The Juice is Going to Jail

OJ has been convicted. The great thing is that this gives me a fresh impetus to make OJ Simpson jokes at work. I work for the government and it is fairly diverse. Even so, the Simpson trial is one of those things that reveals a really interesting dynamic. When I make OJ jokes, my African-American coworkers have a two-fold reaction, they give me shit for "not being right" and at the same time look to get pissed off at any of my white coworkers who laugh. My white co-workers simultaneously find the joke funny, get nervous as shit at the prospect of their African-American coworkers getting pissed at them for believing OJ was guilty. I don't know why this amuses me but it just does.

Obama and Affirmative Action

I think one of the things that goes unremarked upon is the significant shift the Obama proposes for affirmative action. Granted, I may be imputing policies where none exists, but he seems to suggest an intermediate step away from race-based affirmative action and in the direction of a class based system. Naturally I would prefer neither and instead to try and remedy racial or class based disparities on the spending side. All that said, I find a program that discriminates on the basis of class as opposed to race more just.

RE: Obam Race Speech

I just got done listening to Obama's speech and I have to agree with Xtra's critique.

What I thought was the most profound aspect of his speech was that it wasn’t political, it wasn't a stump speech, it wasn't a speech pandering for votes, but instead a speech that was intrinsically aspirational in its nature. He basically laid out what could be described as his national vision statement in a direct, personal, honest and straightforward manner.

It was a brilliant and inspirational speech.

Here's a link if you want to look at the transcripts or view the video.