Obama column outrage began at 4:59 a.m.
Not voting for him doesn't make you a racist, but if the shoe fits . . .
No, I don't think it makes somebody a racist to favor a candidate other than Barack Obama for president, and yes, there are many more valid ways to reach that viewpoint than those that I suggested on Wednesday.
But as folks used to say, "If the shoe fits, wear it."
The first call came in at 4:59 a.m., which might be some sort of record. I don't believe I can recall making somebody that mad so early in the morning, but I gathered from his slurred speech that he'd stayed out late.
"Get with the [bleep]ing program," said the guy who didn't leave his name. "You are a real fool. Just because the whites vote for one of their own, we're unfair? You are a real fool."
Call me crazy, but judging by his anger, I think the shoe fit.
"Did you ever think that Obama backing Todd and John Stroger is a sign of his character?" asked Mike, another angry caller trying to sound reasonable but giving it away by dragging the Strogers into the debate, as if he would ever be so angry with Mayor Daley and the other white powers-that-be who delivered the votes that gave us the Strogers in the first place.
Then there was the mail.
"Stop blaming every damn thing on white America," wrote Milan Culafic of Downers Grove. "It's whitey's fault that some black people are racist? Are you [bleep]ing kidding me? That is one of the stupidest and asinine statements I ever heard. And yes, there is a double standard. Don't try to tell me there isn't and I have no right to feel it. You're just mad your boy is getting a beating finally and is actually getting looked at closely, unlike the Teflon treatment he was getting. Stop your whining because this isn't going away anytime soon."
I'd put Mr. Culafic down for a size 12, although I'm sure it was totally accidental that he referred to my "boy" getting a beating. I'd ignore him, but we agree on this much: This isn't going away any time soon.
"Just how dumb do you think we are? There isn't enough white wash in the world to cover up Odumbo. He's not fit to be our president." -- Don Isaac, Hammond
Another fit.
"[Obama] is a product of his environment, and part of his environment is Rev. Wright. You can kiss Obama's run for president goodbye, along with any hope the black community has of ever getting anybody else this close to the presidency. Obama is a good orator, but basically an "empty chair" on any of the real issues." -- T.L. Hasek
I translate that to mean: We're never going to let those people from that "environment" sneak up on us again. The shoe fits, but Mr. (or Mrs.) Hasek doesn't even realize he was wearing it.
"I always find it interesting, irritating, blood pressure-raising, humorous, etc., the way the liberal press rationalizes black racism towards white America. Frankly, you should have directed your April 30 article towards black America. I find it interesting how the liberal media excuses the polarizing oratory of the [N-word]s in the black community. Yes, and I mean [N-word]s! Seems blacks, like other alleged social downtrodden as gays can debase white America and their institutions without impunity but Lord forbid any white make a statement that is considered politically incorrect." -- Roger Golec
The letter goes on like this, but I don't think you need to see any more to know that this may be the best fit yet. I do hope, however, that this is instructive to my African-American readers that use of the N-word only helps folks like Mr. Golec to justify themselves.
"Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience -- as far as they're concerned, no one's handed them anything, they've built it from scratch. They've worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time. Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren't always expressed in polite company. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation."
-- Barack Obama, speaking on race March 18 in Philadelphia
And this is the guy they're so angry about?
