Friday, October 24, 2008

Ghosts of Tawana Brawley

If you aren't old enough to know the name, click here. She managed to sucker not only the Rev. Al Sharpton, but Bill Cosby as well as other famous names, black and white. Unfortunately, like her body, her story was covered in feces from the very beginning. And, like her body, she did it to herself.

Well, it seems that a young, white volunteer in Pittsburgh for the McCain campaign is skipping over the whole "tragedy" thing that happens when history repeats itself, and is going straight to farce. Unlike Duncan, I will admit that I thought the story a crock from the very beginning. The friggin' "B" was backwards, which told me she did it to herself in a friggin' mirror! C'mon people. . .

I do not blame John McCain for this. Yet, were racism not a subtext of this campaign, at least for Republicans, there would not have been such an attempt to exploit old racist fears and stereotypes. This is to say - I blame America and its refusal to admit, corporately, that we are indeed a racist people. I am not suggesting this young lady is a hood-and-sheet-wearing, full-paid member of the Ku Klux Klan. Rather, I am saying that racism, as a social and cultural fact, exists in such a way that this young woman could pull up an image not just of a marauder who was black, but add that this marauder attacked her for her political views, and that this black attacker included a sexual assault as well. Every fear the Republicans have subtly (and not so subtly) tried to stir up has risen to the surface in this one microcosm of bullshit.

I wonder if anyone will come and insist that even though she retracted her story, it might still be true?

Wait for it, folks, you know it's bound to happen . . .

Virtual Tin Cup

Amazon Honor System Click Here to Pay Learn More