the yankee klux klan
by Ian Schuldt
Published: May 16, 2008
Barack Obama wins big in South Carolina and Bill Clinton is quick to point out Jesse Jackson won there too. Clinton is hammered for implying that Obama only won because so many blacks voted for him. Hillary Clinton wins big in West Virginia and Obama supporters are quick to note that 22% of Clinton’s voters cited race as an important factor, essentially implying that Clinton only won because she got the vote of a lot of racists.
Note the use of the word racists. I didn’t say she only won because she got the vote of a lot of whites, she won because she got the vote of a lot of racists. How does that work exactly? Somehow voting for Barack Obama because he’s black is fine, but voting for Hillary because she’s white is not. I guess you could say that there’s a difference because some black people are voting for Obama because they want to see a black person in the white house, but some white people are voting against Obama because they don’t want to see a black person in the white house, and that’s worse.
There’s a big difference between voting for someone because of their race, and voting against someone because of their race. Alright - well, I guess that sort of makes sense when put that way, but why couldn’t those white people vote for Hillary because they want to see a white person in the White House, and those black people vote against Hillary because they don’t want to see a white person in the White House? Using that logic, wouldn’t it make it OK for white people to vote for Hillary, but racist for black people to vote against her just as much as it’s OK for blacks to vote Obama, but not whites to vote against him?
As long as the determining factor for who you vote for is based on race or sex, you would think that would make you a racist or a sexist no matter what. It should be that way regardless of which way your sexism or racism influences your decision. Whether you’re voting for Hillary because she’s a woman, or against her because she’s a woman. Whether you’re voting for Barack because he’s black or against him because he’s black. Either way, you’re a bad person right?
Somehow that’s not true, though. There is a double standard. It’s OK for a black comedian to make fun of white people, but it’s not OK for a white comedian to make fun of black people. If an alien who knew nothing about this world came to this planet and heard that, he’d probably say that’s not fair. So then what’s the X-factor? There must be something else out there that makes this OK.
The answer is power. Race or sex has very little to do with it at all. These are just categories like teams on a baseball field. We humans have a natural tendency to root for the underdog. Whether we like it or not white males still control most of the power in this country. The scales have gotten more balanced over time, but still the reality is being born white and being born male gives you an edge in life.
Try and imagine a rich guy standing on a street corner in a fancy suit next to a homeless guy. A cab comes by and splashes mud all over the rich guy’s new suit. If the homeless guy started laughing at the mud-covered rich guy that would be fine. But what if the mud was splashed all over the homeless guy? If the rich guy started laughing at him it would be adding insult to injury. Somehow the fact that he’s already poor makes it less tasteful to laugh.
As long as the Yankees can keep buying championships people will always rightfully root against them. Just like as long as white males run the country, jokes about them will rightfully pay Chris Rock’s salary. That double standard will always remain. It’s not the Yankee’s fault they have all the money any more than it’s white people’s fault they were born white. But whether they choose it or not they are still in a position of dominance and therefore it’s more acceptable in our society to root against them than it is to root for them.
This is why I hold Yankee fans in about the same regard as Klan members. When whites and males are racist or sexist, it’s the equivalent of going to a Yankees v Royals game, and booing the Royals. The Yankee’s already have all the advantage in the world, only a scum bag would feel the need to cheer for them, too.
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