First of all, I want to admit I’m prejudiced. It’s not something I feel comfortable admitting, but there is a class of people among us that I’ve noticed is just not as bright as “mainstream” Americans. It’s not that ALL these people are boorish, corrupt, and intellectually inferior, but there are so many of them that fit the bill, that only the most PC person could ignore this truth. I’m speaking of course of county commissioners. In Tampa we had gay-hater Ronda Storms, who was rewarded for her homophobia with a seat in the Florida Senate. In Miami they have manatee-hater Natacha Seijas. And in Dallas there’s physics-hater John Wiley Price.
Mr. Price, in case you haven’t heard, is an African-American Dallas commissioner who took exception when fellow commissioner Kenneth Mayfield (a dead ringer for SNL’s Darrell Hammond) referred to a particular office as a black hole, on account of all the disappearing paperwork. And it wasn’t only Mr. Price who took offense. Another African-American official at the meeting, Judge Thomas Jones, demanded and apology from Mr. Mayfield. You really should just watch the clip, because I simply cannot do it justice:
But it gets better. After the meeting, Mr. Price could have looked up the term black hole, confirmed that there is absolutely no racist connotation, and let the story die. Instead, he grants an interview where he states the term is racist because scientists are white and points out various examples of racist language, such as the fact that Devil’s Food Cake is black and Angel Food Cake is white. And then, the cherry on top of the proverbial racist cake: he compares the whole black hole thing to using the term “jewing down” which actually IS a racist term based on a negative stereotype. Yeah, I know it sounds like I made it up, so here’s the clip:
But maybe, just maybe, Mr. Price has a point. And if he does, diminutive Native Americans are gonna be pissed.
Tags: black hole, dallas, diversity, john wiley price, politics, racism, science
