Category: Politics

This is an older post that never got posted for some reason. ————————- You won’t hear the word “nigger” on broadcast TV anymore. It means you won’t hear “sand nigger” or “kike” or “gook” either. The lack of degrading names is the great victory of “liberal” media. The reality is that race, and constructions of racial power, constitute one of the most important subtexts in American public discourse. Racist language persists in most parts of mainstream media, but it is now heavily coded. Dave Neiwert does an admirable job of trying to decode that language on his blog Orcinus (read…

I had been toying with the idea of writing a piece on Obama, his religion, and the legacy of slavery for some time. Recent questions about his attendance to the church of Rev. Wright appear to have brought the first two issues to boil for Obama as well, and delivered a masterful speech this week on race in America. In terms of content, I have no problems with his comments. However, I think he still misses something important in his approach. Over a year ago when the question of Sen. Obama’s faith became an issue, I felt he inadequately addressed…