Harry Reid, Obama, and the Negro Dialect
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bias big union blacks bulworth Democrats harry reid hypocrites Liberals Media Bias racism trent lottFrom today’s Hypocrite Files we have Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid who said of Obama:
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid apologized on Saturday for saying the race of Barack Obama – whom he described as a “light skinned” African-American “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one” – would help rather than hurt his eventual presidential bid.
What was the fallout from this?
Reid’s office said he had also phoned to apologize to civil rights leaders, including the Rev. Al Sharpton; NAACP Chairman Julian Bond and Leadership Conference on Civil Rights president and chief executive officer Wade Henderson, as well as veteran political operative Donna Brazile. Reid also spoke with Reps. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., and Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., both African-Americans.
The leaders quickly fell in line supporting Reid.
It will be remembered that former Republican Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott made these remarks:
“I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We’re proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn’t have had all these problems over all these years, either,” Lott said at last week’s party.
The fallout?
Asked if he believes Lott is a racist, Gore said, “Trent Lott made a statement that I think is a racist statement, yes. That’s why I think he should withdraw those comments or I think the United States Senate should undertake a censure of those comments.
And, ultimately, Lott resigned his leadership positions as a result of the Thurmond remark (Thurmond was in the room at the time of the remark).
Do you honestly think that, had Reid’s remarks been made by a Republican that Sharpton, Lee, and others would have simply fallen in line and offered their support?
More hypocritical, racist Democrats getting away with more garbage.
And we’re not even talking about all of the sexist comments Liberals made about Sarah Palin.
It makes Vice President Joe Biden’s opinion seem almost tame by comparison:
I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s a storybook, man.
This reminds me of the movie Bulworth, starring one of the biggest Liberals of them all… Warren Beatty:
Angry black woman: Are you sayin’ the Democratic Party don’t care about the African-American community?
Bullworth: Isn’t that OBVIOUS? You got half your kids are out of work and the other half are in jail. Do you see ANY Democrat doing anything about it? Certainly not me! So what’re you gonna do, vote Republican? Come on! Come on, you’re not gonna vote Republican! Let’s call a spade a spade!
Why so many blacks vote for Democrats I’ll never know… too often blacks and the working class vote Democratic and, thus, vote against their own interests. Democrats know, as Warren Beatty’s character says, that they won’t vote Republican so why should the Democratic Party really care about those groups (unless they donate large sums of money like Big Union does).
Let’s face it, Reid made a racist remark, he’s not going to get called on the carpet for it, and he exposes the cynical vision of Washington, D.C. by saying that Obama has “no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.” In fact, unlike Trent Lott, Reid’s “leadership” position is safe:
Reid has apologized to Obama, and the president said he considers the episode closed.
Democratic Party chairman Tim Kaine says the remarks should not affect Reid’s leadership position.
Let’s face it, Harry Reid is garbage but we didn’t need yet another example to prove the point.
A related article from Fox News on Harry Reid’s past verbal problems.
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10:12 AM
I was listening to Rush Limbaugh on this topic on the way to work. I did not agree with him that Reid’s comment is worse than Trent Lott saying that we would be better off today if Strom Thurmond had been elected president in 1948. To say that is like saying that it would be better if we still lived in a segregated society. It is a repudiation of the whole Civil Rights movement, so to me Lott’s statement seems much worse. But on the other hand Rush made some fair, and funny, points about Harry Reid’s racism, Joe Biden’s “clean and articulate” remark, Clinton’s racist comments about Obama, Robert Byrd’s being a member of the KKK and all of that. It is fair game as far as I am concerned to point out that all these guys have some deeply ingrained racist attitudes, and that sometimes they reveal themselves.
And I can sympathize with Republicans who think there is a double standard in how we treat racist white Republicans, and excuse racist white Democrats. But the fact is that it was the Democrats who got the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed, which then caused all the whites in the South to join the Republican party, and all the blacks to join the Democratic party, and that is just the way it has been for a generation. And you don’t need to point out to me that the biggest opponents of Civil Rights were Southern Democrats, but it was Lyndon Johnson who got it done, and who took the credit and suffered the consequences for it. When he signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Johnson said that the Democrats had now lost the South for the next generation and he was of course completely right about that. But that is why 80 or 90% of blacks are Democrats. Just as when Lincoln freed the slaves, almost all freed slaves became Republicans.
So I think all this will change gradually over time. It would probably be a good thing if more blacks became Republicans, and it would probably also be a good thing if more southern whites became Democrats. And maybe in another generation or two we won’t talk about the color of people’s skin any more at all.
10:40 AM
Joe, I think it’s good you listen to other perspectives and you give a true summation of race relations since the Civil War however where I think you are missing it is in connecting the dots between what Democrats publicly say their mission statement is versus what they actually do. I have no problems with the KKK being racist if this is their mission statement but I do have issues with the Democratic Party, under their “celebrate diversity” mantra being racist.
What Reid said was wrong, were he a Republican he’d be out as Senate Majority Leader, and it would be wall-to-wall coverage. The fact is, Liberals will turn a blind eye to this because he supposedly “supports their agenda” which is more important than him making racist remarks. That is what I call hypocrisy and it is the worst kind as it has to do with moral values.
And since Obama has been either running for president or been president Liberals have looked under every rock to use the “racism” charge against their political enemies… to little success. When racism does raise its head among their own it is ignored.
Not understanding and believing these things creates a blind spot in one’s thinking, which leads to justification and erroneous conclusions and thus should be avoided.
11:09 AM
Harry Reid summarized perfectly the identity politics that reign supreme in the Democratic Party and the dirty little secret is that he is right. Would the Democrats ever get behind an eloquent, yet completely inexperienced junior senator with zero legislative accomplishments as enthusiastically as they did were he white? Or course not. It’s an inconvenient truth, the consequences of which we are all dealing with.
Why do blacks vote Democrat? Easy. Because for whatever you want to say about the motives, tactics and broken promises of the Democratic party with respect to blacks and minorities in general, the Democrats went into the urban areas and inner cities, rolled up their sleaves and did the dirty work that the Republicans were unwilling to do. If you want to emphasize “dirty”, fine but recognize the “work” part of the equation as well.
While the Republican Party is criticized for shutting out moderate elements and excluding minorities which is just code speak for pandering on issues like immigration, they are completely punting on the issue of school choice/vouchers, an issue that has solid across-the-board support from minorities. Another opportunity to roll up their sleaves and reach out to minorities is being pissed away.
Joe, as usual, you make some great points but I think what Lott and Reid said are apples and oranges. Lott said what he said at Thurmond’s 100th birthday party and was just trying to make the old guy feel good. To say that Lott was wishing for a return to segregation is a stretch. Again, Reid phrased very inartfully, racial views still held by many Americans and which aided immensely the President’s successful campaign: “Cool, I can vote for a non-threatening black man of whom I know nothing about but who makes great speeches and appears to be every bit the anti-Bush”. It was really that simple.
12:22 PM
My Canadian cardiologist is black. When I say black, I mean ebony black. With a small group of friends, we follow USA politics. He is part of the group. I said “snigger” (instead of “sneer”) once on an American blog. I was told it was racist. In Toronto, we laughed our heart out. Afterwards, just for fun, I baptized my doctor “Snigger.” Let me tell you what Snigger thinks of your president. “He’s only a half-breed.” he says, “A lot less people would have voted for him if he had been a real Negro. White America is superior and racist. But also politically astute. Democrats chose the right guy. He plays both cards. If Republican were clever, they would oppose Obama with a true black shoeshine boy, coming right out from slave ancestry, and dare the voters to reject him.”
Up to you, friends…if you want a change!