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Comment by jbooth | Hacker News Reader

I can't believe this comment. Segregation and poll taxes were no big deal, right? Things were great for black people back when it was enshrined legal doctrine to treat them as a lower category of people.

You want to know why black people vote for the same party every time? Because it's the alternative to your party.

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The world is not that simple. Bush had Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice, who did Bill Clinton have? Al Sharpton?

Clinton went on Arsenio Hall. He didn't need tokenism.

If you want to claim there's no undercurrent of racism in standard Republican messaging, well, I can't prove it to you. Just know that most black people disagree with you.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/22/simpsons-mocks-fox-...

I don't know what that means, but the accomplishments of Powell and Rice stand on their own. It is ludicrous to deem them mere tokens. In fact if Bush was a dumb as the haters say, Condi was to all intents and purposes both the first black and the first female President...

Their accomplishments do stand on their own. You were using them as tokens in the above post, and I called it out. A couple of public figures don't undo an entire culture and electoral strategy.

Not at all. Just demonstrating the falseness of the assertion that Republicans don't represent or respect blacks.

Once again: The world is not as simple as that.

Oh, and while I am here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Democrats

Southern Democrats are members of the U.S. Democratic Party who reside in the American South. In the 19th century, they were the definitive pro-slavery wing of the party, opposed to both the anti-slavery Republicans (GOP)

The 19th century, thanks. Pretty disingenuous. You already know the content of these links before clicking them, right?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_strategy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States_rights_(speech)

http://newsone.com/16051/top-10-racist-limbaugh-quotes/ (just for fun)

For what it's worth, I don't think President Bush the person was particularly racist. But he was definitely the #1 candidate among racists.

You know a story probably wasn't HN material when you end up discussing racism and recent US presidents:-/

"There were often a few token people who were allowed to stay on in town provisionally: usually, they offered an unusual trade or service that a small town relied on, and were thus granted an exception to the sundown rules."

http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2008/01/how-to-out-sundown-town...

Preface: I'm a white American, with plenty of WASP guilt.

I forget the issue, but an African-American was in the news spewing the standard reprehensible winger talking points.

An African-American coworker of mine said "There's always one", shaking his head in disgust. He probably let his guard down around me, because we got to know each other pretty well and he knew of my political activism (voting issues).

I asked him to explain. He said no matter how stupid or extreme an issue, the white man could always find some black man to voice support.

I'm guessing that "there's always one" is a cliche in the African-American world.

Spike Lee's Boyz in the Hood, a fucking great movie, had scene depicting this phenomenon.

So, in sum, when Clarence Thomas, Condi, or that US Rep Allen fruitcake says something retarded, it's still retarded, and I don't have to measure my criticism (of the idea) just because I'm white and the speaker is black.

You'll have to cast out that beam in your eye first. Cabrini-Green is no big deal?

http://secondcitycop.blogspot.com/2010/10/end-of-cabrini-gre...

Your choice: grow up without a "right" to vote (not actually a right but a power, and of no direct value to you). Or grow up in Cabrini-Green.

Oh, and my party:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobitism

Democracy is working out pretty much as we always expected. Don't you think? You think your system of government is a success? Oh, please, I can't wait to hear this.

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