Racism--It's chic again. [View All]

Not that it's ever been truly out of fashion, but now one no longer has to hide behind backslap compliments like "He's an articulate man," or "She's done really well for herself."

Now you can blast your racism loud and clear! Limbaugh leads the way, calling the mayor of New Orleans "Ray Nager." (oops, wink). The MSM is right behind, videotaping black "looters" in New Orleans while ignoring white "looters" in the surrounding countryside. "Refugees" can be seen "bussed" from the cavernous Superdome to another cavernous dome, where they can be grateful at their improved living conditions, housed on bunks and fed meals of someone else's choosing. And if they become upset that just two weeks ago they were free citizens in their own homes, but are now being treated like POWs under previous administrations (not under this one, because of course we have suspended the Geneva Conventions), they are criticized for expecting, nay, demanding "entitlements."

Ah, but that's just the MSM. Check out cyberspace: Alleged doctors (debunked) are circulating emails blasting these spoiled welfare ingrates, demonstrating exactly how inhuman they've become because of social spending, and therefore how undeserving they are of our assistance. The supposed "doctor" from Mississippi (again, debunked, although the doctor does admit having forwards the racist rant) goes so far as say he'd call them "n****rs" except that term is too good for them! (Gives you an idea of the author's racist leanings before meeting the hurricane victims, eh?)

Other emails describe trashed rest stops where busloads of the victims--who had been stranded for a week without electricity, running water, air conditioning, or any human compassion they couldn't provide each other--urinated on floors and against mirrors (maybe aiming for sinks), and grabbing up food and snacks without thanking anyone or saying "yes massah." Complaints ranged from littering (they threw trash on the ground instead of the garbage cans) and more ungratefullness (they didn't say thanks for the food they were given).

These emails are obvious fakes, claiming to be written by people who deny writing them, or by people who get facts wrong (one claims the events happened at a rest stop in Wascomb, Texas, on I-20, on the route from New Orleans to Houston--that rest stop is NOT on the route to Houston). They may be compilations of isolated stories, or they may be sheer fantasy, or they may be the racist perceptions of someone who was actually there but saw something through his own preconceived notions. The point is their wide circulation. Anyone who has tried to start an Internet rumor (C'mon, we all have) knows that you're lucky if your emal reaches more than two people you don't know, and yet these emails reach thousands, probably hundreds of thousands. That requires a coordinated effort, which means someone is behind these stories. Someone not liberal, obviously. Someone who supports Bush and his agenda, almost certainly. BushCo? I wouldn't be surprised.

As a personal note, I stopped at a rest stop on the evacuation route the Friday the Superdome was being evacuated. I saw busloads of evacuees at this rest stop. I saw none of the stuff that these emails describe, nor have I heard these stories from the people I know who volunteered. What I have heard is how disorganized FEMA is, how they give mops to doctors and nurses who volunteer at hospitals while people die around them. These stories don't hit the email circuits.

And another personal observation: I was in Gulfport shortly after the hurricane. I saw a lot of ungrateful people screaming at cameras, DEMANDING that the government or Red Cross or others give them food, shelter, etc. They did seem to feel society owed it to them. They got a lot of sympathy, though--they were white.

The bigger point is the return to racism. It's back, and getting stronger. People think of racism as something that's grown since slavery, and that blatant government racism in the form of segregation was a result of slavery, until it began to be wiped out during the Civil Rights movement. We think of the end of segregation as progress that can't be overturned. But segregation came about after the Civil War. Segregation was banned in the South during Reconstruction, and southern society was well on its way to wiping it out. Until the Supreme Court ruling in Plessy v Ferguson (separate but equal). That's when segregation began.

Look at 2000, and 2004, and the number of suppresed black votes, and the pollsters who pointed out that if you excluded the black vote, Bush really did beat Gore. Interestingly, that's basically what the Supreme Court decided to do--ignore the black vote, since the districts with the most trouble counting votes were the black districts.

We can lose everything we've gained. It's happened before. It's happening now.