Used to be a time when you could easily spot racists. They were the group of good ol' boys hanging (excuse the pun) by the tree with the white bed sheets on their heads or the portly, southern sheriff spittin' tobacco and patting his police dog, Rex. But today the face of racism is changing.
Seems like Julie Myers, head honcho of Immigration and Customs (ICE) got a lot of people p.o.'d when she ingeniously, helped give the "most original costume" award at a Halloween party to a "bronzed up" white dude in fake dreadlocks and a prisoner suit.
(Earth to Julie, there is nothing original about racial stereotypes.)
Although, some of her more PC supporters may want to grab her by the collar and yell "Jules, what were you thinking," I'm sure that when Myers first saw the shocked looks on the faces of some the party goers her first reaction was:
"What?"
That's because the foul winds of racism are a' changin'.
In 2007, it seems that racism has become chic. Even funny to some.
Many folks thought that the "nappy headed ho" thing was down right hilarious. Especially, since Don Imus is about to make his triumphant return to radio in a few weeks. Even the World Wide Wrestling Entertainment folks recently used the phrase as a punch line for one of their recent shows. Then again, this is the same company that gave us Crime Tyme, a black tag team that would steal televisions and pick pocket wallets before every match.
And not to mention Fox News's Bill O'Reilly's well publicized blunder when he said how shocked he was to find ouut that black people are just as civilized as white folks, which was easily smoothed over when he had a couple of civil rights leaders in the No Spin Zone for a chummy chat.
What is actually funny is the excuses that these racially numb-skulls come up with when they get caught with their hands in the fried chicken bucket.
According to news reports, after the incident, an ICE spokesperson said that although the goober wore blackface (uh, bronzer) the crowd didn't realize that he had on makeup.
"Gee Bob, there sure is something different about you. Have you lost weight?"
However, they did have the foresight to get rid of the pictures of Myers posing with the "convict." Heaven forbid that they would wind up on TMZ.com or worst on Ku Klux Klan Christmas cards.
I forgot to mention that the costume party was part of a charity event. I wonder what charity it was for, the...(Naw, too easy.)
