Whiteness Alert! Whiteness Alert!

This is priceless.

Our favorite dimwit lesbian-of-color, Pam Spaulding, writing at Pandagon (where else?), comes up with an absolute classic:

While there aren’t a lot of black people living in Alaska (4.46%), it would be interesting to know what Governor Sarah Palin thinks of her taxpaying black citizens and her approach to inclusion.

Wait no longer. The President of the African American Historical Society of Alaska, Gwendolyn Alexander, who is also one of the Juneteenth Directors in Alaska, released a statement that reveals quite a bit about the veep nominee. (via Electronic Village):

“As for Governor Sarah Palin’s involvement in the African American community, the Governor’s office hasn’t participated in any of our Alaska Juneteenth Events. All previous Alaskan Governor’s have traditionally attended and participated in our annual Juneteenth Celebration. Gov. Palin was the first governor not to send out a congratulatory letter or assist us in any way with our Juneteenth activities." (Pammy's emphasis)

Horrors! What next? No Kwanzaa cards at Christmas... er, I mean, Kwanzaa time?

Given that Alaska didn't become a district until 1867, and didn't become an organized territory until 1912, and didn't achieve statehood until 1959, it could be considered understandable that idea celebrating the end of slavery in the U.S. in 1865 might not reasonate the way it would in, say, Alabama. Or am I being Really White for pointing that out? 

Anyway, Pam's proved Sarah Palin's a racist. Good for her.

 

Comments

[jcw]

I would guess that most blacks in Alaska are there as part of the military population though I may be wrong. In this case the tax contributions of the black population may not be that great. Also a quick look at taxes paid by Alaskans reveal that there is no state income tax and no state sales tax, though some jurisdictions collect a sales tax. Many juridictions don't even have a property tax. Sounds like a pretty tax free place to live. Using the logic that Sarah P should pay attention to Alaskan taxpayers, it looks like oil company executives are going to be the only people she pays attention to.

[Dennis The Peasant]

That's a pretty white thing to say, you know.

[Uncle Fester]

Question: what's a racist?

[Dennis The Peasant]

Answer: Any white pseudo-feminist who publishes a book of "feminist humor" that includes racially insensitive pictures of Mau-Mau warriors menacing white hunters and/or white amazons.

[Flyby Reader]

jcw, it looks like a mixed bag. According to Census 2000 data, most Alaska blacks are *not* in the military. Yet blacks in Alaska *are* more likely to be in the military than those elsewhere. So, yeah, the Alaska black population probably has much, but not everything, to do with the military. But WTF do I know? If I were to have guessed the Alaska black population, I would have guessed less than one-fifth the figure Pandagon cited.

Our host didn't think the rest of the post worth citing, but it strikes me as somewhat odd as well. There's a complaint Palin hires long-time friends, including "a borough assemblyman from the Matanuska valley, as her attorney general, [who] moved from a one-room building in the valley to one of the most powerful offices in the state, supervising some 500 people." Oh, golly, 500 people! Cripes, how many private law firms in Chicago alone have more employees--or even just lawyers--than that? Frankly, having such small state offices is one of the reasons I can't take seriously a previously-unknown Alaska governor running for national office. (I'm not looking to pick a fight, I'm just sayin' . . .) But, yeah, someone holding that view--and I'm guessing Spaulding would share it if she thought about it for a minute--shouldn't then turn around and carp about whom Palin puts in charge of such a, well, pissant office.

Dennis, Spaulding had an even wackier post this morning about how "Rove promotes McCain lie about computer illiteracy due to POW injuries." The closing line is a doozy: "this smear perpetrated by the McCain campaign and surrogates like Rove against the disabled who are able-bodied when it comes to computer literacy is disgusting." Apparently (or at least as I read it), by saying POW injuries prevent McCain from being computer literate, the campaign is disrespecting those with similar functional limits who have become computer literate. Got that? I'm not sure what she's trying to accomplish with this particular line of attack, but I guess that's why I'm not a blogger, much less a prolific one . . .

[Uncle Fester]

Amanda!

[Uncle Fester]

But, leftys can't be racists, only rightys, right?.

[Q]

You mean depicting a blond woman beating-up a bunch of jungle-dwalling (literal) spear-chuckers would raise some objections? Who knew?

This 'racism' thing is like some kinda MINEFIELD.

[markg8]

And the sexist McCain surrogate and economic adviser Carly Fiorina, the ex-Hewlett Packard CEO who was unceremoniously fired after it was discovered she was spying on her board, appeared on the McGraw Milhaven radio show in St. Louis today to say this:

Milhaven: Does Sarah Palin -- John McCain obviously thinks she has the experience to become president of the United States. Do you think she has the experience to run a major company like Hewlett Packard?

Fiorina: No, I don't. But you know what, that's not what she's running for. (Laughs) Running a corporation is a different set of things.

Um being VP of the USA may require a "different set of things" than running HP but I'd say it's a little tougher job. John McCain needs better surrogates as much as he needs a better running mate.

[Uncle Fester]

Fiorina couldn't run HP either and I have no doubt Obama would make a hash of it. What's your point?

[markg8]

My point is as I said John McCain needs better surrogates as much as he needs a better running mate. Apparently McCain agreed. Fiorina has been yanked from doing amymore teevee or radio appearances for him, for the time being.

[Uncle Fester]

Well, by that standard, the Dems should pull Obama and Biden.