Posted by
Angelina Sciolla on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 4:42:18 PM
Michael Crowley notes in The New Republic that David Duke, the former Klansman, Holocaust denier and white supremacist, is underwhelmed by the possibility of an Obama presidency. His complacency is weirdly suspect. Duke basically throws all three prospective candidates under the bus with his conspicuous lack of opinion.
It may mean that the men in pointy white hats have given up and are simply fleeing to the nether regions. That's ok with me. But what is not ok with me is the use of this new word in our lexicon...."post-racial." It creeps up in the TNR article and seems to be circulating among people who think they invented, people who like the fact that it was invented and people who really don't know what the hell it means but figure it must be good. What does it mean? I think it is a sadly academic-sounding word that means nothing but has evoked a kind of dreamy sense of togetherness you only get when you're stoned at a rock concert.
If we were post-racial, we would not be having such a fight over immigration policy. If we were post-racial, then different races would be living in increasing numbers amongst each other. They're not. If we were post-racial, a word like post-racial would not exist because it wouldn't be necessary.
Duke knows this. Given the disconnect between himself and reality, he doesn't care if a purple man runs the country, as long as a black one still parks his car.