I doubt that racsim has increased. I go along with others who suggest that the expression is currently up a bit.
I have heard a LOT more racist remarks in the last year, increasing in the last few weeks, particularly since November 5, than I have heard in a long time. However, the people making the remarks tend to be persons who have always expressed racist sentiments, but were previously more likely to use euphemisms or code words to disguise their expressions until the Obama candidacy (that has probably scared a number of them).
It has to be a rough time for bigots. They spent a lifetime hating a race and now have a black president. If he succeeds they will have all their bigotry blow up in their faces. Can’t we have a little sympathy for the close minded. There is a new reality.
A couple of quick thoughts
First, from this versionof the article:
I’m not sure the secret service can be considered a leading source on questions of social justice, but they are obvioulsy at the center of the issue.
Which begs the question, what does it mean to say that racism has or has not increased?
Does racism, in general, remain more or less constant with fluctuations in expression and other acting out being the main variation?
When expression is lower, would that reflect any differently on racism? (Is it safe to say that when expression is decreased, racism is not on the decrease?)
If more people become part of White Supremicist organizations, would that reflect an increase in racism?
Wow. I’m Catholic and as pro-life as anyone, but Obama is hardly extremist in any way. I didn’t see abortion as a key item in his agenda. And it’s not like the pro-life president made any real changes, unless the judges he appointed plan to revisit the past decisions.
Obama has promised that “the first thing” he will do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act, which most pro-lifers see as a very extreme piece of legislation. It just remains to be seen if that was a BS campaign promise to pro-choicers. He may very well move to the middle now that he is elected to avoid pissing off the large portion of voters who do not agree with eliminating most (if not all) abortion restrictions.
In contrast, Bush did things like help the partial birth abortion ban get passed and stopped overseas taxpayer funding of abortions.
“Extremist” is in the eye of the beholder, but I don’t see anything to indicate Obama has ever heard of an abortion that he didn’t approve of.
But, still, the point remains that this reason to dislike him has nothing to do with race (in fact, from what I recall, pro-life sentiments tend to be more prevalent among black Americans than white ones).
I side with those who say its expression has definitely increased.
I’ve heard, directly from the mouths of my bigoted relatives, including the ones who voted for him, a LOT of fear. On a gut level, they’re worried that now that “blacks are in charge” they’ll exact revenge on whites.
I’m loving the visibility that Obama’s recent moves have had, I don’t recall being so aware of Clinton’s transition period. I’m sure that I won’t agree with all of his decisions, but I absolutely adore Obama’s manner; he is obviously so effen smart.
I believe (hope) that frequent exposure to his calm demeanor will soothe most whites within the next year or so. Those of us who live in white areas need to see him, and his family, often; it’s going to change the “black brand” in this country.
It seems to me that for years, racists probably told themselves most people secretly agreed with them (and just wouldn’t admit it in public), and part of the evidence was the fact that there hadn’t been a black president, vice president, and there weren’t too many black senators (now zero) or governors (two) either, for example. If you’ve ever had a conversation with a racist on this board or elsewhere, you know how often they say ‘Everybody knows it’s true, you just won’t admit it.’
Then you look at this election. Not only did the black guy get elected by a fair margin, it turns out that even among people who didn’t vote for him, a lot of folks think this milestone itself is pretty cool. So these idiots are probably feeling a little extra isolated and besieged, because it turns out there isn’t a silent majority of white people who agree with them. Sucks to be them.
First, I raise my eyebrow at attempts to gauge the level of racism in the nation on such a short time basis. Is it even meaningful to say that racism has increased, decreased, or stayed the same over the past two weeks?
Second, expressions of racism seem to have mutated this year with Obama’s candidacy. We heard a lot of wingnuts calling him an “Arab” and a “Muslim”. I’m not sure the press is up to date on the new racist lingo.
That’s an interesting point. I know a lot of people were expecting that upsurge of hidden racism. Pretty late in the game people were still talking about the Bradley effect (and honestly, I heard more about the Bradley effect from conservatives than Democrats, though I know some Democrats were scared).