The Obama Race Card

Some Things Are Just Inevitable

Given that Obama is the first black US President, and given that he was inevitably going to come in for criticism, equally inevitable was that the colour conscious black racists in the US would denounce opponents and critics of Obama as racists.

What is surprising was how soon it has happened.

The provocation in this case was a rather clever cartoon in the New York Post. A lady with questionable common sense had kept a pet champanzee until it grew into an adult. It attacked her friend and ran amok, requiring that police officers had to despatch it in the good old fashioned way.

The Post carried the following cartoon:



Now a reasonable person would have immediately seen the point. Congress had just written and passed one of the most stupid and craven pieces of legislation of all US history; the process it used to accomplish this auspicious feat was laughable; and as a final insult to injury no-one in either house had the opportunity to read the bill before they voted to pass it. To parody the Congress as being run by a bunch of out of control chimpanzees is apt indeed.

But the racists immediately saw a reference to President Obama--and in particular to his race--since historically blacks have been derisively referred to as monkeys. They clearly forgot with their febrile racist imaginations running white hot that Obama did not write the stimulus bill--Congress did--something for which Obama was subsequently criticised as reflecting his presidential naivite.

But then again, maybe there is an oblique reference to Obama, since he was stamping up and down demanding that Congress pass the legislation by a certain date, in order for him to sign it into law, only to delay the signing of the Bill for four days until he could arrange a suitable photo-op for the signing in the state of Colorado. Maybe he should have allowed Congress those four days to read the thing before they voted on it, since it clearly wasn't so urgent after all.

In any event the two hundred strident racist protestors, led by Al Sharpton, who came out to call for the NY Post to be shut down on the grounds of its racist cartoon have disgraced only themselves. Our expectation is that these people will wear themselves out with protesting, because there is going to be a whole lot more pointed criticism of Obama to come--which Sharpton and his followers will inevitably interpret as racist.

Wait until critical cartoons regularly appear. Enhancing facial features will doubtless be interpreted as racial stereotyping. The chorus of protest will rise. They will not tolerate any criticism of their One--and will allege racism on every hand. As for the Post--at first it hung tough, then supinely capitulated and apologised for offence. How wimpish.