Thursday, October 16, 2008

Totally Not Racist









Why is it so hard to cop to racism? This image was included in a Republican newsletter. The newsletter was distributed by the Chaffey Community Republican Women. Not surprisingly, some people found it offensive and it's now a story. And the person behind the nifty decision to include this picture, Diane Fedele, has apologized. From the article :
She said she doesn't think in racist terms, pointing out she once supported Republican Alan Keyes, an African-American who previously ran for president.

"I didn't see it the way that it's being taken. I never connected," she said. "It was just food to me. It didn't mean anything else."
Riiiight. She originally included images on Obama Bucks featuring cucumber sandwiches, Sunny D and beef wellington, but they were too large so, instead, she just Googled "food" and slapped on whatever came up. Watermelon, fried chicken and Kool Aid just happened to be the foods she found. And she even used the "Some of my best friends are Alan Keyes" defense.

The next time a political operative gets caught doing something like this, they should own up: "Oops! My bad. It's completely racist, but I sent it anyway because me and my friends find it completely hilarious. In the future, I will try to remember that it hurts the party politically to be overtly racist, and will confine my hilarity to country clubs and Palin rallies. I am sorry...for embarrassing Republicans."

5 comments:

VagabondLoafer said...

“she doesn't think in racist terms”

Geez, I just love the defense “I couldn’t possibly be a racist because…”
a. I touched a black person once.
b. I worked with a black person once.
c. I saw a black person once.
d. I love that Wayne Brady. He’s hilarious.

Check out comedian Chelsea Peretti’s site http://www.blackpeopleloveus.com/
She gives a pretty good treatment of this sickness.

Laura Swisher said...

I'm familiar with that site and am jealous I didn't come up with it.

tankboy2902 said...

You've finally come up with a blog post that has me thinking DEEP THOUGHTS and may take a while to comment on. I believe in basketball they call that a swishshot, or in the vernacular, nothing but net.

Wow.

Butternut said...

She forgot the Kool's and Colt .45. Works every time.

10 Obama bucks will get you 40 acres in the Mid West. Mule is extra.

I can't wait for Obama to win and people to start saying "Well, you know he's only half black".

I wouldn't mind touching a black woman... or two.

tankboy2902 said...

Vagabondloafer is right. I get a kick out of all the white people who claim me as their black friend. Too goofy for words.

I apologize in advance. I have to get long winded. First, I'm glad this happened and I hope it blows up into a national thing. Unfortunately, I feel once again my nation is prepared to disappoint me.

I'm glad this happened because it's been lying under the surface of the campaigns like a landmine. Actually there's no 'like' to it. It's been there, everyone's been waiting for it, and it's finally gone off.

Honestly, no one (who understands) cares about the racism. OK, the four food groups were a bit over the top, but some ugly symbolism was going to be involved. Thank god it wasn't the guys in the white robes. Strangely, even hypocrisy isn't the worst offense. We know lots of people are racist and hypocrites. I know my cousin is a bum, so when he asks me to borrow money I say no. I take that into account when I deal with him. The worst thing is that America has major problems and they are standing in the way. When they're in power they don't do anything but loot the treasury and blame other people for how rotten everything is. When other people take the reins they stand in the way and blame the leaders for how rotten everything is. It's like George Wallace on the steps of the University Of Alabama, "you're not coming inside." Those people who are shouting, "Kill him!" at rallies really want to say "K T N!"

America used to be number one in everything. That was something to be proud of. It was also weird. But I think one of the reasons for it was the diversity of the population. Hungarians and Poles brought a love of math skills. Asians and Jews brought a deep respect for education. The English and Germans brought a love of hard work and a belief in common sense (over education). The French brought the recipe for freedom fries. Unfortunately what Africans brought got lost because as groups we were busted up and turned into small groups of disconnected individuals that gradually forgot our roots. What I'm saying is that the Jesus-loving, white Christian America that some people want all of us to return to never really existed. Get over it and don't have a shit-fit if a gay couple moves in next door.

Maybe I'm a dumbass but I can't see Palin fixing anything but the Swiss bank accounts of her and her friends. I'm ready to have hard times. The purge will do us good. People will start to remember the difference between wants and needs. We'll grow up a bit. If we're going to have a repeat of the 1930's I'd rather we not do the German part again. Unfortunately there are two things you should never say: "it can't happen here", and "I have nothing to hide." and I don't think enough people know that.

The people who really disappoint me in all this is the fourth estate. The media's main job is to find out what people need to know and get it out to them in a compact, timely fashion. I have time to read blogs, books, and papers, most people don't. They're the real problem here. It's ludicrous that I can be more informed by The Daily Show then the nightly news. As usual they'll focus exclusively on the black-white element and ignore the fact that this isn't some small group of angry old men meeting at a bar.

Wayne is mildly amusing. He's not even close to being the funniest Brady (he's my cousin). I have uncles that'll have you on the floor. He comes from a long line of smartasses (sometimes it makes me wonder about the true power of DNA). I don't even consider him the most successful Brady. Many of us do remarkably well at whatever we do. That would be Julio, lieutenant governor (USVI) and currently a federal judge.