Lefties Struggle To Crack Racist Right Wing Code (I Am Here To Help)

The All American Blogger catches a couple of earnest, race-soaked professors explaining that when Sarah Palin or (any other righty) calls Obama a "professor" it is a racially-charged attack:

Ogletree, founding and executive director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice, says he sees the “professor” label as a thinly veiled attack on Obama’s race. Calling Obama “the professor” walks dangerously close to labeling him “uppity,” a term with racial overtones that has surfaced in the political arena before, Ogletree said.

"Uppity"?  What, does he think Sarah Palin and her audience are fans of The Jeffersons?  I applaud Ogletree's vigilance, and his instincts are sound, but this is a much more vicious racially-charged attack than he realizes. 

I suspect Professor Ogletree (Oops!  There I go again!) is not really in tune with right wing codes and beliefs.  Let me help.

Forget about "uppity".  "Professor" is a reference to Gilligan's Island (we are talking Tea Partiers, Professor Ogletree - keep up.)  Even a casual observer of the show could see the sparks between the Professor and Mary Ann.  Ginger, as the professor no doubt does not recall, was the glamorous movie star; Mary Ann was the All-American girl next door who could have been America's kid sister, or daughter.

So when the Sarah Palin calls Obama a "professor" she is making a not-so-thinly veiled insinuation that Obama has the hots for, basically, the girl next door.  Your sister.  My daughter!  In fact, she may even be hinting that Obama is Trig's father.

Scurrilous.  And a good job by Professor Ogletree for picking up on that racist vibe.

I know we can count on the professor to keep his ears open for further right-wing assaults.  And to help him get ahead of the curve let me offer some more racial code-breaking: if righties start calling Obama "Mr. President" or "President Obama", well, you guessed it - that is a vicious racial attack, too, since it is a mocking reference to our hyper-sexualized first black President, obviously.  "Commander-in-Chief"?  This is a family blog, but the sexual innuendo and the S&M reference are clear.

I hope that helped.

Comments

[Carol Herman]

Was it 'reverse racism' when Jimmy Carter got caught out inflating his resume? He never was a nuclear physicist, ya know. Those dems have word cognition problems.

[narciso]

Ogletree, one of Obama's professors at HLS, that sounds convenient, isn't it. First of all, they used socialism as racial, now professor

[Thomas Collins]

Ogletree had better practice more at race card playing. The point was pretty clearly that the type of thinking that might lead to success as an academic won't work when the job is leading a country. It has nothing to do with uppitiness. In fact, what Palin is downgrading is more associated with tweed jacket of pallor types. Ogletree might want to bone up on what stereotypes to become outraged about.

[Thomas Collins]

This might be a chance for Palin to get to the White House before January of 2013. Perhaps Obama will say she "spoke stupidly" and then invite her and Todd to the White House for moose soup with him and Michelle.

Now that I think of it, someone should remind Ogletree that he might want to get in hugh dudgeon about the phrase "White House." Shouldn't it now be called "Multi-cultural House of the Non-Exceptional Country?"

[clarice]

And if you did not refer to Ogletree as professor you'd be accused of racism, refusing to acknowledge his professional standing..You know like addressing Senator Boxer as "ma'am".

When are all these people going to finally exit the public stage?

[Rob Crawford]

Ya know, it's really obvious when you play the race card from the bottom of the deck.

[bgates]

The Professor is a reference to Gilligan's Island

Yep. It's a real central part of the code with those people. Know why? Guess who wrote the music for Gilligan's Island: Johnny Williams. What's he best known for? The theme to Star Wars. And what's the scariest thing in Star Wars?

The big black guy.

[Jane]

"Commander-in-Chief"? This is a family blog, but the sexual innuendo and the S&M reference are clear.

TM,

You are clearly my favorite.

[NK]

TM-- EXCELLENT Gilligan's Island reference. You know for men of a "certain age" one of the acid tests of character is "Ginger or Mary Ann" -- ladies you only want to involve yourselves with men who get that one right. Anyway, Professor Ogletree-- Oggie? wasn't he the goon in the movie Slapshot? I digress, the good professor should stick to more pertinent matters of scholarship, such as the racism of the Cambridge PD asking questions of a man breaking into a house he does not own. Shocking racist police abuse of Skip Gates that was. BTW Professor "Skip" Gates and "Ogie" Ogletree, what are the chances of a couple of brothers named "Skip" and "Ogie" winding up in the same place? Obviously a right-wing racist plot, or black self-loathing; somebody should put in an earmark to fund a study as part of the next stimulus bill. Hope and Change!

[bgates]

> the sexual innuendo and the S&M reference are clear.

TM,

You are clearly my favorite.

Posted by: Malaysia Jane

[MikeS]

Dear God! The Race Institute is on to us. Any minute now they will figure out what we mean when we say, "Mr. President."

[peter]

Casey Stengel was not offended.

[Porchlight]

Somewhat on topic re: Ogletree, this Jodi Kantor NYT article from 2007, about Obama's years on the HLR, is instructive:

In Law School, Obama Found Political Voice

As the ribbing in the Revue suggests, Mr. Obama was realizing the power of his own biography. He proved deft at navigating an institution scorched with ideological battles, many of which revolved around race. He developed a leadership style based more on furthering consensus than on imposing his own ideas. Surrounded by students who enjoyed the sound of their own voices, Mr. Obama cast himself as an eager listener, sometimes giving warring classmates the impression that he agreed with all of them at once.

Friends say he did not want anyone to assume they knew his mind — and because of that, even those close to him did not always know exactly where he stood. It is a tendency that could prove perilous on the campaign trail, as voters, rivals and the news media try to fix the positions of a senator with only two years in office.

“He then and now is very hard to pin down,” said Kenneth Mack, a classmate and now a professor at the law school, referring to the senator’s on-the-one-hand, on-the-other-hand style.

Charles J. Ogletree Jr., another Harvard law professor and a mentor of Mr. Obama, said, “He can enter your space and organize your thoughts without necessarily revealing his own concerns and conflicts.”

The "Obama is all things to all people" meme comes through loud and clear.

[glenda]

You know, it's about time a leader in the black community has the courage to call out this continuing infection of reverse racism! I disdain even using the word black community--they want to separate themselves-I don't-and use evils(never perpetuated on them) as excuses to become akin to what enslaved some of their ancestors--elitist racists!

If the Irish, Hebrews, Slavs, speak up about the treatment of their ancestors, an "ogletree" would dismiss it as deserved-like many liberal progressive professors.
Why does not someone call a pig pork? I loathe this constant race pretension. I don't ever remember thinking of my friends as black, brown, white, etc. I tend to judge people for the content of their character and it is so refreshing that my 8 yr old grandson, refers to his acquaintances by name, not race. He doesn't see race (and that is his environment, not his autism)
Sorry, if I rant, but liars and hypocrits set me off on rainy, cold days.

[Thomas Collins]

More racism. How dare they put out a poll showing Obama only 2 points ahead in a 2012 Presidential run against a generic GOPer. Don't they know that this is tantamount to calling Obama a nobody? It's the of pallor hegemonic mindset marginalizing the rainbow of the multicultural.

[Hugh Dudgeon]

I like my new screen name, I might keep it. thanks TC!

[clarice]

Porch, sounds to me like the whiz kids at the HLS were taken in by Chance the Gardener.

[Thomas Collins]

I'm pleased that my typo may be preserved in a screen name!

[William Teach]

I have to wonder: is referring to Obama as President Neophyte, Chump, or Sparky thinly veiled racism?

Heck, I had to give up my Surrender Monkey Friday posts because too many wacko libs were wining about racism, despite having done them for years, and even including Bush in a few.

[Porchlight]

True, Clarice, but their observations were prescient. Note the part in the article (I didn't copy it) where (if you read between the lines) they were making fun of him citing his bio all the time.

The sad thing is that they clearly saw the flaws but bought into him anyway. A familiar story.

[Thomas Collins]

Why did the avatar colors change?

[Old Lurker]

To make it harder to scroll through the pests, TC

[Thomas Collins]

Oh, so one person can change everyone's avatars, OL? I didn't know that. I guess I'm not up on Typepad Tech.

[Sue]

Changed colors?

[Sue]

Well I'll be swanee...OL has my avatar.

[Thomas Collins]

My avatar colors changed, Sue. Not only mine, but also everyone else's.

I swear, all I had for lunch was salad and ice water!

[Sue]

TC,

I didn't notice until y'all started talking about it. And then I realized bgates and OL had stolen my avatar. Shameless, they are.

[Captain Hate]

Test for avatar colors: WTF

[Thomas Collins]

In the thread on populist Obama being so last week, some of the avatars have disappeared (with a red x and some letters in the box formerly housing the avatars).

[DebinNC]

And if you did not refer to Ogletree as professor you'd be accused of racism..

That's so true. Anyone ever see the movie Something the Lord Made? It's about a brilliant Jim Crow era black man named Vivien Thomas who, even though denied the formal education due him, became a medical pioneer and, eventually, a faculty member at Johns Hopkins. Despite training a generation of heart surgeons, I don't think (honorary) Dr. Thomas was ever granted the title "Professor". Obama and Ogletree aren't fit to tie his shoes.

[Jane]

Oooh Deb, you have the best Avatar ever.

[Extraneus]

The last time I played around with these, the avatars seemed to change depending on what I typed into the email field. Maybe there's a secret trick in Deb's email field.

[Extraneus]

testing

[glenda]

Now they're messing with our colors--man!!
what did I say?? hee :)

[Thomas Collins]

I don't see an avatar for DebinNC. I see the box enclosing a little box with a red x and the letters De next to the little box.

[Jane]

I see "DebinNC" TC

[DebinNC]

TC, that's what I'm seeing too. :sniff:

[Thomas Collins]

Jane, perhaps my browser is out of date, so DebinNC's avatar is distorted. When I sign on to Facebook, I am always told that my browser is behind the times.

[DebinNC]

I'm uncomfortable as an object of attention, but for those of you who like your avatar...here's what I did that made mine go poof: I typed my comment, clicked "preview", noticed my username/email (which are usually there)were missing. I typed them in, clicked "post", and lost my nice green avatar.

[Extraneus]

So you didn't have an email id entered when you clicked Preview, but then added it and just posted from preview? [averting my eyes]

[bgates]

Can't we presume that somebody calling himself "All-American" is racist to begin with?

I don't know where to begin with this other guy, Ogletree - I mean, "ogle" is clearly intended to evoke a black man leering sexually at white women, and "tree" - ie, "hang him from a"? Terrible.

So when the Sarah Palin calls Obama a "professor" she is making a pretty overt charge that Obama has the hots for, basically, the girl next door.

I think Palin, by being the hot girl next door, is trying to goad somebody with an inflammatory name like "Ogletree" into making an ass* of himself.

*Clearly a veiled reference to Jimmy the Greek's claim that blacks were bred for lower-body musculature.

[MayBee]

snort!

[glasater]

Yesterday or last evening I cleared the prefs in the Safari browser which caused all previous settings to be gone and replaced.

So I started typing stuff back in and the computer being so helpful and all put my email address in the first line--which I didn't notice.
A very big whoops there. But I do have good spam filters that will catch most of the junk that wanders in.

Do have a second safe email address not as protected and not given out often.
But what a stupid thing to slip up on......

[glasater]

Now Sue and I match once again and OL has our former avatar.

What's up bgates?

[Cecil Turner]

You know for men of a "certain age" one of the acid tests of character is "Ginger or Mary Ann" -- ladies you only want to involve yourselves with men who get that one right.

What if you like Mary Ann . . . but you want to tie her up? (Or is that getting into Commander-in-Chief territory?)

[caro]

Deb and daddy are showing their names where avatars were in the past. Whacko.

Actually sometimes it is nice to know who is writing in advance.

[centralcal]

Rats! Just when I had almost memorized everyone's avatar color or style! MayBee always had the pretty lavender one, but no more! Sheesh.

[Jane]

That was my thought too Caro. Okay so Clinton (Bill) has been admitted to the hospital with heart issues.

[Neo]

Thanks for the explanation TM.
I just can't get with these code words.
I've been trying to get the RNC to send me a Nixonian decoder ring since 1968, but no luck.

[centralcal]

The best part about the avatars was you knew pretty much when to "S.O.B."

Sounds like Clinton had two stents put in.

He looks really pasty faced in the Bush/Clinton Haiti relief commercials I have seen.

[Melinda Romanoff]

ccal-

Obviously off his diet, again.

[MayBee]

MayBee always had the pretty lavender one, but no more! Sheesh.

I loved my old color. I do not want this goldenrod thingie.

[centralcal]

Mel, I must say blue suits you much better than your old garish yellow.

Bubba hasn't looked well in a long long time. Debauchery will do that to ya, I s'pose.

[glenda]

ooo...jane...you and I match, now! Is it a sign denoting a scrambled mind? NOT yours, of course :)

[NK]

Cecil--
no,no,no...you can't tie up Mary Ann. that's worse than picking Ginger in the first place. See ladies, this is part of the efficacy of the "Ginger or Mary Ann" test. Thank you for playing Cecil.

[NK]

Hey Tom--

how did I get this lousy caramel colored avatar? I demand a reshuffle.

[Rick Ballard]

Perhaps it was just An Intern Too Far?

[Rick Ballard]

Uh oh.

Sorry about that.

[cathyf]

LaLaLaLa...

Working on getting the page to turn...

Seeing what my avatar looks like now...

So, I wonder if I can even remember well enough to know whether it changed?

Oooo... At least in preview it's different. Not that weird snaky thing, and a purty color.

[clarice]

Gonna try for another avatar

[Flodigarry]

lurking - just wanted to see what my avatar looks like now. ;-)

[Flodigarry]

hmmmmm -

that's a new one, I think.

[clarice]

Yucky, yucky.

[Dave in Dallas]

Remember, in the Gilligan's Island theme song, "the professor and Mary Ann" were listed LAST, and TOGETHER...

I know, right? It's proof if you ask me.

[Mark Well]

But remember, the man was never, ever a Professor of anything.

[Pat Patterson]

I thought in the double secret code of the Anglo-Saxons professor could only be a reference to the great Ludwig van Drake, Phd.

http://www.jrj-socrates.com/Cartoon%20Pics/Disney/Von%20Drake/Von_Drake_329.gif

[jack]

NK,

call me shallow, but Ginger every time.

[Ignatz]

--Ginger every time--

Likewise Jack, especially after I found out Mary Ann was a doper.

[Mz Tree]

As a tree, let me just say that I find people like Mr. "Ogletree" to be offensive and lookist. We trees may have to stand around outside all day, but it does NOT follow that we welcome being ogled, as if we were just some piece of lumber!!!

[p]

but Mary Ann's ponytails were useful ...

[Duke]

Can anyone play? Let me try.

The name 'Ogletree' is itself racist, because it ends in 'tree', which is where the racists of the mid 1800s hung their slaves when they became uppity. Or maybe there's something about the 'Ogle' part that is a thinly veiled reference to black men and white women, a stereotype of racists past. So referring to that Harvard guy by his name is also thinly veiled racism, maybe even twice over.

Hey, this is fun. Let's do some more.

The "Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice" is also a thinly veiled racist reference. You see, there was a time when the racists would improperly confine the most outgoing black men to mental institutions to keep them from stirring up trouble. So the term 'institution' is also a racist code word.

Wow, its like a game. Maybe Milton Bradley can make this into a board game: "FIND THE HIDDEN RACIST MEANING". Each team comes up with a racist explanation and the judge gives a point to the most creative one. Ogletree wins this round, who goes first next round?

And they say the ivy leagues are no longer serious institutions.

[setnaffa]

So let me see... calling Obama a "Professor" (which he was) is a racist slur; but calling Bush a "chimp" (which he wasn't) is okay to the leftlings???

Now I understand.

They're all lunatics... No matter what race they want to call themselves.

[Watney]

To get back to the original topic -I'm color blind so I don't know about avatar colors-I'd like to know if reference to Mr.Obama as "ass hat" is still appropriate or is it racist? Please advise. Thank you.

[Thomas Collins]

The choice is easy. Assuming both Ginger and Mary Ann were after a guy, and the guy had an emotional attachment to each of them, the choice would be Ginger. From what we know of her, pre-island she was a hard working actress. No need to spend forever working to shower her with gifts; she would probaly shower her guy with gifts. Mary Ann played the low maintenance woman, but I'll bet off island, it would always be blinking eyelids, pouty face and requests for $$$ for this and that.

[Thomas Collins]

I wonder what Ginger's and Mary Ann's avatars would be if they posted at JOM.

[Porchlight]

Clarice, you have my old avatar now, as does bgates. It ain't the purtiest I must admit. sorry

[Soylent Red]

TC:

MaryAnn was a farm girl from Kansas. Probably knew how to cook, shoot and clean game, and rebuild a transmission. So from a practicality side, she's the obvious choice.

However, Ginger was hawt, and being from Hollywood, probably easy. And hawt.

So I guess it's a push.

BTW...have you seen Tina Louise lately? At 70-something, still pretty hawt. Better living through science.

[Thomas Collins]

The farm girl angle is one I hadn't considered, Soylent Red. I suppose most males of the heterosexual persuasion would consider there to be far worse fates than sharing the jacuzzi with both of them.

[Watney]

"To get back to the original topic -I'm color blind so I don't know about avatar colors-I'd like to know if reference to Mr.Obama as "ass hat" is still appropriate or is it racist?
Please advise. Thank you."

Please help. I have to finish a paper tonight. Ass hat or not?

[Thomas Collins]

Just refer to Obama as He Who Must Not Be Mocked In Any Way By The Unwashed Masses, Watney.

[Soylent Red]

The farm girl angle is one I hadn't considered, Soylent Red.

I have spent many hours in front of the TV pondering them both, from every angle.

But I believe you have unwittingly severed the Gordian Knot: they're pretty small - why not have them both?

[Thomas Collins]

In fairness to Ogletree, he is no worse on the "code word" nonsense than Gergen. See LUN. I had forgotten what lengths of idiocy Gergen could reach.

[memomachine]

Hmmmm.

@ Tom Maguire

Sir! Have you no shame!?

...

Oh well ok then.

[Mike G in Corvallis]

When the question is "Ginger or Mary Ann" ...

... the answer is "Yes!"

[glasater]

This post by dear leader TM has gotten an instalaunch and a tweet.

Er...it should be ProfessorTom Macguire..

[Frau Sicherheit]

Sarah Palin was being diplomatic. She knows the difference between a lecturer, senior or not, and a professor.

Ass Hat is still appropriate, but remember, it's Mister Ass Hat or President Ass Hat.

[Soylent Red]

Asshat-in-Chief

[comatus]

You're a bunch of poseurs! Had you ever even been in a live-entertainment whorehouse, you'd know that "Perfesser" is what you call the piano player there.

It's true. You could have asked Harry Truman. He...

knew how to spell "poseur."

[Watney]

I'm going with "Asshat-in-Chief Who Must Not Be Mocked In Any Way By The Unwashed Masses." Thank you very much Thomas Collins and Soylent Green. I appreciate your help.

[Watney]

Sorry Soylent, I meant RED. I'm getting rummy. Too much work today.

[SunnyDay]

TM, so funny!

checking my avatar - Id like to get my name there.

Oh well, I guess my cookie is stuck. :(

[Frau Kartoffel]

In checking out others who share a birthday with Sarah Palin, it may come as a surprise to find out one is Tina Louise !
The last I saw of Dawn Wells was a You tube video of her showing how to do a neat trick with an Idaho potato. It was amazing...

[Patrick]

If we can't call our president professor because that would be racist, and he is black, should we call him brofessor?

[Hyphenated American]

I wrote this on my blog back in January.

Accusations of racism in the November 2010 elections

Today, president Obama is rapidly falling in the polls. It's easy to imagine that in November 2010, some Democratic congressmen will be trying to distance themselves from Obama as much as possible, and they will most likely proclaim their independence from the president. And it is also quite possible that Republicans will be running adds trying to link them with Obama. I imagine the ads saying something like "A vote for such and such candidate is a vote for the liberal policies of president Obama".

And this brings me to the second point. It is well-known that liberal politicians love to accuse their opponents of being racists. So, it is quite possible that in November 2010, some liberals will complain that the ads that link their candidates to Obama are racist, and that by invoking the image of Obama, the Republicans are simply appealing to the white racism and bigotry. This will be the re-run of their criticism of the Willie Horton ads - but this time, it will be Barack Hussein Obama who will be the boogie-man.

What do you think - is my prediction plausible?

[exhelodrvr]

Did you just call him A Shat-in-Chief?

[mefolkes]

Hmmm, the threads sometimes go off in wonderful tangents. I'm a Mary Ann kind of guy. Ginger never really did anything for me. And, since I'm monogamous, I'd be perfectly happy with only Mary Ann in the hot tub with me. As far as Slick Willie is concerned, I am more interested in hearing the hospital assure us that all the Candystripers are safe.

[Brian G.]

I heard Obama called "Chief Executive." The word "executive" is way too close to the word "execute," which is synonymous with lynching. I am sure that calling Obama that was a racial code word.

[bbbeard]

Tom, you have forgotten the most notorious professor of all -- the infamous Professor Moriarty, who Sherlock Holmes described as "the Napoleon of Crime". Can it be a coincidence that Palin's oblique reference to our first black President meshes so neatly with the master of the dark arts?

BBB

[el polacko]

okay...i laughed out loud twice while reading this. great piece ! thanks.

[Toads]

Forget racism..

Sexism is a far bigger problem in America than racism.