LIMBAUGH AIMS AT WRONG FOES…. Yesterday, Rush Limbaugh condemned what he sees as President Obama’s “arrogance,” and said the president is like “some” African Americans who say the “Fourth of July ain’t no big deal to me, yo.”
I often feel like I need a decoder ring when translating Limbaugh’s nonsense, but this one was especially odd. I’ve never heard anyone, of any race, say the “Fourth of July ain’t no big deal to me, yo.” I can only assume this is Limbaugh’s way of saying African Americans aren’t as patriotic as other Americans — an argument that is as ugly as it is stupid.
But hearing the clip reminded me of something Tom Schaller has written about — for quite a while, in parts of the deep South, folks just didn’t celebrate the Fourth of July. It was apparently a Yankee holiday.
Well into the 20th century, [South Carolina] was the state where black citizens observed the Fourth of July mostly alone. Why? Because — get this — the vast majority of whites preferred instead to celebrate Confederate Memorial Day, May 10, a practice that continued into the early 50s, which means there are some very senior South Carolina citizens who skipped a few Fourths back in their early years. (Why isn’t Sean Hannity asking them to brandish their flag pins?)
Nearly as annoying as Limbaugh’s racism is his ignorance.
