http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/senate/harry-reid-apologizes-for-ligh.html?wprss=thefix

Apparently in a book, he commented that Obama had “ no Negro dialect.”

I have to say, that’s pretty hilarious.

I don’t think he’s actually racist, but this type of language is definitely symbolic of the past climate in the US when it comes to race, and among people today to a lesser extent. He clearly has the same biases and prejudices that many, possibly most, people from his generation had, and many people still have today. He seems to recognize these biases at least, and theoretically would be conscious not to act on them in a wrong-headed way.

1/9/2010 4:28:09 PM

No time to read the article right now... but just how old is this book?

1/9/2010 4:29:33 PM

It was him talking about stuff from the 2008 presidential campaign… so pretty recently.

Quote :

"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) apologized today for referring to President Barack Obama as "light skinned" and "with no Negro dialect" in private conversations during the 2008 presidential campaign."

1/9/2010 4:33:31 PM

Reid doesn't much like "smelly tourists," either.

http://tinyurl.com/yexszlk

1/9/2010 4:41:23 PM

Racist or not, Harry Reid is a colossal turd. His opposition to Yucca Mountain has cost--and will continue to cost--taxpayers and ratepayers billions of dollars.

[Edited on January 9, 2010 at 4:43 PM. Reason : ]

1/9/2010 4:43:29 PM

He must have just finished reading the Census before he said that.

1/9/2010 5:17:25 PM

Quote :

"His opposition to Yucca Mountain has cost--and will continue to cost--taxpayers and ratepayers billions of dollars."

Too true. It's unfortunate that people are still so against nuclear power.

1/9/2010 5:39:20 PM

He attended Southern Utah University, Utah State University, and George Washington University Law School in the 1960's. And he's a senator in a state that is less than ten percent African-American. I wouldn't be surprised if his experience with black people or any non-white person, for that matter, is laughably limited.

I think the younger generation (young people of all races) has a huge one-up in this regard. It really is a different world.

And it's difficult for me to look at absurdities like Reid's comments and not want to draw conclusions about all people born before 1940, but I'm no ageist!

[Edited on January 9, 2010 at 6:14 PM. Reason : one too man not's]

1/9/2010 6:07:39 PM

If a Republican had said that they would be called a racist, dragged through the mud relentlesly and asked to resign. This will be a non issue if course.

1/9/2010 6:31:36 PM

I've actually come to peace with the double standard.

1/9/2010 6:33:14 PM

^^ that’s because that Republican will more than likely have spent his life enacting policies that are racist, or that implicitly keep the black man down.

Fortunately for Reid, he hasn’t really done that in any substantial way, and even has a black friend!

[Edited on January 9, 2010 at 6:38 PM. Reason : ]

1/9/2010 6:38:14 PM

Keeping the black man down is hard to define

1/9/2010 6:39:29 PM

True, but thankfully our political system has a heuristic for that… it’s called being a republican

1/9/2010 6:41:02 PM

I suppose the phrase "African American accent" would have been more appropriate.

1/9/2010 8:32:21 PM

Honestly, without any further context, I see nothing wrong with what Reid said. Obama is light skinned compared to a number of other black people (compare say, Obama to Gates: http://socalledexpert.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/abc_obama_gates_rowley_090723_mn1.jpg) and he has a very clean speech pattern with little or no accents or mannerisms that we commonly associate with black people. If you took someone who had never heard Obama speak before, blindfolded him and had him listen to a speech, he probably wouldn't quickly identify Obama as black, especially if you paired the speech against others like say Wanda Sykes, Chris Rock, Al Sharpton etc.

1/9/2010 8:45:01 PM

Quote :

"that’s because that Republican will more than likely have spent his life enacting policies that are racist, or that implicitly keep the black man down."

But not that generations of Black Americans have been held hostage in a democrat-produced welfare state/plantation.

Large urban areas, mostly controlled by democrats for decades, are rife with crime, crappy schools, political corruption and party aggravated class warfare. Black voters are thrown scraps form the LBJ welfare state and are expected to keep supporting the democrats. Yes the GOP keeps blowing their natural alliance with Blacks- conservative christian values. But democrats have hurt the Black population much more than republicans.

1/9/2010 9:00:20 PM

Quote :

"Honestly, without any further context, I see nothing wrong with what Reid said. Obama is light skinned compared to a number of other black people (compare say, Obama to Gates: http://socalledexpert.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/abc_obama_gates_rowley_090723_mn1.jpg) and he has a very clean speech pattern with little or no accents or mannerisms that we commonly associate with black people. If you took someone who had never heard Obama speak before, blindfolded him and had him listen to a speech, he probably wouldn't quickly identify Obama as black, especially if you paired the speech against others like say Wanda Sykes, Chris Rock, Al Sharpton etc. "

I see nothing wrong with describing him as light-skinned, but without context, it’s hard for me to think of a situation where he would need to point out his “lack of negro dialect” unless “negro dialect” was being used pejoratively. I think that’s why Reid felt the need to apologize for it, because it’s going to make blacks wonder about him (not like anyone really cares about 12% of some of the poorest members of the population anyway).

1/10/2010 2:10:40 AM

I can think of a perfectly reasonable context in which to mention his lack of "dialect". If Reid were talking about Obama's very quick rise to popularity and support from all races and ethnic groups, it would be wrong to ignore the fact that he doesn't speak with any of the accents we stereotypically assign to most black people. I mean, pick any famous black person in the last 20 years and chances are you could tell their race simply from listening to them. Since those accents are typically associated with lower levels of education (and more recently, urban gang life), the fact that Obama doesn't have them means more people listen to his message instead of automatically writing him off. This is especially important coming off of 8 years of Bush's "folksy" talk.

1/10/2010 10:36:16 AM

ready?

the president is half-white

you know what that means?

he's actually dark-skinned

he has "no negro dialect" because he isn't a descendant of American slaves

reid, however, is a jackass

1/10/2010 10:40:22 AM

Quote :

""I think if you look at the reports, as I have, it was all in the context of saying positive things about Senator Obama," Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine said. "It definitely was in the context of recognizing in Senator Obama a great candidate and future president." His counterpart, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele, mocked the DNC chairman's defense as he called on Mr. Reid to resign. "If [Senate Republican leader] Mitch McConnell had said those very words, then this chairman and this president would be calling for his head, and they would be labeling every Republican in the country a racist for saying exactly what this chairman's just said," Mr. Steele said. "There is this standard where Democrats feel that they can say these things and they can apologize when it comes from the mouths of their own, but when it comes from anyone else, it's racism," Mr. Steele said. "

I know we have to get used to the double standard, but it's aggravating watching the MSM press and liberal politicians basically giving Reid a pass on this.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jan/10/top-democrat-defends-reid/?feat=home_headlines

[Edited on January 10, 2010 at 10:59 AM. Reason : .]

1/10/2010 10:59:23 AM

Quote :

"I can think of a perfectly reasonable context in which to mention his lack of "dialect". If Reid were talking about Obama's very quick rise to popularity and support from all races and ethnic groups, it would be wrong to ignore the fact that he doesn't speak with any of the accents we stereotypically assign to most black people. I mean, pick any famous black person in the last 20 years and chances are you could tell their race simply from listening to them. Since those accents are typically associated with lower levels of education (and more recently, urban gang life), the fact that Obama doesn't have them means more people listen to his message instead of automatically writing him off. This is especially important coming off of 8 years of Bush's "folksy" talk."

The average person, black or white, doesn’t think about things in these terms, and i’m not really willing to give Reid the benefit of the doubt that he does either (because of his laughable use of the word “negro”).

It doesn’t really matter though, because politics trumps any racism if it were to exist (and i dont think it does in a meaningful way) since both Reid and the Obama admin have to work with each other regardless. And the right can’t hand-wring too much about it, because it’s inevitable someone on their side will say something similar, outside of the people who already have, and they’re just going to look bad not reaching the same level of outrage.


^ there is no double standard. This is the usual tactic of the right playing the race-card card.

[Edited on January 10, 2010 at 11:21 AM. Reason : ]

1/10/2010 11:11:45 AM

HE'S NOT RACIST

HE HAS A COLOR TV

1/10/2010 11:48:15 AM

Quote :

"It doesn’t really matter though, because politics trumps any racism if it were to exist (and i dont think it does in a meaningful way) since both Reid and the Obama admin have to work with each other regardless."

It's good to see that politicians can put away their petty differences when it comes to time to fuck the American people.

1/10/2010 11:51:17 AM

Meh, I've said worse.

1/10/2010 12:03:46 PM

Quote :

"Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) should resign from office after acknowledging that he had described President Obama as "light skinned" and possessing no "Negro dialect" in a conversation with reporters. "There is this standard where Democrats feel that they can say these things and they can apologize when it comes from the mouths of their own," said Steele in an interview with "Fox News Sunday. "But if it comes from anyone else, it is racism." Steele, who is African American, compared Reid's comments about Obama to remarks made by then Senate Majority Leader Trent Lot in 2002 in which the Mississippi Republican, at a birthday party for South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond, said that "all these problems" might not have occurred if Thurmond had been elected president in 1948. Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, the second highest ranking Republican in the Senate, drew a similar comparison on "Fox News Sunday". "If [Lott] should resign, then Harry Reid should," Kyl said. Unlike Lott, however, Reid immediately apologized for his remarks and received a strong statement of support from the president. Obama, in a statement released Saturday, said that he accepted Reid's apology and that the "book is closed" on the story. Reid also spent much of Saturday reaching to black leaders and fellow senators to try to minimize the damage from his remarks."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/republican-party/steele-calls-on-reid-to-resign.html

yes it was inappropriate, stupid, uncalled for, poor choice of words - etc.

but calling on him to resign? bullshit

1/10/2010 12:03:50 PM

The hell you say!

1/10/2010 12:06:26 PM

^^ obviously the right are going to try to use this to their advantage. At this point, it’s not worth pointing out anymore.

1/10/2010 12:09:05 PM

if they re-hash this too much - it may blow up in their faces

1/10/2010 12:19:05 PM

How and with who?

black people don't care about republicans and they're not going to vote against obama, no matter what

so all they can do is point out some democrat hypocrisy, which is clearly there, to white people... and maybe latinos

1/10/2010 1:05:45 PM

pretty sure Michael Steele, Alan Keyes, Walter Williams, Herman Cain won't be voting for Obama

way to put all people in one category based on their skin color

1/10/2010 1:43:50 PM

Seems like a dumb move by Republicans to bring up the Trent Lott comparison. I understand trying to show a double standard, but do they really want to remind people that one of their recent leaders made the argument that Thurmond's segregation policies in the 40's were the the better choice? Strikes me as an 'they are almost as bad as we are' argument.

1/10/2010 2:16:32 PM

Quote :

"pretty sure Michael Steele, Alan Keyes, Walter Williams, Herman Cain won't be voting for Obama"

I think you just named them all. The entire black republican contingent...

1/10/2010 4:23:16 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/04/exit.polls/

Quote :

"And minorities went heavily into the Obama camp. Blacks, 96 percent Obama to 3 percent McCain; Latinos, 67 percent Obama to 30 percent McCain; and Asians, 63 percent Obama to 34 percent McCain."

you know, I stated it as a fact... and we all know it's true

but a number like 96% really does just bug the shit out of me

I understand that black people vote for democrats (against republicans really...) usually to the tune, in the presidential elections of 90% to 10%...

but a near unanimous vote... because of race...

96% is just such a fucked up number... I really wish it was the normal 90% so we didn't have to have such a messed up interpretation... and it is messed up. I mean, do I have to go on a rant about having good race relations but the work only being one sided...

black people shouldn't be allowed to be racist, it should be wrong, it shouldn't be tolerated

[Edited on January 10, 2010 at 4:33 PM. Reason : .]

1/10/2010 4:32:48 PM

I imagine the 3% black votes for McCain were because they couldn't relate to Obama since he's light skinned and lacks "Negro dialect"

1/10/2010 4:34:57 PM

^^what if it was as simple as wanting a good black role model for their kids? is that really so wrong?

1/10/2010 4:40:29 PM

it depends

do you think that voting for someone based primarily on their race is wrong?

if you do, than yeah it is...

1/10/2010 4:42:06 PM

Quote :

"but a number like 96% really does just bug the shit out of me I understand that black people vote for democrats (against republicans really...) usually to the tune, in the presidential elections of 90% to 10%... but a near unanimous vote... because of race... "

By your numbers, 6% swapped “just because of race.” What percentage of crackers voted against the blackie “just because of race?”

^ i personally wouldn’t do it, but to call it “wrong” is absurd. People vote a certain way for a myriad of dumb reasons, and if you created a list of those dumb reasons, race is maybe half-way.

That’s how democracy is, and if you don’t like it, YOU CAN GIT THE HELL OUT!!

[Edited on January 10, 2010 at 4:44 PM. Reason : ]

1/10/2010 4:43:07 PM

so you think voting based on race is NOT "wrong"

I mean, lets be clear

should we vote based on race?

...

and the statistics are not conclusive...

and with the fact that black people vote for Democats overwhelming anyways makes the "voting on race" hard to really verify

but 96% is still a fucked up percentage

[Edited on January 10, 2010 at 4:49 PM. Reason : .]

1/10/2010 4:45:29 PM

It’s wrong in the sense that people who do it are dumb, but it’s not wrong in the sense that it should be banned. It’s a waste of time and energy to opine upon, considering that people are allowed to vote for whatever dumb reasons they want, and people do vote for dumb reasons, they are just not as sound-bite friendly.

And it wasn’t done in this case to an unusually significant degree. By the numbers, you have 6% switch because Obama was black. NO, NOT AN ENTIRE 6%!!?!?!!!

To be bugged by this is dumb. You should be more bugged by the fact that 90% of blacks go democrat to begin with. Why is this not more questionable to you than the 6% who liked Obama for the superficial facet of race (if we assume it was purely superficial)?

[Edited on January 10, 2010 at 4:50 PM. Reason : ]

1/10/2010 4:49:21 PM

of course it shouldn't be banned

what are you arguing

you DO NOT think that race was an important factor for black people when they voted for obama?

but yeah, it is strange that 90% of black people vote for a party that DO NOT hold many of the key values of their community...

and it is not dumb to be bugged by this... I do not like that it's possible that a significant percentage of our population voted for someone just because of his race

1/10/2010 4:55:04 PM

^^ although it is partially how the numbers are framed - the same data also says the republican vote declined by 60% - if it was 100% to 0% that would be only 10%, etc. It also shows you there is really no Republican base among African Americans - it is 1-2% at most, not 10%. The data suggests about 80% solid democrats, 20% moderates, who in this election overwhelmingly went to Obama.

[Edited on January 10, 2010 at 5:01 PM. Reason : .]

1/10/2010 5:01:26 PM

^^ what are you arguing?

I’d say race was an important factor for most of the blacks, but not “skin color,” and there IS a difference.

And what do you mean by a significant percentage?

Blacks are ~12% of the population, the amount that vote of this are even smaller, and the amount of them that would NOT have voted democrat unless Obama were black even smaller yet.

Otherwise, for a good 40 years that blacks could vote (which is good 180 years LESS than white males could vote in the US…), they’ve been voting for whitey.

And democrats arguable represent the interests of the black community more than the republicans. There’s a reason voting democrat has evolved to the default choice for the black community over the years.

[Edited on January 10, 2010 at 5:03 PM. Reason : ]

1/10/2010 5:03:10 PM

^ i'm not responding to you anymore... I wanted to stop multiple posts ago...

...

however we want to analyze it, however we want to frame it

race has always played a huge role in american politics

and it sucks

[Edited on January 10, 2010 at 5:04 PM. Reason : .]

1/10/2010 5:03:40 PM

Quote :

"i'm not responding to you anymore... I wanted to stop multiple posts ago... "

Haha, it’s fine with me if you choose to wallow in your own ignorance.

1/10/2010 5:07:21 PM

Bill Clinton told Ted Kennedy that Obama 'would be getting us coffee' a few years ago: 'Game Change'
Sunday, January 10th 2010

Quote :

"Bill Clinton helped sink his wife's chances for an endorsement from Ted Kennedy by belittling Barack Obama as nothing but a race-based candidate. 'A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee,' the former president told the liberal lion from Massachusetts, according to the gossipy new campaign book, 'Game Change.' The book says Kennedy was deeply offended and recounted the conversation to friends with fury. After Kennedy sided with Obama, Clinton reportedly griped, 'the only reason you are endorsing him is because he's black. Let's just be clear.'"

http://tinyurl.com/ybjwme3

This book is the gift that keeps on giving.

1/10/2010 7:22:56 PM

you know the difference between us and you

we don't deny all this, and we think it kind of sucks too

we're not RABID about what we believe in or the people we tend to support

1/10/2010 9:45:19 PM

Quote :

"Barack Obama 2002: "It seems to be that we can forgive a 100-year-old senator for some of the indiscretion of his youth, but, what is more difficult to forgive is the current president of the U.S. Senate (Lott) suggesting we had been better off if we had followed a segregationist path in this country after all of the battles and fights for civil rights and all the work that we still have to do," said Obama. He said: "The Republican Party itself has to drive out Trent Lott. If they have to stand for something, they have to stand up and say this is not the person we want representing our party.""

So apparently, Obama isn't too concerned with his own party standing for something.

http://weeklystandard.com/tws/daily/daily.asp#blog-307820

[Edited on January 10, 2010 at 10:38 PM. Reason : .]

1/10/2010 10:37:50 PM

nastoute, race absolutely plays a role in politics.

It very clearly played a role when McCain's camp wouldn't shut up about Reverend Wright or Bill Ayers, saying Obama "palled around with terrorists" and acting confused about whether or not he was really a Christian or an American. It was obviously designed to incite racial fear in white voters, and it was obviously some bullshit. And if you wanna know how that bullshit affected black voters, I dunno...I can't speak for all black people. But I can tell you how Republican General Colin Powell felt about McCain's tactics: after maxing out his contributions to McCain's campaign, he publicly criticized their strategy and went on to endorse Obama.

96 percent ain't fucked up. It's right on.

1/10/2010 10:55:45 PM

Quote :

"you know the difference between us and you"

20 years?

1/10/2010 11:08:56 PM

It's ok to vote based on race as long as you're non-white. Your children can only choose role models who are of similar race to themselves. Don't upset the order you racist pieces of shit.

1/11/2010 12:03:18 AM