This is by far one of the most ignorant things i've personally seen someone create. This is outrageous and this is just not the right thing to do to gain votes. I am see this as a direct blow to the African American Culture and To connect all African Americans with cool-aid, fried chicken and watermelon is racist.
That "Obama Bucks" image sent out by a Republican women's club in San Bernardino County, which featured a photo of Barack Obama on paper currency surrounded by a potpourri of racially-charged Jim Crow-era images? Turns out it wasn't created by club president, Diane Fedele, but was lifted from Please God No, a satirical website devoted to skewering the Republican right.
The originator of Obama Bucks -- we'll call him Joe the Blogger -- is no stranger to the tasteless joke and the offensive image. Steeped in the scorched earth impudence of "South Park" and following in the irreverent footsteps of the Onion, Joe the Blogger's site has drawn scores of outraged comments for posts about dead Boy Scouts, Heath Ledger, genital odor and the Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina, which uses the N-word.
If Obama Bucks was going to draw much fire, Joe the Blogger always assumed it would be directed at him. To have the very Republicans he mocks misunderstand the satire and go up in flames for his work leaves him bemused.
"It’s horrible " Joe the Blogger said. "I feel bad for the poor lady who did this, but how stupid do you have to be not to see the racial aspects?"
Fedele came under fire for the mailer and for her subsequent claim that she didn't notice the image's racist nature. Even as she apologized and her fellow club members disavowed the mailer, the story -- and reactions to it -- shot around the world.
Though Fedele's caption ("Obama talks about all those presidents that got their names on bills. If elected, what bill would he be on ????? Food Stamps, what else!") associated Obama with food stamps.
"It was so over-the-top and obviously racial and offensive, and that was the point of it," Joe the Blogger said.
Diane Fedele, president of a San Bernardino County Republican women’s club criticized over its use of "Obama Bucks," a racially charged illustration of Barack Obama, has resigned her post.
The image of Obama on play money flanked by fried chicken, watermelon and ribs quickly went worldwide, as did Fedele's explanation that she didn't realize the symbolism could be considered racist.
Diane Fedele faced intense pressure from state GOP leaders who called the drawing racist and Democrats who demanded she quit as head of the Upland-based Chaffey Community Republican Women, Federated.
In a sometimes combative apology sent to club members, Fedele said she received the illustration through a chain e-mail and used it for a "satiric" attack on what she sees as Obama’s "socialist" agenda of government giveaways. When confronted by an African American club member, she said she apologized for the cartoon. Despite that, Fedele said the woman took the story to the media.
"For many it may be hard to believe, but some people do not associate certain foods with particular groups," she said. "I do not think like a bigot, and because of that fact I did not view this as racial, because I do not have a racially discriminating point of view."
No, really, it wasn't. In fact, you're racist for thinking it's racist.
She accused the media of branding Republicans racist whenever they criticize the Democratic presidential nominee.
Hector Barajas, a spokesman for the state GOP, said the decision to resign was a personal one between Fedele and the 200-member club.
"As far as we are concerned these images and words have no place in this campaign," he said. Ironically, the illustration was created by a liberal blogger as an attempt to make fun of Republicans. Someone e-mailed it to Fedele, who then put it in her newsletter.
Fedele's resignation is effective immediately. Our article about the liberal blogger who created the image as satire — and was startled to find it used by Republicans — is here.
According to the Riverside Press-Enterprise, which broke the Diane Fedele/Obama Bucks story, critics had planned to protest at the club's meeting tonight, but that meeting has been canceleda>.
No comments:
Post a Comment