# Finally someone said it out loud \[racist opposition to the ACA\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 25, 2014, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-someone-said-it-out-loud-racist-opposition-to-the-aca/682230 "2014-02-25T16:12:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-someone-said-it-out-loud-racist-opposition-to-the-aca/682230/1 "2014-02-25T16:12:56Z")
On [NPR’s Morning Edition](http://www.npr.org/2014/02/25/281396562/democratic-sen-landrieu-walks-a-fine-line-in-red-louisiana) this morning, there was a story > [@](#): > > If Democrats are going to keep their majority in the Senate, they’ll need to hang on to a few critical seats they hold in conservative states. > > Mary Landrieu of Louisiana has one of those, and like some of her colleagues up for re-election, her support of the Affordable Care Act could be the mountain to overcome this fall. > > The question for Landrieu is: Will Louisiana voters define her by Obamacare, or judge her on the entire record she’s built over nearly two decades as a senator? I will let the story speak for itself: > [@](#): > > One of the men sitting under the tree one particular afternoon is Beau Broussard. > [@](#): > > The dealbreaker for him was when she [Landrieu] voted for the Affordable Care Act. > > Broussard has all kinds of problems with the law itself — that it’s wrong to force people to buy insurance, that it will make businesses hire less. But there’s something else that bothers him: The law is the signature achievement of a man Broussard never wanted to see become president. > > “I don’t vote for black people, lady,” he says. “No, ma’am. I don’t vote for black people. They got their place, I got my place. That’s the way I was raised.” I was gratified that NPR had the balls to let that statement stand. The reporter didn’t comment on it, but it lay there-- _splat!_– like the big, steaming turd that it is, for everyone to see, hear, and smell. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-someone-said-it-out-loud-racist-opposition-to-the-aca/682230/2 "2014-02-25T16:32:11Z")
Uggh. I’m from Louisiana, and I’m not surprised. I’m far from a fan of Landrieu, but I think it’s pretty likely she’s about the best the state has a decent chance of sending to the Senate. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-someone-said-it-out-loud-racist-opposition-to-the-aca/682230/3 "2014-02-25T17:25:21Z")
Ahhh…yes. Almost 50 years after the. Civil Rights Act was passed and you can count on White racism spilling freely out of the mouth of an average White Southerner. How refreshing… ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-someone-said-it-out-loud-racist-opposition-to-the-aca/682230/4 "2014-02-25T17:30:56Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > Ahhh…yes. > > Almost 50 years after the. Civil Rights Act was passed and you can count on White racism spilling freely out of the mouth of an average White Southerner. How refreshing… In fairness, I don’t think this guy is the “average” white Southerner. He is a backwoods, ignorant, hidebound, stubborn ol’ boy with a mind that snapped shut around 1940. Unfortunately, this thinking is shared by some middle/upper middle class, well-educated, moderately prosperous/quite prosperous citizens who DON’T live in the Bayous. I know, because I live next door to a couple, and have lunch with some others, and one of them is in my book club. We steer waaaay clear of all political talk. They would never say what this guy said out loud so blatantly, but it’s between the lines of everything they do say about President Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-someone-said-it-out-loud-racist-opposition-to-the-aca/682230/5 "2014-02-25T17:32:40Z")
I’m not sure this means what you think it does: this guy’s a dumb shit, but that doesn’t mean all the opposition to Obama and the ACA is race-based (some of it is, but you can’t establish that based on one moron), and I’m not sure it’s a bad thing if it took a long time for somebody to say it. ---
**Author:** ![yorick73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5a626/32.png) [@yorick73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yorick73)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-someone-said-it-out-loud-racist-opposition-to-the-aca/682230/6 "2014-02-25T18:10:28Z")
I don’t get the point here. I’ve known African Americans that consider all Caucasians to be white devils. I’ve known a few gay people who thought wiping out all straights except for a few to keep as “breeders” was a great idea. I wouldn’t judge either group by the statements of a few idiots. So what’s your point? They finally found some idiot to say that? And you really believe it took balls for NPR to leave that statement in the story? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-someone-said-it-out-loud-racist-opposition-to-the-aca/682230/7 "2014-02-25T18:28:49Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > In fairness, I don’t think this guy is the “average” white Southerner. He is a backwoods, ignorant, hidebound, stubborn ol’ boy with a mind that snapped shut around 1940. Yes, but there are a lot more of those than you think. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-someone-said-it-out-loud-racist-opposition-to-the-aca/682230/8 "2014-02-25T18:56:42Z")
> [@yorick73](#): > > I don’t get the point here. I’m guessing the point is to accuse anyone who opposes the ACA of being racist. The Democrats seem to realize that if the ACA is judged on its merits, that’s bad for them, so they prefer accusing anyone who discusses the merits of the ACA of being racist. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-someone-said-it-out-loud-racist-opposition-to-the-aca/682230/9 "2014-02-25T20:15:45Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > I’m guessing the point is to accuse anyone who opposes the ACA of being racist. No, the point is that some **do** oppose it for that reason alone. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-someone-said-it-out-loud-racist-opposition-to-the-aca/682230/10 "2014-02-25T20:20:55Z")
He may not be typical, but really? A Louisianan named Beau? What’s next, a Minnesotan named Svenssen? The great internet law of trolldom states that there is always at least one person who will intentionally be controversial. The laws of statistics say that there is at least one who truly believes it. The law of the media says that give this man a microphone, and his words will seem more significant and typical than they really are. Not particular enamored of Landrieu or ACA as it stands, but this isn’t really a cromulent comparison. Plus I don’t think this guy would base his opposition on the economic and practical concerns of ACA, and not on the fact that there is not a white Baptist (and not those damn splitter North 3rd St. Baptists) in DC. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-someone-said-it-out-loud-racist-opposition-to-the-aca/682230/11 "2014-02-25T20:23:45Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > I’m guessing the point is to accuse anyone who opposes the ACA of being racist. > > The Democrats seem to realize that if the ACA is judged on its merits, that’s bad for them, so they prefer accusing anyone who discusses the merits of the ACA of being racist. Um…you are WAAAAY off base WRT to my post. The point is that it is my belief that the single ROOT of hatred of Obama is racist. This is apart from antagonism of the ACA-- which is a smoke screen and gives “letigimacy” to hating an uppity black man Harvard graduate who had the bare-faced nerve not only to run for President, but to win. I only quoted the part from the story about the ACA to give it context, and to show that Landrieu’s 20-year history of helping her constituents was negated/erased/blown to smithereens because she supported the signature achievement of this uppity black man who had the nerve to step out of his place. And this dumb shit’s racist opinion is, unfortunately, shared by many not-so-dumb people who won’t/can’t admit that they hate Obama because he’s an uppity black man. So they focus on the ACA. I have the misfortune to know some of these people, and I know there are more out there. At no time is this post/thread meant to make any comment on the merit or lack of merit of the ACA itself. That is my only reason for posting this story. Not to say that this guy’s opinion is worth squat. But to hear even a dumb shit like this guy say it on a national media outlet is ballsy of the network. I would expect any mainstream station to edit that out as… well, as a racist comment, the way the n-word might be bleeped. That is my point. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-someone-said-it-out-loud-racist-opposition-to-the-aca/682230/12 "2014-02-25T20:24:00Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > In fairness, I don’t think this guy is the “average” white Southerner. He is a backwoods, ignorant, hidebound, stubborn ol’ boy with a mind that snapped shut around 1940. > > Unfortunately, this thinking is shared by some middle/upper middle class, well-educated, moderately prosperous/quite prosperous citizens who DON’T live in the Bayous. I know, because I live next door to a couple, and have lunch with some others, and one of them is in my book club. We steer waaaay clear of all political talk. They would never say what this guy said out loud so blatantly, but it’s between the lines of everything they do say about President Obama. Actually, odds are the guy wasn’t born when the Civil Rights Act was passed. And having lived in the South for six years (and around a number of Kentucky transplants here in Northern Indiana) I’d have to say that racial tolerance would be the exception and not the rule. PS: Why would you socialize with people who hold racist political views? Diversity? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-someone-said-it-out-loud-racist-opposition-to-the-aca/682230/13 "2014-02-25T20:34:28Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > PS: Why would you socialize with people who hold racist political views? > Diversity? No doubt they sometimes have other likable qualities. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-someone-said-it-out-loud-racist-opposition-to-the-aca/682230/14 "2014-02-25T20:35:36Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > No, the point is that some **do** oppose it for that reason alone. Which, of course, is itself no argument for the ACA or against it; but, it is a fact both interesting and important. ---
**Author:** ![yorick73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5a626/32.png) [@yorick73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yorick73)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-someone-said-it-out-loud-racist-opposition-to-the-aca/682230/15 "2014-02-25T21:01:43Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I only quoted the part from the story about the ACA to give it context, and to show that Landrieu’s 20-year history of helping her constituents was negated/erased/blown to smithereens because she supported the signature achievement of this uppity black man who had the nerve to step out of his place. The problem is that the quote does not show this at all. One hick that is quoted as saying that blacks should know their place does not speak for the entire state. Have you considered that the majority of people who have turned against Landrieu did so because they don’t like ACA? Remember about 40% of LA voters voted for Obama in 2008 and in 2012. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-someone-said-it-out-loud-racist-opposition-to-the-aca/682230/16 "2014-02-25T21:18:35Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > No doubt they sometimes have other likable qualities. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-someone-said-it-out-loud-racist-opposition-to-the-aca/682230/17 "2014-02-25T22:12:50Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > …PS: Why would you socialize with people who hold racist political views? > Diversity? Because they are blood kin, and its Thanksgiving. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-someone-said-it-out-loud-racist-opposition-to-the-aca/682230/18 "2014-02-25T22:39:55Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > Actually, odds are the guy wasn’t born when the Civil Rights Act was passed. And having lived in the South for six years (and around a number of Kentucky transplants here in Northern Indiana) I’d have to say that racial tolerance would be the exception and not the rule. I’m not sure what your point is. Racism is hardly a Southern trait. (The resurgent KKK of the 1920s was established in Indiana and actually ruled the state for a couple of years.) There are probably a few areas in the South where racism is more openly displayed, but I would have no trouble finding similar locations in the North and West. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-someone-said-it-out-loud-racist-opposition-to-the-aca/682230/19 "2014-02-25T23:18:43Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > (The resurgent KKK of the 1920s was established in Indiana and actually ruled the state for a couple of years.) As well as Maine, of all places. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-someone-said-it-out-loud-racist-opposition-to-the-aca/682230/20 "2014-02-25T23:25:24Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Because they are blood kin, and its Thanksgiving. Been there. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-someone-said-it-out-loud-racist-opposition-to-the-aca/682230.md?page=2)