Thread by @timjacobwise

Obviously, I'm no fan of Greg Kelly or Newsmax, but the main interpretation of his since-deleted tweet about military service & race is pretty clearly inaccurate. That said, what he IS saying, or trying to say, is also tone deaf and worth challenging...

A THREAD

On Sunday, Kelly tweeted this (2)...

At first glance, and taken literally, it sounds amazingly white supremacist. But truthfully, it should be obvious he's trying to be funny and ironic. Sadly, right-wingers aren't good at either, so it falls flat (3)...

Basically, he's poking fun at what he views as identity politics, which, in his mind, leads some to celebrate the fact (now) of a Black DoD Secretary. He's saying it's a stupid thing to care about, and he uses the white soldier/secretary example to make the point (4)...

In other words, he's trying to say "race doesn't matter" or shouldn't, which he likely thinks is a really enlightened thing to say. But actually, his snark isn't enlightened at all. It's actually pretty shitty, for reasons conservatives usually miss. It's worth noting why (5)...

It's easy to say race and identity don't matter, or shouldn't when you're white and the people in certain positions have previously all or mostly looked like you, and when people like you have been the norm, the floor model of what authority and excellence have looked like (6)...

In such a society, no one questions your group's competence and ability, so having yet another white DoD Sec, CEO, or President for that matter, has little social significance. But Black and brown folk live a different reality. Their competence IS questioned regularly (7)...

So it IS a big deal to see a Black DoD Sec or president, or whatever. No, it's not tantamount to the end of racism, and Black DoD heads or Secretaries of State (as w/Powell) may carry out policies that progressives and antiracists disagree with. But symbolically it matters (8)...

Only folks whose group has always been represented in authority can act like such things are silly. And that's evidence of privilege. The privilege of belonging, of always assuming others will see you as belonging in whatever position you find yourself (9)...

But for Black and brown folks, there is no such privilege in most cases. Rather, there is the burden of representation: of having to prove one's worth above and beyond common stereotypes. Of having to perform at a high level not just for oneself but for others like you (10)...

Bc they realize if they screw up, some will ascribe that to their group status, and assume "those people" just aren't cut out for x, y or z. White men never face this. That's the point. No one says, after the Wall St meltdown, "that's it, no more white male bankers..." (11)...

White guys, especially if straight and middle class or above, get to represent our solitary selves. Everyone else knows they have to hold it down for their group(s). That's why the presence and success of a Black DoD sec is a big deal. So too a President or VP, etc...(12)

So the fact that Kelly can't wrap his head around that and views it as silly identity politics just shows how little he's thought about the reality of race in America. I mean, seriously, think about all the other groups who've celebrated representation when it's uncommon (13)...

Catholics were excited about JFK, as a Catholic. It meant something to them. And they hadn't experienced 1/1000th the oppression of Black folks in this country, but still, it was a big deal, and a burden many felt, for him to succeed (14)...

Many Jewish folks were excited about Joe Lieberman on the 2000 ticket (even Jews who didn't agree w/Joe's politics, from the right, or left), bc it was a first. And again, in this country, Jews haven't caught anywhere near the hell Black folks have, but still, it mattered (15)...

Hell, my grandfather was a Dodgers fan bc of Jackie Robinson & Sandy Koufax. Robinson bc my grandfather hated racism & celebrated his being the 1st modern-era black MLB player, and Koufax bc we're Jews & having a practicing Jew of that caliber on the roster was a big deal (16)...

Lots of Black folk became Dodgers fans bc of Robinson too, and lots of Black folks hated the Red Sox bc they were the last MLB team to have a Black player (bc the owner was a vicious bigot). To white guys like Kelly perhaps this is silly...it shouldn't matter, they say (17)...

But that's only something one can say when they've been able to take their status as Americans for granted, their belonging for granted, their full humanity for granted. And THAT is a privilege some haven't had. So although Kelly's tweet wasn't as offensive as it seemed...(18)

It was still tone-deaf and asinine and indicative of the utter cluelessness of white conservatives in this country. (END)