Tim Russert and South Buffalo

Before I get into Tim Russert, let me first say that learning that Wolf Blitzer was also a native-Buffalonian was a ridiculous revelation. Us Buffalonians ALWAYS had to hear about Russet and his Buffalonian roots, but somehow Wolf flew under the radar...at least my radar. And my man Blitz is, like, My Dude. I'm a late-night reveler, so I rarely woke up in time for Meet The Press to see Russert do what he did better than any other journalist. If I was up that early, I was probably off at a religious meeting (that's my hypocrite steez...I spend Sunday mornings either brushing the whiskey residue off my tongue or reading the Bible. Yes, you should absolutely judge me). But, the Situation Room is typically on one of my televisions during the early-evening (the other is either on ESPN or Food Network). I think Wolf is a great journalist, but he's actually a fairly sucky host. He stammers and repeats himself all the time, but I find this inviting. Aside from Lou Dobbs -- who is the most entertaining of curmudgeons and brings a unique independent/socialist perspective to polisocial issues -- Wolf is my favorite host. If I'd have known he was from Buffalo I'd have bored people with that factoid at all times. On some, "Hi, name's Vince. I'm from Buffalo, Wolf Blitzer's hometown." Granted, he's from Kenmore, which borders North-Buffalo, but folks from the Buff suburbs won't be in Iowa and say, "I'm from Lackawana," they're from Buffalo. Blitz even graduated from my semi-alma mater UB. Wow. This was good to know.

The only reason I knew this is because Wolf said so when recounting conversations he had with the recently and tragically deceased Tim Russert. Pretty much every politician, analyst and journalist were all in agreement that Russert was, by far, not only the highest profile political journalist; he was also the most influential political journo and unanimously viewed as the best political journo. There is rarely that kind of consensus about ANYONE in ANY profession. Tiger and MJ can claim that. Maybe Steve Jobs can claim that. Stevie Wonder could claim that in the 70s. Will Smith can claim that as a box-office Hollywood Star. But, seriously, the amount of people that are unanimously viewed to be without peer in a given profession is probably astonishingly small. Wolf was two years older than Russert, but said that he viewed Russ as a mentor of sorts, which is quite telling. I can't tell you one person that is two years younger than me, even my age, whom I look up to. Russert was that good and that charismatic and that compelling, I guess.

Getting back to Buff, though, Wolf told of a story where he and Russert were one of about 10 people invited to meet the Pope a few years ago. I'm a Jehovah's Witness, so I don't have any type of experience to put context around this type of encounter, but given how reclusive the Pope is, I assume this is a huge deal, specifically for Catholics like Russert (Blitz is Jewish). Anyways, Wolf said Russert was like a wide-eyed fan -- much different than the tough interrogator he was on Meet The press, regardless of the position of his guests -- and remarked (im paraphrasing) "Who'd have thunk that two kids from working class families in Buffalo would have risen so far in their profession that they'd be among the select few to meet the pope?" I was shocked. "Huh, Blitz is from Buff?!" I always took him to be a New York Jew, maybe from Long Island.

Growing up in Buff, you always knew that Russert was a Buffalonian, because he touted his South-Buff roots so hard. Not just Buffalo, South-Buffalo. This actually annoyed me a little bit, because he and everyone else referred to it as "Russerts roots in hard-working South Buffalo." This used to incense my father when I was a teen. Russert went real hard at this in his book about his pops as well. I can remember Pops saying how there were a lot of coded messages in the book, messages about how "things used to be", which is usually code for, "before blacks started effing things up", which is what many working class whites felt about black-infestation and white-flight of the 70s and 80s. And the "hard-working" thing is always extra conniving because i have NEVER read ANYTHING or ANYONE refer to working class East Buffalo neighborhoods as "hard-working" unless they're refering to the last vestiges of East Buffalo that remain predominantly Polish.

Working-class and poor white hoods are always "hard-working", people "doing all they can to survive"; working class and poor black hoods are typically full of welfare recipients, addicts and shiftless nigras. That's just the way it's always been.

I don't know Russert, but, judging from the fair way he treated most of his guests, I can only deduce that he is a man that is remarkably free of some of the ingrained bigotry that infests South Buffalo. South Buffalo is a large section of Buffalo that is predominantly Irish-Catholic. Much like the Italian half of North Buffalo and the Polish enclave in East Buffalo, there resides a great deal oh white-resentment in South Buffalo. It all spreads from working class, ethnic white's relationship with blacks that began when they came over to America and competed with the newly emancipated blacks for jobs and, to a large extent, respect from elite whites or WASPs. Over time, as various social policies were created to assist blacks catch-up after slavery and jim crow, the ethnic-whites viewed these as unfair handouts, since, in many cases, they were in similar situations -- at least economically speaking. Not to mention, there's always this thinking that the lazy-blacks never take advantage of the "handouts" and don't display the same "boot-strap" mentality of this nation's immigrants. None of this is news to anyone that lives in a midwestern or northeaster city with large populations of blacks and ethnic-whites.

Well, South Buffalo is Buff's reigning champ for racial intolerance, the kinda hood that will probably overwhelmingly vote for McCain, even though it's a hood mostly composed of registered Democrats. It remains, to this day, an uninviting sector of Buffalo for blacks. For what it's worth, I went to school with South Buffalonians and they all tended to be cool. I got to know many of them and counted them as friends during our days walking the CHS hall. They're the type that, if I had the stupid-audacity to walk into a South Buffalo bar, would probably immediately tell their less tolerant friends, "He's cool, don't break that Molson bottle over his afro, please." ((random aside: Not to compare, but I think that is the sole, yet marked difference between the intolderance you see in black hoods versus white hoods. White hoods are territorial, on some, "You don't belong here" type steez. If I happened to be at Jazzy's or Birchfields or Humboldt Inn (which I rarely am, prefering the more multicultural dives in other hoods) and one of my long lost South Buffalonian classmates walked in, I'd automatically wave them over to take a shot of medicine with me, but I don't know if I'd fear for their safety (unless, they were wearing gaudy jewelry, because blacks love to rob folks). Blacks have been beaten down to the point where, in America, we generally have no sense of entitlement or ownership, definitely not enough to shoot a visiting South Buffalonian a "what are you doing here? you better kick rocks before I beat you senseless" glare.)) But, back to my point, I think I got along well with my South Buffalonian classmates so well because everyone in CHS tended to be cool because of its overtly liberal atmosphere. You'd never hear any white student call a black person a nigger and there weren't student body factions based on race-hating. No skinheads in CHS or black dudes walking around beating up poor white cats just for shats and giggles. We were a laudably intermingling student-body, something that I am immensely thankful for experiencing given what lies ahead for every ambitious minority. Now, South Park High in SoBuff? Well, that's a different story. I had boys that went to South Park and told me stories about getting jumped on the bus and what not (much like white kids that went to my school were mugged in the Fruit Belt). Or, my old-pale Eric (our school's Eminem, without the rhyming skills), from the LoveJoy district, used to tell us horror stories about black families getting their windows busted in and ish. Buffalo was/is like that.

Talk to a young black guy from the East Side today about his gig and you'll hear, "Man them whities ain't gonna let me do my thing." Talk to an older white man from South Buffalo about the city at large and, if he's honest, he'll begin on some diatribe about black people ruining the city. Buff is bad. It can be a very welcoming and fun city, but there's a perpetual racial-geyser bubbling beneath the surface.

I don't mean to taint Russert's legacy or disrespect his recent passing, but the sadness of seeing such a young and vibrant man pass while in his career-prime was tainted for me because I had to constantly hear newscasters and folks that have no knowledge of South Buffalo talk about it in such reverential terms, like it's the All-American, Everyman neighborhood. If South Buffalo is All-American, then this effin country is screwed like a whore. I can tell you that...

Anyways, three cheers to Tim Russert, one of Buffalo's greatest sons. Who knows, if this world and I are still here when I'm 50, maybe I'll be on the Media Mount Rushmore with Blitzer and Russert. Russ, Wolf and Vince. And Irish guy a Jew and black Vince, three faces side-by-side, about as unified as race-relations will ever be in our beloved hometown...we just need to get an eye-tal up there with us. Calling all Sals and Nicos -- Buff and journalism needs you. Yes We Can...