I certainly agree that "joking about the KKK" has no place anywhere. That is disgusting. But all I have to go by are 'reports' about pictures on a website, and I do not know if there truly was "joking about the KKK" at this party, or if so, what the context was. (Was it "illustrating absurdity with absurdity" by deliberately portraying a despicable stereotype that way too many blacks have of Republicans? I do not know.)
But I do know that the one guy who was in "black face" with a bicycle chain was deliberately mocking a certain campus black activist who was convicted of stealing a bicycle. Fair game, in my opinion, and no need to apologize. (A little over the top, I agree - - I wouldn't have done it myself....)
But again, please see the last part of my previous post. It would bother me to know that Battaglia posted those pictures with the idea of picking a fight. That would be as stupid as Rush Limbaugh making comments about racial/political issues on an ESPN football pregame show, for crying out loud! (I admire the heck out of the guy, but what in God's name was he thinking??)
By the way, I do not ever wish that black people would "magically disappear from the United States" and I resent the inference. It so happens that a large bulk of my business brings me into contact with individual black clients every week and most of them are the nicest, hardest working people I get to meet. I agree that the Republican Party better go after black voters. Republicans certainly must have a better idea than the Democrats' destructive welfare-state/vote-buying scheme that has all but destroyed the urban black family unit.
Regards,
LH
Hunter S. Thompson talks about radical politics in his ESPN column all the time. It seems that they are only concerned about the political message of some ESPN staffers. Call the sitting President the biggest criminal ever to hold the seat ("even worse than Nixon!") and Rush would have been alright.
ABCDisney News' slogan is "More Americans get their news from ABC than anyplace else". A lot of them get it from ABC radio news breaks but many still tune in to hear what Petah Jennings has to say.
Dan Ratherbiased has a lot of people who tune in every day.
It would be a misconception to call all of those who listen in every day (and don't miss a show) "fans". I would also say that as much as they may even respect these anchors' broadcast abilities, they would be hard pressed to try to answer for everything that these talking suits say.
Rush Limbaugh is a conservative and talks about issues with a conservative opinion but that does not mean that he speaks for all conservatives or that everything he says is from a "conservative" voice. He's one man and should not be used to taint a political idea.
Fair enough. But I would argue that even mentioning the KKK is not really an appropriate to illustrate the absurd and it honestly doesn't sound that way to me. A lot of blacks avoid the Republican party as a home for racists and don't consider the KKK a joking matter. They won't see any humor or irony in this. They'll simply see confirmation that what they believe is true -- Republicans are all closet racists.
But I do know that the one guy who was in "black face" with a bicycle chain was deliberately mocking a certain campus black activist who was convicted of stealing a bicycle. Fair game, in my opinion, and no need to apologize. (A little over the top, I agree - - I wouldn't have done it myself....)
It is fair game to mock a black activist for stealing bikes but not appropriate to do so in blackface. Criticizing the bike theft is fine but making it a racial issue with blackface is not. Blackface has a pretty nasty history as a form of racial mockery in this country. By the way, I do recommend Spike Lee's movie Bamboozled -- it's actually a pretty conservative movie, in my opinion, since it seems to hold blacks at least partially responsible for stereotyping themselves. It deals with the subject matter is blackface. It ends with clips from many movies of blacks acting in stereotyped roles and of whites in blackface. Although I don't consider every one of those clips racist (as I'm sure Spike Lee does), several of the blackface clips were enough to make me wince and I can see why blacks don't find it funny. And, yes, I'm holding a double standard by saying that Spike Lee can make fun of blackface for the same reason why its funny when Mel Brooks makes fun of Nazis.
But again, please see the last part of my previous post. It would bother me to know that Battaglia posted those pictures with the idea of picking a fight. That would be as stupid as Rush Limbaugh making comments about racial/political issues on an ESPN football pregame show, for crying out loud! (I admire the heck out of the guy, but what in God's name was he thinking??)
My impression is that he posted the picture for a limited audience. But that's beside the point. As a white, I've had other whites tell me racists jokes when no other blacks are around. I frankly don't want the leadership of a Republican group doing stuff like that in private because if it gets out, a lot of blacks are going to say, "Yup, just what we thought. Behind closed doors, they are a bunch of racists." And its going to leave black conservatives who do call themselves Republicans in the uncomfortable position of explaining why they aren't just Uncle Toms for the white racist Republicans. Yes, it may not be fair that Republicans are held to such a high standard but that's the challenge that they have to meet if they want to change the minds of many blacks. When you are fighting a stereotype, you need to erase any vestigages of that stereotype.
By the way, I do not ever wish that black people would "magically disappear from the United States" and I resent the inference. It so happens that a large bulk of my business brings me into contact with individual black clients every week and most of them are the nicest, hardest working people I get to meet.
And I'm quite happy to hear that. My point was twofold. First, there are a few racist Freepers and I was curious if I'd manage to draw out any of the "ship 'em back" crowd. I'm glad you are not a racist and apologize if I offended you. I wasn't really trying to call anyone in particular a racist so much as I was trying to post something that would give racists and non-racists an opportunity to show where they stand. Second, there are whites who are not necessarily racist but simply think that blacks can be ignored or left in ghettos. That isn't going to happen. The crime problem in predominantly black urban areas is an American problem, not simply a black problem. I was trying to get people in this group to think about that.
I agree that the Republican Party better go after black voters. Republicans certainly must have a better idea than the Democrats' destructive welfare-state/vote-buying scheme that has all but destroyed the urban black family unit.
The numbers of black conservatives are growing, and this is a good thing, but they are growing slowly. But the single biggest obstacle is that many blacks perceive the Republican party as a place that racists feel comfortable to call home and they don't want to have anything to do with it. That's a tough problem to solve and incidents such as this are a set-back, not progress.