I agree with Kelli Goff on many points in her response to the statement made by Harry Reid. I believe Reid may be subconsciously showing how his views of African Americans is skewed or that he is not in the loop of what politically correct terminology is appropriate, but I do not believe he is proven to be a racist by this remark. However, while this may be a small insignificant slip of the tongue for a random individual, it shows a deeper issue coming from a government official representing President Obama.
Goff said that he just used an outdated term which was exaggerated and blown out of proportion to accuse him of racism, and I agree. I think it’s a bit extreme that Michael Steele wants him to resign from office because of it. Yes this comment shows that he is out of touch with the African-American public, which for a government official representing diversity is more of an issue than if someone else said it. It does show a contradiction. However, I don’t think he is racist because he said this remark and I don’t think he needs to step down from office. He may not have an accurate portrayal of African-Americans because he does not involve himself in social activities with African-Americans outside of work or within a social context (although he should). I am not a black American so I can’t really speak from that perspective, but my personal response to that statement was “wow, he said that? That doesn’t seem like politically correct dialogue, but I think he just stated it in a wrong way”. I don’t find him racist, just out-dated. I feel that Obama maturely handled the situation properly and was gracious to forgive Reid’s remark and dismiss it.
In terms of race and representation in the media, I somewhat agree with Bell Hooks that we haven’t made much progress in the way we represent African-Americans. We want to believe we have improved our viewpoints and elevated ourselves from segregation and unequal representation, yet we continue to categorize and judge accordingly. I love the quote on page 6 that reads “it is only as we collectively change the way we look at ourselves and the world that we can change how we are seen.” I think this opens up the reader to personal reflection and also gives food for thought as to how and why certain groups and types of people are seen in different ways.
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3 comments:
Marlena, I agree with you that the bigger concern is how this statement is coming from a high powered government official that is representing Obamas party. It makes you think about what they're saying to themselves when the microphones aren't on. Do they really care about minorities? Or do they just endorse the whole "diversity and inclusion" thing without believing in that themselves? I hope they do care!
I don't think that Senator Reid is a racist either. I think we can all agree that his choice of words was beyond awful, but I'm not sure I think that this incident was an indicator of his own view towards African Americans.
He was talking about why he thought that Obama was "electable"-- why he thought the American public would like him, not why HE liked him.
As outdated and misinformed as Reid might be, I actually think that he was telling a terrible truth about America's negative perception of blackness. Bell Hooks also mentions this by calling America a "white supremacist" nation. This sounds extreme, but wasn't she referring exactly to what Reid is talking about? Isn't the general population less apprehensive towards lighter-skinned, non-ebonics speaking African Americans? I completely agree with you about the issue of representation, and I think that this incident is a great example of our society's inability to transcend race-based judgments.
Thank you for your insight and very readable post! Your thoughts flowed very nicely.
I completely agree that Reid meant no harm and needs a vocabulary update. It is very disheartening when the leadership of America makes such huge mistakes.
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