Original Post - Jan 1, 2011 – 6:26 AM
Even though Hillary Clinton was being sarcastic when she said it during the 2008 Democratic presidential primary, a number of Americans truly did believe that after President Obama's election that "celestial choirs will be singing and everyone will know we should do the right thing ... and the world will be perfect."
That is essentially the notion of "post-racial America" – a theory many continue to pummel considering the bevy of racially charged headlines frustrating much of us throughout 2010.
Don't worry, naysayers, no one is arguing that America hasn't matured a bit over the years. The problem – very much a bipartisan one – is that we collectively still haven't matured enough.
That is essentially the notion of "post-racial America" – a theory many continue to pummel considering the bevy of racially charged headlines frustrating much of us throughout 2010.
Don't worry, naysayers, no one is arguing that America hasn't matured a bit over the years. The problem – very much a bipartisan one – is that we collectively still haven't matured enough.
1. Harry Reid
While the Senate majority leader deservingly has garnered praise for shepherding the efforts to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the Nevada senator annoyed some with his term "Negro dialect" to describe President Obama's eloquence. A month later he flat out angered black voters for exaggerating his role in the Civil Rights Movement to garner their support.
2. Sharron Angle
Senator Reid's surprisingly formidable Republican challenger for reelection nearly ended his tenure in the Senate. That is, until she alienated Latino voters and fair-minded people alike with a campaign ad that featured white high school graduates being targeted by three seemingly menacing Latino men described as "illegal aliens."
3. Jim Webb
The Democratic Virginia senator penned an op-ed entitled to argue that diversity programs benefitting immigrants were marginalizing white workers. Had he taken history and his own privilege into better account, perhaps the piece would've read more than just a cynical attempt to slum for the angry white male vote.
4. Michael Steele
In defense of criticism over a story about the RNC paying almost $2,000 at an LA-area bondage themed nightclub, the RNC Chairman claimed that "as African-America" he has "a slimmer margin for error than another chairman would." Whatever happened to him not wanting to "play the race card?"
5. Carl Paladino
Carl Paladino compared the president and first lady to a pimp and a ho, black people to monkeys, and said the plight of inner-city male black youth could be cured through welfare prison dorms and hygiene classes. And yet, he managed to secure the Republican nomination for governor in the state of New York! Need I say more?
6. Virginia Beach GOP
The now former Virginia Beach Republican Party chair Dave Bartholomew forwarded a racist email in which black people were compared to dogs looking for a free government check. The message said: "So I explained to her that my Dog is black, unemployed, lazy, can't speak English and has no frigging clue who his Daddy is."
7. Jim Greer
The next time a Republican complains about their party unfairly being branded as racist, tell them to start with the source: Themselves. In an apology issued to President Obama for claiming he was spreading "socialist ideology" to students, former Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer said, "Unfortunately, I found that many within the GOP have racist views." He wouldn't name names, but it's OK, that's why I'm here.
8. Rush Limbaugh
The multimillion-dollar-earning conservative radio host speaks on "racist Democratic leadership," opines that if President Obama weren't black "he'd be a tour guide in Honolulu," continues to claim that a big bad (and brown) group of outsiders governing this country secretly hate it. The craziest thing about is claims are that they continue to be so profitable.
9. Sarah Palin
No, I'm not calling her a racist but when discussing "post-racial" failures one must include the former Alaskan governor turned reality star. This past year, Palin conveniently denounced the NAACP for speaking out against the racist fringe within the Tea Party by claiming its members were all merely "patriotic Americans." She's since been the target of conservative commentators like David Frum, who wrote in reference to comments made about early American family life in her second book, "Palin's remark was the remark of somebody who looked back at the 1790s and saw only ... white people." If she plans on being president, she'll have to get a lot more honest about race and history in America.
10. Haley Barbour
Speaking of honest, history, race, and presidential ambitions, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is finally getting the national attention he's been clamoring for. Too bad it's for praising a racist group and saying he didn't remember them ever being that bad. I'm sure his base feels the same, only that faction of America is dwindling with each and each election.
While the Senate majority leader deservingly has garnered praise for shepherding the efforts to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the Nevada senator annoyed some with his term "Negro dialect" to describe President Obama's eloquence. A month later he flat out angered black voters for exaggerating his role in the Civil Rights Movement to garner their support.
2. Sharron Angle
Senator Reid's surprisingly formidable Republican challenger for reelection nearly ended his tenure in the Senate. That is, until she alienated Latino voters and fair-minded people alike with a campaign ad that featured white high school graduates being targeted by three seemingly menacing Latino men described as "illegal aliens."
3. Jim Webb
The Democratic Virginia senator penned an op-ed entitled to argue that diversity programs benefitting immigrants were marginalizing white workers. Had he taken history and his own privilege into better account, perhaps the piece would've read more than just a cynical attempt to slum for the angry white male vote.
4. Michael Steele
In defense of criticism over a story about the RNC paying almost $2,000 at an LA-area bondage themed nightclub, the RNC Chairman claimed that "as African-America" he has "a slimmer margin for error than another chairman would." Whatever happened to him not wanting to "play the race card?"
5. Carl Paladino
Carl Paladino compared the president and first lady to a pimp and a ho, black people to monkeys, and said the plight of inner-city male black youth could be cured through welfare prison dorms and hygiene classes. And yet, he managed to secure the Republican nomination for governor in the state of New York! Need I say more?
6. Virginia Beach GOP
The now former Virginia Beach Republican Party chair Dave Bartholomew forwarded a racist email in which black people were compared to dogs looking for a free government check. The message said: "So I explained to her that my Dog is black, unemployed, lazy, can't speak English and has no frigging clue who his Daddy is."
7. Jim Greer
The next time a Republican complains about their party unfairly being branded as racist, tell them to start with the source: Themselves. In an apology issued to President Obama for claiming he was spreading "socialist ideology" to students, former Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer said, "Unfortunately, I found that many within the GOP have racist views." He wouldn't name names, but it's OK, that's why I'm here.
8. Rush Limbaugh
The multimillion-dollar-earning conservative radio host speaks on "racist Democratic leadership," opines that if President Obama weren't black "he'd be a tour guide in Honolulu," continues to claim that a big bad (and brown) group of outsiders governing this country secretly hate it. The craziest thing about is claims are that they continue to be so profitable.
9. Sarah Palin
No, I'm not calling her a racist but when discussing "post-racial" failures one must include the former Alaskan governor turned reality star. This past year, Palin conveniently denounced the NAACP for speaking out against the racist fringe within the Tea Party by claiming its members were all merely "patriotic Americans." She's since been the target of conservative commentators like David Frum, who wrote in reference to comments made about early American family life in her second book, "Palin's remark was the remark of somebody who looked back at the 1790s and saw only ... white people." If she plans on being president, she'll have to get a lot more honest about race and history in America.
10. Haley Barbour
Speaking of honest, history, race, and presidential ambitions, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is finally getting the national attention he's been clamoring for. Too bad it's for praising a racist group and saying he didn't remember them ever being that bad. I'm sure his base feels the same, only that faction of America is dwindling with each and each election.
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