European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 24, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Wednesday november 24,1993 commentary the stars and stripes Page 17 come from la. Beating trials whatever other messages were conveyed in the trials involving police office and Rodney o. King and the assault of truck Driver Reginald o. Denny by Damian Williams and Keith Watson these proceedings reveal the continued erosion of individual rights and common sense in favor of group rights and the mentality of the mob. Of even greater concern should be the double Stan Dard applied in these two trials. In the King trial those who sought to make the videotaped beating of Kins into a metaphor for the violent oppression of Black America said that Kings Crimi Hal record and even his behaviour the night of Nis arrest were irrelevant. Only the beating mattered not what May have led to it. Police officers Lawrence m. Powell and Stacey c. Koon were guilty and juries had better reach the same conclusion or else. The Quot or else Quot of course was the torching of South Central los Angeles looting killing and a Federal civil rights trial that gave the mob what it wanted. But with White victims and Black assailants there was a change in judicial polarity. Now the videotape of truck Driver Reginald Denny a assault is said to be irrelevant. We Are. Supposed to ignore what we see on this tape and listen to the spokesman for the Damian Williams family the african garbed Don Jackson who called the trial it is difficult to see How politics played a role in the images we saw of Denny being beaten and assaulted within an Inch of his life and the part like atmosphere As Denny a assailants danced around their victim like Hunters who had just felled a prize Stag. The real victim in both the King and Denny trials is Black America and the stereotypes that have been perpetuated. Rather than improving race relations trials Ike these exacerbate them. Much of Black America has been conditioned to see itself largely As a culture of victims. Self promoting leaders use the poor As background props for their performances before the cameras. As Many poor Blacks have been seduced by their leaders a unelected and elected a into believing they Are so oppressed that they will never achieve financial Independence and cultural acceptance Many Whites take a Quot what a the use attitude and begin to see the stereotypes As the Norm this plays into the hands of demagogues and opportunists who want to use the politics of race for their own purposes. As stereotypes Are strengthened we continue moving toward an emphasis on group rights in which certain racial and gender issues Are seen not As unique acts and singular grievances to be righted according to an accepted code of Justice but part of a larger drama that serves the ends of the manipulators. Television has become the Means by which groups shout at each other and make new demands on Cal Thomas e american Justice hums its course imn pm government. The most powerful Means of global communication is the weakest Means of real communication Between individuals. One comment by Eddie Edmonds a firefighter who spent 30 consecutive hours in the streets of los Angeles battling fires after the april 1992 trial of the Ponce officers who arrested King reflects the attitude of at least some Whites on the skewing of the Justice system because of threats of violence. Said Edmonds of the defendants in the Denny Case Quot had they used a Billy club and not a Brick on Denny it would have come out differently. Lets see if the feds put them up for a second above All the hype and posturing is the remarkable figure of Denny himself. Denny hugged Williams Mother in court and he has displayed no anger or a vengeful spirit toward his attackers. Of All the images the one of Denny turning the other Check and refusing to be consumed by hate and revenge is the most outstanding and the one that offers the Best Hope for real Healing. But the message of these trials to the los Angeles Community and the country is mixed. One says that Black Quot victims of White police officers air subject to a different Standard of Justice. The other says that White victims of Black assailants Are also subject to a different Standard of Justice. Neither message is a Good one. Neither comes close to real Justice. C los Angeles time thanksgiving a quaint interlude in this is when i began to think about faxing thanksgiving am in san Francisco sharing a radio show with Penn wishing it were Teller. Penn is praising the electronic ties that now Bina people. I am praising the interface that requires faces. He is expounding eagerly on the Brave new intimacy of internet. I am saying that its hard to bring dinner to mom by Modem. He is raving about the worldwide Community created by computers. I am explaining How awkward it is to actually touch anyone with a keyboard. Halfway through this act i begin to wonder if i am playing the part of nostalgia lost in the role of technological troglodyte. The truth is that i am thinking about thanksgiving. In a far from Home and behind the curve counting Down the Days before my Kitchen is scheduled to turn into thanksgiving Central. Penn is speeding Down the information Highway. My mind is going Back Over the River and through the Woods to grandmothers House. Why not just fax 19 copies of a perfect feast a one for every family Meinder a and be done with it. This is of course the momentary mad Flash of a woman in what i like to think of As the pre thanksgiving Mode a something approximating Holiday meltdown. I belong to a generation of women who have broken All sorts of traditions. Women who have mastered the Art of one minute managing. Our defining myth is that it Isnit the Quantity but the Quality of time that matters. We do not have enough time to attend a stress workshop. We Are dressed for Success As Long As you done to notice the Nail polish holding Back the run in the pantyhose. We Are All business except Tor the bit of baby food on the Blouse Ellen Goodman pantyhose. We Are All business except for the bit of baby food on the Blouse under the jacket. Every hour is Rush and most of our food is fast. But every time a Holiday comes around Many of us Are struck by an almost lethal compulsion to go Forward to the past. We share the Wistful desire to reproduce a labor intensive full scale Norman Rockwell event for our postmodern family. Our microwave generation confronts a 25-Pound Turkey. Our daughters raised on pizza find us pouring Over two column recipes for onions cabbage and apples in Croute. Our sons raised on Formica tables find us ironing Linen. For most of the year it is quite enough to fail to live up to Hillary Clinton. At holidays we get a second Chance to fail to live up to Martha Stewart. Martha stewarts Tablecloth does not have stains from last years Cranberry sauce. Martha Stewart has never in her wildest imaginings used a spoon that was mangled in the garbage disposal. Martha Stewart has never served a store bought dessert and Martha Stewart has never Ever gone out on thanksgiving morning scouring the 7-eleven stores for their last can of Gravy. Why precisely do we get this tradition attack along with its Side dish of Inadequacy Why am i sitting Here stringing words on a computer thinking that 1 should have planted paper White Narcissuss so they would Bloom in the living room on Cue tech Era it May be the curse of the puritans who started this thanksgiving tradition. But 1 suspect that the More life speeds up the More we daydream about the kind of life lived in the slow Lane. The More megabytes we use up the More we want to download. The less time spent at Home the More vulnerable we Are to Binge homemaking. 1 the holidays become overloaded with what a missing the rest of the year. A take out generation Springs for a whole Turkey and never mind the leftovers. A printout world looks for what is handmade and hands on. A scattered family pushes Home through airports and highways to sit on folding chairs. Holidays have become our performance Art. For women in particular who still see themselves As the producers and directors of family life a great Deal is Riding on the performance. And on the reviews. So its a Low tech and High tradition time of year. Us Over the River and through the Woods and spare me the electronic Community. Ill Greet the tribe around the table. Its just too hard to get the mincemeat pie through email. C the Boston glob
