AlterNet: White Liberals Have White Privilege Too!: "It often seems that the only way liberals can talk about race is to encircle the 'racists' and point at them -- either for a laugh or a morality tale. The former is one of the many tricks that faux news personality Stephen Colbert employs in his caricature of a conservative. His racist schtick makes fun of racists, and there's a comfortable distance between the satire and the show's mostly liberal viewers. The critique goes down easy because it represents something the viewer isn't.
On the other hand, the website www.blackpeopleloveus.com, featuring a liberal white couple, Johnny and Sally, enters murkier territory. Well-intentioned Johnny and Sally hang out with their black friends, who, as the namesake indicates, love them. Part of the site's subversion -- and subsequent confusion -- comes from the fact that its humor is not so separate from liberal Americana. We could meet a Johnny and Sally at a cocktail party, and maybe already have. One black 'friend's' testimonial -- 'Johnny is generous enough to remark upon how 'articulate' I am! That makes me feel good!' -- carries a zesty punch in light of Joe Biden's recent remarks on Barack Obama."
On the other hand, the website www.blackpeopleloveus.com, featuring a liberal white couple, Johnny and Sally, enters murkier territory. Well-intentioned Johnny and Sally hang out with their black friends, who, as the namesake indicates, love them. Part of the site's subversion -- and subsequent confusion -- comes from the fact that its humor is not so separate from liberal Americana. We could meet a Johnny and Sally at a cocktail party, and maybe already have. One black 'friend's' testimonial -- 'Johnny is generous enough to remark upon how 'articulate' I am! That makes me feel good!' -- carries a zesty punch in light of Joe Biden's recent remarks on Barack Obama."
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