The bad news is, 43.8% of us are racists. . .

[Lord Bitememan]

Wrote this note with my FB page, but figured I'd share it with everyone here:

Back in March I wrote the following passage in a blog entry pertaining to The New York Post and Jackie Mason being silenced in their criticisms of the president:

"And, frankly, if our hypersensitivity about race will continue to override the basic need in a free society of the critic and satirist to attack policy, then I don’t mind standing up and saying that Barack Obama should be our last black president. No more till we have no qualms about criticizing the man in some terms that might be seen as mean."

My fear in those early days was that racism would steadily become the charge leveled at opposition to Obama's policies. This past August saw a groundswell of critics to the administration's policies. Some were passionate, some were rude, others respectful and thoughtful. Some engaged in hyperbole, some took their hyperbole too far. They were labeled, throughout August, as astroturfers, unamerican, wack jobs, and the like. But at the heart of it all they had a policy complaint in mind. The entire opposition movement to Obama has been structured around economic theories and political beliefs. They are, for the most part, free-market advocates who have centered their complaints around the role of government in a market economy.

But, that's not permissible ground for criticism anymore, at least according to Maureen Dowd of the New York Times who insists of the dissent "For two centuries, the South has feared a takeover by blacks or the feds. In Obama, they have both." Joan Walsh of Salon wrote "Finally, when Republicans began objecting to Obama's speaking to schoolkids last week, you couldn't ignore the racism." What neither ever deigned to do was explain how opposition to economic policies implied racist intent, other than cite the passion level of protesters and the fact that we have a black president. In fact, Walsh even concedes that Clinton faced the same passionate opposition (she forgets to mention Bush was a target of venomous opposition from the left, often times from the black community and vocalized by figures such as Kanye West), and instead, points to Obama's dip in the polls as opposed to Clinton's poll strength as evidence that a racial gambit is afoot (yes, she also conveniently leaves out that Clinton had a booming economy while in office, and Obama's economic policies seem, at best, not to have worked, and worse that things have actually continued to decline under his stewardship). To listen to Walsh, disapproval equates to racism. The bad news for her, there's certainly a lot of racists then, since the Real Clear Politics average of presidential approval ratings polls has Obama at 43.8% disapproval. Dowd dedicates her entire piece to a polemic against the south, wrapping the whole of the opposition to Obama's policies into the history of South Carolina and the confederacy.

Both columnists insist that they were loathe to believe the charges of racism, though both seem to have no problem propagating the claim. Neither, of course, articulates any means by which one might take an active, vocal stance against the president's policies without being a racist. Indeed, the more passion, the greater the numbers involved, and the more adamant people are about this opposition, it simply serves as evidence in their view of racism. Neither allows that effective opposition and popular criticism could be divorced of race. Let alone to they contemplate that it will be impossible, for the next four years, to criticize the policies of the president without criticizing a president who happens to be black. The obvious implication, at least what they leave us with, is that the only way one can not be a racist in your criticism is to either keep it to yourself totally, or be so muted and ineffective in it that you remain invisible. In short, shut your mouths critics, or you are racists.

But Maureen Dowd and Joan Walsh are columnists, not elected officials. There are even elected officials now decrying criticism as racially motivated. According to Eddie Bernice Johnson, congresswoman from Texas, when asked if race is motivating criticism of Obama she replied "As far as African-Americans are concerned, we think most of it is." Mike Honda, congressman from California, says of race as a motivator "There’s a very angry, small group of folks that just didn’t like the fact that Barack Obama won the presidency, with some I think it is." Jim Clyburn, the Democratic Whip, "“A lot of these outbursts have to do with delegitimizing him as a president." For people who cried bloody murder when Congressional Republicans questioned the patriotism of war opponents, this is more than just a case of the pot calling the kettle. . . cookware. . . . it's an attempt to use race as a cudgel to silence effective opposition to Obama's policies. In short, exactly what I feared in March has come to fruition. Race is being used, now en masse on the left, to silence critics. And that is a tragedy for our republic.

The bad news is, 43.8% of us, who disapprove of the president, are racists. The sad part is, it's now a meaningless term used as a political charge rather than an accurate nominative for people with racial animus.  

[Pumona]

Lord Bitememan,
Good post there. Straight to the point, the word racist has been used way to much and it almost always is the left that brings it up.  

[Rainbowfied Mouse]

I don't fully agree. I very rarely see this, maybe some dumbass politicians, or outspoken minorities of the left, but most of my friends, professors, and other people I know to be of-the-left I have yet to hear the word racism used. I think any statement that goes to this extent is purely political... and quite honestly ignorant.  

[Lord Bitememan]

The veracity of the sentiment and its growing use are two different matters. It's patently false. If Barack Obama comes out in favor of an Afghanistan troop build up I guarantee these same critics of the administration will be at the vanguard of support for his actions. So much for criticism emanating from his race. But to argue that this is not becoming a more widespread charge is to ignore current events. I cited no less than three members of Congress who use the charge, one of them in Democratic leadership. Add to that an ex president in the personage of Jimmy Carter, and a tacit charge of hate-generated animus out of the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and a growing number of columnists printed in major publications, and you have quite a roster of voices on the left lobbing the racism charge in the face of critics. Are they lying when they do it? Yes. But more an more of them are doing it.

FYI: To the credit of the Administration, they have themselves flatly denied that race is motivating critics.  

[Latopazora]

Lord Bitememan

FYI: To the credit of the Administration, they have themselves flatly denied that race is motivating critics.

that's good to hear  

[goodshot911SNK]

see i feel that they are playing every card they can to make you feel like they right and your wrong

and this case is one where if you don't believe in oboma you are a racist  

[Rogue Goat]

You know whats funny & ironic how most African Americans are democrats I wonder if they know or even remember that the republican party was directly influenced and formed around the abolishing of slavery & the right has always been on the side of the minorities how in the hell did the left steal favor? Free money,food,housing, all programs created by the left who sat in waiting for parties and history to be forgotten but I guess all can be forgiven when its for free right? Now I ask is that rasict or TRUTH?
I'm tired of not being able to say things without the race card being pulled I mean when is it time for people like Jesse Jackson & others to own up to the facts & statistics of the community its like a dirty little secret that no one is able to admit . Is it me or are they that oblivious to see that initially it sounded good but look where its left them & don't say there isn't a ghetto in every town or major city still riddled with drugs & low income families suckling off the lefts teet. So I ask the right is the right racist for having good work ethic? or the left racist for oppressing a singled out low income families who just happened to be black ? Like I said it goes all the way back to Lincoln follow it democrats behind it ALL conspiracy theory seriously riding on the REAL THEORY  

[Lysander the silent]

Thank you for posting this. I think people needed to read this. Remember: People vote with their pocketbooks as a first issue, the second issue was "did anything scandalous happen to the president in office?" Honestly, it's obvious that his economic policies are not working, even as millions are being hired to work for the census. He's not creating a working class, he's creating a recipient class: the class that gets something for nothing. It's rediculous to think that the Fed can do anything correctly, much less run its own operations.

Case in point: the consant changes in procedure at the Census offices and last minute updates because higher-ups decided to sit on their fat asses. This was my Grandpa's experience over the past few weeks while in the offices, and now because of the manager's incompetence, they're well behind their quota.  

[FivestringShredder]

im not a racist  

[TammiGirl]

ashmaster 76

im not a racist

I think that was the point of the post. Still, methinks thou dost protest too much.  

[Saiyan-Cetra Kid]

i find, unless youre hardcore racist, then most likely you aren't as racist as the minority groups in your community, chew on that for a minute  

[THE tube sock]

This thread reminds me so much of a recent posting by Baron at Gates of Vienna about the riots that took place several weeks ago after an unarmed [black] man was shot by a [white] police officer. I shall post an excerpt and the link for the rest of you to read the article and comments:

Quote:

Why does this happen? Why are black people in the United States routinely expected to react with violence over judicial decisions they don’t like?

We don’t expect the same of Armenians, or Japanese-Americans, or Eskimos.

People of Chinese descent don’t rampage through the streets of Chinatown burning and looting in reaction to a perceived injustice to one of their own.

So why do we dread the reaction of African Americans in the same type of situation?

Oh, I know all the standard explanations: it’s the legacy of slavery, and Jim Crow, and racism, etc., etc.

But that won’t wash. Once again, take the Chinese as an example: in the late 19th century Chinese immigrants in the West were treated as virtual slaves in many places, and the prejudice against them was profound. Yet here we are, just a little over a century later, and their descendants are functioning and productive members of society who entertain no particular collective grievance nor claim any special group entitlements.

No, something much uglier is going here. It is racism, but it’s not the racism of the Ku Klux Klan or Archie Bunker or bigoted white Republicans. The racism in question comes from the news media, politicians, academics, and all the other usual liberal suspects among the cultural elites.

These good people are the same folks who point the finger at you, the backwoods bohunks and slack-jawed yokels of red-state America. They are certain that it is you, and not they, who harbor the most detestable racist attitudes towards persons of color.

Yet they are the ones who expect different behavior from blacks than they do from Indian-Americans or persons of Danish background.

And this is not simply the “soft bigotry of low expectations.” No, this is a full-blown hard bigotry that regards Negroes — if they but dared to use the word — as inferior to white people and incapable of civilized behavior.

It is liberals who regard black people as unable to restrain themselves or control their emotions when they feel slighted.

It is liberals who determine that these designated victims cannot accomplish what white people accomplish unless they are granted lowered standards, affirmative action, and minority set-asides.

In contrast, it is conservatives who accord African Americans the simple dignity of being treated like everyone else.

It is conservatives who honor them by holding them to the same standards to which they hold themselves.

Keep that in mind the next time a pointing liberal finger stands poised to poke you in the chest over the brie and chardonnay.

I would have liked to have found a smaller excerpt, but the Baron was on such a roll and drilling it to such a point that it was impossible.

Here's the link to the rest of the article: Not-So-Soft Bigotry  

[Lord Izaran]

Grozny Option

This thread reminds me so much of a recent posting by Baron at Gates of Vienna about the riots that took place several weeks ago after an unarmed [black] man was shot by a [white] police officer. I shall post an excerpt and the link for the rest of you to read the article and comments:

Quote:

Why does this happen? Why are black people in the United States routinely expected to react with violence over judicial decisions they don’t like?

We don’t expect the same of Armenians, or Japanese-Americans, or Eskimos.

People of Chinese descent don’t rampage through the streets of Chinatown burning and looting in reaction to a perceived injustice to one of their own.

So why do we dread the reaction of African Americans in the same type of situation?

Oh, I know all the standard explanations: it’s the legacy of slavery, and Jim Crow, and racism, etc., etc.

But that won’t wash. Once again, take the Chinese as an example: in the late 19th century Chinese immigrants in the West were treated as virtual slaves in many places, and the prejudice against them was profound. Yet here we are, just a little over a century later, and their descendants are functioning and productive members of society who entertain no particular collective grievance nor claim any special group entitlements.

No, something much uglier is going here. It is racism, but it’s not the racism of the Ku Klux Klan or Archie Bunker or bigoted white Republicans. The racism in question comes from the news media, politicians, academics, and all the other usual liberal suspects among the cultural elites.

These good people are the same folks who point the finger at you, the backwoods bohunks and slack-jawed yokels of red-state America. They are certain that it is you, and not they, who harbor the most detestable racist attitudes towards persons of color.

Yet they are the ones who expect different behavior from blacks than they do from Indian-Americans or persons of Danish background.

And this is not simply the “soft bigotry of low expectations.” No, this is a full-blown hard bigotry that regards Negroes — if they but dared to use the word — as inferior to white people and incapable of civilized behavior.

It is liberals who regard black people as unable to restrain themselves or control their emotions when they feel slighted.

It is liberals who determine that these designated victims cannot accomplish what white people accomplish unless they are granted lowered standards, affirmative action, and minority set-asides.

In contrast, it is conservatives who accord African Americans the simple dignity of being treated like everyone else.

It is conservatives who honor them by holding them to the same standards to which they hold themselves.

Keep that in mind the next time a pointing liberal finger stands poised to poke you in the chest over the brie and chardonnay.

I would have liked to have found a smaller excerpt, but the Baron was on such a roll and drilling it to such a point that it was impossible.

Here's the link to the rest of the article: Not-So-Soft Bigotry

That is a powerful turn of words, and I like it. I will keep that in mind! As it is ALL true.  

[4thewin]

I completely agree with this, and what's funny to me is how Liberals are always saying Conservatives are racist, yet they are the only people bringing up race at all.

Oh and btw, most of the racist in the south were Democrats. Democrats started the KKK not Republicans, Democrats wanted slavery not Republicans, Democrats have always been the one that have brought people of other ethnicities down and Republicans have always been the ones to restore them. Yet everyone loves Democrats, I really with people would start getting the facts first.