Harry Alford is my new hero. He pointed out Barbara Boxer's racism. Bill O'Reilly once again doesn't get the point thinking it was only about the issue.
Boxer pulled out what she thought the NAACP's views on the topic of Cap and Trade and Alford goes off on her. She doesn't understand that by bringing up the NAACP she was saying "hey, this is what the black folk are thinking, you are black so get in line with the program".
And then presumes to say that the NAACP guy she was quoting would be honored to be quoted by her, which then means that he should be honored for being given an audience with her.
Back in my university days I had a black english professor who was quite probably the best teacher I ever had. In the class we examined the book "Light in August" by William Faulkner. This book delves into race and racial conflict in the south. One of the characters is a wealthy woman who surrounds herself with black men. On the surface she seems charitable and motivated by the desire to do good. But one of the things that our professor showed was that her motive was really about pitying the black men and thinking that they needed to be taken care because they were less able. Professor James made it clear that this type of racism just as insipid and damaging as the more blatant forms of racism.
I thought of this woman in "Light in August" when I saw Barbara Boxer talking down to Harry Alford and telling him to get in line with the other black folk when she brought up the NAACP views on the topic.
(apologies for any details about the book that i may have misremembered, it was 26 years ago when I read it).
This is the description of the woman in the book:
Joanna Burden - A reclusive lifelong resident of Jefferson. Born and raised in the house where she still lives on the outskirts of town, Miss Burden is still considered a northerner, as her family relocated to the South after Reconstruction. Her grandfather and brother, who supported voting rights for blacks, were killed by a local man, Colonel Sartoris, in an infamous incident that town residents still recount. Subject to rumors and said to have had sexual relations with black men, Miss Burden corresponds with and advises the faculties, trustees, and students of various black colleges in the South, occasionally traveling to the campuses to meet with them in person. |
