(8 am – promoted by ek hornbeck)
A journey through the past week has proven that America is not even close to being ‘post-race’ as some would have us believe. No, what this week has shown us is that while Americans may be able to get their collective head around the idea of voting for a black man, they will not do so if that black man has ever associated with an ‘uppity negro’. It seemed for about an hour-and-a-half Friday night that perhaps America’s view of the most recent ‘uppity-negro’ could be mollified by the smooth as silk dulcet voice of Bill Moyers, and the now-dressed-like-a-white-man-with-his-elbows-on-the-table Reverend cooing softly to the nice white fellow with the tie…
Ah, but alas, it was not to be. It was but a mirage. The NAACP speech was just too much, and absent Mr. Moyers whiteness to protect us by petting the Reverend softly and almost purring into his ear, our ‘uppity negro’ dared to…well, be ‘uppity’. And, America may not be as bad as it was, but, it just is not ready to listen to an ‘uppity negro’. God forbid they challenge the negro du jour with counter arguments–to do so would be to legitimize him! (Oh, and we white folks don’t have convincing counters–what the man said in Detroit was solid as a rock).
I leave aside one of our other favorite ‘uppity negros’ the good Reverend Sharpton who we all knew could not endorse Senator Obama because once he did, the filthy knuckle-draggers at Fox and elsewhere would have Senator Obama roped together with the Reverend Sharpton so that they both would cast an indistinguishable shadow for the next several months.
How truly pathetic it all is. By Sunday, Senator Obama was licking at the trough at Fox with his hat in his hand like a beggar selling pencils to passersby who could care less if he lived or died.
Monday gave us the Press Club. Uhoh! Uppity-negro, days away from the docile petting of Mr Moyers, and days after the NAACP, decided that the latter event was indeed more to his liking and told it as it is. Again, nothing he said was incorrect. But, no one cared to argue against him; no, they don’t have to. For, he is an ‘uppity negro’ and they need not apply.
Today, Senator Obama, appearing in white-face, a sandwich of bologna, wonder bread, and mayonnaise beside him for support, heaved one uppity negro so far under the bus that he may have come out of the backside of it as exhaust. But, no fear, the bus was ridden over his carcass over and over… The faux-liberals all breathed a sigh of relief, ‘whew…glad that is over with….’.
But, it isn’t over. It will not be over until the time that uppity negros are no more. And, I’ve got news for America: it ain’t gonna happen! And, this campaign, as it unfolds and winds its way through the streets of Denver will, God willing, make the ‘uppity negro’ the rule, and not the exception…
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… no “national discussion” on race. There has been only the usual bullshit shallow surface talk, as usual.
And that goes for Hillary as well when it comes to discussion of gender.
Not surprising, tho — there has been so little real discussion of any issues at all during this Presidential campaign hundred-years-long season and all the while the criminals holding power in this country are busy looting the last dime they can find.
National discourse? Ha ha ha ha ha.
…but I think I’ll leave it to black people to call another black person an Uncle Tom.
Author
…mike malloy is reading this essay on the radio right now… nova m radio…
“Southern strategy?” Between this and Willie Horton? I don’t think so. It’s the same bullshit imo. I wish the Traditional Media (and many leftwing blogueros/as) would see it for what it is, which is more racism, and cut it the f*ck out.
than they seem at first blush. I’m going to take a radical stance and suggest that everyone here is on solid ground, provided we take into consideration what their goals are. I’ll even rope in the currently-raging debate on dkos over whether Obama was right to go on FOX.
Here’s how the narrative worked (in my mind. I have no evidence to back this up):
Obama is trying to win the presidency, and likely as not he, like many churchgoers, agrees with many things his pastor says but not all. Still, his main focus is on policy, rhetoric, and polls. Over the last few weeks, an uber-intense scrutiny of Wright’s comments led to both their being in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
I’m willing to bet that someone from Obama’s campaign – if not Obama himself – contacted Wright to talk about this. And I’d also be willing to bet that this person talked about polls and trends, and asked the reverend to keep the rhetoric toned down until this blows over. And if I were the reverend, I’d be pretty pissed about that: not because the Obama campaign wouldn’t be right, but because the reverend is a servant of God, not of the political state.
So rather than tone things down, the reverend goes into overdrive, reminding people of his service to God. This puts the Obama campaign, which is very much about service to the state, in an awkward position. And since the reverend has started elaborating on themes that land squarely in CT territory, they really have no choice but to start distancing themselves.
To put it in Biblical terms: Obama and Wright serve two different masters, and the circumstances forced them to make a choice. I don’t think either of them were right or wrong, but they have to remember what they’re all about and what they’re trying to accomplish. The fact is, their paths simply split here. With a little more detachment, I hope we can see this as tragic but unavoidable rather than as “self-destructing” (as some are saying about Wright) or “pandering” (as others are saying about Obama).
Similar thing with the Obama+FOX thing. Obama’s campaign is doing their best to court moderate and independent voters, and they believe that going on FOX is one way to pull those voters in. Meanwhile the netroots have been fighting a many-years’ battle to boycott FOX because of their questionable (ha!) journalistic standards. Obama’s trying to be president, and the netroots are trying to combat dishonest media, so when those paths cross there’s going to be headbutting – although I’d say both are doing what they feel is best to meet their goals.
Possibly unavoidable, but it’s a pity that’s it so easily leads to fighting, disgust, anger, disappointment, etc. Life doesn’t always provide us with a clear right/wrong path.
IOKIYAR
that were “incorrect.”
Do you remeber the NAACP speech?
Wright correctly said “Different does not mean deficient.” He very incorrectly thought that this assertion needed to be justified with a long, long, proof of race essentialism.
He said — based on one single 40 year old study — that people from Africa think with their left brain while people from Europe think with their right brain. Let me tell you something: you can find a 40 year old study to establish any crazy-ass proposition whatsoever.
He then said that when people here a song in 4-4 time, people from Europe clap on the 1 and the 3, while people from Africa clap on the 2 and the 4. He then, by way of proving this, sung a backbeat song . . . and the black audience clapped on the backbeat. Surprise!
Wright went on and on like this. He implied that ADD was diagnosed of kids of African descent more often than kids of European descent, and this was because European kids, aparently, sit quietly at their desks because they are right-brained and “logical.” That’s what the man said.
At best, this is all a bunch of Diane Chambers style pseudo-intellectualism. At worst, it is an attempt to argue for moral parity with extremely ugly and ill-founded assertions of race essentialism.