Let’s get a grip on reality

I stopped in at the local market to buy a bag of ice yesterday and was treated to a dose of what “The Ugly American” is all about. I was standing in line and the woman in front of me was in a Burka. The proprietor of the store was talking to her and asked her where she was from. She responded that she was from Palestine. They spoke for a few minutes, and then she started to leave. My purchase was quick and I ended up following her out the door. As I was walking to my car, I noticed two teenagers in their designer jeans pointing to her and laughing, making some really crude comments about her origin. I’m the kind of person who can’t keep my mouth shut when I see crap like that. I find it really disturbing and, sadly, typically American these days. So, I stood in front of the door and waited for them. Then, I told them they were extremely rude and it’s unacceptable for them to humiliate that woman the way they did. They didn’t much like what they heard from me, but so be it. They got it anyway. The focus on 9-11 and the continuous use of the terrorist threat as a political tool has bred this kind of bigotry in America.

Much of the objection to Barack Obama and his policies is steeped in racist attitudes, and I find this disheartening. A case in point is a former co-worker who is now in a different part of the country but remains a social site contact. Several months ago, I opened up the site to find that he referred to Barack Obama as our “dumbass black president.” My friend is a Christian conservative with very different viewpoints than mine. However, I worked alongside this person for two years and we had a great relationship. I had no idea he was racist until I saw his comment. I admit that even though I am a progressive, I am not happy with Obama at this stage of the game. However, I don’t believe for a second that my dissatisfaction with the president has anything to do with his color. It’s about his politics and his policies, stupid. We are fed a constant diet of racist comments by both Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. We have lawmakers like Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC) standing up in session calling Barack Obama a liar, something that nobody has ever done to the biggest liar of them all, George W. Bush. Because Barack Obama is black, he’s been subjected to a great deal of disrespect since he was candidate Barack Obama. However, it’s not just Barack Obama who is being attacked. Let’s look at some of the irrefutable facts:

• In October 2008, Greg Howard, a Florida Middle School Teacher and Coach, was suspended for defining candidate Obama’s call for CHANGE as “Come Help a Nigger Get Elected.”
• On July 13, 2009, the Vancouver Sun exposed the racist comments appearing on the site of the conservative Free Republic blog, including a photo of Obama’s eleven-year-old daughter Malia with comments like, “A typical street whore” and “Ghetto street trash.”
• Pastor Steven L. Anderson of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona, says he wants President Obama to die of brain cancer “like Ted Kennedy.” He also says that God hates Barack Obama and that if someone killed the president, he would not be judged, and it would not be considered murder.
• In spite of the fact that Bill O’Reilly knows that the idea of a “lynching party” drags the racists in America out of the closet, he chose to use it when discussing Michelle Obama back in 2008. Of course, he did apologize, but it doesn’t take the words away. They live on long after his apology.
• How about Glenn Beck’s interview of Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim elected to public office, where he asks him to prove that he’s “not working with our enemies?”
• Then there’s always Lou Dobbs, who supposedly works for “the most trusted name in news.” Rather than being impartial, Mr. Dobbs is virulently anti-immigrant and has no problem communicating this to his listeners. Himself married to a Latino, Lou Dobbs spends his days demonizing the Latino population. It has also been reported that Dobbs will be participating in the lobbying campaign of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group designated a “hate” group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
• According to Pat Buchanan, the white male is the new demographic being discriminated against. Buchanan absurdly states, “What is happening to white men right now is exactly what was done to black folk for years.” Buchanan is right about one thing, his assertion that, “This has been a country basically built by white folk.” He’s right about that, and that is the fundamental problem in America.

These are just a few examples of the increasingly ugly racist attacks being aimed at Barack Obama, his family, and others who do not fit the presently-defined version of “American.” When millions of narrow-minded airheads listen to ignorant racists like Rush Limbaugh every day, it’s no wonder that the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has recently reported a resurgence in anti-government militias and white supremacist groups.

It’s time for a reality check for these bigots. The only real Americans were rounded up and put on reservations years ago. The United States is a nation of immigrants. I consider myself Italian-American. My grandmother was born in Italy. Had she not emigrated to America, I would not be here. It’s as basic as that. There’s no place in the public discourse for bigotry. It’s time to shut down the poison on the airwaves, a major distraction from the real issues facing this country.