Jimmy Carter's Words Give Media Outlets a Gigantic Excuse to Look Hard at Racism and Some Obama Critics

Thanks to Jimmy Carter, America is having a dialog about race that has been long overdue.

It took a former president using blunt language to get the nation's chattering class to focus on an issue that has troubled some since the first first Tea Bag protestor tossed a pouch of Lipton into the Potomac: How much of this hysterical opposition to Barack Obama is about reaction to his race?

Carter had little doubt, telling NBC's Brian Williams: "I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of the belief among many white people, not just in the South but around the country, that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country."

Carter, being a smart man, likely knew this was just the opening news outlets needed; since the White House and Democrats often try to minimize talk about race and Obama, journalists can have a tough time putting this issue on the table without looking like instigators.

Now reporters had an excuse to ask tough questions about opponents of Obama who refuse to believe he is a U.S. citizen, brandish photoshopped images showing him in African tribal garb and insist on calling him a "thug" with little evidence.

This story brings up the typical difficulties media has in covering race stories: discomfort with the topic, the difficulty in talking about race issues when they may not be the dominant element in a story, the difficulty in talking about a subject when neither side on the issue wants to discuss it.

And since this story is about a mostly-white group of people and their reactions to a black president, even the easy crutch of going to black experts on race can't do the job here. This is much more about white culture and its struggle to find the boundaries of acceptable opposition in an increasingly brutal political environment.

 For example. Mark Williams of the Tea Party Express admitted on CNN calling Obama an "Indonesian Muslim and welfare thug" on his blog, just after insisting he saw few tea party protestors using racially-charged arguments.

Race-baiting conservative talk host Rush Limbaugh turned Carter's words into an argument against electing a black president at all. "Any criticism of an African American president's polices or positions or statements is racist and that's it," he declared Wednesday. "Therefore the question: Can this nation really have an African American president?"

But I think Carter's statement raises a different question: Will conservatives move to condemn those who make racist arguments against Obama, so opposition can proceed against him that isn't based on race?

What I saw Wednesday, was a lot of conservatives refusing to acknowledge an important fact -- just as you can't dismiss every Obama critic as a racist, you can't pretend there isn't a racial subtext to some of his opposition. Instead, figures such as Michael Steele, Charles Krauthammer and Mary Matalin refused to consider the notion that some Obama critics may be using racist language and imagery.

I don't think it's fair to call Joe Wilson's outburst during Obama's speech last week an expression of racism or prejudice. But there are plenty of other voices out there criticizing Obama that are less ambiguous -- many of them in media.

What else can you say when Limbaugh goes on air to talk about a white kid getting beaten up on a school bus, declaring "in Obama's America, the white kids now get beat up with the black kids cheering"? Police eventually said the fight occurred over seating on the bus, not race issues.

Those who know their history will remember that civil rights activists were often accused of being Marxist and Communists in the 1960s, as opponents of integration tried whipping up broad, irrational fears against people who wanted to change their way of life. It's a classic strategy of painting people of color as exotic, dangerous outsiders -- something we've seen reprised in recent months regarding Obama.

That's why claims that Obama is Marxist or socialist have an odd ring now. It seems a strange repeat of the same tactics used against Martin Luther King Jr. more than 40 years ago (King did, toward the end of his life, advocate for economic justice principles which drew similar cries of socialism) . Cynics might say those who oppose Obama now are so hungry for support they are willing to overlook insulting language and imagery to serve their greater goals.

Too often, these debates occur outside the lens of history. But race friction in America is all about history; there are still plenty of Americans who remember the tactics used the segregate and subjugate people of color 40 years ago -- seeing them surface again, with little official sanction, must feel like a dispiriting sort of deja vu.

Republican have often been accused of tolerating intolerance to reach their goals. Seems to me that visibly denouncing those who are using race-tinged attacks to criticize Obama -- and El Rushbo is exhibit A -- would offer the strongest step toward inoculating presidential critics from claims of race-baiting.

Follow Eric Deggans on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Deggans

Comments

[db08]

Thank you for a thoughtful posting.

[WorkingClass]

White racists don't want some darky speaking to their children even if he is president of the United States. White racists are extremely ignorant. They wouldn't know a Marxist if they married one. They call Obama a Marxist because they are afraid to publicly call him an n-word.

Racism divides the working class. Our corporate masters want to keep us ignorant so they can keep us divided. What say we join forces and DESTROY the 1% who oppress and impoverish us all.

[kenhamlett]

My God, but that is ominous sounding. We need to keep some perspective here on both sides. When George H. W. Bush addressed our school children, the Democrats were incensed and held Congressional hearings to investigate his intrusion into our lives. When President Obama did it, the Democrats heralded it as the greatest device ever employed. Neither is true. Neither President is evil and neither President is beyond criticism. At least, as we enter into our discussion about policy, let's keep that in mind. The President's advisors have done him an injustice by trying to make him more than he is. He is an intelligent man dealing with unsolvable problems. He is not always right and he is not always wrong. He is also not superman, and they need to stop selling that premise. It makes it impossible for him to succeed.

[db08]

Some Democratic leaders may have been incensed (after the fact, I believe) but you did not have parents willing to pull their children out of school and having that parental act supported by political leaders and school leaders.

You are right. He is not superman but he is not the monster to be feared as has been painted. Of course, he is wrong sometimes. But the questioning of his birth certificate, his loyalty to this country, his humanity, the racial stereotypes do not reflect policy disagreements.

[springsm]

Jimmy Carter had his problems as president but he is generally correct with these human statements. Poor timing, but we need to admit that racism still is rampant and getting ugly. But we can't let the media guide that discussion­...they manipulate things the way they want and it would not be an honest discussion or one with ethical intregity. And for gosh sakes...ca­n't we grow up enough to let this country go ahead...we are falling behind everybody with the GOP bickering children and look at the other power nations...­they are progressing and probably planning.

[Keita]

and to think that while we bicker at home....ch­ina is slowly rising.

[Keita]

Jimmy Carter nailed this one. from this point on, they are going to smell their own bad breath of racism when ever they speak. not that they are gonna stop. but they might just choose their words carefully.

[InsideBrooklyn]

Jimmy Carter is one of the most maligned Presidents of the modern era. This is a shame. Looking back consider at least one of his great achievements to get Egypt and Israel to declare peace between them. I think he speaks as always from knowledge and from the heart.

[db08]

so true

[JerryLevy]

Jimmy Carter who accuses Israel of being an "Apartied State" and recommends we sit down and negotiate with Hamas and Hezbollah and Iran now accuses the citizens of the U.S. of racism if they are critical of Obama's economic and health care policies. As usual he presented no relevant back up to this accusation. He has virtually no credibility here in the U.S. except in the halls of far left academia, Arab lobbies, and code pink.

[Waltb31]

No. If it were limited to criticism of policies, that would be fine. But to call Our President a witch doctor a Nazi, a Marxist, a "white people hater", and everything else is not policy criticism. It is blatant racism.

[JerryLevy]

What was it when Bush was called Nazi, war criminal, and stupid by the left and by members of congress? You have a selective memory.

[jtc1977]

Racism is just a byproduct of this whole Tea Bagger movement. You get enough white conservatives together then there are bound to be some racists who are going to take it too far. The problem is that there are two aspects to the so appropriatley name TEA BAGGERS. There is the mob of scared and confused white middle class folks carrying degrading and inflamitory signs...th­en there's the corporate republicans like Dick Armey who have an agenda. The whole goal behind this movement is to defeat Obama in 2012. It doesn't matter if they have to include some racists, fear mongers or paranoid freaks to accomplish this task. They can't lose to a black man again...

[mpostednotes]

Presi dent Carter will be remembered for this sp eech.

[mpostednotes]

Carter is a statesman.

[Flavor]

I wish this was the idea world but folks it ain't. Since the begining of time there has been racism and guess what it ain't going anywhere but you, me, she, he, them us don't have to participate in it. We can tell our children, grandchildren to love all people and you may not love their actions but love people, one's color does not qualify for restriction look if at all possible at ones character.

[Pleneras]

cARTER A REAL HUMANITARI­AN... modern christians love to hate. Helping people is not part of their dogma.

[kenhamlett]

Yes, there are racists in America, -- and every other country. There are even racists of various colors and backgrounds. But, the people who who have been bringing up race over and over in the past two years are the Obama-designates and the supporters. If they can just convince everyone that criticism of the President is racist -- then, voila! There will be no criticism. Nice try, but it won't work. I deplore anyone who criticizes based on race. But, there are legitimate issues at stake in this President's policies, some of which as a very liberal Democrat, I dislike. So, I will be critical when I want to. I'm gay, and the President is terrible when it comes to my equal rights. But, I don't call him a homophobe. I just work to ensure that he changes his publicly stated positions!

[MarkBrio]

Really so saying hes not an American. Comparing him to a monkey. Having a watermelon patch on White House grounds. None of that is based on racism. You are the weakest link.

[kenhamlett]

I believe I began my comment by acknowledging that there are racists in America, Apparently, you just read the parts that appeal to you and ignore the rest. That is the problem with politics today. My comments were actually similar in tone to what the President himselt said today. But, some people are so anxious to accuse people of racism that the discourse isn't worth having. Since you criticized my comment, can I assume you are homophobic? I wouldn't do that, and you shouldn't compartmentalize all opposition to the President's policies as racist. Yes, there are racists, but there are plenty of people asking legitimate questions. You win no friends by name-calling, whatever your position.

[Pleneras]

There are legitimate issues and OUR president is handling it better than Bush and Cheney ever did. hundreds of thousands of hardworking people are losing their homes due to unpaid medical bills and are applying to medicare to help pay because they are uninusred. Our president is trying to help those people. Your so called legit is what? Support for the health INSURANCE industry? Why on earth are these people making healthcare a business and denying coverage and making it expensive? PROFIT. We can afford single payer. That's why any other argument against it is RIDICULOUSLY INSANE.

Single payer cost less than UNINSURED VISITING HOSIPITALS!

[kenhamlett]

What are my legit? The President has done nothing with respect to rights for gay Americans. The President is still struggling to decide what to do in Iraq and Afghanistan, despite having made quite specific proposals during his campaign. The President said even at the end of his campaign that he would cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term (this even after the economic meltdown) and now out deficit is set to balloon to $20 trillion. The President has changed his policies with respect to indefinite incarceration without representation. There are many questions I have about his policies as President. None of them have to do with race, and I am not willing to give him a free pass just because he's a "liberal." By the way, if it is all based on race, were liberals like you and me racist to criticize Condoleeza Rice?

[Simonesmom]

just calling a spade a spade.

[springsm]

my gawd.

[Ventoi]

I heard of that happening in Canada a few years ago...
one group loses their farms...
then another group comes in , takes over and become millionair­es...

oooohhhh..­..dear...

we are missing the REVELATIONS with all of the parties...

sodom and gomorrah on us, anyway

[Ventoi]

So...
I'm glancing through looking for 'bites'

I am not 'unbad' with a fishing rod...I once caught an eel...

and I am asked to look at this one...

to research it..so to speak...

oh right...

the whole tea party thing...Bo­ston...

I DO remember someone years ago drawing my attention to that...in a futuristic kind of ...oh...yo­u shouldn't hear that YET...youn­g grasshopper kind of way...

(there are still no lightsabre­s...)

so I research the Boston Tea Party...(t­hey wanted to return tea to England from the US years ago because it was unfairly taxed...th­ose in charge wouldn't..­.the people threw the tea into the ocean)

more useful of a connection than the TEA PARTY PARTY, then, might be the US farmers who dumped TRUCKS and TRUCKS of milk on fields the other day...to protest the fact they are not going to be able to make any money off of it...and may lose their farms...