perceived racism that isn't there

I HONESTLY CANNOT find what is racist about this ad, although people are constantly calling it a racist ad!

Even in the last debate, one of the questions asked about the racism of this ad.

A little background, Healey is criticizing her opponent for supporting criminals, in this case a man who raped and tortured a grandmother for 8 hours. Her opponent, Deval Patrick, wrote letters to the parole board asking them to release the guy from prison, saying that he was thoughtful, eloquent and humane.

Anyway you can argue that the ad is irelevant, negative, attacking - but how on earth is it racist?

This is an example commentary on the ad:

But Republican Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey is resorting to astonshingly low, beyond-borderline racist tactics in attempts to prevent this from happening.

Healey is staking her entire campaign on the notion that Patrick is not simply "soft on crime," but a friend of cop-killers and rapists. Her swiftboating campaign focuses on Patrick's past as an NAACP attorney in the 1980s, specifically his defense of convicted rapist Benjamin LaGuer. In the past, Patrick wrote letters in defense of LaGuer (a black man whom Patrick believed was convicted by a racist jury), but withdrew his support in 2002 after a DNA test confirmed LaGuer's guilt. Nonetheless, Healey continues to harp on a soundbyte from a talk show in which Patrick described LaGuer as "thoughtful" and "eloquent"-- as if this somehow means Patrick is pro-rape.

In a recent ad put out by Healey, a menacing camera follows a woman through a dark parking lot (as if shown from a rapist's point of view), as a woman's voice asks, "Have you ever heard a woman compliment a rapist?"

Think the GOP's racially-charged attack ads on Harold Ford were bad? Then check this out.

here is the ad:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=V2b64RSE26w

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ October 30, 2006 11:03 AM: Message edited by: senorina ]</font>

As someone unfamiliar with the specifics, I don't see anything racist about the ad.

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Originally posted by space4dtime:
As someone unfamiliar with the specifics, I don't see anything racist about the ad.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I can't get ANYONE to tell me what is racist about it - even the people who have said its "implied". When I ask how is it implied, they can only say that people will "assume" that a black man would be the rapist that the woman is afraid of - AND THAT BLOWS MY MIND because only a racist would assume that! It never entered my mind when I saw it.

I have a couple of thoughts about the ad and the facts that you presented:

1. Patrick was obviously supporting this criminal prior to his DNA test, feeling (unknown if warranted as I am not privy to the trial specifics) he was convicted by a racist jury. He withdrew his support, as he should have, after the DNA testing. If he had continued his suport, then there would have been reason to attack him in the ads.
2. I think it is possible for a prisoner to be labeled or thought of as "eloquent and thoughtful" - he may not have been thoughtful to his victim(s), but he could be to his family, etc. Was he a drug addict that may have contributed to his violent behavior? My ex-brother-in-law, though not a convicted criminal, was labeled by many as brash and loud, and many people don't like him, but they didn't see the side of him I saw like holding my brother while he had a seizure, taking the gum out of his mouth, and carrying him in to lie on the couch or the many times he helped me out. There were many, many times that his brash and loud behavior and some of his views pissed me off, too, but there was more than just that one side to him. Could that be the case in this rapist's life? With respect to the comment that no women would compliment a rapist, how many criminals are out there have women who have fallen in love with them, the "worst of the worst" even after conviction and knowing all of the facts. I just think the ad doesn't have much merit and probably wouldn't sway me away from the candidate if I had been supporting him.
3. Is the ad racist? - I don't see it.

Some of the commentary I read said that Healey is trying to play on the supposed unconscious fears that white women have of being raped by black men. By associating Patrick with rapists (including the ad that said he had rapist kin, but didn't provide the all-to-important details), she's trying to get voters to make the leap a little further to say Patrick = Black Rapist.

I don't know if that's true, or has merit. It's just what I read.

Quote:

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Originally posted by space4dtime:
Some of the commentary I read said that Healey is trying to play on the supposed unconscious fears that white women have of being raped by black men. By associating Patrick with rapists (including the ad that said he had rapist kin, but didn't provide the all-to-important details), she's trying to get voters to make the leap a little further to say Patrick = Black Rapist.

I don't know if that's true, or has merit. It's just what I read.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">well thanks for trying to help me see it, I still think its a stretch that is impossible to make.

As far as Patrick having a rapist (haha I almost typed racist family member by mistake, his sister's husband did jail time and probation for raping her. They are back together now. Patrick accused Healey of exposing this, she totally denies it and said it was a personal matter that she wouldn't comment on, and she demanded an apology from Patrick for the accusation. She didn't get one.

As far as Ben Legare - the old-lady rapist...I have to admit that Patrick's involvement in the case really bothers me, mostly becase Patrick thought there was racism in the trial...Why? because Legare said there was. It was one of MANY lame attempts Legare has made to get out of jail for that horrible crime. And Patrick tried to get him RELEASED - not get him a new trial! Patrick did not ever contact the family of the victim.

And Healey was trying to show a pattern of caring
more for the criminals than the victims, she did an ad about Patrick getting a cop killer off of death row. A cop pulled over to help him for his broken down car, and the guy blew him away.He got the death penalty, and Patrick used the defense that they didn't allow evidence of the guys good character to be presented at the trial. Now the guy will be eligible for parole.

In the things you've cited, I'd have to say I wouldn't really care to have this gentleman as my candidate of choice. However, I would have to delve more into the situation before I could cement my decision. Glad it's not our race!

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Originally posted by Nanner63:
In the things you've cited, I'd have to say I wouldn't really care to have this gentleman as my candidate of choice. However, I would have to delve more into the situation before I could cement my decision. Glad it's not our race!

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">wish it wasn't ours, he's almost certainly going to win .

Massachusetts.

another article from the Boston Globe:

Kerry Healey's TV Ads are Extremely Racist

The Healey campaign has run a series of advertisements on TV that are meant to appeal to the gut racism of white folks. She invokes images of Deval Patrick, a black man, as someone who is soft on crime and who believes in protecting rapists, not victims of violent crimes.

Healey's most recent ad features a white woman walking through a deserted parking lot with a voice over that says:
?Here?s a question, if a teacher at your kid?s school, or a friend, or a co-worker; if anyone you knew actually praised a convicted rapist? what would you think? Deval Patrick did. Here?s what he said about brutal rapist Ben LaGuer, ?He is eloquent and he is thoughtful, there?s no doubt about that.? Here?s another question; have you ever heard a woman compliment a rapist? Deval Patrick, he should be ashamed, not governor.?

It is Kerry Healey who should be ashamed for running this horrifying ad. She is invoking racial stereotypes of black men being violent, hyper-sexualized and wanting to hurt white women. By appealing to these media driven fears she is hoping to take white women's votes away from Deval Patrick.
I hope that the women of Massachusetts are more intelligent then to fall for this ridiculous and racist ad. It is Kerry Healey who is soft on crime. It is Kerry Healey who took police off the street while she was Lieutenant Governor. It is Kerry Healey who failed to implement the sex offender?s registry. It is Kerry Healey who does not want to protect women of any race from violent crime.

Although appealing to white people's racism is very effective, it should not be a way to run campaigns. If the only think that Kerry Healey has against Deval Patrick is that he's a black man, she should stop running negative campaign ads and start talking about her own record.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ October 31, 2006 08:40 AM: Message edited by: senorina ]</font>

The problem is Healey doesn't have much of a record to talk about. She has run the most divisive negative campaign that I've ever seen in this state. She deserves to lose badly and I'm sure that she will.