Pete Accused Of "Racist Paternalism" After Viral Essay Blasts 2011 Stance On Minority Education

[Hassin Bin Sober]

Mayor Pete Accused Of “Racist Paternalism” After Viral Essay Blasts 2011 Stance On Minority Education Issues

https://www.joemygod.com/2019/11/viral-essay-accuses-mayor-pete-of-racist-paternalism-over-2011-comment-on-minority-education-challenges/

In it, Harriot addressed a resurfaced video of Buttigieg from 2011, in which the presidential candidate said many minority children from low-income neighborhoods don’t know people who demonstrate the value of education, implying that seeing more role models would help them to succeed. At the time, Buttigieg was was running for mayor of South Bend, Ind.

[Polybius]

1. I can't believe he's rising so much

We can do better.

[ritapria]

4. Buttigieg is in 2nd place nationally according to a flawed Quinnipiac Poll

Biden 24% Buttigieg 16% Warren 14 % Bernie 13% ,,,,The top 2 Progressives have shriveled up to nothing because they grossly oversampled Moderate and Conservatives …… Liz dropped 14% from their October 28th poll , Bernie down 2 %

[phandancer917]

9. Yes we can....

...and we are.

I have been lambasted for this before -- but some of Pete's issues with the black community is the gay bias that is born from a Church bases social structure. I would absolutely say this is MUCH MORE of a christian bigot issue than a black bias issue. The church is the real enemy here.

Pete is never going to have great black support (or from ANY group that gets its moral compass from the christian church) due to the bigotry that the church still instills in the community.

[loyalsister]

13. I'm disappointed to keep seeing that at DU

It seems attributing anti gay bias to the black community is a way to shift blame for Pete's own failings with some voters. There is a history that justifies suspicion among Black voters that Pete seems to not have been able to address adequately. It matters.

[zentrum]

14. Good point.

[guillaumeb]

26. Well said.

The obvious point here should be the narrative that the candidate framed himself.

[loyalsister]

29. Exactly

And it's not as if he denies he has a problem here, but supporters are bizarrely lining up to demonize voters Mayor Pete desperately needs.

[guillaumeb]

30. And blame the voters for a systemic racism

that produced the conditions in the first place.

A racism that stretches back to 1619, and that still persists today, cannot be eliminated simply by minimal government actions.

[lostnfound]

35. Whatever the reason, if it results in lower turnout in the general, we have a major problem Nt

[LanternWaste]

2. The author confuses the words imply and infer. It's a common but critical flaw in writing...

as both words have entirely separate meanings, much as do 'catch' and 'throw'.

That said, Buttigieg has acknowledged that he needs "help" courting black voters and "has a lot of work to continue to do" in that effort... a sincere admission one or two other candidates would do well to heed.

[redqueen]

46. I think they meant what they said. nt

[jcgoldie]

3. He's got it all wrong...

Obviously the problem is that no-one is playing the record player at home...

Seriously though, lack of role models who value education is a poverty problem not just a minority issue. Having taught in a poor rural high school for many years a tremendous problem is that a large percentage of parents who did not encounter success in school for socio-economic reasons do not see the value of education or do not have any hope or confidence that their children can be successful in the system so they don't have high expectations. Without that push from home, its very hard for kids to excel.

[left-of-center2012]

5. So many seem to fear Buttigieg

He takes the spotlight off their candidates.

[BootinUp]

7. Yep. Nt

[demmiblue]

6. Harriot: "I want to be clear: Pete Buttigieg is a lying motherfucker."

Classic Harriot.... always turning it up to eleven.

Though I do get his point, over-the-top rhetoric helps no one. At the same time, role models and representation do matter for all marginalized communities. I also realize that white folks need to get their shit together and right some wrongs.


Buttigieg's response, fwiw:

Link to tweet

[femmedem]

18. Thanks for posting his reply.

He handled that with grace and emotional intelligence.

[TidalWave46]

8. How Pro-Trump Russian Trolls Targeted Bernie Backers

A pair of Clemson University researchers, at the request of The Washington Post, examined English-language tweets identified as coming from Russia, many of which were designed to influence the election. The effort to promote Sanders as a way to influence the U.S. election began shortly after he declared his candidacy in spring 2015, according to Mueller’s indictment of the Russians. Russia’s aim was to defeat or weaken Clinton, who had angered Russian President Vladimir Putin when she had been secretary of state.

https://www.joemygod.com/2019/04/how-pro-trump-russian-trolls-targeted-bernie-backers/

Russian Facebook Ads Backed Stein, Sanders, Trump

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein was the beneficiary of at least one of the Russian-bought political ads on Facebook that federal government officials suspect were intended to influence the 2016 election.

Other advertisements paid for by shadowy Russian buyers criticized Hillary Clinton and promoted Donald Trump. Some backed Bernie Sanders and his platform even after his presidential campaign had ended, according to a person with knowledge of the ads. The pro-Stein ad came late in the political campaign and pushed her candidacy for president, this person said.

https://www.joemygod.com/2017/09/russian-facebook-ads-backed-stein-sanders-trump/

Interesting "blog." Haven't seen it before.

[BuffaloJackalope]

17. Michael Harriot is a pro-Russian troll?

[Celerity]

22. no, but he is a bomb throwing sensationalist, here is his hit job on Biden as more proof

Joe Biden’s Corn Pop Story Is a Parable About How White People See Us

https://www.theroot.com/joe-biden-s-corn-pop-story-is-a-parable-about-how-white-1838161871

snip

The first time I read Biden’s Thug Life Fairy Tale, I had questions before I even reached the end, where the good-hearted lifeguard and the dangerous negro troll who lived under the diving board lived happily ever after.

First of all, Biden did what?

During the course of my life, I have known many gentlemen who displayed goon-ish qualities and very few of them possessed the patience or the caution to patiently wait outside for a potential victim to clock out and do some light chain-wrapping. And straight razors are popular in jailhouse tales because that was the only way to shave. No street-certified miscreant is walking around Delaware carrying a straight razor. This horrific real nigga ogre is something that only exists in white people’s minds.

But Biden’s whitesplained reason for working at a segregated swimming pool to learn about black people might be the most disconcerting part of this story. The fact that the editors and publishers of his 2007 autobiography found it reasonable to retell the story of the Senator who went on a summer safari to study the negro in its natural habitat explains more about white people than the heartwarming fable reveals about anything. Biden wanted to understand structural racism and learn more about black people so he got a job at a local pool.

What?

And that’s not a 2019, woker-than-thou “what.” That line of reasoning wouldn’t even make any sense in 1962. Yet, white folks readily believe this illogical premise as if it makes any fucking sense whatsoever!

snip

Link to tweet

[BuffaloJackalope]

24. Michael Harriot is inflammatory in service of the truth.

Do you deny that Buttigieg was being questioned by 3 white men about the challenges in education the black community faces without even paying lip service to any actual black people? (There's video, ya know.) Do you even see the problem?

[Celerity]

25. was Harriot in the service of truth here? Michael Harriot : I'm Not With Her Because I'm Petty

https://www.theroot.com/i-m-not-with-her-because-i-m-petty-1790856224

snip

I’ve always been this way. Whenever anyone does something objectionable to me or someone I love, I can’t f—k with them anymore. I can’t place my arm around them and smile in photographs. I can’t greet them with a Christian hug after church. I stay away from them forever. By default, I love everyone, but if I don’t love you, I want to fight you. Forever. I can forgive you. I can forget you. But not both. Nowadays they call that “petty,” so I guess I’m petty.

That’s why I’m not “with her.”

Whenever I state this, troglodyte thinkers automatically assume that I’m with Donald Trump. I’ve written more scathing condemnations of Trump than I have of any other human being (except maybe Kanye West). There is a prevailing school of shallow thought that if you’re not helping Hillary Clinton, you're helping Donald Trump. I am not that stupid. That’s not how math works. That’s not how the Electoral College works. But let me be clear: I am not with Donald Trump. I think he is a racist, entitled poster-boy-for-white-privilege half-wit capitalizing on white nationalism and Caucasian fear.

Is that clear enough for you?

I do not want Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump as president of the United States, but most of the people reading this already know the litany of reasons we should reject the thought of voting for Trump. Those people tell me they aren’t necessarily in love with Clinton, but they are faced with choosing the lesser of two evils.

Choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil. I will not choose evil.

snip

[BuffaloJackalope]

27. I guess you have no problem with white people excluding black people while discussing black issues.

We should be better than that.

[Celerity]

28. no one is doing that now, that's pure rot, also read this (Buttigieg called Harriot and they talked)

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287360337

[BuffaloJackalope]

31. Which makes me think you didn't even read that.

“Here’s why black voters support black candidates,” I said. “When you go into a room and sit around a table of white men, we are worried that this is what will happen; that a roomful of white people will talk about role models and confidence and crime and no one in the room will say: ‘Hold up, we can’t talk about any of this without talking about racism. We can’t talk about education without talking about discrimination.’ That is our fear.”

Which is exactly what Buttigieg was doing. Do you see the problem?

[Celerity]

33. read his response

done here kicking this thread

Link to tweet

[BuffaloJackalope]

34. I did. Did you?

[Celerity]

36. I take nothing you say seriously, you have posted multiple attacks on Buttigieg on multiple threads

in your very short time here, including OP's.

You have slurred him as 'Mayo Pete' in multiple posts and also used far worse terminology (and reaped the prize that those types of bullshit smears earn.)

so I am well and truly done with this colloquy

why don't you go post some positive things about your candidate

[BuffaloJackalope]

37. And you have not addressed the issue at hand in any way.

At least Pete is trying.

[stonecutter357]

41. you have not addressed the issue at hand in any way.

[BuffaloJackalope]

44. You mean white people imposing their decisions on the black community

with no input from the black community? You are absolutely wrong.

As Democrats, we're supposed to be better than this.

[PatrickforO]

10. Here's what Pete actually said:

“Kids” from “lower income, minority neighborhoods” don’t have “someone they know personally who testifies to the value of education.” – Pete Buttigieg, 2011 South Bend Mayoral Candidate.

This author, Harriot, seems convinced that this makes Buttigieg a 'lying m-f' and deserving of being castigated for 'racist paternalism.'

I guess to each, their own, because I'm not reading 'racist paternalism' into this. I guess because I am involved in federal job training programs that serve impoverished kids in the inner city, I see that Buttigieg has a point here. Because I've experienced 30 years in this system and seen some pretty harsh reality.

But, however you might look at Buttigieg's comment on its face, let me ask you all this: How can we solve problems if we cannot state the problem (or at least part of it) without fear of someone attributing 'meaning' to our words that isn't there?

I'm sure I'll be castigated for this particular post, but my question stands. Kids in impoverished inner city schools are predominantly minority, and those schools do have substantially lower graduation rates. This is because of a variety of economically racist factors concerning how schools are funded, and institutional racism that is both economic and social in nature.

Nonetheless, in real life, over many years, I have known and worked with kids that needed some pretty massive help to succeed. Many of these kids really did not know someone personally who testifies to the value of education. They didn't, and in fact, sometimes when a kid I was working with began showing success, the rest of the kids around them would begin making fun of them, say they were 'turning white,' meaning that they were selling out all their old friends by getting occupational training so they could get a decent job with decent pay and good benefits.

What makes me downright sad is that I saw this very same wedge driven with unerring accuracy between us in the 2016 primary. It is the same old divide and conquer strategy that has been in use for thousands of years. And we fall for it every single time.

Every. Single. Time.

Sigh.

[demmiblue]

12. +1

Harriot is pretty much a clickbait troll who cares about Harriot first and foremost (though I have read some things that have been pretty informative).

Some of his writings about Secretary Clinton...

[tulipsandroses]

43. Who cares about Harriot?

A lot of black people do

You may not enjoy his writings, but many do.

The Root is a highly respectable blog in black social media.

[zentrum]

16. It's the word "value".

A kid in the ghetto may have adults telling him all the time to stay in school, get an education, that it's the ticket out.

Pete talks as if black parents do not value education. Why didn't he talk about systemic racism and how it effects the ability to go to school, stay in school and get a job commensurate with a degree?

The word "value" sounds like black people have an inferior moral system about being educated.

[femmedem]

20. Based on his reply to Michael Harriot, I think Pete would agree with you now.

See https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287360088#post6

He talks about systemic racism a lot these eight years later.

[Alithea]

23. Thanks for clarifying. I didn't hear it that way at all. I understood it as a demographic point,

where Pete was saying that there were fewer educational role models in low income neighborhoods. It stands to reason that there would be fewer university graduates in low income neighborhoods, and this would make it harder for parents who do want their kids to go on to college to inspire them with relatable examples.

Making that point does not imply that someone denies there is also discrimination in hiring. There is, and that's a separate problem.

On the first problem, instead of Harriot maligning Pete, I'd love the hear Harriot's ideas of what could be done to give these kids access to relatable role models which they might lack, especially since Harriot might be one of them, and might also be more qualified to know what would work best.

[PatrickforO]

40. Agreed. The mathematical correlation of income and educational attainment is

nearly 100% - to your point, low income individuals tend to have lower educational attainment.

My dad was a high school dropout - he actually slugged his 10th grade teacher, which effectively ended his scholastic career. He became a salesman. He sold skis, business opportunities and finally real estate. He was also a restaurateur for a short time, and managed apartments in his so-called 'golden years.'

He encouraged me to go to college and said I'd make a good lawyer. But never having gone, he had no clue as to how to guide me in any way. And my high school career guidance experience sucked - I went into the counseling office and asked for guidance on what to do after high school, and was led into a little room filled with college catalogs. The result was it took me ten years to make it through undergrad because for about the first five I just took classes I liked without even looking at a catalog because I didn't know how to use one. Certainly my counselor who shall remain nameless because I've long since forgotten her name didn't tell me that stuff. She left me alone in the room. Seriously. And, I went in with 26 credits from the CLEP, but in the end that didn't help me all that much.

When I discovered how to use a college catalog to make a graduation plan, I did, and was able to finish it off in a couple years, graduating at age 28. The ten year plan.

But I was desperate to make it through because as a teen into my twenties I did redo apartment painting, which was brutal. I had forays into sales, but I was always terrible at selling. And that's really it if you don't have a degree or some technical training. Manual labor or sales. And I'm just not geared for that.

Now I'm white and was raised in suburbia. Went to decent public schools - not great, but decent. And way back when when I went to college, it cost about $500 a semester, with textbooks maybe another $120, so I graduated with no debt. Think about that for a minute.

College? Best thing I ever did, bar none. I had an uncle, though, who had graduated from Stanford, so I did have a role model. And there was always the expectation endemic to suburban, predominantly white schools like the one I went to - OF COURSE you're going to college!

It was touch and go, though. I almost didn't make it. Many times got discouraged. Many times went broke and had to drop out and go back to work.

Minority kids in the inner city attending impoverished schools don't have half the chance I did, and that's institutional racism. But they may also lack adult role models who not only value education, because pretty much everybody sees the value in it, but who actually went and got a college education and can then be a real role model for the kid to follow. That's where I think Pete went wrong - he used the word 'value' as opposed to pointing out there is usually a dearth of people with high educational attainment in low income neighborhoods, so kids may lack role models.

[Alithea]

21. +1

I agree. You are not alone. What Buttigieg said is entirely uncontroversial and well-intentioned, any reasonable person can see this.

The article by Harriot is another example of what I've described as a persecutorial and oppressive atmosphere within the left against its own. It's so easy to tear people down and criticize. Any fool can do that. The real work is in building something up. Every minute spent pointlessly tearing down a non-enemy, is a minute taken away from working at creating positive lasting results. Team-work, people!

[LAS14]

49. Thanks you for this well stated reply. nt

[WhiskeyGrinder]

11. Thanks for posting this. I wanted to post Harriot's essay but I can't afford hides rn.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

15. I live to serve.

[stonecutter357]

42. you live to serve who ?

[Gothmog]

19. An unflattering hashtag about Mayor Pete has been trending all day today

It is not a nice hashtag that I will not post on this board

[stonecutter357]

32. posts removed !!!

[AncientGeezer]

38. I'll bet money Mayor Pete will be POTUS or V-POTUS before Sen. Sanders is either.

..regardless of what a blogger says

[obnoxiousdrunk]

39. Agree...

[Gothmog]

45. PETE BUTTIGIEG FACES 'INSURMOUNTABLE ROADBLOCK' WITH MINORITY VOTERS, SAYS DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST

Link to tweet

Speaking to Newsweek about the video yesterday, the strategist Estuardo Rodriguez said: "This video goes to the root of why there may be a lack of interest in Mayor Pete from Black and Latino voters. His remarks in the video oversimplify the challenges some communities face."

"In addition, his remarks assume that low income students primarily lack a good role model and they would then more easily be able to overcome the socio and economic barriers facing them and their parents, the institutional racism and bias encountered by these students many times overlooked for opportunities or entirely ignored."

He added that he was "sure" Buttigieg's views had "evolved since this video," but encouraged the mayor to "interview this 2011 Pete and dissect the bias and white privilege he so clearly demonstrated before he continues with this new, more arrogant, Mayor Pete that assumes he is currently best positioned to win even though he hasn't made a dent with black and Latino voters."...

As polling numbers stand, Buttigieg's ratings with minority voters bode poorly for his campaign following a series of missteps in office and on the trail—such as his attempt to fire South Bend's African-American police boss back in 2012.

A Quinnipiac University Poll released yesterday found that Buttigieg was supported by just 4 percent of black Democrat and Democrat-leaning voters nationally, while another recent FiveThirtyEight/Ipsos poll found that only around 16 per cent of black and hispanic voters backed the South Bend mayor.

Yet perhaps the most alarming poll for his campaign came from a November 18 Quinnipiac survey of likely Democratic voters in South Carolina, which revealed that less than 1 percent of black voters in the state supported Buttigieg.

[whistler162]

47. Might be easier on them if they just wrote

PETE BUTTIGIEG FACES 'INSURMOUNTABLE ROADBLOCK' WITH <fill in the blank> VOTERS, SAYS DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST

Tomorrow it will be some other group. Next up the LGBT community?

[BuffaloJackalope]

48. Oh, yes. Buttigieg should be exempt of any criticism by anyone for anything. /s

[whistler162]

50. Maybe the so called Democratic Strategists should

run and we can then criticize them for every perceived weakness. I am tired of hearing all these so called experts try to destroy ALL candidates on a rotational basis. Next week it will be <name here> who has some fault that is catastrophic to their electablity.

[BuffaloJackalope]

51. Except this isn't this week's new hit piece. Buttigieg has been failing at this issue for years.

The video in the OP is from 2011. He should have learned a bit in the last 7 yrs, don't you think?