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9/22/2009
Burri: Obama's Sista Souljah moment - will he take it?
You conservatives, you know, you’re all such racists. Everybody says so:“…there's a fairly blatant racism in America that's already there… There's a good population of people in this country that are terrified of the president only because he's black, even if they don't say it. And I think a lot of them, behind closed doors, do say it.” - Dave Matthews
"I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man.” - President Jimmy Carter
“I'm talking about the idiots who toss around words like "socialism" to make Obama seem alien and even dangerous -- who deny the fact that he, too, is as American as apple pie.” - Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson Someday, economists will use the epithet “racist!” to illustrate the Laws of Supply and Demand: specifically, the more there is of something, the less that something is worth.
Right now, this particular something isn’t worth very much.
There may be – are – racists out there. People who oppose Obama because of his race. Because his father was black. But…the 10,000-plus people who showed up in Milwaukee on Saturday? The hundreds of thousands who marched in D.C. on the 12th?
All of them? Motivated by race? Not by ideology? Political belief? Libertarianism? Disdain for the thuggery inherent in Big Government?
And please note: just because you disagree with an argument doesn’t make it illegitimate. Just because you don’t understand someone else’s point of view doesn’t mean that person is obfuscating – hiding their real, racist beliefs behind whatever gobbledygook some radio talker came up with to hide those real, racist beliefs.
The problem is, I think, that we don’t all agree on a definition. How, exactly, do we know racism when we see it? What constitutes a racist act? How does it differ from a non-racist act?
Sunday afternoon, and from the safety of my living room 150 miles from Green Bay, I swore a blue streak at Cincinnati defensive end Antwan Odom. To steal President Carter’s verbiage, I displayed “intensely demonstrated animosity.” My reaction to Mr. Odom…well, it wasn’t pleasant.
So, then, was that racist? Odom is black, after all. But then, he did sack Packers QB Aaron Rodgers five – yes, five – times.
Son of a…
If you believe my animosity toward President Obama’s policies is racist, you must also believe my animosity toward Mr. Odom’s performance was racist.
If not, I fail to see the difference. Odom’s actions were in direct conflict with my desire to watch Green Bay win. President Obama’s actions are in direct conflict with my desire for a libertarian-minded economic policy. His philosophy conflicts with mine, and with those of the Tea Partiers. Thus, we disapprove, just as we disapproved of President Clinton’s policies, and with some of President Bush’s. Both President Bushes.
But they’re white, so that’s okay. We can disagree with them.
To his credit, President Obama has denied that the Tea Parties are racist. The argument, he said, is over the size and scope of government. Whether government can do anything right.
Yes. Exactly.
It’s possible he doesn’t mean that. It’s possible he’s taking the high road, letting his proxies do the smearing. But he’s saying the right thing, so let’s at least give credit for that.
It’s not enough, though. If Obama really wants a post-racial society, he has to take this on directly. Talk directly to his supporters – the ones screaming racism! at every turn.
His Sista Souljah moment awaits. Let’s see if he takes it.
Lance Burri blogs regularly via his site, The TrogloPundit.
COMMENTS
Every time one of the illogical ones point out my supposed racism toward "the first black" president, I am fond of pointing out that he is after all, only HALF black. And that others blacker than he oppose him just as vigorously as I do. Folks like Tom Sowell, Walter Williams, Anne Wortham, Larry Elder, Rev. Manning (who describes BHO as a long legged mack-daddy-whatever that means,) Milwaukee's David King, and Alan Keyes. All are blacker, most would make a better president than Obama. I oppose him not because of his race, but because he is destroying our liberty, our prosperity, our constitution, and quite probably, our sovereignty, if we let him.
As Keyes says, "Obama is a radical communist, and he must be stopped before he destroys our country!"
Ken Van Doren (Wed Sep 23 09:13:23 2009)
Oh my gosh Ken, you're so right. You hit the nail on the head.
Jo (Wed Sep 23 10:51:09 2009)
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