Racism in Modern Politics

The issue of race and racism emerged openly at the heart of U.S. politics in the Democratic presidential campaign in January. But as any serious student of U.S. history knows, racism is always beneath the surface of U.S. politics.
The trigger for the current debate was a comment by Sen. Hillary Clinton that “Dr. [Martin Luther] King’s dream began to be realized when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It took a president to get it done.” This was taken by many African American politicians and longtime activists as denigrating the entire Black liberation movement.

Certainly, Obama’s campaign owes its existence to that movement. The fact that an African American is today a serious contender for the presidency is part of the legacy of those who defied the violence and humiliation of American apartheid in the Deep South.

continued
In Full Article - its one heck of a read

And the prospect of an African American president in a country built on slavery and racism is exciting for millions of people — not just African Americans, but others who see a vote for Obama as a vote to put the U.S.’s sordid history of racism behind us once and for all.

Translation:"It's alright to vote for Obama - not based on any of his political views - but because he is black, and so can undo the United States' racist history blah blah blah."

But the symbolism of an Obama presidency, however powerful, wouldn’t uproot racism’s legacy.

Translation: "Whitey, you don't know it but you will never be able to undo what racist white people that, in all likelihood were never related to you outside coming from the same continent, did in the past."

“An Obama presidency would be a racial step forward in the sense that it shows that enough whites can and will look past race to make a Black, especially an exceptional Black, their leader."

Yeah, but what about the 90% of black voters that voted for Obama?
If 90% of white Americans voted for McCain, it'd be all over the news that Whitey was still as racist as ever. Yet when 90% of black Americans expect to vote for Obama...
*Crickets chirping*

“It would not, however, show that they are willing to do the same for the millions of Blacks that cram America’s jails and prisons, suffer housing and job discrimination, and are trapped in failing public schools in America’s poor, crime ridden inner cities."

So Whitey is at the root of all black America's problems? No surpise there.

"Their plight and how they are viewed and treated will remain the same after Obama takes office. A President Obama won’t change that.”

That was my favourite part of an Obama Presidency:
When Obama becomes President and - despite millions of dollars of initiatives and projects to "uplift minority communities" - the crime rates of black Americans and Hispanics, poverty rates etc don't change, there'll be no Whitey to blame.

Ah well. It seems Whitey can't escape being blamed for all the ills of the black community.

And the prospect of an African American president in a country built on slavery and racism is exciting for millions of people — not just African Americans, but others who see a vote for Obama as a vote to put the U.S.’s sordid history of racism behind us once and for all.

Obama plays the race card:
Link.

Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama said on Friday he expects Republicans to highlight the fact that he is black as part of an effort to make voters afraid of him.

I humbly offer a translation of Obama's statement:
"I was hoping that the Republicans would bring up my blackness earlier so we could call them racists. Since they didn't, I'm going to accuse them of planning to use my blackness for their racist purposes".

Three cheers for pre-emptive race-baiting!

Obama is half-white American and half-black Kenyan, yet when we do a little comparison on articles on Google:
Is Obama white enough? (currently 154 results).
Is Obama black enough? (currently 15,200 results).

Yeah, us white anti-Obomination types are so racist.

Seriously, the only people that seem to be mentioning his blackness - and complaining that those who don't vote for him are racist - are Obama supporters

And I'd like to know how many white voters are voting for Obama out of:
1. White Guilt - Voting for Obama so they feel less "guilty" about what mean ol' Whitey did to those po' black slaves, or
2. Because he's Black - I don't know how many white Obama supporters gush over the fact that he's black, and therefore they're voting for him.

They've attempted to show that "Race Issue for 1 our of 5 white voters" is because mean ol' Whitey is hatin' on a brutha, yet I'd like to know how many whites would vote for Obama because of his blackness.

But "racism", due to it's almost-taboo nature now, has become the perfect card in Obama's deck:
By claiming that those who do not vote for him are "racist", Obama supporters can guilt white Americans into supporting him.

If a person claims that another - especially white - person is "racist", the burden of proof is shifted to the accused, who must then prove beyond all reasonable doubt that they aren't "racist.

If you called me "racist" in one of your pro-Obama "dialogues", half of the AboveTopSecret would presumably shake their heads at how a "racist" could survive among their ranks so long.

But hey - let the double standards continue!

My heart aches to see that you perceive things this way

Every time a person of color (any color) gets anywhere - there will always be certain people ( :shk: ) who do their best to keep them down.

There are "black" racists just as much as there are "white" racists

but to accuse a man of racism simply because he offers unbiased answers to racial issues is only helping continue the problem.

The only thing Obama has wrong so far about the issue of Racism is this:


Racism will never go away until society has a shift towards intellectualism.
Currently - society is geared on entertainment....hence why the MSM creates story after story, so people will hit the internet and scream "OBAMA IS RACIST!!!!" because its entertaining to them.....

But the good news is that it seems intellectualism is starting to appear in main stream society....entities like ATS are a haven for those who wish to express ideals that would normally go against the grain, in order to offer explanations for things that normally can't get discussed in the "real world" because people will laugh, mock, and ridicule.

That is "intellectualism"

and i believe ATS will just be the start.

I've been called a racist on here because I'm caucasian and I would be happy to see an African American (well, half African) become president. If I didn't like Obama for a hundred non-race-related reasons maybe I would be, but the fact is I'd vote for him if he was purple. I've also been told I'm voting for him out of "white guilt." I've been told (mostly by white people) that African Americans all see me as "whitey"--the enemy. I guess some do but no one has said that to me on here.

Obama's candidacy has opened up the opportunity for America to have a real, mature discussion of race, a discussion that hasn't been possible before. I'm not sure it's possible now, but I'd like to see it happen.

Good article.

reply to post by Sestias


Its hilarious to watch my (embarassingly so) fellow white people come out and condemn a man for his skin color

"obama pulls the race card" because Karl Rove and Ralph Nader talk about his race



Its called a double standard and as long as ignorance reigns supreme in our country, these people will always have a voice

reply to post by Andrew E. Wiggin


I suppose you think that America needs to apologize for slavery to? Why? I never owned any slaves and im not sorry for what I did not do. Or maybe you owned slaves and you need to apologize? Another thing, it really angers me anytime an african-american sees a noose and gets angered about it and cries racism when really it has little to do with blacks. Do a little research and you will find that many indians were hung back in the day and the largest hanging in the history of the United States of America occured in Mankato MN when I believe 31 were hung at once. Do you hear them crying about it in the MSM?NO. Anything like that today only applies to the "black community." What a joke.

reply to post by bakednutz


I suppose you're digging a little too deeply. Never did i say that people of today have to apologize for things of yesterday - i challenge you to find one sentence that utters that

in fact, i could attest that i've said many times we DONT have to apologize for yesterday, but you wouldnt wanna hear about that - because it'd prove you wrong


Racism exists rather you like it or not. Its used to control people. You pit white people against black people, and the whties will side with the whites, regardless of political structure.

wel,l that is 'changing' with this election

im white
i support obama


I guess you better run off and invent a new term to apply to whtie people that means "uncle tom" huh? :shk:

I get ridiculed because i support him.
Im whtie
I dont feel guilty
Im not a liberal
and im sorry that i make you feel threatened

trust me, nobody wants to kill "whitey" so if thats your worry and the reason you wont vote for obama

trust me, you can rest peacefully.

reply to post by Andrew E. Wiggin


Thats fine. Im glad to see that you support obama. I really do not care and have no problem with the color of his skin or yours. But I do get sick of all of the racist threads that pop up on ATS. It exists, you know it, I know it, it will forever and that is the end of the story.

EDIT
Do you get ridiculed becuase you support him and your white or because of you political beliefs?

[edit on 6-7-2008 by bakednutz]

reply to post by Andrew E. Wiggin

I wont voe for Obama because regardless of his color, which you seem to make so much of, he has done virtually nothing for the state he has represented...quit making this a race issue! If you want to cast your vote that way...Great!, more power to you (honestly), but knock it off with the implied racism.

And I also believe that since McCain was slow off the mark to play the race card (still has not), Obama went on and got it out there, it's called peremptive.

and before you call me a troll for disagreeing, I won't vote for McCain either...

reply to post by deadbang


I never made it a race issue

others did, against Obama.

Oh, and by the way, i live in illinois and have my entire life

Obama has done things for the state he represented....how would you know? Do you live here?

Yeah as a matter of fact I lived there for 10 years, I currently reside in New Zealand, but I still claim Illinois as my state of residence..
(Bolingbrook, IL)

so yeah I know...LOL

[edit on 7-7-2008 by deadbang]

apologies, dbl post somehow.

[edit on 7-7-2008 by deadbang]

reply to post by deadbang


Oh, ok, good for you I've always watned to move abroad.

So, new person on my friend list, since you lived here, surely you can attest that Obama has done A LOT for underprivileged people of the great land of Lincoln?

I mean, one look at his voting record will surely attest to that. (you...have....seen it?)

reply to post by Andrew E. Wiggin


It's 530pm Monday the 7th, here in NZ, and as such I need to leave the office an go pick up my wife...I will be more than happy to discuss Obamas lack of voting record with you tomorrow...same bat time?

reply to post by deadbang


Same bat station


....erm.....thread...?


see ya then

Originally posted by Andrew E. Wiggin
My heart aches to see that you perceive things this way

Just as my heart aches at the blind naivety of my generation.

Originally posted by Andrew E. Wiggin
Every time a person of color (any color) gets anywhere - there will always be certain people ( :shk: ) who do their best to keep them down.

"Certain people"? Would these people be white by any chance?

And I'll tell you why select "people of colour" - in the last 5 years at least - whine that "they've been kept down by Whitey":
It's called self-aggrandising.
No-one wants to hear about the 'minority' (for now) person that dragged him/herself out of poverty on her own merits - they want to hear about how his/her parents, and now him/herself, have been shafted by Whitey for the greater part of their lives, and only through a very lucky break - and skill on their part - are they now something.

Originally posted by Andrew E. Wiggin
There are "black" racists just as much as there are "white" racists

As night follows day.

Originally posted by Andrew E. Wiggin
Racism will never go away until society has a shift towards intellectualism.
Currently - society is geared on entertainment....hence why the MSM creates story after story, so people will hit the internet and scream "OBAMA IS RACIST!!!!" because its entertaining to them.....

I dislike Big Media too, but do you remember the infamous Jena Six case? How Big Media twisted a group of black thugs who beat up a white person completely unrelated to a noose-hanging into living martyrs, persecuted by the mean ol' white prosecutor?

Also, I'd like to hear what your definition of "racism" is.

Originally posted by Andrew E. Wiggin
But the good news is that it seems intellectualism is starting to appear in main stream society....entities like ATS are a haven for those who wish to express ideals that would normally go against the grain, in order to offer explanations for things that normally can't get discussed in the "real world" because people will laugh, mock, and ridicule.

Originally posted by Sestias
Obama's candidacy has opened up the opportunity for America to have a real, mature discussion of race, a discussion that hasn't been possible before. I'm not sure it's possible now, but I'd like to see it happen.

In my experience, a "discussion on race" is translation for a handful of arrogant "persons of colour", and self-hating whites, lecturing "persons of no colour" about why they should do more for the aforementioned "persons of colour".

Originally posted by Andrew E. Wiggin
"obama pulls the race card" because Karl Rove and Ralph Nader talk about his race

No, he "played the race card" because he wanted Republicans to use his race as a negative - and was disappointed that didn't happen.

But hey - keep believing your Messiah will magically solve the "problems of race" in the U.S.

Acutally - they struck first

he's just defending.

Sorry you hate him for his skin color, i truely am. But since you so strikingly make it an issue, this is the only conclusion i can draw.

There is racism in politics of todays' America. You are blind and ignorant of current events if you cannot see that

Originally posted by Andrew E. Wiggin


I never made it a race issue

others did, against Obama.

When?
Because as far as I can see, the ONLY person brigning up Obamas race, IS OBAMA.

So please point me to one person who has "used Obama's race against him"
Just one.
Or are you simply another unthinking disciple of the Obamessiah?

I am making a personal decision not to read or reply to 'Is obama the antichrist'.
It is fruitless, demeaning, and just plain nuts.
Nor will I respond to McCrazy threads.
Vote with your heart.
It's all we have.