Racism, strangely enough, knows almost no boundries. It hits the rich and poor, the ignorant and the people who really should know better given their educational advantages, the red states and the blue ones.
Yet I think we’re naive if we can easily say racism isn’t a “big issue” in America anymore when you noticed there were not too many white faces in the crowds stuck in downtown New Orleans in Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath, that much of the housing for the poorest of NOLA’s huge blue collar class disappeared only to be resurrected as property far more expensive than any of these people will afford in their lifetimes. It’s naive, too, when you see how Barack Obama can be hit endlessly for a tiny spattering of comments by his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, when the media does not hold John McCain accountable for actively seeking NOW the support of the most extreme of the right wing Christian fascists like the late and never great Rev. Jerry Falwell and the unfortunately still alive Rev. Hager.
So I’m not surprised to read from Ricky’s post that Obama is encountering a lot of racial hatred on the campaign trail. Hillary’s gotten it as a woman, too. Not surprised, but still very, very saddened by it. [However, I’m also encouraged by the great number of non-Dem types around Vermont who’ve driven their little kids long distances to get a glimpse of Barack, more often, but also with Hillary. They know this is a potent moment, and they want their children to remember it in a way that gives me hope.]
Most of the time, however, I truly believe the RNC is driving the loudest of the campaigns to get Hillary to bow out of the Democratic race for nominee just so they can begin to go after Obama far more personally, in ways that will be more aggressively about race and religion and perspective than many Americans will feel comfortable in having lobbed. I think this could end up hurting the RNC far more than helping, much like they lost their Hispanic voter bounce by their rabid anti-immigrant agenda (as if America was not a country made up mostly of immigrants). But, tragically, many of the RNC’s kind of people will like to hear the lynching and towelhead madrassah jokes, remarks like how the last thing America needs is a menopausal cheated-on woman, and some will no doubt by the “anti darky” t-shirts. And it’s this mentality we need to protect with our unwavering commitment to a White House free of Bush Republicans like McCain this November.
