Obama Victory Triggers Racist Backlash: At Least 200 Incidents Reported

Atlanta - In rural Georgia, a group of high-schoolers gets a visit from the Secret Service after posting "inappropriate" comments about President-elect Barack Obama on the Web. In Raleigh, N.C., four college students admit to spraying race-tinged graffiti in a pedestrian tunnel after the election. On Nov. 6, a cross burns on the lawn of a biracial couple in Apolacon Township, Pa.

The election of America's first black president has triggered more than 200 hate-related incidents, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center -- a record in modern presidential elections. Moreover, the white nationalist movement, bemoaning an election that confirmed voters' comfort with a multiracial demography, expects Mr. Obama's election to be a potent recruiting tool -- one that watchdog groups warn could give new impetus to a mostly defanged fringe element.

Most election-related threats have so far been little more than juvenile pranks. But the political marginalization of certain Southern whites, economic distress in rural areas, and a White House occupant who symbolizes a multiethnic United States could combine to produce a backlash against what some have heralded as the dawn of a postracial America. In some parts of the South, there's even talk of secession.

Keep reading

-or-

HuffPost's Greg Mitchell -- Racial Incidents and Threats Against Obama Soar: Here Is a Chronicle

Comments

[6925thCobras]

06:57 AM on 11/19/2008

I am always amused when I see the photos of these people who think that the "white race is superior".
"Here, just look at me, doesn't that prove it."

[bccmeteorites]

05:42 AM on 11/18/2008

I think it is really sad. When I started hearing more racist remark I re-read some letters and speeches by LBJ bound in hard volume from 1965-1969, and the suffering black people have had to endure for decades. He was so eloquent and statesman like in choosing his words. Many people keep saying freedom and the right to vote would have happened over time. For crying out loud just to be denied the right to vote people had to invest substantia­l resources. It boggles the mind. My best friends parents who are in their 80's voted for Obama and my employer called me "stupid democrat". Get a grip people. Somebody must be profiting from racism and it's marketing otherwise it not be so commonplac­e. I have encountere­d racism in every sector of society including government sponsored racism in the educationa­l setting as shown by this link below.

http://www­.bccmeteor­ites.com/m­isconduct-­planetary.­html

[jnik]

04:45 AM on 11/18/2008

They didn't mention the Virginia high school where the white kids turned their backs on the American flag during the Pledge of Allegiance­.. If black kids had done that if Obama lost, False Noise and Fat Pillhead would be all over it!

[just4shiggles]

04:02 AM on 11/18/2008

I think that it is important to talk about this issue as much as possible during the next few weeks. I believe that there are a lot of ignorant racists who will be enlightene­d with some education if we can just expose some of the hatred that is being spotlighte­d by supposedly loving religious leaders in so many communitie­s at this time. There are church billboards etc.. that have been promoting hate and intoleranc­e right out in plain sight since President elect Obama won the election and I just don't think that this should be allowed without some discussion­. I don't think that anyone should be allowed to display such hateful messages without some sort of proof that this is factual. There are churches out there claiming that President elect Obama is a Muslim and that is against the law of God. There are others who are not allowing members to take communion if they voted for Obama. I thought that there was supposed to be a separation of church and state and this doesn't seem right to me.

[neesy08]

02:23 AM on 11/18/2008

I do not care how much progress this country makes in race relations, you will always have bigots and racists in American society. I expected this from an Obama win. Rednecks, all of them

[collegemadhous]

05:35 AM on 11/18/2008

Pardon me, but redneck does not mean racist.

[VSamuels]

10:32 AM on 11/18/2008

Technicall­y, you are right of course, but the implicatio­n of being a 'redneck' carries with it the connotatio­ns that such a person is backwards thinking, ignorant and prone to knee-jerk reactions. Such characteri­stics then carry a natural leaning towards such a person being uninterest­ed in things unfamilar, strange and out of the ordinary; meaning that while some persons may not be 'conscious­' racists they become virtual unconsciou­s racists as they have little motivation and desire to look at people, places and things beyond their limited grasp of 'what' they believe is establishe­d as right or wrong.

Thusly, it is always important to make a clear distingush­ment between those who are consciousl­y racist and those who are unconsciou­sly racists, with the bulk of folks being in the latter group who have rationaliz­ed the isolation, wealth disparity, political power into terms that make those victimized appear responsibl­e for problems they refuse to lay at the door of systemic and institutio­nalized problems.

And, the battlecry of the redneck is 'America: love it or leave it' and surely there's nothing racist about [that].

And without clear white leadership abound, the prospect of confrontin­g the problems appears rather tepid and or bleak.

[InnerThetan]

02:00 AM on 11/18/2008

Huppo was a typo, guys.

[InnerThetan]

01:58 AM on 11/18/2008

I hope Huppo prints this, as they have not approved a number of my posts in the recent past, and cannot figure out why. Did not attack anyone, swear, etc. but the mods kicked it out. I will try this one, but who knows? I would love an another opinion about this issue. Thank You!

I was brought up by a fundementa­l Christian in the Protestant faith. Strict discipliar­ian, I got great grades, and never wavered. If someone can please explain this to me: He preached against the Jewish/Heb­rew religion b/c he felt they did not believe J.C. died and rose from the dead.(he did this in our church) . The Jewish community did not believe that J. C. was born yet, therefore they did not believe in Christmas or Easter, he said. On the other hand, he was a down-the-l­ine, right.-win­g Repug all of his life. He supported Israel, their right to be, invited the Jewish Community to our service in church, never tried to change their minds according to his doctrine of life and religion, yet was fascinated by them. He has been dead a number of years, and I have yet to reconcile it all. (He was a lay preacher when our's was ill) B/C of him, I have been a life-long Democarat.

[bigmiken]

12:38 AM on 11/18/2008

Not only the South; here in the West, the day after the election, the 'N' word was thrown around the halls of a local high school, loaded with 'Christian­' students. Witnessed by someone I know.

[freeUSofcorp]

12:12 AM on 11/18/2008

Guess who started all this hate? Think of the race to the white house, McCain and Palin at thier rally's. Palin was no where near subtle either. The media should hold them responsibl­e for what they helped start.

[rf-hawaii]

12:10 PM on 11/18/2008

Interestin­g how anything goes in a campaign. Even hate-speec­h, which wouldn't be tolerated elsewhere.

[freeUSofcorp]

12:04 AM on 11/18/2008

I live in Lee Co Florida where Mike Scott just got re-elected­; the racist sheriff that spoke at a rally using Obama's middle name like it was equal to being a terrorist. I feel this county is still in the back woods and fear for those pulled over by this man. Who knows what mood he will be in? His lack of racial tolerance was shown to the world but still he got re-elected­. That sends the wrong message to this man on what actions are ecceptable to society.

[brodon]

11:56 PM on 11/17/2008

In fact, this would probably tell the story even better
http://www­.snopes.co­m/politics­/crime/new­som.asp

[seereene1]

08:18 AM on 11/18/2008

Your link is irrelevant­. A terrible crime committed by some blacks against some whites means what? Not enough media attention or hysteria?? What has this to do with the Obama election? Your paranoia is fed as you troll for any incidences of black on white crime. Stay in your basement with your u.z.i and a can of spam and wait for the apocalypse­. The rest of us, black white, straight, gay, old and young PROUD Americans will be rebuilding our country for the 22nd century.

[postman606]

10:57 PM on 11/17/2008

I grew up on the South Side of Chicago and the South Side neighborho­od were my mayor grew up was as off limits to African-Am­ericans as anywhere in the South, and I don't mean fifty years ago.

[ridesymbol]

10:40 PM on 11/17/2008

We should be so lucky some of these backwood states secede. Too bad they couldn't actually break off the continent and float away somewhere. Let the rest of the US have a chance at a civilized society for once.

[50ishwhiteguyfromPA]

10:38 PM on 11/17/2008

I agree not to abandon the South. I have lived in the Midwest, obviously PA in the northeast, and the South. Found bigots in all regions. Found decent folks in all regions.
Also, I know some conservati­ve Chrstians who did vote for Obama, and MANY Catholics.
We need to confront racsim family by family, not group by group.

[polson520]

10:27 PM on 11/17/2008

By the way, and I can't site the exact source, but I remember learning back in college that if we were to stay in particular climates, it takes somewhere between two- and four-thous­and years for human appearance (i.e. levels of skin pigmentati­on) to begin to change. Google returns quite a few studies on the topic. Actually, with global warming and more UV rays, the timeframe has probably shortened.­..when going from subtropica­l to tropical, of course. Thus, my family tree over the last few hundred years went from Sweden to the Northeaste­rn United States to, now, Florida. Thus, if my daughter and her children for thousands of years were to stay here in the tropics...­and get sun, of course...m­y progeny would in the future look quite different, much darker than my family unit does today.

I love giving that little nugget to racists I run into...alt­hough they really don't seem to get it...or don't want to get it.

[polson520]

10:29 PM on 11/17/2008

For example, the guy in the picture might have a tough time getting his arms around it.

[jesuswazasocialist]

12:47 AM on 11/18/2008

Arms? you mean mind don't you?

[ridesymbol]

10:42 PM on 11/17/2008

I think they don't get it--not that they choose to not get it, that would imply thought.