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For the record...this IS the 'United States of White America'...

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Danger Mouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 07:31 AM
Original message
For the record...this IS the 'United States of White America'...
and anyone who says otherwise is kidding themselves.
We've made a lot of progress over the years, but racism is still alive and well...it's just gotten smarter, more subtle.
What's the truth? The truth is that America is run by rich white men, who are primarily interested in protecting the interests of other rich white people. White people have TONS of privilege in this country that they can NEVER TRULY APPRECIATE because they've never experienced the other side.
Remember Hurricane Katrina? Remember this? It's 'finding' for a white person, 'looting' for a black person.

I remember during Katrina all of the hostility and resentment directed against black people, the racism coming to the surface across the nation, barely even bothering to disguise itself. I'd say most of us at DU, and most people in this country, were better than that...but there was far too much of it out there.
As a white male, I was born into privileges I never deserved. Wright is RIGHT, at least in this case, especially about white arrogance. When our privilege gets challenged and pointed out, a hell of a lot of nasty defensiveness comes out.
Racism is real. It still exists. It hasn't gone away. It's been an undercurrent on DU, and isn't going away anytime soon...the same thing is true of sexism.
This is the United States of White America...or more accurately...white MALE America. It's up to US to do something to change that...to make it an America for everybody.
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Danger Mouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 07:37 AM
Response to Original message
1. Self-kicking.
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AirmensMom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 07:46 AM
Response to Original message
2. Yep.
Katrina exposed us and we can no longer pretend it's not there.


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shadowknows69 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 07:47 AM
Response to Original message
3. Spot on
That mirror is too ugly for some folk in the US apparently.
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arundhatiroyfan Donating Member (174 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 07:50 AM
Response to Reply #3
5. It is out there for all people to see.
New Orleans is now becoming almost all-white by not allowing the poor (mainly black)to re-enter. Just one example.
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shadowknows69 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 07:48 AM
Response to Original message
4. K#5
off to the greatest with you.
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NoBushSpokenHere Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 07:52 AM
Response to Original message
6. I, for one, am totally amazed at the racism
being shown here. Of all places, this should be a place free of racism and sexism. I am embarrassed of what has been shown here. I scratch my head in wonder as I ponder this question: Are they really racist or would they (supporters) stop at nothing to promote their candidate? Same goes for the sexism, but I have seen far more racism than sexism. I, for one, didn't see much wrong with Wrights sermons. It is true, America is run by rich white males. The corporate elite. They won't give up easily.

I believe the right wing has controlled this issue for a long time and has been able somehow as a result of 9/11 breed the racism throughout the country. I just didn't realize the strength in which it has invaded our party. I honestly wonder if some are pro-Hillary because they are anti-black? I am sure there are some who are pro-Obama because they are anti-female. What ever happened to getting behind a candidate because you listened to what he or she said and believed they were the right person for the job? What ever happened to getting behind a candidate because they would be for equality? What ever happened to our Democratic Party?

The best thing that could happen for our party TODAY is for one side to concede and not only pledge support for the other candidate but to actually work toward getting him or her elected. In this case, I believe it should be the one behind to concede, especially now, especially to stand up to a problem larger than sexism, a problem that has plagued this country for far too long, racism.

Perhaps if the tide were different and Hillary were in the lead, we would be seeing more sexism, but I somehow doubt that. I believe both problems racism and sexism are atrocities our party should firmly stand against.
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Danger Mouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 08:30 AM
Response to Reply #6
16. I do think there are DUer's who are more anti-Hillary or Obama than they are...
'for' the candidate that they claim to support.
Using a Hillary or Obama avatar just makes them feel safe to spew sexism or racism because they do it while hiding behind their avvie.
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Madam Mossfern Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-17-08 06:34 PM
Response to Reply #16
84. I'm for fertility goddesses
just sayin'
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stillcool Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 08:40 AM
Response to Reply #6
20. I think about that too..
Are they pro-Hillary or just racist? It's hard for me to imagine using the type of language so many do if they did not believe in what they were saying. At the same time, I believe that the screaming "Me-Me's" are the squeaky wheel that gets the grease, and that the 'media' is loving it. I also think that this Primary Season has broken the mold, and the 'media' is stunned by Obama's success. It will be interesting to see what our country is made of as this process continues. So far, I have been more impressed by my countrymen than I have been disturbed. And each new manufactured scandal, shines the light on some ugly things that need to be exposed for what they are. The Clinton Campaign and the media are playing the Politics of fear on so many levels. I think easy access to information via the Internet has thwarted the ability to win at the 'Fear-Game'.
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RestoreGore Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 01:19 PM
Response to Reply #6
42.  I agree and think it is more a racist MEDIA than anything else
Edited on Sun Mar-16-08 01:21 PM by RestoreGore
Though racism surely exists in this country and that cannot be disputed, I am tired of posts here that seek to demonize the entire white race, because that in and of itself is racist. When Hurricane Katrina happened, many white people and people of all colors gave their time, money, hearts, and souls to restoring New Orleans, me included, and race was not an issue but helping out Americans who were in need in the shadow of a criminal govt that abandoned them all. And may I remind the OP that there were white people and other races as well who suffered the loss of everything they had in that hurricane. Do they count to you as Americans? I too stood with the Black Congressional Caucus outraged that the people in this tragedy were called "refugees", but that again was the MEDIA. So again, I don't see how demonizing an entire race is doing anything either to heal any wounds.
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Guava Jelly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 07:53 AM
Response to Original message
7. Those poor white people scrounging around for food
And those evil dark skinned people looting and stealing..:eyes:
Racism is very real..Many ism's are real.
Katrina made America look in the Mirror and what we saw a nasty pimple.
We acted shameful and I was ashamed of my country for the first time in my life.
Yes many African Americans are angry..They have every fucking right to be..
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Berry Cool Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 08:04 AM
Response to Original message
8. Katrina definitely exposed it.
The moment the light bulb really went on in my head was when I was watching Countdown on the night they included the story of the people at the convention center lined up outside, chanting "Help us! Help us!" at the camera, as if they were begging the whole country to help them. And then there was a segment at the end of the show, in which another cameraman in a suburban area somewhere in a Home Depot parking lot was located, and he was allowing people to talk for a few minutes on camera to let relatives and friends who might be watching know they were OK.

I couldn't help but notice it. The people outside the Superdome, tired, hungry, thirsty, no place to sit down or use a bathroom or sleep, chanting "Help us! Help us!"? Mostly black. The ones in the Home Depot parking lot, saying "I'm OK, I got out, don't worry about me"? Mostly white.

Dingdingdingdingding.

I suppose on Fox News they'd say this was because the white people were smart, clever and enterprising enough to know how to escape when things got bad, while the black people were just standing around waiting to be rescued. Yeah, sure. Not according to what I saw. To me, it was clear the black people had been told "Go to the Superdome and the convention center, they'll help you there," only to discover things were not as promised. And the white people probably didn't live in the city anyway, or they had vehicles and were able to get out.

It was just so OBVIOUS.

Where Wright doesn't have it quite right is when he belittles sexism and implies Hillary never experienced any, or that it's not as bad as racism. In its own way, which he will never know because he is a man (just as I, being white, will never know the full extent of racism), it is.
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The Backlash Cometh Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 08:05 AM
Response to Original message
9. You know the Katrina photo? The one that confused everyone
about who was looting and who was scavenging for food? It was the backpacks that caused the confusion. Backpacks and young healthy looking white people. means they were just on a hike. It was subliminal.
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JTFrog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 08:10 AM
Response to Original message
10. That is a very powerful post. It needs more exposure than DU. K&R
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Manifestor_of_Light Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 08:13 AM
Response to Original message
11. It's not just race and gender. It's class.
Just because you're a white male does not mean you can get rich or have a good job.

It can help, but you have to be upper class or upper middle class and KNOW the right people.

Racism, sexism and classism are all in the mix.

If you're not white, male and upper class, somebody will always tell you "No, you can't do that or have that" and block you from achieving your desired goal.
No matter how qualified you are.


We live in a mediocracy of rich white males. The rich are assumed to be benevolent dictators. The rich tell us that if we cut their taxes, they will create jobs with all that money they saved, remember???

BULLCORN.


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BumRushDaShow Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 08:15 AM
Response to Original message
12. How about another perspective?
As a black female, I will say this - and this is from the bottom of my heart - What I have seen, literally only in the past couple months (Jan. - March), regarding this election and the U.S. white population, is unprecedented. There will always be "prejudice" (this is a word that has rarely come up here on this board, but it essentially encompasses pretty much all of the "-isms"). But I am still in abject shock to have not only seen the results in states with <1% black population, but to have seen still images and video of those whites who enthusiastically cheered and supported Obama. People who stood in line for hours in harsh weather, not only to see him, but to vote for him. There was not the lying at the exit polls that my community is so used to where many claimed they voted for a person but in reality did not... But in this case, they actually DID vote for him!

:wow: :woohoo:

Looking at pictures of crowds in Maine or Wyoming or Idaho or Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, and Utah.... Who would have ever thunk it?????? :thumbsup:

This has been very emotional for me... Even if something happens where eventually, some old guard in the party manages to toss him aside as many of us expect, and even if we know that some regions of this country STILL have a long way to go to allay their fear of the "unknown", at least right now, this country has made a giant leap forward. I can only hope that with this country now spiraling into a depression, our community doesn't once again, as has happened historically, become the scapegoat for all the ills of the world, and end up suffering the wrath of white America. The media may make it seem that we are overrunning this country, but in reality, we are only about 12% of the entire U.S. population. The hope is that this time, the blame for the dire straits that this country is facing, is directed at Bushco and his minions.
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Danger Mouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 08:23 AM
Response to Reply #12
13. thank you for your perspective and contribution.
:hi:
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BumRushDaShow Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 12:56 PM
Response to Reply #13
29. You are welcome and thanks for hearing me out!
:hi:
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Danger Mouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 12:57 PM
Response to Reply #29
32. anytime...
:pals:
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K Gardner Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 08:28 AM
Response to Reply #12
15. No one blames your community.. please, please don't ever think that. We know
where the fault lies. And as for Obama, I can imagine your pride, truly. I was speaking to a black co-worker last night who expressed the same thing to me.. her absolute shock and disbelief, then pride at what she saw happening. Then she said: "That's my Barack".. and I said, "Nope, I saw him first.."

And we both agreed at the end of the night we need to really, really pray for him. I believe we do and I will.

Thank you for your post :-)
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BumRushDaShow Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 01:05 PM
Response to Reply #15
35. Here is the irony...
Edited on Sun Mar-16-08 01:08 PM by BumRushDaShow
As you can see by my avatar, I was a Kucinich supporter. And mainly because I watched him get up there and have the balls to introduce, not once but at least twice, Articles of Impeachment... all contrary to his own party's machinery that tried every trick in the book to thwart him. My early impression of Obama outside of him having slim to no chance to get anywhere, was that he was too far to the right for my comfort. I didn't expect him to have to go far left, but some of his platform positions made me take pause. But then after Iowa and checking out his speeches and seeing the enthusiastic response by the various audiences, I saw that he seemed to have tapped in on something that the Democrats in general haven't been able to tap in to for years and years. Delving further into his positions, I saw that they were essentially a realistic compromise... knowing that generally, this country doesn't think in lockstep. And if anything, there is the assumption that Congress and the Courts would also have a say.

So once Kucinich dropped out, I decided to support him and am glad I did, seeing how he has energized the electorate to hopefully throw the bums out!

Gosh - I miss that "throw the bums out" clarion call!!! :rofl:
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DearAbby Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 12:53 PM
Response to Reply #12
27. !
:hug:
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BumRushDaShow Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 01:09 PM
Response to Reply #27
37. :-)
:grouphug:
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CitizenLeft Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 04:11 PM
Response to Reply #12
46. I feel that same optimism exactly
Even with all the hatred and, yes, prejudice displayed on this board in the last few months - hell, the last few days - is overshadowed, in my mind, by those wonderful photos in Wymoning and Iowa.

:applause:
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alteredstate Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 04:30 PM
Response to Reply #12
49. Wonderful post, BumRushDaShow,
I'm excited about our "giant leap forward", too, and I'm gonna do everything I can to put Senator Obama in the White House!
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sudopod Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-17-08 03:55 PM
Response to Reply #12
79. A WINNER IS YOU! nt
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K Gardner Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 08:23 AM
Response to Original message
14. We had a lot of "down time" at work last night, so we sat there, 8 nurses: 4 black, 4 white, all
female except for one male. And we talked loudly and openly and in the most candid of terms about this presidential primary, about Obama and Hillary, about Reverend Wright and black churches and white men and racism and gender and corporations and POWER and conspiracies...and rich white men.

And we all agreed. We all agreed we needed to go worship in a black church. We agreed that we, as a country, are teetering on the precipice of something very dangerous; that we need to remember from whence we came and vow never to go back in that direction. We agreed that racism and poverty and hatred and oppression are evil and need to be vanquished from our society; that we could possibly be at the border of crossing into a very new and bold and accepting America. An America that could change the world.

I loved talking with my eclectic mix of friends last night. There was no rancor, no bitterness. There was fierce determination that we all must stand up and fight for what is right and denounce attempts to divide. We all know we have a lot of work to do and we aren't afraid to do it.
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Danger Mouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 08:31 AM
Response to Reply #14
17. It's encouraging to hear...
a lot of people want to maintain the status quo, at any cost...and we must be ready to fight that, to the bitter end.

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CitizenLeft Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 04:13 PM
Response to Reply #14
47. thank you for that.
More reason to be optimistic!
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Guava Jelly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 08:36 AM
Response to Original message
18.  Two Americas kick
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQCfwhYJlZk
John Edwards: Disparities- African Americans
Edwards was right from day one..
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Danger Mouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 08:44 AM
Response to Reply #18
22. two americas is damn right.
edwards saw it.
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WinkyDink Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 08:39 AM
Response to Original message
19. True enough. But IMO, it isn't the majority of Sen. Clinton's supporters who are racist.
Her supporters are yet Democrats, regardless of the comments by the supporters of her opponent.
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Danger Mouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 08:40 AM
Response to Reply #19
21. I would agree with you...as long as you're not saying...
it's the majority of Obama's supporters that are racist.
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beezlebum Donating Member (927 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 09:22 AM
Response to Original message
23. i do remember that
Edited on Sun Mar-16-08 09:25 AM by beezlebum
it stuck out to me and has remained a most prominent memory.

i remember suddenly finding a certain enlightenment politically. i had been a fence sitter, a moderate, a person who could consider voting republican and had. i attended a southern baptist church and upon my return to the state after evacuating helped distribute donated food with my pastor and his wife. my pastor who was present during an emergency operations meeting with homeland security and the national guard, who later during dinner told us some things he should not have told us, and more things that surprised me about this man i had once respected and admired and thought above so many things he apparently wasn't. racist things.

and i remember suddenly feeling ashamed, during the week of 8/29/05 and the weeks and months following, ashamed that i associated with these people, and not wanting to go to church anymore. ashamed that i had ever considered republicans on anybody's side but their own, and vowing for the first time, right during that very week, to never, ever vote republican again, and to be more cautious with regards to many democrats.

i could not believe the blatant racism from the mouthes of politicians. i could not believe the actions- or lack-there-of!- that were so obviously racist. i watched bodies floating in the water, i helplessly watched children collapsing from exhaustion and dehydration, their mothers missing, i knew people sitting on their rooftops who were absolutely distraught, thirsty, bitten up by mosquitoes (and if you've been to NOLA in August, you know exactly what i mean- not just a nuisance! especially the ones K blew in!), suffering in the desperately humid heat, so thick the air is almost difficult to breathe, complicated by the unbearable smell.

and some asshole strummed his guitar and shrugged it off. i expected it from some everyday jerks, but i even thought perhaps the president would have a little more decency than that. i thought for sure, even if he were racist, even if he didn't care a lick, he would at least use this as an opportunity to improve his image, to at least try and appear to be a hero.

and i was glued to the tv for a few days till i couldn't watch anymore. aside from my eyes being swollen from the nonstop crying, i couldn't stand the racism another second, coming from the media itself. i remember asking if this had been New York or Connecticut or some area where prominent white men were the primary inhabitants if it would have been treated differently; i wondered then if jerry falwell would have even been given the platform to say that those men were sinners, crooks, theives, and god was wiping them out.

i asked if they would constantly imply to the residents of San Francisco that they shouldn't rebuild their beloved city after a big earthquake, after all, it's earthquake central, and why would anyone live there, with no warning system whatsoever no less? and why should oklahoma, tornado alley, be allowed to rebuild after half the state is wiped out in a "tornadic outbreak??" :grr:

i also remember so much more that i wish i didn't. that was hands down the worst experience of my life. i have hardly talked about it, usually won't, and still have trouble thinking about it. and many will tell you they have "k" exhaustion, are even sick of referring to and hearing references to "da stawm", but no one can deny the remaining effects. it brought out the worst in some of my closest friends. i discovered racism among people i never expected it from.

this is truly the most i have spoken of "k" in a long time- forgive me if it seems disorganized and nonsensish. i'm having trouble reading back over it. these are very painful memories. the disillusion has turned out to be a good thing as it motivated me personally to be more active politically. but the disappointment in seemingly decent people hasn't. /end k talk.
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Danger Mouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 12:46 PM
Response to Original message
24. kick...
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XemaSab Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 12:48 PM
Response to Original message
25. k&r
:patriot:
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Danger Mouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 12:56 PM
Response to Reply #25
30. thank you much.
:)
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Swamp Rat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 12:48 PM
Response to Original message
26. k&r
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Danger Mouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 12:55 PM
Response to Reply #26
28. Remember how Kanye West got TOTALLY ripped into for saying...
that George W. Bush doesn't like black people?
People really, really, really hate to acknowledge the truth. Of course, West should've added '...along with a hell of a lot of other folk...' but definitely...doesn't like black people.
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Swamp Rat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 04:00 PM
Response to Reply #28
45. Oh yeah, I remember.
;)



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Danger Mouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 07:33 PM
Response to Reply #45
55. Hagee is disgusting...pure filth...and people think Wright will be a problem for Obama...
keep bringing up Hagee, and a lot of people in this country will get very very uncomfortable with McCain.
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Swamp Rat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 09:56 PM
Response to Reply #55
63. And Osama Bin Robertson, etc.


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Tierra_y_Libertad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 12:57 PM
Response to Original message
31. Well said. K&R
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FrenchieCat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 01:02 PM
Response to Original message
33. Through tears I ask, Is this our moment? Is this the time?
Will we be able to come together as a nation and push for One America, or will continue to hide our thruths under the rug and act like Business as usual, and believe Status Quo to be the safe way to go? That is what we will need to answer in the next few weeks.

Too bad that Clinton's base is largely made up of the less educated and the less interested, and too bad that the media will not pick this up as an opportunity to help the nation in the way that only it could do. And too bad that enough of Clinton's supporters who do understand what is going on would choose to use what could be a turning point as a wedge for their candidate's benefit instead.


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Danger Mouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 01:09 PM
Response to Reply #33
38. It WILL be...there are many who want to put an end to hope...
because hope challenges the iron rule of the corporate masters.
It will be a hard, uphill battle...but our voices will be heard.
Little by little, we will take back America from the corporate slime.
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sandnsea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 04:43 PM
Response to Reply #33
51. I'm pretty near tears all the time too
I can believe this stuff coming from some oldtimer, but the shit I'm seeing on DU is just awful. I just don't even know what the hell to think anymore, I really don't. I'm sorry to say, I'm not betting on white America rising up and facing itself any time soon.
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Bluerthanblue Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 04:49 PM
Response to Reply #33
52. your

quote speaks it FrenchieCat-

"While we breath, we will hope"

Breath, in with the new... out with the old.... I'm breathing with you, lots of us are breathing

:hug:

peace~
blu

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roseBudd Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-17-08 07:19 AM
Response to Reply #33
70. It is the time and Obama is the one
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mrreowwr_kittty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 01:04 PM
Response to Original message
34. It's just mind-blowing to me that so-called progressives don't see this.
Does anyone believe for one second that a Superdome filled with white people would have been treated like the people there were? No effort would have been spared to rescue the people trapped in NOLA had they been white. No one would have believed the stories of "looting" and "shooting the planes" and the supposed mayhem (mostly debunked) that took place at the colliseum. I watched in horror as the RW media successfully resurrected the Welfare Queen meme in order to eradicate any public sympathy for the victims of that disaster. I also remember DUers being horrified by the naked racism. And now I see people on this site channeling Sean Hannity about this black preacher. Rev. Wright is a racist, my ass.
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Danger Mouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 01:06 PM
Response to Reply #34
36. I'm amazed at the amount of white arrogance that has seethed to the surface...
i'm starting to wonder if loyalty to clinton has blinded the worst of the lot...or if they really are that hateful.
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madrchsod Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 09:00 PM
Response to Reply #36
58. ya so am i.....
it`s really pretty disgusting..but many of them will go away after the nomination
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2rth2pwr Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 01:14 PM
Response to Original message
39. More inflammatory posts- Great idea
http://www.snopes.com/katrina/photos/looters.asp



A Salon http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/09/01/photo_controversy/index.html article on the photographs by Aaron Kinney suggests the captions were a result of a combination of contexual and stylistic differences:



Jack Stokes, AP's director of media relations, confirmed today that Martin says he witnessed the people in his images looting a grocery store. "He saw the person go into the shop and take the goods," Stokes said, "and that's why he wrote 'looting' in the caption."


Regarding the AFP/Getty "finding" photo by Graythen, Getty spokeswoman Bridget Russel said, "This is obviously a big tragedy down there, so we're being careful with how we credit these photos." Russel said that Graythen had discussed the image in question with his editor and that if Graythen didn't witness the two people in the image in the act of looting, then he couldn't say they were looting.



The photographer who took the Getty/AFP picture, Chris Graythen, also http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=17204posted the reasons behind his caption:


I wrote the caption about the two people who 'found' the items. I believed in my opinion, that they did simply find them, and not 'looted' them in the definition of the word. The people were swimming in chest deep water, and there were other people in the water, both white and black. I looked for the best picture. there were a million items floating in the water; we were right near a grocery store that had 5+ feet of water in it. it had no doors. the water was moving, and the stuff was floating away. These people were not ducking into a store and busting down windows to get electronics. They picked up bread and cokes that were floating in the water. They would have floated away anyhow.
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Danger Mouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 01:19 PM
Response to Reply #39
41. 'inflammatory'? is there still racism in america?
yes or no?
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CitizenRob Donating Member (834 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-17-08 02:49 PM
Response to Reply #41
71. Of course. Assholes are everywhere. That doesn't exempt your post from being Inflamatory.
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Danger Mouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 01:20 PM
Response to Reply #39
43. oh, and as for the 'finding'...they still stole the goods.
how is that any different?
it's just making excuses for them.
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CitizenRob Donating Member (834 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-17-08 02:50 PM
Response to Reply #43
72. Elrond did you miss the point that it was TWO different photogs with TWO different editors?
The only way this would be a FAIR comparison is if you took all the photos by the same photog and editorial staff and compared from THAT group of photos how the whites and blacks were captioned.
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Danger Mouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-17-08 03:46 PM
Response to Reply #72
75. I never said it was the same photographer/editor.
And you apparently are missing the point as well.
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CitizenRob Donating Member (834 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-17-08 05:32 PM
Response to Reply #75
81. Have you considered that you don't have a point?
These photos don't show what you claim they show though. Once you engage your brain and think about the circumstances leading to two different captions, you've got no case here. Since these photos were sourced differently,and the photogs are the ones who write the captions, in the end it is the editors at the end point media service that used these wire photos that should have corrected the inconsistent language. But, perhaps they just didn't catch it, or maybe they aren't allowed to change the photogs caption without the photogs permission. It is their work product after all.

Who knows.

If you want to talk about racism in general as it exists in the United States today, I'm happy to go there with you. What I'm not happy to do is blindly agree with false assertions like the one in you posted in your OP.
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Usrename Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-17-08 04:22 AM
Response to Reply #39
68. I hope you just forgot to add the little sarcasm thingy
You must know that the food and drink didn't belong to these people, right? Right?

You must also know that the people in caught up in the horror of the Katrina aftermath were not just abandoned to fend for themselves, they were also denied the ability to leave the disaster area by law enforcement.

Of all the distasteful posts that have been made over the last couple of months here, yours must be the most depraved.


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Danger Mouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-17-08 03:50 PM
Response to Reply #68
77. looks at the username.
:puke:
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helderheid Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 01:16 PM
Response to Original message
40. rec 25
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TriMetFan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 01:37 PM
Response to Original message
44. I think that this kind of Bull Shit "United States of White America",
is going to be the down fall of the Democratic Party. If I remember right there were lots of white people out there that were trying to help the people in NO. It is not the fault of the rest of America that Bush was having a good time during Katrina.
But I'm just wondering if the same people that are so willing to say that it is o.k. to blame "White America" for everything that has gone wrong in that AA community are also willing to blame "White America" for what happens in all other none white communities. Because it has to be the fault of "White America" for all the wrong that has happen in the past 50 yrs. right???
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JuniperLea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-17-08 03:50 PM
Response to Reply #44
78. I agree
This is giving people the "right" to hate on all white people. I see it as more classism than anything. The rich white men were the first to get rich, but there are a hell of a lot of black people who are rich too... and a whole lot of black people who are living a hell of a lot better than a lot of white people I know.

Classism. The new racism.
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CitizenLeft Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 04:19 PM
Response to Original message
48. Katrina changed everything
It changed the minds of many Bush supporters, who may still be conservative or evangelical, but who are not racists. And to go a step further, while a great many people we may label racists DO spout rhetoric that would justify that label, a great many of them don't want to see people floating in filthy water, or to watch them die slow deaths of dehydration and exposure - it is an outrage against humanity that even trumps casual racism.

Thank you for bringing back those photos. Unbelievable bias.
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LulaMay Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 04:39 PM
Response to Original message
50. Could you repost "White Male America"? You note it in your post.
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LuvMyPorsche Donating Member (121 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 05:28 PM
Response to Original message
53. nah
I call BS
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Danger Mouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 07:31 PM
Response to Reply #53
54. on what? care to share with the rest of us?
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CitizenRob Donating Member (834 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 07:45 PM
Response to Original message
56. The caption probably had two different authors.
The editors should have noticed the disparity in descriptions of course and corrected both pictures to say looters.

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2rth2pwr Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 09:03 PM
Response to Reply #56
59. see post #39 for the real story. nt
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Usrename Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-17-08 04:28 AM
Response to Reply #59
69. What are you talking about?
"the real story"

The real story is a lot of people died and tens of thousands were denied help. What is it you don't understand?

Will you try and make an argument that the same things could have been done to tens of thousands of white Americans?

You're not living in the real world. Wake up!
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CitizenRob Donating Member (834 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-17-08 02:56 PM
Response to Reply #69
73. Everybody except the Bush admin was shocked by the Bush admin.
They miscalculated that nobody would care about the blacks in New Orleans. Because we all did. This failure to protect, rescue, and aid those in need in the Katrina impact zones was absolutely disgusting to just about every American. Let's not forget that this was the event that finally turned the media against the Bushies.
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madisongrace Donating Member (44 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 08:53 PM
Response to Original message
57. At this time in history, you are right.... n/t
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theredpen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 09:03 PM
Response to Original message
60. K&R
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skater314159 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 09:11 PM
Response to Original message
61. K&R
:kick:
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Bluebear Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 09:15 PM
Response to Original message
62. 'Remember Hurricane Katrina?' Yes. I mourned it, I cried, I donated...so don't use this to divide us
The problem is not white people. Countless white progressives were outraged about this as you. The enemeny is not white people. It is the selfish, lowdown, lying, intrusive, bible-thumping, lower than whale shit Republican party.
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psychopomp Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 10:06 PM
Response to Reply #62
64. I guess you remember this, too
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Bluebear Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 11:21 PM
Response to Reply #64
66. And that has what to do with me?
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-17-08 02:19 AM
Response to Reply #66
67. Deleted message
Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.
 
Danger Mouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-17-08 03:49 PM
Response to Reply #62
76. I'm not using it to divide anyone.
I'm just pointing out that white people, evil white people, are the problem in this country...not all white people of course.
I AM a white progressive, btw. Did you read the entire OP?
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Horse with no Name Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-17-08 06:23 PM
Response to Reply #62
83. In the efforts to take broad swipes at anyone that supports Hillary
they forget that many of us are trying to change the world we live in...by what we do in our communities.
I REFUSE to allow someone to "white-guilt" me into supporting a candidate that I wouldn't support no matter WHAT color he was.
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Arugula Latte Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-16-08 10:16 PM
Response to Original message
65. One thing I'll always remember about Katrina:
A photo of a white guy in the newspaper said he had found food to feed his family.

A photo of a black guy in the newspaper said he had "looted" a store.
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blues90 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-17-08 03:44 PM
Response to Original message
74. don't leave out class ism !
I am a white male and i can tell you being white is no free ride , if you are poor or blue collar and not part of some higher club you are screwed .

I worked many crap jobs side by side with blacks and hispanics for the same money as did many other whites .

I heard from one hispanic fellow for a good long white telling me your white , your rich and I said if this is the case than why am I here working in this same shit hole of a factory and driving an old beater just like you and he suddenly thought and backed off and said you are right .

Yes it is the world of the white rich man but white is a small part of the picture .

In the good ole USA if you are poor or the working class poor then you are part of the so called melting pot .
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backscatter712 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-17-08 04:07 PM
Response to Original message
80. Yes, that's something that needs to change.
As a Democrat, I fundamentally believe that all people should get a place at the table in America.

Disenfranchising any group of people, especially over skin color, is utterly unacceptable.

I find it absolutely disgusting and despicable that we're seeing racism erupt, here on this board during election season.

Even if we take electoral results out, and stop caring about whether Obama wins or Clinton wins, we still have the racism.

It needs to stop. Now.

If I see blatant racism here, I will alert the mods. It's not just because I'm an Obama supporter, but because racism is unacceptable period.
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Orsino Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-17-08 06:18 PM
Response to Original message
82. Damn . Now YOU can't be president, either.
:sarcasm:

You're right. Pointing out the divide is the one unforgivable sin.
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