How is the term "kool-aid drinkers" a racist comment?

Question

I just heard on the radio, a caller to the Sean Hannity show rip him up and down with a diatribe that was mostly about a comment he made, stating something like "Obama supporters are kool-aid drinkers".

She said something like "clearly that term, kool-aid drinker, is a racist term" and "if you don't know that, you're uneducated"

I always thought it was an allegory to the Jonestown tragedy and a comment on blind adoration and obedience, regardless of any consequences.

I never thought it could be deemed 'racist' as in advocating one's race over another or promoting one or discriminating against another person based on skin color. Could somebody explain how it (kool-aid drinker) could be considered racist?

Answer 1

Let this be an example of how ignorant you are.

Answer 2

This came up a while back.  Seems Kool aid is popular in the "hood."  I suppose it is cheaper than soft drinks, so it would be easier on the budget of a lower income urban family of African Americans.  I don't give a rip if it offends people as you correctly point out, it refers to Jim Jones' group.

Answer 3

Anyone who knows anything knows Kool Aid drinker is not a racist expression but is aimed at those who blindly follow what others tell them as in Jonestown.

Answer 4

Just another left wing whack job playing the race card.  It is an innocuous comment referring to the mindless cultists who lined up to drink koolaid and die in Jonestown.  It is utterly pathetic what liberals will make up to justify their BS.

You would have to be a koolaid drinker to believe the comment is racist.

Answer 5

It isn't. But the Obamanites use the term racist to try to make you feel guilty for criticizing him. Hoping that you will never do it again. It's their way of supporting free speech (sic).

Answer 6

I believe the caller could have implied that Hannity was suggesting Obama supporters were supporting him for his race, and thus were "drinking the kool-aid" of what could be portrayed as Democratic party adoration of a multiracial candidate.

Of course, the way the caller stated this, suggesting that "kool-aid drinker" was in itself a racist term, suggests that this wasn't the case.  Likely just some nut who wanted to hear her voice on the radio.

Answer 7

I heard the same question and asked the same question.  I found it ironic that the young lady consistently referred to Sean as "uneducated" when it was clear that SHE was the uneducated one.  She had no earthly idea what he meant, and even when he explained it related to Jonestown, she had no idea what he was talking about.  

From what I've read the Blacks in the US in their never-ending quest to label themselves as victims have come to the conclusion that "drinking kool-aid" is a reference to drinking cheap wine - ala Boones Farm.  In that context they see it as a white reference to poor black folks......

Answer 8

LMAO

They do loves them some kool aid.  And Now-n-Laters... man oh man...

Was Jonestown really a "tragedy"?  I consider it a thinning of the herd.

Answer 9

It is not racist.

The accusation of racism is a distractor used by the Obama campaign to deflect criticism of Obama and his policies and avoid any substantive discussion of the real issues.

Answer 10

I do not see it as a racist term, however I do think the people that use the term are pretty ignorant.

If you know anything about the history of Jonestown, then you would know that Jim Jones poisoned his staff with Flavor-Aide.  A cheap knock off of Kool-Aide.

I also think that it shows a real lack of character to use this term as a cut to someone else since Jonestown was a horrid tragedy.

Answer 11

I thought is was because people were mezmorized by his speeches, drunken on political garbage.. you know drinking the political koolaid..so why does everyone have to get all bent out of shape over nothing. How could it be meant towards blacks, when he obviously has just as many white supporters?

Everyone wants to play the race card.. jumping up on their high horses.. because they are not considered racist because they vote for the black man..

Answer 12

How stupid.  You're correct that it's a phrase coined from the Jonestown tragedy, so really it has to do with cults and extreme religious beliefs.  Sounds like some people need to brush up on their history.

Answer 13

I love vodka tonics with a lime twist

I always thought it was a reference to cult like groups who drink the koolaid with out asking any questions like Jonestown...or also a term for sheep or persons who follow the leader and are loyal no matter the consequence...such as in a corporate a** kissing culture.

Hannity was calling Obama supporters sheep...is that nice enough for everyone?

Answer 14

It is a tired old tactic of the left; anyone who disagrees with you is a racist.

These days accusing someone of racism is more likely to be met with rolling eyes rather than a look of condemnation.

Everyone has grown up and people cannot be shut down by such scary words.

You are correct about the origin of the word.

The only downside is that there is racism but the word has been so muddled that I am sure that real racism gets missed as a result.

Answer 15

The racial stereotype, of long standing, is that African Americans drink Kool Aid because it's inexpensive. That stereotype predates the use of the term to describe political blind obedience. I'm not sure whether you are being disingenuous in asking this question or you really don't know.

Answer 16

Well, all white people are considered racist by Obama's fanatical followers. The Kool-Aid comment was not racist, nor was it meant to be racist. It was meant to demean the intelligence of the typical, fanatical Obama supporter, as the caller certainly was.

Answer 17

Of course it's not racist!  

Answer 18

It's just that the person making that accusation doesn't know where the term 'kool-aid drinkers' orginiates...the Jim Jones tragedy.   I think the fact that the Evans family on Good Times used to drink kool-aid a lot, that's what they think it means.

Answer 19

It's not racist as far as I can see. I've heard Bill O'Reilly use that term numerous times, and it does mean a blind follower who is misinformed. Anyone who calls it a racist comment is probably reading more into it than is there. I suppose you could turn any comment into a racist comment if you thought about it long enough and tried hard enough!

Answer 20

I was at work, listening to the John Hannity show when this furious caller was put through.  She stated that she and her boyfriend had been listening to his show for some time, and had heard him use the term “Kool-Aid Drinkers” several times, and that “everyone” knows that this is a racist term.  Mr. Hannity asked her if she knew about the Jim Jones cult, but the question seemed to fall on deaf ears.

I believe the fault here lies in the fact that many young people today aren’t old enough to remember who Jim Jones was.  In case people don’t know, Jim Jones was a charismatic cult leader in the 1970’s that preached socialism, and atheism.  His followers were notoriously known for blindly following whatever he preached, regardless of the consequences; including several murders.   Shortly after one of the cult members shot and killed U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan, Jones informed his cult followers that agents of the U.S Government were coming to kill them, and torture their children and seniors to death.  Jones then had his followers mix large metal tubs of a Kool-Aid type drink (Flavor-Aid) laced with Potassium Cyanide, Valium, and other tranquillizers.  All 909 members of Jones’s “flock” then gathered at a central pavilion in the Jones compound, where they were then told to drink the mixture to their certain deaths.  They all did exactly that, while the others lay dying around them.  

Every since this tragedy, the term “Kool-Aid” drinkers has been used to describe a group of people that blindly follow a person, or group of people, even if it means their own demise.  However, since this all happened 30 years ago, it is no surprise that many people today have no idea what the term refers to. They are then left to their own pre-conceived ideas to conjure up whatever they want it to mean, as the call on the Hannity show seems to have done.  It has absolutely nothing to do with racism.  

If you want to see first-hand the effects of the "Kool-Aid Drinkers" then just do a Google Images search for:  Jim Jones death

WARNING:  The images that will pop up are extremely graphic

Answer 21

Haven't you guys received the memo yet? Anything that goes against obama is classified as racist end of story. The kool aid term is used for describing Obama's base in general. white liberals are part of that base so I don't quite get the racist claim.