- M. Spencer Green/AP Photos
- Senator Mark Kirk oozes south-side cred.
Oh, come on! It’s not just privileged, conservative white men who think it’s funny to affect the patois of people they’re not remotely like. It’s also my Sunday-morning crowd at Julius Meinl—privileged, liberal white men. It’s people of color I’ve eavesdropped on when I was supposed to be oblivious to their existence. It’s shocking, but I believe women do it too, and even the virtuous young raised from the cradle to atone for the insensitivities of their elders.
What do you think of Kirk? I asked.
“Our advice to Sen. Kirk: Find a microphone. Make sure it’s on. Apologize. Repeat,” said the Tribune editorial.
Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post accused Kirk of far worse—malign dabbling. “Kirk was talking about the South Side of Chicago,” he raged. “That land of shattered lives and shredded English that has become synonymous with urban decay. That wasteland where hope and opportunity are strangers to its beleaguered residents. And the daily barrage of bullets killing said residents doesn’t help dispel the living-hell image. At least, that’s the stereotype. And to believe it, to even dabble in it, is to deny the existence of real people who defy it.”
And a spokesman for Tammy Duckworth said, “Illinois women already know Mark Kirk isn’t on their side by his votes against equal pay and affordable child care for working families. Now we also know he’s humor-challenged. Senator Kirk’s ‘joke’ is as offensive as it is unfunny, and he should apologize, personally and immediately.”
