I have no skill in predicting social and political outcomes. But I have to think that long term, it has got to be bad for African-Americans when white liberals complain that it's racist every time they don't get their way. Who do progressives think is going to be blamed for misuse and overuse of the tactic?
It's infuriating to watch injustice play out.
As we well know, whites are not the only ones to overplay the race card.(HT: Instapundit)
ReplyDeleteNEW ORLEANS — An African-American man from Mississippi admits posing as a white supremacist to send a death threat across state lines by Facebook.
The U.S. Attorney's Office says 20-year-old Dyron L. Hart of Poplarville pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to making a threat in November 2008.
Hart admitted creating a name and using a white supremacists' photo to pose as a white man who planned to kill blacks because Barack Obama had been elected president.
He originally was charged with threatening three black students at Nicholls State — where he had attended one semester — but pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count( HT: Instapundit)
Too many people have cried “wolf” too many times for too many years.
As far as being called “racist” for opposing ∅bama: I think back to ∅bama’s being a buddy of Billy I want a dictatorship of the proletariat Ayers. Billy Ayers and his wife are also ones to play the race card, as in the “ you are racist but I am not” card. (Perhaps one could call this the Chevy Chase approach to race relations.) Which is the card that Matthews, Krugman and the gang are playing these days. It is more of the unexamined superiority complex that has described liberals since Adlai and before.
I agree that white liberals such as Chris Matthews and Paul Krugman playing the race card is not going to help matters. OTOH, it is just one of many charges used to demonize those who are protesting :racist, nazi, extremist, un-American, evil-mongers, etc. It is just going to further energize those opposed to ∅bama, as the “little old ladies in tennis shoes” and their ilk are not accustomed to being demonized.
IMHO, to a big degree it won’t make much difference that white liberals are also playing the race card, because a substantial proportion of Americans- perhaps the majority -have already become desensitized to the race card due its being overplayed too often for too long. When I hear the “racist” charge these days, I roll my eyes. White liberals playing the race card or the "you are a racist but I am not" card will discredit ∅bama and statist liberals more than it will blacks. At the same time, one result of the ∅bama era will be the greatly reduced effectiveness of the race card: one of yours got elected President so stop playing the victim and make something of yourself.
BTW, does Chris Matthews mean that if you don’t get a tingle up your leg about ∅bama, you are a racist?
Gringo... I'm about half way with you there. BUT, as one of the white folks who were willing to give the black folks a little leeway because of the racism of the past, I am not thoroughly disgusted.
ReplyDeleteI will continue to act as my Momma taught me -- that each individual is equally deserving of my respect in as much as he/she acts so and it matters not what race or social class they may be from.
Individualism is on a downswing currently, but I still think it's the best way to interact with people.
Donna, perhaps the difference is that many have tried to play the race card on ME. Decades ago when I was a bystander to a conversation between a black and some whites, where I could detect no racism in the whites declining to lend something, the rejoinder came out, "are you prejudiced," and the black immediately put a gun to MY temple. I was just a bystander. As they say, a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged. Later that year I babysat the black children in an interracial couple, so I did not draw the conclusion from that incident that all blacks were thugs.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a teacher and substitute teacher in minority schools, most did not try to play the race card, but it did come up."You're prejudiced (because you're trying to make me work and improve myself)." Roll my eyes time. It never came up when I was a regular teacher, because the students knew it wouldn't fly. In one sense it came up once: I was writing down a misbehavior, and a student said, "I hate whites." Both his parents were in prison.
I worked with a teacher who had been in the Armed Forces. He was of the opinion that racism was a factor in his going to interview for jobs at a certain institution only to find out at the interviews that the job had already been filled. I believed him. The black principal at this school was in his opinion, my opinion, and in the opinion of a majority of the teachers at the school, not a competent administrator- in contrast to the previous principal who was also black. Because this teacher showed himself to be race-neutral, I believed his charge of racism.
Recall ∅bama's playing the race card several times last year on the campaign circuit. Once he said that Dubya and McCain were GOING TO SAY something that would indicate they were racist. Which they never said nor did they go on to say it.
So when I come across an example of the race card being played, my default position is to say,"For argument's sake, let's assume that I'm from Missourah, and SHOW ME." Perhaps this is a more accurate: until you PROVE to me otherwise, I will assume the race card was a scam.