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You are here: Home / Civil Rights / Racial Justice / This Week In Blackness / Racism doesn’t exist because … Oprah!

Racism doesn’t exist because … Oprah!

by Elon James White|  November 19, 20137:39 pm| 51 Comments

This post is in: This Week In Blackness

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In an interview with the BBC earlier this week, Oprah Winfrey discussed racism in the America, specifically, how President Barack Obama is disrespected because of his race.

And then . . . Rush Limbaugh decided to weigh in.

“These people”?
“Not nearly as smart as they think they are”?

Really??

I’m sure he would just say he meant “liberals,” but you know and I know a dog whistle when we hear one. #TMFRH thinks that because Oprah Winfrey is rich she’s never had to deal with racism? And that Obama told the biggest lie in the history of presidential lies? *cough* Nixon *cough*

I actually taste pennies, I’m done. (01:06:19)

Also on today’s #TWiBRadio: the tenets of abstinence-only sexual education (24:20), George Zimmerman got arrested, again (44:03), the Bitcoin Assassination Fund (47:01), and “selfie” won the Oxford Dictionary Word of the Year (54:19).

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And this morning on #amTWiB: Don Lemon’s new program (21:15), Walmart being prosecuted for violating worker’s rights (30:45), reality TV crews are being exploited (30:46), Alabama’s problematic death penalty standard (38:28), and the great Idris Elba-Alfre Woodard mixup of 2013 (49:52).

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(Cross-posted)

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Previous Post: « The Way We Live Now: Walmart Finds Another New Low
Next Post: Open Thread: Go Nuclear, Harry! »

Reader Interactions

51Comments

  1. 1.

    ranchandsyrup

    November 19, 2013 at 7:54 pm

    Selfie Song

  2. 2.

    leeleeFL

    November 19, 2013 at 8:00 pm

    It might be inelegantly stated, but Oprah is right. There are so many older died in the wool haters. Attrition is really the only solution.
    Back in the sixties, the slogan was trust no one over 30. In the world we live in now. I ‘d say 40. I have said it here before; my generation has not been good for the nation. Too many major issues divide us right down the middle and getting anything good done is difficult. The young people who see a better future need to be in charge of making it happen. It’s time for a new generation that sees people. Not colors, races, religions. People.’

  3. 3.

    HinTN

    November 19, 2013 at 8:07 pm

    Why does the mobile site OFTEN go white screen of death? Please fix!

  4. 4.

    schrodinger's cat

    November 19, 2013 at 8:13 pm

    He has no neck, poor Blimpbaugh.

  5. 5.

    Ash Can

    November 19, 2013 at 8:16 pm

    Has Rush Limbaugh ever said anything, at all, that didn’t contravene any standards of common decency?

  6. 6.

    MikeJ

    November 19, 2013 at 8:19 pm

    @leeleeFL: Max Planck said, “Science advances one funeral at a time.” Social justice is in a similar situation.

  7. 7.

    Yatsuno

    November 19, 2013 at 8:19 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: Feel for the man. He’s a drug addict who only get his jollies from Dominican rentboys. Four marriages with no children and gag orders on the divorce? Something smells fishy to me…

  8. 8.

    Cassidy

    November 19, 2013 at 8:22 pm

    @Ash Can: One day he’ll say he’s dying.

  9. 9.

    Frankensteinbeck

    November 19, 2013 at 8:23 pm

    @efgoldman:
    No, you’re taking that out of context. If you heard his original conversation with Chun-Li, it was really snide and insulting.

    EDIT – Can I add a #GeekHumor hashtag? ‘Cause that was the geekiest joke I’ve ever made, and I make a lot of them.

  10. 10.

    Violet

    November 19, 2013 at 8:24 pm

    @Yatsuno: His current wife is attractive. Wonder why she married him. She comes from a relatively wealthy, well-connected family. It’s not like she needed the money. Closet lesbian, maybe?

  11. 11.

    leeleeFL

    November 19, 2013 at 8:24 pm

    @MikeJ: I had never heard that. It’s amazingly true. But then it was Max Planck

  12. 12.

    Baud

    November 19, 2013 at 8:26 pm

    OT: Lots of talk, but we’ll see.

    I suppose it is possible that Greg Sargent is being used as a conduit to issue a credible threat, but the threat (and the reasoning behind the threat) seems credible to me. Harry Reid intends to “go nuclear” before Thanksgiving. According to Sargent’s reporting, Reid will change the rules of the Senate in such a way that the filibuster will be unavailable to the Republicans for all but Supreme Court nominations.

    If this really comes to pass, it will be a major defeat for the Republicans in the short-term. To see why, look at how many vacancies there on the federal courts of appeal (the numbers on senior judges is a best-estimate).

  13. 13.

    Frankensteinbeck

    November 19, 2013 at 8:28 pm

    @Violet:
    No matter who you are, someone finds you attractive – probably even someone conventionally beautiful. Rush has a very strong personality. I’m sure quite a few women think he’s attractive, as repulsive as that thought may be to the rest of us. Beyond that, there are any number of reasons to marry besides physical desire. She may consider him a catch, or she may still wonder what she was thinking. Who knows?

  14. 14.

    Yatsuno

    November 19, 2013 at 8:28 pm

    @Violet: Power. Rush haz it. Plus he cannot be in the best of health & if she has a nice pre-nup that still guarantees her a nice fortune after he kicks the mortal coil then bully for her. Those who have wealth cannot ever have enough remember. To wit: the Waltons.

  15. 15.

    debbie

    November 19, 2013 at 8:29 pm

    @Baud:

    Going nuclear would be a wonderful gift for the holiday season.

  16. 16.

    cckids

    November 19, 2013 at 8:29 pm

    @Baud: Do it, Harry. Do it do it do it do it.

    Normally, I’d say not to, because what goes around comes around, but we all know that the second the R’s take over the Senate any remote attempt to show “comity” will go out the window & it will be majority only rule; the FB will be gone.

  17. 17.

    Splitting Image

    November 19, 2013 at 8:30 pm

    Depending on who is talking, the word “racism” seems to mean one of two things:

    1) A large number of social problems whose common factor is that they impact people of one skin colour more than another.

    and 2) The fact that first 43 presidents of the United States were white.

    By the second definition, Obama’s election ended racism forever, so liberals are basically being mean when they insist that there are other problems that still need solving; and besides, it is totally unfair that only black people get to say (clang).

    You’d think they would be looking forward to a female president, since that would end sexism forever even if women did end up being wards of the state throughout their fertile years.

  18. 18.

    MikeJ

    November 19, 2013 at 8:30 pm

    @Baud:

    If this really comes to pass, it will be a major defeat for the Republicans in the short-term.

    Long term too. Dems never had the balls to filibuster every damned thing that came up. Democratic obstructionism would have lead the news every morning noon and night for years. No way they hang tough in the face of that.

  19. 19.

    Baud

    November 19, 2013 at 8:32 pm

    @debbie: @cckids:

    Apparently, Feinstein and Leahy, who were two of the holdouts, have said they’ve had enough.

    And if it gets used against us, that means we’ve lost the presidency and the Senate, so we just need to not lose either.

  20. 20.

    Ash Can

    November 19, 2013 at 8:35 pm

    @Yatsuno: The thought that there are women in this world who are willing to even go near men such as Rush Limbaugh and George Zimmerman absolutely horrifies me.

  21. 21.

    Frankensteinbeck

    November 19, 2013 at 8:36 pm

    @Baud:
    I think the abuse of filibuster rules to widescale block presidential appointees is by far the worst abuse of the filibuster, and the one that will damage us the least if it’s turned around against us. By all means, nuke that specific option. Cabinet appointments, judgeships – there’s a gigantic list of appointments that’s been held up since Obama took office. It could be huge.

  22. 22.

    Baud

    November 19, 2013 at 8:38 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    I think we have no choice. I actually think the GOP wants the Dems to nuke it at this point, so they can fund raise off of it and rile up their base.

  23. 23.

    Aji

    November 19, 2013 at 8:40 pm

    @efgoldman: Have you actually verified 1) that it was indeed Limbaugh who was talking, and 2) that it was truly Tuesday when he actually said it? Because I’m inclined to look around for a a new calendar . . . .

  24. 24.

    Frankensteinbeck

    November 19, 2013 at 8:41 pm

    @Baud:
    I agree. This isn’t a regular protection against the tyranny of the majority like the legislative filibuster, either. It’s a courtesy rule that is being ruthlessly exploited in a way never before seen, not for any specific purpose but just to generally make it impossible for Obama to do his job.

  25. 25.

    Ash Can

    November 19, 2013 at 8:42 pm

    @cckids: I’ve generally been against fucking with the filibuster rules for precisely that reason myself, but I think the situation has become untenable (and so, apparently, do the Dem holdouts). It’s a move whose time has come.

  26. 26.

    Baud

    November 19, 2013 at 8:42 pm

    @efgoldman:

    And you know what? If this happens, our side needs to do the same.

  27. 27.

    KG

    November 19, 2013 at 8:43 pm

    @Splitting Image: there’s another aspect, and that is more than a few people act as if history began circa 1972. Anything that might have happened before the Civil Rights Act or the Voting Rights Act or Brown v. Board just couldn’t affect anything after, see, it’s all been fixed for a while because shut up that’s why.

    I’ll admit, in my more ravenous (g)libertarian youth, I would say something along those lines when arguing affirmative action or some such issue. The idea that because its not as bad now as it use to be, the past can’t affect the present can be hard to overcome.

  28. 28.

    Aji

    November 19, 2013 at 8:46 pm

    @efgoldman: ROTFL. Maybe I need to do likewise. I mean, just the very sight of him up there was enough to send me off into a horribly depressive state. [Okay, so it had some help from events of the day, but still – having to see that just nearly ruined my night.]

  29. 29.

    Hill Dweller

    November 19, 2013 at 8:48 pm

    There was a chart floating around the twitter machine yesterday showing the number of executive nominees blocked during each President’s term(s). IIRC, before Obama, Clinton had to most blocked(9). During Obama’s time in office he’s had 24 executive nominees blocked. On the current pace, he’ll have 40 nominees blocked before he leaves office. That’s just executive nominees. The numbers for judicial nominees are probably worse.

  30. 30.

    MomSense

    November 19, 2013 at 9:03 pm

    That people actually listen and appreciate what Limbaugh has to say just blows my mind. It must be some kind of opposite world.

  31. 31.

    Elie

    November 19, 2013 at 9:12 pm

    I think we just have to accept now that our political reality is about influencing interpretation of reality. It is abundantly clear that the right has no ties to fact based anything and that they are operating from making it up and making sure that interpretation is carried out in the media and whatever social or political system that they can influence. Our efforts must be to find ever more powerful and influential means on imposing our interpretation and will on events. It IS important for us to point out their factual problems, but alas – it is not sufficient to do that. Our base must be engaged and outraged and energized to do what needs to be done from grassroots on up. Oprah is just practice…

  32. 32.

    MomSense

    November 19, 2013 at 9:18 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Oh, I know that you are correct but it still shocks the hell out of me. I can barely stand to listen to him for 30 seconds.

    History will not look kindly on these a$$holes.

    BTW, the best take down I have ever seen of Rush was years ago–early 90s I think. He was on the David Letterman show and started saying really rude things about Hillary Clinton’s appearance at which point Dave dryly said ‘And you can say this because you are the perfect human specimen’. The audience started snickering and laughing and you could see the fear in Rush. He pretty much just stopped talking after that. It was one of those classic Dave moments.

  33. 33.

    Frankensteinbeck

    November 19, 2013 at 9:19 pm

    @MomSense:
    I’ve listened to him. He speaks to hate. If you are a complete fucking asshole, Rush Limbaugh tells you exactly what you want to hear. He says that all the Others are stupid, lazy, cheating, inferior, and most importantly that any way you hurt them is their fault and they have no right to expect any sympathy or self-control from you whatsoever. That latter is particularly important. It’s the reasoning of the domestic abuser, and the reasoning of the cultural conservative.

  34. 34.

    Spaghetti Lee

    November 19, 2013 at 9:21 pm

    Rush Limbaugh weighs in on racism, racism cracks in half under the strain.

  35. 35.

    BruceFromOhio

    November 19, 2013 at 11:55 pm

    Sorry, stopped reading or caring as soon as I saw the words Rush Limbaugh. It’s a blight on the ass of the earth, awaiting the lance: nothing more.

  36. 36.

    Kropadope

    November 20, 2013 at 12:56 am

    @leeleeFL: There are plenty of new, young sociopaths. They may even be more fervent and extreme than the previous generation.

  37. 37.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 20, 2013 at 1:11 am

    @leeleeFL: When I look at attitudes shown in surveys and polls, the current dividing line is 50.

    @Kropadope: It’s not the sociopaths. It’s the people who are willing to give them cover. Those people are decreasing.

  38. 38.

    Kropadope

    November 20, 2013 at 1:16 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Willing to give them cover? A subtle sociopath is still a sociopath.

  39. 39.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 20, 2013 at 1:24 am

    @Kropadope: No, what I’m talking about is that nods and winks about gays and other races decrease in success with every decreasing ten year band of the population.

    ETA: A certain number of assholes will always be there, but society is less willing to give them cover.

  40. 40.

    Kropadope

    November 20, 2013 at 1:25 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Yeah, well the young ones are doubling down against the poors, the working folk, and (worst of all) the working poor.

  41. 41.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 20, 2013 at 1:31 am

    @Kropadope: If you want a world in which all assholes are gone, you will die disappointed. If you want a world in which assholes have less power, you can have hope for the future. Hell, they are going so nuts that they are making many of the young folks think that this whole socialism thing might not be too bad.

  42. 42.

    Kropadope

    November 20, 2013 at 1:37 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: From what I can see they’re gaining. Even here in MA, virtually all opinions I here expressed by people out in public are grossly misinformed Republican propaganda. Not just in public, they’re all over the radio, they control all the news on the TV, and they drive our elected officials (who should know better) to do stupid things to placate the ignorant screaming masses.
    I can’t escape the hateful rhetoric, the lies, and the thinly-veiled racism anywhere in my daily life. I find it all rather depressing.

  43. 43.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 20, 2013 at 1:42 am

    @Kropadope: Are you watching day to day news? I have tried to take a 30,000 ft view. Our side is going through a bit of a bad patch. But, at the same time, the sturm und drang from the right is, to me, the last gasp of a movement that is losing. I have no illusions that the next few years will be pretty, but they are so ugly be cause they are desperate and they are desperate because they are losing.

  44. 44.

    Kropadope

    November 20, 2013 at 1:52 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Desperate and losing until they finish their “libertarian” rebranding, then it will be like that “Republican” party never existed and what do they have to do with us? Then they can proceed being harmful to all Americans, equally. They’ll remain completely oblivious to this harm, as all that ails us in modern life is the government’s fault, even if the problem is that the government didn’t act. All the problems of deregulation and union busting and discrimination in hiring explained away by “we didn’t completely eliminate the government…”

  45. 45.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 20, 2013 at 2:09 am

    @Kropadope: Sorry, I choose not to believe that we are doomed. You can make your own choices.

  46. 46.

    Kropadope

    November 20, 2013 at 2:12 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Doomed? No. But I’m certainly not holding my breath for the psycho tide to ebb any time soon.

  47. 47.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 20, 2013 at 2:21 am

    @Kropadope: I said nothing about soon. Ultimately is my concern.

  48. 48.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    November 20, 2013 at 8:14 am

    And then . . . Rush Limbaugh decided to weigh in.

    And what did Rush weigh in at… 400 lb? 425?

  49. 49.

    MomSense

    November 20, 2013 at 9:19 am

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    You are so right. It is a window in to the mind of an abuser. Sick.

  50. 50.

    rk

    November 20, 2013 at 11:12 am

    His current wife is attractive. Wonder why she married him. She comes from a relatively wealthy, well-connected family. It’s not like she needed the money. Closet lesbian, maybe?

    Power or desire for more money. She is probably as mentally deviant as he is. No way any sane person can latch on to this piece of filth.

  51. 51.

    brantl

    November 21, 2013 at 12:11 pm

    Jesus, what a viperish armpit. I can’t even stand just the way that SOB sounds, much less look at him. The return question would have to be how can he explain away white privilege, when a completely ignorant shitsucker like him, is in the postion he’s in.

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