Racist is as racist does

I think everyone expected that a black president would bring the issue of race to the forefront of national debate. Recently Jimmy Carter referred to Joe Wilson's outburst as a symbol of the racist feelings still harbored by many white Americans that still believe a black man is not fit to lead. Wilson's son responds his dad doesn't have a "single racist bone in his body." I agree that perhaps this was a coincidence, as he may not have been showing racism against the black president, only disagreeing with his policies. His outburst was perhaps simple stupidity.

Rep. Lynn Jenkins claimed to be unaware of the racist connotation when saying Republicans needed a "great white hope", although she voted for a measure urging the president to pardon heavyweight champion boxer Jack Johnson that included the very phrase she claimed to not have known about. Again, it's maybe just stupidity.

In town halls all over America people have shown their racist roots while Congressmen look on and do or say nothing. Conservative networks aired an angry black woman being escorted out of a town hall meeting to obviously portray the anger and civil disobedience of those on the left as well. Other news showed just why she was so distraught. She had brought a poster to the town hall to display. After boos from the audience, she rolled the poster up and put it away. A reporter approached her and asked to see what she had been displaying that caused such a raucous. After unrolling her poster for the reporter, an enraged man stormed in and ripped the poster from her hands tearing it in to pieces, all in front of a cheering crowd. The poster had no hateful rhetoric, no political agenda...it was a poster of Rosa Parks.

When we look upon these leaders, we can either say they were racist or just dumb. And though you cannot be racist without being dumb, calling all racists simply dumb is an offense to stupid people everywhere. So what is it Lynn, Joe, all the others? Are you really dumb or just racist?


Or are your arguments so weak that instead of winning the masses with your ideas and policies, you have chosen to rally them around race and nationality?





58% of Republicans still believe Obama was not born in the U.S

1 in 10 Americans still believe Obama is a Muslim (1 in 4 Texans)