Then you would be disproving your own point: if it’s racist when any non-black person says it, why isn’t it racist?
I was disagreeing with your statement that a white person who said it would be hounded out of society. If a white talk radio host said it, millions of people would think ‘Megadittoes for telling it like it is, sir.’
Rush was being sarcastic when he said the white kid deserved to be beaten up for being a racist, for example. His implication that white people get singled out unfairly for racism, and conservatives are being called racists to deflect criticism of Obama, was not sarcastic - THAT WAS HIS POINT.
No, that is my point. Do you consider something racist because it comes out of a white person’s mouth but not racist if the same point is made from someone who is the same race as the target?
I apologize…I was unclear on your point. Perhaps you are right that Rush could get away with making the comments Cosby made. I don’t think he could make them as forcefully without being considered a raving racist by the public at large and many in his own audience but I don’t think he would lose his job.
People get uncomfortable whenever this gets brought up, but the truth is, context matters in speech. It is difficult to prove any comment is objectively racist, so you consider the speaker and the situation in which the statements were made. Almost any prejudiced statement would sound different if it were spoken by a member of the group being insulted. That does not remove the stupidity and prejudice of the statement, it just alters them.
So when a white guy makes comments comparing black people to gang members, it’s going to be seen as racist, whereas people will generally assume a black guy is not going to denigrate himself that way. But ultimately a white guy made this particular remark. Imagining what people would think if it had been made by someone else is not productive.
I dislike Rush and make no bones about that. However, if he wants to buy a sports team, let him buy the moribund major league baseball team he used to work for, the Kansas City Royals. They need all the help they can get.
“Obama’s America, white kids getting beat up on school buses now. You put your kids on a school bus, you expect safety but in Obama’s America the white kids now get beat up with the black kids cheering, “Yay, right on, right on, right on, right on,” and, of course, everybody says the white kid deserved it, he was born a racist, he’s white.”
…do we assume that Limbaugh is being favorable to Obama? Has Limbaugh ever been favorable to Obama?
I cannot see his sarcasm here as mocking the notion that this was about racism because that “would not” happen in Obama’s America. Limbaugh is stoking the fires of racism.
But it is productive. A statement is either racist or it is not…regardless of who says it. I have heard black people compare other blacks to gang members on a regular basis. They are referring to the thug look, bad behavior, etc. This does not make them racist. Additionally, Rush did not compare black people to gang members. He compared a number of players, who happen to be black, to gang members. This is the important point…he is not denigrating an entire race but, rather, some of the players who act poorly. The fact is that, for you, the context was Rush Limbaugh saying it, and it was an insult hurled at a black guy by a white guy. That’s the bottom line.
No. There’s a justifiable double standard. For example, it’s ok if black people say the N-word, it’s not ok if you say it. It IS ok for black people to say things that it’s not ok for whitey to say. All things are not equal.
And Rush was totally comparing black NFL players to gang members. Let’s not play games here.
All this meager defense of Limbaugh reminds me of George Wallace and his ilk. “We’re not racist, we are just protecting state’s rights. It’s our right to make racist laws, deny voting rights, fail to prosecute lynchings and enforce segregation because the Constitution doesn’t prohibit it. It has nothing to do with racism. We’re not racists, we are state’s rights protectionists.”
Yea, sure, OK, you’ve really thought this through and are operating on totally philosophical grounds and the highest level of legal scrutiny. Nothing in your actions has anything, not anything, to do with racism. If you say so, I guess we must believe you because you would never mask an agenda.
You’ve done it. You’ve exposed me. The few of us on this board who demand a little higher proof than simply “well…you know what he really means” before damning another human being are simply modern day George Wallaces. :smack:
Let’s be fair, people. Rush Limbaugh has never, ever refused to marry an inter-racial couple. I hear he even lets black people use his bathroom. Case closed.
The only issue is the statement itself, not what it might’ve sounded like if somebody else said it. The rest is a waste of time, and in fact it’s usually a deliberate dodge.
Thank you and goodnight!
And the reason he did this by comparing them to gang members was _________.
Was most likely to illustrate that gang style behavior was taking root in the NFL and nobody was saying or doing anything to put a stop to it (with the implication being that to do so would be considered racist).
Limbaugh is not prejudiced against blacks but he is disdainful of certain negative or distructive elements of modern-day black culture and the reluctance of anyone to condemn them for PC reasons.
In other words, he feels much the same way as Bill Cosby.
Black gangs. He could have said it was akin to the Hatfields versus McCoys or Gambinos versus Colombos or Capone versus Moran or the Sharks and the Jets ( ).
I’m sorry, the answer is “THEY’RE BLACK.” What is it that makes celebrating a play or trash talking “gang style behavior?” That’s not a gang thing, it’s a jock thing. Was Babe Ruth engaging in gang style behavior when he allegedly called his home run in the 1932 World Series? That’s taunting of the highest order. Is Mark Gastineau doing gang style behavior here? Is this why people are getting shot in bars?
The NFL has cracked down on this stuff in recent years. I don’t know if you are a big football fan, but Rush is, so he would know that.
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