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OPINIONS/ Qarlotte 9ot
Thursday May 27, 2004
America’s finds
some sensitivity
to censorship
Angela
Lindsay
Ever since pop singer
Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl
peep show marred the other
wise remarkable event that
was our Carohna Panthers’
first appearance in the con
test, the fingers of the cen
sorship czars hovering over
their little “bleep” buttons
have been itchier than a
pure wool turtleneck.
They have torpedoed
everything from Jackson’s
fiustrated muttering of the
name of Jesus in vain on
“The Late Show with David
Letterman” to completely
nixing the annual, highly
anticipated Victoria’s Secret
Fashion Show. The restric
tion regulators have gone too
far, and equally appaUing is
the implication that her “one
little breast,” as Jackson
referred to it on Letterman,
is the lone culprit for this
bleeping censorship brouha
ha.
Jackson’s halftime breast-
capade has been an abomi
nation for her personally and
professionally, but the per
petual fallout at the hands of
media executives every
where is extreme.
For example, awards
shows like the Grammys,
which were once considered
“five,” are now plagued by a
three-second delay in the
hopes of avoiding another
“Nipplegate.” Has the
alleged wardrobe malfunc
tion ripped the fabric off of
our functioning rationality?
Have the morality police
nothing better to do? What
about the goiy pictures of
tortured U.S. soldiers that
are allowed to roam liberally
throughout the free press? A
single, one-second nipple
sighting from months ago
seems hardly as detrimental
to the psyche of the
American people compared
to the hundreds of lasting,
heart-wrenching images of
war flashed across television
and newspapers daily.
Not since Congress
attempted to usurp the First
Amendment freedom of
speech rights of vulgar rap
group Tbo Live Crew has any
black artist caused such a
ripple effect in the way the
Federal Communications
Commission handles the
transmission of certain infor
mation. But when conserva
tive talk radio host Rush
Limbaugh and, until recent
ly, shock jock Howard Stem
are allowed to spew their
controversial and arguably
venomous opinions aU over
the airwaves, it begs the
question whether Jackson
has become a convenient
scapegoat.
We are bombarded with a
plethora of violent TV and
movie screen scenes, sexual
ly suggestive songs and
curse words everyday.
What’s more, the entire
broadcast industiys appar
ent “anything goes”
approach seems to have vir
tually encouraged such
behavior as a way for corpo
rations to make money, espe
cially in recent years. So
what makes Ms. Jackson’s
mishap any more malevo
lent?
Some argue that her par
ticular fairx pas occurred
dining a primetime “family”
broadcast on a non-cable
channel as opposed to, say,
the cartoon “Southpark”
which airs on the cable chan
nel Comedy Central and
showcases potty-mouthed
elementary school kids and
routinely satirizes serious
topics from racism to homo-
sexuahty. Even the infamous
open-mouthed kiss between
pop singers Britney Spears
and Madonna during the
MTV music video awards,
an event specifically geared
to the younger demographic,
and the inescapable publici
ty thereafter seem to gamer
more praise than punish
ment. So where is the justifi
able means when the end
can be altered as simply as
the flick of a remote control
button?
Freedom of expression is
guaranteed. Such is the
beauty of our country.
Therefore, we cannot, and
should not, expect the com
munication controllers to
play babysitter. I am, by no
means, condoning the flash
ing of private parts during
televised, family-oriented
events, but I am a firm
behever in the unadulterat
ed right to self-expression.
Media managers and their
hypocritical selves have been
and continue to allow all
forms of “expression” to
enter our homes eveiyday
So, before they try to make
an example out of someone
else for their lapse in judg
ment, they could all benefit
from taking the time to
sweep around their own,
front doors, as the old hymn
goes. I’m sure they’d find
more than a little bit of dirt
under their mgs.
ANGELA LINDSAY is a '
Charlotte attorney: E-mail her at
lindsaYlawOO@aol.com.
Janet Jackson touched off a
debate over censorship at
the Super Bowl In February.
Lean, clean nuclear
power in the best
interests of blacks
It’s less likely to
cause respiration
trouble than fossils
By Norris McDonald
SPECIAL TO THE POST
My view of the world has changed in
many ways since I went into respiratory
arrest 10 years ago. I always knew that I
had asthma, but I’d never experienced an
attack as severe as this one. I stopped
breathing as an ambulance mshed me to a
hospital in Washington, D.C.
It was scary. Thanks to medication and
proper care, I lead a reasonably normal
life. I’m proud of that. It’s an achievement
tolive with a chronic and sometimes debil
itating disease like asthma, which causes
5,000 deaths each year and afflicts 20 mil
lion Americans.
The American Lung Association says
that the prevalence of asthma in African
Americans is 38 percent higher than the
rate in whites. It makes me mad that
Harlem has the highest rate of asthma in
the nation. Direct health care costs for
asthma in this country exceed $9.4 billion
a year.
And yet many people don’t understand
the cormection between air pollution and
asthma - and the importance of having
clean air. Ozone smog doesn’t cause asth
ma, but it can trigger asthma attacks and
worsen emphysema and other lung dis
eases. Ozone smog triggered my acute
asthma attack and others since then, set
ting me on search for answers. I learned
that high smog levels can be incredibly
intense for asthma sufferers. I also found
out that the pollutants which produce
smog come from many different sources,
but a leading one is electricity generating
plants that bum fossil fuels. In time, I
came to recognize the need for more power
plants that don’t pollute the air - and here
I mean clean nuclear plants that provide
large amounts of electricity but don’t
release noxious gases into the atmosphere.
What’s more dangerous to an inner-city
kid - a nuclear power plant or smog? No
contest. Absolutely no contest.
Yet almost every environmental group in
this countiy opposes nuclear power, and
that bothers me. So many environmental
ists are stuck in dogma. They claim that
nuclear power is unsafe, but no one in this
countiy has ever died in a nuclear power
plant accident. The U.S. nuclear industry
has an outstanding safety record.
Few people know more about nuclear
safety than William D. Magwood IV, a
black man, who is director of the Office of
Nuclear Energy, Science and 'Ifechnology at
the U.S. Department of Energy. Or Shirley
Jackson, a black woman, who was chair
man of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission from 1995 to 1999 and is now
president of Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute, in New York State, one of the
nation’s top technological universities.
They are strong supporters of nuclear
power and highly regarded by many mem
bers of Congress.
You’d think that environmentalists
would recognize nuclear power’s merit, its
obvious advantages over fossil fuels.
Nationwide, power plants that use coal, oil
and natural gas as fuel are responsible for
66 percent of the sulfur dioxide pollution
that causes acid rain and soot pollution, 30
percent of the nitrogen oxides that con
tribute to smog, 21 percent of mercury
emissions, and 35 percent of the carbon
dioxide that’s linked to global warming.
By contrast, nuclear power plants produce
no air pollution.
The environmental movement advocates
the use of solar and wind energy systems.
I support solar and wind as well, but only
as supplemental sources of energy. I know
that we can’t depend on them to provide
the “base-load” electricity we need for our
homes, businesses and industries. Where
is our base-load electricity going to come
from on a windless night?
I’m quite aware that nuclear waste is an
issue. But it’s a political issue, not a tech
nical one. Experts say that waste coming
from nuclear plants can be disposed of
safely. After all, the new fuel for nuclear
plants is being shipped safely to the plants,
so there is no reason why they can’t ship
out the used fuel safely. In fact, over the
years, there have been thousands of ship
ments of nuclear waste in this countiy
without an accident that harmed anyone.
Obviously we’re going to need more
power plants for our growing population
and economy But states and localities
need to meet federal clean-air standards.
That won’t be easy. The Environmental
Protection Agency says that 474 of the
nation’s 3,141 counties do not comply with
federal rules on the amount of smog in the
air. In fact, more than 160 million people
live in areas that exceed pollution stan
dards.
These air-quality problems are not going
to be solved unless we expand the use of
clean nuclear power. If new nuclear plants
using advanced technology get built, the
savings — in human suffering and in health
care dollars — will be huge. For many us
with chronic acute asthma, it could mean
the difference between life and death.
NORRIS McDonald is founder and president
of the African American Environmentalist
Association, a nonprofit organization.
D.G. Martin
Vote for
person or
the party?
One of my friends is a
proud “I vote for the person -
not the party” man.
So, I was a little surprised
the other day when I heard
him talking about the
upcoming U.S. Senate race.
He likes one of the candi
dates veiy much, but he is
not going to vote for him.
He explained, “I know
what will happen when he
gets up to Washington. He
will fall in line with his
party’s leadership, and
maybe be the key vote to
determine which party
would be in charge. I would
vote for him as a person, but
I am not going to vote for his
party.”
I will not argue too much
with my friend’s way of
thinking, except to file all
this away to bring up the
next time he says, “I vote for
the person - not the party.”
I often hear people brag
about their commitment to
always “vote for the person -
not the party.” Sometimes, it
comes across as if they are
superior to other voters who
do take political party into
account. Their pride ih'being
“above politics” is careless
and unmerited.
Of course, examining the
qualities and approaches of
individual candidates ought
to be an important part of'a
voter’s decision-making
priyjess. More on that later
in this column. But someone
whd -says, “I always vote for
the person,” is either not
telling the whole tiuth or is
naively putting aside a very
important consequence of
electing particular candi
dates.
In Washington and
Raleigh, the legislative bod
ies are almost evenly divid
ed. The battle for control in
both places is bitterly con
tested as two weekend news
events demonstrated. The
North Carolina Republican
Party disciplined Republican
state house co-speaker
Richard Morgan for making
a temporary peace with
Democrats and sharing
power with them.
Meanwhile, the Republican
leader of the U.S. Senate,
Bill Frist, broke a longstand
ing senate tradition by cam
paigning directly against the
Democratic leader, Tom
Daschle. Attaining and
maintaining control is seri
ous business and it leads to
such extraordinary actions.
When a partes control of a
legislative body is subject to
ouster if one or two of its
members are replaced with a
member of another political
party, ever race is critical.
The results of an election in
any district could determine
which party wiW be in charge
of the state or national agen
da.
D.G. MARTIN is author of.
"Interstate Eateries," a hand
book of home cooking places
near North Carolina's interstates.
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