I grew up in the South in the same period she's talking about, and I never once heard the phrase "brown person" until the late 1990s -- and then it was in the mouths of liberals who were wishing it was a category they could assign to the thoughts of troglodyte rednecks, not a phrase used by the rednecks themselves. Racism against black people was very much a thing in the 1970s South, though as the article points out important aspects of the culture were already moving strongly against it. The irony is that the strength of the black/white division meant that anyone who wasn't black was, well, white. That's why the Irish had settled very easily into Savannah when they struggled in New York and Boston; it's why Jews were quite accepted in the Antebellum South when they were subject to great prejudice elsewhere.
The people of South Carolina elected her as their governor, for goodness sake, even though she was a Republican who credited Hillary Clinton with inspiring her political career. She didn't win the office with closet Democratic votes, either, as she may hope to do with tonight's election. She was embraced by one of the most strident of the Southern states -- one whose votes she'll have to ask for again, soon. Why she chose to insult them with this falsehood at this time is probably because she's looking for a new constituency, and thinks she can best seek it by publicly rejecting her old one. That sort of disloyalty is typical of a Washington politician, who forget in their moment of wealth and power who it was that trusted them enough to empower them to begin with.
On the side issue of "remembering the 1970s," I heard some young people discussing a theory that people didn't drink water in the 1970s. They asked if bottled water was even for sale in the stores. Well, no, it wasn't: water in those days was free, everywhere, as a general civilizational courtesy. The late, great Lewis Grizzard of the Atlanta Journal wrote that his father thought that only Communists would charge for water (a good laugh line even then, given the obvious capitalism of figuring out how to charge for what had always been free). When Perrier began to become popular among Atlanta Yuppies in the 1980s, he had a lot of fun with the idea that you'd pay good money for a drink of water. It's not so funny now, is it?
From the past several months, it is apparent that Nikki Haley tailors her speech to her audience. Which is fine for her until her disparate statements in front of disparate audiences are widely publicized and parsed.
ReplyDeleteI don't doubt that she had some problems growing up. But her getting elected Governor indicates that they were surmountable problems, and water under the bridge.
A childhood friend of mine, of the Afro-American persuasion, experienced some examples of racial discomfort in elementary school, but also made some lifelong friends among her elementary schoolmates. She still lives in our hometown, and served a term in the state legislature.
I suspect that Nikki Haley will gain some votes in New Hampshire from those who are eager to show their virtue by distancing themselves from those eevul Southren. (Disclaimer: I am a native New Englander.) But not a good idea to denounce those who elected you Governor, as Grim points out.
Nikki Haley is one of two people of South Indian descent who were elected as Governors of Southern states. Both Republicans. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana being the other.
ReplyDeleteIn support of Grim's "not black means white" viewpoint for the South.
To modify what I previously said about Nikki Haley, I'd bet that she encountered no more than 4-5 racially oriented comments during her childhood.
Well, they were from SOUTH India, you see. Yankee Indians would not have fared as well.
ReplyDeleteTom said...
ReplyDeleteWell, they were from SOUTH India, you see. Yankee Indians would not have fared as well.
Good one. My mistake. I meant to write "South Asian," a common term for the Indian subcontinent. BTW, Haley's parents are from Amritsar, in northern India.
To paraphrase an old line, once you can fake authenticity you've got it made.
ReplyDeleteThis is largely Trump's appeal, completely misunderstood by Democrats (and RINOs) who literally expect their politicians to lie about their views (see 'personally opposed to abortion' and 'my views about gay marriage have evolved ... since I won the election'.) DeSantis listened to a bunch of consultants, and I hope he learned his lesson for 2028 and is still in the game then.
Don't let the doorknob hit your backside on the way out, Nikki.
Sorry, Gringo. I can't resist a bad joke.
ReplyDeleteThat said, there are some notable differences between north Indian and south Indian culture. Dietary restrictions are quite different; southern Hindus enjoy beef, for example. Also, Hindu nationalism is usually thought of as a northern Hindu phenomenon. Of course, these are sweeping generalizations; YMMV.
...who literally expect their politicians to lie about their views....
ReplyDeleteTo take this off on a short tangent, John Kerry once said he never would have voted in favor of Bush the Younger's invasion of Iraq if he'd thought Bush actually would do what he'd said he was going to do.
Eric Hines
...who literally expect their politicians to lie about their views....
ReplyDeleteMy favorite illustration of this phenomenon is when Kamala Harris was picked to be Veep and she seemed completely unable to understand why anyone would think that was incongruous with her earlier complaints that Joe Biden was a racist/sex-harasser.
"It was a debate! It was literally a debate!"
ReplyDeleteShe found it astounding and hilarious that anyone thought for one second they should believe the words coming out of her mouth. She didn't even realize she was supposed to pretend otherwise.