White America Has Lost Its Mind

[DearAbby]

The white brain, beset with worries, finally goes haywire in spectacular fashion


About 12:01 on the afternoon of January 20, 2009, the white American mind began to unravel.

It had been a pretty good run up to that point. The brains of white folks had been humming along cogently for near on 400 years on this continent, with little sign that any serious trouble was brewing. White people, after all, had managed to invent a spiffy new form of self-government so that all white men (and, eventually, women) could have a say in how white people were taxed and governed. White minds had also nearly universally occupied just about every branch of that government and, for more than two centuries, had kept sole possession of the leadership of its executive branch (whose parsonage, after all, is called the White House).

But when that streak was broken—and, for the first time, a non-white president accepted the oath of office—white America rapidly began to lose its grip.

As with other forms of dementia, the signs weren't obvious at first. After the 2008 election, when former House majority leader Tom DeLay suggested that instead of a formal inauguration, Barack Obama should "have a nice little chicken dinner, and we'll save the $125 million," black folks didn't miss the implication. References to chicken, particularly of the fried variety, have long served as a kind of code when white folks referred to black people and their gustatory preferences—and weren't many of us already accustomed to older white politicians making such gaffes? But who among us sensed that it was a harbinger that an entire nation was plunging into madness?

More:

http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-09-29/news/white-america-has-lost-its-mind/

[Number23]

1. Holy ****!!

:popcorn:

[Evasporque]

130. great read....

time shake the morons....

[Arctic Dave]

2. O..M..F..G..

INCOMING!!!!!

[DevonRex]

199. Duck!!!!1111!!!!!

:rofl:

[NYC_SKP]

3. Graphic from article: "Sources of White Stress":

:rofl:

[Historic NY]

66. Boy if Christine gets elected they really are going over the edge ..masturbation.

[catzies]

177. Isn't that so very awesome? While I'm still reading the article & comments I'm already

going to send this to a lot of people. :rofl:

[anarch]

254. haha!

I laughed out loud a few times just reading the article, and that just added several more times

[DonCoquixote]

4. Cue angry white rebuttals in

5..4...3...2

[Bluebear]

5. Ah, are progressive whites "angry" to you too?

Or just whiners?

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ecstatic]

96. Read the thread titles on DU and other places

that will tell you all you need to know. I understand disagreements, but when the titles have phrases like "man up" and other way out of line phrases, complete with hundreds of recs... it's easy to see that it's not just the right that lost their damn minds.

[Uzybone]

132. +100000

[Uzybone]

133. +100000

[Name removed]

137. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DevonRex]

190. Amen. nt

[Number23]

196. You said it!

:thumbsup:

[DonCoquixote]

220. Thank you!

For making my point better than I did.

[hay rick]

238. -200000

Now you're back to even. "Man up" offends you??????????

[Bluebear]

276. How do you know that the ones posting "man up" are white?

[DevonRex]

138. You have a problem with people telling the truth here? Or is it only YOUR voice that counts

and not the voices of those who have seen racial bias right here on this board?

[DonCoquixote]

219. Hey

If you read the article, you would know that the people addressed were the Tea party, those who are on the RIGHT, because the RIGHT caters to the white. I do agree with many of the people Gibbs called the "professional left", although I have had to disagree with them at times as well. However, as much as people may not like it, there are some here who, when you call into question the fact that White privilege exists, get defensive and nasty. Those were my target.

[kurtzapril4]

235. As a liberal, unemployed white American on food stamps and gov't cheese

I would like to know when my white privelege will be arriving. Hopefully, it will not be COD, otherwise, I'll have to send it back. Since I've been poor my whole adult life, as were my parents, it sure would be good to have some of that "White Privelege." Sounds like a perfume of some type. Apparently, you rub some on and you're automatically rich and sucessful! And automatically bigoted! <==sarcasm

Nothin beats demagoguery, apparently.

[DonCoquixote]

256. It may not have applied to you

And indeed, I am sorry that you have been poor. After all, the reason the rich make people look at race is to hide the power of wealth, but just because you have not gotten the benefits of it, that does not mean you cannot see it at work. I do not need to call up that C+ student, W., though he is a fine example, but take a look and see how many managers and supervisors are black. Also see the prisons, to see that being dark-skinned and getting caught with weed means more than white.

Yes, not all Whites are like this, but there are enough that people like Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich and others can gain instant points by mentioning words like "kenya." And I am not even talking about the KKK types.

Do all races have their cream and crap, sure they do. I am Latino and in Florida, but I sure as hell do not want Teabagger Marco Rubio to win this November, nor do I have any fondness for many of the Miami Latinos who are die hard GOP. But just because White Privilege did not find you, does not mean that is not there, or that it is being used to bolster a GOP that, if they were weighed on their ideas, would have long ago dried up and blown away.

All the same, I hope you do get some success in the mail, though if the GOP wins, we will all be logs for the fire.

[pezDispenser]

274. very well said

I'm not rich nor were my parents, but I'm smart enough to know the best day of my life was when I looked down and saw a white penis.

[Name removed]

233. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Supersedeas]

240. some of the comments are pretty revealing

[POAS]

82. Nice timing. n/t

[Supersedeas]

224. provoking anger and division....ya, right on time

[POAS]

255. I fail to see how that posters

prediction that "white angry reaction" would soon be forth coming is provocative.

Anger and division exist here on DU as they do throughout the country and the Democratic party. That poster was not only understanding of that fact but was accurate and amazingly fortunate in the timing of his comment.

The fact that you find his understanding provocative may say something about your own thinking. Then again perhaps I presume too much about you.

[Supersedeas]

265. i take that as a yes

[DonCoquixote]

259. I was not provoking

But sadly, predicting. People did not have to respond the way they did, indeed, if they did not, I would have looked like a fool, but the fact the devs had to go ahead and remove two or three posts shows that this topic is still alive.

And do, I did not mean all white people/european americans/insert preferred name here. Indeed, as most Michael Moore films show, there are a lot of European Americans who played by the rules, did everything in good faith, and got screwed. What happens though is that the minute you address the fact that SOME whites assume that they are the good guys by default, and ignore the fact that minorities do indeed, get judged much more harshly than white males do, they attack and call you a demagogue.

Yes, some of that IS happening to Obama, and yes, if she won, it would be happening to Hillary. The Palin followers would have demonized Hillary just as much, because she is not "their" type of woman, while Sarah P acts like she is just a humble housewife who got thrust into her position by the wall of Jesus. Anybody who talks honestly about race is attacked, because once you start talking about race, you have to address the other great taboo in this country, POVERTY. Now THAT will get some unrecs, as people like bobbolink find out whenever they try to speak truth to power here. Then the rich who run this country would have to admit that they really hate the blue collar whites as much as they do blacks, browns and yellows (again, most Michael Moore flicks illustrate this really well.)

But of course, I cannot help it if that made you angry. I am sorry if it did, but while we do have to be civil to each other, we cannot go to the other extreme and avoid discussing things because it may offend. We see the results of that every time you see people who are supposed to be educated, yet, because discussion was watered down in school, they have no idea what , or even HOW, to think.

[Newsjock]

6. Civil War II

This white American is losing my mind because I have to watch everyone around me losing their mind.

[bliss_eternal]

65. lol.

:rofl:

[bliss_eternal]

7. divisive.

flame-bait.

[DearAbby]

9. Read the entire article

[bliss_eternal]

11. can't...

...get past the subject line. eeeuuuwww.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

51. I can. I guess that makes me an evil person. -nt

[bliss_eternal]

55. no, not at all.

it's good that you could get past the divisive subject line, to digest the actual information provided.
my issue, is a personal one. my peeve. nothing more or less. :)

[laconicsax]

10. This is a recent thing?

White America lost its mind a long time ago. Having a non-white president just brought it to the surface.

[Bluebear]

13. Broad brushed and unfortunate.

"White America" is a really, really large entity and not monolithic.

[bliss_eternal]

25. ...certainly not.

(not monolithic).

heck, we can't even get every white american on this board on the same page, half the time.

[laconicsax]

31. And?

No large group is monolithic. Is the whole article "broad brushed and unfortunate?"

[bliss_eternal]

32. well....

...from what i've read thus far, it's not new information to anyone living daily in minority skin. those that were born minority in america, knew this....were aware of it...long before obama took office. (no--not all non-ethnic people are intolerant, but absolutely lots still in existence).

i've been saying for years, fox news is so popular with the hateful, because they are fearful that they won't be the majority anymore.

[laconicsax]

34. Exactly.

[Radical Activist]

74. I think everyone understands that.

People should be able to get beyond that and accept the points in the article for what they are. White progressives should be secure that it doesn't describe them personally unless for some reason they think it does.

[tavalon]

242. That was my take

I'm white, though not male, and so not completely out of way of -isms, but I know it didn't speak about me. It did speak volumes about many aging baby boomers.

[bliss_eternal]

249. good on you, tavalon...

quote:
....and so not completely out of way of -isms

not sure why so many in this thread, are personalizing this. yet simultaneously denying the article has any credence.
we're all fallible, make mistakes and yes, sometimes may say or do something (unintentionally) that is disparaging of another individual, group, etc.

[elana i am]

261. that seems to be an overarching theme here lately

trying to discount something and blow it off by making accusations of "broad-brushing" or generalizing. it used to be understood, even when speaking in generalities, that the subject of criticism was a very specific group.

it was certainly understood by me when reading this article.

[bliss_eternal]

277. oh wow.

that kinda' sucks. i'm sad to hear this. but sincerely appreciate your letting me know (thank you!). i don't post in gd often, and as such--wasn't all that aware of current members reactions to issues. now more of the thread responses make some sense.

[USArmyParatrooper]

89. Ridiculous

The OP isn't broad brushing every white American. It's speaking the overall undertones of racism that still exists in this country, and how Obama's Presidency has brought it to the surface.

You know, you don't have to criticize literally every thread about the President that isn't criticle of him. You can let a few go and still maintain your anti-Obama creds.

[bliss_eternal]

23. lol!

...please don't make me laugh(about it not being new). :spray:

[Fire1]

107. BINGO!!! We have a winna!! n/t

[DevonRex]

142. Yeah, but it didn't just bubble, it erupted. Kinda made it more noticeable.

But yeah, it's not recent.

[tavalon]

243. Racism is one of the many boils on America's ass

This one does appear to have erupted.

[SoCalDem]

201. The scab remains.. we just pick it from time to time..to see if it still bleeds

It always does:(

[polmaven]

225. Can you imagine what will happen

when, one day, we have a non-white non-male president? ...WOW! That will really be time for this :hide:

[awoke_in_2003]

228. I am hoping for...

a hispanic lesbian atheist- half the populations heads will explode.

[awoke_in_2003]

227. "White America lost its mind a long time ago"...

Case in point- Garth Brooks :)

[Number23]

12. I've decided to actually read the article before publicizing my opinion of it

I had no idea that Dr. Laura had gone so completely insane. I heard about her "n word" orgy a few months ago but didn't know all of the details. Her cluelessness, insensitivity and stupidity know no bounds.

I appreciate this piece. It is by no means a denunciation of every white person or even of every white Boomer. But it is highlighting the fear-induced insanity that has been on display by a LOT of white people since Obama took office. The good thing about all of this is hopefully attempts by people to sweep racism under the rug and proclaim that Obama's victory "ended racism" will be treated as the words of the closed minded, blind and stupid that they are.

[Bluebear]

14. I totally agree with you 23.

Obama did not usher in a "post-racist" era by any means. But thank you for recognizing that not every white boomer is part of this lunacy.

[Number23]

15. Oh God...

[Bluebear]

16. It had to happen.

:rofl:

[Number23]

18. No it didn't. It really, REALLY didn't.

[Bluebear]

19. You'll live.

[Number23]

22. Once I get past the nausea, maybe...

[Bluebear]

24. Well, since you're not in a mood to celebrate agreement,

I'll say goodnight. (Have they started selling bagels in Australia yet, by the way?)

[Number23]

27. No.

[bliss_eternal]

29. olive branch...?

...white flag?

(bliss ducks and runs...)

:hide:

[Number23]

30. Never.

[bliss_eternal]

33. that's a *really* long time....

...but okey dokey. certainly, not my place to tell anyone how to think or feel, about anyone else.

(bliss shrugs like kanye, turns, walks off.)

[Number23]

36. Thanks

[Bluebear]

38. I'll put you on ignore and you can do the same for me too.

I tried. Bye!

[Number23]

43. I thought you did that like 14 times already?

And I'm perfectly able to ignore you without having to push a button. Do it all of the time.

[DevonRex]

141. No, that was me. For you it's only been like 12.

:rofl:

[Name removed]

120. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Bluebear]

39. I tried.

:shrug:

[cliffordu]

48. not really. You claim to all the time, but the reality, like your posts,

are less than satisfying.....

[ScreamingMeemie]

214. You, and the poster I have previously put on ignore...

*smacks self for reading DU without logging in*

...make me physically ill.

[cliffordu]

275. Anything to help.

:hurts:

[DevonRex]

140. N23, it probably didn't really happen this time, either. :) nt

[cliffordu]

35. Under the bus for YOU, kiddo.

:rofl:

[Number23]

37. Yeah, I'm under the bus. HIDING under it.

:scared:

[cliffordu]

46. well...I agree with you too, so maybe that balances the universe, again

or maybe makes it worse...who can say??

:rofl:

[DevonRex]

139. The article itself recognizes that, as do those of us who loved its posting here. nt

[liberalhistorian]

226. No, they sure aren't. My husband has given the past

twenty years of his career to tribal law on reservations, when he very easily could have chosen otherwise. My middle-class white mother taught for nearly thirty years in an inner-city school of her own volition, she could easily have chosen otherwise. Now, granted, there are, indeed, plenty of white racists (even, unfortunately, within my own family), and many do, indeed, seem to have gone crazy with Obama's election (especially in this state). But certainly not all and it isn't fair to paint with such a broad brush.

[DearAbby]

17. I Agree

[NanceGreggs]

20. ...

:thumbsup:

[bliss_eternal]

21. that's incredibly fair...

i can appreciate that. good on you. :thumbsup:

unfortunately, i'm being stubborn tonight. (hmph...bliss folds arms, gives best serious look)

not every "white" (or caucasian) person is insensitive, and subject lines like this irk me. the same way one's that insist all gay people are this, or all latinos or that, all blacks....you know what i mean. ;)

[Number23]

26. Yeah, I know. But it's really not a bad read and alot of it is true, Bliss.

Stop being stubborn and read it! :spank:
:)

[bliss_eternal]

28. no, damn it.

:P

[political_Dem]

85. +1000000

[daleanime]

40. Read it, didn't like it, if it makes you laugh.....

good for you I guess. Definitely don't see it as a serious look at a serious problem, would've like to see a little bit about those exploiting/stirring up the tea-baggers. Only saw a quick mention of the 'Coke Boys' funding efforts.







Although it is nice to see that my 'fixations and fears explain nearly everything...'

[bliss_eternal]

70. well, that's disappointing to hear...

...i just read the first page. i hoped there would be more on the motivations of the teabaggers. oh well. still seems an interesting read.

i can respect that you didn't like it.

[daleanime]

119. Check the five 'people' on the cover....

who would want to be represented by them.:puke:

[demmiblue]

41. I haven't lost mine...

but who is to say since my mind is high-fructose addled!

:P

[cliffordu]

42. Well....

:rofl:

Yes, yes they have.......

[bliss_eternal]

50. are people really surprised, though?

:shrug:

[cliffordu]

Not me, I come from a family of really racist shitheads.

who have definitely lost their minds

[bliss_eternal]

56. oh, i'm sorry to hear that.

that can't make family gatherings particularly enjoyable for you.
bummer. :(

[cliffordu]

57. I never go see them. Ever.

With the exception of my sister, who is not racist.....

[bliss_eternal]

59. ah, ok.

...good for you.

i know it can be lonely to have to walk away from family, though.
sorry you had to be born into such ignorance. :hug:

[DevonRex]

143. That's another thing we have in common. Are yours teabaggers, too?

Hell, I'm afraid to even log onto facebook these days for fear of what I'll see they've done or said.

[bliss_eternal]

149. teabaggers in the family?

poor thing--i'm so sorry. :hug:

[DevonRex]

153. DU hiccup. Sorry. nt

[DevonRex]

154. Thank you. I do see my family and it's torture. And it leaves me emotionally

exhausted. I don't know exactly how to describe it. Like I know I have to see them but I'm appalled and sad and angry and embarrassed by them to the point of getting depressed over it afterward.

Thank you for the hug. Just thinking about it gets to me. :hug:

[bliss_eternal]

156. i understand.

more so than i am comfortable sharing in an open forum. it *is* frustrating, depressing, etc.
:pals: :grouphug: poor thing.

[cliffordu]

151. My mother and her fucking potted plant of a hubby probably are....

My sister said that they had FOX on at full blast for her entire last visit.....talked about the moooslems....

I haven't seen the old gal in 20 years. For different reasons.....

Well, maybe not....

[DevonRex]

152. I'm gonna dig up a link to my bil's blog for you. I bet it'll sound familiar.

I'll pm it, probably. :)

[cliffordu]

157. Ok....I think....

Hope it doesn't make me sick to mys stomach.

I gotta low threshold for teh stoopid...

[DevonRex]

162. Well, the spelling will make you laugh. :) nt

[bliss_eternal]

171. is he

all hot and bothered about "the socialism, taking over"? :spray:
i'm sorry, but that one gives me the giggles.

[DevonRex]

184. Yep, says he's a socialist and a musulim.

I kid you not, that's how he spelled it.

[bliss_eternal]

189. hehehe

:spray: "musulim." wow.

i had a hunch that was bothering him. i've never heard the word, 'socialism' used as much as i have since obama took office. i'm not entirely certain if they can spell the word, though. :shrug:

[DevonRex]

192. And the man's on Social Security and Medicare now. I think we should

take it away from him since he doesn't like socialism. Okay, not really because I believe in those programs even when they help those I disagree with. But really, sometimes it just ticks me off enough to almost wish he couldn't get either benefit.

[bliss_eternal]

248. i'm sure the glaring hypocrisy....

....(of tapping social service benefits) would be lost on him, anyway. wow, kiddo--kudos to you. sounds like you've really tried to take the high road with these folks. can't be easy. here's another:

:hug::pals:

[bliss_eternal]

170. omg...

...potted plant of a husband.

lmao! :rofl:

[McCamy Taylor]

44. Why all the snark? A Marxist would use this as a starting point for a serious discussion

of the divide and conquer politics which have kept American workers down for over a century. Remember that most of the European-Americans who buy into this right wing Southern Strategy are middle to lower middle class workers themselves. In a sane world, they would recognize that racism, sexism and other forms of oppression create an alternative underpaid work force that can be used to keep down the salaries of all workers. They would attempt to correct social injustice, knowing that by improving the status of the most unfortunate Americans, they are also imrpoving their own status. This is how Western Europe has achieved so many social reforms.

Less sarcasm and more solidarity, please!

[Name removed]

53. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[bliss_eternal]

58. all non-ethnic poor people, aren't racist.

...at least, to my knowledge. is that perspective expressed frequently on du?

i'm sincere in my question. i don't visit the main forums much these days, and may have missed those comments.

[EstimatedProphet]

99. WTF?

Is that really what you think?

[bliss_eternal]

164. apparently, yes...

...they repeat this general sentiment a few times. yet, i was crazy (or sniffing glue), for recognizing the comments as offensive. :eyes:

on edit here's one:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9227118&mesg_id=9227373

here's another:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9227118&mesg_id=9227432

(sigh)

[EstimatedProphet]

237. Oy

[DevonRex]

282. Yes it is. Read all his other posts in this thread and you'll throw up in disgust. nt

[Fire1]

110. We have our theories about that, too. n/t

[Supersedeas]

241. even Limbaugh tries to use the satire card....what....are you immune

to racist satire...no matter who uses it.

Some of us must be satire challenged....I too do not get racial satire...nor do I get some of the divisive comments that follow the article.

[DevonRex]

281. That is the most blatant RW meme I have EVER read on DU. You should be ashamed

and should be shunned by this community.

[DonCoquixote]

223. Sadly

Europe only started to behave because, after two world wars and a cold war, where they squandered a lot of their blood and promise, they finally realized they needed to give up some bad habits, habits they have not yet kicked entirley (as many Muslims in France or Roma could tell you)

[McCamy Taylor]

45. Yes, white America lost its mind...over 100 years ago.

Engels said the same thing the Rolling Stone just said, though he was a bit more eloquent and precise. He said that American workers would never achieve a socialist revolution as long as the employers could divide them along ethnic lines.

True then and true now. Remember, it is never the workers who are the enemy. It is the lies fed to workers that we should hate.

[bliss_eternal]

52. such poetry...

...so late at night.

well said.

:applause:

[hfojvt]

60. augezeichnet

The only thing that might be a bigger loser than racism against whites would be Uncles Charlies and Freddy. This is like a Reeses cup of losing leftist ideas.

I guess we will no longer have division if we can just get all the white males to agree how evil white males are. THEN we would be united.

Isn't it the workers that this article is calling insane racists? Or don't any white people work in America?

[bliss_eternal]

64. whoa....

racism against whites?

uh--i'm not going to touch that. :scared:
i'm already on record sharing my feeling that the subject line and use of "white" is divisive.

i would like to comment on this, though:
I guess we will no longer have division if we can just get all the white males to agree how evil white males are. THEN we would be united.

while i don't see that *ever* happening, i really don't see a problem with recognizing that we live under a patriarchy.
and yes, non-ethnic (to be polite), hetero males have oppressed many groups (including non-ethnic/caucasian women)in this country....and continue to do so (*cough* glbt's *cough*).

ethnic people did not start the current war against glbts....bush did.
(again...non-ethnic, hetero dude....patriarchy....oppressor).


:shrug:
it may not solve all of our problems, but identifying who had the power (historically), and who is most angry with the threat of losing it...could be a start, imo.

[hfojvt]

71. no, I think that is at least 30 years out of date

depending on what is meant by patriarchy. Schaef writes thus: "Let me explain what I mean by the White Male System. It is the system in which we live, and in it, the power and influence are held by white males."

At this point in history it would seem that there is far too much power held by non-whites and/or non-males for that to be an accurate description (if it ever was accurate, what about all of the white males who had very little power?) Even in the pre-civil war south there were lots of white males who didn't have enough power to do any oppressing so the idea that hetero males oppress as a group seems false and divisive to me.

[bliss_eternal]

73. patriarchy...

Definition of PATRIARCHY

1: social organization marked by the supremacy of the father in the clan or family, the legal dependence of wives and children, and the reckoning of descent and inheritance in the male line; broadly : control by men of a disproportionately large share of power

2: a society or institution organized according to the principles or practices of patriarchy
Examples of PATRIARCHY

For 20 years, the country was ruled as a patriarchy.
a region in which patriarchy is practiced

if you aren't kidding about this comment, i'm not at all sure there's anything left to discuss. because it doesn't seem you are seeing the world, congress, our government or much else the way it really is.

Quote:
At this point in history it would seem that there is far too much power held by non-whites and/or non-males for that to be an accurate description (if it ever was accurate, what about all of the white males who had very little power?)

far too much power.

um....what does that mean?

no offense, but that specific comment sounds a little too fox news for my taste. but nice to know where you are coming from, i suppose.

and of course there were white males w/little power. you are missing the point. which is that government, society our world was controlled by heterosexual, caucasian males. but perhaps you are missing that point, because you can't seem to get past your personal anger. tough to see anything accurately, when one has made up their minds that "the other" has had "too much"....which has somehow left too little for you.

:eyes:

...again, too fox news for me.

[hfojvt]

81. family life?

We don't really live in a clan system and supremacy of the father in the family was not even true in the 1970s. At least not in my family. Descent and inheritance do not mean all that much to the non-wealthy either, and for the wealthy it would seem that Alice Walton and Paris Hilton have inherited quite a bit and that Melinda Gates is living pretty well too.

No, you seem to be missing the point. That a world controlled by some hetero white males does not necessarily benefit all hetero white males. Thus, the statement that men have a disproportionately large share of power does not at all incur any advantages to the men who have no power. People are often surprised to learn that there are more poor whites in America than there are poor blacks. White males with low income doing grunt work do not generally believe or like to hear it said that "they" (being white males) have a disproportionately large share of power.

As for "far too much power" I knew that could be taken the wrong way, but did not put forth the effort to re-word it. Here's an analogy. This is the end of September. Suppose it has been sunny for 20 days, but it has been cloudy for the last two days. And somebody says "the clouds have all the power in September". I, being argumentive and having a strong regard for the truth, would then chime in and say "There have been far too many sunny days this month for that to be true." In that context "far too many" does not mean that I disapprove of sunny days. What it means is that the statement I am responding to was way off, it was wrong by kiloparsecs if not gigaparsecs. There's not just one counter-example to prove it wrong, there are many.

Or, if we are playing chess (which I have done lots of lately) and I have a queen, two knights, a rook and two pawns against your bishop and three pawns. I would say that I have "far too much power" for you to think you have a chance to win. If I said I had far too much power in that context you would not think that I didn't like the idea of winning, would you? "Far too" means that the statement is a long, long, way from being true.

Although, in the matter of power, I tend to not like despots or bullies of any race or gender or sexual orientation. I think we should be more of an autonomous collective of equals rather than a collection of dukedoms where some people have power and others have to ask "how high?" when the powerful people say jump.

[bliss_eternal]

91. LOL!

why is it always the individuals in the habit of saying the most offensive things, have a penchant for also saying,"...i knew that would/could be taken the wrong way." :spray:

fyi--there's NO OTHER WAY, to take such comments. but, i'm ever so grateful that you refrained from tossing in the obligatory,"...you're just too sensitive."

damned brown people....how dare everyone think they are so poverty stricken, when there are so many more poor white people.
good job--way to play oppression olympics...!

oh and i certainly appreciate the update.
i feel so silly, not being up on the current poverty competition statistics. i do so hope, you'll let me know where i can buy my ticket, for this great race of the impoverished.

:puke::eyes:





clearly you haven't got a clue just how ridiculous your post reads.

[EOTE]

106. You're looking for a reason to be offended.

I read those comments, and you're misinterpreting them. You're taking it out of context, and I think you know it. The poster wasn't saying that minorities have too much power, he was saying they have too much power for our society to be considered completely dominated by white males. If you can't understand the difference, don't put your shortcomings on him.

[bliss_eternal]

148. how special.

a wanna be' mind reader, practicing right here on du. :eyes:

given you aren't the person you attempt to speak for--can't read his/her mind, aren't clairvoyant.....you can't state anyone else's intent.

so how about you, stop projecting your issue (of abrupt, abject rude need to instigate) on me.

focus on speaking for the only one you're qualified to speak for, yourself. leave the psychic readings to the professionals.
:hi:
bye-now!

[EOTE]

155. I can read a sentence as it was written, that's what makes me qualified.

You are putting meaning into the poster's post that was not intended. I need not be a mind reader to figure that out, I only need to be able to read.

[bliss_eternal]

160. dude...

this is tiresome. ultimately, my interaction w/another member doesn't concern you. but thanks for riding in on your steed, and all...blah, blah. :eyes:

all you've done with your blatant disregard for the obvious, is made clear that you (and the person you're defending) are part of the demographic in the op's article. well played!

:spray::rofl:

[EOTE]

168. You're tiresome, dude.

And obviously it does concern me. Otherwise, I wouldn't have commented on it. You're more than welcome to ignore me and continue on with your ignorant tirade, but apparently you thought I was worth responding to as well.

Your blatant disregard for the obvious has caused you to interpret a sentence exactly as it was NOT intended. Not only was I very able to grasp its intent the first time around, but the poster even clarified to account for your general inability to grasp the English language. Once again, don't blame him for your own shortcomings.

[bliss_eternal]

172. great suggestion....

...thanks for the invitation! see ya' stalker......NOT! lol. :hi:

quote:
You're more than welcome to ignore me

[EOTE]

174. Because I point out your obvious faults in logic, I'm a stalker?

I guess that makes you some kind of uber-stalker for continuing to make posts directed at me completely devoid of content. If you'd like to make some kind of point, you're more than welcome to. But I'm sure you're just going to reply with another completely pointless post filled with snark and maybe a couple smileys too. But hey, some people never learned how to have an honest debate.

[hfojvt]

167. wait, EOTE cannot read my mind, but you can?

Even after I took great pains and two analogies to explain what I meant, you still KNOW what I must have meant. Because you can read my mind, or read the dog whistles that I write? Why isn't it fair for another person to explain how they read what I wrote?

I saw a false statement such as "I can win this game of chess with three pawns and a bishop" and I refuted it by pointing out that I have far too much power for you to think you can win.

Instead of trying to understand what I wrote, you seem to be trying to edit it. If you edit it down to "women and non-whites have too much power" (full stop as if that is all I said) leaving out the rest of the statement "for anyone to believe that white males have all the power". The point is that your thesis is false, that there are far too many counter-examples to believe it is true.

[bliss_eternal]

175. uh...

you don't have to like or agree w/the fact that your comments are offensive, to me. and i'm not the only one that deemed them as such. belittling me, arguing the unarguable, badgering, restating, rephrasing, justifying, name-calling, etc.....doesn't change anything.

still offensive. still posted, for all of du to see.

take care. :hi:

[DonCoquixote]

266. OK, for all the non powerful white males

No one, especially not the op, is saying that all white people are like this. However, the truth is, in this society, being white and male is still a known advantage, if not pre-requisite, to gain access to power, whereas not being white or male is a disadvantage. Now, for all this command of the English language people speak of, you can understand the difference between "Advantage" and "Disadvantage", if not, look it up.

And while not all white males benefited from white privilege, many of them would defend the "rights" of those who did, for reasons that frankly, defy common sense, and their own self-interest. Slavery was used not just to enslave Black people, but it also did a lot of damage to the White Southern working class, as the rich preferred to own their blacksmiths and other craftsmen, keep them locked up on the plantation, rather than go to town and hire a white man. Think of all the shops that White men could have owned if they did not have to deal with rich scum that were too cheap to pay them a decent wage! Yet many white people down south still venerate and defend the Confederacy. Sadly, this pattern is still very much in force, as many good southern gentlemen down here are angry that healthcare reform might actually go to help blacks or browns. These are the same good Southern gentlemen who thought GM should be dismantled so that cars could be made in "right to work states" free of unions.

Yes, I do see people vote against their self-interest, voting for good ol boy politicians, and then wonder why their lives never change.

Again, again, and yet again, I say not all white people do this, indeed, those of you that do not, thank you, especially if you have the misfortune to have to deal with relatives that drunk the damned kool-aid. Those who have read me know that I have often defended Southern Liberals, saying it takes a lot of guts to be a liberal when you know that good Christian soldiers down here are capable of anything from shoving bibles in your face to smashing your face, and that they will be allowed to do it. However, I knew that when this article was done, it would attract defensive measures, and sorry, it did. Do not leap on me just because people behaved as I predicted, especially whe, if they did not, I would be at best pleasantly surprised, and worse, have egg on my face.

[bliss_eternal]

284. .............

:applause:

[kwassa]

262. I understood his point, and he is wrong.

The idea that society is not dominated by white males today is ludicrous. They still have the money and the power.

I don't know what he fantasizes about minority power, but it is clearly a fantasy.

[Caliman73]

208. Not out of date at all.

The system is still defined and regulated by those who hold the most power. Women, Blacks, and Latinos must still abide by rules set up by the system set up predominantly by Anglo men in order to have any success. Ask yourself this question and be honest, when someone defines a "good American citizen" what image pops into your mind?

You are correct in saying that poor white men have been oppressed as well along economic lines, the difference is that the poor status of a white male was still higher than the status of even a wealthy Black man or women in many cases.

You are also correct that not all white men or white people are racist or oppressive. The problem is that the system has been set up to benefit white people and forces non whites to adapt to a white system in order to belong. The system is called white privilege. There is also male privilege that benefits men and inherently disadvantages women.

What power is truly held by non-whites and women? Think about this, if the President did anything that was stereotypically Black he would be pilloried. He is often attacked regardless. When Hilary Clinton showed slight emotion she was raked over the coals as being unfit to lead because god forbid she let a tear fall down her face. President Obama and Hilary Clinton are powerful, but they are powerful only while they play within the boundaries set up for them.

I suggest you read works by Deborah Tannen, she explains things better than I can.

[bliss_eternal]

250. just wanted to do this...

:yourock:....thank you, for the post! oh, and the author recommendation. i'm off to check her out on amazon.com. :hi:

[BoneDaddy]

121. Don't you know ? This is DU

White rich males are akin to the anti-christ.

[Supersedeas]

215. Your questions are irrelevant when provocation and division is the apparent goal

[Radical Activist]

76. True.

It has been the same game since the end of the Civil War. Even reconstruction leaders like Grant saw the danger of the old plantation aristocracy staying in power in the South by manipulating racism.

[Supersedeas]

245. is it the employer dividing workers into racial groups now...ah?

[HuckleB]

47. It's a good piece, worth the read! -eom-

[NuttyFluffers]

105. it IS a good piece! i laughed heartily! :)

K&R

[hfojvt]

49. well, thank goodness there is not an anti-white bias on the left or anything

:puke:

[McCamy Taylor]

54. The left values ALL workers, whatever their race, gender or ethnicity.

That is how you can tell the left from everyone else.

[bliss_eternal]

61. absolutely...!

...at least we *should.*
we both know, we've all seen our share of lunacy on this web-site. ;)

[demmiblue]

62. It really isn't about that...

it is all about trying to start shit between the different schools of thought here.

[bliss_eternal]

63. hmmmm....

...interesting way to look at it. thank you for another perspective.

[demmiblue]

67. Meh... it is pretty obvious by looking at the people that are berating others.

Nothing new, but it is certainly not about the OP.

Thanks for the response, though!

P.S. IMHO :hi:

[bliss_eternal]

68. i know, right...?

(sigh)...just another day on du, though. lol.

as some have said above, it's an interesting topic, and certainly worthy of discussion.
i was sincere, that you (and a few others) have brought up some thought-provoking issues in regard to the op.

[Supersedeas]

231. well, thanks for confirming what I suspected....and the "really" is a bit of a hedge, no?

[bliss_eternal]

69. Ok, I read the first page...

...curiousity got the better of me, given all the intriguing comments on the piece.

....I *will* finish the article tomorrow, (can't tonight...but I definitely will, as it's a good read). Thanks for sharing op. I adore the accompanying illustration, btw--totally rocks!

I hate to ask this, but I'm curious of the ethnic background of the article's author (if you're aware)?

[DearAbby]

DU Burp

[DearAbby]

79. DU Burp 2.0

[DearAbby]

80. I am an American Mutt

Mostly Caucasian (white)

[Radical Activist]

72. Great article. I never heard about DeLay saying that.

What a racist prick.

He makes a strong point about the generational privilege of boomers setting the political agenda. It's even true on the left. For, example we just passed health care for aging boomers, and even the hint that something might happen to social security set off an atomic bomb in the blogosphere.
Yet, we're told we can wait to deal with climate change, even though the cost of delaying action is that Gens X and Y won't have to worry about things like end of life care or social security because our homes and communities will be destroyed by climate disasters anyway. What good does universal health care do you when the hospital is destroyed by a flood, tornado or hurricane? Climate change is a disgraceful crime being perpetrated on future generations.

[bliss_eternal]

75. yes it is.

case in point, we had record temps in my state, this past week. you know what comes w/record temps? power outages. because the grids and systems in place, just aren't prepared to deal with 113 degree days (said the spokesperson from the power company)...

but of course, they want us to believe, that we (the left) created "global warming" to scare them, get their money, etc. :eyes:

[SoCalDem]

205. The difference is that now that we have a Black president, the racists feel safe

and can say all those things they were afraid to say before, because in their own minds, they see "criticism" of "a" president, as normal ... They are emboldened now, and can say anything they want. When they use coded racial slurs, they just say.."hey, I didn't mean anything bad..why so sensitive"

[BlueCheese]

77. The part quoted in the OP is pretty tough to read.

This broad brush criticism of people with a certain skin color isn't helpful. Ugh.

Also, it turns out that calling people racists isn't a great way to get their votes.

[mmonk]

78. Thanks. The country has plunged into madness. As far as the

dissention on this thread, I don't get it. Another chance to bash progressives or liberals that don't always tow the line and sing cum-ba-ya?

[hfojvt]

83. seems to me the thread title started out bashing working class whites

Sorry for not toeing the line or singing kum-ba-ya to that lunacy.

But you can hardly blame me. After all, I, as a white American, lost my mind once the black guy I voted for actually took office :crazy:

[malaise]

84. Good read

Bookmarked.

Love this

[JustAnotherGen]

86. Having read the entire article?

I get the writer's point. I also read at this writing - all 164 comments. Having read those, he should have title it: A Segment of White Americans Have Lost Their Minds.

He made a point about 'Baby Boomers' . . . his follow up should be: The Baby Boomers Who Still Care

Seriously. We have more than enough people here at DU of all different races in their mid to late 40's and beyond. Have they lost their minds? Nope!

Trying for clarity early in the morning on my 5th day of zero caffeine but . . . I think that article shows the clear lines that are STILL drawn between the go-along-we-don't-like-changers of the 60's - and those who gave a damn, saw injustice, and did what they could to try and make the world a little bit better . . . in the 60's.

I'm sorry, but those opposed to desegregation and all of the social change in the 60's? Their the present day old white guy out making a damn fool of himself at bagger rallies. That leopard didn't change his spots. He just hid them for 40 years. The President being elected? Did make them take off their sheep's clothing and send them into a downward spiral of not just insanity - but stupidity.

ETA: I'm thinking of the song White America by Eminem. Our DU'ers who are older - that song could have been written for them 35, 40, 45 years ago! :rofl: I think that's what REALLY makes these bagger types crazy. Their peers are still looking at White America and saying "Suck it up buttercup. You've got gold but nothing gold can stay. Wake up smell the need for change in this country, because it's coming whether you like it or not.". :rofl:

[Obamanaut]

87. What about that portion of white america that voted for PresBO?

Didn't that happen in fairly substantial numbers?

[slackmaster]

118. I guess we don't count

Even though he couldn't have gotten elected without us.

[DevonRex]

144. And it took about 20 minutes into his presidency for many here on DU to turn on him.

Actually, before it even began.

I'm white, I voted for him and I agree with the article.

[bliss_eternal]

169. the man hadn't taken office...

...before many were declaring their expectation that he'd be a huge disappointment. :crazy::shrug::banghead:
because some don't expend effort to call people on this stuff, does't mean it wasn't seen ages ago.

[CBR]

88. Great article and spot on!

I especially appreciated the part about how much Paladino is getting away with and how Obama would never get past step 1 of that crazy train. Obama would not even survive an incident of infidelity -- out the door right away.

[Solly Mack]

90. K&R

[Brewman_Jax]

92. Read the article

Now that the symbolic face of the US, i.e., the President, is not-white, made a lot of white people go


Cue the teabaggers. Some of their signs leave no doubt. They had no trouble with their favorite cowboy and intellectual :P G.W. Bush* lying the country into war, running up deficits, earning the world's distrust, etc., but now, they have a problem with the guy trying to fix all of that.


Cue the ridiculous candidates. Sarah Palin, Christine O'Donnell, Sharon Angle, Carl Paladino. Not long ago, these intellectual lightweights would never have been considered serious candidates. Now, some could actually win. :scared:

[Fire1]

113. THAT says it all!! n/t

[DearAbby]

115. !

:thumbsup: Spot on summation

[Spazito]

135. Well said!

:thumbsup:

[Catherina]

93. Nice broad brush. If White America has lost its mind, so has Black America

It works both ways if you're going to stupidly paint with such a broad brush.

[treestar]

94. There has never been anything so insane before as the birther movement

maybe someone with more knowledge of history can come up with something, but I can't. That people actually filed lawsuits in court over it and 25% actually believe it - or the percentage that think Obama is a Muslim - that's insanity. Affecting 25% or so, though a minority, is a lot for a country to handle.

[bliss_eternal]

150. it's been pretty surreal.

i honestly, had to stop paying attention to them. they're just too bizarre (and intolerant, of course).

[EstimatedProphet]

95. The comments are great too

Freepers lining up to gripe about how racist the author is for pointing out the racism going on.

[CBR]

97. Unfortunately that sentiment/reaction is not limited to freepers. nt

[EstimatedProphet]

100. Quite.

[Romulox]

98. That this sort of racism gets so much traction here is an indictment of our community.

/read the whole thing
//replaced "white america" with "black america" in my mind
///yep--definitely racist!!! :hi:
////also poorly written--I daresay a racist rant by a white author of that low quality would never be published in the Village Voice.

[marmar]

101. selfdelete, responded to wrong post

nt

[marmar]

102. It's clear by some of the knee-jerk defensiveness of some of the responses to the OP......

...... that a lot of people are focused on the article's headline and not its content.

[NuttyFluffers]

112. daily fare for DU lately... why read the whole thing when you can bicker?

details and content are for those who aren't ready to back up their outrage with histrionics and more post count. everything must be a mud puddle of digestible pablum, so as to preserve delicate sensibilities while the countryside is aflame. artistic subtext is impossible, for all conversation is earnest confrontation; case in point, the necessity of this, --> (:sarcasm:).

[political_Dem]

127. I definely agree.

People should have focused on why the article is relevant in today's society instead hollering with the same old euphemisms that go along with every discussion about race. For myself, I am especially curious about the underlying hostility and resentment of the current POTUS when people should have been more insensed against W.

I think that sociologically, the answers in thread pretty much have to do with the grappling of white privilege and its effects. If anything, it makes some folks of color see that if there is an expose focused on discussing and analyzing why the dominant culture acts or thinks a certain way, there is an attempt to obsfucate the topic and turn it into a free for all.

This is why a conversation about race is rather hard-- even when a Black man is POTUS in today's America. :(

[Number23]

204. Fantastic!

:thumbsup:

[DevonRex]

197. You're quite right, marmar. The article is fantastic. Having RW relatives, I can

totally relate to it because I've heard so much racist crap from them.

[MellowDem]

103. The article loses by being too general...

The article makes good points, but then kind of loses all its merits by referring to white America as some sort of monolithic group. Many whites helped get Obama elected. The tone of the article seems incredibly ignorant and bigoted. Maybe it's supposed to be, in a sarcastic way, but it doesn't help.

It kind of reminds me how all the problems in America can be blamed on socialists and minorities among some on the right. For some on the left, the Great White is a great target.

If they had narrowed the focus to Conservatives and de-racialized their contempt, it would be better.

And yeah, this article is cool on DU because it rags on whites. And yes, if you replaced "white" with some other group it wouldn't be allowed. And yes this is a huge double standard people want to continue to ignore.

[JustAnotherGen]

109. That's why I felt *up thread*

A good follow up would be the Older Leftists . . .

The author starts out with White Baby Boomers. Look at the average age/sex of a bagger and there ya go.

I'd like to see a follow talking about the people who have not changed their view on life/the world SINCE the 60's and celebrated and welcomed President Obama.


Then again though - I do think 98% of the insanity I hear coming from the white IS based on an outright bigotry towards blacks/brown people.

President Obama makes 'those people' uncomfortable since he moved their cheese.

Until they tone down their rhetoric and *blink* articles like these have to be fair game.

I'd like to know why the comments in the article about "We coloreds are sooo upset about having to work . . ." are AOK. But pointing out that the man who said that has an obvious prejudice and stereotype about ALL black Americans is fine with saying that.

I don't like this world we live in today - but we've been taking it on the chin from Republican Types for a loooong time. At some point the gloves have to come off and they need a verbal punch back.

The article points out all of the things Those People have been saying since PRIOR to Obama/Biden taking office. When you add them all up - he should have changed the title to "White RIGHT America has lost it's collective mind." Less offensive but still makes the point: A bigot is a bigot is a bigot and the right is filled to the gills with The Bigot.

[CBR]

111. Double Standards?

Please... the article offers up many double standards that minorities face.

The very existence of the Tea Party is an example of a double standard. Imagine if AAs or Hispanics engaged in such behavior and made threats about watering the tree? They would be investigated not celebrated.

A black politician in NY would never be a serious candidate for Governor with the number of indiscretions as Paladino.

The black equivalent of Glenn Beck would never be allowed anywhere near a cable show. Dare I say the black equivalent of Keith Olbermann would not either. No way!

Somehow as a white person I manage to survive the horrible double standards I face in society (namely, writing newspaper articles about how horrible minorities are) while minorities continue to lag behind in every social indicator. They are now being told it is about class not race. BS -- race is constantly being pushed to the back of the bus by those who really wish it would just go away.

Racism and crazy white reaction is not limited to conservatives and to pretend otherwise does us no favors.

[MellowDem]

159. Yes, double standards...

"Racism and crazy white reaction is not limited to conservatives and to pretend otherwise does us no favors. "

But the article indicts all whites... Would you say Glenn Beck represents all whites? Or that Al Sharpton represents all blacks?

"Somehow as a white person I manage to survive the horrible double standards I face in society (namely, writing newspaper articles about how horrible minorities are) while minorities continue to lag behind in every social indicator. They are now being told it is about class not race. BS -- race is constantly being pushed to the back of the bus by those who really wish it would just go away. "

A double standard is a double standard, period. And as far as I can tell, not all minorities lag behind in every social indicator. Asians are ahead of whites in quite a few.

It makes no sense to respond to me by listing all the double standards that minorities face when I never said they didn't. Still doesn't change the fact that there is a double standard on DU and your response is a classic way to deflect from the real issue. Is it a horrible, serious double standard? Not really. But it is one nonetheless, and when it comes to politics, it's nice to try to stay consistent with your beliefs if you can.

[Number23]

206. Oh my God, I love you. I really love you.

Racism and crazy white reaction is not limited to conservatives and to pretend otherwise does us no favors.

Thank you.

[DevonRex]

145. Yet many whites who voted for him turned on him immediately. The black pres

had to fix everything sooner and better than any other pres in history. And if he didn't, he was trash.

[MellowDem]

165. Many whites on here were against him from the get go...

and many whites that have turned on him have done so because he isn't far enough to the left, not because they expect a black man to fix everything sooner and better. Glenn Beck doesn't represent whites who don't think the president is progressive enough.

Even then, many whites still support this president, and many of those progressive whites who don't like him will gladly vote for him over a Republican candidate.

I think it's rather unfair to say that whites who voted for Obama turned on him sooner because they expected more because of his race, and really, it doesn't make much sense. I think it makes much more sense that there was a lot of hope and expectations after 8 years of hell, and Obama supplied a lot of that, and yeah, maybe the expectations were too high, but it's to be expected I think given the recent history of the country and the historically bad times we are in economically. No president escapes blame for a bad economy, especially the worst since the Great Depression, even if they have only been in office 2 years.

What I'm trying to say is quite basic. This article is bigoted in its tone. A substantial portion of white people are Democrats while a less substantial portion are teabaggers. It makes no sense to demonize, steryotype and ridicule whites as a race and really is not helpful either, beyond being bigoted and ignorant as well.

[DevonRex]

194. Yet it's the Senate that has watered down every single proposal of Obama's.

Every single one. He was very clear about what HE wanted, like a public option. Did the Senate give him one to sign? No.

And don't get me started on Mr. "I don't work for Obama" Harry Reid, who let Baucus dictate the timing of health care negotiations (way later than Obama wanted) and who is responsible for the failure of the public option. All of that is on the Senate's back, not Obama's. Yet Obama gets the blame.

Obama is more liberal than both Reid and Baucus. But he can't control what they do or what the Senate sends him to sign.

[MellowDem]

221. I fully agree...

I am more of a pragmatist myself. I understand that Obama is bending his ideals to try to get done what he can. And that's ok with me, because that is how politics works (unfortunately).

[DevonRex]

229. Yep. It's unfortunate. Enough to make us want to scream sometimes.

Thanks for your post. :hi:

[flyarm]

264. Obama made the back room deal to kill Public option..not the senate!

Before it ever was on a table..please know facts before spewing garbage!

Obama made the back room deals to kill public option! get the facts right!

[political_Dem]

244. And that is the dirty little secret behind this entire affair.

It's called subtle, personal racism--even by people who constantly bellow that "they aren't racist".

Those are the types who "don't see race" when racism occurs and will stop any racial talk by either quoting MLK or claiming they participated in some sort of Civil Rights exercise. The funny thing is that those endorsements do not nullify them from being hostle against Mr. Obama. It also doesn't stop them from practicing their racist animus disguised as paternalistic talk. :(

[Supersedeas]

279. with a definition of racism stretched to a point where it included any disagreement, however subtle

there is not wonder there are 'racists' knee-jerk reactions on boths side--wow, reasonable people do disagree...therefore, according to the logic of subtle, personal racism, all reasonable people are racists.

Might there be people who see disagreement for what it is, a policy disagreement, but they dare call it just a policy disagreement, then amounts to the inability to acknowledge 'racial talk' -- and that too is racism??

Wow, that is subtle.

[TwilightGardener]

104. Nails it. One thing I don't get is why many of the commenters

on the article page think that this is satire. It's humorous, but not satirical.

[CBGLuthier]

108. Good Article.Once you get past the hyperbole of the opening.

[Jackpine Radical]

114. Having read the article & waded through the comments,

I find myself possessed of a bunch of random thoughts that refuse to fall into a coherent whole.

As for white America having lost its mind, this is obviously a rhetorical device with a strong element of truth, but not intended to be taken as literally true of everyone. After all, the author is writing mostly for white people, who are expected to get the point. It's always sad to see people get all literal-minded and pissed off over this kind of thing.

McCamy Taylor is absolutely right in pointing out that divisions along racial, ethnic and religious lines serve the purposes of those who would keep the masses in thralldom. As long as poor whites are willing to deny themselves the benefits of an adequate social safety net as the price of preventing dark-skinned people from having it, the oligarchs will grin.

Racism and similarly divisive attitudes are diseases that hurt those possessed of those attitudes as much as they do the targets. These diseases don't spring up naturally; I believe that they are cynically fostered as a social control device.

The article in question points out some aspects of the sickness, but doesn't take it to the next step, that of revealing whose purposes are served by the Beck/Limbaugh/Schlesinger/Breitbart/Keefe filth peddlers. It is only a small first step to see the poison for what it is. The next step must be to let people see the source. The B/L/S/B/K crowd are well paid tools. It little matters whether they spread their toxins out of genuine but twisted conviction (probably Beck) or out of sheer psychopathic cynicism (Rush). What matters is that they do it, and that they do it in the service of evil-intentioned masters.

[EstimatedProphet]

116. One particular nail that you hit squarely on the head:

McCamy Taylor is absolutely right in pointing out that divisions along racial, ethnic and religious lines serve the purposes of those who would keep the masses in thralldom. As long as poor whites are willing to deny themselves the benefits of an adequate social safety net as the price of preventing dark-skinned people from having it, the oligarchs will grin.

I think this little tidbit gets glossed over too much in discussion, to the point that people don't really see the true ramifications. Teabaggers actually want to destroy the social services of this country, not because of an actual disagreement with them, but because they are mad that those social services go to minorities. This behavior is so venal it's hard to describe. In effect, what they are saying is "I don't care if I fail, just so long as I can see those damn n*****s fail!" What other word is there for people like that than monster?

[Ikonoklast]

122. And the sad fact is, more poor whites get social services in this country,

by total numbers, than any other racial group.

Not by percentage of population, but total numbers.


But they sure as hell ignore that little fact.

[bliss_eternal]

163. wow...!

another post i wish i could rec.

:yourock:

[meow mix]

117. that pic of drugballs on part2 is disgusting. eyebleach plz

blaaaaaaah

[lunatica]

123. LOL!

Good read! I'm sure some will take it seriously which makes it even funnier.

[newtothegame]

124. Wow this is a sadly desperate post. Find some happiness friend. nt

[ProfessorGAC]

125. The Root Of The Hate Is Obvious

Anyone who doesn't see that the hate of this administration is rooted in racism, just isn't paying attention.
GAC

[ismnotwasm]

126. You know

I think racism is a maladaptive societal pathology.

If you look at something like American slavery, I mean really look at it, study it, slave owning whites were out of their rabbit-assed minds. The mental jumps they had to make to justify what they were doing had to be hard on the old logic pathways. Yes they had the bible, but then everybody had the bible to justify whatever they felt was righteous.

What I also think is most of white America doesn't like to feel uncomfortable about race. I think many of us don't like to confront our own white entitlement. In fact, I think many of us would rather do almost anything else that acknowledge that, oh hell yes we still run things and oh hell yes racism is still rampant. Since power is unequally distributed, I think, we think that because not every single white person has power, that somehow negates the pathology of a racist society. Just like magic. Poof! Racism is gone because I'm not going to examine it, I'm not looking at the magicians hand that holds that racist coin.

I'm certainly not going to turn over that rock that might hide racism in my own mind.

I think we make mental jumps that have to be hard on the old logic pathways. Sometimes, we seem out of our rabbit-assed minds.

[grantcart]

128. "finally?" Has there ever been a more insecure majority?

To give you another example;


In Thailand 90% of the population is predominately ethnic Thai and 10% ethnic Chinese.


The ethnic Chinese control all of the economic structures of the economy. Not most but all. There are 9 large banks in Thailand and 8 of them were founded by ethnic Chinese and one by ethnic Vietnamese. Chinese control all of the major private companies and so on. In the 1960's it was estimated that Chinese owned 70% of the non real estate wealth of the country.

This is somewhat deceiving because the populations are so well integrated that it is often difficult to discern where the Chinese ehtnicity stops and where the Thai starts. One way to know the history of a family is by looking at the surnames. In the 19th century King Rama IV started the practice of adding surnames and decreed that ethnic Thais have short names and ethnic Chinese have names with atleast 5 syllables and that is why you will often see extremely long last names in Thailand.

The Thais insisted on only one curb on the Chinese: No Chinese language schools. This forced the Chinese to become profecient in Thai. By the second or third generation Thai was the preferred language and even though the family may attempt to continue to marry Chinese they were on their way to becoming Thai.

Now can you imagine what would have happened here if African Americans dominated the economic system. It would be one thing to be insecure in the face of an economic dominant minority but how fucked up is it to be consistently insecure about a minority that has been routinely dispossed. It is the definition of insanity.

[Kalyke]

129. I think this would have been funnier if they had used "Teabagger"

mind instead of "white American" mind.

As noted in several posts, the stereotyping of the white race is turning people off to the argument the piece is trying to convey - That there are a certain number of dumbass, backward white people who are offended that a black man is in the White House.

However, there are also many more white people who don't give two shits what color the president is as long as he (and hopefully "SHE," soon) is capable and not the same moronic marionette that occupied the White House in the 80s and from 2001-2009. I'm a white Southerner - someone talking about eating fried chicken is not offensive to me, per se, but if one of the Teabag Express dictators said it, I would know it was meant as a dog whistle.

[DevonRex]

146. There are many, many posts right here on DU that use dog whistle

terminology. DU is mostly white. And it's supposedly for Dems. Yet DU turned on Obama almost immediately. His policies are right in line with Bill Clinton's yet the disdain for Obama is palpable. For BC? Not at all.

Somehow if Obama isn't Superman, undoing all the mistakes of Bill Clinton AND GWB, then he's corporate trash.

[bliss_eternal]

161. really wish

i could rec an individual post.

:applause:

[MellowDem]

176. The disdain for Bill Clinton on here...

seems to be pretty darn palpable. But he isn't president, so you won't hear much about it. In fact, this website wasn't even around when he was president. DU is mostly white, but it is also far more liberal than the average Democrat out there. So yeah, it's not surprising that a lot of DU does not like Obama. Anyone who is very liberal probably doesn't agree with most of the things Obama has done. But that's more of a breakdown between idealists and pragmatists, as has been rehashed on here over and over.

[bliss_eternal]

180. ---whooosh---

swing and a miss.

[MellowDem]

191. The snark and idiocy on here....

keeps on increasing. If that is not the point the poster was aiming at, then I'd like to hear it from them, not some snarky third party with childish behavior. And hopefully missing a point on the internet, which is pretty easy to do with the only thing to look at is writing (and much of it bad) doesn't mean somebody needs a public whipping or childish bullying and smart-ass comments.

[bliss_eternal]

200. while i can certainly

take the time to apologize for my snarky comment, your comment is overreaching a bit, imo. my post was merely a comment. snarky, yes...bullying, no. the namecalling on your part seems unnecessary.

your comment dismissed the point of the discussion, on the basis that this site didn't exist during the clinton administration. seeing issues created by clinton (and even bush), but blamed on obama is clearly lost on you. no one said obama can't be criticized. but blaming him for issues created by other administrations seems unfair.

those unwilling to look at that, may have issues rooted in the article. maybe not. but dismissing it all, because you disagree seems you are doing exactly what you're accusing others of.

[urgk]

183. My take was that this was pointed at the self-identifying White America™.

You know, the "real" Americans who sit around and bemoan the fate of their whiteness; who instantly disregard or suspect anybody darker than the eggshell walls in their living rooms; who value fists over careful consideration of everything from their place in the checkout line to international relations. It's White America™ that likes to pretend that "Kenyan" isn't code and that a "birther" isn't just a bigot with a stack of papers he downloaded form the internet.

I'm white and I can see it around me. White America™ is losing its mind along with its majority. And it will be damned if it will stop sending racist e-mails to its small-minded friends or gerrymandering districts to keep the rest of us out of power. It loves its Dixie flags and its endless demands for people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps when it was White America™ itself that stomped them down in the first place.

All of us know the White America™ the article is talking about. We hear them when black people are out of the room. We see them shake their heads at policemen when somebody too hiphop rolls by.

White America™ is at home, with a safe full of guns and a TV full of FOX, pretending that what it feels about a Presidnet's skin is what it knows about his character.

White America™ isn't the people with empathy, who hurt when everybody else is hurting. It's not the people we know who canvas neighborhoods and man calling centers and stand shoulder to shoulder to shoulder with anybody who feels the same. That's just America.

[DearAbby]

186. !

:thumbsup:

[DevonRex]

188. That's exactly how I read it, too, although I'm disturbed at all the

white Dems who turned on Obama so quickly. They might not count themselves among those who identify as White America, yet their reactions have been stunningly similar.

What has shocked me is that they seemed to expect the first black president to do everything better and quicker than any other Democratic president. And no thought is given to the uphill battle Obama has had with the Senate. The Senate is responsible for watering down health care and every other goal Obama had. Obama stated very clearly what HE wanted and in every case what the Senate gave him to sign was further to the right than what Obama wanted. But Obama, the first black president, gets the blame and not the Senate.

[Number23]

210. Beautiful.

[southmost]

270. wow

hit it on nail !

[DonCoquixote]

267. Thank you

"I'm a white Southerner - someone talking about eating fried chicken is not offensive to me, per se, but if one of the Teabag Express dictators said it, I would know it was meant as a dog whistle."

You know the difference between a word being just a word (chicken) and when it is used as a "dog whistle". That is what this aerticle talks about, but some refuse to get.

[Uzybone]

131. KnR

I know articles like this disturb racists and trolls but its the truth.

[bliss_eternal]

178. you never mince words, do you?

;):hi:

[Uzybone]

185. I can't help it

since we have a minority president lots of folks want to sweep our racial issues under the rug. Obama will be gone from the WH in 2016. Let's not use his 8 years in office to white wash Americans original sin.

:hi:

[felix_numinous]

134. Kick

[DevonRex]

136. I read and loved every word. It was true and hilarious. K&R nt

[Number23]

212. I have loved your posts in this thread.

Thanks, Dev. :fistbump:

[DevonRex]

230. Awwww....

:blush: and :fistbump:

[OregonBlue]

147. Loved it and loved the comments. All those white racists jumping to defend themselves. LOL

[The Uncola]

158. I've got to say...

.. I really tried to go and read the linked story. I really did. Maybe somewhere further that I could read it said something to dispel the feeling that the author was about as bigoted against "the brains of white folks" as the worst "brains of white folks" are against people of color. Is this sort of "winning hearts and minds via insults" the new standard?

Sorry, if I don't get it. I've worked for civil rights for all, for decades, but it's stuff like this that leaves me wondering why. Maybe I've always been "demented."

[DonCoquixote]

268. It's not you

We know you are on the side of the angels, but many of the self-identifying members of "white america' are acting like this..You should understand since their fury will also be directed at you every time somebody calls for liberal punching.

[The Uncola]

278. Here's where the problem lies for me.

When someone broadbrushes an entire group, be it liberals, or Muslims, or blacks, or whites, or Mexicans, etc., for the actions of a minority of that group, ESPECIALLY when it is a slap in the face, alienates the very people who's awareness they are trying to raise. This piece, as far as I read, seems to make the same damn mistake the MSM does, pretending that the Teabag MINORITY is representative of MOST white Americans. They flat out AREN'T, not even close. If the author wants to rip on Teabagger stupidity, GREAT, rip 'em a new a**hole, I'm with them all the way. But dammit, I shouldn't have to apologize because they are morons, simply because we share a skin color, any more than every black should have to apologize for the high rate of absentee dads in their race. So, if you truly want me to support your cause, perhaps it might be more likely to happen, if you don't call me fucking retarded OR demented, but instead treat me with the same respect you expect me to treat you with. Just my take, I could be wrong.

[Scurrilous]

166. K & R

:thumbsup:

[DirkGently]

173. Good piece, and the species of culturally entitled "white" panic it describes is spot-on.

This is exactly what's powering the rise of the Tea Party, Glenn Beck, and Fox News, and it's also what drove the hysterical smear attacks on not just Obama, but ACORN, Sherrod, etc. It's the deliberate conjuring of the panic and outrage of white Americans being told that the reason things suck right now is that some group or groups they don't identify with is out to "Change" America and take something away from them.

"We want our country baaaaack!" kind of says it all, doesn' it? Back from whom? is the question. Goldman Sachs seems to hold the deed and the keys to the front door at the moment, but that's a hard reality to face, and hard to even understand sometimes. It's a lot easier to pin fear on something cruder and older, like race or "Communism" or religion. Turmoil always gins up this kind of fear and hatred, and there are always plenty of people, including, this time, an entire television network, standing ready to exploit it.

Taking offense at the title's use of "White America" (in a deliberately provocative, humorous way) misses the bigger point. The real thesis here clearly has nothing to do with condemning white people in some general way. It's about this freakish, sign-waving, gun-strapping, tea-bagging "Obama hates white people" "The Muslims are massing at Ground Zero" stuff we keep seeing popping up in weirder and more disturbing ways. Some of it's just the hucksters, smelling an opportunity for profit (see, e.g. Glenn Beck), and some of it's subtler button pushing by those who need to distract Americans from the picking of their collective pockets.

But it is a big part of the badder things going on at the moment, and this piece describes it well.



Edited for speling.

[bliss_eternal]

181. Bam!

...helluva post! :thumbsup:

[HopeHoops]

179. It had one?

I'm white, but from most of what I've seen, the majority of white people are more concerned with reality TV, NASCAR, and how much a bucket of KFC costs than anything having to do with politics - but they'll still vote for the God-fearin' Amurkin' Republican because he ain't no commie tax-lovin' Democritter.

That's just from personal experience.

[frogmarch]

182. Great article!

I almost posted it on Fb, but I didn't want to be unfriended by my crazy white American Fb friends.

Still, it is tempting.

[Name removed]

187. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[CBR]

193. ...

"An unfortunate side effect of a group getting persecuted is, they tend to see the persecution everywhere, whether it exists or not. And at some level they LIKE being persecuted. Being righteously angry is comfortable to them. Its an easy answer, and WOE be to anyone who questions that answer."

How do you explain whites who are so easily victimized and persecuted? Even by an article in the Village Voice. Woe is me...

[bliss_eternal]

203. lol.

good question.

[DevonRex]

195. Assonine? LOL.

:rofl:

[CBR]

198. I am getting alot of "Doth Protest Too Much" from this thread.

It would be laughable if it weren't so sad.

[Obamanaut]

211. Using "alot" as one word is "assonine," nt

[DevonRex]

217. Except that alot is probably just a typo. Assonine is not. nt

[Obamanaut]

218. Spell check will find errors, even typos that look like errors. nt

[Number23]

213. Chile, horrendous spelling is the LEAST of that poster's problems

[DevonRex]

216. Hell, I was laughing so hard at the spelling that I didn't even read the rest of the post.

Do I dare? Or will it make me ill?

[bliss_eternal]

252. just walk away....

...seriously. :scared: ...it's not worthy of your time or attention. but if you just need another hearty laugh and you don't scare easily, go for it. ;)

[Fearless]

202. Let's not lump all 180 million white people into one group. Mmkay?

:eyes:

[paparush]

207. Worth 1000 words...

[liberation]

232. LOL, I am loving that cover...

BTW, I am white and I have no problem understanding the title and the contents of the article. Right on the money.

[bliss_eternal]

253. isn't the illustration wonderful...?

i'm in love with the artwork! :loveya: so awesome!

[klook]

257. Pure genius - Drew Friedman

I hadn't seen anything by Friedman in a while -- glad to see he is still at the top of his game.

Somehow I hadn't noticed the padded walls until I saw the version without the VV logo.

The article hits paydirt, too -- hilarious, biting, and brilliant.

[fascisthunter]

209. not White America but part of White America

these asshole bigots represent a segment of our population. All in all good read, I get it.

[RagAss]

222. You do realize a "few whites' voted for Obama.

[Just One Woman]

234. Sad but true

My how I hate this. I have worked my entire life to educate my children and those around me to the evils of prejudice. We are all human!

[tavalon]

236. Good article but the comments are astounding

and surprisingly confirmatory of the premise.

[Supersedeas]

283. there is confirmation a-plenty in those comments

[quaker bill]

239. It did not just "happen"

the insanity was already there, the election of Barack Obama simply brought it to the surface where all can see it.

[Drale]

246. I blame

"reality" TV for the decline of America in general.

[BreweryYardRat]

247. That's lovely. :sarcasm:

All they had to do was substitute "Republican" for "white" and it'd have been a good, solid, article. The points about just how crazy/racist some of these Republican freaks revealed themselves to be are important. As for their skin color...well, that's why articles are accompanied with photos, isn't it?

But the article's author is phrasing the piece in a way that boils down to "all these crazy racist Republicans are white, therefore all whites are slobbering racist Republican loons." That's insulting. Plenty of whites out there are liberals, myself most definitely included.

Fostering racial discord just helps the plutocrats divide and weaken the workers.

[pezDispenser]

271. I think you are just pushing the same condemnation on a smaller group

Not all R's have lost their mind over a black man being our President.

btw, I threw up a little in my mouth defending R's just now, but hey I call them as I see them.

[sulphurdunn]

251. Non-whites

are just as insane as whites. When they become the majority, nothing will change but the color of the people running the asylum.

[ElboRuum]

258. My brain is not very much like the one depicted...

Mine contains things like math and a deep affection for a nice slice of pizza where Lady Gaga and Islamofascism should be.

[Bryn]

260. I read the whole thing. It reminds me somewhat of Michael Moore's book, Stupid White Men

Has anyone read it?

[cutlassmama]

285. Yes, great read

[klook]

263. Brilliant and hilarious

As a middle-aged white guy (and Southern to boot!), I have to say this is a pretty accurate depiction of the state of mind of a lot of my demographic peers (not my philosophical peers, though! :) ). And it includes details of several bizarre outbreaks of the collective disease I wasn't familiar with -- the Paladino emails, for example.

And Drew Friedman is the perfect choice to do the illustration. He's so adept at photorealistic caricatures and depictions of celebrity sleaze (as well as loving portraits of his favorite celebs, which these obviously aren't!).

Here's a cool interview with Friedman, by the way:
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2010/08/an-interview-with-drew-friedman.html

Thanks again for posting this article -- made my day! :toast:

[Raschel]

272. NBC news tried to paint the "political anger" as coming from both sides.

Not only do they continue to ignore the racist anger (Paladino e-mails), they accuse the left of going bonkers as well.

[Socal31]

269. Nice racism.

You are part of the problem.

[pezDispenser]

273. meh

The article was somewhat entertaining, but not very enlightening. It does seem like Thrasher is a little late to the 'make fun of the retards party'.

I did come away with the impression that Thrasher, having not read anything else of his, is somewhat of a rube. If he really believes things like 'Glenn Beck is one of the downright terrified', well I hope he enjoys the cotton candy and some fun rides on the midway.

Catchy headline with not much substance. Wait haven't we seen someone like beforehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_Party_movement">...

[Matariki]

280. It's funny - currently the post right below yours is:

"Homophobic rapper 50 cent uses Twitter to call on gays to commit suicide"

[cherokeeprogressive]

286. So how long after the election of America's first Woman President will it take before someone says

"MALE AMERICA HAS LOST ITS MIND" just because she's being criticized for one reason or another? FORGET the fact that "Male America" would have to be partly responsible for Her election.

Won't that be fun? One won't even have to point to different races or ethnicities in order to ridicule the criticism. It'll be SO MUCH EASIER to pigeonhole ONE group than 5, 10, or 20.

Criticize the first Gay President? Yep, you guessed it: "Straight America Has Lost Its Mind". Forget that "Straight America" will be MOSTLY responsible for His/Her election.

I do not consider myself "white" even though my ass, which never sees the sun, is as white as a fish's belly. My grandfather was born on the Cherokee Indian Reservation in Tahlequah, OK. I carry my CDIB in my wallet.

I guess that since a woman will be elected President long before a Native American will, I should predict right now that we'll come full-circle when that happens and we'll be be back to "White America Has Lost Its Mind".

But then, what if a Native American Woman is elected President? Will we brand her critics "White Males Of European Ancestry" and blame THEM for the criticism?

It's seeming that more and more, criticism of ANYONE outs you as being a "whatever-ophobe".

Fuck me, sometimes I'm HAPPY with the notion that I'm 2/3 through what is my "life expectancy". I'm tired of the hate.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

287. Describes most of the white folks where I live.

I live in a very conservative rural area. I am white, and basically do not have any white friends because they are racists, fundy Christian, hate Obama, and are generally unpleasant people to be around. The rich people go to the Methodist church but I don't think they are very liberal.


They live in fear of the other and the different. They are very patriarchal and I've heard their sexist Christian bullshit for years. My neighbor that said "Buddha is Voodoo" said "The man should do the outside work; the woman should do the inside work" when I was discussing my love of gardening (before I stopped talking to her after that incredibly stupid comment about Buddhism). I gave her a five minute speech about what Buddhism was, but it didn't do any good --she won't listen.


The guy that painted our house is a real piece of work. He terrorizes his family and impedes them. He doesn't want his kids to read books. I have to literally buy the 12 year old a dictionary/thesaurus. He doesn't have one. I also sneak the kid lots of other books. The dad said that divorce should be illegal. He is divorced, BTW. He's on his second wife, younger, who he has isolated from the world. She's on the verge of leaving him. The kids disrespect him because he doesn't respect them, he just controls them. She just laughs at his crap. I've corrected him on many things (he parrots FOX news) and he is literally in pain when he hears incoming information. I correct him and he has a grimace on his face. It does not soak in. He will not change even though he's destroyed his family.


My 80 year old black friend, came over the other day and said, "It's really scary around here. You don't know if these people are in the Klan or not." I agreed with her. I told her that I figure that if I put any political stickers on my car, or in my yard, some nut might shoot at me. These people have a lot of guns. One guy who lives in an abandoned nursing home told the lady who runs the post office that he was "prepared, in case anything bad happens." Said he had lots of guns.


I put a big Obama sign in my yard before the election and there were crackers driving pickups in front of my house (I live on the two lane main street) yelling "FUCK OBAMA" at us. The brainless wonder that lives across the street came over and said "Whut's that Obammy thang for?" I kid you not. She invited us to her church and we said "No". She was stunned after she asked twice and we said "no" twice. Then we explained what a Unitarian Universalist was and she glazed over. She did not get it.

An elderly white woman who used to work at the post office informed us when we moved here that "We're all Republicans here". Dear Hubby said, "Well, we're gonna change that."


This is what some of my interactions with the (white)locals have been since I moved up here.

They're ignorant and proud of it. Very scary.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

288. kick