Lastspring, after unruly tea party protesters on Capitol Hill were accused ofspewing racial epithets at civil rights hero John Lewis, an African-Americancongressman from Georgia, conservatives rose up in furious denial. Where wasthe proof? How could anyone suggest that racial prejudice lurks behind thefestering right-wing hatred of President Obama (and his family)? Anger overthat episode still lingers in certain quarters, motivating the deceptivelyedited video attack on Shirley Sherrod and the NAACP by a website called BigGovernment.
Evenif the alleged assault on Lewis and other black congressmen did occur, arguedprominent commentators on the right, it somehow only proved that there is noracism in Americaworthy of concern. A writer for NationalReview (the conservative magazine that historically opposed civil rightslegislation) confided that the whole subject made him yawn:
"Thatthese things are even remotely newsworthy leads me to one conclusion: Racism inAmericais dead. We had slavery, then we had Jim Crowand now we have the occasionalpublic utterance of a bad word. Real racism has been reduced to de minimislevels, while charges of racism seem to increase."
‘Hideous, Hackneyed Racial Stereotypes'
Butthis summer has seen several loud and ugly outbursts of very realracismincluding threats of violence against the president of the United Statesthatgo well beyond the utterance of any single word. As if suffering from a facialtic, leading figures on the right cannot seem to suppress their inner Klansmanthese days.
Isthere any other way to explain Glenn Beck's crazed rant comparing the Obamaadministration to an old movie about a society where apes and chimpanzeesdominate humans? What did the FOX News host mean, exactly, when he shrieked:"It's like the damn Planet of theApes. Nothing makes sense!" Is there any other way to explain thegrotesque new best seller by radio host Laura Ingraham, The Obama Diaries, where, among other things, she depicts firstlady Michelle Obama eating ribs at every meal? Why would she feel the need todescribe the president as "uppity" by putting the word in the mouthof his mother-in-law? No wonder Stephen Colbert taunted Ms. Ingraham to herface for "hideous, hackneyed racial stereotypes."
Ofcourse, these are only two of the more egregious instances in recent weeks ofsocial poisoning that dates back well over a year. Symptoms can be seen acrossthe country now, even in amusement parks and church carnivals, where smallchildren are exposed to this spiritual sickness.
Atthe Big Time fair held by Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Roseto, Pa., last week, agame called "Alien Attack" featured "an image of a suited blackman holding a health care bill and wearing a belt buckle with a presidentialseal," at which players were encouraged to aim their popguns. Anybody whohit the cardboard figure in the head or the heart could win a prize. Irvin L.Good Jr., owner of Goodtime Amusements, who is responsible for this disgustinggarbage, denied that the figure represents Mr. Obama. "We're notinterpreting it as Obama," the inaptly named huckster told a localnewspaper. "The name of the game is ‘Alien Leader.' If you're offended,that's fine, we duly note that."
Meanwhileon the New Jersey shore, patrons of the Seaside Heights boardwalk could hurl baseballsat a black, jug-eared Obama figurine, winning a prize if they managed to smashit. As seen in a video posted on the Gawker website, this object closelyresembles the grinning "lawn jockey" statuettes that used to populatesuburban lawns in a less decent era.
Mostconservatives were late in taking responsibility for their movement's immoralopposition to civil rights. It is time for them to step up and denounce theracism that is again disfiguring our country in their name.
©2010 Creators.com
