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Let's call a spade a spade, shall we?
 

A joke like this: 

And here's one of my Faves: 15 Baleful Regards:

Public Artist said...

As a white person carrying an American passport who grew up all over and now lives in Britain...can I just say thank you for writing this. There is definitely racism in Britain, but it is of an entirely different flavour and the contrast of seeing it from this vantage point just makes what Americans swallow as a joke that much more poignant. I'm also doing a PhD in International Politics and nothing pisses me off more than the 'accusations' of socialism. I wish it was socialism...
 
This is a great post.
 
Brava Dawn! I have been feeling exactly the same way and it has been especially disappointing as a Caucasian Canadian to see the ignorant comments and posts from my "White" American friends on Facebook and message boards.

I cannot get over how determined they are to reject everything good and promising with this administration just because of the colour of his skin-it is just SO sad.
 
Bravo! Wish your blog had a "like" button like Facebook!
 
The day before Obama was elected, my husband and I got custody of two biracial girls. I cried watching his acceptance speech because I knew what it would mean for our two darker skinned girls being raised by two very white parents. I am furious that people are trying to reject progress and the gift of a basic human right simply because of the color of our presidents skin. I also hate that those same people seem to not realize that Obama did not cause the financial meltdown, he was just unfortunate enough to inherit the mess.
Those "jokes" are not jokes at all, nor are they thinly veiled in the least. They are blatantly racist and disgusting. If nothing else, this man is our president. If people can respect that walking failure Bush I don't see why Obama should be disrespected because of his skin.
 Catutes said...

This is such a wonderful post. I wish every freakin' bigot in the world was forced read it out loud while they look themselves in the mirror.
Do you think they would recognize themselves?
 
Two thumbs up, Dawn, on this post.
 
Great Post. Unfortunately it isn't just the scary right wing people either.
 
i love this post dawn. love it.
it gives me chills
 Gerbil said...

Sadly, its not just America. Every nation has its share of this. And not limited to any one race either. Humans? We are so very stupid.
 
Oh & I meant to add (but am dimwitted today) that certainly there are plenty of Americans who are perfectly happy to have Barack Obama in the white house (and some of us so-called republicans at that) but don't make a lot of fuss about his race on Facebook or other social sites because well, its not - or should not be - THE defining factor of his administration. Is it kickass that suddenly the White House is really now an attainable goal for everyone (theoretically anyway)? Oh heck yes. Beyond kickass. But he's more than his race, and race should not be all people see.

But like I said, humans are stupid. And stupid has a really big mouth.

Excellent, thought-provoking post, btw. Must remember to bookmark!
 
I loved this. I'm a black female working in a very anti obama office and have seen on our copier (Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington D.C.) "Jokes" printed off of computers similar to what you have shown. I drove into D.C. Saturday to drop off my daughter (Saturday) and had to see the 9-12 tea party group lining up to protest with confederate flags and banners that intentionally had the President of the U.S. as a Monkey... I am curious as to how far this will go. I'm disgusted that my daughters have seen the best, and the worst of America being progressive enough to elect it's first Black Presidentm and then the disgusting aftermath. People like you give me hope. Keep keeping it real :-)
 LaCasey said...

Thank you for calling a duck a duck. Great post.
 Jason Evan Mihalko, Psy.D. said...

Thanks for this great post! I was writing a blog post about whether there are racist connotations associated with "let's call a spade a spade" and came across your blog post. The images are both powerful and disgusting -- as well as the call for us all to remember that "jokes" are not always "jokes".
