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Shawn Hamilton

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Essays

Waffle Fries and Separation of Church and State

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A couple of weeks ago Chick Fil A’s President, Dan Cathy, went on the record with his support of ‘traditional marriage’, noting his frustration with the ‘prideful and arrogant attitude’ of those who ‘want to change what marriage is all about’, basically affirming his opposition to gay marriage and more significantly his support of organizations that use government action to oppose it. LGBT organizations called for boycotts, while several city politicians announced “plans” to ‘block’ or ‘do everything in their power to stop’ the opening of Chick Fil A’s: “plans” they later ‘clarified'(i.e. reversed). Chick Fil A supporters have also come forward ranging from Governor Mike Huckabee to internet phenom Antoine Dodson (the bedroom intruder song guy) defending Mr. Cathy’s right to free speech and the ‘goodness of [Chick Fil A’s] meals’. The chicken sandwich has taken on symbolic meaning that is only surprising to those unfamiliar with the absurdity…

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The Origins of the Religious Right

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gf4jN1xoSo] It is widely believed that the Religious Right traces its political origins to Roe v. Wade, suggesting that outrage over abortion led the often apolitical evangelical movement to become stalwart supporters of conservative causes and Republican candidates. In the attached video Dr. Randal Balmer of Emory University challenges this theory, tracing the evangelical movement’s shift to the political right, not to the landmark Roe v. Wade decision but to a lesser known case – Green v. Connaly. The 1972 Green v. Connaly case didn’t attack scripture or take a stance on a contentious social issue like gay marriage or evolution, but instead challenged the tax exempt status of religious institutions that practiced racial discrimination. Green v. Connaly produced a ruling that ‘any institution that practiced segregation was not, by definition, a charitable institution and, therefore, no longer qualified for tax-exempt standing’, which led to the revocation of Bob Jones…

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Dollar, Sense, and the NAACP

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Last week the NAACP launched an investigation into the arrest of Creflo Dollar, an Atlanta mega church pastor accused of assaulting and battering his fifteen year old daughter. In a press statement, Fayette County NAACP President Jon Jones, said that the goal of their investigation is to ensure that Pastor Dollar is allowed to be a ‘responsible parent and discipline his children’, because in their view his case highlights the ‘dilemma’ parents face between ‘disciplining’ their children and possibly being accused of a crime or allowing their children to be disciplined by the criminal justice system. This is a real dilemma for many parents of course, but using the Creflo Dollar case to highlight this challenge is an insult to black parents. Pastor Dollar is accused of behavior that should get any parent arrested and the last thing we need is a premiere Civil Rights organization suggesting otherwise especially not…

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The Dred Scott Adidas

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The demise of the Jeremy Scott Adidas or what I’m calling the Dred Scott Adidas reminds me of an interesting experience that I had while participating – sitting in the audience really – in a panel discussion on film distribution about 10 or 12 years ago. As is often the case during talks about movie distribution, the conversation turned to diversity or lack there of, and some audience member pointedly asked a distribution representative why they did not distribute more films for the Hispanic market. The distribution guy nodded, appreciating the question of course, and went on to describe the complexity of the market and the difficulty of reaching a niche market with a niche product. By way of illustration, he told the story of distributing a film called ‘Star Maps’ to the Hispanic market. The distribution rep, aware of the dangers of stereotyping, noted that in general their research…

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Essays

House N*ggas in Paris

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Last week, as rappers Jay Z and Kanye West were about to go onstage and perform their hit single ‘N*ggas in Paris’,  actress Gwyneth Paltrow tweeted “N*ggas in Paris for real” and caused a bit of controversy. There’s some debate about whether or not she was announcing the song or saluting her ‘niggas’ or whatever.  Regardless, a mediocre actress using the n-word in any context isn’t something we should be losing sleep over, but I was sort of surprised by the hearty defense that she got from some of Hip Hop’s elder statesmen and luminaries.  Black women have been attacked in and around the hip hop industry for decades,  but I’ve never seen so many prominent artists and spokesman leap to their defense. Dream, Nas, Ice T, Russell Simmons and perhaps more to follow donned their capes, strapped on their Kevlar and dove into the fray, announcing to the world…

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George Zimmerman: Imbecility and Evil in Sanford, Fl.

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By the time you read this new facts will have emerged, but this is what we know so far. Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old young man, leaves his father’s fiancee’s house, buys a pack of Skittles and an Arizona ice tea then heads home. En route, George Zimmerman – a neighborhood watch cop– notices Trayvon ‘walking around and looking about’. Zimmerman calls the police, reports what he sees, and against advice from the dispatcher continues to follow Trayvon. Between this telephone call and the arrival of the police, Zimmerman kills Trayvon in “self-defense”. Testimony from witnesses, the 911 transcripts and other facts make this claim suspicious, but he has yet to be charged with a crime. George Zimmerman is 28 years old and weighs 250 lbs. Trayvon Martin was 17 and weighed 140 lbs. Zimmerman was armed with a 9mm handgun. Trayvon was unarmed. Mr. Zimmerman has a history…

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Drug Free Utopia

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The goal of a ‘Drug Free Society’ resembles that of a “Workers’ Paradise” or a “Rational Market” in its presumption that human beings are both predictable and perfectible, as long as the state behaves in one way or another and the consequence of inaction will be – not the status quo – but chaos. To stave off this apocalypse, the drug prohibitionist demands ever expanding freedoms and powers, with the dubious end goal of eliminating both the supply and the demand for drugs. His model nations are countries like Singapore or Malaysia, but the popularity of drugs among the middle class and educated  constrains him. Instituting Singapore’s laws would mean militarizing suburban police departments, imprisoning millions and executing thousands of  his core constituency, thus transforming his existential crusade into a protracted war against the weak. Addicts, poor communities, and developing countries pay the highest price for the drug war, and…

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