I was kind of surprised to hear McCain say in the debate Wednesday night that his feelings were hurt by the perception that his negative campaigning is feeding into the revival of some old-time racism. Other than the one time he told a crowd that Obama wasn't an Arab, I really haven't heard him or Palin try to rein in the obnoxious actions of their supporters.
It seems like the Democrats nominating an African-American as their presidential nominee has brought out the inherent racism in the Republican Party. They seem to think this nomination gives them permission to display their perversity.
I've already posted about the Obama Waffles being sold at the Family Values Summit by a couple of "good ole boys" from Tennessee, and the cutout of Obama that was hung with a noose on an Oregon college campus. Then there's the picture of Obama in a turban next to bin Laden that showed up on a Sacramento GOP website. And of course, the "Obama bucks" pictured above.
This racist picture appeared in a California GOP club's newsletter mailed over two hundred members (both e-mail and snail-mail). The club's president said she had no idea the picture would be considered racist. She was just trying to make fun of Obama's comment that he didn't look like the presidents pictured on U.S. currency.
If anyone believes that, then I have some choice ocean-front property here in Amarillo that I'll sell real cheap. The fried chicken, ribs, watermelon and kool-aid didn't give her a clue. Club President Diane Fedele said, "I didn't see it the way that it's being taken. I never connected. It was just food to me. It didn't mean anything else."
To Ms. Fedele's embarrassment, it turns out the club has a couple of black members, and they didn't have any problem at all picking up on the picture's blatant racism. They were horrified. As one of them said, "This is what keeps African-Americans from joining the Republican Party."
Republicans may not realize it, but this kind of obvious racist behavior is also driving away a lot of whites. No decent person wants to be associated with this perverse sickness. Unfortunately, I'm afraid we're probably going to see a lot more of this crap as the campaign progresses, and even after if Obama wins the election.
America has made some progress in the last 40-50 years, but there is still far too much racism in this country. A whole lot of these racists seem to feel comfortable in the Republican Party.
And as long as they don't get caught, they don't care.
ReplyDeleteI believe most of them think the ends justifies the means, and they feel they are fighting the good fight.
And as long as they don't get caught, they don't care.
ReplyDeleteLiberal cartoonists are even more brazen about their racism; they don't even try to hide it. Here are some examples:
Here
And here
And here
And of course, who could forget this classic (top row, middle frame):
But hey, what the heck, Condoleezza Rice is a Republican, so "the ends justifies the means, and they feel they are fighting the good fight," right?
P.S. I discussed the Ted Rall cartoon (see "this classic", above) nearly three years ago at another local progressive blog. Here's the thread of that discussion. (The link to the cartoon I used at that time is now broken, but the context of the comments clearly identifies which cartoon we were discussing.)
ReplyDeleteOne commenter said that the cartoon "was 'defaming' specific individuals [other members of Bush's cabinet]," which somehow made it less offensive than defaming an entire group of people. ("To not see a difference between not liking Condi and not liking black people is disingenuous.") Another said that "[w]hether or not his [Rall's] method was out of line is debatable." But not one of them came out and condemned the cartoon outright.
For the record, let me say that "Obama Bucks" is disgusting, dispicable, and has no place in society at large, let alone political discourse. There's nothing "debatable" about the "method," and it's not "a damn safe bet" the creator of this trash doesn't actually consider Senator Obama a "nigga."
The same would be true if it depicted a generic African-American instead of the junior senator from Illinois. I don't think it's disingenuous of me "to not see a difference between not liking" Barack "and not liking black people." Racism is racism, whether directed against an individual, a group of individuals (remember the "nappy headed ho" comment by Don Imus?), or a whole race.