His pitiful ass is over here, disagreeing with everything he ever wrote.
Of course, it is true that white America has made great progress in curbing racism over the last 40 years. I believe, for example, that Colin Powell might well have been elected president in 1996 had he run against a then rather weak Bill Clinton. It is exactly because America has made such dramatic racial progress that whites today chafe so under the racist stigma. So I don't think whites really want change from Obama as much as they want documentation of change that has already occurred. They want him in the White House first of all as evidence, certification and recognition.
But there is an inherent contradiction in all this. When whites -- especially today's younger generation -- proudly support Obama for his post-racialism, they unwittingly embrace race as their primary motivation. They think and act racially, not post-racially. The point is that a post-racial society is a bargainer's ploy: It seduces whites with a vision of their racial innocence precisely to coerce them into acting out of a racial motivation. A real post-racialist could not be bargained with and would not care about displaying or documenting his racial innocence. Such a person would evaluate Obama politically rather than culturally.
This is the moment where he's shown himself not to be the intellectual ronin he claims to be.
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I knew if that sucker MC reared his head you'd be the first to spot it.
Credit where due...Sweet
Credit where due...Sweet Jones pointed it out in that Orlando Patterson thread.
You know I didn't even read the post. I cracked up at the title
and came on in.
BWA HA HA HA HA HA
I told you - nervous breakdown.
"It seduces whites with a
"It seduces whites with a vision of their racial innocence..."
Spoken like a true race-pimp... No one has preached the gospel of white racial innocence as enthusiastically as Steele. He's the polar opposite of the people who are accused of seeing racism everywhere. I mean, this is the dude who wore race-colored glasses in the most ridiculous commentary ever written about the Iraq war. At least we know where James T. Harris got his "Take it to 'em, Massa" routine from.
white America has made great progress in curbing racism over the last 40 years
Yeah, that's exactly why some folks are labeled as practicing the "politics of grievance." All the "curbing", White America is convinced of the racial innocence they've been "seduced" into. And, hell, Dr. King didn't do that much. We all know, per Ms. Hillary, Massa Clinton's wife, that "it took a president."
I don't know who is worse: Obama or Steele. Both of them have tried to paint White Americans, the masses of them, as manipulated victims unable to resist the seductive program of those who would play off of their very accessible sensibilities -- racial guilt or racial resentment. The only difference is Steele blames Black folks, "bargainers" (of which he is one but is too chickensh*t-pimp to admit it) and "challengers" alike, for taking advantage of those helpless little White folk who are so easily controlled/influence. (Okay, the Iraq war buy-in makes that hard to deny but work with me.)
Obama, on the other hand, blames the Rush Limbaugh's and Republican/Democratic politicians for playing with their "guns and religion" and other single-issue or self-image ("hard-working Americans") emotions.
Since Obama won, I'm thinking he got more pimp-juice than Steele.
This dude needs to update his biography.
I guess Mr. Steele has to remove "clairvoyant extraordinaire" from his bio. I bet he never predicted that "A Bound Man..." would ever wind up in the $0.99 bin either. *snicker*
Steele's OTHER article
So the above was in the LA Times on November 5th. I want to read Shelby Steele's other article, the one that would have been published in the November 5th LA Times had McCain won. He must have had both ready, well in advance.
"I don't know who is worse:
"I don't know who is worse: Obama or Steele. "
I am all for criticizing Obama, but this comparison is obscene. I get the "painting" comment. Obama, however, is not a "race pimp". Do I really have to spell out why?
Steele wrote one above average book
And people are calling him "America's foremost Black Intellectual" please he has never developed any ideas beyond bargaining and challenging from "Content of our Character" and his statment that Powell would have beaten Clinton in 1996 just states his part of his lack of clear thought and thinking that whites would have voted him instead of Clinton who was a great campaigner just like Obama and is steel-tough as a poltican. Steele ain't Ralph Ellison who the book of the ages and was struggling for his second book the rest of his life, Steele has written 5 books and written articles on these same themes of black victimhood and white innocence and it has made him a multi-millionare but he ain't no damn intellectual he's just a Nigga with a contrain viewpoint that Whites like.
Really, the "bargainer and
Really, the "bargainer and challenger" is just a cute variation of the house negro and field negro. I say this hack developed no new ideas, he just repackaged a few old ones for white consumption.
Keto, the only comparison I
Keto, the only comparison I made was of the "painting" variety. That was rather explicit and undeniable. The "pimp-juice" comment was merely rhetorical fluff and not an indication that I think Obama is a "race pimp." I just think Obama's paint job was obscene and was/is no better than the kind of stuff Steele tries to pull. There is simply no excuse for it no matter what its used/useful for.
I see.I am in more of the
I see.
I am in more of the "the ends justify the means" camp. I didn't expect Obama to throw cold water on white people's delusions about race/racialism/racism and fix them. That's a tall order on a Mt. Everest scale. If he could do that, he would really be a messiah.
All I can say is the results speak for themselves. We have a black family in the white house; and these people are not obvious selfhaters/sellouts. I don't think they are a panacea for black america, but I'll take them anyway.
I didn't expect Obama to
I didn't expect Obama to throw cold water on white people's delusions
Keto, the fact that he threw what he did, again, is inexcusable given the readily available option of not throwing at all.
All I can say is the results speak for themselves.
I'll repeat, rhetorical fluff and all: Since Obama won, I'm thinking he got more pimp-juice than Steele.