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With so many problems afflicting America today, especially with the economy in crisis, what purpose was served by [Attorney General Eric] Holder's remarks? Trillions of dollars in asset value were wiped out by the collapse of the housing "bubble" and the ripple effects of that collapse have shaken financial institutions worldwide to their very foundations. It hardly seems a convenient moment for an angry racial harangue from the nation's chief law enforcement official.You should read the whole thing. And here's a half-hour documentary video (a rough-cut of a new production by Nina May scheduled for release next month) that defies Holder's "nation of cowards" slur:
Particularly odd was that Holder chose to deliver his lecture in the middle of Black History Month, when America's school children are annually immersed in the subject of race. Originally conceived by pioneering scholar Carter G. Woodson as a means of inspiring black youth by celebrating the accomplishments of overlooked achievers, in recent decades Black History Month has been hijacked by those who view the story of African-Americans not as one of hard-earned progress, but of perpetual victimhood and permanent grievance.
Most Americans over age 30 have little idea how the teaching of history has been perverted by the damaging attitudes Shelby Steele examined in his 2007 bestseller, White Guilt. And because history has been hijacked by grievance mongers and guilt-trippers, most Americans under age 30 have absolutely no idea of what a triumphant tale our nation has to tell . . .
Meathead Rob Reiner whining that Bluesky communists are being mean to him
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They are calling Bluesky (the leftist alterative to Twitter/X) “Digital
Canada”, and I couldn’t think of a better name. All
The post Meathead Rob Reiner ...
11 hours ago
For those laying any claim to Christianity:
ReplyDeleteGal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
This is the one-sentence course on race (and gender) relations.
I'm inferring that the simply beauty of this is just too simple and too beautiful for the perpetuators (and profiteers) of the world's woes.
"in recent decades Black History Month has been hijacked by those who view the story of African-Americans not as one of hard-earned progress, but of perpetual victimhood and permanent grievance."
ReplyDeleteReally now?
Decades huh? Well don't let a few vigilant voices taint the over-all positivity of Black History Month. Of course, some ( and by "some" I mean most of you) would prefer the sunshine-up-your-ass approach, the picture of a shining hill where a thousand points of light mingles with the compassionate conservatism of mustard seeds and blah blah blah...
This is the cowardice that Holder referred to. The cowardice to even mention that, yeah--America is not perfect and that it's OK to want it to be better.
Of course, for you status quo types this is an anathema...
The most important point in all of this is that Holder, unbeknownst to the sensitive among you, was shouting out both Blacks and Whites.
Maybe it's perfectly natural that if an African-American talks about race relations that Whites get that knee-jerk reaction that makes them think they are being criticized. Or maybe it's just the perpetual game of running with an abstraction to it's illogical conclusion for the sake of ratings.
I just can't help but wonder why it is that Republicans/Cons are the ones who get so touchy about talk of race relations. And why they get so defensive that they feel compelled to write articles pooh-pooing Black History Month because they misconstrued what someone said.
Lighten up people. We might be a nation of cowards,but we're also a nation of whiners. Remember?
@Y4E:
ReplyDeleteI'll agree that Black History Month has been "hijacked" for at least the last two decades.
The whole thing has shifted from a useful, positive review of history to a sort of left-handed religious festival.
Really: it's an annual judeo-catholic guilt trip and a total bore. If MLK was truly a servant of the Christ (and there is every reason to believe he was) then I daresay he might be a slightly sickened by all of the homage directed at MLK, as opposed to the Truth which MLK served.
The bad news for the Holders and even less respectable profiteers of the situation is that _any_ decision making based upon DNA is false. That means that the 3/5ths Compromise was wrong, and that means that Affirmative Action is wrong (albeit with less violence). You can build a benefit-of-the-doubt case that, "well, we had to be unfair in the other direction to level the playing field."
Right. We have a black president now, which is a fine expression of democracy. But no, that's not enough. The means is its own end. The audience has to be browbeaten.
As someone who's served the country in the military for about half my life, I lack racist thought #1, and resent Mr. Holder's issue of blanket statements.
Will we always have unenlightened ones in the US befitting the "Deliverance" stereotype? Sure.
Can we admit that, modulo a few nitwits, the bulk of the American population need not be so tediously lectured? You'll start to take on that shrill tone of the anthropogenic global warming clowns, and then discover your "sensor" slightly senseless.
Smitty--
ReplyDeleteI respect where you are coming from.
Frankly, I wish there were more Republicans like you.
But I still don't see any merit for the knee-jerk reaction to what Holder said. I think it can only be justifies if he were in fact directing his statements to one group of people, which he was clearly not.
Listen, let's not try to turn Holder into Farrakhan.
And let's not to turn his statements into easy race-baiting games in order to fire up "the base" with red-meat.
Smitty, your tempered approach to the issue at hand is a shining example of what Holder ,I believe, was calling for--A reasoned exchange of ideas.
Sometimes we get prodded into talking about things that are uncomfortable. Cowards resort to name-calling and sophistry.
Adults confront them head on.
@Y4E:
ReplyDeleteAnd I also appreciate that you're frequently playing the role of a minor troll, 51% serious and 49% throwing spitballs in class.
But when a chimpanzee happens to be in the news, and a cartoonist uses that news, can you spot the fascism in labelling the cartoonist "racist"? Reviewing it in detail for the first time, a dead chimp and "write next stimulus bill" it would seem clearer to connect between the sad news of a snuffed animal and Congress.
The connection to the AG does not suggest itself.
What does suggest itself is that The Congress That Shall Live In Infamy has issued talking points to its propaganda wing to distort reality so as to put the heat on a cartoonist, not the bad actors in our national drama.
This, after eight years of seeing "Chimpy McHitlerBush" on the interwebs. Peggy Fleming never did such a fine pirouette as the sycophants in our media. For bonus points, the media goons should have claimed that the cartoonist subliminally included Mohammed in the chimp's fur. Why not? Once you've sold all integrity and engaged in baseless attacks, mobilizing an army of uncritical thinkers shouldn't be too terribly hard.
Next time. We can count on a next time, with these jokers, and shall therefore be even more watchful.
Minor troll, major troll...I suppose a troll is anyone who is not welcome in a public forum.In my case, someone who doesn't care much for the echo chamber of the blogs I generally agree with. Troll sir?
ReplyDeleteIn any case, the chimp cartoon is a good example of the disconnect in race relations. I don't know if that cartoon was racist or not. The hallmark of a good political cartoon, as this one claims to be, is clarity.
This cartoon is so vague as to invite all kinds of interpretations. Add to the fact that the NY Post is a cheap rag with a history of superficially provocative content and you've got the makings for the kind of scandal the NY Post thrives on.
But there lies the inherent beauty in all this, which is that the Post is within their legal rights to publish said cartoon, and those who are offended are within their rights to call it what they want.
Fascism? I call it Democracy at work.
I don't call it a conspiracy theory to distract from the real problems. In the context of what the AG said it creates an opportunity to express our differences, hopefully that we may better understand where we stand individually.
What the cartoon does raise is issues about historically insensitive associations that, for some reason, the folks at the NY Post are not aware of.
I am sure they would be far more considerate of the feelings of, say, Jewish readers if they were presented with a cartoon making some kind of historically insensitive association( and I don't have to mention any as we all know what they might be).
So is that a double standard?
Would it be fair to say that it is those kinds of double standards that are at the root of racism?
@Y4E:
ReplyDeleteIf you go back and read what I said,
I also appreciate that you're frequently playing the role of a minor troll,
I both appreaciate and understand that you're playing a role. This is not the same as saying You Are A Troll.
Also, while we can both see that there is a business model at work when publishing edgy material.
In the context of what the AG said it creates an opportunity to express our differences, hopefully that we may better understand where we stand individually.
What the cartoon does raise is issues about historically insensitive associations that, for some reason, the folks at the NY Post are not aware of.
The mere mention of "historically insensitive associations" asserts that there is some objective reference frame wherein we evaluate art and say what is and is not "insenstitive".
In this particular case, I think that W absorbed enough "Chimpy McHitlerBush" crap that any the warranty on calling any human-primate comparisons "racist" is voided.
Would it be fair to say that it is those kinds of double standards that are at the root of racism?
No, I think that the double standards have nothing to do with race and everything to do with propaganda.
Furthermore, I would like to declare, and maybe the blog owner can help spread the concept, the following:
Any speech on race which asserts the negative "glass still half empty" or "racial cowards" case, without contextualizing the strides made since the 3/5ths Compromise, is, itself, an agent of perpetuation of any problems to which the speech alludes.
I doubt you, Y4E, are racist. I don't really think RSM is racist. I know I'm not racist. I'm confident no one in my church is racist. My extended family, while by no means anything more than blue collar folk, are really not all that racist. One begins to form the opion that these charges of "racism" are a variation on the theme of The Boy Who Cried Wolf