David Paterson will soon be the first blind chief of state in the entire United States. Will he also be the first African American New York Governor? Yes. Which one is more important? I hope most of you say that these are, at least, equally important achievements. In our post Affirmative Action days, I’d like to think that race is not even a factor; that we could look at this situation and say, “Here’s someone who’s overcoming a physical handicap. David Paterson is a hero.” What does our faithful network broadcast media have to say about David Paterson? Both CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News said only that David Paterson will be the first African American NY Governor. WTF? This guy doesn’t use a teleprompter or even braille cards to give his speeches. Can you imagine a political speech entirely from memory and from the heart. I can’t even do simple radio liners without written direction. So is it taboo in our society to speak about a person’s handicap but acceptable to talk about their skin color? The only media outlet I’ve seen to recognize both aspects of this person, and talk about where he stands on political issues, is Democracy NOW! [1] Once again, I thank Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez for bringing us some much needed informative media.
Please, friends, feel free to add some comment. My LJ is becoming a drab rant. My true hope is that these articles open debate and get people to question their environment.