Frank Schaeffer has had enough of claims that America is now in a "post-racial" era; if that's true, he asks, why does so much of the opposition to Obama's actions seem to have a nasty undertone?
Schaeffer is the author of Crazy for God and Patience with God and grew up in the Religious Right.
I totally agree with Mr. Schaeffer and in fact I have said from the beginning that the underlying reason the Republicans have gone after President Obama with the intent to destroy all his efforts has been that they do not want a person of African-American descent in the white house. I do not believe they would have gone after Hillary Clinton quite as viciously. I think President Obama needs to pull the race issue out into the open and not be afraid of being accused of “playing the race card.” I also think he should forget about bipartisanship because you cannot work with people who stab you in the back every time you turn around. He is a very smart and educated man but I think he has to “get it” that these people will not walk with him on anything, no matter what, and he must forge ahead without looking for their support. It will never come.
By Celeste Leibowitz on March 1st, 2010 at 11:10 am
This has been my opinion since the election. i was hopeful after the election that we might have put this issue behind us, as before the election among many acquaintances it ws a hot topic. As you indicated we haven’t seen this kind of raw bigotry on a daily basis in a long time. I sincerely believe that many are acting becaause they do not want a black man in the white house, and are making no bones about it. I can’t remember how many people told me he was not a citizen, or that he was not a christian. No one in Congress seems capable of standing up and being counted on this or any other issue.
By bobbyk37 on March 1st, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Pure speculation, but if you’re right . . . this ‘racism’ is what got Pres. Obama elected in the first place. Racism is something that was never taken on by the ‘Church’ in the US, as it was taken on in the UK and other commonwealth nations. Rather, the US ventured racism for political, military and capital gain. Sadly, this why we socialized planned parenthood–to keep ‘undesirables’ to there proper limited usefulness.
So back to Pres. Obama. What’s his purpose for being elected to the US Presidency. In my humble opinion, the evil of racism is so ingrained in western US society, that I think he was elected for failure. I think if his plans do fail, due to opposition by those with racist intentions, it will only make those racist ideologies stronger. We are at such a pinnacle point in our government and economy, that if it collapses completely the US majority will have a scapegoat.
I am not saying that there are no supporters, or opposers, of Pres. Obama on legitimate grounds and legitimate reasons, but racism is very weaved into our society.
By Matt | o2h2d2 on March 6th, 2010 at 5:52 pm
Hi Laura- I catch your show all the time & loved meeting you at last Media Reform Conf.
I disagree with this thinking. I think there is a race dynamic spun into play TO the Right Wing BY the Corporate elite, but this is all smoke. Follow the money. Where Obama fails, it helps the elite. Where Obama succeeds, it helps the elite. He’s Bill Clinton all over again. The majority of conservatives have given this race thing enough thought to know there is no point to it.
There is certainly no Christian virtue in racism-only the opposite. They have no respect for our puppet government and don’t care who is President. It is their silence about that fact that allows the lower end of the intellectual curve to reveal their ignorance.
By Tom LArsen on March 7th, 2010 at 7:17 pm