Today I listened to Sean Hannity. I have a number of students who are tracking him for a media and politics course so I thought I would give it a try. He was interviewing some black author who claims that academics (that's me!) are teaching blacks to believe they are "behind" because of slavery. I didn't know I was teaching students that. It was interesting to hear that apparently I am responsible for blacks across the country feeling badly about themselves because of slavery. If I weren't doing this, blacks would perceive themselves as in a bad place because of their own individual problems...I guess is the point. His argument was that Democrats (aided and abetted by the academics (me again!)) need blacks to feel white racism (I like that term, I'm not sure what it means, should we refer to male sexism?) so we make them listen to Jesse Jackson and then they feel badly about themselves...so they miss out on the fabulous policies the Republicans have for black America - his one example was vouchers (how that's connected to black America escaped me but perhaps he explained it earlier in the show).
I would like to note that my black friends (of whom I have quite a few and all of whom are doing very well) feel racism. They explain to me how pervasive it is. I would also like to note that none of them think there is racism because of slavery, but because of a lack of tolerance in certain pockets of the U.S. population. It also could be that Republican legislators in Utah say things like:
Well, I think Brown v. Board of Education is wrong to begin with. That’s a whole other subject. Call me again and take a half-hour to talk about that.- Sen. Buttars
It could also be that Clinton was the first president in history to actually get above 10% in black appointments while the Republicans around him were noted for destroying the Civil Rights Commission.
I imagine Sean Hannity - white anglo saxon male that he is - is very tolerant and very understanding of race in this country. Do people seriously listen to him???
2 comments:
Hannity's not a WASP. He's Irish.
CLEARLY YOU ARE TOTALLY WRONG.
But that's the genius of that format, isn't it? They get to throw Jell-o at the wall for hours on end every day on the radio, then do it again for an hour on the teevee. And if "white racism" sticks, awesome. If it doesn't, they just move on to something else. And THEN they get to occasionally replay themselves predicting something (Limbaugh does this all the time) and, for some reason, their listeners don't ever pause to consider that if any one of them made political predictions for 3 hours a day every week of the year, they'd probably get something right, too.
Um, I specifically remember that week in class where you lectured on that.... wait, maybe I'm thinking of something else. Anyway, quite complaining and go back to your ivory tower, indoctrinating impressionable kids with your egg-head ideas.
Kisses.
Post a Comment