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January 16, 2007

Street Fight

Update: Bumped due to a glitch not publishing this when it should have come out last week.

In 2002, a relative political newcomer named Cory Booker took on the entrenched mayor of Newark, New Jersey, Sharpe James. "Street Fight" is the story of that election. The film is fascinating not only for the specifics of the Booker-James race, but for the disturbing look it provides into the abuses of government power, the absurd nature of modern political campaigning and the sad ongoing racism and hatred that remains such a significant factor in American society.

The film is very interesting to watch. It is also depressing. Sharpe James is portrayed as a man without principles or scruples of any kind, using the city's resources to enrich himself and to punish his political opponents. Businesses that aid the Booker campaign become the subjects of police and regulatory investigations, while those that support James see their legal troubles suddenly disappear. The filmmaker is shown several times being accosted and prevented from filming when he is near the mayor, often by police officers. A Booker supporter is nearly hauled off by the Newark police during a debate, and the filmmaker discusses his own concern for his well-being given the police's clear willingness to do what it takes to support the Mayor. James is a textbook example of a corrupt political insider, an important reminder of the many ways government power is often used to further people's personal ends rather than to serve its citizens.

During the campaign, James accuses Booker of numerous perfidies. According to James, Booker is a Jew, not really black, and a Republican, three lies that are sadly effective among the predominantly black population of Newark. Booker is shown having to waste an inordinate amount of time defending himself against charges that are ludicrous on their face. It is not overly surprising that racism still exists in America, but it is never pleasant to have that evidence thrown in your face. Nonetheless, the film is doing a service by doing so, as you can't fix a problem you don't face.

The film's assessment of the media is harsh, albeit I would argue deservedly so. If the film is accurate (and I have done no research on this point), Mayor James not only shouldn't be mayor of Newark, he ought to be in jail alongside a number of the members of his staff. But as it generally does, the media treated the race as a sporting event rather than as an issue of real consequence that would effect people's lives, allowing James to get away with his corruption both as mayor and as a candidate.

Overall, the film reports the sad facts about electoral politics in America: corruption, cheating, and cheap emotionalism in lieu of substance. I suspect I would disagree with Cory Booker on a lot of political issues. But the idea he could lose to a candidate of such evident venality as James is a sad statement on American politics. "Street Fight" serves as a valuable reminder of the numerous problems we face at a nation that are at such a low level, they rarely surface in our national political discourse.