Rachel Maddow Takes On 'I Guess I'm Racist' Ads (VIDEO)

Rachel Maddow Takes On 'I Guess I'm Racist' Ads (VIDEO)

On Monday night, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow took on the strange ad circulating on the Internet in which health care reform opponents claim they've been called racists just for opposing President Obama's policies.

In the ad, a variety of nice-looking people (including a woman with a toddler) declare, "I guess I'm racist" because they oppose health care reform.

Watch the ad:

"Does the fact that the president is black really have anything to do with it?" the ad asks. Well, no. Accusations of racism have been targeted at people who bring racist signs to anti-Obama rallies or suggest the president is not a U.S. citizen. The whole ad seems to hinge on a speech by Jesse Jackson at a Congressional Black Caucus dinner, in which he said, "You can't vote against health care and call yourself a black man." The comment, which Jackson later walked back, was directed at a black congressman and had nothing to do with President Obama or his critics.

Maddow discussed how the ad, produced by Ray Griggs, tries to avoid any serious argument by making the debate all about race:

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