I must have been confused on that point – I thought he was born in Jamaica of American parents. (Either way, he’s a citizen by birth and eligible for the presidency.)
Have you ever wondered why there aren’t very many AAs, any more, in the party of Abraham Lincoln?
I know, right?!?! I’m right there with you. For months I’ve been thinking, “oh, just admit you’re a racist and let’s move on” and now people are, and I’m like, “WHAT? Are you for real?”
I read that article before the OP was posted, and the saddest thing to me is that the story is set in Kokomo, Indiana, which is my dad’s hometown. A lot of my relatives live up there, and frankly, if I had to so much as catch a whiff of that ignorance on a regular basis, I think I’d be fruitloops.
An Obama victory means that troglogdyte’s heads are gonna explode. Can’t wait to see that happen, even though it makes me afraid for his safety.
Color me unsurprised.
I must admit that, whenever I hear of some White folks not supporting Obama, theres a part of me–just a part of me, folks, so keep the pitchforks at home–that wonders how much his being Black has to do with it.*
But that’s not what I came in here to say. What I came in here to say–and I know it sounds terrible–is this:
As much as I hope that Obama wins on the merits alone, there’s a part of me that hopes he wins the presidency if only because it’ll cause all of the bigots’ heads to explode, leaving us to dispose of their worthless carcasses with the rest of the detritus from the victory celebrations.** (Can you just imagine the explosions? Kinda like the 4th of July in November, no?)
*Of course, I also wonder what role misogyny plays for some of those who are anti-Hilary, 'cause I know that shit’s out there.
**No surprise, really, as I’ve been open on these boards about my feelings concerning bigots of all stripes and how the speedy demise of same would be beneficial to those of us who really give a damn about fixing all of the fucked up shit that they create and/or perpetuate. (And before anyone says it: Yeah, I’m not perfect, blah-blah-blah, but at least I can conjure up enough…whatever it is to struggle with my shit.)
How is it racist to recognize that there still exists a strong element of what the article in the OP categorizes?
Check out these hilarious T-shirts being sold at some redneck bar in Georgia. I guess overt racism is coming right back into fashion. I tell myself that will only make it that much more satisfying when Obama gets elected.
If there’s anything good about seeing all this garbage come to the surface, it at least puts the lie to the notion that black people are only imagining things when they say that racism still exists.
It’s the part where they use the reason of OTHER PEOPLE’S bigotry to explain why THEY are not voting for him: “Obama can’t win because other people are racists. So I’m not going to throw MY vote away.”
I would ask my Southern siblings not to gloat overmuch about this, seeing as how all this overt bigotry is eminating from northern states. But I’d just like to say that the only racist comments I’ve heard in the South — which Obama has carried pretty heavily — during this campaign was from Bill Clinton in South Carolina. Next time some condescending Yankee smartass feels the need to pontificate his ignorance about the South, I’ll remember to refer him here.
Don’t blame the messenger. Merely pointing out that America’s latent and not-so-latent racism may be insurmountable hurdles on Obama’s path to the White House is not racist.
I think looking at the White voting patterns in November are going to put to rest a lot of the “Your part of the country is just as rascist as my part of the country” crap that we see on these boards all the time.
We’re going to have quantifiable numbers that we can compare with past elections and see exactly what racial attitudes are in different parts of the country. I bet it will be dramatic.
Still don’t see it.
When the original gaggle of candidates were running, I was surveying the cast, and mentally did the “Oh god, please, not Hilary”, and I did indeed pass over Obama just because I was concerned about the rats coming out of the woodwork, as they appear to be doing. Frankly any Dem was preferrable to me than pretty much any of the REpublican candidates, so it didn’t much matter to me which of the gaggle won except that I had concerns about both Hilary and Obama that neither were nationally electable at present in this country. How’s this make me racist? Pragmatist (and a pessimistic one at that), is more the thing. My primary vote in the Dem race didn’t count anyhow, and I knew going in (I’m in Michigan), but on a purely pragmatic basis, I was hoping for any of the others. I like Obama (and definately better than Hilary), and will vote for him gladly, but I’m not popping the cork on the bubbly until after the polls have closed.
That’s not bigotry, or racism or even prejudice.
It’s, actually, not any different from any normal calculus that aims at determining electability. “X is a factor that I believe will take Y percentage points off of candidate Z’s total. That means candidate Z won’t win, and I want to vote for a winner/vote for a candidate who has a better shot/choose among the candidates who can win.”
Alleging that such a decision is racist is just silly.
It also edges real close to the political attitudes we saw in 2000 and 2004. “Vote for the candidate I like, or you’re a racist” probably won’t work much better than “Vote for the candidate I like, or you’re stupid.”
Funny, that’s how I feel. I don’t want Hillary Clinton in the White House not because she’s a woman, but because I don’t like her policies and, quite frankly, I don’t like her. Does that make me sexist?
Two-thirds of western Virginia delegates voted against secession. The state of West Virgina was created during the war (June 20, 1863), and provided the Union 32,000 troops and sailors. West Virginia was never a part of the Confederacy.
Incidentally, while you can silence many overt, loudmouthed bigots by denouncing and embarassing them, it’s a counterproductive tactic with the less virulent types whom you want to convince to take some positive action.
Stereotyping and sneering at these folks on the basis of cultural characteristics and attitudes expressed by a small sampling is not a good idea.
Voters reluctant to cast their ballot for Obama based on race need to be convinced of how that would benefit them, rather than being told they are racists if they don’t elect him.
True. But it’s surprising how many residents seem to have forgotten that.
And regarding claims about the racist North and benevolent South, remember that Obama’s still had a tough time getting the majority of whites to vote for him down South (most recent example, North Carolina where Hillary got most of the white vote).
Hmm…I wonder how all you good ol boys will vote in November.
Obama’s gonna sweep down in Mississippi and Alabama, huh?
-Joe
Partly true, though the deeper problem is the assumption of ergodicity in human behavior. Human behavior is absolutely not ergodic, but it is easier for some people to believe that it is in order to make sense of the world.