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Times Race Series Finally Ends!

By Jeremy Derfner
Updated Friday, July 14, 2000, at 9:30 PM ET

New York Times Magazine

New York Times Magazine, July 16

The final installment of the newspaper's endless race series. A memoir reflects on growing up biracial in 1960s Chicago. Frustrated by a society that would not allow him to be both black and white, the author identified with Black Nationalism in college, but always yearned for the unattainable colorblindness of his childhood. … A roundtable features eight Times editors and reporters who worked on the race series talking about talking about race. The newsroom was occasionally tense because journalists are as scared to talk frankly about race as everybody else is. … Interviews highlight successful relationships across racial lines. Rep. Barney Frank tells Rep. Maxine Waters that the Congressional Black Caucus has the best record in Congress on gay and lesbian issues. Indo-Fijian golfer Vijay Singh's caddie claims Singh would get more attention if he were white.

Economist

Economist, July 15

The cover story catalogs the horrors of AIDS in Africa, where 25 million of 34 million worldwide AIDS victims live. Life expectancy in Botswana is now 29. Senegal and Uganda have managed to keep their infection rates in check, and scientists are working on ways to slow transmission of the virus, including microbicides that kill it in the vagina and treatments that protect infants from infected breast milk. … A piece laments the economic crisis in Moldova, the poorest country in Europe. A high-tech center in Soviet days, Moldova now survives on subsistence agriculture, a tiny wine industry, and money sent home by more than 600,000 emigrants. The situation is so bad that Moldovans talk of seeking a better life in neighboring Romania. … An article reports that Slobodan Milosevic amended the Yugoslav constitution to allow himself two more presidential terms and effectively disenfranchise Montenegro, a partner in the Yugoslav federation. Some experts suspect that Milosevic is trying to create a pretext for a violent crackdown on Montenegro.

Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone, August 3

An article uncovers the shady online porn enterprise of New Economy hotshot Seth Warshavsky. Once named to Time's Digital 50 list, the irrepressible 26-year-old founder of Internet Entertainment Group was praised for bringing mainstream business methods to porn. (He distributed the infamous Pamela Anderson Lee honeymoon video.) But Warshavsky habitually bounced checks, sold merchandise he never intended to ship, double- and triple-billed credit cards, and sued everybody in sight. Now the feds are investigating. … A piece explores the controversy over rapper Eminem's homophobic lyrics. Many experts argue that his songs encourage gay-bashing, and MTV is considering scaling back its Eminem blitz, but the rapper says he's only joking. (Read David Plotz's "Assessment" of Eminem here.)

Vanity Fair and New Republic

New Republic, July 24, and Vanity Fair, August 2000

Both mags deplore the Sierra Leone civil war. A Vanity Fair dispatch by Sebastian "The Perfect Storm" Junger describes the horrors of the war. Foday Sankoh's brutal Revolutionary United Front uses violence, including widespread amputation, to maintain control of the diamond mines, and he spends illegal diamond profits to fund the war. Western businessmen encourage the brutality by finding buyers for Sankoh's smuggled diamonds. … The New Republic cover story blames the Clinton administration for the Sierra Leone disaster. When African peacekeepers came close to eliminating the RUF, the United States refused to send troops or even money. Clinton encouraged Jesse Jackson to negotiate with Sankoh and his thuggish mentor, Liberian President Charles Taylor: Jackson brokered a so-called peace deal that gave Sankoh and the RUF more power and encouraged more violence.

A VF profile of rapper-producer Sean "Puffy" Combs says he will have to act more like a socialite and less like a gangster if he wants to avoid legal trouble.

A TNR article claims that the Clinton administration is quietly restoring relations with Libya and Muammar Qaddafi. In the last few years the United States backed an end to U.N. sanctions and permitted four oil companies to survey Libyan oil fields. Engagement is politically dangerous because the memory of the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing is still fresh. The Clinton appeasement of Qaddafi stems partly from intense pressure by oil companies. … A piece argues that Ehud Barak has three choices during the Camp David summit. He can agree to all of Yasser Arafat's demands, win peace, and be forever known as the man who lost Israel; he can make enough concessions to stave off war but be blamed for giving away Israeli bargaining chips for nothing; or he can make no concessions and be blamed for the ensuing violence. No matter what he does, he won't keep the support of the Israeli public, which is what he most wanted when he started.

Time

Time, July 17

The cover story says scientists are close to discovering the cause of Alzheimer's disease. Sufferers develop two types of brain lesions—plaques of a protein called beta amyloid and tangles of tau molecules—and scientists split into two nasty camps about which is the real culprit. But experiments will soon show whether the Baptists (beta amyloid protein) or the Tauists (tau molecules) are right, and an effective treatment will follow. … An article argues that by suing tobacco companies, gun manufacturers, and now HMOs, trial lawyers now set public policy on issues that government refuses to deal with. Republicans, claiming that trial lawyers are gouging legit businesses, are demanding tort reform. … A piece reports that electricity deregulation has not lowered prices or improved service. High demand is driving prices up while stagnant supply is increasing brownouts and blackouts across the country.

Newsweek

Newsweek, July 17

The cover story excerpts Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and calls the Potter books classics. J.K. Rowling blends a sense of play with serious topics (such as death). The only complaint: Her incorrigible villain is not subtle and interesting enough. … An essay by President Clinton stresses the historic opportunity of the Camp David peace talks. … A piece explores the failure of sex education in South Africa. The HIV-infection rate is 20 percent, and only half of 15- to 30-year-olds use condoms. The culture nurtures promiscuity and sexual violence, while a deep national shame about AIDS prevents adults from admitting the real dangers of the disease.

US News & World Report

U.S. News & World Report, July 17

The Best Hospitals issue names Johns Hopkins No. 1. It edges the Mayo Clinic and Massachusetts General. … An article decries the number of chemical-plant accidents and the inability of the government to prevent them. Five plant workers are killed every month in explosions or leaks, but a recently formed federal investigative agency is a shambles. It has completed only three of 11 probes it has begun and has not launched an investigation for more than a year. … A piece lambastes the Clinton COPS program for mismanagement. Only 60,000 of a proposed 100,000 new officers have been hired, and more than half of them serve in towns of less than 10,000 that don't usually need the extra cops. The Clinton administration was in such a hurry to start the politically popular program that staffers approved applications without checking to see if they were necessary.

The New Yorker

The New Yorker, July 17

An article hunts for Adolf Hitler's descendants. A few in Austria cling to Nazism and lay claim to $22 million in Mein Kampf royalties. A nephew who became a spokesman for the anti-Nazi cause when the war turned against Hitler died in obscurity. A branch of the family living in Long Island is fiercely private about its Hitler connection and wants nothing to do with its ancestor. … A piece describes the difficulties of adopting children scarred by overseas orphanages. Children who spend their first months institutionalized often suffer developmental and psychological disorders; an entire industry of international adoption consulting and therapy has sprung up. Many of the kids grow out of the trauma, but many don't. … An article describes the culture clash between a Yankee doctor and the backwoods Kentuckians he treats. The doctor believes that some Kentuckians suffer from a variant of mad cow disease because they eat squirrel brains, but some locals think his research is rooted in East Coast snobbery.

Weekly Standard

Weekly Standard, July 17

A piece accuses the Supreme Court of having as little respect for the law as President Clinton does. Its justices cast off legal precedent to satisfy their ideologies. They bicker with each other in their opinions, and Sandra Day O'Connor swings the court according to her moods. … An article argues that George W. Bush is cobbling together the same coalition of voters that sent Ronald Reagan to the White House in 1980: men, married couples, seniors, and Catholics.

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Jeremy Derfner is a former Slate editorial assistant.
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