By now you have seen and heard about Senate Majority leaders unbelievably stupid remarks about Barack Obama in which he called him a “light-skinned” African American with no discernible “Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.”
Harry apologized for his “poor choice of words” and this was promptly accepted by everyone from Obama to Al Sharpton to the Congressional Black Caucus.
Two quick and obvious thoughts. Racism is clearly only a sin of the right. Ann Coulter makes this point in her own special way to Al Sharpton. African American leadership in this country is non-existent. The entrenched African-American ruling class doesn’t mind racism as long as you vote for them to retain power.
What this story is really about is condescension. Harry Reid condescending to all African-Americans with his comments and the equally egregious condescension of the black power base that is happy to look the other way on racism when it suits their politics with the expectation that all will go along with them.
Martin Luther King famously dreamed of a day when people no longer judged by the color of skin but by the content of their character. All we can dream about is when are no longer judged by the color of their state (or party membership) but by the stupid things they say.
This story is also really about condescension because Harry Reid asserts that the President turns on a certain affect when speaking to certain audiences and nobody bats an eye. That politicians routinely pander to their audiences even to the point of affecting or exaggeration a dialect is responded to with only a mild “Duh?”
The fact that the President, or any other politician, adopts a false dialect to pander to an audience is the height of condescension. So just remember in any discussion on this topic. Whether it is the lame apologies (“poor choice of words”), or the politically expedient cheek turning done by the black leadership, or the ignored pandering just remember one thing. They all think you are stupid.
As for Harry’s comments, besides racist they are monumentally stupid. How a politician in this day and age can comment on person’s skin color or even say the word negro is beyond me.
Now if Harry had instead said that Obama was a “thin-skinned ego with no discernible intellect” he may have been on to something.
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