answers for the poll questions

[rmd]

who-done-it answers for my scandal poll no cheating!

1. laura bush (then laura welch) was the driver in a car accident where she struck a car driven by her ex boyfriend.

2. Michelle Obama's thesis looked at how black princeton alumni related to the black community. it contains some content considered racist by some folks. others say that the racist quotes are cherry-picked out of context.

3. John McCain had an affair for over 6 months while still married. he divorced his wife and married his mistress the following month. the UK daily mail had an article that was somewhat critical of how McCain's first marriage ended and his second marriage.

4. john edwards has admitted an extramarital affair that happened while he was campaigning for president. this is only marginally less stupid than gary hart, if only because edwards hadn't challenged folks to watch his activities at the time and see if he was having an affair.

Comments

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

I'm going to say this bluntly because I haven't time to be diplomatic and because I know you are sensible. :)

2. Michelle Obama's thesis looked at how black princeton alumni related to the black community. it contains some content considered racist by some folks. others say that the racist quotes are cherry-picked out of context.


One thing I have noticed during my 32 years so far of being me, is that one fairly common pattern that happens is that a Black person attempts to discuss or even mention issues of race and racism, and is then castigated for "being racist/playing the race card", for not going on with that happy pretence that Race Doesn't Matter Anymore. And woe betide any Black person whose words echo the slightest hint of anger; the response is that we are "too angry", that our "tone" is [insert perjorative adjective here], that we are practicing 'reverse racism', etc. I think this happens to other People of Color too, but I know, from reading and talking and observing and from being a Black woman who is increasingly disinclined to shut up, that this is a common tactic people use to be able to ignore what Black people are saying.

I really want to read Mrs. Obama's thesis now, having read this tantalizing article about it, because what she said about how attending an Ivy League school can affect a Black student's relationships with the Black community, with academia, and with themselves, all that really resonates with me. And I am completely unsurprised and kinda fucking mad at the response so many people have had to what she said.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

oh sweet jesus, yes. it seems my intended dryly ironic tone[1] may have failed to come out in that description of her thesis. my apologies if you were offended.

actually, when i read the description of the thesis a while back, i thought "huh, i wonder if browngirl and sparkeymonster have read about this -- i'd be curious to see how or if things are different a couple of decades later." but i didn't want to be all "HELLO MY BLACK IVY LEAGUE FRIENDS! I'M YOUR NICE WHITE FRIEND! WHAT DO THE BLACK IVY LEAGUE PEOPLE THINK ABOUT THIS RACE-RELATED THING I HAVE READ ABOUT?"

and for more fun: compare and contrast the reaction to that (written when she was an undergraduate college student in the 1980's) with the stuff (http://www.realchange.org/ronpaul.htm) written in ron paul's newsletter when he was an established politician and former presidential candidate in the 1990's. gah.

[1] DAMN WHITE PEOPLE AND THEIR TONE!

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

*flail* Oh, goodness, no, your tone came through, and I was completely the opposite of offended. I'm sorry I made you worry! What I meant by 'being diplomatic' was an oblique advance apology in case someone objects to what I said since I wasn't, well, as conciliatory as I could have been in my phrasing.

It's interesting --- I can't speak for sparkymonster *wave to her*, but I would totally have been delighted if you'd forwarded this to me. WD sends me stuff like this all the time. *grin*

And don't get me started on Ron Paul. I keep wanting to ask his fans what they think of statements of his such as the ones you linked to, but I don't really want to know if they think he had a valid point, or agree with him. Sometimes it gets wearying. *rueful smile*

[rmd.livejournal.com]

oh, no worries.

[johnromkey.livejournal.com]

Perhaps we could start identifying as "pink" rather than "white"...

you know

"Pink" - the other "white" meat!

Maybe that would be too gaycasian.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

pinko.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

... or maybe PINKY!

NARF

[lil-brown-bat.livejournal.com]

And I am completely unsurprised and kinda fucking mad at the response so many people have had to what she said.

I'm not surprised either. I'm just baffled as hell about what to do about it, other than calling bullshit on it at every possible opportunity. What I'd like to do isn't something I can do and stay out of jail.