More on Race-Baiting

White students have their own way of celebrating Martin Luther King's Birthday. Last week there were parties at Tarleton University in Texas and the University of Connecticut where students dressed up as black stereotypes. According to racialicious, Tarleton undergraduates "mocked black stereotypes by featuring fried chicken, malt liquor and faux gang apparel" while UConn LAW students went all out with "do-rags, gang signs, gold teeth, malt liquor, and a fake machine gun."

There have been scattered incidents of black-face frat parties for years. However, it still might be the case that the current versions of these black-face parties might be connected to the victory of the Democrats in 2006, the Barack Obama presidential candidacy, and the prospect of a big Republican defeat in 2008. Surrendering their hopes for victory (here and in Iraq), people on the right might be deciding to give up color-blind rhetoric and begin enjoying more direct forms of white supremacy again. In this connection, a student of mine reported that an ape doll with a noose around its neck was displayed in her home town of Waverly, Ohio last December. There were similar reports of a manager putting a noose on display for his black employees outside NYC in December.

One thing I would be interested in seeing is whether right-wing news outlets like Fox and the conservative talk shows begin to switch from their liberal bashing, Muslim bashing and pedophilia themes to race-baiting over the next couple of years. Will Bill O'Reilly turn from his almost daily scrutiny of pedophilia cases to unending discussions of black crime? Will Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter begin tearing apart blacks the same way they go after white liberals? It will be interesting to see.