When I first tuned in, Prager was taking issue with an article he found, authored by an African-American woman. I didn't catch the beginning of the discussion, but I gathered that he was disturbed by the writer's take on race.
A few minutes later, he took a call from a woman because he said it proved his point. The caller was a white woman that had been married to a black man for 10 years, had a couple of children with him, but was forced into divorce because of his drug addiction. Evidently, at some point during the divorce proceedings, the husband accused her of racism.
Reviewing: a man on drugs said something stupid in the midst of a difficult and emotional divorce.
Worthy of broadcast to millions, right? Ironclad proof of everything conservatives have ever said about the African-American mindset, right?
After that, Prager briefly lamented a common "regret" among conservatives and Republicans. You hear it all the time on talk radio: black Americans only vote Democrat because they've been duped about one of two things. Either they've been lied to about true nature of conservativism (MLK would have been a Republican today, donchyaknow?), or they've been mislead into believing that Democrats care about their issues (the reality is, of course, that Democrats are the true racists).
They've been duped. According to right-wing talk radio (and plenty of Republican politicians), well over 90% of African-Americans are easily fooled suckers. You might even say they are stupid.
Oh, wait? Did I say might?
From earlier today, here's Dennis Prager telling me black Americans are angry, emotional and stupid (before you dismiss this, realize that Prager is a top-10 right-wing talk show host, with a listening audience that measures well into the 7 digits):
Dennis Prager makes the assertion that the majority of black in America vote Democrat because they are emotional, stupid (he did state specifically about politics), and fearful of white racism. He shares the same view of Jews, except instead fear of racism; he in the past has stated it is fear of Christianity (versus white racism.) He mentioned Jews, because he himself is Jewish. Prager regularly has black speakers on his show that he lavishly delivers praise on (like Thomas Sowell) them. He has supported black candidates in the past as well, so I doubt he is a racist based on this point alone. Prager has written one of the most widely read books on anti-Semitism, and is a frequent supporter of Israel – so again, I doubt he is a self-hating Jew that hates other Jews.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard Prager make any generalizations based on the genetic makeup of a person as the cause of their choice in political party. Genetics and culture are two different things. Prager here made a generalization of two groups (based on anthropologic background and not genetic makeup) that overwhelmingly vote Democrat (in the case of blacks around 90%) due to their foolishness. This is no different than most posters here believing that a particular group would vote for a Republican are at a equal level of foolishness. Most everyone (except the far left) can agree that people voting Achmidinijad or Hugo Chavez into victory are foolish. Is that to say a person making this statement is racist against Iranians or Venezuelans?
I think the reason it is racist when it comes to African-Americans is because it entirely dismisses their concerns about racism.
ReplyDeleteIf you cannot see the evidence of racism in this country, it's because you remain willfully blind.
That said, racism is a complicated thing. Too many believe that if you don't put on the sheets and burn crosses, you aren't racist. The truth is that there are degrees of racism. Some of the most damaging racism is born of ignorance, without any ill-intent behind it.
Of course, Prager isn't ignorant. In fact, I'm quite certain that he acts with a fair degree of knowledge. The problem is that, for Prager, the one piece of knowledge that stands head and shoulders above all others is that his paycheck depends on his feigned ignorance. And that makes him despicable.