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.)
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11 comments:

  1. perlhaqr8:33 AM, October 09, 2008

    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.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous8:36 AM, October 09, 2008

    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!

    ReplyDelete
  3. BobG9:12 AM, October 09, 2008

    "Some people live in such exciting worlds."

    You mean like the imaginary ones in their heads?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous11:34 AM, October 09, 2008

    jason,

    Apparently you're a racist, too.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Rabbit12:15 PM, October 09, 2008

    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.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mike W.3:30 PM, October 09, 2008

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

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous3:51 PM, October 09, 2008

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

    ReplyDelete
  8. Aaron6:29 PM, October 09, 2008

    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.

    ReplyDelete
  9. perlhaqr9:00 PM, October 09, 2008

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

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous8:12 AM, October 10, 2008

    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.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Tam8:49 AM, October 10, 2008

    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...

    ReplyDelete

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