I have been doing an experiment over at the Daily Kos this last month or so. I have long been fascinated by liberal racism, and given what I heard about Daily Kos' war on black bloggers, it seemed the perfect time to do some recon.
Little did I realize what a productive and revealing experience I would have with the "Kossacks."
My post on Herman Cain's minstrel antics and Birth of a Nation has caused folks to stroke out. There are some defenders, but I may be banned in that neck of the woods very soon. At almost 400 comments later--yes I said 400--the ugliness and bullying continues.
If you have a Daily Kos account, please go there and vote my post "up" so that it will go on the front page. And do read the comments, they are a great insight into the pathology of white privilege as enacted through a liberal left "progressive" frame.
10 comments:
Please continue to shine your light into the darker recesses of white privilge and the judgmental racial posturing of some self-identified "liberals". Those types can't understand the difference between guarding one's own tongue and policing the speech of others. Only an ignorant and unreflective nitwit would see racism in your post.
As a white, female liberal, I have no clue why people have a problem with your post. Are they just uncomfortable talking about race in any way? Or do they see more?
The comments I read (I bounced around due to the large number) didn't give much insight - they were so vague and just "I don't like it".
Yet another example of "I don't understand people."
Liberal racism? Privileged liberal bullshit certainly, but not necessarily racism. There is a certain type of liberal who holds personal comfort above all other ideals. So too much truth about sex or race, or too-sharp criticism of Obama and Democrats, or placing blame on all Republican voters and not just the leaders or on "rednecks" they can see as other and therefore not deal with... all those things send them into an emotional tailspin. These are the dangerous folks that MLK called out in his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"...
He said it: "They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."
Oh, never mind... I found it. The whole "if you talk about race, you're a racialist, and that means you're one step away from a racist. "Complaining about the KKK is one step away from being in the KKK. Shut up, sit down, vote Democrat. We'll get around to your issues someday, if only you'll shut up."
Wow! They have progressive website rules and everything. Look to the future. I signed up but apparently it takes 24 hours before one can comment.
Yep, you're right about all of it.
All very interesting. I have read your blog off and on for about a year and a half now, and I always find it a good thing to have done, even when it makes this (white, female, academic) reader uncomfortable. Everyone should try to enter discourse that is unfamiliar and that asks us to gate-check our internalized issues. I don't always agree with your thoughts, and I don't have to--but you never shut down discussion, which is, ultimately, what we in the aggregate need if we are to "progress" anytime soon. When reading your Birth of a Nation post the other day, I started thinking about just these very issues--my level of discomfort, why I felt that way. Glad to see this follow-up--moves me a little bit more into new directions.
@Anon. I use my special light, but then I end up seeing how filthy the bed sheets are.
@anon2. I am glad you see the ridiculousness at work. So much arrogance and racism denying. I don't like it so it must not be true.
@Improbable. I never learned to shut up. Maybe that is why I am not rich?
@Sabrina. Do search around and do some recon. Some good, but lots of foul stuff there.
@literate. Thanks for chiming in. We don't do a praise dance amen chorus here so do speak up when you agree or disagree. Nice to have you.
I have been calling Cain the court jester for the Brothers Koch for months now. However, you were spot on calling Cain a minstrel act. It dawned on me: Cain is playing the kind of black man that Archie Bunker would have supported. Enjoy your turn of phrase and insightful articles. Take care. -MG
Post a Comment