It is not often that I turn the reins of this blog over to someone else, but Tobin has defined so well an issue I will let his words speak for me today.
“Let
me just be candid: My party is full of racists. And the real reason a
considerable portion of my party wants President Obama out of the White
House has nothing to do with the content of his character, nothing to do
with his competence as commander in chief and president, and everything
to do with the color of his skin. And that’s despicable.” - Republican,
Col. Lawrence Wilkerson.
_______________________
There is without doubt an underlying or latent level of racism involved in this election. A significant portion of the white electorate will believe and do anything to justify not voting for a black man. They'll even go so far as to rationalize belief in crazy conspiracy theories like birtherism or Obama being a secret Muslim. Sure, the portion of white America says they're not "prejudiced" and admit blacks deserve the same rights as whites, but in the recesses of their character, they do not want a black family next door or a black man elected president. If even 10% of the electorate thinks like this, it creates a significant obstacle the honest and egalitarian portion of the electorate must overcome in an election. Fortunately this latently racist portion of the US electorate is on the decline demographically. They are dying off, replaced by young white Americans who do not accept the old sins of racism, sexism or homophobia. The extremism of todays GOP is a case of "running scared" and reflects the desperate convulsions of an old and out touch view of the US society. I just hope the convulsions of this dying minority doesn't create too much damage in the process and leave us a weakened and divided society, instead of a stronger one. Toby Threadgill
_______________________
There is without doubt an underlying or latent level of racism involved in this election. A significant portion of the white electorate will believe and do anything to justify not voting for a black man. They'll even go so far as to rationalize belief in crazy conspiracy theories like birtherism or Obama being a secret Muslim. Sure, the portion of white America says they're not "prejudiced" and admit blacks deserve the same rights as whites, but in the recesses of their character, they do not want a black family next door or a black man elected president. If even 10% of the electorate thinks like this, it creates a significant obstacle the honest and egalitarian portion of the electorate must overcome in an election. Fortunately this latently racist portion of the US electorate is on the decline demographically. They are dying off, replaced by young white Americans who do not accept the old sins of racism, sexism or homophobia. The extremism of todays GOP is a case of "running scared" and reflects the desperate convulsions of an old and out touch view of the US society. I just hope the convulsions of this dying minority doesn't create too much damage in the process and leave us a weakened and divided society, instead of a stronger one. Toby Threadgill
No comments:
Post a Comment