remember the other night when in passing i mentioned marion barry amongst a whole slew of others who were deserving of their own posts? well, tonight's his night.
it was, what, maybe two months ago when a couple white sports-types at ESPN worked "chink in the armor" references into stories about some taiwanese basketball player and you'da thought they'd harelipped the pope from the hysterical reaction that ensued? the story was instantly everywhere, the response of the asian-american community was loud, swift and merciless, and the network wasted no time in firing and suspending the offending writer and sportscaster, respectively, despite their fevered apologies.
flash-forward to today. marion barry, that bastion of probity and restraint, the oracle of washington DC, issues an urgent warning about the greatest threat facing his community:
We got to do something about these Asians coming in and opening up businesses and dirty shops. They ought to go. I’m going to say that right now. But we need African-American businesspeople to be able to take their places, too.
and then, immediately after basically announcing the formation of the DC Kristallnacht Committee for the Removal of Those Damn Dirty Asians, this dumb, loutish pig has the breathtaking, bald-faced audacity to follow it up with
I'm not ever going to condemn a group of people. My history is complete. It's an excellent history with the Asian community.
marion barry, you may ask? this former mayor of DC whose administrations were marked by increasing incompetence and corruption was caught on camera by the feds during his third term smoking crack, charged with perjury and drug possession, and, after his conviction and incarceration (during which he was allegedly caught being blown by a woman other than his wife in a prison waiting room), went on to run for city council, a race he won in a landslide. this, followed by a triumphant return two years later to the mayor's office, and then ultimately back to his former city council seat upon which lofty perch he rests today--and from where, when he's not saying things like "If you take out the killings, Washington actually has a very, very low crime rate", he issues such proclamations as the above.
the secret to his success? like all the race-baiters, he gives his people what they want: ready-made scapegoats upon which to pin the blame for their collective failure, thus providing steady fuel for their rage--asians (along with the jews, of course) being perennial favorite targets for nothing more than committing the unpardonable sin of succeeding in white racist america, and thus putting the lie to their assertion that such a thing is impossible.
anyway, back to our story: the reaction of the asian-american community to this latest chink in its armor was, predictably,
it’s regrettably inappropriate. I’m hoping he misspoke.
Susan Au Allenpresident, U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce
misspoke? misspoke?! bitch, motherfucker didn't misspeak--he said exactly what he meant, knowing full well that in so doing he painted big red targets on the backs of every asian merchant doing business in the powder keg that is the city over which he presides.
and you damn well know it, susan, but you can't say so, because--well, because you can't.
* * * * *
i know a few white racists, but very few; the majority of whites i know who resent blacks do so not because they think they're inferior and/or should be segregated, but because african-americans reside in a bulletproof bubble of political correctness which excuses their every excess and allows them to say and do with impunity things that wouldn't be tolerated for an instant if said whites said or did anything even remotely similar.
and while i'm on the subject, the majority of whites i know who profile blacks do so not because of racism, but for very sane, rational reasons--reasons i'll maybe get into the next time some african-american race-baiting asshole jerks my chain.
oh, wait--it's already happened. stay tuned.
