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.

Quote:

---

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

---

<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:

---

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.

---

<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!

Quote:

---

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!

---

<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.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by maddercow:
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.

---

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">ya, I think you are right that she will lose - but my gosh I've seen much worse attacks in political campaigns!

Him calling her a racist for example is a horrible negative attack! And totally unsusbtantiated!

He accused Chris Gabrielli, who would have been an awesome governor, of racism in the campaign too. When there was none.

IMO that is hitting way below the belt.


Like her or not, the question is - is that ad racist? Clearly NOT. And I think its awful that he is getting away with calling it so.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by senorina:
Him calling her a racist for example is a horrible negative attack! And totally unsusbtantiated!

Like her or not, the question is - is that ad racist? Clearly NOT. And I think its awful that he is getting away with calling it so.[/QB]

---

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">It seems that many people in this state perceive the ad to be racist. It is all about perception. Perhaps if you were a minority male you would think differently about whether the ad was racist.

Racism is a lot more subtle than it used to be, I think. I think because as a society we are a lot less tolerant to racism, we have become hyper-aware of less obvious, possibly subconscious expressions of it.

I have to say if there is racism it is fairly subtle. Compared to the crud I have seen out there this year it isn't that bad.

I think it might say more about who she thinks white women are then who she thinks black males are.

That being said I don't know the candidates at all. I almost always judge this type of subtle thing by where the candidate stands most of the time. What legislation they support; their vision of education; how they choose to handle crime and the racial/class inequities that exist: All of this is part of how I judge a message. Sometimes there is a wink wink nudge nudge aspect to these ads that isn't evident unless you know the specifics.

One of the other ads that I read about said at the end something like, "Lawyers have the right to defend copkillers, but do you really want one as your governor?" A lot of people said the ad was misleading because it's unclear if they are talking about lawyers or copkillers.

But a few bloggers said that they thought "Do you really want one as your governor?" was one of those wink wink nudge nudge things. As in, "Do you want a black man to be governor?"

I don't see it, but if someone has already decided that her ads might be racist, this would just enforce that belief.

[/QUOTE]It seems that many people in this state perceive the ad to be racist. It is all about perception. Perhaps if you were a minority male you would think differently about whether the ad was racist.[/QB][/QUOTE]

Yes, many people in this state have said the ad is racist.

And not ONE can say what's racist about it.

Can you? What do you "perceive" as racist about it.

I emailed ex-boyfriend and a few of his friends (black guys)about this. They are FURIOUS that people are calling it a racist ad, because they said it is only a racist person who would perceive that. Only people who perceive that any dangerous man in a parking lot would be black would see it as a racist ad.

Some people (including me) never had it enter our minds that the scary man implied in the ad was black.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by space4dtime:
One of the other ads that I read about said at the end something like, "Lawyers have the right to defend copkillers, but do you really want one as your governor?" A lot of people said the ad was misleading because it's unclear if they are talking about lawyers or copkillers.

But a few bloggers said that they thought "Do you really want one as your governor?" was one of those wink wink nudge nudge things. As in, "Do you want a black man to be governor?"

I don't see it, but if someone has already decided that her ads might be racist, this would just enforce that belief.

---

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">hmmmmm. interesting. I do get what you're saying.

HEY THANKS btw, that is the very first time someone's been able to make me understand what people saw as racism in the ads! thank you!

Geesh I think it would take a pretty devious mind to come up with an ad that would appeal to racists and seem innocent. I certainly don't buy it.

I am proud that Kerry Healey did not once play the "gender" card, and get all victim of sexism on us.

I know this is old.. (a couple of weeks anyway) but it is interesting to read.

Kerry Healey's backfiring campaign ads

By Joan Vennochi, Globe Columnist | October 25, 2006

WHO STOLE Kerry Healey's moderate Republican brain and turned it into something only a very angry, very conservative voter could love?


Like all political candidates, Healey is ultimately responsible for her own campaign. However, she must realize by now that the strategists around her are guilty of political malpractice. She adopted the wrong tone for this time in Bay State politics; and I doubt it will ever be the right tone for any female candidate seeking statewide office. It's sexist but true. There's a very fine line between tough and witchy.

With two weeks to go until election day, Democrat Deval Patrick leads Healey 53 percent to 26 percent, according to the latest 7News/Suffolk University poll. Here's why: Massachusetts voters never got a chance to meet a smart, articulate, socially moderate, fiscally conservative candidate for governor -- a female version of the Bill Weld who ran for governor in 1990. Instead, when they think of Healey, they now think of a woman devoid of humor or grace, thanks in large measure to relentlessly nasty ads and the occasional political dirty trick, all aimed at Patrick.

In the latest Healey campaign misstep, volunteers dressed up in orange jumpsuits similar to those worn by prisoners demonstrated in front of Patrick's Milton home and the residence of his campaign manager, John Walsh, in Abington. Why did it take the candidate four days to acknowledge that that was the wrong thing to do, even after learning that the jumpsuited volunteers scared Walsh's 12-year-old son? Imagine if such a group showed up at her home and frightened her children?

From the start, Healey had much to overcome. Voters didn't know much about her, and they are increasingly dissatisfied with her boss, Governor Mitt Romney. Healey took those negatives and piled more on herself: Instead of framing the issues in a way that reflects the real concerns of average voters, she stretched them into cartoon-like fear factors. Unless you are part of the angry talk radio crowd, it's a turn-off.

The best example of this is Healey's take on crime. She made this campaign all about Patrick's onetime support for a convicted rapist, Benjamin LaGuer. Why did LaGuer attract A-list support from lawyers like Patrick and Robert Cordy, once legal counsel to Governor William F. Weld and now a Supreme Judicial Court justice? Partly because, just as Romney said in a recent interview with Channel 4 political reporter Jon Keller, "This person happened to be well-spoken."

Apparently, Romney sometimes praises rapists -- if one wants to label as "praise" a truthful representation of LaGuer's apparent eloquence. Patrick's similar "praise" of LaGuer's eloquence is the focus of Healey's most negative political ad -- the one that backfired on her, according to the most recent polling. The ad doesn't work, because people are smart. They know they have less to fear from a well-spoken but still safely jailed LaGuer than they do from an administration that cut local aid that is needed to hire cops. That's also why the orange jumpsuited demonstrators hurt Healey, not Patrick. She can talk tough on crime, but the Romney-Healey administration has not delivered. The rate of violent crime is up, and arrests are down.

As this campaign enters its final phase, Healey should stop listening to that lean and hungry circle of male operatives who permeate politics. They know how to do one thing: attack and never back down. Even though the "rapist" ad is hurting Healey, the campaign continues to run it. The Healey campaign is also running a more positive ad, but it is likely too little, too late.

Remember the stereotypical male driver who refuses to stop and ask for directions even when hopelessly lost? That sounds a lot like Rob Gray and Tim O'Brien, two Republican strategists who are driving the Healey campaign bus. They refused to reverse course.

Now, the latest polling shows that was a mistake. More than 53 percent of voters now view Healey unfavorably. And the gender gap is no more. In the 7News/Suffolk survey, men favored Patrick over Healey, 53 to 28 percent; the breakdown for women was 52-24 for Patrick.

Healey often mentions her mother, a retired teacher who accompanies her on some campaign events. This would be a good moment to consider some time-honored mother's advice: Be yourself.

Healey will never have Patrick's charisma, but she still can have her own dignity.

My dh mentioned this to me during the campaign (he still reads the Boston Globe every day on line, though we haven't lived in New England for years).

I didn't read all the coverage, but it seems she was trying to "Willie Horton" her opponent, as GHW Bush did to Mike Dukakis.

It's possible that black people see it as racist because they perceive her as using the black race in a negative way for political gain: focus on the fact that some black people are criminals to instill fear in the electorate, leading them to vote against candidates who are being painted as soft on crime. I'm sure lots of people in MA see that ad as a reference to LaGuer.

I don't think it would appear racist to people outside the area, who don't know about the La Guer thing.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 17, 2006 02:58 AM: Message edited by: Jeeperrr ]</font>

Maddercow, the editorial you cited explains why the writer thinks Healey ran a bad campaign, but does nothing to explain why people percieve her ads or her campaign as racist...don't see how it is relevant to the OP.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by senorina:
Maddercow, the editorial you cited explains why the writer thinks Healey ran a bad campaign, but does nothing to explain why people percieve her ads or her campaign as racist...don't see how it is relevant to the OP.

---

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Well, excuuuuse me for not staying on topic...

I thought some people might be interested in the reasons why Healey lost the race so horribly.

Quote:

---

I thought some people might be interested in the reasons why Healey lost the race so horribly.[/QB]

---

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">haha!

sorry I thought you were responding to me.