Irresponsible Journalists: Tucker Carlson and his Whitewashed Panel Discussing "Blackness"

[marmar]

by Heather Wood at HuffPost
Irresponsible Journalists of the Week: Tucker Carlson and his Whitewashed Panel Discussing "Blackness"




Oh no, they didn't...

So, when the producers of MSNBC's Tucker program decided to air a segment on "blackness" this week -- specifically the degree and quality of presidential candidate Barack Obama's blackness -- did they not pause, even for a second, to realize the panel they had assembled was completely white?

No, nothing? No pause for concern whatsoever?

What about the question itself: "Is Barack Obama black enough to win the presidency?" Was this something pitched and approved in a news meeting, celebrated by MSNBC's executive producers as "timely" and "groundbreaking"? Did they honestly think they could get away with this?

Host Tucker Carlson opens the discussion, speaking in a very serious voice, trying as hard as he can to remove himself from the situation by back-peddling, "I'm not even sure what that question means. I know that it makes me uncomfortable and it strikes me as unfair, but what does it mean?"

Cut to: A.B. Stoddard, white chick from The Hill, who was raring to address the topic. In the course of two sentences she insults Obama as not being "black enough" (and calls him an immigrant, which he is not), says Gov. Bill Richardson is not quite "the ideal representative of the Hispanic community," and rounds it out by saying Hillary Clinton is not "the ultimate female candidate." WTF is this chick talking about? How and when did degrees of race and gender factor in to one's worthiness in politics? The only question that should matter to the American people - for all candidates - is: Are they good enough?

Stoddard clearly makes Tucker even more nervous, so he tries to intellectualize this inappropriate discourse as "an academic question," the motion seconded by panelist Jonathan Alter, white dude from Newsweek. They go on to marvel at how Obama has received more criticism of his "blackness" by African-Americans than by whites, and whether the real question is whether or not Obama is "too black to be president." So they clearly are merely commenting (academically, of course) on a negative situation they have not fueled. Nice try, but I don't think so. ....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/heather-wood/irresponsible-journalists_b_59968.html

[maxsolomon]

1. black ENOUGH?

who says there isn't progress in Murka?

:sarcasm:

[Uncle Joe]

2. This sounds like, they are attempting to polarize the Democratic base

along racial and gender lines. I haven't watched Carlson in years, but this is what it sounds like to me and it's consistent with their standard M.O. of slime and adhering to the lowest common denominator.