It is a constant source of amazement that nobody—neither blacks nor whites—place much stock in the president’s white parentage. Raised by his white mother and white grandparents, there is likely no more American a guy breathing than Barack Obama. This is what makes the conservative front so insipidly heinous: it is racism in its purest sense. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the quality of the person—qualities that line him up more consistently with White America than Black. It is a loathing, a personal hatred, that begins and ends with skin color. The fundamental, unifying factor between the vast majority of conservatives, white conservatives most especially, is their absolute refusal to accept Barack Obama as president of the United States.

They don’t treat him like other presidents.

Of course, that’s because Barack Hussein Obama is like no other president in American history, but that’s not what I’m talking about. They don’t treat him as historic or unique, they treat him as illegitimate. Which is ironic, considering President Obama’s predecessor was not elected but was appointed by the U.S. Supreme Court. Vice President Al Gore won the popular vote in the 2000 presidential election, but the Supreme Court ended a recount of shady Florida voting practices (a state, governed by Mr. Bush's brother, where substantial numbers of lower-income district votes were discarded due to aging voting machines which failed to completely punch through the cards, thus leaving "hanging chads" on thousands of ballots which Florida discarded) and awarded the presidency to Mr. Bush. In spite of his questionable “win,” laughable dearth of articulation and clear disconnect from issues of vital national importance, Mr. Bush, whom a majority of noted presidential scholars rank among the worst presidents in American history, was afforded all of the respect and gravity of his office. Mr. Obama, on the other hand, elected in an electoral college landslide, admired globally, with foreign leaders scrambling to have their picture taken with him, thoughtful, articulate, laser-focused on detail, who saved the nation from a second Great Depression as a result of Mr. Bush’s disastrous polices, and who has restored in great measure the nation’s international dignity and standing, is regularly dismissed as a lightweight and shown a historic, shockingly low level of deference and respect.

Intellectuals burn up thousands of terabytes of data streams examining this phenomena, mainly because most intellectuals (or pretend-intellectuals like myself) are simply idiots. It’s racism. Period. But the most insidious thing about racism is, the minute you point it out—no matter how obvious it is—you become victimized, accused of intolerance and extremism. And the accusation sticks because, again, let’s just put it out there, most white people in America become instantly defensive at the mere suggestion they might be racist, no matter how patently obvious their racist behavior. White conservatives will immediately fall in line, demonizing the accuser, and will be joined by white liberals just as fast. Liberals (of any race) are perhaps even more racist than conservatives because, on some level, conservatives have made peace with their value set, which usually breaks down into moral absolutes: yes/no, black/white, right/wrong, while liberals tend to dwell in the gray areas of perhaps and maybe.

Conservatives could drop their pants and make a bowel movement on your front steps and then become offended when you point it out—still hot and steaming—right to their faces. They will spin that bowel movement and credibly make you the guilty party for not having

installed a proper toilet on your porch. That’s the utter silliness of the conservative movement whose unapologetic goal is the assassination of Barack Obama. In character, most certainly, by act of violence if necessary. Conservative extremists call for either with a banality that fairly paints the word racist across their foreheads in neon. But the minute you or I or our cousin Eddie reads that imprimatur, we are attacked and demonized.

The fundamental, unifying factor between the vast majority of conservatives, white conservatives most especially, is their absolute refusal to accept Barack Obama as president of the United States. And these folks fill up those terabytes with talking head nonsense, but the plain, obvious, simple truth of the matter is Barack Hussein Obama is a black man and they hate him. They know it. We know it. The analysts know it. All the rest is just us wasting electricity, what my mom used to call "burning lights." Never in the history of the United States has a sitting president been heckled at an address to a joint session of Congress. The pervasive lack of respect, a cottage industry for Fox News, has become the baseline for white conservatives. These same people despised Senator John Kerry, loathed President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. But, even at the height of Bill Clinton’s personal disgrace, when all of Congress—Democrat and Republican—wanted to lynch him, at no time was President Clinton treated as poorly as President Obama is routinely treated today. Now, why is that? Burn up them lights, wear out your fingers typing. Barack Hussein Obama is a black man and they hate him.

For me, it is a constant source of amazement

that nobody—neither blacks nor whites—place much stock in the president’s white parentage. Raised by his white mother and white grandparents, Barack Obama is clearly a man at least slightly out of sync with mainstream black America—as is this writer. He is a man we might once have ridiculed as an “egghead” and mocked for his intelligence. We might once have called him an “Oreo” because he does not drop his g’s or sling that Ebonics nonsense. Barack Obama is a man we might once have rejected as not black enough, but whom we now embrace because of the historic nature of his rise to power. And now we—black folk, church folk—are just as guilty of the same sin of racism, defending the president while, at the same time, routinely rejecting men just like him: blacks borne of dual lineage who tend to gravitate toward the white mainstream.

Meanwhile, all White America can see is black, ignoring the absolute fact that Barack Obama likely has more in common with them than with us. This is what makes the conservative front so insipidly heinous: it is racism in its purest sense. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the quality of the person—qualities that line him up more consistently with White America than Black. It is a loathing, a personal hatred, that begins and ends with skin color. The rest is all a bunch of useless typing and talking heads. Barack Hussein Obama is a black man and they hate him.

And, I believe, when that is finally understood, we, as a nation,
may finally be able to move forward.

Christopher J. Priest
20 March 2011
editor@praisenet.org
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