Thursday, November 13, 2014

Br'er Haley and the T** B***

It looks like Br'er Haley  got into a briar patch of his own making.  Politico reported:


Haley Barbour called President Barack Obama’s policies “tar babies” on a post-election conference call for clients of his lobbying firm, two sources familiar with the call told POLITICO.

The former Mississippi governor made the remark as he was taking questions from 100 or more clients of the BGR Group during an hourlong call on Thursday morning. According to a person on the call, Barbour was noting how rare it is for Americans to elect a president from the same party as a commander-in-chief leaving office after two terms.

“And then he said there is no one who will run for president who will endorse Obama’s issues, because Obama’s issues are ‘tar babies.’”

Barbour, in an email to POLITICO, acknowledged making the comment.

“If someone takes offense, I regret it. But, again, neither the context nor the connotation was intended to offend,” wrote Barbour, who is known for his political savvy, but whose folksy Southern style has occasionally drawn allegations of insensitivity on fraught racial and cultural issues.

The term “tar baby” is often used to describe a sticky situation. In 19th century popular fiction, the “Tar-Baby” was a doll made of tar and turpentine used to entangle Br’er Rabbit.

But it has also been used at times in the past as a racial slur, according to Random House. When political figures have invoked it in recent years, there has been disagreement about how racially charged the term is.

“The Oxford American Dictionary defines the term as ‘a difficult problem, that’s only aggravated by attempts to solve it.’ This is exactly what I meant and the context in which I used the term,” wrote Barbour... Rest of article
Naturally the entire local media jumped into the briar patch as well as they gave the story prominent coverage.   Senator Kenneth Wayne Jones defended Br'er Haley on WLBT  while WAPT and WJTV covered the story.  The Clarion-Ledger jumped in as well.   Meanwhile some columnist on Talking Points Memo called for a boycott of all things Br'er Haley. The Clarion-Ledger published the column as well. Did I mention he is white?

Well, the Kingfish discovered after talking to a few reporters that they had no clue what a tar baby was as they had not read the Uncle Remus story or even heard of it.  Needless to say, none of them have seen it on Song of the South as the movie not been released in over thirty years and probably never will be again. So since everyone is huffing and puffing over this story and many don't even know what they are talking about, here is a clip that tells the story in question.



Racist comment or not? We report, you decide.

25 comments:

mbrookes said...

So, most people had not heard of the tar baby? Yet another example of the dumbing down of America. Remember the book from several years back called Cultural Literacy? I venture to say that most people (especially those under 50) would not recognize a fourth of the subjects in that book.

Anonymous said...

Ole Haley left us taxpayers with several tarbabies that we just can't seem to get rid of.Sad that most people in the world think he is still the mouth piece for our state.Will the damage he caused ever end? Probably not until he shuts those hinged hog jowls for good.

Johnny Weir said...

1.) Russia is moving Military Troops into eastern Ukraine.
2.) ISIS is taking over Iraq that thousands of American troops were killed and wounded for.
3.) The economy sucks.
4.) US has opened it border with Mexico.
And all the news can report. TAR BABY.

Anonymous said...

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary notes the "sticky problem" definition but also "(derog. & racially offensive) a black person (US); a Maori (NZ)."

So perhaps Barbour needs a better dictionary.

That said, I don't actually think he intended any racist implication here.

Anonymous said...

When one wants to find racism they can make anything racist. Haley is a major thorn in the side of liberals and Democratic Party members.

Anonymous said...

Idiots that can't or won't read are now reporters. They have no concept of anything unless it is on Facebook or Twitter. Then to top that you have the race baiters that use any excuse to gin up a problem so the so called insulted will vote for them or send money. Some of the Blacks that are in office need to understand that dividing the people along racial lines is in the long run bad policy.

Anonymous said...

Just to nitpick as I love all Disney movies. The last theatrical release of Song of the South was in 1986, so it's not quite 30 years since it last saw the light of a projector.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_the_South#Re-releases

Anonymous said...

Haley needs his butt kicked for a lot of things; this is not one of them

Anonymous said...

** November 13, 2014 at 11:30 AM **

APPLAUSE, APPLAUSE

Anonymous said...

As a southern republican I can say with confidence Haley is an idiot. I have never, ever heard anyone use the phrase Tar Baby to refer to anything other than blacks or their children. It might have been used another way years ago but so was Gay for happy. He knew exactly what he said. Whether you agree with the old time definition or not it's still a stupid thing to say in public Today, esp if your a former Guv. Once again, his own negative polling he did on himself when he was considering running president proves true. Haley is his own worst enemy.

Kingfish said...

He is probably in his laughing place.

Anonymous said...

@ 1:31:

Apparently you haven't been paying attention. I've NEVER EVER heard it used in reference to any black people. So there. Go watch the movie clip.

Anonymous said...

"I have never, ever heard anyone use the phrase Tar Baby to refer to anything other than blacks or their children"

Interesting. I use the term myself for, say, a case I have no interest in getting anywhere close to handling.

In context, the offensive usage doesn't seem to make sense in Barbour's sentence. Sub the N-word and try it.

Anonymous said...

The United States of the Offended.

Anonymous said...

Appears that the Dixiecrat Pete Perry missed the money drop with Kenny Wayne because now Kenny Wayne is condemning Boss Hogg Haley for the 'tar baby' reference.

Anonymous said...

Chevy Chase and Richard Pryor forever made it race related back in 75.

https://screen.yahoo.com/word-association-000000441.html

Anonymous said...

KF, please fill us in on the details behind Epps supposedly purchasing a Mercedes Benz that day after he was arraigned in Federal Court.

Anonymous said...

YP is reporting that Chris Epps leased a Mercedes Friday after pleading not guilty

Anonymous said...

Lange doesn't report anything. He only mooches off the work of others.

Briar Patch said...

Those who are constantly in search of reasons to be offended will find offense at every turn. Tar-Baby has nothing to do with race. It's simply a metaphor for a difficult problem that is only aggravated by attempts to solve it.

But, those who see race at every turn will see Tar=Black and Baby=Chillun. Thus it's gotta be a slam at black adults being seen as chillun. Right?

And now we are blessed by idiots like 'Thus Blogged Anderson' who fan the flame of victimhood out of sheer ignorance.

Anonymous said...

7:21, remedial reading classes may be available in your community.

I quoted a dictionary definition - you may not have heard of the OED, but it doesn't hail from Lafayette County - and then posted, twice, that I do NOT think Barbour was using the racist meaning.

Anonymous said...

Oh my...sigh...

The term has been used to describe both a sticky situation and as a racial slur.

I know some of you never watched SNL but I don't know how any of you missed knowing that words and phrases can have more than one meaning.

Yes, people seem to over-react and be looking for things to argue about these days.

God forbid we should assume the best ever when assuming the worst is so entertaining.

That said, Haley wasn't some lawyer talking to his colleagues about a case. He was referring in a political setting to policies made by a black President. If he'd said it about Clinton, no one would have blinked an eye. His meaning in using the phrase would be unambiguous.

I never called a teacher I hated a witch in the school halls or classrooms but I might have called her that elsewhere . And, I wouldn't have meant that she used potions to hex people or flew on a broom!

The truth is Haley should have had more sense.

It's as bad to defend him as it is to make too much of what he said.

People screw up and put their foots in their mouths. I don't want to encourage that nor do I want to crucify them.

Everybody needs to get control of their knee jerk reactions and emotionalism. It's pots calling kettles black on both sides!



Anonymous said...

Problem is 6:50 that Haley has already taken so many race Mulligans that he isn't remotely believable when he assumes he's automatically due yet another. It might have been knee jerk 10, 15, 20 years ago but it isn't knee jerk now.

Pete Perry said...

4:30 - been called a lot of things, but never a "Dixiecrat". Don't quite get how you can come up with that moniker - but I guess it makes as little sense as your other accusations.

Beavis said...

"It's pots calling kettles black on both sides! "

Heh heh - you said "black".

Heh - heh



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