Utah’s Republican Governor Enjoys Coddling Racist Senator
February 15th, 2008I can’t believe this isn’t getting more attention. I’ve been busy having my head zapped and my nostrils prodded and haven’t linked to this:
Main story:
Salt Lake Tribune - Buttars’ racial slur leads to rebuke, apology
From the Mormon-owned paper:
Deseret Morning News | Buttars apologizes for potentially racist comment (nice use of “potentially”)
No one is acting well in this debacle. Governor Huntsman needs to take a stand. The Utah Senate and legislature needs to take a stand. The citizenry need to take a stand, particularly those who elected this nutburger. GOP thinking and acting at its worse.
Sen. Buttars is a stain on the state and a puppet of the fundamentalist right wing machinery that thrives in Utah. Further, it seems to thrive on hate, ignorance and intolerance. That Buttars hasn’t resigned over these comments or been censured in any way is a huge liability for the mainstream culture in Utah. o
Tags: GOP, insane mormons, utah
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February 15th, 2008 at 11:22 am
dude. just DUDE. this kind of crap has got to end.
(apologies for profound lack of eloquence here.)
February 15th, 2008 at 11:29 am
While I think that Butters is an ass and completely worthy of losing his job over this, I’m not really sure what “From the Mormon-owned paper” has to do with it.
Are you implying that Mormons are racists?
February 15th, 2008 at 11:36 am
@patatomic, Until Mormons stand up against Buttars and those like him, YES, MORMONS ARE RACIST.
That the Governor didn’t say that this was inexcusable… looks like the Governor’s a racist, too.
February 15th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Oh brother. I know plenty of Mo’s out there (including me) who stand up against him.
Maybe it’s worth noting that the Church actually spoke out against harsh immigration laws, hardly an act of a racist organization, in my opinion.
http://preview.tinyurl.com/2w4fgm
February 15th, 2008 at 11:43 am
I can’t believe I haven’t heard about this until now. Surely, Doug Fabrizio will devote an hour to this in the next week or so?
February 15th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Isn’t the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the owner of the largest cattle ranch in the nation? Don’t they have massive holdings in farmland, citrus, and nuts? Seems like they might have a bit of a vested interest in free-flowing borders.
February 15th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
@Tim
While it’s true that the Church does own ranches and farmland you obviously don’t understand how that coincides with the highly-functioning welfare program. Labor is generally free and the harvest goes back into Deseret Manufacturing, which is then distributed to Bishop’s storehouses frequented by those in need (regardless of their membership in the Church or not).
And right back @blurb:
From today’s Deseret News’ Opinion page:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/ywowmc
February 15th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Email or call Buttars and tell him to resign:
dcbuttars@utahsenate.org
Home (801) 561-0535
Email or call the Utah Senate president to say he should ask Buttars to resign:
jvalentine@utahsenate.org
Office (801) 373-6345
Home (801) 224-1693
February 15th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
People like are why I want to leave this state and never, never return. It will warm my heart indeed if he has to resign. This man has serious issues, not the least of which is that he, like the Tin Man, needs to get a heart.
February 15th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
I have been shocked about how many have come to Buttars’ defense, if not to excuse but at least dismiss his comments as innocuous. If this were an isolated incident one might accept an explanation of misspeaking but given Buttars’ history of intolerant and bigoted stands against gays, blacks, latinos, women and non-Mormons, it is impossible to overlook.
He’s done one thing too many. He ran unopposed in the last election. I’m sure that won’t be the case in November.
February 15th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Here is one Mormon who has stood up to Buttars. I’ve been all over Valentine and Buttars since the day this happened (three days ago?). I highly doubt I am the only backward Mo to make a stink about this. You’ve apparently put all Mormons in one racist bucket, which seems strangely hypocritical, but maybe I don’t understand what you are saying.
Buttars is a fool, and like you I am mystified as to how he has been elected (repeatedly) . I think it comes from complacency on behalf of his constituents who have failed to look at how he truly represents them, and just gone straight ticket or something. I do, however, think there is a bigger storm brewing then you realize that’ll eventually take this guy out. Strangely, this sort of behavior is ultimately good for Utah because it will force people to realize that they shouldn’t just vote straight ticket Republican. The disproportionate representation repubs get in the state legislature isn’t healthy at all.
Of other interesting note, originally the local NAACP accepted his apology until all his other bigoted statements he has made in his tenure came to their attention.
February 15th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Brian, people like you are why I think I can stay in Utah. It just depends. Thanks for standing up to this arrogant jerk (regardless of his religion).
February 15th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
I’m not a morman and I don’t live in Utah. I am a complete outsider reading only the links that were posted here. I’m also a very liberal person and a unitarian to boot.
Here’s my question…
It seems to me like he used an unfortunate choice of words and that’s all. When his comment was put into context with the rest of the conversation it feels to me like he used “black” as a color and not as a race.
I obviously don’t know what the political climate is in Utah so I’m having a hard time understanding what this fuss is about.
I’m not trying to be a jerk. I’m honestly just curious.
February 15th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
If Buttars was looking for something butt-ugly to represent whatever it was he was bitching about he should have held up a photo of his face.
Walter Bean, your benefit of the doubt is a bit of a stretch don’t you think? Putting “black” and “baby” together = “black baby” and when ugly is added to those two words you have “ugly black baby” and in your country - which has a long history of slavery and racism - those are particularly loaded words. Any reasonable person would know this. If you think Buttars is not a racist then you must think he’s utterly clueless. I’m thinking he’s both a racist and clueless.
February 15th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
I guess it’s just my niavety that keeps me from seeing what people are really saying. My Mom says that my fatal flaw is that I try too hard to see the good in people.
February 15th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
who is that guy above me, anyway?
okay so, today, i went to the doctor because i thought i was dying. as it turns out, i wasn’t. i only have pneumonia. but it felt like dying to me. until i read the salt lake tribune article. then i knew what it felt like to die because my heart simply stopped beating. this is appalling.
February 15th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
@brian, my point is that until the GOP, the Governor and Mormons stand up against hate speech, this doesn’t bode well.
I’m certain there are tons of Mormons who aren’t bigots. Unfortunately, it appears they are in the minority. There should be an uproar about Mr. Buttars as he appears to be Utah’s own Strom Thurmond.
@aaryn b., I deleted that comment. Glad to hear that you aren’t dying.
February 16th, 2008 at 8:15 am
Reading the accounts, it doesn’t seem that he was using what he said in a racially slandering way. It seems he made a bad choice in words. Black is many times used to characterize evil or wrongdoing - the color word, not skin color word. The first story you linked to said many of the senators were referring to the measure as “an ugly baby” or “baby” metaphor. It sounds as though he used the term black in that way, according to my reading. I hate racism, but I don’t think this is racism, unless there’s more to the story than this.
February 16th, 2008 at 8:20 am
I guess I should have read all the comments first! Not being from Utah I was not aware of this Senators previous history. Given his history, this is outrageous!
February 16th, 2008 at 9:43 am
From headline:
“… Coddling Racist Senator?”
Remember, when the politically correct use the term racist, they simply mean white Gentiles who discriminate.
It is a racial slur directed only at white Gentiles. Racist = honky, or honky-ish.
So, the translation of the quote would be: “… Coddling Honky Senator?”
February 16th, 2008 at 10:25 am
@Joe: running that through the Utah linguistic filter, I get “they simply mean non-Mormons who discriminate. It is a racial slur directed only at white non-Mormons.”
February 16th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Huh. Looks like Ron Paul found his running mate.
February 16th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
To those above who somehow justify what this State Senator, representative of the people, said as being nothing more than a poor choice of words, I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that a) you’re white and b) you have very limited, if any, exposure to black people. To give this elected official any wiggle room on his blatantly racist remark is to perpetuate the very insidious institutional racism that has a strangle-hold on this country.
Now. To Joe Morgan, I would like to offer you a quote from Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum’s insightful book, “Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria?” (Incidentally, Tatum is the President of Spelman College.) Take it or leave it, sir….
“Of course, people of any racial group can hold hateful attitudes and behave in racially discriminatory and bigoted ways. We can all cite examples of horrible hate crimes which have been perpetrated by people of color as well as Whites. Hateful behavior is hateful behavior no matter who does it. But when I am asked, “Can people of color be racist?” I reply, “The answer depends on your definition of racism.” If one defines racism as racial prejudice, the answer is yes. People of color can and do have racial prejudices. However, if one defines racism as a system of advantage based on race, the answer is no. People of color are not racist because they do not systematically benefit from racism. And equally important, there is no systematic cultural and institutional support or sanction for the racial bigotry of people of color. In my view, reserving the term racist only for behaviors committed by Whites in the context of a White-dominated society is a way of acknowledging the ever-present power differential afforded Whites by the culture and institutions that make up the system of advantage and continue to reinforce notions of White superiority.”
February 16th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Yes, yes, yes! This is awesome. I try really hard to explain this to people, and rarely do they get it. But what I say is shorter, and not as eloquent.
I usually put it like: “In this country, at this time, no, black people can’t be racist. Prejudiced, sure, but racism is about opression.” It’s amazing how people’s minds are just TOTALLY BLOWN when I say that to them.
And let me tell you, if Buttars had said, “We should drown this blonde baby in the bathtub”, it would be everywhere- CNN would remind us every 15 minutes.
FWIW, I am, for all anyone can tell by looking, white. My mom’s family is multiracial, which is probably why I at least know I experience white privelege, but honestly, a reasonable understanding of either black history or US history lets the average person know that comments like these are not okay. I think it’s gross to compare anything to a baby in negative light, but to add on a layer of racial animus to an already offensive statement is just foul.
February 16th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
This is almost exactly what I wrote in the thread after this one and yet aaron crapped all over me calling me a racist. I don’t get it. I agree with him.