Ballou HS Rocks the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Suspect in 9-Year-Old's Murder Found Dead in D.C. Jail
Morning Roundup: Black Friday Edition
Go Home Already: Make Room
Photo of the Day: November 27, 2009
You may have heard by now of the scandal brewing in the Capitol Café (the small eatery in the basement of the Capitol building). If not, here's the skinny: Indiana Congressman Mark Souder (R) allegedly wanted a toasted turkey sandwich real bad; Café worker Kennison Battle (known as Mohammed) allegedly gets to work on sandwich but makes fatal error of grilling aforementioned sandwich; Souder allegedly tries to correct Battle, who allegedly attempts to set it right; confusion reigns in grill area of the Capitol Café over whether direct or indirect heat is the proper way of cooking a turkey sandwich; Souder storms out of the Café in a huff and, three days hence, Battle is canned.
Now, we don't usually wade into the minutiae and trifles of the various members of Congress we host in our fair city. If we did that, that would be all we did. And frankly, it's just unseemly and mind crushingly boring. But, a new twist has been added to this story that has piqued our interest. Now, nearly three weeks after the incident, there is a rumor that Battle called Souder "a redneck honky." Ohhh shit. Primadonna Congressman in a tiff over a sandwich? Who cares? Primadonna Congressman in a tiff over a sandwich with a swirling undercurrent of race and class conflict? That is DCist all over.
Delicious photo from ninjapoodles.
Now, we're unsure if "redneck honky" is actually a racist slur. We're also unsure if it's applicable to someone who is picky enough to demand toasted over grilled. It seems like a redneck honky would prefer grilled, right? Actually, it seems like a redneck honky would prefer his sandwich heated in the acrid smoke form the burn barrel in his backyard or possibly warmed gently by strapping the sandwich to his 4x4's exhaust pipe with baling wire. Certainly there's little distinction between toasted and grilled in the final product. Maybe he wanted to keep his turkey breast with American cheese sandwich on white bread with extra mayo free of any of the black bits it could pick up on the grill? We may never know.
What we do know is that, even though Souder hails from Fort Wayne, Indiana—a place someone might assume is home to its share of redneck honkies—he doesn't appear to play the part. Souder is a member of several congressional caucuses that paint a clearer picture: Co-chair of the Bipartisan National Parks Caucus, the Zero Capital Gains Tax Caucus, the Intelligent Transportation Systems Caucus, the Biotech Caucus, the Friends of Switzerland, Taiwan, Spain, and Netherlands Caucuses, the Furnishings Caucus, and the Boating Caucus. The Boating Caucus. The only way the Boating and Furnishing Caucuses are home to a redneck honky is they're talking about these boats and these furnishings, and we're guessing no.
The worst thing we can find to accuse Souder of is that he's out of touch with his constituents. We have it on good authority (read: obscure message board used for bands to b.s. about touring locales) that the Dash-In in downtown Fort Wayne has a fantastic "Gourmet Grilled Cheese Sandwich." That's a sandwich that's grilled, Congressman, exactly how all the regular Joes and Janes in Indiana's third congressional district like their sandwiches. Toasted sandwiches are for the Washington insiders and their high-paid lobbyist friends. That, and he voted against the D.C. voting rights bill. Booooooooo.
The "redneck honky" rumor comes from an unnamed Capitol café worker, but has been denied by Battle and ignored by Souder. The manager of the café has bemoaned the whole situation, calling it a "black eye" on the eatery, according to The Hill newspaper. Poor choice of words, Mr. Café Manager.
There are signs that the Hate Sandwich incident will fade soon, however, as Battle will be relocated to another job within the Capitol complex, which Souder supports. He told The Hill through his spokesman that he never wanted Battle fired in the first place. Is there a happy ending in store for this sordid story? We shall see; maybe Souder will invite Battle for a ride on his boat.
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mmm that photo almost beats my avatar
Do you think Souder asked for white meat?
Now, we're unsure if "redneck honky" is actually a racist slur.
1. Locate the closest Stuckey's, Piggly Wiggly, or Krystal drive-in that has a parking lot packed with pickups with stars-and-bars and gun racks in the rear windows.
2. Please yell "Hey, redneck honky!"
3. Wait until someone in a Caterpillar tractor cap comes after you with a tire iron.
4. Ask them, "Do you consider 'redneck honky' a racial slur?"
5. PROFIT!
Certainly there's little distinction between toasted and grilled in the final product.
Hm. Is there a difference between bread that's been toasted in a toaster and filled with cold ingredients, and one that's been grilled on a grease-and-dreck-caked griddle (where the contents are heated to melting point)? I'd say there is: one is dry and the other accounts for a quarter of all the documented cases of violent explosive diarrhea, the other three quarters being accounted for by meals served at Stuckey's, Piggly Wiggly, and Krystal.
FAIL.
Mmmm, hate sandwiches. Do those come with freedom fries?
I thought it was only a sandwich of Larry Craig and David Vitter were the oh-so-warm 'slices' in that yumtastic sammich...
Now, we're unsure if "redneck honky" is actually a racist slur.
when you're unsure, use the substitution test.
replace the phrase with "redneck honky" with "uppity nigger", and see what I mean. both are offensive.
Now, we're unsure if "redneck honky" is actually a racist slur.
Is "nappy headed hoes"?
replace the phrase with "redneck honky" with "uppity nigger", and see what I mean. both are offensive.
**********************************************
honky never quite caught on like many thought it would. White people were pretty indifferent to it because you know the "N" word had history associated with it like beatings, lynchings, rape, and the systematic denial or rights, human dignity, and wealth. See honky never had that because AA were unable to inflict anything serious due to lack of weapons/power. If anything I think that redneck honky would probably look at you and say "You dam right" and go about purchasing some nascar tickets.
What you fail to mention is that Souder vehemently denying having anything to do with his firing and that House Admin Chair Brady is working with Battle trying to find him another job but Battle didnt take the first one, moving furniture, bad back being his reason. Why were these facts omitted?
See honky never had that because AA were unable to inflict anything serious due to lack of weapons/power.
While I've never actually been called a "honky" by American Airlines, they have subjected me to the systematic denial of rights, human dignity, and wealth.
BigL,
Because all of those things are in the articles we linked. Also, this post isn't a serious news piece. Just in case you didn't notice.
The Furnishing & Boating Caucuses? It sounds like they should be deciding which sofas to should go in the senators office (no, puce goes better with denying the District the vote!) or what kind of yacht to buy with the lobbyists' millions.
But he is a redneck honkey.
As a native of Fort Wayne, I can attest that it is the beach on which break the waves of Lake Redneck Honkey.
You could drive into Fort Wayne trailing a toasted cheese sandwich and drive out followed by a thundering horde of men wearing polyester pants and Walmart shoes.
Mark Souder is Redneck Honkey.
Oh, and there's not a chance in hell that Mark Souder frequents the Dash In.
He'd tell you, the types that go in there are fellas who care about the arts.
Who in the hell named this cook Mohammed? They shall be tried, convicted, and flogged publicly without haste.
Why does everything post multiple times...will there be an award for that along with best quotes, and avatars. Can we add a special category for me? "Annoying individual who corrects what was supposed to be a funny quote, but messed up and hit stop and tried again and only hit subbmit once but it posted 2 times anyway and then feels bad and writes a self-serving, not-so-clever-or-funny-for-that-matter post to cover up his previous posts shortcomings"?
I'll just bring up the fact that what many people call a "grilled cheese sandwich," my mom calls a "toasted cheese sandwich." That is, two pieces of bread with cheese in the middle, buttered and put on a skillet to melt and/or grill. Just saying Kennison could have grown up in Pittsburgh, too.
Who the hell toasts bread by putting it in a greasy pan? Granted, Isaly's chipped ham sandwich is a truly bowel-inspiring Pittsburger meal, but I'd hardly call it "toasted."
I am a white man of a certain lower economic class circumstance, having been 'braised' (born and raised) in the South. So I know honkie and redneck.
Incidentally, they are different. Redneck is a mocking term meant to imply you are of a lower social class, prone to 'hillbilly' behavior. Original mean supposedly has to do with field workers having 'red necks' from being in the sun. Hence it really was a slur for poor working whites.
Honkie, on the other hand, is something that whites almost never use. It's almost always something blacks (and I guess to some extent Hispanics) use to denigrate whites. It seems to apply to all whites, not just poor rural ones. It is, by most accounts, a racist term.
I know this post was in jest, and I do have a sense of humor, but it's worth noting that it'll be cold, cold day in Hell before DCist ever does similar humor related to blacks or other groups.
Imagine if this were a humor story about black people and the links provided by DCist were to fried chicken and watermelon. Or, perhaps more apt - if we referred to blacks with a race-based slur, then linked to photos of living room furniture covered with plastic as an example of black culture.
It's always struck me as funny how supposedly uber-tolerant sophisticates feel it's perfectly acceptable to mock people of rural and/or Southern background based on that background alone. All the while pronouncing their own moral superiority for their own enlightened tolerance.
I guess the real question is, should we think these sorts of things are funny and appropriate? That's a legitimate question. I can laugh at a picture of a beer can sofa even when it's applied indiscriminately to my race and economic class. But it is a bit annoying to know that there's a huge double standard out there - it's ok to mock poor rural whites indiscriminately (and such mockery routinely runs the gamut from harmless to fairly hateful) but not ok to make fun of any other perceived group's habits (even the humorous ones) even a little bit.
Dude, you're a drag.
I'm reminded of the pic from the Onion story "South Postpones Rising Again for Yet Another Year."
I think "honky" lost most of it's derogatory power and impact a while ago. "Cracker," "perckerwood," "white trash," and "birds**t" seem to be more in use among those trying to denigrate white folk.
I highly recommend checking out Henri Bergson's Essay "Laughter" for a thorough analysis on the use of humor and slurs as a socially-sanctioned "weapon" for use against a perceived priveleged oppressive ruling class.
Just goes to show you that those who have the most to gain in working together, poor whites and blacks, get riled up over silly words.
I'm originally from Souder's district. I sent him a letter this summer, commenting on his lack of support for the hate crimes bill. My form letter came back with a personal note written on it: "For someone who is against hate, your letter wasn't very nice." Seriously, the guy needs to chill out.
Monkey:
I agree. Cracker seems to be the word of choice these days. If you ever watch Halfway Home on ComedyCentral 'cracker' is used pretty convincingly.
I wasn't aware of 'birdshit'. That one's actually sortof witty.
Primadonna is right: who would honestly complain about a sandwich being grilled rather than toasted?? (I toast bread in the oven and don't even really know the difference)
And "Redneck honky" is not a racial slur. It's actually a hilarious thing to shout at someone although probably not a good idea to shout it at customers of the business you work for.
I won't take your comment as addressed to me personally, so no worries there, but let me point you to this example of how it's not just economically disadvantaged white people who get the "humor" stick. It'll be a cold day in Hell when the Post runs a video of someone in blackface chanting the N-word in a stadium parking lot, and colder still when it (or other local media) decide not to print racist slurs on their front page.
Try starting that conversation in this town and you'll learn pretty quickly how both "urban sophisticates" and minorities of all stripes forget both their tolerance and similar experiences.
I can't get over all the "white rage" in the comments. There's no way honky is equivalent to the N-word. Just look at the two terms history. The N-word is associated with chattel slavery, lynching, Jim Crowe laws. "Honky" is what George Jefferson called his white neighbor.
Meeg:
You raise a valid point. Nigger (we're adults here and we can handle seeing a word spelled out in print here) is a term that has been used far more viciously than honkie.
But I've certainly heard 'cracker' hurled at me with the same hate that others have seen 'nigger' hurled at them. I have to be honest and say I don't think I've ever been called a honkie to my face.
Yes, George Jefferson's use of race-based taunts was humorous and fairly innocuous. But that doesn't mean it's always that way.
And is a little racism ok? If so, where do we draw the line.
The actual words aren't what bother me. It's pretty hard for me to be seriously hurt by references to beer can sofas and terms like 'redneck' or honkie.
But what I can't stand are intellectual dishonesty and double standards. And that's what we have far too often when we talk about race and class issues in the US.
Adam:
Yep. The whole sports world get a huge pass on this and other issues.
What's particularly sad is the impact pro sports figures have on youngsters, particularly black youngsters. Yes, there are some sports stars that are actually good role models. But so many roll up with all their bling and put on this fairly ridiculous thug image. I'd venture to say that the damage done to black youth and culture in the US today from sports and other stars promoting this thug culture is probably considerably more damage than will ever be done to black kids from individual white people. Yet, where are the civil rights marches against this very real threat to black youth?
Actually, the way I've heard some of the angry locals use the term "you white folks" it would almost pass for a slur. As in when you walk into a store or into the "wrong" neighborhood and they give you the look up and down and mutter, "White folks need to go," or "What you white people doing here?" or "You white people need to go back where you came from." There's a lot more hate conveyed in a few plain words and looks than would ever get across with "honkey."
And if you think honkey got it bad, try being the Korean grocery owner or the Chinese delivery guy in Ward 8. They're getting their asses shot just for doing their job. What names do you think they get called before they get killed?
Monkey:
I assume you are all over this lovely monkey reference in the New Yorker?
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2007/12/10/071210sh_shouts_brenner
Hillman - I can sympathize with the monkey who went orthodox jew to gain the hand of the fair lab assistant. Now his offspring will never be one of the Chosen People. A shame, since more jewish monkeys in Palestine could help broker a peace agreement with West Bank guerrillas.
What an embarrassment of monkey riches! Why, the first shots from the Speed Racer movie are out and Chimchim is looking suave as ever in the trunk of the Mach 5. Heck, even Christina Ricci is looking like a chimp.