“These are guys with the name D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty – these types of guys – they come from Connecticut and New York, they come up here, they sell their heroin, they go back home,” (Governor Paul) LePage told a large crowd. “Incidentally, half the time they impregnate a young white girl before they leave, which is a real sad thing because then we have another issue we have to deal with down the road.”
January 7, 2016
https://www.pressherald.com/2016/01/07/lepage-accused-of-making-racist-comment-at-bridgton-meeting/
I know this quote is more than two years old, but it still riles me up! And you know what, I should be angry. As a black male I’ve dealt with the hypocrisies and stereotypes for as long as I can remember. I was taught to accept it as another fact of life. The price of admission, one might say, for being black and living in the “land of the free, home of the brave.” In fact, I’ve taught my sons to accept it as well.
Ten years ago the media proclaimed that American society was entering a “post-racial” era; one befitting the “dream” of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Well, Governor LePage reminded us two years ago that this society is nowhere near being “post-racial.” The white fear of black males is alive and well.
Of course I’d be naïve if I didn’t believe that some black males do in fact sell drugs. I’d also be extremely naïve if I didn’t believe that some black men do find white females attractive and desirable. But to publicly state that “they impregnate a young white girl before they leave, which is a real sad thing because then we have another issue we have to deal with down the road.”
So, Governor, what is this issue you’re referring to? Are you worried that your state’s white females might sully themselves by interacting passionately with black males? What if his name was Scott, Jeffery, or Thomas, instead of D-Money or Smoothie, would you still feel the same way? Or might you just be a teeny-bit worried that your state’s white females might actually enjoy the intimate company of black males? I grew up hearing “once they (white females) go black, they (white females) NEVER go back!” I don’t know if anyone has ever conducted a survey that proves or disproves this axiom, but obviously it still makes the LePages of the world nervous.
But that may not be the thing that keeps me riled. One hundred years ago the film Birth of a Nation made the Ku Klux Klan look like heroes for protecting the virtue of white females from the supposed savage lusts of black men. We know the history of anti-miscegenation laws and culture in this country so there’s no need to traverse that rabbit hole today. But there are obviously still folks in the gated communities, 100 years later, fearful their daughters might bring home someone that resembles Will Smith and not Brad Pitt.
This country has put a man on the moon, split the atom, and developed the medical skills necessary to care for 3lb 7oz premature babies, but still can’t over the fear of black men. As much as I don’t like LePage’s racist opinion, he said how he feels. I appreciate his honesty, sort of. The issue for me is how many other LePages are out there. Post-racial society? I wonder what historians are going to say about the second decade of the twenty-first century. Looks a lot like the second decade of the twentieth century. I know things are better, but I’m still sad that someone might like at my sons and assume I they’re called D-Money and Smoothie, heroin dealers instead of Alexander and Bryce, magna cum laude and cum laude, respectively, college graduates.
Next Time.