the media has errupted over cartoonist mr. scott adams’ comments concerning race. dailymail.com based upon a survey, he essentially concluded that a significant amount of african americans held an unfavorable view of white people.
based upon watching a number of his videos, it appears that he implied that, on a group basis, and not an individual basis, that it would behoove white people to avoid black people. to justify his position, mr. adams has touched on the topic of living your life based upon percentages.
mr. adam’s controversy and his social media death spiral is perhaps the problem with spontaneous video media. spontaneous video, of even well thought out positions can be unartful. unlike writing, which can be edited, reformulated and re-organized, spontaneous discussions present a landmine waiting to happen. sometimes, it makes great viewing. most of the time, it serves as a poor expression of thought.
mr. adams’ major point is that, in order to get through life, people rely on percentages. they look at statistical data to make decisions.
for instance, people look at crime data to determine where to buy their homes. students look at rankings to decide where to go to college. parents look at school districts’ standardized test scores to decide where to enroll their children.
numbers can be a quick and economic way to make decisions. should a democrat candidate spend campaign dollars in a district that traditionally voted 90 percent republican? numbers, however, miss the individual element. a student, who attended statistically bad schools could become a brilliant scholar. people living in bad neighborhoods may have great neighbors.
personally, i was forced to accept the percentages. gunfire erupting in front of my venice residence prompted my move from the crime and homeless ridden area. i did like the chances that i would not get his with a stray bullet.
the reality is that mr. adams ineptly expressed is most likely employed by a super majority of the population. he is being condemned due to poor expression caused by the employment of the impromptu video format.
rather than focus on any race or group, mr. adams focus should have been on culture. with each culture, there are morals and values. likewise, not every individual with any particular race or nationality is part of the culture associated with the group. for instance, not every italian acts like a mafia gangster. mr. adams should have discussed the problems with certain cultures. he could have also discussed the positives with other cultures. race and nationality should never be confused with culture. for instance, in more homogeneous countries, rather than a race and nationality divide, there is an economic class divide. each economic class can form different cultures.
in sum, the dilbert cartoon creator’s struggle to get out of this situation is a cautionary tale as to why the edited and well thought written word is often better to employ when taking on complex topics. presently, society is having a cultural crisis. this was what mr. adams needed to hammer out. perhaps, he would be best to address it in a well thought out cartoon.
be well!!
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The Ten Commandments Project 