Thursday, August 21, 2014

Rightwing Race Hustlers On Ferguson Shooting

The idea that WND somehow has racist motivations is bizarre, especially when fully 20 percent of the site's regular weekly columnists are black – including Sowell, Star Parker, Walter Williams, Eric Rush... ~ Joseph Farah, founder of the website World Net Daily (and head birther) making the Black Friend argument as to why their excessive reporting on Black Mobs isn't racist. (as reported in a 2/8/2014 Gawker story).

As is ALWAYS the case, when some crime occurs in which racism may be a factor, the Right must present incidents where the roles are reversed (AKA "The Fallacious Flip"). As those who follow the news know, a White Ferguson MO cop shot and killed an unarmed Black teenager. So guess what? You probably already know. The Right finds a case in which a Black cop shot and killed a White teen.

Proof that racism wasn't a factor in the Ferguson shooting, right? Whether it was or wasn't I do not believe is clear, but I think at least some (if not many) of the protestors believe it was... and for good reason (it's called "institutional racism"). Whatever the truth is (whether or not racism was a factor), it certainly strikes me that the number of shots fired might have been excessive (the 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot 6 times).

Although CNN reports "dueling narratives in Michael Brown shooting", and, after reading the story, I can report that the witnesses accounts are at odds with one another in key areas. So an investigation is definitely needed, and no conclusions should be jumped to until it is complete.

I do, however still believe there is a problem in general with cops shooting - or by some other method killing - unarmed suspects (a police killing via a choke hold for example). And MANY of the examples of this ARE of a White cop killing a Black victim, so there is cause to believe that race may be a factor (in general and not necessarily in regards to this case). And there is also the fact that a majority of the Ferguson MO police are White, while the community they are policing is majority-Black.

But the Ferguson community protests in regards to problems of (White majority) cops using excessive force (which is how they view this case) - and the problem of the police force not being racially diverse - is spun by WND as lies serving an agenda of the "Leftist Media"... as usual. This time WND reports on fellow racist Limbaugh's take on the subject...

Rush Limbaugh: There's a mindset out there, and the way it works in situations like this [is] only people of color can be victims. A white person can never be a victim. It just can't happen. That's not permitted, that's not allowed because it isn't the case. The whites are the oppressors. They're the majority. In the liberal worldview, every majority is an oppressor... They're all oppressors. The minority is always the victims, and the victims are with whom we should always sympathize, no matter what. And the victims are permitted to do anything precisely because they're a minority... They're outnumbered. The evil majority does horrible things to the minority. And so the minorities... [are] always victims. And so anything they do is justified and we must try to understand the rage.

But in the current climate in the United States, a black person can never be the oppressor and a white can never be the victim. And that's how you have a corrupt or perverted news business in Salt Lake City, refusing to identify a black cop who may have shot an innocent person. That destroys the whole picture we've been creating here for centuries. That could totally destroy the image that we've been trying to concoct... (Rush Limbaugh comments via World Net Daily, 8/20/2014. "Black cop kills White Man, Media Hide Race" by Joe Kovacs).

The Media was "hiding" the race of the Black cop who shot the White teen? The WND article notes that "Utah's Desert News reported the police chief saying the officer is not white [and] The Salt Lake Tribune noted, the officer involved was not white". Seems pretty clear to me that they said the cop wasn't White. And it did come out that the cop wasn't Hispanic or Asian or whatever. But two papers saying the cop wasn't White (info that came from the police chief) amounts to the Media "hiding" the officer's race? Right.

What this REALLY amounts to, IMO, is (yet more) racism from the Right. As well as opportunism. An opportunity to shamelessly attack the "Leftist Media". This time with bogus claims of hiding the fact that the cop was Black. Similar to what happened with George Zimmerman, that he was "White" was info that came from the cops. In both cases the media reported what the police told them!

As for the rest of Limbaugh's racist tirade, it is complete BS, of course. A White person can be a victim, but Whites ARE the oppressors. They're the majority (police force in Ferguson is mostly White, while community they are policing is majority Black) and we also have a long history (that began with slavery) of racism... against Black people.

Yeah, racist Whites like Limbaugh and those at the Black-mob-obsessed WND find that history inconvenient and work hard to deny that our past influences our present. But it *is* our history. So, no, a Black person can't be an oppressor. A minority can belong to an organization that sometimes acts as an instrument of oppression (the police), but this does not make them an "oppressor", but simply an instrument of the organization (in this case the police) that acts as oppressors for the White majority (again, it's called "institutional racism").

And there is also the fact that the police are becoming increasingly militarized, and what this points to, I think, is a mentality that says excessive force is what is necessary. I mean, another issue that concerns me is the police killing of pet dogs when those pets react to the police busting down doors (sometimes the wrong ones) to arrest people. And surely that has nothing to do with racism.

In any case, a minority is NOT "permitted to do anything precisely because they're a minority". And this "image that we've been trying to concoct" that Limbaugh refers to is REALITY. And YES, the "Leftist media" does NOT want that "image" destroyed, you lying racist tool!

So, in conclusion, I'd say that we definitely have a problem of police using deadly force not as a last resort, but drawing their guns and shooting to kill when they shouldn't be drawing their guns at all, or, if they do, shooting to wound. Racism may be a factor (and I believe it sometimes is), but if it was a factor in the Ferguson shooting is not known.

And I believe it probably won't be a factor in the investigation. Only the question of whether or not the shooting was justified will be asked. But, as you can see from the Limbaugh spin as reported by WND, the Right misses no opportunity to inject race into a news story. Injecting it via false accusations against the Left of "playing the race card" and "concocting" a history of racism for the United States.

"Concocting" being code for reporting the reality of the situation. A reality the Right wishes to deny because it aides THEIR concocted narrative regarding their racism being a "fair and balanced" reporting of the facts. "Facts", that when it comes to WND, often include the violence of "Black mobs".

A 2/8/2014 article from the blog Gawker by Adam Weinstein says that WND is battling Google for "its right to be racist". According to the article, Google "has accused WND of using hate speech and has threatened to block ads on the news site over its use of the term black mobs in news stories and columns.

Yeah, no kidding. As a subscriber to the WND newsletter, I noticed this some time ago. Google cites a figure of 670 "Black mob" stories and bases it's objection on it's AdSense policies against using "derogatory racial or ethnic slurs to refer to an individual or group". Although, over how long a period of time the article does not say. Still 670 is a big number... and kudos to Google for calling out WND. And Google, being a private company, does not have to respect WND's "free speech rights".

.........................

Something else the Right likes to complain about in these situations is when Black leaders show up on the scene to offer their support and assistance. People like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, in doing so, are "race baiting", they say. The Reverend Sharpton, I should note, went to Ferguson and discussed the problem of the police force not being racially diverse. His solution was for more Black voters to show up on election day.

Catching the end of his MSNBC program the other day, I saw Mr. Sharpton note the fact that when it was time to elect Mr. Obama a second time, Black turnout was high. But for the next election - one which also had local officials like the chief of police on the ballot - turnout was pathetic (2 percent, if I remember correctly). Sounds like good advice to me and certainly NOT "race hustling". Advising the Black community to vote, that is (which is a good way to at least begin to curb the institutional racism problem).

"Race husting", IMO, is a term used by White racists, or "right-wing white-grievance mongers" who are "stoking racial tension for cash" (wording as per a 7/23/2013 Salon article). People like Limbaugh... and organizations like WND (even given the fact that they have "Black friends") are real "race hustlers", and I think the evidence overwhelmingly shows this to be true. It isn't the Black leaders or Black MSNBC personalities who "race bait", but the racist right and race hustling and racist-pandering Rightwing media.

Video: Ferguson Cops Busted? New Video Seems To Show Brown Paying For Cigarillos (0:42) Link. (H/T to Shaw Kenawe of Progressive Eruptions for pointing me to this story & video from Crooks & Liars).

SWTD #270. See also TADM #56.

30 comments:

  1. Another Rightwing race hustler, Ann Coulter on the subject of the Michael Brown shooting...

    Ann Coulter: As detailed in my book Mugged: Racial Demagoguery from the Seventies to Obama, the old media's standard for any police shooting of a black person is: "Racist until proved innocent".

    "Demagoguery" is telling the truth about our racist past and how that influences our racist present. And "racist until proved innocent" is NOT the (Leftist) media's "old standard". The old standard is the Right claiming that race would no longer an issue... if it wasn't for Black people and the Left making it an issue.

    Institutional racism and White privlege don't exist in their world (example). And race-baiting is something Black people do (example).

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  2. The only Race hustlers here are the phoney reverend al sharpy and his bunch of black cronies.

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  3. And the clerk confronted him because he wanted a kiss?
    Here is a solution to the race baiting

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  4. ....one less thug walking the streets of Ferguson......

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  5. Rusty, perhaps you would like to come on up to MA and help sweep some white ass thugs off the streets?

    Whadda say dude?

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  6. One less POS walking around eating Skittles and drinking Iced Tea.

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  7. RN.....a thug is a thug....white..black...brown....yellow.....six of one...half a dozen of another....this one just happened to be black...

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  8. I'll be looking for similar comments from you the next time a white thug commits a similar crime Rusty.

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  9. Hold your breath while you are waiting. I calls em likes I sees em.

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  10. Yep, you call em as you see em. When you see em. Which isn't all that often. But yeah, the talking points fill the gap.

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  11. It certainly doesn't take long for lefties to turn a story like this into a race baiting issue, and to fuel the fire of hatred and anger into all those looters/rioters. And to side with the Criminals, Thugs, Hoodlums, Takers, Illegal immigrants, and the rest of the ass-holes.

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  12. What Rusty says is exactly the opposite of what happened. It did not take long for the Righties to race bait and fuel the hatred and racism of the Right. Proof is Schmuckelford's reference to "Thugs, Hoodlums, Takers, Illegal immigrants, and the rest of the ass-holes"... these are all slurs and hate speech words for slamming minorities and the poor. All the people the Right hates.

    "Thug" being a dog whistle word for ni**er... despite Schmuckelford's claim that "this one just happened to be black". Michael Brown was never convicted of any crime and therefore not a criminal. Also, according to CNN, "some witnesses say the teenager assaulted the officer at the outset and tried to grab his gun; other witnesses say Wilson was the aggressor".

    Schmuckelford, like all the other racists on the Right, jump to the conclusion that everything bad they hear about Michael Brown (from Rightwing race baiting Nooz sources) is accurate. He's a "thug" before the investigation because he's Black.

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  13. The Rev. Al is a lying fraud and incites racism in any incident. Of course you want to forget Tawanna Brawley and worship some lying fraud. Figures, you have proven time and again what an idiot you are.

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  14. Suitgate is giving the president a taste of what it's like to live in a woman's world. But what good does that do anyone?
    President Obama Makes Statement In The Briefing Room Of White House
    More
    In Defense of Barack Obama’s Tan Suit
    Obama Says ‘We Don’t Have a Strategy Yet’ for Fighting ISIS
    LIVE: Obama Speaks on ISIS and Ukraine Crisis

    Female politicians have been criticized for what they wear since they first began running for office. Hair too long, skirt too short, too much or too little makeup: any and all of it can derail an interview and focus attention on style over substance. It almost doesn’t matter what you say if you don’t look good doing it.
    What else can I say except, that I guess that he gets this stupidity, and BAD taste from his wife.
    Obama looked ridiculous in that Tan Suit, where is Heidi Klum, or Tim Gunn when you need them?

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  15. Right, forget Tawana Brawley. That was 27 years ago. And how the hell is the Rev. Al responsible for someone else's lies? Other people, and not just Al Sharpton, were taken in by this girl's lies. In any case the Rev. Sharpton has admitted he handled the Brawley situation badly and has learned from his past mistakes. He didn't lie and he absolutely has become much better at what he does since those days. And, no, what he does is NOT "race baiting". He is a leader among the Black community, and I, for one, applaud him for his standing up for the Civil Rights of the African American community.

    Worship the Rev. Al? No. But I do think he's a good guy. Not a "lying fraud" or someone who "incites racism". Those inciting the racism are the ones making these racist accusations against the good reverend.

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  16. You want to worship some idiot who has no judgment that's just shows your lack of judgment. By the way Olbermann is old news also, but you still keep his picture up even though he is out of the picture.

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  17. Sharpton is a race hustler,using it to line his pockets . This is how he earns his living

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    1. Everyone needs money to live, Lisa. Anyway, in many of these cases Sharpton is donating his time. If Lisa thinks he's getting paid, please tell me who's paying him to lead marches and give speeches?

      IMO, "race hustler" is a term applied to Black leaders by racist conservatives. And some, like Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter make money doing so... they're the real race hustlers who are using racism to line their pockets.

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    2. I just revisited this crazy discussion to tell you, Derv.

      I love the title of this post!

      Nice to hear from Lisa. Talk about teh crazy. Her blog gives me hives.

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    1. It's hell, isn't it, 1212. I suggest you try a food-free diet for a while.

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    2. More people, African Americans and others have been enslaved by the Conservative agenda designed to keep the plutocrats entitled - such as doing away with the minimum wage (or keeping it as low as possible) and keeping lower skilled people in the chains of wage slavery. If you want to be kept on the Conservative plantation, keep voting for them.

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  22. ... If you smear them in the process, you are guilty of the most egregious transgressions one can possibly commit! Wrongful Political Correctness!

    This statement MCV is universally true. It is indeed unfortunate so manyconservative bloggers fail to see this in themselves. Thanks for pointing it out because it is time conservative/libertarian bloggers begin to police themselves and let the liberals do their own policing of leftist blogistan.

    Thanks again...

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