Obama: “If they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”
Posted on 12/09/2009 5:05:33 AM PST by Kaslin
If you had hope that the election of a black president might improve black-white relations in America, reading the column by Charles M. Blow in Saturday's New York Times will effectively crush it.
Mr. Blow, who is black, wrote of his despair that the election of Barack Obama will achieve anything positive for blacks or for black-white relations.
In fact, according to Mr. Blow, and one suspects the great majority of black and white liberals, things have not only not gotten better for blacks, racism -- meaning, of course, white racism against blacks since no other form of racism is discussed in the New York Times -- has actually increased.
His proof for this charge?
"We are now inundated with examples of overt racism on a scale to which we are unaccustomed."
And what are his examples of "overt racism on a scale to which we are unaccustomed"? He provided two.
The first and presumably most important is that "Racially offensive images of the first couple are so prolific online that Google now runs an apologetic ad with the results of image searches of them."
Having never seen a racially offensive image of the first couple, I was curious about what Mr. Blow was referring to. Though I spend hours a day researching on the Web, I had somehow overlooked how "inundated" the Web is with racist images. Luckily, Mr. Blow provides a URL -- an Internet link -- to make his case.
I clicked on the link, and sure enough, there is a statement by Google titled "An explanation of our search results," in which Google notes that "Sometimes Google search results from the Internet can include disturbing content, even from innocuous queries. We assure you that the views expressed by such sites are not in any way endorsed by Google."
The statement continues along those lines, but there is not a word about racism, blacks, the first couple, or anything related. It is a generic apology, one that I had never in fact encountered.
So not having had any luck corroborating Mr. Blow's accusation of "overt racism on a scale to which we are unaccustomed" on the Internet, I searched "first couple," clicked on "images," even making sure that the Google filter was turned off, and all I saw were hundreds of beautiful images of the beautiful-looking first couple. I then searched on "Michelle and Barack Obama pictures" and got similar results.
One must conclude that Mr. Blow wildly exaggerated, if not made it up, when he wrote that America is "inundated" with "overt racism" on the Internet (or anywhere else).
His second argument for an increasingly racist America is: "And it's not all words and images (again, none of which I saw); it's actions as well. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's 2008 hate crimes data released last week, anti-black hate crimes rose 4 percent from 2007..."
Wow. A 4 percent increase in anti-black hate crime.
Is that an indication of a major increase in anti-black racism in America? You decide.
According to the FBI Hate Crime statistics, in 2007, 3,434 blacks were victims of a hate crime, and in 2008, the number increased to 3,596 -- an increase of 162. Given that there are about 40 million blacks in America and about 260 million non-blacks, to charge America with increasing racism based on an increase of 162 incidents of racism is absurd and morally indefensible. To put it statistically, the increase, as a proportion of the black population, was .0004 percent.
Moreover, the number itself, 3,434, is incredibly small for such a large population. And bear in mind two additional factors: One has no way of knowing how many of those 3,434 incidents were committed by non-whites, such as Hispanics; and of those 3,434 hate crimes, a total of one was murder, not one was a rape, a tiny 386 were aggravated assaults, and 1,257 were "acts of intimidation," not acts of violence.
Only to black and white liberals, including most New York Times readers, who e-mailed Mr. Blow's column more than almost any article in the Times, do these statistics describe a racist, or increasingly racist, society.
The column is a fine example of liberal attitudes toward blacks and whites -- the latter are largely racist, the former are largely victims. It is a picture that exists only in the liberal mind, but as long as so many blacks believe it, there is little hope for large-scale black progress at this time. There is no chance that black America's economic or social problems will be solved until black America rejects the liberal narrative of endemic white racism and black victimization. That is why, though Mr. Blow's column is a calumny against America, it mainly damages his fellow African-Americans.
Great article by Prager.
Perhaps the tenor of the debate began with the left-liberal media’s destruction of President George W. Bush.
Was that racist?
Yes, because GW is white and deserved to be hated.
Obama: “If they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”
Allow me to translate:
"The race card has been overplayed; regular folks nowadays have little tolerance for our rabble-rousing nonsense, and they are not afraid to be vocal about it. Oh, and I'm a big sissy nancy boy".
I agree except for this part:
“all I saw were hundreds of beautiful images of the beautiful-looking first couple. I then searched on “Michelle and Barack Obama pictures” and got similar results.”
I guess it really IS in the eye of the beholder.
Well said. Thanks.
Does he have a brother named 'Joseph'?
The biggest enemy we face is the self hating white liberals ( especially in our schools and MSM )and the knee jerk white democrat voters
Without them none of this BS could exist
The original owners of the plantation have long been replaced by the government, but those blacks who still scream about their victimization are now willing victims of government control, afraid to leave the devil they know for the one they don't.
And, of course, this condition isn't improved by leaders like Jackson, Sharpton, Jeremiah Wright, et al who profit from the continued slavery of the black man.
Indeed, the very charge of racism is a cover for the perpetuation of the irrational fear of victimization and self-pity, its reduction or demise would require those who cling to it to give it up...and that requires a metamorphosis from whining immaturity of eternal slavery to the brave self-sufficiency enjoyed by free men.
Those blacks who hold tight to "racism" have to step off the plantation and take their place in the free world. They must leave the Government Zoo and enter the wild and woolly jungle of the free market. BTW, that is why racists have so much venom for those who have left the plantation (i.e. black conservatives).
All that said, the dilemma our country now faces is a strange one considering that Obama promised liberation and equality to his brothers. Blacks who support Obama must realize that what Obama is trying to do is NOT liberate the black man.
Like Jackson, Sharpton and Wright, he is feeding into the fear of those who are self-exiled in slavery. He is saying, "don't worry, I won't make you leave the plantation. I know you are afraid of freedom...so instead of making you embrace freedom and all it offers, I'll just get rid of it. I'll round up all those who are not afraid of freedom and imprison them with you on the new Government Plantation."
Hate crimes, and political correctness in general, are things we let liberals steam roll through because we didn’t want to sound prejudiced and mean by opposing them. The Left has used our good morals and general kindness to pass legislation which is destroying our country.
Now is the time to stop being intimidated and stand up to them. No more sissy boy hedging on matters of race, women, homosexuals, etc., at least not for me.
***this condition isn’t improved by leaders like Jackson, Sharpton, Jeremiah Wright, et al who profit from the continued slavery of the black man.***
Well played. That would make “Uncle Toms” out of Jackson, Sharpton and Jeremiah Wright, et al.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
