White Not?
Have you read about
all the hubbub over the racist ad Republicans are airing against Tennessee senatorial candidate Harold Ford?
From the Times:
The spot, which was first broadcast last week and was disappearing from the air on Wednesday, featured a series of people in mock man-on-the street interviews talking sarcastically about Mr. Ford and his stands on issues including the estate tax and national security.The controversy erupted over one of the people featured: an attractive white woman, bare-shouldered, who declares that she met Mr. Ford at a “Playboy party,” and closes the commercial by looking into the camera and saying, with a wink, “Harold, call me.”
I've read a lot about this ad, and none of the reporting points out one of the subtexts the ad manipulates so grossly: Harold Ford
does like white women.
How do I know this? A female friend of mine, who is white, dated Ford...and it was her strong impression that white women were Ford's girlfriends of preference.
Let's be clear: There's absolutely nothing wrong with this.
My point: The ad is even more vile than the press has reported, because it uses an innocuous truth which is probably somewhat known in Tennessee to manipulate and exaggerate racial fears.
