I bought a camouflage baseball cap recently, I already owned a pick-up truck, so between the two now I find that local farmers, hunters and tradesman approach me more readily.  Recently a retired tradesman stopped me outside a lumber yard to talk about the project I was working on and tell me about his new project.

I was building a retaining wall, he was taking on a large account for a lady that writes for Jerry Springer.  He told me how rich she was and how she had a lot of people hanging around that didn't seem to work.

Then he told me how he respected Mexican Workers much more than Black Workers.  He said that Mexican workers work hard and you can leave them on their own and know the job will get done.

He was really trying not to be racist, he was really trying to convince himself that the "Mexican Invasion" was a good thing.  He was a hard worker that was simply sharing his observations but yet they were still racist observations.

I used to work for a sign company that produced signage for the Republicans in Albany, NY.  The owner was a Vietnam Vet that was definitely a hawk.  His entire family was completely racist and I quit the job after his wife decided to refer to black people as THOSE people right in front of a black worker.

The thing is, these people are the old guard, trying desperately to hang on to white power by degrading, classifying, and making the races fight eachother.  

The other thing is that many people adopt these behaviors unknowingly, yes...even liberals.  Just ask people involved in the Veterans for Peace Katrina Effort.  It was rampant with racist ideas and misgivings.

I was surprised to see Matt Stoller bristle on here at the mear mention that racism is present in and amongst liberal bloggers.  It's racism by degrees but it is still racism.

But I'll roll with it. Still hope to get back to the advice, though.

I remember Matt Stoller from when I was overtly political. I'll engage him if he wishes, if not then I won't. But under my premise white people of all political persuasions react to the 'R word' pretty much like Black folks react to the 'N word'...equally intense, equally disparate. Matt is reacting as though, in a crowd of urbane Black folks someone stood up and said "It's some niggers in the room!"

That it may be true of some under other circumstances will likely be considered beside the point. And I'm trying not to get too theoretical here so I'll pause for now.

I just saw this. Maybe I would like to talk to Mr. Stoller. It would be interesting to find out what he would expect Mr. Smiley to say, and who "the blogs" are.

I"ve thought about your advice: "Instead consider us to be a set of related constituencies," and it seems self-evident, but still good advice. It's a little terse, so I'm probably not getting the nuance of what you're advising.

I mean, okay, there are more genetic diffences within races than between. Race is a illusion to the extent that it is a social construct. Certainly not an illusion within a society that enforces it. And it does make good sense to see a race as a set of allies, constituency groups with shared interests, and sometimes history, or at least a group that recognizes they've been pigeonholed by others and need to address that. Of course, I don't really see my own race that way, but it still seems like decent advice, a possibly useful way to view other races.

I can imagine how this advice might be useful. But unless this specific conversation keeps going, I'll file this bit of advice away with all the other bits until it becomes relevant.

I'm not sure yet how this advice helps or hurts the developing post-Clinton/pale-bloggers-meet-up blogfight.

I was very specific in saying it's a modeling tool for political purposes only. Filing it away until it becomes useful is exactly what you should be doing with it.

It would have been useful pre-luncheon. Picture Mr. Clinton planning a campaigning trip through some locality. The flacks would fan out ahead, they'd be seeing this constituency and that one and word would get out...I think Terrance actually made that point on DKos.

Risking the wrath of FDL, it would help avoid blackface absurdities. If you have an idea and you're not sure if it will offend one your constituencies, you don't use it. That simple.

Primarily though, the idea is kind of a set of cultural training wheels for the folks who said, "we want to do better, but what shall we do?" And I offer it because in the end it really is something white liberals need to do on their own. If their intent is correct, maybe they need a starting point and maybe a push in the right direction. That's the intent of the advice.

Beyond that, we're counting on your liberal vision. Seriously. The weight of disproving racism has always fallen on Black people and culturally speaking, we're kinda tired. Especially since, legally, collectively, socially, we've never been the source of the problem.

My observation...folks can feel free to correct.