(if you don't want to read about me just scroll below to view the images)
Hello Daily Kos.
I am a 28 year old black man from Houston,TX. I have been a long time lurker on this site for years dating back to the dark days of Bush. Over my years of lurking I have seen many things that I considered outrageous and offensive but none have stirred up such passion and disgust as what I witnessed here during the Thanksgiving Holiday.In fact the sideshow was so gut wrenching that it inspired me to finally create an account on this site. This will be my first diary, please forgive my unrefined writing style.
The defense of Ted Rall's RACIST depiction(s) of President Obama was shameful and a dark mark on this site's already checkered past in terms of race relations.Until he decided to post here I was previously unaware of Mr. Rall's "work".After seeing how hostile and arrogant he was I quickly gained an interest in the man. I wanted to know why such a character was allowed to behave in a way that was previously not tolerated on this site. ( as I had witnessed in my years of lurking)
I soon found out that Rall was a minor celebrity and had a (rather predictable) fan club on the site.I saw them scrape up every excuse they could muster to not only defend Rall, but to call in to question the integrity of those ACTUALLY interested in racism on this site.
After spending (wasting) far too much time researching Mr.Rall, I have gathered a small collection of his illustrations. I have decided to focus only on his racial imagery and not the countless other hateful things he has created.( I can't tell if this guy is a libertarian, teabagger or just a sociopathic asshole) Answer = they're all the same
I will now dissect each example to prove that Rall is indeed a racist and that his fans are at the very least incredibly blind when it comes to racism. So blind that they've become comfortable with it and consume it in the same way white Americans have for generations. That is an extremely generous assessment of them.
So here we go. Note: Most of Rall's cartoons are laced with right wing memes, slander and lies. I will attempt to point them out but this is mainly focused on the racism.I thought long and hard on the best order to display these images.
EXAMPLE 1
Thanks for the responses. Some think this is a cat. Please look closely at the nose Rall drew on Obama.
Notes: The RACIST Ted Rall depicts Obama as a COON!
This image kicked me in the gut the first time I saw it.I had to walk away from my computer for a few seconds.
1) Notice how Rall depicts Obama as a human in these early drawings.Completely destroying the claim that he is incapable of drawing him differently.This will be important as we view more.
2) This shows Rall's premeditated RACIST imagery
EXAMPLE 2
1) Rall attempts to strip Barack Obama and Colin Powell of their blackness.I don't know what makes Rall think he has the authority to do such a hateful thing.
EXAMPLE 3
1) Rall BLATANTLY depicts Obama as a monkey.Undeniably ape-like
2) Rall actually admitted that his "friends" thought he went too far with this one on facebook. His / their only concern was that he reinforced Hillary's attack ad too much.
3) Notice the difference between that monkey sleeping in the bed and Rall's original depiction of Obama in the first example.
4) Rall begins to invoke the "LAZY BLACK MAN" meme in to his Obama cartoons
EXAMPLE 4
1) Rall ratchets up the racism by depicting the Ape -Obama as a King Kong figure.
2) There is almost nothing left of it's humanity.I challenge any of his defenders to explain this depiction.
This is part one of the series.In part 2 I plan on discussing more of Rall's right wing memes. We will also see Rall begin to incorporate the Obama family in his racist imagery.
The people defending Rall have a lot of explaining to do.I have been bothered for a long time that Libertarians and Racists have been allowed to pose as "progressives". In my opinion it does nothing but undermine the left.
I hope this will spark a debate on this site.I plan on engaging in the debate when I have time outside of work.
Thank you.
Any tips on how to improve my dairy will be appreciated.
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