Ya, you're right they will use anything to perpetuate the 'poor victim of society'. We were poor, and like I said my brother shined shoes. I went to school with all the other poor kids, and my first best friend was Black. But we never thought of ourselves as victims. We just thought of ourselves as Americans.

[B]I do have a problem with the 'shoe shine' picture. I know there are some who cannot stand it that a person such as Obama actually won the presidental election. I will say that I don't think there is such a thing as 100%approvoal for any president we have ever had however, but with our country's past history I do find that picture offensive. I don't care who does not like what I am saying. It is a fact and needs to be said. Most people were Ignorant Jack Asses while the Cowboy was in office and he deserved all the scorn I heaped on him. B]

I was just having a conversation with my roommate Rose. Rose does housecleaning and is quite happy at doing it. She works hard and enjoys her clients. Well today she told me that she has ran into many Hispanics who refuse to do housework for a living, no matter what. They would consider that below them. Now we all know that may Hispanics/Latinos do maid service and housecleaning. But what should she think of those that consider what she does below them? Are they racists against their own? Are they being racist to Rose?
I asked Rose why they refused to do such work, and she said that it's the typical stereotype and they refuse to do it. Some are collecting welfare, yet cleaning houses and maid service is 'below' them. What has this society created when people consider doing an honest job is below collecting welfare?

I agree. There is definitely a racial component to that photoshopped pic. The fact that the guy's been a disaster is unrelated to his skin color. That's about the same as having him appear as a lawn jockey.

I would consider it much more appropriate to have him dressed in a Chairman Mao outfit or wearing the battle fatigues of Fidel Castro. Those, at least, would be fair derision of his politics rather than his race.

I think the picture is no big deal, but to do that I had to remind myself that race is irrelevant. lots of presidents have been characterized in demeaning manners, and none of them ever had race as a shield. He's a public figure, and this photo is just another lampoon. If we start extending him special considerations because of his color/race, we might as well throw in the towel with the illegals right now.

Oh, please.

The entire gist/humor behind the picture is that the President is in a subservient position to Sarah Palin. Shoe shining (whether you consider it honorable work/honest labor or not) is a profession that was almost completely occupied by uneducated blacks. That picture is a jab at his race. The "humor" just happens to work because he's black. If we had an Asian president, the same thing could be conveyed by putting that person in a Chinese laundry situation or dressing him as Hop Sing from Bonanza. If he was Latino it could be a cartoon with the President using a leaf blower or mopping a floor. With Clinton or Jimmy Carter it could've been conveyed by having them lounging around a trailer/mobile home park with a can of beer in hand.

That cleaning, gardening, ironing shirts and shining shoes are respectable ways to turn a buck is irrelevant. They are positions of subservience accurately associated with members of certain ethnic/racial groups. The shoe shining thing wouldn't work with Bush or Clinton b/c shoe shining isn't associated with whites.

To pretend that these stereotypes don't exist is folly. And to disapprove of a jibe with a racial overtone to it is hardly throwing the borders wide open.

Obama is a bad president because he's bankrupting us. He's not a bad president because he's black.

it's not a rembrandt or Picasso, and this isn't an art class or museum tour. You are allowed to interpret it in any manner you see fit. I chose not to give racial connotation a priority here. Toss out the race card and it may take on a different meaning to you.
I used to have a standing reply to some of my male employees back in the day, after they came crawling back to ask for work after having voluntarily deserted their posts without a word for some short term higher paying gig that didn't pan out.
I'd say: "I'm glad you're back; I can always use a faithful man servant to hand my undergarments to before my shower".
It was humorously demeaning, but never racially motivated. That's the way I saw this photo.

I didn't see it as racial either. Like I said, my brother shined shoes. Some of us grew up totally different and race was never a factor. I've mentioned that I grew up in a racially mixed society many times on this and the old board, and as a result I didn't see racial undertones in that picture. What I saw was someone preforming a service for someone else. It didn't have much of an impact on me. Maybe, and obviously, I just don't get racial humor. I don't find many things funny at someone elses' expense. But that doesn't mean others won't find it humorous. And finding that someone perceives honest work respectable is not irrelevant, because it allowed me to view that photoshop photo as nothing more than it was, that being someone preforming a service for someone else. The only humor I might get out of it was that Obama looks like he lost his job, which wouldn't be a bad thing. You see I don't think there are any jobs that are below what Americans will do.

I look at it this way: Am I personally offended by something which might be construed as racist? There are some things which I find racially offensive and some which I do not. My gut reaction to the picture was obviously a positive one, and since there is nothing in it I find offensive it would be hypocritical for me to label it as racist.