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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSomething this vile barely gets notice. Sign of the times.
Matthew Miller @matthewamiller 8h8 hours agoTrump made an incredibly racist crack about Maxine Waters needing to take an IQ test tonight at the Gridiron and it has barely even registered a mention in coverage of the event. An appalling moment that I cant believe isnt everyones lead takeaway.
Maxine Waters @RepMaxineWater 34m34 minutes ago
For a president whose own staff & appointees have referred to him as ignorant, stupid, & whose own Sec. of State Tillerson has not denied calling him a moron, Trump needs to get out of the name calling game.
Link to tweet
Link to tweet
dalton99a
(82,073 posts)"Oh, that's Donald Trump"
Ohiogal
(32,413 posts)about him ... "he tells it like it is" .
They are all racist bigots!!!!!!!!
Chemisse
(30,843 posts)He has certainly called all sorts of people stupid, in a variety of ways.
Clearly he has shown that he is very racist; I am just reluctant to call a comment racist if there are other, equally possible explanations (such as sexist, or just plain assholeyness toward any person who criticizes him).
I would call this one of Trump's typically piggish remarks that is quite possibly even meant in a racist way.
...we're fair to a fault.
Chemisse
(30,843 posts)bigtree
(86,177 posts)...if all of that concern and care we take does more than provide more room for these calculated dismissals of blacks as 'lazy,' ignorant,' uneducated,' etc..
It might be different if there wasn't already a history of blacks being repressed and marginalized by exactly this type of demagoguery.
Remember, this is a sitting congresswoman. I'm old enough to remember the lonely black figures of Rep. Ron Dellums and Rep. Franks (black republican) in the Capitol, filling out the entirety(?) of representation in Congress (in my time) before later redistricting which ushered in reps like Waters and others of color.
Response to Chemisse (Reply #3)
bigtree This message was self-deleted by its author.
EffieBlack
(14,249 posts)We cant look at his comments in isolation. Otherwise, we can always make an excuse for why this particular comment, or this particular comment, or this one or this one, or... isnt racist. But if we consider each of his comments in the broader context of everything he says and does, there can be no doubt what time it is.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)And Ill add that it doesnt matter what side of the aisle you are or what race or gender, if youre still making ANY excuse for what Trump says or does, then theres a problem with your ability to use reason and logic.
How many more times does he have to say racist and sexist things before it becomes obvious that hes an irredeemable sexist racist? If hes still fooling you Again and again then shame on you.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)We all know what he's about. There is no reason to think he isn't being racist.
H2O Man
(73,932 posts)I see this in the same context as General Kelly's lies about -- no surprise -- a member of Congress who is a black female that disagrees -- publicly -- with Trump.
It's not that everyone who disagrees with Rep. Waters is racist. But Trump's remark wasn't aimed at entertaining that wider, non-racist group of Americans who agree on some issues, and disagree on others, with Rep. Waters.
Instead, like Kelly's purposeful lies, Trump's remarks target a specific audience. His attempt is to insult her, and to discredit what she has to say -- especially if it is true and accurate. And that group he is speaking to is those as racist and sexist as he. For Donald Trump speaks the language of racism, even if he attempts to disguise it in a dog whistle.
Ilsa
(61,727 posts)He's insecure about his own mental status, so he attacks a foe on that basis.
Ms. Toad
(34,350 posts)I'm not questioning whether he is a racist, or that it was incredibly offensive.
I just don't see a racial connection to, or trigger for, that particular comment, when he comments pretty frequently about other people's inferior mental abilities. In other words I think it is an equal opportunity insult.
bigtree
(86,177 posts)Trump's demagoguery recalls the immediate wake of Reconstruction and the election of a handful of black lawyers, ministers, teachers, college presidents to the national legislature where there was a concerted campaign by their white peers and other detractors to challenge their seats and to construct discriminatory barriers to the election of other blacks which persisted for generations and generations.
After blacks had won seats in Congress and the Senate following Reconstruction, there was a campaign, preceding Jim Crow, to define the legislators as stupid, uneducated, and corrupt. It worked, for generations.
Indeed, the representation of blacks (by elected black politicians) is a relatively new development, in my own lifetime. (Repeating a narrative of mine), when I was a young adult, there were just a couple black legislators in Congress. I still recall the mere handful of blacks I found in Congress when I first explored the Capitol. I remember seeing the tall head of Rep. Ron Dellums, ever present on the House floor, and imagining that there were many more like him in the wings. It wasn't until 1990, though, that we actually saw a significant influx of minorities elected to Congress, enabled by the 1990 census Democrats fought to reform and manage (along with their fight for an extension of the Voting Rights Act which Bush I vetoed five times before trading his signature on the bill for votes for Clarance Thomas) which allowed court-ordered redistricting to double the number of districts with black majorities.
The attacks in this generation are not to be taken lightly, even though we may assume that the nation is past all of that. The attacks need to be openly and loudly defended against by Democrats and Republicans alike. They can't just be brushed aside as some sort of acceptable standard of discourse. For the most part, they've been responded to with dispatch and sincerity. For the other, there's a glaring silence -- and even a rhetorical encouragement by some in the political arena who are leveraging age-old stereotypes to serve their cynical campaigns for office.
Open racism hasn't been in fashion for decades, but the fear and insecurities which underlie discrimination and prejudice still compel some to draw lines of distinction between black and white aspirations and potential for success. What is often unspoken is the reluctance some Americans have in envisioning blacks in a position to make decisions for a white majority, resulting in attempt to set boundaries and define the roles blacks must assume to achieve success and approval.
Much of the racism we experience in this 'modern' age -- so far from the overt and institutionalized expressions of our nation's racist and discriminatory past -- isn't overt or obvious; especially to those who haven't been at the receiving end of it all. Calling blacks 'uneducated,' lazy,' stupid,' etc. has been the standard for racism in the wake of the Civil Rights era.
That reality requires a special kind of vigilance among us which isn't readily understood or identified with by folks who don't see the perniciousness in small, seemingly benign and marginal slights and insults which once were so openly accepted and encouraged against our black population.
In many ways, I see the need to move past the reflexive defensiveness which often deepens the controversies or draws unwanted attention to something which is, perhaps, better left unremarked on. There has been remarkable progress past the old civil rights battles for acceptance and acceptability among our peers which is a product of an enlightened generation determined to put all of that behind us.
Yet, I can't countenance having our discourse go all the way back to the place where folks were comfortable and secure that their slurs and their stereotypical insults wouldn't be met with forceful condemnation by society as a whole, and met by individuals determined to elevate our interactions above these opportunistic appeals to those things we sometimes use to divide or alienate.
There seems to be a revival of that racism and bigotry which is being encouraged by the cynical politics practiced by the present batch of republican pols. That attitude is certainly trickling down to folks in our communities who are encouraged by these pols to identify their own antipathy to emerging minority populations with these racist and bigoted appeals which have deep roots in our nation's tragic past.
Ms. Toad
(34,350 posts)And it didn't address the key issue.
Why, when this person insults a wide variety of individuals -without regard to race -as stupid is it racist merely because they target of this particular insult is black?
As a general principal, I agree with everything you say. And I see a lot of racism in tons of statements Trump makes- both overt and subtle. But not everything negative that he says to someone who happens to be black is racist.
bigtree
(86,177 posts)Last edited Sun Mar 4, 2018, 02:01 PM - Edit history (1)
...if all you're prepared to do is accept 'one line' of my explanation.
Truly remarkable. Smh.
Do you think this is a racist depiction of a Southern legislature during Reconstruction? Is there any open racism displayed here, in your view?
Ms. Toad
(34,350 posts)In general I agreed with everything you said.
But I had asked a very specific question, and only one line was partially responsive to the question asked:
For someone who uses stupidity as an equal-opportunity insult, how can it be racist because some of the targets are black?
As an analogy, if Trump refused to rent to everyone he disliked, regardless of race, an in fact rejected people of a wide variety of races, that practice doesn't become racist merely because some of the many people he rejects are black. The treatment has to be based on race.
One line of your comment addressed why -as a comment generally directed at blacks, insults about IQ are racists. I agree. What you didn't address was why, when it is made by someone who uses it indiscriminately, it is racist because one if the many people of many races similarly insulted is black
bigtree
(86,177 posts)...and to not view his remarks in a vacuum.
Blacks have been subjected to these kinds of sly attacks on their intelligence and worth for decades. It should be recognized and acknowledged that those stereotypes have been a driving factor in barriers for advancement of blacks in government and other positions of leadership, deliberately so, as a campaign to repress generations. It's not something which is open to debate.
The time to defend against these sly attacks is at their source, not in some future, broad, unspecific analysis of the impact of racial attitudes in America. For many black Americans, the success of these prominent black leaders is a harbinger of their own aspirations to succeed. There should be zero tolerance and no ambiguity about the origin or impact.
EffieBlack
(14,249 posts)And even more sorry that this much time and energy must be expended trying to educate people who are supposed to be on our side but refuse to hear us.
It's downright depressing.
But thank you for a wonderful, thoughtful post.
bigtree
(86,177 posts)...from several posts, even.
I'm always ready, though, to present our history as a guide. Anti-racism is a generational effort.
Thank you for your kind remarks, and support on this thread.
Ms. Toad
(34,350 posts)And if he used it only, or primarily against blacks-i would agree with you as to this articular insult. But he uses it as a generic insult because he is so insecure about his own intelligence.
And that is not to say he I'd not a racist-he clearly is. That is not to say he does not regularly use dig whistles to shore up his base, and he fairly frequently he makes no attempt to disguise his racism, at all.
But not every insult lobbed by a racist, even when the target is black is a racist insult. Some are just generically hateful, and until you can demonstrate that he reserves this insult primarily for blacks (or blacks and other groups stereotyped as less intelligent), I don't see this particular insult as anything other than Trump being generically hateful.
EffieBlack
(14,249 posts)you admit that his comment was racist. Would he have to use a racial slur or specifically refer to her race before he could be held accountable for making a racist comment about her?
Ms. Toad
(34,350 posts)for anyone he doesn't like.
"Lazy" might work, because it is a stereotypical characterization of black people AND (without checking) I don't recall him referring to anyone other than Obama (also black) as lazy - so he is using it in the dog whistle way against blacks.
My problem is with the description of his comment as being an "an incredibly racist crack." Because it was not quoted in the OP, I immediately went looking for it, expecting to see something more like his typical incredibly racist cracks, " if I were starting off today, I would love to be a well-educated black, because I really believe they do have an actual advantage, or immigrants from Haiti all have AIDS and that 40,000 Nigerians, once seeing the United States, would never go back to their huts in Africa, or referring to African American countries as "shitholes," or, more subtly, ""There are very fine people on both sides," Trump insisted, saying that antifa demonstrators bore some of the blame for the chaos too."
Tillerson - white male: "I think it's fake news," Mr Trump told Forbes, "but if he did that, I guess we'll have to compare IQ tests. And I can tell you who is going to win."
Graham - white male: Trump responded during his speech by calling Graham an idiot and a lightweight.
People of Iowa - 91.3% white, mixed gender: "How stupid are the people of Iowa?" he asked. "How stupid are the people of the country to believe this crap?"
(I'm sure I could find more - but since everyone calls Trump an idiot, searching for the times he has called others idiots generates a very large response - but you get the idea.)
ETA: Here's a link as of May - as you can see he dispenses insults to intelligence pretty indiscriminately.
Because of how he uses low IQ as a generic insult, I see Trump's comment about Maxine Waters as Trump being his jerkish, incredibly insecure about his own intelligence self.
That said, I am perfectly happy calling out his comment as consistent with a racist dialog that we ought to be condemning, and pointing out that any attack questioning the intelligence or work ethic of black people is inherently suspect - and that even if Trump uses that insult generically toward people who are not black, it is not acceptable for him to use them against blacks because of the history of that stereotype being used to "keep blacks in their places."
Chemisse
(30,843 posts)About blacks being genetically inferior in intelligence. It made a bit of a splash in some circles but there was a lot of pushback and it seemed to recede into the depths of that pool of unspoken racism.
A young Trump would have loved this, particularly because he was a bit dim-witted himself, and it would have woven its way into his hate-filled mindset.
So there is a good chance this comment was made with race in mind. Certainly there are other possibilities (sexism, etc) but racism seems most likely.
Ms. Toad
(34,350 posts)My point is that Trump uses "stupid" and many variations thereof as an indiscriminate insult.
Two more recent targets are Tillerson (white male) and Graham (white male).
Here is at least a partial summary of others that someone culled:
http://www.macleans.ca/news/world/the-definitive-list-of-every-person-donald-trump-has-called-a-loser/
If you look only at the people he called an idiot, dummy, or dumb on this list - and ignore those he called loser (because that insult is not intelligence-specific) you can see that he does not limit (or even primarily target) blacks for this insult.
Chemisse
(30,843 posts)Actually I agree that we can't know for sure that it was meant as a racist comment, and I posted upthread about that.
EffieBlack
(14,249 posts)he says. But that doesn't stop us from assuming what he means when he talks and tweets, based on his history and current behavior. Yet, for some reason, when it comes to comments he makes about black people, folk who really should know better jump up to defend him, insisting that we can't REALLY know what he meant and it would be unfair to assume that his targeting of an African-American woman as an idiot who needs her IQ checked is racist because, after all, he's mean to EVERYBODY and has called white people stupid.
It's very odd to me that people here call Trump everything but Bambi, but suddenly, when it comes to race, they give him the benefit of the doubt and make excuses for him. It's as if some white folk just can't stand to see other white people called racist.
What up with that?
lunatica
(53,410 posts)doesnt apply to Trumps remark?
Much racism is hidden within innocuous or what appears to be innocent speech.
His comment about intelligence, if he had said it about a white woman would have elicited the same outrage. Rightfully so. Especially among older women who grew up being told we werent intelligent enough to have careers or run businesses or be soldiers or do anything a man can do.
Ms. Toad
(34,350 posts)If he did, I would agree with you.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)Actually hes a Narcissist who insults everyone. I dont see how you think his remark is innocent.
Ms. Toad
(34,350 posts)It was, of course, vile, childish, and any number of other negative things.
I just don't see a racial trigger because he uses similar insults about intelligence without regard to race.
EffieBlack
(14,249 posts)didn't mean that his derogatory comment about blacks weren't racist
Ms. Toad
(34,350 posts)Archie Bunker didn't use the derogatory comments he used against blacks as generic insults against everyone he dislikes- the way that Trump uses insults about people's intelligence as a general purpose insult.
Takket
(21,850 posts)That isn't racist......
now HE is a racist........ and the comment is pathetic and cowardly, but not racist.
bigtree
(86,177 posts)...with a historically prevalent remark (for black leaders) about her intelligence.
This is from an individual with a history of bigoted statements and remarks.
All I have to measure his words is my life experience, along with a detailed and excruciatingly persistent history of this particular brand of racism against black leaders.
Takket
(21,850 posts)The fact he turned his attention to Waters last night doesn't suddenly make it racist too. It just reinforces that he is an asshole.
Ben Carson needs to take an IQ test.
Is that racist?
bigtree
(86,177 posts)...you don't think it's racist to question his intelligence?
I never have, or would.
dhol82
(9,359 posts)And I question his intelligence every time he opens his mouth.
Still trying to figure out how he made it through med school.
bigtree
(86,177 posts)...he's evidently intelligent enough to be a brain surgeon.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,246 posts)On DU, for years, we equated George W "Shrub" Bush with a chimpanzee, complete with images having similar lip positions.
We did that but we do not equate Ben Carson with a monkey because of the historical broadly deeply racist propaganda that equated blacks with monkeys.
So.
By the same reasoning, we equate tRump and numerous white RepubliCON people with stupidity, but we do NOT equate black people with stupidity because of the history of racism around that. It is racist to do that. See my previous post in this thread. But of course Trump is saying it with a wink and a sotto voce "But I'm not racist!" all the while his racist base are nodding their heads and saying "Trump tells it like it is".
EffieBlack
(14,249 posts)SMH
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,246 posts)The implication is that a black woman opened her mouth and because of her visible minority status her intelligence has to be immediately questioned.
wryter2000
(46,292 posts)Of research on the subject of IQ and race that supposedly proves that people of color, especially AA are genetically less intelligent than whites.
Its especially telling that he said IQ rather than smart.
Ms. Toad
(34,350 posts)http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41570266
Or Rick Perry
Link to tweet
I am well aware of the history - but because Trump' uses it as a generic insult, even though he is a racist and says lots of overt and less overt racist things, I don't believe this particular comment was racist.
But - Whether it was or not, it certainly does provide an opportunity for educating the public about the shameful history of equating race with lower IQ - and suggesting that whatever his intent, he should not be using IQ or intelligence to insult blacks (not that he should be using anything to insult blacks). That can be done without making an assertion that I don't believe is supported in this instance
The Wizard
(12,583 posts)about questioning someone's intelligence . Don't even go there lest you want to look like a Republican making loose associations.
bigtree
(86,177 posts)...I just heard Rep.. Waters define the remarks as racist.
I agree with her, and I've taken the time to express why in a couple of replies above.
Frankly, I'm surprised anyone here would consider these remarks from Trump without historical context, both past and recent past, as disassociated from his almost daily bigotry.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)If you want to get a bit of history on this topic may I suggest you go back and read post # 15.
Not all racism is overt or obvious, yet it is racism nonetheless.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,246 posts)Learn the history, especially that which occurred before your time.
RepubliConned white racists (too many) believe in "The Bell Curve" and 1950s Southern literacy tests to gain voting rights.
Dog whistle
EffieBlack
(14,249 posts)Not only have you been fooled into not seeing racism when it's right in front of you, they've got you actually out DEFENDING them against "unfair" criticism from the people you should be standing up for.
Trump regularly questions the intelligence of African Americans. The fact that he also sometimes calls other people stupid in no way obviates the racism inherent in his comments about blacks. Black folk and woke white folk recognize it exactly for what it is. But others should, too, because it's not even close to being subtle. t's more than a dog-whistle. It's a bullhorn.
As a newly-minted (and only Black) lawyer at my law firm years ago, I was assigned to write an appellate brief with a fellow associate. Because I was the better writer, I drafted the brief and we turned it in to the assigning partner for review. The partner called in the other associate, a White male, to praise him for his excellent analysis and writing. My colleague told him that I had drafted the brief singlehandedly, but the partner refused to believe him, asking repeatedly whether he was really sure that I had actually written it.
Most African Americans in any profession likely have similar stories to tell, stories that demonstrate how regularly, effortlessly and confidently some Whites assume that we cannot measure up to our White co-workers. And when we unassailably prove ourselves not only equal but superior to the task, our accomplishments are often dismissed as not of our making.
...
And ubiquitous, race-baiting media hound Donald Trump literally accused the President of not writing that, repeatedly insisting that it was Bill Ayers, not Barack Obama who wrote the presidents best-selling memoir Dreams From My Father.
Bill Ayers wrote Dreams from My Father. I have no doubt about it, Trump said. That . . . book was total genius and helped him get elected. But you can tell Obama wrote [Audacity of Hope] because it read like it was written by somebody of average intelligence with a high school education.
The first book was brilliant, so Barack Obama didnt really write that. The second book was just average, so he did write that.
By gently dipping, but not soaking, their words in racist code, these people have managed to regularly inject their poisonous language into the conversation and, with the medias cooperation, poison the body politic.
http://www.stephaniejones.com/whos-writing-this-story/
Instead of reflexively defending him and whitesplaining to us what is and isn't racist, please listen to what we are saying.
bigtree
(86,177 posts)...thank you.
EffieBlack
(14,249 posts)Because they know that unless they come out and call someone a "nigger," some well-meaning folks with non-racist cred will not only insist they didn't say anything racist, but will step up and DEFEND them against anyone who says they did.
You have no idea the damage this does.
Meanwhile, the people they're really talking to know EXACTLY what they said and how they meant it. And you can bet the all-right or whatever white supremacists are calling themselves these days, have no doubt that Trump was making a racist comment, questioning the intelligence of a black woman BECAUSE she's black. And they're laughing their asses off at the fact that the only people who don't seem to get it are on OUR side.
keithbvadu2
(37,387 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(49,246 posts)" 'He must be impeached!' That's all she knows how to say," Trump told the crowd. "And I say and I get in trouble for this 'she has to immediately take an IQ test,' and people go crazy."
"There's so much hatred," he added a few seconds later. "We have to stop the hatred.
PaulX2
(2,032 posts)And went downhill from there.
His "base" loves the racism though, obviously.
keithbvadu2
(37,387 posts)Trump IQ cartoons - too many to just pick one.
https://www.google.com/search?q=trump+iq+test+cartoons&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjKl7K_k9PZAhVLrVQKHd49CUcQsAQIPw&biw=721&bih=309
dlk
(11,675 posts)As the saying goes, when people show who they are, believe them the first time.
ismnotwasm
(42,061 posts)PaulX2
(2,032 posts)You betcha.
DFW
(54,755 posts)He'd refuse to answer saying it's a trick question.
unblock
(52,783 posts)and how his tomb will be better than any of them.
unblock
(52,783 posts)there's nothing funny at all about just calling someone dumb.
"joe biden says impeach me! impeach me! joe biden needs to take an iq test!"
see? not even a chuckle. nothing funny about that in the least. just an insult. not even a relevant insult.
that's not to say insult comedy can't be funny, i'm capable of laughing at a good insult comedy joke. but it has to be funny.
this isn't funny.
it wouldn't be funny if it was joe biden or hillary clinton or bernie sanders or any other white person.
but when it's not joe biden or any other white person saying it, then it's something different:
"maxine waters say impeach me! impeach me! maxine waters needs to take an iq test!"
see, now it's not just a random insult. now it's something that plays into a racial stereotype and reminds us that maxine waters is black.
so, now, if you're a bigot, then there's some "humor" in it. well, that special sort of bigoted humor, anyway. if you're a bigot, then donnie has discredited the call for impeachment by saying it comes from a black person, i.e., a second-class citizen, and can therefore be dismissed.
there's plenty of bigoted "humor" in the idea of second-class citizens (or otherwise lesser people) complaining about their circumstances.
so now the "joke" makes sense. none of this makes any sense at all if he's just saying it about a white person. there's zero humor in it.
of course, none of us here are laughing. call it a dog whistle joke. only bigots are laughing.