Opinion: Will the Left's Constant Playing of the Race Card Cost Obama White Voters?

Martin Luther King famously stated in his I Have A Dream speech, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." As he had hoped would happen one day, a black American is living the very real dream of becoming president. Yet the professional fearmongers and sowers of racial discord on the Left and in the media may very well be burning that dream to the ground. What would MLK think and say about all that, I wonder? Would he agree with the Left that all American whites are racist at heart? Or would he look at all the anti-white vitriol and sinking Obama polls, then try to convince rabid left-wing Obama supporters that they no longer live in 1964 Mississippi, but in a more enlightened America of the 21st Century? Wouldn't he say that when it all comes right down to it, doesn't the very fact that Barack Obama is even the Democratic nominee prove that majority-white America has put its racist past of slavery and Jim Crow to bed? How tragically ironic it is that millions of white Americans (many of whom voted for Obama in droves) are now being judged quite harshly and publicly on the content of their character BY the color of their skin. And that all-too-often vitriolic judgment is both frequent and relentless in the media and elsewhere. As if the media is in any position to talk about racism. But I digress. Besides Whoopi Goldberg's plea to John McCain on The View not to put her back in chains, three other similarly typical news items caught my eye today. Or burned them, I should say. First, from Jack Cafferty at CNN, via Drudge:

The differences between Barack Obama and John McCain couldn’t be more well-defined. Obama wants to change Washington. McCain is a part of Washington and a part of the Bush legacy. Yet the polls remain close. Doesn’t make sense…unless it’s race.

Time magazine’s Michael Grunwald says race is the elephant in the room. He says Barack Obama needs to tread lightly as he fights back against the McCain-Palin campaign attacks.

He writes, “Over the past 18 months, Obama has been attacked as a naive novice, an empty suit, a tax-and-spend liberal, an arugula-grazing élitist and a corrupt ward heeler, but the only attacks that clearly stung him involved the Rev. Jeremiah Wright - attacks that portrayed him as an angry black man under the influence of an even angrier black man.”

The angry black man, he goes on to say, doesn’t have broad appeal in White America. And even though the makeup of our population is changing, whites are still the majority in this country. How ironic that the giant step forward of nominating an African American for president may ultimately keep us mired in the past.

First, Mr. Cafferty gets a number of things wrong here. The angry black man DOES have wide appeal in white America. In fact, we love 'em. Just not in our churches or the White House. As for Mr. Cafferty's assessment that former Obama mentor Jeremiah Wright may undo the 'giant step forward' of nominating an African-American for the Presidency, that is political, not racial. It is a VERY legitimate question to ask how 20-plus years in the withering racial heat of Wright's Trinity UCC has affected Obama's REAL perspective on race relations in this country. Worse, how has it affected his two young daughters? Personally, I don't care if the nominee is black or white, male or female. I would gladly vote for Colin Powell or Elizabeth Dole as I did for Ronald Reagan. Former UN Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick earned my vote years ago. By the way, Jeane Kirkpatrick's speech at the 1984 RNC was coined 'Blame America First' and 'San Francisco Democrats.' Just goes to show how little things really change over time. The point is, character goes a long way. Lack of it doesn't, and it has NOTHING to do with race. Or, like Mr. Cafferty, should I judge Obama by the color of his skin and ignore the content of his character for the more lofty goal of an African-American presidency, an objective based on nothing more than race? Is that where we're at politically in America? Unfortunately, it would seem so. Just ask Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. From the Iowa Independent:

IOWA CITY — Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius publicly considered the possibility that Sen. Barack Obama’s race might be a factor in this year’s presidential election during an appearance here Tuesday.

“Have any of you noticed that Barack Obama is part African-American?” Sebelius asked in response to a question about why the election is so close. “That may be a factor. All the code language, all that doesn’t show up in the polls. And that may be a factor for some people.”

The remark, delivered in the governor’s low key, folksy, out-from-behind-the-podium style, raised a couple chuckles but few eyebrows in the downtown Iowa City crowd, but Republicans took offense and responded in short order.

No, Madame Governor, I didn't notice Obama was black. REALLY??? I guess I HAVE to vote for McCain now, huh? Being white and all? What of the millions of blacks who will vote for Obama over McCain? Are THEY racist, Madame Governor? And what code language are you talking about, Madame Governor? Can you provide us all with copies of your Racist White People Decoder Ring so we all can be enlightened and Stop the Hate? And people rail on Sarah Palin for being an idiot woman governor. Lastly, the infamous Race Warrior Fatima Ali, from the Philly Daily News:

But just because (Obama's) ancestors never wore shackles, and he has paid off the student loans from his elite education doesn't mean he doesn't have compassion. Or that he doesn't understand the pain of those who live in dire poverty, who've lost their homes, who want yet can't afford college, and who lack health insurance.

His acceptance speech indicated that, unlike McCain, Obama gets it because hard times aren't so far behind him that his memory's been erased.

If McCain wins, look for a full-fledged race and class war, fueled by a deflated and depressed country, soaring crime, homelessness - and hopelessness!

Ms. Ali heard back on that one, so much so that she did a follow-up saying we don't have to wait for a race war, it's already here:

AT LEAST 2 million readers visit DrudgeReport.com daily, and, for the last two weeks, it seemed like most of them were steamed at me.

Thousands of hostile messages flooded my e-mail after my Sept. 2 column that the Daily News called "We Need Obama, Not 4 More Years of George Bush."

Drudge cleverly headlined it: "Philadelphia columnist warns if McCain wins, look for a full-fledged race war."

I stand by the column - but after all of that backlash, I realize I was dead wrong. We don't have to wait until after the election for a race war. We're in one now.

I know that putting the words "race" and "war" together is like hurling an incendiary device. But I wasn't issuing a call to arms, it was a metaphorical prediction.

I hate violence, but I do see a growing wave of intolerance sweeping the nation. And most of the responses were hostile, like one from someone who identified himself as Dennis Van Pelt: "Obama runs like a porch monkey in Alabama during a KKK concert." But, not all white Southerners feel like Dennis. Russ Nelson wrote: "I am a white male who was proud to cast my vote for Barack Obama in the Alabama state primary. He inspires me!"

Nelson sounds more like the liberal whites I grew up with in West Mount Airy, a community that pioneered integration in Philadelphia and kept me wearing rose-colored glasses. I didn't personally experience racism until I was 40, and then it hit me like a ton of bricks.

The recent onslaught of hate mail I received is a cruel reminder that racism is a like a simmering pot ready to boil over. But it's diametrically opposed to what democracy should represent.

I agree with Ms. Fatima. There IS a growing wave of intolerance. For Molotov-throwing, racebaiting idiots just like her. I also do not disagree with Ms. Fatima that there is a full-fledged race war in America. Just with the sources of the racism. And the targets. Jeremiah Wright waged a race war from his pulpit. Does anybody doubt that besides Jack Cafferty and Fatima Ali et al? Al Sharpton wages a race war every time he climbs out of bed. Dialy KOS and other far-left blogs like HuffPo constantly brand Republicans and conservatives as racist Klansmen with truckloads of crosses and gasoline, but only when they're not too busy calling them Nazis, fascists, bloodthirsty warmongering vampires, etc, etc. Yawn. Personally, I think Lefties are far more racist than your Typical White Person. Who put Joe Lieberman in blackface? Who threw Oreo cookies at Michael Steele AND put him in blackface? Who has referred to Colin Powell as an Uncle Tom? Who has constantly parodied Condoleezza Rice with the worst stereotypes imaginable? Who thought up the "So Sambo beat the bitch!" statement and attributed it to Sarah Palin? Who at KOS drew that Klansmen/Michelle Obama drawing above with mad glee in their eyes? That kind of crap doesn't even cross my mind, at least until I see it. Yet for many on the Left, waging a race war is a full-time job. And it may just cost Obama the election if it keeps up with the same veracity pundits like Fatima Ali and blogs like KOS and HuffPo pursue it. The reason being? This is 21st Century America, not 1964 Alabama. Millions of enlightened and non-racist white Americans voted Obama past Hillary in the primaries. If racism were as endemic to white America as many pundits like Ali and Cafferty so loudly proclaim, the only places Obama could win elections are Harlem and South Central LA. He wouldn't even be elected dogcatcher in any white majority district. After all, if we whites are so racist, how could we possibly entrust Man's Best Friend to a black man? I for one am so sick and tired of reading article after article by idiot after idiot calling me a racist if I don't vote for Obama, that all white people in America are inherently racist anyway, or threaten a race war if McCain wins. Judging by all the bad press these idiots are getting in turn, I am far from alone in this opinion. The term 'racist' is fast becoming the n-word for white Americans. It has very negative and stereotypical connotations that have extremely little basis in fact, and its usage today is only to demean, insult and to assert power over in a position of moral superiority. What's the difference, really? You tell me. This war against white America being waged by the Left is intolerable and ultimately self-defeating. As I've said, millions of open-minded white Americans provided Obama with the Democratic nomination. Should those same open-minded white people tire and grow sick of the constant harp of racism we are relentlessly accused of by the same people who praise Obama just as vehemently, Barack Obama may find those same white voters more bitter and resentful than the ones who sent him to a 20-point loss in Pennsylvania. And it would have nothing to do with his race. It would, however, have everything to do with the armies of left-wing time-warped morons who constantly beat white voters with the club of racism in hopes we shall feel guilty of past racial crimes, then look past Obama's many political flaws and show our true multiculturalism by electing Barack Obama to the White House. Of course, if Obama does lose this election it will have nothing to do with William Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, Jeremiah Wright, Tony Rezko, Hatem el-Hady, Arugula (Endives helped sink Dukakis, BTW), BitterGate or Michelle Obama's multitudinous public gaffes. Pundits like Fatima Ali and Jack Cafferty, and blogs like HuffPo, KOS, DD and Democratic Underground will be there to remind us of the REAL reasons for any future Obama loss: because America really is the 'US of KKK-A.' And Democrats wonder why they can't win the presidency. And for as long as the hate-filled racebaiting albatross of the fringe Far Left hangs around their neck, they never will. I for one will never vote for a presidential candidate whose mentor was a paranoid racist, whose close friends are unrepentant domestic terrorists, whose supporters hang Che flags in their offices for all to see, who have befriended terrorist fundraisers on their campaign blog, and whose stated contempt for God-fearing blue collar Americans seems without measure. And I don't give a flying crap what color he is. All racism aside, isn't that about the most unsavory group of associates any presidential candidate has ever been surrounded by? If the situation were reversed, I couldn't vote for Obama fast enough. But it isn't. Find the racism in all that. Actually, you don't have to. I am white, after all. Note: The Author is a lily-white American of Irish-English-Racist descent who grew up poor in a rough-and-tumble mixed-race housing project two miles from Harvard University. Yet despite the unfortunate racism in his DNA, some of his biggest heroes and role models are black. Or at least have the due respect they've worked so hard to earn. Hmmm. Respect being earned. Now THERE'S a subject the over-the-cliff Far Left should think about. If they could think, that is. Anyway, here's a short list: Martin Luther King Larry Elder Bill Cosby Ray Charles Muhammed Ali George Foreman Chris Rock Richard Pryor Redd Foxx Jimi Hendrix Stevie Wonder (both Little and Big) Scott Joplin Donovan McNabb (famous Scottish-African-American QB of the Philadelphia Eagles) George Washington Carver The Wayams Brothers The Hughes Brothers John Singleton Ice Cube Ice-T Snoop Dogg Cuba Gooding, Jr. Eddie Murphy (who, underneath it all, is White Like Me) Flip Wilson Nipsey Russell Sindey Poitier Bob Marley The members of Black Sheep Arrested Development (the band, not the show) Forest Whitaker Jackie Robinson Satchel Paige Magic Johnson Dr. J Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Kevin Garnett Paul Pierce Robert Parrish David Ortiz Hank Aaron Richard Seymour (his Mom's cool, too!) CCH Pounder Michael Jackson (when he was black and cute, and not so weird and white) John Howard Griffin, the blackest white boy there ever was. The list goes on. And on. And on. I know all this doesn't prove I'm not a racist. I'm just sayin'. Besides, I just can't get around my skin color these days. Well, I can, at least.