By G.A. Afolabi
Potter Stewart, an associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, made this now famous remark in a case about pornography: "I know it when I see it." One could say that Black people could also use the same phrase when talking about racism. Most Black people have been dealing with racism since the day they came into the world and their parents were dealing with it long before they were born. We are experts on racism. The mercurial comedian Dave Chappelle once said he was a connoisseur of racism.
So for Black people it's obvious what is behind the white-hot (no pun intended) hatred directed at President Barack Obama, the first African-American to occupy the White House. Obama's election was a shining moment for America, a moment when many American believed we had moved beyond our national obsession with skin color. However some of the older members of the Black community, who have been battling racial injustice for the entire 20th century, probably knew that this monster would not disappear overnight. Many Black seniors, who lived through an age where leaders such as Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were cut down by assassins, suggested that it was suicide for Obama to even consider running for president.
Like President Bill Clinton, Barack Obama was always going to face stiff opposition to his administration. During the Clinton years, a huge right-wing media machine had grown up and harnessed the frustrations of angry, white men. FOX News, spawned during the Clinton years, has swelled into a media titan that is the no. 1-rated cable news channel, even though it's parrots GOP talking points and makes no attempt live up to it's comically ironic "fair and balanced" motto. In addition, eight years of a Republican-led White House convinced many conservatives that they would be in power forever.
However, the level of disrespect towards President Obama is still, at times, shocking. From congressman shouting insults, a 400 percent increase in death threats, and Conservatives who cheer loudly whenever the country fails, we are seeing new levels of animosity. As former President Jimmy Carter said, much of this is racially motivated.
Some of it stems from apathy towards his progressive policies, but even Bill Clinton, who was despised by the Right, didn't face this level of hatred. No one ever accused Bill Clinton of being an illegal alien. Of course being a white male with an Anglo Saxon last name, there was no way that Bill Clinton could ever be a foreigner. Clinton was also never accused of being a Muslim or being in league with a terrorist. For all of Clinton's flaws, at least he was one of them; white, male, Protestant and a Southerner to boot. I suspect much of the animosity towards Clinton was based on his policies and the fact that he not a member of America's social elite. For many white people Barack Obama has too many factors working against him, he doesn't look like them, he has a "foreign-sounding" last name and his father was born a Muslim, but later became an atheist.
Just because we don't see anti-Obama protestors using the n-word it doesn't mean they are not racists. 21st century racism has morphed into a new beast which is not as blatant as it was in the 1960s. Describing how Republicans have adopted code words to mask racism, Lee Atwater, the GOP operative who came up with the infamous Willie Horton ad, said, "By 1968 you can't say “nigger” — that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now [that] you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites."
The media has twisted itself into knots to avoid stating the obvious, that there are still many Americans who are uncomfortable with the idea of a Black man in charge of the country. Instead of looking at the obvious signs -- Obama as a witch doctor, puppets of Obama as a monkey, and signs saying Obama plans to institute white slavery, they still seem to be intent on denying the evidence staring them in the face. I think much of the media's hesitance to address this elephant in the room stems from the fact the blatant racism is now out of fashion. Many Americans are embarrassed that some of their fellow citizens still harbor bigoted views towards black people. To talk about it would be to admit that we have a problem, but like an embarrassing drunk uncle, it's easier to pretend it's not there.
Obama haters have been egged on by race baiters such as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, who between them seem to come up with a new racial insult every week. Limbaugh has a two-decade history of making racial jokes, but some of his more recent moments of hilarity include claiming that in Barack Obama's America, "white kids get beaten up on the bus while Black kids cheer." (The police report from this incident stated that the assault had no racial implications.) Limbaugh later topped this by calling for a return to segregated buses.
Beck, who's conspiracy-laden show falls somewhere between pantomime and bad televangelism, is still smarting from losing more than 80 advertisers for calling the president, who is biracial and was raised by white grandparents, a racist, "who had a deep animosity towards white culture." Beck couldn't explain what "white culture" was when pressed by Katie Couric.
Liberals may laugh at this garbage, but many of the people who listen to Beck and Limbaugh believe that they are telling the gospel truth. Some of the marchers at the recent Tea Party rally in DC said they were "educated" by Glenn Beck. In an interview on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360," Tea Party leader Mark Williams has described Obama as an "Indonesian Muslim Welfare Thug" and "racist in chief."
For Black people race baiting and hate speech, are all too familiar tactics. Most Black people have dealt with the same kind of problems whenever they have tried to break the color barrier at work, in housing or in education. They have faced people questioning their qualifications, hostile co-workers and neighbors, and out right threats of violence.
When I was a child, my parents would keep me inside when the local white supremacist group held its annual march through town. I remember getting harshly scolded because I wanted to go and play in the front yard. At the time I couldn't understand why my parents were so concerned for my safety. My nine-year-old mind could not comprehend that someone might try to kill me for simply existing. Maybe that is the tragedy of the black life experience, knowing that there are people who want to do harm to you for no doing of your own.
I remember some of the signs those white supremacists used to hold featured slogans such as "Go back to Africa." Interestingly enough those are the same kinds of comments you see on right-wing message boards and at the Tea Bag march, so 20 years on we're still dealing with the same BS. (You would think that they would have come up with some new insults by now.) One of my Facebook friends is a Black Conservative who was banned from a Sean Hannity web site because he complained about the hateful postings about Barack Obama. How much more evidence does the media need?
