Whiteness Is Still a Proxy for Being American

[merrily]

15. None of my replies on this thread say there is no bigotry in America, not a one.

Last edited Wed Jul 30, 2014, 07:47 AM - Edit history (1)

As far as Katrina, If the Americans in charge of FEMA then had not been white Republicans Bownie and Chertoff, but, say, West and Smiley, do you think the rescue efforts in NOLA would have gone the same way? If not, isn't Beinhart's writing reflective of Clawson's mindset, in that Beinhart's wording seems oblivious to the POV of millions of Americans who are not white?

Also involved in Katrina were poverty and politics--a Mayor who, in addition to being African American, was a Democrat, and a white Governor who was also a Democrat and a city that sometimes swung the vote of the state to Democrats, while Republicans were in a majority in the parts of Louisiana that were outside of the greater NOLA area. So, things besides race could have been involved in that, but, yes, I agree, race was an issue in Katrina. However, Katrina was not the topic of Beinhart's article, nor way the language of Beinhart's article qualified in any way.

Nothing in Beinhart's article recognized the possibility that African Americans (or Chinese Americans or Korean Americans or Hispanic Americans or members of First Nations) might think differently from Clawson on the issue of assuming a non-white (Indian, in this case) as not American. IOW, nothing in Beinhart's own article recognizes that plenty of Americans are themselves people of color. In that regard, Beinhart did not seem to me all that different from Clawson (though I did say that might be an unfair statement). Nor do I agree that everyone who opposes Obama is a birther.

it aptly describes a mindset that is pervasive in america, namely, some white americans do not believe people of color are *really* american citizens. they believe american = white.

I agree, but the article does not say "some" and that is the key word that allows me to agree with you, but to criticize Beinhart's writing.

That was the exact point that my replies 2, 5, 11 and 14 addressed, especially my reply 11, to which you replied. You and locdlib use the word "some," which is a much more measured statement--and more importantly, a much more accurate statement--than those made in the article by Beinhart.

Even if Beinhart had said "most" Americans, I'd have less problem with the breadth of his statement, though I would still suspect he was writing without thinking of Americans of color. That was the exact point I made in the post to which you replied. Please see Reply 14, too.

I also don't think Hillary is a birther, as Beinhart implies. Yes, she did did use race in her primary campaign, helped by Bubba, Ferrara and Cuomo.

Whether any of them are racist "in their hearts" or not, they deliberately used racism to try to achieve a selfish goal. For that reason, I will never vote for Hillary or Cuomo, even if they become populist and I buy the new populism as sincere. However, do I think any of them, or even Hillary campaign advisors, like Penn and McAuliffe, really believed that Obama was born in Kenya, rather than in Hawaii? No, I don't.

For me, that may make what they did even worse than if they really believed Obama was not an American "in his heart" or on his birth certificate. I am not sure which is worse, but either way, I thought--and still do-it was despicable. But I never thought they themselves believed Obama was not an American. The article implies that they did believe it, rather than that they cynically used the racism they believed existed in voters.

None of my comments say that racism does not exist in America. They are all about the POV of Beinhart sounding (to me, of course) a lot like the point of view of Clawson and being broad. Your statement and that of locdlib were less broad than that of Beinhart, which is exactly why I can agree with both of you, but not with Beinhart.

I don't mind defending my posts, but I do mind posters acting as though I said things I never said. And I never said that some Americans don't think exactly as Clawson does. Because Beinhart does not qualify his statements with the word "some" as you locdlib did, however, I said his statements were too broad and also that I agreed with you and locdlib.

In this reply to you, I am basically repeating things I said in my prior posts. Your reply reads as though you did not pay attention to anything I actually posted, especially in my Reply 11 to locdlib, who made a statement almost identical to yours and with whom I agreed. Rather, you are posting as though I claimed there is no racism in any American or in America. I never posted anything like that. The issues I raised were raised because I think journalists should be precise, accurate and measured when they write, instead of implying every American is white and thinks like Clawson. And that is how Beinhart's writing read to me.

Is there any specific statement that I actually made in my Reply 11 or in any post in this thread that you can quote directly and say you disagree with it?