In Arkansas, racism cuts against Obama (user search)
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  In Arkansas, racism cuts against Obama (search mode)
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Author Topic: In Arkansas, racism cuts against Obama  (Read 2406 times)
old timey villain
cope1989
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« on: May 26, 2012, 03:23:49 AM »
« edited: May 26, 2012, 03:29:50 AM by cope1989 »

I think I'm finally beginning to understand the concept of symbolic racism. I always sensed it, living in the south, but couldn't put my finger on it. I rarely hear people down here, or anywhere say, "I don't like Obama because he's black/ethnic." But other comments can draw someone to the same conclusion if you can read between the lines.

Here are some things I've heard

1) "Obama wasn't all that impressive to begin with- he got a leg up his entire life because of affirmative action"

-Umm, no.  Whether or not you think Obama is a good president, you can't deny that he's brilliant and ambitious. But the suggestion that he got where he is because of affirmative action implies that black people aren't able to compete with whites without special treatment. Pretty racist.

2) "Obama only won because the blacks voted for him. And they think we're racist??"

-I guess no one told them about Obama winning 44% of the white vote. This outlook undermines African American solidarity as a minority group, which southern whites will never understand, and reaffirms the racial voting patterns in the deep south which are a carry over from the days of segregation.

3) "He's spending too much money on entitlements and defunding social security and medicare!"

- I hear this one a lot from older white southerners. Never mind that this is basically an oxymoron. But in the south, and really across America, many believe that programs like food stamps and welfare are subsidized exclusively for black people, while medicare and social security are seen more as white entitlements. This is a way to imply that Obama is only looking out for black people. So basically, he's not one of us nor does he care about us.

4) "I don't care if he's black. But I don't think he's a true Christian and probably a closet Muslim."

-Hmm, I didn't think there was a process for Muslims to come out of the closet. But this is how many people reaffirm the "otherness" of Obama without mentioning his race and the subsequent criticism that might come along with it. White southerners, understandably, are very very sensitive about being called racist, despite some of us still holding racist views. Calling him a socialist/marxist/communist achieves the same effect of making him seem foreign.

5) "People need to stop making a big deal about Obama being black! Racism isn't a big deal anymore."

-I think many people who claim this sincerely believe they're being really progressive and should obviously receive a plaque from the NAACP . But to me it's one of the most racist statements. It totally ignores the gaps in income, education and social status that still exist between whites and minorities. I guess in their eyes, the simple fact that "whites only" water fountains don't exist anymore means racism and segregation are officially over. If only it were that easy! But they know that implementing more equality laws and programs would continue to chip away at the white establishment. So instead of standing firm on the basis of white privilege, which smacks of the Klan, many of us decide to cover our eyes and pretend that we're all equal and nothing more needs to be done.


I think ALL white people are guilty of these attitudes sometimes. But some of us are willing to admit that Racism still exists and Obama unfairly bears the brunt of white racial resentment. On the other hand, the modern Republican party picked up on these attitudes decades ago and went on to great success by peddling this brand of racism in the south.

I think that's one of the reasons I'm so vehemently opposed to the attitude of the southern GOP. It really doesn't have that much to do with pure policy to be honest. It's just that I can really easily see through the tactics they use to get votes. They're not explicitly racist but the way they stir up racial resentment among whites is just really upsetting to me. And then they can claim that racism has nothing to do with their agenda that includes immigration laws based on profiling, drug testing for welfare recipients, defunding of birth control programs that help a disproportionate amount of black women, while funneling more money and subsidies to white suburbs. We should be better than that by now but apparently we're not.
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