Ignoring the Racists?

Posted on 07/16/2010 at 8:41 pm by Bob Cesca

Dave Weigel is an outstanding progressive writer, but I really disagree with the premise of this statement:

It’s just that they should know that calling out a group for “racism” is pointless — whoever’s been targeted will simply claim to have been attacked unfairly and had his free speech threatened. Remember what happened when Eric Holder said that America had been a “nation of cowards” in discussing race. Boom: Backlash. Anger. Debate over why he said it, but not what he meant.

Unless I’m misunderstanding his point, it appears as though he’s saying we should avoid a fight whenever there’s the possibility of a stupid backlash. This is old school Democratic thinking. We need to be perpetually vigilant about calling out the crazies, racists and liars, because as soon as we ignore them (especially for the sake of avoiding a thing) they continue to entrench. These people have to be marginalized, regardless of how much they screech when they’re attacked, and the only way to achieve that is fact-based, reality-based political tenacity.

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  • http://www.politicalruminations.com/ nicole473

    These people have to be marginalized, regardless of how much they screech when they’re attacked, and the only way to achieve that is fact-based, reality-based political tenacity.

    Completely agree with you.I like Dave too, but on this, he is wrong.Yeah, it’s easier to let it go, but letting it go would only embolden the racists, and it would give the wrong impression to others. I think racism should always be called out for what it is.

  • Nellcote

    Where do you get that Weigel’s a “progressive writer”? He’s always been a libertarian!

  • http://toastie.st twitter.com/toastie

    Weigel is not helping by mis-characterizing what the NAACP resolution said. Condemning “the racist elements” within the Tea Party and calling on Tea Party leaders to condemn the racist elements is not the same as calling the Tea Party racist, except to lazy media.One of the stated objectives of the NAACP is “to achieve equality of rights and eliminate race prejudice among the citizens of the United States”. Does Weigel think the NAACP should stop doing this? If he’s a Rand Paul libertarian, I guess he thinks we shouldn’t call people out for them. But I don’t think he is. I think maybe Weigel’s the one who picked the wrong fight.

  • http://www.politicalruminations.com/ nicole473

    @NellcoteYeah, he’s a libertarian but leans strongly progressive.

  • http://www.politicalruminations.com/ nicole473

    Weigel is not helping by mis-characterizing what the NAACP resolution said. Condemning “the racist elements” within the Tea Party and calling on Tea Party leaders to condemn the racist elements is not the same as calling the Tea Party racist, except to lazy media.

    Good point, Toastie.

  • Nellcote

    He always struck me as a conservative that was tolerable to read. Not to be nitpicky but do you have any links?

  • JoPat Wellman

    We absolutely should call out these crazies. Liberals have never been confrontational or “mean” enough.

  • alopecia

    toastie is right that Dave Weigel mischaracterized the NAACP resolution. That said, I think Weigel does actually have a point.Not giving the crazies, racists and liars an excuse to play victim is not the same as ignoring them. Using less-loaded language (in public, anyway—I called Mark Williams a racist in a comment here just last night) also makes it harder for the media to pretend that “both sides” are being offensive.

  • http://www.osborneink.com OsborneInk

    Shorter Weigel: we should stop calling them racists because it upsets them.Practical result: racists operate in broad daylight without sanction.”Boom: Backlash. Anger. Debate over why he said it, but not what he meant.”Yes! True! Now: why does the media let the right stovepipe this narrative without examination?

  • http://www.politicalruminations.com/ nicole473

    NellcoateYou can look Weigel up on the Washington Independent[his employer prior to The Wash Post].Osborne…..exactly.

  • Tim in Charlotte

    I think Bob and Weigel are both correct. The swing issue here is who is making the claim. Unfortunately, many are going to dismiss this claim because it was made by the NAACP.However, if many are making the claim repeatedly, then it’s effect is multiplied. This is why Dems are worse at messaging than the GOP. Every Dem should have been on cable TV saying this for the past year – over and over.It’s convenient to blame the media because they’re, by and large, morons. But they’re equal opportunity morons. One side is better at manipulating them. It helps that their positions (tax cuts! no government!) are easy to articulate and that there is no dissent (or thought) allowed in the GOP.

  • caribbeanobserver

    I say call their racist arses out. If you are man/woman enough and brassfaced to say what you have to say, then take the licks that it brings!Totally sick of the notion that people can say racists things about others and others must not respond.The NAACP are right! ” Colored folk’ are not there to be humiliated time and time again by people who get away with their shenanigans by twisting and turning around the issue”.As said before…’MASSA DAY DONE’,folks!

  • http://twitter.com/25thcenturygirl 25thcenturygirl

    BUT if it’s not the NAACP calling out the racial ugliness within the Tea Party, which organization will it be? Maybe if the NAACP said they joined with other organizations who value equality and abhor all -isms — this resolution would be more palatable to Weigel.But the world isn’t perfect and someone had to ring the alarm on the Tea Party negativity and the powerful enablers who allow it to flourish (eg. Bachmann, Palin, Beck).

  • roxsteady

    I agree with all of you! While I too like Dave, he covered the Conservatives for the Washington Post and I always felt that he often tried to explain their lunacy instead of just pointing it out. These people are full of shit. We all know that many of them are racists. What none of us can understand is why the media hasn’t. From day one they should have been called out. Even the Bury Obama Care With Kennedy signs were all but ignored by ABC, CBS and NBC. Unless you watched Countdown or Rachel Maddow, you barely heard a peep. I’m glad the NAACP called them out to for tolerating these mouth breathers. I also love how Keith blew Mark Williams out for stating that these people were plants. As Keith noted, the racist signs from the townhalls last year were somehow carried by plants from a group that was formed just 4 months ago? Really?

  • roxsteady

    It also irked me that when these knuckle draggers were running around with their incoherent signs about higher taxes, not one “reporter” explained to these idiots that taxes are at their lowest since Truman was in office. Instead of calling for smaller government, why weren’t they calling for a smaller miiitary budget? These people don’t give a damn about taxes or smaller government. They’re just pissed off because the Negro won the election in a near landslide and they just can’t deal with it. By the same token, they can’t just come out and call him a Nigger, hell, they can’t even spell it so, they use surogate language liike, Hitler, Nazi, and Socialist. Meanwhile our impotent media just sits there scoring this like it’s a sporting event. Who’s up, who’s down. They’re completely useless.

  • http://kcdad.livejournal.com Charles Brown

    We ARE a nation of cowards and a nation of racists and a nation of functional illiterates.Critically think about something? Why? I have to go pick up my paycheck. The Cubs on are on. Happy hour starts in 30 minutes. TV will tell me what I need to know. The less I know the better.I teach Sociology and because I teach one unit in my class ABOUT racism, certain whites claim I am teaching RACISM. They honestly don’t know the difference. They believe that if you talk about something, than you ‘is’ what you talk about.

  • roxsteady

    Exactly, like that poll taken a couple of weeks ago that found 26% didn’t know which country we celebrate our Independence from on July 4th. Many guess China. China? Or the poll last year that found 77% of highschool students in Oklahoma couldn’t name the first President of the United States. I guess they’ve never seen a dollar bill? Yet, their ignorant, wingnut, crazy, gynecologist and Decon, Tom Coburn is in a party that wants to get rid of the Department of Education? I wouldn’t let that man touch me, let alone give me a pelvic exam. He’s clearly a quack!

  • jhw22

    I think where he has a point, if not an obvious one, is that we should always expect the “it’s racist to accuse us of being racist” type of retort. The only problem I have with the NAACP and others is that the message got tangled in itself. The right distorted the meaning to be that the NAACP said ALL TP’s are racist. We all know that isn’t what they said and I have seen Mr. Jealous stating as much over and over to no avail.I don’t know how, but we have to figure out a way of crafting a message that says what we mean in a way that preempts the backlash we KNOW will be created and leading to the distortion distractions. Weigel IS correct that in the end, the valid point always gets lost in the ensuing kerfuffle. Unless we send the message out correctly the first time and hold to it consistently, we’ll always lose to the spin.Jennifer

  • caribbeanobserver

    @jhw22Whilst I agree with you to an extent, the problem is that we are dealing with a ‘mastermind set of spin wingnut propagandists’ who twist and bend truth to create havoc and imagery that keep JOHN PUBLIC negative,in doubt,and contentious. Why? Because they KNOW that the DUMB ILL-INFORMED MSM will not question or verify truth, but only broadcast the sensational or negative element. In this way their deliberate undermining mechanisms get carried out whilst executing the premeditated sabotage.A way has to be found to counter-act this.