Thread: Opinion: How Post-Racial America Fared In 2010

Opinion: How Post-Racial America Fared In 2010
Jan 1, 2011 – 6:26 AM

Michael Arceneaux Contributor
Even though Hillary Clinton was being sarcastic when she said it during the 2008 Democratic presidential primary, a number of Americans truly did believe that after President Obama's election that "celestial choirs will be singing and everyone will know we should do the right thing ... and the world will be perfect."

That is essentially the notion of "post-racial America" – a theory many continue to pummel considering the bevy of racially charged headlines frustrating much of us throughout 2010.

Don't worry, naysayers, no one is arguing that America hasn't matured a bit over the years. The problem – very much a bipartisan one – is that we collectively still haven't matured enough.

1. Harry Reid

While the Senate majority leader deservingly has garnered praise for shepherding the efforts to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the Nevada senator annoyed some with his term "Negro dialect" to describe President Obama's eloquence. A month later he flat out angered black voters for exaggerating his role in the Civil Rights Movement to garner their support.

2. Sharron Angle

Senator Reid's surprisingly formidable Republican challenger for reelection nearly ended his tenure in the Senate. That is, until she alienated Latino voters and fair-minded people alike with a campaign ad that featured white high school graduates being targeted by three seemingly menacing Latino men described as "illegal aliens."

3. Jim Webb

The Democratic Virginia senator penned an op-ed entitled to argue that diversity programs benefitting immigrants were marginalizing white workers. Had he taken history and his own privilege into better account, perhaps the piece would've read more than just a cynical attempt to slum for the angry white male vote.

4. Michael Steele

In defense of criticism over a story about the RNC paying almost $2,000 at an LA-area bondage themed nightclub, the RNC Chairman claimed that "as African-America" he has "a slimmer margin for error than another chairman would." Whatever happened to him not wanting to "play the race card?"

5. Carl Paladino

Carl Paladino compared the president and first lady to a pimp and a ho, black people to monkeys, and said the plight of inner-city male black youth could be cured through welfare prison dorms and hygiene classes. And yet, he managed to secure the Republican nomination for governor in the state of New York! Need I say more?

6. Virginia Beach GOP

The now former Virginia Beach Republican Party chair Dave Bartholomew forwarded a racist email in which black people were compared to dogs looking for a free government check. The message said: "So I explained to her that my Dog is black, unemployed, lazy, can't speak English and has no frigging clue who his Daddy is."

7. Jim Greer

The next time a Republican complains about their party unfairly being branded as racist, tell them to start with the source: Themselves. In an apology issued to President Obama for claiming he was spreading "socialist ideology" to students, former Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer said, "Unfortunately, I found that many within the GOP have racist views." He wouldn't name names, but it's OK, that's why I'm here.

8. Rush Limbaugh

The multimillion-dollar-earning conservative radio host speaks on "racist Democratic leadership," opines that if President Obama weren't black "he'd be a tour guide in Honolulu," continues to claim that a big bad (and brown) group of outsiders governing this country secretly hate it. The craziest thing about is claims are that they continue to be so profitable.

9. Sarah Palin

No, I'm not calling her a racist but when discussing "post-racial" failures one must include the former Alaskan governor turned reality star. This past year, Palin conveniently denounced the NAACP for speaking out against the racist fringe within the Tea Party by claiming its members were all merely "patriotic Americans." She's since been the target of conservative commentators like David Frum, who wrote in reference to comments made about early American family life in her second book, "Palin's remark was the remark of somebody who looked back at the 1790s and saw only ... white people." If she plans on being president, she'll have to get a lot more honest about race and history in America.

10. Haley Barbour

Speaking of honest, history, race, and presidential ambitions, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is finally getting the national attention he's been clamoring for. Too bad it's for praising a racist group and saying he didn't remember them ever being that bad. I'm sure his base feels the same, only that faction of America is dwindling with each and each election.

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/01/01/opini ... d-in-2010/

All the Lefty-Righty rhetoric, posturing and other garbage is designed to push people into one of the two camps.

2. Sharron Angle

Senator Reid's surprisingly formidable Republican challenger for reelection nearly ended his tenure in the Senate. That is, until she alienated Latino voters and fair-minded people alike with a campaign ad that featured white high school graduates being targeted by three seemingly menacing Latino men described as "illegal aliens."

BS! We all know Dirty Harry Reid stole the election, and that those "Latino voters" shouldn't have been voting in the first place!!!

Shutting down Reid and Pelosi was the best thing that happened this year!
Now to work on NObama and Jarrett! Jarrett is really bad news, and she always flies just under the radar!

Ask About Me
Michael Arceneaux Writer. Music head. Political junkie. Pop culture whore. Funny black boy. Looking to have a voice in the world -- with a few good sponsors. Thursday, October 01, 2009
12:00 AM
Ask About Me
Michael Arceneaux is a Houston-bred, Howard-educated freelance writer and blogger currently based in Los Angeles.

While he was a student at Howard University he took on a number of internships spanning difference facets of the media. These includes stints at Radio One, C-SPAN, the now-defunct Blender magazine, and MTV News Online.

And shortly before graduating college Michael also took part in a comedy writing program founded by Chris Rock and sponsored by Comedy Central.

As a freelance writer he was written pieces on pop culture, music, television, politics, race, culture, and sexuality for outlets like The Root, AOL News, BET.com, TV One Online, Essence.com, VIBE, Pop Matters, XXL, Comedy Central Online, MSN’s Wonder Wall, The Grio, among others.

Originally intended to solely serve as just another means of honing his craft, The Cynical Ones has morphed into a site where instead of seven people encouraging him to continue writing, at least twenty times that number do. Zoom, watch him go.

When he’s not writing, he’s jiggin’ and hoping any potential editors, lit agents, or even showrunners reading this have no idea what that means. That is, unless they jig, too.

Michael’s long-term goals include writing really, really, funny and smart books, and then doing the same stuff for television and film for lots and lots of money. And for magazines, Web sites, or well…whoever wants to pay him. Yes, he thinks he’s funny. You should, too. Please.

Since Michael is getting tired of writing about himself in third person feel free to contact me I mean him at mjarceneaux@gmail.com.

http://www.thecynicalones.com/about/ Funny that he CALLS HIMSELF a "funny black boy",then proceeds to tell us about "racist people" In his opinion....

In other word, this guy is just some writter that takes either side for the right price.

If you live in a Progressive, blue state and don't meet PC standards, just kiss your future goodbye if you are not one of the favored minorities. "Post-racial America?" What a crock!

Anyone knows that anything that comes out of Sarah Palin's mouth is going to be bordering on mentally challenged.