As Jeff recently returned to the argument that racial categorizations tend to collapse under the weight of their own logical incoherence, the tale of freshman Rep. Stephen I. Cohen (D-TN) should not pass unnoticed at PW.
Rep. Cohen, who won his seat in the 60 percent black district vacated by Harold Ford, wanted to join the Congressional Black Caucus, but dropped his bid after several current and former caucus members made it clear to him that whites need not apply.
The bylaws of the CBC do not make race a prerequisite for membership. Moreover, the CBC was formed to address the legislative concerns of black and minority citizens. Nevertheless, former Rep. William Lacy Clay Sr. (D-MO), a co-founder of the caucus, circulated a memo telling members it was “critical” that the group remain “exclusively African-American.”
At HotAir, Allah wonders what Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) thinks of this.
That’s an interesting question, not least because Obama is a member of the caucus, represents a majority-white state, and is not getting the caucus love for his nascent presidential primary run.
Given that his campaign seems to be built on the theme of uniting people, perhaps Obama could negotiate a compromise: Cohen can join, so long as he doesn’t use the CBC water fountain.
Cohen? Oh hell no..he’s not even a cracker…he’s a Jew!
Yeah,
Maybe Obama should get together with all the other black senators and force them to…oh, wait.
That’s right.
Obama is the only black senator.
I’m macacaucasian.
What would Obama do?
Simple.
Obama would only go to half of the meetings since he’s only half black. The rest of the time he would sit around steamed, wondering why his black half doesn’t see this for the blatantly racist policy that it is.
” A lot of black people aren’t ready to get beyond race, because race puts them in the situation they’re in,” said Ron Walters, a professor at the University of Maryland who worked on Jesse Jackson’s presidential runs. “But many whites want to get beyond the past, they want to support a black person who doesn’t raise the past and in fact gives them absolution from the past.”
Oh Hell Yeah! If Obama can get me absolution from how bad I have fucked up my credit rating, I am there for you, bro!
Alphie;
There, fixed that for you…
That is perfect.
Does that make him a Mulatto senator? Can he found a Mulatto Caucus to give the interests of Mulatto Americans a hearing? I mean, like, if we do have reparations, will Mulattos get only four-fifths of a share?
Hopefully you recognized the imperative to raise a half clenched fist after you wrote the above.
Wearing the Che beret, of course.
Mulattos will have to pay themselves reparations.
Or his last name.
Sorry to bum you out (especially if you are Mulato), but it’s only three fifths of a share. Do you have no conception of your own voting rights?
Hmmph, logical incoherence. This is a perfect example of nuance – something you wingnuts are simply incapable of understanding.
I don’t want absolution. I’m beginning to think reparations.
If I remember right, $128.50 per month. Heck, Nixon tripled my pay.
On second thought, forget it. The name that came to mind was Society of Under Compensated Killers. I can’t deal with the acronym.
Guess I’ll have to come up with some other grievance based group. Drained Blood Donors. Busted Taxpayers. Frozen Guys Praying for Global Warming. Guys Who Can’t Jump.
Yes, please I desperately need absolution for all the slaves my family never bought while they were tenant farmers in County Cavan.
Well, I certainly don’t understand you.
Not the first time my sarcasm has been too dry.
Ha, Karl! I have as many comments as you do!
Crap.
For a response, I was torn between “yeah, it’s a shame Michael Steele lost” and “yeah, because Illinois voters don’t operate by the rules of the CBC.”
Let’s see it only been a little over a 150 years since the civil war 43 years since the Civil Rights Act was enacted & we’re still contending w/ issues of race… but Democrats can’t fathom that the Shia/Sunni issues aren’t cleared up in Iraq after only 4 years. Given this timeline, this means my great, great, great grandchildren will finally come to terms w/ gay marriage.
Real blacks are not coherent.
If Cohen isn’t a convicted felon he’s manifestly unqualified for the CBC.
I’m hijacking the thread to make nice with Jeff over my link to his MLK thread. He read me wrong, I swear, I swear.
No, he’s a halfro-american…