Monthly Archives: February 2022

It does not take much to understand efforts to rename geographic features or places with offensive names. Simply imagine that the names in question insulted white people, denigrated prominent religious denominations or honored terrorists who killed U.S. citizens. Such names would be gone in a heartbeat.

Fort Lewis College professor, author and Herald contributor Andrew Gulliford detailed a renewed effort to clean up offensive place names in the Heralds Weekend Edition (Feb. 12-13.) In that, he outlined the complexity of such a move, both in terms of cost and logistics and the need to decipher the meaning and intent of those names. It is not always simple.

Gulliford wrote specifically of Interior Secretary Deb Haalands creation of the Advisory Committee on Reconciliation in Place Names and her intention of eliminating any use of the word squaw on federal lands. That is an example of what is at issue and what is at stake.

As Gulliford notes, offensive names do not necessarily suggest offensive intent. Some are offensive simply because times have changed and what was once common nomenclature is now considered inappropriate. Figuring out which names should be changed and which have historical significance sufficient to keep them is neither simple nor easy. But neither is it silly or a waste of time.

The word squaw has been around for about 400 years. It can reportedly be traced to an Algonquin word meaning simply woman. Over the years, however, its usage suggests that it could be most accurately translated as a slur. Haaland is correct in wanting to eliminate it.

There are those who would dismiss such efforts as political correctness or excess sensitivity. But it is no coincidence that the names they would defend are almost always offensive to racial minorities.

Changing Squaw Mountain, as Gov. Jared Polis would do, is one example. Mount Evans is another. A fourteener visible from the Denver area, the peak is named after a Colorado territorial governor who was also involved in the Sand Creek Massacre in which 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho mostly women and children were murdered for no reason.

The Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument is another example, but with a twist. It includes the Custer National Cemetery, named after George Armstrong Custer, and that is an embarrassment to the United States. Custer was not only engaged in what can now be seen as genocide but was clearly a fool.

The 19th century was the zenith of war on horseback and European military observers, men who knew what they were talking about, had described Native American warriors as the finest light cavalry in the world. Nonetheless, Custer took on a force of several thousand Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors with a couple hundred cavalrymen. It is too bad about his troopers, but Custer got what he had coming. Honoring him reflects well on no one.

As Gulliford pointed out, cleaning up the names of places and things will not be easy, cheap or without controversy. It nonetheless deserves to be done.

Durango Herald editorial board

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Durango Herald: Changing offensive names is not easy, but should be done nonetheless - coloradopolitics.com

It might sound improbable, but 13 months after President Trump left the White House, Americans have become even more politically polarized, according to a new RealClear Opinion Research survey, with fissures appearing among Democratic voters that mirror the profound discord roiling the Republican Party.

Despite two years of economic upheaval culminating in the worst inflation in 40 years, our divisions are not primarily economic. Instead, they are driven by a host of social and cultural flashpoints ranging from perceptions of race, immigration policy, and transgender issues to voters feelings about the U.S. flag and about America itself.

Ironically, one question in the new survey did evoke a response that spanned much of the ideological spectrum a latent desire for a third political party. A certain logic underlies that yearning: On a host of policy issues, Republicans have become more conservative, while Democrats have drifted inexorably leftward and in a country where the prevalent impulses were historically centrist. Moreover, a new strain of populism has gained strength among voters in both parties, a phenomenon epitomized by the simultaneous appeal of Donald Trump and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

In todays Congress, Sanders is one of only two U.S. senators who officially identifies as an independent (none are in the House), meaning that the 40% of Americans who decline to describe themselves as either an R or a D are virtually unrepresented in Washington. At a time when Americans can choose 15 major auto manufacturers when shopping for a family car, our culturally divided, geographically dispersed, and multi-ethnic electorate of 168 million registered voters is shoe-horned into only two political parties.

This is one reason pollsters and social scientists, in a search for common ground, keep looking for more detailed ways to define the electorate. In 2017, center-right election analyst David Winston used information from the Voter Survey to group voters into five clusters while concluding that policy issues mattered more than demographics in the election that produced the Trump presidency. The same year, using its own polling data, the Pew Research Center identified nine voting groups while probing the widening gap on values in American elections. (Click on the chart below to enlarge it.)

Another organization, More in Common, dissected the electorate into seven segments which range from Progressive Activists on the left to Devoted Conservatives on the right. In their October 2018 report, the authors assert that the five groups in the ideological middle (Traditional Liberals, Passive Liberals, Politically Disengaged, Moderates, and Traditional Conservatives) make up an exhausted majority that disdains name-calling and polarization, even though they havent figured out how to stop it.

The same month, RealClearPolitics unveiled its first original public opinion survey, beginning with a project that also sought to shed light on the animating attitudes of American voters. Under the supervision of John Della Volpe, director of polling for RealClear Opinion Research, this survey employed a new set of polling questions and other research methods such as documenting voters impressions of images like a U.S. flag on the side of a barn to produce a report challenging the idea that America is a 50-50 nation neatly divided between Republican red and Democratic blue voters. In the end, Della Volpe and his team identified Five Tribes that better explain the visceral and varied perspectives of U.S. voters.

Topline findings: The full polling breakdown

Since 2018, the attitudes and alliances of these tribes have shifted and consolidated. Along the way they have become even more partisan, and the cultural divergences even more stark.

When we first examined the Five Tribes of American voters, we were struck that even when we got beyond current events and the 24-hour political news cycles, Americans were deeply divided about the country we all share, notes Jonathan Chavez, chief analytics officer for RealClear Opinion Research.

In the ensuing 3 years, weve only seen those divisions deepen, as disruptions to the daily lives of many have caused many to re-examine some of their most closely held values, Chavez added. What Im most struck by from this survey is that divisions are not just partisan: Within both parties, we see fundamental disagreements about America, its history, and its future.

As the tectonic plates shifted beneath the ground of Americans during COVID lockdowns, a summer of racial discontent, a divisive presidential election, and the searing attack on the U.S. Capitol, the makeup of the Five Tribes has shifted along with it.

The original tribes were identified as Make America Great Again (12%); Mainline GOP (14%); The Detached (24%); Independent Blues (24%); and The Resistance (26%). These groupings still exist in some degree, although there have been subtle changes, Della Volpe noted this week. And as their tribes priorities shifted, the previous labels dont apply to all of them as neatly as before. For starters, the Independent Blues developed even more affinity to Democrats and we have changed their tribal names. At the same time, the Mainline GOP tribe with its name unchanged nearly doubled in size. The new labels and their percentages this time around are: MAGA (14%); Mainline GOP (27%); Institutionalist Democrats (20%); Woke Democrats (19%); and Multicultural Moderates or Democratic-Leaning Multiculturalists (20%). Here are some defining characteristics of each group.

MAGA: Split almost evenly between men and women, this is the whitest tribe, the one least supportive of even legal immigration, and the only one to reject the premise that racial diversity makes us stronger. And they reject it by more than 2 to 1 (37% disagree while only 16% agree). Part of this may be a gut reaction against political correctness, which they abhor, but thats hardly all it is. Those belonging to the MAGA tribe, 93% of whom voted for Trump in 2020, are also the most pessimistic. Eight in 10 say they have more fear than hope about Americas future. Morning Again in America devotees of Ronald Reagan they are not.

Mainline GOP: This is now the largest tribe, and the one that grew the most since 2018. They are 81% white, 57% male, and older than the electorate as a whole. Although 89% of them voted for Trump in 2020, their views on racial inclusion and immigration diverge sharply from the MAGA crowd. Four in 10 Mainliners view legal immigration positively, while only 12% dont. In addition, only 5% disagree with the statement racial diversity makes us stronger. At the same time, this is a tribe with a dim view of political correctness and cancel culture. Fully 88% believe that people have become overly sensitive.

One of the issues illustrating the divide between the MAGA and Mainline sects within the GOP is vaccine mandates and masking. When researchers showed a photo of a young child wearing a mask outside in their school environment, Mainline GOP were split nearly evenly on whether this illustrates what is right (30%) or wrong (26%) about America in their eyes (+4 right about America). MAGA Republicans, on the other hand, were more likely to believe this image represented something that was wrong about the country (+8 wrong). This difference of opinion between these two tribes on the vaccine was also illustrated when respondents were shown an image of an older man receiving a vaccine from a clinic. By a 16-point margin (36%-20%) Mainline GOPers thought that was whats right about the country a margin of more than three times (32%-27%) the number of MAGA members who felt the same.

Institutionalist Democrats: This tribe has a new designation, but they are not all new to politics. Some members were previously in the Independent Blue segment; others migrated from The Resistance or even the dissipated Detached tribe. Institutionalist Democrats are the most female of the five tribes, and 72% white. They voted overwhelmingly for Joe Biden in 2020 (82%), but are split nearly evenly on Bidens performance in the Oval Office. Generally, they arent happy campers, or terribly optimistic people. Only 7% of them express faith in the next generation of American leaders. Likewise, only one-fourth of them think the Democratic Party cares about people like them (and almost none of them believe the GOP cares). Fully two-thirds wish there was another political party.

Woke Democrats: With Trump safely out of the Oval Office (at least for now), this cohort formerly named The Resistance has decreased in size the most of any tribe. It is more female than male, but not by a huge margin (54% to 46%) and 63% white. It is the youngest tribe (56% are Millennials or Gen Z). Nearly 8 in 10 Woke Democrats rate Bidens job performance as excellent (30%) or good (49%), and most say he has met (48%) or exceeded (17%) their expectations. Only 10% wish there was another political party.

It would seem that the Woke Tribe not only still despise Donald Trump, theyve stayed in love with Joe Biden. What they dont love, necessarily, is the good ol USA. They are the only cohort that doesnt think cancel culture is making the country worse, and they do not want schools to teach traditional American history and values. They think American-style capitalism is broken and 71% claim there are better countries than the United States a sentiment that puts them at odds with every other tribe.

Similar to divisions on the right regarding masking, we find similar cleavages among factions within the Democratic party. When Institutionalist Democrats see the Blue Lives Matter flag flying alongside the American flag most are neutral (53%), and about as many say this represents what is right (23%) about America, as wrong (25%). On the other hand, when the same image is shown to the Woke tribe, theres a strong rejection of the image. Only 7% approve of this image, 58% disapprove, with 35% remaining on the fence.

Democratic-Leaning Multiculturalists. This tribe broke for Biden in 2020 by a 63% to 34% margin, but many nonetheless display some of the sensibilities of swing voters. They are 52% female and 48% male, which comes close to replicating the overall electorate, and they are young, too, although not quite as young as the Wokesters: Half of them are either Millennials or Gen Z.

This is the most racially diverse tribe (only 47% are white) and are the most likely to agree with the statement: I often feel under attack because of the color of my skin. (The second-highest on this question, instructively, are members of the MAGA tribe.)

Democratic-Leaning Multiculturalists are not easy to pigeon-hole. They trail only Woke Democrats in believing that structural racism makes it difficult for Hispanics and African Americans to get ahead in life. Yet they are less enamored of the benefits of immigration than Mainline Republicans. When asked whether cancel culture is a danger, Multiculturalists occupy the middle ground between the two Democratic and two Republican tribes. They are optimists, too. This tribe recorded the highest score expressing faith in the next generation of leaders to move the country forward.

The Democratic-Leaning Multiculturalists are caught in the middle of a culture war that doesnt address their concerns, says Jonathan Chavez. They simultaneouslybelieve that structural racism must be addressed, and that we must teach traditional American values. While they were a decisive part of Biden's 2020 victory, they are a segment of voters that much of Washington's current politics dont seem to address.

It's an oversight that could prove decisive in 2024.

Carl M. Cannon is the Washington bureau chief for RealClearPolitics. Reach him on Twitter @CarlCannon.

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Revisiting the 'Five Tribes' of American Voters - RealClearPolitics

Almost six out of 10 Spaniards (58.9%) feel afraid (21.4%) or worried (37.5%) about the possibility that Vox will be part of the Government of Spain, according to the 40dB survey. for EL PAS and Cadena SER. The feelings provoked in those surveyed by the fact that Vox comes to occupy ministries vary depending on the party they have voted for: it causes concern or fear in 95.3% of Podemos voters, 86.6% of those in More Country, to 80.7% of those of the PSOE and 46.6% of those of Ciudadanos. PP voters are divided: almost a third (32.8%) are concerned (24%) or afraid (8.8%), while almost half (46.6%) are calm (28 .2%) or even satisfaction (18.4%).

The study is based on 2,000 telematic interviews carried out between January 27 and February 1, just at the start of the regional campaign in Castilla y Len, and has a confidence level of 95%. On February 13, after learning the results of the regional elections (in which Vox had 13 seats and the popular Fernndez Maueco was far from the absolute majority), Abascal demanded entry into the Castilian and Leonese Government under the same conditions as Ciudadanos. in the previous legislature: the vice presidency and three ministries, in addition to the presidency of the Cortes.

According to the 40dB. survey, 42% of Spaniards believe that Vox should be treated as just another party, but 47.6% advocate some type of cordon sanitaire: 21.1% believe that its use should not be allowed. entry into the Government, 11.6% support its outlawing, 5.3% that it should not be debated with it and 9.6% are committed to debating, but without reaching agreements. On the other hand, among the PP and Cs voters, a large majority believes that it should be treated as just another party: 71.4% and 65.6%, respectively.

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When respondents are asked to define Vox ideologically, the most repeated term is fascist (28.5%), followed by Spanish nationalist (15.2%), patriot (12.1%) and xenophobic (10%). The label most used by the voters of the PSOE and United We Can is fascist, while those of Ciudadanos define it as Spanish nationalist and those of Vox see their own party as patriot. PP voters, the most likely to end up voting for Vox, consider him patriot (24.6%), Spanish nationalist (22.5%) and conservative (15.3%). But 9.3% call it fascist and 7.3% ultra.

Consistent with the above, 66.7% of those surveyed strongly or fairly agree that Vox is a far-right party, while 22.4% disagree with that definition. Up to 55% consider that it does not respect the rights of minorities such as the LGTBI group or immigrants; while almost a third (32.7%) do not share this statement. The survey reveals that the idea that Vox breaks with political correctness, daring to say what many people think has taken hold (51.5% share it), but only 29.1% believe that it is a party that defend ordinary people against the elites.

Once again, it is important to look at the opinion of PP voters: 59.5% consider Vox to be on the extreme right (disagree, 32.8%), 50.6% think that it respects the rights of minorities ( 37.5% disagree), 73.8% think that it breaks with what is politically correct (18.3% disagree) and 53.3% believe that it defends ordinary people against the elites (35 % disagree with this statement).

The rejection of immigrants is the idea that those surveyed most associate with Vox. When a dozen proposals are mentioned to them and they are asked to say which ones they identify with Abascals party (up to a maximum of three), the most cited (45.9%) is that of expelling undocumented immigrants, as well as immigrants who commit crimes. They are followed by suppressing the abortion and euthanasia laws (29.8%), repealing the law on gender violence (25.8%) and outlawing separatist parties (25.8%). The Vox proposal that generates the greatest rejection is the repeal of the abortion and euthanasia laws (40.9%). It is followed by the protection of bullfighting and hunting (23.1%), the suppression of the law on gender violence (21.6%) and the expulsion of immigrants (20.2%). With slight differences, these are also the proposals that PP voters most dislike: 28.6% oppose abolishing the abortion and euthanasia laws despite the fact that the Popular Group has appealed both to the Constitutional, on 22 .4% disagree with the expulsion of undocumented immigrants, 18.4% with removing the sex change operation from public health: and 16.2% with protecting the bulls and hunting.

63.4% of Spaniards believe that Vox defends large companies and 60.9% believe that it benefits the population with higher incomes. Only 25.7% of women think that Vox defends them, which explains why it has almost double the intention to vote among men (16.2%) than among women (9.9%).

59.7% of those surveyed believe that the leaders of Vox belong to the upper class and 55.8% consider them offensive, very given to insult. Only 37.3% see them as prepared politicians, 35.3% brave and 27.9% honest.

DATA SHEET

Ambit: Spain. Universe: population of legal age and resident in Spain (except Ceuta and Melilla) with the right to vote. Sample size: 2,000 interviews. Methodology: online interview. Error range: 2.2% for a confidence level of 95.5% and for P=Q. Date of realization: from January 27 to February 1.

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Vox's entry into the Government worries six out of 10 Spaniards - Then24

A hijab is the most typical target of Islamophobia in the West. Despite all the rules of political correctness customary nowadays, Muslim women who wear a hijab in non-Arab countries encounter discrimination and prejudice. The Palestinian-Canadian singer Nemah Hasan, who is better known by the name Nemahsis, has released a new song called Dollar Signs, in which she describes the oppressive attitude of Western society to those women. With half a million followers on TikTok and thousands of views on YouTube, she hopes to use it to expose the world of young Muslim women living in Canada. And on the way she doesnt spare criticism of the West.

The video clip of the song in which she describes her personal experience, provokes discomfort. She is described in it as an object, as a young woman who knows she will never be considered an equal among equals. She describes what is expected of her: to be neutral, not to express an opinion, and mainly to remain silent. As in her previous clips, for her being different is a source of strength upon which she negotiates her social status.

In effect, Hasans battle with the hijab is what led to her breakout. About a year ago a multimillion-dollar cosmetics corporation asked her to appear in their ads. They didnt offer me any recompense, she said. Their reason was its more of an opportunity for the people of your community. She did the photo shoot, but felt afterward she had been exploited. Although she told them not to use her image, she says the corporation ignored her and used it anyway.

I felt like such an idiot, she told the publication Complex. I was supposed to be strong and independent. I was too proud to admit what had happened. But I will not be anybodys victim.

She decided to leave her comfort zone and wrote the song What if I Took it Off for You, which became her biggest hit.

Hasan is battling a complicated series of identifies. On her Instagram post, she wrote, ... for everyone that doesnt fit the mould and has felt the need to compromise their individuality in order to be accepted my wish is to echo your voices.

In her songs, she attacks the political correctness that forces her to blend in, and repeatedly asks that people stop seeing in her only the Muslim woman with the hijab. This pigeonholing, she says, only caused her to hate herself. I wasted two decades longing for a lighter skin and hair color, she wrote in the introduction to Paper Thin. I spent most of my life hating the features that I like most about myself at the moment. They wont like you until you learn to like yourself.

Not only an item of clothing

Women who wear a hijab are called motahajiba (veiled women). In a book published in 2018, Burkini, Confessions of a Veiled Woman, Lebanese journalist and author Maya el-Hajj described the world of a hijab-wearing woman in a secular Arab community, and the opposition and difficulties she encounters. There is a great deal of similarity between the singer from Canada and the writer from Beirut, but not just between them. In recent years, more and more women who wear a hijab are revealing their inner struggle to define their identity and the boundaries of freedom of choice within the framework forced upon them.

Nahed Ashkar Sharary, a doctoral student at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, stresses in a conversation with Haaretz that the hijab constitutes part of the identity of Muslim women. Sharary, who lectures in a program for gender studies and is a member of the staff at the Mandel Center for Leadership in the Negev, says they are fighting to make a place for it even in the Western countries where they live whlle also refusing to accept the Muslim patriarchy that oppresses women. She explains that the 1970s saw the development of the Islamic feminist stream, which promotes religious and political criticism.

The Wests preoccupation with the hijab is Orientalism. Dr. Nuzha Allassad-Alhuzail, a senior lecturer in the School of Social Work at Sapir Academic College, tells Haaretz that Muslim women, mainly young ones, wear the hijab as a reaction to the Western oppression that customarily reviles their culture. Its like asking a Jew why he wears a kippa or asking a Christian why he wears a cross, says Allassad-Alhuzail, author of the book When the Shadow is Big its a Sign that the Sun is Going Down, about the lives of three generations of Bedouin women. She says its a reaction by Muslim women who are trying to become part of a society that presumes to accept them but sees them as others.

Who said that you have to remove the hijab to be free? she asks. One way that women adopt their native culture is by wearing a hijab, and they choose to adopt traditional behaviors. In doing so, they make their identity present, their self as they see themselves.

Ashkar Sharary explains, based on her research, how independent Muslim women living in Western society solve their inner conflict about wearing the hijab. Its done by distancing themselves from the patriarchal religious laws, while meticulously observing religious laws and relying on the principal of preserving a persons soul, which encourages strengthening and preserving the self, she says. She gives an example of Muslim women in Israel who are nurturing a critical-religious identity that is trying to strengthen their selfhood, based on religious interpretation that empowers them and enables them to oppose patriarchal norms.

The phenomenon of women who use Islamic law and sharia regulations to take ownership of their voice, their desires and their rights, without questioning the basic rules of Islam, is steadily increasing, she notes.

Yearning for God

Dr. Ibtisam Barakat, a lecturer at Bar Ilan University and at Safed Academic College, says that sociologically, the hijab preserves the collective identity of immigrant Muslim women. These items of clothing and symbols are things that characterize minorities worldwide who want to preserve their identity as a minority particularly in Western countries, and especially women.

Barakat stresses that many women consciously and of their own free will wear a hijab. She cites the late post-colonial scholar Saba Mahmood, who claimed that wearing a hijab is a practice that symbolizes piety and belief in God. Pious Muslim women autonomically choose to wear the hijab as part of their daily practices of modesty, perseverance and humility. And that is based on their inner faith and their yearning for a connection with God, she says.

So is wearing a hijab a personal choice, or a counterreaction to the West? Singer Nemah Hasan proves that Muslim women who wear a hijab are making a statement that is being heard and that influences the younger generation in the West. Hasan is one example, and she will be followed by additional women who keep the hijab. Allassad Alhuzeil sums up by saying: The women who wear a hijab dont want to be enslaved to the Western idea, and at the same time they dont want to surrender to the dictates of the patriarchal society from which they come. Each one uses the hijab in a way that serves her objective.

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Is it anti-feminist to wear hijab? - Haaretz

Su Yiming, the Chinese snowboard whiz kid who took the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games by storm, is already making unprecedented waves. Netizens in China have gushed about his friendship with Eileen Gu, sports broadcasters rave about his performances, and brands have competed for his attention.

The teenager already partners with KFC and the Chinese beverage company Genki Forest, says The Global Times. However, his standout performance at the Olympics has set him up for even bigger marketing deals and sponsorships.

The Global Times also pointed to a report by Chinese financial news outlet yicai.com that highlights how businesses secured 161 endorsement deals with athletes in 2021, the highest number since 2015 and almost the total number of athletic endorsements between 2018 and 2020. Sure enough, these signings are a winning market strategy under normal circumstances. But at a time when the Chinese government has pushed hard to demystify celebrities, young fans are left without role models; so, the appeal of young rebels like Su Yiming has grown.

Su Yiming promotes beverage brand Genki Forest. Photo: Screenshot, Genki Forest ad

Sus cool demeanor and devil-may-care attitude make him a rebel to many a rebellious nature that is very appealing in a boring age of political correctness. And unlike other celebrities who irked Beijing with their eccentricities, Su seems to have enchanted the higher-ups with his charming personality and rebellious nature. As such, even The Global Times a tabloid that often reflects what officials of the Chinese Communist Party are actually thinking gushed over Su. Recently, the newspaper raved about Sus reaction upon winning silver with a striking 1,800. His I dont care about that answer when discussing his rating proved to many that medals, points, pr accolades mean nothing to Su and that he is there only there for the joy of competing.

Luxury brands should take notice because this snowboarding prodigy has enough talent, popularity, and credibility to maximize the appeal of any label. And it doesnt hurt that Su broke barriers and was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the first snowboarder to land a backside 1980 Indy Crail. But more importantly, his rebellious nature makes storytelling more effective and powerful.

In a world where everyone tries to fit in, turning your back on conventional society and being yourself unapologetically can still be cool. Rebels like Serena Williams, Colin Kaepernick, John McEnroe, Dennis Rodman, and Ilie Nstase delighted their fans with their different approaches to sports, and brands loved associating with their unique stances.

Luxury brands, in particular, need authentic ambassadors to sell their products and services to younger generations of consumers. Take, for example, Gen Zers: They are more individualistic, unpredictable, and inherently skeptical than past generations. Therefore, brands must select ambassadors with enduring appeal and the power to usher in new forms of culture.

Athletes like Su and Eileen Gu are credible enough to create an emotional attachment between themselves and the brand. And both have seized on the culture of celebrity worship and enhanced their distinct tendencies, making them even more captivating. Sure enough, their quirks and idiosyncrasies make them relatable. But their rebelliousness is their most marketable characteristic.

Dennis Rodman was called a rebel without a pause. His meltdowns were well documented, yet brands were eager to associate with him. Tennis bad boy Ilie Nstase held the nickname Nasty. But despite his reputation, he signed marketing contracts with various brands, including Princess Hotels International. Colin Kaepernicks protest against police brutality is celebrated globally today even though, in 2016, the NFL ostracized him for his beliefs. And finally, Serena Williams shocked attendees at the 2018 French Open with her Black Panther catsuits. Yet she still signed million-dollar endorsement deals with major companies, including Audemars Piguet, Nike, Wilson, Lincoln, and JP Morgan Chase. These disruptive athletes have won legions of admirers by breaking barriers, and businesses have garnered prestige and brand equity by uniting with them.

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Su Yiming Is the Rebel That Luxury Needs - Jing Daily

With its acerbic wit and edgy depiction of down-at-heel Dublin, The Commitments is considered a snapshot of the 1980s.

ut despite the critics who say political correctness is killing comedy, actor Colm Meaney, who starred as Jimmy Rabbitte Sr in the movie, sees no reason why the film could not be made today.

Yes, I think it could still be produced today I dont see whats offensive in The Commitments, he says.

But its time we stopped I dont get this backlash against political correctness. Whats wrong with being decent to people?

He insists that there is no need for comedy to be offensive and that society is waking up to the awful hurt caused by misogyny and racism.

Im raising two daughters (Brenda, 38 and Ada, 17) and I saw this through their school years, he says.

Male violence on females starts in the playground and thats where it should be stopped. Guys dont just suddenly learn this when they go to college or work. Its there from the beginning.

Reverting back to the screen comedy debate, the father-of-two continues: I think peoples sensibility changes over the years.

John Cleese has become a bit of a reactionary gentleman in his old age.

Im a huge fan of John and I love his work, but he has developed reactionary tendencies.

I dont have any problem with that. Weve developed a sensitivity and an understanding to what language means, especially to minority people.

There was a time when it was OK to call us Micks and Paddys and all that kind of stuff. It never particularly bothered me, but it wasnt very nice, was it?

So equally, there is much more offensive racial names, so we dont need them to be funny.

With an acting career spanning four decades, a Golden Globe nomination and success on both sides of the Atlantic, its fair to say Meaney is one of Irelands greatest exports.

Sci-fi devotees will remember him from his Enterprise duties on Star Trek as Chief Miles OBrien, while others will immediately think of him in The Commitments.

But the acting veteran confesses that he ruled out a role in The Lord of the Rings straight away.

My agent was asking me about it at the time. There were enquires and I dont know what they were offering me, but I didnt want to go to New Zealand for three years. I hate all that fantasy stuff anyway and I probably would have been miserable.

Pressed on how hes managed to stay so fit and energetic as he nears his 69th birthday, Meaney says: I dont know drinking and smoking.

Both my wife and I eat mostly organic foods, and I think thats helped a bit.

Im lucky with my mothers genes. She died in 2018 and she was 96. Who knows? I dont have a secret. Its probably the Finglas in me.

He says Covid finally crept up on him after two years of avoiding it.

Despite receiving his booster jab in Dublin just before Christmas, he still fell victim to the Omicron variant.

We went two years without getting it and then suddenly Ines and I felt a bit sniffly, and we soon realised wed caught it, but Ive had worse head colds. I guess when its your turn, its your turn.

We had a quiet Christmas and New Years here in Majorca where we live, and we havent been out much since then and if we have, its just been to the grocery store.

So Ive no idea where we picked it up, but I guess this Omicron gets around.

The Dubliner divides his time between his homes on the Spanish island and Los Angeles.

He currently stars as Father Peter in Confession, which is out now on digital platforms.

Im usually in Ireland around three or four times a year, but I can sometimes go six to nine months without visiting, so I didnt really miss it during lockdown.

I was home before the festive period as I was doing a film called Marlowe. We shot the exteriors in Barcelona and the interiors in Dublin. Its based on the novel The Black-Eyed Blonde by John Banville. Neil Jordan and Liam Neeson directed it.

Reflecting on his friendship with Taken legend Neeson, Meaney adds: Ive known Liam for 40-odd years.

We were in The Abbey Theatre together many moons ago, when we were both boys.

Colm Meaney stars alongside Stephen Moyer in the church-based suspense mystery thriller, Confession, which is available on digital platforms now.

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Colm Meaney: 'Male violence on females starts in the playground and that's where it should be stopped' - Independent.ie