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1,500 people gathered at Qwest Field last night to say goodbye to Ed McMichael, the Tuba Man. McMichael died November 3, after a robbery and beating on October 25. (Three of the five attackers have been found and charged.) McMichael was a Seattle icon, playing his tuba for tips outside most Seattle sporting events and music events at McCaw Hall--Pacific Northwest Ballet printed a dedication to McMichael in its "New Works" series program.
The outpouring of emotion at news of his death was magnified by the horrific circumstances of it, and online memorials are springing up: his family is building seattletubaman.org, and there's also thetubaman.com and riptubaman.org.
Amid all the mourning, there has to be someone out of step: the Downtown Dispatch has dyspeptic, self-righteous memorial of its own, complaining that no one cared this much about McMichael's poverty-line existence when he was alive. This is patently untrue--yes, you can raise an eyebrow at the big names pressed into memorial service, but it's genuine, heartfelt public opinion that's doing the pressing. (Also, kids who rob then beat people to death can't be called "street thugs." Even if they're picked up later in connection with a murder. It's racist. Make a note of it.)
The screed did remind us that there are more ways to help than spare change. First Place School, which supports the children of homeless families, is looking for young professional volunteers; they're holding a happy hour at Capitol Hill's Six Arms pub on November 19, if you'd like to learn more and get on a volunteer opportunity email list. You can RSVP here.
Thanks very much to zoomar for the Tuba Man Memorial photo, and for putting it in the Seattlest Flickr pool.
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I'm just curious how you came to the conclusion that thug is a racist term? Obviously originally it was used specifically to refer to members of a professional fraterinity of Indian thieves and murderers during British Imperial rule of the Indian subcontinent.
Now, though, it's frequently used in reference to African-Americans, who have adopted the term in reference to themselves in a number of pop culture cases as well. Granted, it *can* be used in racist ways, but I don't think the term is necessarily racist in and of itself, specifically since its official definition references at least two different ethnic groups.
Regardless of what race the kids were (and I honestly don't know, nor did I read the piece at Downtown Dispatch, so I'm not sure what context it's used in there)- I think kids who beat a beloved icon at a bus stop to his eventual death probably deserve that label.
Of course, perhaps the folks at DD did use that term in a racist manner, but in general, I think the term can be rightfully applied without a hint of racism to any group of individuals who enact violence on another person.
JadeEDF, the thug comment in parentheses is tongue in cheek. It's the Downtown Dispatch article that takes issue with the term "street thugs." Seattlest is merely noting that and pointing out that it's a wee bit absurd.