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[Klocker]

Race issue or not the fact is the kid is an idiot to say anything like that in the midst of this race about ANY President of the United States as a family member no less?

He and mitt deserve all the outrage in the world for being such a fucking idiot.

And for the record regardless of white, wealth and privileged existence will cause that shit behavior for sure. Even Romney himself acted like a dick toward Obama. If the pres were white and Obama went toe to toe with a sitting pres ons debate as a contender absolutely shit would hit the fan

 

[POWERSPHERE]

I'd love to punch Tagg in the face

And seriously, who started this dickhead naming system in the Romney clan?

 

[Baconsammy]

Race issue or not the fact is the kid is an idiot to say anything like that in the midst of this race about ANY President of the United States as a family member no less?

You can bet your ass numerous people are pointing this out to him. I'll be surprised if we hear from him again before the election.

 

[Socreges]

What you're talking about is intersectionality -- everybody has different sets of "privileges" and "disadvantages" based on all of their different characteristics and how they are viewed by the kyriarchy. I agree that it is the more important concept to get across to people, but I don't think it's easier to communicate to people not already versed in social justice than the idea of white privilege, and I'm not convinced that the redefinition will help much.

*shrug* "White privilege" isn't accurate or helpful here. That's all I'm saying.

 

[Infinite]

He told people what his THOUGHTS were at that very moment he heard the president refer to his dad as a liar. It couldn't possibly simply be an emotional, non racial, non privileged reaction to hearing someone call his father a liar? We must turn even this into a partisan fight? There's so much to detest about the current Republican party. There's no need to manufacture more.

I'll definitely give you that but I don't feel like anyone is creating reasons to do such in this particular thread I'm reading.

Yes he gave his thoughts on something and those thoughts happen to be him taking a swing at the president which pretty much means he at one point wanted to assualt the president whether he had added an "lol" to the end of it or not. My issue isn't so much with what he said it's that he thought it was ok for him to say it.

I see you and others post "that was his reaction to someone calling his dad a liar" multiple times in this thread. Am I supposed to sympathize with that? When some one calls my Dad out on a fib a sane reaction would be to deck that person? Did Tagg even specify he was responding to that particular event? Did Obama even call him a liar? I do recall him saying that isn't the truth on events.

 

[Mr.Fresh]

I read the OP, and I kinda agree. If Obamas nephew or anyone in his family was to publicly say something like that about Romney it would be all over the media.

 

[MWS Natural]

To be fair, the article does say this:

He feels totally comfortable fantasizing about committing physical violence against an African American man.

A part you even bolded.

In full context:

One of the hallmarks of White Privilege is the unquestioned and largely unchallenged assumption that white people can say heinous things about people of color without blowback or even mild criticism – things that people of color rarely dare to say about white people, for fear of serious retribution. Tagg – aka Mr. White Privilege – proves the point perfectly. He feels totally comfortable fantasizing about committing physical violence against an African American man. And remember, he’s not just any white guy pondering such grotesque dreams. On the contrary, he’s one of the public faces of a national presidential campaign appearing in a public media interview, meaning White Privilege has made him feel so comfortable airing such notions, that he didn’t hesitate to whimsically broadcast them to thousands of voters.

The author isn't emphasizing Obama's race, he's using it as an example to show how white privilege works. All discussion in this thread has been in regards to that privilege, a point that many have had fly over their heads.

 

[Wolves Evolve]

Just like the author of the article, you're conceptualizing "white privilege" in an exclusively black/white context, which reduces the term to much less than it means.

I know that such an example is often considered to be white privilege, but I'm saying that's wrong. It should be 'black disadavantage' (or something) because it has to do specifically with racist prejudice towards blacks, not a perception of whites.

I'll give another example. What if it was Romney and an Asian Democrat? And Tagg had said that? There wouldn't be much blowback. If you reverse the roles and have a relative of the Asian Democrat making the same comment, there would similarly be little controversy. Agreed?

The problem with hypotheticals is that you can never pin down the determining factors. Even the article's own example is hard to presume enough about. What we do know is that in our current climate, where a black President is facing white challengers, the politics of domination skew in favour of whites. In the media, in public discourse, on the streets.

 

[Baconsammy]

I'll definitely give you that but I don't feel like anyone is creating reasons to do such in this particular thread I'm reading.

Yes he gave his thoughts on something and those thoughts happen to be him taking a swing at the president which pretty much means he at one point wanted to assualt the president whether he had added an "lol" to the end of it or not. My issue isn't so much with what he said it's that he thought it was ok for him to say it.

I see you and others post "that was his reaction to someone calling his dad a liar" multiple times in this thread. Am I supposed to sympathize with that? When some one calls my Dad out on a fib a sane reaction would be to deck that person? Did Tagg even specify he was responding to that particular event? Did Obama even call him a liar? I do recall him saying that isn't the truth on events.

I'm not saying it's a sane reaction, but I'm also not saying I wouldn't react the same way. Not to someone simply calling him a liar, but doing it in front of the entire country? Yep. I don't fault him for thinking it, or for saying what he thought. It's a human reaction, which you don't often see in a presidential campaign. Honesty is a refreshing sight.

In full context:



The author isn't emphasizing Obama's race, he's using it as an example to show how white privilege works.

His use of the example *is* emphasizing that this is about race.

I read the OP, and I kinda agree. If Obamas nephew or anyone in his family was to publicly say something like that about Romney it would be all over the media.

It's all over the media now.

 

[chronos4590]

When it comes to Racial and Privilege talks. Gaf becomes Insufferable T__T. I can't believe people here wont even give the thought that Privilege over another race exist. So much privilege in this thread its giving me a headache. Yet some of you question why black people and PoC always scream racism. Cause some of you wont even really think of how things are for other People of Color. Privilege is not making you racist or a bad person. It just shows has wonky our society it is. No need to feel any guilt about that fact

This is a good post, though I would say that it's not entirely accurate to say that white privilege does not exist in his reaction but perhaps more accurate to say that the privilege he exhibits is produced by the fact that he receives a benefit of the doubt that a non-white person would not receive.

I don't really understand why people are arguing that he is bringing up race unnecessarily; race matters for understanding these remarks and peoples' willingness to countenance them and make excuses for them. I'd argue that you have a poorer understanding of this if you choose to ignore race.

Your post is great just as his is. But more importantly...
Glad to see you're a mod again Mumei

 

[MWS Natural]

I'm not saying it's a sane reaction, but I'm also not saying I wouldn't react the same way. Not to someone simply calling him a liar, but doing it in front of the entire country? Yep. I don't fault him for thinking it, or for saying what he thought. It's a human reaction, which you don't often see in a presidential campaign. Honesty is a refreshing sight.

Seriously? Threatening physical violence on the President is now seen as a positive? Wow, just when I thought I've seen it all. You are basically vindicating the authors point.

 

[Conciliator]

I don't know about there being inherit racial implications to what the guy said, but it is certainly true that if Obama had an adult son who said the opposite thing, Fox News would FLIP THE FUCK OUT FOR WEEKS about it.

 

[Platy]

fixed

Wich is why it is so fun to talk about male privilege on gaf =D

Spoiler

It is not

this article is stupid. i expected something more serious than the guy saying he wanted to punch obama.

That's not the point.

The fact that he thinks that saying he wanted to punch someone is not serious enoght is totaly the point

Hold up.

I was gonna do the whole "conservative troll" bit, but there are people that aren't agreeing with what the article said?

In a nation that has an unnatural fear of young black men?

Where Trayvon Martin happened?
Where Blacks and Mexicans cannot wear hoodies because they will look like gang members?
Where Barack Obama is accused of being born and raised in Kenya and a secret Muslim?
Where there are shirts worn at rallies that say "put the White back in White House?"
Where a state politician thinks Blacks should be thankful for slavery and gets to keep his job?

Like, for realz? You guys think that if one of Barack's daughters said she wanted to clock Mitt a few weeks ago, the media wouldn't be shitting all over it?

Needs to be more quoted

The thing that stands out to me is he didnt want to hit him because Secret Service was there.

This !
It is like that research that showed that more people would say that they would rape someone if they were sure that they would not be caught

 

[Baconsammy]

Seriously? Threatening physical violence on the President is now seen as a positive? Wow, just when I thought I've seen it all. You are basically vindicating the authors point.

Yes, I'm also happy when racists are honest and out themselves. You're happier when they hide it? I was also happy when the tape leaked of Romney's true feelings about the poor. Wanna crucify me some more for enjoying the honesty? And my statement vindicated none of the race-baiting nonsense in the included article.

 

[Socreges]

The problem with hypotheticals is that you can never pin down the determining factors. Even the article's own example is hard to presume enough about. What we do know is that in our current climate, where a black President is facing white challengers, the politics of domination skew in favour of whites. In the media, in public discourse, on the streets.

I don't disagree with anything that you've said. I'm not sure what your point is. Do you believe that Tagg's comment is an example of white privilege?

 

[Seanspeed]

In full context:



The author isn't emphasizing Obama's race, he's using it as an example to show how white privilege works. All discussion in this thread has been in regards to that privilege, a point that many have had fly over their heads.

He doesn't emphasize it, no, but it was completely unnecessary to even bring the fact that Obama is black up. I think the author is definitely doing a little baiting by bringing the race issue up in the way he did.

Seriously? Threatening physical violence on the President is now seen as a positive? Wow, just when I thought I've seen it all. You are basically vindicating the authors point.

Its not vindicating anything unless you've got evidence to show that he'd react differently to a black person saying it.

 

[Mumei]

His father is running against obama for president. Also, the fact that it was a joke.

But Im genuinely curious as to how people think this "news" should actually be received.

I view it strictly as "non-news" and has no impact on my political viewpoints.

Okay, those are things that I had thought about, but I thought that they were unimportant, or at least much less important than his race was. After all, what is being argued here is that if a similarly situated (in terms of national prominence and social class) black man's son had made a similar comment in the same context towards a prominent white man, the reaction would be different, and that white privilege can be seen in this disparity.

I don't really understand why there is so much resistance to the idea that race is socially salient and that the actions of white people and black people are received in disparate ways, though.

 

[Infinite]

I'm not saying it's a sane reaction, but I'm also not saying I wouldn't react the same way. Not to someone simply calling him a liar, but doing it in front of the entire country? Yep. I don't fault him for thinking it, or for saying what he thought. It's a human reaction, which you don't often see in a presidential campaign. Honesty is a refreshing sight.

You can sympathize with his reaction to his dad being called a liar and call it refreshing during a presidential campaign in contrast the president called a fibber out on a fib yet that isn't and earns such remarks? I dare say you're making the authors point.

Seriously when did Obama call Romney a liar? Also is Tagg comments in direct reference to his dad being called a liar by the president?

 

[Joates]

If only we had any actual examples of all the hypotheticals popping up in this thread...

Any would be nice.

 

[Zeke]

man the day white people aren't the majority in this country its going to be a sight to see. I just hope they end affirmative action just before, for the extra lulz

 

[Baconsammy]

You can sympathize with his reaction to his dad being called a liar and call it refreshing during a presidential campaign in contrast the president called a fibber out on a fib yet that isn't and earns such remarks? I say you're making the authors point.

Seriously when did Obama call Romney a liar? Also is Tagg comments in direct reference to his dad being called a liar by the president?

And you can say I'm making the author's point until you're blue in the face, it doesn't mean anything. Especially since I think the author's point in regards to Tagg's situation is race-baiting garbage. And you're right, he didn't call him a liar. He simply said that Romney isn't telling the truth, which one would assume means he thinks he's lying. And once again YES it is refreshing to hear a politician or a relative of a politician tell the truth. It's refreshing to hear someone not give a rehearsed, party-line bullshit response. Now we all know Tagg has violent tendencies. Which is exactly why they're going to put a lid on him. Honesty and and an election are a bad mix.

 

[captmcblack]

Stop referencing the syntax of what Tagg did or didn't say, or did or didn't mean. It has nothing to do with the point.

Are black people regarded differently in American society? Why is that? Does it have a historical context? If any of the questions I just posed above are true, than how is what the author of the article said untrue?

 

[Trent Strong]

"One of the hallmarks of White Privilege is the unquestioned and largely unchallenged assumption that white people can say heinous things about people of color without blowback or even mild criticism."

What? Without criticism from who? The mainstream media will critcise the fuck out of any white person who does this. As far as the mainstream media goes, it's the opposite, if anything.

 

[Bay Maximus]

People of all colors really seem to hate white privilege. We should deal with this societal issue head on so that we don't have to worry about it anymore. I'd be down for that. If you ever question the authenticity of white privilege, Tagg, you're it.

 

[Sickboy007]

I agree with the article, role reversal works perfectly in this case to illustrate the differences in perceived aggressiveness.

 

[Baconsammy]

"One of the hallmarks of White Privilege is the unquestioned and largely unchallenged assumption that white people can say heinous things about people of color without blowback or even mild criticism."

What? Without criticism from who? The mainstream media will critcise the fuck out of any white person who does this. As far as the mainstream media goes, it's the opposite, if anything.

Unless you count Fox News, Drudge etc. These are the same people that made a huge to-do over Common coming to the White House. Nary a peep about Ted Nugent visiting the White House during the Bush years though. It's partisan bullshit.


Just saw clips of Obama on The Daily Show. He discusses Libya. Airing tonight. Can't wait.

 

[Trent Strong]

Unless you count Fox News, Drudge etc. These are the same people that made a huge to-do over Common coming to the White House. Nary a peep about Ted Nugent visiting the White House during the Bush years though. It's partisan bullshit.

I've never heard of Drudge, but yeah I'm sure Fox News does this.

 

[Devolution]

If only we had any actual examples of all the hypotheticals popping up in this thread...

Any would be nice.

Amazingly enough if you listen to what minorities tell you they run into this sometimes and have to basically watch their tone either at work or in school.

 

[Baconsammy]

I've never heard of Drudge, but yeah I'm sure Fox News does this.

It's essentially a site that links to every anti-liberal story on the web.

 

[akira28]

Amazingly enough if you listen to what minorities tell you they run into this sometimes and have to basically watch their tone either at work or in school.

nope. I won't settle for anything less than a PBS documentary crew there to catch racism in the act. Well, maybe the Action News crew.

 

[Infinite]

And you can say I'm making the author's point until you're blue in the face, it doesn't mean anything. Especially since I think the author's point in regards to Tagg's situation is race-baiting garbage. And you're right, he didn't call him a liar. He simply said that Romney isn't telling the truth, which one would assume means he thinks he's lying. And once again YES it is refreshing to hear a politician or a relative of a politician tell the truth. It's refreshing to hear someone not give a rehearsed, party-line bullshit response. Which is exactly why they're going to put a lid on him. Honest and and an election are a bad mix.

Well calling someone a liar and saying something they said is a lie aren't the same thing. To even make that point or to say "he was looking at for his dad's honor" is a pretty skillful way of dismissing the problem. Also it's a damn good spin. Tagg is not reacting to his dad being called a liar since his dad wasn't called a liar.

The author is saying Tagg gets a free pass for saying he wants to assault our president who is a black man due to white privilege. Never in my years have I heard a man say that publicly to the media and I would imagine if it ever did happen the person who made such comments would be scrutinized. If you feel the article is race baiting garbage (what ever that means) fine but please don't tell me he's justified in threatening the president.

 

[Grimm Fandango]

Too much hypothetical in this.

 

[Haint]

Damn I'm way out of touch. I wouldn't think twice if Obama's 42 year old son said he wanted to punch Romney after a debate, and I wouldn't expect a single news story over it either. I had no idea this was even a thing, that minorities apparently shouldn't/couldn't mention punching white people.

 

[Trent Strong]

Well calling someone a liar and saying something they said is a lie aren't the same thing. To even make that point or to say "he was looking at for his dad's honor" is a pretty skillful way of dismissing the problem. Also it's a damn good spin. Tagg is not reacting to his dad being called a liar since his dad wasn't called a liar.

The author is saying Tagg gets a free pass for saying he wants to assault our president who is a black man due to white privilege. Never in my years have I heard a man say that publicly to the media and I would imagine if it ever did happen the person who made such comments would be scrutinized. If you feel the article is race baiting garbage (what ever that means) fine but please don't tell me he's justified in threatening the president.

But Tagg is super rich and his dad's famous. Would some poor white trash guy get away with the same thing? The problem is that we don't know whether this is white privilege or rich, famous white privilege. Tagg Romney is not a good representative example of white people.

 

[Socreges]

Stop referencing the syntax. It has nothing to do with the point.

Are black people regarded differently in American society? Why is that? Does it have a historical context? If any of the questions I just posed above are true, than how is what the author of the article said untrue?

Because those truths still do not make Tagg's comment an example of "white privilege". There is white privilege in society, in politics, etc. But this isn't an example of it.

 

[Baconsammy]

Well calling someone a liar and saying something they said is a lie aren't the same thing. To even make that point or to say "he was looking at for his dad's honor" is a pretty skillful way of dismissing the problem. Also it's a damn good spin. Tagg is not reacting to his dad being called a liar since his dad wasn't called a liar.

The author is saying Tagg gets a free pass for saying he wants to assault our president who is a black man due to white privilege. Never in my years have I heard a man say that publicly to the media and I would imagine if it ever did happen the person who made such comments would be scrutinized. If you feel the article is race baiting garbage (what ever that means) fine but please don't tell me he's justified in threatening the president.

He never threatened the president. He had a thought in his head, he didn't act upon that thought. He then relayed his thought to someone else jokingly. How 1984ish do we need to get? Thoughts are not crimes.

 

[captmcblack]

Because those truths still do not make Tagg's comment an example of "white privilege". There is white privilege in society, in politics, etc. But this isn't an example of it.

You're discussing the syntax again.

Why does the example supposedly not being valid make the point invalid?

 

[Jackben]

If you think there are too many hypothetical assertions in this thread, I implore you to read this essay excerpt. Just because there isn't a journal or compendium of every situation where white privilege came into play, doesn't mean it should be ignored.

Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh, perhaps?

I agree Tagg is not a good representation of white people as a whole but I do think he is unfortunately a definite example of white privilege.

 

[GungHo]

But Tagg is super rich and his dad's famous. Would some poor white trash guy get away with the same thing? The problem is that we don't know whether this is white privilege or rich, famous white privilege. Tagg Romney is not a good representative example of white people.

So, you're saying we should find some GAFer who is willing to take one for the team?

 

[Jackben]

So, you're saying we should find some GAFer who is willing to take one for the team?

Paging Dennis.

 

[Socreges]

You're discussing the syntax again.

Why does the example supposedly not being valid make the point invalid?

Please describe what you think "the point" is.

 

[captmcblack]

Please describe what you think "the point" is.

See my previous post that you quoted, in which I posed some questions.

The author says if the roles were reversed that the media would be on fire and the black man talking about punching Mitt Romney would be demonized. He says that the reality of that is an example of white privilege.

If any of my questions are true, then how is what the author says not true?

 

[FACE]

So, you're saying we should find some GAFer who is willing to take one for the team?

Someone call Natch.

 

[TheChewyWaffles]

 

[Pristine_Condition]

This "White Privilege" bullshit is disgusting, IMO.

How do you think it'd go down if a GAFer posted a topic called "Jesse Jackson Jr. Example of Black Privilege?"

Let's see...

**The guy gets caught cheating on his wife with an Argentinian "model" a couple years ago. Oddly, the press backs off almost immediately.

**Jackson is still under investigation for the allegation that his campaign tried to buy Pres. Obama's old Senate seat from Rod Blagojevich.

**So he suddenly leaves Congress and comes up with a mysterious, "undisclosed illness."

...then that "illness" turns to "exhaustion."

...then that "exhaustion" turns into a "bi-polar disorder"

...then one of his guys, Raghuveer Nayak, gets arrested by the FBI on charges of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to doctors.​

**Three months in to his absence from Congress, the Chicago press shows up to his wife's fund-raiser and wants to ask questions to the guy that's supposed to be representing Chicago in Washington, and she calls the press “jackals” for having the nerve to do what the press is supposed to do, and tells them to stay outside.

**Yep. A month later, Jesse Jr. is still too "sick" to show up to Congress--now for FOUR MONTHS.

**Yet that terrible illness that keeps him from Capitol Hill doesn't stop him from hitting the bars with more women who aren't his wife, according to Gawker this week.

**Now, also this week, we find out Jackson is under another federal investigation investigation for illegally using funds to decorate his $1.3 million home.

Yet despite ALL THAT, the Chicago Sun-Times says, "Oh yeah...he's gonna get reelected, no problem."​

...

Would one argue that Jackson is an example of "black privilege" around here? Of course not. Not only would it likely result in a ban, IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RACE.

If you want to say someone is acting like a privileged little shit because their daddy is rich and/or famous...fine. Just leave race out of it. Clearly, the only color privilege knows is GREEN.

 

[Infinite]

People get so irrationally defensive when they see the phrase "white privilege".

.

 

[Ramblin]

This "White Privilege" bullshit is disgusting, IMO

And yet you are exemplary

 

[Recon]

nope. I won't settle for anything less than a PBS documentary crew there to catch racism in the act. Well, maybe the Action News crew.

I need a Ken Burns Documentary about White Privilege before I acknowledge it exists. Or a movie about it starring Will Smith. Or Denzel. They are both black right? Maybe Idris Elbow, I hear he is popular with whites and blacks.

 

[Pristine_Condition]

And yet you are exemplary

...and you are full of non-sequiturs, and bullshit.

My parents worked all their lives (my dad still works part-time at age 75) and neither of them ever made more than $70k combined. I had to pay my way through college by working the entire time. And I struggle financially every day. If there is some magical "white privilege," I must've missed where the line starts to sign up for my free shit.

 

[Ramblin]

...and you are full of non-sequiturs, and bullshit.

You like that word. Tell me is everything you don't agree with, believe or understand bullshit?

And give your car to a black guy.