Essay 314

MultiCultClassics Minutes for Final Friday…

• The Boy Scouts in Connecticut are giving a local Indian tribe a big boulder. Technically, they’re giving it back to the Mohegan tribe, given that European settlers “claimed” the land over 350 years ago. The site may have served as an early meeting place for tribal councils. Although the Boy Scouts were willing to relinquish the land for free, the Mohegan tribe will pay $50,000. A family had given the Boy Scouts control of the land in 1963. Hopefully, the Boy Scouts won’t turn out to be Indian givers, especially since others have been Indian takers on so many past events.

• Two female students in California were suspected of being lesbians, and their Lutheran high school expelled them. Now the students are suing the school for discrimination and invasion of privacy. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Especially when they’re in love with each other.

• Rikers Island plans to shut down a special dormitory that housed gay and transgender inmates. Supporters claimed the exclusive accommodations served as a necessary safe haven. But officials stated the special dormitory would be replaced by a new system to house at-risk prisoners, regardless of their sexual orientation. Maybe the Queer Eye team could design the alternative jail space.

• In case folks didn’t notice, there’s a new record in the NFL this year: Six head coaches who happen to be Black. And hey, a few even have their teams in the playoffs. Imagine that.

• The family of John Demjanjuk plans to continue fighting for the man. Demjanjuk, accused of having been a Nazi concentration camp guard, was ordered to leave the country. “You can’t blame a family that rallies around their father and wants to believe the best about him,” said a spokesman from an international Jewish rights organization. “But the rest of society needs to reserve their sympathy for those who suffered in camps like Sobibor and Trawniki. This is a person who volunteered to enter a genocidal system.”

• Sony continues to draw criticism for its graffiti-inspired Playstation campaign. The company had commissioned artists to tag buildings with images — allegedly even getting legal approval to paint the ads. But graffiti enthusiasts have panned the garbage, defacing the work in some markets. Now community groups are joining the protests. Can’t believe Sony is surprised by the reaction. If the agency that suggested the idea didn’t warn their client about the potential backlash, it would only verify more cultural cluelessness in our industry.