Charles Krauthammer Just as Racist as KKK Members
I have discussed Illinois Senator Barack Obama before. And as I wrote then, I have no particular problem with him. Or more correctly, I do have a problem with him since he is a liberal Democrat, but I've got no more problem with him than other liberal Democrats, like say John Kerry, Ted Kennedy or Hillary Clinton.
But while I've seen no evidence that he is a worse politician than John Kerry, Ted Kennedy or Hillary Clinton, nor have I seen any evidence that he is somehow better. Yet
he is mysterously hyped up and treated as the rising star of the Democratic party.
What quality have qualified him for that status? Nothing really, it seems, other than the fact that his father came from Kenya, which qualifies him for the privilege-associated status of "African-american", despite the fact that his mother was white.
Usually, his boosters are not as honest of the racist basis of their support for Barack Obama as Charles Krauthammer was in his latest column, but Krauthammer is likely very representative of the true feelings and motives of the Barack Obama boosting crowd.
In it he wrote:
" Third, the country hungers for a black president. Not all the country, but enough that, on balance, race would be an asset. It is no accident that when, a decade ago, another attractive, articulate African-American with no experience in electoral office went on a book tour, he was met not just with rock star adulation but with a loud national chorus urging him to run for the presidency.
The object of affection then was Colin Powell. Today it is Obama. Race is only one element in their popularity, but an important one. A historic one. Like many Americans, I long to see an African-American ascend to the presidency. It would be an event of profound significance, a great milestone in the unfolding story of African-Americans achieving their rightful, long-delayed place in American life.
Of course there is racism in America. Call me naive, but I believe that just as Joe Lieberman was a net positive for the Democrats in 2000 -- more people were attracted to him as a man of faith than were turned away because of anti-Semitism -- there are more Americans who would take special pride in a black president than are those who would reject one because of racism."
Regardless of whether Krauthammer is right or wrong in his view that there are more Americans who would vote for him because of his race than the number of Americans who would vote against him because of his race, it is nevertheless the case that it is just as racist to prefer him because of his race as it is to oppose him because of his race. To the extent that the word "racist" has any meaning at all,it is the view that the legendary Martin Luther King words that people should be judged "by the content of character, not color of skin" was incorrect.
When Krauthammer writes that he long to see an "African-American" become president, he is thus just as racist as neo-Nazi David Duke or others associated with the Ku Klux Klan. He is judging Barack Obama by the color of his skin. That he has a positive rather than negative judgement does not change the fact that it is a racist judgement.
But while I've seen no evidence that he is a worse politician than John Kerry, Ted Kennedy or Hillary Clinton, nor have I seen any evidence that he is somehow better. Yet
he is mysterously hyped up and treated as the rising star of the Democratic party.
What quality have qualified him for that status? Nothing really, it seems, other than the fact that his father came from Kenya, which qualifies him for the privilege-associated status of "African-american", despite the fact that his mother was white.
Usually, his boosters are not as honest of the racist basis of their support for Barack Obama as Charles Krauthammer was in his latest column, but Krauthammer is likely very representative of the true feelings and motives of the Barack Obama boosting crowd.
In it he wrote:
" Third, the country hungers for a black president. Not all the country, but enough that, on balance, race would be an asset. It is no accident that when, a decade ago, another attractive, articulate African-American with no experience in electoral office went on a book tour, he was met not just with rock star adulation but with a loud national chorus urging him to run for the presidency.
The object of affection then was Colin Powell. Today it is Obama. Race is only one element in their popularity, but an important one. A historic one. Like many Americans, I long to see an African-American ascend to the presidency. It would be an event of profound significance, a great milestone in the unfolding story of African-Americans achieving their rightful, long-delayed place in American life.
Of course there is racism in America. Call me naive, but I believe that just as Joe Lieberman was a net positive for the Democrats in 2000 -- more people were attracted to him as a man of faith than were turned away because of anti-Semitism -- there are more Americans who would take special pride in a black president than are those who would reject one because of racism."
Regardless of whether Krauthammer is right or wrong in his view that there are more Americans who would vote for him because of his race than the number of Americans who would vote against him because of his race, it is nevertheless the case that it is just as racist to prefer him because of his race as it is to oppose him because of his race. To the extent that the word "racist" has any meaning at all,it is the view that the legendary Martin Luther King words that people should be judged "by the content of character, not color of skin" was incorrect.
When Krauthammer writes that he long to see an "African-American" become president, he is thus just as racist as neo-Nazi David Duke or others associated with the Ku Klux Klan. He is judging Barack Obama by the color of his skin. That he has a positive rather than negative judgement does not change the fact that it is a racist judgement.
posted by stefankarlsson at 9:41 PM
1 Comments:
This was a great post. I had similar thoughts when Katie Couric took the job as anchorwoman for NBC Nightly News. If the fact that she is a woman generates buzz, then sexism is still prevalent in the workplace.
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