Reply #143: You don't get it

[Hawkowl]

It was a "contrived" private conversation. Sotto voice, just loud enough for bystanders to hear. The guy making the comments knew EBJR would hear and assumed he was an Obama supporter by the color of his skin. He blatantly insulted EBJR by calling him an idiot. Yet the guy did not have the courage to simply confront EBJR directly. Instead of walking up to EBJR and saying "You people are all idiots, go back to Africa", he simply quasi whispered behind his back.

I no longer feel that EBJR's response was over the top because it was a response to racism, not a response to a political viewpoint. There is no way in hell the "whisperer" is ever going to be persuaded to vote for Obama and he was simply baiting EBJR. I sympathize tremendously. I am in awe at African American community's ability to simply grit their teeth, bear it, and continue the struggle----and win! I couldn't do it. Obama is doing it. Look at McCain attack, attack, attack! It is because of Obama's heritage, a heritage of struggle, harassment, discrimination that he is able to simply shrug off McCain like no white candidate could--or like no white candidate would be forced to.

YOU can't tell an African American that it is not polite to lose your temper when someone is calling you a "nigger", or the polite 21st century whisper equivalent of one. Because that's what he heard. So if EBJR wants to call out a whispering racist in a Starbucks, he doesn't need anybody's permission.