KIRK: A 'bro' from 'South Side?' Hardly |
PERSONALLY,
I’M MORE bothered by what Kirk said this week than the actions of Rachel Dolezal,
even though I’m sure the ideologues amongst us will want to claim that she is
guilty of a lie, while Kirk is merely guilty of speaking like a fool for a few
seconds.
Kirk
is the congressman who earlier this week tried to make a joke about
presidential dreamer Lindsay Graham, the congressman from South Carolina who
happens to be unmarried.
Kirk
thought he was being humorous when he referred to Graham as a “bro with no ho.”
Apparently some attempt to gain a laugh from a lame attempt at an
African-American dialect.
Even
though I’m fairly sure no self-respecting black person would ever use that
phrase under any context.
DEMOCRATIC
PARTISANS HAVE hopped all over this phrase, hoping it softens Kirk up
politically to the point where he becomes extremely beatable in next year’s
election cycle.
Some
have gone so far as to say “ho” is demeaning and sexist to all women – which it
certainly is. Although Kirk’s likely opponent in next year’s election, Rep. Tammy
Duckworth, D-Ill., made a point of issuing a statement Friday morning that
makes it easy to make a donation to her campaign.
It’s
all about the cash for Tammy.
DOLEZAL: Do we get to tell her what she is? |
KIRK
COMES FROM nowhere near Chicago’s South Side. His congressional district is the
North Shore suburbs – which is about as far removed in character from anything
connected to Chicago, let alone the South Side of Chicago.
For
all I know, Kirk probably thinks there really is an “east side of Chicago”
where his “mama prayed the night Chicago died.” Or so said that silly “PaperLace” song from several decades ago.
It
further accentuates the idea that Kirk is talking out of his behind, which is
what I’m sure some people want to say about Dolezal.
She
is the woman who is coming under ideologue criticism because of reports that
say the woman who heads the Spokane, Wash., chapter of the NAACP is a white
woman, even though she claims to be a mix of assorted white, black and American
Indian peoples.
HER
PARENTS HAVE publicly said they think of themselves as white, with an
ever-so-slight touch of American Indian in them. The kind of people who are
eager to discredit anything that isn’t lily white are anxious to dump all over
Dolezal are all aroused by this issue.
Considering
how mucked up our society is on the race issue and its ability to deny what it
finds too confusing to accept, I’m not so quick to dispute her racial claim. I
also wonder how accurate a depiction of the interview a television snippet was –
the one that appears to have her say, “I don’t understand the question” when
asked what race she is.
The
only ones who really seem to have a problem with this issue are those people
who can’t comprehend how anyone could not wish they were white – or why anybody
would want to be thought of as black.
Which
makes me think the NAACP itself had the sensible attitude on Friday when it
issued a statement saying “racial identity is not a qualifying criteria or
disqualifying standard” for a leadership post.
WHAT
DOLEZAL’S VIEW of herself and her racial background (which her parents say was
inspired by adopted step-siblings she had and a black man whom she was once
married to) really comes off as her business, and no one else’s.
Whereas
Kirk’s lame joke comes at someone else’s expense and ought to be regarded as an
unwritten rule of political campaigning – “Don’t use racial dialects” ought to go
down alongside, “Don’t be photographed wearing a sombrero.”
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