Vinson’s Variety: Playing race card not always best
Arguably, timing was, and still is, a factor in an article I read a few days back: “L.A.’s police chief faces fight to get second term.”
In essence, the article dealt with the controversy currently swirling around Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn’s effort to oust from office Los Angeles Police Department Chief Bernard Parks. Hahn has accused Parks of “moving too slowly to make required reforms in the department.”
The fulcrum this particular controversy pivots on? Race. Hahn is Caucasian, and Parks is African-American, and, as expected, there, once again, are allegations of ? you guessed it, racism. Also, the article was published in February which is Black History Month.
In all fairness, neither Chief Parks, 58, nor the LAPD – the public images thereof, anyway -?have recovered from the atrociously degrading LAPD Rampart scandal a few years back. Public disclosure of Rampart revealed a list of vices and crimes that, I wager, served as inspiration and material for the script that yielded the outstanding movie “Training Day,” which starred Denzel Washington as a rogue LAPD vice cop.
If you have not yet seen “Training Day,” make an effort to do so – it’s absolutely riveting in effect! I particularly enjoyed the scene where Washington’s and Ethan Hawke’s characters pay a visit to The Three Wise Men.
For his role in “Training Day” Washington has been nominated for an Oscar, and, given his outstanding performance, he should be in the thick of the running for the award.
Concerning the Rampart scandal, it’s all there. Allegations levied against certain LAPD members include: using and dealing narcotics; affiliations with, and being actual members of, notorious gangs; carrying out assassinations (rappers Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls possibly among them); robbing banks; and living lavish lifestyles that included high-dollar rides, well-kept mistresses, and gambling runs to Vegas, where thousands upon thousands were dropped as though the concept of money was an infinite one.
Among the high-profile sorts backing Parks are Magic Johnson, former L.A. Laker basketball star and now a successful L.A. businessman, and U.S. Representative Maxine Waters, (D-Calif.). Both Johnson and Waters are African-American.
Waters was quoted as saying: “[Hahn] has put me in a very, very embarrassing position, having worked so hard to elect him.” USA Today substantiated Rep. Waters’ statement with this excerpt: “Hahn has relied on blacks in South-Central Los Angeles as his core constituency.”
Question: Concerning the LAPD, and just exactly who, righteously, should be its chief, should L.A. Mayor Hahn base his decision on an individual who possesses the ability and will to do the best job possible, or rather from pressure that possibly is resultant of a politically correct campaign? Given her stance and statements, it could be inductively reasoned that U.S Rep. Waters is more concerned about her ethnical support and political career than she is the safety and well-being of a collective Los Angeles and its residents. Not necessarily so, however, possibly so.
Arguably, discrimination takes on many forms. This much is fact: In America, each year, the month of February is Black History Month, a worthy tribute to the sufferings and accomplishments of the African-American race.
However, to the best of my knowledge, this much, too, is fact: There is no whole calendar month dedicated to any other ethnic group, at least not on a nationally recognized level, as is that of Black History Month.
(Mike Vinson is a Warren County columnist. His e-mail is [email protected].)