You'd think if there were anyone who'd understand the Black Lives Matter protests, it would be former FEMA Secretary Michael "Heckuva-a-Job" Brownie, who resigned in disgrace after botching the response to the Katrina disaster. But, alas, no.
Apparently forgetting that he embodies the racism Black Lives Matter is trying to spotlight, Brownie used his KHOW 630-AM radio show to mock the #BlackLivesMatter protesters, who've launched a campaign to change the name of Denver's Stapleton neighborhood, because former Denver Mayor Benjamin Stapleton was a member of the KKK.
Sounding desperate, Brownie called out to the protesters (at 5:15 below), "You dip-wads. You absolute dip-wads."
Brownie: You know, the more I think about this, maybe [the BlackLivesMatter protesters] are right. I think they might be right. Because I've driven through that Stapleton neighborhood and in fact, I used to fly in and out of the old Stapleton airport. And I can remember flying in and out of there all the time and being so afraid. Because, you know, you go up to the gate counter. And the gate agents would have those white hoods on. They'd have the little, you know, like the sheets. They'd have the eyes cut out. It was scary as hell. And then you'd go -- like, you'd go down to the baggage claim, there at Stapleton airport. You guys remember this, right? You'd go down to the baggage claim there at Stapleton and there'd be all those baggage handlers. They'd have the white sheets on, they'd have their eyes cut out. Always scared the crap out of me.
And then, you know, now that we've done all of that redevelopment out there, I'll tell you what, I'm scared to drive through that neighborhood because every time I drive through that neighborhood now, which isn't very often because the last time I did, there were SO many people wearing sheets over their heads with the eyes cut out, and crosses burning EVERYWHERE! It was just -- oh! it was AWFUL! You dip-wads. You absolute DIP-WADS!
You really have to listen to this below to understand how weird, condescending, and mean it is.
Brownie tries to defend Stapleton by saying he created Denver's Red Rocks park and by pointing out that Cesar Chavez has been accused of initiating violence. So why does this mean the #BlackLivesMatter protesters should shut up? Does Brownie want something like Katrina to happen again? Because if we all shut up, like Brownie wants, it will.
He didn't need to, but Brownie decided to put an exclamation on his cluelessness about the basic point of #BlackLivesMatter, which is that black lives matter, like other lives.
"Well, even if he was a member of the KKK, even if he was, does his life not matter? Or do just some lives matter and others don't?" said Brownie, going off into sheer ridiculousness.
On the radio, Brownie played a news clip of a protester saying that Stapleton's name is a symbol of "lingering white supremacy in our community."
Brownie mocked the comment (at 6 minutes):
It is. It absolutely is. Because if you go out there go that Stapleton neighborhood right now, you won't find one black person out there at all. Not at all. And in fact, I can remember at Stapleton, I would look around to find someone to help me with my bags. There was never a black person working at Stapleton International Airport. Never. Never. Never. Never.
You people are so full of crap, it just drives me up the wall. If you would just open your freakin eyes and look at the Stapleton development, guess what would you see. I bet you'd see, yes, you'd see evil white people. Then you'd see black people. Then you'd see Hispanic people. And I don't know, you might have to dig, but you might even see some Asian people. Although I really doubt there are any, like, Native American people out there, because Native Americans just live in Teepees on the reservation, so there wouldn't be like any Indians living out at Stapleton. No. Not at all. You people are the biggest dumbasses I've heard in ages. 'We just want you to be aware that this is just a reminder white supremacy,' said the black people living at Stapleton. God you're dumb.
How could the man who presided over the Katrina disaster deliver a rant like that? I guess it's because Brownie is the guy who presided over the Katrina disaster. Yet another reason to support the Black Lives Matter protests.
Michael Brown slams #BlackLivesMatter on KHOW 630-AM Aug. 10