OK, I don't get it

[cally]

I haven't watched TV much the last few day so I was shocked by the discussion on DU that Harry Reid should resign. WOW. Is there really a discussion in the media that Reid should resign over what he said. I'm pretty much in shock.

What he said is pretty much what I've said and thought about who could get elected for national office in this country. Thirty years ago, we would have discussions in college classes and among friends suggesting that the first African American President would be light skinned and speak with a dialect common among national newscasters and politicians. I suspect that first female President will be attractive but not too much, will not appear too sexy, will seem competent and strong but not too strong, etc. I don't see this as racist or sexist to think about the nation would accept for the first to break the string of all white, Protestants (except for Kennedy), male.

Reid probably should have used more politically correct language, but I just don't see how what he said is racist. He probably says many other truths about what Presidential candidates have to be like whatever their ethnic background.

[quinnox]

1. You are not the only one

I have missed this supposed controversy as well because of not watching tv the past few days. I'm stunned that people are calling for Reid to resign. I bet its just a bunch of right wingers and republicans trying to grasp at straws to hurt the Democrats. I can't believe any Duer would want Reid to resign over this.

[gateley]

5. You know the media -- always banging the drum of anything that

could be construed as controversial and making it a BIG STORY.

For example, when it was learned two Dem Senators are retiring, it was all "Can the Democrats Survive these losses?" and did't bother to mention that the Repubs are losing (I think) 6 seats. :eyes: Ratings.

[quinnox]

7. It must be

I'm glad I haven't been watching then, it must be a slow news period for the media to grab on to this non-story.

[Little Star]

2. He made it worse by using the word negro. How stupid is he? n/t

[Quantess]

3. It's mostly RWers saying that, I think.

RWers like to exaggerate any hint of racism from Democrats, blow it out of proportion, and then claim that liberals/Democrats are hypocrites.

It's a nontroversy.

(edit spelling)

[Captain Hilts]

4. We go for taller candidates with deeper voices, who are male, Protestant, etc. nt

[Capers]

6. The truth in Reid's words has inspired an endless list of books, movies, & TV shows.

It's not only reality, it's Americana. But it's fun to pretend otherwise.

[sharesunited]

8. He doesn't need to resign his Senate seat. But I would welcome his resigning his leadership post.

He is ineffectual.

And it would preserve our right to demand similar acts of contrition from Republicans for offenses against cultural sensibilities as they occur.

[tosh]

9. I agree with you, cally.

And as far as "political correctness", you should have heard the great discussion on TRMT with Melissa Harris-Lacewell last Friday night about the use of the word "Negro" on the 2010 Census forms. (Of course, Reid could have chosen his words more wisely...but...)

<snip>
HARRIS-LACEWELL: Yes. I mean, you know, I‘m a public opinion researcher and this is clearly the least scientific poll I have ever done. But I was interested just because, you know, there‘s this sort of advocacy position saying that “Negro” is necessarily a derogatory term.

And I was just sort of interested, do people respond to it necessarily in a derogatory manner. And, in fact, that‘s not what I got at all. Some people had sort of cultural references in things like Negro spirituals or Negro League Baseball. And some people, in fact, had a very positive political and historical memory of it, saying that Negro was, after all, the common term in usage during the civil rights movement.

So there‘s a way in which one could say that most of the important 20th century efforts towards civil rights happened because Negroes did it, because African-American - Afro-American and black became sort of common usage after the civil rights movement.

So in that sense, I saw - but of course, there were also people who said Negro made them think about segregation, made them think about antiquated terms and even possibly derogatory ways of talking about black people.

<snip>

edited to add link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34805595/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show/

[demigoddess]

10. some people would say you should not use 'black people'.

I'm old enough to remember when negro was a step ahead then it was black and now african-american. A lot of it is based on people's personal preference. As an example I have a retarded daughter and many people will get mad at me for saying that. For a while it was learning disabled, then congenitally developmentally delayed and now special needs. But I happen to prefer retarded. At one time we fought for that. It is shorter and plainer. better understood. I think it will be awhile before we have a term that everybody concerned will agree upon. Good luck til then.

[tosh]

11. At any rate, these are discussions that we NEED to be having.

:hi:

[cally]

12. I maake an effort to use the correct term

but recently I was talking about developing a program and making sure it would meet all needs. I had to stop for a moment or two because I couldn't remember what was the current term to use. I empathize with others who make honest mistakes that are not mean spirited.

[seabeyond]

13. we talked about that and we talked about attributes that would get a woman elected

we talked about kerry and what would get him elected or hurt him. an educated northeasterner. the horrors