Hyman(Sinclair Broadcasting) claimed Dean thinks "Blacks are only capable

[RedEarth]

of service industry jobs".


Part of the radical right smear machine...Sinclair Broadcasting......


http://mediamatters.org/items/printable/200503100003


Hyman claimed Dean thinks "Blacks are only capable of service industry jobs"

Sinclair Broadcast Group Vice President Mark Hyman smeared Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean on the March 9 edition of "The Point," claiming that Dean's "core beliefs" include the notion that "Southerners are Confederate flag-waving good ol' boy racists" and "Blacks are only capable of service industry jobs."

In support of his claim, Hyman cited two comments made by Dean. In the first, from an October 31, 2003, interview with the Des Moines Register, then-presidential candidate Dean said he wanted "to be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks." Dean elaborated in the interview, contending that "We can't beat George Bush unless we appeal to a broad cross section of Democrats," though this part of Dean's comment was not included on "The Point." The second quotation was from a February 11 meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus in which Dean said that the Republican National Committee could only get "this many people of color in a single room...if they had the hotel staff in here."

As Hyman described what he called Dean's "core beliefs," video clips of Ku Klux Klansmen appeared on the screen, followed by footage of African-Americans working retail jobs.

From the March 9 edition of "The Point":

HYMAN: Listen for a moment to these two quotes: "I still want to be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pick-up trucks." "You think the Republican National Committee could get this many people of color in a single room? Only if they had the hotel staff in here." ... Do you notice just a hint of Dean's core beliefs seeping out? Southerners are Confederate flag-waving good ol' boy racists. Blacks are only capable of service industry jobs.

Hyman hosts "The Point," Sinclair's two-minute conservative commentary that airs nightly on the 62 television stations the company owns or operates. Media Matters for America leads SinclairAction.com, a coalition of groups and individuals protesting Sinclair's continued misuse of public airwaves to broadcast one-sided, politically charged programming without a counterpoint

— J.C.

[2diagnosis]

1. What was Dean's point when he said that

about the hotel staff?:shrug:

[Sinistrous]

2. From the first, I took it to imply that

republicans would only hire blacks to the most menial of jobs -- exactly the opposite of what the republicult critics are projecting.

[wtbymark]

3. Exactly, that the only way

African Americans would associate themselves with the republican order is if they were working as support staff for a republican event. Of course the english language means nothing to republicans, they make the language 'anew' everyday.

[2diagnosis]

4. The only way?

"You think the Republican National Committee could get this many people of color in a single room? Only if they had the hotel staff in here."

Sounds open to a different interpretation. Did he have any African-Americans in Executive level positions when he was Governor?

[Lautremont]

5. So your "other interpretation" is that Dean is a virulent racist

who thinks blacks are fit only for service industry jobs? Is that really what you think?

[Igel]

12. When you read that quote in isolation, it can go either

way: repubs are racist, or Dean is racist.

All the rest is context and knowledge about the person. I only took it the first way, until some black Mississippi repubs decried the comment; I looked at the quote again, and thought, "Yeah, it is ambiguous."

I've seen a lot of quotes here from repubs that are the same way: out of context, they're ambiguous, at best. In context, they're much less so.

If you don't bring good will to the dialog, there really isn't much of one.

[Lautremont]

13. I think all quotes should be considered in context, absolutely.

I also think there's a certain responsibility on the person who's confused to seek out the information they need to get the whole picture.

So ominously stating that there are other interpretations to a statement like Dean's, and leaving it at that, is pretty unproductive.

[Igel]

16. The problem is that nobody has time to double-check all the

various quotes.

I agree, quotes should only be taken in context, with an awareness of other things the "quotee" has said.

The other option is remain a bit agnostic about a quote. I've seen many relatively damning quotes that were rhetorical flourishes or meant something quite different in context. (A few have popped up in church/state arguments.)

Dialog takes a lot of good will.

[KamaAina]

6. When he was Governor of *Vermont*??

where only one in 200 residents is African American -- or about 3000 in the entire state?

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/50000.html

[denverbill]

10. That was one of the DLC's big raps against Dean in the primaries.

He came from a lily-white state so he couldn't appeal to blacks or didn't understand race issues, yada yada yada.

Republicans are grasping at straws. Lindsay Graham only yesterday was yakking about how he hasn't forgiven Lincoln for ending slavery.

[walldude]

Considering he was adressing the Congressional Black Caucus

when he made this statement I'd hardly consider it racist. It could be interpreted that way by one who is racist themselves, but the first thing I did was laugh when I read it. I'm sure he got the same response from the CBC....

[2diagnosis]

14. Ok, but what is funny about the statement? nt

[madfloridian]

15. The CBC laughed and gave him a standing ovation.

Go figure. He made fun of the GOP, so they are mad. Not the Democrats.

[nmvisitor]

11. I agree

with your interpretation of Dean's remarks, and I don't think he is bigoted against blacks at all. His phrasing was poor though, and I don't think he got his point across very well at all.

[madfloridian]

9. Well, he got a standing ovation from the black caucus he spoke to.

They were not offended and they stood up for him later, saying he would not need to apologize.

The funny part is that he was slamming the Republicans, the people in the room knew it and cheered when he said it. They were part of the black caucus.

Dean said he would not apologize. He said when he was called a racist he would fight back, not apologize.

[Stop_the_War]

7. And guess who the KKK votes for? THE REPUBLICANS....

[SheepyMcSheepster]

8. hymans little segment should be called "The Point?????"

that is often how i feel after watching his little opinion peices, what's the point mark? you have no point.

he is basically saying that dean is a racist who thinks southerners are racists. what's the point?