Posted on 10/12/2005 6:33:10 AM PDT by Quaker
There are just not a whole lot of things that white guys are good at these days.
We can’t jump, we can’t dance, we can’t flirt, we can’t play sports.
It’s just part of the territory, I guess. But the media love to remind us about it.
In director Peter Segel’s remake of the 1974 film “The Longest Yard,” Adam Sandler plays an ex-NFL quarterback turned prison inmate. As the story goes, Sandler’s character is put in charge of assembling an all-convict football team to play against the prison guards.
When he asks Chris Rock’s character if he ever played football, Rock replies, “Nah, I suck so bad, they used to pick me after the white kids.”
And it’s true. If one of us gets picked before you, then you must really suck.
But every once in a while, a white guy with talent will sneak in there.
The cover of last March’s Sports Illustrated on Campus featured a picture of Eastern Michigan basketball player Henry Bekkering with a caption that read, “How does it feel to be a white guy with hops?”
Bekkering, whose dunks can be seen all over the Internet, apparently has bought into it, too.
“When people see me, they don’t have any expectations. They’re like, ‘Oh, it’s just a white kid,’” he told Sports Illustrated.
And what else would you expect? Everyone knows white kids can’t play.
But imagine if the cover had featured something equally as stereotypical about another race.
What if MAAC Diver of the Year Chris Coles were featured on the cover with the caption, “How does it feel to be a black guy that can swim?”
Or Dallas Cowboys linebacker Dat Nguyen asking, “How does it feel to be a yellow guy that can tackle?”
Or what if PGA star Vijay Singh were on the cover and the caption read, “How does it feel to be a red guy that can drive a golf ball 300 yards?”
After his mandatory racial-sensitivity training course, the editor of the magazine would be looking for a new job tomorrow.
But it’s all fun and games as long as it’s white guys we are talking about.
Sometimes, the blind eye we turn to racist comments about white people isn’t quite so innocent, however.
After the press conference for the 2002 Mike Tyson-Lennox Lewis boxing match broke out in a brawl, freelance sports writer Mark Malinowski yelled out about Iron Mike, “Put him in a strait jacket!”
In front of a room full of reporters, Tyson then accused Malinowski of being “scared like a little white p----” when he didn’t take Mike up on his offer to fight.
As Sports Illustrated’s Rick Reilly later commented, “In American trash talk today, that’s three put-downs in a row. Little. White. And p----.”
But there was no demand for Tyson to apologize for his comments. Why would there be?
The only people Tyson offended were a bunch of white guys, and what were they going to do?
Unfortunately, the sports arena isn’t the only place where it’s in style to bash white guys.
A few years back, Al Gore’s campaign manager Donna Brazile, a black woman, accused Republicans of excluding and denigrating other people because of their “white-boy attitudes.”
With such a sophisticated argument, it’s hard to see why her comments weren’t taken seriously.
But imagine if Karl Rove made a negative comment about the Democratic Party and then blamed it on their “black-boy” attitudes.
It would have been on the front page of every newspaper in the country, and Rove would have been vilified on Capitol Hill.
Last week, white Tennessee state legislator Stacey Campfield tried to join the state’s Black Legislative Caucus but was turned down because his skin wasn’t dark enough.
Campfield claims that he wants to better represent his minority constituents, but Black Caucus member Larry Miller said he has no idea why Campfield wants to join “other than he is crazy and a racist.”
Which may be the case. But it’s hard to imagine an all-white political organization denying membership to a black legislator and then calling him the racist — even if it were Louis Farrakhan who wanted to join the group.
And even if white guys manage to do something notable, it gets passed over and downplayed by our modern PC society.
The famous photograph of three white firefighters — Dan McWilliams, George Johnson and Billy Eisengrein — hoisting the American flag at the World Trade Center ground zero was commissioned as the model for a $180,000 memorial statue. But when it came time for its creation, the artist changed two of the men’s identities to black and Hispanic.
Hey, no one wants three white guys memorialized in bronze forever.
But it’s cool. We’ve come to grips with it.
Things are just different when you’re a white guy.
Tennessee Rep. Stacy Campfield (R) is trying to join the state's black caucus. The caucus won't let him ..... he's too white.
Hat tip: Publius Rendezvous.
Black Caucus likened to KKK :
A white Republican lawmaker who contends he was excluded from Tennessee's black legislative caucus solely because of his race said Tuesday that the group is even more racist than the Ku Klux Klan.
"My understanding is that the KKK doesn't even ban members by race," Rep. Stacey Campfield, a freshman lawmaker from Knoxville, told The Associated Press, adding that the KKK "has less racist bylaws" than the black lawmakers' group.
"I definitely think they should allow white people in as members," Campfield said. "If we work together we might be able to pull things off and get things done."
Tennessee Black Caucus member Rep. Larry Miller, a Memphis Democrat, said no white lawmaker has ever asked to join. He acknowledged the group's bylaws mention only black lawmakers but said it might consider admitting a white lawmaker - just not Campfield....
Canfield explanation at KnoxNews:
Campfield defends remarks at GOP club
State Rep. Stacey Campfield said Monday night he originally requested a copy of the bylaws from Tennessee's black legislative caucus in the interest of furthering minority issues.
The freshman Republican was invited by the West Knoxville Republican Club to explain his recent remarks comparing the Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators' bylaws to those of the Ku Klux Klan, made after his request for membership to the minority group was rebuffed.
Campfield said a black constituent had informed him earlier that, on average, blacks have higher rates of diabetes, heart disease and other health problems.
"I represent everybody I thought maybe there's something I can do to help out," he told the all-white crowd at the club meeting. "The more people you have in a group, the more the diversity, the better it's going to be."
Campfield added that he knew from the outset how his choice of words about the caucus would be perceived, and that he would be labeled a racist.
"I knew it was going to go that way," said the 37-year-old lawmaker, who repeatedly has gained publicity for his comments, like those deriding abortion and gay adoption on his conservative Web log. "It's really turned into the politics of personal attacks."
Campfield said Democrats have little ability to challenge Republican policies and instead turn to attacks on character.
"Until we take over, those are the fights we'll be fighting," he said.
Attendee Ron Isenberg asked the first-time elected official whether he felt his statements were a mistake.
In response, Campfield maintained his previous explanation that his KKK comparison only spoke to the black caucus' bylaws, not the organization.
Asked what he knew of the Klan's bylaws, he said the group "has a long and storied history of discrimination."
Perhaps illegal donations are involved. More here from the Tennessean
Some Libs are dealing Michelle Malkin a race card too.
What he said is very true.
Ahhh yes, the Caucasian, Christian, heterosexual male. Possibly the most openly despised demographic in the free world.
"Ahhh yes, the Caucasian, Christian, heterosexual male. Possibly the most openly despised demographic in the free world."
More of the left's double standards. For years they've been telling us, words hurt, that innocent jokes aren't innocent. The NCAA bans mascots that they find insulting.
Yet, jokes about white guys are ok. White men constantly are portrayed on television as bumbling fools or losers. Stereotypes about whites are rampant and enjoyed by all.
And where is the NCAA when it comes to the Notre Dame Fighting IRISH?!
I'm sick of it. I used to find liberals amusing. Now, I am angry. Not sure if it's my age, or I've just had enough.
what do they expect from all of the "de-manning" of men?
if a man refuses to stand, knock him down
and richest!!! Hmmmm
Just saying the word "negro" is now "hate crime".
Just wait, Mr. Dyer, there's more. Some day you may be married, a father, a taxpayer, a church goer, a gun owner, then you'll know what it is to be at the bottom of the social foodchain.
On the upside, you won't have any time for pop culture or TV so that crap won't matter.
I'm in advertising--hence the name. I refuse to create ads featuring the "dumb white guy." Next time you watch TV just look at how many ads feature some "dumb white guy" getting shown up by some smart black man or woman, or white woman or kid. It's so insulting. If I weren't in the business, I'd write the advertiser and tell them. As it is, I just refuse to write those type of ads, or buy products that feature the "dumb white guy."
I want to be a racist(I admire Jesse Jackson), welfare is my ticket to success, I want to impregnate 3 different women and leave them to support our kids. I want Hillary! to be President.
/sarcasm
"I'm in advertising--hence the name."
Wow, a conservative in advertising? Must be interesting? I assume there is a vast majority of liberals in advertising.
I don't watch a lot of TV, but I watch enough that I've noticed that most if not all white male leads, (either in commercials, or in sitcoms), are either idiots or losers. Writing the company that is doing the advertising is a good suggestion.
I'll take that advice.
Amen!! A couple of evenings ago my husband and I were watch a re-re-repeat of America's Funniest Home Videos. Some were funny, some cute, and some just plain dumb. But there was one thing that troubled me more and more as the show progressed was the number of videos featuring -- how can I put this delicately? -- [white] men getting hurt below the waist. There were 4 of these "funny" videos.
And the second to the last one was a film of a little [white] boy about 8 or so at what looked to be a petting zoo. Yup, you guessed it. It was clear the kid was crying not only in surprise/fear but in pain, but how the audience just roared with laughter!
I turned to my husband and said, "You know, this wasn't all that funny to start, and it's really not funny now. You'd think they'd ever show a video of a woman getting hit in the breast with a baseball or a golf ball? Would that be considered funny? Then why..."
And my husband, seeing I was about to get up on the old soap box, fell back on the tried-and-true "Yes,dear. I agree. Yes, dear. Look. A commerical. I'm goin' to the bathroom."
It's not what is being said, it's who saying it. I hate to say it but, white men(particularily christian) are the new n------ when it comes to verbal abuse.
I know a conservative in advertising is a rarity. My biggest dilemma was when I was offered the job of rewriting my state's democratic website. The capitalist in me was dying to take it, but I couldn't do it. I would have made too much money for them.
"It is politically correct to be named Vikings, Spartans, Lumberjacks...."
It's the stupid, illogically applied double standard that irritates me.
When do the come after the name Browns? That would be fun.
I wear it as a badge of honor.
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