Has White America Lost It's Mind?

[Hauptman]

Too funny, but may hit a little too close to home for some.

http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-09-...lost-its-mind/

[Inquartata]

If you don't agree with every word in that article, you are a racist!

[phillipmj]

The writer is as much of a racist as his version of "white America", all of whom he is calling racist.

There is no "white American mind" any more than there is a "black American mind". Group minds are a product of science fiction. In the real world, every individual has his/her own brain and ability to think independently.

Who didn't chuckle, after all, the first time they heard that white people had doubts that Barack Obama had even been born in the United States and was therefore ineligible to be president?

Which white people? All white people? That his only qualifier to the word "people" is "white" indicates that this is what he thinks. I'm white, and I've never had any doubts about where Obama was born. (I've never seen his birth certificate, but then again, I've never seen the birth certificate of any US president.)

white boy is becoming outnumbered and it's got his bowels chilled with fear

Here he's proudly showing the world that he's as racist as anyone who would refer to a black person as a "black boy".

What a scumbag.

I guess you'll say it hit to close to home for me, but bigoted crap like that should outrage everyone.

[Inquartata]

I strongly suspect that if we had a white President named Barack Hussein Obama, whose father was a Kenyan Marxist and who had been raised in Indonesia, we would have had exactly the same sort of ridiculous allegations raised about him by almost exactly the same people.

Oh, I'm sure that for some "foreign-born" and "Muslim" are code for the racial prejudice they dare not express aloud. But I think that for most it's the name, the background, the political affiliation and too much talk radio ( and too little sense ). All of which cut across racial lines.

[Capt. Slo-mo]

Maybe so, maybe no. For a significant portion of the population, the thought of having one of "those folks" in the White House does give their nether regions a cooling effect. A white Barack Hussein Obama would likely not have e-mails being circulated of the White House lawns festooned with watermelons.

A predominately white political party like the Tea Party would not have a major candidate sending out e-mails of a white president dressed up as 70's Blaxploitation characters.

Do all white people hate and fear the concept of a black President? Of course not. But to posit that the venom and loathing from certain segments of the right is largely based on talk radio furor about Muslim connections ignores the elephant in the room wearing a pointy white hat..

[erooMynohtnA]

It seems racism is a debate people really want to have. I am surprised that this article got any reaction at all. It's so poorly composed the only reaction I can muster is boredom.

[keith]

It seems racism is a debate people really want to have.

No. Racism is the debate people have when they find the cultural concept of the other just too difficult.

Edward Said was, of course, a racist.

[Beloit Fencer of Old]

The sentence "Has America Lost It Is Mind" is flawed. It does not make any sense.

[jeff]

I'm totally with Capt. Slo-mo on this. It would be nice to write off the examples in the article as being the province of talk radio shock-jocks, but that won't, uh, white-wash. Race-baiting is embedded in contemporary right wing politics. No - I'm not saying they are all racist, nor that this is their defining characteristic - but there is a pervasive strain alongside the "no more taxes" element.

Look at Tom DeLay's chicken-dinner remarks quoted at the beginning of the article and Tea Party Express founder's comments later on. It would be nice to dismiss Laura Schlessinger as a mere freelance homophobe and racist, but she got a "You go, girl!" from Sarah Palin, who is now one of the most influential figures in conservative politics. Or look at the remarks by Limbaugh and Beck (also quoted) - two king-makers in Republican circles. On numerous occasions Republican figures crossed them and had to come on their shows to apologize. There is no sharp line between talk radio, FOX News and the Republican establishment - how could there be when Palin and Huckabee have their own shows alongside Beck and Rush?

IMO, the shock jocks are steering the GOP more than the other way around. Even Rove has expressed his distaste for candidates like O'Donnell (and it takes a lot to make him gag) but has been forced to truckle and recant. How the mightly have fallen. Republican officials have lined up to endorse her, which even Krauthammer calls irresponsible. As much as I dislike William F. Buckley, he managed to reduce his racism later in life and was instrumental in purging nutjobs from the conservative movement. Somebody like him is needed now, but people like Frum and Brooks are simply not influential enough.

I don't believe for one second that the situation would be the same if Obama as white - there should be no surprise that electing a black President would be followed by backlash, which has been deliberately inflamed. You can't get any more explicit than the Gingrich-endorsed ravings from Dinesh D'Souza "Incredibly, the U.S. is being ruled according to the dreams of a Luo tribesman of the 1950s." He left out the bone through the nose reference, but I think you get the point he's driving at. Here's the guy who wrote "The End of Racism" and keeps exhibiting his own.

Demonizing the "other", especially others with different color, religions and languages, is traditional politics, from the Yellow Peril to the Southern Strategy. This reminds me strongly of the Know Nothing movement. Inciting fear is a very successful tactic.

As for the article itself: I wasn't offended. A lot of the comments are creepy, though.

[Inquartata]

Uh...yes. Racism is as integral a part of the Republican Party as Marxism is of the Democratic Party.

I just fervently believe that the evidence shows clearly and unequivocally that the Democratic Party is pervaded by Marxist influences. And that I believe it makes it so.

QED

[telkanuru]

Uh...yes. Racism is as integral a part of the Republican Party as Marxism is of the Democratic Party.

I just fervently believe that the evidence shows clearly and unequivocally that the Democratic Party is pervaded by Marxist influences. And that I believe it makes it so.

QED

Reductio ad absurdam.

QED.

[PretAllez]

As an outsider, when I first read the article, I did not find it blatantly racist; I read it as more ageist/anti-baby boomer, although once all the "white" references were highlighted, I understand how it could be read that way, and I did find the style to be needlessly inflammatory. IMO, this diminishes the author's credibility. Too bad: the article could have had more resonance if he had stuck to the thesis of changing demographics and how this affects media/political fear-mongering and populism.

I much preferred Margaret Wente's more nuanced analysis, below:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1738425/
(no thread-hijack intended )

[PeterGustafsson]

Hi!


Sometimes, I get the urge to get myself a T-shirt emblazoned "WHITE MALE - AND NOT ASHAMED IOF IT!". Sorta doubt that the make-your-own T-shirt printing companies would do such a thing, though.

I read the article. It is filled with stuff, that if the ethnic groups were changed, would be 3rd-rail stuff. However, part of the "protected classes" thing is that dumping on us is A-OK by the powers that be.


Have a nice time!

Peter Gustafsson

[jeff]

@Inq: There are many documented and recent examples of Republicans either expressing racism or exploiting it, while you can hardly get a Democrat to admit to being a liberal, let alone a Marxist. In other words, the difference is between reality and your fantasy used as a debating tactic.

This is one of your many blind spots, and fits into the category of "If Inq doesn't believe it or accept it, he doesn't admit it exists and ignores all evidence to the contrary." So, none of the material cited in the article offends you, even when done by powerful public figures on the Right and in the Republican party?

Remember our arguments over the Southern strategy and Lee Atwater where you denied that words in black and white (no pun intended) didn't mean what they said? Or your repeated denials that WFB ever supported white supremacists until I produced a quote in his own words doing exactly that? At which point you left the thread instead of admitting you were mistaken. Par for the course.

@Telk: of course.

@PretAllez: good points, and worth remembering that VV more typically serves as an agent of provocation than of serious discourse, and is as far to the left as you'll see in the US.

@Peter: It's a shame that you were offended. Were you offended by the 3rd rail material that the article was about or only the material that pertained to you?

[phillipmj]

It's so poorly composed the only reaction I can muster is boredom.

I guess we could have a multi-page thread about something more exciting. . . like tether balls. Oh wait. . . strangely enough, that already happened.

Here's the guy who wrote "The End of Racism" and keeps exhibiting his own.

Kind of like the writer of that article, decrying racism while exhibiting his own.

And it's not even like I'm a fan of the current crop of big-mouthed, small-brained bigoted Republicans. I wouldn't shed a tear if Palin got trampled by an enraged, vengeful moose, or if Limbaugh and Beck both OD'd on their drugs of choice. But Steven Trasher isn't just talking about them or their sheep-like followers. He lumps everyone who happens to be white into the same category.

[jeff]

I guess we could have a multi-page thread about something more exciting. . . like tether balls. Oh wait. . . strangely enough, that already happened.

got trampled by an enraged, vengeful moose, or if Limbaugh and Beck both OD'd on their drugs of choice.

Funnier than the quoted article, which (remember) should be taken as parody. Where's the picture of a Mooselim terrorist that was posted here?

[Hauptman]

Funnier than the quoted article, which (remember) should be taken as parody.

Thanks, Jeff. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks the author was being intentionally hyperbolic.

I can easily understand the folks overseas for whom english is a second language, and who may not fully understand our culture here in the U.S., but doesn't anyone else here think that the author was being intentionally outrageous to poke fun at the outrageous right-wing quotes he references?

[Glyphenblade]

I don't believe for one second that the situation would be the same if Obama as white - there should be no surprise that electing a black President would be followed by backlash, which has been deliberately inflamed.

I think it's worth pointing out that we don't actually have a black president.

[jeff]

You're going to have to act a lot crazier and original than that to get the attention you so clearly desire.

[Gav]

I saw Reginal D Hunter call Obama the most-white black president America could have elected.