Monday, May 9, 2011

Trump's racist remarks continue

First it was "that black guy can't possibly be a US citizen." Now it's "that black guy can't possibly have good academic credentials." Just listen to this:
Image description: 
Text that reads, "Blog 
against racism (it helps)"
Standing on a tarmac Wednesday in New Hampshire, Trump said "word is he (Obama) wasn't a very good student." 

"I'd like to know how does he get into Harvard, how does he get into Columbia if he isn't a very good student," Trump said.
Trump, we have an intelligent, black, American president who kicks ass. I'm very sorry if this offends your delicate sensibilities, but time to face reality: He's Black and Brilliant. These two things do co-occur!

Kudos to Bob Scheiffer for this comment:
"That's just code for saying he got into law school because he's black," Schieffer said on the CBS Evening News Wednesday. "This is an ugly strain of racism that's running through this whole thing."
Indeed there is! Finally, someone with the guts to call Trump on this baloney. Few other media figures seem willing.

I really liked Etan Thomas' article on this topic. In fact, a lot of what he described sounds similar to what many women in technology experience in higher education. We must have cheated on our exams. A man must have helped us on that programming assignment. We only got that job/fellowship/grant because we're a woman.

Totally. My ovaries know C++, actually.

5 comments:

  1. It was so great when we had a President like George W. Bush whose academic career was entirely owing to his intelligence and hard work. Since he is white and rich, we know he got into Yale etc. on his own merits. But it's also a good thing he didn't succeed too much academically, because then he would be seen as "out of touch" with the average American.

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  2. But I do believe he is a "Hey, what is that black guy doing here?" racist. He is the type of racist who wants black people "to stay in their place."

    Yep. Those are common and difficult to spot. They'll act pretty nice until you 'step out of line', then suddenly they are very uncomfortable with the situation.

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  3. "My ovaries know C++, actually. " you just made my day with that :)

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  4. There was a time in this country - not really that long ago - where the most affluent black person would still have to step off the sidewalk to let the lowest white man pass. The president absolutely grates the point in - he didn't have to use any "overt" political trickery to get elected. He was born here. He is intelligent. He didn't need affirmative action to get through school or become a law professor.

    You'd think he'd be the poster child for achievement of the American dream. It would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic and dangerous.

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  5. I thought Matt Yglesias had the best take on this:

    If it’s true that Barack Obama couldn’t get into college without a boost from affirmative action, then the fact that he later went on to become President of the United States of America would surely go to show that affirmative action is a good idea! The concern that super-talented people were getting locked out of opportunities is exactly the sort of thing affirmative action is supposed to resolve.

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