Delegates to The American Institute of Architects (AIA) 2006 National Convention and Design Exposition elected Marshall E. Purnell, FAIA, to serve as the 2007 first vice president/president-elect / 2008 president. Purnell, an AIA regional director from the Mid-Atlantic Region and design principal of Devrouax + Purnell Architects and Planners PC, Washington, D.C., has been involved in numerous AIA activities, including service on the Board Advocacy and Diversity committees, as well as on the AIA Scholarship, Historic Resources, and Housing committees. Full Press Release | AR Wrap Up
20 Comments
why is his african-americaness an issue?
the headline should be: '1st AIA President with the name Marshall E. Purnell'
and so on and so forth
it doesn't bother me or offend me, but why make race an issue? oh well, moving on ..
The title of the news release is "Marshall E. Purnell Elected 2008 AIA President", but I decided to go with the fact that he is an African-American as the headline. His merits as an architect are surely awesome, but that's not why I am posting this news item. The AIA getting a new president is not noteworthy on any given year, except to note how another year went by and another white male was elected. I think it is an enormous step for the AIA (finally!), which has been dominated since its inception by white males.
The whole cultural buzz that his 'race shouldn't be an issue' has been an easy way for some people to defuse the issue of the history of oppression in the western world.
Take the news headline photos on any given week... the faces are predominantly white. It is a welcome change and it certainly something which should be acknowledged head-on instead of pretending we live in an equal-opportunity world.
well now i am offended (sort of, wink wink). this is newsworthy because mr. purnell is african-american? wow.
yes there has been a history of oppression, but i believe we are past that. this is not to say there is no more racism. there is and will always be racism as there is always a certain percentage of stupid/ignorant people born every year.
but to me, 'first african-american elected AIA president' is as bad as 'white male elected AIA president'.
he is a corporate leader in the business. i am surprised because i saw only a handfull
african- american architects in the big edge AIA convention a couple of weeks ago in los angeles. maybe 5 or 6 among few thousands.
i think his election is a welcome change even though i doubt that he'll be too different in action, from his white colleagues. but he might inspire some kids from the black community to become architects. he used the word 'empower' twice in his press statement. thats pretty good selection of words, imo.
interesting also, in contrast to RIBA elections.
givemeastamp, let me guess...you're white. Only someone that caould write with a straight face "we are past that" has obviously never had to deal with it. You are obviously naive. I am so tired of people saying that the way to eliminate racial prejudice is to just ignore the fact that race and racism exists. That was the French method and they got riots in Paris the past year. I'm black and in architecture and feel like the only one and the headline got my attention in a good way.
oldirty, read my next two sentances after 'we are past that'. i never say we will eliminate racial prejudice. in fact, i recognize that there will always be racism.
i'm sorry you feel i am naive. but what can i do? you don't know me and i don't know you.
I'm glad you found the headline positive and i think it is positive, actually. i just don't think it should be the main focus (the article doesn't focus on his african-americaness, so yeah, i overreacted a bit). :shrugs:
He says he finds Black History Month “ridiculous.â€
“You're going to relegate my history to a month?†asks Freeman. “I don't want a Black History Month. Black history is American history,†he says, noting that there are no white or Jewish history months.
How can we get rid of racism?
“Stop talking about it. I'm going to stop calling you a white man,†Freeman says to Wallace. “And I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man. I know you as Mike Wallace. You know me as Morgan Freeman. You wouldn't say, ‘Well, I know this white guy named Mike Wallace.’ You know what I'm sayin’?â€
that's easy for a rich actor to say.
The fact that the AIA has elected an African-American is absolutely newsworthy and, in my opinion, isn't an issue of race. It's an important milestone representing change in an industry that is dominated by a specific stereotype.
Morgan Freeman is a representative of an oppressed culture, so he has the right to hold that opinion, but when it comes from the mouth of a white man it doesn't really have the same meaning.
Unless he's Irish, of course, a representative of a repressed culture, speaking to a British audience in the early 20th century. Or a Norwegian in Sweden during the same time period. Or a Pole in Nazi Germany. An Italian in 1920s New York. Intra-white racism has a long and deep history - as does intra-black racism (Rwanda, say) - so white people should not be disqualified a priori from discussions about racism (unless you're racist...). Indeed, skin color should never trump what anyone, anywhere, has to say - unless you've decided beforehand to judge that person by the color of their skin. Positively or negatively.
In any case, I find myself agreeing with everyone so far in the comments here, to varying extents; but I would also point out quickly that Condoleeza Rice is the first black female Secretary of State - and I really don't care, frankly. I would prefer, say, Jimmy Carter - who is a white male, but that doesn't make me racist; it makes me politically liberal.
Frankly, a leader's skin color is absolutely nothing to celebrate unless you agree with their policies - and even then it's more a matter of historical interest than of real political import. Otherwise every liberal in America should openly celebrate if Alan Keyes becomes the next US president - or if Robert Mugabe continues to rule Zimbabwe, or if homophobic non-whites run Mogadishu. That would be a deeply troubling (not to mention superficial and abrasively anti-liberal) thing to celebrate.
In any case, it seems whether or not you think Marshall Purnell will make a good AIA president is the only factor worth considering here.
[COMMENT CONTINUED, BELOW]
[WORD-LENGTH LIMIT REQUIRED CUTTING MY COMMENT IN HALF - SORRY]
Finally, while stating explicit and unqualified agreement with the point that "some people" seek to "defuse the issue of the history of oppression in the western world," I would also point out that this oppression has included violence against Cathars, Albigensians, homosexuals, Jews, abstract expressionists, Communists, manual laborers, Protestants, Catholics, abortion doctors, etc. etc. etc. - my point being that a great many of those people were white. Tell Sacco and Vanzetti that they can't talk about oppression. Tell Oscar Wilde. Tell Louis Riel.
In other words, it's important to remind ourselves that "the western world" consistently - indeed constantly, and with frightening efficiency - destroys white people. White people can talk about oppression. White people can talk about racism. To deny either of those points is racist in the most obvious sense.
yes, i generally agree geoff. "but when it comes from the mouth of a white man it doesn't really have the same meaning" was in reference to morgan freeman's comments regarding black/white race issues.
Good point; I, too, also want to add - because, bizarrely enough, I had a dream about this comment thread - that I was simply talking about the mistake of disqualifying whites from discussions of race, or under-valuing a white person's opinion on political oppression. It wasn't an accusation, in other words - though my use of quotations from earlier comments may have given it that sense.
right, I agree with you on that. I still think that more to the point, given all the statistics on salaries, positions, housing, geography, etc...it's an important fact that the AIA has elected Purnell.
Is this the second time Geoff has admitted to dreaming about a thread?
When was the first?
Remind you later, G. Didn't mean to distract from a good discussion -- carry on --
i think someone like morgan freeman who has devoted so much to education and the arts should be aware that utopian thinking always requires a bit of naivity. that's a bit dissapointng coming from him. i think we need to do the opposite and acknowledge that there are those that belong to the dominant culture in this country, and those that do not, and it is not always just a matter of race, but also of ideology and class. the widening gap between the rich and the poor in this country would suggest that the (public) neglect of this divide is an ineffective approach. therefore, i believe any major accomplishment of a person not a part of the dominant culture should be recognized again and again (as such), at least to motivate others of his/her race to aspire for more.
for a more enlightened comment:
"The cry of the poor is not always just, but if you don't listen to it, you won't know what justice is." -- howard zinn
i agree with the comments above ... since when did race have to do anything with personal achievments ? ...
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