1:00: The first thing I notice is that this man is very old. I see that he was born in 1921, and he's been through a lot. I see him as representing a long history and feel inclined to give him the maximum latitude to express whatever it is he feels in his heart.
3:08: "Help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate, on the side of inclusion, not exclusion, tolerance, not intolerance. And as we leave this mountaintop, help us to hold onto the spirit of fellowship and the oneness of our family."
4:40: Here's the black/get back/brown/stick around/yellow/mellow part of the prayer that I heard Rush Limbaugh riffing about. Rush didn't like the airing of old grievances when obviously black people are not being held back today and so forth, but I'd say, this was a light-hearted reference to the wrongs of the past, by a man who could have fulminated about the long civil rights struggle, but chose instead to speak almost entirely of love and unity.
Really, I think it's mean-spirited to complain about anything here. It was done very well.
The Caucus live-blogged the media reaction:
Juan Williams, a Fox News contributor [said] “He is the real deal. There are other people who might say that they were there with Dr. King, and suffered the indignities, but Joe Lowery really did... There are some times in your life that you just think, ‘What a country. How can that be? I never thought that would happen.’ But there it was, and I just thank God that Joe Lowery was able, in that moment, to talk about the power of the silent tears.”
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1 – 200 of 274 Newer› Newest»4:40: Here's the black/get back/brown/stick around/yellow/mellow part of the prayer that I heard Rush Limbaugh riffing about.
In the White House.gov site, today is proclaimed the "Day of Reconciliation and Renewal".
The problem with Lowery's race-conscious speech is that it doesn't strike the right tone of reconciliation or renewal.
It reminded me of what Green Bay Packer Reggie White said back in the day:
"When you look at the black race, black people are very gifted in what we call worship and celebration. A lot of us like to dance, and if you go to black churches, you see people jumping up and down, because they really get into it. White people were blessed with the gift of structure and organization. You guys do a good job of building businesses and things of that nature and you know how to tap into money pretty much better than a lot of people do around the world. Hispanics are gifted in family structure. You can see a Hispanic person and they can put 20 or 30 people in one home. They were gifted in the family structure. When you look at the Asians, the Asian is very gifted in creation, creativity and inventions. If you go to Japan or any Asian country, they can turn a television into a watch. They're very creative. And you look at the Indians, they have been very gifted in the spirituality."
When do we say, enough's enough? You can't say these ignorant things just because you're a minority.
Cheers,
Victoria
I think one can respect the work the man did in the past and still find his benediction a slap in the face. Here a black man is taking office, The Office, and instead of proclaiming our great progress, Lowery ends on a sour note.
Also, you didn't blog all the class warfare stuff that was in there.
"Joe" Kolowerski?
I saw Strom Thurmond as representing a long history, too, but I didn't feel inclined to give him the maximum latitude to express whatever it was he felt in that lump of coal masquerading as his heart.
"The problem with Lowery's race-conscious speech is that it doesn't strike the right tone of reconciliation or renewal."
I think it did. It was only mildly and gently "race-conscious" in one part. Most of it was unity and fellowship. It was very kindly and not at all divisive. Why go looking for trouble? The man is 87!
It'll be interesting to see when it will be stated by a public official--say, a President--that pockets of racism surely do still exist in America, and that those pockets can be found in every racial group. (We sure found out about racist churches during this election.)
"[Lowery] chose instead to speak almost entirely of love and unity."
He spoke about "work[ing towards] ... that day when white will embrace what is right." Is that part of the love and unity part, or is that in the residuum?
"Lowery ends on a sour note."
I just didn't hear the sourness. I thought it was noticeably sweet.
(Correction: I missed an elipsis in my comment above; quote should have been "work[ing towards] ... that day ... when white will embrace what is right."
Really, I think it's mean-spirited to complain about anything here. It was done very well.
Agreed. I don't understand the criticisms. I saw the last part as levity and the first part as spiritual yet ecumenical.
And, as you point out, this dude's been through ALOT!
Those whites! Eventually, they'll come around!
I think it did. It was only mildly and gently "race-conscious" in one part.
Ann, I'm surprised he didn't go the Rosie O'Donnell route, and refer to Asians rhyming with Ching-Chong...
The man is 87!
Just like ignorance of the law is no excuse, neither is age.
This man is speaking through a veil of bitterness, but using the words of unity as cover.
I wouldn't mind if he were being sincere, but like the Coretta Scott King funeral, when the pastor officiating used her death to beat Bush with insults (seated inches away from him), he just wants to air his views since he's been given an opportunity to speak
"truth to whitey".
"Is that part of the love and unity part, or is that in the residuum?"
That was in the gentle joking at the end.
Let the man have his due.
Also, Rick Warren was great!
2 good choices by Obama.
Am I the only one who always thought he'd see the day a black person was elected president? This has been a complete non-issue for me. Ever since the buzz about Powell started I knew it was just a matter of time until the right person came along.
I did not, I admit, think that person would be a completely inexperienced do-nothing, but hey, he's a Democrat and with the news media in your pocket you can do just about anything.
I still think the first woman will be a Republican.
Warren was better than I expected and I was thinking at the time that the reaction to him was probably overheated. (Though the comments worth making).
I do wish he hadn't made his comments Christian-specific, but more spiritual, in respect to the non-Christians listening. That is, interfaith, ecumenical, what have you.
In fairness, I think he also had pleasant comments toward those of other, or no, faiths.
It's a good day to cut people some slack, be they Warren or Lowery, Obama or Roberts.
Lowery's biography aside, we should also make allowances for the fact that he's a black preacher and is therefore required by law to rhyme "white" with something.
This was actually the only part of the inauguration I saw live. I'm with those who took it lightly.
I do wish he hadn't made his comments Christian-specific, but more spiritual, in respect to the non-Christians listening. That is, interfaith, ecumenical, what have you.
For many Christians, pastors and laypeople---and for that matter, those of many faiths---that's simply not possible to do with integrity. You pray to the God you believe in, the way He teaches you to pray.
It would not be unlike having an outspoken atheist give an invocation and actually invoke God, even in some sort of inclusive "wherever you draw your spiritual power" sense. You'd know darn well he put a big fat asterisk (*) on the spiritual stuff; i.e., "(*) not that I believe any of that crap..."
Obviously some people believe they can safely and with integrity pray to a more generic God, so they'd be fine choices if that is what you're looking for. Or you could do multiple invocations.
It's still OK to paint success and wealth as dirty and ill gotten?
I wonder what the average net worth of an Obama cabinet member is?
If it was about levity, he could have said the rest and left off the white line. Even Obama didn't seem to like that part. He smiles through the other statements, then Lowery says the white thing and the smile falters like a mental "Damn it."
The more things change...
Less than a day into the Obama administration, the most tepid criticism is "mean-spirited."
Can't we all just get along?
I hope all the foolish white people who voted for Barry thinking that electing him was a way to establish a "post racial" America--and to free themselves of the guilt they've been brainwashed into feeling--were listening closely.
Grievance mongering is far too profitable for its purveyors.
AJ Lynch, that too. How is the benediction all about unity when you've got the race stuff at the end and the class warfare stuff in the middle?
What is it with Obama and race-obsessed pastors? This is crude and not spiritual. I would hope we could avoid that kind of thing. Even Jesse Jackson has rid himself of these stupid rhymes.
I did not take it lightly. His reference to "White..getting it right" once again is a thinly veiled reference to whites as racists.
I don't care how old he is, or how cute he his in his dotage, he, less demented than Wright or Phleger, still fans the flames of black anger supported by white guilt. This rhetorical cudgel reminds me that past injustices make me feel bad that they occured but it does not follow that I am going to flail myself for crimes I condemn but did not endorse or commit.
That is not change we can believe in but gives new and unintended meaning to "Yes We Can."
Let's move forward.
I thought it was all indecipherable, benediction and speech and poem.
The opening prayer was okay.
Rush had to seize on the only thing he could make sense of, not having a woman's access to the standing assumption that whoever it is meant well.
The rest hasn't yet emerged from boilerplate cliche status. It will have to be reread to see if there's actually anything there; some unusual connection, or something.
Goldwater had a nice acceptance speech. That was about the last one.
The man has been President for 5 hours and I am already sick of the parsing of everything in racial terms.
mcg:
You pray to the God you believe in, the way He teaches you to pray.
I see what you're saying, but personally think praising God would have been sufficient and worthy of the moment.
I'll take a look at his comments sometime to see if he probably felt like he balanced them out with other kind words to non-Christians. I remember it that way.
It was good to see someone from MLK's say up there to celebrate the moment.
I love this: "When do we say, enough's enough? You can't say these ignorant things just because you're a minority."
I guess that would depend on what color you are and your "personal" experiences with racism.
I had a friend who used to say exactly the same thing about the Holocaust..."When do we say, enough's enough?"
As if it too long ago and we'd all heard enough about it already.
Anybody who thinks racism or bigotry is dead in America is kidding themselves or just don't want to hear about it.
rhhardin said..."I thought it was all indecipherable, benediction and speech and poem."
Back off the meds, Dude. Acting as if you just didn't understand is bullshit and you know it.
Both were excellent, the speech spectacular.
Anybody who thinks racism or bigotry is dead in America is kidding themselves or just don't want to hear about it.
No one said that. (And Rev. Wright was a good example of it, earlier this year.) The preacher did say, however, that all whites are racist. He said it lyrically and all, but that's what he said. He also made racial generalizations about other groups.
Alpha: "It's a good day to cut people some slack, be they Warren or Lowery, Obama or Roberts."
Yes. Something we can agree on, Alpha. The guy was singing oldies but goodies. We don't get upset if the Platters or the Four Tops sing the same old songs.
He's an old man who has tried to live a good life. If he's good enough for Juan Williams (who cuts race hustlers no slack), he's good enough for me.
Recieve the good of this man's christian blessing and return it in the same spirit. No body is Colored as much as the red headed pink people I call family. So I cut these melanin endowed cousins some slack. Mutual respect is not that hard to do. Many young Black teens seem lifted up by this Obama symbolism and have been less passive-aggressive and more genuinely friendly to this whitey in the last 2 months. I say give thanks, not spite.
Vet66 said..."I did not take it lightly. His reference to "White..getting it right" once again is a thinly veiled reference to whites as racists."
No it wasn't, and he certainly did not reference ALL whites as racists.
It was in reference to doing what we can not to make the mistakes of the past and to do what we can ("getting it right") from this point forward. And if you don't think "whites" aren't responsible for a vast majority of the misdeeds relating to race and bigotry you're ignoring America and the world's history of intolerance.
I'd love to know how many here are black or have experienced the kind or racism this man has encountered throughout his life.
Between the not so "thinly veiled" comments relating to Obama being a Muslim or not really a Christian or not really an American or being some kind of secret terrorist or being flat out un-American by many here, I find some of the comments to be disingenuous at best.
Michael, the human caca machine, will show us the light.
Anybody who thinks racism or bigotry is dead in America is kidding themselves or just don't want to hear about it.
Anybody who thinks racism or bigotry emanates from one particular race in America is kidding themselves or just don't want to hear about it.
Aww, now I feel bad. I read that poem and kind of made fun of it over at big hollywood (lots of grumps over there!) and now, well.
Sigh. The Rev has a wonderful personal history, but, I mean, isn't it just bad poetry? Am I uncharitable for thinking that? I suppose I am. Also, I'm brown not white, and all that brown stuff in the poem kind of embarrassed me. Dunno why.
I love this: "When do we say, enough's enough? You can't say these ignorant things just because you're a minority."
I guess that would depend on what color you are and your "personal" experiences with racism.
I had a friend who used to say exactly the same thing about the Holocaust..."When do we say, enough's enough?"
As if it too long ago and we'd all heard enough about it already.
Your friend was likely not being accused as a perpetrator of the Holocaust. Mere history remembrance is fine--a very good thing, in fact. Accusing young Germans of being inherent Jew-killers, however, would NOT be fine. That's the equivalent, here; there is a constant drumbeat that whites = racists all the time; ask any white police officer who pulls over a minority or any college student who goes through "diversity" training.
JohnAnnArbor: "The preacher did say, however, that all whites are racist."
The key words being "the preacher."
Why would something one person says be so important to you?
Do you attach the same gravitas to things David Duke has said?
I would hope not.
*As for racism and bigotry, some of the comments here certainly do imply things are just fine now and that portions of the benediction inferred otherwise.
Oh, and I did think the whites are finally right stuff sounded mean. On a day like this? Why go there? It just makes one group of people feel bad on a day when everyone should feel good about being an American.
JohnAnnArbor - Let me guess: You're white and have little if any experience relating to racism...especially relating to you personally.
People who deny what we all know exists are fighting a losing battle.
Do you attach the same gravitas to things David Duke has said?
David Duke did not give a speech at the inauguration of the President of the United States. He's marginalized by all normal people.
I mean, duh. No comparison.
Chicken - "Anybody who thinks racism or bigotry emanates from one particular race in America is kidding themselves or just don't want to hear about it."
He didn't say that. (But maybe you can run your theory of past misdeed via "whites" past the Mexicans and Indians, I'm sure they may have a a different slant.)
Here are his actual words:
“Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around… when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen. Say Amen...”
I once read an article--by a young black man--about the single white kid who attended his Detroit high school. How the kid was beaten daily, and the teachers and staff did nothing about it. How he wondered what the kid was like after that experience.
But wait--all whites are racist. All others aren't. No whites have EVER experienced anything like what minorities have daily. And on and on and on and on.
Why would something one person says be so important to you?
I'll go out on a limb here and say: "Because his words are the subject of this blog post, thus we focus on his words."
This constant demand - and that's what it is - to arrest our critical faculties for (what will it be this time?) will be the death of us all. We're not supposed to think about the race-baiting. We're not supposed to think about the class warfare. We're not supposed to think about Obama's lack of credentials. We're not supposed to think about the effect of extreme media bias. We're not supposed to think about Obama's ugly associations, etc..
Will someone tell me what we can think about? Or when? Who gets to say? Can I? Because I see all that shit and I'm black, and I'm already sick of it, and all the people who are demanding I ignore it for the precious idea of what's right according to their situational ethics that allows such ugliness to mascarade (sp?) as decency as our society falls down around our ears are nuts. I'll say it again:
You people are part and parcel of a morally relative NewAge cult mentality that has subversively infected this nation since the 70s. (I strongly advise you guys to click the links behind that link.) If Ann's been listening to Rush then she knows he sees that as well, but I no more expect cultists to agree with it any more than I expect Tom Cruise and John Travolta to do so. Let's just say it's all about how YOU want to see it, and anyone who dares to rightly say "The emperor has no clothes" when he (or they) parade around naked, as Lowry did, is subject to whatever you see fit, starting with being ignored or exclusion. Anything but to acknowledge the obvious and deal accordingly.
The man was being racist.
And this is madness.
Aren't there any black preachers out there who don't have to make weird racial references? And maybe the poets can rhyme, and the preachers can, you know, pray.
I mean, when was the last time Asians were referred to as "yellow"?
Don't people understand that this needless obsession with race perpetuates and reinforces racial stereotypes and race consciousness.
Or maybe they DO understand. They might just be addicted to these concepts.
Or maybe they DO understand. They might just be addicted to these concepts.
Bingo!
Hey, Lowery's reference to black and brown is from a song by Big Bill Broonzy. See:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZLw5ahxm-Q
And for the lyrics:
http://www.lyricstime.com/big-bill-broonzy-black-brown-and-white-lyrics.html
David Duke served in the House of Representatives, literally ran in Presidential primaries, was a member of the KKK, gave many, many speeches outlining exactly what he thought about race...and if you think this benediction is more important or more of a force within the community of racists and bigots...than years of spewing forth racial hatred you need to read more.
You're white, aren't you?
Remember, folks, it's more important what color you are than what you actually say. That's the official non-racist view. Through the looking glass, indeed.
Probably the fact I'm reading James Cone this week, or maybe it's more the fact that I'm enjoying reading James Cone this week and that suggests a certain resonance, even as I have issues with some of his work... but I'm thinking if this is the kind of heated rhetoric that we get after 100 years of post Civil War racist policies and evils then we're doing really, really good. Degrade a people for centuries, and I think we can put up with a few decades of cooling off, in which those who lived with the degradation express their scars, and wounds, in words that in fact do include reconciliation.
Other countries who treated minorities in such ways endure revolutions, constant terrorism, and exchanged brutality.
Hooray for the United States. We treated men and woman of color utterly awful, and all we have to endure is righteous anger served in increasingly relieved words. Times have changed. Are changing. Wounds heal, but scars remain.
I think we can understand that, and pray that those of my generation and younger will speak of their experiences in increased hope and substantially less anger.
I thought he was funny and cute, and was obviously being whimsical. Anyone who wants to take offense at what he said is just looking to pick a fight because they can't deal with today's events.
Meanwhile, Rick Warren (who was otherwise harmless and lame as usual) sounded like he was auditioning for "The Orange County Performing Arts School For Over Acting, Enunciating, & Eating."
His voice....ahhhh.....grating and insane. To think that people flock to the Disneyland Megaplex/church/pray-the-gay-away santuary every Sunday. Yikes!
Franco: "Don't people understand that this needless obsession with race perpetuates and reinforces racial stereotypes and race consciousness."
Now that's rich.
A "needless obsession with race"...by people of color.
Rick Warren: "When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the earth with the respect that they deserve, forgive us."
Except of course, for the gays.
Well, it certainly portrayed only two races as needing to change:
Yellow needs to be mellow and
White needs to embrace what is right.
Other races are portrayed as victims of another race (or races) that is (are) doing something to hurt them:
Blacks need to not be told to get back,
Browns need to be allowed to stay around, and
Reds need to be let to get ahead.
Do you believe that whites are:
telling blacks to get back,
not allowing browns to stay around, and
not letting reds get ahead?
Certainly many white people are against illegal immigration and much of that is from Mexico and Latin America.
Michael,
you're an apologist for anything wrong. You even bring up other wrong examples (David Duke's history) to justify a wrong.
And Paddy O, that's just white guilt talking - this is 2009 - there were blacks who owned slaves and, at the same time, rich blacks "back in the day" so where do you go from there?
It is an addiction - an obsession - and it's at the root of too many of this country's problems.
Now - I'm black - what the fuck you guys got to say about that shit?
JohnAnnArbor said..."Remember, folks, it's more important what color you are than what you actually say. That's the official non-racist view. Through the looking glass, indeed."
What tripe.
You sound more and more racist the more comments you post.
*Pick up some Walter Mosley and get a feel for how regular blacks feel about their state in life and their interactions with whites.
Michael,
Your avatar is black but I'm the real thing - with a black family, and black friends, living in a black neighborhood, with no job and everything - and I still ain't got time for you bullshit.
Wrong is wrong.
Remember, asking people to be treated as individuals and not as faceless members of color-groups is racist. Michael said so!
Whimsical? Okay, I guess I can buy that, but in a million years it would never occur to me to be whimsical in that way. Still, haven't lived through what he has lived through.
Seriously, people, are we not missing the bigger point of discussion here? Bad poetry or good?
The Crack Emcee - (great moniker)
If you actually believe "It is an addiction - an obsession - and it's at the root of too many of this country's problems"...maybe you should pick up a copy of the autobiography of Malcolm X.
But just for fun...and since this racism thing is really just some kind of silly "obsession"...
Name all of the black Senators in America.
Name all of the black CEO's in America.
Name all of the black owners of NFL teams.
Name all of the black coaches in college football. (6 out of 200?)
Name all of the black owners of baseball teams.
Name all of the black network news show hosts.
Etc.
Crack - I'm not black, but I grew up in the inner-city with a population that was 75% black and I could never adequately compare my situation to yours or your family and friends, but again...if you think what this man said is "wrong," I think you're missing his point and should read the transcript of his benediction more closely.
How is the benediction all about unity when you've got... the class warfare stuff in the middle?
Yep, Rev. Lowery is a Minister of the Gospel, after all. He probably spent too much time reading the Gospel according to Matthew: there's a lot of "class warfare" to be found there.
Some of you commenters crack me up.
Yellows are too mellow. No matter how much I goad the waiter in the chinks with crazy requests it's always "One from column A, one from column B, no sustutions." Maddening how calm he stays.
Michael,
I grew up in the inner-city with a population that was 75% black
Fascinating! Did you go to inner city schools from K-12?
I had one year of grade school as one of 2 whites in a class with 16 back children and one asian child.
Why didn't Michael specify that David Duke served in the Louisiana House of Representatives?
He probably spent too much time reading the Gospel according to Matthew: there's a lot of "class warfare" to be found there.
Actually you'll find more about helping the poor in Luke. But then again, it's about helping the poor, the actual poor; not blanketing handouts on able-bodied people who don't bother getting jobs.
that's 16 "black" children . . .
LOL! Did anyone else catch a weird segue just now on Fox?
Barack Obama: "Our Founding Fathers!"
(cut)
"...Constipation. Bloating. Gas."
Michael (Glad you like the name, I like the avatar),
I've read The Autobiography of Malcolm X more times than you can count. I also know blacks killed him because he abandoned racism and exposed Elijah Muhammad (sp?) for doing wrong. Malcolm X was a wise and brave man who, I think, would be ashamed of you dissembling. He was man who grew - and was laid low for it - by these people you seem to think deserve some special place in society because someone else, long dead, did someone else (also long dead) wrong. It's just more wrong piled on top of that original sin.
And I don't care how many black anything there are. I want to know if the men (or women) doing something are smart, good, and capable - and not exactly in that order. That obsession with race could be a good reason for keeping someone out of a profession, have you ever thought of that?
And guys like you would get their asses kicked where I come from because you don't have self-worth. You see black people as different or special? They'll take advantage of you for that - anybody would - it's human nature. Stand up for what's right. That's what gets respected. It may get you killed too, but at least you'd die knowing your worth.
Finally, I don't have to re-read Lowry's nonsense, I was raised on it. The promise of MLK was that we would move past that stuff and I have. I feel no pride in sticking it to whitey, or trying to finally put him in his place. We are Americans and we deserve better from each other - especially with an enemy at our door. I don't care if Lowry was 8 or 80, it was wrong, and if it was his age (or experiences) speaking, and he couldn't restrain them, then he shouldn't have been invited.
We need common sense now, not anymore silliness.
The first thing I notice is that this man is very old.
Old soldiers re-fighting the old battles..
You got to give him some room.
In the immortal words of Sylvester Stewart:
There is a long hair
That doesn't like the short hair
For being such a rich one
That will not help the poor one
Different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on scooby dooby dooby
Ooh sha sha
We got to live together
There is a yellow one that won't
Accept the black one
That won't accept the red one
That won't accept the white one
Different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on scooby dooby dooby
Finally, I don't have to re-read Lowry's nonsense, I was raised on it. The promise of MLK was that we would move past that stuff and I have.
How old were you when you got past being treated as sub-human?
Lem,
"Old soldiers re-fighting the old battles..
You got to give him some room."
Nobody gave Trent Lott any room - even after blacks (a whole gang of them) came to his defense. Nobody gave Don Imus a pass - for a joke. Nobody came to the defense of the Duke Lacrosse team - and they were innocent.
It's that aspect of NewAge cultism called "multiculturalism" and it adds up to "whites are historically bad." Fuck that. I've got white friends - good people - and I won't stand for it. Either we're Americans or we aren't. Barack Obama may not have meant it but I do:
The shit's got to stop.
former law student,
"How old were you when you got past being treated as sub-human?"
This may be tough for you to understand but here it is: people are stupid. It's not a color thing either. Let a bunch of black guys take over a corner and, unless someone who will stand up for good is with them, they act like assholes. Same for whites and anybody else.
Don't you get that?
How old were you when you got past being treated as sub-human?
That's a pretty big assumption and presumption on your part, FLS. You don't know, and neither do I, how one person was treated compared to another.
The fact is, you are making a racist assumption that because a man is black he "must" have been treated a certain way. I guess you make the same sexist assumptions about women and racists assupmtions about the brown, yellow and pink people of the world too?
I have to tell you that some time or another in anyone's life, they are going to be treated like shit. It may be undeserved or deserved, and it may also have nothing to do with skin color, sex, religion or anything else.
The man's a civil rights era fossil. Much of his speech, including this chunk, could have been said 50 years ago. America has well moved past "whitey is wrong won't embrace what be right, blacky be always oppressed always in de back"
During the benediction, the Rev. Joseph Lowery invoked a folksy homily: "Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around, when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right."
Let's just say that Lowery is tossing bricks in a glass house if he is only fretting about whites embracing what is right - given the black young male crime spree, 80% of black births now out-of-wedlock.
And the typical black majority city of neighborhood - from Compton to Baltimore, now resembles Haiti or Zimbabwe more than the flourishing places they once were before black rule by resentful "blame everyone but us" people like Lowery.
Oh it was fine. He rhymed "yellow" with "mellow" for God's sake. How serious could it be? (Hey, who you callin' mellow? )
Crack, I'm not feeling at all guilty.
I come from generations of poor, extremely hard working farmers who worked their own land and earned whatever is they could eke out of it. My family lives in California because my great-great-great-great grandmother moved out here after her husband and her oldest son died in the Civil War. My family has stories of helping those who the law wouldn't help or was against, and I graduated from a college that was quite abolitionist and believed in equality.
So, I've not a lick of guilt. My people did right.
I just know a whole lot of folks, of a whole lot of colors, didn't do right, and that those people got their evil way far more than the good got theirs in particular ways.
I don't feel a bit of guilt. But, I get that there's bitterness over injustice that lingers.
Not everyone feels that, and that's hope. But some do, and that's a pretty small price to pay.
Michael said to The Crack Emcee --"maybe you should pick up a copy of the autobiography of Malcolm X."
A white man says to a black man whose reading history he doesn't know "maybe you should pick up a copy of the autobiography of Malcolm X"? Un-fucking-believable?
I have no desire to be mellow, nor do I see why I should be obliged to be, when people like ricpic think they're being clever.
Paddy O,
"I've not a lick of guilt. My people did right."
And so did the blacks who owned slaves during slavery - what did they know? Slavery was a way of life. There were white slaves too. Anybody running to the defense of them? Nope. You've got a mental image you want to perpetuate because it allows you to say "My people did right." and look down on those others who, supposedly, didn't. It's bullshit.
This is a country with a history, and that history is more complicated than you're letting on, and, until you're willing to deal with that, you've learned nothing that can help our nation become what we want it to be.
Lay that burden down, man, it's not ours to carry.
The shit's got to stop.
Waht I mean is that they won so they get to crow for now I guess.
I dont know. You are right, it was not uplifting.
Obama was hardly uplifting also.
I thought Juan Williams' response to seeing Lowery was quite moving.
As to Rev. Lowery, it's clear (to me at least) that he didn't mean anything malicious with his comments. They were tongue-in-cheek and nothing more.
He's a man who literally risked his life during the Civil Rights Era for the cause of human dignity (read, for example, Williams' bio of Thurgood Marshall or his other work "Eye on the Prize"). Given that record, I'm certainly willing to give him a pass on this matter.
The rest of the benediction was typical Lowery eye-rolling bombast though. Not needed but...
Sound and fury...
Paddy O
"My people did right."
We in America are blessed that we don't believe in the "sins of the fathers".
This is tribal thinking, My people did right and therefore you feel no guilt.
Even if your ancestors " did wrong" you still would not be guilty of anything.
This thinking that we are responsible for our ancestors actions perpetuates, and indeed legitimizes, racism and tribalism.
Jim,
Have you never been mellow?
Have you never tried to find a comfort from inside you?
Have you never been happy just to hear your song?
Have you never let someone else be strong?
The fact is, you are making a racist assumption that because a man is black he "must" have been treated a certain way.
When I was a kid, blacks were sub-human. When blacks moved into a neighborhood, whites moved out, as if the blacks were vermin. Blacks were considered to be lazy and unintelligent.
When did these attitudes change?
Keep in mind, Hu, the best ping pong players are mellow.
Am I really the only person who thought of the old when-to-flush-the-toilet mantra when I heard the reverend speak?
"If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down."
Silly? Mean-spirited? Just made me giggle.
Why can't any of these preachers give a short fucking prayer and sit down?
SMGalbraith,
He didn't mean anything malicious because we're all supposed to be (stuck) there. But if that were true then such sentiments wouldn't be necessary - we'd be on the same page, right? I don't see what's so hard: drop it and it (eventually) dies. Keep it going and it lives on, eyes glowing, anxiously searching for the next so-called offender. It's as simple as that.
"Eyes on the Prize"
Read the book, seen the movie, lived it and don't want to for another day more. That's supposed to be the point.
Lem,
I agree. And "thanks" for your honesty. It takes heart.
Crack Emcee
I went to the link you posted earlier. Loved the site, and your comments are right on. Please contact me through my site.
former law student,
"When did these attitudes change?"
When a well-meaning white family moved into my "black" neighborhood and were beat and robbed so often they were forced to move - that's when.
It's as simple as that
Well, I don't think it's that simple. History can't be dismissed as easily as you appear to want it to be.
I'm sure you've read King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail? To be treated every day like dirt, like a non-human, to be ridiculed in front of your children leaves an awful big scar on a soul.
I'll overlook nonsense - and his benediction was largely that - from eighty year old black (white, whatever) men that endured hardship that I won't from twenty year old black (white, whatever) men who've had it easy.
He's got moral capital, if you will, that I'll respect. Or forgive. Or overlook.
And, again, not simply because he's black.
Lowery says silly things? Okay. A Spike Lee? Not so much.
Read the book, seen the movie, lived it and don't want to for another day more. That's supposed to be the point.
Well said.
Don't make race an issue, ever, and marginalize those who do.
Unfortunately, society's obsession with multiculturalism reverses the incentives by celebrating race rather than ignoring it and focusing on the individual.
Franco,
I just took a look (yea, you feel me) and I will write, but for now I want to say this to you:
Joe friggin' Biden being Vice-President of these United States is one of the most mind-blowing things I have ever had to come to terms with!!!
If we needed proof we have lost our way, that, my friends, is it.
Lowery says silly things? Okay. A Spike Lee? Not so much.
Coincidentally, I'm about to watch "Miracle of St. Anna" just now. I saved it for a special day, like I did with the wonderful "Tuskeegee Airmen" (I saw it on MLK Jr. Day, many years ago).
I know already it's really bad, but I want to see just how bad for myself. Kinda similar to the next four years, really.
Cheers,
Victoria
fls: lol + groan. I couldn't actually watch
this all the way through, but is it the worst lip-syncing ever, or something else?
ricpic:I don't watch much world-class table tennis, but the times I've seen it, "mellow" is not the first adjective that came to mind.
When I heard the soundbite, I wondered if he was asking all those damned hardworking asians to mellow out and stop outscoring everyone else on their SATs.
Lowery was there to bring the good word.
What’s the word?
Skip ahead to 9:13
"Lay that burden down, man, it's not ours to carry."
Absolutely.
I'm not carrying the burden. But I understand the people who are, even as I think your attitude is absolutely the only way we're going to make it in the future.
I don't have to agree with someone, to understand where they're coming from.
Which is kind of the stance of my day. I didn't vote for Obama. Disagree with most of his politics. But I get how people are excited.
SMGalbraith,
"I'm sure you've read King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail? To be treated every day like dirt, like a non-human, to be ridiculed in front of your children leaves an awful big scar on a soul."
Sure, but it's 2009 - not 1956.
"He's got moral capital, if you will, that I'll respect. Or forgive. Or overlook."
Most days, sure, but this one? On that occasion? When we're being asked to find our higher angels? Talk about a way to kill that noise.
Look, I get it, but there's an inherent contradiction in it that's inescapable. And we want out. We deserve it - we've paid our dues as a nation. To think otherwise is to just dig a deeper hole. And that hole is for nothing other than lying in. Then we're stupid enough to welcome being buried alive.
That's what I see happening.
Paddy O,
"I didn't vote for Obama. Disagree with most of his politics. But I get how people are excited."
Beware that excitement. Fuck the crowd. Remember Obama didn't level with us - that's a crime. Remember the media didn't do it's job - that's a crime. Our job is to protect the nation, and allowing this empty-headedness to deceive us into doing anything we're told is dangerous. No cult is worth the words it's carried on, and to let some unknown labeled "The One" and "The Messiah" (by a loony con woman that also gets away with it) saying some bumpersticker nonsense like "We are the ones we've been waiting for" come off as *deep* is crazy. I don't know what you guys think you're doing but, from outside the bubble, it's the most outrageous thing I've ever seen. Race doesn't matter? it does matter? Nobody knows. Anything goes. That's where we are now.
This is motherfucking cult.
Crack Emcee,
It's like being sane in an insane world, but sanity is a very misused term which describes "normal" which is, well, quite insane, and that is why I invented the word hypersanity.
I thought Biden was a really poor choice, and actually thought McCain could win because of that blunder, but the media covered for Obama big time.
I'm not happy Obama is President, but I am happy McCain is not President, if that makes any sense.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Crack:
This is motherfucking cult.
Uh-huh. Like all the "cult" Dems criticizing Obama for not wanting to investigate law breaking under Bush, or Obama's FISA vote or Obama's choice of Rick Warren or Obama's....
Well, maybe you get my drift. The "Dear Leader" worship days are packed up and put away, hopefully for good.
If I had been through what this guy went through, I probably wouldn't like white people either. But there is a time and a place for everything. We just had an election where a majority of white people voted for a black man. I would say that that is "doing right" by his definition. He just doesn't want to see it because he let his experience of racism turn him into a racist. I am sorry the world treated him so badly. More than anything, I am sorry he can't get beyond it. Terrible choice to give the benediction and an awful benediction.
The Crack Emcee, I'm in the market for new friends. Would you like to be my friend?
vbspurs, nice to see you back. I missed you.
I'm so cheered by the inauguration, I invented a new hamburger.
If I had been through what this guy went through, I probably wouldn't like white people either. But there is a time and a place for everything.
That's what I said when I poured over the hours of footage of Rev. Wright giving his "sermons" such as the unforgettable one about Bill and Monica "riding dirty".
That's what I said about the already-listed Coretta Scott King funeral, which the self-same Rev. Lowery, said this:
"We know now there were no weapons of mass destruction over there [standing ovation]... but Coretta kew and we know that there are weapons of misdirection right down here. Millions without health insurance. Poverty aounds. For war billions more but no more for the poor."
And where Bill Clinton referred to George HW Bush, who is Episcopalian, as one of the "Frozen Chosen".
That's also what I said during the Senator Paul Wellstone funeral, which was basically Woodstock without dropping the 'cid.
I've thus come to the conclusion that these types of ceremonial events actually encourage certain people to express this type of (as Brazilians say) desafabamento, or roughly, to get stuff off of your chest.
If older people act this way, they take away the most important thing that they offer this world: that of being examples for younger people to emulate.
That they are consistently allowed to get away with it, tells you more about how our society works than anything else shown in today's lofty events.
Cheers,
Victoria
Ann: "A white man says to a black man whose reading history he doesn't know "maybe you should pick up a copy of the autobiography of Malcolm X"? Un-fucking-believable?"
First of all how do YOU know he's really a black man? Do you know this person?
Of course you don't.
You just want to jump in my face because I challenge the right wing opinion (from one who says they're black) that blacks should just shut the fuck up and accept things as they are.
If this Crack character is REALLY black and I bet he isn't...he's uninformed and should read what I suggested, along with all kinds of other literature that would run opposite of his inane comments.
I think you're just playing to your sycophant crowd.
Heya Chip! It's great to see you too. :)
Cheers,
Victoria
Chip Ahoy said..."vbspurs, nice to see you back. I missed you."
Kiss, kiss.
Suck, suck.
Chip Ahoy said..."The Crack Emcee, I'm in the market for new friends. Would you like to be my friend?"
Good lord...can you SUCK any harder?
How the fuck do YOU know who you're addressing this invitation to??
Is Crack the new black on Althouse?
A site dominated by right wing white folk...suddenly excited and thoroughly entranced by someone who professes to be black...and conservative?
This is better than Monty Python.
This is REALLY...FUNNY.
The Crack Emcee is BULLSHIT.
And anybody with a fucking brain would know that.
Not black.
Just one of the right wing assholes already here.
"Most days, sure, but this one? On that occasion? When we're being asked to find our higher angels? Talk about a way to kill that noise."
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, cool, Dude.
You must be a poet...
Or completely full of shit.
After a beautiful speech by Obama and lovely performances by people of many cultures, I was shocked and sickened by the benediction. Never mind the comment against whites...referring to people of Asian ethnicity as yellow and not mellow and referring to, I assume Native Americans as the red man...was beyond what I can imagine hearing in any polite conversation...let alone a public prayer at such a time of hope. Maybe people are being sensitive, but it sure was the negative point of the entire process. I am in a classroom all day with students of various ethnic backgrounds and I demand respect for each other's differences. I am disappointed that today they would hear "namecalling" based on one's ethnicity.
I personally wish someone would make a public apology for this ignorant, if not hate, speech.
After a beautiful speech by Obama and lovely performances by people of many cultures, I was shocked and sickened by the benediction. Never mind the comment against whites...referring to people of Asian ethnicity as yellow and not mellow and referring to, I assume Native Americans as the red man...was beyond what I can imagine hearing in any polite conversation...let alone a public prayer at such a time of hope. Maybe people are being sensitive, but it sure was the negative point of the entire process. I am in a classroom all day with students of various ethnic backgrounds and I demand respect for each other's differences. I am disappointed that today they would hear "namecalling" based on one's ethnicity.
I personally wish someone would make a public apology for this ignorant, if not hate, speech.
EL said..."After a beautiful speech by Obama and lovely performances by people of many cultures, I was shocked and sickened by the benediction."
Did Rush tell you to say that?
Or was it Sean?
Total bullshit.
If you're really a teacher...quit.
So, is this is our suddenly important and admired poster?
The Crack Emcee lives in San Francisco but is from Los Angeles. He started with Michael Franti's early cult band, The Beatnigs (1988) industrial agitators, Consolidated (1992) acid jazz favorites, Broun Fellinis (1995) and his own, short-lived, "Pop Rock" band, Little White Radio (1998).
Michael,
Your comment makes no sense. I neither watch Rush or Sean...And if I were your teacher, I'd give you a big F..
Michael,
"If this Crack character is REALLY black and I bet he isn't...he's uninformed and should read what I suggested, along with all kinds of other literature that would run opposite of his inane comments."
I'm not going to jump all over you, Mike, except to remind you the rest of us have been listening to, and watching, this kind of approach for 8 long years. You can read about me - and my "blackness" - here, here, and here. I'm real, man. A real "black" man. And a real conservative. I know more about these subjects than all the reading you've been doing to understand my plight. I've lived it. And I'm sick of it. So you really should give it a rest.
It's getting old - and helping no one.
Amazing.
On the very day a black man becomes President...an angry conservative black man (who I myself have never encountered here) shows up on the Althouse site.
What are the odds...??
At least 3-1.
Michael, TCE has been here for a while. Not new.
Diversity's a bitch, ain't it, Michael? At least for you; it exposes you to differing viewpoints that you clearly can't handle without a lot of anger. How dare a black man show up here and spout unapproved opinions! Doesn't he know his place?
I know that Ann has no intention of leaving Blogger for a more powerful blogging platform. But I am certain that one of the reasons that nags at her, tempts her to change her mind, is so that she can ban dickweeds like Michael once and for all.
There's nothing like a bunch of right wing white people suddenly finding Jesus in a right wing black man.
Oh...Malcolm would be proud indeed.
As would Martin.
It sends shivers up my spine.
MCG: Sorry I forgot.
Suck my dick.
Crack: "I'm not going to jump all over you, Mike, except to remind you the rest of us have been listening to, and watching, this kind of approach for 8 long..."
And what exactly would that "approach" be...oh wise black person?
Are you implying the Republicans are supportive of people of color?
Are you daft?
Imagine a PBS narrating voice in the background:
Challenged by opinions he could neither fathom nor refute, the liberal commenter retreats, comforting himself with personal attacks in his attempt to feel superior.
JohnAnnArbor said..."...the liberal commenter retreats, comforting himself with personal attacks in his attempt to feel superior."
I asked a question, asshole.
"And what exactly would that "approach" be...oh wise black person? Are you implying the Republicans are supportive of people of color?"
Suck off.
Michael the serial liar is back and doing the only things he knows how to do, lie, post while drunk, and act like the fool.
Oh yeah, you're an idiot, suck me, fuck off, etc....
"Oh wise black person"?
Michael, you're exposing yourself. Racist.
Lawgiver: One trick pony with a bone in his mouth.
Give it up, dumbfuck.
JohnAnnArbor said..."Oh wise black person"?
"Michael, you're exposing yourself. Racist."
That makes no sense.
Give it another shot, fuckhead.
Imagine a PBS narrating voice in the background:
Here ve see a liberal engaged in a life-or-death struuugle vith ze facts. Ze huuuge bull liberal, enraged by ze conservative's persistence in beink black vithout heez permission, shtrikes! Pow! Poor conservative!
"Torn between patronizing racism and uncomprehending rage, and seemingly ignorant of the futility of his actions, he lashes out again."
"We know now there were no weapons of mass destruction over there [standing ovation]... but Coretta knew and we know that there are weapons of misdirection right down here. Millions without health insurance. Poverty aounds. For war billions more but no more for the poor."
Lowery asked a reasonable question: Was the war the best use of our, our children's and our grandchildren's tax money? Did we get full value for money?
Further, assuming the most charitable interpretation of the invasion of Iraq, why did W. care so much more about the welfare of Iraqis than that of North Koreans or Venezuelans?
I still don't understand the geopolitical strategy of removing from the chessboard the leader who kept Iran in check.
I am sorry the world treated him so badly. More than anything, I am sorry he can't get beyond it.
This assumes there was a time when the switch flipped and the world quit treating blacks so badly. When was that? When did we all sit down and sing Kum Ba Ya together? Make it simpler: When did one white man say "I'm sorry for treating you as if you were sub-human" to one black man?
I don't see how anyone can "get beyond it" until his tormentors have at least apologized. No one expects anyone to attempt to make amends.
referring to people of Asian ethnicity as yellow and not mellow and referring to, I assume Native Americans as the red man...was beyond what I can imagine hearing in any polite conversation
Believe it or not (I assume the author is quite young) such words were used in lighthearted references to racial harmony, back in the 60s.
an angry conservative black man shows up on the Althouse site.
Perhaps its Thomas Sowell, Jr. I do share the other poster's surprise; I never met any Young Republicans myself, until after we pulled out of Viet Nam.
Lowery asked a reasonable question:
At an unreasonable time, at the wrong venue.
Was the point.
Cheers,
Victoria
Here ve see a liberal engaged in a life-or-death struuugle vith ze facts. Ze huuuge bull liberal, enraged by ze conservative's persistence in beink black vithout heez permission, shtrikes! Pow! Poor conservative!
Hmm, Paul, I think I like the voice of Frontline's Will Lyman (last heard voicing over Fields' "Little Children") better than that of an exciteable Sigmund Freud.
OTOH, I really like your parody of Geico's David Attenborough parody.
Let me make something clear: I think everybody is entitled to their own opinion, not that I wouldn't argue that opinion, but regardless of all the silly support I suddenly see here for this Emcee person (from a group of predominantly white and very conservative sycophants)...I have absolutely no idea why any black person would be a Republican or a conservative.
But, hey...why not provide a list of ALL the conservative or Republican leaders of America's people of color. Go back as far as you want.
So, as G.W. would say: "Bring it on."
I was wrong. Drunk lying Michael isn't asleep yet. Too bad, so sad.
Hey liar boy tell us again how gas was supposed to be $5 a gallon in December and how the surge wouldn't work.
You are a racist and if it doesn't make sense to you why John would imply you are, then you're a stupid racist to boot.
God, you're an idiot.
vbspurs said...(Lowery asked a reasonable question) "At an unreasonable time, at the wrong venue."
Really?
The inauguration of our very first black President and you think it was "the wrong venue?"
What better venue?
The back page?
Lawgiver, I find your questions to be almost childish.
You're implying, once again, that the fucking surge worked? In what respect? Are our soldiers back? Do they have a reliable government? Can we leave now?
Gas at $5.00? It was at $5.00 you moron. It's comes down because the market was being manipulated...do you read the business section?
Go away little man...you're uneducated and uninformed.
"And what exactly would that "approach" be...oh wise black person?
Are you implying the Republicans are supportive of people of color?
Are you daft?"
Confused chaos, accented by paranoia and an extreme adherence to maintaining stereotypes.
And the Republicans wanted to run Colin Powell before the Democrats ever heard of Obama. Martin Luther King and Ralph Abernathy were both Republicans. Content of a man's character, and all that, remember?
Michael, Republicans just aren't playing the "race" game; that's why you can't see what's going on: you look at a white grouping and see "white people," where I just see - people. Being conservatives means our values are what's important, so we're not doing a head-count for skin color. If no other black/white/whatever showed up, that would be cool. Doesn't matter. Nobody's "The One," or a token, or a "Messiah." We're Americans - coolest club in the world. We can make fun of you for playing the race game without playing it ourselves. Be patriotic without being sappy. All that.
You should think about joining us.
Please tell me liar boy, where did you buy gas for $5 a gallon in December? I've been paying about $1.70 for it for a while. If you're getting screwed that badly, I'm really happy. Don't you read the gas prices on the signs before you pull into the Quickee Mart?
The surge worked. The violence is way down. Iraq isn't even one of Obama's top five problems now. Don't you read the papers dikhed?
Oh, I left out one thing:
You, and the former law student, would have to give up that stupid ploy of leaping from foot-to-foot yelling, "Well, what about this? And what about this? And what about this?" and just concede a point when you're wrong - like about whether I'm real (or someone else on Althouse) or black (or a mascarading white person) and/or uninformed and not well-read (you'd be shocked). Just admit you're wrong, man, it's no big deal.
Plus you can't get in the club without it.
The Crack Emcee:
Well said, but I give up anyways on trying to fight the liberals. It's pointless.
Michael-
Try Harriet Tubman and George Washington Carver...you can google them-they were *shocker* African American Republicans.
Crack - Says Martin Luther King was a Republican: The King Center in Atlanta says there is no proof that King was ever a Republican.
Abernathy's conservative claim to fame was that he endorsed Ronald Reagan, but felt betrayed by Reagan's civil rights policies, and never endorsed or supported him again.
As far as I'm concerned, if a person of color wants to support the Republicans, that's their prerogative, and they deserve exactly what they get and have gotten throughout history.
Nothing.
I haven't paid much attention to Lowery in the past and was actually enjoying his benediction (particularly in contrast to Rick Warren who was absolutely awful) until he got to that last part. It was disrespectful and racist, and it felt like a slap in the face. I can't bring myself to just let it pass on account of his age or history or skin color or because my reaction is somehow not in keeping with the spirit of the day. His civil rights pedigree doesn't excuse him, either.
Harriet Tubman - Good lord, the woman died in 1913. Got someone a tad more current??
George Washington Carver - Was certainly not what one would consider a political "leader."
Alex,
Thanks: I forgot.
Crack Emcee; "Just admit you're wrong, man, it's no big deal."
Wrong?
About what?
That anybody of color that is a Republican is not that bright?
I-don't-think-so.
Michael is right, the GOP does not believe in handing out racial quotas.
This could be a comedy show: The Althouse Gang, teamed up with someone who says they're a black conservative.
What a bizarre and hilarious juxtaposition.
If they could get away with it...most here wouldn't allow Crack to even live in their neighborhood.
I'm so sick of liberals and conservatives spewing invective at one another. Whatever happened to civil discourse and intelligent debate free of ad hominem attacks?
I am a white republican. And I was all into Obama's speech and inauguration because I believe that party has to be put aside for the betterment of the country. I truly liked the graciosness between Obama and Bush. I felt it. I want to give Obama the same chance that anyone deserves. HOWEVER, when Dr. Lowery ended his benediction, it spoiled the whole feel. I felt like he was saying that I was not worthy and this was not for me, it was for black America only. I understand the black pride swelling, I do. But I think white has embraced what is right by helping elect a black man as president. I felt like he was also my president until I heard Dr. Lowery's comments. I wouldn't say those things to anyone else because it's racist to say it.
Alex- "Michael is right, the GOP does not believe in handing out racial quotas."
Obama is part of a "racial quota?"
You get dumber every day.
Effie said...
I'm so sick of liberals and conservatives spewing invective at one another. Whatever happened to civil discourse and intelligent debate free of ad hominem attacks?
11:54 PM
When have people ever engaged in civil discourse except on "Leave it to Beaver"? In yo fantasy! Let the blood fly~~~
Effie: "I'm so sick of liberals and conservatives spewing invective at one another. Whatever happened to civil discourse and intelligent debate free of ad hominem attacks?"
After saying:
"It was disrespectful and racist, and it felt like a slap in the face. I can't bring myself to just let it pass on account of his age or history or skin color or because my reaction is somehow not in keeping with the spirit of the day. His civil rights pedigree doesn't excuse him, either."
Michael, just STFU you idiot troll.
Me - That is absolutely not what he said at all.
Read the entire transcript.
You're just sucking up to the locals.
Michael-
Ya I knew you wouldn't approve I mean hell Harriet packed heat and according to YOU George Washington Carver didn't accomplish enough...or again according to you they were both stupid for being Republicans.
Let's see your new qualifiers are what exactly?
The way you guys move the goal posts it won't be long before everyone thinks Lincoln was a Democrat.
Alex - Like I said; you get dumber by the day.
Suck off.
Michael..Excuse me. I believe I know what I heard...and felt...Quote: Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around... when yellow will be mellow... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen.
I'm so sick of liberals and conservatives spewing invective at one another. Whatever happened to civil discourse and intelligent debate free of ad hominem attacks?
First, Effie, I feel your pain. It's this kind of interaction that makes me go far, far away from Althouse at times. However, you can't have been long on this blog if you think the rancour is between liberals and conservatives.
It's not a right/left thing. It's a troll/regular commenter thing.
The interaction between legitimate left-leaning Althouse commenters and their right-leaning counterparts here is at a much higher level of discourse altogether.
madawaskan said..."Michael- Ya I knew you wouldn't approve I mean hell Harriet packed heat and according to YOU George Washington Carver didn't accomplish enough..."
I said she died in 1913 and not particularly relevant to today's politics, and I never said Carver "didn't accomplish enough," I said he wasn't politically motivated enough to be considered a black political leader.
Maybe if you actually read my comment or even better, understood English.
What exactly is your point, Michael?
Lowery's racist remarks were divisive and wrong.
Liberals and conservatives spewing invective rather than engaging in meaningful debate is wrong.
What, exactly, is it about these two statements that is bothering you? Your post doesn't make it clear.
Lowery is a giant in the civil rights movement and I think he was just having a little fun with no thought it would be over analyzed like this. Even if he was serious, he of all people has earned the right to be a little inappropriate.
TCE, as you can see, if you don't think the right way, and hate the right people, you can not be authentically black. Michael has spoken.
"That anybody of color that is a Republican is not that bright?"
See?
"The Crack Emcee is BULLSHIT.
And anybody with a fucking brain would know that.
Not black."
Perhaps we could have some sort of check on this site so that if a minority doesn't meet Michael's standards for minorities they could be blocked from posting. Ann, could you look into that?
vbspurs: "The interaction between legitimate left-leaning Althouse commenters and their right-leaning counterparts here is at a much higher level of discourse altogether."
Thanks. That's actually quite heartening.
Michael, it's not conservatives plus a black conservative disagreeing with you. It's just conservatives disagreeing with you. You seem to be hung up on the fact that at least one of them is black.
vbsburs: "It's not a right/left thing. It's a troll/regular commenter thing."
And there you have it: It's not a real "discussion" or "debate"...it's "US" versus anybody with whom we disagree.
95% of the people on this site agree or at least act like they agree...on damn near everything that's conservative or anti-liberal or Democratic.
It's also called "sycophancy."
"f they could get away with it...most here wouldn't allow Crack to even live in their neighborhood."
Well, we know you wouldnt. You've made that clear.
Freeman, I'm not "hung up" on anything.
I said it before and repeat: Anybody of color who is a Republican should have their fucking head examined.
Republicans could care less about them and you know it, too.
Sucking up to your conservative buddies means nada.
A racist remark is a racist remark. I don't care whose mouth it comes ot of. That's not left nor right...just fact. I'm leaving. Not worth the discussion.
The rhyming at the end was nothing to get into a swivet about, but as I said elsewhere, it was a clunker. And it looked pretty obvious from the reaction shot that Obama went from amused to dismayed in about four seconds.
Yes, we are celebrating him as our first black President, but he's biracial. And no matter how much he respects Lowery, I doubt he liked the fact that whitey gets the shaft at the end.
jeff- Your reading comprehension isn't that great is it?
I can't even imagine why anything I've said would make you say something so patently ignorant.
Other than sucking up to your local buddies.
Thanks. That's actually quite heartening.
Not that the regular commenters are above fart jokes, or Presidential erotica, you understand.
Michael-
I said [George Washington Carver] wasn't politically motivated enough to be considered a black political leader.
Maybe if you actually read my comment or even better, understood English.
Well there's your problem I think you have a narrow definition of political.
Define political.
I think George Washington Carver relative to Obama in his day was more of a leader, and since you've been the one recommending books around here for people to read you could start with Up from Slavery of course the author might not be angry enough for you.
And it looked pretty obvious from the reaction shot that Obama went from amused to dismayed in about four seconds.
Yes. He did not seem to appreciate it either.
Me said..."A racist remark is a racist remark."
You mean, what YOU and others here perceive as a racist remark.
That's the point: Most here are always looking for something to whine about.
Get thee lost racist Michael troll...
I doubt he liked the fact that whitey gets the shaft at the end.
To my new President's credit, I don't think Obama liked it either.
Check out Ann's video above. Yes, the President is smiling generously at the famous Civil Rights leader talking about yellas and red men, but the moment he hits the "white" line, Obama's smile disappears faster than a Firedoglake blogger at the Inauguration entry barriers.
Freeman - I don't believe for a second that Obama minds anti-whitey remarks. Whatever you saw as a frown was an optical illusion.
Me: That was really the crux of my consternation here. I read this whole thread and still can't quite fathom how it turned into a liberal vs. conservative thing.
Remember Obama attended racist Wright's church for 20 years, so obviously he is a flaming racist.
madawaskan - I think you should read more about Carver.
He was an inventor first and foremost. Race relations were part of his life, but he was certainly not considered a leader of any substance by the black political community.
He was an inventor first and foremost. Race relations were part of his life, but he was certainly not considered a leader of any substance by the black political community.
12:16 AM
Typical liberal. Much more important to be a "political activist" then to actually invent things people need! Say sit all about liberals, and their mental disorder. Michael Savage was right.
"I can't even imagine why anything I've said would make you say something so patently ignorant."
Oh, sure you could. Give it some thought.
Alex said..."Freeman - I don't believe for a second that Obama minds anti-whitey remarks. Whatever you saw as a frown was an optical illusion."
And once again, Alex proves himself to be a racist dullard.
For all the talk about Obama being a black man, the fact is that he's white as well, and he was raised predominately by whites. I don't think it's implausible that the remark irked him.
jeff: Why not point it out?
Talk is cheap.
"Race relations were part of his life, but he was certainly not considered a leader of any substance by the black political community."
So sayeth Michael. You listening black political community?
Effie said...
For all the talk about Obama being a black man, the fact is that he's white as well, and he was raised predominately by whites. I don't think it's implausible that the remark irked him.
12:18 AM
It's all an act. He hates whitey too. Remember how he threw his "racist" grandmother under the bus? He's a racist asshole along with MichaelTroll. They deserve each other - in HELL.
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