I rarely write about political topics on my blog, but when I heard former President Jimmy Carter speak about the undertones of racism in the opposition against President Obama I had to write about this. When I see avatars on Facebook of President Obama in white face, when I still receive emails that he is not a US citizen, when I see posters at tea parties portraying our President as a voodoo doctor, I can longer sit back quietly.
If the opposition, those that attend tea parties, those that go to town hall meetings to shout down people that are attempting to learn about Health Reform will take the time to denounce these blatant acts of racism, then maybe I’ll start to believe that you are fighting against policies and not against the President’s race.
Denounce the racism! It is that simple. I do remember Senator McCain not allowing any racist comments during his campaign against then Senator Obama. I know there were several local Republican committee leaders that did so too when mailings or emails went out with racist overtones. There may be others, but there needs to be more. If not, we will have more outbursts like Rep. Joe Wilson’s and more frightening events too.
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While I respect your right to your views I have to wholeheartedly disagree.
I also rescpect your opinion. I am sad that our leaders are behaving the way they are. I did vote for Obama, and I don’t feel there’s a lot of the true definition of “racism” going on, BUT I am so very concerned with our governments spending and some reported corruption (I’m sure on both sides) I hope that our leaders are not making mistakes that could irreversibly damage our children’s future. Just a worried mom.
Hey Connie – Great job in stepping out and saying something. Politics is a tricky and touchy-feeling topic and we all need to put our differences aside and do what is best not only for today but for tomorrow, regardless of race, party or history. The result like Bridgette said above is a worried mom knowing that the next generation (my generation) will be stuck paying for the mistakes of Boomers and Gen-X who couldn’t put aside differences to do what is right. I’m not saying I have the answers, I am saying let’s look at things objectively.
thank you for saying something. the health care issue is something that i’ve been speaking out about as well, because it just seems SO IMPORTANT.
when clinton was trying to push universal healthcare, the opposition was fierce, but it centered on the issues. the issues!
this time around, it seems to be against anything and everything without having any substance at all. everyone’s seen obama’s birth certificate. czars have been appointed since reagan. abortion is a contentious subject anytime it comes up, but it isn’t even part of this issue.
it didn’t seem racist to me at first, but the more i saw pictures of racist signs, the more i heard comments from right-wing cable commentators, the more it was clear to me that they may not always be as blatant as signs of witch doctors, but there’s a strong, strong undertone of racism in this whole debate. and that’s why it feels so much, much different than when clinton was pushing this same topic. it’s not about health care.
“i want my country back”–what does that mean? how was it never said so frequently and vehemently before obama was in office? i don’t remember hearing it at all before obama. and now it seems like there are scads of people harkening back to a time when white men were in power and they weren’t afraid. change seems so much more powerful than it ever did–because it’s change being proposed by someone with dark skin, someone *different*.
i shrugged off the idea of this discord being fueled mainly by racism for some time, but the more i’ve read and seen and thought about it, the more it really does seem like racism is a really powerful force behind all this. and it really, really scares me.
i really wish that we coudl look at this objectively and do what’s best for the people. political emotion seems to have consumed reason.
sorry for being long-winded and repetitive. it’s late at night.
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I try not to get involved in politics online. So I will simply say that I wish we could ALL just get along.
As simple as that.
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I never saw this statement made by Pres Carter but of course I heard about it. I thought it was interesting that he spoke out about the issue. I loved that people got out and demonstrated at the tea party, I think that is the great part of living in this country, but I too thought some participants could have shown a little more decency in their signs. Of course, I thought the same about signs displayed in people’s hatred of Pres Bush as well. I’m a hard core Republican, but I at least feel I’m decent enough to not step over the line, which I think has been happening. Of course, again, I felt people stepped way over the line in their opposition to Pres Bush so I think it goes both ways.
And I too see what Pres Carter is saying about racism in the South. After having spent quite a few years in Memphis, I was shocked, appalled and ashamed at the racism that still blatantly exists in their culture.
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I completely agree with what you say in this post. Time, as MLK said, to judge people on the ‘contents of their character’.
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Twitter: LindaOSki
says:
I’m afraid I’m going to have to disagree with you on this one, Connie. I don’t believe that there was any racism involved in Joe Wilson’s outburst and am hard pressed to figure out how the statement “You lie!” has anything at all to do with race.
The biggest problem I see is that if people continue to make it about race then it’s always going to be about race. Yes, it was impolite and certainly out of line for Senator Wilson to make that outburst in the middle of the President’s speech – common courtesy would should have dictated otherwise – but how that one comment can be considered racist is beyond me.
I’ve got to say that I am sick and tired of every dissent against the President being labeled as racist – most people just disagree with him because they don’t like the way he has been shoving the government down their throats or pushing through the things he wants – that has nothing to do with the color of his skin. Why was it okay for everyone to make fun of Bush and call him names and no one ever defended him? Now that we have our first African American President heaven forbid if you say something against him.
Yes, there are some people who have been making racist remarks and slurs against the President and they should be ashamed of themselves but I don’t believe that Senator Wilson was one of them. “You lie” can be applied to anyone and everyone regardless of race, religion, or sex and President Carter should know that.
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I’m glad you spoke up about this. I don’t see what racism has to do , if anything, about health care. It just seems like people are turning a deaf ear, to whatever the President says, but then they did that to Bush too. Perhaps there is just a total lack of respect for whoever runs this country. Where have our values gone? It would be nice if we could all get along and get back to basics!
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i think obama economic policy doesn’t work
Connie, great post. Good for you, taking a stand for what you believe in! President Carter is a pretty wise man, in my opinion, and he also has the benefit of long-term, insiders’ perspective when it comes to our country and how it’s been evolving. I know that racism is still everywhere in our country, not just in the South… whether people admit to it or not (but who would?). I think Senator Wilson’s blatant disrespect wasn’t only shocking (esp. coming from one of our nation’s “leaders”) — I think it was emblematic of much more hostility beneath the surface. It truly scares me and makes me ashamed.
Our country, and our leaders, need to heal, come together and work on the issues. Period.