Man Who Hosted Ed Martin's Campaign Kickoff Uses Racial Slur at Tea Party Rally
David McArthur, a St. Louis business owner who got a lot of attention first by claiming that Representative Russ Carnahan was going to put his bakery out of business by supporting the cap and trade bill and later by hosting the official campaign announcement for Ed Martin at his bakery, used the racial slur "raghead" in a speech to fellow tea party members this weekend. McArthur used the slur while suggesting that Obama had somehow leaked vital information to the AP by discussing his plans for Afghanistan, implying that Obama's consideration of the issue was putting our troops in danger (Obama, by the way, has not yet decided what changes, if any, will be made in Afghanistan).
You can see McArthur's initial campaign kickoff announcement for Martin here:
And here's the video where McArthur uses the racial slur "raghead" (start watching at about 1:30, he uses the term around 1:43):
Of course, Dana Loesch happily promoted the speech:
Update: Fixed spelling of McArthur. Also, this post was linked to on the Post-Dispatch's Political Fix blog. Check the comments there if you'd like to see some wingnuts attempting to justify racial slurs. Fired Up! Missouri also linked here. Readers directed here by Dana Loesch should see this post.
You all drank the Kool-Aid. Dave is a great guy and a true crusader. Your worried about a damn word he used! PC will bring down this country thanks to idiots like you, just look at Fort Hood.
Since you want to acuse me of being racist. I thought I'd send you a copy of a reply I sent out to Don acusing me of same..
Don,
Just had to write back. An entire race of people? So are you telling me you categorize Radical Islamist as Muslims? And all Muslims are radical extremist?
See sir the raghead terrorist are the ones who you view with a dew rag over their head and a rag or scarf in front of their face because they are so proud of what they are doing they don’t want their identity revealed. Sending their videos into YouTube, holding the head of someone they believe to be an infidel. Or a traitor to their cause. They are the ones blowing up innocent women and children. They sir are rag heads. You my friend are the racist. By simply equating a raghead as a Muslim or a race of people. Muslims do not wear rags on their heads they wear, Turbans. And true Muslims are a devout and just people who are also fighting terrorism. When I refer to raghead terrorist that my son is going over to defend us against and the troops our President so unwilling to support us against, I am talking Taliban, Afghan, and imported terrorists. They are the ones who wear rags and hide behind scarves. It is they who dress and hide in women’s clothing because they are so proud. You see sir my son wears a uniform proudly. And he wears a helmet that bears his name on it because he is proud and not hiding behind rags. And see sir it is you and people like you hiding behind political correctness and your own self racism that put him and all other women and men serving our country in undue danger.
Dave, I appreciate your posting a response. However, it's also extremely disappointing that you are completely unapologetic about the fact that you clearly used a racial slur in your speech. Here are a few thoughts about your above comment:
First, I did not say that "you are a racist." I said that you used a racial slur, which is a fact. It is interesting that you can tell a story about what the term "rag head" means to you, but that doesn't change what the actual meaning of the term is. The fact of the matter is that the term is a racial slur. As a business owner, someone involved in local politics, and someone who occupies a prominent public position you have a responsibility to be knowledgeable about the meanings of words and to use them responsibly. Ignorance of the actual meaning is not a legitimate excuse.
Furthermore, such reasoning sounds remarkably similar to people who claim, "I don't think that all black people are n***s, just the ones who do X, Y, and Z." Such reasoning does not make the use of the term acceptable in that case, nor does it make it acceptable in your case.
Second, you ridiculously suggest that I am implying that all Muslims are terrorists by criticizing your use of the term "raghead terrorists." Again, this would be the equivalent of claiming that someone who objected to use of the term "n*** murderer" is thereby claiming that all black people are murderers. I am (as well as many others) clearly objecting to the use of the racial slur, and your attempt to claim that I am "racist" suggests that you are not arguing in good faith.
Finally, your claim that objecting to your use of a racial slur is "endangering the troops" is really sad. Criticizing the use of a racial slur directed at Muslims does not affect our policy in Afghanistan or Iraq, it does not change how our country deals with information about possible terrorist threats. If anything, it helps to stop one of the worst stereotypes of Americans that is used to fuel the propaganda of terrorists around the world. If we are really trying to help the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, than we have an obligation to treat them with a basic level of respect, not to use terms that are clearly demeaning. And ignoring the way other people use the term and claiming you have your own meaning does not change that fact.
This blog is intended to push back against the nonsense and misinformation being put forward by the leaders of the St. Louis Tea Party movement. You can follow this blog on twitter by going to http://twitter.com/stlpushback .
My favorite was tsquare's comment about how Islam is hell-bent on killing people who won't convert.
ReplyDeleteUhhhh... did we forget about the Crusades already?
You all drank the Kool-Aid. Dave is a great guy and a true crusader. Your worried about a damn word he used! PC will bring down this country thanks to idiots like you, just look at Fort Hood.
ReplyDeleteSince you want to acuse me of being racist. I thought I'd send you a copy of a reply I sent out to Don acusing me of same..
ReplyDeleteDon,
Just had to write back. An entire race of people? So are you telling me you categorize Radical Islamist as Muslims? And all Muslims are radical extremist?
See sir the raghead terrorist are the ones who you view with a dew rag over their head and a rag or scarf in front of their face because they are so proud of what they are doing they don’t want their identity revealed. Sending their videos into YouTube, holding the head of someone they believe to be an infidel. Or a traitor to their cause. They are the ones blowing up innocent women and children. They sir are rag heads. You my friend are the racist. By simply equating a raghead as a Muslim or a race of people. Muslims do not wear rags on their heads they wear, Turbans. And true Muslims are a devout and just people who are also fighting terrorism. When I refer to raghead terrorist that my son is going over to defend us against and the troops our President so unwilling to support us against, I am talking Taliban, Afghan, and imported terrorists. They are the ones who wear rags and hide behind scarves. It is they who dress and hide in women’s clothing because they are so proud. You see sir my son wears a uniform proudly. And he wears a helmet that bears his name on it because he is proud and not hiding behind rags. And see sir it is you and people like you hiding behind political correctness and your own self racism that put him and all other women and men serving our country in undue danger.
David McArthur
Dave, I appreciate your posting a response. However, it's also extremely disappointing that you are completely unapologetic about the fact that you clearly used a racial slur in your speech. Here are a few thoughts about your above comment:
ReplyDeleteFirst, I did not say that "you are a racist." I said that you used a racial slur, which is a fact. It is interesting that you can tell a story about what the term "rag head" means to you, but that doesn't change what the actual meaning of the term is. The fact of the matter is that the term is a racial slur. As a business owner, someone involved in local politics, and someone who occupies a prominent public position you have a responsibility to be knowledgeable about the meanings of words and to use them responsibly. Ignorance of the actual meaning is not a legitimate excuse.
Furthermore, such reasoning sounds remarkably similar to people who claim, "I don't think that all black people are n***s, just the ones who do X, Y, and Z." Such reasoning does not make the use of the term acceptable in that case, nor does it make it acceptable in your case.
Second, you ridiculously suggest that I am implying that all Muslims are terrorists by criticizing your use of the term "raghead terrorists." Again, this would be the equivalent of claiming that someone who objected to use of the term "n*** murderer" is thereby claiming that all black people are murderers. I am (as well as many others) clearly objecting to the use of the racial slur, and your attempt to claim that I am "racist" suggests that you are not arguing in good faith.
Finally, your claim that objecting to your use of a racial slur is "endangering the troops" is really sad. Criticizing the use of a racial slur directed at Muslims does not affect our policy in Afghanistan or Iraq, it does not change how our country deals with information about possible terrorist threats. If anything, it helps to stop one of the worst stereotypes of Americans that is used to fuel the propaganda of terrorists around the world. If we are really trying to help the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, than we have an obligation to treat them with a basic level of respect, not to use terms that are clearly demeaning. And ignoring the way other people use the term and claiming you have your own meaning does not change that fact.