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September 17, 2009

Abe Greenwald on the topic of 'racism'

Topics: Political News and commentaries

Abe Greenwald offers up some common sense observations and chides attorney general Eric Holder by noting that he may never get to the bottom of resolving that little Guantánamo thing, but he has managed to see the state of public discourse hit the low he had hoped for:

[...] What a mess. Everyone is electrified by the pervasive racism in the air, yet not one racist statement or action can be pinpointed amid the ambi-directional outrage.

Near misses are everywhere. Serena Williams blows up at a U.S. Open line judge of a different ethnicity. Rapper Kanye West interrupts the award acceptance speech of a white singer only to praise her black competitor. A white teen is beaten up by two black teens on a school bus in Illinois and the mostly black teenage audience cheers.

But those stories, from the worlds of sports, entertainment, and adolescence serve as the collective backdrop for the main near-miss events at the heart of American government. White House "green jobs czar" Van Jones accuses whites of polluting black neighborhoods. A "tea party" demonstration on the Washington Mall draws a massive crowd to protest, among other things, the liberal policies of our mixed-race president. On the same day, many attendees of a black family-reunion convention utilize an adjacent part of the mall (the Washington Post deadpans: "Protesters at the 'tea party' protest were mostly white; the reunion crowd was nearly all black"). And of course South Carolina congressman Joe Wilson levels a "You lie!" at the president during a joint session of Congress.

All the above has captivated both the Right and Left, and the topic of racism is now inescapable. Jimmy Carter, Maureen Dowd, and several Democratic lawmakers have labeled passionate criticism of the president simple racial intolerance. Media outlets like the Drudge Report can be relied upon for hourly updates on both the main and peripheral events.

But where's the scandal? Throughout the 70s, John McEnroe and Ilie Nastase routinely upbraided tennis judges in the most uncivil manner. It was largely appreciated as part of the entertainment. Kanye West's public record is clearly that of a man-child with an indiscriminate propensity for public rudeness. His latest offense was immediately condemned by virtually all blacks and whites in attendance. Police in Illinois have reversed their initial statement about the school-bus beating being racially motivated. Van Jones's comment is not racism; it's what passes as social science among post-World War II liberals of all races today. I personally walked through the tea party and the black-family-reunion event in Washington that day and witnessed not a whiff of racial discrimination in either quarter. In fact, I saw many protesters holding anti-Obama placards happily waiting on food-vendor lines in the reunion area. In order for Joe Wilson's act of flagrant discourtesy to enter the racism circus, Maureen Down had to invent new lines for the congressman to speak. Jimmy Carter's wisdom aside, Obama's personal popularity remains significantly higher than that of his individual policies.

[...] O, the courage currently on display! What bravery from Democrats who label dissenters racists. What fortitude behind mega-font headlines blaring "White Student Beaten on School Bus; Crowd Cheers." We are now talking about racism obsessively--in absence of any racism. This is, one presumes, what Eric Holder wanted.

Continue reading ...

As Warren Petterson notes at Sound Politics, even Rush Limbaugh predicted Obama's election would not improve but actually intensify racial politics in America, and that white liberals and black members of the race industry have proven him right by equating opposition to Obama's policies as racist:

[...] Rush Limbaugh, love him or hate him, predicted that electing Barrack Obama President would not improve but actually intensify racial politics in America. Sadly, white liberals like former President Jimmy Carter and girl columnist Maureen Dowd have proved him right by their public statements equating opposition to Obama's policies as racist. Many in the African-American community agree. We should have seen it coming when the Obama primary election campaign accused Bill Clinton, once called the "first black president", of racism because of several comments he made while supporting his wife's bid for the Democratic nomination. Still we long for the day racism ends as a significant force in American life.

[...] ... The children of my (Black) friends are all well educated and successful. If they are not tainted by the bad old days like their fathers, if they are a little embarrassed by leaders of the race industry such as Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and the more extreme black political leaders, then hopefully each new generation will see more and more the end of racism. Just as a dying yellow jacket can still sting, society must be on guard against discrimination but we do not need to parse every word searching for hidden racial epithets.

What white liberals and black members of the race industry who see such "hidden racial epithets" and discrimination with such frequency - now having extended their search for racism to those who object to Barack Obama's policies - have failed to realize is that, fortunately, crying wolf inevitably leads to diminishing returns and the charge of racism has been diluted over the last few months.

And as Peter Kirsanow notes at NRO:

An accusation of racism may be the most radioactive charge in public discourse. Lots of smart people have stated that leveling the charge serves to cut off any debate on the underlying topic, i.e., health-care reform, radical czars, ACORN, etc.

But the profligate resort to the charge over the last few months actually seems to have energized the conversation on the details of many of these subjects. Those accused -- Tea Party attendees, talk-radio listeners, and even a few GOP politicians -- don't seem to have gotten the message that they should be cowed and should stop questioning the positions of those hurling the accusation. In prior years, some of these same folks would have crawled into a hole, never to emerge.

But crying wolf inevitably leads to diminishing returns.

I wonder if Eric Holder still thinks we're a nation of cowards?

In other words, people have finally begun to smarten up.

Posted by Abdul at September 17, 2009 8:16 AM

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• Abe Greenwald on the topic of 'racism' - Sep 17, 2009