Over the last few months, I’ve noticed how race has been rearing its head in the presidential campaign. The race card is being played, but it’s not by Republicans.
What has been fascinating is that the people who are playing the card are Obama supporters and the media. On more than one occasion people have asserted that something that has been said or shown by a Republican has been racist. On other occasions, it has been said that if Obama loses the election, the only reason will be because of racism.
It would be foolish in the extreme to say that race won’t play a factor in the upcoming presidential elections. There will be some who won’t vote for Obama because he is black. That is sad and also sickening, but that’s a fact. My problem with some of the accusations is that there is this assumption of racism for every criticsm of Obama. The latest op-ed piece by the Associated Press is the latest example. The writer believes that Sarah Palin’s charge of the Illinois Senator having terrorist pals carries a racist tinge.
Here’s the reasoning:
Palin’s words avoid repulsing voters with overt racism. But is there another subtext for creating the false image of a black presidential nominee “palling around” with terrorists while assuring a predominantly white audience that he doesn’t see their America?
In a post-Sept. 11 America, terrorists are envisioned as dark-skinned radical Muslims, not the homegrown anarchists of Ayers’ day 40 years ago. With Obama a relative unknown when he began his campaign, the Internet hummed with false e-mails about ties to radical Islam of a foreign-born candidate.
Whether intended or not by the McCain campaign, portraying Obama as “not like us” is another potential appeal to racism. It suggests that the Hawaiian-born Christian is, at heart, un-American.
Now, I have never understood the whole “Obama is a Muslim” smear. (Why do I care if he was a Muslim?) That said, the writer basically takes this charge and creates a whole story out of it. Terrorists are thought of dark-skinned. Obama is dark-skinned. Terrorists are Muslims and Obama could be a secret Muslim and Muslims are terrorists. Obama was born in Hawaii, which is a strange place, which makes him a foreigner, who are scary people, who could Muslims who are all terrorists.
Palin could simply be saying, however crudely, that Obama has chosen some bad friends. That might be throwing mud, but that doesn’t make it racist.
I’m not saying that politicians haven’t talked in code about race. But I think one would have to do a lot of twisting of logic to believe that what Palin said was racist.
Listen, I’m an African American and I’ve been subjected to some racist taunts. I’ve had people call me the “N-word” and not in that “I’m hanging with my peeps” sort of way.
This whole thing of crying racism when anyone says anything critical of Obama is dangerous. What happens if, as it is looking likely, that he gets elected? He will have to deal with some very harsh criticism then. Will people people cry “racism” then? Is this going to be way to deflect any serious concerns about governing?
Racism is still alive and well, unfortunately. But diversity is on the march and winning. The fact that Obama has a serious chance of winning the highest office in the land proves that.
But Mr. Obama and his supporters (and the media as well) need to get a grip. Not every charge against them is racist. There are not white hoods under every rock. The road to equality means also being able to accept criticism as a person and use the race card all the times.
In the end, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and sometimes criticism is just criticism.