Timothy Noah, master of self parody
Posted by Ron Coleman on August 6, 2008
I kept checking to make sure this wasn’t just something I missed on April 1st, but no:
When white people are invited to think about Obama’s physical appearance, the principal
Boy, could this guy pass!
attribute they’re likely to dwell on is his dark skin. Consequently, any reference to Obama’s other physical attributes can’t help coming off as a coy walk around the barn. A whole genre of humor turns on this reality. A Slate colleague informs me that an episode of the TV sitcom Happy Days (“Fonzie’s New Friend”) had its 1950s-era characters nervously discussing the fact that a black man in their midst was so … skinny. Was it true that skinny people liked fried chicken? That they were good at basketball? And so on.
No, really. Seriously.
So we, who thought we could take some solace regarding our melanin deficiencies in our endowments of underlying flesh, turn out to be no-good racists again on that score too.
I feel like a bit, fat idiot.
DK said
The question of why white people so easily scream at other white people for being racist is a fascinating question.
Part of it according to Ian Jobling is the quest of white people to demonstrate moral superiority and gain power over other white people.
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