Racism-By-Proxy

[TahitiNut]

Having spent nearly six-and-a-half decades on the planet, some things are far too obvious to ignore. One of the most obvious 'games' that's been played out over and over and over again is Bigotry-by-Proxy, the self-righteous, condescending, "pragmatic" exploitation and perpetuation of racism (and misogyny) by folks too cowardly and duplicitous to get their own hands dirty.

"The fans will NEVER buy tickets if we have blacks playing major league baseball!" Others older than me will recall this even better ... and then Jackie Robinson came along and ticket sales soared.

"The troops will NEVER tolerate blacks in the same units with whites!" Then Harry Truman finally ordered the integration of the military and another false specter evaporated.

From Country Clubs to sports to politics to business, the Pragmatists-With-Crystal-Balls (or other breakable substance) have ALWAYS found cover and concealment for their bigotry by presumptuously and patronizingly portraying the Parade-of-Horribles as though it's licensed to march on any street.

It's OBVIOUS why this works. "Who, Me??? How DARE you call me a racist!!"


"Our clients will NEVER accept a WOMAN representing them!" Anyone who doesn't recall this, or its twins, doesn't have the life experience of a turnip. It's the "gentlemanly" and "wise" posture ... far more pervasive and effective than wearing a hood and burning a cross.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

1. K and R. nt

[DearAbby]

2. K&R

[Spazito]

3. Well said!

Recommended.

[cliffordu]

4. Excellent post!! Although.....

........I know the mainstream JERKS will NEVER K&R a post from someone over 40....

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Oh, yeah -

k&r

:patriot:

[rucky]

6. Oh yeah, Nostradamus? Where do you keep your crystal ball?

don't answer that.

[rucky]

5. Thanks! Usually when I try to explain it, I just end up screaming. n/t

[TahitiNut]

16. That's the frustration that drives me (with beads of blood on my forehead) to find ...

... SOME pithy and succinct approach to describing such behaviors. I've ground my teeth down and lost far too many hours of sleep grappling with the frustration of expressing such concepts in a way that conveys the clarity I have to believe is available. Maybe less than half the time I find some words - some paradigm or meme - that encapsulates the wash of thoughts and emotions in which I'm swimming. I have the greatest admiration for those writers able to do so with more apparent alacrity. Then again, maybe they go through the same pain. Once upon a time a coworker with his PhD in English Composition, our staff writing consultant, assured me that my difficulties were common among the professionals in his craft. That's when I took off the "Woe Is Me" t-shirt and accepted the pain. As an undergraduate Math major (and Physics minor) in college, I've run away from the pain for a long, long time. The funny thing is that I found an enormous amount of satisfaction in computer programming ... writing programs with elegance and integrity that would hopefully serve as examples of both efficiency and clarity. The time and mental effort required must be close kin to composition ... and Douglas Hofstatter ("Gödel, Escher, Bach") seems to serve as an example of this hypothesis.

Oh well. :shrug:

[P0pEye]

60. You're usin' a lot of fancy words there missy ...

We're not but humble pirates here! Arrrrgh!

[EffieBlack]

7. "My neighbors would NEVER accept a black family on our block!"

"I'M not racist, but people will NEVER vote for a BLACK candidate, so it's better to be safe than sorry!"

And so it goes . . .

Thank you for laying it out so eloquently.

[TahitiNut]

12. Yup. You sure as hell know what I'm talkin' about.

We should ALWAYS be on guard against those who'd "represent" the perverted interests of bigotry. They're worse than bottom-feeders, imho. I couldn't even begin to enumerate the number of times in my life I've run headlong into such despicable corruption.

[EffieBlack]

15. Definitely

Achieving the ends without dirtying oneself wallowing in the means.

The arrogance and entitlement embodied in this argument is appalling. It reminds me of the kid who just barely manages to get invited to the party with the popular kids and then stands at the door keeping out everyone else, telling them, "If it was up to me, I'd let you in, but you know . . ."

In the meantime, they expect us to stand out on the porch, waiting patiently until THEY decide THEY are ready to let US in . . .

[TahitiNut]

17. It gets even more perncious than that. How about ....

"My family will NEVER accept me dating a _______ person!" (The "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" syndrome)

We ARE social animals. It's in our tribal genes - fear-based and part of our "mud people" heritage.

If we're EVER to evolve and become the kind of people we want our children to be ... we must overcome.

We spend so much time pondering what 'others' might think of us, we deprive ourselves of the time spent pondering what we think of ourselves. And acting accordingly. For me, that's what "integrity" is all about.

[Binka]

8. Doffing My Cap Sir!

:pals:

[TahitiNut]

13. !

:hug: :loveya:

[knixphan]

9. Thank you TahitiNut - Super Kick!

[Kadie]

10. K&R

well said.

:hi:

[TheZug]

11. Unfortunately, there are a lot of "armchair progressives."

[Lerkfish]

14. kicked and reccomended!

:kick:

[cbayer]

18. Your co-workers would be very uncomfortable if they knew you were a lesbian.

I, personally, have no problem with it and I am telling you this just to protect you.

Great OP.

[TahitiNut]

19. (lol!) Yes ... I strongly suspect I'm a lesbian in a man's body.

My close GBLT friends have told me I'm nuts. I take that as a compliment, obviously. :silly:

More seriously, I've encountered that EXACT situation more than once in my career in the "belly of the beast." I can assure you that taking a strong and uncompromising advocacy stance has been career-limiting. I wouldn't have it any other way.

[Bonobo]

20. You said it. K&R

[TahitiNut]

22. Funny. I note an absence of the "usual suspects."

Vampires running from garlic?


:rofl:

[Bonobo]

25. Man, I'm feeling down these last 48 hours.

The slow attrition. The wearing away of what is sharp into what is dull by the relentless tide.

Fuckers.

[TahitiNut]

26. It's the Season Of The Living Dead on DU. Hang in there.

:hi:

[Moochy]

39. Crazy innit?

Kudos on the best Topic of the Week here, you really nailed it. :kick: :thumbsup:

[Lilith Velkor]

51. You included sexism by proxy

Hence, no flames from me.

I don't think I'm a "usual suspect," though. :shrug:

[TahitiNut]

53. Of course. ALL forms of human objectification are immoral, imho.

Folks just love to pick the form that suits their own agenda, but the fact of the matter is that treating human beings like commodities ... and trafficking in human labor ... is fundamentally evil. The toxicty even chains people's own self perception - adopting the label of 'type.' It saddens me ... but I stand back on how folks wish to view themselves. There's no question that our "world view" is HUGELY impacted by how we're treated - and treated according to type-casting and stereotyping. In my own opinion, that obligates each of us to expand that viewpoint in whatever way we can, for our own sakes.

[CaptJasHook]

21. Bingo

I would add that it is problematic that the people in power (read white guys like me) are the ones who are attempting to define the parameters of racism and sexism.

The use of "CONCERN" is just another insidious attempt have our cake and eat it too.

[mmonk]

44. As a white guy, I concur.

[reflection]

45. This white guy concurs also. n/t

[kwenu]

23. Brilliantly on point.

[me b zola]

24. K&R

[knixphan]

27. Kick! - If I had a nickel for every

pundit who speaks about what 'The American people aren't ready for'...

[H2O Man]

28. Very good.

This is a strange primary. We are losing some of the advances made in previous decades.

Nominated.

[Bake]

29. You're right on, as usual, TN ...

:hi:

Bake

[TragedyandHope]

30. Thank you!

Some people just live in their safe little bubbles and refuse to acknowledge reality.

[guyanakoolaid]

31. Your analogies are so simple they're genius.

I was stuck on "If the logic is 'it will be used in the GE against the candidate so is usable now', why wouldn't Lewinsky or Whitewater matter?"

I've been banging my head on a wall trying to get this across to Clinton supporters. You've nailed the argument I was trying to come up with much more nicely and succinctly. Thanks & Rec

[TahitiNut]

33. Thanks.

You'll probably note the absence of a certain DU constituency in this thread. In particular, the steady parade of cockroaches coming out of the Internet woodwork seem to be beating a wide path around the truth.

I'm glad I was finally able to assemble a post that expressed this ... without burdening the poor moderators with a flood of whines, laments, and gnashing of teeth. It's just too bad that the folks most likely in need of introspection are apparently immune to it. The defenses are legion: denial, supposition, rationalization, projection, conjecture, younameit.

[smiley_glad_hands]

32. K&Reom

[TahitiNut]

34. Puke

I mean :kick:

[KoKo]

35. How do you feel about the New Progressive Movement throwing folks Under the Bus...?

"Center for American Progress" (new Dem Think Tank funding Buzzflash and others) and they are exposed?

You knew it all along didn't you....

[TahitiNut]

36. I've been watching it get more blatant for 30 years.

I tire of the "Hush Puppy Politics" of the establishment Democrats. I'm not an independent liberal fer nuthin'.

It should be obvious - I'm a Kucinich supporter. I voted for him, but it DIDN'T "count." Q'uelle surprise! :eyes:

[TankLV]

37. But it's perfectly OK to pander to the BIGOTED BLACK HOMOPHOBES, right?!?!

Sorry - but your post is BULLSHIT...

obama knew damn well what he was doing from the BEGINNING...he sought out the idiot "wright" types while at the same time throwing the Gay community under the bus and then running us over REPEATEDLY...

It was a CONSCIOUS decision way back when...and now the chickens have come home to roost...

couldn't happen to a "better" idiot...at a better time so EVERYONE gets to know the "real" obama...and it ain't pretty...!!!

[guyanakoolaid]

43. Of course he expected racist idiots, just not so many in his own party.

:shrug:

[TahitiNut]

46. If you're looking for a lynching, I doubt Obama is for you. On the other hand ...

http://advocate.com/print_article_ektid50021.asp

If you want Hillary "Don't Ask Don't Tell" DOMA Clinton, you're welcome to her. :shrug:

[Creideiki]

48. Choice between Hillary and

Barack "DOMA for Illinois" Obama and his buddies, Sam "DADT" Nunn and the "Rev." Meeks.

DADT was not Hillary's idea--it was Obama's conservative buddies' idea.

Please, learn some history before you try this again. I'd recommend talking to someone that was in the military in the early 90s.

[yardwork]

56. For crying out loud. Show some perspective!

I'm a lesbian, and I was furious with Obama for bringing McClurkin into his campaign in South Carolina. However, as far as I can tell, that is the only time in Obama's campaign that that happened. Obama's website includes strong words in support of gay rights.

Obama is not perfect. He's a moderate-right Democrat. So is Hillary Clinton. One of the two will be our nominee. We have to work with what we have.

And your attack on Tahiti Nut is unwarranted. He has never attacked gay rights as far as I know.

[TahitiNut]

65. Hey ... "as far as I know"???

I've been 100% consistent and outspoken on GLBT issues. I've repeatedly said that I see not enough paper in the world to include "who someone loves" on a list of the nation's problems. I've repeatedly stated my support for the complete and total elimination of any discrimination in military service. DADT is an abomination. I've repeatedly stated my support for the right to "marry" for any two consenting adults. Period. The kind of insanity Donnie McClurkin personifies is a reason to pity the poor fuck. He's obviously deranged.

[yardwork]

70. Well, that's certainly been my impression of all your posts.

I've always felt that you were one of the posters here who never compromises on human rights. I appreciate that support, as should every other human on the planet. We're all in this together.

For my part, I speak out against racism where and when I see it. I've seen much too much of it in this primary campaign.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

38. You're keeping me busy rec'ing your posts, my friend.

And, I'm happy to do it. :thumbsup: :applause:

[Moochy]

41. And Another

Back to the top! :kick: :applause:

[walldude]

40. K&R

The Straw Man. The last bastion of the closed mind.

[ecdab]

42. It's depressing when the GOP does it, it's infuriating to me when Democrats

do it. Watching Democrats disgrace themselves in this manner has deeply saddened me.

[Divernan]

47. I saw this faux "concern" on the New Jersey Transit train last week.

I (white) was taking the train in from Newark Airport to Penn Station - talking to a black guy sitting next to me about the primary race/Obama/Clinton. The train got pretty crowded and I heard one of a group of 3 white guys standing in the aisle say "Well, I'm an Obama man", at which point I tapped his elbow and pointed to my Obama pin and said "me too". (Technically, I should have said, I'm an Obama woman, I suppose.) So then there were five of us talking about the race, shortly joined by the white woman sitting across the aisle from me.

We all had positive things to say about Obama, and negative things to say about HRC's campaign lies and dirty tricks, except one of the white guys, who repeatedly said, "Well, the main thing is we have to nominate someone who can win in November. .. The main thing is we nominate someone who can beat McCain" . .and a few variations of CONCERN about that. He never said one positive thing about Obama, and he never referred to HRC, but the idea he was very clearly trying to sell was that Obama couldn't beat McCain. This was a spur of the moment conversation, only a few minutes before the train pulled into the station. As I thought about it later, I realized he never gave any reason WHY he thought Obama couldn't beat McCain, and I concluded it was a subtle "concern" about the impact of race.

Believe me, if I run into a similar situation again, I will be right in anyone's face to confront them re whether they are expressing racial prejudice. Because you know, Tahitinut, the only way to kill this horrible racism in our society is to drag it into the cold, clear light of day and kick the living shit out of it!

[Lilith Velkor]

74. In my experience, ridicule is more effective than belligerence

when it comes to the soft bigotry Mr. Nut describes.

Also, it is possible to be concerned about racism without being racist oneself. I think one of the things that keeps institutional racism going is that white people are expected to pretend it doesn't exist, or be accused and shunned. Poor white people have the label permanently attached no matter what they personally believe, which leads to (wait for it) bitterness, because we're also not supposed to mention the class war in, erm, "polite company."

[TahitiNut]

76. Lampooning, sarcasm, and ridicule work for me in such instances.

If I'm pressed for time, I merely laugh and say how stupid it sounds. "With all due respect" of course. :rofl:

Women have an advantage vs. male racists. All they need do is pretend they're looking at a flasher with nothing to flash and laugh and point. In our society, women have "better training" (of necessity) at such an approach.

[Lilith Velkor]

77. I find this website instructive of the non-self-aware type of racism

www.blackpeopleloveus.com

It helped me wise up and not be a dork like poor Sally and Johnny.

[NOLALady]

49. K & R

:kick:

[aaronbees]

50. Awesome post

:kick:

[casus belli]

52. So right.

And this primary isn't without its share of glaring examples to prove your point.

All the best to you!

[yardwork]

54. Yes! I'm seeing this in North Carolina right now - big time.

Whenever there is a tight race in North Carolina, the worst candidates drag out the old "scary black man" boogeyman. I hope it doesn't work this time. I hope it backfires.

[BklynChick]

55. I agree. Often when people say "are we ready for a black President?" it's more of a reflection

about them.

[KoKo]

57. K&R

[Romulox]

58. This cuts about 10 different ways.

For example, upper class whites can seize control of the so-called "Left" party in order to push a goulash of culture war issues mixed with laissez-faire neo-liberal economic policies. When working class people lose enthusiasm for "free trade", "deregulation", etc. and quit blindly supporting the next free-trader-who-nonetheless-is-good-on-abortion-and-a-few-other-issues, the Democratic elite can then excoriate these people as "racists" who "don't support their own economic best-interest" (let's forget that no politician has actually asked these people what they themselves feel to be their own economic best interests.)

The bottom line is that racism is the most powerful analytical tool the ruling class have ever had. It makes us all so fucking crazy that we pay absolutely zero attention to the fact that the rich black man is as enthusiastic about sending jobs overseas as the rich white woman.

[TahitiNut]

67. Yup. There's a "kneejerk" liberalism that sells out economically under the threat of social evils.

The triangulation is obscene.

[Eric Condon]

59. K&R - Especially relevant in this new age of "electability." nt

[NatBurner]

68. lol don't u just love code words?

[TahitiNut]

69. Exactly.

It's not even subtle.

[redqueen]

61. ...

:yourock:

[wowimthere]

62. K&R You hit the nail squarely on the Head... From my generation's

perspective... yes it looks like the cynics are amassing the same kind of campaign toward Obama. It's exactly why Clinton says Obama can't win. Her loud whisper campaign was trumped by all of the states that voted for him though. That he is gathering the kinds of crowds, racking up the amount of states won, winning the popular vote actually makes Clinton and people like her look like racists by proxy. She can't even realize that what she calls the "African American" candidate (he's African American and White) has already trumped her and she's still trying to gather the racists around the campfire as if people of all stripes can't see that she's lost. Perhaps she will understand that inclusion rather than exclusion has a brighter future than what she's offering as the status quo candidate.

[Baby Snooks]

63. White Democrats in Pennsylvania will never vote for a Black man...

That is what the governor of Pennsylvania, a friend of the Clintons, said before the primary. And in essence said racism is okay in Pennsylvania. And the Clintons smiled. And said nothing.

You want to talk about racism by proxy? Talk about the Clintons. That has become the foundation of her campaign in the primaries.

[jeff30997]

64. When I was a kid my mother told me something that I couldn't understand.

My parents were back from a trip to Florida and my mother told me that over there she saw bathrooms with signs one one door saying whites and on an other one it said colored.I'm a 41 years old caucasian and when I heard that I was about 9 and I was horrified and confused.I still am.

[TahitiNut]

66. Yup. I'm 64 and vividly recall my first trip to Mobile, Alabama when I was a teen.

Drinking fountains, restrooms, and business entrances. Most obscene was the fact that gas stations usually had three restrooms: Male, Female, and Colored. That was NORMAL! (The "banality of evil" is not imaginary to me.) It was the late 50s and still that way in 1963-64 when I lived there for a little over a year.

Such racism was not, of course, limited to the South. It was just far more overt in the former slave states. When I was a kid, I liked to go swimming in the summertime at a private (business) swimming pool - Crystal Pool. It was on Greenfield and Eight Mile Road on the northeast corner. The south side of Eight Mile Road was redlined as the "black area." Ghettoized. Crystal Pool REFUSED to allow black kids to swim there for most of its existence. (They'd pollute the water, I guess. (Ugh.)) In the last years of its existence, black kids were admitted. Very few. Then it closed.

The Detroit area has a horrible history of racism ... "white flight." Red-lining. (That's a real estate term.) It's a lot better but it still has a long way to go, imho.

[jeff30997]

75. "I liked to go swimming in the summertime at Crystal Pool"

That reminds me of that short movie I saw several times: After the African Americans got

the "right" to go swimming in a public pool a bunch of idiots were pouring bleach into the pool

while screaming insanities!!!

(I don't remember where this happened but I think it was in the south.)

Each time I see this I am shocked! If I saw that with my own eyes and not in a short movie I don't

know how I would react but it wouldn't bee pretty.I'm not a violent person but these kind of

intolerant and ignorant peoples are making me mad.

I'm so sorry that you had to go through this! :hug:

[Major Hogwash]

84. Good post.

I remember seeing those signs, too. Vacation trips to grandpa's house weren't much fun to me.

[ej510]

71. The quiet racism is the worst kind

my 103 year old Grandma always used to say, I could respect the white people in the South because they at least had the guts to say to your face they hated you. I could not understand until I was about 12 years old and was confronted with the hate of the West. The closet racist have the same lines, one good on is "that Obama I can never vote for him because he has caused all this racial tension". Code word for, we like you black people as long as you stay in your place, be quiet and do as we want. The worst part of this is, the racists are mad that he has unmasked their true feelings.

[TahitiNut]

72. Yup.

The notion that "blacks are responsible for racism" is a KKK stance. Despicable.

[Dr Fate]

73. I'm still waiting for Clinton to attack McCain on race, religion, patriotism & elitism.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5768673&mesg_id=5768673

[KoKo]

78. You think Clinton might do that? ,,,,,,,,,,,,n/t

[EFerrari]

79. "It doesn't bother me or my standards but many people feel

this is not proper."

-- Dan White, objecting to the Gay Freedom Day Parade, some months before he murdered Harvey ("The Times of Harvey Milk")

[TahitiNut]

80. Yes ... that's a perfect example.

Beware of the person posturing as a "clean-hands spokesperson" for bigotry. (They seem to be coming out of the woodwork.)

[EFerrari]

81. OT: Have you seen that documentary?

It's wonderful. Beautiful footage of Harvey and some of Tom Ammiano as an embryo, lol.

And, it has footage of John Briggs pushing Prop 6 to ban gays from public school teaching that set off my gaydar big time. He was the quintessential closet case. (It also has footage of President Carter telling thousands of Sacramentans to vote against that POS. That was great.)

[TahitiNut]

82. Yes, over 20 years ago.

I moved to the Bay Area in 1983, shortly before that came out (so to speak). It didn't take me long to fall totally and completely in love with ALL that's the Bay Area. It did my spirit gooood. I vaguely recall Briggs.

[EFerrari]

83. I was in City Hall on a different floor when the murders happened,

left before the outcry, and hopped a bus to the Sherif's Jail at the Hall of Justice, was there while the PD was scrambling for White. (I translated in court in those days, and in all the jails.)

By the time I got to the Hall of Justice, there were people weeping at their desks and everyone was huddled around the nearest radio. And that was in the JAIL.

If you were in the area, you'll remember that this city felt just like we felt after 9/11. We were in shock for a long time. I was 21.

[CreekDog]

85. oh come now, you're just playing the race card now

:sarcasm: :eyes:

what i hate about this primary was that people kept telling me Obama couldn't win because he was black but that he was winning because he was black.

it was amoral AND stupid.

yet it passes as enlightened, educated political thought.