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Message was stupid, racist



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Published: October 4, 2009

I just returned from the grocery store in Brandon having observed a bumper sticker that read, "Don't blame me for your troubles, I voted for the white man." I was struck by this statement for a few reasons. First, it was stupid. Second, it was racist. Third, it was stupid and racist.

This kind of an attitude is very scary. I am wondering if the driver of the car is in any way aware of the danger of making this type of statement. This line of thinking is totally unacceptable at a time when we all need to be focused on what brings us together not what separates us.

Jay Banta

Brandon








READER COMMENTS


Lary, I'm glad to read that you get it that the racist bumper sticker is wrong but why would you find humor in a bumper sticker that promotes nuclear destruction of anything real or imagined? Isn't this in the same vein as the proud parent who cheers on his bullying little cretin if he beats up an honor role student?

(Incidentally, I'm not in favor of the parents of a gifted students rubbing it in the faces of others either. That's another perversion.)
-- Posted by Notta Bushman on Fri, Oct 9, 2009, 11:57 am EST

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I voted for the white guy?

I find a bumpersticker stating NUKE A GAY MUSLIM WHALE FOR JESUS amusing, c'mon, we gotta have a sense of humor.

But the "Don't blame me, I voted for the white guy" disgusts me.
-- Posted by Lary Fusco on Thu, Oct 8, 2009, 4:56 pm EST

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I hope I can say this delicately...

I've lived in places that were majority white and places that were majority black. I never saw any serious problem toward either race in either setting. But I did see a lot of black people voluntarily segregating themselves. And everyone sees it. How often do you see a group of friends at Denny's that is racially diverse? How often do you see black and white faces at the same table in the cafeteria? Not that often, really. Black people hang out with black people... and not because white people are excluding them.

I think it's understandable that this tendency might be disturbing, even frightening, for white people. Blacks are reproducing faster than whites, and it is projected that white Americans will be a minority within a lifetime. That's not a guess -- these people have already been born! It WILL happen. How are those remaining white folks going to cope when racial "minorities" become the majority... and don't want to hang out with white people?

It is politically incorrect for whites to exclude or snub blacks, so a lot of whites are very conscious of this and don't do it. But it's more acceptable for blacks to keep to themselves and eschew whites. And it happens more often than not. Now imagine yourself as a white person in a majority-black society that doesn't accept you, and you don't have the same race card to play. Yes, it's a bit disturbing.

So I can understand how white people might be concerned. I'm not saying it's right... or that it's wrong. Just that it's understandable.
-- Posted by Just Me on Thu, Oct 8, 2009, 2:17 am EST

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I agree that the message was racist; it implies that the reason for "your troubles" is the color of the man who was elected.

However, free speech, blah blah blah. One of the benefits of free speech is that the rest of us know what thoughts are out there. As they say, the cure for bad speech is more speech. We can't properly respond to evil speech that doesn't exist in the first place. And those responses can eradicate animosity that would fester if it went unexpressed.
-- Posted by Just Me on Thu, Oct 8, 2009, 2:05 am EST

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One question to all you bloggers: Why is it racist? Like the group at Denny's, who was the racist in that event?Not the white waitress. The waitress was doing her customer service by opening up a larger table, it obviously had nothing to do with their color, but maybe to do with their attitude. it was probably very embarassing to the other customers to see and hear such bull. Get over it! Who's the racist-not the "white" Vermonter. It's the non-Vermonters who are racist. Years ago I remember the KKK were told they couldn't come to Rutland, because we do not want that crap. Or drama. BUt we don't want the reversed crap either, how is any of it fair? Everyone just keeps on going and each race feels they are entitled..to what? Keep the animocity pot stirred? By the way to the people who are probably not vermonters, because you seem to have nothing nice to say, if you think it's that bad, move. Why would anyone with any bit of intelligence through out bull like "incestious" Vermonters or knuckle dragging. Vermonters are very strong and have had to come up from the bottom, I give them all credit. Who cares what his bumper sticker said. I wouldn't buy one like it.
-- Posted by SB None on Wed, Oct 7, 2009, 4:01 pm EST

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Watch me ******** a tree hugger!! I live in MI and today I saw a bumper sticker on a truck that could also be on a truck in VT. It read, I Love All Of God's Creatures, Right Next To The Mashed Potatoes, I am sure that would get some granola head, Birkenstock wearing, 60's liberal idiot all fired up. I remember one time this woman had a fit during hunting season because people were hunting deer, not on her land of course, but this idiot proceeds to tell my ex-husband when he came out of the woods with a deer, that her daughter can't sleep at night because all the deer are being MURDERED in the forest! He ignores her as he walks to his truck and she actually calls the sheriff's dept to complain that he just murdered a deer!!!! Needless to say, because he was not on posted land and even had permission from the landowner to hunt, they did not respond, they just told her that there was nothing they could do unless he was hunting on her land. She actually threw an apple at him as he was driving off!! Now who is the idiot here? As for the bumper in question here, it is a tad racist, but like it or not, we have freedom of speech and while some people will find it offensive, it is an expression. Now I did vote for Obama as he was the most qualified and human of all the candidates and I think he is doing a fine job considering the mess that moron Bush left behind and I get so ****** off at the political talking heads on the networks, they are just sitting there with bated breath, wanting and waiting for him to stumble or they blather on about the health care issues, that stupid senseless war, and the economy and I am like, yeah, you think you can do better??? This country was in shambles due to Bush not giving a tinker's damm about this country, I think he should have gone over and became Iraq's new leader because he cared more about that country than he did this one. He was allowed to have a blank check and I am willing to bet that war has cost taxpayers trillions of dollars, so many zero's, it would take a math genius to add it all up when it is finally over like it should be NOW!!!! We are never gonna catch Bin Forgotten so why are we even in Afiganistan?? Just to play soldiers??? So while the bumper stick is a bit much, let it go people, the guy that sported it is entitled to his own opinions whether we like it or not.
-- Posted by Linda Brown on Wed, Oct 7, 2009, 2:49 pm EST

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Palin is...excuse me...but aren't your folks the ones doing it like bunnies?
-- Posted by Juliet Chien on Tue, Oct 6, 2009, 10:53 pm EST

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CC: That's correct and why except for those that dwell 2 deviations from the mean of our culture and display offending stickers because they think it's cute, shouldn't even get a letter. In fact I'll bet that they are getting a kick out of all this fuss.
-- Posted by Shy Wreath on Tue, Oct 6, 2009, 10:18 pm EST

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"The problem that people of color ...have is that they are all feeling bad about the way they were treated or feeling guilty because someone treated someone else badly. And this leads to feelings of inadequacy and hate." SW That is right, but if you are harassed or discriminated against because of your skin color, it doesn't make it right to discriminate against someone else because of theirs. What helps is when people take the higher ground and break the cycle instead of constantly profiling people of other races.
-- Posted by concerned citizen on Tue, Oct 6, 2009, 8:55 pm EST

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You don't get it. The problem that people of color ( white is a color esp if you try to match it to an existing paint) have is that they are all feeling bad about the way they were treated or feeling guilty because someone treated someone else badly. And this leads to feelings of inadequacy and hate. And that sticker is a manifestation of that.

Because a lot of us have already dealt with the skin color thing, we are tired of always having to deal with it on behalf of others. And we are fed up with always having to be blamed for something that happened a long time ago.

By the way lizr
My family were Quaker at one time and a great grandfather had a price on his head for his death down south for helping slaves escape to Canada. So get off it and move on. And Vermont is still a great place because no one has to feel like s**t here.
-- Posted by Shy Wreath on Tue, Oct 6, 2009, 4:33 pm EST

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I grew up in a majority black town. And I know racism and backwardness when I see it. You people are pitiful.
-- Posted by lizr None on Tue, Oct 6, 2009, 3:45 pm EST

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And if Jay saw a bumper sticker that read "I voted for America's firt black president", would he consider that to be motivated by racism, as well?
-
-- Posted by Bill O. Rights on Tue, Oct 6, 2009, 2:40 pm EST

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Finally Gonzo someone from the big city (mine was Chicago) that has told the truth about being white in a mixed race population. One reason I moved to VT was the separation of the races in Chicago. Separate not by choice, but by necessity because all could not get along. Most did but the ones that don't spell trouble for the average person. And most white people are blamed by people of color for their problems. What bull. All of us are out there competing for the same thing. And many pull the race thing to justify there own misgivings. Vt is great because, if you are white, you are not s**t.
-- Posted by Shy Wreath on Tue, Oct 6, 2009, 2:37 pm EST

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Hallelujah, Dr. Gonzo! It's way too easy for these sheltered liberals to think we can all just thrive at the end of a giant rainbow of diversity. Wake up racists? No ... it's more like WAKE UP slaves to white guilt and clueless liberal morons. You want to see how a black run country would look? Look at Detroit. Look at New Orleans. Only on a much larger scale. I can only hope to live long enough to see the day when you Kumbaya idiots need to be saved from yourselves. Well, guess what ... it won't be me who saves you ... I'll just laugh as the realization that you've been brainwashed finally sinks in.
-- Posted by the truth on Tue, Oct 6, 2009, 1:07 pm EST

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The government still can't get the flu shot stuff right after how many years. There are delays again this year and how knows there might be shortages. Can you imagine how it will be if they run helthcare for the nation or portions of it?
-- Posted by None None on Tue, Oct 6, 2009, 12:49 pm EST

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If you really want to know how to become a racist I suggest you grow up in a town thats 50% black. All of you real Vermonters will never know what thats like. I wasnt born a racist. I learned it. From Blacks. After being, mugged, beat up, vandalized, living in fear, called white boy constantly. I instigated nothing, ever. I was always alone while they were always in numbers. I have no mercy for them now.
I moved to Vermont for that particular reason.
I enjoy our white majority. Its not really racist, lets call it seperatism.
I lived in SC for a while where there was no racial conflict at all. And no mixing. Everybody stayed seperate voluntarily. Worked just fine.
I lived through the race riots of the '60's. in the NY/NJ area. VT is one of the last white majority havens left in America. Blessed be.
-- Posted by Dr. Gonzo on Tue, Oct 6, 2009, 12:46 pm EST

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lizr none ...what is really holding down in our once great country are freeloaders,welfare cheats,people looking for someone else to give them free housing free food free smokes free booze..free healthcare! ! and what do you want? surely having them work for a living is a bad thing?
-- Posted by bruce meyer on Tue, Oct 6, 2009, 11:49 am EST

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No wonder Rutland has so many problems. the backwardness and blithely racist mutterings in this comment column alone guarantee that dragging us forward into a place where enlightened people will want to live and spend money will be a serious struggle in the short term.

Wake up, racists! You are holding our whole county down economically.
-- Posted by lizr None on Tue, Oct 6, 2009, 11:22 am EST

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here's hoping notta bushman and juliet never mate....
-- Posted by Palin is Sweet on Tue, Oct 6, 2009, 11:06 am EST

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I'll put this out there first, I am white. I was not alive during slavery, and neither was any African American I have ever met, so get over it, stop using it as your crutch in life. Why is it that African Americans are always so quick to use the race card?

I was in Denny's a few months ago when a group of about 8 African Americans came in, the back of the restaurant was closed down for the night but the waitress was nice enough to open it up (for the simple fact that the biggest table is in that room, where the entire party could sit together) Immediately without hesitation or even taking another breath two of the people in the party started yelling out "back of the bus, Rosa Parks" over and over again.

Will someone refresh my memory on the presidential vote percentage? I recall it being around 99% of the black population voted for President Obama. I think that number alone has racist written all over it.
-- Posted by John Doe III on Tue, Oct 6, 2009, 10:11 am EST

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I voted for the white man but had Condoleezza Rice decided to run I most certainly would have voted for the BLACK WOMAN.

Colin Bridge
-- Posted by Colin Bridge on Tue, Oct 6, 2009, 8:33 am EST

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Thanks Juliet. Like you, I get very tired of the knuckle-dragging idiots who defend racists behavior, and I sometimes need a break to talk with real people - none of whom are racists.
-- Posted by Notta Bushman on Tue, Oct 6, 2009, 1:09 am EST

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Oh please...all those old white boys would be a moanin' if the bumper sticker said, "I voted for the black man, the smart choice," or "The old white bread is stale and stupid."

Of course both of those statements would just be the truth and not a racist slur...
-- Posted by Juliet Chien on Mon, Oct 5, 2009, 9:41 pm EST

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Do we really know this is a real bumber sticker. No ne else has seen this bumber sticker except the writer of the letter. Could be a hoak.
-- Posted by None None on Mon, Oct 5, 2009, 9:28 pm EST

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To TRM-
you speak good sense and let's hope the backwards amongst us can recognize their own self interest when it's in their faces.. but I dont have that much hope.

Thanks for saying that; I could not agree more. If certain native Vermonters want to compound their economic helplessness and guarantee a bad economic climate fro themselves and their families will go on for awhile, by all means, wallow in your racism.. but for most of the enlightened world (and yes, that includes most of your bosses, duh) your sentiments are anathema, and they will get rid of all knuckledragging neanderthals with similar sentiments at the first provocation.

So if you want to doom your family to poverty, backwardness and more incestuous, interbred behavior, keep on thinking like you're thinking. Meanwhile in this ec climate, the rest of us will happily move forward and take the job you lost. Think about that, ok?
-- Posted by lizr None on Mon, Oct 5, 2009, 9:20 pm EST

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No, he's most white. How do you think he got elected stupid?
-- Posted by Joe Kerswile on Mon, Oct 5, 2009, 6:38 pm EST

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What white man is he speaking about......isn't Barry half white?
-- Posted by Palin is Sweet on Mon, Oct 5, 2009, 4:27 pm EST

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I just gotta say, Thank God for the 1st Amendment and bumper stickers... the best way we can spot the @$$holes and idiots from a distance.

And those "@$$holes and idiots" do not belong to a single political party!
-- Posted by Allen Kuusela on Mon, Oct 5, 2009, 2:50 pm EST

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My favorite bumper sticker as of late is "SUPPORT OUR TROOPS"
-- Posted by capttam on Mon, Oct 5, 2009, 10:22 am EST

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I just gotta say, Thank God for the 1st Amendment and bumper stickers... the best way we can spot the @$$holes and idiots from a distance.
-- Posted by concerned citizen on Mon, Oct 5, 2009, 9:25 am EST

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The message should have said,

"I voted for the guy who graduated in the bottom 1% of his class whose first major decision was to select Sarah Palin."
-- Posted by Ray Makul on Mon, Oct 5, 2009, 6:56 am EST

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Big frickin deal, its a bumper sticker and thats the way he feels! Kind of right to!
-- Posted by True Vermonter on Mon, Oct 5, 2009, 6:50 am EST

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For crying out loud, it's obviously an obscure, fringe bumper sticker from a fringe individual; and the Rutland Herald rubs its hands in glee to receive such a feigned lament. Melodrama 101.
-- Posted by Ned Frost on Mon, Oct 5, 2009, 1:46 am EST

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Is this the same None None promoting freedom of speech in a letter about the MSJ game forfeiture. If it is you sir are a hypocrit. If it isn't then I apologize.
-- Posted by Concerned Citizen on Sun, Oct 4, 2009, 11:43 pm EST

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I don't find this sticker nearly as offensive as seeing the ones with F-bombs, ****, @$$, and the like on them. Kind of hard to explain to a 7 year old why someone puts "naughty words" on their car, other than to explain the person as someone lacking attention, and is probably a general loser in life as well. I would have no problem explaining the white man bumper sticker to my son. No, I am not a racist, I just don't see any offensive words in there. Is it really any worse than all the "He's not MY president" bumper stickers we used to see? Not really. They both are using clean words, but the message is not hard to see.
-- Posted by None None on Sun, Oct 4, 2009, 8:27 pm EST

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XVT: At least in vt white men aren't s**t like in a lot of big cities
-- Posted by Shy Wreath on Sun, Oct 4, 2009, 5:02 pm EST

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Lets see now...you can have the Black college fund, Black Entertainment TV, Black Caucuses,I guess it's only racist if you're white and mention color. Some people jump too quickly to throw out the racist tag, I'm not ashamed of being white and I don't care if some of you are.
-- Posted by ex-vermonter None on Sun, Oct 4, 2009, 4:10 pm EST

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Notta Cleverman either, apparently. Sheets and hoods? The best you could come up with is an ignorant stereotype? Why am I not surprised?
-- Posted by the truth on Sun, Oct 4, 2009, 2:48 pm EST

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sounds like a mass. hole that moved up to vt and didn't get the small town experience they wanted
-- Posted by None None on Sun, Oct 4, 2009, 1:40 pm EST

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My sticker says "United we stand, divided we fall"
-- Posted by Shy Wreath on Sun, Oct 4, 2009, 12:23 pm EST

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Oh, and for the record, though it doesn't really matter to anyone reading ...I voted for the black guy. He seemed a better choice.

To a deeper point, your bumper sticker says a lot about you. While this state still has a *lot* of people who will easily drop the *n* word and mean it and who would laugh at your cleverness while getting drunk, there are a lot more, a growing majority I would say, who would dismiss you and reject you. If one of these latter were your boss or co-worker, you would be easily and legally terminated for "promoting an unsafe working environment." It's not just lunatic liberal "fringe" but quite a few "good-ole-boy rednecks" and "down-home conservatives" and "knee-jerk whichevers" who feel that statements such as your bumper sticker are offensive.

You could have said, with equal humor, "Don't blame me for your troubles, I voted for McCain." The fact that it was worded "I voted for the white man" indicates that you did not vote for the candidate but for the skin color.

I'd advise against publicly expressing this sentiment.
-- Posted by TR M on Sun, Oct 4, 2009, 12:06 pm EST

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Wow! It didn't take very long for the ignorant, racist minority to crawl out from under their rocks. Does the sunlight hurt your eyes, MT and tt? Are you flying the stars and bars today? Have you had your sheets and hoods washed recently?
-- Posted by Notta Bushman on Sun, Oct 4, 2009, 11:57 am EST

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Ummm, Major ...

He was referring to two different people. He had an adopted (fostered?) kid. His daughter married a black guy. I'm not quite sure how you managed to make the mental leap that you did. Is rank ignorance an explanation or do you always read more into things and assume black guys are necessarily in prison? What color are your blinders?
-- Posted by TR M on Sun, Oct 4, 2009, 11:50 am EST

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Robert, was your son-in-law in prison, or did he just willfully abandon his child?
-- Posted by Major Taxpayer on Sun, Oct 4, 2009, 8:50 am EST

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In the '90's I raised a black teenager. My son-in-law is black. I know all too well that this state harbors some folks who are deep to their core racists. It's one of this, the whitest state in the nation, best kept secrets.

However, it's freedom of speech and if someone wants to paste a racist sticker on their vehicle they are allowed to do so. It takes folks like you to get mad about it and shout about it in the paper. Thank you for doing so.
-- Posted by Robert Stannard on Sun, Oct 4, 2009, 7:35 am EST

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