If I said this, I would be a racist....

Pick a theme and stick with it.

Published on September 30, 2004 By lifehappens In Politics

Close your eyes and imagine a white man stepping up to a podium and saying the following statement....

"Black voters are 'afraid' of electronic voting machines. They are not tech-savy and will be intimidated by touch screen voting systems and therefore be less likely to vote."

Would you be appalled? Angry that someone could make such a negative generalized statement? What would you think of a person who could say that?

I heard that statement on Mike Gallagher's show this morning. Carol Moseley-Braun, a BLACK civil rights activist actually made those comments about the voting in Florida in the upcoming Presidential campaign. Syd Dinerstein, Chairman of the Palm Beach County Republican Party responded by saying that, "this is a clear example of why the black community needs new leaders."

If the people who are supposedly working for you can negate your abilities and competence so frequently, why do you want someone like that representing you? i would like to hear from anyone with a thought on this. I see blacks and other minorities reduced to stereotypes, "poverty-stricken, uneducated criminals"....by themselves and by their leaders. I would personally be very offended if I was described as being too stupid and uneducated to use a touch-screen and so intimidated by computers that I couldn't vote.

What's next? Democrates deciding to vote "on behalf" of the underprivilaged minorities because they aren't competent enough to cast a vote on their own?

Comments (Page 2)

messybuu

on Oct 01, 2004

When one thinks about it, ATMs discriminate against Black people too, yet I don't hear many people complaining about ATMs and I see people of all varieties using them (and cell phones).

I hate how voting is done in my city after the chads, which is now penciling it into a scantron. That's just irritating for me. I haven't voted because of it.

bakerstreet

on Oct 01, 2004

Seems odd, considering cell phone manufacturers have realized that their products are quite popular among African Americans, and have targeted them specifically with marketing campaigns. Hard to believe you could operate the average modern cell phone and not a voting booth.

Does that mean that most African Americans are somehow deprived of internet access because of skeery computers? I think not...

Angelique

on Oct 01, 2004

It is hard to believe this black civil rights activist actually said this. I mean, really, how do you drag your own race back to some pre-civil rights era where blacks were truly discriminated against when it came to simple things like eating in a restaurant or drinking from a water fountain? Considering she's supposed to be "one of the educated black Americans" you'd think she'd be the last one to make such an idiotic assessment. It seems so hard to believe that she would degrade blacks with such a statement, that I am interested to hear her explanation of what she really said. If she did say it, what reaction was she expecting from individuals of any color who find this statement insulting not only to black Americans, but to ANY right-thinking person's INTELLIGENCE.

Angelique

on Oct 02, 2004

Just HOW do ATM's discriminate against black people?

Grim Xiozan

on Oct 02, 2004

Just HOW do ATM's discriminate against black people?

They are electronic and a machine, which according to this leader scares African Americans.

- GX

Angelique

on Oct 02, 2004

According to CNSNews.com it was JOANNE BLAND, Co-founder of the National Voting Rights Museum And Institute in Selma, Alabama, who made this statement. She included herself in the group she said is terrified of the machines. Maybe she should just speak for herself.

Gideon MacLeish

on Oct 02, 2004

angelique,

See, that would surprise me less than Mosely-Braun. Remember, the former Representative represented a district in Chicago that was largely minority and probably not very tech deficient. BUT, I wasn't there, so I have to go to an outside source for the info.

oleteach

on Oct 07, 2004

Good post! You got an insightful from me. Thanks for posting such blog that keeps us thinking and alert to the many problems of our society.

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