The point of the ad seems to be we (or rather, the citizens of that state) should be fearing them taking more of our jobs/money. That is a lot of reason more than “they’re not Us”.
I’m getting to that. If depicting an African-American murderer in the Willie Horton ad is maybe/slightly racist, by your admission, is depicting an African-American murderer in The Wire also racist?
No, I wasn’t judging which was more or less racist, and I don’t give a hoot about your examples.
I don’t think the Willie Horton ad was racist. It would have been just as good if Willie Horton was white. Look at the ad and the facts put forth. Nothing racist in the facts. and Willie Horton just happened to be black, Do you think the ad wouldn’t have been run if he had been white?
TheJesse Helms “Hand” ad is different. The topic of the ad is racial quotas, so it’s going to be about that. Yes, Helms is running against a black candidate, but that’s not his fault. I guess one could argue that by showing a picture of the two candidates side-by-side, that he was trying to portray that blacks, generally, supported quotas. But that probably wasn’t far from the truth.
No more so than the depiction of an irish american cop with a drinking problem.
You just want to flail your arms and go “ZOMG RACIST REPUBLICAN!!” without actually thinking about it. Straight knee jerk reaction. Have fun with that. If indeed you simply want to react and not ponder or discuss, then you’ve said your piece and can safely move on.
I’m not sure you actually answered my question. Do you believe that The Wire is racist for how its portrayal of African Americans?
If not, what, in your mind, is the difference between the “mild” racism of the political ads I mentioned before and The Wire? Why is one in poor taste and the other not?
Racist! 
I’m not sure where you’re going with this, and as you’ve yet to answer my questions I don’t think it’s poor manners to ask for a clarification before we go any farther. Especially since I’m the one saying that the Hoekstra ad isn’t racist and isn’t any worse than comparable depictions of other races that are present in other forms of (less political) media.
It seems you’re comparing the Hoekstra ad to the now infamous Willie Horton ad. As it’s been a long time since I’ve seen the ad - I was only 11 at the time - I went back and rewatched it. Having refreshed my memory, I don’t think the Willie Horton ad was racist at all. The point of the ad was that Dukakis would let any criminal just wander out of prison whereas George Bush would kill them himself if given half a chance. Yeah. It showed a black guy, but that was likely simply due to the horrific nature of the crimes committed while on holiday. The commercial was about “scary criminal,” not “scary black guy.”
Ha! Friggin genius.
I can’t be the only one who was waiting for this (obviously American) actress to say “Me love you long time”.
So Barry Goldwater actually did raise the possibility of using nuclear weapons on North Vietnam.
Was the “Daisy” ad a legitimate critique of his foreign policy?
I think it absolutely was. Nuclear bombs were always discussed in abstract political terminology and nobody ever really confronted the reality of it, the mushroom cloud, human life being instantaneously destroyed. It was a valid thing to bring up.
Yeah. When Lyndon Johnson was the peace candidate.
Can you explain how that helps understand if the ad in question is racist or not? I"m just not getting it.
It’s a bit of a dodge, really, to squabble over whether this ad, or the Willie Horton ad, or any similar ads are racist in and of themselves. Of course they’re crafted with enough plausible deniability for the answer to be “no” even on a close reading—that’s part of the artistry. They aren’t racist in isolation, but they clearly—and successfully—appeal to racist and xenophobic tendencies, and the amorphous fear of the Other. They’re frameworks, coded messages whose holes that are filled in by our own fears. The architects are smart enough to realize that overt racism would inspire a backlash, so instead we’re given symbolic words and images and our subconscious winks and nods. Message received, even if sometimes we’re not aware of it.
But yes, there’s always another explanation built in to replace the true message, so the propagandists can bat their eyes and feign innocence, while we waste time bickering over whether bicycles and rice paddies are racist.
You guys are going to have to explain what “yellow peril” is.
And I also don;t see the racism. But it is a very stupid ad. And the chick is very hot.
Attack trained canaries. Turn your back, they muscle through the bars, and pow!
The view from Shanghai: Creepy, racist.
The ad reminds me of this scene from* Full Metal Jacket*.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12tce-THLUE&feature=player_embedded