links for 2008-09-13
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"Some voters revealed support for Obama even in blunt terms that seemed to run against their racial preferences. "I'm not a fan of the blacks," explained Dennis Rodriguez, 48, a restaurant manager from Manistique, Mich., "but I just think Obama is the right man for the job."
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
Una wrote:
Small-town America is living up to its image as a cesspool of backward philistines.
Posted 13 Sep 2008 at 2:20 pm ¶
waxghost wrote:
Perhaps it’s because I’m white and grew up mostly working class/poor, but it seems to me the small-town aversion to Obama is based more on class and its corollary, anti-intellectualism, than anything else.
Posted 13 Sep 2008 at 4:38 pm ¶
Judah wrote:
Eurgh. Fucking anti-intellectual dumbasses.
Sometimes I think my countrymen deserve the assholes they elect instead. Having more than a high school education shouldn’t be a political handicap.
Posted 13 Sep 2008 at 6:35 pm ¶
cm wrote:
Really? This aversion to Obama has to do with CLASS??? He’s not “relatable” enough? How exactly is a John Edwards or Hillary Clinton more relatable to working class whites than Barack? It couldn’t be because they’re… um… WHITE, could it.
Posted 13 Sep 2008 at 7:07 pm ¶
AWARE-LA wrote:
great blog and discussion! One thing we’ve noticed is that it seems like the white working class is getting “played” this election– everyone is vying for “their” (presumably uniform?) vote, and it’s highlighting discussion about race and whiteness… but not necessarily in transformative or anti-racist ways. Instead, stereotypes are perpetuated, racism goes unchecked… and who’s really willing to step up their game for working class people of all races when it’s NOT an election year?
we’re following race and racism throughout the election as well! check out our blog for more of this… http://doubletakeblog.wordpress.com
Posted 13 Sep 2008 at 7:28 pm ¶
WebSketchz.com wrote:
its all BS i’m tired of politics.
Posted 13 Sep 2008 at 8:45 pm ¶
Renee wrote:
@waxghost I don’t believe that class is the reason why they are against Obama. Clearly the GOP supports the interests of the rich and not the poor, therefore a vote for them is against their class interests. If they are supporting McCain it is because they value whiteness and the false lie of the American Dream.
Posted 13 Sep 2008 at 8:49 pm ¶
Kat wrote:
“Perhaps it’s because I’m white and grew up mostly working class/poor, but it seems to me the small-town aversion to Obama is based more on class and its corollary, anti-intellectualism, than anything else.”
******
So why are these same small town folks voting for a multi-millionaire man with 9 houses? What makes them think McCain has anything in common with them?
Posted 13 Sep 2008 at 10:52 pm ¶
RainaWeather wrote:
I guess Dennis Rodriguez doesn’t think of Obama as Black.
Posted 13 Sep 2008 at 11:09 pm ¶
Big Man wrote:
Wait, did y’all see the first direct quote in that article, and the set-up that preceded it? The reporter said that race is keeping most people from voting for Obama and then quoted a white dude who said Bill Clinton was more black than Obama.
That’s some egregious bullshit right there. I stopped reading right there because I quickly realized I wasn’t going to learn anything from that article.
Posted 13 Sep 2008 at 11:25 pm ¶
Bmouth wrote:
“I’m not a fan of the blacks”
What year are we living in? I thought this was the future… isn’t this the millenium
WOW…as a country, were completely fucked. Sorry to say, but we ARE FUCKED. Whatever, don’t vote for the ‘black’ then, whose half white btw… Hope everyone enjoys the soccer mom, moose hunter. Hockey mom president.
Posted 14 Sep 2008 at 1:14 am ¶
Bmouth wrote:
“Small-town America is living up to its image as a cesspool of backward philistines.”
Yeah exactly, and these same backward idiots get pissed “leave the country!” when you tell them that Europe and Canada are more progressive when it comes to these attitudes on race.
Well sorry there Jethro, hate to say it, but they kind of are. Maybe if you’ve ever left your little crap town and traveled a bit you’d know that…
Posted 14 Sep 2008 at 1:17 am ¶
Phil Deeze wrote:
@Waxghost,
What would say the image of most black people is for “middle America” or “hard-working America” or whatever euphemism the media trots out? Poor. Uneducated. Ignorant. Possibly violent. Right? Everything you see on BET. But “The Cosby Show?” That’s not the type of black people that “middle America” identifies with?
I don’t get it, Wax. If middle America has one idea of what black people are and it’s generally frought with negative images (right or wrong—not going to bother arguing that with you today,) what’s wrong with a nice, clean-cut black man in a suit with a wife and two daughters? He speaks better English than most middle Americans. Is that a problem for you guys? Is it the Ivy League education? I mean, he’s not wearing a shower cap with rollers in his hair trying to buy a bottle of Ripple with a $1 in pennies.
Help us out here, Wax. Other than Colin Powell or Condi Rice, what black person WOULD be suitable for you guys? Honest question. Because I’m having a hard time believing that a black guy from humble beginnings that’s “just like” the folks from small-town America is going to cut it for white folks as a Presidential candidate any more than Obama does.
Let’s just say that Condi Rice with six colleges on her resume and a pregnant unmarried daughter doesn’t get a call from a presidential candidate to run for the GOP and the sight of her daughter’s pregnant belly won’t stir the echoes for the party.
Posted 14 Sep 2008 at 1:19 am ¶
Black Canseco wrote:
waxghost,
i’m gonna call BS on that theory; nothing against u personally tho.
Class is about access and perceived entitlement. And historically and currently, high-end educations, high-end jobs, etc are still touted as the domain of whites with “exceptional” (ie. accepted) minorities as the exception to the rule.
I’m from 2 of the most economically depressed neighborhoods in Chicago. I made it to college and to some pretty good jobs/careers in largely white industries due to faith and hardwork. Yet no matter what i’ve spent 20 plus year dealing with idiots that are convinced that the entire world had a meeting and decided to screw over more qualified whites to make room for me.
I know Obama’s story pretty well, having lived it myself.
The barriers you run into are that people see you as a black male (half black in Obama’s case) and they expect you to stay at the bottom. There’s a sense of indignation of how dare this(black) guy get out from under while i’m still struggling. how dare this (black) guy be my boss? what has he done to deserve this?
Obama’s the son of a welfare mother and a father who abandoned him. He got to top schools on academic scholarships.
Only white people would find a way to call Obama an elitist with a straight face and justify it as anything other than what it is–race-based bigotry and jealousy.
Posted 14 Sep 2008 at 3:02 am ¶
Tony wrote:
I think it’s a mix of race and class.
Look at most of our presidents in recent history.
Bush1, Bush2, Regan, Bill Clinton.
We “Elect the guy we’d like to have a beer with”
The one who seems most average.
You can’t really use John Edwards and Hillary Clinton as examples of “see, they like white class” considering they both fared WORSE than Obama.
Race does play into it for a lot of people, but the whole “I can’t vote for someone who seems smarter than me” is a part of it too.
Plus there are some people who just vote a certain way because their parents did and they got brainwashed into it.
I know (Hell, am related) to people who I know aren’t racist, who would fare better under Obama, who still aren’t voting for him.
Class does play a part, and a sort of ‘cultural brainwashing’ against the other party does too.
Posted 14 Sep 2008 at 7:40 am ¶
White Trash Academic wrote:
I had to double check the address and make sure that was not my hometown. But, of course, it was not the ignorant people in my home state who simply say “I will not vote for a black man.” Then there are some who do not say this unless you prod them a little. Like, when discussing things like the economy and class, I make the point that they have less in common with McCain. They do not want to hear it. They do not care.
It has nothing to do with class. It is racism, pure and simple. I know it is difficult for some to believe that people still feel this way in 2008 but racism has not magically disappeared. And, lest you believe it is limited to a small number of racist idiots, I know more educated people who feel the same way. They just rationalize/intellectualize it first.
One of my friends back home actually said to me that there are no problems with the economy because she sees a number of people still driving SUVs. Is she really that dumb? No. She is just trying to convince herself this is the reason and that it is not because he is black.
Posted 14 Sep 2008 at 7:47 am ¶
Lyonside wrote:
What’s the Jon Stewart quote? Something like, “Not only do I want an elite president, I want someone who is embarrassingly superior to me.”
Cultural brainwashing… I like that, Tony.
After all, yes, my friends, we have always been at war with Eastasia…
Posted 14 Sep 2008 at 8:20 am ¶
Celeste wrote:
On a related note, did anyone catch the NPR interview with a panel of voters from York Pennsylvania? Among the gems that came out of that was some older/elderly white lady who think that “Obama will always be a muslim until he is dead” (riiiiiight) and a middle aged white man who doesn’t know what a community organizer does (I don’t think he cares to find out either). A Lot fo other people on the panel really wanted to say something in response to the muslim comment but the moderators either didn’t let them talk about it or they just didn’t air the response.
Posted 14 Sep 2008 at 12:25 pm ¶
RoslynHolcomb wrote:
I heard that interview Celeste. Interestingly enough, that woman supposedly grew up in a ‘race neutral’ environment. That whole interview sickened me, but it wasn’t surprising. People who don’t want to vote for Obama will come up with all manner of excuses to justify voting against their own self-interests. I read an article where one guy was saying he wouldn’t vote for him because his middle name was ‘Hussein.’ As if people name themselves!
Posted 14 Sep 2008 at 3:12 pm ¶
Phil Deeze wrote:
Celeste and Rosyln,
I find McCain’s tactics sickening. In 2004, Karl Rove used the “black lovechild” tactic to submarine McCain for the Bush campaign. Sick, white racist voters in South Carolina changed their percpeption of McCain based on the lie that he had fathered a black child out-of-wedlock. He has an adopted child that isn’t white, but that’s about it. Shame isn’t big on the list for racist white voters (not all white voters, just the racist ones that fell for the okey-doke.)
And now, there’s a good chance that some people that think just like the racist, white faction of SC voters are going to use the “muslim smear” against Obama but they will vote FOR McCain this time. You know? Since the “black lovechild” they used to scuttle his first run at President has been proven to be bunk.
Isn’t that ironic? The only reason that Obama can’t go as negative as McCain and Palin have is because Obama would be perceived as an “angry black man.” This is pathetic beyond belief.
Posted 14 Sep 2008 at 4:12 pm ¶
waxghost wrote:
To everyone who responded to me, I’d like to clarify that I did not say that race had no part in it. It is unfortunately obvious that it does. But for me, a person who has had to deal with issues of class far more in her life than race, it was very hard for me to tease out where one might end and the other begin. I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear on that.
Renee and Kat, unfortunately it is not that clear to a lot of people besides you and me that the GOP is all about the rich (and the white). I know far too many people who are low-income but vote Republican because they have bought the “lower taxes” and “Democrats are all elitist” bull. And I think it is a little simple to say that it is solely racism, since I personally know quite a few racist people who are going to vote for Obama. There were a couple of people mentioned in that article who were the same way, if I remember correctly. So how do we explain that? For me, the answer seemed to be economic class, but I’m by no means saying that that IS the answer.
Phil Deeze, I am not one of those people. I may be white and have spent an annoying amount of time in small towns in my life but I am actually voting for Obama because I identify with him (more than small-town whites!) and agree with most of his policies. I voted for him in the primaries as well. I have been doing my best to point out the racism I see around me that is blinding some people, and I do my best to find and deal with any racism I might have. So I really can’t answer your questions; I’m still trying to figure out the people who think that way myself.
Black Canseco, that is what I was missing when I made my previous comment. Thank you. It makes a lot more sense to me now.
Posted 14 Sep 2008 at 4:13 pm ¶
magda wrote:
I didn’t like that article at all. The journalist just interviewed a bunch of people and got them to say dumb things about race and politics. What does this prove? That you can find idiotic people who are willing to say idiotic things? Not surprising at all.
This is not completed relevant, but I found an article about the author, Dan Hoyle:
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-10-17-voa46.cfm
He is a white american who spent a year in Nigeria studying oil politics. He then wrote and performed a play about it called “Tings Dey Happen.” He hopes he can return to perform the play in Nigeria. Maybe I’m being overly critical but this feels like another instance of the Free Tibet phenomenon (reference to another link recently posted at Racialicious).
Posted 14 Sep 2008 at 5:18 pm ¶
Marcus Kwame wrote:
I am very disappointed… not surprised… but disappointed. People in this country choose candidates like they were contestants on survivor.
Posted 14 Sep 2008 at 8:03 pm ¶
Phil Deeze wrote:
@Waxghost,
If someone from one of these small towns (”hard-working Americans”) could explain this phenomenon to me, that’d be great.
If you are a white “hard-working American” and you live around a lot of black folks and one of the ne’er do wells rob you, why does that affect the black “hard-working Americans” around your or at least, you perception OF those black folks that didn’t rob you. Unless, of course, every black person including the women, children and old folks showed up with guns and ski masks at the same time and said, “BREAK YO ‘SELF, FOOL!!!!” I’d just feel awful for you, then.
If a white KKK member poisons my dog, is it right for me to see the next white guy and blame him? Of course not. Thing is, this is precisely what white folks are talking about with regards to “black rage.” And how unfair it is. And how scary it is in some quarters.
Obama presents something that is showing some very sinister within white America (the portion that’s spreading the muslim rumors and the angry black man thing, etc.) Now nobody’s saying that just ANY black guy can be President. We’ll just let GWB be y’all’s mulligan along with the former Barbara Pierces’ grandaddy. We aren’t saying elect Flavor Flav here. The nominee is a double Ivy League graduate who didn’t grow up with a silver spoon in his mouth. AND he’s half white. He speaks well. I don’t get it. Don’t white folks like black folks that speak well, wear suits and go to Ivy League schools?
Maybe we should get Barack a gun and a ski mask so that white folks can identify him with their image of what black folks are? I don’t know.
(some of this I’m just joshing you with, but if a double Ivy league grad is too educated for white Americans that want someone more like them, frankly, I’ll be happier when white folks cease to be the majority in this country. Some of these folks are buggin’ on this election.)
Posted 14 Sep 2008 at 8:55 pm ¶
waxghost wrote:
Phil Deeze, what can I say but: I agree.
The saddest part for me is that I see a lot of Obama’s story in a lot of these white people I know who refuse to vote for him. A lot of them come from very humble upbringings and did pretty well for themselves, maybe not as well as Obama did but they are happy and comfortable. I thoroughly believe that it is another case of the have-nots fighting with each other without realizing that it won’t do any good, that the people they really SHOULD be fighting are not a group as equally disadvantaged as themselves. Class fits in there, but so does race and maybe a lot of other things that I’m not that aware of.
But I suspect you knew that already.
Posted 14 Sep 2008 at 9:39 pm ¶
gatamala wrote:
BC is on point here:
The barriers you run into are that people see you as a black male (half black in Obama’s case) and they expect you to stay at the bottom. There’s a sense of indignation of how dare this(black) guy get out from under while i’m still struggling. how dare this (black) guy be my boss? what has he done to deserve this?
These are folks deeply steeped in overt white supremacy. And are reflected in waxghost’s anecdote:
I know far too many people who are low-income but vote Republican because they have bought the “lower taxes” and “Democrats are all elitist” bull.
That’s where race and class mingle. Low income whites are living in a world where the #s/percentages of the US population that are upwardly mobile POC are rising. Republicans push the myth: you poor white folks can be like us rich white folks; if you just work hard at making us rich, it’ll trickle down to you… eventually! The only things standing in your way are taxes/affirmative action/immigration.
Well now we have a couple (family values) that pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and achieved the American dream. Yet, their brand of bootstrapping is labeled elistist and out of touch with [whose?] reality.
As BC said this nothing more than race-based bigotry and jealousy.
We are watching the transformation of white supremacy in the 21st century.
Those poor whites who wish to succeed in the new America need to pull themselves up the mental bootstraps and realize it takes a lot more than being white to suceed. And praising those who haven’t achieved and are white, as opposed to working class blacks who succeed is anti-intellecual pathology that will keep them at bottom and bitter.
Posted 14 Sep 2008 at 10:48 pm ¶
lxy wrote:
Here are more revealing comments about Obama from some White guy in Denver.
First he predicts that “If Obama wins the election, he won’t even make it to his first term. People are gonna be pissed.”
Then he later states, “If Obama wins, I just hope that black people don’t start thinking they’re superior.”
The funny thing is this guy also mentions that he likes hip hop and recently attended a concert with Talib Kweli and Mos Def!
http://www.kaichang.net/2008/08/dnc-1.html
Posted 15 Sep 2008 at 12:11 am ¶
Una wrote:
Phil Deeze mentioned McCain’s adopted daughter and the evil “black lovechild” rumor. So I had a thought…since his daughter is from Bangladesh, whose official religion is Islam, shouldn’t John McCain be doing more to combat the blatant race- and religon-based mudslinging against Obama? After all, his daughter is just about as Muslim as Obama, and these same untruths could be what she’ll some day have to face.
Posted 15 Sep 2008 at 12:16 am ¶
Michelle wrote:
Ok, bear with with me on this on.
I don’t know how many people watched “The Secret”, but there was an account about the people who were indigenous to the islands that Columbus landed upon. Make a long story short, the people could not see the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. Why? Because they had no language or concept of what they were seeing. Large. tall ships. It was not within their cosmology/worldview/realm of possibility. I would submit that we are dealing with a similar phenomenon in regards to this election. It is simply outside of the realm of what is possible for the MAJORITY of working class, low class, or lower middle class White people who live in rural communities or mostly White areas. They have never met anyone like him, therefore, it is almost impossible for them to think of him as real, let alone someone who can begin to work on their behalf. I think that this is the new frontier of what racism means in this country. Lack of access to Black people, coupled with images of Black people that are easily digested in the homes of “middle America”. I think Racialicious and blogs like it, connect people who are of similar interests who live all over the world, but who also live in similar communities. For example, people who live in LA and DC and NYC can all talk to each other, but when we really think about it, we are all within the same sphere of influence. How many people/readers/posters on our dear website (and others like it) are people who were born and raised in Paducah, KY? Or Wyoming? Or Boise, ID?
Posted 15 Sep 2008 at 12:33 am ¶
Michelle wrote:
PLEASE excuse my typos. I proofread but it is late!
Posted 15 Sep 2008 at 12:34 am ¶
V-Knowledge wrote:
I’m loving the amount of ig’nance that these small-town backwater racists are spewing. Hearing such people defend to the death their passion to remain stupid while voicing their anti-Barack (re: anti-Black) rhetoric warms the soul.
These folks are just angry because deep down inside, they know that they have NOTHING substantial to pin Obama with. All they can do is resort to tired schoolyard name calling (oh, he’s “elitist”, “Muslim”, “Hussein”, “uppity”, etc., etc.).
And it’s these same fools who wouldn’t mind getting screwed over for another four years if it means not seeing one of “dem coloreds” in the White House.
The anti-intellectualism-pro-stupidity train needs to be derailed.
Posted 15 Sep 2008 at 12:51 am ¶
Celeste wrote:
Lol @ Phil Deeze, I’m glad someone else besides me is still trying to use the phrase “Break Yo’ self, fool” in everyday conversation. I know that it’s a phrase to use when you’re about to rob somebody but I don’t understand it completely, especially where the idea of “breaking of oneself” comes in. I still use it anyway, it’s just too fun to leave in the 90’s.
Posted 15 Sep 2008 at 5:35 am ¶
Celeste wrote:
General question, slightly related to why the demographic in question votes as it does. I don’t get all this talk fo low taxes when the national debt is so high and we’re at war. Why is *anyone* putting low taxes forth as a good idea when the Babyboomers have spent sooooo much money and are going to cost even more as they age? I can’t wrap my mind around it. Doesn’t someone have to pay for it (eventually) or is the plan to just never pay for all the shit we (as a country but I blame the Boomers, don’t get me started) bought?
Posted 15 Sep 2008 at 6:34 am ¶
Will wrote:
So, we’re rushing head first into a fucking depression (just read the headlines), we’re neck deep in a fucking unnecessary war, and still the much better qualified black candidate cannot get any traction against the totally insane opposition that wants to continue the same disastrous policies of the last 8 years!!!
I mean, I’ve heard the saying “Cut off ones nose to spite one’s face!!” but at this point I feel that even if Obama was running against Satan himself he’d lose because people would claim
“Well, I can sort of relate to Satan, but that Obama guy, I just can’t relate”
And yeah, right, it has absolutely nothing to do with race? Give me a bloody break.
Posted 15 Sep 2008 at 10:06 am ¶
little mixed girl wrote:
see, some of the comments here are exactly why democrats make no progress in “small backwater towns”.
these people are living in these small towns, with little contact with people who think differently from them.
instead of meeting them with “here, lemme show you that people aren’t all bad”, it’s “you guys are just a bunch of inbred hicks, go die, you embarass me”.
honestly, would you vote for a group that thought of you like that?
them people need to step into the 21st century and realize that the world is not against them.
and the “educated” democrats need to start acting more like they care about the underclass…like they say they do.
not just stuff like organic food and stuff.
honestly, it doesn’t matter where you go, every country is gonna have it’s hicks.
…europe and canada are definately NOT more progressive than american on race topics.
uhh…spanish basketball team anyone?
Posted 15 Sep 2008 at 10:08 am ¶
gatamala wrote:
and the “educated” democrats need to start acting more like they care about the underclass…like they say they do.
not just stuff like organic food and stuff.
honestly, it doesn’t matter where you go, every country is gonna have it’s hicks.
…europe and canada are definately NOT more progressive than american on race topics.
preach!!
Posted 15 Sep 2008 at 10:58 am ¶
Will wrote:
@little mixed girl
see, some of the comments here are exactly why democrats make no progress in “small backwater towns”.
these people are living in these small towns, with little contact with people who think differently from them.
instead of meeting them with “here, lemme show you that people aren’t all bad”, it’s “you guys are just a bunch of inbred hicks, go die, you embarass me”.
It shouldn’t be our burden to educate these people. I’ve been in these small towns, I’ve seen this attitude and sorry, I have tried to do my small bit to educate them. But you know what happens, I as a black person gets put in the ‘exception’ box, you know that black person who is not ‘like all the others’. Personal experiences only go so far is people are so blind to the framework that they live in and the way they choose to interpret reality.
I’m sorry, sometimes you can’t soft-pedal and coddle what is before your eyes. Obama’s candidacy has actually made me less of an accomodationist and more of a ‘let’s call things what they are’. The amount of stupidity and just downright racist statements I’ve heard from people I previously considered sensible has absolutely shocked me. All his candidacy has done is bring these feelings and attitudes to the surface.
And yes, there is an element of selectivity here. I’ve seen these very same attitudes in so called metropolitan foward looking areas and among the middle to upper class. It’s just that people are more polite, circumspect about it.
Posted 15 Sep 2008 at 12:04 pm ¶
Phil Deeze wrote:
@ Will,
Amen to that. If small-town people want to act insular and if they can’t see a smile from a person of another race not from their town as an invitation to try to be cordial and not ascribe the base negativity to them as what comes to the surface in an election, for example, I don’t know what else a person of color can do to help these particular white folks (the ones with the foul attitude) get over themselves.
I work in small-towns and small cities all over America. I say please and thank you. I tip well. I can only do but so much. If Fox News screaming “he’s a Muslim” or “his wife is uppity” is all that it takes to counteract that, I’m sorry to all the good small-town people, but you bad small town people can go take a long walk off a short pier. And if you move to my city, do me a favor: put a big “R” on your forehead to save me the trouble of being polite. Don’t become a hipster racist and try to hide it because you’re scared of losing your job. Sheesh. Nobody cares if someone’s a racist on the job, just don’t call a disagreeable co-worker the n-word out loud or put a noose in his locker and then try to punk out and say “the noose doesn’t mean the Klan thing, it’s a Celtic ceremonial knot of friendship” or whatever cockamamie excuse folks of this ilk are using these days to keep their jobs.
Posted 15 Sep 2008 at 7:41 pm ¶
Michelle wrote:
Phil Deeze! LOL! Celtic ceremonial knot of friendship! Stop it!
Posted 15 Sep 2008 at 11:57 pm ¶
ieishah wrote:
@little mixed girl–co-sign! i can speak for europe at least, definitely no better when it comes to race issues, probably worse. the spanish basketball team is the least of our problems.
but even in the face of this . . . last week i had to inform a student (the millionth one, it seems) that ‘nigger’ is not the correct term for black people. and even HE was vehemently pro-obama and said he wanted a new teacher when i told him (in jest) that i would vote for mccain.
in spain they’ll see nothing wrong with using a blackface cartoon to promote a popular play (called comeme el coco, negro. unbelievably horrific), but when it comes to basic rights, they don’t play. gay marriage? completely legal. healthcare? free for all. spanish gov’t sends troops to iraq? the entire fucking country goes on strike, shuts everything down, and troops are withdrawn with a quickness.
now where’s the middle ground? got me.
Posted 16 Sep 2008 at 8:22 am ¶
socstudent wrote:
I second Michelle and a few others on this thread who have made similar comments. I grew up in a small city in the Midwest that was geographically and culturally not far from Paducah, KY. Many white people who live in areas like this really do not have regular contact with or exposure to black people, much less well-educated, middle class black people. For many white people in small towns across the country, the well-educated, middle class black person is nearly as mythical as a unicorn or leprechaun. For many working class white people in these towns, the idea that there is an accepted hierarchy that places any white person above any black person is well-ingrained, accepted, and comforting. To be confronted with a well-educated middle class black person who is both respected and admired within society is very disturbing to this kind of small town white person. Especially since many of these same people have seen their and their family’s economic opportunities worsen over recent decades. The very existence of Barack (and Michelle) Obama and the fact that Obama is a serious candidate for the presidency goes against what many of these people think of as the “way things are supposed to be”. The reaction of many small town white people to Obama is a prime example of how racial bigotry and class resentment intersect.
Posted 16 Sep 2008 at 9:41 am ¶
Phil Deeze wrote:
@ Celeste,
“Break Yo Self” means, as I heard it, that when someone rolls up on you and ganks you for your paper, you have to reach in your pocket and give it them. In other words, you break yourself down and hand over the loot. Sort of like when A Pimp Named Slickback (TM) tells his best earner to count off his money because she’s under pimp arrest for illegal eyeballin’.
Posted 16 Sep 2008 at 11:23 am ¶
little mixed girl wrote:
@ will, etc.
if people want to be ignorant, they’ll be ignorant. it doesn’t matter if they live in a small town or the big city.
i also don’t think that people in small towns/rural areas want to “stay stupid”.
that’s the same argument people use against minorities, that they don’t want to try.
what happens is people get stuck in a rut and can’t get out.
when “outsiders” come in, they can give off an air of superiority.
i grew up in a well-sized diverse city, the type of place that totally looks down on the poor…while claiming to want to help them.
some people can’t be saved, but it’s people of all races that need to interact more with each other.
teaching people is hard work, no one’s saying it’s easy.
but, it’s the same around the world.
i’m overseas, and i do things like smile at people and just get stares back (different culture…), but there are places with signs that say “no foreigners” and this is in the BIG cities (1mil+).
people like the familiar…
i don’t agree with it, but i know that it’s something that’s real.
finally, i just have to again say that talking with people from the UK and australia, just shows that they are NOT ahead of america.
many people say “why are americans so hung up on race? stop talking about it.”
then they refer to asians and africans in derogatory terms.
recycling, “green/eco”, gay marriage, universial health care =/= supportive of racial minorities.
Posted 18 Sep 2008 at 7:37 am ¶