Black Congressmen: Palin's Rhetoric Racist

As the McCain campaign ratchets up the intensity of its attacks on Barack Obama, some black elected officials are calling the tactics desperate, unseemly and racist.

"They are trying to throw out these codes," said Representative Gregory Meeks, a Democrat from New York.

"He's 'not one of us?'" Mr. Meeks said, referring to a comment Sarah Palin made at a campaign rally on Oct. 6 in Florida. "That's racial. That's fear. They know they can't win on the issues, so the last resort they have is race and fear."

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[ChunkyMunky]

O'Reilly just had a black professor from Temple University on his program to discuss racism. He asked him if it were less racist for Palin to say she was a "Hockey and Basketball Mom" and then called him "BOY!"

[bluguy8]

Funny thing is she isn't one of us--she's worth over 1 million--not your average Joe there.
Last years taxes she made 165 k--Not your average Joe there either

so , she's not Mrs Average Joe-who is she ? Does McCain rememeber her name

[2belinda]

I am curious
Did any of the candidates in previous presidential campaigns refer to their opponents as
"not one of us"?

[mdacmac]

Good Lord! Couldn't you have warned me I was being taken to another site...I ended up at the New York Observer and read a few comments and almost freaked out. Wow....quite a few of bigotted and nasty, people over there.

[sixx]

There is great independent video of Palin supporters at at Stinksville OH rally on HuffPost. Judge for yourself about their racial ideas.

[ImpalaSuperSport]

Let's get down to brass tacks, anyone who doesn't vote for Obama is a racist right?

[IndependentNAllWays]

No, but obviously anyone who doesn't vote for McCain is putting all US citizens at risk. Yep, you betcha. We should fear all that is different, intelligent, understands the middle class and has outlined all his proposals for governing. We certainly need someone who has anger issues, is white and is staging the most racist, hate-filled campaign in modern history. In other words, it's about economics, health care, housing and all those other things that have nothing to do with racism.

[MissTristate]

ImpalaSuperSport, sad for you, you missed the point. Anyone can vote for any of these candidates. The point is the TYPE of campaign each of them runs. It is clear that Palin's choice of words are used to put fear into her "follower's" hearts and others. Go watch the video of your idiotic Repub friends saying B.O is a terrorist b/c of his name.....what a stupid claim.

[protagonia]

He knows better.

He is hired to turn on his own.

[GoNitro]

Of course not. Palin's task is to fire up that part of the Republican party that this type of message appeals to. It's my understanding that she's being sent only to Republican strongholds. She's out to shore up the base, NOT to convince undecideds.

[protagonia]

ImpalaSuperSport

Let's get down to brass tacks, anyone who doesn't vote for Obama is a racist right?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hard to say.

Could simply be just good-old-fashioned STUPID.

[lisakaz2]

If by not "one of us" SP means a dumbschmuck who can't answer simple questions and has a spouse who's a sessessionist, I'm pretty glad he's not.

[addie24]

It is definitely racism. I am a white person and I cringe whenever I hear them say "He is not one of us"
It is not only what they say BUT the contempt with which they say it.

[norkas]

addie thank you for a honest post that is correct.

[jusion]

This has got nothing to do with racism. McCain needs to make Americans think one more time about who Barack Obama is, and where he came from. In this regard, the Bill Ayers history is important, as is Obama's role in the New Party, Reverend Wright, Tony Rezko, and Father Michael Phleger. There is a pattern of association and alliances with very radical figures for many years. If Obama weren't black, the same issues would have been brought up nonetheless. That doesn't matter, though, to the outrage industry, ever on the lookout for any sign of racism and quick to pounce even when it's not there.

[lisakaz2]

You prefer the witch doctor, the separatist. Hagee and the antiabortion bomber, huh?

[jusion]

From Politico:

"John McCain is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. He could never mention Jeremiah Wright and ensure his campaign aides don't either, and he'd still be accused of running a racist campaign.
Have his tactics against Obama in recent days gotten more personal and hard-edged? Yes. Are his top surrogates, including his running mate, suggesting that the Democrat is a terrorist sympathizer who is not a patriot? Yes.
But is McCain doing anything overtly racist? No.
As Harold Ford Jr. told me in Nashville: "If Barack were not African-American, they"d be doing this."

Jonathan Martin

[IndependentNAllWays]

A concentrated effort to defame, libel and incite hatred started with push polls in Florida that connected Sen. Obama to Hamas and targeted Jewish voters in Florida -- that would be racist. The e-mails emphasizing his "otherness" by saying he's a Muslim, when he's Christian and always has been - that would be racist. The four Christian students hanging a cardboard effigy of a candidate from a tree is racist. A Canadian company spreading fear and trying to influence our election through a psuedo-documentary on radical Islam is racist and incendiary.

The fact that a few speeches of a black minister represent his whole career is racist because no one's talking about the times he preached according to the gospel about love and forgiveness. And few talk about the ministers that McCain and Palin have allowed close to them who pray for gays to be straight, say that terrorism is OK against Israel because they don't believe in Jesus and preach hate against other religions

Ayers and Obama served on an education board that awarded scholarships -- that's not scary to rational people. What is scary is Republicans supporting hate speech and McCain and Palin giving lip service to not wanting race to be part of this whole campaign, yet they haven't told the crowds that it is unacceptable to call out hateful, incendiary comments.

All the candidates are imperfect, but we do have to live in this country as a united people after this is all over.

[GoNitro]

And no one can ask Sarah Palin anything without being called a sexist bully.

[koluidj]

in news Palin said about administration: "now clearly as result - failure of Mccain's company "
Watch this not clipped interview here: http://tinyurl.com/S-Palin-on-fox

[jusion]

It's absurd. Palin's being accused of racism for connecting Obama to a white guy (Ayers).

[BillForObama]

But you are.

No one is connecting McCain to a white guy (Charles Keating). The Charles Keating who purchased political influenced from John McCain, not the Charles Keating who was a 1940's swimming chamption.

[jusion]

No one is connecting McCain to a white guy (Charles Keating)???
Check again.

[Atmus]

The racism is in the "tone" that it is being delivered in.

Watch some a "racism" focused movie and you will see and hear the tones.

And if you have never had anything racist overtly or covertly done to you, then you would NOT have any way of picking up on it.
In some cases I think these "racism" labels are being just THROWN out their, but in some others it should be a real concern.

In watching Sarah Palins new stump speech, I have to say, their is alot of 'hidden' meaning behind her tones and it instills fear and hate mongering within it.

[bellepepper02]

Obama's being linked to "terrorists". That word is bandied about all the time by the McCain campaign, and that's what will stick in people's head, not the name "William Ayers". In America, what does the word "terrorist" connote today? Not white people, that's for sure.

And what did Palin mean about Obama not being "one of us"?

Some people are educated enough to connect words to their history of associations in American culture. That's how they can decode the racist connotations behind the McCain campaign talk.

[kathy001]

Palin is being accused of racism for saying that Obama is "not like us," among other things. What's absurd is that this kind of thing still works in a country that is as advanced as the US. The citizens of this country should be well enough educated to see through this kind of inflammatory hate-speech.

[TommyJohn]

When Dems are in fear, they bring out the race card.

Come on, come on, play the card agn.

[MoeB]

Fear of what? Losing? Err, we are winning last I checked, and pulling away in fact. So if you want to see what desperation looks like, please see the McCain campaign.

Clearly, you republicans are not seeing the writing on the wall...these "oh they are playing the race card" tactics may have worked in the past, but they won't work now.

If republicans have ANY chance, they must talk about the ISSUES that are important to the american public and stop with these lame "associations".

[mad as hell]

Here is a chance for Collin Powell to redeem himself.

He, Powell, has to come out swinging at McCain/Palin and in full support of Obama/Biden, laying out his case in a clear concise manner.

In my opinion, anything less will be hypocracy! My guess is, he will decide that at the end of the 3rd debate.

Collin Powell has known both of the presidential candidates and has talked and/or consulted with both of them for a good while now. Debates will not add anything substantially new to the whats already out there. So, I dont see how waiting will do any good.

Perhaps, a simailar case can be made for Chuck Hagel, too.

[white mende man]

Powel is a loser and he will go down as a loser, he will always put his party before country. to think i was willing to support him for the presidency years ago. he makes me ashamed to have felt that way.

[bellepepper02]

It's easy enough to know who Powell is with. If he was on McCain's side, he would simply have said so a long time ago and endorses him openly. But if he endorses Obama, the racists will say, there you go, black supports black. So his silence already indicates who he's with.

Powell has to go through the motion of listening to all three debates, and then endorsing Obama. Then, people will say he came to his choice by the exercise of reason, rather than by colour.

Poor guy. He shouldn't be put in this position.

[Kungfublood]

Isn't her nick name the barracuda? I am thinking of a song...Eeewww moose a cuda..

[Diplomacy]

This goes beyond racism. This is HATE speech.

High time to invoke a "Cease-and-Desist Order against the McCain Campaign"!!!

This is very irratic & dangerous behaviour especially during these tough Economic times.

The McCain Campaign is IRRATIC, FANATIC, & DESPERATE!