And That's... The Rest of the Story

Romenesko excerpts the sunny side of a Terry Neal chat, accurately quoting the online writer as saying:

I don't think George W. Bush is in any way a racist, or really even racially insensitive. I believe he believes his conservative policies can help uplift poor people, minorities, etc. Now I'm neither endorsing, nor condemning his policies. But to me the term "racist" implies hatred or animosity. And I don't see that in Bush.

What Romenesko doesn't include in the edit is the following:

But even still, it's more complicated than that. I don't think Bush or anyone in his administration sat back and said, "hmmm, black folks. Let 'em suffer!"

But even having said that, I do believe the reaction would have been different had the images been of tens of thousands of white folks, starving and thirsty in the streets. I don't think that's racism. I think that's reality. I just think it would have hit people differently, from an emotional standpoint, and there would have been much more screaming to get something done now. People can and will disagree, but I have a right to my opinion on this, and that's what it is.

I've followed many of  Neal's chats and he seems like a genuinely nice guy--my main point in posting this is to suggest Romenesko's excerpt is misleading, not that Neal is another Kanye West. I also think it would be nice if we could talk about race in this country without being hysterical about it.

Still, I'd like to ask Neal sometime what the difference is between Bush not being a racist on the one hand and saying there would have been much more screaming to get something done now if New Orleans had been filled with starving white people on the other. Calling it "reality" doesn't do the contradiction justice.

Our assignment for the weekend is Heather MacDonald:

If the government’s failure to get help instantly to Katrina victims reflects American racism, why have the images of thousands of poor, displaced blacks triggered the greatest outpouring of charity in American history?...