Morning Shmoe

Every morning as I pack my lunch and fix my hair for work, my boyfriend reluctantly flips to MSNBC during Sportscenter commercials. We usually enjoy mocking Joe Scarborough for his biased remarks and the general lack of intellectual debate that tends to characterize most morning news programs, but this morning was particularly memorable.

At about 8:30 (little late getting to work this morning) Joe brought Al Sharpton and Toure, author of the book “Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness?”, to discuss the findings of the book. Per usual, Joe dominated the conversation his opinions as if they were universal truths. In a particularly ignorant comment, Joe demonized modern day “hardcore hip hop” for promoting drugs and violence. Toure, the intellectual that he is, likened his criticism of modern music to our own parents’ aversion to “scandalous” music like the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, or James Brown. Joe, in his dismissive way, rejected the analogy based on no apparent reasoning whatsoever.

Now there are two immediate issues that I have with this conversation. One – on what ground can Joe Scarborough, a middle aged white man from Pensacola, Florida, speak to black representation in pop culture? I’m a white woman, but the difference is that I don’t attempt to speak on issues to which I have no personal experience. Two –if you bring two people on your show who are experts on the discussion topic, why not let them speak? Al Sharpton speaks on nearly 10 panels a day and lived through the civil rights movement as a BLACK MAN. Unfortunately Joe’s domineering approach to the conversation overshadowed the important point that Toure and Sharpton were trying to make which is that there needs to be a societal shift toward seeing the black intellectual as the norm and the “gangster” as the exception.

During the segment on “Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness?” Mika Brzezikski’s was noticeably absent as usual. Her deep thoughts conveyed by her furrowed brow aren’t usefully if she fails to utter a single contribution to the debate. Though I respect her reluctance to speak to an issue on which she may have limited knowledge, her role as the mute blonde with a pretty face sets our gender back about 50 years. Positioning a woman in the middle of a group of men only to have her voice overpowered and opinions dismissed is counter to feminist and progressive values.

It’s time for women to be a part of our nation’s most important debates in a substantive way. Andrea Mitchell and Rachel Maddow are exemplary political commentators who contribute extraordinary intelligence and conviction. If Morning Joe valued and prioritized women’s issues and perspectives they should empower Mika with more substantive commentary or find a woman with the ability to stand up against her male counterparts and be the voice of the American woman.