Revisions/extensions (at the top this time) – James Wigderson checks in with Asterisk now, Asterisk forever, which includes a killer cartoon; Dad29 comments on the continued death of the paper; and Fred of RealDebateWisconsin took his comments national. Also, add Jessica McBride’s smashing of the illogic from the idiotorial board.
Oh, and add Betsy Brenner* to the list of bigots at the Racist Jentinel (H/T – Charlie Sykes). Time to once again expose the lies coming from 4th and State, with some help from LOCAL readers thoughtfully included by the somewhat-conservative Perspectives editor, Mabel Wong (whose co-workers probably believe she deserves an asterisk or two because she does not, in their bigoted views, represent “mainstream” female or “Asian-American” thought) –
A single sentence in a Nov. 1 editorial on the Supreme Court nomination of Samuel Alito attracted quite a lot of response, as you can see.
The central point of the editorial was Alito’s nomination and various red flags this raised, but we reserved judgment on whether he should be confirmed until hearings are completed. But a small portion of the editorial dealt with diversity on the court. The line read: “In losing a woman, the court with Alito would feature seven white men, one white woman and a black man, who deserves an asterisk because he arguably does not represent the views of mainstream black America.”
Conservative talk radio seized on this last clause, and many respondents said they felt the line was racist, contending that we were implying Thomas is not black enough. Not at all. The sentence only meant to call attention to the lack of diversity the court will have if Alito is confirmed, a position that many others have stated as well. With the asterisk comment, we did indeed call attention in particular to Thomas, the sole African-American on the court. That’s because, though much progress has been made, we continue to believe that the condition of black Americans, particularly here in the Milwaukee area, remains quite dire in many important respects and deserving of acute attention and sensitivity at all levels of government.
Besides blaming talk radio and conservative readers for not understanding that only conservatives can be racist, I guess they just proved the point of Jonathan H. Koenig of Milwaukee…
The editorial “A nomination that will divide” condescendingly referred to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as “a black man, who deserves an asterisk because he arguably does not represent the views of mainstream black America.”
Apparently African-American leaders must march in lock step with liberal ideology in order for their names to appear in print without an asterisk. This is freedom? Perhaps the “Milwaukee” in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also deserves an asterisk, because, on this issue at least, the Editorial Board surely does not speak for “mainstream” Milwaukeeans.
As for the role of Supreme Court Justices, Lester Boretsky corrects the idiotorial board on the role of the judiciary. Rolling right along with the toxic spew from the idiotorial board…
Also, it’s clear that racial diversity was a factor in Thomas’ nomination to the Supreme Court, whether it was overtly stated or not. He replaced civil rights legend Thurgood Marshall on the court. We did not invent this issue.
I’ll take this one myself. So, are the idiots saying that we can only replace like with like, or that the only way that minorities can get on the Supreme Court is through affirmative action, with their qualifications counting for nothing? Inquiring minds want to know.
That Thomas’ stances while on the Supreme Court are outside the black mainstream is fairly evident, we believe, on such matters as the Voting Rights Act, affirmative action, diluting black voting power, proving discrimination and on what constitutes “cruel and unusual.”
The single sentence in this editorial did not say Thomas is not black because he departs from other views on these or other topics. It did not, as some respondents contended, insist that all black people must think alike. We are well aware that there is diversity of thought in the black community, but we are also aware that there are some fairly evident common themes derived from common experiences among African-Americans in the United States.
We were remarking, however, that the views this theme has helped shape elsewhere in the country are not always well-represented on the Supreme Court at this time.
Bull-fucking-shit! If the idiototiral board merely wanted to note that Justice Thomas departs regularily from “mainstream” black thought without declaring that he isn’t really black because he departs from “mainstream” black thought, here’s how that sentence would have read – “In losing a woman, the court with Alito would feature seven white men, one white woman and a black man, who arguably does not represent the views of mainstream black America.” However, they’re a bunch of lieberal bigots at 4th and State, so they couldn’t resist taking the shot.
* Does not represent the mainstream views of western Waukesha County, where she lives.
