Posted by Sylvia Cochran at Associated Content.
Excerpts below:
Ralph Nader stated that he wished Barack Obama well, but that as president he would have to choose, among other things, if he was going to be “Uncle Tom for the giant corporations who are running America into the ground.”
The article continues:
James Manning Derides Barack Obama as House Negro
A man of the cloth who runs a church in Harlem, James Manning is a ruthless separatist who envisions a Harlem devoid of anyone but black people. Hanging his belief on a bizarre mix of Old Testament theology and prison Christianity, Manning – when not busy teaching his flock the finer art of prophesying – refers to Barack Obama as a “macdaddy,” “pimp,” racially mixed “trash,” and “good house negro.”
Obama Is a House Negro Says Al Qaeda
The New York Times reports that Ayman al-Zawahri – 57 year old surgeon and Al Qaeda leader – has referred to Barack Obama as a house negro. Blog Wired further quotes al-Zawahri as stating “And in you and in Colin Powell, Rice and your likes, the words of Malcolm X (may Allah have mercy on him) concerning ‘House Negroes’ are confirmed.”
You don’t have to overtly make the connection for it to be there.
I suppose we are stuck with “Uncle Tom” as pejorative for servility, but the fact remains that the character was beaten to death for refusing to acquiesce.
“Uncle Tom”, as written, is a hero.
“And shame on IPR for equating them in the headline.”
Paulie’s headline is spot on, whether Mike Gillis, Nader Apologizer, thinks so or not. Nader said something inflammatory, and something that was about as racially charged as what Rev. James Manning said.
what I’ve read in various spots, is Nader said he would not retract the statement.
but this is interesting….al-Zawahri may have concluded that Obama has already made (in his viewpoint) a bad choice, whereas Nader is suggesting the choice is still ahead…I don’t see that as being a big distinction.
But here is the text of the malcom x speech that al-Zawahri referred to:
“To understand this, you have to go back to what [the] young brother here referred to as the house Negro and the field Negro — back during slavery. There was two kinds of slaves. There was the house Negro and the field Negro. The house Negroes – they lived in the house with master, they dressed pretty good, they ate good ’cause they ate his food — what he left. They lived in the attic or the basement, but still they lived near the master; and they loved their master more than the master loved himself. They would give their life to save the master’s house quicker than the master would. The house Negro, if the master said, “We got a good house here,” the house Negro would say, “Yeah, we got a good house here.” Whenever the master said “we,” he said “we.” That’s how you can tell a house Negro.
If the master’s house caught on fire, the house Negro would fight harder to put the blaze out than the master would. If the master got sick, the house Negro would say, “What’s the matter, boss, we sick?” We sick! He identified himself with his master more than his master identified with himself. And if you came to the house Negro and said, “Let’s run away, let’s escape, let’s separate,” the house Negro would look at you and say, “Man, you crazy. What you mean, separate? Where is there a better house than this? Where can I wear better clothes than this? Where can I eat better food than this?” That was that house Negro.”
And shame on IPR for equating them in the headline.
I’m not equating them.
There were similar themes sounded, although hardly in the same way.
I’ve covered this story from different angles, including Nader’s own. I’ll continue to do so.
The story is getting definite media attention, judging by the google news hits anyway, so we’d be remiss not to cover something that includes Nader. Nor can we make all our stories about him positive. Given that we’ve printed numerous Nader press releases, videos, blogs, etc., I’d say we are hardly here to slam the man – but at the same time, we are here to cover the criticism of him which is widespread as well.
Jeez, Ralph Nader makes a very good point in a stupid way and people promote this over just about everything he’s said during the election and keep dragging it back up to continue to villify him.
Even when Democrats finally win, they just can’t fucking let it go. Even more than two weeks after he said it.
It feels like articles like this weren’t written to highlight Manning or l-Zawahri, but to have an excuse to compare Nader to them.
He says one completely valid thing in a bad way at 1 am and let’s on pile onto him. It certainly cancels out every good thing the man has ever said and done.
Oh yeah. Far more offensive that say — voting to make it easier for the government to spy on its citizens without a warrant, voting to fund an illegal war, cheerleading the bailout, voting for the PATRIOT Act….and on and on.
It really feels like the media is only mentioning al-Zawahri and Manning as an excuse to attack Nader again and equate him with these clowns.
And shame on IPR for equating them in the headline.
You know what, I went back and read Malcom X’s speech that referred to ‘the house negro’.
It made some things clear about this position, al-Zawahri was taking.
I don’t agree with Malcom X or al-Zawahri, but if you read the speach, if anything, it makes Nader look even worse. Why? because al-Zawahri may just have been taking an islamic fundamentalist viewpoint, that was not based on his own racism, but rather the teachings of Malcom X.
Was Malcom X a racist? I don’t think so. I don’t like the man, but he was trying to make a point within the context of his world view.
I expect more from Nader, and no less from al-Zawahri.
Todays loser: Nader
The bigger difference was that Nader said Obama had a choice to make, whether to be an Uncle Sam for the people or an Uncle Tom for the corporations, whereas Manning and al-Zawahri say that being a house negro is what Obama is.
to answer your rhetorical question, they are both pejoratives that refer to black people who are in servitude to white people.
I also don’t see much difference in the meaning.
Well, we didnt write that so I wont defend it. Still, I dont see much of a difference between “uncle tom” and “house negro”.
Arent both racial slurs?
They may quote him word for word but at the start of the article they type:
Barack Obama has been called a house negro by Ralph Nader, separatist Baptist preacher James Manning and homicide bombers Al Qaeda.
Before the actual Nader quote they give the pretense “Ralph Nader Calls Obama Uncle Tom”. So yeah, I would say they do misrepresent the truth to say the least.
The article doesnt say Ralph Nader called Obama an Uncle Tom. It quotes him word for word.
Umm…Because Ralph Nader never called Obama an “Uncle Tom” he simply used the word in a rhetorical question in regards to whether or not he will challenge corporate power in the USA.
As far as I can tell al-Zawahri blatantly called Obama a racial slur. Besides, it’s obviously another biased article in favor of the Democrats that attempts to vainly vilify Nader.
…….
Why?
Nader said it. So did Al-Zawahiri…
This article was horrible; to somehow indirectly connect Ralph Nader to Al Qaeda is disgraceful.