There is another scandal involving the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. He referred to Barack Obama as ‘light-skinned’ with ‘no Negro dialect’. The comment was made in connection with Reid being excited at the prospect of the democratic party running a Black man for President. He apparently thought only ‘light-skinned’ men with ‘no Negro dialect’ could get White people to vote for him. I think he managed to insult the entire Black and White races in the United States. Read about it below and see Greta Perry’s video on the Harry Reid, Obama comment.
Harry Reid has embarrassed himself, the democratic party the people of Nevada and the people of the United States once again. This time it was more than just his run-of-the-mill insulting and demeaning comments, like the time he said that the people who visit the Capital ’smell’. Or the time he likened opposition to his health care plan to slavery. This time he made what can only be called racist remarks about the President of the United States, Barack Obama.
A book about the 2008 Obama campaign, ‘Game Change’ written by Time Magazine’s Mark Halperin and New York magazine’s John Heilemann is creating a proverbial political storm in Washington, D.C. The book airs the dirty-laundry of many in Obama’s inner political circles during his campaign for the Presidency. Among the revelations in the book (and there are many) is that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was anxious for Obama to run for president because he’s ‘light-skinned’ and ‘doesn’t have a Negro dialect unless he wants to’. WHAT!?!?!?!
Needless to say, Reid apologized for his ‘unfortunate choice of words’ and Obama immediate accepted his apology in much the same way that he accepted Vice President Joe Biden’s quick apology when he said it was just wonderful that the democrats had a ‘clean and articulate’ African-American to run for President. Speaking of ‘unfortunate choice of words’.
The thing is, why haven’t we gotten past racial politics. Obama ran for President on the grounds that he’d be a post-racial president. It seems that just the opposite has happened. In New Orleans there’s a big to-do over whether or not they will elect a white or black mayor. The same thing happened in Atlanta last November when a white candidate came within a hairs-breath of winning the election for Mayor of Atlanta. You see, it’s all about race, it’s not about Martin Luther King’s dream of that one day people would ‘not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character’.
The party of the KluKluxKlan, segregation and slavery, otherwise known as the democratic party, continues to make their decisions about elections, appointments and honors based on race. Let’s see, we need a Latina now, can we find one that we can find a position for? Remember Clinton’s ‘Rainbow Coalition’? It’s ALL about race, whatever happened to ‘content of character’ and qualifications. Bush’s administration had more ethnic diversity in higher levels of government than any other administration before him. No one made a big deal out of it. The press didn’t seem to notice it. They weren’t there because they were of any particular race or ethnicity. They were there because they fit the bill, had the qualifications and could do the job.
That is what post-racial means. NOT what is happening now.
GOP Chairman Michael Steele is calling for Harry Reid to step down because of his offensive remarks. The media is wanting to sweep it under the carpet, like they did with Joe Biden’s remarks and Democratic Senator Robert Byrd’s KKK background. Should Reid step down? Should it just be forgotten? Are the people of Nevada going to keep re-electing this man?
What are your thoughts on this?
Everybody’s talking about this, here’s some comments from around the world wide web:
Outside the Beltway – Harry Reid Racist Obama Comments, Sagging Polls
Ace of Spades – Whoa: Reid Said Obama Could Win Because He’s “Light-skinned” With “No Negro Dialect”
Atlas Shrugs – Lt. Colonel Allen West Responds to Reid’s Ugly Racism
Another Black Conservative – Harry Reid will pay no price for his Negro comment
Patterico Pontifications – Harry Reid’s History of Racial Posturing
Flopping Aces – Dems Coddle Sen. Harry Reid After “Negro” Comment
Michelle Malkin – Dem leader who compared Republicans to slavemasters referred to “light-skinned” Obama and “Negro dialect;” Obama accepts apology, praises Reid on “social justice”
Rhymes with Right – Will Harry Reid Be Held To The Same Racism Standard As Republicans? (You must see the picture he has of Reid! HA!)
Watch the video below, our own Greta Perry has some thoughts of wisdom about the Harry Reid, Obama: ‘Light-Skinned’ with ‘No Negro Dialect’ comment. Check it out below and tell us what you think.
Harry Reid, ‘Light-Skinned’ with ‘No Negro Dialect’ Comment – Video
January 10th, 2010 at 8:22 pm
This is a bunch of do do about much of nothing. You would expect any political pundit to take into account the chief characteristics of those running for or against their party, race included, and how they handle the race issue. You guys see obama as half black and I see him as half white with the benifits of both perspectives with empathy with both. though in the end you could just lump him in the harvard trained lawyer camp as another one of “those”. I would expect any senator or congressmen worth their salt to be able to guestimate ones political fortune by their style and substance so nothing reid said was surprising or derogatory to me. even Al sharpton agrees. what I would prefer is to thank Michele for working with the food channel to host a whitehouse garden greens cooking show on iron chef, as it was an excelllant piece of work and very infromational. Now that is what I mean by substance we can use!
January 10th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
Brian, your comment just proved my point. You don’t even see it, do you?
January 10th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
America is anything but post racial. just watch Cops tv and the war going on out there on the streets all over America. What is good news, is that many of us can simply move around that and move foward, but do realize there are forces in our kulture perpetuating all the damage race and class do to America. It will still take generations to truely get behind racial politics, but we will. Unfortunately policies like the war on drugs keep race very much front and center in America. Our very legal system is working against us when it comes to race. by the way the press is reporting Mr. Steele used the phrase “honest injun” so give me a break. Its not even a boys behind the barn kind of thing. You may disapprove of reid for other reasons of course which are fair game, but this latest thing is pure canard and obviously unearthed by someone trying to undue health care reform and take numbers and badges in retaliation. so yes beth I get it.
January 10th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
[...] is now, Michael Steele. Harry Reid is a democrat; all of their perceived sins are forgiven them. As Beth posted earlier, Reid quickly apologized and Barack Obama forgave him with no questions asked. The President said [...]
January 10th, 2010 at 11:21 pm
think before you speak people
January 11th, 2010 at 2:13 am
It’s Ku Klux Klan, not KluKluxKlan
January 11th, 2010 at 3:30 am
You disappoint me Brian. I thought you were the one here to enlighten us, but you’ve just proven yourself to be an agenda driven hypocrit.
January 11th, 2010 at 6:29 am
[...] is now, Michael Steele. Harry Reid is a democrat; all of their perceived sins are forgiven them. As Beth posted earlier, Reid quickly apologized and Barack Obama forgave him with no questions asked. The President said [...]
January 11th, 2010 at 7:00 am
I don’t understand what the term “post-racial” even means. “Post-racist” make sense, but “post-racial” implies some sort of biologically homogenized population. That sounds more like something out of a sci-fi horror flick than some leftist ideal.
Whatever. Like Brian pointed out, there is one exceedingly obvious way to dramatically improve not only race relations in our country, but the well-being and prosperity of all races: putting an end to the War on Drugs and enacting corresponding reforms in our criminal justice and prison systems. So long as we treat people like numbers in a drug war game, we’re going to have the sort of institutionalized racism that has come to characterize our criminal justice system. It’s inescapable.
Oh, and just FYI Beth, hair doesn’t breathe, and an apostrophe is used to imply possession. I think you meant “hair’s breadth”.
January 11th, 2010 at 7:30 am
Brother!
So by ending the war on drugs we’ll conquer the over 60% drop out rate and the 70% illegitimacy rate in the inner city ghettos. Not likely. Especially if everybody is legally doped up.
January 11th, 2010 at 7:39 am
I didn’t say it would instantly cure everything, no. But so long as we continue the “war on drugs” approach, the problems plaguing our inner-city communities will continue to get worse. The stats about racial disparities in drug enforcement and sentencing are easy to come by — if you’re really calling into question the idea of institutionalized racism in our drug policy and criminal justice systems, I’d be happy to dig up some sources.
Besides, you’ll need to provide support for the idea that ending the drug war would increase drug use in any significant way (ie, prove that “everybody” would be “legally doped up”). I’ve yet to see any studies predicting a huge increase in heroin use if we stop throwing people in jail for possessing heroin. Would you start using the stuff if it were de-criminalized? I certainly wouldn’t.
January 11th, 2010 at 8:11 am
Rhay, most of the people in the inner city ghettos are doped up now, and it’s illegal! Do you think they’re all going to magically stop if it’s legalized?
The reason for the major disparities between blacks and whites is that people who are down and out tend to seek relief through drugs. With the much higher drop out and illegitimacy rates among inner city blacks, the environment for drug use is much greater than it is for whites.
Having lived on the south side of Chicago for 35 years, I can tell you from personal experience that blacks and whites have much different attitudes when it comes to drugs. Blacks are much more casual about doing drugs in the open, carrying in quantity, and selling openly. Whenever I smoked a j with blacks I was always paranoid because they were so darned careless about it. White people tend to secret themselves away.
January 11th, 2010 at 8:43 am
Rhay, most of the people in the inner city ghettos are doped up now, and it’s illegal! Do you think they’re all going to magically stop if it’s legalized?
I never said people would stop using, no. Please read what I’ve written. I’m saying that the evils of drug use are with us already (as you said yourself) and that decriminalization wouldn’t necessarily lead to a widespread increase in use. People tend to use drugs if they want to, whether the substance in question is legal or not. So we need to stop pretending that putting an end to the drug war would lead to widespread drug abuse and addiction. Those problems are already as widespread as they ever will be.
The reason for the major disparities between blacks and whites is that people who are down and out tend to seek relief through drugs.
That’s just flat-out wrong. Take marijuana use, for instance. Usage rates among whites and blacks are roughly equal, but blacks are an entire order of magnitude more likely than whites to actually be arrested for marijuana. The troubling stats from the NYPD’s “stop and frisk” program are just the latest evidence that while whites and blacks are just as likely to commit an illegal act, blacks are far more likely to face the legal consequences of that act.
Also, I think people smoking marijuana are pretty nonchalant about it, whatever their race. I smoked all the time out in public during college with my (mostly white) friends, and nobody ever worried about it. In fact, I think white folks often just assume they won’t be arrested for “a little pot”, and are pretty carefree about it. This assumption isn’t as clear-cut in minority communities, at least in my experience — and with good reason, given the usage and arrest statistics.
January 11th, 2010 at 8:52 am
To wit:
http://nymag.com/news/features/58995/
The whole article is worth reading, but for our purposes here, it should be noted that “according to the state figures, more than 80 percent of those arrested on pot charges are either black or Hispanic.”
80 Percent. Do you really believe that 80% of the marijuana consumers in New York City are black or Hispanic? Given the fact that approximately half of all Americans have smoked pot, that seems like a completely ridiculous claim.
It’s painfully obvious: you’re simply much more likely to be arrested for a drug offense if you’re a minority.
January 11th, 2010 at 9:00 am
Rhay, I know what you said. I didn’t say drug use would increase, what I’m merely pointing out is that drug use isn’t the problem. Neither is the war on drugs. Illegitimacy and lack of education are. Legalizing drugs just gives us a legally doped up underclass rather than an illegal one.
So do you think that legally doped up, under educated and unemployed blacks are going to like whitey better? Run it past Skip Gates.
January 11th, 2010 at 9:00 am
An interesting thing, to me at least, is that I assume the media will bring out sharpton and jackson and their whole little club to defend/discuss this. I havent seen much of these guys in the last year, for the first time in 20+ years.
I think it might make an interesting thesis paper to look at how they are less called upon by the media during this presidency. I’d guess that until 07, they were used as shorthand to represent african-americans. When someone else, obama, became president, these codgers became yesterday’s news.
January 11th, 2010 at 9:23 am
Illegitimacy and lack of education are.
I’m guessing by “Illegitimacy” you mean the percentage of children born out of wedlock?
Anyway, sure you can point to issues like that. The education matter, particularly, is absolutely a major driving factor. I’d love nothing better than an overhaul of public education.
To me though, the idea of a “legitimacy” problem is as much a symptom as it is a cause. The percentage of black men who have served time behind bars is approaching half, and is actually over half in some areas. You don’t think imprisoning half of the males in a given community will have effects on “legitimacy”, divorce rates, etc? How can they be good fathers and husbands if they get thrown in jail?
January 11th, 2010 at 9:45 am
“How can they be good fathers and husbands if they get thrown in jail?”
Oh cry me a river Rhay. I hang out with blacks and most are good fathers, husbands and providers. None of my best friends even knows what the inside of a jail looks like. The folks we’re talking about had no intention of becoming fathers or husbands. (See Earl Butz)
You can throw generic statistics at me all day long, but the truth is that most people thrown in jail for drugs are on their fifth or sixth offense, have rap sheets, or were caught with enough to be charged with selling.
January 11th, 2010 at 10:20 am
The reason that society is incapable of addressing the racial issue is because we view it from a perspective which is not conducive to real analysis. We talk all around the fundamental, underlying reasons for racism, and make it an emotional issue. How does one expect to cure the cancer without focusing on the cancerous cells and the biological reasons for cancer? Focusing on the symptoms is an ineffective mechanism to employ. Racism serves a far more complex pragmatic function than we are generally willing to acknowledge.
January 11th, 2010 at 10:35 am
the truth is that most people thrown in jail for drugs are on their fifth or sixth offense, have rap sheets, or were caught with enough to be charged with selling.
Do you have a source for that claim? Also, even if it’s true, how exactly does that mitigate the problem of racial disparities in our drug war?
I’ll say it one more time, because it’s pretty simple: minorities are much, much more likely to be arrested for drug crimes than whites, taking into account usage percentages and the like. Are you defending this disparity, or saying it doesn’t matter, or what?
January 11th, 2010 at 10:38 am
On and “cry me a river” is one of those rhetorically empty, non-substantive responses people have when they’re confronted with an issue they’re not equipped to handle. It’s not about crying anybody any river, it’s about pragmatically addressing some of the biggest problems we have in modern society.
You could say “cry me a river” about any problem under the sun, and it won’t do a thing to fix it. Health care bill on the way? Cry me a river. Getting taxed to death? Cry me a river. Doesn’t get us very far.
January 11th, 2010 at 10:46 am
It was the only response that came to mind to your assinine question, “How can they be good fathers and husbands if they get thrown in jail?”
January 11th, 2010 at 10:52 am
[...] Right wing blogs are steaming as Michael Steele, the Chairman of the GOP took up the racism banner, recently said that Harry Reid should step down as Senate Democratic Leader over alleged racial remarks he made during Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, in which Reid speculated that Obama’s “electability” would potentially be enhanced by his skin color “light-skinned” and dialect which he noted as having “no Negro dialect.“ [...]
January 11th, 2010 at 11:20 am
What was so “assinine [sic]” about it? You don’t think mass incarceration tends to erode the importance of family and community?
January 11th, 2010 at 11:50 am
Should I point out the first word in post #21 Rhay? Getting kind of petty aren’t you?
What was so asinine about your question I answered later in the same paragraph.
Are you one of those people who believes that incarceration of any particular group should be proportional to their population?
In 2007, Blacks commited over 50% of the murders in this country. Do you propose we lock up only 12% of them?
Blacks constantly bemoan the fact that there is a disproportionate number of blacks on death row. But aren’t they also committing a disproportionate amount of murders.
This is what I don’t get Rhay. Just because blacks get thrown in jail at a higher rate doesn’t mean that they don’t belong there. They had to have done something wrong.
Just for your information:
As of 2004, which were the latest statistics I could find, there were actually 400 more whites on death row than blacks. So out of proportion since whites committed less murders.