It is hardly a secret that for the past four-and-a-half years Republicans have made it their overriding mission to obstruct the Obama Administration’s efforts to lift America out of the economic morass left by the Bush administration. There are various theories of why Republicans are willing to see the nation fail to portray the President as inept, but at some point the truth that their impetus is not so much foiling a Democratic President, but portraying an African American as incapable of leading the nation. It may be painful for many Americans to admit, but the real issue has its basis in the belief that white people are superior to people of color, and that white people should dominate non-whites. It is true the majority of Americans elected an African American man as President twice, but that does not mean there isn’t raging racism and white supremacy driving Republicans and their supporters to see the first Black President fail.
Just mentioning the word racism brings critics screaming that race has nothing to do with their hostility toward the President, but there is no other explanation that makes a shred of sense. It is a sad commentary for America, but despite electing an African America as President, many Americans still harbor deep-seated animus toward people of color. During the campaign for the presidency last year, not only did Willard Romney use a Ku Klux Klan slogan on the campaign trail, his running mate Paul Ryan said during a speech that President Obama “compromises those Judeo-Christian, western civilization values that made us such a great and exceptional nation in the first place.” The words “Judeo-Christian, western civilization values” are a not so subtle substitute for “white values” and it exposed Republican opposition to the President is based primarily on race; especially when they oppose the President when he embraces Republican ideas.
Last year the day after the President won re-election, students at Humboldt State University in California surveyed social media outlet Twitter and mapped out racist ‘tweets’ that confirmed what many already know, and it is that the deep South and Eastern half of the nation is sick with raging racism. However, the racism is not isolated to social media where racists can hide behind anonymity inherent in the Internet, it is openly apparent in the way African Americans are treated in general, but especially by law enforcement.
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Three days ago it was reported that two Miami police officers slammed a 14 year old African American child to the ground, and one officer choked him while his partner handcuffed the boy. Police admitted the youth was playing with his friends at the beach and feeding his puppy with a bottle. After the officers told the child his “behavior was unacceptable” they asked where his mother was and as he walked toward his mother the officers assaulted the boy injuring his puppy. A police spokesman defended the officers and said “of course we have to neutralize the threat in front of us;” especially because the child allegedly gave them “dehumanizing stares.” Police assaults against African American males are legend, and in 2012 police, security guards, and vigilantes killed a black man every 28 hours in America, but the race-based hate extends far beyond white people killing African Americans.
Last week in Virginia, a member of the Board of Supervisors and a school board member passed around “racially tinged” emails about First Lady Michelle Obama leading county, school, and NAACP leaders to call for their resignations. One of the Republicans refused to resign and the other said he is considering stepping down. The man who refuses to resign also made a remark that enraged the President of the local NAACP, Dottie Harris, for remarking during a budget meeting, “Save the Confederate money, the South will rise again.” Harris said the Republican’s remark was “a true example of the discrimination against African Americans that still exists today in Isle of Wight County,” but it is not an isolated case and informs the level of racism still poisoning this country; especially in conservative ranks.
Last year during the general election campaign Senator Lindsey Graham complained the “there aren’t enough angry white guys to sustain the GOP,” and Willard Romney’s campaign impugned the President claiming he “doesn’t understand America” shortly after his campaign surrogate, John Sununu, said “I wish this president would learn to be an American.” The most powerful Republican research organization in America, the Heritage Foundation, submitted a report arguing against immigration reform that was co-authored by a man who claimed African Americans and Hispanics suffered from low intelligence, and that “the average IQ of immigrants in the United States is substantially lower than that of the white native population.” That is white supremacy no matter how one reads it and it is a sentiment millions of white Americans consider valid.
In a report released yesterday by college Republicans, one of their allegations about the Republican Party was that they were “closed-minded, racist, and old fashioned,” and it is a fair appraisal that includes their supporters and explains their popularity in Southern states. There are Americans who have learned for generations that African Americans are inherently inferior to whites, and President Obama’s success belies their deep-seated belief and explains the sheer hatred many Americans have for the President. Regardless what this President does for this country, its economy, and its security, he will always be opposed by Republicans because in their vile racist minds, there is no way an African American will be allowed to be successful, particularly since he is tasked with cleaning up the “white guy’s” mess he inherited when he came into office.
President Obama is a white supremacist’s worst nightmare because despite Republicans’ best efforts, he has been extraordinarily successful at every juncture in saving this nation’s economy and reputation around the world. What this President’s success has done, unfortunately, is bringing to light the fact that conservative America is still plagued with racial bigotry that many Americans are certain is non-existent because there is an African American President. However, when conservatives charge that the President devastated the economy, eviscerated the Constitution, and destroyed America without a modicum of proof to back up their claims, they are racists. When this President proposes Republican ideas and they reject them out of hand, they are racists and suffer a genuine affliction that is white supremacy. There are many Americans that have deep hatred for the President they claim are based on his political ideology, but they do not hate his Centrist policies, they hate that he decimates white supremacist’s belief that “white people are superior to people of color.” Republicans will never say it out loud, but their real problem with Barack Obama is his race.
Audio engineer and instructor for SAE. Writes op/ed commentary supporting Secular Humanist causes, and exposing suppression of women, the poor, and minorities. An advocate for freedom of religion and particularly, freedom of NO religion.
Born in the South, raised in the Mid-West and California for a well-rounded view of America; it doesn’t look good.
Former minister, lifelong musician, Mahayana Zen-Buddhist.
