Those Wacky Racist Republicans

[EnlightenmentHK]

This is getting out of hand:
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_buck16.3d67d4a.html

(more in the link)

By MICHELLE DeARMOND
The Press-Enterprise

The latest newsletter by an Inland Republican women's group depicts Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama surrounded by a watermelon, ribs and a bucket of fried chicken, prompting outrage in political circles.

The October newsletter by the Chaffey Community Republican Women, Federated says if Obama is elected his image will appear on food stamps -- instead of dollar bills like other presidents. The statement is followed by an illustration of "Obama Bucks" -- a phony $10 bill featuring Obama's face on a donkey's body, labeled "United States Food Stamps."

The GOP newsletter, which was sent to about 200 members and associates of the group by e-mail and regular mail last week, is drawing harsh criticism from members of the political group, elected leaders, party officials and others as racist.

The group's president, Diane Fedele, said she plans to send an apology letter to her members and to apologize at the club's meeting next week. She said she simply wanted to deride a comment Obama made over the summer about how as an African-American he "doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."

"It was strictly an attempt to point out the outrageousness of his statement. I really don't want to go into it any further," Fedele said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "I absolutely apologize to anyone who was offended. That clearly wasn't my attempt."

Fedele said she got the illustration in a number of chain e-mails and decided to reprint it for her members in the Trumpeter newsletter because she was offended that Obama would draw attention to his own race. She declined to say who sent her the e-mails with the illustration.

She said she doesn't think in racist terms, pointing out she once supported Republican Alan Keyes, an African-American who previously ran for president.

"I didn't see it the way that it's being taken. I never connected," she said. "It was just food to me. It didn't mean anything else."

She said she also wasn't trying to make a statement linking Obama and food stamps, although her introductory text to the illustration connects the two: "Obama talks about all those presidents that got their names on bills. If elected, what bill would he be on????? Food Stamps, what else!"

Seriously, who are these people? You get a chain letter with Obama on a food stamp surrounded by fried chicken and watermelon and no alarm bells go off? Think its perfectly fine to distribute throughout your Republican women's organization? What the hell, lady? Did George W. Bush personally skullf**k the brains out of your racist head?

I'm not a racist because I supported Alan Keyes. Priceless. The Republican political organizer's version of "I'm not racist, I have a black friend."

 

[Hygro]

someone needs to tell these weird black people to stop making friends with racist white people.

 

[Hygro]

more seriously, I feel I'm one of the first on this forum to feel something is racist, and this certainly is, but (and this may come back to bite me) I feel there is truth to her making fun of Obama's comment, and then satirizing it the extreme.

 

[JeffIllinois]

Republicans have a hard time discussing Obama without saying something racist. This has been true in my personal conversations about politics, even here in Illinois, and it has played out around the country. One guy I know, called Obama, and I don't know where he got this, a "high steppin' yellow," after I told him Obama is half white, which apparently he didn't know. He then said Obama isn't even 100% black, whatever that means. Republicans have to rely on racism because they have nothing productive to say. People who actually represent the republican party and spread racism like in the OP should be deported. They'll set this country back fifty years before they give up the presidency.

 

[Aegis]

"I didn't see it the way that it's being taken. I never connected," she said. "It was just food to me. It didn't mean anything else."

What a load of crap. Out of all the food choices out there, she just happened to randomly choose watermelon and fried chicken?

 

[holy king]

lol, obama's black.

 

[Trajan12]

She said she doesn't think in racist terms, pointing out she once supported Republican Alan Keyes, an African-American who previously ran for president.

The "I'm not racist because I voted for/am friends with/am related to..." argument is the hallmark of a racist.

 

[Masquerouge]

Fedele said she got the illustration in a number of chain e-mails and decided to reprint it for her members in the Trumpeter newsletter because she was offended that Obama would draw attention to his own race.

what? It's like reverse reverse racism

 

[knowltok2]

What a load of crap. Out of all the food choices out there, she just happened to randomly choose watermelon and fried chicken?

To be fair, she got the image already made in her inbox. So it isn't like she created it.

 

[JeffIllinois]

To be fair, she got the image already made in her inbox. So it isn't like she created it.

No, but as someone who officially represents the republican party, she substantiated it.

 

[Smidlee]

It's not uncommon for a president to be mock and made fun of especially by the opposite party. Just look how many time Bush has been made to look stupid ( sometimes it wasn't very hard). This is one thing (the racist cry) I'm going to hate for the next 4 years.

 

[Aegis]

To be fair, she got the image already made in her inbox. So it isn't like she created it.

I'm an idiot who does not thoroughly read things, then.

 

[JollyRoger]

The great thing about the Bush years is that we now have the infrastructure in place for the NSA to identify these people so that we can secretly redention them to re-education camps.

 

[EnlightenmentHK]

It's not uncommon for a president to be mock and made fun of especially by the opposite party. Just look how many time Bush has been made to look stupid ( sometimes it wasn't very hard). This is one thing (the racist cry) I'm going to hate for the next 4 years.

You know one way to stop the racist cry? Get Republicans to stop acting like ignorant bigots. Problem solved. Seriously man, you're reasoning comes perilously close to blaming the rape victim here. Its like setting a cross on fire in a black neighbor's yard and than giving him hell for crying racism.

And did you really just compare this open, ugly bigotry to GWB being mocked for his own stupidity? Last I checked, GWB was in fact pretty stupid. But I've got nothing to suggest that Obama likes fried chicken and watermelons outside of stereotypes about blacks.

 

[Smidlee]

Mexicans like cactus and goat meat so what is the big deal? I like watermelon and chicken myself.
I don't get offended every time someone mocks or make fun of Christians.
Now if it said something like "die" or "kill him" then yes that would be racist.

 

[Hygro]

What a load of crap. Out of all the food choices out there, she just happened to randomly choose watermelon and fried chicken?

oh didnt read that. thought she choose them on purpose, to, as Masq suggested reverse reverse racism. If she thought it was random, I call her a bigot and a racist not as clever as I was giving her credit

 

[JeffIllinois]

Mexicans like cactus and goat meat so what is the big deal? I like watermelon and chicken myself.
I don't get offended every time someone mocks or make fun of christians.

The big deal is that republicans are using racism to further their political aims. Somebody needs to point it out, the corporate media wont talk about it because they're hung up on crap like Joe the Plumber.

 

[mrt144]

 

[Smidlee]

Too many people is looking to be offended.

 

[Trajan12]

Too many people is looking to be offended.

It isn't as if we're just scowering this image for racialism that clearly doesn't exist. The stereotypes here are pretty salient and abundant.