My question is, why is Obama blamed when the "mainstream" media bring up race? It's not his fault. Also, there's nothing wrong with bringing up race, which is central to American history and life, but why won't the media really address the real problem, which isn't race, but racism? Why won't Hillary Clinton, whose first election to the Senate from New York depended heavily upon black voters (who voted for her overwhelmingly, allowing her to rack up huge vote margins in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Westchester County, Nassau, Buffalo, Albany, Troy, etc.), and whose husband would not have been president without black voters (he absolutely needed black voters to win states like Georgia, that were split between Perot and Bush I), have the decency to say to her supporters, look, racism is wrong, and if I don't get the nomination (which she won't), you should work through whatever racist feelings and fears you have, and vote for my fellow Democrat? Instead, she is propagating racism with her stances, which today included the outrageous analogy of her position to the opposition in Zimbabwe!

Yes, some racism factors into white voters not voting for Obama. Some white voters won't vote for him for other reasons. Some won't vote for him for those other reasons coupled with racism. Right now he is tied with Hillary among white voters in a number of states, and is ahead of her in almost every category of white voters in California, for example, except for older white women. But there areSo the issue is not "white" people or "white" voters per se, but certain voters in certain states who will not vote for him not the issue of politics or policies, but because of his perceived race (and let's not forget, the man's mother was white).

Far more problematic to me is this very dangerous and subterranean racist and anti-Semitic game some people--neocons, people affiliated with the right wing, etc.--are playing to keep promoting the idea that Obama is a Muslim. The newest version appears in The Christian Science Monitor. A few weeks ago a strangely similar, very sleazy op ed piece, which talked a lot about assassination, appeared in the New York Times. As a result, all sorts of right-wing sites and general news sites, blogs, etc. picked up these articles, and if you look at the comments sections, there are a number of people who're absolutely convinced that the arguments are factual and true. The Times did at least publish letters by Muslim scholars and Muslims themselves that debunked the very premise of Luttwak's, and now Burki(-Liebl?)'s commentaries. You cannot inherit being a Muslim. You must profess it and be aware of your profession. Obama's father left that faith before Obama was born, and Obama was not raised as a Muslim, nor has he ever avowed that faith. Yet these articles keep cropping up.

The logic appears to be that if they're repeated enough times, it will stick in people's heads. Where have we seen that operate (successfully) before?

I don’t think we’ll ever see racism as a national issue again, not that it’s resolved, it just won’t be discussed on a National level.

Both campaigns were running in a new America, a country where a black man or a female would be the next President of the United States, a historical time in our nation. Even when Obama addressed race, he addressed it as an issue of his grandmother and prior generations. The America of today offered the opportunity for a black man to become the next President. If she brought up race, even to say that she doesn’t want the racist votes, she would have been criticized for bringing up issues of the past. Or, she would have been criticized as, what she really is saying is don’t forget my opponent is a black man, wink-wink.

Racism is just going to have to fade out generation to generation, that’s the proposed course that’s been endorsed by this nomination campaign. The new minority are the poor, no matter what the race or gender.

On the Muslim topic, I was at the gym before the Delaware Primary and overheard two teachers (assume middle school) discussing the Primary. Female teacher stated she couldn’t vote for Obama because he was a Muslim. Male teacher responded, back in 1960 the country couldn’t vote for Kennedy because he was Catholic. Nice response but still two college educated people, ready to vote, and comfortable with their choice and knowledge of the candidate.

Well knock me over with a feather.

I had no idea race played a part in this election. After all these months of reading posts by black racists on this site, I still didn't realize it was an issue.
But now that Obama has opened up this hornets nest. I do see where some might consider this THE most important issue.

Personally, I don't like any of the potential candidates.
My presidential vote goes to Indiana Jones.

But I just watched on CNN where a tornado swept away a pig farm in northen Oklahoma. So appearantly pigs do fly. Telling me that anything can happen. Should be an exciting six months.

Is this another one of those comments that you're "playing devil's advocate" on and don't really mean?

Actually the pigs didn't fly anywhere. All of them were safe; the sheds...not so much.

Now that an Obama presidency looks more like a possibility, it is racism from other sources than within the USA that may affect both his candidacy and potential presidency.

Witness this editorial in an online Phillipine newsletter. The writer is broadminded but his friends and compatriots may reflect a more widespread view in the Phillipine islands and much of the population of the world.

Public pronouncements to the contrary, prejudices (both positive and negative) about African-Americans may be transferred to Obama.

We may already see that in the assumptions in the Muslim world that he may be more knowledgeable about Islam and more considerate of their political views simply because he spent early childhood in a Muslim country, and looks like the majority of them.

Hispanic political figures may also make assumptions that will prove not to be true.

Certainly average "hard-working Americans - white Americans" have made such assumptions.

Obama has a difficult course ahead. But I think he has been battle-tested by the recent Democratic primary.

So the Phillipinos have experience with black GIs, eh? And from that they have come to a conclusion about black Americans.

I'm afraid they have Barack Obama confused with someone from a different social class.

There's one component that those overseas are forgetting. If Obama wins, he'll be President of the United States, not some random black guy who isn't a head of state, doesn't have a battalion of secret service agents, doesn't have the firepower of the US arsenal at his finger tips, and who doesn't represent 300 million people. The circles that any POTUS travels in know this. How else would you explain the civil treatment the current president gets when he gaffs his way through foreign capitals?

On sale at the Texas State GOP convention:

Wow that is really ignorant. Thats like when that Fuzzy bum remarked about Tiger Woods having fried chicken and collard greens after winning The Masters. Ignorance at its best. I would have expected that at some independent right wing gathering but the Texas State GOP convention?? Then again, it is the Repugs we are talkign about so why should I be surprised at all? Thats still tame though to what is already out there and what will come. I think its pretty despicable them going after Michelle Obama the way they are. No other potential first lady has been under as much scrutiny as Michelle Obama. That Fox News tag referring to her as a "Baby Mama" was so low class. I hope they are keeping their 2 young daughters shielded from the foolishness of this part of the campaign as much as they can.

And then of course there is this:



A company in Utah has canceled its plans to sell a Barack Obama "sock monkey" doll after critics called the portrayal "racist." The Sock Obama doll was reportedly created by David and Elizabeth Lawson of West Jordan, Utah, as a way for citizens to show their support for various candidates. But the Lawsons said they were shocked by the anger and tone of the negative emails they received about their product.

TheSockObama Company initially blamed critics, who they said had "chosen to misinterpret our plush toy. It is not, nor has it ever been, our objective to hurt, dismay or anger anyone," the company said.

Acknowledging their own naiveté, the company said "we don't think in terms of myths, fables, fairy tales and folklore."

But civil rights leaders and others were offended by the product. Jeanetta Williams, president of a local Utah chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, called the toy ''pure racism at its extreme.''

Under pressure, the Utah company pulled the toy from production and issued an apology on its web site. "We are very apologetic to all who were upset by our toy idea," the company said in its apology. "We will not be proceeding with the manufacturing of this toy."

The Utah company had contracted with Binkley Toys, a custom-toy manufacturer, to mass produce the doll, but the toy company itself was apparently caught off guard by the furor and did not realize the doll might cause offense. Company owner Rob Bishop said "my company is not just about 'dollars' and Binkley Toys Inc. prides itself on its social responsibility."
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Now this is just good old fashioned ignorance! A monkey?!! How on earth could you think that a monkey was going to possibly fly when its supposed to be a representation of a man of color? I mean do people not research things before it makes it to final approval? Obviously not. Many acts of prejudice and racism are a simple reflection of people's ignorance so it does not surprise me AT ALL that they were "shocked" and "caught off guard" by the negative reaction toward it.

The line is so thin here, it's invisible. You should read up on their platform planks (and the ones that didn't make it).

OH MY GOD....so funny. I was telling my boyfriend the same thing and what I had written about it and he said "is there a difference between an independent right wing gathering and the Texas State GOP"? I was thinking more along the lines of one of those RADICAL independent right wing gathe.....ummm nevermind....I guess I'll get the same response.

Is this supposed to be funny? FUNNY? Or is it a cruel joke?

Aside from being the epitome of bad taste, it is utterly fraught with racism.

"Crude, vulgar, and unrefined!", as my Aunt Ginny used to say.

TRL

TRL, It's for real and was reported in the major TX newspapers (at least their blogs). I think it was supposed to be funny because they hijacked it from an Internet email "joke" that I saw about the same time the "Obama is a Muslim" emails were received from my GOP friends/family. Which begs the question as to why they send me this crap knowing I disagree and I don't send them shit about politics AT ALL unless I'm refuting the untruths they send to me first.

Thats absolutely disgusting, and quite the coincidence, as this afternoon on "Hardball" Matthews showed a car commercial out of Dallas that had a guy who was supposed to have looked like Barack selling automobiles, and using the "yes we can" phrase.....it was so bad and so cheesy, I am sure the GOP approved it.

it's FILIPINOS, not PHILLIPINOS

and when one has limited contact with a racial group, one tends to characterize all members of that group based on the limited contact

Wow, theodoresdaddy, you hit the nail on the head, on so many different levels. The absolute same can be said about nearly every single American. Although, the wisdom of your comment is not limited to racial groups....also, religious groups, sexual preference groups, financial groups, even sports groups...think NASCAR.

If you think what you have seen so far is offensive, you haven't seen anything yet. Just wait until the gloves come off to see the real ugly that exists in this nation. I just hope this nation is not torn asunder before the general elections in November.

An interesting ABC/Washington Post poll on attitudes toward race.

I suspect the phrasing of the questions make the answers appear more alarming than they might have been otherwise, but overall I actually find the results saddening.

Hey Sport, I could net get the link to open with results. It just stalls out on me. But if that is the same poll results thay George Stephanopolous used on " This Week" today, it was revealing. As I recall it came across that Dems overall placed FAR less importance on race and racial views overall than did their GOP counterparts....translating to mean race was not the same big deal it appeared to be, to Dems, as it was to more GOP voters overall.....

Perhaps because it's a direct link, or a .pdf file. Or it may just take a while to open.

Here's a link to an article about the poll, though it doesn't give details like all the actual questions and the specific percentages of answers to each question.

Sorry I don't have another link to the original poll. But it may be printed somewhere since it is supposedly "embargoed" from release, as it says at the top of the first page, until June 22, 2008 which is today. Basically what it says is that over 30% of Americans are just not comfortable with someone being able to dance, shoot a jump shot AND be president of the United States. It just doesn't seem fair to the rest of us mere humans. And on top of that he has a nice round butt. What could be more unfair?

I bet you didn't know this: "Obama loves America like O.J. loved Nicole." A local GOP website was happy to inform you of this, though.

This is even better: McCain ad compares Obama to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton

Wayans brothers eat your hearts out. Obama alone is two shallow White Chicks at the same time.

I figured I'd put this new controversy in this post topic. What the f*ck was Ludacris thinking with that new song calling Hillary a bitch, saying we're going to paint the White House black, and saying some mess about John McCain and paralyzed??!!! WHY?!!! Now if some white person had wrote a song like that about Obama there would be screams of racism. Why Ludacris? It just makes no sense. Reverands, rappers, and anyone else without home training please shut the f*ck up until after November. And even then Ludacris' comments wouldn't be any more acceptable. Just absurd!!!

Obama dancing on Ellen has become a YouTube hit. How can McCain compete with:

Obama Dance - sudanese music

or

Crank Dat Obama?

Race became an issue the first time he wiggled his hips on national television. No way to put that genie back in the bottle. So he might as well claim it and move on.

Edit to add:Well like the Terminator it's baaack!

Jimmy Carter's take on "You Lie!"-gate

But since he has already been disqualified in the eyes of many on the right for using the term "apartheid" to describe the treatment of the Palestinians I don't think he will have an impact on this silly season.

The cry of anti-semitism was all they needed. I expect no less idiocy to meet with these sensible statements.