PatsWSB47

Do you agree with Steele?

The automatic reaction thing was more a general observation of attitudes coming from everywhere, not you specifically. Steele would say white guilt compels us to show our outrage. "See, I'm not racist"

To be fair I think the author of the picture damn well knew it was racist. At the same time I think partisan politicians are more than happy to advance anything that they think will hurt the other side, in this case it's this cartoon. I think Steele might be more comfortable with that explanation because it leaves race out of it and forces us to confront the politics of it(birth certificate), leaving Obama an individual, not a piece of a black cause that needs guilty whites to defend it. Maybe I'm over-thinking in this particular case but I think I'm headed in the right direction, generally speaking.

chicowalker

I agree with some of what he says, disagree with a lot of it.


and I think the "white guilt" notion is largely bs -- in some ways it's as racist as anything else, as it essentially means whites are incapable of understanding justice and equality for blacks


I agree with all of that except the "guilty whites" part.

Nikolai

I understand where PSB42 is coming from, but I think, in this case, the picture has pretty clear racist overtones.

Just hearing about the picture, I wondered about the double-standard myself, and assumed the photo was a partisan response to the years of Bush-Chimp photoshop jobs, which I thought were based partly on appearance and partly as a shot toward his intelligence. I thought maybe the picture in question was a jab at Obama's intelligence, which prompted the playing of the race card. But once I saw it, it became pretty clear to me that we're not talking about responses to Bush images.

__________________
We get what we deserve.

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“On a day when they could have had impact players David Terrell or Koren Robinson..they took Georgia defensive tackle Richard Seymour, who had 1 sacks last season in the pass-happy SEC and is too tall to play tackle at 6-6 and too slow to play defensive end. This genius move was followed by trading out of a spot where they could have gotten the last decent receiver in Robert Ferguson and settled for tackle Matt Light, who will not help any time soon.”

PatsWSB47

I think it's pretty much as widespread as Steele does and I think many good tolerant, well intentioned people are blind to it. I think your premise is wrong. I think it means many whites feel it necessary to constantly prove they understand justice and equality for blacks and unintentionally wind up treating them as if they can't cope without their helping hand.

Harry Boy

Racism is a two way street but the slobbering phony ass kissing do-gooders would rather cut their own eyeballs out than admit or acknowledge it (that in itself is racism) when one person is favored over another based on the color of their skin Thats Racism, when a person goes to the polls and votes for a candidate based on the color of the candidates skin, Thats Racism.

Affirmative Action Is Racism
School Busing Is Racism
A Caucus Based On The Color Of Skin Is Racism
Polish American Clubs Is Racism
Mongolian Polka Dances Is Racism

"that should fire up the do-gooders harry"

__________________
Harry Boy (Genius)

In The Absence Of Law And Order Society Will Surely Destroy Itself

chicowalker

maybe -- like I said, I agree with what some of what he says and disagree with some of it

Regardless, it's not an excuse for this woman's behavior, which is the story here, and her track record -- if what I've read is true -- shows an attitude that goes beyond an isolated incident.

DarrylS

Another example of how conservatives accuse liberals and/or the "liberal media" of hypocrisy whenever they get called out on something like this. There have been numerous depictions of Obama as a monkey/primate/savage, etc, in addition to the Hitler/witch doctor references that became infamous during teabagger rallies, and whenever someone says, "Hey, you just called a black man a monkey. That's racist!" right wingers will pile on saying, "OH PEOPLE PORTRAYED BUSH AS A MONKEY, SO WHY CAN'T WE DO THAT TO OBAMA???"

As if that justifies what they did.

Some will even say that a monkey depiction of Obama isn't racist at all, neither is saying that he's "half black."

Suggest the skeptics take this picture and poll a dozen or so black folks, to ascertain whether they believe it is racist. Racism is usually in the eyes of the beholder, not the casual observer.

__________________
"Being the best doesn't mean you always win. It just means you win more than anyone else".. tweet from Kurt Warner to Tom Brady.

Harry Boy

My wifes brother looks like a Moose he has a long face and a lot of fur on his back.

Obama isn't half Black he's half White.

__________________
Harry Boy (Genius)

In The Absence Of Law And Order Society Will Surely Destroy Itself

PatsWSB47

Just so everyone is clear on this, I am not justifying the picture or the motivation behind it. The racist overtones cannot be dismissed just because Bush was characterized as a monkey too....though everyone knows Obama's mother is white so what's the generic mother chimp doing in the picture? Maybe so they can spin it I guess.

White history says loud and clear that Bush as a chimp means he, personally has not evolved, not that white people haven't. Black history only makes the case that Obama as a black man has not evolved. I get that but it does not prove it. Seriously, what if someone genuinely does think a back man is on the same intellectual level as Bush. Does it have to be racist to use the same caricatures? I'm not asking if it's smart to do. I'm asking if it has to be racist to do. And if someone does why do we insist on proclaiming it racist? So we can feel good and say "see, I'm not racist"?