I am not a racist...

are we allowed to oppose Barack Obama and not be labeled racist?

Where I live, where I've always lived here in the upper Midwest of the United States it has always been a sea of white faces. Obviously that has changed quite a bit over the decades, but in 1980 at my suburban high school of the fifteen hundred students fourteen hundred and eighty three were white - and we all spoke English. I didn't know anything different, it was not right or wrong, that's just the way it was. The only racism I was exposed to on a daily basis was when I got home and listened to my father say derogatory things out loud.

Eventually I grew up and entered the real world. As the demographics changed in the inter-city where I worked and bought a home I interacted with people from all walks of life, every race, creed and persuasion. It never dawned on me to treat people differently just because they didn't look like me. Sure I had to shed the stereotypes as I went along, but we are all victims of stereotypical thinking at some point. I also never felt anything was "given" to me because I was white. Call it white privilege if you want, but I was oblivious if it ever really happened.

I could go into chapter and verse of how my children have grown up in a color blind way, that my daughter's maid of honor is a Korean woman and how I have a niece and a nephew that have married people of Indian (India) heritage, or that one my dearest friends at work is a delightful African American man. That in my immediate neighborhood there are hispanic, black, hmong and nordic denizens all around me. No need to go on and on.

My point here is not to say racism doesn't exist, that's imbecilic. My point is that I think it's absolutely remarkable how little the racist phenomenon intrudes into my daily view. That is, until Barack Obama came along. If you oppose Barack Obama on ideological or policy grounds it's because he's black. To that I say rubbish. Pure rubbish!

Personally, I think it's a lazy way to argue. Let not the facts get in the way, just toss the racist bomb. Early on when the opposition party declared that their number one mission was make sure President Obama failed, could it have been because of his policy declarations and not his half-black skin? You can say - and I'd agree - that's a lousy way to govern, but it isn't necessarily racism. Infer anything you like, but actions speak louder than words, what measurable way can be demonstrated that the opposition to the administration is racially motivated? Crickets...

When I read What Will It Take? by David Solway on PJMedia I was struck how in this blistering indictment of Barack Obama not once did word "black" appear. Neither did the words African American. The only mention of race was in this passage which only reiterates the entire point of my post:

I wondered why anyone would want to “fundamentally transform” a country which, for all its flaws, perched atop the pinnacle of success in comparison to any other country.

Everything Obama has done since then has only served to confirm what was originally a deep suspicion and soon grew to become a complete certainty. Dozens of meticulously researched books have been published to the same effect. And yet very few people seemed to be paying attention. No less disconcerting, those who argue that to criticize Obama is a sign of deep-dyed racism are, of course, relying on slander and misappropriation of language to protect their chosen standard bearer and his Marxist/progressivist/utopian project.

The last person to fundamentally transform this country was FDR during extraordinary times. Many still argue his New Deal reforms made the country better, others strongly disagree, but the country survived and indeed thrived. The things Obama wants for this country will make us weaker, poorer and divided. I challenge anyone to dispute that. Nothing in Obama's language, in his policies or even his outward persona indicates anything but a loathing for most of what America is. If that's a racist statement so be it.

I am not a racist.





Ugh