Maya Angelou A ‘Talentless’ ‘Whining’ ‘Affirmative Action Mediocrity’ Says Derbyshire
Conservative writer John Derbyshire is not in mourning for the passing of Maya Angelou.
Derbyshire sets up his post by declaring that “I always assume that any black person in a well-paid position is an Affirmative Action hire” and goes on to declare that Coates, Angelou, and for good measure Attorney General Eric Holder, are all “talentless” “Affirmative Action mediocrit[ies].”
Derbyshire, of course, hasn’t deigned to read anything that Angelou wrote except for the poem she read at the 1993 Clinton inauguration, which he calls “semi-literate gibberish” and “formless, meaningless babble” that reminded him of “the whining of pampered pets.”
Derbyshire writes:
Maya Angelou. I first heard that name in 1993, when she read one of her “poems” at the Clinton inauguration.
It was a quite sensationally bad poem. I remember being shocked by how bad it was. With the whole world watching, this is how the U.S.A. presents itself to the world? With this semi-literate gibberish?
AnthonyLook May 29th, 2014 at 7:22 pm
And it begins; that didn’t take long.
arc99 May 29th, 2014 at 7:34 pm
“”“I always assume that any black person in a well-paid position is an Affirmative Action hire” “”
As a 62 year old black man, I do not have to assume anything. It is crystal clear that any white person, or person of any race, who makes such a comment is a dying relic of the obscene bigotry this country is slowly but surely eradicating. That death spiral cannot happen quickly enough as far as I am concerned.
If I live to see the day that Mr. Derbyshire is transported to the cemetery, I will raise a toast to one more small step forward for our republic.
alternatesteve2 May 29th, 2014 at 8:07 pm
I agree 100 percent with that, arc99. =)
DrZombo May 30th, 2014 at 11:23 am
If you had left the “white person” out of you comment I might have taken you seriously. You seem to have to tell us you are black and again “whitey” has made a comment that you don’t like.
arc99 May 30th, 2014 at 11:36 am
I have no control over how things “seem” to you.
When someone accuses me of accomplishing what I have through affirmative action, and not through competence, I will most certainly point out what a load of horsesh*t that it is.
and I really could care less whether you take me seriously or not. as my late grandmother taught us, ignorant people will always have some reason to be ignorant.
tedlv May 30th, 2014 at 1:15 pm
I will too. His comments are not representative of the right. They are reprehensible.
Dwendt44 May 29th, 2014 at 7:53 pm
This chuckle head is all for ‘ethnic balance’ applied to immigration, and he’s clearly a racist (a lightweight one if that’s possible).
Perhaps he should return to his home country.
Shades May 29th, 2014 at 7:58 pm
Where do I begin?
wiseoldfart May 30th, 2014 at 9:40 am
Begin at the ratification of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. Examine them thorougly. Understand what this republic was meant to be. Is this the America that was meant to be – a socialist welfare state with wide open borders and a 17.5 trillion national debt still spiraling out of control toward 25 trillion before either a dramatic belt tightening or an economic collapse occurs?
Shades May 30th, 2014 at 1:28 pm
If that’s what you honestly believe has happened, then get used to it. The rest of us are shaking our heads at what horrible people some conservatives are, especially at the time of great loss.
alternatesteve2 May 29th, 2014 at 8:07 pm
John Derbyshire…..is nothing more than a hardcore *racist* ASSHOLE in a snappy outfit. Fuck you and your bigotry, Derbyshire.
And Rest In Peace, Maya Angelou. =(
BillTheCat45 May 29th, 2014 at 8:36 pm
Barely anyone cares what disgraced racist Derpyshire thinks. Especially history.
VillieRob May 29th, 2014 at 8:41 pm
And I assume that all white success is due to “white privilege”!
Foundryman May 29th, 2014 at 8:59 pm
Every now and then someone on the right makes a comment that forces me to question how does the right have so much support? The people who speak on their behalf or call themselves conservatives are primarily neanderthals. I cannot find a single rightwing person who does not come across as hypocritical, racist, ignorant beyond bounds or just plain stupid. It’s sad so many get elected. It’s sadder still the left does not turn out in mass to defeat them.
fahvel May 30th, 2014 at 4:23 am
yourlast sentence says it all – if your left progressives don’t vote and just hang at LL patting each other on the back, what’s the point. How many regulars to this site are actually out there working hard to preserve or resurrect a kinder and more sensitive usa without plumbers and scum with big mouths? Just asking.
tedlv May 30th, 2014 at 1:12 pm
I am conservative. Racists like this idiot do not represent me or any conservative I know. But before you point your crooked little finger to the right, look at all the racists on the left. Start with Sharpton and Jackson, and LBJ then move right down the line.
Helen Dixon May 29th, 2014 at 9:26 pm
OMG! How dare this old curmudgeon to even make his asinine opinions public!! I can’t imagine that someone that has lived as long as he has can even ‘think this way’! To say these things about Maya Angelou just proves that he is as ignorant and mean-spirited as he looks! There is not a ‘poetic bone in his being,’ so of course, he wouldn’t “get” the lovely and meaningful poem she composed and recited at President Clinton’s Inaugural. This man should be kept away from people — he is a piraña and should be quarantined from the rest of humanity! And don’t even publish anything that he writes — it’s just poison to the sensibilities of the thinking human beings!
wiseoldfart May 30th, 2014 at 9:34 am
True, what he said was in bad taste at a bad time. True, what he said was true and a welcome change (to truth seekers) from all the lies we’ve been told by Obama and his puppets. Of course, you liberals are completely oblivious to all the lies we’ve been told. Undetected labyrinths have a profound effect on the human psyche.
Jake May 29th, 2014 at 11:25 pm
Yeah that Art Tatum and John Coltrane and Charlie Parker couldn’t really play their instruments – it was all due to affirmative action. Same with Michael Jordan – he would;t have got a game for the Chicago Bulls if it wasn’t for affirmative action – and don’t get me started on Pele, Sammy Davis Jr, Muhammed Ali and Jesse Owens.
Rod Timmons May 30th, 2014 at 1:52 am
Jackie Wilson, Nat King Cole, Willie Mays, Flip Wilson, Louie Armstrong, Willis Reed, Martin Luther King, Jr., Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, Chubby Checker, Dick Gregory, Rev Al Sharpton, Harry Belafonte, Oprah Winfrey, — Great people, Great artist & Great Americans !
Brent Espe May 30th, 2014 at 1:02 am
One of the many differences between Maya Angelou and John Derbyshire is that when John Derbyshire dies, no one will give a shit.
Guest May 30th, 2014 at 1:39 am
This pathetic loser Debtshire should not be even mentioned in the same breath as the GREAT MAYA ANGELOU – RIP great & loved woman of her time !
Rod Timmons May 30th, 2014 at 1:40 am
This pitiful & pathetic loser like Derbyshire should not even be mentioned in the same breath as the GREAT MAYA ANGELOU – RIP dear sweet lover of all !
m2old4bs May 30th, 2014 at 2:50 am
And I suppose he’s a better example of what America is all about? I doubt that anyone outside of his immediate family will mourn his passing, whenever that may come.
fahvel May 30th, 2014 at 4:20 am
not soon enough
wiseoldfart May 30th, 2014 at 9:26 am
She is a great example of what today’s America is all about – socialism, Affirmative Action, reckless spending, amnesty for illegal aliens, welfare for millions of able-bodied people who don’t deserve a dime, and the list goes on.
I don’t know much about Derbyshire, but at least he’s telling the truth about that poem and Affirmative Action opportunists.
Les Finesse May 30th, 2014 at 9:43 am
you should have stopped at I don’t know much.
DrZombo May 30th, 2014 at 11:13 am
And you should have stopped at “you”.
mea_mark May 30th, 2014 at 1:51 pm
And you are trolling on thin ice.
Bunya May 30th, 2014 at 2:31 pm
I’ll bet you’re one of the mental defectives trolling Planned Parenthood clinics, terrorizing women in crisis. I wonder if idiots like you are aware that these babies you “save” become the welfare recipients you are whining about.
wiseoldfart May 30th, 2014 at 9:18 am
The truth hurts. Indeed, her poem at Clinton’s inauguration was more first grade than first rate. It was rather “rocky.” It did inspire me to bestow pity upon our once-great, former republic and made me despise our current socialist welfare state even more. Again, the truth hurts – even me.
wiseoldfart May 30th, 2014 at 9:28 am
Man, I hope you are just humoring us. If not, you were among the easiest of sheeple to thoroughly brainwash!
Les Finesse May 30th, 2014 at 9:42 am
Your moniker is a misnomer. You may be old and you may be a fart, but you surely aren’t wise.
Rod Timmons May 31st, 2014 at 2:48 am
WTF is an old fart simpleton like you on a site that requires a BRAIN to create THOUGHTS ! Don’t waste my time with anymore of your ignorant replies !
wiseoldfart May 30th, 2014 at 9:44 am
Wow! before reading these recent comments, I had no idea how out to lunch you socialists were. This country is in deep doo-doo and you want to “fix” it by moving it more to the left?
arc99 May 30th, 2014 at 11:19 am
no I want to fix the country by getting rid of the ignorance expressed in Derbyshire’s comments.
no one handed me anything through affirmative action. I worked for everything I have achieved, in some instances having to perform not just as well as caucasian colleagues but better than my peers in order to receive the same recognition.
the country is in deep doo-doo because of people like Derbyshire and those who are ignorant enough to believe him
tedlv May 30th, 2014 at 12:56 pm
People like Derbyshire andSharpton, racists, regardless of their pigmentation, are the problem, not the solution.
vhd May 30th, 2014 at 6:59 pm
Better a little socialism on the left than a little fascism on the right.
TheDoctorisIn3000 May 31st, 2014 at 12:40 am
Wiseoldfart ? You think a lot of yourself, and your anachronistic, fascist,
crapheaded nonsense. You can go back to bed, now.
Rod Timmons May 31st, 2014 at 2:54 am
Yeah lets keep handing over the country to all these right-wing CORPORATISTS that are running us into the ground & movings more of OUR jobs into their sweat shops for their GAIN – you reich-wing simpletons kill me ! You made a wrong turn when you stopped at our site – go back to where you get all this CONservative SLOP on FAUX NOISE ! Don’t waste my time with your spin, sound bites & wing nut talking points !
DrZombo May 30th, 2014 at 11:15 am
Sorry but among some great artist you included some of the biggest race baiter in the history of this country. If you had left out Sharpton, Belafonte, Gregory and Winfrey it would have been a great post.
DrZombo May 30th, 2014 at 11:20 am
anlernatesteve2. Like always another liberal that cannot make a point without resorting to vulgarity. When you can’t explain yourself with the use of this kind of language you show you lack of intellect or upbringing. In you case it’s probably both.
arc99 May 30th, 2014 at 11:23 am
like a typical right winger, not a word of criticism for the obvious bigotry of Mr. Derbyshire. there is nothing inappropriate in using vulgarity to respond to the obscenity of bigotry. also, like a typical right winger, fancy words expressing pure bigotry is just fine with you.
Brandt Hardin May 30th, 2014 at 3:55 pm
Maya Angelou spoke beyond race and gender rights issues she spoke of the universal human spirit. I was touched to witness her speak locally at Austin Peay University back in 1998 when I was just a senior in high school. This week I was compelled to pay tribute to her with my artwork. You can see my portrait of the author along with some inspiring words of hers at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2014/05/in-memoriam-maya-angelou.html Drop by and tell me how her life’s work inspired you as well!
Baratunde Williams May 31st, 2014 at 10:41 am
He could have not said anything. She died. Who says something bad about a person that lived to do good but has died? Doesn’t matter the color of the person saying it or the person that died. They died, send condolences to the family. How in the world did a death become a political rant?
Loraine Tilmon Vance June 1st, 2014 at 9:27 pm
Everyone please stop reading or even responding to this ignorant article of a racist. He is very jealous of a great legend that has left her mark on the world something that he will never do!!! He does not speak 6 languages, or have any prestigious awards. Let us celebrate the life of a very TALENTED, And inspirational African American woman. Maya Angelou you will forever be a phenomenal woman.
AlwaysBlossom June 4th, 2014 at 1:59 am
lol, typical White racist, at least he’s honest. Unlike the democrats that are sneaky with their racism. Watch out for them Black ppl, these are the ones that will cry reverse racism and sing kumbaya or say race doesn’t matter lol.