Who are the racists and how do you know?
By LisaB on October 2, 2008 at 5:13 PM in Barack Obama, Current Affairs, John McCain, Race, Race Card, Racism
(bumped up by SusanUnPC from its mid-September original spot — because it’s important to the discussion we’re having today. It’s a reminder of what No Quarter blog is about, and where we stand. I admire LisaB’s writing because she maintains an always rational, deliberative tone in her articles, and she can write about sensitive issues such as race in a thoughtful, yet compelling, way.)
The WaPo says if BO does not win in November, it will be in large part due to racism. We’re starting to see more of these “post-election” stories. Why? Well, it might be honest concern ahead of time, or it could just be more manipulation to guilt people into voting for Obama. I’m not sure which I believe yet.
At any rate, here’s what the WaPo said on the 12th:
I anticipate that most black Americans will believe that an Obama defeat will have stemmed in substantial part from a prejudice that robbed 40 million Americans of the chance to become president on the day they were born black. They will of course understand that race wasn’t the only significant variable — that party affiliation, ideological proclivities, strategic choices and dumb luck also mattered. But deep in their bones, they will believe — and probably rightly — that race was a key element, that had the racial shoe been on the other foot — had John McCain been black and Obama white — the result would have been different.
———–Read the rest ->
If Obama loses, I personally will feel disappointed, frustrated, hurt. I’ll conclude that a fabulous opportunity has been lost. I’ll believe that American voters have made a huge mistake. And I’ll think that an important ingredient of their error is racial prejudice — not the hateful, snarling, open bigotry that terrorized my parents in their youth, but rather a vague, sophisticated, low-key prejudice that is chameleonlike in its ability to adapt to new surroundings and to hide even from those firmly in its grip.
If Obama is defeated, I will, for a brief time, be stunned by feelings of dejection, anger and resentment. These will only be the stronger because the climate of this election year so clearly favors the Democrats, because this was supposed to be an election the Republicans couldn’t win, and because in my view, the Obama ticket is obviously superior to McCain’s.
The writer goes on to say he thinks he would eventually “get over” an Obama defeat and find some satisfaction in the nomination and what that represents.
Well, bully for him. Glad he is philosophical about it at some level. I can certainly understand the disappointment part (I’m a Hillary supporter), and I’ve felt that sexism certainly played a role in her defeat, so I can understand he would feel racism played a role.
But this part completely boxes me in:
And I’ll think that an important ingredient of their error is racial prejudice — not the hateful, snarling, open bigotry that terrorized my parents in their youth, but rather a vague, sophisticated, low-key prejudice that is chameleonlike in its ability to adapt to new surroundings and to hide even from those firmly in its grip.
So a racist doesn’t even have to know he’s a racist? He can hide it from himself and unconsciously come up with fake reasons not to vote for Obama? So anyone not voting for Obama will have to spend the rest of whatever time is devoted to hashing out this part of American history trying to prove a negative.
Trying to prove you aren’t a racist? Just for not voting for BO? Aaaauuuuugggghhh!!!
Well, that’s rot. If you remember Hillary’s candidacy, the sexism was hardly hidden by superior dissemblers who had a “chameleonlike . . .ability to adapt [their sexism] to new surroundings and to hide [it] even from those firmly in its grip.” No, THAT was pretty much right out there. No hiding. Smoothies like Keith Olbermann, Jesse Jackson, III, Obama himself and too many politicians and media people to name here seemed unable to hide sexist comments. Yet the type of people the Obama campaign has slurred as likely racists are those very people not assumed smart enough to “vote their own interests.” And these people are Academy Award winning racists able to fake out themselves and others as to their real feelings?
Or are these so-super-sneaky-they-may-not-even-know-they’re-racist racists really Obama’s demographic: educated, “high-information,” socially conscious, etc. people who are just bamboozling us all? Surely Obama’s surrogates are not necessarily attacking Republicans, since they won’t get their vote anyway. So, are the racists those “low-information” voters or Obama’s erstwhile voters??
Good grief, do THEY even know who they are? (Is there a pee test for this?)
There seems to be an assumption that Americans, in general, are racist. What else explains all the concern about Obama not being electable ONLY because he’s AA? (And don’t get me started on THAT. In all fairness, as many AA will tell you, Obama is many things, but not really African-American.) There have been many articles saying that Obama will suffer at the ballot box because of some nameless racism inherent in [mainly] white voters.
Saying racism is the ONLY reason Obama might not win assumes both that Obama is completely unassailable as a candidate and that a majority of whites are unassailably racist in their hearts. Neither is true.
There ARE white racists out there; and there are AAs who hate Hispanics; and Hispanics who hate Asians and Asians who loathe whites. There are also millions of people of good will in all racial groups. Most people really do try to get along and there are no guarantees about who would try to save you from drowning and who would toss you a cement block.
Saying a national election can be lost due to (white) racism indicts a majority of that population before any vote is cast, particularly since no one can legitimately point to exactly WHICH whites would be responsible. So, they’re all potentially guilty. That’s simply prejudice.
I can’t prove a negative. If I don’t cast a vote for Obama and someone calls me a racist for it, how will I prove I had other concerns about the candidate that swayed me? I can’t, really. I guess I could offer some proof if I voted for Cynthia McKinney, but that would get shut down because someone would then claim I voted for her simply because I know she won’t win.
So, if asked, I may simply say I voted for Obama. Why? So I don’t have to try and prove a negative.
There’s a Bradley effect for you.
Here are some NQ articles with solid reasons NOT to vote for Obama
The Real Reason Obama Is Faltering
Obama Learning the Limits of His Advisers’ Class Warfare Strategy
by Ronald Scott
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