# I Pit anti-Obama racists **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 13, 2008, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-anti-obama-racists/449162 "2008-05-13T13:42:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-anti-obama-racists/449162/1 "2008-05-13T13:42:56Z")
I do not mean to imply by any means that all Americans who oppose Obama’s candidacy **are** racists; there are many good, sound, political reasons, I’m sure, to prefer McCain or Clinton. But based on [this story in the _Washington Post,_](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/12/AR2008051203014.html?nav=hcmodule) it appears that many Obama campaign workers on the ground have been coming up against a measure of on-the-ground racism that is truly astonishing in this day and age, and if that’s not worth Pitting, what is? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-anti-obama-racists/449162/2 "2008-05-13T14:17:08Z")
[QUOTE=Ray McCormick] The pictures represent what we are breaking through and overcoming [/quote] I like that optimism! ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-anti-obama-racists/449162/3 "2008-05-13T14:20:22Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] I do not mean to imply by any means that all Americans who oppose Obama’s candidacy **are** racists; there are many good, sound, political reasons, I’m sure, to prefer McCain or Clinton. But based on [this story in the _Washington Post,_](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/12/AR2008051203014.html?nav=hcmodule) it appears that many Obama campaign workers on the ground have been coming up against a measure of on-the-ground racism that is truly astonishing in this day and age, and if that’s not worth Pitting, what is? [/QUOTE] It’s astonishing? Walk around. Pay attention. Listen. You can use all sorts of words to describe it, but ‘astonishing’ isn’t one of them. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-anti-obama-racists/449162/4 "2008-05-13T14:25:26Z")
[QUOTE=Merijeek] It’s astonishing? Walk around. Pay attention. Listen. [/QUOTE] Well, I haven’t heard any of that around here, but maybe that’s just because there was no primary campaign to speak of in Florida. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-anti-obama-racists/449162/5 "2008-05-13T14:27:32Z")
What I particularly hate are the people who claim that Obama can’t win, because of _other voters’_ racism. The ones who state that there’s no way the American voter will vote for a black man, but that they, themselves, aren’t racist in any way. They’re just pointing it out. And that’s why they’re voting for the other guy. That’s the kind of racism that really pisses me off. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/59ef9b/32.png) [@Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_fight_the_hypothetical)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-anti-obama-racists/449162/6 "2008-05-13T14:27:35Z")
Why are Obama racists any worse than everyday racists? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-anti-obama-racists/449162/7 "2008-05-13T14:29:57Z")
[QUOTE=Don’t fight the hypothetical] Why are Obama racists any worse than everyday racists? [/QUOTE] Everyday racism might involve matters of social judgment, like keeping the n-words out of your country club or your church. It’s worse when expressed in politics. ---
**Author:** ![grayhairedmomma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/47e85d/32.png) [@grayhairedmomma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grayhairedmomma)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-anti-obama-racists/449162/8 "2008-05-13T14:34:47Z")
I was just coming here to pit some of the sentiments in this article, particularly these (bolding mine): > [@](#): > > Karen Seifert, a volunteer from New York, was outside of the largest polling location in Lackawanna County, Pa., on primary day when she was pressed by a Clinton volunteer to explain her backing of Obama. “I trust him,” Seifert replied. According to Seifert, the woman pointed to Obama’s face on Seifert’s T-shirt and said: **“He’s a half-breed and he’s a Muslim. How can you trust that?”** > > * * * > > Pollsters have found it difficult to accurately measure racial attitudes, as some voters are unwilling to acknowledge the role that race plays in their thinking. But some are not. Susan Dzimian, a Clinton supporter who owns residential properties, said outside a polling location in Kokomo that race was a factor in how she viewed Obama. **“I think if it was somebody other than him, I’d accept it,” she said of a black candidate. “If Colin Powell had run, I would be willing to accept him.”** I wish I could adequately express how hurtful and infuriating these comments are. I know they’re not new, but damn. Is Colin Powell acceptable because he seems more Uncle Tom-ish? Is he a good nigger because he just goes along with the program? Fuck you lady. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-anti-obama-racists/449162/9 "2008-05-13T14:38:04Z")
Pitting racism? Wow, that’s some radical stance, man. I was going to pit crap for stinking, but I think I’m a little scared to go that far. (In what way is this thread not RO?) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-anti-obama-racists/449162/10 "2008-05-13T16:19:24Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] (In what way is this thread not RO?) [/QUOTE] Political relevance. See above. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-anti-obama-racists/449162/11 "2008-05-13T16:24:05Z")
[QUOTE=grayhairedmomma] Is Colin Powell acceptable because he seems more Uncle Tom-ish? Is he a good nigger because he just goes along with the program? [/QUOTE] I’m reminded of a _Bloom County_ strip back in, I think, 1984. Binkley’s Dad is suffering pangs of white guilt because “I think Jesse Jackson is just a little too loopy!” Oliver Wendell Jones’ African-American Dad reassures him, “I myself voted for _Al Haig._ The first black in the White House will be a conservative.” Powell is a conservative, insofar as we know anything at all of his politics; at any rate, a Republican. He’s also a respectable figure by virtue of his military career. Going by skin color he’s lighter than Obama, maybe he is a “half-breed” (like practically all African-Americans, actually, the history of American slavery being what it is); but, unlike Obama, he is an “African-American” in the usual sense, that is, a descendant of American slaves, and born and raised in that community. I guess that’s what makes the difference in this lady’s eyes, anyhow. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-anti-obama-racists/449162/12 "2008-05-13T16:26:35Z")
I guess it surprises me a bit, because the racism I’ve experienced (not personally. I’m white.) isn’t so much, “I don’t black people because they’re black” but rather, “I don’t like black people because of \”. You remove those reasons, and all you’re left with is “I don’t like black people.” Maybe I just don’t understand the depth of the ignorance that is the root of the racism. It’s a kind of insanity from my point of view. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-anti-obama-racists/449162/13 "2008-05-13T16:28:35Z")
[QUOTE=grayhairedmomma] I wish I could adequately express how hurtful and infuriating these comments are. I know they’re not new, but damn. Is Colin Powell acceptable because he seems more Uncle Tom-ish? Is he a good nigger because he just goes along with the program? Fuck you lady. [/QUOTE] I think she’s saying that race is a factor in deciding who whe’d vote for, but it’s not the only factor, and if the candidate were otherwise acceptable to her (like Powell), she’d vote for him, but she won’t vote for Obama because he’s not acceptable to her as a candidate. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-anti-obama-racists/449162/14 "2008-05-13T16:28:36Z")
Actually, I still find racism surprising. I think many of us have probably had experiences where our own prejudices have come into play one way or another, but I sort of take it for granted that it is a knee-jerk response that anyone with a brain would recognize and dismiss immediately, before it got anywhere near being an action. “Half-breed”? People still SAY things like that? Honestly, I have huge difficulties imagining anyone I know doing that with a straight face. Of course I know people who have racist opinions, but even the hardest of them knows it’s not cool to verbalize it. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-anti-obama-racists/449162/15 "2008-05-13T16:30:08Z")
[QUOTE=Trunk] Maybe I just don’t understand the depth of the ignorance that is the root of the racism. It’s a kind of insanity from my point of view. [/QUOTE] Irrationality, actually. Every form of racism/bigotry/prejudice is implicitly or explicitly based on the fallacies of composition and division, often going: individual —\> composition —\> “group nature” —\> division —\> random individual nature Sometimes the first bit is skipped and you just go from “group nature” on to random individual nature, via division. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-anti-obama-racists/449162/16 "2008-05-13T16:38:32Z")
Face it, Obama is going to lose a certain percentage of votes because of race. We haven’t changed that much that fast. By the way, if Hillary Clinton was to magically win the nomination, you’d find many voters saying (or if not saying, thinking) "I’d accept a woman candidate for President, but not _ **her** _. Apart from personal baggage, I still suspect that the first woman or black (or other “minority”) President in this country will be politically conservative because doubtful voters will feel “safer” with that person. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-anti-obama-racists/449162/17 "2008-05-13T16:41:05Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Going by skin color he’s lighter than Obama, maybe he is a “half-breed” (like practically all African-Americans, actually, the history of American slavery being what it is); but, unlike Obama, he is an “African-American” in the usual sense, that is, a descendant of American slaves, and born and raised in that community. [/QUOTE] Powell’s parents immigrated to the US from Jamaica, so I don’t think that’s true. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-anti-obama-racists/449162/18 "2008-05-13T16:43:32Z")
[QUOTE=Jackmannii] Face it, Obama is going to lose a certain percentage of votes because of race. We haven’t changed that much that fast. [/QUOTE] It’s also possible that he will pick up votes becaue of his race, particularly from African Americans who might not vote otherwise. [QUOTE=Jackmannii] Apart from personal baggage, I still suspect that the first woman or black (or other “minority”) President in this country will be politically conservative because doubtful voters will feel “safer” with that person. [/QUOTE] Well, any US President will be pretty conservative by world standards. However, both Obama and Clinton are on the liberal side of what’s electable in this country – even though both candidates are doing a lot to make sure that voters feel “safe” with them. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-anti-obama-racists/449162/19 "2008-05-13T16:43:36Z")
[QUOTE=LifeOnWry] “Half-breed”? People still SAY things like that? [/QUOTE] I had the same reaction the other day when somebody at this board used the phrase “white race,” although that was done in a non-offensive context. Seriously? “Half-breed?” Not only is it cretinous, it reminds me of that fucking Cher song, and I don’t need that kind of aggravation in my life. For some reason I’d convinced myself that after months of hearing people concoct phony reasons to dislike Obama (to cover up for the real, prejudiced reasons), hearing the outright racial reasons would be less aggravating. Turns out I was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-anti-obama-racists/449162/20 "2008-05-13T16:48:15Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Going by skin color he’s lighter than Obama, maybe he is a “half-breed” (like practically all African-Americans, actually, the history of American slavery being what it is); but, unlike Obama, he is an “African-American” in the usual sense, that is, a descendant of American slaves, and born and raised in that community. [/QUOTE] His parents were Jamaican immigrants. I’ll vote for a candidate of any color or gender if I agree with their political philosophy and they aren’t an idiot or an asshole. I’d like to see more blacks in the Republican party. I’m not voting for a liberal Democrat, or a so-called Republican, who wants to abridge my rights and give more power and money to the state. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-anti-obama-racists/449162.md?page=2)