Harry Reid is a Senator from Nevada who happens to be the senate majority leader, but he’s also a person; and an older person at that. Harry Reid was elected to the Senate in 1986– two whole years before I was born. That means that every one currently in college was not born at the beginning of his term, and additionally that automatically proves that he has a different mindset and comes from a different time; but you already knew that didn’t you? Well perhaps someone should alert the media, no seriously ALERT the Media!!!

Every morning, I turn on Channel 7 (ABC news in New York City) and watch the news as I get dressed. I often watch bits of the early morning news and bits of Good Morning America and today, on Good Morning America, Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos were interviewing the authors of “Game Change.” The authors–who happen to be reporters– interviewed 200 subjects about the behind-the-scenes activity of the 2008 campaign, and some interesting stories came out. One of these stories involved Harry Reid stating that “he [referring to President Obama] is a light-skinned African American” and has “no negro dialect.” These statements were made in an attempt to show why Reid believed that Obama could be elected and you know what…he’s right. Barack Obama is indeed a light skinned African American, and to me (and I hope most of my generation) that is not a racist remark. That remark is the truth, and I do honestly believe that is what enabled many of REID’s generation (i.e. our grandparents) to vote for Obama. Additionally Obama does not have any of the characteristics the American media and the general American population stereotypically associate with African-Americans.  Both of these statements in my opinion are not racist and should not be analyzed further than what they actually mean; they have no deeper meaning, they are words that are true and not meant to hurt anyone, least of all the President.

By now you may think I’m crazy, but let me explain. I believe everything must be taken in context and in this case, the context is Reid’s age and his generational understanding. Reid was born in 1939; the year Hitler invaded Germany, the year the Great Depression “ended” and the year my grandparents were born. I’m sure your grandparents were born around the same time and honestly if you think about it, don’t they have different views on the way life is and the people you associate with? This is because of how they grew up; they grew up in a world where women like you and I were content to stay at home, raise babies and cook dinner; in my opinion that’s a luxury I may never have!! Two income households were unheard of and segregation was still in effect in the southern half of the United States. A woman would never even dream of running for the Presidency and quite frankly, neither would an African-American, but the times, they have changed. Oh how they have changed!! In glorious and inspiring ways; in ways my grandparents could never have dreamed. The world has changed so much in the past decade, forget about the past seven decades. Because of all these changes, I think we need to influence the media to look at these ideas, statements and “intrigues” from the book in a different way; politicians are all from a different generation, they all have different ideas and they all express themselves differently– IT IS THE BEAUTY OF AMERICA AND OUR SYSTEM THAT THIS GOES ON. There are some racist statements made (like the ones suggesting that a segretionist President would have fixed America), but others are merely a way to define the changing times. I think Harry Reid simply made the statement in his own way to explain what changes were happening and you know what, I think President Obama agrees. And besides, aren’t there more important issues for the Media to be tackling– like Health Care, the War, or hey I don’t know AIRPORT SECURITY!! Any one of those topics is far more worthy to be discussed and discussed by the Media than this. I think it’s up to us–the future journalists and social media-ists– to tackle these topics in our own blogs, on our Facebook pages and through what we post and re-post to Twitter. If we stop reading the inane articles then the Media will have to delve into new topics, won’t it? We have the power to influence real change in all aspects of our society and I urge you to stand up and have the last word on this, because quite frankly if you and I don’t who will?

What do you think? Do you think we should be so fixated on every minute detail, word and inflection that comes from these public figures, or should we take what they say with a grain of salt? Tell me what you think below; I’d love to hear some well thought-out responses.

On a lighter note, I’ve decided to end all these posts with a “Treat Yourself” Tip of the Week. Each one will deal with a new beauty trend to try to pass the winter blues, or some trend I’m currently into. Just a fun way to end the post, because I have a feeling the Media and other aspects of “American” life will get me quite heated and I won’t always have the opportunity to share some great beauty scores.

Treat Yourself Tip 1: Try a new Matte nail polish and see if it brightens your mood by dimming your color. There are matte top coats and base colors which have a distinct shade and Glamour has some great tips on how to integrate them this fall. I’m planning on doing my toes with it this week, so I’ll add a picture next so you can see!

Have a great week, and remember: always have your opinion heard, whether it’s the last word or not. xoxo V