- Entertainment Weekly
The minute I finished Joe Miller's Cross-X, I held the book out in front of me -- amazed, rapturous, and hopeful... Miller's mesmerizing, vivid accounts of the debates will leave you crouched in your seat, holding your breath... An incredibly powerful, daringly hopeful book.
- Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Irresistible... Miller begins breezily but is soon deeply invested in the Central squad's mission to not only master the debate game on its own terms but revolutionize it with flashes of poetry and hip-hop wordplay... If all these kids could run things, Miller implies, imagine what could get done.
- Elle
5 comments:
I wrote in Mark Funkhouser, the city auditor, in that Barnes-Glazer mayoral election. He wasn't running, but it was at least a choice I felt good about.
It wasn't the N-word that was obnoxious, it was the punch line. I mean, sure the N-word was obnoxious, but Glazer didn't seem the least bit defensive about the stereotype in the punchline: that blacks would rather steal the pearly gates than walk through them. I can't get too upset with a comedian who tries to reduce vicious epithets to a mere joke, but when his racism overwhelms the effort and compromises it, well, forget him.
Agreed. It was the punchline that was most offensive.
Joe Bus drivers are on strike! I'm scared.
What's interesting about that joke is the reaction it got around the Pitch office before we ran the piece. Some found it offensive and proof that there's a shred of racist in the guy. Others saw it as just Stan the Man, a guy who says inappropriate things at really dumb-ass moments, but still has a heart of gold. I don't know what's in his heart, but I do know that was one bad joke.
Post a Comment