it took 4 days before the racist callers unloaded on Wash. Journal

[ensho]

this morning. guess they couldn't hold it in any longer. some of the things they said left one's mouth hanging open.


and Berlusconi of Italy let his racism slip out.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/08/world/europe/08italy.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin


Obama Joke by Premier Has Italy in an Uproar


Italians never quite know whether to laugh or cry at Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. But many reacted with incredulity and outrage after the prime minister, visiting Moscow on Thursday, amiably called the first African-American president-elect in United States history “young, handsome and suntanned.”

-snip-

Many Italian newspapers gave the comment nearly as much front-page attention as Mr. Obama’s victory itself. The journalist Curzio Maltese wrote in the center-left La Repubblica that “bookmakers wouldn’t even take bets” on how long it would take for Mr. Berlusconi to let slip another of his famous gaffes. “Mr. Berlusconi never fails to live up to our worst expectations.”

Mr. Maltese added that just when Mr. Obama’s victory was “inspiring billions of people” to consider “democracy, the most extraordinary triumph of humanity after centuries of bloodshed and intolerance,” Mr. Berlusconi instead contributed “a miserable, vulgar and racist remark, for which he didn’t even have the courage to take responsibility or the dignity to apologize.”
-snip-
-------------------------

[Merlot]

1. “Mr. Berlusconi never fails to live up to our worst expectations.”

Lovely. See what happens when a media mogul gets into politics?

[Ian David]

2. George W. Berlusconi n/t

[ingac70]

3. “a miserable, vulgar and racist remark"?

That's a bit of a stretch for calling a guy "suntanned".

[devilgrrl]

4. Wow!

You are as dumb as a bag of hammers if you couldn't read through that!

:nuke:

[Merlot]

5. I don't know the origins of "suntanned" but I'm assuming it's not nice

when used in relation to someone black.

[devilgrrl]

6. I find it rather overtly racist

and I'm shocked and disgusted that some would just dismiss it as joking around.

[ingac70]

9. Get your panties out of a wad...

overtly would have been outright calling him the n- word, or some other assorted nasty.

[devilgrrl]

12. Nah! He wasn't being racist - he was being sincere - he was just having a laugh...

yep, sure...



Racist? Come now...

[prayin4rain]

11. i agree

i like that Obama called himself a mutt yesterday. reminds us that we are all mutts even the most pale among us. i like the lighthearted attitude and cool head he has in general. i am so so happy that he will be our president in a couple of months.

[devilgrrl]

13. The comment was disrespectful and Berlusconi is a racist bore

Quit trying to sugarcoat it.

[prayin4rain]

16. you need a hobby n/t

[devilgrrl]

17. So do you Bozo

:hi:

[TomClash]

7. E un belino nt

[NOLALady]

8. I don't know.

I always took it as a compliment when people admired my "great" tan. If it was meant as a racist insult, I didn't notice.

[chimpymustgo]

10. I must admit, it doesn't sound as though the remark was intended with malice.

Kind of a lame joke, maybe.

[TahitiNut]

15. As a guy who tans deeply when I have the best of summers doing what I enjoy most ...

... I've "compared tans" (something we usually did as kids) with African-American friends and coworkers without the slightest racist intentions. (I typically tan darker than such friends and coworkers.) If anything, I'm agreeing the "black is beautiful" (in more ways than one) ... since I REALLY think so. When I was engaged to a Japanese woman with a complexion in the darker range, it was an early summer ritual ... and I'd do a (happy, joking) "victory lap" when my tan deepened enough. In no way was there a racist intent ... particularly since I absolutely adored her beautiful skin. (Yeah ... I like skin. Sue me.)

I'd say a LOT depends on context and culture and the intent of the person ... but it's not something that's in-and-of-itself racist, imho.

I remember when I lived in the South, that southern women seemed to think pale skin was somehow a mark of beauty ... and a "lady." There was a cultural 'thing' that rejected the notion of getting an outdoor tan. I was personally appalled at that ... not inclined to think that such a "maggot hue" was attractive at all. I've always connected health and athleticism with beauty and connect a sun-tanned and ruddy complexion with outdoor activity and health. I just like it. The "indoor types" never appealed to me.

[Catherine Vincent]

14. The racists have always been on Washington Journal, it'll just get worse.

This Italian guy I don't believe meant anything by the suntan comment. A lot of Italians are just as dark as Obama...some darker. He may have meant it as a compliment.

[NorthernSpy]

18. "Suntanned"? Sorry, but I just can't work up any outrage over that.

:shrug: