It is all still about race: Obama hatred, the South and the truth about GOP wins

[Old Nick]

All the conventional wisdom you'll hear tonight is wrong: Republican gains are really proof of age-old ugliness

In 1964, there were five black members of the House of Representatives — barely over 1 percent — compared to the 11 percent of the population who were black. But the American people were evenly split, 30 to 31 percent, on whether blacks should have more or less influence, with 28 percent saying things were “about right” as they stood. What’s more, those opposed to government social spending programs were three times more likely to say blacks should have less influence compared to those supporting social spending.

Those historical tidbits, from “The Political Beliefs of Americans; a Study of Public Opinion” by Lloyd Free and Hadley Cantril, immediately came to mind last week when Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, locked in a tight reelection fight — as always — made a lot of headlines with her comments noting that race had something to do with President Obama’s unpopularity in the state.

“I’ll be very, very honest with you. The South has not always been the friendliest place for African-Americans,” she told NBC News in an interview. “It’s been a difficult time for the president to present himself in a very positive light as a leader.”

This is hardly earth-shattering news from the state that brought us Plessy v. Ferguson in the 1890s, and the deeply racialized devastation of Katrina less a decade ago, after which even President Bush admitted that “deep, persistent poverty” in the area “has roots in a history of racial discrimination, which cut off generations from the opportunity of America.” Speaking of Katrina, according to a PPP poll last year, the good people of Louisiana “were evenly split on who was most responsible for the poor Hurricane Katrina response: George W. Bush or Obama, 28/29.” Given that Obama was a first-year senator at the time of Katrina, it’s not hard to see what Landrieu was driving at.

Sad but true.

[still_one]

1. no doubt about it in my mind

[mucifer]

2. Money and Lies.

The wealthy get what they want.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

3. We need all good white people to join us in this fight against racism.

Even here on DU, often when one of us people of color speak up, we are challenged, shut down, told to post links and provide evidence of racism--as if our experiences are invalid and only white people determine what's true racism and what's a lie.

The racism is not just in the South where I was raised. It's neither confined to the political right nor the Republican Party. And it does exist right here on DU despite efforts to shut people of color up, offend us, or condescendingly demand proof.

Truth is: I've never witnessed such hatred directed at one man in my life. I grew up in the South. In Georgia! And even there, I've never seen such racial hatred, pure intolerance, and ignorance in all the days of my life.

And I'm old!!

[noiretextatique]

6. i just told a conservative that his hatred of obama is rooted in racism

Last edited Wed Nov 12, 2014, 05:40 PM - Edit history (1)

of course, he accused me of "playing the race card," then proceeded to prove my point. he kept going on about Obama's "lies" and "failed policies," but of course he couldn't name ONE of these "failed policies." like fish swimming in water...they cannot see it. democrats need to stop tiptoeing around the subject of race, and tell the truth.

[YoungDemCA]

4. K&R for the truth. An excerpt from the end of the article:

While the shift in Democratic attitudes was relatively uniform and dramatic, the underlying levels were not, and this has produced a sharp intra-party difference in attitudes. Democrats outside the white South are the only group that blames external factors in white society more than internal factors in blacks themselves. Although Southern Democrats are far less inclined to blame blacks than their GOP counterparts, they still blame blacks more by a ratio of 2.3-to-1, which is significantly less friendly to blacks than folks outside the white South are. In fact, Republicans outside the white South are almost as sympathetic to blacks as white Southern Democrats are: they blame blacks more by a ratio of 2.7-to-1.

Not only is the Democratic Party split between two dominant views — one in the white South blaming blacks more, the other outside it blaming discriminatory practices in white society more — the minority group within the party, white Southerners, is far more unified in its views.

In the white South, 42.4 percent blame blacks exclusively, compared to just 18.8 percent who blame discrimination, and 38.8 who blame both. That’s a lopsided 69/31 split between the two exclusive positions. Outside the white South, 27.7 percent blame blacks exclusively, 34.4 percent blame discrimination, and 37.9 percent blame both, a much narrower 45/55 split between the exclusive positions.

What all the above boils down to is that blaming blacks for being poor remains broadly popular in America today, and that taking note of continued discrimination is not. A modest majority of Democrats outside the white South disagree, and this creates a political fault line that Republicans have repeatedly exploited across the decades, with no end in sight. When conservatives get too crude — as was the case with Cliven Bundy, for example — this threatens to upset the apple cart, and appearances must quickly get restored. But it’s the crudity, not the underlying attitude of blaming blacks, that has fallen out of favor. This would hardly surprise a Southern gentleman of this or any other century. It’s just the way things are supposed to be. Always have been. Why ever change?

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

5. Thank you so much for this. Proof of racism within the ranks of the Democratic Party.

DUers who have the audacity to always ask black DUers for proof of racism? Here are some examples:

During the 2008 Democratic Party primaries in West Virginia and Kentucky, the exit polls showed that many white Democrats openly admitted that they could not vote for a black man (Obama) and would rather vote for a woman (Clinton). They openly admitted this, and these are DEMOCRATS.

The Southern Strategy and Reagan Democrats - part of the appeal of the Reagan Revolution for many Democrats was the so-called Welfare Queen. Many working class white Democrats, particularly males living in industrial cities and towns in the South and Midwest became disaffected with the Democratic Party and voted Republican. Republicans to this day use racial politics to pit working class whites against poor and working class blacks and many white Democrats fell prey to this trick. There are still plenty of conservative and Independent Democrats who will vote Republican. Don't believe me? Come to Maryland where many of them voted for Hogan for governor last week.

Senator Mary Landrieu bravely admitted what many blacks already know about the Democratic Party but that many whites--including white Democrats--refuse to admit: that hatred for this president is driven, in large part, by race. Unlike Alison Grimes in Kentucky, Landrieu told the truth about racism in the South as it exists and did not distinguish between political parties. She admitted that one of the reasons why she and Democrats are having problems winning elections is because the president is black. She stated that this country still has a long way to go before it gets over its race problem. Whether or not she wins her run-off race in Louisiana, I applaud her honesty, her temerity, and her forthrightness.

I wish more white people--regardless of political or ideological persuasion--would be honest about the issue of race and racism in this country. Racism comes in many forms, not just calling someone the N-Word. There are more subtle forms, psychological forms, seemingly innocuous as well. Too many think it's merely just about overt expressions of racism. No, it's not. It's not just about institutionalized racism, either. Subtle forms can be even more dangerous, as we learned with Trayvon Martin, for example. And the unwillingness to empathize with others is doing a fair amount of harm and isn't making things better. Indeed, it is making the situation much more difficult and far more unlikely that we get along and find a solution to this insidious problem.