Bizarre, Politics, Society

Minnesota GOP Senate Candidate Calls President Obama a “Power Hungry Arrogant Black Man”

Mike Parry, a GOP candidate for the state senate, has apologized for tweets calling President Obama a “Power Hungry Arrogant Black Man” and asking “whats with the Dems and Pedophiles?”

The tweets succeeded in making Parry look like a power hungry ignorant white man. He insists that he takes full responsibility for “all mistakes in my past tweets.”

Parry insists that the racist reference was “written in haste and out of the frustration I felt for the out of control spending in Washington.” In one interview, he insisted that he should be credited for at least using his own name in such attacks, here. He also stated:

“My opinion is that our president is arrogant and angry. The fact is that he is a black man. Now if the Democratic Party and the liberals want to take my opinion and the fact and mix it together and use it to bring a bad light about me and keep them away from discussing the real issues they can do that all they want. They’re grasping for straws.”

Well, I am not sure how much mixing it takes, Mr. Parry.

Here is Parry’s website and bio.

For the story, click here and here.

106 thoughts on “Minnesota GOP Senate Candidate Calls President Obama a “Power Hungry Arrogant Black Man””

  3. Well let’s review what makes things offensive vs politically correct:

    1. Who someone is.
    2. What you’re calling them.
    3. Who YOU are.

    Everyone seems to get 1 and 2, but 3 and 4 fly over people’s heads.

    Maybe it helps to imagine these things:

    a. Mike Parry says: “Barack Obama is a power hungry black man.”
    b. Mike Parry says: “George Bush is a power hungry white man.”
    c. Jesse Jackson says: “George Bush is a power hungry white man.”
    d. Jesse Jackson says: “Barack Obama is a power hungry black man.”

    Think about it. Which of these sound like they might be offensive to a lot of people, even if not to you?

    Conservatives (because they don’t seem to understand analogies, I think) get upset because the word “black” (or the N-word) only seems to be NEVER OK, unless- a black person says it. Well, that’s right. Under certain circumstances they can get away with using it. But the word “white” is much easier for a white person to say than a black person, for the same reason. When the person is the same color as the word, it disarms the term- otherwise the word sounds threatening to people of that color who hear it.

    Black people (African-Americans, whatever) often use the N-word, and white people go nuts. “If I said that you’d never hear the end of it!” Well, who cares if some people get to use a word that you don’t? It’s only a word. There are words more available to white people if you think about it. You have to flip the word as well as the speaker before you start thinking about how much trouble it would cause.

  4. Lottakatz:

    Good point on the Black Muslim connection, I was thinking that myself.

  5. Mike Spindell: “For those of too tender years, or of short memories let me explain the problem with this man’s statement. The history of prejudice in this country has used “arrogant black man,” really “Uppity Niggah” as a means of …”

    —-

    Right. This is an old tactic, both McCain and Rove used ‘arrogant’ as a description for Obama and they are of a generation that would know and use that code for an African American opponent.

    “My opinion is that our president is arrogant and angry. The fact is that he is a black man.”

    Perry not only knew what he was doing, but had to do it deliberately otherwise the sentence stating that Obama is black is a complete non-sequitur. It has ramifications beyond just ‘Uppity N*****’ though; for some generations among us when you link the words arrogant, angry and black you may as well call him a member of the Black Muslim movement. Perry is pushing more than one button with this drivel.

  6. Elaine M.: “I’m beginning to wonder if there’s something other than H2O in the water in Minnesota of late. Think: Michele Bachmann, Allen Quist–and now Mike Parry.”
    ————–

    That’s not so far-fetched a speculation when you consider this:

    “Of some 84,000 chemicals being used commercially in the United States, some 20 percent — or 17,000 — are kept secret not only from the public, but from medical professionals, state regulators and even emergency responders, according to a report at the Washington Post.”
    http://www.infiniteunknown.net/2010/01/05/us-17000-potentially-harmful-chemicals-kept-secret-under-obscure-law/

    One has to wonder just how much insane behavior and high levels of ignorance/stupidity is environmentally caused.

  7. Didn’t anyone ever teach that stupid man that if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything? Mind you, they do say that empty vessels make the most noise.

  8. According to Gelen Beck, “African-American is a bogus, PC, made-up term”. I guess the real term is ‘power hungry arrogant black man’. Or, as Tom says, “uppity n_____”. Anyone who looks at that laid-back Obama dude and sees *anger* really needs to get back on their meds.

  10. Tom,

    I spent a considerable amount of time in Japan. Your story rings true. The Japanese are very friendly if they realize you don’t speak the language or speak very little. Most helpful and polite. I don’t possess the gift of being good with Sinitic or Japonic languages, I have about enough to ask very basic questions if they can dig trough my horrid accent, but some of the people I was with were fluent. If you do speak fluently?

    That a different story all together.

    The “no habla” response is common. The most stunning example I saw is a group of us were thrown out of a nightclub when the owner realized some of our group was fluent – and for the simply racist reason “no gaijin allowed” – despite there being other Westerners present with eyes every bit as round as ours.

    Don’t get me wrong. I love Japan, Japanese culture and the Japanese people and I’d live in Kyoto in heartbeat, but they operate by much different rules than most cultures. And there are a LOT of rules. To an American it’s as close to visiting an alien planet as most will ever come.

    And also I suggest the film “Lost In Translation”. It really captured at lot of what it’s like to have that fish out of water experience.

  11. I’m glad Mike S. beat me to the punch pointing out the re-worded use of the “uppity n____” concept. Are there people out there who read that “tweet” and didn’t immediately have that phrase brought to mind?

    It’s just another piece of evidence on the stack that convinces me that there’s a big slice of the US population who are practically hard-wired to perceive certain “race”-based characteristics. When the Prez doesn’t act like their stereotypes predict, they mentally try to ram a square peg into a round hole, and end up freaking out. (See: teabaggers at health reform town halls.) No matter how calm and cool Obama is, they overlay their perception of “the angry black man” and conclude that “he hates white people.” (?!?!?!)

    I’m reminded of a story I heard about a “white” American living in Japan. He spoke Japanese pretty much fluently, but would, from time to time, encounter Japanese people who literally could not grasp that he could speak their language. He would address them in Japanese, and they would look right at him and respond in English “I don’t speak English.” He would explain in Japanese that he spoke Japanese and politely try to continue the conversation. These folks just couldn’t get their minds around their eyes pointing at a “white” guy and their ears hearing Japanese – total mind block based on their preconceptions. For them, it’s like gravity flipped around and they found themselves on the ceiling.

  13. Pingback: An Open Letter to President Obama About the Minnesota Twins | Minnesota Twins MLB Announcer

  15. Bryon,

    Sure plenty of atheists hold office. Look at how they do things. You wouldn’t figure someone afraid of God would do some of the things that they do now, would you?

  17. Byron,

    I actually meant I enjoy spending time with my family too much to run, but your way works too.

    Plus there’s the whole atheist thing.

  19. Sen. Ben Nelson said Tuesday it was a mistake for the Obama Administration to take on massive health care reforms in 2009, and suggested efforts would have been better spent addressing the economy.

    Nelson, who provided the crucial 60th vote to advance the bill toward Senate passage on Dec. 19, has been active ever since trying to explain his actions to Nebraskans. Ads have aired on television and Nelson is making the rounds with the state’s media.

    http://www.fremonttribune.com/articles/2010/01/07/news/local/doc4b44af1b90306516425283.txt

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