Obama Haters Want to Re-fight the Civil War, Civil Rights Movement
By G.A. Afolabi
When America elected Sen. Barack Obama as president many people thought the monster of racism has finally be slain. But like a horror movie villain, racism is proving a hard creature to kill. Like South Africa, which is still struggling to overcome its racial past, America is not going to become Kumbayaland over night.
The events of the last few weeks show that there is still a lot of work to do when it comes to racial equality. The last two weeks saw parents pulling their kids out of school to avoid hearing the president's speech, Rep. Joe Wilson calling the president a liar during his speech to Congress, and thousands of right wingers marching on Washington holding signs with statements such as "Diversity is a Disease."
Race seems to be the elephant in the room that many Americans simply refuse to deal with. But as Sherlock Holmes said, when you have elimnated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Obama is not the first liberal president. Bill Clinton, John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson, all pursued liberal policies that encouraged government spending. Obama is not the first president to graduate from an Ivy League college or come from a law background. He is not the first president to have a gorgeous wife or young children in the White House. But the most evident factor that sets him apart from the previous 43 presidents is his race.
Obama's election has upset what many people thought was the natural order -- white people, mainly white men, in charge. The election of the nation's first African American president has also tapped into latent fears among White Americans about the changing nature of society. It's clear from some of the virulent hatred directed at Obama that many whites simply refuse to accept the idea that the most powerful man in the nation is Black. There was signs of this backlash during the 2008 Presidential campaign, where Gov. Sarah Palin whipped up angry mobs into a frenzy. Palin-led rallies, that produced death threats and accusations of Obama being everything from a Marxist to a Arab Muslim terrorist, saw the first emergence of "foamers", people so mad at the idea of a Black president that they are foaming at the mouth with rage. Attendees of pro-Palin rallies issued statements such as, "If he wins, the Blacks will take over." (Some of the protestors at the Tea-bagger march carried signs reading "Obama's Plan, White Slavery.")
But even after Obama's election it seems that a certain segment of the population has decided to not accept the natural order. In a democracy, the party that loses has to accept the winning party running the country for the next four years. But the far-right wing of the Republican party has spawned a movement of people who seem to believe that if they can't win the game, they are going to take the ball and go home. Since their candidate lost, they want to overturn the election or declare Obama illegitimate because he not really an American.
The noise from the right-wing media has been deafening since the presidential campaign, but also illuminating. Demagogues such as Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck are turning frustrated White people, battered and bruised by a crumbling economy, into a frenzied mob. Beck has issued dire warnings about secret government detention camps -- without providing any information to back it up -- and has launched a crusade to rid the government of "secret Communists." He also said, "There is a coup going on ... it has been done under the guise of an election." (The twisted logic behind this statement is so erroneous, it would take an hour to point out all of the flaws. ) Also, conservatives from former Confederate states have threatened to start a second Civil War and Texas Gov. Ricky Perry flirted with the ideas of secession from the union.
If there was any doubt at the real anger behind birthers, deathers and the resurgent militia movement it can be cleared up when you look at the background of Rep. Joe Wilson, who became infamous for his heckling of the president. Wilson is a protege of the infamous Sen. Strom Thurmond, who made his reputation as segregationist in the Old South. Thurmond, ran for president on the pro-segregation ticket, but his reputation was severely dented when his half-Black daughter, Essie Mae Washington-Williams, came forward after his death. Wilson, ever the Southern gentleman, accused Thurmond's mixed-race daughter of lying about her parentage. (Her claim was later proven to be true.) I guess he simply couldn't believe that his mentor, who had built his reputation on hating Black people, could actually have Black people in his family. Wilson is also a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, an organization that honors soldiers who fought in a war that was designed to keep Black people as chattel. Considering these facts, it's not difficult to imagine that the idea of Black person sitting in the White House and lecturing Congress, could cause people like Wilson to lose it. New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd writes, "Wilson’s shocking disrespect for the office of the president — no Democrat ever shouted “liar” at W. when he was hawking a fake case for war in Iraq — convinced me: Some people just can’t believe a Black man is president and will never accept it."
Segregationists and modern-day racists base their ideas on the fallacy that Black people are intellectually inferior to white people and should never be allowed to be put in positions of authority. The hatred directed at Obama is not just political, it's racial. It comes from people who are scared about an inevitable future where white people will be the minority taking orders from a Black, Latino or Asian person.
These attitudes are excellenty highlighted in the documentary, "Right Nation: Feeling Wronged," directed by Alexandra Pelosi, daughter of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. In the movie, shot in 2008, Alexandra Pelosi interviews McCain-Palin supporters about their views on Candidate Obama. One Mississippi resident says that he is simply not ready for an African American president. So more than 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation and about 50 years after the Voting Rights Act, we still have large segments of this country who refuse to accept African Americans as full American citizens. In the words of Candidate Obama, "If not now, when?"
When America elected Sen. Barack Obama as president many people thought the monster of racism has finally be slain. But like a horror movie villain, racism is proving a hard creature to kill. Like South Africa, which is still struggling to overcome its racial past, America is not going to become Kumbayaland over night.
The events of the last few weeks show that there is still a lot of work to do when it comes to racial equality. The last two weeks saw parents pulling their kids out of school to avoid hearing the president's speech, Rep. Joe Wilson calling the president a liar during his speech to Congress, and thousands of right wingers marching on Washington holding signs with statements such as "Diversity is a Disease."
Race seems to be the elephant in the room that many Americans simply refuse to deal with. But as Sherlock Holmes said, when you have elimnated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Obama is not the first liberal president. Bill Clinton, John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson, all pursued liberal policies that encouraged government spending. Obama is not the first president to graduate from an Ivy League college or come from a law background. He is not the first president to have a gorgeous wife or young children in the White House. But the most evident factor that sets him apart from the previous 43 presidents is his race.
Obama's election has upset what many people thought was the natural order -- white people, mainly white men, in charge. The election of the nation's first African American president has also tapped into latent fears among White Americans about the changing nature of society. It's clear from some of the virulent hatred directed at Obama that many whites simply refuse to accept the idea that the most powerful man in the nation is Black. There was signs of this backlash during the 2008 Presidential campaign, where Gov. Sarah Palin whipped up angry mobs into a frenzy. Palin-led rallies, that produced death threats and accusations of Obama being everything from a Marxist to a Arab Muslim terrorist, saw the first emergence of "foamers", people so mad at the idea of a Black president that they are foaming at the mouth with rage. Attendees of pro-Palin rallies issued statements such as, "If he wins, the Blacks will take over." (Some of the protestors at the Tea-bagger march carried signs reading "Obama's Plan, White Slavery.")
But even after Obama's election it seems that a certain segment of the population has decided to not accept the natural order. In a democracy, the party that loses has to accept the winning party running the country for the next four years. But the far-right wing of the Republican party has spawned a movement of people who seem to believe that if they can't win the game, they are going to take the ball and go home. Since their candidate lost, they want to overturn the election or declare Obama illegitimate because he not really an American.
The noise from the right-wing media has been deafening since the presidential campaign, but also illuminating. Demagogues such as Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck are turning frustrated White people, battered and bruised by a crumbling economy, into a frenzied mob. Beck has issued dire warnings about secret government detention camps -- without providing any information to back it up -- and has launched a crusade to rid the government of "secret Communists." He also said, "There is a coup going on ... it has been done under the guise of an election." (The twisted logic behind this statement is so erroneous, it would take an hour to point out all of the flaws. ) Also, conservatives from former Confederate states have threatened to start a second Civil War and Texas Gov. Ricky Perry flirted with the ideas of secession from the union.
If there was any doubt at the real anger behind birthers, deathers and the resurgent militia movement it can be cleared up when you look at the background of Rep. Joe Wilson, who became infamous for his heckling of the president. Wilson is a protege of the infamous Sen. Strom Thurmond, who made his reputation as segregationist in the Old South. Thurmond, ran for president on the pro-segregation ticket, but his reputation was severely dented when his half-Black daughter, Essie Mae Washington-Williams, came forward after his death. Wilson, ever the Southern gentleman, accused Thurmond's mixed-race daughter of lying about her parentage. (Her claim was later proven to be true.) I guess he simply couldn't believe that his mentor, who had built his reputation on hating Black people, could actually have Black people in his family. Wilson is also a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, an organization that honors soldiers who fought in a war that was designed to keep Black people as chattel. Considering these facts, it's not difficult to imagine that the idea of Black person sitting in the White House and lecturing Congress, could cause people like Wilson to lose it. New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd writes, "Wilson’s shocking disrespect for the office of the president — no Democrat ever shouted “liar” at W. when he was hawking a fake case for war in Iraq — convinced me: Some people just can’t believe a Black man is president and will never accept it."
Segregationists and modern-day racists base their ideas on the fallacy that Black people are intellectually inferior to white people and should never be allowed to be put in positions of authority. The hatred directed at Obama is not just political, it's racial. It comes from people who are scared about an inevitable future where white people will be the minority taking orders from a Black, Latino or Asian person.
These attitudes are excellenty highlighted in the documentary, "Right Nation: Feeling Wronged," directed by Alexandra Pelosi, daughter of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. In the movie, shot in 2008, Alexandra Pelosi interviews McCain-Palin supporters about their views on Candidate Obama. One Mississippi resident says that he is simply not ready for an African American president. So more than 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation and about 50 years after the Voting Rights Act, we still have large segments of this country who refuse to accept African Americans as full American citizens. In the words of Candidate Obama, "If not now, when?"
