The Golden Rule

When I heard about the shootings in Atlanta on Tuesday, I soon began playing in my head a song from childhood.  It became an earworm, which I still can't get out of my mind.  Called "Wun Long Pan," from The Blue Book of the John W. Schaum Piano Course series, it introduces students to sixteenth notes through the following lyrics:

"Wun Long Pan, Is famous Chinese Detective,
Wun Long Pan, He gives the crooks a chase.
Wun Long Pan, Is famous Chinese Detective,
Wun Long Pan, He always solves the case."

Here's the picture that accompanies this simple, clunky tune:

The year before I started piano lessons and learned to play "Wun Long Pan," my second-grade teacher taught us about Mao Zedong, whose name at the time was spelled in English as Mao Tse-tung.  He had most likely appeared in an issue of My Weekly Reader.  All I remember about this lesson is the way my teacher pronounced his name: Mayo Tease Tongue.

Wun Long Pan and Mayo Tease Tongue were my introductions to Chinese culture in the early 1960s.  The sad thing is I don't think much has changed since then.  Too many Americans wouldn't object to the illustration of Detective Pan, the absurdity of his name, or the disturbing syntax of the lyrics.  Moreover, newscasters and politicians continue to mispronounce Asian names, either as deliberate insults or as insensitive slights.  As one student said in response to a survey at the University of Alberta, "It is important for me to have my heritage name pronounced correctly because it makes me feel like I belong."

Exactly.  That's one of our main problems today.  Too many fellow citizens feel unwelcome and unworthy, as if they don't belong.  We can fix this, and it begins with respect: treating others as we would have them treat us.  Sound familiar? 

So Long, Farewell, Aufwiedersehn, Goodbye!

We've almost made it.  Four awful years with President Trump whittled down to barely three remaining days.  

Here are some of the people I won't miss:

De facto advisors like the MyPillow guy and the Fox and Friends team.

Pseudo-lawyers like Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell.

Nepotistic heirs, you know their names.

Deceitful press secretaries like Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kayleigh McEnany.

Destructive cabinet secretaries like Betsy DeVos and Mike Pompeo.

Here are some of the qualities I won't miss:

A president who separated families.

A president who ignored science.

A president who lied.

A president who mocked his people.

A president who fostered white supremacy.

When Joe Biden takes the oath of office at noon on Wednesday, January 20, we get to start over.  Sort of.  We can't forget the last four years or banish these unfortunate characters and the values they espoused, but we can expect a new standard of governing.  And with it, a renewed pride in our country.

Character Matters, Mr. President

When I was an English teacher, I would tell my students never to use the word "nice."  It's banal and lifeless.  "What do you mean by nice?" I would ask.  Kind? Thoughtful? Generous? Empathic? Compassionate?  

Yes.  All of the above to define Joe Biden.

In any other election year, a discussion of a presidential candidate's niceness would seem silly.  We'd be concerned about our candidate's positions, qualifications, and experience.  And certainly these matter.  But after nearly four years of dealing with a mean president, niceness matters all the more.

What do I mean by mean?  I might more reasonably ask, Where do I begin?  Examples abound:

Vengeful: Donald Trump's endless retaliation against those who disagree with him or speak out against him.  See Alexander Vindman, the retired Army officer who testified in Trump's impeachment trial.

Scornful: Donald Trump's nasty mockery of others.  See John McCain, former U.S. senator and POW.

Threatening: Donald Trump's Mafia-like menacing.  See Minneapolis and D.C. protesters, who stood up against police brutality.

Misogynist: Donald Trump's constant need to demean women.  See Kamala Harris, U.S. senator and vice presidential candidate.

Cruel: Donald Trump's vicious assaults on those most vulnerable.  See Family Separation policy, a barbaric, inhumane treatment of children and their parents.

It will be interesting to see how the Republican Party whitewashes Trump's heinous behavior at the convention this week.  For if anything became clear during the Democratic National Convention, it was the gratitude from so many for Vice President Biden's kindness to them over the years.  From ordinary citizens to members of Congress, one after another gave examples of Biden's compassion for others.

Why does this matter?

Because, as the Declaration of Independence reminds us, "A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people."

Joe Biden has the character to preside over our country.  Donald Trump does not.

Rebuilding

When I restarted this blog four months ago, I was excited to think that I'd be writing about the coming presidential election, starting with the Democratic primaries and moving into the general election.  I love national politics; I'm fascinated by the two parties, the candidates who emerge, the winnowing that takes place, the roll of pollsters and pundits, and the final call on a Tuesday night in November.

But this time it's different.  The Democratic primary yielded no single candidate who ever captured my whole-hearted enthusiasm, and the Republican party has tied itself to a president whose values upend the country I love.  Donald Trump's rally last night in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was so offensive and destructive that it's hard to see how we'll recover.

Still, Donald Trump didn't come out of nowhere.  He tapped into a hatred that has long haunted us, one that surrounds us every day but one that we choose not to see.  George Floyd's murder made it impossible for us to look away, finally, but the hard work ahead feels equally impossible.  I don't know where to begin.  I feel weary, not up to the challenge.

I know that it's time for younger voices, for younger leadership.  Kids and young adults are wiser than the rest of us, certainly when it comes to sensitivity surrounding race, gender, and culture.  Many in my generation grew up with Dick and Jane readers and Father Knows Best television shows.  Our worlds were white through and through and often still are.  How do we change?

All kinds of ways. . . books we must read, voices we must hear, organizations we must support, ideas we must consider. . . and votes we must take.  Here's what must happen as elections move forward:

Joe Biden hires and hears consultants much younger than he.

Donald Trump's supporters face their hatred; if and when they don't, the rest of us call them out.

Elections officials do everything they can to ensure a fair vote.

Candidates at every level make clear where they stand on institutional redesign--from police departments to prisons to public schools to health care to immigration to climate change to banking--and we elect those who will follow through.

We, the people, start to rebuild our country.

Goofus and Gallant

Remember the comic strip "Goofus and Gallant?"  Reading it in Highlights magazine was the only redeeming feature of visits to my childhood dentist.  I loved the contrast between the two brothers, the black-and-white 1960s version of slovenly dressed Goofus and his meticulous brother Gallant.  Goofus played games while Gallant helped their mother.  Goofus butted in line while Gallant waited his turn.  Goofus grabbed toys while Gallant offered to share.  Donald promoted himself while Barack promoted others.

Oops!

Goofus and Gallant are back.  Goofus barged into our lives almost four years ago with his rude and crude power, while Gallant returned this weekend with his trademark thoughtful wisdom.

In his virtual commencement speech Saturday to the 2020 high school graduating class, President Obama encouraged the students to "do what you think is right . . . I hope you decide to ground yourselves in values that last, like honesty, hard work, responsibility, fairness, generosity, respect for others."

Donald Trump?  Here's a sample:

"Why do we want all these people from s-hole countries coming here?"

"You're so disgraceful . . . you're a fake [to White House reporter]."

"Puerto Rico is one of the most corrupt places on earth."

"Another low IQ individual [on Joe Biden]."

"I don't take responsibility at all [for coronavirus testing failures]."

While Goofus has an excuse for his behavior because he's a kid, Donald Trump has none.  His immoral presidency stains us all.

As President Obama concluded his remarks, though, he said, "Be alive to one another's struggles, stand up for one another's rights, leave behind all the old ways of thinking that divide us--sexism, racial prejudice, status, greed--and set the world on a different path."

May this new generation coming of age heed his words, not those of his successor, and chart a more fair and just course for all Americans.

The Color of Hate

No wonder the congregation at Durham's Judea Reform synagogue gasped when they heard the news.  North Carolina's Department of Transportation is requiring that drivers' licenses of undocumented workers be marked with a pink stripe.  Sound familiar?  Sort of like the yellows stars of David that Jews were made to wear during the Holocaust.

As the synagogue's Rabbi Friedman said,  "The amazing thing to me is that Governor McCrory would not have had the historical sensitivity to realize what this would evoke in people. . . Wasn't it so obvious?"

Apparently not.  McCrory thought he'd developed a compromise between those who didn't think these young adults--brought to America as children by their parents--should be allowed to drive at all and those who thought they should.  Another example of compromise gone wrong--where human rights are whittled down to nothingness.

That we have too many ignorant people in power, both locally and nationally, is an understatement.  The rest of us cannot back down.  We need to keep showing up--on election day, in churches, in our neighborhoods and work places.

Hate and ignorance run rampant---especially when painted pink--are a dangerous combination.

Control Freaks

How interesting that in the midst of this contentious campaign--where Republicans seek to control women's bodies, voter identification, immigrant rights, and definitions of marriage, patriotism, and the Constitution itself--along comes a monster storm over which no one has control.  Will the control freaks take note?

Probably not.  But I wish Mitt and his minions would quit trying to impose their narrow view of America on those of us who don't fit their mold.

The Ghost of Republicans Past

Though his name is rarely invoked these days, George Bush hovers over our politics and over our presidential campaign like a flitting Halloween ghost.  One of the questioners in last night's debate noted W's absence and posed a telling question to Mitt Romney: How are you different from our last Republican president?  Romney's answer rambled on--the times are different, he'd crack down on China, he'd balance the budget (how?)--but it was President Obama's response that brought the ghost to life.

Mitt Romney and George Bush peddle the same failed economic policies, Obama indicated, but they differ in social policy: "George Bush didn't propose turning Medicare into a voucher," Obama said.  "George Bush embraced comprehensive immigration reform.  He didn't call for self-deportation.  George Bush never suggested that we eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood."

Social policy often gets lost in this campaign's rhetoric, but it ought not to.  The current Republican party headed by Mitt Romney is so extreme that George Bush looks reasonable.  If undecided voters can't figure out which candidate is going to move the economy forward, then they should look at social policy.

The backward movement of Mitt Romney is clear. . . and scary.  It's not a place most of us want to go.

Ellis Island Reflections

At the Michener Museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, an exhibit by Stephen Wilkes captures the melancholy of Ellis Island. Wilkes spent 5 years photographing the south side of the island, the site of a once-sprawling hospital complex left in ruins.

In one scene of the tuberculosis ward, two sinks attached to a wall of peeling paint hang below a small mirror, which reflects an image of the Statue of Liberty: a reminder that most of the people in this hospital never made it to freedom. In the measles ward stacks of wooden filing cabinets perch erratically on top of one another, some with drawers still open, as if people left in a hurry. Snow has blown in through broken windows along one corridor of the hospital, and a series of 5 opened doors in the nurses' quarters invites us into the past.

I'm struck by these images. Life once flourished here, even in spaces that held sickness and death. Dreams grew and faded, buried now beneath the snow and behind the broken glass.

Immigrants. People coming from other countries always gets messy. Does it need to be so?

These photographs bursting with humanity remind me that it's all pretty basic: other people like us--some sick, some not--wanting to make a home for themselves and seeking life in a new land.

Do we, or do we not, welcome them?