Black Congressmen Declare Racism In Palin’s Rhetoric
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Jason Horowitz, New York Observer, October 7, 2008
As the McCain campaign ratchets up the intensity of its attacks on Barack Obama, some black elected officials are calling the tactics desperate, unseemly and racist.
“They are trying to throw out these codes,” said Representative Gregory Meeks, a Democrat from New York.
“He’s ‘not one of us?’” Mr. Meeks said, referring to a comment Sarah Palin made at a campaign rally on Oct. 6 in Florida. “That’s racial. That’s fear. They know they can’t win on the issues, so the last resort they have is race and fear.”
{snip}
“Our opponent,” Ms. Palin told donors in Englewood, Colo., “is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect, imperfect enough, that he’s palling around with terrorists who would target their own country.”
She added, “This is not a man who sees America like you and I see America,” she said. “We see America as a force of good in this world. We see an America of exceptionalism.”
An Associated Press analysis characterized those remarks as “unsubstantiated” and carrying “a racially tinged subtext.”
{snip}
Before Ms. Palin took the stage in Estero, Fla., at the Oct. 6 event, one of the introductory speakers, Mike Scott, the sheriff of Lee County, referred to the Democratic candidate as “Barack Hussein Obama,” a practice the McCain campaign has distanced itself from in the past. Apparently, no longer. Ms. Palin also said that she had advised Mr. McCain to “take the gloves off” and said Mr. Obama was “not one of us.”
{snip}
Other black members of Congress, all Democrats who support Mr. Obama, said they were dismayed by the new and vicious tenor of the McCain attacks.
“If McCain’s attacks don’t cross the line, they’re certainly teetering on it,” said Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois. “He is certainly appealing to people’s fears and not their hopes.”
{snip}
Mr. Jackson added: “Did Sarah Palin throw her husband out of the house for advocating secession from the union?”
{snip}
Ms. Clarke [Representative Yvette Clarke of New York] also found a racial subtext in Ms. Palin’s repeated appeals to “Joe Six-Pack” and “hockey moms.”
“Who exactly is Joe Six-Pack and who are these hockey moms? That’s what I’d like to know,” she said. “Is that supposed to be terminology that is of common ground to all Americans? I don’t find that. It leaves a lot of people out.”
New York State Senator Bill Perkins, an early supporter of Mr. Obama, said, “They are obviously playing on people’s fears and prejudices in a desperate way. While not explicitly relating to race, they are clearly creating the opportunity for those inclined to come to those conclusions. I think it is going to become more explicit as we move forward. It’s subtle now, but not so subtle as to be mistaken.”
And Kevin Parker, a New York state senator from Brooklyn, said, “If you have to remind people that Barack Obama is African-American, you have reached the bottom.”
{snip}
Email Jason Horowitz at jhorowitz@observer.com.
(Posted on October 8, 2008)
Comments
“… Mike Scott, the sheriff of Lee County, referred to the Democratic candidate as “Barack Hussein Obama,”…
And is that not his name?
Posted by White, Jewish, and Proud at 5:39 PM on October 8
“That’s racial. That’s fear. They know they can’t win on the issues, so the last resort they have is race and fear.”
Is Mr Meeks going to send the RNC a check? Wonder where that fear comes from?
When blacks claimed they were afraid, people just like Mr Meeks ‘challenged the conscience of the world’. I guess it’s different when whites are afraid. Now it’s just proof of racism.
Posted by at 6:02 PM on October 8
In the event of a BHO win, it is critical that thinking Whites regard him as illegitimate, an usurper, the champion of all those who have worked to displace us in our own nation. We needn’t worry what his slavish followers think about it, they have always hated us. I don’t care if the GOP calls him an invader from Mars, anything that undermines public confidence in liberals and their new Massaya is a good thing.
Posted by OBAMA/BIn laDEN at 6:26 PM on October 8
Jeez, where are the moderates when you need them most? It seems like the political mindset has come down to either: 1. You think America is the greatest thing that ever happened, can do absolutely no wrong and should force the rest of the world to do what we want…or else. 2. America is this evil place that has no good side and must destroy itself to make amends for every evil ever committed by anyone anywhere.
Posted by idareya at 6:31 PM on October 8
In the modern liberal social construct: everyone is a racist that is white unless they allow themselves to be victimized or aredently support the modern liberal social construct. This would include everyone who disagrees with a modern liberal (unless they are black or brown). It’s pure madness and illogical, of course, but that doesn’t seem to slow them down. Expect undesirable results from such thinking. EOM.
Posted by Unemployed WASP at 6:36 PM on October 8
Everything is racist to black, anti-white racists, because they’re basically liars who are too stupid to come up with believable reasons to defend their racist boy wonder, Obama.
The only defense the dimwitted can come up with is to somehow make themselves victims. They’re too stupid to think of anything else.
Posted by ice at 6:46 PM on October 8
“Who exactly is Joe Six-Pack and who are these hockey moms? That’s what I’d like to know,” she said. “Is that supposed to be terminology that is of common ground to all Americans? I don’t find that. It leaves a lot of people out.”……………..I guess Joe six pack and hockey moms means white people who are still the majority.Maybe she would have been happier if Sarah Palin referred to Joe Malt Liquors and Crack Moms.
Posted by Tony Soprano. at 6:54 PM on October 8
Please excuse Ms. Clarke’s naivete. In her mostly black 11th Congressional District, “Joe Six-Pack” is known as “Leroy The Crackhead” - a term which doesn’t leave a lot of people out.
Posted by Francis at 7:36 PM on October 8
I’m slow…is this article proposing that if a white man or a white woman uses English, then the statement made is racist?
If so, it follows that EVERY word in the English language is racist.
Further, it follows that English must not be used.
Ebonics anyone?
Posted by FastTrack41 at 8:01 PM on October 8
The black race card has already been played and that’s why Obama is running. The black vote is secure.
If there is such a thing as a white race card it’s time to play it. I don’t understand why they haven’t brought up the fact that Barack Obama isn’t really a black man but a dark shinned Arab with some black blood. There are people that may vote for a black man but very few that would vote for Ahab the Arab.
Posted by at 8:05 PM on October 8
“If you have to remind people that Barack Obama is African-American, you have reached the bottom.”
So can we conclude from this that Obama reached the bottom long ago when he referred to his grandmother as a “typical white person,” a remark that would certainly be a career ender if voiced by any white politician about a black? This is part of the elaborate double-standard in our society, when blacks get away with blatant racism, but white candidates are attacked merely for speaking in terms that can be interpreted as “code.”
Which brings up another point: In any campaign in which a white runs against a not-white, of all of the thousands of things that are said, there will always be something that can be interpreted by the MSM as racist “code.” Chalk this up as a casualty of our brave new multi-racial society.
Posted by Tim in Indiana at 8:06 PM on October 8
“‘If you have to remind people that Barack Obama is [black], you have reached the bottom’”
Obama’s color is self-evident. The Republicans need to remind white people that Obama:
1) Has a cloudy past as a “community organizer” (i.e., Black Power activist);
2) Has ties to ACORN (i.e., voter fraud and radical youth “education”);
3) Has a white-hating black racist as a spiritual mentor (Rev. Jeremiah Wright);
4) Has executives from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as campaign advisors (I don’t recall their names, but one is black);
5) And has taken enormous campaign contributions from Fannie and Freddie (indirectly robbing taxpayers because these institutions were subsidized by the Federal government).
It’s not just about the color of his skin; it’s the content of his connections and the extremism of his experience.
And BTW, if you have to play on black people’s fears and prejudices by suggesting that innocuous terms like “Joe Six-Pack” and “hockey moms” are exclusionary racial code words, then you have not only reached the bottom, you’ve become a bottom-sucker. I sincerely hope “it is going to become more explicit as we move forward.” I’m tired of seeing white politicians dancing and dodging around race issues while blacks and liberals shoot all these outrageous accusations at them. Let’s have some honest reciprocal two-way dialogue for a change! A refreshing change. Real change. “Change we need.”
Posted by KonfederateKarl at 8:06 PM on October 8
In Palin’s next speech, instead of using the term “Joe Six-Pack”, she should use the term “Antwone Forty-Ounce Malt Liquor”. Will that be fair enough?
Posted by AvgDude at 8:10 PM on October 8
Black politicians say Blacks are NEVER racist but until they have:
No affirmative action,
No Black Caucus in Congress,
No calls to equity and fairness,
No minority only scholarships,
No minority only College funds,
No NAACP,
No outreach to black students,
No demands for special help to black students,
No all black fraternities or sororities,
No demands to give money only to “traditionally black colleges,
No Black Entertainment TV
No Black hate for whites…
only then should whites listen to the complaints of racism and remind Blacks that for decades Blacks were the receivers of Racial privilege and special status because of their race.
Posted by Oldman at 8:33 PM on October 8
And the traitors in the mainstream media treat these black racists seriously.I have more of a problem with the majority that allowed things to get this bad than with the low-foreheaded minoritues that will always view other races as out to get them.
Posted by datroof at 8:58 PM on October 8
Fine. Palin can refer to people as “Tupac SixPack” and “Basketball Moms” and everyone will feel better.
Posted by at 9:12 PM on October 8
To atone for this indignity, and in an effort sound more inclusive, Palin should begin referring to “welfare moms” and “Tyrone crack pipe” in her speeches. Then she could visit Detroit and give a campaign speech in Ebonics. Perhaps McCain would gain a few points with the inner city black population and thus be catapulted into the oval office.
Posted by Super Dave at 9:17 PM on October 8
>>If you have to remind people that Barack Obama is African-American, you have reached the bottom.
No, you have begun at the bottom instead of reached the bottom.
>>racial subtext
Code word: help me liberal media muzzle white people who I perceive to be a threat; I will use innuendo and paranoia as the only evidence to advance my agenda while using white guilt as the method of control
Racial subtext this MFer
Posted by at 9:17 PM on October 8
95% percent of double A’s voting for Obama: racism
Posted by at 9:18 PM on October 8
Ordinarily, “Joe Sixpack” is a pejorative, a synonym for Redneck. It’s good to see it used as a positive description for working class Whites.
Posted by Schoolteacher at 9:27 PM on October 8
It’s racial. It’s fear. And it’s JUSTIFIED.
Whites MUST embrace racism and get comfortable both with the racial realities of the world and the fact that it is us against them, no matter how we may feel about the matter. Other races will not allow it to be any other way.
Unless whites do this, at best, what we have to look forward to is exploitation and near slavery as the providers to greedy and wicked peoples of color. At worst, they plan genocide against us.
Obama is an obvious enemy agent. Someone who plans to destroy America generally and whites specifically. He has little power to work towards those goals. But whites seem eager to give him that power. The problem is not that they don’t know what he is and what he intends. The problem is that they DO.
Posted by at 9:32 PM on October 8
Of course there isn’t a word out of these hypocrites mouth about the fact Obama himself belonged to a white-hating, racist church for 20 yrs. And of course they didn’t have a problem with Democrats themselves using terms like “soccer moms”. These are the people who sound desperate with their race-baiting.
Posted by RHG at 9:40 PM on October 8
If all this weren’t so damned dangerous it would be absolutely hilarious! But who can laugh at times like this?
Posted by HH at 9:45 PM on October 8
Well before this campaign started I told my wife to watch out. A large portion of the employees she works with are black. If she dares say anything that disputed what the Chosen One ordained, she’d be tarred as a racist. Of course, after all the garbage she’s had to put up with over the last few months, she is seeing the light…
Posted by hts at 9:57 PM on October 8
These black nabobs want to see racism everywhere. Why didn’t the writer try for some balance by contacting some White Republican legislators, who might have labeled their allegations paranoid hogwash? But of course, why spoil a good story with balance and fairness?
Posted by Wayne Engle at 9:58 PM on October 8
Sarah should try to be more inclusive in her speeches referring to “baby daddies” and “bi**ches and hos”.
Posted by at 10:16 PM on October 8
remember, racist is their code word, their way of disarming you. fight back by calling them a racist before they call you one. if any whites you know are voting for obama, call them a racist, because they are only voting for him because he is black, he has no qualifications. keep saying it over and over, racist, racist, racist racist. obama is a racist, pure and simple. anyone voting for him is a racist. 98% of blacks will vote for him, thats racist. hammer it home. when they call you a racist, call them one back, or even before they can call you one. disarm them with the word racist, like they are doing you.
Posted by danjack at 11:05 PM on October 8
“Who exactly is Joe Six-Pack and who are these hockey moms? That’s what I’d like to know,” she said. “Is that supposed to be terminology that is of common ground to all Americans? I don’t find that. It leaves a lot of people out.”
I know who they are, and they’re not me either. She’s definitely leaving me out. I am white, but I am NOT Joe Six-Pack. A lot of us are not. Yes, it DOES leave a lot of people out. White people. It’s a tasteless and stupid reference, I think, which just alienates a lot of people — not only blacks. It’s a vey obvious pitch aimed at just a certain type of people. Palin’s clearly targeting a specific demographic element of middle-Americans. Still, I don’t find it racial at all — just exclusionary, and cynically calculated. Yes, it’s offensive.
What if (let’s say) she addressed only church-goers — or even better, synagogue-goers — would that leave out all the rest of us who are not? Or what if she addressed exclusively those with advanced degrees, or incomes over a certain limit, implying that anyone else doesn’t count and is off her screen? Or only suburbanites? Or those who have children in private schools (assuming that we all do)?
Now, as some above have said, if she addressed Joe Crackhead or “welfare moms” then there would be really something for them to howl about. Incidentally, Yvette Clarke is the daughter of Jamaican parents. She has a valid point, but she probably sees things differently than I do, and therefore everything, for her, takes on a racial tint.
Posted by at 12:28 AM on October 9
Let them be racist. Accusing blacks of being racist while simultaneously trying to defend ourselves as not is getting us no where.
The word is used to intimidate.
It scares no one but white people.
Posted by at 1:03 AM on October 9
Black failure is no just here, but everywhere in the world, without exception.
Even in the US where blacks have been provided literally trillions in direct aid, health care, education, money, food and housing, at levels 1,000 years beyond any society in Africa, they still complain about how they are treated. There is no end to their demands and no end to their behavior. It is an eternal loop of wasted money and a circular reference that will never end until the nation or other receiving nations are bankrupt.
Has anyone noticed the vast majority of the foreclosures are black (and Latino)?
The irony of that is the Barney Frank/Barack Obama/Chris Dodd-types are now complaining that the fraudulent, forced Liberal-mandated loans made to minorities are now the Banks fault for making in the first place. There were very stringent rules for denying loans, where are the actual tables of foreclosed loans? You have to dig for those, though readily available, as they do not serve the Liberal Democratic purpose, they are hidden from public view.
You can’t make this up, the same people bending over backwards to attempt to help someone are now blaming the same programs they pushed themselves…what a country.
The reality is that wherever Blacks go, poverty, crime, blight, disease and overall living conditions fall…there are no examples to the contrary of any significance. There is no Black Mayberry or Chopin or John Glenn. There are no black scientists at CERN; there are very few entries into good colleges or professional schools are from forced affirmative action, test scores and class rank verify this under neutral conditions. Even the statistics are not revealed as the truth is not always politically correct.
Entertainment and sports are their best arenas.
Posted by Maitre'D at 2:27 AM on October 9
One thing about white people, their greed and stupidity has led to this economic meltdown.
You can blame blacks all you want, but it was the whites that have created the opportunity for the blacks to take advantage.
Basically both sides are too blame for the mess.
And the middle class white is the one left footing the bill.
Just what America needs: a financial meltdown, a black president, and more uncontrolled immigration.
I think the average middle class American has been just a bit too trusting of those in political office, but the main stream media are mostly too blame for feeding a diet of lies and deceit.
Posted by at 3:42 AM on October 9
KonfederateKarl,
Good post, but you forgot Obama’s ties to William Ayers, a founder of the violent Weather Underground.
Posted by at 5:43 AM on October 9
Leftist, Liberals,worshippers of the corporation and black politicians directly appeal to hispanics,asians and blacks on the basis of hispanic,asian and black racial interests. They don’t like it when a White politician does it. Always point out the double standard and say:”WE AIN”T GONNA TAKE IT..NEVER DID AND NEVER WILL”
It only goes to show that there are irreconcilable differences between Native Born White Americans and non-whites. Steve Sailer’s concept of citizenship is a joke. Sailer is seriously underestimated just how far the situation has deteriorated.
Posted by Jupiter at 8:19 AM on October 9
So now its the 1st amendment rights minus any percieved racism that is really a con since we know these black snakes politicians will try anything since of course they cant be racist themselves.
Is like the twisted logic of blacks everywhere who will distort and confuse or muddy the waters similar to Winfreys mothers suing the store for giving her a credit card to overcharge 150k in merchandise and not repay.
Idiots.
Posted by at 9:19 AM on October 9
Let’s see, the last time I looked, his name was Barrack Hussein Obama. If saying these things in a campaign are considered “racist”, what do you think it’s going to be like if this guy wins the White House.
Posted by Gayle Sollenberger at 9:23 AM on October 9
King said “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
We have examined obamas’ “character”, and there are just too many questions about his actions and his associates that are evaded and lied about.
This is the basis of our distrust, not skin color; of course, it will ALWAYS be labeled as racism by those that think it elevates their position to do so.
Posted by Superman at 10:44 AM on October 9
I suppose Martin Luther King Jr. would be happy, as I am not judging BHO by the “color of his skin, but rather by the content of his character.” That’s why I could/will never vote for the Marxist.
Posted by EuroTexan at 11:45 AM on October 9
>>>One thing about white people, their greed and stupidity has led to this economic meltdown.
You can blame blacks all you want, but it was the whites that have created the opportunity for the blacks to take advantage.
Yes and no. Stupid White liberals did want to give Blacks, Hispanics and poor Whites an OPPORTUNITY to buy a home. But on the premise and understanding they could and would PAY their monthly mortgages! Which was NOT meant to give a “free ride”, to minorities or anyone else!!!
Posted by Fed Up at 12:44 PM on October 9
It’s called “projection” - a psychological defence mechanism whereby someone sees in everybody else what is in their own self. Of course, most people would call this bogus charge a lie, and Sarah might do well to simply countercharge them as “liars”. Hey folks, this is age of Jerry Springer politics? Ask Bill O’Reilly.
Posted by factualist at 12:57 PM on October 9
“Who exactly is Joe Six-Pack and who are these hockey moms? That’s what I’d like to know,” she said. “Is that supposed to be terminology that is of common ground to all Americans? I don’t find that. It leaves a lot of people out.”
You and most blacks aren’t planning on voting for her anyhow so why should she use words like gangstas and nappy hos? You people want inclusiveness when it’s to your advantage but not to ours.
Posted by at 6:02 PM on October 9
All this article makes me think is how utterly stupid and myopically obsessed with racial inferiority these people are. But the truly depressing part is that newspapers actually print these kind of articles.
Posted by at 10:08 AM on October 10
Memo to Rick Davis:
Have Palin say that Obama sees America as one gigantic subprime loan that needs to be bailed out with our tax dollars.
Posted by at 10:35 AM on October 10
Obama attends Jeremiah Wright’s church for nearly 20 years and I’m supposed to believe he’s not racist? That church gave Farrakhan a lifetime achievement award. But somehow it’s racist for Palin to point out that Obama is a friend of an unrepentent former member of the Weathermen, a terrorist organization.
Posted by WR the elder at 3:30 AM on October 15