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Those Who Do Not Remember History Are Condemned to Say That "Taking Our Country Back" is a Code Word For Racial Animus
Yesterday on C-SPAN's Washington Journal, University of Pennsylvania sociologist author Michael Eric Dyson appeared, talking about racial animus against President Barack Obama. Dyson is smart, prolific, and ... possessed of an extremely weak memory when it comes to the cliches of the American political scene. At one point, in response to a self-identified black conservative who claimed that criticism of Obama stemmed from policy differences rather than prejudice, Dyson responded
...even though you can look out [at the Taxpayer March on Washington and various Tea Party demonstrations] and say, "Hey, I didn't see anyone say an epithet or hurl a nasty remark against Mr. Obama," you know, some of those posters that had him decked out in what they perceived to be African gear were offensive. The vitriol directed against him—"We want our country back"—I mean, there are code words that are being distributed and we can't be ignorant and pretend that we don't get the code words...
At the September 12 march, I did not personally see any signs such as the ones described by Dyson, though there were a few birther references and posters about how Obama should be president of Kenya (as pathetic and misguided as it gets, for sure). The vast, overwhelming sentiment was precisely as advertised and didn't stray from a very basic and unified message: Voter and taxpayer revulsion at bailouts and government spending that started under Bush and has gotten worse and worse under Obama.
The whole section with Dyson is here and is well worth watching, though I disagree strongly with him about the role of race in contemporary policy discussions, especially about health care (as does the Obama White House, which has gone to pains to dissociate itself from Jimmy Carter's recent proclamation on the matter). However, the idea that saying we're going to take "our country" back is anything other than a transpartisan cliche is ridiculous to the nth degree. Indeed, here's a quote by none other than Barack Obama, circa June 2007, telling an audience:
"It's going to be because of you that we take our country back."
The setting for that comment? The 2007 "Take Back America" conference, a confab of leftys. Read more here.
Folk, Labor Musicians Unite for Third Anti-Bush CD Hail to the Thieves, Volume III: Songs to Take Our Country Back! is a rousing call to action from the likes of Billy Bragg, Anne Feeney, Utah Phillips and folk musicians across the country. This new CD lays out the case against George Bush and his cronies with 20 songs, poems and stories in the best of the traveling, storytelling folk tradition.
I raise this because the selective amnesia of virtually all participants in traditional right-left, liberal-conservative, Democratic-Republican politicking is not only frustrating as hell, but completely self-serving. It's one of the reasons why people are turned off by politics (not such a bad thing, perhaps). You know you're not going to have a serious discussion, but rather one that is completely relativistic and revisionist, typically designed to score points in the here and now at the expense of anything approaching history. Republicans were pissed when the Dems dissed George Bush as retarded draft dodger, and now Dems are outraged by all slagging of Obama & Co. Conservatives who spent eight years of accusing Bill Clinton of sodomizing interns in zeppelin hangars at the Mena, Arkansas airstrip thought civility had ended when the first Bushitler poster hit the streets sometime around January 2001. And on and on.
A little historical perspective goes a long way toward alleviating anxiety about the current debased state of U.S. political discourse, which is never as bad today as it will be tomorrow. And never as great as when Rachel Jackson was being attacked as a bigamist, Grover Cleveland as an absentee father, and Dwight Eisenhower as a "conscious, dedicated agent of the Communist conspiracy."
Because it was only a week ago but already seems like ancient history, here's Reason.tv's take on the DC Tea Party:
Suki|9.19.09 @ 7:04PM|#
Obama should be president of Kenya
He wasn't? Oh yea, he was president of Chicago.
J.R.|9.19.09 @ 7:07PM|#
Same thing in this Newsweek article:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/215742
Quote:
When "Tea Party" leader Mark Williams ap-pears on CNN and
speaks of "working-class people" taking "their" country back from a
lawfully elected president, he is not just protesting Obama's
politics; he is griping over the fact that this country's most
powerful positions are no longer just for white men. No, I do not
believe that everyone who disagrees with Obama is racist. But
racists do exist in this country, and they don't like having a
black president.
Lefty|9.19.09 @ 7:26PM|#
Republicans were pissed when the Dems dissed George Bush as
retarded draft dodger, and now Dems are outraged by all slagging of
Obama & Co. Conservatives who spent eight years of accusing
Bill Clinton of sodomizing interns in zeppelin hangars at the Mena,
Arkansas airstrip thought civility had ended when the first
Bushitler poster hit the streets sometime around January 2001. And
on and on.
Be that as it may, the fact remains that Obama is black and the tea
baggers are white. So ... you know ... it's a racial thing.
|9.19.09 @ 7:26PM|#
there are code words that are being distributed and we can't
be ignorant and pretend that we don't get the code
words...
Dog whistles!
|9.19.09 @ 7:28PM|#
Suki,
Chicago is dirtier, uglier, and much colder than Kenya, and does
not have mountains and zebras and other cool stuff like Kenya.
Obama and everyone else would have have been better off if he had
remained in Kenya. Let's take up a collection to send him back,
maybe he could be president there and people would actually like
it.
hmm|9.19.09 @ 7:29PM|#
It's all pretty pathetic. If I were in the administration I
would be doing everything short of airplanes with banners to stop
this. It's going to sink any political capital he has left. At
least now we have a new and improved retarded political mud pie to
through. RACIST!!!!
If anything our first black president has given us a whole new way
to try and make the other guy look bad. I wonder if a conservative
black man were to be elected if opposing him would be considered
racist. I pretty much have to be racist. I can't stand Obama or
Steele.
Bingo|9.19.09 @ 7:33PM|#
The language of the debate gets more retarded every day. And I mean that in the most literal way possible.
Hugh Akston|9.19.09 @ 7:35PM|#
"It's going to be because of you that we take our country
back."
Barack Obama is clearly racist.
hmm|9.19.09 @ 7:37PM|#
The language of the debate gets more retarded every day. And
I mean that in the most literal way possible.
Next weeks debate headlines.
LAAA BLAAH AARRRGHH DROOOLL LBRURBLE BRURLBELE LAA FFFFPPPPP ZZZZUUUHHH BRUBBLE BURRBLE LLAAALALALALAA RACIST!!! I LIKE TAHOOSS BLURBLE DUMMMSSSS RUPTS STRANGER DANGER!!!! RACIST!!
|9.19.09 @ 7:42PM|#
This entire newly revised racial issue stikes me as quite curious. I have lived all over the continental USA from coast to coast during my 40+ years of existense. When I was a kid growing up, especially when I lived in certain areas of the south and midwest, I saw very real racism, and I saw it on a daily basis and I did not have to look hard to find it. Honestly, I found it quite strange and I could not relate to it anymore than I can relate to what it is like, as a heterosexual male, to be gay. Today, I really do not personally know anyone who I think could be called racist. To be honest, and this may offend some, but I am just honestly stating what I see now, the only racism that I sense today is in certain areas of the inner city, and it is not the same racism that I knew as a child. I don't think I need to elaborate.
Tricky Prickears|9.19.09 @ 7:43PM|#
Let's not forget, this is the USA, and there are many, in the
South, that still view Northerners as "Free Thinking
Abolitionists".
And I guess you missed
these signs.
Racist?
Seriously, my own Father believes that blacks and Hispanics are
going to take over the country and Obama is going to hand it over
to them. Of course, he spends most of his retirement watching Fox
news.
Suki|9.19.09 @ 7:52PM|#
and does not have mountains and zebras and other cool stuff
like Kenya.
Quit picking on Sammy Davis Jr.'s marriage! Oh, you said cool.
Obama said to give you props.
Suki|9.19.09 @ 7:53PM|#
Were all those Bush cowboy caricatures racist? Obama wants me to tell you no.
Tricky Prickears|9.19.09 @ 7:53PM|#
Were all those Bush cowboy caricatures racist?
No. Everybody wants to be a cowboy.
|9.19.09 @ 8:00PM|#
I want to be a witch doctor.
I have here a list (a long, long, list, I might add) of people
Obama wants me to cast curses upon.
Suki|9.19.09 @ 8:01PM|#
No. Everybody wants to be a cowboy.
Beloved is my
cowboy and I am his cowgirl.
Suki|9.19.09 @ 8:05PM|#
Humm, perhaps beloved boyfriend can be a pirate cowboy tonight? Nah, not with his wardrobe.
|9.19.09 @ 8:08PM|#
"Today, I really do not personally know anyone who I think
could be called racist. To be honest, and this may offend some, but
I am just honestly stating what I see now, the only racism that I
sense today is in certain areas of the inner city, and it is not
the same racism that I knew as a child. I don't think I need to
elaborate."
No need to be so defensive - if you're white you can't drive
through certain parts of D.C., for instance, without a significant
chance of being verbally harassed.
Unfortunately, the oppressor-victim dialectic doesn't leave much
room for subtlety.
hmm|9.19.09 @ 8:10PM|#
I don't know about boyfriend, but I gave an entire PowerPoint as a pirate with an eye patch and hat costume. You know how hard it is to translate financial terms into pirate speak. The good part is the important people got it. The bad part, well not really, is that everyone now knows I'm nuts. Which does have its advantages. But can make lunch a lonely time.
Suki|9.19.09 @ 8:12PM|#
No need to be so defensive - if you're white you can't drive
through certain parts of D.C., for instance, without a significant
chance of being verbally harassed.
Obama said to tell you STFU cracker.
Suki|9.19.09 @ 8:17PM|#
I knew you couldn't resist.
Please don't tell beloved? I don't want him losing an argument and
sleeping on the sofa.
hmm|9.19.09 @ 8:18PM|#
Having owned horses and various four legged furry things and two
legged feathered things I feel safe in saying that being a "cowboy"
requires calluses. Something a whole lot of people, especially rock
stars, don't have and aren't willing to get.
(desensitized inner thighs help as well)
political tossers|9.19.09 @ 8:20PM|#
I keep hearing silly people like Carter (now how did that jackass ever get to be president?) say things like, "protest was bad in the past, but this has taken on a whole 'nother dimension." Say what? How quickly we forget. The anti-government forces were much more vitriolic during Clinton's regime, and you heard very similar, albeit stronger rhetoric back then. Militia groups were much more active. Oh yeah, and they blew up a federal building.
Suki|9.19.09 @ 8:21PM|#
hmm, then I just dress as a cowgirl and beloved just dresses as a cowboy. Between us we don't even own a cat and we buy our chicken at The Super Wal-Mart.
Tricky Prickears|9.19.09 @ 8:25PM|#
Please don't tell beloved? I don't want him losing an
argument and sleeping on the sofa.
The man must be insane.
Tricky Prickears|9.19.09 @ 8:30PM|#
Something a whole lot of people, especially rock stars,
don't have and aren't willing to get.
Just the "Pretty Boy" Rockstars.
Tricky Prickears|9.19.09 @ 8:32PM|#
The anti-government forces were much more vitriolic during
Clinton's regime
There are some that would say that Clinton was the first
black president.
The Libertarian Guy|9.19.09 @ 8:59PM|#
Dyson is a more genteel version of Leo Tyrell, who is convinced
that we're >< that close to reinstating segregated water
fountains and forbidding interracial marriage.
Yeah, there are still racist pricks - of ALL races - out there. But
they're not ALL white.
The Libertarian Guy|9.19.09 @ 9:09PM|#
"Oh yeah, and they blew up a federal building."
No excuse for that, or for anti-abortion violence. But it is
telling that Earth Liberation Front-style thug tactics, or the New
Black Panthers getting a skate on voter intimidation, or any other
left-wing violence, is downplayed and even excused by some
folks.
Both sides have their over-the-top malcontents. IMO, it's great
theater, in a way, because it shows the folly of depending on
EITHER Brand X Party to do right by the people. Government
continues to expand until it collapses like a black hole, and yet
the Ds and Rs do nothing to stem it - in fact, they WANT it to
happen.
We're fucked, in other words.
Elizabeth Bennet|9.19.09 @ 9:12PM|#
LAAA BLAAH AARRRGHH DROOOLL LBRURBLE BRURLBELE LAA FFFFPPPPP
ZZZZUUUHHH BRUBBLE BURRBLE LLAAALALALALAA RACIST!!! I LIKE TAHOOSS
BLURBLE DUMMMSSSS RUPTS STRANGER DANGER!!!! RACIST!!
A clear case of the zombie plague.
Those sorry stricken should be dispatched post-haste to their
infernal resting place.
The Libertarian Guy|9.19.09 @ 9:14PM|#
Funny, Howard Dean got away with saying "take America back"
SEVERAL times when he ran for president, but that's okay because
(all together now):
"IT'S OKAY IF OUR SIDE DOES IT!"
The Libertarian Guy|9.19.09 @ 9:16PM|#
In fact, Dean even wrote a book on the subject:
"You have the power: how to take back our country and restore
democracy in America"
Available at garage sales everywhere.
Bonus: Dean received the Tom Paine Common Sense Award. Yeah, I
know, it's like giving the Nobel Peace Prize to Yasser Arafat.
Suki|9.19.09 @ 9:30PM|#
Obama wants Reason to stop spamming my facepage!
Stop subscribing and it will go away.
The Libertarian Guy|9.19.09 @ 9:41PM|#
Well, Obama told me drinking Jagermeister is racist, because it's from Germany and it's black.
The Kochtopus|9.19.09 @ 10:10PM|#
Dwight Eisenhower as a "conscious, dedicated agent of the
Communist conspiracy."
So quick to diss the man whose money pays your salaries.
Suki|9.19.09 @ 10:45PM|#
Well, Obama told me drinking Jagermeister is racist, because
it's from Germany and it's black.
He told me first.
Nooge|9.19.09 @ 10:56PM|#
I am so fucking sick of this "issue" that I am going to stop
engaging it.
Voter and taxpayer revulsion at bailouts and government
spending that started under Bush and has gotten worse and worse
under Obama.
But first I'm going to hire a skywriter to put this in the air over
every major city in the US.
I raise this because the selective amnesia of virtually all
participants in traditional right-left, liberal-conservative,
Democratic-Republican politicking is not only frustrating as hell,
but completely self-serving. It's one of the reasons why people are
turned off by politics (not such a bad thing, perhaps). You know
you're not going to have a serious discussion, but rather one that
is completely relativistic and revisionist, typically designed to
score points in the here and now at the expense of anything
approaching history. Republicans were pissed when the Dems dissed
George Bush as retarded draft dodger, and now Dems are outraged by
all slagging of Obama & Co. Conservatives who spent eight years
of accusing Bill Clinton of sodomizing interns in zeppelin hangars
at the Mena, Arkansas airstrip thought civility had ended when the
first Bushitler poster hit the streets sometime around January
2001. And on and on.
And on and on and on and on and on.
ransom147|9.19.09 @ 10:58PM|#
Hmmm: not to mention the good sense not to wear boxers when punching cattle...
|9.19.09 @ 11:17PM|#
I raise this because the selective amnesia of virtually all
participants in traditional right-left, liberal-conservative,
Democratic-Republican politicking is not only frustrating as hell,
but completely self-serving.
Let's get right to the point, shall we?
These people are nothing more than bald-faced, cock-sucking liars.
They aren't even pretending to be even honest any more.
They are so craven and mendacious that they make me want to hurt
them. Twice.
|9.19.09 @ 11:17PM|#
ahh crap! i'm caught again!
hmm: sorry about mangling your handle, i don't even try to fight
the blueberry device when it comes to spelling.
Some Guy|9.19.09 @ 11:43PM|#
"Taking our country back is a racist term!"
"It's OK, I'm taking it back."
The ratio of people complaining about being called racist for being
against Obama to people who actually play the race card on
(non-obviously racist) Obama haters is near infinity.
But if you do find yourself in one of these storied scenarios, this
is the perfect response: "So you think they wouldn't be doing this
if [insert basically any other Democrat] was in office?"
The Libertarian Guy|9.19.09 @ 11:51PM|#
Suki, maybe we should just accept the fact that we Jager-swilling Wonder Bread-munchin' cracker-assed capitalist boojwah asshats deserve to be gang-raped by the entire New Black Panther Party...
Suki|9.20.09 @ 12:32AM|#
cock-sucking liars
Obama wants me to tell you that you are being racist against people
on the down-low.
Suki|9.20.09 @ 12:34AM|#
Suki, maybe we should just accept the fact that we
Jager-swilling Wonder Bread-munchin' cracker-assed capitalist
boojwah asshats deserve to be gang-raped by the entire New Black
Panther Party...
Obama wants me to tell you to be loud and be proud.
Bob|9.20.09 @ 1:26AM|#
"You know you're not going to have a serious discussion, but
rather one that is completely relativistic and revisionist,
typically designed to score points in the here and now at the
expense of anything approaching history."
These are just more code words for racism. I know, because I got a
Racism Decoder Ring in my Lucky Stars cereal box.
Suki|9.20.09 @ 2:00AM|#
These are just more code words for racism. I know, because I
got a Racism Decoder Ring in my Lucky Stars cereal box.
Obama told me only racists have decoder rings.
Jay Dubs|9.20.09 @ 2:51AM|#
I am probably more liberal than most on these boards, but I do
agree that this particular instance of rhetorical analysis
(referring specifically to the "take back our america" phrase as
'racist') is flawed.
However, race and the discussion of race is a crucial part of
American history and the current American experience. Certainly,
forms of racial discrimination still exist (and probably always
will, the human mind seems to love defining things in black and
white, literally - between the 'us' and the 'other') and, no doubt,
this influences our current debate.
Art-P.O.G.|9.20.09 @ 4:19AM|#
Lost in the sauce is the observation that Cowboy Witchdoctors are super-badass.
Art-P.O.G.|9.20.09 @ 4:26AM|#
In fact, with the assistance of the Cowboy Witchdoctors and Werewolves of Self-Reliance, we can take back our country! [crazy Howard Dean scream!}
|9.20.09 @ 5:30AM|#
At the September 12 march, I did not personally see any
signs such as the ones described by Dyson...
If you watched Matt Welch's appearance on News Hour without
Robert MacNeil, you'll see that they didn't see any such signs
either.
The opening montage showed clips of the march with nothing remotely
racist, then went on to show an "image on the internet" that was
racist and then the overseen clip from Glenn Beck.
As an intro setting up the discussion that followed, it was very
weak tea.
|9.20.09 @ 5:31AM|#
Everyone seems to overlook one major
thing. The "government" is not Republican
or Democrat legislators. The true government is the vast cadre of
corporate
heads and their lobbyists who own every
last senator and representative. All the
hot air and gibberish from these protesters only helps the stealth
government thrive. We have a one-party
system of goverment. It's called big business.
Art-P.O.G.|9.20.09 @ 6:41AM|#
Bruce Bethany,
Are you implying that most high-level politicians are bought and
paid for by special interests? Amazement!
I am curious to hear how you think the protestors are helping the
(F-117?) stealth government thrive, though.
|9.20.09 @ 8:18AM|#
Obama wants me
not to run for re-election:
National Democratic Party leaders have asked Gov. David Paterson to consider withdrawing from the 2010 governor's race, according to two senior New York Democratic advisers.
Both advisers, who are close to the governor, spoke to The Associated Press on Saturday on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak for Paterson. The sources said it was unclear what Paterson would do in response.
The New York Times, which originally reported the request on its Web site, said that it was President Barack Obama who asked Paterson to withdraw.
The best line in the article though has to be
Obama is scheduled to be in upstate New York that day, when he is expected to deliver a vision of economic revival to students at the Hudson Valley Community College in Troy.
Suki|9.20.09 @ 8:23AM|#
Off Topic: Virginia Rail Express passengers can now carry firearms on the trains as long as they don't go into DC.
Former Administration Official|9.20.09 @ 8:28AM|#
If I were in the administration I would be doing everything
short of airplanes with banners to stop this.
Oh, go ahead and
use the planes.
|9.20.09 @ 8:30AM|#
And continuing the theme of political office being handed down within families, you can bet BO has already picked Andrew Cuomo as Paterson's replacement. Cuomo vs. Giuliani is going to be like Alien vs. Predator. I'm not sure which one is going to lay eggs in my belly and which one can see me in the infrared spectrum, but either way we're screwed.
Mad Max|9.20.09 @ 9:19AM|#
For extra racism points, you can tell the joke about the Jewish mother who said to her daughter, "No, no, I said you should marry a *rich* doctor!"
|9.20.09 @ 10:08AM|#
It doesn't help that Dyson repeats the idea that Rush Limbaugh called for segregating buses. Using Rush's sarcastic comment to bolster the racism argument shows how empty the charges are. And take back America is the most sickening kind of political rhetoric, regardless of which side is using it.
Janeane Garofalo|9.20.09 @ 10:10AM|#
The New York Times, which originally reported the request on
its Web site, said that it was President Barack Obama who asked
Paterson to withdraw.
That's racism, straight up.
Art-P.O.G.|9.20.09 @ 10:26AM|#
"No, no, I said you should marry a *rich* doctor!"
lulz
That's racism, straight up.
And...opticist?
|9.20.09 @ 10:35AM|#
How about the argument that racism is really culturalism in most
cases. I have lived as a minority in another country and have faced
some "racism", however, it all went away when I learned the
language and adopted local culture. I have seen this same thing in
the U.S.and have met several minorities who say they have faced
very little racism. They also happen to speak standard English and
practice mainstream American culture.
Can't get rid of racism though as it supplies a good income to a
lot of people who need work, folks like Jackson and Sharpton.
|9.20.09 @ 10:39AM|#
Lost in the sauce is the observation that Cowboy
Witchdoctors are super-badass.
That may be so, but I prefer the tophat (with knucklebone
ornamentation). And the boots would look silly with my
rhinoceros-hide breechclout.
Art-P.O.G.|9.20.09 @ 10:47AM|#
Laoshi,
It is true that culture and race are sometimes conflated or
confused and tangled. You're right that most racial stereotypes are
really cultural stereotypes despite the fact that people of the
same race can be culturally very different and racially diverse
people share a great swath of culture.
P Brooks,
Whichever look works for you. All I'm saying is if I ever walk into
a saloon see a witchdoctor wearing spurs and a pair of revolvers,
I'm walking swiftly in the opposite direction.
The I I I I I |9.20.09 @ 10:51AM|#
"It's going to be because of you that we take our country
back."
The setting for that comment? The 2007 "Take Back America"
conference, a confab of leftys.
Oddly, Ubermann and Madcow have made no mention of this.
Art-P.O.G.|9.20.09 @ 10:58AM|#
Yup. Nice article by Gillespie. But talking heads and politicians are often too busy hyperventilating to partake in some quiet self-reflection.
Art-P.O.G.|9.20.09 @ 11:02AM|#
I am partial to Ninja Cowboys.
I admit that the black dusters and matching Stetsons are cool, as is the cowboy ninja way of throwing their spurs at people.
|9.20.09 @ 11:05AM|#
I am curious to ...the (F-117?) stealth government thrive,
though.
hahahahah i choked on that one...
Suki|9.20.09 @ 11:11AM|#
I admit that the black dusters and matching Stetsons are
cool, as is the cowboy ninja way of throwing their spurs at
people.
Ninja Cowboys always have the biggest spurs.
Paul|9.20.09 @ 1:31PM|#
I would also like to note that the MSM has taken what I would
describe as two tacks on this issue:
1. Yeah, there was a protest, it wasn't very big, but boy was it
racist.
2. NPR's tack: Nothing of note happened on 9/12 in DC, except for
the yearly NPR barbecue... Nina Totenberg brought her lemon
bars.
|9.20.09 @ 1:36PM|#
Jesus fucking Christ this is all so retaded.
Yes, some of the tea party protesters are driven partially or
primarily by dip-shit loser racism.
Some of the anti-war protesters in my youth were driven partially
or primarily by being fucking communist stooges.
What does this have to do with whether Obamacare is a good idea or
not? As much as the pinkos involvement in the protests had to do
with whether fighting in Vietnam was good idea or not. That is -
not a damned thing.
This from our illustrious president indicates to me that he is
not too unhappy with the racist tarring of his opponents.
Are there some people who don't like me because of my race? I'm sure there are. Are there some people who voted for me only because of my race? There are probably some of those too. [emphasis added]
Uhhh, Mr. President -
If you don't KNOW that large numbers of people voted both for
and against you because of your race, you're too fucking
stupid to be president.
A little honesty from both sides would be greatly appreciated. It
is not expected at all. Playing the race card is embedded in
American politics, Dem and GOP alike.
Plant Immigration Rights Suppo|9.20.09 @ 2:03PM|#
"If you don't KNOW that large numbers of people voted both for
and against you because of your race, you're too fucking stupid to
be president."
Yes, he is too stupid to be president. Someone who thinks that
Region 1 DVDs are an appropriate gift for a Prime Minister of the
United Kingdom is certainly too stupid to be POTUS.
|9.20.09 @ 2:09PM|#
Criticism of Obama is racist!! I'm a typical self-hating white
male, and like most of my progressive male friends my girl friend
cheats on me and instead of dumping her I keep trying to work it
out with her and understand her feelings, yet she keeps cheating on
me..it's my fault she is cheating because I am not sensitive
enough. She even had sex with a Rethuglican and I released my
feelings by crying after I found out,this made my girlfriend feel
guilty so she will stay with me longer. My male friend's say I must
work through her infidelity and try harder than ever to understand
her and then maybe she will stop cheating on me.
White people are so bad,they did many bad things and I feel bad
about that because I am white. Black people are good and only do
bad because of what White people did to them.I must try harder to
understand them too. I voted for Obama to make myself feel better
about the bad things White people do.
Michael Ejercito|9.20.09 @ 3:05PM|#
However, race and the discussion of race is a crucial part of American history and the current American experience. Certainly, forms of racial discrimination still exist (and probably always will, the human mind seems to love defining things in black and white, literally - between the 'us' and the 'other') and, no doubt, this influences our current debate.
Indeed.
How many of you are aware that racism against Chinese people in
Malaysia is codified into law .
GILMORE|9.20.09 @ 3:15PM|#
What J Sub said:
J sub D | September 20, 2009, 1:36pm | #
Jesus fucking Christ this is all so retarded.
Yes, some of the tea party protesters are driven partially or
primarily by dip-shit loser racism.
Some of the anti-war protesters in my youth were driven partially
or primarily by being fucking communist stooges.
What does this have to do with whether Obamacare is a good idea or
not? As much as the pinkos involvement in the protests had to do
with whether fighting in Vietnam was good idea or not. That is -
not a damned thing.
So true.
It almost seems to me that a certain amount of this "racism"
hand-wringing is a self-conscious attempt to shift the terms of the
debate from issues which the Obama admin is weak on (e.g. most
people dont like the proposed changes to healthcare, dont like the
financial system meddling, bailouts, arent much into the ongoing
war policies, etc) ... and instead pump up a 'national' (read:
media driven) debate about how all those people who protest obama's
policies are a bunch of racist meanies.
Yesterday there was some apparent schizophrenia in the NYT: Brooks
writes a piece saying "no it's not about race", and Herbert writes
one next to it going, "hell yeah it is!" ("The Scourge
Persists")... What is most annoying is that they keep *reprising*
these meaningless editorials, as though somehow they're adding to
the substance of the debate, when in fact there is little to none
to begin with.
One thing notable for all these columns predicting the coming race
war is that they rarely have any external facts to point to other
than the general crudity of some protesters language, and the
demeaning picture they draw of Obama. Like the Bush-monkey was any
different? There have been no lynchings in effigy, no white-power
groups coming out the woodwork, no spontaneous race-motivated
conflicts ... Compared to the 1980s in NYC, when one could count a
half dozen major recent 'race motivated' crimes (crown hights
hit&run driver; yusef hawkins; bernard goetz; etc) - nothing
even remotely close has happened anywhere in the country.
as J Sub says it (although i corrected the spelling of
"retarded")... the whole racism angle seems to be a giant red
herring thrown out to distract people from the major realities: the
economy is still in the pooper, the wars arent going well,
healthcare reform proposals mostly stink, a trade war with China
looks more likely, and politicians still get scummier by the
minute.
Perfect time to change the subject, no?
Rich|9.20.09 @ 3:19PM|#
Taunt : a sarcastic challenge or insult
Tautology : needless repetition of an idea, statement, or
word
Hence, "RACIST!" is a tauntology.
Michael Ejercito|9.20.09 @ 3:24PM|#
As much as the pinkos involvement in the protests had to do with whether fighting in Vietnam was good idea or not.
The truth about the Vietnam War
And, the US was defending the Republic of Vietnam from an invasion. Whatever the US administrations and military leaders did wrong, THAT was not one of them.
Let's put things in their proper context, for starters. You're talking about an authoritarian communist regime which, during the 1950s, was murdering many tens of thousands of North Vietnamese civilians, stealing the property of everyone else, and using terror tactics to subject the whole population of North Vietnam to a total destruction of rational social order. None of the usual excuses from historical revisionsists like you apply here: this wasn't self defense because the French were gone; the US was not in North Vietnam during that decade.
This was not a spontaneous uprising or well-intentioned attempt to make a "better society". Ho Chi Minh founded the Indochinese Communist Party in 1930 (in exile in China). Before that, he was trained by the Soviets while in the USSR. These murderous thugs planned to conquer and enslave their own countrymen before moving on to their neighbors. They did both. Thirty years later, the people in Vietnam are STILL oppressed by their government and living in a failed economy, ruined by the denial of their freedom.
highnumber|9.20.09 @ 3:48PM|#
Folk, Labor Musicians Unite for Third Anti-Bush CD Hail to the Thieves, Volume III: Songs to Take Our Country Back! is a rousing call to action from the likes of Billy Bragg...
I'm especially nervous when a Brit talks about taking "our" country
back.
|9.20.09 @ 6:14PM|#
The only openly racist people I know well have beiger skin than
me, and would fervently deny they are racist because their
prejudice is directed toward white people, and in their minds that
doesn't really count.
I did meet some openly racist white people a few years back on the
campaign trail, but when you talk with thousands of people like
that you meet just about every conceivable personality profile.
|9.20.09 @ 8:29PM|#
The only openly racist people I know well have beiger skin
than me, and would fervently deny they are racist because their
prejudice is directed toward white people, and in their minds that
doesn't really count.
Well, according to the ethnic studies academics, racism is
something that powerful people do to non-powerful people. Since
whites are more powerful than blacks, it's impossible for blacks to
be racist against whites.
Personally, I don't get it. Methinks those rules seem strangely
contrived to produce a preconceived "blacks can't be racist"
conclusion.
|9.20.09 @ 8:36PM|#
It almost seems to me that a certain amount of this "racism"
hand-wringing is a self-conscious attempt to shift the terms of the
debate from issues which the Obama admin is weak on (e.g. most
people dont like the proposed changes to healthcare, dont like the
financial system meddling, bailouts, arent much into the ongoing
war policies, etc) ... and instead pump up a 'national' (read:
media driven) debate about how all those people who protest obama's
policies are a bunch of racist meanies.
I don't think it's conscious.
I think it's the media floundering to understand something that
runs contrary to the conventional wisdom, and fit it into the
narrative that they have been following on Obama since the
election. Obama is supposed to be this great populist progressive
leader, riding into power on a groundswell of popular support. The
Republican party is supposed to be a disorganized rump, composed
only of the few remaining partisan shills and racists.
The tea parties just don't fit into that narrative, but the media
is flioundering to interpret them in a way that MAKES them fit into
that narrative. It can't be a mass popular movement, because
society can only have one mass popular movement at a time, and that
belongs to Obama - the great populist leader, the next FDR. The
only explanation that fits into their narrative is that the tea
partiers are part of the extreme right Republican rump.
|9.20.09 @ 9:21PM|#
Isn't Gov. Paterson the one who said his dwindling popularity was because of racism?
|9.20.09 @ 10:15PM|#
"and there are many, in the South, that still view Northerners
as "Free Thinking Abolitionists"."
That's funny. I've lived most of my life in the South and I don't
think I've ever heard that phrase during my time here.
Sounds to me more like some bizarre caricature of the South.
|9.20.09 @ 10:27PM|#
When a lefty says "code words", he is really saying " although
nothing you say has any racial component, I will read into your
very words the racism I know you have because you disagree with
me." Racism, to a lefty, has nothing to do with race and everything
to do with his moral superiority.
The left has no ideas, no standards and no ability to govern. What
they do have is the ability to hate their opponents and to express
their anger by calling those opponents names.
GILMORE|9.20.09 @ 10:30PM|#
prolefeed | September 20, 2009, 6:14pm | #
The only openly racist people I know well have beiger skin than
me
Is beige more like puse, or like apricot, brass, cream-colored,
desert sand, wheat, ecru, or khaki?
I'm just saying. I need to figure out how racist I am versus you
flat-white albino types.
|9.20.09 @ 10:41PM|#
I don't really recall white America getting all up in arms when
Condi and Colin got big jobs in the Bush II regime.
I also don't remember much concern that criticism of Condi was
racist.
It is ALL about the radical policies; not the skin color. Calling
it racism gives lefties an easy way out vs defending insane
policies.
|9.20.09 @ 11:14PM|#
There are other racial codes words I keep hearing everywhere.
The racism behins these is obvious and undeniable:
- I did not vote for Obama.
- I am not voting for Obama in 2012.
- I have concerns with the proposed health care bill
- I want the Governor of New York to step aside so Andrew Cuomo can
run
|9.20.09 @ 11:31PM|#
I'm sorry, but I've lived in the south (texas) my entire life, I
know these people, and yes, while they may very well oppose Obama
on some policy grounds, their desire to scream about him, protest
him, demand "their country back" etc are most certainly due to
racism. These are the same 10% or so of people who admitted before
the election that "they were not ready for a black person to be
president." I know them! Some of them are my friends. They will
admit to each other that they hate god damn stinking lazy stupid
niggers like Obama, but NEVER in public, and they'll deny it to
their grave. Their protests against Obama don't even make any
sense. If Obama had raised their taxes and taken away their guns,
then fine - but he's neither done nor proposed either of those
things. And they had NO PROBLEM with the huge spending increases of
the previous WHITE president. As such, they are estopped from
complaining when a black guy does the same thing.
They are racists. Not everyone who opposes Obama, no. Not the
people here, but the teabaggers and the Glenn Beck army - they are
racists. I know these people, I've known them my entire life, I've
been in the room with them as nigger jokes were told and laughed
at, and I know exactly what's in their heads. That their little
teabagger protests are primarily based on racial hatred and fear of
the black man is absolutely transparent to anyone who knows
them.
I hate political correctness, I hate using or invoking the race
card, but sometimes a racist really is a racist. I wish they had
the balls to say what they really mean like the KKK does.
|9.20.09 @ 11:39PM|#
It is ALL about the radical policies; not the skin color.
Calling it racism gives lefties an easy way out vs defending insane
policies.
It's not that they want to take an easy way out, it's that they are
intellectually lazy from never having to rigourously defend their
positions. You know how it is on college campuses - conservatives
(and libertarians) are challenged, and consequently have to argue
and think through their arguments. Liberals are not, so they never
learn the skills to rationally work through their positions and
found them in moral principle. And in left wing social circles it's
similar - nodding in agreement doesn't make you think, doesn't help
you develop an argument or the skills to make one. I just makes you
feel good.
So when they are finally challanged, they don't have anything to
resort to except the lazy race card. Thinking through your
opponents arguments and responding rationally takes too much
effort, and they've never learned how.
|9.20.09 @ 11:56PM|#
Bruce, it sounds like you're hanging out with the wrong crowd.
I'll use your sentence and change a few words to reflect my
reality.
"I know these people, I've known them my entire life, I've been in
the room with them and never heard a nigger joke. I won't presume
to know exactly what's in someone else's head but that's what I've
heard. That their Tea Party protests are primarily based on anger
at government expansion and wreckless spending is absolutely
transparent to anyone who knows them."
Wow, now it's one against one so I guess it's a draw. Or maybe it's
wrong to project your feelings about someone else's feelings onto
people hundreds of miles away who you don't know and have never
met. But it sure is satisfying (smugly self-satisfying, at
that).
JB|9.21.09 @ 12:20AM|#
"It's going to be because of you that we take our country
back."
We all know Obama is one racist fucker.
The Libertarian Guy|9.21.09 @ 12:30AM|#
Hazel, that "only whites can be racist because they have power"
argument has got to be the biggest load of shit since people
started gathering loads of shit.
It's a lazy intellectual cop-out. To say that, for instance, Louis
Farrakhan is NOT racist is just as ludicrous as saying David Duke
doesn't have it in for blacks and Jews. In fact, oddly enough,
Louie and Duke have a common enemy in the Jews, though they'd never
shake hands over their shared hatred of that group.
***
Bruce, what is the ratio of ACTUAL racists in the tea-party
movement, to its total number? What is the ratio of ACTUAL racists,
to the total sum of Americans, period?
Yes, one is too many, but you're making it sound like a third of
the population is itching to join the Klan.
Jim Treacher|9.21.09 @ 3:18AM|#
That their little teabagger protests are primarily based on racial hatred and fear of the black man is absolutely transparent to anyone who knows them.
Putting aside your fact-devoid accusation of racism: If they're
teabaggers, that makes you the teabaggee.
J D|9.21.09 @ 3:57AM|#
It seems to be that libertarians should be wary of jumping into
bed with these teabaggers too quickly. These protests represent
populist frustration, not reasoned opposition.
Protesters for either side of the ideological divide tend to
consist of ideologues who have pursued their rigid dogmatism to a
point of absurdity and their followers who are either too
dim-witted or intellectually lazy to really think for
themselves.
|9.21.09 @ 4:06AM|#
C'mon now. All white Southerners and most whites in general are
either open racists or secretly harbor racist feelings. That is
just a fact. If it can't be objectively proven, then it can be
determined through the powers of divination.
Isn't it funny, though, how often and readily the n-word is thrown
around by people trying to explain how other people are
racists?
J D|9.21.09 @ 4:10AM|#
I think a lot of the confusion swirling around the current "race
debate"(whatever the hell that means) is that people can't even
agree on what modern "racism" is or how it would/does manifest
itself. Many of the talking heads on CNN and other news networks
are scholars of race history - a discipline which has developed its
own jargon, historical theories, and paradigms of thought. When
these people speak, they use words and ideas that have been
developed within this intellectual vacuum, and are unfamiliar with
the average listener. Thus, much confusion ensues.
To simplify it: On the one hand you have the non-academic whose
perception of "racism" is black and white photos of white policeman
unleashing hounds on black protesters, and on the other hand you
have historians who have been trained to look for the ways in which
society constructs the concept of race, identifies racial types,
and builds racial stereotypes.
It is easy to see how those two individuals would look upon the
same reality and come to very different conclusions about it. As
the saying goes: a person with a hammer approaches every problem as
if it were a nail.
MNG|9.21.09 @ 7:54AM|#
I don't know guys, when you use language like "our" and "them"
then you are talking in-group/out-group, and in America that often
has racial meaning, so I can see where some people are going with
this.
But I would say to them that there is an old American meme where
"our" means "we the People" and so "taking back our country" means
something like "power to the people" and less to the government. We
kind of started with such sentiment way back in 1776...
Art-P.O.G.|9.21.09 @ 8:09AM|#
But I would say to them that there is an old American meme where "our" means "we the People" and so "taking back our country" means something like "power to the people" and less to the government. We kind of started with such sentiment way back in 1776...
Of course "you people" would say that. ;)
Banana-eating Jungle Monkey|9.21.09 @ 8:33AM|#
Of course "you people" would say that. ;)
Hey, you better take that back!
PR|9.21.09 @ 9:04AM|#
stop calling people racist or teabagger on the internet. it's much more effective if you do it to their face.
moptop|9.21.09 @ 9:31AM|#
I am over fifty, white, and my parents generation was incredibly
racist. I don't believe my father was, but don't get me started on
his brothers.
I also see, here and there, racism among acquaintences. Funny thing
though, I know more racists who vote D than R. I guess they figure
voting D excuses it.
moptop|9.21.09 @ 9:37AM|#
I hate political correctness, I hate using or invoking the race card, but sometimes a racist really is a racist. I wish they had the balls to say what they really mean like the KKK does.
Yeah, because then you would finally have the first scintilla of
evidence that you would need to make your case.
Michael Ejercito|9.21.09 @ 10:01AM|#
Well, according to the ethnic studies academics, racism is something that powerful people do to non-powerful people.
Can you quote one of these academics?
|9.21.09 @ 10:24AM|#
I worry that even our "march" on DC Saturday will not stop
ObamaCare or even if the government option is dropped, the economic
freedom issues (i.e. mandatory health care requirement under
government mandates) and civil liberties (i.e. IRS held financial
and doctors/hospital held medical records released to the
government) will remain in some form. I don't trust the conference
committee outcome even if the Senate bill is milder in
appearance.
We should be prepared to follow the example set in Tennessee after
the governor and legislature proposed to vote in and approve a
state income tax in 1999. The MSM seems to have neglected to report
much on this, so go to glennreynolds.com/?p=8 for some details.
With the reported 26,000 TEA Party organizations in our great
country, we could make life difficult for those cloistered in
DC.
|9.21.09 @ 11:08AM|#
They are racists. Not everyone who opposes Obama, no. Not
the people here, but the teabaggers and the Glenn Beck army - they
are racists. I know these people, I've known them my entire life,
I've been in the room with them as nigger jokes were told and
laughed at, and I know exactly what's in their heads. That their
little teabagger protests are primarily based on racial hatred and
fear of the black man is absolutely transparent to anyone who knows
them.
Maybe you should stop hanging out at Klan and Aryan rallies. They
tend to warp perspectives.
Jim Treacher|9.21.09 @ 12:56PM|#
stop calling people racist or teabagger on the internet. it's much more effective if you do it to their face.
Let us know when you work up the nerve, teabaggee.
Plant Immigration Rights Suppo|9.21.09 @ 2:16PM|#
Bruce:
This statement: "And they had NO PROBLEM with the huge spending
increases of the previous WHITE president." Tells me that this
statement "I know these people" is a lie.
You do NOT know them if you think they had no problem with huge
spending increases under Bush.
|9.21.09 @ 3:35PM|#
After 6+ years of Bush, people had something to take their
country back from.
How early did we hear about wanting to take their country back this
year? February? March? And 1/2 the stuff they were complaining
about were done by Bush. AIG for instance.
Michael Ejercito|9.21.09 @ 10:38PM|#
How early did we hear about wanting to take their country back this year? February? March? And 1/2 the stuff they were complaining about were done by Bush. AIG for instance.
And done by Obama as well, and continued under Obama.
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