Thursday, October 09, 2008

A Klansman under every bed.

One group, the Center for Social Inclusion -- a nonpartisan organization funded in part by the Ford Foundation -- claims the phrase was racially charged.

"The racial undertones were subtle but unmistakable," CSI Director Maya Wiley said in a statement released Wednesday.

"By making a dismissive, condescending remark like this, McCain was tapping into a current of superiority among white voters. It was an attempt to 'otherize' Obama and tap into the implicit bias that so many of us hold," Wiley said.

A True Believer can contextualize any utterance, no matter how innocuous, in terms of their particular worldview. What sounds to you and I like normal conversation is, for them, a complex structure of code words and shibboleths. Some people live in such exciting worlds.

(H/T to tgirsch at Unc's.)

11 comments:

perlhaqr said...

The Center for Social Inclusion?

Could that be any more Kum-ba-ya?

How about the Center for Leave Me Alone. I'd support that. From afar.

Anonymous said...

Frickin crackhead attention whores. The wife and I call each other "this one" and "that one" all the time when speaking to other people whenever we feel that the other has done something particularly amusing/silly/dumb/darwinian.

Zomg! I'm insensitive!

BobG said...

"Some people live in such exciting worlds."

You mean like the imaginary ones in their heads?

Anonymous said...

jason,

Apparently you're a racist, too.

Rabbit said...

Oh, those tricksy Republicans and their secret handshakes and mysterious symbols and code words!

It's all a MasonicIlluminatiBilderbergerBircherGrove plot to keep the Little Man down!

Regards,
Rabbit.

Mike W. said...

Somehow I have a hard time believing that a group calling itself the "Center for Social Inclusion" is "non-partisan."

Anonymous said...

NOTHING funded by the Ford Foundation is "non-partisan."

Aaron said...

You comment on a blog that doesn't support Hope/Change! You all should be ashamed of your racist selves!

Is anyone else noticing a parallel between the way organizations like CAIR use bogus charges of discrimination and Obama's supporters?

Good grief, if a conservative or a libertarian ever so much as hinted at silencing dissent, they'd be crucified.

perlhaqr said...

Racist elves? I'm totally ashamed of those guys.

Anonymous said...

Somebody should write a dictionary of the Neocon Code Speak that we keep hearing so much about.

Ex: "Did you watch the debate last night?" really means "What's up with that secret Muslim? And did you know...he's Black?"

What's been truly entertaining through all of this is watching the media re-introduce the "one drop" rule into racial identity.

Tam said...

I will be so happy when everyone on earth is a sort of medium-beige, Tiger Woods-y hue so that we can stop worrying about race and unite to persecute those sinister left-handers.

Wait...