African sand on the trade winds
And the sun on the Amazon
As they push the reline buttons down
With dreamland coming on
And the sun on the Amazon
As they push the reline buttons down
With dreamland coming on
While the national media and stand-up comedians obsess about whether or not Virginia governor Ralph Northam should resign, after a photo of a man (allegedly Northam) in blackface in his 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook surfaced, I myself can't stop thinking about the death of Sumatran tiger Melati.
A week ago, the rare tiger was mauled to death in her London Zoo home by a male tiger, Asim, who'd been brought from Ree Park Safari in Denmark to be her potential mate. Melati had previously given birth to three litters of cubs with another Sumatran male tiger, and five of their cubs survive and thrive. Because of the need for genetic diversity in the very endangered population, her previous mate had been moved to Le Parc des Félins, a zoo southeast of Paris, to start a new family.
Melati and Asim were housed in adjacent enclosures with access to each other's sight and smell for ten days. The tigers reportedly made friendly noises and appeared to have a friendly interest in each other, leading experts to determine that the time was right for an introduction. Almost immediately the encounter became aggressive and Melati was dead, mauled by Asim, despite prepared measures by staff to distract them, including loud noises, flares, and alarms.
Ten days. I took more time than that to introduce Biscotti to Loki and Zamboni. I would have guessed that an appropriate amount of time for rare tigers to live side-by-side, safely separated, before being allowed physical access to one another would be closer to ten months than ten days.
All the other questions that sprung to my mind apparently sprung to the hive mind as well, and were addressed by the authorities. Tranquilizer darts would not act quickly enough, even assuming the correct animal could be accurately targeted. Any introduction of big cats is high risk regardless of how strategically planned. And we just don't know enough about species biology to make artificial insemination reliable or cost effective. While historically there have been some tiger pregnancies from artificial insemination, the success rate is low and the space, expertise, and funding are limited. Ten-year-old Melati was a proven breeder. Seven-year-old Asim had a history of being affectionate with his female species relatives.
But it happened, hindsight has 20/20 vision, and now animal lovers and wildlife conservationists worldwide must mourn the death of an innocent, beautiful creature and precious resource. There's not much more to say about it, and I'll stop thinking about it eventually.
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The late Sumatran tiger Melati. Photo credit Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press |
The story did prompt me to look up another story about a big cat in Denmark. Five years ago, the Copenhagen Zoo euthanized a healthy two-year-old male giraffe because of what it characterized as its duty to avoid inbreeding. Other possible prevention measures, such as sterilization, transfer, or release to the wild were dismissed. The giraffe's genetics were already well-represented in international breeding programs, the care and feeding of a sterile giraffe would displace a more genetically valuable animal, a release to the wild would have a high probability of failure, and zoo policy did not permit the sale of animals.
The zoo not only killed the healthy giraffe, they dismembered it in public ("outside, given the giraffe's size") and fed parts of it to the lions with children present. The public was up in arms, the zoo was matter-of-fact about it ("we would never throw away 200 kilograms of meat").
This controversy took place while I was in the midst of my online Colgate University class about World War II, particularly the development and deployment of the atom bomb. During the course of the course, some of my beliefs shifted.
I surprised myself, because I wouldn't have predicted I'd ever come around to condoning our nuclear attacks on Japan in 1945. But that's one of the purposes of education, to broaden your perspective, to explore alternative paradigms.One of our weekly discussion prompts was to explore the reactions of the scientists and military personnel upon witnessing the Trinity test. I reflected on the story of the giraffe in my response. [Note: at the time it was my understanding that neither giraffes nor lions were considered endangered species. Those facts have subsequently changed.]
Here in part are the thoughts I posted
Reactions varied greatly, from elation, to depression, to just another day's work. ...All things considered, I still find it hard to rationalize the gratuitous death of Melati. But we accept, we grieve, we move on. There are no alternative choices.
Different reactions can be chalked up to different personalities, values, world views, contexts, backgrounds and visions. During the Manhattan Project, I think all the Los Alamos scientists had a sort of tunnel vision, to get the gadget designed and engineered. Having spent years of six- and seven-day weeks driving toward that one goal, it makes sense that all the next steps, testing and deployment, were only logical. Why go through those years to create something and then, when it worked even better than their wildest dreams, just walk away.
Writing this I thought about the story in the news about the Copenhagen zoo that has been so roundly criticized for euthanizing a healthy young giraffe (and feeding its body to the lions - in public) and then euthanizing four lions, including two cubs. Harsh as that sounds, neither giraffes nor lions are endangered species. In the wild they'd be culled by natural predators. We think nothing of thinning out wildlife such as deer when they get too prolific and disruptive. We eat poultry and meat raised to be butchered as expeditiously as they can be brought to market.
Perhaps the zoo could have been more discreet about its actions, less unapologetic in its attitude But as I thought it through, my initial reaction of outrage changed to reluctant acceptance.
So much in life is a matter of context.
And now I want to circle back and talk about the implications of donning blackface.
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Note that Northam now denies that he was either of the costumed fellows. |
I’m not sure how the editors of the Eastern Virginia Medical School thought that this was an appropriate photo to publish in 1985. My daughter was born that year and I’m quite certain it wasn’t in the dark ages. Racism was not acceptable. Well it was never acceptable, but by 1985 it was long out of the closet, with bright light shining upon it, and no one should have been so oblivious or indifferent to it.
Now I’ve never so much as been to a costume party where anyone wore blackface, or known anyone that did to my knowledge. I have no clue why anyone would think it amusing, but I confess I wasn’t tuned in to just how offensive it is. Clearly a Ku Klux Klan costume crosses a line. But where exactly is that line?
I grew up with parents who listened to Al Jolson records and thought nothing of the fact that he performed in blackface. They just liked the music, and America was still culturally unenlightened about demeaning black stereotypes. But then Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King and the sixties happened and there were no more excuses for insensibility.
Blackface is something I’ve never pondered deeply before. At first I thought it might go to intent. Was harm meant? But after seeing the photo and on reflection, I’ve concluded that it’s intrinsically derogatory. I can't think of any instance where it would be socially acceptable.
Should Northham resign? That’s a slightly different question, and one I can’t answer. I probably would, if I were him, but then I wouldn’t have been in blackface to begin with. My mistakes have been different. But I’ve made them, and I’d like to think that people can grow, change, evolve.
The issue is more clouded because it might not even be Northham in the photo, although at first he said it was him, then he back-peddled. For me it would be simpler if he’d just said, I was an idiot, and I’m sorry. His denial is more troubling, and after all, it was on his yearbook page. And he does admit to having worn blackface, just not that time.
Bottom line, blackface has nothing on sexually assaulting an underage girl. You won’t go to jail for it. It’s not a perfect world , and we can’t fix every lapse of judgment retroactively. I wouldn’t vote for a candidate if I knew he’d ever worn blackface, but if I found out that I inadvertently had, I’d forgive myself.
And I’d move on.
So many things, so much to move on from.
It's a long, long way from Canada
A long way from snow chains
Donkey vendors slicing coconut
No parkas to their name
Black babies covered in baking flour
The cook's got a carnival song
We're going to lay down someplace shady
With dreamland coming on
Dreamland, dreamland
Dreamland, dreamland
Walter Raleigh and Chris Columbus
Come marching out of the waves
And claim the beach and all concessions
In the name of the suntan slave
I wrapped that flag around me
Like a Dorothy Lamour sarong
And I lay down thinking national
With dreamland coming on
Dreamland, dreamland
Dreamland, dreamland
Good time Mary and a fortune hunter
All dressed up to follow the drums
Mary in a feather hula-hoop
Miss Fortune with a rose on her big game gun
All saints, all sinners shining
Heed those trumpets all night long
Propped up on a samba beat
With dreamland coming on
Dreamland, dreamland
Dreamland, dreamland
Tar baby and the Great White Wonder
Talking over a glass of rum
Burning on the inside
With the knowledge of things to come
There's gambling out on the terrace
And midnight ramblin' on the lawn
As they lead toward temptation
With dreamland coming on
Dreamland, dreamland
Dreamland, dreamland
In a plane flying back to winter
In shoes full of tropic sand
A lady in a foreign flag
On the arm of her Marlboro Man
The hawk howls in New York City
Six foot drifts on Myrtle's lawn
As they push the recline buttons down
With dreamland coming on
Dreamland, dreamland
Dreamland, dreamland
African sand on the trade winds
And the sun on the Amazon
As they push the reline buttons down
With dreamland coming on
Dreamland, dreamland
Dreamland, dreamland
(Joni Mitchell © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group, Crazy Crow Music / Siquomb Music Publishing)