President Obama and racism

[devious1]

i thought i'd start a thread on this since it's been all over the media lately... the argument that those who oppose Obama are doing so out of racial prejudice. recently former President Jimmy Carter made the comment that most of Obama's detractors are disparaging him based on his race. President Obama himself said he does not believe this, and in fact quipped just last night on Letterman that "it's important to realize, i was actually black before the election..." but let's take a serious look at this.

i don't believe that all negativity and animosity toward Obama is race based. i believe there is a certain sector of Americans who do openly judge him based on his race, but i also believe that sector is fairly small. i think a lot of it comes down to the usual republican vs. democrat stuff, only ramped up to the nth degree. but let's take the now infamous "you lie!" quip from Joe Wilson and look at it. i don't believe Joe Wilson is racist (however i really don't know much about him, other than it was his wife that the Bush Administration outed as a spy a few years back... remember that? good times... ) but i have to ask this: what is it about Obama that made Joe Wilson (and others) feel that he deserves less respect than any other President? i've never heard a politician shout out something like that during a President's speech in the past, and there have been some hated Presidents in American history... hell, half of the Republican party was against George Bush, the most hated President ever based on polls, and no one heckled him. he was the President and regardless of the job he was doing, he deserved respect. but apparently they don't feel Obama is worthy of the same respect shown to every President before him. is it just coincidence that the first black President is shown less respect than any of the previous white Presidents? or is there some merit to the claims of prejudice?

[Jaedpact]

I think it is important to note that perhaps there remains a Not-so-open sector that descriminates against Obama based on race. I cannot think of a solid reaon otherwise. He isn't the first President to be accused of attempting to guide the US towards Socialism. he isn't the first to make questionable actions regarding bailouts or other financially motivated and controversial decisions.

I feel that most of the banter or coments that take place out in the open are tinged with some sort of hatred. I don't think this is new either. It seems to me that though the world has made striking changes in regards to the vote to allow a black president, we still have not seen the eradication of racism. We may be seeing the flotsam and jetsam of the waves of change.

[mbrown7349]

Well said!! I completely agree, esp about Joe Wilson, what an ass!

[rjt65]

Devious:

Good thread and i would agree- lets not use the race card here for everyone, unfortunately some will go to that method to try to shut up those who dont agree.

Also I was not a happy Bush supporter, but IMO he go the least respect of any president in his second term and was constantly heckled and bad mouthed by all Democrat political figures and others. I am not talking about disagreeing passionatley, i think some of the comments were over the edge. This was common place on the US news, maybe not on Canadian or other news.

I think Obama is getting a grace period by the public. Maybe rightfully so. He is not getting the abusive rhetoric at the level of Bush 2nd term, yet and I hope he never does. I think this makes matters worse , again learn to disagree with respect, not stupidity and theatrics.

Nothing is ever all good or bad and with the technology cell phones, video audio recording, inet, the politicians sports figures and other public figueres are being torn down more than in the past. Culture has changed..no one would ever question authority figures...in the past.

But with what we know now they will and are being questioned, so with that some of what you call disrespect or getting treated more as a normal human being is occurring.

IMO also, the whole Clinton debacle with Monica, Hilary's treating of staff, Lies, and other issues that be became so public so fast (we never heard a negative on past presidents till they were out of the office for affairs, other items are now immediately out and on the inet) brought down the meaning of presidents being above the public domain.

[themadone06]

I believe it is personally because of the time we are in. People are angry, scared, and confused by what is going on. With the direction Obama is taking his policies many people are becoming angry with him, even if they voted for him. There are always going to be some that will judge him on race, but I also believe it is a small population.

Let us also remember Obama's support polls are slipping steadily, and it isn't because he is black. Many middle Americans are upset with his policies.

[Maddie]

Well he is like half white on the inside but you just cant see it? black genes dominated his skin color so then can it be that white dominate the rest of him? Lol.

ya know, I think maybe its his actions that people are not liking him for...he has all the signs of a dictator regardless of color..

maybe its his muslim ties and his reaching out and strengthening with this muslim world, telling them how 'sorry America is' and how 'America loves them'.... ?

[CorbinKale]

I saw a sign at the DC rally that said, "It doesn't matter what my sign says. You'll call it racism, anyway."

It is the lazy way to debate. When confronted with facts and irrefutable evidence, play the race card. It has always worked before, right?

Here is the unintended consequences of that. We don't care anymore. Like the cry of "Wolf!", 'racism' has lost its sting from overuse and false accusations. Now the socialists are left with failed arguements, and no one panics when they play the race game, anymore.

[Nero]

There is always a high degree of animosity from the "losing" party in politics toward the party in power.

The fact is, that simply because Obama's words, policies and views come from the Democratic side of things, there is going to be a sizeable portion that are automatically against anything his administration attempts to do. Without thought or regard as to whether or not said agenda is good for the country or not.

I think in government every action has yin and yang, due to the hugely diverse group of people that are affected by laws and amendments and so on, not everyone is going to be pleased, it's just not possible. So the opposing party will focus on the yang (small as it may be) and try to stretch it out as large as they can.

In this case it's the Conservative side who'll say no before the Democratic administration's words have begun to be uttered, just because of who the source is. So you have that aspect of the opposition...

However. After hearing day after day the "extra special level" of hostility and veracity aimed at this particular individual... (and the mind blowing thing to me is that I work with professed and outspoken "Christians" who boisterously and in all honesty discuss the party they'd throw should Obama be assasinated) it's obvious that the fact Obama's a black man is just so much salt in their festering wound. They'd disagree and be unhappy with his decisions regardless, but being his black just makes it intolerable.

I believe these people will accept a black man in office only if he's (as Uncle Steve put it in The Regulators) "the way that white people like their blacks to be." If Conservative ex-General Colin Powell had indeed run for President in years past, they would have rallied around him. But, as soon as he stepped out of line and endorsed Obama... suddenly they couldn't agree with him any longer. Because they don't follow a man for his convictions and trust his leadership, they follow him because Rush spits out a clever soundbite or quip and that sounds great when you repeat it in conversation. Because to these people, though the Democratic agenda is bad enough, it's effing HERESY if it's a black man dictating it to them. See, if they get out of line too much there's a point where they go from being black men, right back down the classic slurs who should be dealt with like their grandfathers and great grandfathers handled them.

The worst thing about what I'm saying... is that I know, no matter what anybody tells me, that there are huge portions of America that feel this way whether they're open about it or not. I see that ugliness every day where I work. It's unbelievable. I don't think these Conservative media pundits realize (or maybe they do) the sh*tstorm they are riling up with the things that they say.

[Jaedpact]

I guess there is something to be said about the stark contrast that we are seeing, I mean we are looking at night and day here as far as the current and previous administrations are concerned. I suppose there is backlash to be distributed in some form. I think i am too young to comment on the general expressions of approval or disapproval of the Clinton administration, and was too apathetic for most of W's first term. Maybe I am just getting exposed to the process of politics in general. I observe many people with unbriddle emmotional reponces to what should be an issue of data and methodology. I guess the question is why is that the case?

[boogerb53]

I think the loudest members of any group get the most notice. I support President Obama but do so by voting and telling people my opinon's based on the facts as I understand them. The people who support him and his ideals are not the ones going around at town hall meetings screaming and crying and shouting what the government is trying to do is right and all you other bastids can go to hell or Russia. The ones getting press are those who carry signs and shout and call names and say the government is trying to turn America into a Socalist Republic. I usually stay out of threads like ths because I'm not sure enough of my ability to translate my thoughts into written word. But this one I couldn't pass up. I think to a small degree everyone is prejudiced against some other group. I think the racist's against Obama are larger than people want to admit. I'm from the south and I hear the dreaded "N" word at least once a month. Not always out of hate, but mostly out of habit. And by electing Obama, I think we have started to dig our way out of that habit.