Showing posts with label Racism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Racism. Show all posts

The Appropriate Response To 'Obama Waffles'
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9:11 PM | Posted in , ,
Check it out:

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Values Voters Summit Values Racism?
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Recently, Michele Bachmann was in attendance at the Values Voters Summit. I have to wonder if these are the values she is endorsing:

On sale at the event were waffles depicting an Aunt Jemima like image of Barack Obama as well as images depicting him as a Muslim.
From the AP:

Activists at a conservative political forum snapped up boxes of waffle mix depicting Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama as a racial stereotype on its front and wearing Arab-like headdress on its top flap.

While Obama Waffles takes aim at Obama's politics by poking fun at his public remarks and positions on issues, it also plays off the old image of the pancake-mix icon Aunt Jemima, which has been widely criticized as a demeaning stereotype. Obama is portrayed with popping eyes and big, thick lips as he stares at a plate of waffles and smiles broadly.

Placing Obama in Arab-like headdress recalls the false rumor that he is a follower of Islam, though he is actually a Christian.

On the back of the box, Obama is depicted in stereotypical Mexican dress, including a sombrero, above a recipe for "Open Border Fiesta Waffles" that says it can serve "4 or more illegal aliens." The recipe includes a tip: "While waiting for these zesty treats to invade your home, why not learn a foreign language?"

It is interesting that the sellers of this merchandise try to use the "it's political satire" line when we all know that here in Minnesota, political satire is fair game for attacks. So, Did Michele Bachmann or anyone associated with Bachmann purchase this racist merchandise? I guess we know what they mean when they call it the "Values" Voter Summit.
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Fisking A Racist
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1:22 PM | Posted in ,
While perusing through my usual cadre of sites searching for news on which to build a story I ran across a post over at Anti-Strib written by one Tracy Eberly. I hadn't previously paid much attention to this site even though I knew of its existence. The crux of his (by the way, I had to do a little digging to figure out that Tracy was actually a male) post is that he hates a man who he has presumably never met because this man discusses race, racial history, and ways to move beyond the issues of racism. Unfortunately, it is the very mindset displayed by Mr. Eberly that still makes a job such as dealing with racism necessary.

Why I hate Race Pimps so Damned Much!

I saw this over the holidays but I was so filled with Christmas booze that I never got a chance to rip this professional race pimp a new one.

Louis Stanley Schoen, of St. Louis Park, is a consultant and trainer on racial justice in the Episcopal Church.

What a career! He stirs up racial unrest every damned day. Scumbag.


So, within the first few sentences of this post Mr. Eberly has referred to Mr. Schoen as a scumbag and a race pimp. To display such vitriol for someone you don't even know shows a level of irrationality that cannot be debated with nor can it be shown reason. Mr. Eberly doesn't appear to want civil discourse or even rational discussion. Rather, he feels the need to dismiss wholesale a man with whom he disagrees using only petty name calling.


The goal is not just resurrecting stories of oppressive European invaders vs. African and indigenous victims, but reopening the historical lies that many of us have learned, as a step in repairing the breaches.

Most fundamentally, those of us descended mainly from Europeans must open our minds to acknowledge the privileges granted to us and to our ancestors by "white" identity -- today and every day of the past 400 years.

That neither I nor my ancestors held slaves or engaged in combat against indigenous people does not free me from this obligation.


Apparently, Mr. Eberly is offended by the thought of having an "honest public discussion" about race and history in this country. Does he dispute the history? No, he seems to be angry that we would continue to even talk about history in this country. Is it just the history of racism in the country that Mr. Eberly would like us to forget or is it ALL history? This is a relevant question because if it is ALL history he wants us to stop talking about at the very least he just doesn't like talking about the past. However, if it is simply the history of racism in the country but not all the positive stuff then he is engaging in a revisionist mindset that contributes to the misunderstanding between different people in the United States. We don't need to feel guilty about our history but we ought to examine it with all its warts in order to further our understanding of each other. As I have said before, it is the amazing strides we have made in solving our shortcomings that has made this country as great as it is. Without examining the warts and moving toward a resolution of those problems we can never fully attain the ideals of the Declaration of Independence. Unfortunately, I suspect that Mr. Eberly would rather not have to understand others but only judge others.

The guy is a complete and total ASSHOLE! If I had been black, I would have gotten a scholarship to the U of MN. I ouwld have been hired right out of school by any large corporation I wanted to work for. After being hired they would have made damned sure that I suceeded so that they could boost there "racial balance".


How is the pity party displayed here any different from those he purports to hate coming from the minority community? This type of wholesale stereotyping is exactly what is wrong in this country and what needs discussion. To believe that black people or other minorities have a significant advantage over Mr. Eberly is utterly baseless. While programs such as Affirmative Action have made strides in getting parity for minorities it is certainly not tantamount to giving minorities an advantage over white people.

This Jag-off wants us to talk even more about race and what we owe the blacks, the Indians and everyone else that isn't doing quite as well as Donald Trump.

America has talked more about race than any country in the world. Americans are done talking. We have passed civil rights laws, EEOC laws, we have racial prefences and welfare. It's time for minorities to shut up and start working!


No, this "jag-off" wants to continue an open discussion about race and racism in this country. Nowhere does he talk about "owing" anyone anything:

How might serious, healing racial dialogue occur? A series of thoughtful, sensitive commentary in news media might be a starter. Sermons and study groups on race in churches would help, as would discussions in all kinds of community groups. Official public bodies must get engaged. What if a public commission were to begin to examine the American (and European) history of white supremacy -- and, here, how that doctrine shaped the formation of Minnesota and its public and private institutions? What if such a commission learned how to offer leadership and resources to dismantle this evil doctrine?

The results could be transforming for us and for all the world. What a magnificent legacy this might be to our celebration of Minnesota's sesquicentennial.

Racial healing cannot occur when the likes of Mr. Eberly consistently want to ignore the past and essentially tell whole segments of the population to get over it and move on. The question I often wonder for people such as this is how long should it realistically take a group of people who have been enslaved for hundreds of years and institutionally segregated and terrorized for another hundred to catch up with the rest of us who never experienced such wholesale subjugation?
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