Ethicalego (Kenneth Brooks) discusses current events from a critical thinking perspective rarely expressed elsewhere

By Kenneth Brooks

7/9/12

"Happy white peoples independence day the slaves weren't free but I'm sure they enjoyed fireworks." A San Francisco Examiner article reported this remark by comedian Chris Rock in a tweet about the Independence Day celebration and negative reaction to it. Most responses I read were negative with many of them calling the remark racist.

Chris Rock gained national acclaim for his humor as a former cast member of "Saturday Night Live" television comedy. Remarks about society that defy social expectations of conformity to set values have been a characteristic of his humor. Let us analyze the basis for the controversy to see if the facts justify the objections to his remarks.

Chris Rock is correct only white-labeled Americans had reasons to celebrate when Congress approved the Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776 and not black-labeled people still enslaved after its approval. The men that wrote and approved the Declaration of Independence mostly were enslavers of black-labeled people. Those enslavers did not intend to include the people they enslaved under the declaration's umbrella of freedom. Freedom day for black-labeled Americans was December 6, 1865 when the States approved and adopted the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

Chris Rock only reported an obvious fact. His enslaved ancestors did not gain freedom or self-determination from the Declaration of Independence. They did not find its approval a joyful occasion. Therefore, people did not have a rational reason to resent Chris Rock's statement of fact or to characterize it racist.

Someone could rightly criticize Rock for generalizing happiness about Independence Day to all white-labeled people. He could have reflected about women's feelings on Independence Day. "Happy white males' Independence Day, the women weren't free to take part in government, but I'm sure the enjoyed the fireworks."

On the other hand, he could have reflected on the disenfranchised white-labeled males that did not own property. "Happy white male property owners' Independence Day, the white males without property weren't free to take part in government, but I'm sure they enjoyed the fireworks."

Critics' attacks on Chris Rock's Independence Day remarks are attacks on Higher Order Thinking skills that challenge their fixed beliefs and values. Perhaps they do not see the connection. In contrast, the Texas Republican Party saw the connection between Higher Order Thinking Skills as reasoning that challenges fixed beliefs and values. It included the following plank in the 2012 to 2014 platform.

"We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student's fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority."

The Texas Republican Party is correct the inclination and ability to examine or challenge fixed beliefs and values are fundamental traits of Higher Order Thinking. Fixed beliefs and fixed values limit Americans' ability to reason about their government. This is why many political leaders oppose their constituents learning critical thinking skills.

Rock's remark challenges the common belief the nation's founders intended to secure self-determination for all people in America by approving the Declaration of Independence. In addition, he challenged the fixed belief of the founders as models of virtue above criticism and its extension that material wealth and position of power indicate someone's high moral standards.

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tramky   |July.12.2012 That should have been 'without men in their lives'. As for Chris Rock, he was criticizing black Americans for going to watch the fireworks, that doing so is essentially stupid & thoughtless. That IS often the case, so even though he is a comedian and will never be taken seriously by any serious person, one might be willing to accept his observation about this at face value. But what Chris Rock actually is doing is trivializing the march of history, that the changes within this country over its 200-plus year existence don't matter because there was something 'wrong' with it at the outset. And that black Americans are stupid or ignorant to celebrate anything on the 4th of July, 2012, because slavery existed as an institution on July 4th, 1776. There is stupidity at play in this, but not where Chris Rock thinks it is.

tramk   |July.12.2012 know vallejo's diatribe is nonsense and deserves no comment other than that. As for mousy, you go for it, girl. And I'll be the guy and raise the kid while you take on the responsibility, put in the long hours, take on the stress that will eventually kill you prematurely. You can make more money so you can afford the medical insurance for yourself and save up for the days & weeks when you're recovering from the effects of the success. And you, too, can have the luxury of bitching about those thoughtless, know-nothing men. You go, girl! The destruction of the traditional American family is the objective of all of this, so I'm all in. Go for it. These days we are being told that women are better at everything--soldiering, leading people, working labor-intense & physical jobs, managing projects, negotiating deals, and that men should just kill themselves or go hide in the desert after they masturbate into cups so women can have babies with men in their lives. Fine. You can have it. Have fun! I say double their salaries & pile on the work! We'll fill up the rest of Arlington Cemetery with women, the future 'honored dead'.

Anonymous   |July.11.2012 I will vouch for Mousy's description. Passed over for promotion for a guy "with a family", less money, constant denigration...lucky we both have a sense of humor. It is kind of funny to watch the expression on their faces when they realize they have just dissed the big boss who has the power to red tag them just because....

Ive Missed Out   |July.11.2012 They give days off for that time of the month??? Heck, I've missed out!

Mousy   |July.10.2012 Tramky,wow are you dead wrong. I've been underpaid as an engineer by about 20K. Took a female boss to realize I was being cheated and bring my salary up to standard. I have never taken a day off because of my "women issues" Ever. Women who do are idiots. In my direct experience I've got to be better than the guys to make it. I've got to get better grades and have it more together than they do. Have you ever walked up to vendor at a trade show and had them give you the "secretary's" description of their product, while the next guy in line gets the details? You know how you overcome that bias? You do your research so you can come armed with a technical question right off so you're on equal footing with someone who doesn't even have to think like that. It makes you good. Then they can't dismiss you as a secretary and actually talk to you like a technical person. Heck, I was just on a job site this morning and one of the contract crew members assumed I was some little tag along and not the person approving the deviation from the drawings. And you know what? I put in more my hours than my boss does every week, because he puts his family first. I regularly have to cover for him because he doesn't have the time to attend to things because it's his kid's baseball season. And we're both in high stress jobs that require a significant amount of responsibility. My budget alone is over $15 mill (and I've managed budgets as high as $90 mill) and I'm the engineering adviser for the entire region. I've dealt with enough blatant displays of sexism today. I worked through lunch and my breaks today because I've got critical deadlines deadlines to meet. Deadlines that involve human safety. But you think I'd knock off because it's the wrong time of the month. Typical. I'd just smile and let you dismiss me, then make sure I steered my business away from you. You'd never win a bid. So just stay in that hole and keep thinking like that, and see how it works out for you.

Relax   |July.10.2012 Hey, everyone calm down. For a good comedian, to be funny and make people laugh, he has to talk about subject in a different light, has to touch upon something deep in people's heart, sometime talk about the elephant in the room that no one is talking about and often with exaggeration. Comedians are not a saints, you can not hold them for every word they say or every deed they do. I do find Chris Rock's remark refreshing and make you look at things with a different light.

know vallejo   |July.10.2012 tramky, i resisted commenting on your idiotic remark about comedians, but your second post requires some response. forget all the rest of your anti-woman diatribe. let's just look at your last statement. are you suggesting that american women should look at their muslim sisters and be grateful that american men don't practice female genital mutilation any longer? that american women can vote? that american women can drive? that we can leave our homes without a male relative escorting us? why don't you try a muslim country? i get the feeling that you prefer a society where women "know their place" and don't question you big, strong, smart men. do us american women a favor and move to saudi arabia.

tramky   |July.10.2012 It is true that women have been suppressed in this world. No longer in America, where women are now given the keys to the kingdom simply for being female, not because of demonstrable merit. We are now told that women pretty much do everything better than men--everything--include being warriors in battle, being firefighters carrying 220-pound bodies on their shoulders up and down 8 flights of stairs, or in dealing with global issues. We are now told that men should just stay home and mind the kids and paint the kitchen. I'm all for it. Let women get the ulcers, the stress-induced hypertension, the heart attacks, the expanded midsections from overwork and under-exercise, the lousy eating habits derived from stress and job pressures. I'm all for it. Just throw money at them and they'll be happy. Oh, money. There is that thing about 'equal pay for women'. That is all fine & dandy, but no time off for pregnancy, childbirth and 'bonding time with the newborn', and certainly NO calling in sick every month at a certain time of the month to give themselves 12 or 24 more paid holidays a year. As for repression of women, try the Muslim world. Give that a shot and see how you like it.

tramky   |July.10.2012 Chris Rock is a comedian. Why would anyone with a brain pay any attention to anything he says? But let's go with this for a moment at least. His comment was largely anti-black racism in substance, apparently claiming that because the singular institution of slavery had not been eliminated in the world in 1776, that there is nothing to celebrate about America's founding and that blacks who do so are ignorant fools simply bedazzled by sparkly things in the sky. In 1776, America had not yet launched a rocket or orbited the earth or landed men on the moon, so America was obviously a scientifically backward nation at the time and whose founding is unworthy of note for that reason. Of course the founding of America led to the all-white founding fathers to create & establish a Constitution, unique in the history of mankind, that eventually led to the abolition of slavery in the United States, after hundreds of thousands of white people died in a civil war fought, in part, over that long-time institution that had been in place LONG before 1776. And that led eventually to this nation that has had blacks in leadership posts ranging from Secretary of State to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to a Supreme Court justice to the President of the United States. Chris Rock's comments might be racist, but not in the way one might think. But no one with a brain gives a damn what this or any comedian thinks. This is decidedly NOT critical thinking on display, it is a failure to even recognize, let alone acknowledge, that the course of human events meanders and takes time to navigate.

Mr :)   |July.10.2012 The founding fathers were not white, they were rich. Chris Rock is rich. He should celebrate July 4th, as rich peoples independence from foreign taxation day. Turns out you can fight city hall, as long as you are rich, have access to safe havens, and have a superpower backer (the French empire).

Anonymous   |July.10.2012 It's a shame that people of color throughout the world, past and present, have not evolved a culture capable of liberating people from the chains of their masters. Poor souls like Mr. Rock and Mr. Brooks are forced to wander in the wilderness of confusion, lashing out at all the things that scare them. Creating monsters and goblins out of the shadows in the night, fearful and ignorant of the freedom just beyond the open gates of self determination. What these cowards don't understand is that General George Washington, after leading an international army to victory over the world's super power of the day, voluntary rested his military and political power to the governing body of his peers. Some historians argue that this act of delivering a military command authority back to a civil government had never been done. Thus was created a civil and political system, while imperfect, gave the power state to the people. The Declaration of Independence was the starting point of the great experiment we enjoy today. lets hope we are able to raise our children to appreciate the significance of what our fore fathers have given to us.

anon   |July.09.2012 Mr. Brookes, thank you for acknowledging that women have been suppressed in history. And still are...look at how the media portrays women. Women are judge for looks not brains.

A Voice In the wilderness   |July.09.2012 http://www.nps.gov/bost/forteachers/upload/Boston%20Lesson.pdf And furthermore in the words of Dan Ankroid from the old Satuday Night Live Point Counterpoint to Jane Curtain "Jane you ignorant slut"

Look in the Mirror   |July.09.2012 @A Voice In the Wilderness re: he is a hater filled with prejudice. I think this is a pretty good description of yourself from your post.

A Voice In the Wilderness   |July.09.2012 Chris Rock is incapable of critical thought. He is a not a kind loving person in fact he is a hater filled with prejudice. Ethicalego you would defend Satan if he were black and liberal. http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Hollywood/2012/03/13/Chris%20Rock%20Attacks%20Conservative%20Author%20Over%20Tea%20Party%20Question

I like Chris Rock   |July.09.2012 If you do not know him, take a listen to this: Black People VS. Niggaz http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3PJF0YE-x4

know vallejo   |July.09.2012 well said anonymous. i agree with your entire essay, mr. brooks, but your last paragraph was spot on. thank you.

Anonymous   |July.09.2012 Chris who?

Anonymous   |July.09.2012 The declaration of independence did not free the slaves, extend the political process to women, and limited voting to white male property owners. I find it ridiculous when white people take offense whend black people celebrate other dates that are more significant to their historical reality. You can re-write history all you want but the truth will come out eventually anyway so get over it.

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