Sunday, June 28, 2015

Gov. Bobby Jindal is Tired of "Hyphenated Americans" (Like Himself)

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Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana is running for President, and so far he is showing his credentials for the GOP Clown Car.

First there was his weird "Running for President" announcement with a hidden camera on his children:

From The Inquisitr
While there have been some rather odd presidential campaign announcement videos in the past, this one showing Bobby Jindal talking to his family in their backyard was met with special derision by the likes of Jon Stewart because of how earnest it was meant to look.
As Jon Stewart said in his critiquing of the Bobby Jindal announcement video, “I believe your campaign may be in trouble when you cannot carry a majority of your immediate family.”



This week he also spoke out against the Supreme Court:

From Daily Kos
"The Supreme Court is completely out of control, making laws on their own, and has become a public opinion poll instead of a judicial body. If we want to save some money lets just get rid of the court."

Yeah, that sounds really presidential! Who needs checks and balances? Get rid of 'em!

I guess he didn't feel that way after Citizen's United, when corporations became "people," since he never wanted to get rid of the Supremes over that!

But the biggest gaffe of the week came when he spoke out against "hypenated Americans."

From The Hill
"We used to be proud to call America the great melting pot," Jindal said later in his remarks at the First In The Nation leadership summit in New Hampshire, noting his parents were proud of their heritage.

Still, Jindal insisted, "They weren't coming to raise 'Indian-Americans.' They were coming to raise Americans."

"I don't know about you, I'm tired of the hyphenated Americans. No more 'African-Americans.' No more 'Indian-Americans.' No more 'Asian-Americans,' " Jindal said to applause.

This is nothing new for Jindal, who said something similar back in 2013:

From Raw Story, August 25, 2013
“I do believe however, that while racism still rears its ugly head from time to time, America has made significant progress in the half century since Dr. King’s incredible speech,” he wrote. “But not all the news is good. In another respect, we have taken some steps backward.”

Jindal accused minorities of placing “far too much emphasis on our ‘separateness,’ our heritage, ethnic background, skin color, etc. We live in the age of hyphenated Americans: Asian-Americans, Italian-Americans, African-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Cuban-Americans, Indian-Americans, and Native Americans, to name just a few.”

“Here’s an idea: How about just ‘Americans?’ That has a nice ring to it, if you ask me. Placing undue emphasis on our ‘separateness’ is a step backward. Bring back the melting pot,” the governor opined.



I guess his point was to say that we are all Americans, period, but it came across as self-hate, since Jindal is Indian-American. Also this probably wasn't the best week to say he was against the label African-American with the Charleston funerals going on and the Confederate flag falling across the south. Good dog-whistle to the Tea Party haters, though. Let's get rid of the label "African-Americans" and go back to calling them the n-word, perhaps? And Indian-Americans can be "darkies"???

It just didn't work too well for Jindal, as Indians both here and on the subcontinent were quick to mock with the hashtags #Jindian and #BobbyJindalIsSoWhite:

From BBC News
The original hashtag #bobbyjindalissowhite was started by Indian-American comedian Hari Kondabolu, with a series of tweets. Following the success of the tag he said it was the most "satisfying thing" he had ever done.













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