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Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Maureen Dowd Hates Southern People
Posted by Jack Hunter on Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 11:00 AM
When country artist Taylor Swift won the “Best Female Video” award at the MTV Music Awards Sunday night, hip-hop artist Kanye West jumped onstage, grabbed her microphone and declared that singer Beyonce Knowles, not Swift, had the best video. Why would a black man humiliate a young white girl to protest her beating a black woman for an award for best video? Racism, pure and simple.
How can I be so sure that West’s actions were racist? I can’t nor is it even necessary to go there. West’s rude behavior was bad enough without having to attribute some sort of racial motive that would be arguable at best.
But some insist on finding racism in everything anyway. When Rep. Joe Wilson shouted “you lie!” during Obama’s speech on healthcare last week most believed his behavior to be rude, including many who agreed with his sentiment and even the congressman himself, who later apologized. But Wilson is a white man who misbehaved during a speech by a black president. For liberal columnist Maureen Dowd, it was race, not rudeness, that told the real story:
“Surrounded by middle-aged white guys—a sepia snapshot of the days when such pols ran Washington like their own men’s club—Joe Wilson yelled ‘You lie!’ at a president who didn’t. But, fair or not, what I heard was an unspoken word in the air: You lie, boy!”
For Dowd, that he thought Obama was being deceptive didn’t just make Wilson emotionally angry-he was reverting to his true Southern, segregationist self. Continues Dowd:
“The congressman, we learned, belonged to the Sons of Confederate Veterans, led a 2000 campaign to keep the Confederate flag waving above South Carolina’s state Capitol and denounced as a ‘smear’ the true claim of a black woman that she was the daughter of Strom Thurmond, the ‘48 segregationist candidate for president. Wilson clearly did not like being lectured and even rebuked by the brainy black president presiding over the majestic chamber.”
There you have it. Wilson is not only a Southerner, but a proud one who blindly defended the honor of a decades-long senator who was as revered in South Carolina as Ted Kennedy was in Massachusetts, someone Democrat partisans, of course, would never stoop to defend. Given Wilson’s hate-filled hillbilly heritage as outlined by Dowd, the columnist assumes the congressman’s primary beef was having to endure a speech by an intelligent black man, not what that black man was actually saying. Though wildly speculative, that Wilson might harbor racial prejudice is at least arguable. That Dowd is prejudiced is not.
Dowd’s description of Wilson is a cartoon caricature of what liberals assume conservative whites, particularly Southerners who still hold onto their heritage, are really like. Through the filter of racial and identity politics that informs the Leftist mind, we have seen this liberal prejudice on full display the last few months, where too many politicians and pundits don’t simply see tea partiers and town hall protesters who are angry about big government—but racist, redneck whites who are just pissed off that the president is black. Dowd even admits her prejudice:
“I’ve been loath to admit that the shrieking lunacy of the summer - the frantic efforts to paint our first black president as the Other, a foreigner, socialist, fascist, Marxist, racist, Commie, Nazi; a cad who would snuff old people; a snake who would indoctrinate kids - had much to do with race.”
On the morning after West humiliated Swift on television, I posted a blog entitled “Kanye West Hates White People” which was both a take-off on West’s comments during the Hurricane Katrina disaster that “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” and my own intentionally absurd, “racist” example to parody the Left’s logic against Obama critics like Wilson. Many of the responses I received agreed that West’s behavior was rude but wanted to know on what grounds was I accusing the rapper of being racist? Where was the evidence? I really don’t have any and that’s the point. Neither does Maureen Dowd.
Dowd simply assumes racism must be the reason for the anger directed at Obama based on her own stereotypical perceptions of white conservatives and Southerners, with little to no contextual evidence to vindicate her assertion. That Taylor Swift is white and Kanye West is black does not necessarily make the rapper a racist despite his bad behavior. And that President Obama is black and Joe Wilson is white does not necessarily make the congressman a racist despite his bad behavior—not to mention his region of origin and Maureen Dowd’s imagination.
Comments (18)
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very well stated!!!! I'm sick of the race card ALWAYS being pulled when something doesnt go right. BWT, is Obama a racist because he called Kanye a jackass? Oh wait, they're both black so I guess it isnt racism !
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I see your point and agree mostly but as a Southerner I have to say that I do think Joe Wilson is a racist. Unlike you, I think campaigning to keep a symbol of hate flying above a state capitol, saying that to say Thurmond is your father as a black woman is a 'smear' against his reputation, and being a member of the Sons of the Confederacy is proof. I also believe he would not have screamed out "you lie" to any other president. I think that's partly because it's ingrained in him not to give a black man the same respect you give a white man.
That's fine if Ms Dowd hates Southerners, that is HER right.....but no worries, it just means we wont have to worry about her moving to the South and then telling us Southerners how we're "doing everything wrong". We CAN just choose to NOT read her articles--that is OUR right. Thinking that people are slow witted racists just because they happen to live in a certain geographical area is what is DUMB. (That's like saying having money means you have class).
So every time Ms Dowd makes sweeping generalizations about Southerners, she just shows her ignorance! It's truly unfortunate that Southerners cant be proud of where they're from without it meaning they are racist rednecks.
Being born and raised in South Carolina, I think you sight enough points above for me to think that this Joe Wilson guy is a racist. The more I learn about him the more I feel that he is truly a racist. 1) The confederate flag to black folks = the Nazi flag to Jews. What's the difference? 2) Why would he deny Thurmond's daughter other than the fact that she's black and he, Thurmond, was a separatist (at least back in the day when it was popular) and 3) he belongs to this confederate group...what else could this group be meeting about other than to honor the good ole day's when they could be upfront about who they truly are - white supremacists. Now of course he doesn't see himself as a racist, but he sure behaves like one.
@jack - I read your other article on Kanye and it sounds like you need a little enlightenment as well when it comes to race relations. Your position on your topics is suspect. You sound like the Limbaugh type...to question the obvious (i.e. Obama vs Racist Whites), but make accusation about the not so obvious like when you called Kanye a "thug". He's far from that and the only reason you would call him that is b/c he's black. How many black friends do you have? Friends that you actually hang out with?...I only ask b/c I believe that's part of the problem in our society. We're not familiar with the culture of other races which prevents us from being empathic to each other's causes/heritage/morals.
We are arguing about other peoples intentions and judging them accordingly. Bad behavior is just that, whether it is in Washington,DC or at the VMA awards. Everyone lighten up and treat your neighbors and acquaintences as God would have you do so. How hard is that really?
I have black friends, own and enjoy all of Kanye West's albums, and have no problem with Jack's column. These days it seems a racist is anyone who disagrees with Obama. About anything.
Obama was caught on tape saying Kanye is a jackass, which is true (thug might be a little strong, but Kanye is most certainly a jackass with an evidently low tolerance for booze), but if Joe Wilson had said that, it would be racism. Do I have it right?
Beyonce Knowles is a native of Houston, TX-southern by anyone's definition. Of course Jack's definition of "southerner" is exclusively white. Talk about the limits of identity politics and a lack of imagination . . .
That seems to be Jack's problem.when he sees southerners he only sees white southerners. The fact is that many southerners disagree with keeping the confederafte flag flying. A great many South Carolinians are offended by it. I am. How many African -Americans belong to The Sons of Confederate Veterans? Some did fight on the confederate side next to their owners and some freemen also fought in the confederate army I am told. The other point is if he was concernd about government lying, where was Joe when Bush presented budgets without including the funding for his war in Iraq. Those budgets were a "Lie". The fact that this is the first time in our history that this has occured doesn't help Joe much either considering the circumstances. I think Jack, you are defending an undefendable boorish act. That will look as bad on you as it does on Joe Wilson no matter Joe's motivation.
The South doesn't need outsiders telling it that things are done wrong here. Southerners themselves know that things are done wrong here. Its not just a Southern issue either. Like Sanford, many Northern (and Western etc.) politicians have dishonored their office with many resigning. Southern paranoia (and the associated cliches that come with that process) about what America thinks about them is an excuse to avoid any meaningful dialogue. America has problems everywhere and bumper sticker logic does nothing to address serious issues.
You don't have to be southern to know Joe Wilson's behavior was rude, disrepectful to the man holding the office of President of the United States, and to his colleagues. I was so ashamed of his behavior, and I too am a proud southern. I do not believe Maureen Dowd hates southerns. I think she hates the tearing down of beloved instutions...like the U.S. Congress. Behavior displayed by Wilson cannot and should not be allowed to pass without centure or reprimand. I am amazed to see his campeign coffers gorging at the seams $2 + million. What does this say about South Carolineans?
@ whoever said "symbol of hate". The fact that you see the Confederate battle flag as a symbol of hate is a result of decades of successful Yankee propaganda through the public school system and direct effort to nuture anti-white feelings in black people. If nothing else, the flying of the flag once a year should be done to honor the hundreds of thousands of Southerners who bravely sacrificed their lives in the face of a numerically superior invader. You may not have believed in their cause (and that's probably because you mistunderstand it), but they died honorably and deserve to be remembered for their sacrifice.
If you were a true student of the Antebellum period and the War for Southern Independece, you would see through such lies. I don't have time or space here to educate you about this matter. I will only encourage you as a fellow Southerner to open your mind and not blindly subscribe to the gospel of guilt and shamefulness which the US government has been preaching to Southerners since the war. You'll have to go beyond the mainstream to find the truth about the South, but it is out there if you're willing to look for it.
By the way, there ARE black people in the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Please do some research before such comments.
Deo Vindice.
Dowd does not refer to Wilson as a "hillbilly," but you do. As a native of Appalachia, I'd like to ask you to please keep your concept of "southern" out of my mountains, please. Joe Wilson is your problem, not mine.
"Why would a black man humiliate a young white girl to protest her beating a black woman for an award for best video? Racism, pure and simple" Uh it isn't racism if a black wrongs a white JACK, didn't you know that the double standard rule is in play here?? I just wish it had of been a white dude. Obama said it best. That was his white side speaking I guess.
This whole argument over the appropriateness isn't the real issue. The President of the United State IS NOT supposed to have the "bully pulpit" in Congress by holding them as a captive audience and lecturing them on the legislation that they are supposed to pass. The legislative branch is supposed to legislate not the executive branch. Who cares if a congresscritter showed our Great Holy Father in Washington a lack of respect when the whole show is a travesty to begin with.
jaredrship...you're right, the circumstances and events leading up to and during the civil war were complicated. however, one side supported the enslavement of a people based soley upon their race, and the other side did not. you would have to go pretty far out of the mainstream, like you said, to find any other analysis. i do not misunderstand their cause, and people may remember the fallen soldiers, but not at the expense of flying a flag that is a symbol of slavery and hurtful to so many.
Maybe it has nothing to do with hating the south, maybe it has to do with being sick and tired of being embarrassed by southerns! Over and over again!
I also think Wilson does not see himself as a racist, I think it is more of an institutional racism that says it is OK to disrespect a person of color. It is not even a thought, it is just a given.
And let us all remember that Storm was his mentor and remember what he said to Ms. Washington when she finally came out about Strom being her father.
You cannot sit at the feet of the King Dixiecrat and then say you hold no racists views.
And what happens if you do???? We call you a liar!
Agreed. To dignify the Civil War as a noble struggle is akin to describing Hitler as politically correct. To call that event the War of Northern Aggression is also incorrect when it was, in fact, the War of Southern Insolence. To all of you who espouse the racism disguised as Southern Heritage and find it appalling that anyone would disagree, perform a genealogical investigation of your family and, to coin a phrase, go back to where "they" came from. America doesn't need you.
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