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'Brilliant' Ifill Cousin Scours Palin As 'Offensive to Black Women'
Newsbusters ^ | October 2, 2008 | Tim Graham

Posted on 10/02/2008 10:07:23 AM PDT by Anti-Hillary

Here are more signs Sarah Palin could face an uphill battle with PBS host Gwen Ifill. Professor Sherrilyn Ifill of the University of Maryland Law School, whom Gwen Ifill has lauded as "my brilliant baby cousin," has written that black women are not buying Sarah Palin’s "false claims to feminism" and is portrayed as too perfect: "when women who are privileged present as though they have it all together, it’s offensive to black women." (Photo from Soros.com)

The Community Times, a suburban Maryland newspaper, found Professor Ifill was ardently opposed to the Alaska governor when they did an e-mail interview:

"From the first day, Palin presented herself as shooting a bear in the morning, field dressing it, cooking up the breakfast, diapering the babies, passing legislation in the afternoon, cleaning the house, satisfying her husband, etc., etc., etc. And it's just not true," she wrote in an e-mail interview. "It's hard to be an average working mom, really hard. And when women who are privileged present as though they have it all together, it's offensive to black women."

She said, "black women are not easily confused by false claims to feminism. When women like Palin lay claims to ‘representing' average women, I think that black women have a visceral reaction to it."

Ifill added that Palin "missed her opportunity when she announced Bristol's pregnancy to explicitly talk about how painful it was to her as a mother - instead of making it as though this too was also part of her perfect life.

"Hillary has the sympathy of women because of what she went through with Bill in front of the whole country. Michelle [Obama] takes pains to be self-deprecating and to talk about her concerns and fear about her girls. She insists that she couldn't do what she does without the help of her mother. Most importantly, both champion issues that affect the lives of real, average women - universal health care, equal pay, choice, etc. To do so is a recognition that real working women (not political wives or politicians) need policies that will help them maintain their families. What's the point of Palin's brand of feminism if it doesn't translate into real returns for average women?"

It can be noted that the professor is so passionate an Obama supporter that she also denounced Hillary Clinton as a phony feminist: "When she knocked back a shot and a beer in that bar in Pennsylvania, Mrs. Clinton ended any pretense of running as a feminist." She compared it to Michael Dukakis in a tank, a failed "macho stunt."

Gwen Ifill’s family pride came through in her monthly washingtonpost.com online chat on October 4, 2007:

Pittsburgh, Pa.: Is Professor Sherrilyn Ifill at the University of Maryland Law School, who's spoken out so eloquently and thoughtfully on symbols of racial hatred lately, any relation to you?

Gwen Ifill: She is indeed my brilliant baby cousin, and the author of an excellent book "On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the 20th Century."

Cousin Gwen supported that book at an event at the liberal D.C. bookstore Politics and Prose. As The Politico reported in February of 2007:

Ifill's reading illustrates how decisions are made. She had everything you need: a name to draw a crowd (her cousin, moderator of PBS's "Washington Week," introduced her); a friendship with Jim Lehrer of "The News Hour," also on PBS; and a book with a liberal, social-justice bent, about lynchings that took place outside the Deep South.

"Jim Lehrer's a great friend of the store," Meade said, adding that the store probably would have held the reading anyway, given the content of Ifill's book. "If it's something that involves civil rights, civil liberties, we're pretty interested in it usually."

The idea that Politics and Prose has a liberal bias has caused the store some consternation, but it's rooted in reality. The bookstore draws a graying, turtleneck crowd in a neighborhood known for its liberal politics in a city that gave George W. Bush fewer than 22,000 votes in 2004. Would you expect the shelves to be buckling under the weight of Sean Hannity and Co.'s latest books?

The bookstore's most well-known snub went to Matt Drudge, a conservative and the creator of The Drudge Report. Cohen reportedly called him "a rumormonger and a troublemaker" in 2000 when the store rejected his request for a reading.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 2008vpdebate; feminazism; gwenifill; howtostealanelection; notafeministmovement; palinbashing; racecard; riggeddebates; sherrilynifill; tnb
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To: keepitreal
Hmmm. Then the uber-perfect Michelle Obama, crusader, executive, lawyer, loving wife, Mom, fashion plate, must be really offensive to black women, eh?

Excellent point!

BTTT

21 posted on 10/02/2008 10:15:32 AM PDT by Constitution Day (don't panic)
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To: indylindy

She didn’t abort her baby. It sticks in their craw.


22 posted on 10/02/2008 10:15:45 AM PDT by weegee (Obama's a uniter?"I want you to argue with them (friends,neighbors,Republicans) & get in their face")
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To: Anti-Hillary

Interesting that this revolves solely around race and not personality, policies or politics. “Black” women this and “black” women that.

And they wonder why racism is rampant in America - look at the source.


23 posted on 10/02/2008 10:16:17 AM PDT by DustyMoment (FloriDUH - proud inventors of pregnant/hanging chads and judicide!!)
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To: Anti-Hillary

OMG not another “WHITE PRIVELDGE” CROONER


24 posted on 10/02/2008 10:16:31 AM PDT by Texas4ever (SIT DOWN JUNIOR :))
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To: Fred

She offends because she is not black.

######

Precisely.

And if not black, not a cowardly, self-hating white “progressive” who cowers in supplication before the typical (yes, typical), big-mouthed, in-your-face black “racism” accusation thuggery.


25 posted on 10/02/2008 10:17:33 AM PDT by EyeGuy (Obama will deliver America on a Leash to an envious world.)
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To: ScottinVA

Same reaction as to Clarence Thomas. How dare he be black and conservative?


26 posted on 10/02/2008 10:17:49 AM PDT by Marauder (2 Timothy 3:1-5)
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To: Anti-Hillary
Ifill's reading illustrates how decisions are made. She had everything you need: a name to draw a crowd (her cousin, moderator of PBS's "Washington Week," introduced her); a friendship with Jim Lehrer of "The News Hour," also on PBS; and a book with a liberal, social-justice bent, about lynchings that took place outside the Deep South.

Ifill and Lehrer. Remind me again who the moderator of the president debate was?

27 posted on 10/02/2008 10:18:15 AM PDT by itsthejourney (Sarah-cuda IS the right reason)
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To: Anti-Hillary
Professor Sherrilyn Ifill of the University of Maryland Law School

Perhaps the good professor could inform us of how she attained her position... privilege, perhaps?

28 posted on 10/02/2008 10:18:54 AM PDT by frankenMonkey (101st Airborne Army Dad)
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To: Anti-Hillary
Black women offended?

That's very sad. They aren't offended when they birth children with no known father, or one that won't stay with them, but fault a family girl, because she's white.

What a pathetic race.

29 posted on 10/02/2008 10:19:23 AM PDT by G.Mason (Duty, Honor, Country)
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To: Red Badger
Privileged? Sarah! is nowhere near privileged..........

To a black feminist professor, the simple fact that she's white makes her "privileged".

30 posted on 10/02/2008 10:21:00 AM PDT by kevkrom (Beware the "Blueshirts": Obama's own jack-booted thugs)
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To: skeeter

Sad they’re guilty of seeing “color” & not CHARACTER.
Shame on them both.


31 posted on 10/02/2008 10:22:31 AM PDT by FES0844 (FES0844)
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To: skeeter
White people, in general, are offensive to this kind of black woman.

And this type of black woman is offensive to white people, in general.

32 posted on 10/02/2008 10:22:39 AM PDT by Prokopton
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To: Anti-Hillary

this is such a one-sided bunch of BS I’m rolling up my pants legs.

Michelle Obama is “self-depreciating?” Somebody needs to review the definition of self-depreciating.

Black women are offended by Sarah Palin why? Maybe cause she IS successful, because she DOES work, because she DOESN’T sell off her morals and ethics, because she DOESN’T give up, because she IS respectful of others, because she HAS a good self-image....all while being the hockey mother that she is.


33 posted on 10/02/2008 10:22:58 AM PDT by hoe_cake (" 'We the people' tell the government what to do, it doesn't tell us." Ronald Reagan)
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To: Anti-Hillary

http://www.commongroundcommonsense.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=90084&st=1180&p=850346&#entry850346

(Sorry for the above link ... the Sun’s is no longer valid.)

www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.feminist08jun08,0,2269955.story

baltimoresun.com
No loss for feminism
By Sherrilyn A. Ifill

June 8, 2008

In the next few days, the historical narrative about the presidential primary race between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton will become set in stone. The contest between a powerful and talented black man and a powerful and talented white woman has already become, in the minds of many, a story about the continuing power of sexism over racism as a barrier to equality.

But very little about the candidacy of Hillary Clinton reflected feminism.

First of all, to be a modern feminist necessarily means to reject racism. No 21st-century feminist could fail to understand the complicated but very real connection between patriarchy and white supremacy. Thus, it is impossible to run a campaign as a feminist while making racist appeals to white, male voters. But Mrs. Clinton did just this. In advance of the Pennsylvania and Indiana primaries, both explicitly and in not-so-subtle racial terms, she spoke to white, working-class, male voters - purporting to understand them in ways that Mr. Obama could not, and giving permission for these voters to regard race as a legitimate reason to support her. Her unabashed embrace of what she described as the “hard-working, white American” vote was stunning in its insensitivity.

Clinton supporter Geraldine A. Ferraro’s comment that Mr. Obama had achieved his success in the campaign only because he’s black (a comment Ms. Ferraro made about the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson’s candidacy in the 1980s, and one she has repeated several times since April) was rejected by Mrs. Clinton only tepidly and belatedly.

Moreover, Mr. Obama’s gift of oratory - long the strong suit of black political, social and religious leaders - was dubbed inconsequential by Mrs. Clinton, almost as though being black and charismatic is cheating. Thus, one of the most powerful gifts in any politician’s arsenal, the ability to inspire and uplift through oratory, was deemed by the Clinton campaign as proof that Mr. Obama was unqualified for office. And like an employer testifying in an employment discrimination lawsuit, Mrs. Clinton ignored the rest of Mr. Obama’s résumé as a community organizer and state legislator, and said on morning news programs that his entire career was based “on a speech he made in 2004.”

(snip)


34 posted on 10/02/2008 10:24:45 AM PDT by maggief
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To: Anti-Hillary

Both of these black radicals are RACIST!!!!!!!!!

LLS


35 posted on 10/02/2008 10:26:14 AM PDT by LibLieSlayer (GOD, Country, Family... except when it comes to dims!)
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To: Anti-Hillary
Most importantly, both champion issues that affect the lives of real, average women ... [blah blah blah], choice, etc... What's the point of Palin's brand of feminism if it doesn't translate into real returns for average women?"

That's what it boils down to. As far as feminism is concerned, success can only be measured by the number of dead babies.

36 posted on 10/02/2008 10:26:51 AM PDT by Sloth (Pontius Pilate voted 'present'; Barrabas was community organizer.)
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To: NormsRevenge
You don’t get to be Governor by being cute.. unless you’re a democrat.

You ever seen any "cute" democrats?


37 posted on 10/02/2008 10:29:15 AM PDT by Arrowhead1952 (PELOSI & REID = Worst congress ever.)
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To: Post Toasties

GO SARAH, GO SARAH, GO SARAH...

We need to start a “ Prayer Room” for Sarah tonight...


38 posted on 10/02/2008 10:29:41 AM PDT by pollywog (I will lift mine eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help. My help comes from the Lord...Ps 121)
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To: Anti-Hillary

Ever notice how they bury the really good stuff at the end of articles? I sure do.

The brilliant baby cousin Ifill.. well looks like her bookstore snubbed Mr. Drudge and didnt let him have a reading. Ouch...its not nice to pi$$ off someone whose website gets over 6 million hits a day. Does anyone else think this would have gotten the ‘legs’ it has today if Matt hadnt put it up as his banner?


39 posted on 10/02/2008 10:31:14 AM PDT by PennsylvaniaMom (The 0bama Youth Choir, Making Joyous Noise Unto 0bama, From Whom All Glories Flow.)
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To: skeeter

Re: “White people, in general, are offensive to this kind of black woman”

Keep talking, Ifill and company -— just reading about her and her lawyer “baby cousin” is disgusting. The cousin’s book is all about race, lynchings and such, and Gwen’s book supposedly touts Obama and his fabulous successes. Uh huh..

My suspicion is that the more the blacks show their racism against whites during the next month, that old Bradley effect will rear its head higher than before and McCain/Palin could emerge surprisingly victorious.


40 posted on 10/02/2008 10:31:30 AM PDT by CaliforniaCon
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