Fried chicken, watermelons and racism

So...I recently received this piece of rather blatant racially-charged, stereotypical, election year crap that was supposed to double as a joke:

"When devastating hurricanes struck the Gulf Coast , even
houses of worship were not spared.

A local television station interviewed a woman from New
Orleans and asked how the loss of churches in the area had
affected their lives.

Without hesitation, the woman replied, "I don't know 'bout
all those other people, but we haven't gone to Churches in
years. We get our chicken from Popeye's."

The look on the interviewer's face was priceless.
They live among us, AND THEY VOTE.

Now do you understand how we got our president?"

Now, I may have accidentally hit the "reply all" button when replying to this ridiculous "joke", but that's another story altogether. Instead, let's talk about how incredibly dumb this thinly veiled piece of race-baiting crap is.

First, Louisiana tends to swing heavily Republican in elections even though the difference between Democrats and Republicans in this state is barely noticeable. Switching parties is done for election advantages, and rarely for any type of ideological conversion.

Second, while the "joke" never mentions a race, it uses New Orleans and Katrina to frame the story and the common memory of the hurricane's victims recollects the poor black population huddled on rooftops or in the Super Dome. That is what most people from outside of Louisiana think of when they think back to that storm.

Third, the use of fried chicken is often used in the "wink wink, nudge nudge" reference to mean black folks in a conversation without actually saying "black folks". Fried chicken can also be swapped for watermelons, malt liquor, Kool-Aid, grape soda or any other product that is stereotypically linked to people who aren't Caucasian.

Fourth, everyone knows that Church's Chicken is better than Popeye's. I prefer Popeye's biscuits, but Church's has better chicken. This makes me think the person who originally made this piece of propaganda must have been a Yankee who knows nothing about working class Southerners who like watermelon, fried chicken, etc.

Finally, the overall irony of this "joke" is that it is supposed to infer that Obama only got elected because of poor, ignorant minorities who don't go to church. However, I would venture to guess that statistically, in the South, the very people this "joke" is mocking tend to go to church more than the "white and right" people it is pandering to.

Just expect to see plenty more of this crap up to the November elections. They're getting desperate.