But it's still not clear to me: Is he really pointing to the Iranian
people, or to the totalitarian regime of the Islamic Republic?
Following the link at the original question
When asked for further comment, a spokesman for Graham referred CNN
Business to his follow-up Fox News segment. "Name one person who's
been a bigger defender of the Iranian people to fight back against
their oppressor," said Graham, adding that the comment was a joke
intended for "the Ayatollah," not the Iranian people.
and Fox News posted
.@LindseyGrahamSC on controversial Iranian comment: “The Iranian
people are brave and cultured. To my liberal friends who are offended
by my statement, [at] least I didn’t vote for an agreement that gave
$150B to the man who kills Iranians in the street.” @FoxNewsNight
which should answer that part of the question, as to intent, from the primary source. Of course, an individual is free to not accept that explanation; that is an individual choice; or if an individual relies on a group to make their decisions, a communal or organizational choice.
What the individual appears to have been doing is satirically pointing out that a politician was being politically opportunistic (at the expense of "Native Americans" for the referenced politician) by publicly disclosing selected genes from their DNA results (compared to the Cambridge Reference Sequence), while potentially omitting disclosure of other genes documented in the report (at the expense of "Iranian" for the referencing politician). No politician or other individual highlights Neanderthal or Denisovan genes (if present) in their DNA report, as that portion of their physical composition is not politically advantageous.
It is perhaps beyond the scope of this board to answer the question as to what "race" and "racism" are, and are not. There is no universally accepted definition of "race". Given that "race" is a political classification, the politics surrounding the use and application of that term has multiple perspectives. As pointed out in comments, the fact is that "Iranian" is not a "race" in the United States. According to the Census Bureau of the United States "Middle East" is one of the "origin" of "White". "Middle East" was first used as a term to describe a strategic region in the 1850's, then again in the earlier 20th century, by British and U.S. government agents, not the people living in those regions themselves. Whether or not an individual self-identifies as "White" or "Persian" or "Iranian" or "Iranian American" or "Muslim", etc. is their individual choice.
Can someone explain to me why these comments went viral and considered
racist?
Also, I can't understand why he chose Iranian people to make a joke in
relation to Warren's DNA test case? Because there is no connection
between Iranian people and Native Americans. I appreciate any ideas or
suggestions.
It should not be shocking if a U.S. politician makes "racist" comments. "racist" ideology is alive and well in the U.S. And, again, the original comment could be interpreted as a jab at the propensity of politicians to self-identify with groups for their own political gain; certainly not because they actually practice a "Native American" culture, evident by their daily lives and policies: that individual is a U.S. government representative, not a representative of any "Native American" nation.
Am not able to get into the individuals' mind to state for certain why they chose to say "Iranian" in conjunction with "terrible". Again, the remark could be satirical or rhetorical in nature. Or, could have been what was on their mind at the time. In any event, you have to decide if what that individual says has any relevant meaning to you. That is, if the individual praises "Iranian" people, does one then become overcome by cheer and delight; without any suspicion as to the reasons for praise and offense equally. People might flatter simply to distract from their diabolical intent.
Even where "Iranian" is classified as "White" in the U.S., or "Iranian Americans" decide to self-identify as "White" in the U.S., it would be naive to presume an exemption from the political conflict within that political group. Individuals who self-identify as "White" have no issues mistreating other individuals who self-identify as "White"; see White Cargo: The Forgotten History of Britain's White Slaves in America by Don Jordan and Michael Walsh; The Invention of the White Race, Volume 1: Racial Oppression and Social Control by Theodore W. Allen; How the Irish Became White by Noel Ignatiev.
As to why the topic went "viral" - within the specific media that you are consuming, there are daily instances of topics regarding "race", you only need look for such news or other documentation on that topic; whether it be application of the death penalty being unconstitutional as-applied to certain "race", or events involving ordinary people being accosted by "racist" individuals. There is no shortage of "news" items involving "race", from a Dallas, Texas off-duty police officer claiming to have mistakenly went to the wrong apartment before killing a "Black" man, to the Washington state Supreme Court declaring that the imposition in the state of the death penalty was unconstitutional due to "race" of the defendant being involved, to a guilty finding by a jury as to the murder of a "Black" child by a Chicago police officer. If one only looks at an event as "racist" because it involves the political group that they self-identify with, are they really concerned with "racist" activity at large; or are their feelings hurt as to their own political interest or identity being used as political fodder; which must be answered by that individual; no one on this board can answer that for you. A feeling does not translate into a cohesive political decision or policy to oppose a real or perceived offense; a feeling is simply an emotion.
If an individual "joked" about the nationality or culture of a people, they invite being "joked" about; for example, why they are not married; if one decides that the "offense" was a stark disregard for their nationality, culture, or whatever group they self-identity with. Alternatively, an individual could use that remark to promote their own narrative; using the mention of their group as fuel from which to use the buzz to parlay into how you define yourself. Or do both, or smile for the mention and move on. What would be startling is the idea that somehow U.S. politicians do not make "racist" statements; which is inconsistent with the entire historical record of the U.S.; a recent example being 'Race-baiting' and 'disinformation' roil CA contest between indicted GOP Rep. Hunter and Democrat Campa-Najjar as polls tighten ("Mr. Najjar is a security risk," the elder Hunter charged at a press conference. "As an American congressman, he would have the right to know about American troop movements in the Middle East." -former Congressman Duncan L. Hunter); GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter, Under Indictment, Launches False Attacks On Opponent("DUNCAN HUNTER: And he changed his name from Ammar Yasser Najjar to Ammar Campa-Najjar so he sounds Hispanic. He just changed it again. He added a Joseph in there, so his signs could actually say Joseph Campa or something. That's - that is how hard, by the way, that the radical Muslims are trying to infiltrate the U.S. government. JAFFE: Just a little more fact checking here - Ammar Campa-Najjar is Christian, and Campa is his Hispanic mother's family name.").
"African Americans" or "blacks" in the U.S. have found a method of turning the screws in the opposite direction after being accosted by suspected "racist" individuals, even if such a response is not organized by some centralized body, but rather, an organic response nonetheless, where the accosting individual might not get the response they were expecting and not allowing themselves to be immersed in someone else's comments at their own expense without at least carving out a pound of flesh in kind; we know about "Pool Patrol Paul", "BBQ Becky", "Permit Patty", "Cornerstore Caroline", Road rager: Racist meltdown ‘ruined my life’ and, including, but not limited to, "SuperBecky", see #BabysittingWhileBlack: White Woman Calls Police on Black Man Riding Around With White Kids by Michael Harriot
A brave superheroine busted up a nonexistent child trafficking ring on
Sunday when she noticed a black man riding around with two white
children in his car and alerted the authorities to a kidnapping in
progress.
CBS 46 reports that a white woman who was temporarily working for the
Avengers (which, it must be noted, was not fully staffed after half of
its workforce disappeared in a tragic Thanos-related work accident)
spotted Corey Lewis at a Marietta, Ga., Walmart.
The unnamed woman saw Lewis, who is black, suspiciously riding around
with two non-black children. Although The Root cannot confirm whether
or not the woman had been bitten by a racist spider when she was a
child, that’s when her whitey senses kicked in.
SuperBecky immediately approached Lewis and asked him if the children
were OK. When he replied that they were, the woman summoned her white
privilege superpowers and asked if she could speak to the children
herself. While people on the woman’s home planet of Krypton might be
totally fine with letting their children talk to strangers, Lewis
declined, citing an ancient African maxim: “I don’t even know you like
that.”
Undeterred, our brave Blunderwoman followed Lewis to his home in an
attempt to thwart his villainous plans. But before Lewis could take
his captors to his secret super villain laboratory where he did evil
experiments like season chicken, the woman called for reinforcements
from the League of White Justice, also known as the Cobb County
police.
Lewis recorded the police interaction (because this ain’t Gotham, you
never know) as he explained that he was simply babysitting the
children. In the video, the 10- and 6-year-olds, seemingly unaware of
this racism thing we speak of, told the police officer that they were
fine and they were being watched by Lewis.
“He’s babysitting us,” the oldest child tells the officer. “And this
lady started following us,” the girl explains as the cop repeatedly
asks the children if they are OK.
Lewis told CBS 46 that he runs a mentoring program called “Inspired by
Lewis,” which ironically inspired at least one woman to call the cops
on him because the children exhibited no signs that they were in
danger except for the fact that they were in the company of a Negro.
Although no one has identified the woman who called the cops, she is
not thought to be hiding out in Wakanda.
