# Why if you disagree with Obama and his policies some label you as a racist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 11, 2011, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-if-you-disagree-with-obama-and-his-policies-some-label-you-as-a-racist/595918 "2011-09-11T05:24:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-if-you-disagree-with-obama-and-his-policies-some-label-you-as-a-racist/595918/181 "2011-09-12T03:19:11Z")
This die-hard Obama supporter hereby agrees that racism is too quickly diagnosed by many of my fellow Obama supporters when it comes to criticisms of Obama. I think there is a racial undercurrent to many criticisms of Obama, but I think the actual diagnosis should be made very carefully. If the diagnosis is presented without fairly clear evidence, it will not serve any constructive purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-if-you-disagree-with-obama-and-his-policies-some-label-you-as-a-racist/595918/182 "2011-09-12T03:48:06Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Because, unlike Bush, Obama doesn’t look or grin like a chimp. > > So, there have to be other reasons at play, wouldn’t you say? So basically I came to two conclusions. 1.) Because Bush is White and Obama is Black, in which case we’re running some kind of extreme double. Or 2.) Because Bush wis a Republican and Obama is a Democrat. ---
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-if-you-disagree-with-obama-and-his-policies-some-label-you-as-a-racist/595918/183 "2011-09-12T03:57:56Z")
double standard\* ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-if-you-disagree-with-obama-and-his-policies-some-label-you-as-a-racist/595918/184 "2011-09-12T04:09:42Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > … They were working on the bill for a year. Think really hard about this. If you are writing a 300 page novel and you change a scene on page 226 so that the character is wearing a white t-shirt instead of a black one, does that mean you haven’t read the novel? … And when you’re allowed to make little (or major) changes in a [del]bill[/del] novel right up to the very last moment, ya really do need to wait until the [del]bill is passed[/del] novel is printed so you can find out what is in it. CMC fnord! Who’s watched way to much C-SPAN and seen a whole lot o’ bills have their entire text changed just prior to final passage. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-if-you-disagree-with-obama-and-his-policies-some-label-you-as-a-racist/595918/185 "2011-09-12T04:19:19Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > So basically I came to two conclusions. > > 1.) Because Bush is White and Obama is Black, in which case we’re running some kind of extreme double standard. Not sure what work the word ‘extreme’ is doing here, but aside from that, can you explain to me what is wrong with a double standard? ---
**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:** [September 12, 2011, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-if-you-disagree-with-obama-and-his-policies-some-label-you-as-a-racist/595918/186 "2011-09-12T11:38:54Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > Wrong, wrong and wrong. Refer to one of my previous post and the title of this thread. I am not holding anyone responsible except those that did it. What I asked for was some insight as to why those who choose to act this way do. Once again I asked why SOME did this, not why everyone does. There is no hypocrisy present, but really don’t let that stop you. And I gave you a reason why the racism charge is leveled at you so frequently (although I have to wonder how often you’re actually accused of it): because racism \*is \*often behind criticism of Obama, and because quite a few high-ranking Republican politicians have embraced those bigots in order to court votes (or, possibly, because they themselves are also racist). You, apparently, don’t like that explanation. Well, tough. I don’t like the fact that you’re accusing me of calling your racist, or implying that I haven’t yet “come to my senses”. Do you \*ever \*get tired of playing the victim? ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-if-you-disagree-with-obama-and-his-policies-some-label-you-as-a-racist/595918/187 "2011-09-12T11:55:16Z")
Don’t forget that cries of RACISM are also a very good way to make an important constituancy think you are their only hope. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-if-you-disagree-with-obama-and-his-policies-some-label-you-as-a-racist/595918/188 "2011-09-12T12:42:05Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > Don’t forget that cries of RACISM are also a very good way to make an important constituancy think you are their only hope. Especially when the people so accused _actually are_ racists. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-if-you-disagree-with-obama-and-his-policies-some-label-you-as-a-racist/595918/189 "2011-09-12T12:54:08Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > So, this is kind of off-topic, but here’s something I’ve been wondering. Why is it that when Bush was portrayed as a monkey, it was political satire, but when Obama is portrayed as a monkey, it’s racism? Because there is quite a long historical precedent of blacks as a race being equated with monkeys to portray them as subhuman brutes. With Bush it was personal - nasty, but nasty on an individual level and linked to his facial expressions. When someone does it to Obama there’s more than sufficient reason to suspect that it’s not him personally but his race that’s the underlying driver and way too much to rule it out casually. Are you saying that you, as a “black conservative”, were unaware of this? ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-if-you-disagree-with-obama-and-his-policies-some-label-you-as-a-racist/595918/190 "2011-09-12T14:17:36Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > The Republican party is the home of black haters and bigots. So long as the Democratic party is the home to the likes of Maxine Waters, Al Sharpton and Jeremiah Wright, the Democrats will have no plausible claim to the moral high ground on race. > [@gonzomax](#): > > The racist signs at tea bagger rallies are not figments of anyones imaginations. Neither are Jeremiah Wright shouting “God damn America” and shouting that all white people are liars. But that doesn’t stop you from embracing him. You’ll even insist that the doesn’t hate white people. Anti-white prejudice is rampant on the left and usually masquerades as anti-racism. And those signs at tea party rallies you’re talking about are very much the exception, not the rule. Racial politics will never go away. There will never be a post-racial society. Those who believe otherwise are just not living in the real world. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-if-you-disagree-with-obama-and-his-policies-some-label-you-as-a-racist/595918/191 "2011-09-12T14:30:26Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > Neither are Jeremiah Wright shouting “God damn America” I’ll cop to being in complete agreement with Wright here. He’s right–_it’s in the Bible_. > [@](#): > > and shouting that all white people are liars. Can you provide some context here? I hadn’t heard about this. > [@](#): > > But that doesn’t stop you from embracing him. I have never heard that it’s very usual for libs to “embrace” Jeremiah Wright. Can you explain what you’re talking about here? > [@](#): > > You’ll even insist that the doesn’t hate white people. A self-defeating prophecy. Once you make a prediction like this, you can bet your interlocutor will do his best to show it’s not true. So I don’t see much value in making claims like this. Instead of prediction and prophecy, point to actual observed patterns. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-if-you-disagree-with-obama-and-his-policies-some-label-you-as-a-racist/595918/192 "2011-09-12T14:34:29Z")
I found the “white folks lied” clip [here.](http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2011/07/obamas-spiritual-mentor-jeremiah-wright-white-folks-are-liars-video/) Yeah, by framing the issue this way, Wright definitely tends to inflame race-based passions. You’re absolutely right on that. Who do you know of that disagrees with the above statement? Please provide at least one citation? ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-if-you-disagree-with-obama-and-his-policies-some-label-you-as-a-racist/595918/193 "2011-09-12T14:43:35Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > And I gave you a reason why the racism charge is leveled at you so frequently (although I have to wonder how often you’re actually accused of it): because racism \*is \*often behind criticism of Obama, and because quite a few high-ranking Republican politicians have embraced those bigots in order to court votes (or, possibly, because they themselves are also racist). > > You, apparently, don’t like that explanation. Well, tough. I don’t like the fact that you’re accusing me of calling your racist, or implying that I haven’t yet “come to my senses”. > > Do you \*ever \*get tired of playing the victim? You have got to be kidding? You belong to the party of victims and you pull that line out? Please try again. Before you use lines like this: > [@](#): > > I don’t like the fact that you’re accusing me of calling your racist Try not using ones like this. Or do your vieled attempts don’t count? > [@](#): > > (although I have to wonder how often you’re actually accused of it) But what else can I expect from a card carying Communist seems to model want to model America after Russia? > [@](#): > > because racism \*is \*often behind criticism of Obama, and because quite a few high-ranking Republican politicians have embraced those bigots in order to court votes (or, possibly, because they themselves are also racist). because Communism \*is \*often behind the adgenda of some on the left, and because quite a few high-ranking Democrats politicians have embraced those Bolshevist in order to court votes (or, possibly, because they themselves are also Communist). See how easy it is to do? But I suppose it doesn’t work the other way around, does it? It is really incredible what I have seen in this thread and I am so glad that I started it. While there might have been a slight few, the majority of those on here like yourself (the truly die-hard Democrats) have not stood up and said something to the effect of “while there does seem to be racist in every walk of life, I think that it is wrong for someone defending Obama to accuse a detractor of race”. Nope, is it because you have no problem with lies and distortion of character? Is it because your idol Obmama is failing so miserably as a President that it is okay in your eyes to use any tactic you can to defend him? Or is it because you don’t mind selling out a problem as serious as racism and using it for your own means as long as it benifits you? I am about done with responding here, as the answer I was looking for is pretty much what I thought. It is disgusting to see your party using race to try to bolster your opinons and without regard to the character of the person they are smearing. I will be the first to admit that if a person uses race as a weapon against Obama shoud be called out. But to label a person of racism when that person has done anything but, is disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-if-you-disagree-with-obama-and-his-policies-some-label-you-as-a-racist/595918/194 "2011-09-12T14:56:59Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > You have got to be kidding? You belong to the party of victims and you pull that > line out? “Party of victims”? Nobody whines about how persecuted they are like the Republicans and the rest of the Right. They scream about how having to pay taxes means they are oppressed, about the “war on Christmas”, about the terrible tyranny of other people being allowed to marry who they want. Right Wing Persecution Syndrome is rampant in this country; they can’t stop talking about how terribly victimized they are. They have a need to feel like victims. > [@obbn](#): > > because Communism \*is \*often behind the adgenda of some on the left, and because quite a few high-ranking Democrats politicians have embraced those Bolshevist in order to court votes (or, possibly, because they themselves are also Communist). > > See how easy it is to do? But I suppose it doesn’t work the other way around, does it? Of course not; the Republicans really are dominated by racists, while Communism has nothing to do with the Democrats or much of anything else these days. You are trying to pull the standard right wing tactic of pretending to a nonexistent equality between your side and the other. > [@obbn](#): > > Nope, is it because you have no problem with lies and distortion of character? Is it because your idol Obmama is failing so miserably as a President that it is okay in your eyes to use any tactic you can to defend him? > > Or is it because you don’t mind selling out a problem as serious as racism and using it for your own means as long as it benifits you? No, it’s because the right’s hatred of Obama has a very strong racist component and always has. And because the Republicans are deeply racist. And Obama isn’t my “idol”, and I’m not a Democrat. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-if-you-disagree-with-obama-and-his-policies-some-label-you-as-a-racist/595918/195 "2011-09-12T14:57:00Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > There was nobody marching with signs before Obama. There were, but they were called “traitors” and had to stay in their designated [Free Speech Zones](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_speech_zone). ---
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-if-you-disagree-with-obama-and-his-policies-some-label-you-as-a-racist/595918/196 "2011-09-12T14:57:49Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Not sure what work the word ‘extreme’ is doing here, but aside from that, can you explain to me what is wrong with a double standard? Nothing, just as long as you realize they work both ways. > [@Gyrate](#): > > Because there is quite a long historical precedent of blacks as a race being equated with monkeys to portray them as subhuman brutes. > > With Bush it was personal - nasty, but nasty on an individual level and linked to his facial expressions. **When someone does it to Obama there’s more than sufficient reason to suspect that it’s not him personally but his race that’s the underlying driver and way too much to rule it out casually**. > > Are you saying that you, as a “black conservative”, were unaware of this? …Ummm, right. So we’re back to what I said before; because one is White and one is Black. Hello double standard. Can’t say I’m surprised. Your post is a crock. You have zero proof the bold. I damn well guarantee you that if Obama\* were to ever make a purported ‘monkey face’ and someone drew a political cartoon of him as a monkey, there’d still be claims of racism emanating from the left. In the mind of liberals, _any_ caricature or criticism coming from the right must have its underpinnings in racism, which is pretty convenient for them. Henceforth why there’s no such thing as the normalization of race relations in the U.S.-- because one side is content to play the “racism!” card. Albeit selectively, given the number of race baiters who call the Democratic party home and are given ample opportunity to speak. > [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > So long as the Democratic party is the home to the likes of Maxine Waters, Al Sharpton and Jeremiah Wright, the Democrats will have no plausible claim to the moral high ground on race. This a million times. There are no words to describe just how much I dislike these people. They are race baiters if there ever were any. But they get a free pass because most of them are Black. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-if-you-disagree-with-obama-and-his-policies-some-label-you-as-a-racist/595918/197 "2011-09-12T15:03:35Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > Nothing, just as long as you realize they work both ways. If there is nothing wrong with a double standard, then I do not understand why you offered the double standard you mentioned as a _criticism_ of those who say its racist to compare Obama to a chimp. You apparently, didn’t mean it as a criticism, then? You were characterizing, but not criticizing? So then, you understand, after all, why it is racist? Or have I misunderstood you? ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-if-you-disagree-with-obama-and-his-policies-some-label-you-as-a-racist/595918/198 "2011-09-12T15:05:50Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > Hello double standard. Wait a minute! You _just said_ there’s nothing wrong with a double standard. So it is _completely unclear_ what you mean by saying “hello double standard” here. By all the conventions of conversation, it seems you _must_ be offering a criticism here. But since you don’t think there’s anything wrong with having a double standard, it is _completely unclear_ what that criticism is supposed to be! Please help me out here! ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-if-you-disagree-with-obama-and-his-policies-some-label-you-as-a-racist/595918/199 "2011-09-12T15:08:40Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Of course not; the Republicans really are dominated by racists, It would be more productive (and unfortunately would take a lot more work) to provide some examples of the pattern you’re referring to here. I believe they exist, but I am lazy and not as invested as you, and I’m just here pointing out that until examples are on the table you guys are just repeating yourselves ineffectively. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-if-you-disagree-with-obama-and-his-policies-some-label-you-as-a-racist/595918/200 "2011-09-12T15:27:27Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > …Ummm, right. So we’re back to what I said before; because one is White and one is Black. Hello double standard. Can’t say I’m surprised. Well, yes. Because there’s quite a lot of difference between the two groups in terms of historical treatment. You may have heard of it, despite your feigned surprise that such a thing existed. There is therefore a _legitimate_ double standard that cannot be handwaved away. > [@](#): > > Your post is a crock. You have zero proof the bold. [Really?](http://crap4facepolitics.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/racist-obama.jpg) Well perhaps I can’t read the minds of the sort of people who make pictures like [this](http://www.onewhiteduck.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/racist-obama-sign-3.jpg) or [this](http://www.politicususa.com/wp-content/uploads/racist-obama-sign-202x300.jpg) or [this](http://www.zaiusnation.com/stuff/zaius/moosic2/obama_gang_signs2.jpg) but I can notice a certain theme to them. Especially if I [keep](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L-O37X6d440/SFquZel4AhI/AAAAAAAADew/73Qppk7owGo/s320/0618pin.jpg) [on](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F3e3Hbq32k0/Tkr8dAjChrI/AAAAAAAAASI/suMVPmt7NXU/s1600/teapartysign1sm.jpg) [looking](http://wonkette.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/obamabestsignever.jpg)… > [@](#): > > I damn well guarantee you that if Obama\* were to ever make a purported ‘monkey face’ and someone drew a political cartoon of him as a monkey, there’d still be claims of racism emanating from the left. In the mind of liberals, _any_ caricature or criticism coming from the right must have its underpinnings in racism, which is pretty convenient for them. Henceforth why there’s no such thing as the normalization of race relations in the U.S.-- because one side is content to play the “racism!” card. Albeit selectively. Yes, how dare I suggest that black people might occasionally be subjected to racist abuse, especially when there’s so little evidence that it happens. Seriously, it’s already been pointed out that a vast amount of the right-wing’s objections to Obama are based on lies and misconceptions about him. There are many legitimate objections about what Obama is doing and has done but so much of the rhetoric is about his legitimacy to hold office (despite the fact that he was born in Hawaii), his religion (which is not Islam or atheism), his economic policies (he hasn’t raised taxes on most people and he’s not remotely a socialist or Communist or indeed fascist) that you have to wonder what’s driving this if not his race or his party affiliation, and the vitriol wasn’t nearly this bad for previous white Democratic presidents. But since this has already been hashed out earlier in the thread I’m guessing repeating it isn’t going to sway you much. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-if-you-disagree-with-obama-and-his-policies-some-label-you-as-a-racist/595918.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-if-you-disagree-with-obama-and-his-policies-some-label-you-as-a-racist/595918.md?page=11)