blah blah blah
Suppose I should pretend to care about this.
Plastic.com | Uncle Colin's Cabin?:
Singer and former Civil Rights activist Harry Belafonte recently kicked up a storm when he made some pretty scathing remarks about Secretary of State, Colin Powell's place in the Bush cabinet, comparing him to a 'house slave'.'Colin Powell's committed to come into the house of the master. When Colin Powell dares to suggest something other than what the master wants to hear, he will be turned back out to pasture.'Powell's response was dignified and diplomatic:'If Harry had wanted to attack my politics, that was fine. If he wanted to attack a particular position I hold, that was fine,' Powell said. 'But to use a slave reference, I think, is unfortunate and is a throwback to another time and another place that I wish Harry had thought twice about using.'"Even as a black man completely dissatisfied with the Bush administrations politics I feel as though Belafonte (and others) miss the point. That Powell can be a role model to African American youth in this country by holding the highest position ever held by a black man and the fact that his voice does get heard in the cabinet means that the world is probably a better, more level headed place with Powell in the cabinet."
Or the MetaFilter front page post on the same pressing issue currently confronting our nation:
There are those slaves who lived on the plantation, and there were those slaves who lived in the house... Colin Powell was permitted to come into the house. Harry Belafonte starts out with a flame but then shows himself to be a more eloquent and tenacious critic of Bush policies than any Democrat on the scene. What does it tell us about the state of our two-party system that we have to rely on Rat Pack era crooners to speak out like this in public?
Or, you know, there's yesterday's Boondocks. Which at least has the benefit of being funny and not claiming to be profound. Normally I pull excrutiatingly stupid posts out of Plastic or MeFi discussions that touch on race, but those. . . wouldn't know where to begin, really.
On the other hand, at least they're not festering cesspools of outright hatred like Charles Johnson's Little Green Footballs.
Comments
I'm a white guy and I think Harry Belafonte was racist and plan. Motherfuck him and Rogaine.
....ahem.
Sorry, I was just play-acting. Want you to be primed and ready when the scary, angry clowns who...that hate show up once they are done calling Anil, Anal.
Posted by: Jason | October 23, 2002 8:04 PM
uhhh..."i" in plain. I really should start using that preview button.
Posted by: Jason | October 23, 2002 8:05 PM
i'm not following those links. no. no, it'll only upset my delicate sensibilities. i'll just say, my goodnes, that Anil certainly does rock! and then quietly wander off.
perhaps to upload more spongebob mp3s.
Posted by: kd | October 23, 2002 8:51 PM
Jason, I feel a great swell of pity for the poor fool who comes to this site looking for trouble.
Wait a minute, that's your line. . .
kd, a wise choice. And Anil does indeed rock almost, but not quite, as much as you.
Posted by: Aaron | October 23, 2002 9:42 PM
The LGF people's comments, especially over at Anil Dash's web site, have made me reconsider the idea that the internet routes around damage. So has Ted Barlow's little adventure with commenters from Instapundit over his friend who was assaulted while protesting for PETA.
One of the disturbing things to me is that some of the people involved are perfectly nice in person. Glenn Reynolds has been a polite email correspondent; I've hoisted brews for years with Larry Simon, since well before all this warblog crap started. I'm sure Bill Quick and Charles Johnson like fuzzy puppies and kittens too. Reconciling that with (some of) the things they write is difficult. And drawing the line between OK and not-OK, between tolerating borderline behavior and calling out what's over the line, is hard to do, especially when it's a friend whose conduct you're bothered about.
And knowing that if you say anything and it comes to their attention, you're likely to end up with a mailbox full of grade-school taunts and death threats is just frightening. It's no wonder few people are willing to confront anyone who directs that kind of negative attention.
The choice between self-censorship and USENET-style warfare over what should be a fun hobby is an easy one for most people. The shitty thing is that it has come to this at all for Anil, for Ted, or for anyone else.
Sorry for hijacking your comments section to rant, Aaron. And thanks. You really did lift my spirits.
Posted by: Ginger | October 24, 2002 11:21 AM
Ginger, no worries, and you're welcome.
And you're always welcome to comment here. You keep disagreeing without being disagreeable and stuff. It's possible I'll eventually learn from your good example, but if nothing else it keeps me looking bad. That's always important, and Laura and Freetles keep slacking on the job. . .
Posted by: Aaron | October 27, 2002 7:08 AM