# Hey, Melissa Harris-Parry - you're wrong, you're stupid, you're ugly (on the inside). **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 1, 2014, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-melissa-harris-parry-youre-wrong-youre-stupid-youre-ugly-on-the-inside/677607 "2014-01-01T01:18:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-melissa-harris-parry-youre-wrong-youre-stupid-youre-ugly-on-the-inside/677607/41 "2014-01-01T05:44:52Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Snowboarder Bo, with all due respect, it was inappropriate. The only “news” was that there is a black Romney child. If the child had been white, then there would not have been a story, and it wouldn’t have been on national TV. Colorblind it ain’t as color was the story. What story do you think the Romneys meant to convey when they sent the photo out to the media? And this wasn’t a news segment; it was a potentially-humorous “add a caption to this photo” segment. I’ve already agreed that what occurred was stupid; I disagree that anything offensive was done or said. In fact, I’ll stand by what I said in my last post: > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Its as if people have a collection of hot buttons and if a certain number get pressed in any way, it equals outrage, even if taken in context or as a whole, nothing improper or offensive ever occurred. > > I still have yet to see any real attempt at explaining what it is that was wrong about the whole thing. Mentioned a baby? Mentioned he was black and the rest of the family wasn’t because he was adopted? OH THE HUMANITY! MAKE IT STOP! ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-melissa-harris-parry-youre-wrong-youre-stupid-youre-ugly-on-the-inside/677607/42 "2014-01-01T05:50:49Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Unless they sent the picture out with a message saying, “Please imply something about the baby’s race so everyone can get a good laugh”, I don’t think this means anything. > > It’s also pretty stupid to pretend that commenting on a child’s visual sore thumbness is innocent and universally funny. MHP above anyone else should know that being the “only one” frequently sucks for this exact reason. > > MSNBC isn’t obligated to be as strident and declarative as the lowest common denominator in their viewing audience. > > You seem to be much more worked up about this than I am or anyone else except for maybe Caleb Howe and the OP. > > The woman wasn’t a doe-eyed innocent here, and she’s actually admits it. Just because you don’t get why what she did was cringe-worthy doesn’t meant it wasn’t cringe-worthy. I’m the last thing in the world from a conservative, and I’m not even that sensitive. But I’m also comfortable enough in my liberalism and negritude that I don’t have defend every single stupid move made on “my” side. MSNBC doesn’t need to turn into another Fox News to score points. You can poke fun at the Romney’s without bringing a little baby into it. All she admitted was that people were offended and she was sorry they were offended. I’m comfortable enough in my political leanings not to have a side at all except the side against stupidity and connecting dots that aren’t there. There’s no dots here, but plenty of stupidity. Is the baby black? Then why is it wrong to mention it? Surely it’s quite an extraordinary thing for a large white family to adopt a black child? Can that not be mentioned at all? If someone had made fun of the baby, or even made fun of the Romney family for the adoption, you’d have a point. As it is, people are outraged by a statement of fact that someone tried to make a bit of whimsy with. This was a fluff piece on a fluff show, and it deserves to be treated according to what happened, not according to inferences and conclusions drawn without evidence. ETA: > [@Blackberry](#): > > I don’t think the people on the show were mocking the baby, but the situation. Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-melissa-harris-parry-youre-wrong-youre-stupid-youre-ugly-on-the-inside/677607/43 "2014-01-01T05:53:54Z")
> [@sleestak](#): > > The hypocracy on this board is rather amazing, and quite sad. > > Imagine a black politician, say Jesse Jackson, adopting a white child. Imagine that a republican talk show host, say Rush Limbaugh, put the picture up of the family with the white child. Then imagine the howls of.outrage this board would generate if Rush, or one of his guests, did a sing-song of “One of these things is not like the other. One of these things does not belong.” > > The outrage would last for weeks. It would be held up as proof that all republicans are racists who want a return to slavery. And contrary to what Snowboarder Bo may think, this board lives to assign motives to conservatives/republicans without evidence. It happens all the time. Conservatives are against abortion because they hate women. Conservatives are against welfare because they hate poor people or are racist. In fact, if one believed the standard SDMB view of conservatives one would have to believe that roughly 50% of the population are bible thumping bigots who hate women, love killing brown people, want a return to slavery and kick puppies for fun. > > Yet when one of the acceptable people, in other words a liberal, is an ass it is ignored or brushed off. No.matter the offense, it will be rationalized away in a giant ball of cognative dissonance. > > The only saving grace is that there are a few people who get it like Monstro and China Guy. > > Slee Ya know why people would conclude that Rush was racist if he said those things? **Because he has already done and said so many other things that are racist.** Your analogy is off-the-mark, as is nearly all of the rest of your post. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-melissa-harris-parry-youre-wrong-youre-stupid-youre-ugly-on-the-inside/677607/44 "2014-01-01T05:56:43Z")
> [@sleestak](#): > > The hypocracy on this board is rather amazing, and quite sad. > > Imagine a black politician, say Jesse Jackson, adopting a white child. Imagine that a republican talk show host, say Rush Limbaugh, put the picture up of the family with the white child. Then imagine the howls of.outrage this board would generate if Rush, or one of his guests, did a sing-song of "One of these things is not like the other. One of these things does not belong. A friend of mine has a picture like that that she finds hilarious and so do I. She’s biracial but she mostly looks white. She was adopted into an all-black family. She has an old photo of herself looking just like a blonde white toddler with her older cousins, and they happen to all be in a group in a kiddie pool and she’s standing outside of the pool all by herself and it looks like they won’t let her in the pool. We probably HAVE said “one of these things is not like the other” about it. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-melissa-harris-parry-youre-wrong-youre-stupid-youre-ugly-on-the-inside/677607/45 "2014-01-01T06:58:06Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Ya know why people would conclude that Rush was racist if he said those things? **Because he has already done and said so many other things that are racist.** > > Your analogy is off-the-mark, as is nearly all of the rest of your post. Thank You. Also, let’s not kid ourselves. A black lady poking fun about a black baby in a rich white family is nowhere near the same thing as a white man poking fun about black anything. I know that may offend some people’s sensibilities but that’s the way it is. Last time I checked, white people never had to deal with oppression or stupid shit like Jim Crow laws, or the current ration of shit lower income minorities have to put up with. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-melissa-harris-parry-youre-wrong-youre-stupid-youre-ugly-on-the-inside/677607/46 "2014-01-01T07:11:49Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > A friend of mine has a picture like that that she finds hilarious and so do I. She’s biracial but she mostly looks white. She was adopted into an all-black family. She has an old photo of herself looking just like a blonde white toddler with her older cousins, and they happen to all be in a group in a kiddie pool and she’s standing outside of the pool all by herself and it looks like they won’t let her in the pool. We probably HAVE said “one of these things is not like the other” about it. Was her name Navina Johnson? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-melissa-harris-parry-youre-wrong-youre-stupid-youre-ugly-on-the-inside/677607/47 "2014-01-01T07:15:09Z")
> [@sleestak](#): > > Imagine a black politician, say Jesse Jackson, adopting a white child. Imagine that a republican talk show host, say Rush Limbaugh, put the picture up of the family with the white child. Then imagine the howls of.outrage this board would generate if Rush, or one of his guests, did a sing-song of “One of these things is not like the other. One of these things does not belong.” Since Rush thinks that all composite photos of wanted criminals look like Jesse Jackson, Rush would likely sing that about anyone in a picture with Jesse Jackson who wasn’t Jesse Jackson himself, or a wanted criminal. I have no idea if he also thinks all white people look alike, so I can’t speak to your example. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-melissa-harris-parry-youre-wrong-youre-stupid-youre-ugly-on-the-inside/677607/48 "2014-01-01T07:16:36Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Was her name Navina Johnson? 😃 Who is that? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-melissa-harris-parry-youre-wrong-youre-stupid-youre-ugly-on-the-inside/677607/49 "2014-01-01T07:21:14Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > Who is that? Kids these days. They don’t appreciate [the classics](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jerk). 😉 The film begins with Navin R. Johnson (Steve Martin), a befuddled homeless simpleton, directly addressing the camera and telling his story. **He is the adopted white son of African American sharecroppers** , who grows to adulthood naïvely unaware of his obvious adoption. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-melissa-harris-parry-youre-wrong-youre-stupid-youre-ugly-on-the-inside/677607/50 "2014-01-01T07:34:12Z")
If this is the worst thing she has ever said or done considering her lifelong investment in racial equality I think she’s up for sainthood. If you look harder you might be able to find something in her past that is evidence of ugly character but this ain’t it. It’s an incredibly weak pitting. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-melissa-harris-parry-youre-wrong-youre-stupid-youre-ugly-on-the-inside/677607/51 "2014-01-01T07:59:41Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Thank You. > > Also, let’s not kid ourselves. A black lady poking fun about a black baby in a rich white family is nowhere near the same thing as a white man poking fun about black anything. > > I know that may offend some people’s sensibilities but that’s the way it is. Last time I checked, white people never had to deal with oppression or stupid shit like Jim Crow laws, or the current ration of shit lower income minorities have to put up with. I don’t really disagree with the main thrust of your post, but “white people never had to deal with oppression”? That’s a really dumb, and, to me, rather offensive, statement. Most white people - Jeez, most white Americans - are oppressed right now. Oppression is not all (not even mostly) race-based, and the fact that black people, on the whole, have it and, have had it, worse than white people on the whole, does not make it non-existent or non-awful. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-melissa-harris-parry-youre-wrong-youre-stupid-youre-ugly-on-the-inside/677607/52 "2014-01-01T08:21:59Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I don’t really disagree with the main thrust of your post, but “white people never had to deal with oppression”? That’s a really dumb, and, to me, rather offensive, statement. Most white people - Jeez, most white Americans - are oppressed right now. Oppression is not all (not even mostly) race-based, and the fact that black people, on the whole, have it and, have had it, worse than white people on the whole, does not make it non-existent or non-awful. Surely he means that white people never had to deal with oppression _because of their race_. > [@runner pat](#): > > Kids these days. They don’t appreciate [the classics](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jerk). 😉 > > The film begins with Navin R. Johnson (Steve Martin), a befuddled homeless simpleton, directly addressing the camera and telling his story. **He is the adopted white son of African American sharecroppers** , who grows to adulthood naïvely unaware of his obvious adoption. Oooh. I googled Navina Johnson and it was some random Indian chick’s Facebook so I was confused. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-melissa-harris-parry-youre-wrong-youre-stupid-youre-ugly-on-the-inside/677607/53 "2014-01-01T08:27:48Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I don’t really disagree with the main thrust of your post, but “white people never had to deal with oppression”? That’s a really dumb, and, to me, rather offensive, statement. Most white people - Jeez, most white Americans - are oppressed right now. Oppression is not all (not even mostly) race-based, and the fact that black people, on the whole, have it and, have had it, worse than white people on the whole, does not make it non-existent or non-awful. I think your talking about the ever widening economic divide between the have and the have nots. Which you’re right, has nothing to do with race. The topic of this thread has more to do with race, which is what I was speaking to. I’ll never know the feeling of being pulled over by the cops for no apparent reason. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-melissa-harris-parry-youre-wrong-youre-stupid-youre-ugly-on-the-inside/677607/54 "2014-01-01T16:13:14Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Maybe. Do you think it’s is unusual or common for rich white folks to adopt black babies? I think it is unusual; its certainly not common. And the baby does stick out a bit since he’s, ya know, a different color than the other 24 people in the picture. Besides, its the Romneys that sent that picture out into the world. Should the Romneys NOT send out holiday cards that include a photograph of one of their grandchildren because he’s not the right color? What the hell did they do wrong here? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-melissa-harris-parry-youre-wrong-youre-stupid-youre-ugly-on-the-inside/677607/55 "2014-01-01T17:12:09Z")
Personally, I saw that photo of Mitt Romney and his grandchildren and wondered why the heck he wanted to be president. I think it would be far more fun and interesting to be the full-time grandfather to all of those kids, to spoil them and play with them. And wouldn’t it be better to hear “Grandpa” from a child who sincerely loves you than “Mr President” from a bunch of people? Yes, I know that most people would chose to be president, but I watched my parents dote on my brother’s kids, and watch how my brother’s kids enjoy their grandparents. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-melissa-harris-parry-youre-wrong-youre-stupid-youre-ugly-on-the-inside/677607/56 "2014-01-01T17:16:20Z")
Let me state, first, that the whole original offense of showing the picture in a caption-making contest kind of thing and the subsequent (pretty mild) mockery was just plain stupid and short-sighted, both just in an overall moral sense and in a “Do we really need to hand them ammunition?” sense. I’m very happy that MHP apologized (and it was a real apology, not an “If anyone was offended, I’m sorry” nonpology). I do think that this Caleb Howe person (whom I’ve never heard of before this, and I’m pretty plugged into the lefty blogs, including the ones that critique the righty ones) has committed the usual right-wing sin of overreach in stating that this demonstrates that progressives are the real racists. The right’s been saying that for years and it’s just as much of a desperate fantasy on their part as it’s always been. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-melissa-harris-parry-youre-wrong-youre-stupid-youre-ugly-on-the-inside/677607/57 "2014-01-01T17:27:13Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Personally, I saw that photo of Mitt Romney and his grandchildren and wondered why the heck he wanted to be president. I think it would be far more fun and interesting to be the full-time grandfather to all of those kids, to spoil them and play with them. And wouldn’t it be better to hear “Grandpa” from a child who sincerely loves you than “Mr President” from a bunch of people? > > Yes, I know that most people would chose to be president, but I watched my parents dote on my brother’s kids, and watch how my brother’s kids enjoy their grandparents. Now that you mention it, that is a really sweet-looking Christmas card. Why do politicians always have to be so much nicer once they stop being politicians? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-melissa-harris-parry-youre-wrong-youre-stupid-youre-ugly-on-the-inside/677607/58 "2014-01-01T17:36:03Z")
> [@Trepa\_Mayfield](#): > > Now that you mention it, that is a really sweet-looking Christmas card. Why do politicians always have to be so much nicer once they stop being politicians? Because they don’t have to spend all their time pandering to people and can just be humans. I mean, Barack Obama’s been President for five years and he looks like he’s aged 15. One wonders who really “won” in 2012. In “Double Down,” Mark Halperin’s account of the 2012 race, Romney is described as something along the lines of “the most ambivalent candidate” to seek the Presidency in recent memory. He seemed to accept the results with disappointment but no small amount of relief. Frankly, one wonders why on earth the man wanted the job. The book is quite interesting in its analysis of the two men’s strengths and weaknesses. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-melissa-harris-parry-youre-wrong-youre-stupid-youre-ugly-on-the-inside/677607/59 "2014-01-01T18:32:14Z")
Reading the text in the linked article, I think MHP erred in focusing the discussion on the race of the baby in the picture in any way. There’s some humor to be made of the Stepford esque nature of the picture without commenting on the baby at all. It’s also worth commenting on the fact that the Romneys named the baby using the Gaelic word for black (Kieran), according to the article. That seems like a questionable choice, given the circumstances. But joking about the baby being different? That’s not especially funny. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-melissa-harris-parry-youre-wrong-youre-stupid-youre-ugly-on-the-inside/677607/60 "2014-01-01T19:01:36Z")
I think she should be fired. Huge lapse of judgment. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-melissa-harris-parry-youre-wrong-youre-stupid-youre-ugly-on-the-inside/677607.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-melissa-harris-parry-youre-wrong-youre-stupid-youre-ugly-on-the-inside/677607.md?page=4)