Thursday, June 14, 2012
Arkansas Politics Black dialect joke a hit with Ozark Tea Party
Posted by Max Brantley on Thu, Jun 14, 2012 at 11:09 AM
Michael Cook at Talk Business reports on the warm reception a speaker received at a recent Ozark Tea Party rally June 9 in Mountain Home for telling this "icebreaker" joke in her approximation of black dialect:
A black kid asks his mom, ‘Mama, what’s a democracy?’“‘Well, son, that be when white folks work every day so us po’ folks can get all our benefits.’
“‘But mama, don’t the white folk get mad about that?’
“‘They sho do, son. They sho do. And that’s called racism.’”
The Baxter Bulletin, which covered the event, captured audio of the episode and reported that the crowd laughed heartily at Tea Party Board member Inge Marler. Afterward, one Tea Partyer, the local group's founder Richard Caster, told a questioning reporter the joke was in bad taste. Marler also told the newspaper she regretted telling the joke (after being called on it), saying she found it on the Internet. (The Devil made her do it?)
Remember that item the other day about a study that found that the geographic likelihood of people Googling for terms like "nigger joke" tended to correlate with anti-Obama voting patterns?
Some 500 were on hand for the Baxter County gathering. The audience included Sen. Missy Irvin (R-ALEC), who sent out a Tweet from the event: "Great rally this afternoon for the Ozark Tea Party in Baxter County. Great job @RichardCaster!" Cook has called on all the Republican politicians in that area to repudiate Ms. Marler. I'd be happy to add the words of any who'd choose to do so. Or defend Marler, for that matter.
PS — A politician doesn't face much risk telling race jokes in Baxter County, where the population is .2 percent black.
PPS — There are more white people on welfare than black people.
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