"Miscegenation is a CRIME against American values. Repeal Loving v. Virginia". Interracial relationships are a crime against American values? Seriously? Well, it's certainly no crime against my American values or the values of any sane, reasonable person, but apparently it really, really bothers the precious widdle "moral" sensibilities of some really, really fucking ignorant people. Hmmmm, I can't help but wonder if it could possibly be considered a "crime" against the racially bigotted, eliminationist and xenophobic "values" defined and practiced by the GOP? Yeah, I can buy that...Face it, the GOP hasn't earned the privilege of being given the benefit of the doubt on issues like this; its own history of blatant racism and its laissez faire position on dealing with socio-cultural racism are a matter of public record (follow the link to a fucking brilliant blog post). And even if the GOP manages to offer up some sort of an apology or explanation for this particular incident, for it or anyone else to suggest it isn't responsible for this act and others like it, is completely disingenuous, because the real issue, and what might get overlooked in all of the semantic hullabaloo surrounding this whole affair, is that the person who posted this foul, racist garbage obviously felt the GOP site was a warm, welcoming and inviting place for this kind of thing. I wonder why? Now, if this racist shit had been posted at a Democratic website it would've been for shock value to enrage the lefties, to have some fun at their expense, but this was posted at a GOP site where it was thought to be right at home, perfectly in line with party ideology and practice. The point is that even if the GOP is not directly responsible for actually posting this image it is indirectly responsible for it being posted by fostering an environment that lures these kind of people to itself, people that feel comfortable manifesting their racism under the auspices of their political overlords and fellow party affiliates. I know that I wouldn't call anyone a racial slur unless 1) I am in fact a racist, and 2) it is considered acceptable behavior by a group of like-minded people in whose presence I feel comfortable. You know, strength through unity, unity through a shared vision...and all that crap. Well, I guess when the GOP's biggest, most vocal spokesperson can repeatedly call our bi-racial president a Halfrican American without censure, criticism or condemnation from his own party, what can you expect? Certainly not an ownership share in an NFL franchise, thank goodness. And, again, certainly not the benefit of the doubt in all matters racial. And the GOP wonders why it can't win over the African American community? Really? I guess when one's collective head is so far up one's collective ass that one is collectively able to sniff one's own collective armpit from the inside, that can easily happen...collectively speaking. But in all seriousness, the GOP really couldn't care less about winning over the African American community. It's quite apparent that it thinks its done quite well without the blacks, so it isn't too concerned about fixing what it doesn't really think is broken, right? By constantly having issues like the one mentioned above cropping up over and over again, almost ad nauseum, the Grand Old Party makes it pretty clear that it's not really interested in being inclusive to anyone but straight, white, Christian males, despite its claims to the contrary. It undoubtedly causes one to be very wary of the great yawning abyss between the GOP's de rigueur words and its de facto actions...actions...actions...
While I know it won't erase the GOP's long track record of racist horseshit I'd like to see if the GOP does the right thing by apologizing for this act and condemning it or if it tries to defer responsibility by claiming it had nothing to do with it, that it can't be held responsible for what gets posted on its website. My bet is the latter, but it might actually be a little bit of both. Hell, I wouldn't at all be surprised if it tries using the first amendment, you know, this person has the right to say anything he or she wants so who is the GOP to deny that right? Of course that's entirely true, but it's also completely lubricious bullshit. All I know is that as a white man dating a black woman I believe she and I both are owed an apology by the GOP and, really, so is every one else as well, because if we aren't all allowed to freely choose whom we love then true freedom is a chimera, and real American values are a fucking sham. There's no place for the kind of rhetoric contained in the image above, so make it right GOP. That is, if you actually have the courage to do so for once. We're all waiting...
ADDENDUM: Apparently this photo was on the GOP Facebook page since 10/20/'09, only to be quietly taken off the site very late in the day on 10/25/'09 with no commentary or explanation from the site administrator regarding why it took so long to remove it. This only further reinforces my thesis. Truly shameful and utterly reprehensible.
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26 comments:
will they have the courage to make it right? I doubt it and if they try it will not be legit. Their hole is getting bigger and bigger and soon the whole fuckin bunch of them will be buried alive, kickin and screamin all the way to China. If this country puts rethugs back in power EVER again we are fuckin doomed!!!
Sue: The only way the GOP can make things right is by ending its racist crap and start being truly inclusive in deed and not word only, and when one of its own steps out and says and/or does some stupid racist shit the GOP needs to condemn that person for it. Until that happens no apology is really legit.
Race-baiting has historically been one of the tools in the Gopper tool kit. They use the divide and conquer strategy every day. (See Rush Limbaugh)
Nobody likes to think they are a bad person. The GOP allows racists a refuge and makes them feel good about themselves and excuse or deny their racism BECAUSE they have a refuge. Can't be wrong if everybody's doing it, right?
It works for them so they will never walk away from it. And the only way that they could change and distance themselves from it would be to admit to it and admit it is wrong. Do you see that happening EVER? Not me...
ksliberal: You're right on all counts, and no, I don't see the GOP ever changing in any fundamental way. No, the GOP will just rewrite its own history to make it seem like it was more Afro-friendly at one time, like its done with its horrible civil rights record and its dishonest attempts to take credit for many of the advances enacted by liberals over the years.
My Response:
And yet he is the President.
HA!
All you looser self proclaimed PUREBREDS {read Inbreds} will just have to bitch and moan while you ring people up at the Dollar Store and make eyes at your buck toothed, six toed cousins.
Sir, how dare you call the GOP racist. Would a racist elect a black man as their chairman?
Yeah...that's what I thought.
Seeing Eye Chick: Well, that's the problem--he's president. How can you expect these inbred patriots to live under a oppressive miscegenetist regime? Don't you love Jesus?
Phuck: Window dressing so they can genuine use the very argument you facetiously use here.
any apologies would be meaningless. they keep doing the same shit over and over, so them saying they're sorry for anything isn't worth shit.
Nonnie: I know, but I just like to see how it unfolds. The GOP will never change. While you can't trust the GOP you can always trust the GOP to be the GOP.
You know, this kind of ignorance just sets my pants on fire. I would love to go toe to toe with the idiot who thought that this would be a good tweet, consume them with my intellect and way with words, but alas, I realize that it would be all for naught as someone like this does not have the ability to fight on an intellectual level. Persons of this nature are driven by their guts, a result of having been taught all of their lives that anyone who is not a white, heterosexual christian is to be hated and loathed. What a waste of precious air and natural resources.
Question: Is/was this the facebook page of the national GOP or one of the local organizations?
I, for one, am getting tired of being called Racist. That is so politically incorrect. The preferred term in Republican American.
Poietes: I couldn't agree with you more. Someone like this needs to b beaten within an inch of his or her life and ostracized from civilization.
G: It was on the Republican National Committee Facebook page; it was the national page.
Blanca: Ooops. Sorry. It won't happen again...maybe.
Okay.
So why paint the picture that all Republicans are like this?
I'm a Republican and I'm certainly not like that.
I have a warped sense of humor, but this is incredibly juvenile (the incident, not this post). Almost like the stuff that Vince McMahon likes to do with his business (his speciality is lame 90's references, potty humor and garbage like this).
All I can say about this is that if they're trying to make a point using humor/satire, then they're getting an F- for effort.
There is a right way to use humor/satire with an edge to get a point across, and a wrong way.
This is clearly a wrong way.
G: As for me painting all Republicans as racist, I was careful to use the term GOP and not Republicans. The Republican party has a history of racist crap just like the nation does, without every US citizen being a racist, not every Republican is either. However, the party overall hasn't historically done much to show the African American community that its concerns are a subject of concern for the GOP; it hasn't shown that the black community matters as much as the white community does, and it still hasn't and blacks have noticed, big time. Now, the DNC isn't blameless in this matter--it takes the black community for granted at ballot time because it knows the African American block isn't gonna vote Republican, so it doesn't make tremendous overtures in that regard. But at least the DNC doesn't ignore blacks when it comes to legislation and trying to work with the African American community to help it solve its problems. Both parties could do better, but the GOP is disgraceful in this respect. Instead of the GOP asking blacks to listen to the GOP I think the GOP needs to really listen to African Americans, because there is a reason they, for the most part, don't vote for the GOP and that should matter to the party.
Now as for the incident itself, I agree, assuming it was an attempt at humor. However, even if it was a joke that still proves my point, that this person felt like this would be a welcoming place for this kind of "humor". And you're right that all that it does is reinforce the image of the GOP as a racist haven. Still, I can't help but wonder what point the poster was trying to make other than that interracial relations in general are bad, but especially in the particular case of the one that gave us Mr. Obama, whose policies he/she opposes. Even if it was an attempt at satire, which, personally, I don't think it was, it was clearly racist.
I don't think it was an attempt at satire, just an extremely ill-informed, seriously misguided attempt at humor, that unfortunately has reinforced the notion that at the national level, the GOP is not relevant as it thinks it is.
The local & state level I think is a little bit more relevant, at least in my state.
The rest of your point, I basically agree with.
G: I don't even think it was an attempt at humor. There is nothing to suggest that the way in which this image and message were crated bares any resemblance to any formal constructs of humor. No, I think it was a clear message of disapproval of Obama's bi-racial heritage and all such unions, because apparently they will lead to anti-American, commie, socialist, pinko, Muslim, freedom hating people like Obama. Oh, and he loves him some chicken, sho 'nuff, because you know, he's half black. That's my take on what this person was trying to say.
Now, if you mean that you think this person simply placed it on the site thinking it might cause a row and the uproar itself would be funny, you may have a point. I just don't really buy that, because I think if one wanted to cause a bigger commotion one would post it on the DNC site. "Man, them lefties sure get bent out of shape over that kinda shit. Woo hoo!" If it had been posted there I'd more easily buy into your position, but as it is, I stand by mine.
Zirgar, Octopus left a Halloween card (3rd photo) for you.
(O)CT(O)PUS: Thank you! I'll be right over.
I truly think it was a misguided attempt at humor. Whoever posted it thought it was funny. I personally didn't find it funny at all. I found it offensive.
I've seen worse, and this about ranks up there with the ones I've seen.
G: Just out of curiosity what is it about this image that has you thinking this is just an attempt at humor and not what it seems to be on the surface: a hateful, racist statement, pure and simple?
The GOP is a bunch of revisionist idiots. They speak "stupid" and their followers fall in lock step with them. I eat, sleep and breathe what is going on with this party - and I may need drugs soon, just to cope. REality, and intelligence are two attributes lacking in that party.
when I first read of this picture being posted I was livid...but again, nothing shocks me with these asswipes.
Honestly?
Because I use to see images like this at one of my jobs. I used to work with old newspapers, and some of the ads that used stereotypical images such as these were funny for their time period (late 19th to about the turn of the century).
Still others were quite offensive, no matter how funny the presentation was.
Example: In the 1880's, there was a pharmaceutical firm that produced a cough syrup called "Dr Sanford's Ginger Syrup" and it was designed (supposedly) as a remedy to cure an upset stomach.
The picture that was used to advertise this product was of a young black child with a shit-eating grin and half-eaten watermelon is lap.
To me, that was incredibly offensive. But not to the time period in question. Values are not the same no matter what time period you're talking about.
What may be offensive now (like the picture up above is to most people) certainly wasn't offensive, say fifty, sixty or one hundred years ago.
I simply try to keep an open mind about what I see. I try to look at it from the other person's p.o.v. before I praise it or condemn it.
I suppose that makes me strange, but after spending about several years reading old newspapers and seeing how people's values change over the course of two hundred years, I learned not to give a knee-jerk reaction to whatever it is I'm looking at.
In your opinion, on the surface it can be considered exactly what you just stated and more.
In my opinion, at best a very bad attempt at humor, and at worse, a symptom of acceptable hate on both sides of the equation.
themom: Preach it, sister! I agree with your assessment of the party. Stop by more often :-)
G: So the person who posted this image is an elderly person, unaware that society has changed, but his/her racist humor hasn't? Or this is simply some sort of atavism at work here? Because today I don't know too many people who would find this funny since the social context and temperament has become better adjusted regarding racial issues since the time period you spoke of where many, maybe even most, people would find it humorous. Or it is simply someone who is racist and thinks blacks and interracial relationships are inherently funny? You may be right, it may be something someone finds humorous, and I'm sure someone, somewhere does, but it still doesn't disprove my thesis; it actually proves it. This person posted it at a place where he/she felt its "humorous" message would hit the mark. And because it's an attempt at "humor", it makes it just as sickening as if it were what it suggests on the surface: hate, pure and simple. I don't see that just because it may be "humor" that this is reason to cut this person any slack for it, nor the GOP for leaving it up on its site for 6 days. I'm more inclined to give benefit of the doubt to the site administrator for not monitoring the page like he/she should than I am to give it to the poster or the GOP itself for this being there in the first place.
Okay, now you lost me here. After carefully reading your thoughtful answer (and it was very thougtful) twice, I'm not sure if you're agreeing with anything I said, or if you're disagreeing with everything I said.
I will say this though, that last comment I left was the longest comment I left anywhere about anything on anyone's blog.
Kudos for getting me to dig deep within my brain to answer your sincere question.
G: I'm saying that even if you are right, that it was an attempt at humor, it is still just as vile and disgusting a message as if it were an overtly hateful and racist sentiment (and it can actually be both at the same time. That it's supposed to be funny is not a pass for it to be judged less harshly. People still should know better. That they don't is no reason to excuse them or their actions. And since this was posted at the RNC page it indicates this person felt like people there would appreciate this kind of "humor", and that's unnacceptable.
And I'm glad you feel I was able to get you to dig deep. That's what it should be all about. I'm glad you've decided to stick around. I appreciate your role in getting a dialogue going on this site.
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