Ta-Nehisi Coates over at The Atlantic has written a thoughtful, thorough brilliantly-written meditation on race and the Obama presidency, which you can read in its entirety here. It's not loaded with hyperbole or name-calling just historical-minded analysis. I would love to read some thoughtful responses to Coates' ideas but am wary of flame-war types (do a Google images search for 'Fear of a Black President' if you want to know how low American discourse on race and politics can go), so trolls who merely want to attack the messenger but ignore the message be warned!
The notion that we as a nation have never come to grips with race and racism is the key behind Repugnican obstructionism. It is the essence of their strategy these past four years; If Obama had been a white president, nothing like the current right-wing vitriol, not to say hate-filled garbage, would have spewed forth to the same degree over issues that otherwise would have been subject to negotiation and compromise. Perhaps the gloves can come off on the Democratic side over the next four-year term . . .
ReplyDeleteThe speed and the severity of the vitriol; has been the hardest for me to endure. Remember "You lie"?
DeleteAs much as I like Ta-Nehisi's writing (his blog is definitely good reading), I still bristle at his promulgating the obviously-wrong belief that Obama is black. He's not. He's our first mixed-race president. Pretending that he's not mixed-race disenfranchises the millions of mixed-race Americans. Yes, I would be happy for the US to finally have a black president or an Asian president, but we haven't reached that yet.
ReplyDeleteBut Paul, his wife and daughters are.....And yes, Obama is of mixed race. However, he does look more African American than a Caucasian. I digress....It's a sad commentary that the country that I live in has not progressed much in the past 100 + years...The rights vitriol over his birth certificate, the cartoon images of Obama are definately frightening....
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kenny that America is pretty black and white in its racial thinking. From what I've observed, even if a person is half African-American they're going to be viewed as 'black' by many people. I don't think the concept 'bi-racial' has yet gained much traction.
DeleteAS a proud Tea Party member (let the liberal defamation begin), the idea that many Americans "hate" Obama because of his pigmentation is as idiotic as liberalism itself..
ReplyDeleteSpeaking for myself & fair number of patriotic Americans, "we" despise his obvious hatred for capitalism. AS his petty little stint at the Iowa State Fair proved, he's not interested in being the President for ALL Americans.
He was not vetted properly-the mainstream media was his cheerleading squad. Where are his college records ? Why did President Obama & Michelle surrender their law licenses ?
Are you 100% certain that there aren't TWO birth certificates in existence ?? (face it: in 1961 it probably wasn't all that difficult to pull of a stunt like that). It seems funny to me that, in this day & age of "celebrity brushes with greatness" that no one claims to be present at the birth in Hawaii (except for the Obama relative who claims that he was born in Kenya). Where are the nurses ? Orderlies ?
Obama made a LOT of promises in 2008-he's kept very few of these. "Tax The Rich...Till There Are No Rich No More" is a clever song lyric-it sucks as our domestic economic policy. Why do Democrats suffer from "Profit Envy" ?
Most people are far worse under his misguided policies. The USA simply cannot afford "four more years"
ER
I think I've demonstrated that I'll talk to people here without DEFAMATION. In fact, let's you and I try to do away with defaming 'liberals' and 'conservatives' here (I work very hard to avoid insulting 'small-c' conservatives here).
DeleteThe biggest scandal at the Iowa State Fair is that Obama made a joke about buying beer?
http://news.yahoo.com/obama-visits-iowa-state-fair-four-more-beers-023941915--abc-news-politics.html
I think more relevant Iowa State Fair incident to our discussion is Hank Williams Jr. saying "“We’ve got a Muslim president...and we hate him". That's a damn lie and if it's not an attack on Obama based on his skin colour I don't know what it is is.
Evil Rev, do you not believe that that what Williams said is defamation? I'm really curious, respectfully, to know your answer.
"Are you 100% certain that there aren't TWO birth certificates in existence."
Yes.
Obama is an American and it's a national shame that some people will cobble together wild, unsubstantiated theories (and then ask YOU to disprove them!) to deny him his birth right. If his skin colour were white, I am sure this lie would never have spread so far, to so many.
As for "Tax The Rich...Till There Are No Rich No More" thanks for making me go back and re-visit a Ten Years song I love but haven't listened to for twenty years.
Do you really think letting the Bush tax cuts expire only for the very richest is going to destroy the upper class? It's merely part of a return to fiscal sanity, following the Bush nightmare.
One more thing: your title is incorrect. Its not "Fear Of A Black President". It's "Fear Of An America-Hating President".
ReplyDeleteER
Maybe that will be the title of an article YOU write but I'm just quoitng Ta-Nehisi Coates' original title.
DeleteOut of curiosity, did you read the article?
Why bother to read the article, the angry conservative agenda doesn't include educating themselves about their opponents' viewpoints. I always thought racism was behind much of the anti-Obama criticism, but it's disguised with the useless, petty non-issues of his birth certificate and college records, and the constant drumbeat of negativity on the American condition. Karl Rove's fat, greasy fingers are all over this. Ronald Reagan wouldn't have a place in today's Republican party.
DeleteIf Obama was anti-capitalist, General Motors would have gone under, and thousands of jobs there and at their suppliers would have been lost. BTW, Romney opposed government intervention at GM, then tried to take credit for it after is was successful.
I printed The Atlantic article yesterday, plan to read it today. They also have an article that shows that Romney would pay 0.82%, not 13% on his income under Ryan's economic policy.
"the angry conservative agenda doesn't include educating themselves about their opponents' viewpoints".
DeleteThis.
The uncritical anger of A LARGE FACTION of the North American right-wing is depressing as hell.
Depressing and baffling. It must be a warped macho thing that they're supposed to attack constantly and never give an inch. That behavior continues when you provide them with links to articles that show how flawed Ryan's economic plan is, and photos of Obama's birth certificate. Really, how on earth would a nurse remember being present at Obama's birth? It's ludicrous and sad. A rational exchange of opinions doesn't fit the angry agenda.
DeleteER, don't forget to cover your tinfoil hat when it rains . . .
ReplyDeleteA-ha, I finally figured it out. The Tea Partiers are those characters from the old Superman comic books who live on Bizarro World . . . Now it makes sense (not to mention and provides comic relief).
ReplyDeleteThe fact that the Tea Party started it's campaign against government spending the exact second a Democrat entered the White House and NOT during Bush's reign of error (tax cuts, TARP, TWO unfunded wars and one unfunded extension of Medicare) is what loses them most of my sympathy.
DeleteEvil Rev....you are a sad commentary of what is wrong in our country. I feel sorry for you. Others that read his speel....just don't reply.
ReplyDeleteI went ahead and replied - i keep hoping one day someone will reply in good faith...
DeleteLiberals are the most bigoted & intolerant (not to mention hateful) people on the planet.
ReplyDeleteForget "guns & religion": liberals cling to "Zinn & Alinsky". That's far worse for our society
"Liberals are the most bigoted & intolerant (not to mention hateful) people on the planet."
DeleteSee that's the kind of defamation you condemned earlier. And without a shred of proof! That's hardly speaking in good faith is it?
The fact that people still talk about race as an issue shows how little we've learned and how much further there is to go before the human race will actually be able to move forward.
ReplyDeleteAs for going on about birth certificates and liberals being more bigoted and hateful than racists... Come on Evil Rev, you're just making yourself look stupid.
Yeah I think race turned out to be a much more stubborn issue than even the more pessimistic amongst us could have guessed.
ReplyDeleteHey Jeffen
ReplyDeleteThere was a talk show host in Vancouver named Pat Burns.Pat had also hosted a talk show in Montreal before heading west.Pat was tough,gruff,controversial and loved a drink.Once he connected up with a talk show in St. Louis for a combined audience programme.The discussion turned to race and the hateful bile from the 'white' St. Louis callers was very educational.Pat had been at the centre of some controversy re his position on French-English relations in Quebec but even he was shocked at this hate.
Tea Party types are xenophobic and provincial.And they(like me) are sitting on stolen land.I am sure many natives would like us all to head back to our original homelands.
And why do many Tea Party members vote against their own personal interests?Very strange.Hate clouds analysis?
It is too bad Obama has let the Tea Party types influence his initial agenda.You just can't negotiate a consensus with narrow minded people.
And here ... we must get rid of Harper and his gang.
Cheers
Doug
PS As far as Evil Rev ... Luv Ya!
Kind of off-topic, but the phrase "stolen land", in reference to Europeans living in North America, has always seemed odd.....do the beleivers of this philosophy not understand that "Native American" tribes used to fight over land regularly among each other? THis being the case, wouldn't THEY be, ALSO, living on "stolen land"? Or do you only consider it to be such if a person of a different race/nationality "steals" it? There is a perception among some that American Indians, pre-European arrrival, simply sat around and smoked peace pipes, but there were warrior tribes among them (easilly documented) who took land from other tribes regularly.....I'm interested in knowing what the difference is percieved to be?
ReplyDelete@BigScott62
ReplyDelete'believers' & 'some' Who are they?
There were wars(& smaller confrontations) between native nations/tribes.Peace pipes?
Replace 'stolen' with 'conquered'.
Also kind of a matter of scale.The European nations with their better war technology divided up the world.And fight endless wars amongst themselves.
We North Americans have a very short history on this continent.History and Tea Party ... mutually exclusive.
I could rant on!
Cheers
Doug
PS I still luv Evil Rev.
So, "conquered" is fine, "Stolen" is not so fine. Thanks. WOuldn't one ASSUME that nations with better technologies would be superior at warfare? Every scrap of land on the planet has been fought over/taken from someone else at some point. If you feel bad about it, give your house to some Indian, not feeling the slightest bit guilty myself....
ReplyDelete@ Big Scott
ReplyDelete'conquered' is fine?Give my 'house' to some 'Indian'?From India?
How about replacing 'law and order' with 'might is right'?
And 'no' I do not feel guilty either ... just trying to put things in a historical context.