Sending Racist Emails About Michelle Obama Is Not a Good Idea

Photo by Nate Miller

Welcome to another edition of This Week in Racism. With the assistance of my friends at the @YesYoureRacist Twitter account, I’ll be ranking news stories on a scale of 1 to RACIST, with “1” being the least racist and “RACIST” being the most racist.

-The Daily Caller, Tucker Carlson’s online purveyor of gossip and conservative news—maybe it's like a right-wing Gawker for dads?—recently posted an innocuous article about a rapper who goes by the alias “Rhymes Priebus,” a play on Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus's name. Fascinating, right? You better believe that I read that hot news take! Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to point out a charming pun, and whoever runs the Caller’s Twitter had to take it to the next level. The following tweet appeared briefly before being taken down:

You might be wondering what “HNIC” stands for. I'll save you some time: it means “Head N*gger in Charge” and you probably shouldn’t say it in public spaces. It’s vaguely problematic that a website run mostly by white males would refer to any black person as a “n*gger.” RACIST

Photo via Flickr sser WisPolitics

-A school-board member in Richmond, Virginia, has been asked to resign from his post over emails sent to colleagues that painted First Lady Michelle Obama in a less than flattering light. Some of the hilarious zingers in his emails included a photo of bare-breasted African women next to the caption “Michelle Obama’s high school reunion” and another image that implied that Mrs. Obama was paid a paltry $50 sum for posing in National Geographic. If she was only paid $50, she seriously got ripped off. Have you seen that bod? Damn, y’all. That booty is priceless. Also, I'd love to go to a high school where no one wore shirts. 9

-Last week, Louisiana Republican senator and sex-trade enthusiast David Vitter introduced an amendment to a farm bill that would ban anyone who’s ever been convicted of a violent crime, regardless of whether they’ve paid their debt to society and repented, from receiving SNAP food stamp benefits for the rest of their lives. This would mean fewer benefits for their family, essentially punishing children for the sins of their parents. Given the racial aspects of that amendment (minorities make up two-thirds of SNAP recipients and nearly three-quarters of the prison population, according to the most recent census data) it’s hard to argue that Vitter’s measure isn’t unfairly targeting nonwhites. Sure, there’s no way the amendment will become law, right? Right? 7

Photo via Flickr user GageSkidmore

-Fashion icon and famous Freemason Ann Coulter receives this week’s Ann Coulter Award for Excellence in Racism for yet again claiming that immigration is destroying the United States. This time, her brilliant theory is that people without “Western values” are streaming into the country. She points to the Boston bombings and the London machete attack as signs that only crazy, violent people are making their way to the West. It gets really good when she starts siding with the English Defence League, a xenophobic nationalist group that seeks to keep England "free from Islam." She claims they aren't bigoted because they love Jewish people. If you love Jewish people, you can't be racist. That's a new law. 8

@YesYoureRacist’s 10 Most Racist Retweets of the Week [all grammar sic'd]:

10. @chelseleann: I'm not racist but I'm pretty sure god said keep colors apart and stay with your own kind

9. @HaiVikk_23: I'm not racist, but I do stereotype people, lol. I stereotype only because people have been proving them to be correct!

8. @keevinnk: I'm not racist , but ALL Indian men smell like complete shit.

7. @madden7494: I'm no racist but I cringe when two black women sit down next to us in the movies..

6. @noland_34: Being black doesn't make you a ni**er. You can be white and be a ni**er. You're just called white trash. #notracist

5. @matthewmaxey13: I'm not racist, but black people are only good for music

4. @abbeylynnxo: There are too many Mexicans and too many ghetto black people here. I'm not racist but good gracious.

3. @saiddzafic: I'm not racist but sometimes I think there should be a pro basketball league just for white dudes and one for black dudes

2. @bige0524: You can take this how you want I'm not racist but interracial relationships are gross to me

1. @wilsonstar14: i'm not racist. but chinese people can't f*cking eat quietly. none of them.

Last Week in Racism: Sergio Garcia Can't Wait to Serve Tiger Woods Fried Chicken

@dave_schilling