I would greatly prefer that race never be an issue ... sadly, however, it is at times.

 

Do you really not feel that, given the history of such imagery, an e-mail portraying Obama as a chimpanzee is a sensitive matter?

 

No more so than one picturing Bush as a Chimp, or Laura Bush as a Nazi.

I would greatly prefer that race never be an issue ... sadly, however, it is at times.

 

Do you really not feel that, given the history of such imagery, an e-mail portraying Obama as a chimpanzee is a sensitive matter?

Sure I do.. But the left loves to play it up..

Have to agree with the younger folks and I'm in my 50's. If I'd have first seen the image without the article, my first reaction would have been someone thinks President Obama is as dumb as a monkey (which for the record, I do not believe). I just don't think racism first, particularly when words are utterrd by a political official. I think politics.

 

I'm also in my 50's and my first thought was the intelligence also, not the race. I could see myself forwarding it before I considered the racial implications. I do think she should have thought it out more, considering the position she holds.

No more so than one picturing Bush as a Chimp, or Laura Bush as a Nazi.

No one is defending either of those actions, either. But there is a difference in the connotation, given the history.

Sure I do.. But the left loves to play it up..

No more than your side likes to "play up" other issues ...

Maybe knowledge of history isn't the issue. Maybe it's lack of personal experience with the issue. It's one thing to learn about something, but never experience it. History takes on a "life" when you're actually a part of it.

 

I also find that people of all generations can know something happens, or happened, but refuse to believe that it's relative now.

 

Personally, I think the biggest issue is not thinking before speaking, forwarding e-mails, writing, etc. Anymore, everyone is so anti-politically-correct that they don't realize that what they think is "politically correct" and they don't want to be a part of, is actually just good manners, and treating others as you'd want to be treated.

 

It could also be seen as a positive since there are so many people on here who didn't think race first. In my youth that would not have been the case.

No one is defending either of those actions, either. But there is a difference in the connotation, given the history.

 

Right, you're saying the Obama one is worse. I'm saying their equally offensive. Just because you view it as a difference, doesn't make it worse.

Right, you're saying the Obama one is worse. I'm saying their equally offensive. Just because you view it as a difference, doesn't make it worse.

Did I say the Obama one was worse, or is that merely your interpretation of my position?

Your posts brings a lot of questions to mind that I'd like you to respond to since you are a pretty reasonable thinker:

 

I'm interpreting the quoted post as you stating that you believe the lady intended the image to be racial and prejudicial and that you would bet on that being the case. Since you've acknowledged that you don't know what was in the heart of who crafted the e mail, wouldn't you be prejudging her (hence acting with prejudice) based primarily on the facts that she's a GOP official and evidently a member of the Tea Party or do you have more background info on the lady to instill the confidence to make such a bet? If the latter, please share.

 

If she was a Dem elected official, would you make that same bet? If so, why? If not, why not?

 

Assuming for argument purposes that she had racist intent, is such any indictment on all of the Tea Party? Is a Catholic priest abusing Alaskan kids an indictment on all of the Roman Catholic church?

 

If continuing to belong to the Tea Party is somehow an endorsement of the supposed racist feelings of some Tea Party members, is continuing to belong to the Catholic Church an endorsement of the abusing priests?

 

How are people, particularly elected officials, supposed to act and speak? Can they not express any feelings or words that will be offensive to some people? Yes some African Americans may be offended by the image. Is racial offensiveness some how a greater offense than political offensiveness? Religious offensiveness? Intelligence offensiveness? Occupational offensiveness (I can be quite offended my lawyer jokes)? Is there a ranking of offensivness and what is the order? Is some offensiveness okay but others not? Who makes that call?

 

Is it okay to be offensive to a Caucasian President of this country about his lack of intelligence, but not okay to be racially offensive to the African American youth convicted of dealing crack?

 

Thank you for the "reasonable thinker" compliment.

 

I can shorten this with the following disclaimer.

 

I question the Tea Party's motives since they say they are against govt spending yet waited until a D president was elected despite it being a problem since Reagan.

 

However, I do not subscribe to the belief that the group is racist as a whole.

 

I also do not equate racial jokes with one party.

 

Racism is a US problem - not a R problem or a D problem.

 

My history of posts will show that I am against the defamation of any President and I'm troubled by the lack of respect shown to the office and the officeholder ("Barry" "Georgie" etc) .

 

I'm not a straight-ticket voter. I'm on record on BGP as saying that I have voted mainly for Rs in POTUS elections so I do not play the party politics game when it comes to being critical.

 

So now to your overall question: As I stated I do not know what was in the heart of the person who crafted the email. An apology does not sway me one way or the other. History and logic says that I would have high chances of winning a bet by claiming there was a hint of racism in the formation of the joke. Anyone that thinks linking a black man to monkeys is not racial is simply not dealing in history.

 

To your question as to how are elected officials to act or speak: However they choose. That's the beauty of it. Opinions come with consequences for elected officials. Not all will be offended by this particular email. I'm not calling for any actions towards the person that sent the email. He/she can do whatever they please as long as it's legal. They just have to live with the backlash and the consequences. Heck, she can say the Roman Catholic church is filled with pedophiles. I wouldn't demand she be impeached or removed from office. I'd think she was ignorant but there's no law against that.

 

Hopefully, that's made my position clear on this issue and the general issue of "if it were a D..." or "If it was President Bush...."

 

I'm against ignorance. Period.

Crafted the email, probably. The person we're talking about in this thread I say you lose your money.

 

Fine. Then I would be she is not the smartest person if she wasn't smart enough to think this was not racial AND chose to send it on.

Couldn't be further from the truth. I'm very well versed on history. I guess I'm stupid for not immediately separating people into groups by the color of their skin though...

 

I concur with this point. To stand up for my contemporaries here, nothing is more insulting to insinuate people our age do not get it because of a lack of history or knowledge. We have grown up with Black History month, learned more about MLK Jr. maybe more than any other historical American person, and taught to accept all heritages, yet because we did not grow up during the Civil Rights era there is no possible way we can understand history?

 

Have to agree with the younger folks and I'm in my 50's. If I'd have first seen the image without the article, my first reaction would have been someone thinks President Obama is as dumb as a monkey (which for the record, I do not believe). I just don't think racism first, particularly when words are utterrd by a political official. I think politics.

This was kind of my point. I understand that blacks have been compared to monkeys in the past but that doesn't automatically make me go there when I see the Obama pic.

Fine. Then I would be she is not the smartest person if she wasn't smart enough to think this was not racial AND chose to send it on.

 

Or careless.

Regardless of the racial debate, the handling of this email by the Tea Party leader shows such a lack of judgment that she can not continue in a leadership position. If the Tea Party allows her to be in a leadership role, they create big questions about their judgment and/or intentions as a group.

Or careless.

 

Hand in hand.

Regardless of the racial debate, the handling of this email by the Tea Party leader shows such a lack of judgment that she can not continue in a leadership position. If the Tea Party allows her to be in a leadership role, they create big questions about their judgment and/or intentions as a group.

Tea Party leader?