Farfetched Step ’n Fetchit Complaint

A couple of months ago denizens of the Democratic Underground had a serious discussion (or what passes for a serious discussion on Democratic Underground) of whether it would always be racist to describe someone as a Step ’n Fetchit, or whether there might be people who deserve that label.

Let’s suppose that a candidate’s spokesman/supporter used that phrase during a discussion about the need to limit corporate influence on Congress/Government/Elections. Would we be up-in-arms at the racial implications of someone referring to unnamed politicians acting as a “Step ‘n Fetchit” for their Corporate masters?

Would we be disgusted to hear someone characterize Condi Rice as W’s “Step ‘n Fetchit” SoS during her obvious photo op trips through the Middle East? Did anyone use that phrase (SnF) to point how Colin Powell was used in the run up to the war?

In response, one commenter noted that “[s]uch terms seem to be somewhat acceptable when applied to Republicans,” but cautioned that “I wouldn’t advise a white person to adopt that terminology.”

That’s probably good advice to those concerned with keeping their politically correct credentials in good order … and for anyone concerned with keeping his or her job in the many precincts where political correctness holds sway, one of which is Falmouth, Mass.

Last week Peter Waasdorp was removed from the Falmouth Conservation Commission as a result of charges by commission chairwoman Karen Wilson that he had been verbally harassing her via e-mail. It was revealed at a selectmen’s hearing that in one of the e-mails, Waasdorp referred to another commission member, a white woman, as a “Stepin Fetchit.” Waasdorp and Wilson are also white….

Waasdorp’s remark wasn’t meant to be complimentary. But is a name seen as racist when applied to an African-American also racist when directed toward someone who isn’t black, or is it simply insulting? Waasdorp said there were no racist intentions on his part.

Good question. But not to worry: the Falmouth affirmative action office and the Barnstable County Human Rights Commission was quick with the answer.

Falmouth affirmative action officer, George Spivey, who was involved in Waasdorp’s harassment investigation, said the comment was racist because of its history and intent.

“It was a character created to put down a person of color,” Spivey said. “The person to whom the language was directed wasn’t a person of color, but the characteristic applied to that person was of a person of color. It’s a derogatory, negative statement and so the intent was to apply the characteristics of that negative statement to that individual.”

Elizabeth Swanson Goldberg, vice chairwoman of Barnstable County Human Rights Commission, was equally adamant regarding the racism contained in the comment.

“He’s using the word in the same way it was meant originally. He’s still evoking that whole history of a minstrel character … made for white people’s amusement,” Goldberg said. “It’s insensitive and racist.”

But wait. Doesn’t this answer reveal that it is really the politically correct language police who harbor racist thoughts? It was the affirmative action officer, after all, who said “the characteristic applied to that person was of a person of color” [Emphasis added].

But wait one more time. What if a white person characterizes someone as resembling not a Step ’n Fetchit but a powerful, successful black man? Don’t worry; this is not a hypothetical. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is, once again, ready with an answer.

In January, Brewster police officer Joseph Houston was arrested at a heavy metal concert in Boston for disturbing the peace. According to the arresting officer, who is Hispanic, Houston, who is white, called out, “Look at Obama,” directing his remark at the officer in what was described as “a loud disorderly manner.”

….

Houston was dismissed from the Brewster Police Force as a result of his behavior that night….

As for Houston’s remark, comparing someone to the president of the United States doesn’t sound like an insult, but does doing so “in a loud disorderly manner” suggest that may have been the intent? Was it racist? Goldberg thought it was.

“The reason I see it as racist, even though he had called him the name of the man who’d just become the most powerful man in the world, was because of the context. Particularly the context of trying to keep black people – and particularly black men – out of positions of power,” Goldberg said, interpreting Houston’s “Look at Obama” remark to mean “Look at this brown-skinned guy trying to have power over me.”

In Barnstable County, Massachusetts, at least, you’d better not take the president’s name in vain.

Verb 1. take in vain – use a name, such as God, without proper respect.