TEA PARTY PART IV - YES WE KLAN
"They're tellin' the whites the blacks are gonna take over the union. Tell a white a black's gonna sit on him, this is what you get." - Norma Rae
The election of the first black President of the United States has caused a dramatic increase in the activity of racist hate groups, as tracked by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Unfortunately, there are Americans who are racists and Obama's election has stirred them up like a kick to a hornet's nest. Beck has frequently and transparently preyed on the fears and prejudices of racists in order to add this crowd to his cadre of followers.
As is true with most things about Beck, he has been anything but subtle. In a now infamous appearance on Fox News Channel's Fox & Friends, he stated:
"This president, I think, has exposed himself as a guy -- over and over and over again -- who has a deep-seated hatred for white people, or the white culture -- I don't know what it is…this guy is, I believe, a racist."
Never before has our country been subjected to this kind of overt racism launched from the sheltered bunker of a major cable news channel. This is a bald-faced and dangerously irresponsible example of race-baiting. It is just one of many such remarks Beck has made. He has stated that Obama's agenda is driven by "reparations" and desire to "settle old racial scores". In particular, he has called health care reform "the beginning of reparations". Beck has warned that a "modern day slave state" is being created out of ACORN, SEIU, student loans programs, and census and service initiatives. His primary evidence for these accusations appears to be the fact that Obama is black. This is what makes Beck's statements racist.
Citing her "wise Latina" remark, Beck has called then-nominee to the Supreme Court Judge Sondra Sotomayor a "racist" who is "divisive" and "not that bright" . This was a multi-layered attack from Beck: racist, sexist and ad hominem coupled with a slap at affirmative action. Beck was basically saying that President Obama appointed a minority woman who will follow what Beck claims are Obama's wishes to decide cases based on race, but in order to accomplish his goal of finding such a ringer Obama had to choose someone who is not qualified (i.e. too stupid) to actually earn a seat on the Supreme Court. Therefore, Sotomayor's nomination was based on gender, race and racism - not merit. Beck also stated point blank, "I think she's a racist. I think she has decided things based on race." With an astounding lack of professionalism and fundamental fairness, Beck did not delve into the details of what "things" she has decided based on race (other than to demagogue Ricci v. DeStefano), did not engage in discussion with legal experts in order to fairly explore both sides of the issue, and did not acknowledge that reasonable judges could disagree on the legal principles involved in the Ricci v. DeStefano decision without any of them acting improperly or being racists. Without being able to come up with any real support, Beck's accusations of racism hurled at Sotomayor appear to be nothing more than inflammatory race-baiting.
Beck has a goal of convincing people that President Obama and members of his administration are racists and have a fervent desire to take from hard-working white Americans and give to undeserving minorities based on race. Beck wants people to be afraid. He wants to make the basis for the fear appear as real as possible. He latches on to any off-hand remark he can find a recording of, such as Sotomayor's "wise Latina" comment, and manipulates it to support his fear-mongering. But as with the "wise Latina" comment, close scrutiny reveals that objective support for Beck's interpretations are razor thin or non-existent. For example, Beck's allegations about statements made by Mark Lloyd, Federal Communications Commission associate general counsel and chief diversity officer, are dubious at best and outright lies at worst. On the Glenn Beck Program, Beck played audio of Lloyd stating:
"We're in a position where you have to say who is going to step down so someone else can have power."
Beck used this isolated sound-bite to support his outlandish conclusion that Lloyd's goal (and Obama's goal by extension) is to literally take jobs away from whites and hand them over them to (unqualified) minorities. Beck, however, takes Lloyd's statement out-of-context and misrepresents its meaning. The context of Lloyd's statement makes it clear his meaning is pretty much the opposite from the meaning Beck claims. Lloyd's statement in context:
"There is nothing more difficult than this, because we have really, truly good white people in important positions. And the fact of the matter is that there are a limited number of those positions. And unless we are conscious of the need to have more people of color, gays, other people in those positions we will not change the problem.
We're in a position where you have to say who is going to step down so someone else can have power."
Lloyd's meaning clearly is that unless you take a pro-active approach to diversity, you are in a position where diversity cannot be achieved because it would be absurd and unacceptable to remove non-minorities from their jobs for the purpose of replacing them with minorities. Just the opposite of what Beck contends.
At a minimum, Beck should at least acknowledge the full context and objective meaning (and, without being a jerk about it, provide Mr. Lloyd with a fair and professional opportunity to respond), even if he chooses to add his ludicrous spin after that. This is Beck's classic modus operandi. He plays a recording of his target's remarks but omits the appropriate context for the purpose of distorting the meaning to fit his inflammatory argument. This tactic is, of course, unfair, unethical and wrong. He may as well dispense with even finding a clip to parse, and instead just go directly to puppet theater with cut-outs of Obama administration officials pasted on popsicle sticks. That way he can have full artistic freedom to create from whole cloth the incriminating statements he seeks. One would think there must be at least one producer on Beck's staff (or anywhere at Fox) who understands basic journalistic standards, but apparently not. (And yet Beck continues to wonder aloud why news organizations don't pick up his stories and run with them.) It also seems to be proof that Beck's racism argument is pretty weak if he has to scrape the bottom of the barrel in this manner for purported evidence to support his point. It's shady tactics like these, however, that Beck has used to bring the racists on board.
By clumping together a string of accusations against various Obama administration officials, Beck purports to create evidence for his consipiracy theory that "they're all corrupt - just look at all of these particular examples." The problem is, when you start looking at the individual examples Beck provides, they each seem to fall apart. Bullshit is still bullshit, no matter how high Beck makes the pile. As the saying goes, anecdotes are not data.
To be sure, not all of Beck's supporters are racists. But he cannot deny that some are. In fact, sometimes the Glenn Beck-inspired tea parties appear to be "kinder gentler" versions of Klan rallies. Many signs offensively depict President Obama with racist caricatures. Another popular tea party rally sign portrays Obama as a semi-nude tribal African witch doctor with a bone through his nose. Dr. David McKalip, a Florida neurosurgeon, ended up taking a leave of absence from his leadership position from the American Medical Association for forwarding an email with this image. Subsequently he appeared on a health-care themed episode of the Glenn Beck Program to share his opinions on health care reform. His entanglement with the racist email was not disclosed.
Beck's tea partiers apparently resent being called racists. One cannot simply whine "it's not about race", however, after participating in events where many are parading around in public, unchallenged, with racist signs. Beck is not very enthusiastic about denouncing racist signage at his events.
One of Beck's main ploys is to evoke gut reactions and emotion to the exclusion of reason. This is also true with respect to his appeal to racists. He has shown video of a passionate - and black - Van Jones shouting about social and economic justice (which terms are equated with evil "socialism" on the Glenn Beck Program). He has shown video of the black panthers, complete with their 1970s afros. He has stated on his radio show that "a day with me is a day with the black panthers", apparently insinuating the black panthers are harassing him. (Again, Beck uses implication where he can't say what he wants to say because it would be an outright lie. Beck is an expert at walking that high wire.) He has shown the undercover videos taken of ACORN employees, one featuring a well-endowed black woman wearing an ill-fitting tank top. He has played audio of a distinctly African American voice rejoicing about getting her free "Obama money". Beck has shown photos of ACORN chief Bertha Lewis, an African American woman, kissing developer Bruce Ratner and New York City Mayor Bloomberg, both white men, directly on the mouth. What are the chances this is not an intentional attempt on Beck's part to inflame racists with what Beck feels (hopes?) are sexualized and threatening racial stereotypes and images?
Consistent with his criticisms of Justice Sotomayor, Beck hopes to parlay all of this into the undermining of the first black President by causing people to believe that he is an unqualified token and dangerous, bitter, angry radical. He will use this in turn to buttress his argument that, because Obama is purportedly unqualified and in over his head, he is capable of making all of the other errors, misjudgments and committing the malfeasance and other outright evil of which Beck accuses him. Further, given the supposed danger this wrong-headed, radical, unqualified black President poses, Beck makes the argument nearly every day that Obama should be virtually handcuffed throughout his term in office (if they don't succeed in impeaching him or otherwise ejecting him). In other words, Obama should restrict himself to being a good "house Negro." He should be grateful that he was even allowed to take office without the country being brought to a screeching halt by those who are wiser and understand the folly of electing a young, black President. Doesn't Obama know that there is a tacit understanding in place that if Beck and his like-minded allies allow him to be President against their better judgment, then Obama is not supposed to actually do anything? The second he lifts a finger to undertake any form of action, no matter now necessary or even innocuous, Beck and his cronies will squeal (with enough feigned red-faced outrage so that you think they really mean it) that Obama and his administration being corrupt, dangerous radical extremists. So sit down and shut up, Barack Hussein Obama, and don't you dare actually try to govern. You role is to be the black caretaker President. That should be enough for you and your kind. (Beck seems a bit put out, however, that President Obama has as of yet declined to acquiesce to Beck's interpretation of how his presidency should be working.)
Apparently, in what he hopes will be a death blow, Glenn Beck intends to co-opt the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. from the first black President, and all of us, on August 28, 2010. On that day, he plans to give a speech to his worshippers from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, where he will announce The Plan to purify "Re-Found" America and destroy all progressive legislation enacted in the past 100 years. It will be interesting to see if Glenn Beck explains his "white culture" remark to the African American community on that day. It will also be interesting to hear him address the fact that Martin Luther King, Jr. fits Beck's definition of a socialist, who advocated for social justice and the radical restructuring of the capitalist system in order to more fairly distribute the wealth.
Perhaps Beck thinks that appropriating the legacy of MLK will shield him from being viewed as a racist. He certainly takes umbrage at any racist accusations thrown his way. Unfortunately for Beck, he cannot simply declare "I'm not a racist" and expect that to permanently inoculate him from such charges. It just doesn't work that way. Racism is in the eye of the beholder. And any objective person can behold a lot of racism spewing from Glenn Beck and his tea party gang.
-----
It's a perfect storm of the Fearful, the Angry, the Racist and the Torpid. I submit to you that Glenn Beck's only true skill is recognizing thisperfect storm and taking advantage of it. It's the opportunity he's been seeking for years.
------------------------------
Related in this series:
Beck's Dark Secret: Hell in a Handbasket
He Blinded me with Skousen
Glenn Beck: The Moron Whisperer
Tea Party Part I - The Sore Losers
Tea Party Part II - Left Behind
Tea Party Part III - Comfortably Dumb