Lately, especially after the rodeo clown incident in Missouri, I've been seeing many Facebook posts from conservative friends of mine whom have claimed, "When people made fun of Bush, it was hilarious. When people make fun of Obama, it's racist."
This is a very sticky situation, one we've never dealt with before as a country, since this is our first African-American president. While there have been times when perhaps self-described liberals have been a bit too sensitive with regard to Obama jokes - construing them as racist, there have also been countless more examples of racist jokes at the expense of this president than all the others combined. It's one thing to poke fun at presidents as far as their quotes are concerned, policies, gaffes, etc., and quite another to poke fun at them via racial stereotypes. While the former has been frequented and accepted among all 44 of our presidents, we've only had to deal with the latter with #44.
The Missouri rodeo clown incident wouldn't have been such a big deal if the clown hadn't poked fun at the president via racial stereotypes. Whether or not it was intentional is up for debate. However, when a white man places on a mask of an African-American president and plays with his lips like he did, that is going to be seen by many as racist. Sure, former President Bush dealt with the same kind of rodeo act. However, that before-mentioned stereotype isn't known to travel the way of Anglo-Americans like it does African-Americans, so the two scenarios, while similar, are different.
Of course, this wasn't the lone example of a racist joke at the expense of President Obama. In March of 2008, Greeley, Colorado businessman William R. Farr spoke at the National Western Stock Show, where he said, "I have a telegram from the White House. They're going to have to change the name of that building if Obama's elected."
In other words, we were going to have to change the name of the White House to the Black House. Once again, this joke was based off race. Name me one other president who has had to endured such jokes.
Richard Cebull - a federal judge in Montana - forwarded the following joke to some people:
"'Normally I don't send or forward a lot of these, but even by my standards, it was a bit touching. I want all of my friends to feel what I felt when I read this. Hope it touches your heart like it did mine.'
A little boy said to his mother; 'Mommy, how come I'm black and you're white?' His mother replied, 'Don't even go there Barack! From what I can remember about that party, you're lucky you don't bark!'"
The joke compared African-Americans to dogs and implied that Obama's mother had practiced bestiality. Once again, this is an example of a racist joke. When did President Bush have to witness or hear such jokes being thrown his way?
A California rodeo clown by the name of Mike Hayhurst told a joke, suggesting that Playboy offered Ann Romney (Mitt's wife) $250,000 to pose nude for them, while Michelle Obama was offered $50 to do the same for National Geographic. In other words, the First Lady is an animal of some kind.
Not long after Obama took office, Dean Grose - the former mayor of Los Alamitos in Southern California - sent an e-mail which showed a picture of a watermelon patch in front of the White House.
Once again, this joke played on a racial stereotype.
Tennessee CEO Walt Baker sent an e-mail which compared First Lady Michelle Obama to a chimp.
Yet again, this joke played on a racial stereotype.
Google "racist Obama jokes" and you'll currently find 62,300 results. Google "racist Bush jokes" and you'll find 2 results. Yes, while it may be true that some of us get a little too worked up over a few light-hearted jokes at the expense of our first African-American president, make no mistake about it - this president has endured more racist jokes thrown his way in the 4+ years he's been in office than the previous 43 presidents did in their 276 combined years in office.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/17/racist-obama-jokes-leaves_n_81938.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/01/richard-cebull-judge-obama-racist-email_n_1312736.html
http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/09/17/858921/rodeo-clown-makes-racist-joke-about-michelle-obama/
http://trueslant.com/saralibby/2010/03/08/dear-everyone-stop-sending-your-colleagues-racist-obama-jokes/
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/tennessee-ceo-walt-baker-humor-e-mail-gag-comparing-michelle-obama-tarzan-chimp-article-1.176291
This is a very sticky situation, one we've never dealt with before as a country, since this is our first African-American president. While there have been times when perhaps self-described liberals have been a bit too sensitive with regard to Obama jokes - construing them as racist, there have also been countless more examples of racist jokes at the expense of this president than all the others combined. It's one thing to poke fun at presidents as far as their quotes are concerned, policies, gaffes, etc., and quite another to poke fun at them via racial stereotypes. While the former has been frequented and accepted among all 44 of our presidents, we've only had to deal with the latter with #44.
The Missouri rodeo clown incident wouldn't have been such a big deal if the clown hadn't poked fun at the president via racial stereotypes. Whether or not it was intentional is up for debate. However, when a white man places on a mask of an African-American president and plays with his lips like he did, that is going to be seen by many as racist. Sure, former President Bush dealt with the same kind of rodeo act. However, that before-mentioned stereotype isn't known to travel the way of Anglo-Americans like it does African-Americans, so the two scenarios, while similar, are different.
Of course, this wasn't the lone example of a racist joke at the expense of President Obama. In March of 2008, Greeley, Colorado businessman William R. Farr spoke at the National Western Stock Show, where he said, "I have a telegram from the White House. They're going to have to change the name of that building if Obama's elected."
In other words, we were going to have to change the name of the White House to the Black House. Once again, this joke was based off race. Name me one other president who has had to endured such jokes.
Richard Cebull - a federal judge in Montana - forwarded the following joke to some people:
"'Normally I don't send or forward a lot of these, but even by my standards, it was a bit touching. I want all of my friends to feel what I felt when I read this. Hope it touches your heart like it did mine.'
A little boy said to his mother; 'Mommy, how come I'm black and you're white?' His mother replied, 'Don't even go there Barack! From what I can remember about that party, you're lucky you don't bark!'"
The joke compared African-Americans to dogs and implied that Obama's mother had practiced bestiality. Once again, this is an example of a racist joke. When did President Bush have to witness or hear such jokes being thrown his way?
A California rodeo clown by the name of Mike Hayhurst told a joke, suggesting that Playboy offered Ann Romney (Mitt's wife) $250,000 to pose nude for them, while Michelle Obama was offered $50 to do the same for National Geographic. In other words, the First Lady is an animal of some kind.
Not long after Obama took office, Dean Grose - the former mayor of Los Alamitos in Southern California - sent an e-mail which showed a picture of a watermelon patch in front of the White House.
Once again, this joke played on a racial stereotype.
Tennessee CEO Walt Baker sent an e-mail which compared First Lady Michelle Obama to a chimp.
Yet again, this joke played on a racial stereotype.
Google "racist Obama jokes" and you'll currently find 62,300 results. Google "racist Bush jokes" and you'll find 2 results. Yes, while it may be true that some of us get a little too worked up over a few light-hearted jokes at the expense of our first African-American president, make no mistake about it - this president has endured more racist jokes thrown his way in the 4+ years he's been in office than the previous 43 presidents did in their 276 combined years in office.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/17/racist-obama-jokes-leaves_n_81938.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/01/richard-cebull-judge-obama-racist-email_n_1312736.html
http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/09/17/858921/rodeo-clown-makes-racist-joke-about-michelle-obama/
http://trueslant.com/saralibby/2010/03/08/dear-everyone-stop-sending-your-colleagues-racist-obama-jokes/
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/tennessee-ceo-walt-baker-humor-e-mail-gag-comparing-michelle-obama-tarzan-chimp-article-1.176291
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