When a sheltered, wealthy white man laughs at people who aren’t: Romney’s birther joke

“That’s the problem with Romney’s “joke,” too. It falls into a long list of remarks that suggest an emotional myopia based on an extremely sheltered life experience. It comes across as gloating about the fact that, as a rich white man born into a wealthy and powerful family, Romney has rarely been subject to the kind of racist or sexist assumptions that clog the daily lives of millions of Americans. Romney might as well joke that he’s never been mistaken for a waiter in a restaurant or a clerk in a retail store, or that he’s never been selected for extra screening at an airport or randomly told to empty his pockets by the NYPD. The reason Romney doesn’t have to show the country his papers isn’t because everyone knows he was born in Michigan. It’s because whiteness remains unquestionably “American” for some people in a way blackness does not. That should not be a point of pride for Romney; it should be a matter of anger and disappointment.”

— Mitt Romney Made a Birther Joke | Adam Serwer 

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3 thoughts on “When a sheltered, wealthy white man laughs at people who aren’t: Romney’s birther joke

  1. “Romney has rarely been subject to the kind of racist or sexist assumptions…” You might want to reread your title.

    • “It falls into a long list of remarks that suggest an emotional myopia based on an extremely sheltered life experience. It comes across as gloating about the fact that, as a rich white man born into a wealthy and powerful family, Romney has rarely been subject to the kind of racist or sexist assumptions that clog the daily lives of millions of Americans.”

      You might want to reread the second and third sentences.

  2. there are many “animals” far more monogamous than was mitt romney’s grandfather!!! just which of his grandfather’s many wives is mitt’s relative? ?do we even know mitt’s true heritage?

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