Although I currently live elsewhere, I always introduce myself proudly as a South Dakotan. State Sen. Al Novstrup’s recent comments regarding Senate Bill 200 make me more hesitant to claim that heritage with pride (“Novstrup defends statement that opponent calls ‘racist,” American News, Feb. 24).
Defending himself from charges of racism, Sen. Novstrup argued, terrorists are of mixed racial background. Not only is this breathtakingly offensive, it is untrue. As I’m sure the senator knows, some of the worst incidents of domestic terrorism in this country (the shootings at Sandy Hook, in Las Vegas and at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, to name just the first three that come to mind) have been committed by people who look more like the senator — and like me — than the 9/11 hijackers.
By singling out people based on race, Sen. Novstrup signals that he believes it’s OK to bar our neighbors from our community if they don’t look like us.
South Dakota should be better than this.
Justin Quam, Washington, D.C. [letter to the editor, Aberdeen American News, 2018.03.01]
It is up to us, Owen, to make it so that Novstrup and people who share his beliefs feel more and more alone. Racism should have no place in our state.
grudznick
2018-03-01 17:58
Mr. H, you should change your blog banner to your campaign pictures until November. I’m just sayin…
grudznick
2018-03-01 18:08
Or maybe a collage of unflattering haircut pictures of Mr. Novstrup, the elder. Or a rotating series like the fancy webs do. Toothy Al, Al at the beach with hair all wet, sleepy Al, raging Al, you know the shots that would play well.
Debbo
2018-03-01 23:15
I told you. White male Americans are the most dangerous.
The people best equipped to change that? White male Americans.
Ryan
2018-03-02 11:27
I think the people who are most equipped to deal with a crazy racist politician are all the people who can vote in a democratic election and remove that crazy racist politician from power. Good thing all those hardworking folks who created and supported the women’s suffrage movement thought that women could help solve problems, too. I understand that South Dakota has some issues, but I wasn’t aware that a white male’s vote was counted more times than than a white woman’s vote or a non-white male’s vote.
“South Dakota should be better than this.”
We can be …. we just don’t have the guts.
Debbo
2018-03-02 14:04
Ryan, I know you hate the fact of white male privilege, but that doesn’t make it any less real.
Ryan
2018-03-02 14:31
I admit I am guessing, but I think all the commenters on this post are white males with the exception of Debbo. All of us seem to think novstrup is a stupid racist, and yet our fantastic white male privilege isn’t making him or his racist thoughts go away. Like I said, voting is the way to deal with bad politicians, not finger pointing. I, for one, sure am happy women non-white people can vote because I believe in equality and the benefits of diverse opinions. Sorry you don’t believe in the power of women voters and non-white voters. I know you hate the fact of misandry, but that doesn’t make it any less real.
Debbo
2018-03-02 14:44
Oh Ryan. I’ll give you points for persistence and consistency. I think you know this but I’ll say the obvious anyway:
White male privile does not mean no one else has any agency. It means white males have significantly more.
White male privilege is not magical.
Ryan
2018-03-02 15:01
Being a white male probably makes some things easier for some people in some situations. I think being a female probably makes some things easier for some people in some situations. Same for Asian folks. Same for Latino folks. Are there more occurrences where being a white male is beneficial than being somebody other than a white male? I dunno. I’m not an anthropologist.
What I know is that my wife’s vote is tallied the same as mine, despite our different genders. I think that’s a good thing. If my wife has a strong opinion about something, she knows she should hit the polls and vote. I don’t think she reflects on the history of gender inequality in the centuries before Susan B. Anthony helped liberate the collective female voice and feels less potent than her male counterparts.
Debbo, if you could send a message to women across the U.S., would it be something along these lines, “If you see a problem, you should go ask for help from a white male because they are more effective at handling problems.” ? That kind of thinking seems regressive and would seem to me to perpetuate gender inequality.
Jenny
2018-03-02 15:14
Middle age blue collar while males are committing suicide at the highest rates. Is this a paradox then?
I kind of dislike the term white male privilege as it’s not putting what’s really happening out on the table. Trying telling one of these middle class guys they have privilege when their jobs have gone overseas or become obsolete.
It really should be called white male upper class privilege.
Ryan
2018-03-02 15:25
Jenny, it’s just upper class privilege.
Debbo
2018-03-02 16:52
You can see white male privilege when you look at the photos of presidents and governors. It’s there when examining judgeships. White male privilege is less apparent in one man’s day to day activities so it’s easier to look there and deny it exists.
For instance, women have been telling the medical profession that menstrual cramps can be extremely painful for centuries. Just this year the AMA said it’s true. Cramps can be as painful as a heart attack and should be treated accordingly.
For instance, products such as viagra that benefit male sexuality were very swiftly covered by insurance. Products related to women’s and girl’s sexuality, such as tampons, sexual pleasure enhancement and similar items are not covered and are taxed.
For instance, the large majority of CPR classes teach male heart attack symptoms, but not female.
For instance, women pay more for auto and home repairs and remodels.
For instance, thermostats in offices are routinely set at 65°-68° for the comfort of men wearing suits but women are cold.
For instance, public restrooms are built adequately for males, but women and girls are forced to stand in line.
For instance, US Women’s Ice Hockey has won several World championships and silver Olympic medals in the 21st century, yet were paid less than 10% of what the less successful men’s team made. They finally had to go on strike last summer to get a more fair contract.
The “For Instances” is a very long list, nearly endless. That’s what white male privilege is.
Debbo you have managed to do something significant here: You have taken task all these liberal white men and shown them the same treatment they have given others. I don’t argue your views but I would say there is nothing you can do about your perceived white male privilege other than to kill them all off and then you have created another problem all together but if the other efforts of these liberal white men comes to fruition the government will have disarmed and impoverished our society to a point where you might have a chance to gather all these liberal white men, put them in the train and taken them to be gassed. You could also simply grow up and stop acting like a sniveling baby.
mike from iowa
2018-03-03 07:42
Trying telling one of these middle class guys they have privilege when their jobs have gone overseas or become obsolete.
At least these middle class white guys HAD jobs. Whites have pretty much always had an easier time finding work, benefits, obtaining loans than people of color. It is like that, yet. White privilege tainted with racist overtones.
Ryan
2018-03-03 08:26
I could google articles and stats about some miscellaneous perks of being a woman, too, but it won’t change anybody’s mind and it’s the opposite direction of my original point. Focusing on men versus women is counterproductive.
When people point fingers at the white man, it’s lumping millions of very different people together based on immutable characteristics. I know white men who are jobless or broke or drunks or addicts and their lives and level of social persuasion are very different than the white men I know who own businesses and vote and are involved in the community. I’ve worked for more female bosses in my life than male, and they sure as heck have power in the community. They set the office temperature, too.
Social power comes from many places, and I think the message that smart progressive people should all join in on is this: We are all in this together.
Men, women, white skin, tan skin, brown skin, teachers, business owners, local leaders, everyone – if we all row the same direction we’ll get there faster.
Comments like Debbo’ s are why pop culture picks on radical feminists. Some people don’t want equality, or progress toward it. They want to dwell on differences and seek pity, revenge, or some other “justice” for their plight. She can keep repeating herself that each problem that arises in a conversation should be fixed by white men, but that kind of feminism is about two generations stale by now.
Here is a perfect, blatant example of white privilege perpetrated by whitey wingnuts on the less than white.
mike from iowa
2018-03-03 08:55
Ryan, show me a single state house not over populated and controlled by”white men’? How about US Congress? Any solution to any problem will need to be headed by a majority of white men. Can’t do it any other way until minorities gain control.
Ryan
2018-03-03 09:07
Most politicians are ineffective turds anyway, white or otherwise. Men and women get to run for office and get to vote. We should all use that power. For what it’s worth I voted for Hillary, not the white male candidate. So did a lot of other white men. Yet the white male candidate won with a staggering number of female supporters.
Like I said, social power, and political power by proxy, is not simply a question of gender and race. Women who don’t vote or run for office or who vote against their self-interests can’t blame everything on everyone else.
mike from iowa
2018-03-03 09:26
Yeah, but…… the reality is white males dominate today and for the foreseeable future and until that change comes, white males have to lead the way.
And it prolly isn’t a good idea to even imagine a certain femme poster voting for Drumpf or against her best interests.
Debbo
2018-03-03 14:07
Ryan, you still need to look at why white male privilege is such a hot button issue for you. You’d rather throw up an army of red herrings than deal with it.
I have more power than black women without question, regardless of income. I have more power than children. You have more power than women, people of color and children, whether you like it or not, whether you want to dodge it or not. Those are facts backed up by mountains of evidence.
The privileged will complain more bitterly about their loss of privilege than the impoverished will complain about their loss of pittance.
Novstrup is able to spout his racist and unconstitutional statements in part because his fellow privileged white males cut him far more slack than they cut Barack Obama or members of other out-groups. Compare to Presidential politics: Novstrup and his fellow privileged white males decried Obama for statements that he never made but which they imputed to him about taking our guns and establishing a lifelong dictatorship. Donald Trump has said exactly those words this week, and Novstrup and his fellows are silent.
Ryan
2018-03-05 09:22
Cory, did somebody complain about the loss of a privilege? And what impoverished person’s pittance being lost are you referencing? I don’t think I understand.
OldSarg, I think the consensus on this blog is that you are indeed a moron. If the feeling is mutual and you think we are idiots, why do you keep coming back?
mike from iowa
2018-03-05 09:43
The privileged will complain more bitterly about their loss of privilege than the impoverished will complain about their loss of pittance.
Just a fact of life, Ryan,.
Ryan
2018-03-05 10:15
Mike, thanks for repeating Cory’s statement word-for-word. Super helpful.
Can either you or Cory help me understand the context for the statement?
Mike, here is the same question I just asked Cory regarding his statement, also word-for-word since you like that sorta thing:
“Did somebody complain about the loss of a privilege? And what impoverished person’s pittance being lost are you referencing? I don’t think I understand.”
And Mike, If you just type the same words again as a response, I still don’t think I’ll understand.
Just an FYI.
Oh, brother. Ever hear of copy and paste? I didn’t type word for word, I copied and pasted the statement so you would know what my comment was about.
As for Master, he can tell you what he meant. What I think he meant was speaking metaphorically about how the wealthy (not any individual) have the money and the lobbyists to cry foul when legislation or decisions go against them. It seems to make the media light up. The koch bros, for example, have the billions necessary to get politicians attentions and favorable legislation.
Poor people, even when stoopid effing wingnuts take away foodstamps and heating allowances, don’t have the public relations to be heard. The poors, the elderly, little children and military families pretty much bear their burdens in silence.
Ryan
2018-03-05 10:49
OK mike – thanks for the translation.
I still don’t think this makes sense or fits in the conversation, but I should know better than to disagree with the idea that the white man made every problem and must fix every problem.
Funny how it’s racist for Al Novstrup to lump all people of one race together, but if it’s Debbo, lump away, right folks? I guess it’s only OK to be racist if you are also being sexist at the same time.
Or it’s only OK to be a bigot if that bigot is your friend. The problem is, fellas, all bigots have a couple friends. Just like some of you defend the sexist and racist stuff Debbo repeats over and over, I’m sure Al has a couple good ol’ boys telling him, “No man, they just don’t understand, you are one of the good ones.”
White males are parading about with tiki torches and Trump hats because they are realizing how much they have benefited for generations from the unjust privilege that they are now losing. Their actual loss is only a loss of unfair advantage over others, but they are crying hard about it, perhaps partially in self-loathing and guilt they can’t admit.
When poor minorities get whacked—Medicaid work requirements, South Dakota sales tax on food, Novstrup’s call for racial profiling—they tend not to holler as much, because they are used to generations of oppression, of losing things to which they have a rightful claim. They gripe less in part because they lack the privilege and power to make their complaints turn into practical action.
Ryan
2018-03-06 08:25
I just think it’s hilarious that you all will roast Novstrup on a pike for talking about terrorists as if they are all the same, or talking about muslims as if they are all the same, or applying characteristics to people just because they share some other characteristic, or suggesting that a physical characteristic at all is a reason to judge a person…and then you do the exact same thing.
When you say “white males are parading about…” you are indicating a cohesion or unity. Just like when Novstrup asks and answers the “what does a terrorist look like?” question. When you say “when poor minorities get whacked…they tend not to holler as much…” you think you are giving some compliment of strength or resilience, but what you are doing is racial and economic stereotyping.
You can say that over the history of this country, white people have enjoyed more freedoms than others. You can say things like men have had the majority of social and political power. Those things are pretty solid facts. When you start assigning attributes to a whole population of people based on their skin color, that’s racist.
I know you folks are super progressive and bend over backwards to make sure you don’t come across as offensive to anybody except white males, but the fact is you are perpetuating racial and gender differences with this baloney. Not only that, you are condescending. If I was a minority and had all you folks talking down to me, I’d be more pissed off than reassured.
Sadly, Novstrap’s not alone with his beliefs in South Dakota
It is up to us, Owen, to make it so that Novstrup and people who share his beliefs feel more and more alone. Racism should have no place in our state.
Mr. H, you should change your blog banner to your campaign pictures until November. I’m just sayin…
Or maybe a collage of unflattering haircut pictures of Mr. Novstrup, the elder. Or a rotating series like the fancy webs do. Toothy Al, Al at the beach with hair all wet, sleepy Al, raging Al, you know the shots that would play well.
I told you. White male Americans are the most dangerous.
The people best equipped to change that? White male Americans.
I think the people who are most equipped to deal with a crazy racist politician are all the people who can vote in a democratic election and remove that crazy racist politician from power. Good thing all those hardworking folks who created and supported the women’s suffrage movement thought that women could help solve problems, too. I understand that South Dakota has some issues, but I wasn’t aware that a white male’s vote was counted more times than than a white woman’s vote or a non-white male’s vote.
Buck passer.
“South Dakota should be better than this.”
We can be …. we just don’t have the guts.
Ryan, I know you hate the fact of white male privilege, but that doesn’t make it any less real.
I admit I am guessing, but I think all the commenters on this post are white males with the exception of Debbo. All of us seem to think novstrup is a stupid racist, and yet our fantastic white male privilege isn’t making him or his racist thoughts go away. Like I said, voting is the way to deal with bad politicians, not finger pointing. I, for one, sure am happy women non-white people can vote because I believe in equality and the benefits of diverse opinions. Sorry you don’t believe in the power of women voters and non-white voters. I know you hate the fact of misandry, but that doesn’t make it any less real.
Oh Ryan. I’ll give you points for persistence and consistency. I think you know this but I’ll say the obvious anyway:
White male privile does not mean no one else has any agency. It means white males have significantly more.
White male privilege is not magical.
Being a white male probably makes some things easier for some people in some situations. I think being a female probably makes some things easier for some people in some situations. Same for Asian folks. Same for Latino folks. Are there more occurrences where being a white male is beneficial than being somebody other than a white male? I dunno. I’m not an anthropologist.
What I know is that my wife’s vote is tallied the same as mine, despite our different genders. I think that’s a good thing. If my wife has a strong opinion about something, she knows she should hit the polls and vote. I don’t think she reflects on the history of gender inequality in the centuries before Susan B. Anthony helped liberate the collective female voice and feels less potent than her male counterparts.
Debbo, if you could send a message to women across the U.S., would it be something along these lines, “If you see a problem, you should go ask for help from a white male because they are more effective at handling problems.” ? That kind of thinking seems regressive and would seem to me to perpetuate gender inequality.
Middle age blue collar while males are committing suicide at the highest rates. Is this a paradox then?
I kind of dislike the term white male privilege as it’s not putting what’s really happening out on the table. Trying telling one of these middle class guys they have privilege when their jobs have gone overseas or become obsolete.
It really should be called white male upper class privilege.
Jenny, it’s just upper class privilege.
You can see white male privilege when you look at the photos of presidents and governors. It’s there when examining judgeships. White male privilege is less apparent in one man’s day to day activities so it’s easier to look there and deny it exists.
For instance, women have been telling the medical profession that menstrual cramps can be extremely painful for centuries. Just this year the AMA said it’s true. Cramps can be as painful as a heart attack and should be treated accordingly.
For instance, products such as viagra that benefit male sexuality were very swiftly covered by insurance. Products related to women’s and girl’s sexuality, such as tampons, sexual pleasure enhancement and similar items are not covered and are taxed.
For instance, the large majority of CPR classes teach male heart attack symptoms, but not female.
For instance, women pay more for auto and home repairs and remodels.
For instance, thermostats in offices are routinely set at 65°-68° for the comfort of men wearing suits but women are cold.
For instance, public restrooms are built adequately for males, but women and girls are forced to stand in line.
For instance, US Women’s Ice Hockey has won several World championships and silver Olympic medals in the 21st century, yet were paid less than 10% of what the less successful men’s team made. They finally had to go on strike last summer to get a more fair contract.
The “For Instances” is a very long list, nearly endless. That’s what white male privilege is.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/10/emergency-room-wait-times-sexism/410515/
“How Doctors Take Women’s Pain Less Seriously”
Ryan, this link is all about Toxic Masculinity and it is related to white male privilege.
https://www.facebook.com/Franifio/posts/801537286700342
Debbo you have managed to do something significant here: You have taken task all these liberal white men and shown them the same treatment they have given others. I don’t argue your views but I would say there is nothing you can do about your perceived white male privilege other than to kill them all off and then you have created another problem all together but if the other efforts of these liberal white men comes to fruition the government will have disarmed and impoverished our society to a point where you might have a chance to gather all these liberal white men, put them in the train and taken them to be gassed. You could also simply grow up and stop acting like a sniveling baby.
Trying telling one of these middle class guys they have privilege when their jobs have gone overseas or become obsolete.
At least these middle class white guys HAD jobs. Whites have pretty much always had an easier time finding work, benefits, obtaining loans than people of color. It is like that, yet. White privilege tainted with racist overtones.
I could google articles and stats about some miscellaneous perks of being a woman, too, but it won’t change anybody’s mind and it’s the opposite direction of my original point. Focusing on men versus women is counterproductive.
When people point fingers at the white man, it’s lumping millions of very different people together based on immutable characteristics. I know white men who are jobless or broke or drunks or addicts and their lives and level of social persuasion are very different than the white men I know who own businesses and vote and are involved in the community. I’ve worked for more female bosses in my life than male, and they sure as heck have power in the community. They set the office temperature, too.
Social power comes from many places, and I think the message that smart progressive people should all join in on is this: We are all in this together.
Men, women, white skin, tan skin, brown skin, teachers, business owners, local leaders, everyone – if we all row the same direction we’ll get there faster.
Comments like Debbo’ s are why pop culture picks on radical feminists. Some people don’t want equality, or progress toward it. They want to dwell on differences and seek pity, revenge, or some other “justice” for their plight. She can keep repeating herself that each problem that arises in a conversation should be fixed by white men, but that kind of feminism is about two generations stale by now.
http://jobsanger.blogspot.com/2018/03/how.html
Here is a perfect, blatant example of white privilege perpetrated by whitey wingnuts on the less than white.
Ryan, show me a single state house not over populated and controlled by”white men’? How about US Congress? Any solution to any problem will need to be headed by a majority of white men. Can’t do it any other way until minorities gain control.
Most politicians are ineffective turds anyway, white or otherwise. Men and women get to run for office and get to vote. We should all use that power. For what it’s worth I voted for Hillary, not the white male candidate. So did a lot of other white men. Yet the white male candidate won with a staggering number of female supporters.
Like I said, social power, and political power by proxy, is not simply a question of gender and race. Women who don’t vote or run for office or who vote against their self-interests can’t blame everything on everyone else.
Yeah, but…… the reality is white males dominate today and for the foreseeable future and until that change comes, white males have to lead the way.
And it prolly isn’t a good idea to even imagine a certain femme poster voting for Drumpf or against her best interests.
Ryan, you still need to look at why white male privilege is such a hot button issue for you. You’d rather throw up an army of red herrings than deal with it.
I have more power than black women without question, regardless of income. I have more power than children. You have more power than women, people of color and children, whether you like it or not, whether you want to dodge it or not. Those are facts backed up by mountains of evidence.
You folks are idiots.
The privileged will complain more bitterly about their loss of privilege than the impoverished will complain about their loss of pittance.
Novstrup is able to spout his racist and unconstitutional statements in part because his fellow privileged white males cut him far more slack than they cut Barack Obama or members of other out-groups. Compare to Presidential politics: Novstrup and his fellow privileged white males decried Obama for statements that he never made but which they imputed to him about taking our guns and establishing a lifelong dictatorship. Donald Trump has said exactly those words this week, and Novstrup and his fellows are silent.
Cory, did somebody complain about the loss of a privilege? And what impoverished person’s pittance being lost are you referencing? I don’t think I understand.
OldSarg, I think the consensus on this blog is that you are indeed a moron. If the feeling is mutual and you think we are idiots, why do you keep coming back?
The privileged will complain more bitterly about their loss of privilege than the impoverished will complain about their loss of pittance.
Just a fact of life, Ryan,.
Mike, thanks for repeating Cory’s statement word-for-word. Super helpful.
Can either you or Cory help me understand the context for the statement?
Mike, here is the same question I just asked Cory regarding his statement, also word-for-word since you like that sorta thing:
“Did somebody complain about the loss of a privilege? And what impoverished person’s pittance being lost are you referencing? I don’t think I understand.”
And Mike, If you just type the same words again as a response, I still don’t think I’ll understand.
Just an FYI.
I was thinking about Mike’s comment at 3/3 07:42.
Oh, brother. Ever hear of copy and paste? I didn’t type word for word, I copied and pasted the statement so you would know what my comment was about.
As for Master, he can tell you what he meant. What I think he meant was speaking metaphorically about how the wealthy (not any individual) have the money and the lobbyists to cry foul when legislation or decisions go against them. It seems to make the media light up. The koch bros, for example, have the billions necessary to get politicians attentions and favorable legislation.
Poor people, even when stoopid effing wingnuts take away foodstamps and heating allowances, don’t have the public relations to be heard. The poors, the elderly, little children and military families pretty much bear their burdens in silence.
OK mike – thanks for the translation.
I still don’t think this makes sense or fits in the conversation, but I should know better than to disagree with the idea that the white man made every problem and must fix every problem.
Funny how it’s racist for Al Novstrup to lump all people of one race together, but if it’s Debbo, lump away, right folks? I guess it’s only OK to be racist if you are also being sexist at the same time.
Or it’s only OK to be a bigot if that bigot is your friend. The problem is, fellas, all bigots have a couple friends. Just like some of you defend the sexist and racist stuff Debbo repeats over and over, I’m sure Al has a couple good ol’ boys telling him, “No man, they just don’t understand, you are one of the good ones.”
Fine. More explanation.
White males are parading about with tiki torches and Trump hats because they are realizing how much they have benefited for generations from the unjust privilege that they are now losing. Their actual loss is only a loss of unfair advantage over others, but they are crying hard about it, perhaps partially in self-loathing and guilt they can’t admit.
When poor minorities get whacked—Medicaid work requirements, South Dakota sales tax on food, Novstrup’s call for racial profiling—they tend not to holler as much, because they are used to generations of oppression, of losing things to which they have a rightful claim. They gripe less in part because they lack the privilege and power to make their complaints turn into practical action.
I just think it’s hilarious that you all will roast Novstrup on a pike for talking about terrorists as if they are all the same, or talking about muslims as if they are all the same, or applying characteristics to people just because they share some other characteristic, or suggesting that a physical characteristic at all is a reason to judge a person…and then you do the exact same thing.
When you say “white males are parading about…” you are indicating a cohesion or unity. Just like when Novstrup asks and answers the “what does a terrorist look like?” question. When you say “when poor minorities get whacked…they tend not to holler as much…” you think you are giving some compliment of strength or resilience, but what you are doing is racial and economic stereotyping.
You can say that over the history of this country, white people have enjoyed more freedoms than others. You can say things like men have had the majority of social and political power. Those things are pretty solid facts. When you start assigning attributes to a whole population of people based on their skin color, that’s racist.
I know you folks are super progressive and bend over backwards to make sure you don’t come across as offensive to anybody except white males, but the fact is you are perpetuating racial and gender differences with this baloney. Not only that, you are condescending. If I was a minority and had all you folks talking down to me, I’d be more pissed off than reassured.