Notes From A Postracial Society

by hilzoy

From the Dallas Morning News (h/t):

"While a number of speakers -- such as Railroad Commission chairman Michael Williams and Mike Huckabee -- have praised the advance of Barack Obama and what it means towards a colorblind society, at least one vendor hasn't gotten the message.

At the Republican state convention, a booth hosted by Republicanmarket was selling a pin Saturday that says: If Obama is President will we still call it the White House.

There were other pins that weren't necessarily conveying the positive, inclusive, united front that has been portrayed during the convention. One said, "Press 1 for English. Press 2 for Deportation" and another, "I will hold my nose when I vote for McCain""

Comments

[Ugh]

If McCain is president . . . will he remember where the White House is?

[cleek]

"They still call it the White House... but that's a temporary condition, too"

-- George Clinton

[UserGoogol]

I can very easily imagine people wearing a "will they still call it the White House" button ironically, but it becomes more difficult to maintain that level of irony when you don't want Obama in the White House for more substantive reasons, so yeah.

[norbizness]

They don't call us stupid for nothin'!

[Davebo]

Anyone who's ever lived here in Texas and is suprised hasn't been paying attention.

Just the other day I had a neighbor suggest, during a conversation about McCain and the MLK federal holidy, that we should kill Jesse Jackson and make it a 4 day weekend.

[gwangung]

There were other pins that weren't necessarily conveying the positive, inclusive, united front that has been portrayed during the convention. One said, "Press 1 for English. Press 2 for Deportation"

Wonder what my Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean immigrant friends would say? Given that they WERE leaning Republican...

And Republicans wonder why they can't make headway with ethnic voters?

[Pasota]

This is so wrong. It should be, "If Obama were president, would we still call it the White House? ... You know, because he's black. Am I right? Who's with me? You know what I'm saying? ... What?"

[Ugh]

One said, "Press 1 for English. Press 2 for Deportation"

The sense of entitlement people get from being a member of the lucky sperm club, sheesh.

[phg]

i took a look at the website for republicanmarket. they don't have the obama/white house pin there, but they have the others metioned above and a few more "gems". to be fair, they are clearly a conservative group, pushing what they think are conservative values, and not all of the pins, buttons, bumperstickers, etc. are insulting. on the whole, however, i cannot believe that any correct thinking organization would allow themselves to be associated on any level with this bunch.

[Jay C]

Well, according to Texas GOP offcial (via Talking Points Memo they didn't know anything about these buttons .

Presented without comment.

[russell]

Well, according to Texas GOP offcial (via Talking Points Memo they didn't know anything about these buttons .

Of course they didn't.

The point isn't that the Texas Republican party is explicitly racist. "Don't vote for the black guy" is not likely to be a plank in the party platform.

The point is that they are a pretty reliable demographic for selling racist crap to.

The Obama pin isn't a patch on the Hillary stuff, though.

I say bring it. Let's get all the freaks out of the woodwork and out in the open where we can see who's who.

If you don't want to vote for Obama because he's black, by all means wear a pin saying so. Say it good and loud, so we can all see who you are.

My two cents.

Thanks -

[Slartibartfast]

*facepalm*

[A.J.]

Obama getting elected President is not going to change the nature of American racism. At best, now, when certain people see a black man walking down the sidewalk, they'll think "oh shit, a politician!"

[Anarch]

cleek: Shall we make your funk the P-Funk?

[Bernard Yomtov]

Well, according to Texas GOP offcial (via Talking Points Memo they didn't know anything about these buttons.

I'm not sure the Texas GOP response, if true, is a very good defense.

From TPM:

Klingler added that the party would have done something if it had been brought to their attention at the time. "We wouldn't have let him sell it."

In other words, nobody at the convention thought this was worth bringing to party officials' attention. That's interesting.

[von]

This is utterly stupid and embarrassing. There is no adequate excuse. Whomever sold these buttons should be banned.

[Davebo]

This is utterly stupid and embarrassing. There is no adequate excuse. Whomever sold these buttons should be banned.

What should be done to the members of the Texas GOP delegation that bought one?

[ThatLeftTurnInABQ]

Since the rest of you have covered the obvious points on this issue, let me point out something else remarkable about this button:

It concedes the possibility that Obama is going to win.

Think about that for a moment

Even hard-core racists understand that we are now living in a country which has a realistic chance of electing a multi-racial President.

[Ugh]

It concedes the possibility that Obama is going to win.

Think about that for a moment

Even hard-core racists understand that we are now living in a country which has a realistic chance of electing a multi-racial President.

Meh. It's just a specific version of a generic "joke" that I heard years and years ago.

[trilobite]

In other words, nobody at the convention thought this was worth bringing to party officials' attention. That's interesting.

Reminds me of a flap caused when the "Minutemen" guarding our borders against the hordes of rampaging agricultural workers were photographed flying a Nazi flag during one of their stakeouts. The Minuteman in charge (Hourman?) explained that the whole thing had been taken out of context: they had only flown the flag because these dirty hippie protestors showed up and kept shouting "Nazi" at them, and it turned out one of the guys had the flag in his backpack so he took it out and everyone thought it was funny.

It did not seem to occur to the fellow that there was something strange in the first place about one of they guys just happening to have a Nazi flag in his backpack, or that it might demonstrate that the mean, nasty libruls got it right. Apparently, a Nazi flag is just one of those things folks carry around. Like racist buttons.

[Jesurgislac]

Why is anyone surprised? At the last GOP convention before a Presidential election, everyone thought it was funny to mock wounded Vietnam war veterans. Nothing happened to either the sellers or the buyers of the "Purple Heart bandaids".

[rob!]

"Today's GOP: Keepin' It Classy."

[Anonymous]

I don't know who said it first (or even if I have the exact quote), but:

"While not all Republicans are racists, most racists are Republicans."

... which is not to say that Dems don't have a few skulking about, either (Ferraro much?).

[hilzoy]

OT: this is funny. If you haven't seen it elsewhere: one of the "prominent Democratic and unaffiliated leaders" McCain highlighted as supporting him is a VCR repairman who ran for the Democratic nomination for Gov. of WV because the sitting governor slept with his wife. He got all of 1% in the primary vote.

Click the link and watch the video, starting at 1:20. He says:

"I'm not qualified to run our great state, or have any hopes whatsoever of winning an election."

His reason for running: "To be a sheer nuisance to Bob Wise."

Totally, totally, a prominent Democratic leader.

And how did the McCain campaign find this diamond in the rough? Well...

"Asked how the McCain campaign chose people to put on the list of "prominent" supporters, Sadowski said, "We did research. We reviewed them.""

Honestly: I have no idea whatsoever what sort of research would have (a) found Phil 'Icky' Frye in the first place, but not revealed either that he only got 1% in a primary (which is, to me, a tip-off that a candidate is a joke), or that he was running because the Governor slept with his wife.

But however they found him, the McCain campaign really, really needs to get better at research.

[Brendan W]

After reading in so many places that McCain might be dragged down by the unpopularity of his party in this election, it occurs to me that it just might be the opposite- if not for the perceived legitimacy conferred by being a major party nominee, would ANYONE take him seriously after this string of gaffes and incoherencies and the general flailing about of the past month or so?

[von]

What should be done to the members of the Texas GOP delegation that bought one?

Required to wear their purchase so that the polity can give them the attention that they richly deserve: none.

Idiots and racists the lot.

[von]

Meh. It's just a specific version of a generic "joke" that I heard years and years ago.

OTOH, if Dr. Dre was on the Presidential ticket, this could've been sold as a hipster Gen-X joke (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAmPhbpK6y8 at the 1:54 mark).

[heet]

Well, that was a dumb thing to do.

Yeah, I'm from Texas and have known plenty of racists. They're around.

I'm with russell on this one. This is America and people are free to make stupid buttons that rhetorically shoot themselves in the foot. That doesn't mean they get to keep it a secret, though.

Of course, some people would tell you the darn librul media and academic leftists are making racists feel bad for expressing their views. I'm shedding a tear right now.

[John Thullen]

Von really shouldn't be put in the position of answering or explaining anything that bohunk Republicans misspell on a button in Texas.

The entire South used to be Democratic and that's got nothing to do with me.

That Nixon and Rove recruited the bastards has nothing to do with Von either.

[Daniel Merritt]

I saw something even worse a few days ago. Someone has an ad up on Facebook that casts itself as selling Obama fan merchandise, but shows a bumper sticker showing the white house & a Black Power fist and says "Let's turn the White House into a BLACK House!"

Then it says something like "supporter of Barack Obama? Click here to find this merchandise and more!"

[Johnny Pez]

the McCain campaign really, really needs to get better at research.

And when we say "needs to get better" we mean they need to stay clueless until they lose the election in November.

[Slartibartfast]

Well, at least no one's going the chocolate house route. Yet, anyway.

[Daniel Merritt]

To clarify, my problem in the above post is that somebody is intentionally making it look like they're an Obama supporter selling radical Black Power merchandise, in an attempt to scare off young white voters who use Facebook. I didn't click on the link (as that sends 'good ad' feedback) but I'm assuming it was really a right-wing attempt to smear him.

[Hartmut]

I would not exclude the possibility that the Black House buttons are indeed from (misguided) Obama supporters. It's on the same inexcusable level as the GOP ones in any case and should draw the same condemnation.

[farmgirl]

not only is the content repellent, the design is terrible. (line breaks in particular.)

[bernard Yomtov]

not only is the content repellent, the design is terrible. (line breaks in particular.)

Too bad Leni Riefenstahl is dead. She probably could have helped them design something spectacular.

[farmgirl]

bernard -- under the circumstances, the bad design is a plus. (I could have been clearer.)

[hilzoy]

Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone:

"Even the briefest of surveys of the supporters gracing McCain's events underscores the kind of red-meat appeal he's making. Immediately after his speech in New Orleans, a pair of sweet-looking old ladies put down their McCain signs long enough to fill me in on why they're here. "I tell you," says one, "if Michelle Obama really doesn't like it here in America, I'd be very pleased to raise the money to send her back to Africa."

The diminutive and smiling old lady's friend leans over. "That's going a little too far, dear."

"Too far?" says the first. "Farrakhan is saying they were brought here against their will, and their bodies are still feeding the sharks at the bottom of the sea! I mean, really!"

"OK, sharks still eating bodies," I say, writing it all down. "Could I have your name, ma'am?"

"Janice Berg," says the first old lady. "And lest you think I'm Jewish, the name comes from Norway. Berg is 'mountain' in Norwegian. I'm part German, part French myself."

A few paces away, I catch up with a man named Ron Saucier and a woman who would only identify herself as Mary. Ron says his problem with Obama is the integrity thing. "He exaggerates too much," Ron says. "He's not honest."

"OK," I say. "What does he exaggerate about?"

"Well, like that time he was saying he had a white mother and a white grandmother," he says.

I ask him how this is an exaggeration.

"Well, he was saying . . ." he begins. "As if that qualifies him to . . ."

Despite my repeated prodding, Ron seems unable or unwilling to say aloud exactly what he means. Finally, his friend Mary, a grave-looking blonde with fierce anger lines around her eyes, jumps in, points a finger and blurts out one of the all-time man-on-the-street quotes.

"Look, you either are or you aren't," she says.

"And he aren't," Ron says, nodding with relief."

[The Modesto Kid]

"supporter of Barack Obama? Click here to find this merchandise and more!"

I saw something similar the other day, a site billing itself as "Muslims for Obama" or similar, with posters proclaiming Jihad on America. With sidebar links to books about Islam by fundamentalist Xian authors.

[Bernard Yomtov]

"Janice Berg," says the first old lady. "And lest you think I'm Jewish, the name comes from Norway. Berg is 'mountain' in Norwegian. I'm part German, part French myself."

I must admit I'm glad she's not Jewish.

[Jesurgislac]

a pair of sweet-looking old ladies

...I really hope that's not code for "married in Massachusetts".

[hilzoy]

Jes: I don't think so.

[cleek]

can we send Ms. Berg back to Norway ?

[von]

can we send Ms. Berg back to Norway ?

Unfortunately we can't, Cleek. Bergia est omnis divisa in partes tres. So we must send part of her to Norway, part of her to France and another part to Germany.*

von

*Ms. Berg: "And lest you think I'm Jewish, the name comes from Norway. Berg is 'mountain' in Norwegian. I'm part German, part French myself."

[hairshirthedonist]

von, that NWA video immediately came to mind when I first read this post. But you beat me to it.

[cleek]

Shall we make your funk the P-Funk?

yes, please.

"Look, you either are or you aren't," she says.

Black man, black woman, black baby
White man, white woman, white baby
White man, black woman, black baby
Black man, white woman, black baby

[von]

"Look, you either are or you aren't," she says.

Black man, black woman, black baby
White man, white woman, white baby
White man, black woman, black baby
Black man, white woman, black baby

Yup, excuse us for the news: Fear of a Black Planet, indeed.

von, that NWA video immediately came to mind when I first read this post. But you beat me to it.

Maybe the Texas GOP are fans? ;-)

[Anarch]

cleek: Good, because I too wants to get funked up!

[Brick Oven Bill]

Coddling kills.

I can think of two men of Nigerian descent who I would vote for before either McCain or Obama. But they live in a part of the Western Hemisphere where you have to work to eat. They are tough, rational men.

I drove through New York two days ago and politely opened up a door for a black teenage lady. She sneered at me. I was being sincere.

She does not have a bright future, I’m afraid. The final judgment will fall, in my mind, on those who have tried to protect her by lowering standards to protect her self-esteem. She will be the loser.

[russell]

Coddling kills.

You have a point.

Then again, stupid, unthinking, stubborn, ingrained ignorance and bigotry kill, too.

You're right, the young lady you refer to might not, in fact, have a very bright future. For more reasons than either you or I can shake a stick at. If so, were I her, I'd sneer too.

Then again, maybe she'll be just fine. Maybe she owns the building your were entering, and she was just wondering who the hell you thoght you were, opening the door for her. People sneering in NYC is not that unusual of an event.

And, not for nothing, but who the hell coddled Obama? Seems like a pretty hard-working dude to me.

Thanks -

[Turbulence]

She does not have a bright future, I’m afraid. The final judgment will fall, in my mind, on those who have tried to protect her by lowering standards to protect her self-esteem.

How do you know anything about this complete stranger that you did not exchange a single word? Or do you think all blacks are "like that"? Did it even occur to you that if someone sneers at you the most likely explanation is that that one individual is in a foul mood or that that one individual is simply a jerk?

[russell]

How do you know anything about this complete stranger that you did not exchange a single word?

The brick oven one knows all.

Thanks -

[Brick Oven Bill]

“Who the hell coddled Obama?”

Top Ten Obama Coddlers

1. His white grandmother, who took the time to raise him, before he threw her under the bus as a ‘typical white person’.
2. Whoever paid his private school tuition for prep school in Hawaii.
3. Whoever got him into Harvard (mentors, affirmative action, ‘legacy’ programs-Senior was a Harvard scholar too).
4. Whoever put him in charge of the Harvard Law Review, probably knowing that he was unable or unwilling to write anything while holding that chair.
5. Whoever paid his bills as a ‘community organizer’. Hilzoy thinks it might have been a Church group. I think it was the government or something worse.
6. Rezko who arranged the Iraqi financing so that Michelle could get a bigger garden on their $1.9 million mansion (community organizers have lifestyle expectations, you know).
7. Whoever doubled Michelle’s tribute after Barack was placed in the Senate.
8. The people who say that it is wrong to use his middle name.
9. The late night comedians who have not made reference to the multiple idiotic things he has said.
10. And, most ominously, large swaths of America. Obama has accomplished nothing in his lifetime, other than collect academic and political titles that have been presented to him. Our next President could very well have no real-world experience.

[hilzoy]

BOB: I don't know why I bother to respond, but: why on earth don't you try to do some research? About 5, for instance: just check Wikipedia, and you'll find that Obama worked for the Developing Communities Project. You can read all about them here. If you don't think Obama can write, I can only assume you've never read anything he's written. Etc., etc., etc.

For what it's worth, I know people who teach at Harvard Law, and they say he was one of the smartest students they recall. And it's a place where there are a lot of smart students.

[Brick Oven Bill]

Hilzoy;

I read your link that indicates that that Obama strived for, among other things, “a non-judgmental nurturing atmosphere” for the youth of Chicago. The sponsors include, among others, Illinois Human Services. I consider government programs to that provide “non-judgmental nurturing atmospheres” to be very damaging for the communities that they purport to serve, as the world in which they will enter is not nurturing and makes judgments. Coddling makes the coddler feel good (and can also be lucrative) but does great harm to the coddlee.

In contrast to Obama’s professional experience, I’d like to provide a biography of a non-coddled black man.

‘Jeff’ lives outside the US in the Western Hemisphere. He worked as an assistant at a hotel. He noted the lack of rental car outlets in the area and coordinated with his employer to rent out his vehicle to guests. Then there was a second car. Now there are lots of cars, watercraft, and real estate interests.

If there is a flat tire, Jeff takes the tire off the rim himself. Jeff still changes the oil in his cars. He opens the doors of his own building every day at 8am. Jeff and Bill share meals, go fishing together, talk openly about the implications of race, and share stories of our young families.

Jeff would make a better President than either of our two main choices. Jeff has not been coddled but has a mother and father. I have never met a Jeff in the United States. I suspect there were many Jeffs in the United States before the 1960s.

[liberal japonicus]

Maybe another non-coddled black man is here

[russell]

I have never met a Jeff in the United States.

You need to get out more. Seriously.

And I don't know how old your kids are, but if you think there's anything unusual about a teenage girl, of any race, sneering, you really, really, really need to get out more.

Get the fnck out of Connecticut, for starters.

You seem to pride yourself on being in touch with the real world. I think your head is way too far where it doesn't belong to know what's real and what's not.

My two cents. Make of it what you will.

Thanks -

[gwangung]

I consider government programs to that provide “non-judgmental nurturing atmospheres” to be very damaging for the communities that they purport to serve, as the world in which they will enter is not nurturing and makes judgments.

Yes, and I'm sure you're set up to render those judgements yourself.
.

[Brick Oven Bill]

The closest thing to an American Jeff I’ve met was a USMC Major the better part of twenty years ago. The USMC didn’t coddle back then. I hope they haven’t started to. I don’t put the Major even with Jeff, but they are close. I know an Indian with a DBA construction outfit. He is sharp enough to make it without the government program. The government program cheapened his accomplishments.

But I have witnessed two blatant examples of targeted minorities using their race to successfully extort leniency and end-of-term awards from military commanders. That kind of opened my eyes. In the long run, coddling is extremely damaging to targeted minorities. I know this to be true.

I am qualified to make these judgments because I have eyes and ears.

[Brick Oven Bill]

Come to think of it, I know two Indians with DBA construction outfits. The second one is a dummy who gets a lot of jobs, drives a big new truck, and reinforces a lot of stereotypes.

Placing unqualified people in high positions reinforces stereotypes (think of the Bush Administration). This is another unintended consequence of coddling.

[dr ngo]

Question to the kitty: would I violate the Protocols of Obsidian if I said BOB was yet again showing his racist tendencies?

I fear that it might, but if we don't say something, aren't we coddling him?

[gwangung]

I am qualified to make these judgments because I have eyes and ears.

Well, if we include the unqualified, we do set the bar rather low, as you say....

[Phil]

I have never met a Jeff in the United States. I suspect there were many Jeffs in the United States before the 1960s.

Yeah, being a black guy in America pre-1964 was a surefire ticket to the top of the heap. If only we could still blast them with firehoses and lynch them, maybe they'd finally get somewhere.

[russell]

I am qualified to make these judgments because I have eyes and ears.

Your eyes and ears only gather the inputs. It's your brain that makes the judgements.

A young black girl sneers at you when you open the door for her. Out of the 1,839,238 reasons she might do that, you somehow divine that it has something to do with the fact that she's black, that she's been coddled somehow, and that her future is not looking bright due to those facts.

In nation with something north of 35 million black people, you personally haven't met a 'Jeff', so obviously not a single one exists. OK, maybe one.

Jewish people have a genetic brain defect that somehow prevents them from taking full advantage of their otherwise superior endowments.

The list goes on.

Dude, you're a bottomless well of prejudices. By which I mean, you've reached your conclusions and the facts will have no effect upon the matter.

Your eyes and ears could flood you with a million examples to the contrary, a million other ways to consider and interpret the information you have, but it will have no effect.

Black people are coddled, and therefore their strength of character and will is sapped, and they fail to thrive. There is no other possible reason for their relative disadvantage in this society.

If they somehow succeed in spite of what they face, that's because they're coddled, too.

A brilliant analysis. It's kind of a unified field theory of social dysfunction.

The only problem is that it's false. I know this because I, too, have eyes and ears, and in addition my mind is not closed.

Thanks -

[Jesurgislac]

I drove through New York two days ago and politely opened up a door for a black teenage lady. She sneered at me.

Perhaps she knew who you were.

[Phil]

Perhaps she knew who you were.

A++++++ I LOLED WOULD READ AGAIN!!!

[JanieM]

If they somehow succeed in spite of what they face, that's because they're coddled, too.

A brilliant analysis. It's kind of a unified field theory of social dysfunction.

and

Perhaps she knew who you were.

(Falls off chair laughing.)

It's really Russell's analysis that's brilliant (especially his pointing out the damned if they do and damned if they don't aspect of BoB's...emanations).

Underneath, none of it is funny. But a good laugh can help me get through the day, so thanks.

[John Thullen]

Many years ago, in a barrio in the Philippines, a teenaged boy approached me and said he had met an American named BOB from Chicago some years before.

He waited a few seconds and asked me "Do you know BOB?"

I denied knowing BOB from Chicago because I had met BOB from Poughkeepsie and hadn't liked what I'd seen and figured once you've met BOB from Poughkeepsie, you've pretty much met BOB from Chicago and you sure wouldn't want to meet BOB from Texas.

There is only one BOB.

And he subsumes all BOBs, as they do him. No matter what BOB does, he is the BOB.

BOB, the BLOB of BOBs, moving across the landscape leaving a trail of BOBness.

No doubt, the kid in the Philippines met Jim from Tucson and asked him: "I know John from Pittsburgh. Do you know him?"

I'm sure Jim denied knowing John, having been exposed to Johnness somewhere along the way.

[cleek]

all Slack to BOB, the original SubGenius

[KCinDC]

Is BOB's solution to deport all the coddled blacks to Africa while we're deporting the Muslims to wherever he wants to deport them to?

[CaseyL]

OK, I don't comment much anymore, so maybe I have no right to ask this, but:

Is there any good reason not to ban BOB?

He's a bigot, a really nasty piece of work, who adds nothing but threadjack to any discussion he takes part in.

Why is he tolerated here?

[Catsy]

I drove through New York two days ago and politely opened up a door for a black teenage lady. She sneered at me.

Perhaps she knew who you were.

Jesurgislac wins the thread. We can close comments now.

[Catsy]

Which would've worked so much better if I'd formatted it like this:

I drove through New York two days ago and politely opened up a door for a black teenage lady. She sneered at me.

Perhaps she knew who you were.

Jesurgislac wins the thread. We can close comments now.

[hairshirthedonist]

BOB kind of fascinates me. I really can't fathom what his motives are, and his rants are so full of extraneous weirdness that they go beyond simple bigotry. I can't help but wonder what sort of person he is ... um ... in person. What kind of day does BOB usually have? What sort of things are in his living space? Who are his friends? What are his hobbies?

It's sort of backwards, really, that I wonder these things about BOB, but not, say, Hilzoy or russell or OCSteve. They're probably far more interesting people, but I guess I suppose some normalcy on their parts, so I just don't wonder what makes them tick so much.

None of this is to say that I would necessarily oppose banning BOB - just musing.

[Nombrilisme Vide]

@russel:
'How do you know anything about this complete stranger that you did not exchange a single word?'

The brick oven one knows all.

No, no, no; gotta move with the times:

Brick Oven Bill is aware of all kinesic traditions.

[John Thullen]

hairshirthedonist:

I'm all for "extraneous weirdness."

I've no vote, but BOB stays on the island.

Weirdness is one thing, but the extraneousity of it is what fascinates my various extraneous weirdnesses.

If BOB's weirdnesses were of the garden-variety, fundamental kind, he would be boring.

Add in his oddly good-natured, puckish, but impervious reactions to our criticisms and what you have here is an important and slightly alarming diversion, like a flock of ostriches wearing funny pants rampaging thru a law library for no apparent reason.

I think BOB is Mike Myers' next odd character study.

[russell]

Add in his oddly good-natured, puckish, but impervious reactions to our criticisms

Agreed. Say what you like, the dude has a thick skin. He takes the harsh with a smile.

Thanks -