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Bob Barr--Negro

22 Jul 2008 07:27 pm

Group News Blog makes a point that us politically-aware Negroes have been thinking for some time, though not around white folk. But this is the age of Obama so here it goes--Folks, there's something vaguely familiar about Bob Barr:

You see, Bob Barr has long been the butt of many jokes in my family since the ugly winter of 1998. He was such a annoying, little pit bull against Clinton, you just wanted to smack him...but...
There was something odd about him. Something that was “off”.
Media people have noted that “offness” of late, but I will tell you that this has been long discussed in other more insular circles.
Bob Barr, um...well...as my mother said it “Looks a little 'funny' 'round the mouth...

Dig the lips, folks...That ain't collagen...that's collards and Coltrane.
Funny-ass hair texture too—particularly on the 'stache. “Rev. Al's shit is straighter than Barr's is.” one friend loves to note frequently.

The first time I saw Bob Barr, during his Bill Clinton-pursuing heyday, I thought to myself, "I didn't know there were was another black Republican in the House besides J.C. Watts." I have of course since been corrected, but I have to say, there really is some Anatole Broyard/Nella Larsen/Jessie Fauset business going on with this cat.

Comments (19)

Lol! My mother has been talking about Bob Barr for years! She made the funniest comment about this election: "There are going to be white folks who won't vote for Obama because he is black but because they hate McCain they are going to stick it to him by voting for another black man(Barr)."

Posted by Alexis | July 22, 2008 7:42 PM

I have been saying this shit for years!! It was totally obvious to me the first time I ever saw Bob Barr.

The "funny around the mouth" bit from your Moms had me on the floor laughing. I'm going to a family reunion this weekend with a lot of family from Georgia and I will definitely be bringing this up.

Posted by Hill Rat | July 23, 2008 12:26 AM

LOL! Wow. I'm so glad somebody put voice to that story playing in my head...

Posted by QueenTiye | July 23, 2008 12:50 AM

You're breaking Negro Code, Ta-Nehisi...

" Thou shalt not out PASSING NEGROES".

I gotta tell you, I was LMAO when I clicked over here and saw this post.

You aren't the first one to claim Bob Barr as FAMILY.

The man has more Negroid features than half my family.

Posted by rikyrah | July 23, 2008 1:19 AM

Yikes.

I have to admit, the first time I saw Bob Barr (calling for Clinton's resignation), the tv sound was down and at first glance, I thought he was former Chicago alderman, Cliff Kelley.

http://www.chicagoismykindofsound.net/p_cliff.jpg

Posted by JT (Chicago) | July 23, 2008 3:47 AM

I think the dead giveaway is that Barr has all those racist connections. I mean come on buddy, what are you trying to prove huh?

As a side note...

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2008/06/04/2008-06-04_black_hasidic_jews_winning_essay_offers_-1.html

Posted by dnA | July 23, 2008 7:47 AM

Racialicious covered this very topic... how we like to play spot-the-negro.

http://www.racialicious.com/2008/07/22/not-quite-white-when-racial-ambiguity-meets-whiteness/

With that said, Barr is clearly black.

Posted by shani-o | July 23, 2008 9:22 AM

And what about Phil Jackson? Sounds like a marketing opportunity for a new magazine, "Black `Out`"

Posted by Michael O'Neill | July 23, 2008 9:54 AM

Wait a minute, wasn't Bob Barr the Congressman who got into an altercation with a black security officer at an airport and called her a nigger? If I'm wrong, please correct me, but I'd bet money it was Barr.

Posted by anonymous 37 | July 23, 2008 2:10 PM

"Wait a minute, wasn't Bob Barr the Congressman who got into an altercation with a black security officer at an airport and called her a nigger?"

That certainly wouldn't rule him out as being black. Richard Pryor might've done the same thing, before that trip he took to Africa.

As for Barr looking black, I've thought that for a while myself. I certainly know Creoles who have less "black" features than Barr does.

Then again, I've had people ask me if I'm black because I have large lips, and as far as anyone knows my family is white (at least as white as a mixture of Cajun, Spanish, and Anglo can be).

Posted by One Drop | July 23, 2008 2:42 PM

One Drop, certainly it's not a disproof of his blackness, but I do find it interesting in the context of this discussion.

Incidentally, I've tried Googling this story, and have come up with nothing. This probably says more about my Google-Fu than anything else.

Posted by anonymous 37 | July 23, 2008 3:59 PM

Why'd you have to out him? Now that 6% in Georgia might not vote for him, throwing the state to McCain.

Posted by hb | July 23, 2008 4:55 PM

To the author of this blog,

How would you change your opinion of Barr if he were (part-)Black? Would you find his positions more agreeable? Less? Would you be more likely to vote for him, donate money, or volunteer for his campaign?

When the media interviewed prejudiced folks in Kentucky who didn't like Obama but couldn't quite come up with a reason, we thought their race-based politics were backwards and chalked it up to ignorance. This is not to excuse it, just to explain the origins of an unfair belief, a bias.

The Kentucky voters were stubborn, silly, and morally insensate?

Since you're obviously none of those things, Ta-Nehisi, what's *your* excuse?

Posted by mimp | July 23, 2008 7:41 PM

Uhm. It was a joke. Check out this blog--it's quite obvious who I'm voting for. Bob Barr being black wouldn't change a thing. Really. It's just a joke.

Posted by Ta-Nehisi Coates | July 23, 2008 8:25 PM

Nice smear, anonymous. Barr never got any fight and never called in anyone a n*gger. (Patrick Kennedy got in a fight with an air security once, but it didn't get racial.)

Posted by total info | July 23, 2008 9:58 PM

Awesome. Also, shoutout from a fellow Time and Slate veteran.

Posted by Pat | July 23, 2008 11:01 PM

total info> Nice smear, anonymous. Barr never got any fight and never called in anyone a n*gger. (Patrick Kennedy got in a fight with an air security once, but it didn't get racial.)

Hold on a second, here we go:

-----
Published on Thursday, May 24, 2001 by the Associated Press
Security Guards Claim Barr Yelled Racial Slurs

ATLANTA - Three security guards have filed complaints accusing U.S. Rep. Bob Barr of cursing and yelling racial slurs after he was denied entry to a private parking lot at Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport.

Reports obtained by WSB-TV show that three guards for Barton Protective Services complained to supervisors, saying Barr yelled at them when they told him he would have to walk from a shuttle to his car because the van was not allowed into the lot.

Barr's office released a statement Wednesday saying he had a confrontation with guards Monday, but he did not use racial slurs or obscenities. "While the Congressman does not believe any response is required, he states emphatically and unequivocally that he did not and would not utter a racial slur or remark, or use obscene language," the statement says.

"The Congressman believes it is unfortunate that one cannot have a verbal argument, without a self-serving and one-sided report being filed, then leaked to the media, and including utterly false and specious allegations," the statement says.

Guard Ramona Phenix, who is black, wrote in her report that Barr cursed at her and used racial slurs when she told him the van could not enter the lot. He said he had several bags and did not want to carry them to the car.

Supervisor Alicia S. Gordon, who is also black, wrote a three-page report with guard Frank Lovett. She said Barr became more angry when they decided to let the van into the lot, but not until the driver filled out a form. While the driver was working on the form, Barr became angry again.

"This time he yelled, 'When are you going to open the gate you stupid black idiot,'" Gordon wrote.

Sorry about that, I got sidetracked for a second there. You were saying something about a smear, total info?

Posted by anonymous 37 | July 24, 2008 4:09 AM

Seems to me like the dude has a complex. He wouldn't be the first person trying to "pass" who got a bit neurotic on the subject. I know light-skinned women whose mothers refused to let them go out in the sun because they didn't want them to accidentally catch a tan.

Posted by One Drop | July 24, 2008 3:06 PM

barr appears to be a sephardic jew. lots of african blood in that crew. look it up!

Posted by sephardic jew | July 26, 2008 12:30 AM