Obama's Rhetoric of Racism

Barack Obama and his pastor of 20 years, Rev. Jeremiah Wright

The national media wants to have it both ways with Obama. They want to portray him as the consummate political wordsmith, but they also regularly insist that "he didn't mean what he said." Obama has made some of most racially incendiary comments ever heard in modern American politics.

"We need more white people!" The words of an Obama campaign event organizer callling for a better racial mix of the people placed behind the candidate at a CMU rally in Pittsburgh.

The following quotes are both from Obama's campaign and his first autobiography, Dreams From My Father. The quotes all appear in an important web site: http://hellnobama.com/. If John McCain had made any statements remotely resembling the following, his campaign would have imploded. It's sad but true: the national media generally give Obama a free pass. The statements that follow are Barack Obama in his own words:

"My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join me as we try to change it."

Barack, that's just what most of us fear you will do.

"I ceased to advertise my mother’s race at the age of twelve or thirteen, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites."

But Barack, why is it okay to start ingratiating yourself with whites during the presidential election?

"I found solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother’s [white] race."

Barack, there are probably many better ways to find "solace" than by becoming an ardent racist.

"To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists."

Barack, I don't know exactly what "structural feminists" are, but I bet one of them was Michelle. Perhaps if you'd known a few more white people, you won't be so awkward now in soliciting their votes.

"I learned to slip back and forth between my black and white worlds. One of those tricks I had learned: People were satisfied so long as you were courteous and smiled and made no sudden moves. They were more than satisfied; they were relieved -- such a pleasant surprise to find a well-mannered young black man who didn't seem angry all the time."

Barack, being courteous and well-mannered are not usually thought of as bad things

"I had learned not to care. I blew a few smoke rings, remembering those years. Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though. ..."

"...I've got two daughters. 9 years old and 6 years old. I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby."

Barack, believe it or not many people regard having a baby as a blessing -- not a "punishment." Are the "values and morals" you'll teach your daughters the ones you learned in 20 years of attendance at Rev. Wright's church?

"I can no more disown (Jeremiah Wright) than I can disown the black community." --UPDATE: Barack Obama decides to "disown" him on Tuesday, April 29th after he realized his campaign was in severe turmoil due to his association with Mr. Wright.

Barack, dissociating yourself from a single Black racist and America-hater is not the same thing as disowning "the black community."

"The point I was making was not that Grandmother harbors any racial animosity. She doesn't. But she is a typical white person..."

Barack, isn't this same white grandmother you're now featuring in commercials designed to attract white voters? Also, what is "a typical white person" like?

"That’s just how white folks will do you."

Barack, what is it that distinguishes "white folks" from Black folks? Isn't it just your tendency to use racial stereotypes?

"You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Barack, if someone -- say John McCain -- made similar comments about Black people in America's inner cities, what would your response be?