We became a new America in 2008. We were ushering in a new era of post-racial mentality. We had just elected our first African-American President, Barack Obama (D-IL). The stage was set and Hyde Park was ready for a breath of fresh air to take hold of the political system that many had felt was holding down minorities.
President-elect Obama did not disappoint and gave one of the most magnificent speeches anyone could have imagined. At that moment, it appeared that we were actually going to come together behind this new voice in American politics. “Hope and change” was more than just a campaign slogan — it was what each of us wanted to embrace as a unified people.
Too bad none of these things came true and the speech was mere words and no action.
I’m sick and tired of the left slandering conservatives as racists. You see some on the left talking down to black conservatives far too much and — when confronted — they throw misdirection in our faces by saying that we’re the party of racism. No matter the issue I welcome honest and vigorous discourse, but I will ignore anyone who just plays the race card without substance.
I think there are points that should be made as to why President Obama has failed completely on the issue of racial division. Some may not agree, but it’s better if we put everything out on the table and figure out how to move forward. I’m not going to accept any more nonsense about what a white conservative like myself can or cannot discuss. I am all about creating solutions — and to create them, we must break down the problem. This article represents just a small fraction of the discussion.
You don’t agree with the President? POW! You’re racist!
Fast forward five years and it appears that all the hope and change we wished for isn’t going to happen under this president. We’ve seen more divisiveness and alienation of foes during this administration than we have since the 1960s. We watched as President Obama came into office with his party having a super majority in both chambers of Congress, after which they rammed through one of the most controversial pieces of legislation ever: Obamacare.
This is the moment when we began to see the racial divide widen. Huge rallies started popping up all over the country in opposition to the healthcare bill that was being voted into law. These rallies became known as Taxed Enough Already (TEA Party) and were mainly comprised of conservative-minded constituents.
This is when the branding of those on the right being racist began.
People in the media started to create fictitious stories of black politicians being spit on and called racial slurs — none of which were ever proven by actual evidence other than the testimony of hyper-partisan agitators on the left, hell bent on discrediting those attending the rallies. At no point did the President, despite his message of empowerment and his background as an organizer of popular movements, step forward and defend those who were attending the rallies. From this point on, the Republicans (and the Tea Party) have been labeled racists for opposing the President.
We hear these baseless accusation of racism whenever we disagree with President Obama’s agenda. That is the real root of racial divide in this country. The President has been silent on that front. We’ve seen pundit after pundit claim that Republicans don’t agree with the President because that would mean supporting a black man. No one provides a better example of this scurrilous tactic than old, blustering white guy Chris Matthews.
Why hasn’t the President come out and refuted such ignorant claims? Is it not the responsible thing for him to state, “No, I don’t believe they oppose me because I’m black?”
Alas, we won’t see that happen because the President uses this approach, indirectly, to his advantage. He allows his minions to come out and create this message for him. He stood by while Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) even stated that he hoped the GOP wasn’t opposing the President because he is African-American. This from the same guy who spoke about Obama’s lack of a “negro dialect” except when Obama wanted to use it.
The writing was on the wall.
We should have known that President Obama would fail to bring America into a post-racial era. Just take a look into his past and you will see all the places — from the church he attended to his position as a community organizer — from whence emerged this underlying racial divisiveness.
No person just develops their way of thinking over night and President Obama is no different. During the time that Barack Obama was a community organizer in Chicago, he attended a church led by Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Obama’s attendance came to light during the 2008 Democratic Presidential primary, revealed by then Senator Hillary Clinton’s campaign. If you listen to recordings of Rev. Wright, you will hear an extremely angry and racist man that uses the pulpit to preach hate.
Barack Obama sat in that church for 20 years and heard racist sermons over and over again. Either the messages molded Obama’s thinking or he agreed with them enough to keep attending the church. This mindset is evident in his handling of many situations, whether it was Henry Louis Gate or Trayvon Martin. Barack Obama must inject race into almost any issue — and if he doesn’t then one of his flunkies does.
In law enforcement, I had the opportunity to work with many good community organizers and also a few bad ones. The bad ones made it a constant “us vs. them” battle and would push phony racism claims. I would watch them rile the people up by stating motives were based on trying to keep down minorities. The irony is that mentality was exactly what was keeping the minorities in the projects down. Nothing ever changed and there is no upward mobility because of it. Judging by the way he’s acted as president, I don’t imagine Barack Obama was any different.
The narrative from the left has always been to put conservatives on the defensive. What’s the best way to do that? Call them racist.
You start the entire debate with a negative and it will never end well. This has been the underlying theme from the left for the last five years. How can we live in a post-racial America if one side can’t stop calling people names and misrepresenting what their opponents stand for?
President Obama had the opportunity to change discourse in America and he dropped the ball.
Does racism exist? Absolutely and it’s a sad truth.
Does it exist on the scale is has in the past? No.
When we elected President Obama, we wanted to focus on the future and how we can get past some of the negative points in our history.
But there’s one problem: President Obama and the left (aided by the mainstream media) didn’t want society to progress. The left wanted to keep harping on the same tired talking points that have divided us. There will be a discussion on race, but it’s not going to happen in the next few years because President Obama has proven his inability to lead on this issue. We have failed to achieve a post-racial society under President Obama — and a majority of the blame is on the left.
Until we take on a new tone and drop the constant labeling of those who disagree as racist, we will never reach a point where we can truly say that we live in a post-racial society.