November 20, 2005
Whatever You Do, Look Presidential
George Bush tries to flee through a locked door after a reporter enquires whether he's feeling "off his game."
(via Atrios)
UPDATE: OMFG! Later, Atrios posts the whole sequence of photos.
November 10, 2005
The Folly of Color-Blindness
Juan Cole points out that the violence in France is a direct result of the intentional color-blindness of French civic culture:
The French have determinedly avoided multiculturalism or affirmative action. They have insisted that everyone is French together and on a "color-blind" set of policies. "Color-blind" policies based on "merit" always seem to benefit some groups more than others, despite a rhetoric of equality and achievement. In order to resolve the problems they face, the French will have to come to terms with the multi-cultural character of contemporary society. And they will have to find ways of actively sharing jobs with minority populations, who often suffer from an unemployment rate as high as 40 percent (i.e. Iraq).
This might add wood to the fire burning on the sf-bay-poly listserve about the color-blindness of the Bay Area poly community.
(via Avedon Carol)
One of the Things I Noticed in Biloxi....
One of the things I noticed in Biloxi last month was every time a white person said something that began "I've got nothing against blacks...", or "I'm not prejudiced of course...", or "I'm no racist...", they invariably finished the sentence with something that sounded racist, at least covertly. For example:
"... I just don't get along with people with attitude problems." And it's just coincidence that these people are black.
"... but this is a bad part of town, with lots of crime and drugs." Why, precisely, do you need deny your racism in order to say that?
"... but a lot of these people in East Biloxi are sitting around waiting for a handout." Apart from the covert equation of "black" with "welfare bum", perhaps this isn't quite the right thing to say to someone who has just finished clearing from the side of your house for free the fallen tree that a contractor would have charged you $2000 to remove.
