Former President Jimmy Carter is creating quite a media furor today with an interview during which he said that much of the vile, ignorant and hysterical opposition to President Obama’s initiatives (on display at town hall meetings all across America in August) is based on old-fashioned racism.
Here, in part, is what he said:
I think overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he’s African American…
That racism inclination still exists. And I think it’s bubbled up to the surface because of the belief among many white people, not just in the South but around the country, that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It’s an abominable circumstance, and it grieves me and concerns me very deeply.
Carter is right of course (to a degree); but why all the fuss?! After all, saying that (some) whites resent Obama is about as newsworthy as saying that (some) blacks loved Clinton. (And Clinton would tell you that no supporters showed him more love during his impeachment days than blacks.)
More to the point, I do not think it’s prudent to defend Obama by challenging the relatively few right-wing nuts who can’t stand him, and “would love to see him fail.”
Instead, Obama (and the country), would be better served by remembering and celebrating the fact that more whites voted for this black man than for any white Democratic presidential candidate in US history. And, no matter what the polls say today, I doubt a single one of these folks is now suffering such an acute case of voters’ remorse that he has become a redneck racist….
Frankly, I think it’s futile and potentially dangerous for Carter and distinguished black leaders, like Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, to be publicly lamenting the racist rants of these nincompoops who thrive on media attention.
Because crying racism in this context risks confusing and alienating whites who support Obama. Moreover, it unwittingly comingles those who express legitimate criticisms of his policies with those who hurl plainly racist insults at him.
Not to mention that, just as Congressman Joe Wilson has become a media sensation by yelling “You lie” at President Obama during his speech before a joint session of Congress, one of these idiots might try to become an even bigger sensation by doing something more fatal. (God knows there are ominous precedents for this….)
They may have missed the boat, but I’m convinced that, left to their own devices, these political Neanderthals will soon realize that we’re no longer living in the 1930s, 40s or 50s.
Related commentaries:
Coarsening trend of political debate
* This commentary was published originally yesterday at 4:21 pm
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