Cartoonist, Joel Barbee, attempts to capture the expected tone of September 8th – also known as Keep Your Kids at Home Day - in this illustration. Nationwide, white teachers and white children will worship black Obama in song, substituting the name of our Lord “Jesus,” for “Obama.”
Joel, this ’toon of yers is a wee racist. And, there ain’t an “e” in ‘ritin’.
School days, school days,
Dear old golden rule days.
‘Readin’ and ‘ritin’ and ‘rithmetic,
Taught to the tune of a hick’ry stick…
See?
He’s got some lernin’ to do. :)
Nance
Guess this cartoon commentator wasn’t old enough to hear the last president’s direct-to-school message ’bout ‘larning — or maybe his wacko hillbilly kin kept him out of school back then, to larn him as god planned under the Confederate flag and gun rack, between farm chores, incest and whuppins?
Bigotry used to be so unattractive, doncha know, but polls say it’s enjoying quite the, ahem, revival.
Here’s my problem with it: it smacks too much of propaganda for my taste. I *don’t like* the school system. Every morning I have to drop my daughter off at that school a little part of me dies. So, for her to have sit through a bunch of bullshit about how important “education” is (which means compulsory government schooling) or how you will only be considered smart if you play their bullshit game by THE highest of authority figures…I’m inclined to keep her home. Meh…I’d be surprised if her school does it anyways.
And speaking for myself…I didn’t see the toon as racist. I thought making him dark was more of a dramatic flourish than trying to draw attention to the fact that he’s black.
Seriously? To not allow him human features, no human face at all, just a big solid black hole, literally “blackface” — it’s overtly, even monstrously racist to make SOME point or other, but maybe it isn’t how the cartoonist sees him as much as it’s meant to reflect how his most bitter enemies see him?
I don’t know the politics of this cartoonist, never heard of him, but I agree overall it’s a puzzling political message. I thought when I first saw it that it was odd to have hillbilly-like ignorant fundamentalist-stereotyped kids as the one IN school. I still don’t know what its real message is meant to be.
Does it make more sense to anyone else?
Hi Michelle,
I’m sorry to hear that you don’t like your daughter’s school. Is it anything in particular? She’s been going for a few weeks now, is that right? Is she hating it, too? (Mine is starting next week, so I’m still hopeful at this point.)
If your area’s most notorious pastor is any indication of its cultural climate, I doubt the schools will be airing the speech, too.
These things really are Rorschach tests, aren’t they? And, the cartoonist doesn’t seem exceptionally sophisticated, so I’m really just guessing at it. Maybe finding him at WorldNetDaily colored my judgement, as well.
Normally, I’m not quick to assume racist motives, but the all-white children and the blackened silhouette sorta jumped out at me.
More obvious to me is the mockery of liberals who supposedly regard Obama as the “Messiah,” who is intent on installing his new socialist regime in place of America’s traditional “God-centered” values.
Heck, he is even wearing purple, the color of kings :)
and, what do you wanna bet that the teacher is both a card-carrying ACLU member and NEA shill?
Again, it’s confusing. I agree the teacher looks like a caricature but for the opposite reason — I thought this (also very white) teacher was the Singing Nun! Very bible-schooly to me, like the all-white class. Not public schooly. I just don’t get it.
It isn’t just that I don’t like my daughter’s school…I detest the whole foundation and methodology of compulsory govt schools. As for this school in particular, there were two questions I asked that were important to me: what is your stance on homework and can they work at their own pace? Those two things are my at the top of my shit list re: schools. I was told they didn’t “believe” in assigning homework, that they give the kids plenty of flex time opportunities during school hours to complete work, which I was glad to hear because I feel that if you can’t get your teaching done in the ridiculous amount of time kids are in school then the teacher is doing it wrong. I don’t like even more schooling on top of that time (why does it take them 6-7 hours a day to do something I can cover in 2?). Plus, since this school has only three classrooms (K-1, 2-3 & 4-5) I was told that yes…they are able to work at their own pace. Needless to say, that hasn’t been our experience so far. I hate that she is slowly being led to believe that learning only happens when you are spoon fed. That she now has to be around other kids that are competitive and manipulative thieves and liars. I hate that she has to do completely meaningless (to her) shit because They have declared she needs to learn it and learn it their way. We are no longer school-at-homers and as unschoolers all that stuff just seems awful to me.
That “notorious” pastor is up in Tempe. Phoenix and it’s surrounding towns are a Republican and Mormon bastion. Down here in Tucson we are much more Democratic and hippie. This school my daughter goes to is actually “The Greenest School in America”. The place is crawling with tree-hugging, environmentalist, Obama-loving liberals. :)
The cartoon, to me, is just another example of right-wing xtian projection. It’s only the people that are slaves to a god that seem to think the left worships Obama.
Lynn, good catch on the Color Purple! (Which whether it’s another racist subliminal OR symbolic of royalty, isn’t meant as a compliment either way, methinks.)
Wow, this is so true too. . .you guys are very provocative, and that IS meant in a good way!
“It’s only the people that are slaves to a god that seem to think the left worships Obama.”
Lynn, speaking of “finding him at Word Net Daily” as a sign of how fringe the cartoonist might be, see this very interesting comparison of Right-wing and right-wingtip outlets in terms of traffic and presumably influence.
Michelle,
Does your daughter have other options? For instance, our school district offers homeschoolers “the option of dual-enrollment at the middle school. If you prefer not to teach some of the middle school subjects, you can enroll your student for one or two classes at his or her school of residence.” My daughter wasn’t interested in the option, but, if I begin to feel that she’s not being challenged or needs distance from negative social influences, we’ll give it another look.
Also, today, I met her (middle school) teachers and got a better idea of what they’ll be covering in class so that I can unschool those topics at home. To mix it up a little – and keep “education” (and our relationship) interesting and enjoyable, which was always a primary homeschooling goal anyway.
Btw, my stats think you live in Tempe, but are delighted to hear that it’s not true! :) They’re curious about one thing, however: Do you still get to walk around with guns down in Tucson?
No…we don’t have dual-enrollment here, instead we have “open” enrollment (you can go to any school in any district). Her brothers and I are having lots of fun without her so I’m hoping she’ll rethink things by xmas.
As for guns….lol. We not only get to walk around with guns in Tucson, but you don’t even need a license to carry a gun openly. AZ recently passed a law that allows gun owners the right to take their concealed carry guns into bars and restaurants even (though you can’t drink and carry). Did you see the pictures of that dude walking around outside Obama’s speech with an AR-15? We luvs us some guns round here….even in liberal Tucson. I think it’s still common here due to our proximity to Mexico. We get a lot of crime and migrants from the south so people like to feel protected.
I don’t buy the WorldNutDaily traffic stats. Never, ever believe a politically motivated ad salesman when asked how much traffic his site gets. Somebody that sells ads for a site that has no problem just making stuff up certainly would not lie about web traffic, would he?
re: WND stats
Plus, I wonder how many visitors go just for the freak show alone :) One of my favorite blogs (Dispatches from the Culture Wars) links crazy WND stuff all the time.
hang on BLUE BLOODS, whilst I load me musket