“GOTCHA!”
I’m willing to take Sen. Buttars at his word that his comments yesterday weren’t intended as a racial slur. They sure sounded bad and don’t contribute to helping the image of Utahns as being a tolerant people who can accept others who are different. Even so I think it was a case of someone talking without engaging their brain. I don’t think Sen. Buttars meant his remark as a malicious commentary about skin color.
We have enough examples of our Republican legislature’s racial bigotry and general intolerance of people who are different here, here, and here without having to contrive offense at comments that the speaker claims weren’t meant in the way we’re choosing to frame them.
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That was kind of my takeaway. The context I read was that it was used in the symbolic sense of the color (i.e. evil or bad) rather than any malicious meaning.
It’s kind of scary that we (collectively) are just chomping at the bit to skewer public officials for comments they didn’t really make. I think Buttars is quite a bit “off”, but that certainly shouldn’t make us throw proper decorum out the window.
Comment by Jesse Harris — February 13, 2008 @ 12:44 pm
I am more skeptical given the other racial comments Buttars has made in the past.
Comment by Tom Grover — February 13, 2008 @ 1:27 pm
I might agree Jeremy if this was the first time that Buttars has made this type of slip, but it wasn’t. We should also note that Senator Buttars had twenty minutes to come up with this comment.
Comment by Anonymous — February 13, 2008 @ 1:44 pm
Anon and Tom make excellent points but I just don’t see what there is to gain by focusing on Sen. Buttar’s alleged personal flaws when his truly offensive legislative work is out there being passed.
His SB260 which would legally shield police misconduct from public knowledge is about as wrong and offensive as any piece of legislation could ever be. He derserves a lot more grief for this and his anti-SLC Registry work than his mistatement/racial slur in a floor debate.
Comment by Jeremy Manning — February 13, 2008 @ 2:24 pm
[…] Jeremy’s Jeremiad: I’m willing to take Sen. Buttars at his word that his comments yesterday weren’t intended as a […]
Pingback by Two Competing Views on whether Sen. Chris Buttars ‘black baby’ comment was racist | KVNU's For The People — February 13, 2008 @ 2:30 pm
I’m not willing to let him off the hook - because this is simply the latest of what seems to be a fairly continual stream of vitriolic hate-mongering that dominates his personality, his legislation, and apparently, every other part of his life.
This is a bad man. It’s shameful that he sits in the legislature. An embarrassment to us all.
Comment by ThatOneGuy — February 13, 2008 @ 3:10 pm
The republicans have been working hard to dig up the dirt on Obama now that he is the front runner.
Chris Buttars is holding a press conference today to announce that he has it on good authority, that Obama has fathered [not one but] two black babies.
Comment by HeHe — February 15, 2008 @ 8:10 pm