On Monday, Sarah Palin wrote on Facebook: “Mr. President, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. and all who commit to ending any racial divide, no more playing the race card.”
It’s unclear what prompted Palin to call President Obama out, but it could have been a squirrel or a rock she saw on the sidewalk. (And even if he had played the race card, in his defense, Palin has ALL of the crazy wild cards and she’s still not winning hearts.) “Playing the race card” refers to accusing people of racism as a strategy to gain clout. But maybe we don’t accuse people of racism enough. Martin Luther King Jr was committed to ending the racial divide, but doesn’t exclude calling people out for being racist at all. In fact, it kinda relies on it, like a space ship does on an engine or a nerdy feminist does on bangs. Ending the racial divide isn’t as simple as pretending racism doesn’t exist, because racism is not made out of the same pixie dust as Tinkerbell.
Once I was at a bar (because duh) watching a comic on stage. My friend said, “I like him, but all his jokes are about being black. He’s using it as a crutch.” I responded, “Aren’t all your jokes about pizza and masturbating?” Referencing racism does not mean someone is using racism as a crutch.
When conservatives accuse people of playing the race card, it implies racism is over, which it isn’t. Whether or not
there’s less blatant public cruelty to people of color, they’re still systemically disadvantaged as far as education and jobs. So when people like Palin say, “I just don’t even see color anymore,” it’s like, maybe get your eyes checked because your glasses should be for more than making you look like a less hot Tina Fey.
When President Obama says there is racism in our society, he’s not begging for sympathy, he’s empathizing with others, which is an admirable and beautiful quality in a leader.
Great job validating Sarah Palin’s desperate attempts for attention and validation!
I’D LIKE TO SEE YOU WALK A MILE IN HER 8-INCH STRIPPER HEELS BARBARA SHE DOESN’T JUST GET EVERYTHING HANDED TO HER LIKE KING OBAMA
Sarah Palin is right on with this request to Obama – she speaks on behalf of multitudes of Americans who are tired of Obama going to the Racecard when it is his destructive policies and his REPEATED LIES to Americans about their Healthcare that are tanking him in the polls
GROW UP Obama and accept responsibility for your FAILED SOCIALIST POLICIES
Palin is pandering to her base. Obama is pandering to his base. Their actions speak louder than their words.
No editors on duty today? That second paragraph started tripping at some point, and I mean the type I always used to do (except when the “blotter acid” just turned out to be S&H Green Stamps).
If SHE was a “dick”, she would be a dyke. Say what you mean, not mean what you say.
*vitriolic hyperbole!*
*unconditionally supportive sympathy*
*heartlessly dismissive passive aggressive insult*
Wow Barbara, yet another groundbreaking blog.
Oh this column is so cute… Strawmen arguments galore. First, folks who condone racism and rape are unlikely to be reading this blog. You are not breaking ground by calling Palin out as a bigot. However, you missed a great opportunity to actually present a controversial point of view; Obama rarely mentions race. He has sent more troops to die than any other president. These troops are disproportionately black. He has gone back on his promises regarding mandatory minimums and marijuana laws. Again… both things that affect young blacks. Obama has systematically and indirectly endorsed the Palin mindset. Second, he did it thanks to your bumper sticker. White hipster liberals are quick to defend the leader of the free world… a black man who flat out refuses to help other black men. Screw the entire right wing. Forget Palin. Subaru-armed slactivist idealism is what keeps the black kids dying for oil.
Groundbreaking column. Maybe next week you can expose batteries for being shocking.
Sent more troops to die than any other president? Where in the fuck did you get that info? Fox News?
Palin repeatedly says uninformed, ridiculous, outrage-baiting things, but … she’s no longer a politician or anyone we HAVE to pay attention to. I think even for people on the right, Palin’s main appeal is that she reliably irritates the lefties. So if we just stop paying attention to her and giving her that power, maybe she’ll actually go away.
Some children were playing beside a river. They made castles of sand, and each child defended his castle
and said, “This one is mine.” They kept their castles separate and would not allow any mistakes about which
was whose. When the castles were all finished, one child kicked over someone else’s castle and completely
destroyed it. The owner of the castle flew into a rage, pulled the other child’s hair, struck him with his fist and
cried out, “He has spoiled my castle! Come all of you and help me to punish him as he deserves.” The others all
came to his help. They beat the child with a stick and then kicked him as he lay on the ground…Then they went
on playing with their sand castles, each saying, “This is mine; no one else may have it. Keep away! Don’t touch
my castle!” But evening came; it was getting dark and they all thought they ought to be going home. No one now
cared what became of his castle. One child stamped on his, another pushed his over with both hands. Then they
turned away and went back, each to his home.