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A couple of colorful instances of racial antagonism have made it into my news feeds over the past couple of days. It is difficult to know what to make of anecdotal evidence, whether we are getting worse or whether these are isolated cases. Personally, I am inclined to associate the growth of right-wing politics with racism, but how tight that association is, I cannot say.
In the first instance, we have a black school principal in Brooklyn, Ms. Greta Hawkins, who disallowed the singing of Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" at a kindergarten graduation. She has since gotten a lot of nasty messages. Here is the more provocative one showcased in the news story:
"You are a filthy, dirty, ugly subhuman gorilla... Lets hope that AIDS will do what sickle cell anemia failed to do, exterminate your whole simian race."
Though, it should be said that Ms. Hawkins also barred Justin Bieber's "Baby", and so this could just be about some excitable Bieber fans, but probably not. Personally, I suspect she simply has a decent aesthetic sense for good music.
In the other case, we have a Tea Partier, Ms. Inge Marler, who was apparently a little too comfortable in her speaking engagement, as she let fly this joke:
Marler describes a black child asking his mother what a democracy is.
‘Well, son, that be when white folks work every day so us poor folks can get all our benefits,’ the mother responds.
‘But mama, don’t the white folk get mad about that?’ the boy asks, to which she replies: ‘They sure do, son. They sure do. And that’s called racism.’
Now, the Ozark Tea Party, the hosts of this rally, are reported to be shocked by these remarks, "Oh, my gosh!" But, you know, old habits die hard, and in these politically correct times, one must be discreet.
In the first instance, we have a black school principal in Brooklyn, Ms. Greta Hawkins, who disallowed the singing of Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" at a kindergarten graduation. She has since gotten a lot of nasty messages. Here is the more provocative one showcased in the news story:
"You are a filthy, dirty, ugly subhuman gorilla... Lets hope that AIDS will do what sickle cell anemia failed to do, exterminate your whole simian race."
Though, it should be said that Ms. Hawkins also barred Justin Bieber's "Baby", and so this could just be about some excitable Bieber fans, but probably not. Personally, I suspect she simply has a decent aesthetic sense for good music.
In the other case, we have a Tea Partier, Ms. Inge Marler, who was apparently a little too comfortable in her speaking engagement, as she let fly this joke:
Marler describes a black child asking his mother what a democracy is.
‘Well, son, that be when white folks work every day so us poor folks can get all our benefits,’ the mother responds.
‘But mama, don’t the white folk get mad about that?’ the boy asks, to which she replies: ‘They sure do, son. They sure do. And that’s called racism.’
Now, the Ozark Tea Party, the hosts of this rally, are reported to be shocked by these remarks, "Oh, my gosh!" But, you know, old habits die hard, and in these politically correct times, one must be discreet.
