Posted on 07/14/2014 12:50:22 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The Obama administration long ago cultivated a sense among its defenders that lingering American racism inspires most of its critics, but it was Obama’s supporters in the press who elevated the practice of accusing conservatives of racial animus to farcical virtuosity.
It was Obama’s boosters in the liberal blogosphere, many of whom found microphones for their agitation on networks like MSNBC, who invented the art of detecting “dog whistle” racism. For those unfamiliar, this is the ability to decode supposed appeals to racial solidarity that only a professional can ascertain. While these coded claims are rarely perceived by their alleged targets, they are easily identified by our modern augurs.
The instinct among Obama supporters to invent imagined racism and denounce it with a fervor equal to that of the inquisitors evolved into parody during the 2012 election. Words like “golf,” “apartment”, “Chicago,” and “urban” became synonyms for African-Americasn and for President Obama, thus rendering any subject of discussion including those words base and scornful.
As is the carnival barker’s wont, the sequel to this act had to be even grander, more spectacular than the last. So words like “PGA tour,” “angry,” “kitchen cabinet,” and “IRS” were added to the mix of words which only a professional “dog whistle” detector could asses to be signals designed to activate imagined white supremacist sleeper cells.
It was former Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Karen Finney who insisted that “welfare” must join the ranks of banned words with a racially tinged history. “Study after study has shown, very recently even, that Americans – we tend to associate welfare programs with black people,” Finney said at the time. “So, if you didn’t know that, then shame on you. If you did know that, then shame on you.”
“What the Republicans are doing is diabolically clever,” practiced Washington Post racism decoder Jonathan Capehart agreed. “They are, I believe, playing subliminally to racial fears and racial resentments.”
In a display which resulted in his firing, former Politico reporter Joe Williams and a contributor with NBC’s The Grio insisted that conservative commentators who dare mention the name of Obama’s former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, were the modern equivalent of the Klan. “It’s a claxon. It’s an air raid siren. It’s a call to arms,” Williams insisted.
MSNBC host Chris Matthews outdid the lot when he suggested the fact that Obama even drew an opponent in 2012 was a disturbing indication of the country’s, and Mitt Romney’s, racial anxiety.
The reelection of the president did not quiet the insistence that racism exists today in forms undetectable to those who are not trained mediums, but liberals have made such a joke of this practice that only a narrow audience of true believers still enjoy the performance.
A recent Pew Research Center poll revealed that only 27 percent of the public believes racial discrimination is the “main reason why blacks can’t get ahead.” That figure is inflated by the fact that 80 percent of “solid liberals” agreed with this assertion – 49 points greater than any other group within the Democratic coalition.
What’s more is that this playact is losing its novelty. When public figures make unquestionably racially tinged statements, the usual cast of characters who are our trained racism detectors display a transparent fear for their livelihoods.
In the wake of racially insensitive comments made by former LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling and Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, Capehart, one of the most accomplished “dog whistle” decoders, warned that calling out this manner of overt, obvious racial rhetoric was less valuable than the work he does.
“The harder reaction to have and the harder conversation to have is with our friends, and co-workers, and strangers, frankly, about all of the little — the small, the more nuanced ways racism rears its ugly head,” he added, résumé in hand.
It is in this light that recent comments made by Attorney General Eric Holder, the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, should be viewed. Holder, who recently implied in a speech before an audience of African-American supporters that Republicans in Congress treated him as harshly as they would any other official in the Obama administration because of his skin color, fanned the flames of racial hatred again in a recent interview with ABC News.
Asked about a statement he made years ago when he said America was a “nation of cowards” on the issue of race, Holder defended his remarks. “I think we are still a nation that is too afraid to confront racial issues,” he said.
The attorney general lamented that it is rare to witness engagement “across the color line [to] talk about racial issues.” He did little to acknowledge his own role in that condition, exemplified by an comment he made minutes before in which he implied that some who oppose him and the president are racists.
“There’s a certain level of vehemence, it seems to me, that’s directed at me [and] directed at the president,” Holder told ABC. “You know, people talking about taking their country back. I can’t look into people’s hearts, look into people’s minds, but it seems to me that this president has been treated differently than others… There’s a certain racial component to this for some people. I don’t think this is the thing that is a main driver, but for some there’s a racial animus.”
For most, this is a joke. The meme that the bipartisan notion of “taking the country back” is somehow racist was long ago debunked. As the brief history lesson above demonstrates, however, no one is listening to this nonsense beyond the cult of true believers. Those for who racism is a religion – ubiquitous and unfalsifiable – nod in agreement at Holder’s self-aggrandizement. All others roll their eyes.
It is natural and right to be incensed over the attorney general’s statement here, but a 30,000 foot view suggests there is even more reason to take heart in his remarks. Only those liberals Democrats the party desperately needs to turn out in the fall are inspired by this rhetoric; that desperate need is met with increasingly desperate tactics. A glance at the polls suggests it will not be successful.
American comity and continuously improving race relations are stronger than one presidency, no matter how committed it is to tearing the country apart.
I don’t know, it’s kind of working. I hate Holder because he’s a racist.
They’re running into trouble with blacks over this border crap and need to stoke the fire.
I'm not sure he was a total failure - I hate him and his boss!
Well, we WERE sooooo kind to Clinton when he was President... AND Hillary... so kind.../s
Holder comes out of the Outhouse and tries to get a DISTRACTION going
True, as I’ve noticed they’ve been working on that all day. My guess is their internal polling is scaring the crap out off them. Of course, they still have their white, commie lib base, and trust me, they out number the black folk.
Yeah, in a weird way, I guess so.
I don’t particularly like those who hate me because of my skin color, and I don’t particularly like those who teach and provoke others to hate me because of my skin color.
And of course, we’d support everything Obama is trying to do to our country... IF ONLY HE WERE WHITE!
Holder’s jail time is WAY OVER DUE!
You’re right.
If a White President had opened the borders and encouraged young children to die horrible deaths to get here, we would all be just fine with it.
Same with Obamacare... I’m totally OK with government controlled medicine ... well, IF the idea had come from a WHITE President.
And Benghazi? Let those SEALS die... well again, ONLY for a WHITE President...
Holder’s soooooooo smart.
And it would be PERFECTLY FINE with us if the IRS targeted conservatives, if done so at the direction of a WHITE president.
A.G. Holder, with a well-honed sense of historical offense, perceives a sense of racism in the opposition to this President and himself personally. The fact is that this is only an effort to create a diversion for the complicit media, where FEELINGS are discussed as facts and thus off they go! Subjective feelings versus the actuality that only exists in a minuscule minority of insignificant power. However, what it does is to play to media prejudice.
One card Holder walking in dark alley.
Get whitey Holder being his raciss ahat self.
Right again... if only a white President had unlawfully targeted citizens using the force of the IRS...
I’m seriously starting to think Holder’s nuts.
Holder’s nuts what?
Sane people know that Holder is a vile racist. Time to slap the Nazi label on this piece of garbage, too.
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.