Racism in a post-Obama world

Last week, former President Jimmy Carter smacked the five-ton elephant in the room square on the ass.
Ever since Barack Obama was elected president, some have naively suggested that his election was the sign that America had finally moved past its race issues. To support this, experts pointed to the fact that Obama won in states that many would think a black candidate wouldn’t win.
Many hoped that this election would finally begin the process of healing in America.
Last week Carter said, “Not so fast, my friend!”
Since the health care reform talks have heated up, genuinely concerned Americans have hit the streets to protest the reform.
Most of the things the protesters have shown concern about are understandable, such as the cost of this whole shebang, how this will affect current happy holders of health insurance and how this is a sign of increased government intrusion.
But as people have hit the streets to protest, some of the methods used and accusations levied on Obama have been repugnant.
Some of these questionable methods of protests include comparing Obama to Hitler or bin Laden. The worst among these were comparisons to monkeys and remarks that his health care should be buried with him.
Commenting on this and other negative protests that Obama has endured, Carter suggested that racism is the true undercurrent behind many of the protesters. In an interview with MSNBC last week, he said an overwhelming amount of animosity towards Obama “is based on the fact that he is a black man.”
He also said that at the heart of this is that many whites feel that blacks aren’t capable of leading this great nation.
Critics accused Carter and the liberals of playing the race card. Many said that the protesters are just voicing their concerns over genuine issues. They said race has nothing to do with it, and that it’s more a fear of Obama and the government taking over and stripping them of their rights.
Yeah right – of course racism is involved. Anyone that says that racism is not at the heart of a good portion of the protests are being foolish.
I will not say that all of the protesters are racist, but the fact that Obama is a black man is no doubt fueling the harsh animosity of many.
It’s America, people. Obama’s election didn’t change that. In fact, for all the talk about Obama changing things, he was elected president while only winning 45 percent of the white vote, according to abcnews.com exit polls.
I’m not saying everyone who didn’t vote for him is racist, but racism played a part of it.
America is a racist nation. Everyone is racist. Not just whites, but blacks, Asians, Hispanics and other ethnic groups that have been here for a long time.
It’s hard not to be racist in a nation that defines everything, from crime to food to where one lives, along racial lines. It’s as American as bad beer and McDonalds.
We must recognize who we are as a nation.
With Obama as president, racism will continue to play a part in the opposition.
So if you don’t like what Carter said, don’t get upset with him, get upset with society.
He is just stating the truth.