I have been accused of being a racist because I don’t support Barak Obama for President. I, myself, have done some soul searching. I definitely like Obama’s style and his upbeat message … but I find little to like in his politics. I also question his management ability. Even though his campaign seems well run, our huge U.S. bureaucracy is something else again. Being from Massachusetts, I have seen first-hand how Deval Patrick’s starry-eyed message of “together we can” has turned into “together we can’t.” Part of my soul searching has involved making a list of those blacks that I like and those that I dislike. In my heart, I don’t believe that any of those blacks I dislike has anything to do with the amount of melanin in their skin. It usually has to do with their political bent, the lack of content in their character … or, that their reputation far exceeds their talents. Read the following taxonomy of my likes and dislikes … and you decide:
Blacks I like: Bill Cosby, Hank Aaron, Thomas Sowell, Condoleezza Rice, Walter E. Williams, James Golden (aka Bo Snerdly), Roy Innis, Tiger Woods, Clarence Thomas, Barbara Jordan, Sidney Poitier, Ward Connerly, Bill Russell, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, Joe Lewis, Nat King Cole, Alan Keyes, Dinesh D'Souza, Juan Williams
Blacks I don’t like: Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, O.J. Simpson, Louis Farrakhan, Kweisi Mfume, Cynthia A. McKinney, Carole Moseley-Braun, William J. Jefferson, Whoopi Goldberg, Harry Belafonte, Cornell West, Bill Clinton, Myah Angelou, Michelle Obama, Danny Glover, Dennis Rodman, Michael Jackson, Don King, Franklin Raines, Angela Davis, Naomi Campbell, Henry Lewis Gates, Johnnie Cochran
Blacks I am ambivalent about: Barak Obama, Colin Powell, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Oprah Winfrey, J.C. Watts
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7 comments:
Sissy said:
So, George, why are you so concerned with whether a person is black or white? Why would you make a list of black people (only) that you like or dislike? Wouldn’t it make more sense and be more helpful to simply make a list of those you like or dislike? Why does the color of someone’s skin determine where he or she is in your lists when the criteria you allegedly are using are “like” or “dislike”? I just do not understand your reasoning. Yes: you are to be considered a racist if the color of one’s skin determines where a person “fits” in your lists. Now, is the term “racist” ugly or not? That is the question. In this day and age, when we all know many, many people, good and bad, it simply does not make any sense to use skin color to determine a list. It is ugly. By the way, I have freckles, where does that land me? Half-and-half?
You ask "Why would you make a list of black people (only) that you like or dislike?"
To try to determine whether I am a racist. Just like making a list of the foods that I will eat can be used to determine whether I am a vegetarian.
(I don't think "racist" is generally applied in any other sense except vis-a-vis blacks.)
Sissy said:
When making a list of vegetarian foods, vegetarian is the criteria, not red or yellow. When making a list of those that you like, color of skin is not the criteria. If you use color of skin as the criteria, yes, you are a racist. Also,I believe that racist is a pejorative that applies to anyone that uses a person’s “color” to determine whatever...
Let me try this again. Making a list of blacks (only) that I like, dislike, and am ambivalent about was supposed to show that I could find blacks in all three categories and therefore did not place them all in the "dislike" box (ergo, I am NOT a racist). Kinda like "some of my best friends are black" ... now which I realize, because of this expressions triteness and overuse, becomes a lose-lose proposition.
Hi Mr. Potts..it's me Andrea! Well, I don't want to think that you're a racist as I am your ABC daughter. However, I wonder how it would be interpreted if I put a list together of Whites that I liked, Whites that I disliked and Whites I'm ambivalent about. Perception is everything. "Blacks" are people and should be referenced accordingly. Don't get me wrong, I see where you're coming from, but I don't think it's right. Nevertheless, I respect your opinion.
...and one more thing, instead of putting "Blacks" into like/dislike/ambivalent categories, why not something like:
Teachers I like/Teachers I dislike
Actors I like/Actors I dislike
Politicians I like/Politicians I dislike...etc. etc. Why does it have to be about race? Can we ever get away from that?
2015 -- after 7 years I guess I have to remove Bill Cosby and Tiger Woods from my "admired" list.
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