Monday, August 24, 2015

Twenty Thousand Considered Disappointing Turnout for Racist Event in Alabama

Donald Trump. (photo: Mark Wallheiser/Getty)
Donald Trump. (photo: Mark Wallheiser/Getty)

Twenty Thousand Considered Disappointing Turnout for Racist Event in Alabama

By Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker
22 August 15
 
The article below is satire. Andy Borowitz is an American comedian and New York Times-bestselling author who satirizes the news for his column, "The Borowitz Report."

rally featuring a racist speaker Friday night in Mobile attracted a crowd of just twenty thousand people, widely considered a disappointing turnout for a racist event in Alabama.
According to racist event planners in the state, a crowd of twenty thousand would rank the event as one of the smaller racist rallies in Alabama this year.
Organizers of the rally were quick to defend the size of the turnout. “There is always a lot of competition for the racist audience in Alabama,” an aide to the speaker said. “There were other racists speaking at other venues in the state Friday night. Plus, a lot of racists now prefer to stay at home and stream racist content on the Internet. Given all the options available to racists, I think twenty thousand is a solid number.”
Harland Dorrinson, a longtime racist event planner in Alabama, disagreed, claiming that the size of the crowd was more reminiscent of non-racist events in the state. “You go around spewing hatred every chance you get, and then you only draw twenty thousand in Alabama?” he said. “The people who organized this event need to sit down and figure out what went wrong.”
 

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+100 # Dongi 2015-08-22 15:04
Don't know what's wrong with Alabama. They just aren't hating the way they used to.
 
 
+93 # Billy Bob 2015-08-22 20:55
I blame the liberal media.
 
 
+31 # Glen 2015-08-23 06:04
It isn't just Alabama. Sure, the rally was held there, but pay attention to his rallies in other states as well. Hatred and racism is rampant around the U.S. and Trump appeals to all of it, regardless of the style in which each state exhibits it.
 
 
+7 # Billy Bob 2015-08-24 00:55
But, Alabama, South Carolina, and Mississippi are like a racist all-star team. Your downplaying of deep-southern racism, is a bit like saying there are no red states, because Republicans live everywhere.
 
 
+3 # Glen 2015-08-24 07:06
I'm not downplaying it; I am merely stating Alabama, and those you listed, are not the only ones with rabid racists and white supremacists. Folks will travel hundreds of miles to participate in such rallies because of their anger and lack of judgement.

I know very well what goes on in the South, but I also know very well what goes on in other states. Trump is appealing to them all by targeting the lowest type of thinking, with no critical thinking or research.
 
 
+3 # Billy Bob 2015-08-24 08:08
There's racism everywhere. The south just happens to be worse.

Of course that's what Trump is doing. He's a Republican. They're proud of that kind of thinking. It's why he's their front runner. It's also why the Democratic Party no longer needs the deep red south to win the presidency.
 
 
+3 # Glen 2015-08-24 08:39
We shall see when Trump holds rallies in other states. There is support for him all over the country. As I say, The style of racism and stupidity is exhibited differently in each state, and racism is only part of it. Trump knows how little it takes to get people riled up and how to appeal to the worst in them.

Sarah Palin did, too, on a lower level.
 
 
+1 # Billy Bob 2015-08-24 09:49
Yep. I agree with all of that, but the "style of racism" comment. The racism is worse in the south. Southerners are defensive about it, but it's true. I've lived 1/3 of my life in the south.

We're all on a mission to buck certain trends in thinking. You seem on a mission to do that about the idea of southern racism being worse. I understand. I fight similar battles defending things I think differently about than most RSN commenters. We're all unique. But, it is a tough sell to try to convince us that it isn't worse there. Racism is racism. Literally 100% of ALL people are racist, to an extent (I personally believe). But, the kind of racism that's rabid and nasty and the cause of the worst our society can do, is represented by about 10-20% of all northerners, and about 30-40% of all southerners. These are my numbers. There's no real way to measure this anyway, but anecdotally by our personal experience, and the facts we see playing out in front of us over time. You may disagree with the percentages (of course you will), but if you want to make us believe the racism in the north is as prevalent and as nasty, you're going to have a tough time making that sale.
 
 
0 # Glen 2015-08-24 11:37
We've gone around about the South in the past, and I do believe you never did understand the thinking on the subject. There is no defensiveness on my part, merely reminding folks that it is a much bigger picture than simply choosing the South to beat up on.

Having lived in numerous parts of the U.S., having family in the deep South, and having traveled all over the states and Europe, etc., I guarantee you, there is racism everywhere. No matter how vocal a society is, or not, it is there. Southerners, as in other cultures, are very vocal and adamant. In other states and countries it comes in through the back door.

Not all racism is against just blacks, either. It can be anybody, and right now in the U.S. the most visible are Latinos and indians.

In parts of Asia, Americans are hated. A child threw rocks at me while I was waiting for friends touring an ancient temple. Soon a number of adults were doing the same, just as a symbol, not meaning for me to be injured. A few other adults stepped in before I could say anything or move away. One of them explained that Americans are not welcome because most of those citizens have been misguided.

There are misguided deep South type people all over the planet.
 
 
+7 # ER444 2015-08-22 15:41
Actually according to the latest polls there were 30,000 people. That is more even than Bernie Sanders has had at his until now record breaking rallies. I love Andy, but this time I find the reality very disturbing.
 
 
+21 # Archie1954 2015-08-22 22:56
20,000 is still too much for the State to endure.
 
 
+34 # Cappucino 2015-08-22 23:41
As usual, Trump appears to have a bizarre, unidentifiable alien on his head. Most likely, this one plans to infiltrate several branches of government, get elected, and then throw off its disguise to reveal a giant scaly lizard with nuclear death breath. Aka: Godzilla's revenge over last year's movie. Mothra, Ghidrah, Godzooky, Them, It, The Thing, and various vampires will be on hand.

What?? It makes as much sense as anything else in the political process right now. O.o.
 
 
+11 # Skippydelic 2015-08-23 03:12
"Godzilla Vs. Trump's Hair"? ;-)
 
 
+1 # Billy Bob 2015-08-24 00:56
THE TOUP THAT ATE LAS VEGAS!
 
 
+32 # 1wolff 2015-08-23 05:27
Poor planning. Friday night = football. A sport more important than even racism.
 
 
+2 # janla 2015-08-23 16:09
Quoting 1wolff:
Poor planning. Friday night = football. A sport more important than even racism.

especially in the South
 
 
+8 # CelticNavigator 2015-08-23 07:54
Most folks are clueless that the KKK was once huge everywhere in America. From Wiki:

"The Indiana Klan rose to prominence beginning in the early 1920s after World War I, when ethnic Protestants felt threatened by social and political issues, including changes caused by decades of heavy immigration from southern and eastern Europe. By 1922 the state had the largest organization nationally, and its membership continued to increase dramatically under the leadership of D.C. Stephenson. It averaged 2,000 new members per week from July 1922 to July 1923, when he was appointed as the Grand Dragon of Indiana. He led the Indiana Klan and other chapters he supervised to break away from the national organization in late 1923.

"Indiana's Klan organization reached its peak of power in the following years, when it had 250,000 members, an estimated 30% of native-born white men. By 1925 over half the elected members of the Indiana General Assembly, the Governor of Indiana, and many other high-ranking officials in local and state government were members of the Klan. Politicians had also learned they needed Klan endorsement to win office."

Photo of KKK Women's Auxiliary in my hometown of Dayton, Ohio. When I first saw this photo a few months ago, I had to wonder if my grandmother attended this huge KKK rally...

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/96/65/14/966514736a9128a4fc6e9286cde573be.jpg
 
 
+8 # MillValleyMaven 2015-08-23 08:13
"ethnic Protestants"? Yeah, let's go to that great new Protestant restaurant in the neighborhood.
 
 
+7 # Wally Jasper 2015-08-23 09:44
They serve quite a few varieties of meat and potatoes with no spices whatsoever.
 
 
0 # barbaratodish 2015-08-23 10:01
Trump's next rally in Alabama needs to be held in Tuskaloossa, then everyone can get some valuable "IVORY" because IN ALABAMA THE TUSKS R LOOSSA! lmao
 
 
+2 # Corvette-Bob 2015-08-23 18:59
They did not blow the dog whistle long enough for the racist to hear. Anyways Trump is not a true believer he is simply a demigod who will say anything to get attention.
 
 
0 # lewagner 2015-08-23 21:56
Dr. Cynthia McKinney, former (black) congressperson from Georgia, reported today on her Facebook page that white people in the South have a BETTER attitude towards race than elsewhere in the country.
Cynthia McKinney is one of my favorite people, by the way, she had the integrity to press Donald Rumsfeld on 9/11 in Congressional hearings.
https://youtu.be/Px1t1-a9uxk
She also refused to take the AIPAC pledge, by the way -- which "Bernie" should also do, but he won't. Cynthia is no longer a congressperson; "Bernie" still is, and has become a "viable" presidential candidate. I think that's telling.
 
 
+2 # Glen 2015-08-24 07:09
Great observation. She is a great person and it was a shame to lose her. It truly is not just the south, as I have said, the entire country has lost its mind.
 
 
0 # Glen 2015-08-24 15:33
Thank you for the reminder,Celtic . I have met folks in the past who were elderly, and who recounted family histories. In the Dakotas, and elsewhere, racism was vicious and violent, even to the point of killing black children - burning them alive.

Burning blacks alive was a widespread method of intimidation that worked for a time, obviously. There is no way the heritage of that hatred has been eliminated, and I would be interested in how Indiana citizens view today's situation.
 

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