You Learn Racial Arts!

This exchange from PBS featured on Newsbusters regarding illegal immigration and the DREAM Act caught my attention:

[GORDON]PETERSON: Jimmy Tingle said if they all looked like Norwegians, there’d be no problem, Mark.

MARK SHIELDS: I think there, I think there’s a lot of truth in that …

It seems as if many commentators in the media are spellbound by an impulse possessing the power of Jacobim Mugatu… not into dusting the prime minister of a third world country, but rather into annihilating legitimate political discourse in this country.

Is this what it has come to … claiming that Americans who happen to be opposed to our southern border being illegally trampled over like Walmart greeters on Black Friday would approve of illegal Norwegian immigration … because Norwegians are the right race? Of course it has, but I still hate to consider that this sort of accepted intellectual laziness is from some of the same folks who regularly deride people like Bush, Palin etc. as idiots. Could it be some of the same people? If so, had Alanis Morissette used their actions as an example of irony, nobody would have laughed at her.

This sort of flippant “oh yeah, they’re racists” logic is so utterly played out that I could go see REO Speedwagon at a County Fair and I guarantee you it would be a fresher experience… after all, I’ve only heard “Keep Pushin'” and “Golden Country” 2000 times each. Plus, the guitar work on “Roll With the Changes”, while simple, is tasty and kicks ass (man that song rocks… hit the link; it makes for good reading music). Yes, I know Gary Richrath isn’t with the band any longer, but I’m sure the new guy can handle the part… then again, the solo may be arrogant because it relies on the Western twelve tone scale and may therefore be offensive to non-Westerners who possess micro-tone sensibilities.

It’s not unusual for old dogs to continue with what has proven to work. America has a painful past, one filled with discrimination and racism. Sadly, that history and the respect it deserves is being kicked in the ‘nads by asinine conclusions such as the one expressed here on PBS. A small part of me gives these men the benefit of the doubt since they saw a much uglier America regarding racial issues than we see today; moreover, I think that in some cases, such sentiments apply. However, a larger part of me feels compelled to say something when they are making indiscriminate accusations that do not elevate the dialogue. Some of these talking heads seem to really have no desire or the know-how to propel the conversation into fruitful areas, nor the self-awareness that their logic is more similar to racist reasoning than the thought processes it takes to know that securing the border is a reasonable idea to Americans of all ethnicities/races/cultures/hyphenated nationalities/genders/sexual identities/whatever.

In the sixties, you had true civil rights heroes like Diane Nash and John Lewis literally risking life and limb at Nashville lunch counters and on the Freedom Rides. Today, we have elder statesmen in our media blanketing a large portion of America with charges of racism because the people who consistently illegally cross our southern border are not Nordic in appearance. Is this progress? Heck no… not even close.

The popular paradigm which establishes American conservatism/capitalism to be dependent on racism cannot seem to reconcile that a wide array of Americans think illegal immigration is out of control. To acknowledge this, however, would require painting not only whites, but blacks, Latinos, and Asians as racists as well. I wonder what would happen if the ACLU announced it wants the border closed. If closing the border first before doing anything else is the litmus test for proving racism, a fair application of the logic would have to brand Anthony Romero & Co. as racists also. Somehow, I doubt that would happen; we see this double standard in play often, especially when the offender has a “D” next to his name.

Years and years of erroneous “right = racist/bigoted/xenophobic, left = tolerant” groundwork leading up to the present has made these irresponsible remarks perfectly acceptable, unfortunately. For all the talk of how unenlightened and primitive the American right is, some of these lefty commentators sure don’t seem to mind dumbing things down for their own purposes. Their model just doesn’t fit like it once did, but it is how they were trained, and old habits die hard. They’ve lost hope in transcendence and resigned themselves to a partisan, trench war mindset. I hope they see their error before they lose more credibility because the pissing match mentality that defines our political discourse is in real danger of turning into full-blown scatological warfare… if it’s not there already.

A revisiting of Roger Ebert’s original review of Zoolander, from September 2001, in which he points to the film as indicative of American arrogance, seems appropriate here; yes, Zoolander, the film that boasts such superlative cinematic achievements as scenes like this served as an adequate example for Ebert to make a critical geo-cultural statement on American bigotry/arrogance/xenophobia/whatever. However, as clumsy and contradictory as Ebert is here, at least he tries to make an argument. Too many media drones today don’t even bother; their inane quips pitifully masquerade as political analysis… and are left relatively unchecked. Is it not obvious why the media has a credibility problem?

Memorandum to much of the media: your credibility problem is partially due to your regular broad brush accusations of racism which you unwittingly apply to most of the American electorate. It’s bush league. A myna bird can be trained to hurl insults. Alluding to, or even outright accusing someone of, racism when it is unsubstantiated is a slur, plain and simple.

This whole phenomenon reminds me of when Cliff Clavin thought he could be funny as a stand up comic by employing “What’s up with that?” as the punch line… for every single joke.

Cliff cleared out the room and his comedy career was over. Maybe some of the race hustling journalists out there could go work for the Postal Service… I’m sure they’d feel right at home; just as they repetitively stamp the right wing with “racism!” they could just as handily stamp letters and packages. Plus the USPS is tanking just like the dinosaur media. It seems like a natural fit.

I certainly hope the joke is on me. I hope these guys know what they’re doing, and I’m just the type of person who would partake in a gas pump fight and then light a cig with a Zippo… but it sure seems like there are way too many “oh yeah, it’s racist” punch lines taking place… in serious tones. Either way, it’s bogus and creates hostility. If that’s what these race hustlers are going for… MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

I can hear them now, comfortably resting at a daiye spa, jamming to Frankie Goes To Hollywood, somnolently stating their affinity for the “that’s racist!” strategy: “We really like race hustling.”

Thank you, Katinka.

I never thought an REO lyric would be so profound, but Kevin Cronin had it right: “If you’re tired of the same old story, turn some pages. I’ll be here when you are ready… to roll with the changes.”