PROPOSED RADIO NEWS LEDE:
THE ELECTION OF A BLACK MAN TO THE
PRESIDENCY OF THE UNITED STATES HAD SOME
OBSERVERS SPEAKING OF A POST RACIAL
SOCIETY, BUT OTHERS MORE CRITICALLY
REMARKED THAT RACISM CANNOT BE ELIMINATED
BY FAILING TO ADDRESS IT.
SINCE BARACK OBAMA BECAME PRESIDENT,
THE DISCUSSION ON RACE HAS TAKEN CENTER
STAGE WITH THE ARREST OF PROF. LOUIS GATES,
JR. IN HIS OWN HOUSE, THE CONTROVERSIAL
SIGHT OF A SOUTHERN CONGRESSMAN YELLING
AT THE PRESIDENT DURING A NATIONAL ADDRESS
AND LAST WEEK’S STATEMENT BY FORMER
PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER THAT:
"I THINK AN OVERWHELMING PORTION OF THE
INTENSELY DEMONSTRATED ANIMOSITY TOWARD
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA IS BASED ON THE FACT
THAT HE IS A BLACK MAN, THAT HE'S
AFRICAN-AMERICAN,"
YESTERDAY, THE VERA LIST CENTER FOR ART AND
POLITICS AT NEW SCHOOL UNIVERSITY IN
MANHATTAN SCREENED, D.W. GRIFFITH’S
“THE BIRTH OF A NATION”, A 1915 THREE-HOUR
SILENT FILM CREDITED WITH DEFINING AMERICAN
RACIAL ATTITUDES AND ITS 2007 HIP-HOP RE-MIX
VERSION: “RE-BIRTH OF A NATION” BY D.J. SPOOKY.
WBAI FRED NGUYEN ATTENDED THE PANEL
DISCUSSION BETWEEN THE SCREENINGS AND HE
FILES THIS REPORT:
