Excerpt from an opinion piece in The Atlantic by Ta-Nehisi Coates:
For black people, the clear benefit of Obama is that he is quietly exposing an ancient hatred that has simmered in this country for decades. Rightly or wrongly, a lot of us grew tired of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, mostly because they presented easy foils for Limbaugh-land. Moreover, again rightly or wrongly, they were used to define all of us. …
But Barack Obama, bourgeois in every way that bourgeois is right and just, will not dance.He tells kids to study–and they seethe. He accepts an apology for an immature act of rudeness–and they go hysterical. He takes his wife out for a date–and their veins bulge. His humanity, his ordinary blackness, is killing them. Dig the audio of his response to Kanye West–the way he says, “He’s a jackass.” He sounds like one of my brothers. And that’s the point, because that’s what he is. Barack Obama refuses to be their nigger. And it’s driving them crazy.
5 Comments
I think there are a lot of people in this country who are angry because they thought the “white” in White House meant its occupants.
I received this comment in a private email. It is directed toward the media:
I totally agree. Let’s just take one example. How many Catholic priests were molesting young boys? But did we cut off all funding to the Catholic church or remove their tax exempt status?
I’m not defending ACORN or their employees. If laws were broken, then there should be criminal charges and trials. And the investigation should not be limited to those employees who were caught. If there is evidence of widespread misconduct, then the investigation should go all the way to the top. [enter sarcasm mode] You know, just like it did for the atrocities committed at Abu Ghraib.[exit sarcasm mode]
But to punish the entire organization because there were three instances of wrongdoing caught on tape, without any trial or even any real investigation? What happened to innocent until proven guilty?
I work in an industry that is Top 5 on the list with respect to unscrupulous and unethical behavior. However, it’s that old 98/2 rule of the 2% (or less) giving the 98% of us who behave honorably a bad reputation.
Our industry has responded by working within our industry and with the government to weed out the scum. But our whole industry, with thousands of representative companies, should not be lumped into the group who behave in a shameful manner.
Same goes for ACORN. Baby…bathwater…you get the idea.
Seriously though, this ACORN issue really has nothing to do with ACORN, does it? It’s just Phase III in the “Discredit Obama’s Presidency Plan” circa 2009, thanks to Glenn Beck, et al.
I have no love loss for the organization. Their organizers have a tendency to go into neighborhoods that already have strong community based organizations and try to take over. They act like the PIRGs in the way they treat their on-the-ground organizers.
I do support the general mission of ACORN, which is to help marginalized communities gain their own voice. And generally, they do it well, which is why they are such a target by Republicans. Which is why it has been a favorite target of Republicans for decades. The funny thing is ACORN is most effective in disrupting politics as usual at the local level. They have not been as effective at the statewide or national level.
There is one thing that really does irk me about the videos. ACORN was not wrong to be counseling the “pimp” and his “prostitute” on how to file for their taxes. The IRS makes it very clear that they do not care how you make your income, or even if you are documented. If you earn money, you need to pay your taxes. On that score, they were following federal law.
They were wrong on counseling the “undercover investigators” about how to get around the tax laws. The suggestion that their underage sex slaves could be counted as dependents is just as much tax fraud as the wealthy counting their maids as dependents.
And herein lies the biggest problem for me. There are 52,000 UBS accounts in Switzerland being used to hide an estimated $15 billion in taxable assets. Under the recently announced settlement, UBS agreed to hand over only 250 names. And our government agreed with that.
Apparently Congress has no problem with getting screwed by the remaining 51,750 US clients. But heaven forbid ACORN counsel someone to do exactly what the IRS says you have to do, even if you are a hooker.
Laws are for poor people. Wealth and power make you exempt.