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norman kelley

norman kelley
Location
Washington, District of Columbia, USA
Bio
Norman Kelley is an independent journalist, author, and former segment radio producer at WBAI 99.5 FM Pacifica Radio. He has written for Society, L A Weekly, The Brooklyn Rail, The Village Voice, The Nation, New York Press, Newsday, Word.com, The Black Star News, New Politics, Black Renaissance/Noir, and The Bedford Stuyvesant Current. He is also the author of the "noir soul"/ mystery series that features "Nina Halligan" in Black Heat (Amistad), The Big Mango (Akashic Books), and A Phat Death (2003). Norman Kelley was also a contributing writer to Brooklyn Noir (Akashic Books, 2004) and DC Noir (Akashic Books, 2006) and Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs at the Turn of the Millennium (Random House 2000). He edited and contributed to R&B (Rhythm and Business): The Political Economy of Black Music (Akashic Books, 2005; 2002).

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JANUARY 17, 2012 1:33PM

The Epitome of Neo-racism: Newt Gingrich

Rate: 3 Flag

Nothing better exemplifies what I have often called neo-racism than Charles Blow's  take on Newt Gingrich's talking points in South Carolina:

They [Republicans] also underscore the fact that a clever politician like Gingrich, who understands this cleavage and knows how to exploit it in subtle and sophisticated ways, still has a chance to cause Mitt Romney some headaches on his presumptive march to the nomination.

Gingrich seems to understand the historical weight of the view among some southern whites, many of whom have migrated to the Republican party, that blacks are lazy and addicted to handouts. He is able to give voice to those feelings without using those words. He is able to make people believe that a fundamentally flawed and prejudicial argument that demeans minorities is actually for their uplift. It is Gingrich’s gift: He is able to make ill will sound like good will.

This is what Dan T.Carter once termed "soft-porn racism," perfected George Wallace.

 

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"a clever politician like Gingrich, who understands this cleavage and knows how to exploit it in subtle and sophisticated ways"
Gingrich has been doing this since he became House Majority leader (or was it Speaker?) during the Clinton years.
His "Contract with America" was insidious and couched in these same sort of terms. Was this the birth of the teabaggers?
Anyway, he's a clever politician...and a very scary politician.
Walter Blevins
January 17, 2012 01:57 PM
When he came out with his "child labor laws" revisionist speech, looking to claim his old anti-welfare constituency it was shocking to see how the mainstream media simply did not see what he was doing--and that includes the new generation of minority pundits with jobs at the ivy league schools. They lose their minds once they are in those places.
Ben Sen
January 17, 2012 02:57 PM

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