When I start hearing people like Sara Palin and Rudy Giuliani use words like Community Organizer to laughter of tens of thousands of Repulicans I immediate wonder "wait, what's the joke?"
Then that part of my brain trained in language and visual art interrupts and says "hey, Gossamer, what CODE might they be speaking in."
What is it about this word "community organizer" that could make Republicans laugh out loud, could make some one think they have no responsibility? The truth is pretty clear, "community organizer" is another of the Lutzesque code words, for Republicans, Community Organizer is the new "N-word."
There's been a very long history in the Republican party for using key words to intone references both good and bad. Last night Giuliani and Palin's speeches both derided the community organizer in ways I didn't get at first. I thought, like many, why make fun of community organizers? What's the fruit there?
Then it occured to me, "OH, they're actually saying 'black people.'"
What are some of the icons of the community organizer: There's the obvious one:
There there are the more notable ones:
And the one they REALLY wanted to attack after last week:
Those were obvious. And Republicans enjoy a long history of maligning these people as do-nothing people with no responsibilities.
But it was when I dug a little deeper that the insidious nature of using Community Organizer as code for "black" or "hispanic" or "poor" came to light.
What do less-famous community organizers look like? From a general search of Google Image results, this is what I found.
Let's make no mistake, THIS is what they mean when they say "community organizer." THESE are the people they think of when they laugh at the phrase "community" organizer." These are the people they mean when they say community organizers have no responsibilities.
They are talking about Black people, Hispanic people, American Indians, poeple who do not earn a lot of money in life, people who try to help the poor. It's the typical disgusting Lutz and Rove game; talk shit on people who aren't like us to gin up the base -- but do it in code so no-one can tall you on it.
It's disgusting, divisive politics and it's more of the Republican party reminding everyone that Barrack Obama is a black man. They're saying he's another of those shiftless black people you remember from the 60s. He's another of those irresponsible black people you see who are "community organizers."
Make no mistake about it folks. This is NOT some limp noodle the Republicans are trying to swing around. They are ALWAYS about divisive politics. They are ALWAYS going to use code to enrage and inspire their base. And they will ALWAYS use American's innate racial tension to drive people apart. And someone like John McCain of 2000 knows it all too well, which is why the John McCain of 2008 will use it every step of the way.