an ape in heels

by Guest Mon Nov 14, 2016 4:07 pm

http://abc7ny.com/politics/wv-officials-racist-michelle-obama-post-causes-backlash/1606453/

The director of a West Virginia development group and a mayor are under scrutiny after a racist post about first lady Michelle Obama caused a backlash and prompted calls on social media for both women to be fired.

Clay County Development Corp. director Pamela Ramsey Taylor made the post following Donald Trump's election as president, saying: "It will be refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady in the White House. I'm tired of seeing a Ape in heels."

Clay Mayor Beverly Whaling responded: "Just made my day Pam."

The post, first reported by WSAZ-TV, was shared hundreds of times on social media before it was deleted.

by Idéfix Mon Nov 14, 2016 5:39 pm

Quick, let's make up reasons for why this is not racist. Here are some suggestions:

This was locker-room talk.
Billy Bush egged them on.
It was a metaphor.
It was a joke. Liberals have no sense of humor.
They were being sarcastic. But not too sarcastic.
It can't possibly be racist because the country elected a black man president. Racism is over.

Seriously though, this is the sort of ugly racism that our president-elect has brought out into the mainstream.

by Guest Mon Nov 14, 2016 5:49 pm

Idéfix wrote:Quick, let's make up reasons for why this is not racist. Here are some suggestions:

This was locker-room talk.
Billy Bush egged them on.
It was a metaphor.
It was a joke. Liberals have no sense of humor.
They were being sarcastic. But not too sarcastic.
It can't possibly be racist because the country elected a black man president. Racism is over.

Seriously though, this is the sort of ugly racism that our president-elect has brought out into the mainstream.

I read somewhere else her lamenting that while she has been already reprimanded at work about it, how SHE is a victim of hate crime since this got viral.

Point is. If two officials feel nothing posting such racist stuff on social media, how must things be in WV, as is also indicated by the rest of their voting history. Should we count this is an isolated incident or a symptom of the society they live in?

by garam-kuta Mon Nov 14, 2016 6:10 pm

Idéfix wrote:Quick, let's make up reasons for why this is not racist. Here are some suggestions:

This was locker-room talk.
Billy Bush egged them on.
It was a metaphor.
It was a joke. Liberals have no sense of humor.
They were being sarcastic. But not too sarcastic.
It can't possibly be racist because the country elected a black man president. Racism is over.

Seriously though, this is the sort of ugly racism that our president-elect has brought out into the mainstream.

correct. it is racism if and only if it is directed against a person of certain race.
it is just sense of humor if it is directed against a white person and trump in particular.
a lot of people, including il professore were just being funny when they called him orang-utan, orange ape and worse.
ps:paging swap-na. get busy with your corrections in the original post and also this.

by MaxEntropy_Man Mon Nov 14, 2016 6:32 pm

Smug conservative Indian Americans are about to find out in the next four years what racism is. They will at least get a glimpse of how life has been for African Americans. Nobody needs to define it for them right now. They will be made to think deeply and clearly about it, and are sure to be given an on-the- ground lesson on it one way or the other. When they do, they'll figure out why calling the first lady an ape in heels is racism, and calling a hate-mongering presidential candidate funny names isn't.

by MaxEntropy_Man Mon Nov 14, 2016 6:47 pm

Scarlet O'Hara wrote:Should we count this is an isolated incident or a symptom of the society they live in?

These tendencies have always been there, but have been suppressed by progressive politics which have made the US a better place for minorities in the post civil rights era. They didn't go away, just suppressed to a point where saying such things out aloud would not only have been politically incorrect, but would have resulted in the loss of one's livelihood. Nobody should have any expectation that this will continue in the next four years. The candidacy of Donald Trump and his victory have unleashed all the ghouls and goblins of white supremacy that had gone into hiding. The American body politic is now an unfettered playground for them.

by MaxEntropy_Man Mon Nov 14, 2016 6:57 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:Smug conservative Indian Americans are about to find out in the next four years what racism is. They will at least get a glimpse of how life has been for African Americans. Nobody needs to define it for them right now. They will be made to think deeply and clearly about it, and are sure to be given an on-the- ground lesson on it one way or the other. When they do, they'll figure out why calling the first lady an ape in heels is racism, and calling a hate-mongering presidential candidate funny names isn't.

But the silver lining is that this will help us develop some deep empathy for African Americans, particularly African American men. It's one thing to have an intellectual understanding of the African American experience and quite another to be forced to encounter it personally. I am preparing my kids for it by talking about it. I hope you all are too. I have told them it's ok to be shocked and saddened when you encounter it, but after the initial shock is over it is important to confront it.

by Idéfix Mon Nov 14, 2016 7:03 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:
Scarlet O'Hara wrote:Should we count this is an isolated incident or a symptom of the society they live in?

These tendencies have always been there, but have been suppressed by progressive politics which have made the US a better place for minorities in the post civil rights era. They didn't go away, just suppressed to a point where saying such things out aloud would not only have been politically incorrect, but would have resulted in the loss of one's livelihood. Nobody should have any expectation that this will continue in the next four years. The candidacy of Donald Trump and his victory have unleashed all the ghouls and goblins of white supremacy that had gone into hiding. The American body politic is now an unfettered playground for them.

This is exactly right.

Liberals have not done enough to highlight why this is a bad thing. They don't push back when people say "political correctness" is a burden or has gone too far. It hasn't. As human beings we have inherent biases. Our minds have built-in heuristics to rapidly make potential "friend of foe" evaluations about other people. When someone looks, speaks, dresses or behaves differently from what we are used to, we quickly judge them as potential foes. This applies to all of us, including liberals. But in a modern, multi-racial society we will all benefit from people being aware of their inherent biases and on the guard against them. This is needed for a more cohesive and inclusive society where the potential of all people can be realized regardless of their ethnicity, gender, etc.

Calling black people apes is a long-standing racist line. When these women do that and we have people trying to justify it, something is very wrong.

by MaxEntropy_Man Mon Nov 14, 2016 7:15 pm

Based on the conversations I have had with first generation Indian Americans elsewhere and here on CH, it is my opinion that they don't have a deep historical sense of what the civil rights movement accomplished and how important it is to our presence in this country. It's likely this is so because we didn't study it in school and it is not part of of our core understanding at the same level as say the Indian independence movement. It's worth taking the time to take the journey when our children are taking AP US history courses in high school. I did so recently, and it was enormously rewarding. Perhaps we won't take our civil rights so lightly if we do that.

by Idéfix Mon Nov 14, 2016 7:18 pm

Another quick way to learn about it all: watch the PBS documentary series called Eyes on the Prize. I recommend getting the DVDs from PBS, but if you want to watch it for free at lower quality, here is the first part. The rest are also on YouTube. IMO, this is some of the very best TV ever made.

by Idéfix Mon Nov 14, 2016 7:25 pm

garam-kuta wrote:
Idéfix wrote:Quick, let's make up reasons for why this is not racist. Here are some suggestions:

This was locker-room talk.
Billy Bush egged them on.
It was a metaphor.
It was a joke. Liberals have no sense of humor.
They were being sarcastic. But not too sarcastic.
It can't possibly be racist because the country elected a black man president. Racism is over.

Seriously though, this is the sort of ugly racism that our president-elect has brought out into the mainstream.
correct. it is racism if and only if it is directed against a person of certain race.
it is just sense of humor if it is directed against a white person and trump in particular.
a lot of people, including il professore were just being funny when they called him orang-utan, orange ape and worse.
ps:paging swap-na. get busy with your corrections in the original post and also this.

Read this and learn about the long history of this racist idea: http://theconversation.com/the-ape-insult-a-short-history-of-a-racist-idea-14808

by garam-kuta Mon Nov 14, 2016 7:38 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:Smug conservative Indian Americans are about to find out in the next four years what racism is. They will at least get a glimpse of how life has been for African Americans. Nobody needs to define it for them right now. They will be made to think deeply and clearly about it, and are sure to be given an on-the- ground lesson on it one way or the other. When they do, they'll figure out why calling the first lady an ape in heels is racism, and calling a hate-mongering presidential candidate funny names isn't.

as uppli used to say, everybody has at least some racism ingrained in them including the liberals. white people are better at masking it.
i am pretty sure all indians encountered some racism, some of it overt and some covert. i encountered more racism and rude behavior from blacks than whites. usually a black TSA worker is unnecessarily rude and condescending to me than his white colleague. but most of the white people are fair most of the time.
ps: thanks for telling us about civil rights movement. we all know about rosa parks, alabama and MLK. and colored only water fountains. assuming that only they know about it and others are ignorant is the hallmark of the elite liberals.

by Idéfix Mon Nov 14, 2016 7:53 pm

garam-kuta wrote:
MaxEntropy_Man wrote:Smug conservative Indian Americans are about to find out in the next four years what racism is. They will at least get a glimpse of how life has been for African Americans. Nobody needs to define it for them right now. They will be made to think deeply and clearly about it, and are sure to be given an on-the- ground lesson on it one way or the other. When they do, they'll figure out why calling the first lady an ape in heels is racism, and calling a hate-mongering presidential candidate funny names isn't.
as uppli used to say, everybody has at least some racism ingrained in them including the liberals. white people are better at masking it.
i am pretty sure all indians encountered some racism, some of it overt and some covert. i encountered more racism and rude behavior from blacks than whites. usually a black TSA worker is unnecessarily rude and condescending to me than his white colleague. but most of the white people are fair most of the time.
ps: thanks for telling us about civil rights movement. we all know about rosa parks, alabama and MLK. and colored only water fountains. assuming that only they know about it and others are ignorant is the hallmark of the elite liberals.

Ah, the sweet irony!

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