# "The anti-Obama people are just mad because the president is black." Discuss. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 10, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-obama-people-are-just-mad-because-the-president-is-black-discuss/574129 "2011-03-10T03:24:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-obama-people-are-just-mad-because-the-president-is-black-discuss/574129/21 "2011-03-10T04:48:17Z")
OK, so do you believe that if Alan Keyes were elected president, the Tea Party would still exist? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-obama-people-are-just-mad-because-the-president-is-black-discuss/574129/22 "2011-03-10T04:50:37Z")
You might as well ask what would happen if elephants flew threw the air. The premise is so fantastic that it can’t be intellegibly considered. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-obama-people-are-just-mad-because-the-president-is-black-discuss/574129/23 "2011-03-10T04:52:39Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > What party do you think holds the racists? > Easy answer isn’t it. Yes. But that’s not the question of the thread. > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Thet don’t have to be opportunistic and cynical. They could just be stupid. Yeah, they could be. Or they could indeed be opportunistic and cynical. Or they could be smart and sincere. Lots of different ways people get into politics. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-obama-people-are-just-mad-because-the-president-is-black-discuss/574129/24 "2011-03-10T04:57:04Z")
The reason that people assume that racism is a primary motivation behind the Tea Party is that they won’t honestly tell us what their motivation is. You ask a Tea Partier why they oppose Obama, and they’re likely to tell you that it’s because he raised their taxes (even though, for the vast majority of them, he lowered them), or that his spending’s out of control (even though he’s spending less than Bush, and in fact much of the spending he’s blamed for was Bush’s doing), or that he’s a socialist (even though he’s trying to use the free market to end Republican-entrenched socialism). None of the things they say can be their real motivation, so we’re left asking ourselves, how bad can their real motivation be, that they feel compelled to lie about it? The obvious motivation to come to mind is racism. If they don’t want us to think that’s it, then they need to tell us what the real motivation is, and tell us honestly. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-obama-people-are-just-mad-because-the-president-is-black-discuss/574129/25 "2011-03-10T04:59:38Z")
Well, let’s see, there were all those racist signs at the tea party rallies. A virtually all white assemblage. Then you got your birthers, who, hilariously got all lathered up over the, clearly untrue, idea he wasn’t born in America. All the while their guy, (McCain), actually and truly wasn’t born in America and they could care less. That screams racist to anyone with a brain, in my opinion. Maybe it’s because racism and ignorance go hand in hand. They can’t even name one of Stupid Sara’s policies, but they love her, dammit. Can’t spell the word Moron even. By the way, I don’t believe anybody said they are **all** racists, except you. ---
**Author:** ![Naxos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Naxos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Naxos)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-obama-people-are-just-mad-because-the-president-is-black-discuss/574129/26 "2011-03-10T05:00:07Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The reason that people assume that racism is a primary motivation behind the Tea Party is that they won’t honestly tell us what their motivation is. What about the reason that it actually is racism? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-obama-people-are-just-mad-because-the-president-is-black-discuss/574129/27 "2011-03-10T05:19:38Z")
In the thread in which I was quoted, the OP said that his girlfriend’s uncle was arming himself and buying gold for the coming “Obama War.” Given that Obama’s policies are pretty much what you would expect from a centrist Democrat president, it seems that there is something else at play besides just normal policy discourse and that something is racism. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-obama-people-are-just-mad-because-the-president-is-black-discuss/574129/28 "2011-03-10T05:50:43Z")
But didn’t people do the same thing with Clinton? I remember a lot of insane anti-government ranting as a kid during Clinton’s presidency, including people saying that Clinton had all these different guys assassinated. (I once had to endure three hours of ranting about all the people Clinton supposedly had whacked, when a teammate’s dad drove me and 2 friends home from a rugby game.) ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-obama-people-are-just-mad-because-the-president-is-black-discuss/574129/29 "2011-03-10T05:53:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The reason that people assume that racism is a primary motivation behind the Tea Party is that they won’t honestly tell us what their motivation is. You ask a Tea Partier why they oppose Obama, and they’re likely to tell you that it’s because he raised their taxes (even though, for the vast majority of them, he lowered them), or that his spending’s out of control (even though he’s spending less than Bush, and in fact much of the spending he’s blamed for was Bush’s doing), or that he’s a socialist (even though he’s trying to use the free market to end Republican-entrenched socialism). None of the things they say can be their real motivation, so we’re left asking ourselves, how bad can their real motivation be, that they feel compelled to lie about it? The obvious motivation to come to mind is racism. If they don’t want us to think that’s it, then they need to tell us what the real motivation is, and tell us honestly. > [@elbows](#): > > Well, let’s see, there were all those racist signs at the tea party rallies. A virtually all white assemblage. Then you got your birthers, who, hilariously got all lathered up over the, clearly untrue, idea he wasn’t born in America. All the while their guy, (McCain), actually and truly wasn’t born in America and they could care less. That screams racist to anyone with a brain, in my opinion. Well, racist signs are clearly racist. Being mostly white is not. And I’m not sure what’s so self-evidently racist about the birther movement…it’s hilarious and untrue, of course, but as the “Clinton is a murderer!!!” theory shows, a president doesn’t have to be white for people to believe crazy theories about him. Not focusing on McCain being born in Panama shows partisanship, not (necessarily) racism. Likewise to the argument that the Tea Party hasn’t _really_ told us what they want, and thus it must be something terrible, most likely racism. They _have_ told us what they want; they’re just being hypocritical, uneducated, and/or partisan about some of it. But political history is full of that kind of thing: if _my_ guy does it I’ll turn a blind eye, but the moment _your_ guy does it I’m marching in the streets. It’s nothing new. That’s what gets me. I’d have predicted outrage, marching in the streets, blatant hypocrisy, and insane conspiracy theories no matter who won the presidency, whatever their race or religion. How could I not? It’s been happening with increasing fever pitch to every successive president within my lifetime. To whatever degree it’s gone beyond the expected trajectory to Obama, I’m happy to concede that racism is likely involved. But I just don’t see how people can see examples of crazy hyper-partisanship and act like it’s something we never saw before we had a black president. ---
**Author:** ![Naxos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Naxos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Naxos)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-obama-people-are-just-mad-because-the-president-is-black-discuss/574129/30 "2011-03-10T05:58:51Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > But didn’t people do the same thing with Clinton? I remember a lot of insane anti-government ranting as a kid during Clinton’s presidency, including people saying that Clinton had all these different guys assassinated. (I once had to endure three hours of ranting about all the people Clinton supposedly had whacked, when a teammate’s dad drove me and 2 friends home from a rugby game.) Yes, your memory is commendable. Republicans, not “people”, did the same thing to Clinton because in their view Clinton was a hick from Arkansas who did not deserve the designation of the ultimate US royalty title of President, and more likely so because he was not a racist like the established conservative political environment was expecting him to be. Racism was at the heart of the anti-Clinton hate since day one of his presidency too. Clinton was not a blatant racist, that’s why he whole Republican sewer world was against him. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-obama-people-are-just-mad-because-the-president-is-black-discuss/574129/31 "2011-03-10T06:07:49Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > But didn’t people do the same thing with Clinton? I remember a lot of insane anti-government ranting as a kid during Clinton’s presidency, including people saying that Clinton had all these different guys assassinated. (I once had to endure three hours of ranting about all the people Clinton supposedly had whacked, when a teammate’s dad drove me and 2 friends home from a rugby game.) There were people that hated Clinton. And there were people who hated Carter and Reagan and both Bushs. But none of these guys had mass demonstrations in the streets against them like Obama has had. Obama had fifty demonstrations against him in his first month in office. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-obama-people-are-just-mad-because-the-president-is-black-discuss/574129/32 "2011-03-10T06:26:17Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > Yes. But that’s not the question of the thread. > > Yeah, they could be. Or they could indeed be opportunistic and cynical. Or they could be smart and sincere. Lots of different ways people get into politics. They could be sincere conservatives, but there’s no way a smart black person could be conservative. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-obama-people-are-just-mad-because-the-president-is-black-discuss/574129/33 "2011-03-10T06:29:42Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > But didn’t people do the same thing with Clinton? I remember a lot of insane anti-government ranting as a kid during Clinton’s presidency, including people saying that Clinton had all these different guys assassinated. (I once had to endure three hours of ranting about all the people Clinton supposedly had whacked, when a teammate’s dad drove me and 2 friends home from a rugby game.) It was crazy with Clinton, but nowhere near this crazy. I think that a lot of wind when out of the sails of the radical anti-government types after Oklahoma City. That kind of sobered the militia dipshits and made them start walking back their rhetoric a little bit. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-obama-people-are-just-mad-because-the-president-is-black-discuss/574129/34 "2011-03-10T06:58:10Z")
He’s not just black-- he’s a black democrat!! Aaaaugh! Family values! Family values! Think of the (white) children!! 😃 Seriously, all the arguments are not racist, but would a white president draw skepticism from “birthers” if we thought he/she was really Dutch?? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-obama-people-are-just-mad-because-the-president-is-black-discuss/574129/35 "2011-03-10T07:14:48Z")
Yeah, not all the arguments against Obama are racists, but there is a violent and racist element within the opposition. Just try to imagine if there was a Republican president and that there was a majority black tea party style movement, where people openly carry weapons and talk about the need to take back the country using violent rhetoric. Does anyone honestly believe that Fox news and its viewers would be so positive in their coverage of such a movement? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-obama-people-are-just-mad-because-the-president-is-black-discuss/574129/36 "2011-03-10T07:26:17Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > They could be sincere conservatives, but there’s no way a smart black person could be conservative. Why not? If you’re the head of a major corporation, you’re probably going to support the Republican party because it’s the pro-business party. It’s not going to matter if you’re black or white - at that economic level you’re going to be isolated from most overt racism. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-obama-people-are-just-mad-because-the-president-is-black-discuss/574129/37 "2011-03-10T07:32:20Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Just try to imagine if there was a Republican president and that there was a majority black tea party style movement, where people openly carry weapons and talk about the need to take back the country using violent rhetoric. > > Does anyone honestly believe that Fox news and its viewers would be so positive in their coverage of such a movement? When I asked people to hypothesize about what would happen if Alan Keyes were president, I was told that I might as well ask what would happen “if elephants flew in the air,” because the situation was so “fantastic” that it “couldn’t be intelligently considered.” And so is _your_ scenario that you’re asking me to “just imagine.” Now that we’re both fantasists peddling visions of totally impossible scenarios, maybe someone will address my question of whether there would be Tea Party-style opposition to President Alan Keyes or President Colin Powell. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-obama-people-are-just-mad-because-the-president-is-black-discuss/574129/38 "2011-03-10T07:36:55Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > No doubt _some_ of the anti-Obama people are indeed racists who are more angry about Obama than they would be about a white president with similar politics. But _all_ of them? That’s sort of…a wide brush, right? I think most (or nearly all 🆒 ) of us are familiar with the useful adage: _ **All generalizations are wrong.** _ Are you trying to set up a strawman to debate? For the more tractable question, _ **Is there a great deal of opposition to Obama based on his race?** _ I’ll give an [interview excerpt](http://www.alternet.org/story/88211/mccain's_playbook%3A_hate,_fear_and_caveman_politics/?page=entire) I posted at SDMB a month ago. > [@](#): > > … Ron says his problem with Obama is the integrity thing. “He exaggerates too much,” Ron says. “He’s not honest.” > > “OK,” I say. “What does he exaggerate about?” > > “Well, like that time he was saying he had a white mother and a white grandmother,” he says. > > I ask him how this is an exaggeration. > > “Well, he was saying . . .” he begins. “As if that qualifies him to . . .” > > Despite my repeated prodding, Ron seems unable or unwilling to say aloud exactly what he means. Finally, his friend Mary, a grave-looking blonde with fierce anger lines around her eyes, jumps in, points a finger and blurts out one of the all-time man-on-the-street quotes. > > “Look, you either are or you aren’t,” she says. > > “And he aren’t,” Ron says, nodding with relief. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-obama-people-are-just-mad-because-the-president-is-black-discuss/574129/39 "2011-03-10T08:01:01Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > When I asked people to hypothesize about what would happen if Alan Keyes were president, I was told that I might as well ask what would happen “if elephants flew in the air,” because the situation was so “fantastic” that it “couldn’t be intelligently considered.” And so is _your_ scenario that you’re asking me to “just imagine.” Now that we’re both fantasists peddling visions of totally impossible scenarios, maybe someone will address my question of whether there would be Tea Party-style opposition to President Alan Keyes or President Colin Powell. I don’t think either Keyes or Powell could win the Republican primary, partly because they are black; but if they were elected I believe there would be a racist backlash against them, but not as severe as the racist backlash against a black Democrat president. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-obama-people-are-just-mad-because-the-president-is-black-discuss/574129/40 "2011-03-10T08:07:27Z")
Racism is not the only reason Republicans oppose Obama. Many oppose him simply because he’s a Democrat. However, there is absolutely no way racism isn’t a significant factor behind the vitriol, the cacophonous hatred, and the nonsensical and illogical protestations, because of how they are expressed. Whether Republicans want to admit it or not, the Tea Party is the face of the racist wing of the party. They exist and are active because Obama is black and the president of the United States. Taxes, which Obama lowered by the way, and which the Tea Party conveniently ignored, has nothing to do with it. I continue to contend that the SOLE reason for the birther movement is racism. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-obama-people-are-just-mad-because-the-president-is-black-discuss/574129.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-obama-people-are-just-mad-because-the-president-is-black-discuss/574129.md?page=3)