Do some get a pass on being labeled racist?

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Do some get a pass on being labeled racist?

By Michaela L. Duckett – June 30, 2011

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Good Morning! Those of us who enjoy a good laugh, may be excited now that the new and long awaited Comedy Zone is finally opening tonight at the NC Music Factory (935 N. Graham St.). Click here for a list of upcoming acts or to see video of the comedians in action from John Witherspoon talking about coordination and smoking to Pat Godwin singing gangsta lyrics to folk music.

The weatherman says we can expect another sunny day with highs in the low 90‘s.

Here’s what’s brewing in the news:

Is Jon Stewart racist?
Are liberals and conservatives held to different standards when it comes to matters of race and criticizing black politicians? Fox News analyst Bernie Goldberg thinks so.

In his blog, he said Jon Stewart should be labeled a racist for impersonating Herman Cain, the Republican presidential candidate, in what he called an "exaggerated 'Amos & Andy' 'black voice.'"

Watch this clip. Do you find it racially offensive?

Goldberg, who is Caucasian, believes Stewart got a pass for the way he mocked Cain simply because he is a liberal. “Stewart went on his show, and while he didn’t put on blackface makeup and start tap dancing he did put on a 'black voice' and proceeded to mock Mr. Cain in a way that would never be tolerated if a conservative had done it,” he wrote.

Goldberg explains that if Bill O’Reilly or Rush Limbaugh had done the same, everyone would be screaming racism. While he may not necessarily believe that Stewart is a racist, he believes he should be labeled one simply to prove a point.

Goldberg wrote:

“Conservatives should do what liberals have been doing for years – they should play fast and loose with the word ‘racist.’ They should start calling every liberal who criticizes Herman Cain – or any other conservative black man – a racist. Not because it’s true, but precisely because it’s a lie. Let’s see how those superior liberals feel when they’re the ones being slandered, when they’re the ones being maligned as racists simply because they oppose a black man’s conservative policies. Let’s see if they recognize that they’re the ones who perfected this form of slander, by calling conservatives racists simply because we disagree with President Obama’s liberal policies.”

AOL Black Voices writer Gene Demby has a different take on the issue. “This brouhaha also speaks to how Cain has made his blackness a major part of to his pitch to be president,” he wrote.

Demby said in 2008, Obama’s campaign avoided talking too explicitly or too long about race. He believes Cain is playing up his race to possibly “differentiate himself from a field of Republican candidates that's ideologically more or less the same.”

In an interview, Cain said he was not offended by Stewart's jokes.

QUESTION: Is there a double standard when it comes to criticizing black politicians?

(Photo: Herman Cain)
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Police look for person who fired a bullet into church
Police say someone fired a bullet into Gethsemane AME Zion Church in West Charlotte late Tuesday morning. The incident occurred around 11:30 a.m. while nearly three dozen seniors were inside having lunch. A glass door was shattered and a piece of glass injured a man who was working on the church‘s alarm system. No one else was hurt in the incident. Police are looking for the person who shot the gun. Police told NewsChannel 36 they think it was probably a stray bullet, and they have not been able to find anyone who was outside and saw or heard anything. (Read more here)
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CMS to seek waiver of state’s new 185-day requirement
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education voted at its June 28 meeting to seek a one-year waiver and use the state-mandated five additional school days for teacher training and development in the 2011-2012 school year. After adding 45 minutes to the elementary school day for next year, the district says they already have enough instructional hours in the existing calendar to meet the new state requirement. “We want to use the days for teacher training for two reasons. First, it will help our teachers be more effective in the classroom and provide support for instruction and the new common core standards,” said Dr. Peter C. Gorman, superintendent of CMS. “Secondly, we want our families to have the opportunity to participate in changing the calendar for 2012-2013. We have a transparent and accessible calendar process in place and we want to maintain that.”