’)They had him on lockdown for a few weeks, but the gaffe machine is back in action. Also, Steele is fulfilling his role here as yet another black step-n-fetchit for the conservative movement. Show me a black conservative and I’ll show you a guy or gal who’s all about pissing on his race. (via)
Palin/Steele 2012!
I made the above comment before listening to the clip. This guy is certifiable, and I couldn’t be any happier that he is the leader of the next generation of GOP tools.
“Y’all come sums it up.” Truer words…
People should never, ever listen to Steele. He’s a goof and a loser.
Talking about soul food makes you an Uncle Tom?
Stop it, will you stop it?
Even I got his point – “we” (meaning the Republicans) are the ‘down home’ folks. Do they even eat chicken and potato salad in Jamaica?
One of the first things a student anthropologist learns is that the first person you meet is not an ambassador from the tribe. That goes for you, Oliver. You, obviously, are not an expert on things and traditions Afro-American.
You ever see D.L. Hughley’s routine built around the call to “Come on home!” ?
I suppose he’s an Uncle Tom, too?
You mean except for that well respected analyst Ron Christie. Ron Christie would never fall for that old banana in the tailpipe trick.
[...] Tip to Oliver Willis for posting this in between his soliliqueys about Megan Fox and Superman. [...]
It’s a really stupid off the cuff remark, but I give him a pass for it, in the context of his response to the question. But it’s slightly lame to have to reach all the way back to abolitionism to vouch for the inclusive message of the GOP. There’s a strong strain of Republican support for inclusion and civil rights well into the 1960s, and even post-Southern Strategy in the Nixon-Ford era. Then there’s a significant drop in the level of concern for minority rights and interests throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with a few exceptions here and there (e.g. Jack Kemp, a few non-Southern Republicans supporting the VRA, some accomodation on immigration issues). Unfortunately, the voices generally in opposition to policies intended to further the socioeconomic advancement of historically disadvantaged racial minorities also tend to be voices with not much to say about alternative policies or otherwise showing much concern about the problems those policies were enacted to address.
If they want to attract minority voters, here’s a 3 step process to help:
1. Find out what minority voters care about the most, and what concerns them specifically as distinct groups.
2. Act like you give a damn about these issues.
3. Show them you give a damn about these issues by coming up with conservative policies to address them, and by standing up to those in the party who may oppose this show of concern.
That’s pretty much it. Good luck.
Black folks: here’s what they still think about you.
This is something directly out of Rufus Jones for President (1933), ‘cept they used pork chops in that one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Tk9dtjoQY0
Conservatism, definitely still stuck in the Hoover era, but watch them Blame The Blacks for that, too.
[Countdown until some conservobot like Frank reminds everybody what a great dancer Sammy Davis Jr was...[rolleyes]]
So, everybody’s welcome to be a Republican as long as they believe in Republican values. There is nothing better than cold fried chicken and potato salad. I think slavery was wrong. I still don’t think I would be welcomed in the GOP.
Frank DiSalle says, “Even I got his point – “we” (meaning the Republicans) are the ‘down home’ folks.”
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!
Yeah, the party of corporations and warmongering are the ‘down home’ folks….
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!
Has Michael Steele ever read the Constitution?
Wait — the Republican Party included diverse populations in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution? What? There was no Republican Party then. Is that what Steele was saying? I get the part about the Civil War, and that’s reasonable, at least up until the ‘Southern Strategy’ of the post-Civil Rights era. But the Founding Fathers were Republicans?
Or was he just saying that the Republicans more reflected the values of the FF?
I don’t think the ‘fried chicken and ‘tater salad’ comment should be controversial, it’s often just what you bring to informal gatherings throughout a lot of the South and even Maryland.
I think the ‘y’all come’ comment is just dumber.
So um…is Michael going to dress up as the Cream of Wheat man, now?
Or he could always try the Uncle Remus approach — white conservatives love a little pre-bellum nostalgia…reminds them of their
slave economyoops I mean “heritage” where everybody knew their place, and didn’t go around confusing things with carpetbagger ideas like voting rights and government-enforced equality. http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41A2GAZSPXL._SL500_AA275_.jpgI guess we’re “afraid of him” like we are of Sarah
Michael Steele = “Look over here”!!!
Now back to the CURRENT going-ons that actually matter…yeah, how dare conservative blacks speak up against the “First Black President” when he’s done so much good for his like-skinned electorate:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/13/nyregion/13unemployment.html?hp
how dare conservative blacks speak up against the “First Black President”
Both of them.
You, obviously, are not an expert on things and traditions Afro-American.
What does this even mean? I mean on Earth, not the planet formerly known as Pluto. Michael Steele’s kneejerk response to a question about black outreach is to immediately jump to shucking and jiving references, that’s the problem here. And its part of the reason blacks don’t vote Republican and black cons are a uber-minority.
yeah, how dare conservative blacks speak up against the “First Black President” when he’s done so much good for his like-skinned electorate
You understand unnecessary quotes, right?
Both of them, Repack?
From the link MrGreyGhost provided, I don’t think unemployment among blacks in New York City approached anywhere near the current 14.7% level that it is under the second black President.
That NY Times article would lead me to believe that blacks in New York would hearken back to the days of the first black President. That is, if the first black President’s wife hadn’t just stabbed New York in the back and cost the region $260mm in lost tax revenues.
Both of them, Repack?
Glad to help. Alan Keyes is the other.
Shorter “Dennis”: ‘Look over there!’
I don’t think unemployment among blacks in New York City approached anywhere near the current 14.7% level that it is under the second black President.
Hardly news. Unemployment among all categories in California is the highest it has been since the depression. Callouses on your hands will get you more work these days than an advanced degree.
All my employees are Black, because I know that if I go into the poor community I can find unemployed men who are citizens and speak English and are six feet tall and very strong and want the job at least as much as the illegals on the corners who do not meet any of those conditions (except for being unemployed).
I don’t hire people with degrees, because they think they are too good for what we do.
The Republican 2007 Great Recession is what’s creating unemployment all over the US, “Dennis”.
Did you really want to bring up Republican’s failures on the economy?
Wait — the Republican Party included diverse populations in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution? What? There was no Republican Party then.
Exactly my point. Does he even know that the drafters of the Constitution weren’t talking about folks like him?
Props to Obama for shutting down the DC voucher program! Great policy for minorities! Now they can go back to crappy schools!!
Democrats thrive on poverty.
I would expect a ‘fried chicken’ reference from Sessions, not from Steele. What is wrong with this man? Have you no shame?!
Now if he had said that it was going to be catered by Sylvia’s or B. Smith’s, I’d have respected it.
“Democrats thrive on poverty.”
Funny that — it was George W. Bush and the GOP who drove the economy into the shitter.
I guess the GOP must love Democratic dominance.
“Fried chicken and potato salad?”
This nimrod needs desperately to subsist on Oreo cookies.
I get the sense that Steele is sincere in trying to facilitate his theory of an ‘all-inclusive,’ progressive, repubican landscape. Unfortunately, his theory has no commonality with what the core GOP is trying to accomplish. What’s wierd to me is that he doesn’t seem to get that he’s being totally used. The ‘force’ on the darkside is a powerful weapon……
And someone please explain this to me: Why do conservatives hold Ronald Reagan up as this legendary ’super-statesman’, ‘values-icon’, who held the key/led the way to so much ‘greatness’ in America that we enjoy(?) today and whose ideals we must strive to maintain?
Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t remember things being so rosy during the eighties…
And how come no liberal pundits call out the conservatives when they start preaching that (what I like to call) revisionist B&*llSh%^t?
Democrats thrive on poverty.
Republicans thrive on ignorance, as our friend Gabriel demonstrates.
“Michael Steele Will Woo Blacks to GOP with “Fried Chicken and Potato Salad”"
—————————————————-
Oliver, why in your commentary did you omit the part in that video after Steele responded with “My plan is to say, Y’all come. Cause a lot of you are already here.”, that someone off camera amidst laughter can clearly be heard saying
“I’ll bring the collard greens.”
To which Steele then responded with the remark about fried chicken and potato salad. He even prefaced it with “There you go.”, then “I got the fried chicken…”
How does that reply to someone offering to bring collard greens square with your headline.
And in your opinion, is your headline an honest depiction of the video?
And there it is, someone can’t be black or conservative… he or she must pick one or the other, and black = Democrat. That helps explain the hatred here for everything non-Democrat, but also pretty much rules out the possibility of independent thinking on the issues.
Darn it, can’t be black and conservative.
So, Michael Steele is just exhibiting a kneejerk reaction by “shucking and jiving”, but Pres Obama, when he plays basketball in the White House and gives us the benefit of his wisdom on NCAA picks ? No phony appeal to the ‘hood there, right?
Let’s face it: the Democratic Party owns the Afro-American community. But one day, they’ll screw up and misstep, and that will be it for them.
Look at it this way: 1868 to 1932 = 64 years
1932 to 2008 = 76 years
You’re overdue .
You’re overdue .
As long as the Republican party gets more worked up over a handful of white firefighters in New Haven than it does over the disproportial rates for African-Americans in poverty, unemployment, underemployment, incarceration, death penalty, etc. I doubt we’ll see much flocking in that direction.
Frank, one small step forward for conservatives would be to not refer to the “Afro-American” community. That’s a term I haven’t heard since the 70s!
I put forth some straightforward advice upthread about how to win minority votes. Thus far, in response to that, nothin’. “If you agree with us, join our party” isn’t much of a recruiting pitch. The Goldwater conservatives didn’t become the Reagan majority that way–they aggressively courted Southern whites in a number of ways. Why can’t they turn around and aggressively court minorities the exact same way, by appealing to their concerns and interests and offering appealing policy proposals which will benefit their immediate, intermediate and long term interests?
Wilbur, what’s the solution to the poverty and unemployment problem? As for incarceration and death sentences, unless you think black people and being wrongly convicted, the problem seems to be that not enough other races are being arrested and sentenced to death.
“not the planet formerly known as Pluto”
Small correction. Not Pluto formally known as a planet.
Buzz, of course there’s no quick solution to the poverty and unemployment problem. Supporting the sort of policies that have traditionally made the economy grow faster under Democratic presidents (e.g. balanced progressive taxation, use of federal resources for balanced supply side/demand side stimulus rather than horse-and-sparrow) would help. For the incarceration and death penalty problem, immediate improvements are easier: abolish the death penalty, stop incarcerating people for minor and victimless crimes. Improving the economy and particularly improving the poverty rate will also help to reduce crime in the first place, as we saw under Clinton. A real commitment to education and urban infrastucture would also be a plus.
I don’t really expect the GOP to move in any of these directions too forcefully, but I think it could take a significant step forward in winning the hearts and minds of more minorities simply by speaking of these problems as if they were real problems – top priority problems – while the hard-luck story of some Connnecticut firefighters, though a legitimate matter of concern, is not the sort of thing you want to grandstand your way through a supreme court nomination on.
Mike in DC : So there’s no Afro-American community; no “soul food”, no black culture. Each and every one is unique.
Gotcha.
Someone better tell Kenneth Clark he no longer exists.
You could appeal to Afro – Americans the way Democrats have: We haven’t done a thing for you in 40 years, but we care.
“African-American community”, Frank. Not “Afro-American community”. And there are dozens of different strains of black culture, including southern, urban, rural, Caribbean, African Immigrant, upper class, middle class, street, etc.
You’re still ducking the question, Frank. In what way are Republicans actually reaching out to, or targeting the black vote? the Latino vote? the Asian vote? etc.
I could cite continued Democratic support for the Voting Rights Act, immigration reform, educational opportunity, criminal justice reform, equal employment opportunity, opposition to racial profiling, nominating and electing the first black POTUS, poverty-fighting measures, middle-class growth policies in the Clinton era which greatly increased the size of the black middle class, etc., but I guess that pales in comparison to what Republicans have done for them in the past 40 years, huh?
Killington, you can be black and conservative if you want. But be prepared to have people point and laugh. Shit, you can be a black member of the World Church of the Creator too, if you want. But you will be a fucking moron to do so.
I am still trying to figure out if Michael Steele is either Man Tan or Pierre DelaCroix. Also trying to figure out when the Mau Maus will come around.
“I could cite continued Democratic support for … ”
The end result of which was : zip, zilch, nada, bupkus, zero…
Like I said, “We haven’t done a damn thing, but we care
when he plays basketball in the White House and gives us the benefit of his wisdom on NCAA picks ? No phony appeal to the ‘hood there, right?
Lots of white folks do that too. So, no.
Actually, Frank, statistically and socioeconomically speaking, African-Americans are better off because of all those policies promoted and supported by Democrats.
And you still haven’t addressed the question. What is the GOP willing to do to win over minority votes? We know what they did to win over Southern white votes, to win over social/religious conservative votes, and to win over gun owners’ votes. What are they willing to do to win over minority voters?
Your answers so far seem to suggest “not much”.
Pres Obama, when he plays basketball in the White House and gives us the benefit of his wisdom on NCAA picks ? No phony appeal to the ‘hood there, right?
A former varsity B-ball player still enjoys the game? Stop the presses.
I’m a white guy and I do that stuff, so I guess he’s trying to appeal to me and all the other white folks like me. OTOH, I know Black people who do not care a bit about basketball. Who would have ever guessed?
If you never heard of a white guy who played basketball or followed the NCAA, you have definitely been isolated from society. Have you ever seen an NBA game? Lots of white players. I used to have season tickets to an NBA team, and I saw lots of white people at the games.
There goes your argument. Pffft.
Lots of white players
Yeah, more than a “few”.
Ever see the commercials for an NBA game? Who stars in them? What products do they sell?
“I know Black people who do not care a bit about basketball” I guess that skews the sample, eh? You ever see “Streetball”? You ever check out the audience in the Gym at a basketball game? Just jam packed with white folks.
And let’s not even mention the “soft bigotry of low expectations” that assumes that a black student needs help getting accepted to a good college; a young black entrepreneur can’t compete for a low – bid contract; or get a job that a white person wants without extra compensatory points – and that’s 45 years after the Civil Rights Act. We know who the racist is , all right: It’s the elitist left.
But one day, they’ll screw up and misstep, and that will be it for them.
As long as the GOP maintains its pandering to racist whites…
Look, nobody is stopping the Republican party from appealing to blacks except for the Republican party.