Well, where else would a black man conduct an investigation, other than down by the fried chicken place? (sorry, no sarcasm emoji available).
As for my supposedly only citing one incident of racist commentary from Maher. how did you miss all the anti-Arab/Muslim stuff cited in the Vox article? There were numerous examples.
Racism is not solely defined as bigotry towards black people. An Oxford dictionary definition for your edification:
characterized by or showing prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized
As noted, whether Maher is actually a bigot or has flung around bigoted rhetoric for shock value and attention really doesn’t matter.
Our local one is too. I freaking love their popcorn shrimp and their red beans and rice.
If a place has good food, their customer demographics are probably going to closely resemble whatever the demographics are of the area they are in, rather than being limited to a niche demographic.
While that is true, Popeyes Chicken does have an association with black people. For example, their long-time commercial spokesperson is Deirdrie Henry:
Using a black woman as their voice doesn’t make them a chain only for black people, of course. But I’d challenge you to name other American companies with a main spokesperson who’s black-yet-not-famous. I suspect there aren’t many. Dennis Haysbert for Allstate Insurance might be one of the few, but of course he’s an actor well-known for other things, which doesn’t really compare with Deirdrie Henry. (And a black spokesperson who’s one of a group, as with Progressive, is something else again.)
I see online that they hired Ken Jeong to do a Superbowl commercial for them, so maybe they’re interested in expanding their image.
I would be skeptical of claims that Maher used the name of that particular chain completely at random, when speaking to a black Congressman.
Oh no, I don’t disagree with that. There’s definitely a strong tie with Black culture and New Orleans in particular, which is predominantly Black. (Popeyes currently calls itself “Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen” and was founded in New Orleans, though currently it is a subsidiary of a Toronto corporation and is headquartered in Miami.)
The restaurant’s appeal transcends any particular race or culture, but it certainly has roots and an identity in Black culture, and presents itself that way.
Given some of the previous comments about Popeyes being associated with Black culture, I’m inclined to agree that Maher probably didn’t pick it just at random, but so what? Just as with the Piggly Wiggly comment, his point was to ridicule a ridiculous claim.
Going back to that Variety article I cited earlier, in making his second apology for the “house n****r” comment, Maher was quoted as follows:
He said that Sasse’s comment about working “in the fields” had struck him as a “weird thing.”
“The comic mind goes to a weird place,” he said. “That is why I apologize freely and I reiterate it tonight. That is sincere.”
I believe him, because this is how comedians think, especially those, like Maher, whose comedy centers on being edgy. Ben Sasse inviting Maher to “come to Nebraska and work in the fields” was a weird thing to say, and Maher’s instantaneous first thought would have been “I don’t work in the fields!”. The “house n****r” comment was comically a great comeback, but unfortunately so loaded with racist connotations that it created major blowback, and Maher rightfully owned up to making a mistake in judgment on the spur of the moment.
The comment to Hurd doesn’t rise to anywhere near the same level, but came from the same place of comedic snark. Any accusation of “racism” here is, at best, weak sauce. Very, very weak. Especially directed against someone who’s actually worked to combat racism.
Maher is no fan of any religion, but he believes that Islam in particular is dangerously extremist. His position is controversial, and not everyone agrees with all his points, but there’s factual justification for at least some of it. He’s not anti-Muslim, he’s against some of the extremist edicts of their religion. It may be controversial, but when understood in context, it’s not racist, in my view.
It probably wasn’t random, but see my explanation above for how comedy works.
My take, and take it with a grain of salt, but as much as I dislike Maher (I think he’s an unfunny, smarmy piece of shit), he has never come across as racist and I don’t think he is at all.
I think he made some thoughtless comments not realizing how they’d come across. And yes, I think they were racially loaded for shock/comedy purposes, and he didn’t realize how much they would backfire (because he’s not as smart as he thinks he is; nobody is as smart as Bill thinks he is).
Something about winning too much money at their casinos, having too many funny things to say on their tourist buses, seeing/recognizing too many beautiful actresses there for the film festival, hitting all the buttons on the Hilton elevator and making Nathon Fillion late to some kind of awards, and when five cabs did a “close drive splash” and when number six was lining up for a strafing run… I spat into the open back window of the Limo Bastards car… and ( evidently ) into the face of Anna Kendrick.
"Blame your G.D. Driver for being an Ahole! Unless you paid them to do it to American tourists on a sidewalk. And if then that’s the case, then ‘Welcome to Canada… F-ck You…!’ .
Most comics have enough self-control to not blurt out the n-word as an off-the-cuff response. If he’s that comfortable saying it on camera, then he must feel pretty safe about saying it when the cameras are off.
Regarding that first quote in particular, surely this sort of thing is not news to you:
It’s all about religion. In Saudi Arabia, Wahhabism, the Hanbali school of Sunni Islam, is largely responsible for this tragic abuse of women.
The original coffee cup used early in the Real Time series had a Maher expression on the side opposite the show’s logo: “But I’m not wrong”. Indeed. Some truths are uncomfortable, but they’re still truths.
Trouble is, Maher wasn’t criticizing Muslim nations’ treatment of women in making that bizarre comment about the disappointments supposedly encountered in going out with Arab men. He was offering dating advice to Western women, based on “anecdotal” info he was somehow privy to.
If your defense of Maher on this score (and his other Islamophobic comments) is due to, well, Muslims-have-done-bad-things-and-Bill-is-a-comic-genius-not-to-be-judged-by-ordinary-standards, then there’s no hope for you.
The following link has a video compilation of some of Maher’s bigoted Greatest Hits. Worth checking out.
Criticizing Saudia Arabia’s laws isn’t racist. Making blanket statements about all Arabs is. Its the same as how one can criticize Isreali policies in Gaza without being antisemitic but if you start saying that Jews are blood thirsty you’ve crossed the line.
He didn’t say “Saudi Arabia”, he said “Arab men”. “Arab” and “Muslim” and “Saudi” are not synonyms no matter how much he wants to lump them together into an always-chaotic-evil horde. You know he’s being racist and you’re trying to cover for him by deliberately misrepresenting the things he says.
I beg to differ. Those who know me who think there’s no hope for me generally believe it for entirely different reasons!
Look, I read the article and I watched the video. Look at the first paragraph of the article:
Since 9/11, Bill Maher has devoted himself to mainstreaming the toxic narrative of Islamophobia. With a captive audience of millions, the support of a major cable network and a steady stream of celebrity guests, including no shortage of self-styled progressives, Maher has largely succeeded in his goal.
Look at some of the phraseology:
“the toxic narrative of Islamophobia” – Islam objectively has extremist edicts in its doctrines (unless you believe things like “kill all the Jews” to be reasonable policy). Maher is admittedly a bit of an extremist himself, but much of what he says is objectively, if uncomfortably, true.
“With a captive audience of millions” – how is the audience “captive”? They’re free to watch anything they want. Millions choose to watch Real Time and pay for a premium subscription service for the privilege.
“the support of a major cable network” – the writer forgot to mention that HBO is renowned for the quality of its programming, and continues to air Real Time because it fits their model, as a show which has deservedly been nominated for many dozens of Emmys over the years.
“and a steady stream of celebrity guests” – I wonder why those notable celebrities – many of them renowned scholars, authors, and journalists – would show up on such a shitty show?
“including no shortage of self-styled progressives” – that one really takes the cake. “Self-styled”? Not “real” progressives? I have no words.
The guy who wrote that article is a biased jackass. There’s valid criticism to be leveled against Maher – his criticism of religion in general and especially Islam in particular is sometimes extreme and unfair. But there are many truths to what he says and this kind of exaggerated libel isn’t helpful to clarifying anything.
As I said, I watched the video. There’s nothing new there.
I agree. But …
Again, I agree. That particular statement about “Arab men” was definitely not well worded, but any impartial non-Maher-hater would have clearly understood it to mean “most men immersed in the misogynistic culture of Saudi Arabia”. The man is an edgy comedian, not the president of the US speaking to the United Nations.
(sorry, no sarcasm emoji available).
