Comments on: Randi Rhodes Can STILL Kiss My Black Ass!!!

By: WMCB

WMCB — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 03:52:19 +0000

I’m white, but I understand the language thing, I think. I am educated. I am articulate. I have a quite extensive vocabulary, and wrote for a newspaper at one point in my life. I can write and speak formally all the day long, and am known for being a grammar snob in formal correspondence and in critiquing writing. I very much appreciate the beauty of good language, and its purpose and artfulness.

HOWEVER. I grew up poor white trash in the south. If you get me together with my sisters? Sweetie, things get loose and fast. The “gees” start dropping of the ends of words, and there is a lot of “y’all”, a lot of “Oh, honey, let me tell you sumpin’ ’bout that right there”, a lot of “she ain’t got no business goin’ over there and gettin’ up in that mess…” There are some “Lawd have mercy”s and a few “sheeee-yut”s. (The word shit has TWO syllables in the south.)

It is the easy, soft cadence of my childhood. It is comfort language, much the same as comfort food. It’s a way of connecting with my sisters and family, not ignorance. And a lot of it is colorful and expressive in a way that my “normal” speech is not.

By: Sugar

Sugar — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 03:26:12 +0000

Lisa, I sure hope that was a rebroadcast that you heard today.

By: Ron from S.F.

Ron from S.F. — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 02:09:57 +0000

Randi Rhodes has gone too far. Taking on Hillary is one thing. But now she is attacking Oprah too! How dumb can you get? Her copy of “How to win friends and influence people” should be recalled.

By: tngirl

tngirl — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 01:57:01 +0000

Sugar, I agree. Too many people have grown up de facto segregated by either race or class or both so they never get to see outside their own social circles. You know how bad the media is but what you don’t realize until you make it out of the barriers is how bad regular people can be without them even realizing it. There is hope like others have said, my generation, thanks to Dr. King and others, grew up free from the worst forms of racism and prejudice — and thank God — free from carrying the burden of hate in our souls. With that gift we can unite and talk and work to stamp out the remnants of racism rest of our “isms” in a way that could never happen before.

By: Uppity

Uppity — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:50:59 +0000

Hahahah. Yeah I’m a Garlic Nose too, sister. It’s a blast sometimes isn’t it?

By: Uppity

Uppity — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:48:10 +0000

I think we all wear them at times. Adapt Adapt Adapt. It’s all about audience. Then when we get home, it’s all about who we are.

By: Lisa in FL

Lisa in FL — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:46:18 +0000

Why is RR back on the air?? I hope I’m not mistaken since she’s supposed to be suspended indefinately. I turned the radio on WJNO in Palm Beach, FL this afternoon and there she was talking about her “vacation” (much sarcasm). Has anyone heard anything about this?

By: Sugar

Sugar — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:45:04 +0000

Well, hope springs eternal…

By: Sugar

Sugar — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:43:24 +0000

Well, Gloria you obviously haven’t listened to the clip in SusanUnPC’s post because she clearly says that Oprah was faking it. So, you are wrong.

By: Sugar

Sugar — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:41:43 +0000

tngirl, it’s an amazing phenomenon that is so often unspoken, but what I’m finding even more interesting is the fact that a number of white commenters have mentioned that they wear a mask of their own! We all have so much we could learn from one another.

By: Hope

Hope — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:00:30 +0000

I have a question about the Mistress Randi:
She looks exceedingly white to me, yet I have heard her claim to be AA. Is she just bullshitting us about this or is she AA?

By: Hope

Hope — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 23:49:35 +0000

I FEEL SO CHEAP!

By: Hope

Hope — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 23:48:34 +0000

Hey I was married into a family of people who hated Jews and Italians. I’m both! That was a lovely household. Mind you these were highly educated biggots and boy did I ever have to wear my mask.

I figure by the time I get to be 80 I will let it all HANG OUT!!

By: Gloria

Gloria — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 23:41:24 +0000

I heard Randi Rhodes the day she discussed the Oprah appearance. She asked if she was playing a role as she changed her speech pattern. She did NOT say directly that she thought Oprah was faking it. She “mused” about the possibility and said she didn’t know several times. She also repeated over and over that she LOVES Oprah.

Then she opened up the phone lines to find out what listeners thought.

My recollection was that Rhodes was really wondering about what the change of speech pattern was all about. As did I that day….

By: tngirl

tngirl — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 22:45:13 +0000

Wow Sugar, thank you! As someone who frequently has to switch myself I sympathize. Growing up I worked so hard to lose my accent because it was an automatic stigma and to my shame I did lose much of it for some time. When I went into grad school those of us that were from the south and/or black had to hide it from the professors. We got to see the way those students with the wrong accents were treated from the inside and it’s worse than you think (well maybe not). However, when we were alone we could all be ourselves. It was a shared secret that no one ever mentioned out loud. I still have to put on the “news caster” voice to be taken seriously and I loathe doing it. Worse I loathe the times I catch myself being prejudiced against those that talk like I really talk. It’s a terrible think to realize that society has programmed you to react negatively to the voices of your own family and have to fight against that programming.