Oh, my. A first-term Republican congresswoman from Kansas named Lynn Jenkins told folks attending a town meeting recently that her party needs to find a “great white hope” to do battle with President Obama. According to the Topeka Capital-Journal, Jenkins told the crowd:
Republicans are struggling right now to find the great white hope. I suggest to any of you who are concerned about that, who are Republican, there are some great young Republican minds in Washington.
Jenkins proceeded to rattle off the names of several Republican up-and-comers, all of whom were, uh, white. She later apologized through a spokeswoman.
Sounds like the classic definition of a gaffe. That is, she accidentally said what she meant. As Charles Pierce observes, when they say it’s not about race, it’s about race. (Via TPMDC.)
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She should have apologized. That sort of statement from anyone is offensive.
I’m not convinced that these outrageous statements are any more than a tactic designed elicit an extreme reaction from Democrats and distract them from working to advance their policy goals. With every new statement, we get aggravated, waste time debunking or ridiculing, and get sidetracked, all the while delighting Republicans who have delayed health care reform for another day.
Oh come on Dan … you know what she meant. Everyone uses the term “great white hope” and it’s never been a problem before. But because we have a half black president … you know, he is half white … is everyone and anyone who says the term now going to be considered a racist? Come on. You’re smarter than that!
Everyone uses the term “great white hope” and it’s never been a problem before.
Tony: I don’t use it. I don’t think you use it, either.
I don’t believe Jenkins said it with malice aforethought. Rather, I think she gave voice to what was bubbling beneath the surface. As the Topeka newspaper notes, the term “great white hope” has only one meaning, and it’s racial — the efforts to find a white boxer who could defeat Jack Johnson. She may not have known that, but she damn well knew it was racial. And by the way, I was quite careful not to use the word “racist,” so please don’t put it in my mouth.
And what’s with the “half-black, half-white” description, Tony? Yes, Obama’s mother was white. But his ethnic composition is not a hell of a lot different from that of many “black” people in the United States.
Opponents of health care reform and more generally President Obama’s campaign agenda are using race, ethnicity, religion, false claims and ignorance to stoke fear. It started well before the election with the Barack is a Muslim meme.
Some of these purveyors know better and use it for political purposes, and some are wholly ignorant. I assume Jenkins was almost oblivious to her own attitude about race.
Obama’s opponents like to call Obama a socialist, a Marxist, a Communist, Hitler-ite (death panels) and many more things. It’s smear and fear and its driving his numbers down, now at 51% approval. More disturbing is the birther movement that de-legitimizes his presidency and shameful republican congresscritters who know better and who are going along for the ride. The race-baiting must be seen as part of a larger effort to knee-cap his effectiveness in pursuing the agenda he campaigned on.
You have to hand it to the Republicans. There are great in opposition even if they can’t govern.
You may not have called her racist but the posts smacks of wink, wink, nod, nod …
In all honesty, I didn’t know the Jack Johnson story and I have used the term before. It was never in reference to any racial matters … I’m sure that most folks who know me know I’m not a racist. I have used it to reference something that is nearly impossible to achieve … There is no “great white hope,” there is no miracle coming, etc. Sorry, admittedly guilty.
That said, it really is time for us to move on beyond being so damn sensitive about every little thing. Most of us are ethnic mutts. I know I am. That doesn’t mean that someone is a racist if they use words that some people perceive to be insensitive. It just means that people used insensitive words sometimes.
Tony: Please don’t “wink, wink, nod, nod” me. I am extremely careful about how I use the term “racist.” On the very rare occasions when I’ve called someone a racist, or called someone’s actions racist, I have thought about it a lot before hitting “post.” What she said was racially insensitive, which she has acknowledged, even though you won’t.
She later clarified her remarks, saying she meant to express that the Republican Party needs a decisive leader who could rally the troops and bring about great victories, along the lines of a Robert E. Lee or a Stonewall Jackson.
There is no way she meant anything racial by this.
The Free Dictionary defines the term as, “someone (or something) expected to achieve great success in a given field.” There is no mention of race.
It’s sickening to see the left continually manufacturing charges of racism.
Absolutely shameful Dan.
As a boxing fan, Dan is 100-percent accurate in his assessment of the term.
James Jeffries was the most notable of these “great white hopes.” He fought Jack Johnson and lost in what was dubbed the “Fight of the Century” at the time.
There has since been a movie based on a play titled “The Great White Hope” with James Earl Jones on this same topic.
The racial insensitivity is fairly obvious, at one point people wanted a white heavyweight to take the title from a black man, now apparently some people want a white politician to take the presidency from a black man.
Mark: That’s mighty white of you to look it up.
Dan’s claim that her expression “the great white hope” is racially insensitive is fair. His belief that she had malice in her heart toward non-whites is not clear without further evidence, in my opinion.
That Obama’s opponents on health care reform and other issues are raising race as a bogeyman is as clear as day.
The gaffe definition isn’t so much “classic.” It’s a Michael Kinsley formulation.
Sean: And I’ve credited Kinsley on numerous occasions. I think it’s become classic.
Mark: Why are you defending Jenkins for saying something that she retracted and apologized for? That strikes me as very odd. Are you sending her e-mail criticizing her for wimping out?
She’s obviously a dope who didn’t even know what it meant.
bostonmediawatch: I’ll bet she knows what “white” means. What do you think?
Mark, did you actually look it up? If you did, and you exhibited a modicum of thoroughness, you would’ve clicked on the synonym linked “white hope”, whose second defintion is (I quote) “A white prizefighter believed by fans to have a chance of defeating a Black champion.”
You claim it’s sickening that the left “manufacturers” charges of racism? I think it’s sickening that the right finds a way to warp the truth, no matter how ridiculous, to fit their falsehoods.
“Opponents of health care reform and more generally President Obama’s campaign agenda are using race, ethnicity, religion, false claims and ignorance to stoke fear. It started well before the election with the Barack is a Muslim meme.”….That seems mighty general of Neil to say. I am personally opposed to a government takeover of health care, does that mean I have been influenced by “fear-mongering?” I believe, as the founders of our nation did, that we should have a small national government, and that the government should not be in the business of people’s health care at all. It lessons the discourse when anyone, in this case supporters of the president, do not recognize or even acknowledge that the opposition might actually have some good points and valuable and honest policy disagreements.
Neil, how say you about Gov Patterson of NY using charges of racial conspiracy against him to bolster his ineptness?
One would think that that would be offensives, too.
Neil… one reason that Obama’s numbers are falling are due to people on the left feeling betrayed by some of his centrist stances, some of his appointments and trying to engage in futile bipartisanship.
as for whether this was a racist comment… if it walks like a duck (to use another cliche)…
Dan, I just think that there are way too many situations on both sides where stuff is being removed from context and printed on blogs, etc., everybody has to raise holy hell about it, and then if/ when you see a video, you see it’s not necessarily what it appears to be.
You stop 10 people on the street in Boston who are that congresswoman’s age and ask them if they know what great white hope means, and 9 of them won’t have any idea, and the other one will mention Larry Bird.
While I appreciate the effort to always keep Repubs on the defensive by any means necessary, some of it really falls into the eyerolling category. It’s manufactured outrage ala Fox.
Well, she was stupid to admit it. It’s only racially insensitive if you know it to be. She didn’t; neither did I, and I showed you another meaning.
That said, you do dance around it Dan. Look at your words again …
“As Charles Pierce observes, when they say it’s not about race, it’s about race.”
That sounds like you’re insinuating that she’s a racist … you know, because when it isn’t about race, it actually is, ’cause she’s an evil, racist Republican who hates black men and black presidents even more …
“Jenkins proceeded to rattle off the names of several Republican up-and-comers, all of whom were, uh, white.”
Well, they were all white because, you know, she’s a racist Republican, like they all are, right Dan? Wink, wink …
“Sounds like the classic definition of a gaffe. That is, she accidentally said what she meant.”
Because she’s a racist, right Dan? Hmm, mmm, nod, nod …
Tony: I said what I said, and I said it with some degree of care. Now you’re putting words in my mouth. I’m really surprised. You’ve always been a valued contributor to Media Nation, but you’ve taken a dive straight to the bottom on this one.
Watching the GOP, or what’s left of it anyway, self-destruct has been even more fun than getting drunk while watching Intervention on A&E.