(Just Another Day In) Post-Racial Camelot
Mar 12th, 2008 at 8:46 am by Susie
It’s been nagging at me for days, that speech Obama’s been giving about “the okey doke,” about people being “hoodwinked, bamboozled.” I knew it was from someone else, but I couldn’t quite place it.
Roxanne reminds me: It’s a Malcolm X speech*. Can’t wait to see what the Republicans do with that!
*Actually, it’s a speech Denzel Washington gave in the movie. I haven’t found any credible source stating these are the actual words of Malcolm X.
I’ve been staying away from your site because of it’s anti-Obama tone.
I just stopped in to see if you had any postings concerning Ferraro’s horrible comments, and Clinton’s refusal to renounce them. What do I find instead?
A post that dog whistles that Obama is just like Malcolm X, so watch out whitey…..
Goodbye, Susie
And this is exactly what drives me crazy about trying to have a discussion with the Obama Fan Base. My pointing out Obama’s use of a racial dog whistle (one that will be happily exploited by Republicans) somehow becomes ME using a racist dog whistle.
So where is your take on Ferraro’s comments?
Ferraro:
“If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position,” she said. “And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.”
Followed by:
“Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says let’s address reality and the problems we’re facing in this world, you’re accused of being racist, so you have to shut up,” Ferraro said. “Racism works in two different directions. I really think they’re attacking me because I’m white. How’s that?”
My take? Do you actually care? Or are you here to play “gotcha” and get yourself all worked up about how wrong and willfully blind I am?
I watched the interview with Diane Sawyer this morning and when she explained her remarks in context, they weren’t at all offensive to me. But I guess that only proves I’m evil and racist, because anything that’s remotely supportive of anyone who doesn’t love Obama automatically translates to an attack on him, and that… makes me a racist, right?
Carl Jung, genius.
This actually makes me feel better about Obama. My gosh, he’s actually black, and not some strangely colored cut-out.
And yes, some people are caught up in a concept. Shocking, isn’t it? Some people are possibly caught up in the concept that Senator Clinton is a woman. Some people are caught up in the concept of Senator McCain being a Vietnam war veteran. We ALL deal in icons and iconography, to some extent. The press uses them; in that context they’re called soundbites.
My God. Stop the presses. I didn’t know that I was listening to a racial dog whistle. I thought he was just trying to tell the audience that Hillary was trying to fool them. I think you need to get a grip, Susie.
well, I am not sure if that was an attempt to wave the “malcolm x was a dangerous black man flag” or another attempt to wave the “plagiarism” flag, or another one to wave the “he uses a teleprompter” flag, or the “the mean republicans will beat him up concern” flag…
NEWSFLASH:
just got email from my dad, lifelong republican, he is considering obama, but will never vote clinton. he lives in ohio. obama will bring far more reagan democrat-types, gop, and independents into the fold. Hillary will not and will lead to another loss.
what will you do then? provide another lecture on the status of the poor discriminated-against millionaire white women of the world like HRC and Ferraro?
and of course, it could NEVER happen that the GOP would use YOUR claims of a “racial dog whistle” to support THEIR argument that he uses “racial dog whistles”!
And what kind of “whistle” was it when Hillary went to the black church and used that incredibly pathetic, fake, and pandering “lordy,lordy I am sooo tired” black minstrel show accent?!?!?!?
I think I understand your point- that Obama’s use of anything associated with Malcolm X (even in a movie) will help Republicans link Obama to SCARY BLACK PEOPLE. But that’s going to happen anyway.
I say bring it on. If Republicans make an issue about this, don’t discuss Malcolm X, TALK ABOUT THE BAMBOOZLEMENT, and forcefully too.
Lord knows there’s plenty to talk about.
Disgust with Hillary = Misogyny
Questioning Barrack = Racism
Seems like a pretty big leap in total stereotyping to me. Almost like O’Reilly in a Harlem restaurant being impressed by the lack of jive, and then wondering why he was ridiculed for helping “Those People”.
What if disgust with Hillary has to do with her triangulations and lack of follow through on issues rather than her gender?
What if Barrack is questioned for the content of his speech rather than his race?
These are poilliticians we’re talking about here. Their handlers will steer them to do whatever it takes to get elected. The corporate media has it’s own agenda to maintain it’s own power base. Very little will change when we switch from corporate Repulsivescums to corporate Democrats.
Stopping McCain’s 100-year war, and cleaning up all the bogus executive orders, and DoJ sleeper cells may be all we can hope for.
Thank you. Yes, exactly.
Getting back to Ferraro–she is speaking in the same language as the neocon former Dems or nominal Dems such as the Thernstroms who use affirmative action to denigrate African-Americans as per se undeserving and unqualified. Just look at her words: Obama is “lucky” to be African-American and “wouldn’t have gotten where he is” if he wasn’t. I don’t think this falls into the category of dog whistles; it’s too overt for that. And when she is called on it she claims (seriously? hard to tell) that she is being attacked because she is white. Pathetic.
There is a lot of meaningless noise coming from Obama supporters about “perceived” race-baiting by the Clinton campaign that, for the most part, just doesn’t stand up. This incident, on the other hand, deserves to be taken seriously.
Which doesn’t make YOU a racist because you decided to focus on a different topic. Did anyone call you one? I didn’t.
Final note: I agree with your and Martigan’s point that the two candidates are Tweedledum and Tweedledee on most points, with HRC’s votes on the AUMF and Kyl-Lieberman being the tiebreakers (and dealbreakers). But the more HRC talks like a Republican wannabe (thresholds) the more certain I am that she is the wrong choice of these two.