Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Umm....What?
Ok, we all knew that a neo-Jesse Helms would soon emerge in North Carolina. You know, someone who is so conservative that racism is policy and hatemongering is normal operations. Well, folks, that day has come...and the neo-Jesse is not quite what you might expect.
Vernon Robinson is black.
That's right, the heir to Jesse Helms is a black man who proudly associates himself with the crusty racist ex-Senator. Not only that, but Robinson is actively promoting racist advertisements such as this.
What we don't need in this country is a revitalization and legitimizing of the homophobic, racist, and bigoted hate agenda that Helms so rabidly pursued. Robinson, running for a Congressional seat from NC, is hoping to somehow cash in on Helm's popularity with the large mass of ignorant and ass-backward inhabitants of the state.
I've got to wonder whether he will be successful. The people he is targeting are old white ultra-conservatives who think twice about buying black shoes. I can't believe they would buy a Congressman who, though professing love for all things Helmsian, is nonetheless a black man. Can this odd twist of logic somehow see a racist black man elected by racist white people? In this day and age, apparently anything goes...
As anyone who reads my work occasionally understands, color/religion/culture are never an issue for me. That said, I think ole Vern is attempting to do more damage to black North Carolinians by pursuing a Helmsian approach to politics. Helms was a master of divide and conquer, but typically, people like Vernon Robinson were the ones conquered. Robinson, in latching onto Helms, has presented himself as a student of Helms, and by extension, a racist bigot who hates everyone who is not white. Can Robinson pull off this paradoxical arrangement?
Makes me think of the Chappelle Show sketch with the blind, but black, leader of a white power movement. Only, Robinson, this black leader of the white racists, is more comical because his situation is real. Real confused, that is...
Vernon Robinson is black.
That's right, the heir to Jesse Helms is a black man who proudly associates himself with the crusty racist ex-Senator. Not only that, but Robinson is actively promoting racist advertisements such as this.
What we don't need in this country is a revitalization and legitimizing of the homophobic, racist, and bigoted hate agenda that Helms so rabidly pursued. Robinson, running for a Congressional seat from NC, is hoping to somehow cash in on Helm's popularity with the large mass of ignorant and ass-backward inhabitants of the state.
I've got to wonder whether he will be successful. The people he is targeting are old white ultra-conservatives who think twice about buying black shoes. I can't believe they would buy a Congressman who, though professing love for all things Helmsian, is nonetheless a black man. Can this odd twist of logic somehow see a racist black man elected by racist white people? In this day and age, apparently anything goes...
As anyone who reads my work occasionally understands, color/religion/culture are never an issue for me. That said, I think ole Vern is attempting to do more damage to black North Carolinians by pursuing a Helmsian approach to politics. Helms was a master of divide and conquer, but typically, people like Vernon Robinson were the ones conquered. Robinson, in latching onto Helms, has presented himself as a student of Helms, and by extension, a racist bigot who hates everyone who is not white. Can Robinson pull off this paradoxical arrangement?
Makes me think of the Chappelle Show sketch with the blind, but black, leader of a white power movement. Only, Robinson, this black leader of the white racists, is more comical because his situation is real. Real confused, that is...
