by Tina Grazier
Racism used to be associated with angry murdering thugs hiding like cowards under pointy hooded garmentsnow apparently all it takes is a vote for a different (non-black) candidate. Recent examples:
New York governor David Paterson recently suggested at the national meeting of the NAACP that an Obama loss is a racist victory.
Andrew Greeley says that black Americans (all, apparently) and the rest of the world will “scream racism” if Obama is defeated by John McCain. Greeley says that “Only the innocent and the naive think that the November election will not be about race.”
Joe Klein hinted at racism in a blog post when he said Obamas polling slump following his foreign travels might be associated with presumptuousness: The emerging conventional wisdom seems to be that the trip is a bit too grand, too…presumptuous and voters are wary of that. (And presumption, of course, always comes with the subterranean tinge of racism.) Maybe so.
The ugly thing about these cheap shots at American voters is that most Americans abhor racism and believe legitimate charges should be taken very seriously. Comments like those above water down and lessen the nature of legitimate claims and demean those victims who make them honestly. Shame! The vast majority of Americans will choose their new president based on character, platform, and credentials.