Rose Ella Morton  says:
2 months ago

Now this is the real stuff. Home-made racist, play on their own inter hate and fear of the black man.

William R. Wilson  says:
2 months ago

Tim Wise is awesome. And you are right. Many opponents of Obama are probably not racist. Many probably are - and many who are probably don't even realize it.

The talking heads, Beck and Savage and Limbaugh, are definitely throwing out the racism.

lisa.williams96@y  says:
2 months ago

I totally agree with telling the truth about blatant hatred against President Obama, my president, and I am proud of it ! Some people say "racism" is not a factor because President Obama won however race is an issue if people resort to name calling Hitler, socialist, non American, etc. We can all agree to disagree agreeably yet when we resort to petty name calling to one of the highest elected officials, Mr President, my prayers are with you.

Itswritten  says:
2 months ago

I agree with you, The fact of the matter is racist or not the world itself cannot allow themselves to be wrap up into name calling or anything else that dosent get the job done, what everyone needs to focus on and focus their energy on is getting jobs for people, bringing wealth and end hunger.They have been calling us names for centuries Pickaninny(meaning little Negro children),Negros,Niggas,African Americans,Blacks,Coons,But none of these names describe who we really are ,we are labeled in the Bible as Hamites(which are descendants of Ham Genesis 10:6-20)memebers of various ethnic groups in northern and eastern Africa including Berbers and ancient Egyptians)The first Black empire was built by Ham it was the first Empire ever made.Genisis 9- : shows us how we are all related no matter what they think are decendants names are Shem meaning (Jews), Ham meaning (blacks), and Japheth meaning (caucasian).

BP9  says:
6 weeks ago

What's more:

Those who call President Obama a muslim, as a perjorative classification would do well to learn a bit more about the islamic faith, absent of extremist groups who claim to be muslim.

Those who call Obama a socialist would do well to remember something. Socialism is not an evil institution and all who think so should do a few things to protest socialism at work here in this country:

-Burn your social security cards and request a termination of your (current/future) benefits from Social Security.

-Do the same for Medicare.

-While you're at it seek to abolish State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

-Seek to abolish and terminate membership and support for any and every trade or labor union they support.

-Seek an end to the Earned Income Tax Credit because it is a form of income redistribution ("sharing the wealth")...hence socialistic.

-On behalf of every veteran you know, seek to abolish any and all benefits offered by the Veterans Administration-including (and especially) healthcare.

That's just for starters.

Or realize that there are socialist institutions in this country at work that many of us benefit from and that socialism will not destroy the country.

BP9  says:
6 weeks ago

Thanks for the compliments, T. I typically only commit my opinions and musings to forums where I believe worthwhile subjects are being discussed. You have provided some excellent space in which to do so. Keep it coming, my brother.

This thread brings to mind the Department of Homeland Security report wherein an upsurge was predicted of extremist rhetoric and action fueled by the so-called "right" and conservative movements of the country in light of President Obama being in office.

While this report referred to no group/s by name, language was used that identifies the earmarks of the groups in question.

I think it is becoming far too simple for the average conservative to be lulled into believing that they are not extremist at all, but simply excercizing their rights to express opinions and be involved. They seem to subscribe to the notion that since they do not align themselves directly with a known extremist movement or group that they are somehow immune to their rhetoric and ideology. I think that those of us who have educated ourselves in this society when experiencing direct and overt discrimination while at the same time living through more subtle, sublimated and nuanced discrimination have become finely tuned to detect it where it rears it's head. This radar also extends to situations wherein one sees one is being exploited.

This would be what we refer to in street terms as "the okie doke." (lol)

I say that to call attention to the fact that in "the real America", "small town America" or "Joe The Plumber's" America the predominant grouping has been white, christian, and pretty much adherant to the post-nuclear model since the post nuclear era in terms of income, family makeup, cultural norms, etc. Discimination in this America has not been an issue typically until this "small town" culture had been usurped by...say it with me now...DIVERSITY!!!!

In those areas, (even to this day in many places) you knew exactly who the Black family was down the block, or could muse about the Latino guy where you work or the Asian couple who frequents the store where you buy groceries. There were acceptable levels of diversity because the cultural norms of the predominant (white, christian) grouping were adhered to. When these places saw their more diverse population segments grow more rapidly because of increased prosperity, along with the various cultural expressions (religion, food, music, culturally indentifiable collquialisms), it was akin to an invasion to many whites. Many of them had not been equipped or conditioned to collectively deal with those different from them outside of their own cultural construct and were definitely not tolerant of assimilating to other peoples' (not "American") cultural norms.

So, when the economy worsens, jobs are lost, the country is at war, AND a Black man is voted into presidential office, the fear mongering starts. Now, those who sew the seeds of fear know exactly what they are doing. They are rousing the longings of middle America with calls to "take America back" and "return to the values of the forefathers" while inciting the revolutionary tradition with "tea parties" and mob tactics at town hall meetings.

They are pimping the fear of those whose ear they have to consolidate their base and sphere of influence-centered mainly around corporations, financial institutions, political strongarm tactics, dogmatic religious assertions, a well-oiled propaganda machine and the subjugation and exploitaion of the working class. Those who subscribe to their manipulation haven't the street sense to know they are getting the "bowling alley con game" gone political: Set them up to knock them down.

A keen sense of true game would dispel a lot of this nonsense from the start. I know that many would debate this point by stating that Pres. Obama is just another politician and he has dirty hands as well. This is the difference between us and them: We already knew that when we voted for him. Let's establish that there is no way any politician (much less The President of The United States) can have clean hands. That isn't his job. Barack Obama did an amazing thing to succesfully survive the primaries, then go the distance and WIN. He will do what he can to survive his presidency. I expect him to accomplish some things along the way, and if he makes headway toward undoing the mess he inherited in a signifigant way without creating a bigger mess, then bravo. But I don't believe the majority of us who support him have any illusions about what his being president means.

I digress...and have written far more than I intended to already. (lol)

Conservative America needs to wake up. They need to understand that extremism is dangerous, whether it be racial extremism, political extremism (be it right or left), religious extremism, or even secular extremism. It defies logic and is typically based in fear. The answer in my opinion is to approach every dillemma from a basic human perspective and do what's right from a basic human perspective. After that, ideologies are pretty much unimportant.

T_Augustus  says:
6 weeks ago

Thanks for the feedback drcrischasse!

Short, but straight to the point. It is hard to find middle ground politically because to agree with the other side, only gives momentum to the other side. It's their own fault. I remember when Obama identified common ground with McCain, the next day there was a commercial using those "I agree with McCain" quotes against him. It is a game to them, and we get caught in the crossfire - it's pretty sad when you think about it.

jxb7076  says:
6 weeks ago

T_Augustus - thanks for the post. In my opinion race is simply the more obvious vehicle to garner attention for ones's cause. During any debate whether political, religious, financial, etc., where the opposing forces vying for power are of a different nationality, race becomes the deciding factor when all other efforts to win fails.

Unfortunately the bias media, whether liberal or conservative will throw more fuel onto the fire for the sake of ratings as any emotional issue among the races is a guarantee of either viewers or readers - and there are no shortage of people who are willing to give their opinion on the subject - such as they are - and most opinions are taken out of context to justify the intent and purpose of the interviewer, survey, research, etc..

There were far more people who dissagreed with George Bush than Obama but race was never an issue.

People need to relax, say what they have to say for their own peace of mind, and move on.

Sabrina M  says:
4 weeks ago

Good hub! At least an honest open dialogue about race and its' impact in politics, education, and other parts of every day American life is occurring. Maybe we will be a better country after these next 8 years have passed. Love Your brother1

T_Augustus  says:
3 weeks ago

Thanks for the comments!

Brina, I actually there is a lot more healthy conversation regarding race with the current presidential regime in place. Whether or not it will do any good is yet to be seen. Unfortunately, there is more of that unhealthy conversation mixed in as well.

Lady E: If God came down from heaven to rule America he'd be cast out by millions! I think about that often when I'm in church, would Jesus be treated better, worse, or the same as he was back then if he were to walk the earth today? I've seen bums downtown in Detroit walking around claiming to be the Messiah - how many people do you think followed him? I had a passing thought "what if he really is"...then I kept passing.

BP9  says:
3 weeks ago

Further to the point at hand:

I recall recently hearing Prof. Cornel West in an interview speaking of the various "isms" and ideologies that abound in modern discourse and how he understands what fights to fight.

(*Please forgive me whilst I paraphrase, as I cannot begin to effectively orate with the same impact and import as the brilliant Prof. West.)

He basically expressed that any ideology or action which seeks to diminish a person's basic humanity or worth, for whatever the stated reason (racism, sexism, homophobia, religious extremism, secular tyranny, etc) it must be opposed by those of us who consider ourselves capable of intellectual thought, ethical consideration and spiritual growth.

That said:

The various epithets being tossed around by conservatives about Pres. Obama are ostensibly aimed at his policies but seem to degenerate into jabs at him personally. When they claim he's a socialist, they do not explain what socialism is or what it's principles are. They perjoratively hurl it as an insult. They do so likewise with comparisons to Hitler, aiming to evoke the same hatred reserved for someone viewed as one of the most evil men in history. When they called him a muslim, it was accompanied by the fact that his middle name is Hussein and his first name rhymes with "Osama" (shouting out the deceased Iraqi dictator and the head of Al-Qaeda respectively) in order to stir up the hatred many harbor related to such. This in itself has it's own embedded racist subtext, as it blatantly places the onus of islamic extremism and despotism on the term muslim and ties that in with anti-Arab sentiment.

This is all perpetrated to paint him as something else, something other or something lesser. This is a form of dehumanization as well and when you factor it into the very blatant racism involved in the 2008 campaign (*see Palin/McCain campaign rallies), it smells like something familiar to many of us who have experienced racism.

Do I believe that it is racism?

I would love not to. However I seem to think that it is a racist reflex manifesting itself in other ways.

James A Watkins  says:
2 weeks ago

I do not think race is a factor in the opposition to Barack Obama. I attended the Orlando Tea Party (and wrote a Hub with that title) and it was not at all what I had been hearing on CNN that it was. The fact is millions of people are upset about the nationalization of industries, the billions of taxpayer dollars shuffled off to "Community Organizations" that are decidedly partisan, the printing of $400B extra dollars that leads to inflation and a devaluing of the dollar, and mostly the biographies of the people the President surrounds himself with—most of whom are white.

Except for a handful of rednecks, I don't think people even see Obama as a black guy. They see him as the most radical Leftist President in the history of this nation—which he assuredly is. If he where an albino, the reaction would be exactly the same.

James A Watkins  says:
2 weeks ago

It is because he and more than he, his staff, are so radical. He and his people make FDR look like Goldwater. What do you consider "fairness"?

James A Watkins  says:
2 weeks ago

What does equal consideration mean?

I think every president has cared about the have-nots. Every president has enacted laws for the have-nots. Bush's prescription drug bill and AIDS initiative for Africa were for the have-nots. LBJ's Great Society, FDR's New Deal—I can't think of any administration that is an exception to that rule since the 1930s. Before that, it was generally accepted that it was the job of private charity to care for the have-nots.

I have been poor in my lifetime. I know a lot of poor people right now. I'm all for reforming health care, but by tort reform (against rich lawyers), opening competition nationwide for insurance companies (guaranteed to drive down costs), privatizing the two Medis ($100,000,000,000 per year of fraud) and other measures. Socialized medicine is a nightmare for many people. No one in America is denied medical care, including those here illegally.

The Health Care reform proposed is not about the poor. It is about control of the people by the government. It is about power. About unionizing the medical field to gain power for SEIU and the Democratic party. About taxpayer paid abortion.

If you take money from people to give to someone else that is legalized theft. I am from Michigan. If you want to know what killed the car industry, try this little Hub of mine.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Unions-killed-Michigan

opinion duck  says:
8 days ago

T_Augustus

First, as far as race is concerned, it is a red herring. It is meaningless for most of the issues in this country. It is like abortion, it is debated and discussed from decade to decade without resolve. Using the term is a catalyst and it is used most often by the media.

The fact, that the public thinks that Obama is black and yet over half the voting population put him into the Presidency says something different, than what we hear about race issues today.

On the other hand, you are more French than Obama is black according to your hubpage about your heritage.

Anyway, the real issue as I see it is the total failure of the government, and it didn't improve during the last 11 months that Obama has been president. It didn't improve when the Democrats and Obama were in control of Congress.

It didn't happen during the past fifty years or more.

Two Congresses and Two Presidents broke the economy, lost jobs, lost homes, businesses and so much more, at the same time rewarding the financial industry for their meltdown and punishing the auto industry.

The government not satisfied with those disasters now wants to blow up healthcare with their same expertise in business.

The government has failed at every non government venture they have taken over or forced over to their domain. They forced non government employee taxpayers to contribute to SS and Medicare, while at the same time Congress and the federal workers have their own Retirement System and health benefits. Any national healthcare system passed should include Congress and federal workers, but it won't. Why not, because Congress wants better than what they give the rest of us.

The quality of healthcare in this country is subpar for a number of reasons. One of them is tort law and ruthless and greedy lawyers, as James Watkins mentioned.

Another is the drug industry charging for expensive long term treatments instead of finding a cure. The last medical cure I can think of was the Salk Vaccine for Polio in the mid 1950s. That was before the FDA got authorization by Congress to run roughshod over the Drug Industry.

The FDA has increased the overhead for the drug industry causing the highest prices for drug treatments, while at the same time approving many drugs that had to be taken off the market. This is followed by the legal creeps suing their assets off. This bites the patients in the butt with higher medical costs.

The health insurance companies practice medicine without a license by determining which medical procedures they will or will not pay for. This translates to no treatment or sub par treatment for their insured.

The age of medical specialists has also increased the cost and lowered the effectiveness of medical treatment. Clearly specialties can be beneficial once the area of specialty is the cause of the patients malady, but to find that malady it is like finding Waldo.

I am going to stop here because the larger issue is an obese and incompetent government powered by the two party system.

The two party system is like a family of siblings that are competing for their parents attention. They don't get along with each other and they are not effective when one party is in control and even less effective when they are not the party in control. It doesn't matter which party is in control as they serve their lobbyists rather than their party supporters or the people in general. They talk the talk but they crawl instead of walk the talk. This is where Obama is the slick talker, but it is tough to walk on something this slick.

Finally, I challenge any hubber to write a hub extolling all of the accomplishments of Congress and the Presidents for the past 100 years and tally it by party.

Another challenge would be to write a hub on all of the medical cures! since the Salk Vaccine.

This is not meant to be disrespectful, as it is a serious challenge to my opinions stated in my comment here.

T_Augustus thank you for allowing me to make these comments on your hub. The Opinion Duck.