Eruption

Ross Barnett, Mississippi Governor, 1960-64: His soul goes marching on

I generally try to avoid attributing individual characteristics to groups, as in "national character", etc. But if there is something that can metaphorically be called the Republican id, it's really starting to spew its contents, with minimal screening of anything like an ego or superego. And it ain't a pretty sight. And it's only going to get worse all the way to November.

I'm referring, of course, to the fact that through a series of events, not least of which was an obsessive media fixation on the subject, Republicans now feel free to talk about race in polite company. And they're going to be letting us know just how sick and tired they are of all this here "political correctness" and resentful black people and "illegals".

You don't even have to go to Newsmax or WorldNutDaily to find it. Right on the 03/20/08 edition of the ultra-respectable PBS Newshour, we had a focus group of what is supposed to be a group of regular citizens discussing the topic.

I should preface this by saying I'm probably going to post a bit more biographically on this topic sometimes than I usually do. Let's just say for now that I grew up (white) in a small town in Mississippi that was majority black. But certainly in my early childhood, the black majority was disenfranchised in pretty much every sense of the word. And though it was clearly changing by the time I moved away, the type of government Mississippi practiced in the 1950s and 1960s was as "pure" a specimen of white man's government that existed in the US in the 20th century. (And I do mean "man". Circa 1974 there were about four women in the state legislature. One of them told the Clarion-Ledger that she expected women to keep being legislators, because "women are part of our way of life".)

I don't claim any special insights on the treacherous topic of race. But some parts of my internal bulls**t detector have become close enough to hardwired that some things just immediately toss me into the "do you think I'm the sort of white trash that is gonna pretend to believe this?" mode. This Newshour segment brought out that reaction: Americans Feel Impact of Shaky Economy, Reflect on Race Relations.

One southern California Republican real estate agent named Lori Staehling, a white woman who just oozed the Party line when she was talking about the economy, explained when the race topic came up:

Well, I think it's unfortunate that he -- it has become such an issue. He spoke about it so much. In my life, it's not an issue. And whether -- what color someone's skin is or where they were born, it makes not one bit of difference to me.

But I'm realistic enough to understand that it does make a difference to some people and maybe to too many people. And so maybe it's an issue that has to be dealt with.

I think it's very unfortunate that we would think of him as a candidate based on his race. He should be only judged based on his ability as a human being to run the country or not.

Translation: All these blacks and Mexicans and various and sundry brown people are the racists and they should just git over it. (The key phrase for the translation is, "it does make a difference to some people and maybe to too many people".

For the love of Zeus, how many times have I heard this in my life? How many times more will I have to hear it?

Then there's Henry Lujan, a Republican white guy, offering this bit of, uh, insight:

I just wanted to say that -- you know what? We're going to be out here and try to be as politically correct as we can, but I think we'll always have closet racism. So it's going to happen no matter what. That's just the way that we are, and that's just the way people are in general.

What happened with the minister is that, unfortunately, there was a phone or a camera or a fly in there. But I'm sure everybody has had their topics and their discussions about other races at home that nobody else knows. Those are closet racists.

So my thing is, is that it's an issue. And when it does come out, hopefully this will snowball into something bigger that everybody can come out and say, "You know, why do you do it this way? Why don't" -- you know, things like that.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So you think it's healthy to have this discussion or...

HENRY LUJAN: I think it is. Once you have this discussion, though, I think people are going to go and leave with their own mindset of what it is. And, you know, is it going to abolish it? No, it's just the way it is.

Translation: I don't like black people and screw you if you want to criticize me for it. (Key phrases for the translation: "politically correct"; "That's just the way that we are"; "it's just the way it is".

Then comes, Mark McLain, an independent who "leans" Republican (yeah, right), a good ole white boy from Arkansas (you can see my b.s. detector is getting more grumpy by the minute as this goes on):

I think Barack Obama is a politician and he gave the speech because he thought he needed to. And I believe that he covered the things in the speech that he thought he needed to cover to further garner votes.

Do I think he's a racist? I don't know. Do I think he was speaking from the heart? I don't know. But I do know, just like he said, he's going to put his best foot forward. He's going to put his best face out there, because he is a candidate for the president of the United States. He did what he had to do for that campaign.

Translation: Obama's just another lying n*****r. (Key phrase: every word of it.)

This kind of attitude is not going to be changed by sweet moral persuasion or by minorities showing that they can "behave well" in the presence of good Republican white folks like those three. The two white guys would have to be whacked over the head by life experiences and by contact with other white people who don't walk around with their heads up their rear ends 24/7 to the point they say, "You know, I'm really being a dumbass to listen to a drughead like Rush Limbaugh or the losers who drive around with Confederate flag bumper-stickers on their cars and sawdust in their heads."

Based on my brief impression, the two guys might be capable of having such experiences. The real estate lady is probably completely hopeless.

One African-American participant, Terra Cole, succeeded in pointing out the aspect of race to which most whites in the United States are inevitably unaware:

Well, it's unfortunate and, while it is a travesty, we have someone who is in the political limelight that is out there and really sort of bringing to the surface all of those very -- I wouldn't say it subtly, but very -- on a very, very, very minute level, what myself, my Latino friends, my Asian friends, my Native American friends, and Muslim friends face every single day.

We're constantly questioned as to, "Why are you here? Yes, you're articulate. Yes, you have the degree, yes, yes, yes. But, really, why are you here?" It's this questioning of -- people looking at me on sight and assuming things.

They assume, because I went to a certain high school, that I do a certain thing, that I live in a certain neighborhood. "Oh, well, you're so smart. Why do you live in that particular area?"

It's those racialized questions that -- I'm not saying that people are racist, but they're racialized questions coming from a place that our society has really created this perception of who is what, what black represents, what Latino represents, what Asian represents. We've created these stereotypes and we've absorbed them. (my emphasis)

We don't live in a color-blind society, or one in which race and ethnicity play no role. That doesn't mean that people from any group have to be jerks about it. But it does to understand the reality of American society, that's an important dimension of life of which we have to be aware.

Tags: henry lujan, lori staehling, mark mclain, racism, republicans, terra cole