When Two Worlds Collide

Just recently, I returned from an out-of-state Mexican/Indian wedding. The groom was Mexican (actually half Mexican and half Polish) and the bride’s family was Indian. Before I go further, I need to clarify that I’m talking about Indians from India and not Native Americans. To say that the festivities were interesting is an understatement. The only thing Mexican about the wedding was some of the food during the reception. The strongest mark was by the bride’s Indian heritage.

I was struck by Indian culture’s classicism. Almost everything in the festivities (all of which I’d seen for the first time) was rooted in some sort of long-held custom. The night before the wedding, the bride participated in a number of rituals to prepare her hair, skin and appearance for the ceremony. The bride and groom were kept separated (in ancient times so that neither would be injured or otherwise unable to make it to the ceremony). At the wedding, the groom carried out the custom of paying for the bride (exchanging goods to compensate for the daughter). To carry out the ceremony’s symbolism, the groom gave a small amount of cash. Going into the Sikh temple, I had to cover my head with a scarf. The men sat in areas segregated from the women. Following the wedding, all the guests ate. Particular attention was paid in feeding the bride and groom. I was one of the people responsible for getting them food. At the ceremony, the Indian women sat apart from the men. During the dancing, men danced separate from the women. One of the repeated themes was keeping the men and women separate.

I feel fortunate not to regularly engage in those customs or belong to such a society. I remember that one of the Indians told me, “This is one of our customs although I’m not sure what the purpose is.” You would think that this was a young person that told me this. It wasn’t. The person was one of the elders and also an immigrant. The point that this person made is that the custom was followed for so long that the people forgot why it was followed in the first place.

While I’m an American born of Mexican parents, I pick and choose what customs I feel are important. I don’t blindly keep a custom just to keep it. I don’t accept the explanation, “It’s how it’s always been. We’ve always followed it.” While it is necessary to keep one’s customs since customs are an important characteristic of culture, customs were once brand-new practices. Customs didn’t come from nowhere. Somebody did something new and enough people kept repeating it that it eventually became a custom. Just as much as customs came into being, customs can also end. Not all customs are worth keeping. Some are downright cruel and barbaric. I would ask that before you follow a custom, ask yourself if it’s something worth following.

I Love You Detroit

These were the words that concluded Kwame Kilpatrick’s State of The City Address, although his actions would indicate otherwise. The multiple lawsuits are moving against him and the City and we have lost two conventions. What else needs to happen before businesspeople and Detroit residents realize that Kilpatrick is a liability that needs to go.

One of the biggest parties that I have a problem with are those clergy that insist on supporting him. I view the clergy as the community’s moral guides and protectors. However, I feel that they have failed in their capacity if they continue to support a man that really didn’t show any contrition until he was caught. They continue to support a man that consistently appoints cronies to positions or creates positions for them. It would be one thing if they actually did something to improve the city. Instead they protect him, serve as his mouthpieces or take the fall for him. Instead of being the Pharisees (false teachers), the clergy needs to be more like Christ overturning the moneylenders’ tables. I implore the clergy to serve your community and take a stand.

Also, I have a problem with the regular citizens that continue with the same tired defenses. “What goes on behind closed doors should stay behind closed doors.” “He’s (Kilpatrick) has done a lot for the city.” “Let’s leave the man alone and let him do his job.” “The media should go and focus on somebody else.” These are just a few of the defenses that I hear on the local TV stations. I’ll address these defenses that I’ve listed.

In regard to keeping private matters behind closed doors, I agree. I would agree if these private matters didn’t occur on City time, with a City employee during when Kilpatrick was supposed to conduct City business. If he wishes to cheat on his wife, then let him do it on his time and with his own money. While I am not a resident, I am a City tax payer. I have a big problem with subsidizing Kilpatrick’s extracurricular activities. If I’m going to contribute money to the City’s funds, I want to see some good occur.

I would disagree that Kwame has done a lot for the City. There have been buildings renovated and business returning to the City. Nonetheless, I don’t see improvement in the day-to-day things. On the way to work, I drive by Trumbull and pass old Tiger Stadium. I’ve seen the space left by a stolen pothole, which has been there for at least two months. The only thing that sometimes marks it is the rubber bottom of a construction cone. I’ve driven through portions of Detroit and seen massive potholes. One is even so wide that it takes up the entire lane of side street. I’ve seen bags of garbage and large items left on the side of I-75, I-94 and the Lodge, since bulk garbage pickup has largely disappeared. I’m seeing people leaving the City rather than waiting. I don’t blame them. They’re leaving a city with virtually no services; high property and auto insurance rates; almost no major grocery stores. The bulk of the tax bracket that could have bulked up the City’s coffers has left. Many of the people remaining can barely support their own families. The stores that could provide food, groceries and other goods for Detroit’s residents are in the suburbs. What motivation is there to be a Detroit resident?

I do not think that Kilpatrick should be left alone. For lack of a better term, he is a child that needs to be watched. Left to his own devices, Kilpatrick has shown a deplorable pattern of behavior. Unsupervised, he conducts shadowy deals. Unsupervised, he makes settlements without informing City Council. Unsupervised, he engages in reprehensible personal conduct that has left Detroit with a tremendous political liability (himself) and the source of local, state and national ridicule. Until Kilpatrick shows that he can handle himself, I don’t think that he should be left alone. To be left alone to do his job, Kilpatrick first needs to do it.

Lastly, I don’t entirely agree that the media is singling him out at the expense of other news stories. Yes, I know that part of the media’s business is to sell newspapers and to have high ratings. However, they are also in the business of keeping the government accountable. Kilpatrick has rarely been forthright for an extended period of time. While he did promise to have regular press conferences so that the media and the people could stay informed on his activities and work, it didn’t come to be. When documents were sought under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Kilpatrick fought those attempts. If I were in the media and I have the choice of covering another Kilpatrick revelation or something less substantial, I would go with the Kilpatrick revelation. Media almost always goes for the bigger story. If the media were never to focus on ratings or increasing circulation, then they would be out of business. The constant balance between ratings/circulation and reporting the truth is something that will always be. As long as the truth isn’t compromised, then I don’t have a problem.

In short, I don’t feel that Kilpatrick has shown Detroit any love. Instead, he has shown his contempt in denying allegations that are slowly solidifying. Kilpatrick has shown lack of respect for the intelligence of his constituents and of interested parties. He has shown selfishness and lack of self-control. Kilpatrick has also shown a convenient ignorance for past statements that he has seemingly contradicted with either subsequent statements or in those troubling text messages. He has rarely shown himself to remain consistent in his statements and behavior. It is time for Kilpatrick to live his words of showing love for Detroit and stepping down.

Hell No, Kwame Must Go!

As of yesterday, the Michigan Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal to keep the text messages quiet. This is yet another obstacle in maintaining Kwame Kilpatrick’s futile attempt at hiding from the truth.

As a reluctant taxpayer (as somebody working in Detroit, I must pay city tax), I feel disgusted that he thinks that it’s business as usual. It is his business as usual that put him in his current situation and cost Detroit at least $9 million. People forget about the additional cost of his lawyers during the whistleblower trial, his lawyers during the trial to keep the text messages quiet and those of the media. For as much as naively supportive residents credit Kilpatrick for bringing in money and business to Detroit, he used it up during these avoidable lawsuits.

I’m pissed off at what Kilpatrick and other Detroiters mean when they say, “You don’t live here.” Well hell, neither do some of the City Council. These sheep make it sound like suburbanites are completely ignorant or don’t matter. Detroit sure as hell takes the suburbs’ money through the casinos as well as Tigers, Red Wings and Lions games. If these idiots say it, then mean it! Give the suburbanites their money back and see how the city functions. Let’s admit it-the average Detroiter doesn’t have the disposable income to engage in these pursuits. I would be interested to see statistics on how many suburbanites (percentages) at athletic events or at the casinos. I think that it’d be very interesting.

I think that it’s foolish to believe that business people will work with Kilpatrick. FOr me, it is still uncertain whether he will remain in power. It could honestly go either way. How can you make long-term plans with somebody that might not be around. In addition, I think that it’s fairly clear that he can’t handle his foolishness. If I were a business person, I wouldn’t want to work with somebody indiscreet and irresponsible. Lastly, why bring business to a city whose own mayor gave it a black eye? I hate to say it-until this whole thing is resolved (not blown over), I can’t imagine anybody wanting anything to do with Kilpatrick or the city.

Honestly, I’m very disturbed at his delusions. He thinks that this is a test from God. He thinks that this is just about his affair. He says that the white media is out to get a black  mayor. He thinks that internal communications between staff is not protected though his should be. He thinks that this is just about forgiveness and not also about some potentially serious crimes that he can still be charged with. Kilpatrick is in denial, a liar or a fool.

As far as I’m concerned, this needs to end now! When Detroit is struggling to lose its reputation as the most dangerous city in the US, trying to get through one of its worst periods and trying to reclaim its former glory, it can have no distractions, which Kilpatrick is. Instead of trying to wipe up Kilpatrick’s shannigans, City Council and the Wayne County prosecutor needs to handle its real business: protecting the City of Detroit and Wayne County. Part of it includes removing one of this area’s liability: Kwame Kilpatrick.

Mi Casa Es Su Casa?

Just a few days ago, I read a very fascinating interview with Jessica Alba in Latina. In it, she addressed many of the accusations and insinuations that she’s not latina enough. I admit that I was one of the people that were against her. I remember how Alba’s father said how he didn’t speak “Mexican.” At first, I thought that it was ignorance. However, after reading the article, I saw that the ignorance wasn’t her father’s but mine.

The gist of why Alba isn’t latina enough had to do with two things: her being multi-ethnic and not being raised around Spanish. At one time being a part of different worlds and yet never being completely accepted by any. Her story is that of many latinos in the United States.

The strange thing about the lack of acceptance is that it’s not just confined to those people that are multi-ethnic but even those that are 100%. I’ve had situations involving groups in SW Detroit where I haven’t been accepted despite being 100% Mexican, speaking the language pretty fluently (minored in Hispanic Studies) and having been back to Mexico a number of times. The fact that I don’t dress the part or that I speak with a different accent makes me an outsider. I have been punished for leaving the group.

I’m calling for everybody to get past their ignorance, respect everybody and listen to others’ stories. While we might have taken different journeys, we’re all going toward the same destination. All that we want is acceptance. If we can’t be accepted by our own, then how can we be accepted by others?

So what is “Hispanic?”

Lately, I have begun to think about this a lot. Maybe it’s because I read my girlfriend’s Latina. Maybe it’s from hanging out with my girlfriend’s crew-one pocket is comprised of a good number of Spanish speaking people. So whether it has to do with somebody speaking Spanish or their last name being a Spanish one I have to ask myself, “So what is ‘Hispanic?’ “

When I visit Mexicantown in Southwest Detroit, I sometime feel like I’m a world apart from its residents, which is funny because many of my childhood’s fondest memories are tied to some of Mexicantown’s well known locations. Around fifth grade, I lose the think Spanish accent that I carried from kindergarten up until that point. I don’t have a low rider and don’t have any real interest in them. I don’t have a single tattoo. I don’t have a Mexican flag flying off of my car or anything with the Mexican flag on it. I still speak the language and can read it, although I can definitely say that English is my stronger language. I wonder, “Am I still Hispanic?”

I can honestly say that some in the Hispanic community would consider people like me “sell-outs”-something comparable to the Hispanic version of an Uncle Tom. The moment that I learned to impeccably speak and write in English and lost my connection to those images that some associate with being Hispanic was the moment that I lost my culture. The funny thing is that it wasn’t anything conscious or anything imposed on me by my parents. My parents weren’t the type of Mexican parents that prize assimilation so much that they rob their children of any ties to their culture and instead leave them with the homogenization that is American culture.

For the record, I don’t consider myself assimilated. I’d prefer to call myself integrated. I say this because, while I consider myself as American as the rock music that I listen to, I also have a strong sense of my Mexican roots. I am fortunate enough that I have been to Mexico numerous times. I know who my family is over there and communicate semi-regularly with them. I’m very familiar with the food and have a working knowledge of the customs. I am Mexican and American at the same time.

I think that the excessive worry about what our culture is stems from the conflict between a culture (American) that devours elements of other cultures and another (Hispanic) that has a distinct sense of what it is. You have the fear of American culture and the sometime blind stubbornness of the Hispanic one for not accepting the other as much as they themselves would wish. Hispanics should worry about losing sense of themselves and Americans shouldn’t wish Hispanics to lose their connections.

Before Hispanics can fully reconcile their Americanness, I feel that they should recognize the fact that the definition of what it is to be Hispanic has been changed. For me, there isn’t one definition. Hispanics are those that immigrated to the United States. Hispanics are those that are children of immigrants. Hispanics are also a mixture of various bloods flowing through their veins. Hispanics are light-complected or as dark as dark can be. Hispanics are all of these things.

Am I My Brother’s Keeper?

One of the things that I’ve noticed about our modernized, individualistic society is the lack of consideration for those around us. Look at cell phones. When those lovely Nextel phones came out with the “chirp” function and were cool…at first. I knew a few people that had one. However, they quickly became annoying when the owners set the volume too high, forcing us to listen to their innocuous conversations. How could we not? They never bothered to lower the volume.

In addition to people talking on their cell phones, there is also the matter of how they also drive at the same time. At present, I work out in Detroit’s East Side. As a suburbanite, I was used to people using their blinkers and obeying traffic lights. However, once that I started working at my current job, I started seeing people blowing red lights. People will drive around as theylook for a parking spot and talking on their cell phones. Effectively, making them clueless about their surroundings.

Unfortunately, these examples of inappropriate cell phone use bring up what I feel is our problem-society’s overemphasis on the individual. We must move away from the belief that the world revolves around us. Yes, turn that damned phone down because everybody hears your business. If you’re driving and talking on the phone, you’re most likely going to be distracted. You’re not half as good at doing both as you think. Also, try to stop on a red light. If you don’t, are you ready to face the potential consequences of doing so? Yes indeed. I am my brother’s keeper.

Detroit-A Rural City?

I once heard someone at a party say perhaps one of the most fascinating and profound statements that I think summarizes Detroit. He said that he almost thought of the City as a rural town. At first, his logic didn’t make sense though it became clearer as he went on. He said that if you look at Detroit that it depends heavily on the suburbs. Mornings welcome people to the image of the massive surge of people—those people going to work at the office. Evenings are slowed down by the mass exodus of people returning to their homes in the suburbs. The ability to purchase goods is practically non-existent. Many residents venture to the shopping centers in the suburbs. While there are some shops, they don’t address most of the needs of the City’s residents. Detroit can no longer sustain itself independently as if once could.

One thing that I don’t like is when everybody slams Detroit. The suburbs are full of critics who know little if anything about the goings-on in the City. However, this gentleman was until recently a Detroit resident. Also, the more that I thought about what he said the more that he made sense. No matter what anybody says, Detroit is isolated and nothing without the suburbs.

During the course of traveling through Detroit for pleasure or for work, I have seen various segments of the City. Of course, I’ve seen some impoverished areas—houses with big holes in the roofs, burned out houses and streets littered with trash, discarded furniture and other remnants of things that people forgot about long ago. I have also seen rehabilitated areas that show promise. Nonetheless, I cannot yet say that the rehabilitated areas are representative of Detroit as a whole.

At the expense of simplifying Detroit’s troubles, I won’t provide answers—for the simple fact that I don’t have very many. While I am learning more about Detroit, I don’t know everything. I don’t think that anybody does. Also, one thing that I’ve learned about Detroit residents is that they don’t fit neatly into a box. The news would have you believe that Detroiters are muggers and murderers attacking anything and everything that walks the streets. This statement describes a portion of Detroit residents but not all. I don’t think that I could do justice to describing those residents that have stayed and are at the front lines in the struggle to bring Detroit back to its former majesty. I wish that I could say that I was one of them. However, my parents felt that they had no choice but to move in order to provide my brothers and me opportunities that we would not have had otherwise.

Whether we care to admit it, Detroit is isolated. Many of Detroit’s residents have left the City. Stores and business abandoned it. The media has condemned it. People come to work in Detroit but don’t live there. The sad reality is that the City is on life support. If we don’t do anything about it, then Detroit will continue to crumble until there is nothing left but the historical markers that designate the only places worth keeping. Detroit deserves more.

Like A Shepherd after the Sheep

To me, ideologies are strange things. You might look at them as a way of thinking that a particular group of people has in common—the bond uniting them and informs their course of action. You could also look at ideologies as a way of thinking that groups of fanatics have in common—coloring their perspective and preventing them from seeing anything than what they have been told to be true.

Ideologies were past fall 2006 elections. It was the first time in 27 years that I actually took an interest in the political process. Unfortunately, for much too long, I was the characteristic young person that was apathetic and didn’t realize the immense honor, privilege and power of voting. I was especially interested in the way that people would toss around labels: Republican, Democrat, liberal, conservative, right and left. It really wasn’t that surprising considering that we, human beings, thrive on categorizing everything that we encounter. For anything to make sense, it needs a label and a description. Those above mentioned labels and others were certainly not an exception.

For the record, I consider myself a moderate although leaning slightly conservative. There, I did it! I labeled myself. In all seriousness, I pride myself on the fact that I try to listen to what people say. I absorb what they say, analyze it according to what I know, believe and what makes sense, and then issue my interpretation. The issues and above all the proposals on the ballot are sometime difficult to interpret. Nonetheless, human beings make their very best efforts.

If you’re interested in labels, I’ll toss out another one: sheep. Sheep are what I call people that always vote straight Republican, Democrat or whatever their affiliation is. Sheep are the people that think Republicans are right and Democrats are liberals out to ruin the country or vice versa. Sheep are people who vote based on the party and not so much on the person’s qualification or ability to do their job. Sheep are loyal foot soldiers that follow group ideology without ever questioning. Questioned be damned. Nothing must disturb the status quo.

This critique is not directed against any one group of people except sheep in general. I have seen sheep that are Republican, Democrats, liberals, conservatives and right wing or left. It was amusing listening to sheep debate with other sheep or with open-minded people because they were right and everybody else was wrong.

While I do have my positions and stick by them, I’m also willing to hear out other people. I believe that everybody has something worth hearing and give them the benefit of the doubt to do so. I can remember times when I might not have agreed with somebody before hearing them and then switching over to their side. Am I a traitor for doing so? I don’t think so. A valid position worth believing is precisely that. Whatever my party affiliation or ideology is always subject to change because I know that I do not have all the answers. I think that once people can admit that no one ideology holds all the answers and that the other side might possibly be able to make better sense than they can will sheep cease to exist. Remember that sheep are creatures that are led by a man with a long curved walking stick. I don’t know about any of you but I am happy guiding myself. I don’t need anybody’s walking stick to tell me what I believe.

Smarter minds have prevailed

I was very happy to hear that Dick DeVos will not be our governor. The state of Michigan has spoken and enough people have decided to give Gov. Granholm an other chance to lead our state

I will reiterate something that I have said often in public. While I think that there might have been things that Granholm could have done, I don ‘t think that she failed in enough things to as DeVos would say to remove her from her job. For those people that vote straight Republican regardless of who the best candidate is and those that will not listen to anybody that isn’t a Republican, they seemed to forget that Granholm inherited John Engler’s legacy of a huge deficit. As I would say, when somebody has horrendous credit because of past actions, it isn’t fixed overnight. It takes a long period of time and will probably mean bumps along the way. It is the same thing with Michigan. We are experiencing some significant ones on our way to recovery.

I do believe in Gov. Granholm’s platform. Diversifying jobs is the best way to go. For way too long, Michigan has put its eggs all in one basket-meaning manufacturing, particularly the automobile industry. I am not suggesting that we abandon the auto industry. My father was employed by GM and I owe my life to GM. Having said that, the Big 3 are no longer the big dogs. They have competition left and right from companies that didn’t exist 30 years ago or from countries that we never could have imagined manufacturing cars.

Also, we need better education for our workers. The days of dropping out of school and getting a good job in a plant or working on the line are long gone. Not only do many of our workers require at least a high school diploma or GED, they in reality need at least a bacherlor’s degree. It is the new GED.

I can only hope that my optimism isn’t misplaced. We had only two viable candidates. I wasn’t about to vote for someone (DeVos) whose primary strategy and statements preying on Michigan’s discontent and attacking Gov. Granholm. Take that away and he had nothing. Enough smarter minds prevailed that they made the best, possible choice.

Who’s the Vos?

Like many in Michigan, I recognize our desperation. It is during these times that politicians as gubernatorial hopeful, Dick DeVos, present themselves as messiahs—someone coming out of nowhere to rescue us and restore.

Our present situation reminds me of Nicolo Machiavelli’s The Prince, where he says, “for men change their rulers willingly, hoping to better themselves and this hope induces them to take up arms against him who rules: wherein they are deceived, because they afterwards find by experience they have gone from bad to worse.” DeVos is this type of politician trying to play off dissatisfaction. I question whether he has a viable alternative to offer Michigan.

If the debates were an indication of his competency, then DeVos is not our man. Through the three debates, he seemed stiff and unprepared. Without his scripted commercials, DeVos could not think on his feet. His answers consisted of  attacking Governor Granholm and offered nothing that I could grasp onto. I thought that maybe in his eagerness, DeVos forgot that debates are about candidates answering questions to demonstrate their platform, which he has failed to do.

Besides the attacks, DeVos made some unreasonable statements. One of the worst was during the Tuesday, October 10^th debate. Following Gov. Granholm expressing her interest to provide affordable health care, DeVos said that people could obtain it by working. Granholm retorted that there are plenty of working people that are unable to do so. She followed up by accusing DeVos of contracting temporary workers at Amway so that he wouldn’t have to pay them insurance. His weak, poorly thought statement left his jugular open to Gov. Granholm.

I was surprised by DeVos’ failure to capitalize on Michigander’s unhappiness. The brunt of his earlier commercials was directed toward Gov. Granholm’s failure to “do her job.” His assertion that her failure to bring us out of these difficult times and his being the leading gubernatorial challenger should make him governor is unconvincing. Besides stating the obvious, I don’t feel that DeVos said new. So Gov. Granholm might have failed us, why should I vote for him? What will he do to not fail us? The allegation that she hasn’t done enough isn’t reason enough for me to vote for DeVos.

While Gov. Granholm might not have done everything possible, she has at least talked a good game. While DeVos maintained that people can get insurance through employment, Granholm mentioned MI First, her proposed plan modeled after one in Massachusetts, where lower-income people and other uninnsured could have access. Furthermore, she said that she would work to assist business in providing health care, since we are one of the few industrialized countries where manufacturers are obligated to cover their workers and not the government; thus, raising the prices on many goods—especially automobiles. Lastly, one of Granholm’s priorities is diversifying Michigan’s economy by focusing on four industries: life sciences, homeland security, advanced manufacturing and alternative fuel manufacturing. Toward this goal, community colleges and MI Works offices would work to certify workers and to further educate them. Also, she said that she looks to institute tax cuts for industries that would stay in Michigan.

All in all, DeVos has failed to live up to his potential as someone that I would voted for. I don’t buy into the propaganda that Gov. Granholm has failed. Michigan seems to forget that when gas prices rose, she held gas stations accountable for price gouging.  Additionally, Granholm inherited a monstrous budget deficit from her predecessor, John Engler. Her budget cuts coupled with disappearing jobs resulted in a ripple effect. If nothing else, we are learning that manufacturing alone cannot be our sole salvation. DeVos’ commercials attacking Gov. Granholm has not addressed the issues, serving to illustrate how he does not truly understand Michigan’s problems. This above everything else shows me that he cannot be governor.