Racism

Fox Nation’s Racist Attacks On Michelle Obama

Posted by on October 27, 2010 at 3:18 pm. 4 Comments :

If there is still anyone who doubts that the GOP/Tea Party/Fox Nation of Beckerheads is overtly and proudly racist, here is yet another example to which you can direct them to try to set them straight.

Michelle Obama Food DesertAn item on Fox Nation links to an article in the ultra-conservative CNSNews that reports on a program to address the scarcity of supermarkets in low-income communities. The program is being promoted by the First Lady, Michelle Obama, and is described in a video on the White House web site:

“As part of Lets Move!, the campaign to end childhood obesity, First Lady Michelle Obama is taking on food deserts. These are nutritional wastelands that exist across America in both urban and rural communities where parents and children simply do not have access to a supermarket. Some 23.5 million Americans – including 6.5 million children – currently live in food deserts.”

What the Fox Nationalists portray as a “scam” is actually a troubling reality for many Americans who have little or no access to affordable, healthy foods. Consequently they have to rely on fast food, junk food, and over-priced convenience stores.

The response to this problem by visitors to Fox Nation is blood-curdling bigotry aimed at the First Lady and the under-privileged consumers she is striving to help. Here is a short sampling of their repulsiveness (link to screen capture):

  • I see that her intelligence matches her looks.
     
    Do you think this commenter regards her as ugly because of her race?
     
  • And you know why these “Food Deserts” exist? Because of the high crime, shrinkage’ (shoplifting) and fraudulent, frivolous lawsuits brought against them in these ‘inner-city’ ghettos. Large supermarket chains aren’t willing to take the risks involved with opening a store in these ghettos. And, who can blame them?
     
    Once again, the ‘Sub-Primes’ bring their ‘hardship’ and ‘struggle’ upon themselves.
     
    See? All of those poor people are thieves. And “Sub-Prime” is a reference to sub-primate in racist circles.
     
  • Maybe we can get “meals on wheels” for the food stamp people so they can sit on their a– or run the streets all day selling drugs. Some schools service 3 MEALS a day already. Get off you a–, the walk to the store would do you good. My nearest store is 1 mile away but I have paid for my car myself.
     
    See? All of those poor people are also drug addicts.
     
  • She is one dumb skank.
     
    That one just speaks for itself.
     
  • Its all about evolution , If a person , group , or neighborhood , is so dumb as to demand fastfood over good food then I am all for natural selection removing these people from my planet ,. They are cluttering up the joint anyway.
     
    We certainly don’t want any of “those poeple” on “my planet.” Let them all die.

Fox Nation has stopped posting any comment I contribute. Despite the fact that I never use foul language or uncivil rhetoric. And despite the fact that their logo says “All Opinions Welcome.” Yet the disgusting comments above are permitted to be posted and receive praise from their racist brethren who populate the site. And that tells you more about this crowd than anything else I could add.

[Just Added:] I went back to Fox Nation to read some additional comments and found this gem:

  • Synonyms:
    Barack Obama = Bl ack President = Commander in Cheat = Liar
    Michelle Obama = First Lady = Fannie Mae = Blackie-O

And Fox Nation finds this acceptable discourse.

What If Juan Williams Had Said…

Posted by on October 21, 2010 at 4:41 pm. 3 Comments :

The story du jour throughout the mediasphere is the firing of Juan Williams by NPR for saying that seeing Muslims in the airport makes him “nervous.” The reaction from conservatives, who obviously feel the same way, was instantaneous and brutal. There have been kneejerk calls to defund NPR along with the usual rightist mantra about the “liberal” media.

The problem is that the language used by Williams was not harmless unless you regard Muslims as uniquely deserving of contempt. The question that has to be asked is: What would the response be if a white commentator said that seeing an African American walking down the sidewalk would make them want to cross the street?

Williams may not be a bigot, but what he said was unmistakably bigoted. He defended himself today in an op-ed on Fox News online by saying that he had been “fired for telling the truth.”

“Yesterday NPR fired me for telling the truth. The truth is that I worry when I am getting on an airplane and see people dressed in garb that identifies them first and foremost as Muslims.”

First of all, wearing Muslim garb doesn’t identify anyone as first and foremost anything, no more than wearing a baseball cap identifies someone as first and foremost a sports fan. Isn’t it possible to wear Muslim garb and be first and foremost a neurosurgeon? Or for that matter, first and foremost an American? But the larger problem is that Williams’ excuse suggests that it would be acceptable for Greta Van Susteren to say that seeing Mexicans in the supermarket makes her want to clutch her purse tighter, if that’s what she regards as the truth?

It is not true that people in Muslim garb cause nervousness, only that they make Williams nervous. I don’t have a problem with it. It isn’t enough to assert that a certain segment of society has prejudices and, therefore, when you express those ideas you are simply articulating something that is true for that bigoted segment of society and you’re off the hook.

For its part, NPR explained their action by saying that Williams had “undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR.” They further asserted that his dismissal was not due solely to this incident, but that he had violated the ethical standards of NPR on numerous occasions and had been counseled many times in the past. However, we can expect those facts to be ignored as the right-wing hypocrites defend Williams and castigate NPR. Where were these stalwart defenders of free speech when Rick Sanchez was terminated by CNN for making similarly inappropriate comments? The same people hoisting Williams on their shoulders had laughed at Sanchez and cheered his misfortune. Ditto Helen Thomas. Ditto David Shuster.

It’s ironic that this affair, which will ignite conservatives’ accusations that public broadcasting is hopelessly liberal, is breaking now, just a few days after a report that shows how conservatively slanted PBS is.

This isn’t really hard, people. If you do not want to be punished for being a bigot, stop being a fucking bigot. Because if you don’t stop it is going to affect your career. Unless, of course, you work for Fox News (see Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, Megyn Kelly, etc.)

And lest anyone try to frame this as a free speech issue, please note that Williams still has all of his civil rights. In fact, Fox News just made him a full time employee and gave him a big raise. If anyone has a right to complain about suppression…well….when was the last time you saw a network pundit in Muslim garb?

[Addendum:] The frantic calls to defund NPR have materialized, including an announcement that Sen. Jim DeMint (SD-Tea Party) will introduce legislation tomorrow to do so. But DeMint’s bill may be difficult to implement because there are no direct federal funds to NPR for DeMint to take away.

Also, on Fox News today, anchor Jon Scott defended Williams by explaining that his feelings were perfectly understandable because, “the terrorists wanted to scare us and they have achieved their aim.” That’s comforting.

But it was Bill O’Reilly who managed to put it all into perspective by asserting that…

“Juan Williams wasn’t giving his opinion of Muslims on airplanes. He was simply stating what he felt.”

See? Two completely different things. Thank God O’Reilly cleared that up. And leave it to O’Reilly to sum up his defense of hate by inviting violence with this this talking point: “NPR puts itself in the kill zone.” Hear that dog whistle, Tea Party Militia?

Laura Schlessinger’s Problem Is Not The N Word

Posted by on August 13, 2010 at 11:05 am. 90 Comments :

There is a lot of buzz this morning about a discussion on the Dr. Laura radio program where Schlessinger got heated up about what constitutes racist language.

In her response to an African-American caller who was disturbed about comments that she regarded as racist, Schlessinger accused her of being hypersensitive. She went on to justify the use of the “N” word because black comics use it all the time on HBO:

“Turn on HBO, listen to a black comic, and all you hear is ni**er, ni**er, ni**er.”

This has set off a flurry of outrage from offended African-American activists, journalists, and plain old ordinary citizens of every race. I won’t presume to lecture people on what they should or should not be offended by, but I’m not particularly disturbed by Schlessinger’s remarks in the context in which they were used. She is correct in saying that she didn’t call anyone a ni**er, she merely offered an example of how the word is used in a real-life scenario.

I don’t believe that any word should ever be permanently excised from our vocabulary. Words are just collections of letters and their meaning is assigned by the user and the context. I would not want Lenny Bruce or George Carlin to have been silenced for using words that people found offensive. Their application of language actually helped make our society better.

However, I am offended by remarks Schlessinger made on the same program that I find far more offensive than the “N” word. For instance:

“We’ve got a black man as president, and we have more complaining about racism than ever. I mean, I think that’s hilarious.

Hilarious? Schlessinger thinks it’s funny that the election of a black president results in an escalation of racist commentary and behavior. She doesn’t understand how that could happen. She seems to think that racism ended on November 4, 2008, because “Whites voted him in.” It’s all over, stop complaining.

Schlessinger needs to be reminded that some 48 million people voted against Obama. It’s safe to say that some percentage of them were racists. They didn’t go away after the inauguration either. It is the very fact that we have a black president that incites racists to be come more aggressive in their hate. It causes people who are inclined to draw these distinctions to press harder. Which brings us to the next notable remark from Dr. Laura:

“[W]hat I just heard from Jade is a lot of what I hear from black-think.”

Black-think? That is precisely the sort of distinction that is used to divide people. I would be interested to hear what her definition of black-think is – and what makes her an expert on it. It still amazes me how someone so incredibly dense has a platform on radio and TV to demonstrate their stupidity and utter lack of comprehension.

I find both of these comments far more offensive than a simple reiteration of the word “ni**er.” Just like my use of it there, it is intended only to let the reader know what word is being discussed. But the latter remarks are indicative of a more overt expression of racism on Schlessinger’s part. Or at the very least a striking inability to comprehend how race factors into society and relationships. She actually told the caller (whose husband is white) that if she didn’t have a sense of humor she shouldn’t “marry out of her race.” I suppose we should test all the interracial couples in America to make sure they are sufficiently funny.

I hope that Schlessinger’s appalling attitude about racism is brought more into the foreground and is not crowded out of the debate by a couple of incendiary words. Her problem is not a specific word, it is her whole mentality.

Update: In a hilarious bit of melodramatic tantrumizing, Dr. Laura has announced that she will be quitting her radio show at the end of this year. Her reason is that she wants to get her free speech rights back. By shutting down her nationally broadcast platform for speaking??? Um, OK.

Why Fox News Is Racist

Posted by on July 26, 2010 at 8:53 pm. 9 Comments :

For the past few weeks Fox News has been ratcheting up the racial content of their tabloid fare. Megyn Kelly’s obsession with a trumped up story about the New Black Panther Party and their dozen or so members is a perfect example of the race-baiting that Fox passes off as journalism. They follow that up with the promotion of an Andrew Breitbart video that was blatantly edited to tar USDA employee Shirley Sherrod as a racist even though the opposite was evident when the video was viewed in its entirety.

Glenn Beck Deploring HonorBut these recent events are not aberrations. They are representative of an agenda that cannot be anything but deliberate. Recall Fox’s use of offensive rhetoric with reference to President Obama and his family like “terrorist fist jab” and “Obama’s baby mama.” Then there was the time that Bill O’Reilly tried to explain his reluctance to be critical of the First Lady by saying that he didn’t “want to go on a lynching party.” Or the time he attempted to praise patrons of Sylvia’s Restaurant in Harlem by noting that they didn’t shout for their “mother-fucking iced teas.” And who could forget Glenn Beck calling Obama a racist with a deep-seated hatred for white people? Beck is escalating his racial insensitivity by holding his self-glorifying rally in DC on the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech next month.

Some people might wonder why Fox News would risk alienating a potentially significant portion of their audience. Well, we have the answer now. According to Brian Stelter of the New York Times, the African-American segment of viewers of Fox News in primetime this season is only 1.38%. That compares to 19.3% for MSNBC, and 20.7% for CNN, numbers that are much closer to the 14% of African-Americans in the population at large. These numbers also suggest that the black audience that might have been watching Fox have split evenly between MSNBC and CNN causing those networks to be over-weighted by about 6% each.

It is apparent that Fox News has little to lose by offending a segment of the television universe that doesn’t watch their programs anyway. Combine that with Fox’s political incentive to suppress Democratic votes and the strategy of inflaming racial animus doesn’t seem so bad in their warped perspective.

At the very least this explains why Fox persists in airing obviously offensive stories and why they think they can get away with it without adverse consequences. They have nothing to lose in financial terms, and much to gain by pandering to a prejudice demographic. It may be reprehensible to decent folks, but to Fox it’s just good business, and more importantly, good politics.

Fox Nationalists Oppose Tea Party/NAACP Summit

Posted by on July 19, 2010 at 12:54 pm. 4 Comments :

Over at the Fox Nation this morning they are asking their readers: Should Tea Parties Hold Racism Summit With NAACP? Here is a sampling of the response:

No, absolutely not. It would be like attending a abusive spouse seminar after someone asks you if you still beat your wife.

No. It would be a moot point,meaningless to people like that, who live to cry raceism,victumhood,it’s all about me mentality. The accusations would not stop.

No, proverbs state that if you try to reason with a fool, you only end up hurting yourself.

Why should we associate ourselves with the NAACP. We do not associate ourselves with the dark side.

The answer is NO. The Tea Party should do all it can to distance themselves from people who are openly racist. Which is more than I can say for the NAACP.

Absolutely not. Why would the Tea Party want to tarnish it’s image by associating with a known racist organization like the NAACP?

WE DON’T OWE THEM AN APOLOGY…THEY OWE US!!!
Are you f**king kidding me??? Grovel before the NAACP??? For what?

ABSOLUTELY NOT! We have nothing to defend, the NAACP does! No longer silent! They owe the nation and apology for their vile racism and black supremicist behavior!!

Meeting with the NAACP will only validate their witch hunt. The NAACP is an irrelevant, racist organization.

Why….naacp is no longer the organization it started out as. They stand for racism now. After all the minorities are more important than the whites.

Well…that clears that up.

Ironically, according to the article to which Fox Nation links, it was the leader of the Tea Party Federation who suggested the summit between themselves and the NAACP. Apparently the Tea Bagging rank and vile won’t hear of it. At the time of this writing there was not a single affirmative response to the notion of a summit. But there was quite a bit of hatred directed at the nation’s largest civil rights organization.

If these people don’t like being called racists, the best way to prevent it would be to stop acting like racists.