By RYANE MCAULIFFE STRAUS First published in print: Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Today, tens of millions of Americans will celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama. Hundreds of thousands will see it as an important symbol in our move forward toward a post-racial society. A few will even claim it signifies that racism has finally died in America.
I am not one of those few, and I caution my fellow citizens to be wary of these claims.
Certainly, overt racism has declined. It is rare to find lynch mobs, few people make blatantly racist claims in public, and a black man has been elected president.
Doesn't this prove that racism is finally dead?
No, it does not. Today's racism is simply a different type of racism than what we experienced in the past. Earlier versions of racism were visible. Today's racism, while less violent, is harder to see.
Today's racism is not the explicit, in-your-face violence of yesteryear. We now have a kinder, gentler racism, a racism that is built into broad social and political institutions and structures.
Today's racism is built not on lynch mobs, but on segregated, underfunded urban schools. It is built on different access to health care and different life expectancies. It is built on poverty, employment, access to credit and housing conditions.
Lately, I find myself wishing for honest conversation – no matter how ugly it might get. I am referring to the “blow back” this country is experiencing for electing a black man as president. I had an inkling of this a few months ago, and while at the Kateri Peace Conference this past August I had the pleasure of spending the evening with one of the keynote speakers, Bruce R. Hare, emeritus professor from Syracuse University and currently an adjunct professor of social sciences at Onondaga Community College. At the conference he spoke on cultural pluralism and economic justice and discussed the giant step America has taken toward becoming a post-racial "deracialized" society with the election of President Obama. I asked Hare if what I was seeing, the virulent and vituperative attacks on the president, were another form of racism. He assured me that they were and that while it was a milestone for America to have elected an African-American as president, there were a whole lot of people angry over that fact in this country. Saturday morning I went to the “Congress on the Corner” in Clifton Park with Scott Murphy. The main issue that drew people there was the health coverage. By and large, both sides were well behaved, with each side asking their respective shouters and hecklers to be quite and explaining that people were trying to listen and speak. I explained to a shouter from the pro-health insurance faction that this was not a time to interrupt, but to listen. He argued with me about free speech and making our position on the issue known. I explained that there are times to listen and there are times to interrupt and this was not one of them. I told him that I have been hauled out of the United States Senate in handcuffs for interrupting their business (giving me a credibility factor with him). That's the place to interrupt – not where the citizenry is trying to get information and exchange ideas. There were some folks there carrying signs about loss of liberty, treason, the trashing of our constitution and the huge deficit among other issues. I thought to myself, now you're worried about the deficit? I was worried about the deficit when it was unpatriotic, when Bush took a surplus, blew it and began the deficit we now have. And where were these angry people when Americans were being spied on? And when the Supreme Court (that “liberal” bastion) declared that Bush had violated our constitution? Now, now they're upset? I was sorely tempted to say to them, “Why don't you just call the president a ______________, and get it over with? At least that's honest.” One woman was tacking up posters and handing out fliers for “The Great Awakening," a rally being held in Troy that purports to address the Federal Reserve (think any of them have read “The Confessions of an Economic Hit Man”?), War manipulation (think any of them have seen the documentary “Why We Fight"?), debt, socialized heath care, bailouts, treason, “The Lies” (from which administration? Think they'll cover the lies Bush told us to start the Iraq war?). Frankly it looks to me to be “The LATE Awakening." Asleep at the wheel? – these clowns aren't even in the car! I went up to the woman and said, “I'm probably going to get into trouble by saying this. I am a Quaker and where were you guys when the government was infiltrating our groups and spying on us? Where were you guys when the government was spying on American citizens like me?” “That's sad,” was all she replied. No lady, sad is when my dog gets run over. Outrageous is when you can watch our constitution get trashed for eight years, watch a president mire the country in debt, let him lie to get us into a war that has killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of people and not get angry until a black man gets elected...............>>>>.................>>>>.......................http://www.dailygazette.com/weblogs/letendre/2009/sep/11/racism-alive-and-well-too-well/
I remember that there was an awful lot of opposition to Bush's TARP bill as well as his stand on the illegal immigration issue when he was pushing for amnesty for illegals. I for one was not thrilled with the loss of freedoms during the Bush years but at the time it seemed like something that had to be done to protect the country. The Obama administration is like the Carter administration on steroids with their push to force us into a socialistic form of government that the majority of the country doesn't want.
A tale of two Washingtons. When the “tax revolt” people gathered in D.C., the media — when it bothered to report — accentuated the negative. Most observers gave the number of people attending in six digits; the media was not even close. All sorts of racism spins were put on the marchers. In truth, the crowd was orderly, well-spoken and respectful. The president of all Americans hardly acknowledged the tax protesters. Actually the protest was more about the excess of government than just taxes, but taxes are how the government gets to do what it does. When the gay people protested in Washington, the president was most interested. He promised to get rid of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Homosexuality will not be an issue if you are in the military. Whatever your feelings on “gay rights,” you have to admit the president was more interested in a single group, a vocal minority, than a group representing issues that affect us all. President Obama is not president of all Americans, just the special interests that serve his ends. The tyranny of the minority has begun. Shame on you, Mr. President.
I remember that there was an awful lot of opposition to Bush's TARP bill as well as his stand on the illegal immigration issue when he was pushing for amnesty for illegals. I for one was not thrilled with the loss of freedoms during the Bush years but at the time it seemed like something that had to be done to protect the country. The Obama administration is like the Carter administration on steroids with their push to force us into a socialistic form of government that the majority of the country doesn't want.
Re: The question about racism. The government is perpetuating racism every day through affirmative action quotas and other programs designed to punish those who are not in the "protected politically correct classes" The Nobel Committee actually engaged in a form of affirmative action as well when they handed the new president a prize based partly on his color. Had he been another white liberal like Kerry, he never would have gotten that award.
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
Racism, Ageism, Class-ism, Click-ism, and all the other nasty "ism"s are all part of society. They will always be here.. We will never look past race until we are all the same race. All races have their racists.. it's life.. it sucks.. but it's life...
Edit: fixed grammar.
I don't spell check! Sorry... If you include "No offense" in a statement, chances are, your statement is offensive.
Re: The question about racism. The government is perpetuating racism every day through affirmative action quotas and other programs designed to punish those who are not in the "protected politically correct classes" The Nobel Committee actually engaged in a form of affirmative action as well when they handed the new president a prize based partly on his color. Had he been another white liberal like Kerry, he never would have gotten that award.
Well you would love the environment I work in--the fast and the smart- eat the slow and stupid - no affirmative action-
In human terms that would be the smart, talented and ambitious get ahead - -
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