These same people who go to great lengths to draw distinctions between "bad" and "good" black folks are also the ones who insist, against mountains of evidence to the contrary, that Obama hasn't shown sufficiently that he isn't just like the "bad" ones like Reverend Wright. While allowing themselves the indulgence of heaping unmitigated scorn on the n***ers that they literally see everywhere, insisting that they are only talking about this "scary" subset of blacks, that distinction is nowhere to be found when it counts.

Every "good" black person they meet or know about thus becomes the exception over the rule in their minds ("he's one of the good ones"), requiring a ridiculous burden of proof to overcome the intrinsic assumption that they are either a baggy-pants-wearing baller deep down under the cool exterior, or that they at least share and are driven by militant black movement views.

Similarly, of course, the media's new fixation is whether Obama's speech "was enough" to separate him from Reverend Wright. As part of the same broken-record narrative that they themselves have created, we are now being treated to the repeated hand-wringing whether Obama might still be just like Reverend Wright deep down inside - read: whether he is still a black militant "sleeper" waiting to explode with invective against white people and America itself.

The South, and what it represents at its worst, lost the first Civil War, and has lost every one since. It will lose this one as well, but only if we refuse to blink. I'm not interested in who this punk thinks is a nigger; I am interested -- very interested -- in seeing him and his allies driven back under the rock they've crawled out from under, and to make them think twice before trying to show their faces again. Electing Obama president would be a good start.

I'm not interested in the Instapunks, per se (who are dying out, anyway, and good riddance) but rather the attitude that Instapunk embodies -- an attitude that is in everyone, black and white, to a greater or lesser degree. The problem here is the "moderate" white voters who instantly understand and agree with Instapunk, if only deep down where they never have to examine those feelings (some of them have posted in this thread). Wright, and any other slip ups Obama makes (like making race an upfront part of his campaign), present opportunities for those attitudes to rise closer to the surface and express themselves at the ballot box. Obama has done a good job of navigating those waters so far, but he's had a lot of help from the press, and I wonder how long that situation will last. I agree that electing Obama would have a lot of positive effects for the country (assuming he does a good job), but that's the trick, isn't it? The actual "electing" part.

"We're teetering at the edge of believing that you're a secret society, a massive collection of sleeper cells just waiting for your chance to do serious harm to the rest of us."

They blend right in. After being a right winger long enough you can't even tell bhlack from white.

And "Fear of a Black Planet."

http://www.newshounds.us/2008/03/23/neo_naziwhite_supremacist_hal_turner_confirms_friendship_and_kinship_with_sean_hannity.php#more

Is it too late to add another chapter to Great American Hypocrites?

Why is the call for a frank and open conversation about race in America automatically translated into an invitation to use the word "nigger"? How honest are we really being about the issue if all we ask for is the right to employ hateful pejoratives freely? To what purpose would any white person use the word (in the manner begged by Instapunk) if not to express more racism?

Obama has asked the country to talk about why it harbors feelings of anger, resentment and unfamiliarity between the races. As far as I can tell he did not call on us to return to the days when a white person can be openly racist without consequence.

You're getting it all wrong. You see, Sean Hannity and Hal Turner only agreed and shared a friendship over their beliefs about "states' rights."

Perfectly innocent. Hannity loves and respects black people. You can tell by his puppy-dog eyebrows.

I see guys in laughably baggy pants every day, turning their car stereos up so loud it makes *my* car shake. But I don't think of them as "n*gg*rs" (sorry, just can't write it) -- not least because here in my part of suburban NJ those guys are all white. What they are is assholes.

I look at his list, and some of those guys are certainly assholes -- and some are internationally-ranked flaming douchebag assholes (OJ). But of course the Instas can't afford to put down asshole culture, because their butts are implicated, too. And they can't even use a term like "asshole", because that's so obviously an equal-opportunity slur -- or in Instapunk's case, a lifestyle.

Anyway, do you think he really doesn't notice the white assholes? Is their style different enough from black assholes that he can pretend it's a completely different thing, not like that at all? Or is he angry because black assholes infringe on the territory that is the rightful property of his people, the white assholes?

On the advice of a recent post, I am reading W.J. Cash's "Mind of the South" . If you want a light bulb to click on as to the root of everything from the embrace of the evangelical religious right, racism and its proponents, as well as an explanation for George Bush's capacity to publicly tout war as "kind-of romantic", this classic is a MUST READ! Nothing PC about Cash's writing, but OH SO MUCH TRUTH and understanding of the heart, mind and values of the "traditional" white "Southern" male!

Georgie Boy crafted his political persona by adopting the values of the stereotypical good-ole-boy Southern white male in donning his white ten gallon hat...how romantic...how symbolic.

**************************

On another thought, how did America elect a recovering alcoholic as "a President with whom we could drink a beer"? We are confused on so many issues by exposure to so many conflicting images and opinions, how can we get past the media-fed war against racial tolerance? Such dichotomies are bombarding the collective psyche and keeping us in a state of constant agitation.

Hopefully, in the end, humankind will grow spiritually as we deal openly and honestly with these issues. We can only hope for better times!!