I was discussing the news story about Rush Limbaugh participating in a bid to purchase the St. Louis Rams franchise with a co-worker yesterday. (Rush has since abandoned the bid.) The thing that struck me about the conversation was my co-worker's casual assertion, "Rush Limbaugh is a racist."
Now there are a number of bogus racist quotations being attributed to Rush Limbaugh, including particularly outrageous ones where Limbaugh supposedly defends slavery and uses racially charged language about the NAACP. There is not a shred of documentation or evidence that Limbaugh ever made these comments. They were supposedly made years ago to a radio audience that numbers 20 million per week, which begs the question why they are only coming out now. Limbaugh has flatly denied ever making them. Yet CNN & MSNBC continue to report these and other unsourced quotes about Limbaugh as fact. It is not Rush Limbaugh's responsibility to prove he didn't say something. It is the media's responsibility to prove he did say it -- and to prove that it is being presented fairly in context. And they can't.
The only "racist" quote about Limbaugh that can be proved was his statement as a sports commentator for ESPN six years ago, in which Limbaugh accused the media of overlooking Donovan McNabb's incompetence as a quarterback because they wanted a black quarterback to succeed. Now I will readily concede that this statement was stupid and insensitive, but racist? This, by itself, seems very shaky evidence to build a case against Rush Limbaugh of being racist, considering that his daily radio show sidekick (Mr. Snerdley) and one of his guest-hosts (Walter Williams) are both black. The truth is, for someone as outspoken as Rush Limbaugh who has been on the radio 3 hours per day every day for decades, it is pretty easy to dig up a few old quotes, take them out of context, and magically produce evidence of racism.
I think this issue goes far beyond Rush Limbaugh. "Racism" has become a cheap word that is thrown around with little thought or evidence behind it. The New York Times accused Joe Wilson of being a racist simply for (correctly) saying the words "You lie!" to a president who happens to be black. Several famous people, including Jimmy Carter and Bill Cosby, have accused opponents of President Obama's health care plan of being primarily motivated by racism. Singer Dave Matthews has gone on record saying that large swaths of the American people are racist. Where is the evidence for any of these accusations? Is it now racist simply to oppose the policies of the president? Has "racism" now become a synonym for "Republican" or "conservative"?
There are two really bad results of this misuse of the word "racist." One is that the reputations of many good people are being destroyed. Once you are branded a "racist," it is often very hard to shake that label -- even if the accusations are completely unfair. All you have to do is make a politically incorrect joke that is misinterpreted by someone or a controversial statement that is taken out of context -- and suddenly you are a hateful bigot to be shunned by polite society.
The other sad result of this misuse of the word "racist" is that real racism is minimized and cheapened. Racism is a particularly ugly form of prejudice that is still very much present in our society. Unfortunately, when everyone is crying "racism" at the drop of a hat, it is hard to recognize and confront racism for what it really is. People are afraid to discuss racial issues honestly and openly because they think they will be accused of bigotry themselves. And so racial prejudice simmers under the surface and becomes even more deadly.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
This is something that irks me, also. Disagreeing with somebody of a different race does not constitute racism. It baffles me how so many people can play these idiotic word games. If you don't like what somebody is saying, then redefine some "bad word" to include the things he is saying or doing. It makes me wonder if, just maybe, these race-baiters are actually smart enough to know what the word "racism" means and are playing dumb for the sake of their agenda.
Wait...did you say that Bill Cosby accused Obama's critics of racism? That surprises me.
I agree with your statement that racism is minimized and cheapened when "oppressed" minorites constantly cry "racism". Racial discrimination probably still occurs, but the cynical side of me is skeptical every time I hear a complaint about it.
I think that maybe, as with most issues in life, the best policy is to speak your mind about racial issues and not to worry about what stupid people think of you.
(Re-posting due to misspelling.)
There is a huge double standard here. On the one hand, Rush gets nailed with extolling the murderer of MLK -- in a quote which he actually never said, and has been shown to be a fabrication.
On the other hand, Obama's public spokespeople can extol the virtues of people a _whole lot more evil_ than James Earl Ray and nobody on the Left bats an eyelid. I'm referring to Anita Dunn, whom Glenn Beck recently showed in a video quoting wisdom from one of her "favorite" philosophical writers, Mao Tse Tung, to school kids just this spring.
C'mon, people. Rush is not evil, he just has a different political bent than this administration. However, anybody who holds out the struggles for domination of mass murdering dictators as an example for school kids to follow is promoting ideas that are horribly offensive. Anita Dunn should be in the papers right now for offensive speech, not Rush.
If it's bad to say something nice about James Earl Ray and his "life work", why isn't it bad to say something nice about Chairman Mao and his?
Just for the sake of beating this dead horse some more:
- MLK was a peaceful protester who worked hard to win civil rights and liberties for Americans.
- It is beyond dispute that Chairman Mao and his movement were responsible for the _peacetime_ deaths of tens of millions of Chinese people during their ascent to power and after they held power.
- James Earl Ray has a name that has gone down in infamy because he killed this peaceful political protester.
- Chairman Mao would kill 50 Martin Luther Kings before breakfast. I'm speaking metaphorically, but I think everyone sees my point -- peaceful political protest would get you a bullet in the back of your head under Mao.
- Martin Luther King worked to eliminate the ugly relics of racial slavery in America.
- Mao enslaved the most populous nation on earth.
- Martin Luther King believed that human beings should have equal opportunities in a purely merit based society.
- (Leftists will tune out here) Mao believed that a select few should have everything, even if much of the nation descended into poverty under a farcical veneer of equality.
- Martin Luther King promoted the importance of human life.
- Mao rather famously went on record as considering Chinese human life as a cheap and disposable commodity.
So my question is, does Anita Dunn consider Chinese people to be human beings? How does she think they will feel when they hear her lecture school kids and praise the philosophy and ascent to power of Chairman Mao? Doesn't she realize how offensive her speech is? Could her careless choice of philosophical guides be called racism, based on insensitivity toward Chinese people?
Does Anita Dunn perhaps think that MLK was a purely American / Western phenomenon, and that there were no peaceful protesters for civil rights and liberty in China who should be accorded the same honor as Americans do MLK? Does she know what Mao did to those people?
Just askin'.
Some Dude - yeah, I was surprised about Bill Cosby agreeing with Jimmy Carter too. And disappointed. I would expect that from Jesse Jackson, but not from Bill Cosby.
I understand your point about speaking your mind about racial issues regardless of how people may distort what you say -- but most people will shut up before they will risk having their reputation destroyed by a relentless media that cares nothing about truth. And in some ways I can't blame them. The dishonesty of the media has caused untold harm to our society.
Wow Andrew...great thoughts. Thanks for taking the time to write.
It's no surprise that Glenn Beck is such a target of the Democrats (another good man who has recently been falsely accused of racism by the media lynch mob). He is covering stories and exposing truth that NO ONE else in the mainstream media will touch with a 10-foot pole. If it weren't for him, people would truly be in the dark about Obama and his radical administration.
I was not aware of the Anita Dunn comments. They are disgraceful and offensive, but unfortunately not shocking to me. Because this kind of stuff is so common coming from people in the Obama administration. I posted earlier about Kevin Jennings and other radical, radical people Obama has appointed to top positions in his administration. Obama has deep personal ties to people who live and breathe hatred and violence like Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers. And most people are completely in the dark because the media won't report any of it. As ignorant and misled as so many Americans have become, I think a majority of them would be upset if they really knew.
The Obama crowd turns right and wrong on its head. They support Third World dictators and Marxist ideology, squelch personal freedom, and support killing of innocent human life (abortion). And all the while, they call people who dare to oppose their policies racists, liars, evilmongers, and uncompassionate.
Here's a link that follows up on Andrew's point about contrasting Rush Limbaugh with Anita Dunn. If you're still capable of being shocked by the U.S. media's bias, you should be shocked by the fact that only one TV news anchor out all the news networks and anchors in this country has even mentioned the horrible comments that the White House Communications Director made to schoolchildren recently praising one of the worst mass murderers in world history. Check out the link: http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YzIxZDJhNTk2ZWQwNmYzOTI3ZmIwMDcyYzhlNzVjNzc=&w=MA==.
Thanks for the link. I hadn't yet read anyone else who drew the same comparison, but am happy that somebody is milking this. And nobody can illuminate an irony better than than Mark Steyn. *fist pump*
you said:
"Racism is a particularly ugly form of prejudice that is still very much present in our society."
That is not true. remember, racism is only racism when it characterizes the hate of all people under a race. it's not a joke that says black people like fried chicken and watermelon, or white people are terrible at dancing. while a racist may very well make a joke like either of those, or say other things that most people call racist, it does not necessarily mean they are racist. the deciding factor on whether or not someone is racist is if they hate a race as a whole: nothing else.
Exactly right, 4dguy. Racism has come to mean little more than "speech that 'people of color' do not like".
Post a Comment