In that famous episode of Happy Days we get the modern euphemism of “jumping the shark” or that point at which something moves beyond relevance to the absurd, useless, or beyond recovery. I think Juan Williams and racism have now jumped the shark. In an opinion piece in The Hill Mr. Williams lists “code words” that he believes the Republican candidates are using in their statements and speeches to imply a prejudice or bigotry against black Americans. I thought Barack Obama was to usher in an era of post-racial American politics, yet everywhere I turn Democrats are playing the race card. Juan has gone beyond the rational to the irrational in his op-ed piece. He writes:
The code words in this game are “entitlement society” — as used by Mitt Romney — and “poor work ethic” and “food stamp president” — as used by Newt Gingrich. References to a lack of respect for the “Founding Fathers” and the “Constitution” also make certain ears perk up by demonizing anyone supposedly threatening core “old-fashioned American values.” The code also extends to attacks on legal immigrants, always carefully lumped in with illegal immigrants, as people seeking “amnesty” and taking jobs from Americans.
He’s got to be kidding. We can talk about the entitlement society, poor work ethic, the Food Stamp President, the Founding Fathers, the Constitution, or illegal aliens immigrants (his word, not mine) or amnesty? Those words imply some sort of racial bias against Americans who happen to be black? What about those in the entitlement society, with a poor work ethic, who support the Food Stamp President, who are Americans that happen to be white, or of Native American descent or Asian descent? This is beyond absurd, it is ignorant, demeaning and, dare I say, racist.
So, if you want to discuss the state of the American economy, the erosion of liberty and freedom, the impact of immigration, don’t use these words or you will be labeled a racist:
-Entitlement Society
-Poor work ethic
-Food Stamp President
-Founding Fathers
-Constitution
-Illegal Immigrants (imagine the horror of calling them illegal aliens)
-Amnesty
As nice a person as Juan Williams seems to me (full disclosure, I have never met nor served on a panel with Juan Williams) this editorial, his own words, cause me to think that he is the racist.
Agreed, racist indeed.
Entitlement Society-Poor work ethic-Food Stamp President,
all apparently cause Juan to think of black folks.
Founding Fathers-Constitution, apparently cause him to think of dead white Europeans.
I’ll bet it wouldn’t take much for him to extract excerpts from almost any conversation out of the mouth of a person “without color” to illustrate racial bias from his understanding of “coded meanings”. He should publish a decoder book. Then he could qualify for a university posting, perhaps even a cabinet position.
Then again, maybe he’s just trying to get his job at NPR back. I’ts got to be an embarrassment and an affront to his sensibilities to be associated with that FOX income.
I soke to a friend of mine the other day about Obama not showing up to court in Georgia. This friend is a person of color. It was explained to me that it was a racist request and that Obama did not have to appear before the court for that reason. I asked my friend If I were given a traffic ticket by a police officer of color would it be okay for me to ignore the ticket and not show up before the court becasue I felt it was racist for the officer to give me the ticket. I was told that situation would be totally different. I have made a great effort in raising my child to be color blind but then a guy like Juan Williams comes along and creates some parnoid conspiracy that white people code speak thier racist thoughts. I used to like Juan williams but this is just another example of a person of color trying to keep racisim alive.
If Juan doesn’t keep his ratings up, the (racist) FOX News Network will dispatch his butt just like NPR did.
AMNESTY for ILLEGAL ALIENS is against the US CONSTITUTION and the intent of the FOUNDING FATHERS but what should one expect from a FOOD STAMP PRESIDENT who fosters a POOR WORK ETHIC and supports a failed ENTITLEMENT SOCIETY.
Who is Juan Williams to limit anyone’s speech?
I used to like Juan Williams and was enraged when NPR fired him the way they did. Now, it seems as if they were right, He is a racist. Code words, indeed! What a sad crock of doody we’ve landed in. I have never in my life been a racist, but it seems as if all whites are, no matter their true feelings, and all ‘minorities’ are victims of racism. Did you know that the word ‘minorities was not trashed for the more PC ‘people of color’, because it would change the status of the ‘minorities’ in ways that might cause them to lose their free ride? God forbid anybody who is perfectly able to work should lose the free ride that we racists pay for!
He knows that these words are effective in conveying the real meaning of the policies of the No Child Left Alive president.
When people of any color use effective words to expose the real agenda of the far left, the far left’s knee-jerk response is to call them “racist”… one of the most overused words in modern society.