What DO we say inf ront of THOSE people?

[wordsmythe]

Buttars ditches NAACP, says private meet became public 'cheap shot' - Salt Lake Tribune

'We had a deal and they changed it'
Buttars ditches NAACP, says private meet morphed into public 'cheap shot'
By Robert Gehrke
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 02/20/2008 07:06:53 AM MST



Sen. Chris Buttars was a no-show Tuesday for a meeting with leaders of the Salt Lake branch of the NAACP, saying the event had become a "cheap shot" after its organizers purportedly changed their minds about meeting with him in private and insisted the session be public.

NAACP board members expressed disappointment that Buttars didn't meet with them, and renewed their call that the West Jordan senator resign.

Buttars - under siege for a week after saying of a bill he opposed, "This baby is black. . . . It's a dark, ugly thing" - said he wanted to meet with the NAACP board, but told them hours in advance that he wouldn't attend if the media were invited.

Jeanetta Williams, president of the Salt Lake chapter of the NAACP, said she was disappointed he didn't attend, and that the organization would do everything in its power to force him to resign.

The organization also blasted Buttars for telling The Salt Lake Tribune on Monday that he has become a target of a "hate lynch mob" because of e-mails he has received condemning his remarks.

"The man knows nothing about what a lynch mob is," said Edward Lewis Jr., the former regional president of the NAACP, holding an article about a lynching in 1925 in Price. "It's an insult for the man to say he's being lynched when we know what real lynchings are."

"Lynch mob is a Western term. You wouldn't find one person in 10,000 in Utah that thinks that's a racist term," Buttars said in a phone interview Tuesday evening. "That's not a racial term in my opinion. How do I know what words I'm supposed to use in front of those people?"

Buttars' statements Tuesday added to Williams' frustration with the senator.

"At first I thought maybe it could be a generational thing," said Williams, "but I know folks who are much older than he is who don't talk that way and don't refer to 'those people,' and 'lynch mob,' and 'babies that are black are ugly.' "

In a speech last week, President Bush said that "the era of rampant lynching is a shameful chapter in American history."

"The noose is not a symbol of prairie justice, but of gross injustice. Displaying one is not a harmless prank. And 'lynching' is not a word to be mentioned in jest," Bush said. "As a civil society, we should be able to agree that noose displays and lynching jokes are deeply offensive. They are wrong. And they have no place in America today."

Tuesday's episode is the latest and most direct exchange of words between Buttars and the NAACP, which called for his resignation last week after his ''black baby'' comments.

Lewis, holding a picture of his grandson, Edward Lewis IV, said he was disappointed that Buttars didn't show up, "because I wanted to deal with him face-to-face."

"There is a gap between what you perceive your children are versus our children. . . . I dare Senator Buttars to refer to my black grandson as something ugly," said Lewis. "He wouldn't have said it if I had been standing there. He wouldn't have said this is a black, ugly baby."

Buttars, who has repeatedly insisted "I'm not a racist," said in an interview Monday he he never meant to offend and felt sorry for the hurt he caused. He said he planned to meet with Williams to discuss the situation.

Attorney General Mark Shurtleff had worked with Williams to set up a meeting and they had agreed to meet privately with the executive committee Tuesday evening, Buttars said. But Williams later told him that the meeting would have to be open to the news media.

"I wanted to talk to them very candidly and frankly," said Buttars, but despite coaxing from Shurtleff, Williams refused to meet privately. "So I said, well, I'm not coming, and I end up the bad guy on TV again. . . . We had a deal and they changed it."

But with television cameras and newspaper reporters on hand, Williams said she was disappointed that Buttars did not come, although she wasn't sure what he could have said to change her mind about resigning.

[wordsmythe]

First off, EVERYONE is a racist to some extent. That's just how life is and anyone who says different has already lied to you.

The first comment about this being a black baby,dark and ugly, was just wrong. Especially froms someone in public office.

For them to say "It's an insult for the man to say he's being lynched when we know what real lynchings are," is just as stupid. Trying to make it a racial thing by making it seem like only blacks were ever lynched. On that note, how do they know what "real" lynchings are? The ones who really know anything about them are either dead or strung the rope.

The outrage by the use of "those people" in a sentence has always baffled me. It's a generalization and possibly a sterotype but I say "so" what's the problem?

Some people just need to lighten up.

[K C Muffin]

I agree. It's more about focus than anything. They're making a huge stink about his misuse of words, refusing to listen to the meaning behind it. And it's drawing attention away from matters that affect us all. Yeah, it was bad and he should have his mouth washed out with soap. Other than that, hear it for what it's worth and move on. Somebody needs sensitivity training.

[TexKan]

Amazing - Just in time for Black History Month!! NAACP - another lobby group that needs to be canned!!!! Both sides are morons.

[wordsmythe]

Originally Posted by TexKan

Amazing - Just in time for Black History Month!!

Yeah February the SHORTEST month.

[Flying Dutchman]

"This baby is black. . . . It's a dark, ugly thing"

Ok, where am I reading this wrong.........he was referring to the bill he opposed and was saying the bill was an ugly thing. He used black as a term for it being dark (black is a dark color if I am right) and ugly. Kind of like saying a black cloud, right? I did not get where he was referring to black people, or the black race.............

This kind of crap just shows how low our society has come. What, we can't say a company is in the black anymore? If we say it is in the red, does that insult Indians? I thought lynching meant unfair justice...........I am sorry if black people take offense to it. Screw them. Whats next, we have to remove all automated sprinklers now too? Ever listened to one? It sounds like this:

neega, neega, neega..chink....spick, spick, spick


Damn racist sprinklers.

[CRAZY HORSE]

Worry Not! Just Say Whatever You Wish In Good Old American English.
Whoever It Applies To Will Not Understand It Anyway And You Will Feel Better After You Said It No Problem

[TexKan]

I agree with you Dutchie and felt the NAACP was just celebrating BHM. When you instill fear over something that really isn't visible long enough - you will find the "enemy" anywhere you can as often as you can. After all it's the folks they put fear into that keeps their CEO's and leaders in business. NAACP has prostituted more blacks than the old south did IMHO. I'm sick sick sick of them. NAACP is not the most popular black organization around here - lots of blacks and minorities find them rather embarrassing.