It’s no secret that the populist Howie, the self-proclaimed “typical white person” and spokesman for beleaguered tax-paying regular Joes, is an alumnus of the prestigious Deerfield Academy boarding school. He grew up to become a multi-millionaire who lives in Wellesley.
There’s nothing wrong with having money or being rich- remember, it’s only the “love of money” that is the root of all evil. But seriously, Howie considers himself a typical white person?
I hate to break it to you Howie, but you have about as much in common with your listeners as John Kerry or Kerry “Muffy” Healey does.
Please share widely!
…”typical white person” – do they call their wives “submit”?
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p>Earn several million dollars a year?
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p>Suck in and spew out hate and invective?
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p>Who knew?
You want hatred and invective… read comments about George Bush on this blog site?
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p>”typical white person” Hmmm, where have I heard this… Oh, sorry I was confusing this with Obama’s comment about his grandmother (“She was a typical white person”). Many on this page blow this comment off but can yo be honest, even for a moment, and tell me how the press and the country would react to John McCain saying “She was a typical black person”? OMG, there would be cries for hius resignation, maybe even calling it “hate speech”. But you can deny this and continue to live in la-la land if you think I am wrong here.
in the sense that she was a white person who didn’t make a million dollars like Howie Carr.
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p>Even Chris Wallace told people on Fox News–on the air–to drop that phony outrage about the phrase “typical white person.”
So Obama was talking about Howie Car? So is it ok for me or anyone else to say “He/She was a typical black person…” as long as I finish it with something about a typical black person… Of course it is not acceptable!
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p>Like I said, you guys would hoist McCain from the highest yard arm if he even came close to making such a remark. Listen to the rant on this blog about his UNPROVEN remark using the “See You Next Tuesday” word. Be honest Joel.
howie’s listeners know he is fat bastard who lives in wellesley and is paid millions. the jokes about that come up about that, and how he deals with them, are part of the fun of listening.
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p>At any rate, know that I know about obama’s use of the phrase, i bet that was the joke.
I think he stopped calling his wife “Submit” sometime after he put his $1.6 million house in her name.
I guess he’s hiding his assets behind his wife in anticipation of the inevitable libel lawsuit.
I was reflecting a bit on the the phrases “typical white person” and “typical black person”. I can’t imagine using either phrase but for different reasons.
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p>”Typical black person” seems to be a coded way of making a bigoted comment about a black person. Before the 1950s, racism got expressed explicitly, boldly, and vigorously. After the 1960s, racism happily became incorrect. Racists and the politicians appealing to them learned the art of wink and nod. Given this historical background, you can be sure that whatever “typical black person” means, it’s not nice.
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p>I’m a little at a loss to figure out what “typical white person” means. As I recall Obama was suggesting someone with a typical level of prejudice against black people. He was talking about a relative and commenting on her evolution regarding race. Ripping the phrase from its context probably makes it sound worse — particularly if we repeat it to ourselves insanely often.
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p>It sounds worse. But how worse?
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p>It’s hard to nail the meaning. There isn’t a group of people making coded appeals to anti-white racism. Well, there might be, but they’re out on the fringes. That means we must guess.
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p>Is a “typical white person” stereotypically affluent?
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p>Or does a “typical white person” live out a life of Doritos and bad television on the sofa?
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p>I’m not sure what image this phrase is supposed to evoke. I certainly doubt that Barack Obama was suggesting a family member was rich or over-fond of reality TV.
If one is looking for rules to apply consistently, the rule is not Never use the word “typical” in front of a racial or ethnic signifier. Rather the rule is harder to enforce but more meaningful and useful: Don’t make coded and disparaging racial comments.
of a moral relativist moonbatty librul. there, said it before certain others, who write an a style typical of dwellers under bridges, got a chance. 😉
You can spin this anyway you want. What is “typical”? Some dictionaries define it as “popularly associated with a particular person, situation or thing”. So one question might be if something meets this rule, can we say it? Or does decorum prevent us from using the phrase in any/all situations?
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p>When Obama spoke this way (“She was a typical white person…”) about his white grandmother being afraid of blacks, he may have been accurately portraying white people. Maybe studies have shown that the “typical white person” is afraid of black people. So, does that make it right to say or is being right not enough to use this stereotype? I would say this is a big no-no since many groups would get very upset with this usage, even if it was correct.
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p>So rather than justify its usage, maybe we should discourage it and demand apologies when it is used inappropriately.
yes, i drink deeply of it and often, thanks. looking at your reply, you do too. cheers!
If you can’t attack the message, attack the messenger.
I realize that requires reading books and all, but it might lead you to stop ascribing things people say to snark (Sabutai elsewhere) or kool-aid (Laurel or me here).