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.
I like them so much I married one!
Your points are right on and to add to it.......what do you suppose the %'s are on these TV shows where the rapist, murderer or general slimeball is portrayed by a white guy vs. an oriental, mexican, or black guy. My guess is it has to be about 90-95% white vs. the others.......I've never seen an oriental or once in a blue moon a mexican or black as the key villain.
The question is why?......my thoughts are that there has been a very subtle conditioning process going on for some time to leave many people with the impression that white males are nothing more than beer swilling, fat, dumpy, clueless or limpwristed fools to be ridiculed and dumped on. We see it in commercials, TV and movies continuously and I believe the reason it's happening more and more is that those that manipulate the media see white males as the most viable threat to their PC correct, global/communistic style of governance they wish to impose on us.
Liberals say: "It's not fascism when we do it!"
Liberals say: "It's not fascism when we do it!"
I don't watch very much television..gasp...I don't even have cable at my main residence. You have confirmed what I have been seeing over the last few years, and I find it disturbing. I have also noticed that many ads with men in print and in commercials show competent men with a metro sexual slant. Onc recent paper towel commercial has a man in a lumberjack shirt...but he is acting like he should be wearing a dress. Earth to the advertising world...we women who shop for all this crap...love men who are really men!
AMEN!
I have NEVER understood why our legislators even condone having a Black Legislative Caucus (when of course a Legislative Caucus for the white guys would be racist.)
A curious, DWG...
Your points are right on and to add to it.......what do you suppose the %'s are on these TV shows where the rapist, murderer or general slimeball is portrayed by a white guy vs. an oriental, mexican, or black guy
yeah, but how many really awesome "minority" bad guys have there been? walken is probably one of the best. i love jack nicholson as a bad guy. travolta was a very convincing bad guy in a couple of his more recent movies. malkovich is always awesome too.
Truer words were never spoken...................
Ever stop to think how young girls might be processing all this negativity towards white males? If you're growing up as a pre-teen or teenage girl and all see you see on TV are a bunch of clueless, sniveling, limpwristed, masochistic white guys how might a young lady want to treat a boyfriend or future husband?......with contempt, lack of repsect, wariness, etc.? You have to realize that in todays world TV, movies, etc. IS reality to a lot of impressionable young people.
When my wife saw that ad, her comment was, "Just what every woman wants for her birthday. A cake, a dog, and a gay guy cleaning her kitchen."
Interstingly enough the Jerry Bruckheimer shows do not fit that mode: The CSI series, E Ring, Numbers, NCIS all have good diverse casting with a strong white male lead.
"When my wife saw that ad, her comment was, "Just what every woman wants for her birthday. A cake, a dog, and a gay guy cleaning her kitchen.""
LOL! That guy was wearing more mascara than Bette Davis.
Needless to say, in the past 10 years or so, we watch very little TV.
LOL....LexBaird, I am glad to see that you married a brilliant women! That commercial is actually creepy...glad to see that the advertisers are going after a target market...I just don't know who it is.
Ahhh yes, the Caucasian, Christian, heterosexual male. Possibly the most openly despised demographic in the free world.
...Especially if he's a father.
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