On Racism, Media, and the Presidential Race
So I was going to comment on the racism that’s flying fast and furious at the Obama’s this week. But then John Scalzi went off for me. So since I don’t have anything to say that can top this beautiful beatiful rant I’m just going to share the joy with you. Try not to read it anyplace where you cannot lay in the floor and laugh like a hyena.
Karnythia is a writer, a historian, and occasionally a loud mouth. In between raising hell and raising kids she usually manages to find time to contemplate the meaning of life as a black woman in America. Her posts on any topic can be found at her Livejournal.
Ummm….wow. Fox News.
This is even worse than the ‘news’ about the ‘terrorist fist jab’:
http://www.kabobfest.com/2008/06/fox-news-on-obamas-terrorist-fist-jab.html
Freaking ridiculous. There’s a blog I read regularly that was talking about this today:
http://www.time-blog.com/tuned_in/2008/06/fox_newss_obama_baby_mama_dram.html
And thanks to the link to the Scalzi article – it was great.
oh ridiculousness!! that “baby mama” shyte had me rolling my eyes at record breaking speeds. I love how Scalzi wrote it though… humor is such a great digestion assistant when consuming such outrageousness…
and umm, speaking of outrageousness… line up your most hilarious website to look at after this… did anyone hear about the extremely over the top racist, sexist, irresponsible art show in NYC that targeted Clinton and Obama? But mostly Obama? The show that was so wrong that feds and secret service came and shut it down? take a deep breath…
http://sandrarose.com/2008/06/05/the-assassination-of-barack-obama-freedom-of-expression-or-racism/
You know it’s racist and fucked up when even the idiot crew at Morning Joe are rendered momentarily speechless trying to report on it.
Yes, a devoted and loving family – we can’t possibly be OK with that. And the fist bump was said to be a terrorist sign? Well, I do hope that bit was followed by a commerical for “Psyche.” (I know, it’s on another newtwork, but I like the thought of these two things juxtaposed)
Why, just last week and elderly woman at church got my 3 year old son to bump fists with her. I had no idea she was recruiting him for a terrorist sleeper-cell, but as we do attend a UCC, it’s ineveitable, no?
I like Obama because his policies are the most in line with mine. Having someone’s skin and/or genitalia to more or less match mine is not , to me, a primary sign of shared beliefs. Go figure…
This is crazy. Michelle Obama is amazing, and Sen. Obama is actually the candidate who has unheld “family values.”
Maybe next time, the newscaster can just jump up & shout “Booga booga, be scared, a black man’s coming”. At least that would be an honest representation of what they are getting at…
Omigod.
Reducing a woman that may potentially be the first lady into a piece of ghetto booty in one breath that came out of a PoC’s mouth. Fox News, you constantly outdo yourself.
I keep telling myself that I’m not naive about this country’s potential for racism, that Obama has a hard run and because of our hidden, irrational BS as scared white people he might not make it solely on that front. And then stuff like this pops up and my jaw keeps dropping, so maybe I still have a lot to learn. It’s the overt meanness of it that gets to me, the blatantness of it because they know all they’ll get for it is a slap on the wrist. I get more ashamed of the human race ever day, I swear…
That rant is a thing of beauty. Word UP.
The rant was beautiful, I agree. I fully expect that between now and November, someone on Fox News will drop an n-bomb, assuming Pat Buchanan doesn’t get there first. And at the very least, we can expect to see Sen. Obama referred to as a homie or worse.
Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein FOX NEWS
Das offical newstaion of the Homeland!
(all newstations are bad but fox just takes the cake)
Now get this folks –
Pat Buchanan damn near did that shit last night.
He referred to Obama as “exotic.”
I don’t understand MSNBC sometimes. How can you have someone so fucking full of win as Keith Olbermann, but yet you have fired Don Imus and CONTINUE to have Pat Buchanan on?
Seriously.
OMWTFBBQ @ that exhibit! Wonder what the “artist” will spend her money on to make her next point(s).
I have only myself to blame, I guess.
I’m still surprised at how terrified the so-called news stations appear to be of the prospect of having a black man as president.
I live in Ontario, Canada and it is with crossed fingers and much anticipation that I sit watching – hoping – that the Democratic Party doesn’t figure some way out to fuck up what ought to be a cake walk to the White House.
Obama is the most charismatic leader to come into US politics in a long. long time and the rest of the world is going to breathe a collective sign of relief if he wins in November.
Yeah, but hey! I’m waiting for Fox to follow Die Tageszeitung’s lead, we haven’t seen the worst of it, yet.
The combination of sexism and racism that will continue to be
hurled at Michelle Obama in obvious and subtle ways, is just too much for me…
I’m just too sick of it all to even enjoy a good rant.
The sick and twisted sexism and racism this country has been raised on is being exposed more and more clearly…they seem almost proud of it over at Fox
and CNN wants Fox’s viewers….
No one is better equipped to speak for herself than Michelle Obama is. I hope the campaign will allow her to address the issue of
sexism combined with racism…I hope they’ll let her speak of it in general and personal terms.
Thank you for bringing this up. And yes, the Scalzi article hit the nail on the head. I am so tired of the utter disrespect the MSM pays to Sen. Obama and his wife. And from FOX? I would expect no less from them.
When you’re a channel which boasts blondes and white males as “authority figures” 24/7 without stoppage, what else is there? You’ll have clueless, derogatory and disgusting attributes to people of color (and especially Black folk). And, these descriptions are uttered with such glee and nonchalance that you just want to slap some sense into them.
It is upsetting that some folks are out there that still don’t get it. And, as I had written on other blog about this issue, these same folks will defiantly say that they are right about their racism and continuously demand that they aren’t racist.
If there was true justice in this country, FOX would be shut down. For years, it has crapped on the poor, POC and anyone else that falls outside of their warped, Stepford-like gated community.
Again, you, Karnythia and Scalzi have my thanks. It’s not enough to dwell on these thoughts in silence, wondering if there are people kind, sensitive and humane enough to care.
Take care,
Ceci
I read Michelle Obama’s senior thesis from Princeton over the weekend. It was an impressive and non-dogmatic exploration of race in the context of academia. It was clear throughout the paper that she had not forgotten her South Side Chicago working class roots. I found this especially encouraging.
We have a chance for a First Lady in the Eleanor Roosevelt tradition, one who stands up for justice and has the interests of working class people in her heart.
It is clear that those who hate America’s highest ideals are determined to keep both her and her husband out of the White House.
We simply cannot allow that to happen. We have to mobilize and win this election.
After that, we have a responsibility as citizens to keep both Barack and Michelle Obama on track. Power can do funny things to even the most highminded people.
Girl, thanks for passing on this link!! It gave me a much needed laugh regarding the MSM nonsense that’s going on. I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one whose last nerve has been gettin’ worked by Faux News and the rest of the media idiots.
The Sauda Voice
http://www.thesaudavoice.com
media, racism & presidential race: check out this German guy’s Obama doll. sad. http://www.noahsow.de/blog/?p=210
The art exhibit goes further. The stupid kid (older than me but frankly he’s behaving like one) invented two galleries where the exhibit had previously been shut down to garner publicity. He basically wanted to do this BS for the shock value. The exhibit was supposed to talk about the media’s character assassination of both Obama and Clinton, which IMO is fine in context, but Clinton’s exhibit seemed to have things that have actually been said about her in the public eye. I don’t recall pundits ever discussing Obama’s penis or sexualizing his six and eight year old daughters. And the artist was a PoC, no less!
As for the doll, wow. I’d expected much worse from a model from the 40s, but wow. “Well, it doesn’t look a thing like him, but it’s symbolic.” Symbolic of WHAT, sir? Think for a second.
Karnythia,
I had a revealing moment when I read the first paragraph of that article. I thought, “What is a Baby- Mama?…What nuance am I not seeing here?”
When Scalzi explained it, I realized once again that I am becoming further andf urther removed from “street slang”…and I grew up in the Chicago area!
You know what? Many regular viewers of Fox will probably not even catch this nuance. It will fly right by them.
… the world is going to breathe a collective sign of relief if he wins in November.
That sigh of relief will be a very qualified one, though, to say the least. The world has seen and experienced enough of U.S. actions over the last few decades (and longer) that any change in who’s the President is, with good reason, not perceived automatically as a major shift in imperialist policies and practices. As I’ve said numerous times on this site, I’ll be glad enough if and when Obama gets elected. But we shouldn’t overestimate (or even assume) the positive global reaction to an Obama Administration.