Former President Jimmy Carter said in an interview with NBC’s Brian Williams this week:
“I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he is African-American.”
Do I believe this to be true? Not entirely.
But neither does the White House.
WASHINGTON – The White House says President Barack Obama doesn’t believe he’s being criticized because of his race.
Spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday that Obama – the nation’s first black president – doesn’t think that criticism of his policies is “based on the color of his skin.”
Gibbs was asked about the topic following comments on Tuesday by former President Jimmy Carter. Gibbs says some people have disagreements with some of Obama’s decisions but that those concerns were not because of his race.
NBC News and news services
Unfortunately, The White House is wrong…along with Fox News. Everyone wants to put the “Race Question” in a box and tuck it away neatly under the bed. Why? Because it brings back memories of an ugly time in American History, a time we are not proud of, but remains our history nonetheless. Simply dismissing the obvious segment of the population who still has racist tendencies is dangerous.
I’m not saying everyone who disagrees with Obama and his polices is racist. I will leave that argument for Fox News. I’m not saying Jimmy Carter is a stupid peanut farmer, or hemorrhoid on the ass of America like Rush Limbaugh stated.
Jimmy Carter is over 80 years old and grew up in the Jim Crow south. This man is overly qualified to discuss the issue of race relations in America. He has seen first hand the awful circumstances that racism can lead to. Dismissing this man, a man who was President of The United States in the way some prominent voices for the GOP have, is disgusting.
Unfortunately this is the world we live in. We don’t engage in civil discourse, we call names and dismiss people who have something important to add to the topic. Jimmy Carter is correct in my opinion, there is a portion of the United States who disagree with anything Obama, and I believe some are flat out racist. I do not believe its an overwhelming number though. I believe many are afraid of the Debt, change in Health Care, change in the Economy, Unemployment, Tarps and Bailouts. These people have a right to be frightened. But their fear is being fueled by partisan bickering.
Can you imagine the fear that must be harbored by people who just watch Fox News? The White House is going to Kill Grandma, they’re going to create a National Police Force like Nazi Germany’s SS, they’re going to create a Socialist Country, they’re going to Brain Wash our children, They’re going to tell us what we can and can’t eat, (that’s my favorite from Michele Bachmann) they’re going to Fund Health Care for Illegals, should I go on? The opposition is so fixated on just beating Obama they could care less what people think or do with their information, as long as they beat Obama.
When you look at Fox News ratings, which are always higher then the rest of the news agencies on cable, maybe I’m wrong and Carter is right. Maybe there is a larger section of the population that is racist, But I believe only a small segment believe Fox News is scripture, and those that do are probably scared to death, sleeping with shotguns under their beds waiting for Obama’s SS to scoop them out of bed and into internment camps.
President Carter is more qualified than most about this subject and certainly more qualified than me. Basically he is a man without a party. The GOP doesn’t respect him and the DEM’s won’t claim him. So a partisan explanation for his comments is probably moot. I truly hope and pray that he has overstated the problem, because the alternative is very dangerous.
What kind of person circulates the above photo? Would you believe a doctor in St. Petersburg, Florida. Dr. David McKalip is a neurosurgeon who had a leadership role in the American Medical Association, before he was forced to resign, after Dr. Racist got caught. So the argument that only Nascar Guy and Poor White Trash are racist is false. Racism is not a heated action or outburst by some South Carolina Congressman. Racism is deeper, more of a systemic attempt or belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities.
Nobody is suggesting that because you disagree with Health Reform you are racist. (except Fox News) What we might be seeing because of all the political correctness in our society, is a push back of a different sort. We can’t yell fire in a crowded theatre and not expect consequences, and we certainly can’t say you distrust the President because of the color of his skin in our society today. However, just 40 years ago you could say humans were not equal, and you could say it in public with pride in many parts of the Country. But you still could not yell fire in a crowded theatre.
You might be saying what is your point? My point is now we can’t say you believe in inequality without any backlash, but you can say the President wasn’t born in this country. (Birther Movement) You can bring the Rebel Flag to a Tea Party event. You can say he is a Muslim, or Hitler, or an Illegal Alien, all these statements basically try to reduce the man to something “Less Than” what he is, without having to invoke those awful terms people used some 40 years ago. The term “Less Than” is exactly what racism is.
So with the above statements, (rather eloquently put from a diaper changing, seldom showering mess of a man) You may be asking yourself, what has the Obama Administration done wrong? I believe they are handling the situation of race like politicians trying to get legislation passed. Which I understand, but what I would really like to see is some Leadership. I want a President who fights the good fight, no matter how difficult the subject matter. I believe there is a real teaching moment being missed here. Not a “Beer Summit” moment, but a opportunity to really address the racial divide that still exists in this Country, no matter how large or small it is.
But what is unacceptable in my eyes is the excuse, “He was voted in as President, how could there be any racism involved?” My answer to that question is simple. Did you see the posters at that 9-12 rally in D.C.? If you have not, do some research. I’m not saying there is an epidemic of racism in this country but I am convinced that it exists here and now, and it was in some cases up front and center at the 9-12 rally.
To brush it off as the Fox News Network has, as just a partisan issue that the left is conjuring up to get the message off the Health Care debate, is disturbing in my opinion. If you want to argue numbers at the event, or the value of the group that came together fine, but if you don’t acknowledge a portion of that rally as racially charged, I believe your head is in the sand. But hey, I am just a Stay at Home Dad…
Sources:
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200909160016 (Limbaugh about Carter)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#32886020 (msnbc- racist signs…etc)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#32885951 (Princeton Professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell)
http://www.tampabay.com/news/health/article1021553.ece (Dr. Racist)
