... and it wasn't about blacks and whites living together in perfect Coca-Cola harmony. It was about Barack Obama stealing my butterscotch candies. I had them all in a huge crystal bowl. They were the really great, super-tasty gold-wrapped kind. He kept talking, popping some of these in his mouth but yet never really seeming to EAT them. More candies just disappeared entirely. They weren't even savoured; they were just GONE. My bowl had only a little gold at the bottom when I woke up, annoyed at him.
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I've been reading on several blogs about this idea that people who don't vote for Obama must be racist... and... wow. I'm sure there are a couple weirdos out there who think that way, but really, I'm also sure that there are people who will vote for Obama mostly BECAUSE he's partly black. Did you hear the YouTube radio interview of black folks in Harlem? WOW, the black people voting for Obama because of his race has GOT to more than offset any "n-hater" jumping over onto McCain's bandwagon *just because* Obama is black.
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But what do you think about where the "line" on polite political discourse and parody might be? How about the "Obama Bucks" bill pictured above? (Hat tip: Holy Coast blog)Does it qualify as polite satire?
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NO??
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Would it qualify if I were to tell you that a "liberal" made it to mock Republicans? The watermelon was a really nice touch for the racist/not racist/ some of my best friends are black crowd. But I'm just not very savvy. I would have thought the "welfare money" comment on the bill would be more a criticism of his wealth redistribution plans than a jab at the idea that blacks collect lotsa welfare (Ugh... don't make me drag up statistics about more whites collecting than blacks. Because I'm just discussing the idea that it's a stereotype that blacks collect welfare, eat watermelon, or... chicken? Obviously white people would never eat fried chicken... sigh.)
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So, watermelon, ribs n chicken aside, what do you think? I'd have thought, if the watermelon weren't there, that it was kinda cute. There he is on the money, looking like the other Presidents. It's welfare money. The Kool-Aid I took to symbolize the Jim Jones "drink the kool-aid" idea that I've seen on other blogs, even those of people who claim African ancestry. I didn't think of the welfare and watermelon thing as going together until someone pointed it out.
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And if the watermelon weren't there, I'd have taken the fried chicken to be a "chicken in every pot" sort of comment. Maybe I am slow on the uptake with the racial jokes. I don't know if that's good, or maybe very bad because then I could be manipulated by some "racial" thing and just think it's a political commentary (like the "welfare" thing).
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Hm. Some post soon, I'll chat about stupid political ads.
As a conservative who has been fairly vocal about my oppostion to even the notion of saying President Obama, you know that I am not commenting as a white hating, liberal Obama-ite. So let me help you out on this one, Mrs.C:
ReplyDeleteIt's racist. Just trust me on this. As I am a Black person, familiar with all the jokes, inuendos, and insinuations in ways you, as a white woman can never imagine, just trust me. It's racist.
That's just it! I can't imagine! And I try to "get it," but it's really, really tough. I'm sure there are lots of "clues" you see that I don't. I literally have NO CLUE that someone is a racist until I hear the N-word pop out or some really, really awful comment from the mouth of someone I thought was a good friend.
ReplyDeleteAnd then I'm shocked!
And I keep going, there must have been clues somewhere. I must have missed it! Was I talking in "code" without realizing it when discussing politics that other person picked up as a "this person is safe" signal??
I get confused.
I get even more confused when my black neighbour (who actually was an RNC delegate and bigwig) says things about those Democrats "stirring up the blacks." What to say?
I misinterpret everybody.
Let me help you out as best I can: There is this enduring stereotype (holdover from Jim crow days, I believe) of the n*g*er, eating watermelon and fried chicken (there's a fried chicken joint in even the poorest inner cty neighborhoods no matter where you go, almost). Then there's the image of the "welfare queen", most publicized during the Reagan years.
ReplyDeleteI personally, think Reagan and the GOP made a good point, but I digress.
The whole thing is very silly because every white person I know enjoys fried chicken and watermelon, but it is what it is. And it's racist. I hate that this whole thing even got started because what Obama is proposing is indeed welfare for the masses. He's going to bankrupt the country (oh, wait, Bush already did that, no?) and we're arguing about whether or not fried chicken and watermelon is racist. We've degenerated into such a mindless elctorate.
I'm very sorry, Terry. I wasn't meaning to argue, but I just really didn't "get it." I "get" the watermelon was racist and kind of on the fried chicken... though like I said I wouldn't have seen the fried chicken WITHOUT the watermelon as a "clue" to help me figure out it's racist.
ReplyDeleteThank you for explaining it. I'm truly torn between voting McCain and third party. I've been thinking about some of the things you and others have said on your blogs.
I might just need a clothespin, too, before it's all over, to hold my nose while voting. Please pray for voters like me... I live in a swing state, too.
I want to be well-informed. Terry, I don't want to be manipulated into some political position BY someone who is racist. And there are so many levels, when race and class collide and then class becomes a political issue and then whether you vote for more welfare or not would be racist...?
I want to do the right thing. I know it's not voting for Obama, but sometimes I wonder how much truth there is to this or that being "racist," or whether someone is just playing a political game to get people who don't want to be racist to side with them...??
I am torn on how to vote too Mrs. C. The whole if you dont vote for Obama thing then you are racist is crazy in my opinion. However I can totally see how that parody is racist. It plays into all the sterotypes that are out there. Sadly you have to live in the south to really get it.
ReplyDeleteI worry that the Americans will vote based on : 'vote for the Black Man, or vote for the Woman VP' and not on the party's political policies! It's not about the PERSON it's about what their party can do for the country surely? Seems to me this time your country is playing a totally different game.... racism vs. sexual equality.... not good.
ReplyDeleteHopefully in the future people won't even think about color or gender. Just plain old mud slinging.
ReplyDeleteOh, yep, I guess all mud is the same. Sometimes I think because of racial "problems" in the past, people can misconstrue what is meant in a debate.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet...
I don't think Mr. Obama would want someone to be "soft" on him just because he's black in a debate. That's not fair, either. One thing I have appreciated about his reaction to personal comments (some of which have been nasty) has been to say well, that's what happens in politics. But his campaign supporters sometimes take a different tack. SOMEtimes I don't blame them. Other times I go, that was a valid criticism, yk?