Big funny: Whoopi jokes that Clarence Thomas isn’t really black
posted at 10:08 pm on June 15, 2008 by Allahpundit
From tonight’s Tony monologue, introducing Laurence Fishburne in “Thurgood,” a timely reminder per yesterday’s AP story about black conservatives that ideology, not race, remains the sine qua non of authentic blackness. Obama wears the Democratic halo and thus doesn’t have to worry too much about having his own bona fides questioned, but woe is him if he betrays the left by trying to govern in that post-partisan way we keep hearing about (but not seeing much of).
The audience duly hoots and applauds, natch.
Blowback
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No… not at all..
I was talking about the wikipedia entry, NOT you..
Chakra Hammer on June 16, 2008 at 12:43 AM
Spirit of 1776 on June 16, 2008 at 12:44 AM
Whoopie Goldberg stopped being funny before she went to ST-NG
Clarence Tomas is a brilliant jurist
IMHO
Vntnrse on June 16, 2008 at 12:46 AM
Okay. Sorry.
baldilocks on June 16, 2008 at 12:47 AM
So my teacher in college is wrong then.. there ARE dumb questions you shouldn’t ask :)
my bad..
DaveC on June 16, 2008 at 12:52 AM
Why I said Democrats and identity politics hooked up with the word “Mulatto” is obvious..
Democrats use “identity politics” to trick people into feeling , a certain way towards someone or something because they are in the same situation as that person so they can relate(in other words it makes them feel comfortable or at ease)
Say for instance, that i got really bad heart burn and it was a major inconvenience in my life not normal heartburn but it kept me from sleeping and all kinds of stuff… then… I come to find out that a certain candidate that is running for office also has a very similar ailment that also keeps him from sleeping.. (as you can see… now.. i can relate to him/her and sympathy etc…) lots of different type of this tactic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_politics
Chakra Hammer on June 16, 2008 at 12:53 AM
Back when I was in college my ethnography professor did an interesting demonstration.
He had worked for many years in both the U.S. and West Africa and had taken a lot of close-up photos of individual people’s faces, controlled for hairstyle, clothing and background so you couldn’t tell where the photos had been taken or what the nationality of the person was from external cues.
He showed us a big series of photos, 100 or more, of black people and asked us to determine if they were American or African. Turned out everybody in the class got almost all of them correct.
The professor’s point was that almost all black Americans had some white ancestry and it was quite evident even from a casual slide show.
Gilda on June 16, 2008 at 1:06 AM
AZ_Redneck on June 16, 2008 at 1:07 AM
Oh yeah, you mean that Asian dude!
yubley on June 16, 2008 at 1:15 AM
Exactly.
baldilocks on June 16, 2008 at 1:16 AM
I guess I can consider myself …. hip?
The opposite is also true…. that means…. we’re …… human…?!?!
Kini on June 16, 2008 at 1:24 AM
This goes without saying.
The point is that all people with black and white ancestry who call themselves black aren’t doing so to repudiate their white heritage (though Obama may be doing this). Condi Rice isn’t trying to hurt your feelings when she refers to herself as a black American. Nor am I.
baldilocks on June 16, 2008 at 1:32 AM
O/T
Oh hey. I didn’t realize that link was to my post again. Thanks!
Guess I’d better finish my Berlin Airlift post and drive all the traffic away again.
baldilocks on June 16, 2008 at 1:35 AM
And in a related news story Clarence Thomas jokes that Whoopi isn’t really a woman.
No wait! I don’t think that he was joking.
MB4 on June 16, 2008 at 1:46 AM
The typical white woman grandma comment cemented that one.
As I commented on your website, you are a thinker ;)
As for Condi referencing her black heritage …., I don’t mind at all… I’m a guy and as long as she wears those stiletto boots…. then, well…. (picture Homer Simpson drooling)
In all seriousness, everyone can be and should be proud of who they are. Where we come from and how we integrate together makes us a stronger, wiser, and dog gone it people like us…. except Europeans.
Kini on June 16, 2008 at 1:59 AM
Sure. That’s why all attempts to clearly define “races” ultimately wind up at a dead end, because there’s far too much overlap on the large-scale populational level.
Individuals always vary, of course. It’s easy to say that Scarlett Johansson is white and Will Smith is black, the problem arises when you try to pin down exactly what “white” or “black” is and how everyone else fits into those categories.
Gilda on June 16, 2008 at 2:00 AM
Why thank you.
I must admit that I get puzzled, however, when some of my white American brethren act like just noticed that their black American brethren aren’t all jet black (like most black Africans) and that it never occurred to them why this is so.
So when someone says that O! isn’t really black because of his mixed heritage I’m like “what America have you been living in?”
baldilocks on June 16, 2008 at 2:05 AM
A Greyscale species we are not. {sigh}
After I discovered I didn’t have to be liked and/or act like everyone else, it was easier to except everyone for who they were.
Kini on June 16, 2008 at 2:32 AM
I think the confusion arises due to the difference between physical concepts of race and cultural ones.
Strictly physical definitions of race are not really valid due to overlap, as I mentioned above, although genetic heritage does provide interesting information on occasion. Cultural definitions of race though – these seem to be the ones that matter most.
Cultural race classification is why Whoopi can say, without shame, that Clarence Thomas isn’t black, and why some might consider Obama or Tiger Woods not-black or not-entirely-black or whatever.
And there lies the idiocy of identity politics, really. Cultural racial definitions are highly subjective and subject to the whims of fashion.
Personally I believe in sticking with MLK’s notion of “content of character.” It seems to be the fairest thing to do, and the standard by which I would most like to be judged.
Gilda on June 16, 2008 at 2:44 AM
Awww, jeeze….
exceptaccept everyone for who they were.I think our history as a nation said it best.
We the People
and
All men (people) are created equal
and
Act like an ass, makes you an ass.
Kini on June 16, 2008 at 2:57 AM
After reading this thread I’m all confused. You see, I’m about forty percent Viking, but I haven’t killed any women or ravaged any men in a long time.
Does that make me a hypocrite … or something?
OldEnglish on June 16, 2008 at 4:46 AM
Will someone explain to me why the ugliest “woman” in history is still drawing a paycheck as a personality? If you put a gorilla’s crap stained ass on a pig’s shoulders it would be more attractive than Whoopsi.
revolution on June 16, 2008 at 6:15 AM
The klan tells people that all blacks think and act alike.
Liberals scream that this is racism.
A prominent liberal tells people that all blacks must think and act alike …
MarkTheGreat on June 16, 2008 at 7:33 AM
We really don’t and that’s the problem in a nutshell. As our society becomes less race conscious we have to define new groups to belong to because it’s nearly impossible to effect change in a society without an oppressed group or class. Race has moved from the genetic to the social which is why we now hear about Hispanic race, gay race and Muslim race. The problem is that none of these has ignited the flame of change and brought people to power the same way being black did. My guess is that it is because blacks didn’t have the same rights as non-blacks and that was something to grab onto. Now we all have the same rights so the only change that can be effected is the granting of special rights to classes of people. I expect that as we change as a culture we will move away from genetic race and more towards political race as a distinction between groups. We are seeing this now with people attacking another’s “race” because of political views. Thus Thomas, Rice, Cosby and Powell are not really part of the “black race” because they don’t have “black race” views. We are also starting to see the problem which arises when you start classifying people by views. The best example of this is the near meltdown of the democrat party because they had people from two different identity groups running for election.
jmarcure on June 16, 2008 at 7:35 AM
Allah, your inspiration to use this phrase wouldn’t happen to have come from a recent episode of Battlestar Galactica, would it?
stefanite on June 16, 2008 at 7:54 AM
You have to believe me when I say this is exactly how the multitude of blacks in this country, at least here in the northeast, feel. I took a sociology course just a few years ago, and the exact same scenario comparing Marshall to Thomas arose, and every black person in the class said the same thing. Marshall, who is light-skinned is black because of his views, and Thomas, who is dark-skinned, is not for the same reason. They have no tolerance for a point of view other then liberal Democrat and anyone who strays is booted out of the race. If you don’t embrace victimhood and dependence on the government, you’re a sell out and an Unlce Tom.
Yet when they get nowhere with this ideology, they haven’t got the guts to look in the mirror and place blame where it really lies.
Kendrick on June 16, 2008 at 8:00 AM
So, because Thomas doesn’t believe in the concept of black victimization, because he doesn’t beleive that black people should get special privilege, because he REFUSES to let anything or anyone hold him down, because he rose to the pinnacle of his profession, he’s not black?
What is wrong with this ugly, stupid whore? Does she have an ability to think?
RWLA on June 16, 2008 at 8:10 AM
It’s weird, you are supposed to vote for Comrade Obama, the Marxist who happens to be black because he is black — But when it comes to Clarence Thomas, it’s OK to slime him anyway you can and give no respect because he is conservative.
I say we slime the Marxists whatever their color.
tarpon on June 16, 2008 at 8:17 AM
She’s a man, Baby!
drjohn on June 16, 2008 at 8:48 AM
Whoopi had to keep the Upper West Siders happy during the awards; Bush isn’t running, and we know what happened during the 2004 race, so she wasn’t going to go on there and attack McCain, especially since the left’s talking points against him aren’t crystallized yet (Too, old? Warmonger? Some racist connection? Bad teeth?). So using the Marshall play, she trotted Thomas back out to crack a whip over for the amusement of the liberals both in the audience, and more importantly, in the media industry, letting them know there’s a failed AM drive radio talk show host out here available for bookings.
jon1979 on June 16, 2008 at 8:50 AM
1. Teacher or Professor?
2. Today many college professors are more wrong today than right.
3. Asking dumb questions displays unpreparedness.
Wade on June 16, 2008 at 9:08 AM
Baldilocks, your posts have more reality because of your goggles. My knowledge always increases because of you. Thank you and keep fighting the good fight and keeping this YT informed.
Wade on June 16, 2008 at 9:13 AM
Ah, black on black hatred.
What I’ve been hearing about for the past 20 years as the reason for so much violence in the black community, brought up over and over again by those who deem themselves worthy to pass judgement on others of the same ethnicity, letting the world know that thinking for one’s self is a crime against your skin color.
How quaint.
madmonkphotog on June 16, 2008 at 9:23 AM
But this is my point, and one which I made on your website and may have been midunderstood. I get the absolute feeling Obama istrying to repudiate his white heritage.
Glynn on June 16, 2008 at 9:30 AM
Nome talkin’ ’bout?
whitetop on June 16, 2008 at 9:36 AM
Here’s a question. Did Alex Haley have a positive or a negative effect on race relations in America? Or both?
Connie on June 16, 2008 at 9:49 AM
I don’t have a feeling, I think Hussein is distancing himself from YT to pander for the black vote. This distancing displays he is a divider, not a uniter. I think the division in this country is our biggest and most important issue. Together, as in the past, we can accomplish much, as President Lincoln said ” A house divided..”
Wade on June 16, 2008 at 9:50 AM
1. teacher.. in a junior college..
2. all too aware of that..
3. in a classroom setting? then to ask what is what in a PC environment?
DaveC on June 16, 2008 at 9:56 AM
Yes in a class room setting. Dumb questions are not asked by thinkers and the tired old BS of there is no dumb question, is in itself dumb and a cliché. Take it off line, do your own research, get your own answer based on research and your own thinking, not some teacher, then come back prepared to discuss another day. PC be damned.
Wade on June 16, 2008 at 10:12 AM
I think Lincoln swiped that phrase from someone else.
jdpaz on June 16, 2008 at 10:41 AM
Memo to Whoopi…eyebrows: still fashionable.
James on June 16, 2008 at 10:43 AM
but if you ask, isn’t that a sign of an inquisitive mind?
even if you ask to find a direction to go and do your own research?
DaveC on June 16, 2008 at 10:44 AM
We’re not making mutually exclusive points.
baldilocks on June 16, 2008 at 10:47 AM
Enough is enough…
I have had it. I usually give people plenty of leeway when politics comes up, why ruin a dinner party by making every liberal within earshot feel stupid? I just cannot take it anymore. It’s. On.
P.S. 140+ comments and this thread is not a top pick?
Theworldisnotenough on June 16, 2008 at 11:21 AM
FWIW, baldi, it wasn’t because of you.
Rhinoboy on June 16, 2008 at 12:11 PM
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