My racist, homophobic, bigoted grandmother is in town.
No more than 30 minutes after arriving, she pushed me into a discussion about politics. If you can’t tell from my description of her, she’s a staunch Republican. Even for Central Louisiana, she’s a religious whacko.
I can’t describe what was said without using the word cunt, so I’m just going to recreate what was said with as little commentary as possible.
Rita: So what’s your opinion of the Presidential candidates?
Reed: (Shifting uncomfortably on the couch: ) Well, I’m not gung-ho about any of the candidates. I think all three of them are mediocre at best, as far as leadership quality goes. I liked Rudy and I tried to back McCain for a little while, but in the end, I think Obama is the least of the three evils.
Rita: (As if she just sucked on an under-ripe lemon: ) You want to fill the White House with a bunch of pickaninnies running around?
I’m trying my hardest not to slap her.
Religion ruins people.
Have Jesse “The Body” Ventura show her some smack down… brilliant interview on his part…
~Dan
Comment by postymcposterton — 23 May 2008 @ 9:40 am
I’m not familiar with the word ‘pickaninnies.’ What does that even mean?
Religion isn’t the reason your grandmother is a bigot. She is a bigot who uses religion to justify her bigotry. There is a difference. While you make religion the corrupting agent, I think people are pretty much corrupt already; they just need a reason or the means to act on it. It could be religion, political power, whatever.
Comment by Trey — 23 May 2008 @ 10:20 am
I don’t think it is fair to imply that religion is the primary cause of racism. They are related, but I’ve known more than my share of racist atheists too.
Comment by vjack — 23 May 2008 @ 11:07 am
I couldn’t tell her political persuasion by your description of her. It’s probably since I’m a 37 yr old homo friendly mulatto atheist from Detroit, Mi. & a staunch Republican too. Fortunately, we have ‘em (just a few) in Detroit.
Comment by Aaron — 23 May 2008 @ 11:12 am
No, her bigotry against blacks is mostly religious. Of course, she does have her non-religious peeves against blacks, mostly their clothes and style of speaking, but the rest of it is justified by her racist pastor and congregation. I think a lot of it goes back as far as saying that black people don’t have souls (which, technically, is true) and that they are the descendants of Noah’s cursed son Ham or some such nonsense. This is purely religious garbage and it offers the justification for an otherwise smart woman to become a racist monster.
She didn’t believe in the sons of Ham bullshit or the soul bullshit and THEN justify that through religion. The basis for her bigotry lies in what she was taught by her pastors growing up and her pastor today.
Comment by Rev. Reed Braden — 23 May 2008 @ 1:35 pm
And pickaninny is a racist term for a black person. Usually, it refers to a stereotypical slave-era black person and has fallen out of common usage today. However, in parts of the deep South, it is more offensive than the word nigger because black people have adopted the similar word nigga for themselves, and also the word pickaninny refers to a time when blacks were slaves or were just released from slavery.
I need to go wash my mouth out with soap now.
Comment by Rev. Reed Braden — 23 May 2008 @ 1:41 pm
Also, I agree that most racists justify their racism through religion but don’t get their racism from religion. I don’t believe my grandmother is intrinsically racist, though. With the way she speaks and how often she refers to the Bible when condemning black people, it’s definitely religiously motivated. It’s almost like she doesn’t want to be racist and she pities black people for being destined to hell or some such nonsense, but she does what her religious community tells her to do.
Comment by Rev. Reed Braden — 23 May 2008 @ 1:43 pm
Reed,
I’m fortunate never to have heard much of the racist lingo growing up. It wasn’t so much that my town was especially enlightened. It was simply that the one non-white child in the WHOLE SCHOOL SYSTEM was a mixed race lad my age who moved away after fourth grade, so there wasn’t enough awareness of race to have the hatred front and center.
The one time I’ve heard the word “pickaninny” in the wild made me believe it was more specifically a derogatory term toward black children. Is that your understanding, or is it just a generic slur?
Comment by GDad — 23 May 2008 @ 5:06 pm
I think it originated as a slur against slaves in the cotton field, hence “pick”aninny. If this is the case, it wouldn’t usually apply to children too young to work in the cotton fields. Many slave states had laws preventing slaves under a specific age from working in the fields. I believe the age range was between 8 and 14. I could be wrong. Children too young to work in the fields who “belonged” to less-merciful masters usually worked in the home or the kitchens. Many slave children never worked for their masters but helped upkeep the slave cabins.
I visit Monticello often and I occasionally linger in the salve cabins. Thomas Jefferson never made the children work in the fields or in the house and gave their mothers much time off to raise their children, still a horrible practise but more merciful than most. Monticello’s slave children were often made by their parents to help keep their quarters tidy.
Comment by Rev. Reed Braden — 23 May 2008 @ 5:55 pm
He also banged a few slaves. ;-)
Comment by Rev. Reed Braden — 23 May 2008 @ 5:55 pm
Aah Jefferson. It’s weird how he called things like the slave trade “execrable,” yet owned hundreds of slaves anyway!
As for your grandmother, I think everyone has at least one racist grandparent. My grandfather (dad’s side of the family, who not surprisingly live in Arkansas) is a horrid racist who believes black people are intellectually inferior because of genes.
Comment by Foth — 23 May 2008 @ 6:17 pm
Aside from anything, who would you vote for?
Me? I’d vote for Hillary or Obama; but Hillary doesn’t look so hot at the minute, and Obama apparently (at least according to a post on your old blog, Reed) is a racist (or at least belongs to a megachurch with a racist pastor). Tough call.
But, since I’m only a British citizen, I cannot vote. I voted for Johnson in the London By-Election and he came out on top, as you no doubt are aware.
As far as America goes, I’d vote Liberal. As for Great Britain, I’d vote Tory, because they seem to be similar to the US Liberals. I know that means I’m a right-winger in Britain, but before anyone far-left screams at me, bear in mind that the Tories are NOT Republicans – they are not religiously conservative, merely politically conservative (and to the right extent as opposed to too much).
Comment by Tom — 23 May 2008 @ 7:40 pm
Oh, anyway.
WE TOOK CREWE!!! YES!
Also, cocks.
Comment by Tom — 23 May 2008 @ 7:41 pm
Tom,
Obama’s pastor, who he was very reluctant to sever ties with, is a racist. Obama himself is not. In the political spotlight, you are who you associate with.
Foth,
My Arkansan grandparents (Dad’s family) are some of the most compassionate and tolerant people I know. They’re a great inspiration to me. It’s rare to find such tolerance in Arkansas, but it’s there.
Comment by Rev. Reed Braden — 23 May 2008 @ 8:16 pm
I wasn’t trying to say that I believe that your grandmother is intrinsically racist, as if there is some racist gene we have yet to discover. My point is that your grandmother is intrinsically corrupt. Look at almost anyone and you will see people trying to justify their own worth by belittling others. Whites and Blacks, North and South, Republican and Democrat, Women and Men, Christians and non-Christians…the list could go on and on.
Virtually everything can be abused, and the Bible is no different. In my opinion, your grandmother is elevating herself by tearing others down, and by thinking of herself as more deserving of “grace.” Sadly, it is common amongst a lot of Christians, and no one exposed the hypocrisy of Southern Christians than Flannery O’Connor. I would drop some Miss O’Connor on your grandmother and see what she does with that.
It is a terrible misunderstanding of grace and the Bible to use it to tear down others. As I have said to Reed in the past, I don’t think I am better than him at all. I disagree with some of his lifestyle choices, but I would openly confess to my own faults. The whole point of God choosing the Jews wasn’t that they were the most awesome race or powerful; it was that they were a small, nothing tribe, undeserving of his grace, just like me, like your grandmother and everyone else in the world.
Comment by Trey — 23 May 2008 @ 11:37 pm
the greatest generation my warty ass! I love how they’re all dying off right now.
Comment by Kevin — 1 June 2008 @ 10:06 pm
[...] must admit I have a strong connection to Arkansas. My grandparents (not the racist ones), my aunt and uncle and their four wonderful children, and many other fantastic Bradens, Blackmons [...]
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