l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 August 1, 2011 | Posted by Rick Rice
The race card is played once again:
“Tar Baby” — from time to time, this ugly racially charged phrase has
come up in our political discourse. Most often, the term is applied to a
situation or a thing. John McCain, for example, used it to describe divorces
. Likewise, Mitt Romney used it to describe the Big Dig. In both instances,
the Republican leaders apologized for using such a loaded word — even
though they hadn’t used it to describe an actual person.
The same cannot be said for Representative Doug Lamborn (R-CO), who used the
term to describe President Obama in a statewide radio interview on Friday.
You can listen to that interview here, which we examined on my KKZN-AM760
radio show this morning. Here’s the key excerpt:
LAMBORN: Even if some people say “well, the Republicans should have done
this, or should have done that,” they will hold the President responsible.
Now, I don’t even want to be associated with him, it’s like touching a, a
tar baby and you get it…you know you’re stuck and you’re part of the
problem and you can’t get away.
It has been questioned whether the term “tar baby” is always a racist term
. In 2006, Ta-Nehisi Coates explored this issue in Time magazine. “Is tar
baby a racist term?” he asked. “Like most elements of language, that
depends on context. Calling the Big Dig a tar baby is a lot different than
calling a person one.” In this case, that context is quite clear.
This, of course, doesn’t absolve McCain and Romney, who plead ignorance to
the term’s racial implications and then promptly apologized. But it is to
say that in Lamborn’s case, the ignorance plea would be absurd because he
explicitly used the term to describe a black person.
I can’t be surprised by McCain and Romney apologizing for doing nothing
wrong… they are both the kind of Republicans I abhor but I hope Lamborn
does no such thing. The man said nothing wrong. Nothing at all. The
context and usage is clear:
Uncle Remus is a collection of animal stories, songs, and oral folklore,
collected from Southern United States blacks. Many of the stories are
didactic, much like those of Aesop‘s fables and the stories of Jean de La
Fontaine. Uncle Remus is a kindly old slave who serves as a storytelling
device, passing on the folktales to children gathered around him.
…
Br’er Rabbit (“Brother Rabbit”) is the main character of the stories, a
likable character, prone to tricks and trouble-making who is often opposed
by Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear. In one tale, Br’er Fox constructs a lump of
tar and puts clothing on it. When Br’er Rabbit comes along he addresses the
“tar baby” amiably, but receives no response. Br’er Rabbit becomes
offended by what he perceives as Tar Baby’s lack of manners, punches it,
and becomes stuck.[2] Using the phrase “tar baby” to refer to the idea of
“a problem that gets worse the more one struggles against it” became part
of the wider culture of the United States in the mid-20th century.
I guess today we’d have to call Walt Disney a racist… after all, he made a
very popular movie based on the Uncle Remus stories called Song of the
South, one I remember seeing and enjoying as a kid. And I’d like to think
that we’ve made giant leaps forward in how blacks are treated since the
movie’s heyday. But apparently, the election of a half-black President
means so very little to some.
I would respect Obama much more if he were to come out and call this whole
Lamborn thing what it is.
Much to do about nothing.
I won’t hold my breath.
UPDATE: Lamborn disappoints:
Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Co.) has apologized for the controversial “tar baby”
comment he made on a local radio show last week while discussing President
Barack Obama and the debt ceiling debate.
…
On Monday, Lamborn sent a personal letter to President Obama “apologizing
for using a term some find insensitive,” his office said in a press release
. The congressman was “attempting to tell a radio audience last week that
the president’s policies have created an economic quagmire for the nation
and are responsible for the dismal economic conditions our country faces. He
regrets that he chose the phrase ‘tar baby,’ rather than the word ‘
quagmire.’ The congressman is confident that the president will accept his
heartfelt apology.”
Lamborn told the Denver Post “I absolutely intended no offense, and if this
is at all on his radar screen, I am sure that he will not take offense and
he’ll be happy to accept my apology because he is a man of character.”
Disappoints in more ways than one. |
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