Recently in Race Category

by Mark Adams

Avendon reminded me of one of the Raisons d'Entre for the continuation of Hillary Clinton's campaign:

"I think she's running all the bases," I said. "She's the first woman in history to win a state primary, and she's won a lot more. She's running pretty close to the front-runner. It's a major historic moment." And the more I think about it, the more I think it has to be part of what's driving her. There's a bit of climbing the mountain because it's there, and wanting to be able to stand up in the end and say something like, "Never let it be said that a woman can't go the distance." It doesn't matter if someone else breaks the tape, just as long as she finishes the race. (And think how she'd feel if something did happen before Denver to tank Obama and she hadn't.) I've been unhappy with a lot of things about Hillary, but there's a part of me that kind of admires that. Because she wouldn't just be doing that for herself - she's doing it for every little girl who was ever told she can't.

Now that reminded me of something awkwardly pointed out by her husband -- Barack Obama wasn't the first black man to win a State's presidential primary; and this historical situation was elaborated upon by an even blunter instrument in the form of Chris Matthews -- black men we granted the vote via the 15th Amendment fully 50 years before women were enfranchised via the 19th Amendment.

From an historical perspective, Hillary has already accomplished more politically than any woman before her. There will be more, a lot more who follow the trail she's blazed. Obama has done more than any black man who came before him, but only marginally unless and until he accepts the nomination at the Democratic Convention. At that point, it can be said that both reached threshholds of truly historic proportions.

And that's saying something folks.

And we're going to do a lot better than that with the assclowns the GOP has put up for the sacrifice.

Jacki Schechner nails it:

Why is it we can't just call it like it is? White, uneducated, poor voters in West Virginia don't identify with the suburban-raised, Wellesley and Yale Law educated former First Lady and Senator from "the big city." A majority voted for Clinton because she's white. Or to be even more blunt, because she's not black.

I know anchors, reporters, and pundits can't come right out and say it - as Stewart spent 5 minutes pointing out [see below] - but I don't know why. Racism is shameful and the behavior of ignorant, close-minded people. We may be hesitant to label someone a racist, but if someone won't vote for a black man because he's black, then guess what? Here's your nametag, Princess Bigot.

Yours too, K-Whitey.

I actually think pretending otherwise is a problem. Maybe if people didn't think it was acceptable to hate based on race, we'd spread a little good. Ignoring the issue isn't going to make it disappear.

Euphemisms only perpetuate the myth that we're somehow past the ugly, naked truth. And the results from Tuesday's primary - where many poor, uneducated, white folks voted for the millionaire white woman because they saw no viable alternative - prove we are buried deeper in the racist muck than anyone in the media cares - or dares - to admit.

Here's The Daily Show video Schechner is talking about. Watch it now -- it's the most honest (and funniest) 8 minutes of campaign coverage you're bound to see on any news channel, fake or otherwise.

I'm continually amazed at the number of people who really hate Obama who say stuff like this:

...[W]hile it's important for whites to understand the racial experience of minorities, it's equally important for minorities to understand the impact that their violent outbursts have on white society, case in point, the L.A. Riots.

Yes. Well.

Let's stipulate that there's a history of "violent outbursts" on both sides, if you catch my drift. Do really you need me to list them out?

Both actions are real, have deadly consequences and need to be addressed in order for all groups to move forward.

Come on, people. Be honest. Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you read Obama's speech. What do you think he was saying in it? And really, now: who's better suited to lead the nation on this than he is?

I was intrigued by Condi Rice's comments on this recently. It didn't get a lot of play except as a context for Lou Dobbs referring to her as a "cotton picker:"

"Black Americans were a founding population," she said. "Africans and Europeans came here and founded this country together — Europeans by choice and Africans in chains. That's not a very pretty reality of our founding."

As a result, Miss Rice told editors and reporters at The Washington Times, "descendants of slaves did not get much of a head start, and I think you continue to see some of the effects of that."

"That particular birth defect makes it hard for us to confront it, hard for us to talk about it, and hard for us to realize that it has continuing relevance for who we are today," she said.

Here's the thing: if you're young or old, if you're married or not, if you have any kids or not, try to imagine this:

One of your children is born with a serious birth defect. How could you sleep at night knowing that your baby wasn't right, that your baby was in pain? Wouldn't you do everything you could to fix her and help her get better?

Now I realize that some white people generally believe we talk about this way too much and some blacks generally believe we don't talk about it enough. But come on: we're dealing with a birth defect. I'd rather err on the side of being too attentive to the problem than the opposite.

Wouldn't you?

Whatever you believe, Condi gets it right: this country was born with a crucial flaw and we "continue to see some of the effects of that." That defect must be corrected. No way to gloss over it. Not if we want to move forward as a nation into the future. And I believe that Obama is uniquely suited to provide that leadership -- by example, if nothing else.

by shep

John Rogers sends the privileged, white (and somehow still incredibly pissed-off) Barrack haters to school on their fear and loathing of the angry black man:

Attention, Fellow White People:

…If Senator Obama becomes President, we will still run everything.

Everything.

Immediately following his Wright Snark, Rogers explains a lot of anger (except for the inexplicable right-wing kind that always somehow misses the mark):

-- Paying $3 trillion dollars for a war started by rich old white people.

-- Sending your kids off to fight in a war being run very poorly by rich old white people.

-- Allowing many of those kids to die thanks to crappy equipment provided by companies owned by rich old white people.

-- Watching media controlled exclusively by a small number of rich old white people.

-- Consuming tainted medicine or bad meat because government regulatory agencies have been gutted by rich old white people.

-- Getting boned on your pension by investment firms run by rich old white people.

-- Watching your house lose value because of financial screw-ups by rich old white people.

-- Losing said house because your kid's cancer treatments aren't covered by insurance companies run by rich old white people.

-- Losing your job because your company's been moved to Belize by rich old white people.

-- Watching government records being blatantly destroyed by rich old white people.

-- Cheering while the Constitution is used to wipe the ass of several rich old white people.

-- etc.

Rest assured, Management has its priorities in place. We will remain vigilant against the words and actions of radical old black preachers in neighborhood churches.

Just the man you want for color commentary as righty, whitey heads explode at the thought of a black man as President.

[Cross-posted at Dispassionate Liberal]

OK, by now you've heard about the six Muslim imams (clergy) who were removed from a U.S. Airways flight in Minneapolis as it sat on the runway. Here are the facts, as stated in the papers:

• Three members of the group prayed in the terminal before the six boarded the plane. Another report says they prayed on the plane.
• They entered the plane individually, except for one member who is blind and needed to be guided.
• The six did not sit together.
• A passenger passed a note to the crew who asked them to get off the plane. They refused.
• The police showed up and the six were forced off the plane. One report says that they were put in handcuffs.
• They were left on the ground in Minneapolis after the airline refused to put them on another flight.

Other details, as they emerge: they were in Minneapolis to attend a conference of Muslim clergy; the FBI had been notified of the meeting; Rep.-elect Keith Ellison (D-MN), himself a Muslim, attended the same conference.

OK, so I can understand passengers being afraid, de facto racial profiling being what it is; I can also understand the clergy being outraged at being asked to sit down and shut up, this being America and all. What I can't understand is how this all ended up with them being dumped off the plane (in handcuffs?) and stranded in Minneapolis with no offer of another flight home, with no apologies offered. No cooler heads could prevail?

When Glenn Beck asked Rep. Ellison if he was "working with our enemies," I guess that was just a warning shot? And that Muslim kid who got tossed out of the UCLA Library because he had no ID -- did they really need to taser him again and again?

by Mark Adams

Andy Young should know better, but when you lie down with dogs . . .

The civil rights leader Andrew Young, who was hired by Wal-Mart to improve its public image, resigned from that post last night after telling an African-American newspaper that Jewish, Arab and Korean shop owners had “ripped off” urban communities for years, “selling us stale bread, and bad meat and wilted vegetables.”

In the interview, published yesterday in The Los Angeles Sentinel, a weekly, Mr. Young said that Wal-Mart “should” displace mom-and-pop stores in urban neighborhoods.

“You see those are the people who have been overcharging us,” he said of the owners of the small stores, “and they sold out and moved to Florida. I think they’ve ripped off our communities enough. First it was Jews, then it was Koreans and now it’s Arabs.”

To be fair, he did walk the statement back, but according to the article he merely tried to narrow it down to Atlanta's locality and distance the statement from his civil rights record.  But the "retraction" lacked an outright apology or denouncement of the offensive statement.

“It’s against everything I ever thought in my life,” Mr. Young said. “It never should have been said. I was speaking in the context of Atlanta, and that does not work in New York or Los Angeles.”

I almost expect this kind of glib, almost casual racism from Wingnuttistan, which is no more endearing than a Louis Farrakahn or David Duke screed, just more subtle.  I expect a lot better from someone who marched with Martin Luther King Jr. and represented this nation to the world as our UN Ambassador.

by Mark Adams

And giggle.



Tell me this won't piss off our self-righteous race-baiting friends.

UPDATE: TBogg's takedown of Ms. Malice is the single most comprehesive, wonderfully written, well deserved, spank-her-til-she-pees-on-your-leg smackdown of this harpie I've seen in a long time.

Jesus. Fucking. Christ. In the history of big steaming loads disgorged from the gaping maw of Michelle Malkin what could be more absurd than hearing this professional rage artist complain about racism, the very basis of her crapulent bottom-feeder career?

See, I have mixed feelings about this on so many levels.

• Historical: I can't believe that the Executive branch stepped on 200 years of tradition (if not the law) to investigate a corrupt Congressman -- from Louisiana! What the hell is THAT all about?

• Political: It's pretty shameful that THIS is the event that suddenly wakes up Hastert and the Republicans. Can you say "rubber stamp Republicans?" If not, the Democrats certainly will..or will they?

• Democratic Party loyalty: There is a way to handle this and it does not involve "acting like a Republican." Yes, I'm talking to you Nancy Pelosi. It involves:
  1. (Re-)swearing your allegiance to the US Constitution and tying this back to the NSA, the Patriot Act, Gitmo, torture, signing statements, and on and on and on.
     
  2. It means (at least) paying lip service to the the fact that Jefferson is innocent until proven guilty -- and simultaneously making a retroactive rule saying if you are under investigation, you must relinquish all power except that given to you via the ballot box.
     
  3. And/but it means that the Congressional Black Caucus needs to get right with Jesus and stop fighting the leadership on this.

That's all I can think of right now.

I can't believe that there are people who still think that Bill Bennett had a point worth making when he said this:

I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down.

"Abort every black baby and the crime rate will go down." Where's the proof? There isn't any. And that's because criminals are made not born. Bennett apparently believes it would reduce crime because he believes that babies born with black skin are more likely to become criminals. That is a textbook example of a racist belief.

Now, you can quote all sorts of statistics about crime and how it corelates with socio-economic class. Those are relevant here. But Bennett doesn't do that. "Abort every black baby and the crime rate will go down." Bennett is wrong on so many levels.

At the most basic level Bennett goes against American values, the most fundamental of which is self-evident: that all men are created equal.

Here's what Lincoln said in the summer of 1858 in Lewiston, Illinois:

"Now, my countrymen, if you have been taught doctrines conflict with the great landmarks of the Declaration of Independence; if you have listened to suggestions which would take away from its grandeur and mutilate the fair symmetry of its proportions; if you have been inclined to believe that all men are not created equal in those inalienable rights enumerated in our charter of liberty, let me entreat you to come back.

"Return to the fountain whose waters spring close by the blood of the revolution. Think nothing of me -- take no thought for the political fate of any man whomsoever -- but come back to the truths that are in the Declaration of Independence. You may do anything with me you choose, if you will but heed these sacred principles."

I'm with him.