The Other Side with NOTES

Racism was behind remark

By Kelvin Wade | | September 17, 2009 14:36

This week, former President Carter mentioned the elephant in the room. He feels that much of the hostility fueling protests against President Obama is generated by racism. The truth of that should not come as a shock to anyone.

Of course, the majority of opposition to President Obama is ideological. His critics think that he's moving the country toward socialism or that he's too liberal. Those are legitimate arguments and opposition. After all, these same critics loathed Bill Clinton, too.

Republicans will predictably and inevitably claim that the 'race card' is being played and that all opposition is being painted as racist. No one has claimed that but they'll attack that straw man with a vengeance.

That there are people who dislike Obama because of his race cannot be disputed. During the campaign, people showed up at McCain-Palin rallies with Curious George dolls representing Obama. A bar down in Georgia sold T-shirts with Obama caricatured as a monkey. Barack the Magic Negro, a ditty set to the tune of Puff the Magic Dragon was played by some right-wing radio hosts, including Rush Limbaugh.

It's in the air. A California mayor quit after forwarding a racist Obama e-mail. A Republican women's group sent out a mailer with Obama's picture on food stamps surrounded by fried chicken and watermelon. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Georgia) called the president, 'uppity.' Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kansas, recently said Republicans are looking for a 'great white hope' to defeat Obama.

Alexandra Pelosi's HBO documentary, 'Right America Feeling Wronged' captures a lot of the ignorance and ugliness on film.

Tea Party leader Mark Williams was recently called out in a CNN interview for blogging that Obama was an 'Indonesian Muslim' and 'racist in chief.' Many cover their own racist sentiments by charging the president is racist.

Some of the racist hostility that fuels a part of Obama's opposition is unconscious. Often it is masked by another sentiment. It's masked by claims that Obama 'isn't one of us,' that he's Kenyan and un-American. There have been claims since the campaign that Obama is an Arab or working with terrorists. It gives the Birthers their fiercest supporters.

Following the Joe Wilson 'You lie!' controversy, I posted a derisive picture of the congressman on my Facebook page. The first comment on the picture was from a GOP friend of mine who wrote: 'The outburst was inappropriate, but he was calling a spade a spade.' Now, having known her, I don't think she's a racist. But what would Freud say?

The problem, of course, is that racism is difficult to quantify. We can't know what's in someone's heart. And another problem is gauging how much it matters. After all, it's not against the law to be prejudiced against any race, gender, sexual orientation, religion etc. . . . People are free to hate the president because he's black.

The real concern that's hiding behind the elephant in the room is the fear that racist hostility will lead to Obama's assassination. Former Secret Service agent Ronald Kessler claims that death threats against the president have increased 400 percent since Obama took office. And a racism fueled breakdown in civility and order around the president makes the Secret Service's job much harder.

That is the real danger behind the racism. Peace.

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NOTES: Holy crap! This week, I broached a subject that's sure to tick some people off. I don't care about that. But what I DO care about is the misleading header on my column. I do NOT write the titles of my columns. The editors do. I'm assuming the "remark" refers to Congressman Joe Wilson's outburst. That's not what my column is about. It makes the column seem more incendiary than it is. And this subject needs no more fuel.

My point is that some of the hostility one sees in the opposition to this President is racial. Most of the opposition to this President is ideological.

It's risky to even talk about this subject because those opposed to President Obama will immediately take umbrage. I think it's fake outrage. It's political gamesmanship. Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security issued a warning about right wing extremists and lone wolf attackers. Predictably, right wing radio hosts and pundits took fake umbrage claiming that the Obama Administration had said ALL right wing critics of Obama were extremists. It's a political game we play. (Never mind the fact that after that report was released we saw a right wing extremist kill an abortion doctor. The memo had warned of anti-abortion extremists. Also, the Right seemed to overlook that the Dept. of Homeland Security had issued a brief about left wing extremism. You can see that here. )

Now, I understand the fear. The fear is that opposition will be painted with a broad brush. The fear is that when you call someone a racist, it shuts down debate. I get that. I've had this discussion many times. I'll give you an example. I'm opposed to illegal immigration. It stresses our services, facilitates the importation of drugs, disease and weakens our national security. Plus, it's not fair to legal immigrants, citizens and taxpayers. No one should get to cut in line. Plus, illegals are exploited when they're here. And it's illegal. Hello? We must protect our borders. Okay. I've had people say my position is racist. Of course, it isn't. BUT, are there racists who don't want Hispanics coming here fiercely involved in the anti-immigration issue? Sure. Who could deny that? But I don't for a minute believe the overwhelming majority of Americans who are opposed to illegal immigration are racists.

The same is true, in my opinion, with gay marriage. Many gay marriage activists claim that if you're opposed to gay marriage than you're a bigot. They think if you oppose gay marriage, then you obviously hate gays. We saw it when Prop. 8 passed. Many activists characterized the opposition as haters. Much of the opposition is religious. Some of the opposition believe in gay adoption, believe gays shouldn't be discriminated in the work place but just draw the line at marriage. Some of the opposition are just people who aren't ready for such a large societal change. Now, some of the opposition hates gays and that's why they oppose gay marriage. But to say everyone who opposes gay marriage hates gays is both incorrect and counterproductive. You can't sway someone to your side by calling them haters and bigots. At the same time, those opposed to gay marriage cannot deny that bigots are in their numbers.

Like I've said, the majority of the opposition to President Obama is ideological. But when you see someone at a rally carrying a sign depicting Obama as a witch doctor, or Curious George or holding a sign that says, "Go back to Kenya!" are those just folks with an ideological difference? Would you count yourself as one of them? And that's the rub. If you oppose President Obama on ideological grounds, then when you hear someone saying that some of the opposition is fueled by racism or unease with a black President, then you KNOW they're not talking about YOU.

By the same token, I've heard right wing critics say to support Obama is to be a socialist. People can call me anything they want. I don't give a shit. I know who I am.

So it's my opinion that there are hostile racial elements fueling some of the opposition. It manifests itself in overt racism sometimes. But other times it hides behind delegitimizing the President saying he's an Arab, a Muslim, a terrorist etc...

Bill Cosby weighed in saying, "I agree with President Carter that racism is playing a role in recent outbursts against President Obama." A role. Not THE role. A role. But right wing critics are deliberately twisting this issue to paint ALL Obama critics as racists so they can play the victim card. The Right usually loves Bill Cosby when he's chastising black folks. Let's see if they flock to him or agree with him now.

One can't quantify the number of racists out there. As I wrote in my column, people are free to hate the President for any reason. This is America, after all. They're free to oppose Obama because he's black. There's no law againt racism. My concern in all of this is the hostility could lead to violence. A former Secret Service agent has said death threats against Obama are 4X higher than against George W. Bush. My concern is those who are hostile towards the President and could act against him. That's a very small subgroup. But whipping them up doesn't help the situation.

We live in a country with a painful racial history. Does it REALLY come as a shock that there would be more than the usual amount of animosity to a black President?

One last thing: I wasn't born when JFK was assassinated. I was only a baby when RFK and MLK were killed. My fear of a presidential assassination isn't just for one man's safety. It's not because I support the president. (I certainly would hope no one wants to see any politician killed.) But I think, at this time, with the sensitivities the way they are, with the acrimony, with the economy the way it is, with the uncertainty people are living with...I think it could destroy us as a nation. I think it could be the thing that really makes it all fall apart.