Courtland Milloy is a Racist

RACISM: "1 : a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. 2 : racial prejudice or discrimination."

On Tuesday, a front-page story in the Washington Post had this lede:

Public confidence in President Obama has hit a new low, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll. Four months before midterm elections that will define the second half of his term, nearly six in 10 voters say they lack faith in the president to make the right decisions for the country, and a clear majority once again disapproves of how he is dealing with the economy.

Many paragraphs later, in the story's only reference to race, the Post reports:

The president's approval ratings reached a new low among whites, at 40 percent, with his positive marks dipping under 50 percent for the first time among white college-educated women.

The raw poll data released is incomplete, and does not include any data breaking down the sample or the responses by race.

In today's Washington Post, long-time columnist Courtland Milloy provides his take on this data, and there's no mistaking what he thinks: it's all about race; white voters are a vindictive and angry crowd. That's not my interpretation, that's Mr. Milloy's declarative sentence: "And yet, with midterm elections just a few months away, the so-called white vote looms large, an angry and vindictive political force." So for a white voter to "disapprove of" or "lack confidence in" the President, he must be angry, vindictive, and a racist. Once again, Mr. Milloy's words: "Does race have anything to do with it? You betcha."

Lest you miss his point, it's not only one's opinion of the President that establishes their bona fides as a racist:

Whites, for instance, are overwhelmingly in favor of Arizona's immigration law, according to most polls. And virtually none of the surveys has shown any concern for the rights of nonwhite Hispanics who would be subject to racial profiling and illegal search and seizures. These are the same people who like to wave copies of the U.S. Constitution and claim Obama is curtailing their freedoms.

Unlike Mr. Milloy, we think that not only "nonwhite Hispanics" should be free from "racial profiling" and illegal searches, we think everyone should be. We also think that the federal immigration laws ought to be enforced or repealed. Note also Mr. Milloy's unsupported presumption that those favoring the law have no concern for the rights of nonwhite Hispanics.

What it all comes down to is Mr. Milloy's view that the legitimacy and the seriousness of your views depend upon your race. If one is white, then your disapproval of the President, or your sympathy for the Arizona statute, are not serious opinions; they do not constitute serious discourse. Your views need not be addressed with data, logic, or argument; you're a racist, end of discussion.

Don't misunderstand -- Mr. Milloy is entitled to hold whatever opinion he'd like, whether based on thoughtful analysis or bigotry. If all racists were as forthright as he, it would be easier to know who can be profitably ignored.

But we've saved the best for last. The title of Mr. Milloy's column: "A vote for doing away with race-based politics."

Is the Internet Cool, or What?

Gumbo, Oreos, Jambalaya

Say what? Careful, they're all racist.

International Olympic Committee Racist!!

Racially Divisive

According to Howard Dean and the DNC, this is a "racially divisive" political advertisement:

Surely Howie means to say that Reverend Wright's hate speech is racist and divisive, right? Because suggesting that the advertisement is somehow illegitimate would be interference in the free speech of the ad's sponsors, right? There's nothing misleading, let alone untrue, in the ad, so that can't be a problem, right?

We thought so.

It's Quiz Time Again!

Our last quiz, regarding the names of the physicians arrested in connection with the most recent British airport bomb plots, was so popular that we provide herewith yet another.

Who said, respecting the 9/11 attacks:

It's almost like the Reichstag fire, kind of reminds me of that. After the Reichstag was burned, they blamed the Communists for it, and it put the leader of that country [Adolph Hitler, on the chance you attended public school] in a position where he could basically have authority to do whatever he wanted.

But in today's overheated political climate we know this might be a difficult question, so we provide multiple choice answers.

The speaker was:

A. A Roman Catholic, who harbors the odd belief that he adheres to the one true church;

B. A Jew, who harbors the odd belief that he has been chosen by the Creator of the Universe;

C. A Fundamentalist Protestant Christian, who harbors odd beliefs without number;

D. A follower of Mohammed, founder of Islam, the Religion of Peace.

Please give yourself 60 seconds to settle on your answer, and then go HERE for the definitive word.

News From San Franselma

From the Contra Costa Times comes this inspiring story regarding diversity and cultural sensitivity in California's beautiful Bay area:

With schools under increasing pressure to improve test scores, Mount Diablo High School has resorted to a new way to motivate students: by race.

The Concord campus on Friday held separate assemblies for students of different ethnicities to talk about last year's test results and the upcoming slew of state exams this spring.

Jazz music and pictures of Martin Luther King greeted African-American students, whereas Filipino, Asian and Pacific Islander students saw flags of their foreign homelands on the walls. Latinos and white students each attended their own events, too, complete with statistics showing results for all ethnicities and grade level.

"They started off by saying jokingly, 'What up, white people,'" said freshman Megan Wiley, 14. Teachers flashed last year's test scores and told the white crowd of students to do better for the sake of their people.

[snip]

Principal Bev Hansen said she held the student assemblies by ethnicity this year and last year to avoid one group harassing another based on their test scores. The 1,600-student campus, one of the most ethnically diverse high schools in the Mt. Diablo school district, is roughly half Latino, 30 percent white and 15 percent black, with Asian nationalities rounding out the mix.

[snip]

Ultimately, however, Hansen said she did not know why parents seemed so concerned. The state has reported scores based on race for years. The school assemblies simply reflected those same categories in reporting the numbers to students, she said.

"In this country, race is a very uncomfortable topic, and it's time we got over it," Hansen said.

A sentiment we can all get behind, methinks. Perhaps further progressive multi-cultural thinking will lead to the conclusion that entirely separate schools for Asians, for Latinos, for Blacks and for Aryans is an even more advanced and sensitive way to go. It’s surprising that hasn’t been tried.

Oh, wait . . . .