Harry’s Situation…

In the episode of the FX show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia called “The Gang Goes Jihad,” the three guys who own the Philadelphia bar come face-to-face with a man who just moved from Israel and had bought land that included a portion of their establishment.  Throughout the episode, the three characters banter over the proper use of the term Jew.  At one point they T.P. the man’s building, during which this exchange occurs:

“That jew’s in for a hell of a lot of work.”

“Wow, wow, cool it man.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Dude, you just dropped a hard J.”

“No man, he is of Jewish descent and that is a lot of toilet paper. That is going to take a lot of time to clean up. I was thinking bout the context the whole time.”

 

Suffice to say, I love this show.  But who needs to fork over the extra money to get FX Network when you can watch similar debates occur on the local news?  It’s one thing to have three mentally unstable friends squabble over political correctness; how about a twenty three year Senator, and current Senate Majority leader demonstrating his inability to decide whether or not to use the out-dated term negro?  In case you have been living with Patrick Star under a rock this past week, here is what Senator Reid is quoted in a new Mark Halperin book, Game Change:

            “He (Reid) was wowed by Obama’s oratorical gifts and believed that the country was ready to embrace a black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama – a ‘light-skinned’ African American ‘with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one,’ as he later put it privately.”

 

The words could have come straight out of Archibald Bunker’s mouth.  What is it that has the country so enveloped in this demonstration of ignorance?  Ironically enough, Sen. Reid was attempting to compliment the future President of the United States.  Instead people are up in arms.  If we dissect the statement, we can see that there are distinct parts that probably incite more reaction than others.  In what context is the term Negro acceptable?  None (and the same goes for you Rush, even though you used it in a parody that ended up making fun of just this situation).  Is it true that lighter-skinned African Americans tend to be more influential, more popular, and more electable in society than those who are darker?  Sadly this seems to be the case in many situations, but I cannot pretend to be able to comment on the use of such racially charged language and how blacks feel about it truly, in their heart of hearts.  Perhaps we should look at what he meant by “Negro dialect,” what does he mean there?  Surely he demonstrated that he is out of touch with America because most people refer to ‘Ebonics’ or ‘street-talk’ when they are trying to make a similar point.  Nobody is unaware of either of these terms, and his comment just shows his ignorance to popular culture as well as manners. 

There is a lot to analyze there; but there seems to be something missing that is causing such turbulence in the souls of many Americans.  For me, it’s not what was said on the surface, as much as it is what was said without being said.  How can we use this black man to our advantage?  He is black, which is useful; he ‘is articulate,’ which is useful; he can turn his ‘blackness on and off;’ which is useful; in the end, this black man is useful and will succeed for us because he is black how we want him to be, but not black when we need him to be.  THAT my friends, is racism.  There seems to be a disconnect between people who are viewing these comments and only seeing the tip of the iceberg, and those of us who see the rest of the iceberg plummeting miles into the ocean.

This was seen on Sunday, when I watched with gaping mouth, as Liz Cheney and George Will clashed over this point.  Mr. Will seems to be looking at the comments on a surface level, Ms. Cheney on the deeper level.  In order to be completely forthcoming, I must fess up to a deep admiration to both people (and NONE of the others around the table).  I was sad to see the two fight, and sad to differ from George Will, again.  However, I think those African Americans who are tired of feeling like pawns in a political game; whether it’s an effort to win voting blocks in cities with programs that have proven to be detrimental to the black family and communities, or putting up candidates that fit a litmus test for winning and avoiding the Bradley Effect.  This is not a case of Republican versus Democrat, this is a demonstration of a disgusting ends justifies the means mentality for domestic politics, and should be condemned as such. 

-rj