Expedient racism
The racist label was once reserved for anyone who used superficial distinctions of race as leverage in negatively relating to groups or individuals. Today, thanks to Obama's post-racial regime, that unconscionable hatred has all but disappeared ... hasn't it?
Now that the dust from the woefully handled Shirley Shirrod farce is settling down, it is more apparent than ever that in the United States of 2010, there exists a heightened sense of racial tension that is both troubling and enigmatic. This might be particularly disquieting to many of the white Americans who assured an election victory for Obama.
It may be that they voted to assuage some inner personal guilt, participate in an event of national and historic importance, or in some way hoped Obama's election as America's first black president might foster a post-racial era on a national scale. Perhaps they were simply swayed by his charming rhetoric and rigidly-scripted message. For whatever reason, it must be distressing for erstwhile supporters to reflect upon just how much racial animosity has surfaced during the past 18 months.
Abandoned heritage, personal gain
While any disappointment felt by Obama supporters is understandable, there really should be none when measured against what was revealed prior to the election. In Dreams from my Father, Obama wrote of his conscious decision to defer from acknowledging his white heritage. He included passages that described a brooding bias against whites. Yet there was never any committed focus by state-run media, certainly nothing like the weeks of vilification Governor George Allen endured for a simple quip blown out of proportion by agenda-driven scribblers with a lynch mob fervor.
In 2007, America learned that Obama was a member of racist Jeremiah Wright's congregation, and had been for 20 years. Again, the story was never pursued by state-run media as it would have been if Obama represented a different political party. Of course, the recent Journolist disgrace has offered insight as to why.
As Dr. Thomas Sowell has opined regarding the post-racial myth, "There was absolutely nothing in Obama's past to lead to any such expectation, and much to suggest the exact opposite. But the man's rhetoric and demeanor during the election campaign enabled this and many other illusions to flourish. Which may explain why, coupled with Obama's self-admitted racial bias, there have been so many overt race-based incidents on his watch.
It certainly seems as though race is an issue the Obama regime can't avoid. This is especially driven home by the reality that Obama supporters have long regarded any criticism of him or his agenda as racism. A discernible race-based anxiety has settled over America during his tenure, much of it stemming from within the ranks of the Obama regime, Democrat Party, state-run media, and special-interest allies.
Disturbing record
This behavioral trend naturally begs a common-sense question: Are all of these race-based issues occurring randomly -- simply by chance -- or are they being tacitly groomed and carried out for some ulterior purpose?
In July of 2009, Obama placed himself in an embarrassing position for immediately assuming white racism before learning all of the facts. He alleged police had "acted stupidly" when a white officer (assisted by black officers) led in the arrest of Harvard University scholar Henry Louis Gates, who is black. There was no racism whatsoever.
Obama's Justice Department dismissed voter intimidation charges against the New Black Panther Party -- even after they were found guilty. This prompted criticism that a black president and a black Attorney General was unwilling to prosecute fellow blacks for civil rights violations. In the aftermath, JD whistle-blowers confirmed that the defendants' race was the determining factor for dismissal.
In 2009, Obama promoted a massive expansion in hate crimes enforcement. When asked by senators about instances where assaults against whites, Christians, or military members would qualify as hate crimes, Attorney General Holder responded that hate crimes legislation "would not necessarily cover that" and was designed to cover "protected groups, such as African-American, Hispanic, people who are Jewish, people who are gay, and have been targeted over the many years."
Throughout 2009 and into 2010, state-run media and the Democrat Party have relentlessly accused the Tea Party Movement of racism. In a much-publicized event, black members of the Democrat Congress falsely accused members of the Tea Party Movement of shouting racial epithets, brandishing racist signs, and other offenses. Of the dozens of media members, hundreds of video recorders, and thousands of spectators present, not one instance of racism could be verified.
Obama's Justice Department filed a claim against the town of Lake Park, Florida, forcing the town to change from electing commissioners from an at-large seat into gerrymandered districts where "black persons would constitute a majority of the citizen voting age population" with the explicit goal of promoting "black electoral success."
Obama, alleging racism and racial profiling, recently decided to sue Arizona over its controversial anti-illegal immigration law. This despite the fact that it is modeled after federal immigration law and approved by a racially-diverse majority of Americans.
This July, the NAACP and its president Benjamin Jealous accused the Tea Party Movement of tolerating bigotry and approved an appalling, baseless resolution condemning racism within the multi-racial organization.
Many more such incidents exemplify why it is a mistake to believe that there is anything post-racial about Obama. Is it possible that the 18-month barrage of race-based turmoil is merely unfortunate, "payback" to America, or a calculated effort to marginalize political enemies whilst deflecting criticism from the regime's statist agenda?
Symptom or strategy?
Excepting personal and social preferences, racism is morally, ethically, and spiritually abhorrent. Most Americans understand this and wholeheartedly agree in spirit and principle. Yet there remains a cadre amongst us which thrives upon and prospers from the divisiveness and hatred that overt racism or its mere allegation spawns.
Whether it emanates from La Raza, the NAACP, the Ku Klux Klan, the New Black Panther Party, Jeremiah Wright, David Dukes, Louis Farrakhan, Ward Churchill, or any other race monger, the aim is simply to garner political power, wealth, prestige, or discredit political adversaries at the expense of the accused.
Regardless of how it happened, the long-established strategy of employing racism as a partisan weapon is just as prevalent today as ever. Whether this is simply a naturally-occurring symptom of the nation's enduring obsession with race or manifested by calculated design is up to the reader to discern.
Hype and Chains for 102 more days.