I Have A New Favorite Fictional Mayor
Mayor Mel Kuhn Wins Drag Queen Contest In Blackface
Move over, Tommy Carcetti.
You have to love the balls on this mayor. Not only is he in a drag queen contest, but in today's political climate, to wear blackface amongst such racial tension in our society takes guts. "Smellishis Poon"? Wow, that is pretty goddamn racist, I have to admit. Unfortunately, the tell in this story is the fact that he won the contest. I mean, that can't be true. Not in today's climate where white people can't even look at black people in a way that could be conceived as wrong. No way! You can't tell me that a white person making a racist joke was actually received as a joke. No, this certainly has to be some kind of proxy for the Onion.
Oh.
It strikes me that I spend a lot of time talking in favor of perceived racists, Imus being the one that comes most recently to mind. Now don't get me wrong; I certainly don't condone racism. I just see it as something that is powerful because of the people who give it power. Speaking in general, we're a long ways away from the days when black people had no opportunity in this country. A black guy is THIS close to attaining the highest office in the land, if that's not an indication of how far we've come as a society, I don't know what is. There is, and will always be, racists in this country, as in every country. It is basic human nature to dislike and/or fear someone who is different than you. This is unfortunate fact. Now, as a country, it should be our priority to address institutional racism where it still exists and oppresses people. If you aren't able to advance or get a foothold in any particular market or career because of the color of your skin, that is absolutely wrong. I shouldn't even have to say this, it's self evident, but we're living in a society now where you have to preface any kind of racial discussion with a white flag of "Dude, I totally am not a racist." That's just the climate we're living in.
Now in theory, the NAACP is another unfortunately necessary organization. If only we could live in a world where we didn't need one, that would be great. But everyone knows that train is never coming in. Everyone has a little bit of racism in them. In execution, the organization is a joke, and has been for awhile now. In the days where black people are overdosing, dealing drugs, being murdered and starving in EVERY major city, the NAACP is going after a mayor at a drag queen contest in Arkansas or going after Imus for characterizing a basketball team as unattractive or burying the n-word. By the way, you might wanna check the grave, because I hear the n-word is aliiiiiiiveeee.
The real goal of the NAACP should be to minimalize racism by narrowing the gap between what white and black people perceive themselves to be. It's hard to be a racist when you are shown just how different black people aren't. Part of that is killing the stereotype. Hell, that's a pretty big part. And as long as black people are 10% of the total population and 50% of the prison population, that's not going to happen. People on the streets need help right now, black, white, whatever. The NAACP should be on those frontlines, helping the people that characterize the population.
Of course, society at large has a responsibility here too, one that seems to go against the structure of our systems but goes with the nature of our beings. And the primary responsibility is to hold other people to reasonable standards, something that political correctness and racism in the past ten years at least has made a lot more difficult. It's our job as people to call out other people for their bullshit, and in a major way we haven't. A major way. So much that ghetto culture has grown a vibrantly bizarre arc which is in itself very fucking fascinating but also a colorful display of what's wrong with the people not being judged and the people who aren't judging.
This is a perfect example of what people think is a good idea when you DON'T tell them that they are being fucking retarded.
Think of how many times you've had an idea or thought that didn't stand up to close inspection from even ONE friend? Think of how many stupid concepts in your mind have been purged by the reasonable questioning of a friend or family member?
Take a good look, society. You made this.
We're talking about a group that dresses beyond flamboyantly, has cars with wheels the size of a small dwelling (and a required stopping distance comparable to a plane landing), sideshows, dog fighting, et al. Explain to me how we can all agree that the culture of the Middle East, where women have no rights and wear burkhas, sucks and would not be tolerated here, but we tolerate the 'culture' of people raising dogs to kill each other for money, where girls are sexually objectified, and talking to the cops about a murder is shameful? I put culture in quotations, because this didn't originate from another country, this shit started happening in this one. All of this over the top shit really screams "we need fucking oversight as a people." Now granted, this is the harmless, bright part of the problem. This is the peacock feathers, that's supposed to draw our eyes to the fact that the bird itself has cancer. We (colloquially known as The White Man) don't hold black people to the same standard we hold most of ourselves to. I say most because we obviously don't hold white trash to a standard either, but our opinion of them is right in the name. We expect black people to come from broken homes, to have a predilection for violence, to be easy prey for drug culture. And the fact that we expect that removes the social consequence for falling to that behavior. We've helped to convince the thugs that they were born to be thugs, the addicts that they were born to do drugs, and the broken families that they never really had a chance. When black crime happens, it is barely a footnote in the news unless it's particularly heinous or it's against unassuming white people. Black on black crime is something we assume will happen just because they live together.
Let's look at the standard. If a white guy kills a black guy, it's a hate crime. It's a fucking horrible racist. But if a black guy kills a white guy, it's almost business as usual. That's the most racist thing we can do. We're not only giving people an excuse to be shitty, we're telling them that we don't expect them to be any better. History has shown us that you can have a million black people and it only takes the bad behavior of a couple to fuck it up for all of them. That's the plight of the minority in this society, and everyone has a hand in it.
This started off as a sort of humorous story but it just reminded me of how ass-backwards we are as a society, where stupid things like a mayor in black face are a big deal and the murder rate in fucking Oakland or Chicago or New York or Baltimore or D.C. isn't. I'm at work so this isn't as fleshed out as I like but I hope you get my point. This is why the aliens are letting us turn on the hadron collider and obliterate our planet. We're simply not worth saving from ourselves.
And ironically, Chocolate Rain just popped on my mp3 player.
Move over, Tommy Carcetti.
Arkansas City, Kansas mayor Mel Kuhn found himself amid a heap of controversy after dressing in drag and blackface at a fundraiser for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates). Mel performed as the character “Smellishis Poon” and actually won the contest. His backup dancers were the “Red Hot Puntangs.”
You have to love the balls on this mayor. Not only is he in a drag queen contest, but in today's political climate, to wear blackface amongst such racial tension in our society takes guts. "Smellishis Poon"? Wow, that is pretty goddamn racist, I have to admit. Unfortunately, the tell in this story is the fact that he won the contest. I mean, that can't be true. Not in today's climate where white people can't even look at black people in a way that could be conceived as wrong. No way! You can't tell me that a white person making a racist joke was actually received as a joke. No, this certainly has to be some kind of proxy for the Onion.
After the local NAACP talked with Kuhn he seemed to realize the severity of his actions and issued an apology after initially declining not to.
"It has been brought to my attention how offensive this was and I absolutely agree that it was shortsighted of me not to see that in the first place. I am sincerely sorry and I sincerely apologize for the offensive nature of my actions. This was not CASA, this was of my own volition, and I take full responsibility for my actions. The buck absolutely stops here".
Oh.
It strikes me that I spend a lot of time talking in favor of perceived racists, Imus being the one that comes most recently to mind. Now don't get me wrong; I certainly don't condone racism. I just see it as something that is powerful because of the people who give it power. Speaking in general, we're a long ways away from the days when black people had no opportunity in this country. A black guy is THIS close to attaining the highest office in the land, if that's not an indication of how far we've come as a society, I don't know what is. There is, and will always be, racists in this country, as in every country. It is basic human nature to dislike and/or fear someone who is different than you. This is unfortunate fact. Now, as a country, it should be our priority to address institutional racism where it still exists and oppresses people. If you aren't able to advance or get a foothold in any particular market or career because of the color of your skin, that is absolutely wrong. I shouldn't even have to say this, it's self evident, but we're living in a society now where you have to preface any kind of racial discussion with a white flag of "Dude, I totally am not a racist." That's just the climate we're living in.
Now in theory, the NAACP is another unfortunately necessary organization. If only we could live in a world where we didn't need one, that would be great. But everyone knows that train is never coming in. Everyone has a little bit of racism in them. In execution, the organization is a joke, and has been for awhile now. In the days where black people are overdosing, dealing drugs, being murdered and starving in EVERY major city, the NAACP is going after a mayor at a drag queen contest in Arkansas or going after Imus for characterizing a basketball team as unattractive or burying the n-word. By the way, you might wanna check the grave, because I hear the n-word is aliiiiiiiveeee.
The real goal of the NAACP should be to minimalize racism by narrowing the gap between what white and black people perceive themselves to be. It's hard to be a racist when you are shown just how different black people aren't. Part of that is killing the stereotype. Hell, that's a pretty big part. And as long as black people are 10% of the total population and 50% of the prison population, that's not going to happen. People on the streets need help right now, black, white, whatever. The NAACP should be on those frontlines, helping the people that characterize the population.
Of course, society at large has a responsibility here too, one that seems to go against the structure of our systems but goes with the nature of our beings. And the primary responsibility is to hold other people to reasonable standards, something that political correctness and racism in the past ten years at least has made a lot more difficult. It's our job as people to call out other people for their bullshit, and in a major way we haven't. A major way. So much that ghetto culture has grown a vibrantly bizarre arc which is in itself very fucking fascinating but also a colorful display of what's wrong with the people not being judged and the people who aren't judging.
This is a perfect example of what people think is a good idea when you DON'T tell them that they are being fucking retarded.
Think of how many times you've had an idea or thought that didn't stand up to close inspection from even ONE friend? Think of how many stupid concepts in your mind have been purged by the reasonable questioning of a friend or family member?
Take a good look, society. You made this.
We're talking about a group that dresses beyond flamboyantly, has cars with wheels the size of a small dwelling (and a required stopping distance comparable to a plane landing), sideshows, dog fighting, et al. Explain to me how we can all agree that the culture of the Middle East, where women have no rights and wear burkhas, sucks and would not be tolerated here, but we tolerate the 'culture' of people raising dogs to kill each other for money, where girls are sexually objectified, and talking to the cops about a murder is shameful? I put culture in quotations, because this didn't originate from another country, this shit started happening in this one. All of this over the top shit really screams "we need fucking oversight as a people." Now granted, this is the harmless, bright part of the problem. This is the peacock feathers, that's supposed to draw our eyes to the fact that the bird itself has cancer. We (colloquially known as The White Man) don't hold black people to the same standard we hold most of ourselves to. I say most because we obviously don't hold white trash to a standard either, but our opinion of them is right in the name. We expect black people to come from broken homes, to have a predilection for violence, to be easy prey for drug culture. And the fact that we expect that removes the social consequence for falling to that behavior. We've helped to convince the thugs that they were born to be thugs, the addicts that they were born to do drugs, and the broken families that they never really had a chance. When black crime happens, it is barely a footnote in the news unless it's particularly heinous or it's against unassuming white people. Black on black crime is something we assume will happen just because they live together.
Let's look at the standard. If a white guy kills a black guy, it's a hate crime. It's a fucking horrible racist. But if a black guy kills a white guy, it's almost business as usual. That's the most racist thing we can do. We're not only giving people an excuse to be shitty, we're telling them that we don't expect them to be any better. History has shown us that you can have a million black people and it only takes the bad behavior of a couple to fuck it up for all of them. That's the plight of the minority in this society, and everyone has a hand in it.
This started off as a sort of humorous story but it just reminded me of how ass-backwards we are as a society, where stupid things like a mayor in black face are a big deal and the murder rate in fucking Oakland or Chicago or New York or Baltimore or D.C. isn't. I'm at work so this isn't as fleshed out as I like but I hope you get my point. This is why the aliens are letting us turn on the hadron collider and obliterate our planet. We're simply not worth saving from ourselves.
And ironically, Chocolate Rain just popped on my mp3 player.
Comments
It seems that one of your problems with the current state of race-relations or whatever we're calling it is that it focuses too much on individuals. Correct me if I'm wrong because I don't want to put words in your mouth, but that seems to be where you are going. That's why you've gravitated to a case where a guy, unwittingly or not, made a really racist joke and is admonished by the NAACP. Your point also seems to be that as a society we do minorities, and black people in particularly, a great disservice to say the least.
Now I agree wholeheartedly that the way our society deals, or more accurately fails to deal, with race is all wrong. It's such a scary issue that people don't want to talk about it, and even fewer want to do something about it. However I would assert that change has to start with the individual. How can we "overcome," or at least minimize, racism if I can't stare my own racism in the face and try to make a change? What I think the NAACP is trying to do is effect change in individual perceptions. Some of their actions are admittedly pointless but at least well intentioned. As long as people are willing to work to improve things progress is possible.