About the only thing America can agree on is that Trayvon Martin is dead. He’s deceased. He no longer is. He’s not coming back. However, that salient fact is getting lost in a side-choosing scramble that makes the Republican primaries look positively dignified by comparison.
Tag Archives: racism
Rep. Joe Walsh, What About You?
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Republican Rep. Joe Walsh – not related to the musician who’s 100 times more intelligent, even accounting for his heavy recreational drug use – thinks President Care Bear was elected because, “he (was) a black man who was articulate, liberal, the whole white guilt (thing).
The Lazy Black Dog Jumped Over the Fat White Cracker
RACISM IS LIKE A BAD EGG - If you insist on saying racist crap, don't complain when someone calls you a racist. Own your crapitude.
Given the plethora of political pinheads roaming the streets and licking babies this year, it’s a several times daily thing when one says or does something incredibly stupid. When you speechify for a living things like that will happen, but this is an amazingly talented bunch when it comes to crapping in their own rhetorical mess kits.
When something goes awry, the tried and true tactic is for the candidate – or some unlucky bastard of a surrogate – to come out and explain why what they said isn’t really what they said, even though they said it in front of several thousand people, while being broadcast on 144 channels around the globe, and Jon Stewart is playing it unedited and nonstop for nigh onto a month.
Sometimes the stupid statement is so egregious and unmistakable there is no way to explain it away. In those cases, the candidate usually runs away and refuses to give interviews.
Being ‘Cracker Lite’ is All the Rage
It’s one thing to be aggressively ignorant, but it’s another to run from who you are and what you say.
Perhaps the most common scenario lately involves racism. Racism is hard to prove, but it’s like porn – you know it when you see – at least if you’re honest about it.
Provable or not, there are a lot more cases of possible racism now that all the angry white guys are trying to get back in with the voters and there’s an African American in the White House. It’s fashionable to be “cracker lite” these days. I vaguely recall that when George the Indifferent was President few people said things about him being dumb white cracker from Texas or question whether he was a closet Muslim, Kenyan escapee, or a socialist far to the left of Uncle Fidel. But now, mysteriously, these things keep happening and keep being denied.
Not all racially-tinged speech or behavior is clearly racist. Sometimes people just don’t think before they talk. Not all Tea Partiers are racists, although statistically there does seem to be a dearth of color at their rallies. Face it, if you were black, would you go to a rally with a bunch of people with whom you vehemently disagree?
WHAA?! - When in doubt, claim the other guy is the racist.
But sometimes, racism is unquestionable. I don’t believe that Sharron Angle, ignorant sow that she is, would say something like the clearly Latino people in her anti-immigration ads (BTW, since yanked from the web over copyright claims) possibly being Asians who cross the border from Canada, and then imply she is all Asiany herself…to a room full of Latinos. You don’t say things like that unless you are clearly and stupidly trying to draw attention away from your own asshatted agenda – at the expense of an ethnic group – or you really believe that claptrap.
Though granted it could be one or the other or both in Sharron’s case.
Then, there’s the case of David Bartholomew, Virginia Beach Republican party chair. He emailed a “joke” about a man trying to get welfare benefits for his dog.
The Lazy Black Dog Jumped Over the Fat White Cracker
“My Dog is black, unemployed, lazy, can’t speak English, and has no frigging clue who his Daddy is,” goes the punchline. When called on it by some GOP bigs, Dipshit Dave resigned and hid in an undisclosed location to keep the email from becoming a “distraction”. To their credit, several Republicans spoke against the hate message.
But one, Gary Byler, a congressional district chair, left no doubt where he stood. Byler said he was “horrified” by the email, but that didn’t stop him from sticking his own racist boot in his mouth by saying Diamond Dave forwarded the email when, “he was first getting familiar with the Internet.” Losing a document is something a newbie does, sending racist emails “accidentally”? Not so much.
There were other apologists too. Independent candidate and former GOP swell, Kenny Golden, said Bartholomew was being thrown under the bus too quickly. “David would never do something like that on purpose.” Several GOPstoppers thought the Democrats were at fault for “blowing the email out of proportion.” And one suggested, “Oh, absolutely they are!” she said it was possible Bartholomew sent the email “for awareness,” what she characterized as “sending it to somebody and saying ‘look how pathetic people think this is.’”
Oh, heavens to Betsy!
Here’s the thing. If you say racist things and can’t come up with a better excuse than the dog ate my concept of equality, don’t say them. Better yet, if you say racist things, own up to them and don’t offer excuses.
Hell, there’s not even any reason to resign. Be a modern day David Duke. Stand up and be a proud racist. Tell people that darkies just aren’t for you. It’s the best PR move you could make.
If you’re pandering to racists, they’ll be happy to have you join the club. If not, voters will see you for who you are, not withstanding your hiding out with The Big Dick™ at the Undisclosed Quail Hunting Ranch and Whiskey Emporium. As Ben Franklin once said, “If you must fart, fart proudly.”
“If you must be a bigot, be a proud bigot.” We’ll all be happier.
- Virginia Beach GOP chairman agrees to resign after hitting ‘forward’ and ‘send’ on a racist e-mail (pinkbananaworld.com)
- The Southern Strategy lives (washingtonmonthly.com)
- NV-Sen: Arpaio rallies Angle’s racist vote (dailykos.com)
- Darryl: Racist Email Flap Blows Up Virgina Beach GOP | TPMDC (tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com)
GOP: When Stereotypes Come Home to Roost
PARTY OF LINCOLN? - It's refreshing to see a Republican fight a stereotype about them by taking strong action against a stereotype their candidate imposed on others.
As a party, Republicans have moved from mainstream conservatism toward the outer fringes of their tent. In getting cozy with their ideological outer edge they’ve ended up with some unsavory candidates, like Sharron Angle, Christine O’Donnell, and Sarah Palin. In essence, the GOP has been out-righted by the far right.
The party spends a lot of time defending itself from charges of supporting only rich people or Big Business. But they complicate their defense by drafting a new Contract on America™ that’s heavy on tax cuts they can’t explain and inviting de facto lobbyists to help author it.
Huzzah for the GOP
Another charge leveled against the party is racism. While you can no more profile a Republican’s race relations philosophy than you can profile an illegal immigrant, sometimes stereotypes are true. This time the GOP stereotype is NY congressional Candidate, Jim Russell.
STEREOTYPE? WHO ME? - If the stereotype fits you either wear it or fight against it.
Russell became the party nominee after previous candidate, Paul Wasserman, dropped out. Now the party wants to sue to remove him from the ballot over charges that Russell is a racist.
Judging from his public statements about minorities – like his support for eugenics – his racism seems to show as plainly and unequivocally as a southern belle’s antebellum skirt. But, Republicans shouldn’t be surprised since Russell has run as a Republican – and lost his primaries – no fewer than three times and they’ve never objected to him before.
The GOP frequently argues against the race card charge by pointing out they’re “the party of Lincoln”. The problem is Lincoln died 145 years ago and the GOP of today bears little resemblance to the GOP circa 1860. The not your great-great grandfather’s GOP often discriminates against all manner of people they don’t like – Muslims, gays, and Mexicans alike. With a record like that and Russell’s, its little wonder why racial stereotypes of Republicans die about as readily as their stereotypes of race.
A Breath of Fresh Air
But in the Russell case, I’ll give Westchester GOP chair, Doug Colety, props. Not only did he denounce Russell, but said, “We’re not supporting him. We’ve withdrawn funds, volunteers, all resources. This is not the way Republicans think.” Although he also used the party of Lincoln gambit, he did take strong and positive action against a virulent racist. A breath of fresh air, someone who actually does hold people – including himself – accountable.
More’s the pity more GOPers don’t do the same. Instead of praising a Governor promoting unfair – and possibly illegal – legislation against immigrants it would be nice if they actually tried to help find a rational response to the very real problem of illegal immigration instead of spreading rumors of fictional headless corpses along the border. Or, instead of attacking Muslim’s freedom of religion and Constitutional rights, they might listen to some of their saner Christian brethren who call for religious harmony.
Although I don’t think I’d ever be one – but I’d also say, “never say never” – there’s nothing wrong with Republicanism or conservatism, it’s the people, like Russell and Angle & Co., who sometimes give it a bad name. It’s admirable that leaders like Colety accept that the buck stops with them. However, if you bolster your own stereotypes, don’t bitch when they’re used against you.
You’ll be better off as will the nation.
- There IS A Line: GOP Will Try To Remove Racist Candidate From Ballot (alan.com)
- It takes a lot, but there are lines not to be crossed (washingtonmonthly.com)
- Decoding Christine O’Donnell: What would Alexander Hamilton say? (slate.com)
- Is the GOP Becoming the Party of Women? Not So Fast. (womensrights.change.org)
- New York Republican Jim Russell: Right winger or certifiable Nazi? (chicagonow.com)
- Christine O’Donnell cancels TV appearances (salon.com)
- How Christine O’Donnell Beat The GOP Establishment (VIDEO) (huffingtonpost.com)
- DeMint chides GOP over Murkowski (politico.com)
Justice Served? The Oscar Grant Verdict
JUSTICE OR INJUSTICE - A mural depicting shooting victim Oscar Grant in an Oakland, CA underpass. Was the verdict racist, too lienient, or just a mess?
A few months ago, a white police officer in a transit station in Oakland, CA killed a young African American named Oscar Grant. The case became something of a local cause célèbre, causing the trial to be moved to Los Angles. The SoCal jury returned an involuntary manslaughter verdict yesterday, while later in the evening the streets back in Oakland were the scene of skirmishes between police and rioters enraged at what they believed was a racist verdict.
Even before the trial began, Oscar’s grieving family, and many others in Oakland, said that nothing short of a murder verdict would bring justice. Some were shouting for a murder conviction within hours of the killing and threatening violence if they didn’t get it.
Unfortunately, the case wasn’t clear-cut. Although the incident had been captured by several cell phones and witnessed by hundreds of people, it was impossible to tell conclusively why the officer shot Oscar. Oscar’s friends and family said it was a blatant example of a cop shooting a defenseless young black man in the back. After all, it’s happened many times before.
The cop’s defense team argued it was a horrific mistake of the cop confusing his Taser with his service weapon. After all, mistakes happen in the heat of a takedown. Both sides had excellent points, but by the time the jury reached a verdict, it was clear the whole affair had become less about the guilt or innocence of this cop and this victim and more about the horrible difficulty America has in dealing with its racism.
There’s little doubt there are race problems in this country, anyone who argues otherwise is, well, Rush Limbaugh. But, it’s equally true that every conflict between a minority person and a white person isn’t automatically racism. Sometimes people do bad things to each other or someone makes a tragic mistake. That doesn’t excuse their actions, but it doesn’t automatically make the actions racist either.
JUSTICE SERVED? - Racial tensions run high in Oakland, but did they reasonably apply to this case?
In this case, there are some valid reasons for believing it really was an accident. The cop had no clear racial motive to speak of. He didn’t have a track record of racism and it’s doubtful even the most virulent racist would choose to kill someone in full view of hundreds of people.
But then, there were troubling things about the cop’s story too. He couldn’t explain how he mistook his Taser for a pistol, even though the Taser and pistol required different release mechanisms, were substantially different in weight, and he did so after training designed to avoid the very thing that happened. True or not, the cop came off sounding like a man who couldn’t be trusted to do anything, including tell a plausible story.
The civil rights division of the DoJ is reviewing the case and there may be more deliberation, including a possible overturning of the verdict, to come. This is as it should be. This is how the system is supposed to work. A jury makes their best decision based on what they know. The judge apportions punishment as the law and situation dictates, and the DoJ checks everything out to make sure everyone has done their homework and gotten a chance to present it to the court. There’s nothing in there about everyone getting a verdict they want.
Oscar’s family, and many of the protesters at the riot, spoke of “the system” letting Oscar down. However, the system isn’t the problem in this case. The problem is that America’s racial tension makes it difficult to trust our system, regardless of what it does. And in doing so, makes the system weak and ensures undue biases effect the outcome. People will often come to different conclusions based on their own perceptions. It doesn’t really matter what a person’s perception is, it only matters what they do with that perception.
Clearly, there’s a dangerous perception gap between Americans of different colors.
- Oscar Grant Supporters Loot Oakland (flystylelife.com)
- Oakland riots sparked by Oscar Grant verdict (abclocal.go.com)
- Theres No Justice, Just Us! Oakland Cop Gets Away with the Murder of Oscar Grant (fireandflames.blogsport.de)
- Oscar Grant, a Victim of American Fear (alternet.org)
- For Oscar Grant, Justice Demands More Than a Verdict (race.change.org)
- Oakland cops make arrests at verdict protest (msnbc.msn.com)
