A Microaggression Lesson from MSNBC's Melissa Harris Perry. Pay Attention Please!

[dismal]

Calling someone very annoying for saying something that is true--especially that Paul Ryan is not a hard worker--is itself a micro-aggression.

Only that isn't what happened. She didn't just say "I disagree that he is a hard worker. The guy takes a lot of time off". She started preaching in a holier than thou tone and talking down to the guy who just spoke.

I assumed it was a race thing due to that tone and the way she was behaving. Perhaps I was too quick to jump to that conclusion. Maybe she is just an annoying lady. But that is the exact same manner people go off on when they over react and make a race issue or a gender issue or some other PC issue out of nothing.

"hard work" conjures up "folks working in cotton fields" but "folks working in cotton fields" does not conjure up "slavery" seems a difficult line to walk.

 

[dismal]

Also, there's this:

For more insight on Harris-Perry’s take on the nature of work, we sifted through archives of her program stretching back to the beginning of the year — specifically by searching on Nexis for the term “hard work,” which yielded far more results than “hard worker.” The dive into the host’s transcripts revealed several references to personal diligence that were allowed to be broadcast without such fiery qualifiers. Some examples:

* On Sept. 12, Harris-Perry played a clip of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton saying, “If we women stand together and fight together, we can make our country stronger, we can make our country fairer. We women are not afraid of hard work. And that’s good because we’ve got some hard work to do.”

* On Sept. 6, Harris-Perry, in a discussion about race and policing, said, “What I don’t want to miss is that policing is in fact actually hard work, and there are things that make policing a more dangerous or less dangerous job. And I guess, part of what I’m interested in is, what those sort of facts are, what actually makes it harder or more dangerous to be a police officer.”

* On Aug. 30, Harris-Perry addressed whether a work ethic was critical to the advancement of retired brain surgeon and Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson: “I don’t know whether or not he pulled himself up by his own bootstraps. My suggestion to be actually is that’s probably is not the full story,” said Harris-Perry. When challenged on that assertion, Harris-Perry defended, “I think that hard work is necessary but insufficient condition for success. Which is simply to say, must we work hard? Absolutely. But does hard work necessarily lead to success? No. And so I always want to think about the other side.”

* On Aug. 9, Harris-Perry interviewed actor O’Shea Jackson Jr. from “Straight Outta Compton.” Jackson said, “This is a big-time film that could make or break [producer F. Gary Gray]. He’s not going to just let it go to just appease his friends so they put me through the ringer and all that hard work is building confidence within me, if they needed me I’d do it again.”

* On May 30, Harris-Perry addressed the corruption scandal at FIFA and took this clip from organization President Sepp Blatter: “I will not allow the actions of a few to destroy the hard work and the integrity of the vast majority of those who work so hard for football.”

* On May 3, Harris-Perry highlighted the work of a Baltimore program in which teenagers serve as liaisons to the police. Addressing the youngsters, she said, “Thank you for the work that you are doing on the ground there. Stay safe, stay positive, and keep doing the hard work.”

* On Feb. 28, Harris-Perry focused on labor issues in Gov. Scott Walker’s Wisconsin, and interviewed a union activist who attacked the governor for his policies: “He should apologize to the hard-working men and women of Wisconsin.”

In none of those instances did Harris-Perry uncork any lectures about the historical context of hard work or hard workers.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blog...lissa-harris-perry-and-her-hard-work-history/

 

[Mumbles]

I don't think it's race baiting for her to identify the truth that Paul Ryan shouldn't be called a "hard worker" except in a very specific context involving the Republican congress. If you look at other contexts, then he's not a hard worker. Look at some working class professions or full-time mom who also work 3 part-time jobs because no job wants to give the health benefit. Guys, too, who have to work multiple part-time jobs and are barely making it. People in Chinese factories working 16 hour days making keyboards, making pennies per hour, getting docked for using the bathroom...

Compared to the privilege of being a congress person...who gets nice benefits...who can go around and campaign to be vice president when he's got a current job to do...who can write stupid non-binding resolutions to talk about his "feelings"...

Imagine getting all that out of your boss.

No, Paul Ryan is not doing hard work in comparison.

And actually, she stated flat-out that Paul Ryan is a "hard worker", which tears that one apart. But it was Ryan himself that, not too long ago, claimed that "inner city" people had not worked hard, for generations. So, yeah, he's open to that criticism, since it's directly against what his freely stated opinion of others is.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

Also, there's this:

For more insight on Harris-Perry’s take on the nature of work, we sifted through archives of her program stretching back to the beginning of the year — specifically by searching on Nexis for the term “hard work,” which yielded far more results than “hard worker.” The dive into the host’s transcripts revealed several references to personal diligence that were allowed to be broadcast without such fiery qualifiers. Some examples:

* On Sept. 12, Harris-Perry played a clip of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton saying, “If we women stand together and fight together, we can make our country stronger, we can make our country fairer. We women are not afraid of hard work. And that’s good because we’ve got some hard work to do.”

* On Sept. 6, Harris-Perry, in a discussion about race and policing, said, “What I don’t want to miss is that policing is in fact actually hard work, and there are things that make policing a more dangerous or less dangerous job. And I guess, part of what I’m interested in is, what those sort of facts are, what actually makes it harder or more dangerous to be a police officer.”

* On Aug. 30, Harris-Perry addressed whether a work ethic was critical to the advancement of retired brain surgeon and Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson: “I don’t know whether or not he pulled himself up by his own bootstraps. My suggestion to be actually is that’s probably is not the full story,” said Harris-Perry. When challenged on that assertion, Harris-Perry defended, “I think that hard work is necessary but insufficient condition for success. Which is simply to say, must we work hard? Absolutely. But does hard work necessarily lead to success? No. And so I always want to think about the other side.”

* On Aug. 9, Harris-Perry interviewed actor O’Shea Jackson Jr. from “Straight Outta Compton.” Jackson said, “This is a big-time film that could make or break [producer F. Gary Gray]. He’s not going to just let it go to just appease his friends so they put me through the ringer and all that hard work is building confidence within me, if they needed me I’d do it again.”

* On May 30, Harris-Perry addressed the corruption scandal at FIFA and took this clip from organization President Sepp Blatter: “I will not allow the actions of a few to destroy the hard work and the integrity of the vast majority of those who work so hard for football.”

* On May 3, Harris-Perry highlighted the work of a Baltimore program in which teenagers serve as liaisons to the police. Addressing the youngsters, she said, “Thank you for the work that you are doing on the ground there. Stay safe, stay positive, and keep doing the hard work.”

* On Feb. 28, Harris-Perry focused on labor issues in Gov. Scott Walker’s Wisconsin, and interviewed a union activist who attacked the governor for his policies: “He should apologize to the hard-working men and women of Wisconsin.”

In none of those instances did Harris-Perry uncork any lectures about the historical context of hard work or hard workers.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blog...lissa-harris-perry-and-her-hard-work-history/

Are all of those quotes consistent with the proposition that only slaves can work hard in MHP's mind?

Are all of those quotes consistent with the proposition that Paul Ryan is not working hard in a greater context of work all people do in MHP's mind?

 

[ksen]

Only that isn't what happened. She didn't just say "I disagree that he is a hard worker. The guy takes a lot of time off". She started preaching in a holier than thou tone and talking down to the guy who just spoke.

Whew, I'm glad conservatives don't do that when talking about those lazy, welfare cheats. That would be terrible.

 

[Mumbles]

Only that isn't what happened. She didn't just say "I disagree that he is a hard worker. The guy takes a lot of time off". She started preaching in a holier than thou tone and talking down to the guy who just spoke.

Whew, I'm glad conservatives don't do that when talking about those lazy, welfare cheats. That would be terrible.

And of course, it's completely out of character for professor Harris-Perry to lecture anybody.

*cough*

The simpl truth is, if she wanted to discuss "slavery" or "racism", she would have used those words directly.

 

[Bacillus anthracis]

Can a black woman mention cotton fields without a lot of people making assumptions (even injecting assumptions) about what she means? Based on reaction the commentary got, I am going with no. It would be interesting to understand why that is, in particular why the large negative reaction.

Because people can make inferences. Because in the U.S. a reference to cotton picking, particularly in the context of the video,it is impossible to not make the connection.

And what she said had absolutely zero to do with what the guy was talking about, the current state of the U.S. government, or anything else that was being discussed at the time. It came from way out of left field and rendered the discussion nonsensical.

I don't know if "micro aggression" was the correct term to use, but it was just kind of batshit.

 

[barbos]

Can a white man use widely used and innocent figure of speech without being lectured by a crazy black lady about plantation workers?

 

[dismal]

Also, there's this:



https://www.washingtonpost.com/blog...lissa-harris-perry-and-her-hard-work-history/

Are all of those quotes consistent with the proposition that only slaves can work hard in MHP's mind?

Are all of those quotes consistent with the proposition that Paul Ryan is not working hard in a greater context of work all people do in MHP's mind?

Hmm, if only we could read this reporters mind to figure out what his point was we wouldn't have to make things up for him.

Hey, maybe he actually did put his point there at the end: In none of those instances did Harris-Perry uncork any lectures about the historical context of hard work or hard workers.

 

[thebeave]

Can a black woman mention cotton fields without a lot of people making assumptions (even injecting assumptions) about what she means? Based on reaction the commentary got, I am going with no. It would be interesting to understand why that is, in particular why the large negative reaction.

Because people can make inferences. Because in the U.S. a reference to cotton picking, particularly in the context of the video,it is impossible to not make the connection.

And what she said had absolutely zero to do with what the guy was talking about, the current state of the U.S. government, or anything else that was being discussed at the time. It came from way out of left field and rendered the discussion nonsensical.

I don't know if "micro aggression" was the correct term to use, but it was just kind of batshit.

The guy who shot the woman reporter and cameraman live on the air recently apparantly had taken offense once when a white woman used the word "field" in his presence, as he assumed it was white people "dog whistle" talk for "cotton fields". So, there's that.

I viewed MHP's rant about "hard worker" as a microaggression, but that may not be the right term for the situation. My interpretation of her complaint is that by her guest calling Paul Ryan,a white politician, a "hard worker" he is, in a very twisted, roundabout way, minimizing the hard work done by black slaves working in the cotton fields and thus she interpreted it as a form of a subtle "put down" to an oppressed class of people (who are by the way, all dead now). Which is generally what a "microaggression" is defined to be. Besmirching their memory and all that.

 

[Horatio Parker]

Whew, I'm glad conservatives don't do that when talking about those lazy, welfare cheats. That would be terrible.

And of course, it's completely out of character for professor Harris-Perry to lecture anybody.

*cough*

The simpl truth is, if she wanted to discuss "slavery" or "racism", she would have used those words directly.

Yeah. There's a little defensiveness around here.

News flash: white people worked in cotton fields, do physical labor and are single mothers. Eg, Lyndon Johnson's father went bankrupt growing cotton.

The rule is, apparently, if a black woman talks about "folks", she must be talking about black people.

 

[dismal]

And of course, it's completely out of character for professor Harris-Perry to lecture anybody.

*cough*

The simpl truth is, if she wanted to discuss "slavery" or "racism", she would have used those words directly.

Yeah. There's a little defensiveness around here.

News flash: white people worked in cotton fields, do physical labor and are single mothers. Eg, Lyndon Johnson's father went bankrupt growing cotton.

The rule is, apparently, if a black woman talks about "folks", she must be talking about black people.

So your guess is the picture she has on her office wall is of Lyndon Johnson's father?

 

[ksen]

yes

 

[Alcoholic Actuary]

And of course, it's completely out of character for professor Harris-Perry to lecture anybody.

*cough*

The simpl truth is, if she wanted to discuss "slavery" or "racism", she would have used those words directly.

Truth. I don't consider MHP an individual who tiptoes around such issues, or comes at them sideways. I think she merely intended to point out the relativity of the term - using examples that first came to mind.

aa

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

Are all of those quotes consistent with the proposition that only slaves can work hard in MHP's mind?

Are all of those quotes consistent with the proposition that Paul Ryan is not working hard in a greater context of work all people do in MHP's mind?

Hmm, if only we could read this reporters mind to figure out what his point was we wouldn't have to make things up for him.

Hey, maybe he actually did put his point there at the end: In none of those instances did Harris-Perry uncork any lectures about the historical context of hard work or hard workers.

None of them show that she only considers cotton-picking slaves to be hard workers. In fact she said he was a hard worker in context of his relative privilege. That is starkly different from what Paul Ryan said:

We have got this tailspin of culture, in our inner cities in particular, of men not working and just generations of men not even thinking about working or learning the value and the culture of work, and so there is a real culture problem here that has to be dealt with.”

...and in none of those situations was someone saying, "hey you know that Paul Ryan sure is a hard worker" which she would have responded to at that time as well.

 

[dismal]

I think she merely intended to point out the relativity of the term - using examples that first came to mind.

Right, just like when she decorated her office she just happened to pick out pictures of folks picking cotton for her wall.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

Are people allowed only to have pictures of their pets and their kids on their cubicle walls? They can't add a picture of their ancestry?

 

[Alcoholic Actuary]

I think she merely intended to point out the relativity of the term - using examples that first came to mind.

Right, just like when she decorated her office she just happened to pick out pictures of folks picking cotton for her wall.

I keep a clock with math equations on it's face in place of numbers. Doesn't mean I'm constantly correcting folks at \(|i^2|\) o'clock, or believe every problem deserves a mathematical answer.

Weren't you the one pointing to the fact that she doesn't trot out the race card every time hard work is mentioned? Stands to reason she wouldn't be this time either.

aa

 

[Horatio Parker]

So your guess is the picture she has on her office wall is of Lyndon Johnson's father?

That'd be silly.

Lyndon Johnson's father is on her night table.

 

[dismal]

Right, just like when she decorated her office she just happened to pick out pictures of folks picking cotton for her wall.

I keep a clock with math equations on it's face in place of numbers. Doesn't mean I'm constantly correcting folks at \(|i^2|\) o'clock, or believe every problem deserves a mathematical answer.

Weren't you the one pointing to the fact that she doesn't trot out the race card every time hard work is mentioned? Stands to reason she wouldn't be this time either.

aa

It's funny that the same people who see dog whistles and race everywhere (see black hole, niggardly, water buffalo, blackball, watermelon gum, etc.) think that a reference to "folks picking cotton" is just a random race neutral example of people who work hard.

We'll just have to remember this thread for future reference.

Also, there's a big difference here from all those other examples of MHP not delivering a lecture about the term "hard work". In in those other examples someone was not saying something positive about a Republican.