Disappointed and Unsurprised.

[browngirl]

So, of course, in the wake of the Jayson Blair scandal, people are blaming, not a dishonest journalist and those who did not check up on him thoroughly enough, but AA and political correctness and efforts to promote diversity in the workplace. The way to prevent dishonest journalism, according to them, is apparently to only have White journalists; no one would say such a thing in so many words, but that's the only conclusion that can be drawn. I am disappointed and unsurprised by these reactions.



All my life, I've seen again and again how what one person does reflects on others of their ethnic group, unless that person is White, and especially strongly if that action is a bad one. There are times I feel bad about being the receptionist here, being Black, because I don't just fear, I know that someone is judging what Black people are capable of by me. I have to live my own life as all of me, not just as a Black woman, but I know this, and sometimes it bugs me.

At this moment it bugs me. Not a living soul said White journalists can't be trusted when Mike Barnacle was fired. As they said in this article, "no one says 'I'd hire a White guy if he were qualified'". I don't want them to start saying that; I just want them to stop saying it about Hispanic guys and Black women and so on.

I knew, once I heard that Jayson Blair is Black, that people would be blaming the idea of Black journalists, blaming the fact that Black people *can* be journalists, for his misdeeds. I would have liked to have been wrong.

Comments

Edits

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

LJ won't let me edit this entry, so I wanted to note that I got the link above, and the editorial that sparked my rant, from princesswitch. Thankee. *wave* :)

Race

[mama-hogswatch.livejournal.com]

I see you as Nye, really.

I don't look at you and see "Black Woman". I mean, yeah, I have eyes and I can tell your African ancestry is a few generations closer than mine is, but I see you, and that yes, one of the aspects that is part of you is that you are black.

Re: Race

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you do. :) This is one of the reasons you're my friend; I have made a more-or-less concerted effort to spend time with people who see me as a person, not an adjective. :D

But society....the wider society often doesn't, and sometimes that gets under my skin.

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

Very few people have been saying it was because Jayson Blair was black.

What I mostly hear are people defending against a charge that most people aren't making.

(And, actually, until I read the Newsweek article on it, I didn't know what colour skin Jayson Blair has -- nor is it particularly relevant).

I think, if you don't mind my saying so, that part of the problem is the Capital Letters on Black and White. You set yourself up to be judged as Black, simply because it's an issue. Yes, it's part of who you are, but it's not WHO you are (in fact, in my dealings with you, it's mainly notable so I can identify you visually or describe you, "short woman, dark skin, round, knock-you-over smile")

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Very few people have been saying it was because Jayson Blair was black.

I think it was when I had read three such references that my annoyance reached critical mass. I'm glad it's not *more*, but it pisses me off that anyone is saying it, you know?

I think, if you don't mind my saying so, that part of the problem is the Capital Letters on Black and White. You set yourself up to be judged as Black, simply because it's an issue. Yes, it's part of who you are, but it's not WHO you are

Yeah, you've told me this, and other friends before you. :) Believe me, I do think about it. I can only look at the world with my two eyes, not omnipotent, infallible ones; certainly there are times when I may misjudge. But....I don't think always. I can hardly take off my skin to go shopping, after all. :)

Being Black is certainly not all I am, but I don't think I act as if it is. I know people who do (and don't like them). However, it *is* still part of me, including how it sometimes affects my interactions with society, and from time to time it's something I talk about, just as being female or fat or in my twenties or an artist or polyamorous or into science or a fan are things I talk about.

[gingicat]

I have come across multiple references myself. And I live in a city where people are most definitely judged on the color of their skin, their ability to speak English (I have seen white people be visibly surprised when Browngirl opens her mouth and speaks Broadcast English), whether or not they seem to be from around here. And it's not just Malden (though, being an old mill town, it's more visible), it's all of the metro Boston area.
Today's Globe had a full-page article about what a little snot Jayson Blair was when he worked there. And it's clearly inferred that "if we weren't afraid of being called racists, he'd never have worked in journalism again." That's a problem.
This is not a failure of a black man, or of affirmative action. This is a failure of Jayson Blair's bosses to be courageous enough to simply fire a man incapable of doing his job until it was impossible not to -- and unfortunately, that they can blame on the fact that Blair probably used his skin color as a weapon. But that's the failure of one man who happens to be black.

[porcinea.livejournal.com]

Boondocks, a bright shadow in a bleak world. (I've been enjoying his Jayson Blair thread.)

The "color blind" blindness problem.

[anisoptera.livejournal.com]

While I see you as a lovely delightful person, I am aware that you are a person of color so your expirence of the world is different then mine.

You have had expirences, your family, your friends of color, that I, my family, and friends who are white have not and will never have to deal with.

I have only been a 'minorty' in a couple of social situations and both times I was treated very graciously. I imagine you can not say the same. :(

[ororo.livejournal.com]

I didn't know he was black until I read your entry. I just felt disgust at the lack of ethics he was shown. I did a Google search and found a column I found quite useful: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63936-2003May16.html

[cellio]

For what it's worth, I didn't know he was black until I saw your entry, nor have I heard race-based criticisms of that situation until now.

[dglenn.livejournal.com]

Another data point: I haven't really been following the story, but I already knew he was black speccifically because I'd already run into references to affirmative action by people "considering" (implying while trying to get off the hook for doing so) that "the situation" is partly because of AA.

[pickledginger.livejournal.com]

I didn't know that Jayson Blair was black until a couple of days ago. And the only race-based criticism I have heard so far is his allegation that the whole fuss is only because he is black.

No, The New York Times is not persecuting him because he is black. The New York Times is canning his sorry ass because he is lying, cheating, unrepentant scum.

It is possible that, had he not been quite so fast-tracked, he would have been trained out of his habit of substituting creative writing for actual reportage. If he had been caught in time, or if he had had a more-typical career path of working long hours under close supervision at small papers, before moving up to the big time.

But that's not what happened. Instead, he rocketed up to an exalted level where one is assumed to be both competent and ethical, where everyone is expected to know the rules and to follow them, where babysitters aren't thought to be needed anymore.

Blair is bright, he is attractive, he is resourceful, he is articulate, he is good at his craft - and he knows it. Somewhere along the way, his skills and his success led him to believe the rules are for other, lesser beings. He was so bright, he didn't have to check the facts, he could simply extrapolate. He didn't need to actually interview people; he was so good, he could write up what they would have said, had he bothered to ask.

Eventually, he was caught. The Times gave him a dressing down. Blair put on a good show of repentence, and was put on probation. The newspaper thought it had been just a slip. The editors chalked it up to youth - Blair is still only 26 - ambition and inexperience. They thought he had seen the light. But, as is now obvious, they had underestimated both the scope of his transgressions and the extent of his talent for dissimulation.

I won't say that the color of his skin doesn't matter. It may have worked both for and against him.

Journalism is a very pale profession. Articles are written, and conferences held, on the difficulty of recruiting minority journalists. One of the factors most loudly discussed is the relatively low wages that the field offers: Those who have had to work twice as hard to get the skills and credentials that are needed to become a journalist appear to be rather more than twice as likely to opt, instead, for a field in which they can work fewer and more-regular hours for far more money. Another factor, less often mentioned, is the particular set of skills required: English and writing are among the subjects in which the minority population - more likely to have been subjected to substandard schooling, or raised in a household where English was only a second language - is most at a disadvantage. Yet another factor, generally subject to only sotto vocce discussion, is the lack of opportunity for advancement: Almost every newspaper and magazine and TV station is desperately eager to hire black or hispanic reporters or editors for entry-level positions. Few are eager to promote them.

The fierce competition for minority journalists may well have played a role in Blair's rapid rise. The Times hires very few reporters as young as he; most candidates undergo a longer period of seasoning and training, at smaller institutions, and with smaller egos. As previously stated, Blair might have benefited from such seasoning; he certainly did not benefit from its lack.

His status as a scarce resource also may be the reason why the newspaper reacted to his earlier ... indiscretions ... with a scolding and probation, rather than summary dismissal.

I suspect that Blair still will have a very long and lucrative career, if he officially switches to the field in which he has been writing all along: fiction. If he attempts to stay in journalism, well, he probably can find a small paper somewhere that will give him an entry-level job, and keep him there.

Oh, certainly

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

I'm not at all defending the dishonest Mr. Blair.

The people I'm defending are those who are honest who may nevertheless end up by judged by *his* actions, because of a deeply annoying process I've seen happen a lot.

[pickledginger.livejournal.com]

::sigh::

That certainly does happen. (To women, for instance, who no, do not all "sleep their way to the top," as a lot of middle-aged white men allege every time one of them is caught in flagrante with a subordinate who's risen above - or sometimes, to - the typing pool.)

But because of the dynamics of the industry, I don't think that's so likely to happen in his case. What I do expect is a lot of grousing about how he got away for it for so long only because ...
Which is all the harder to rebut for its having a grain of truth.

Re: Oh, certainly

[trinker.livejournal.com]

As I recall (I don't, alas, have time to recheck this cite) one of the NPR shows mentioned that the fasttrack stuff that was designed to do AA stuff for newspapers resulted mostly in white hires who were also part of the group.

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

My two cents: I have heard the grumblings about Blair being black the same as you have, and had the same general reaction. But I also read that one of the factors in his being fasttracked was not simply because he was black but because he was good at schmoozing with his bosses, and that this caused resentment among his peers.

We still have a long way to go in this country in how we deal with race issues.

[figmo.livejournal.com]

An article I'd read said he was blaming his plagiarism on being black, disadvantaged, yadda-yadda instead of his being a dishonest person.

UGH.

Plagiarism is plagiarism. When you're reading his articles, the only thing "black" in them is the color of the ink.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Oh, of course. Make no mistake; I think he's a dishonest twit.

[figmo.livejournal.com]

Like you, when I heard his dishonesty blamed on race et al, my first response was anger.

It's A Common Attitude, Unfortunately

[werehamster.livejournal.com]

Remember how I told you that someone tried to hit me in the head with a tire iron, then was arrested and got off with probation? A lot of the people I tell about that say that it was because he was black. When they do, I point out that he was actually white, and ask them why they assumed otherwise.

I haven't gotten a good answer yet.