Oh, dear.

[fabrisse]

Representative Paul Kanjorski said (via The Washington Post's political coverage):

"We're giving relief to people that I deal with in my office every day now unfortunately," Kanjorski said. "But because of the longevity of this recession, these are people -- and they're not minorities and they're not defective and they're not all the things you'd like to insinuate that these programs are about -- these are average, good American people." [emphasis mine]

You'll be happy to know his office is affronted to think anyone could construe these remarks as racist.

From their release:
Anyone trying to politicize this issue clearly doesn't get it. Congressman Kanjorski is fighting for all Americans who are struggling. Any statement saying otherwise is grossly misinformed.

In fairness, Representative Kanjorski is trying to protect a program for homeowner mortgage help that is currently available in Pennsylvania through state funding and creating something similar nationally. He's defending it as not helping the "imprudent, the wasteful."

While I can admire him for thinking of this type of program and trying to help the unemployed, it doesn't change the fact that his remarks are, in fact, racist.

Comments

[eanja]

Wow. I think the phrase after your highlighting is actually the worst- you know, in case anyone missed that he agrees that minorities and defectives (whatever the hell that means) aren't good American people.

I was torn on that one

[alyburns.livejournal.com]

It's been obvious to me that the Republicans who are asking for things like drug tests before people get their unemployment (because don't we all know that's where the money will go? *rolls eyes); that they're deadbeats who 'don't have to work because unemployment entitles them to stay home and live off the hardworking white workers' or one of the worst: "Unemployment benefits allow 'them' to breed! Allow people we don't want breeding - to breed."

*thud*

So when I heard about his remarks, I wondered at first if he was trying (badly) to say that the Republicans are refusing to extend the benefits because they're racists, because they believe they're talking to Americans who feel the same way: that it's only NON-white people taking this money. I wondered how do you say something like what he was attempting to say without sounding racist?

How do you say that the number of people taking advantage of this system have been doing so for far longer than our current troubles and are a very small percentage of those on unemployment and that they come in all sizes, genders, ethnic and religious backgrounds? And how do you say that we're talking about Americans of all sizes, ages, genders and ethnic backgrounds who, as of this Friday, will be in desperate need of this money because of our current economy and could literally be on the streets?

So was he clumsy in what he was trying to do, or unthinking and unable to realize that he might be just as racist as those he was decrying by making a point of saying that the people in his office, "...aren't minorities...." (could there BE a more racist statement?)

So yeah, I'm thinking a racist, but one who doesn't even realize it.

God, we're so screwed.

[riverfox.livejournal.com]

*headdesk*

If his statement wasn't racist or bigoted, he wouldn't have mentioned, and thus excluded from worthiness, specific groups of people.