Racism is still alive in Ohio

(cross-posted at UneFemmePlusCourageuse )

Y’know, as proud as I am of my state for going blue this election, let it never be said that there aren’t some real assholes living here. In both my part, the mostly-liberal northeast, and the mostly-conservative southwest.

Let us first tackle the northeast, with the Bastard you probably guessed: Kevin O’Brien, Plain Dealer columnist. Here you go . Now, as I write this I am reminded of what Keith Olbermann said about William Kristol, Rush Limbaugh, and Bill O’Reilly during his "Worst Person in the World" segment last night: "Wait–what does it matter what they say? They don’t matter anymore!" And in a way, he’s right–everything any conservative is saying right now does feel like desperate scrambling to claim relevance to a world which rejected what they say and selected someone who does not subscribe to their worldview as a leader. Same with O’Brien as it is with all the others, but what miffs me about his piece is this particular line: "His election should end the utter nonsense about this being a racist country. (It won’t, of course, because "racism" will be such a convenient reason to dismiss any criticism of him.)"

Okay, I do not dismiss every criticism of Obama as racist. "Muslim," "terrorist," "affirmative action admit," "fried chicken, watermelon, and food stamps "–yes, those are racist. The other big criticism of Obama is "socialist." ‘Socialist’ is an inaccurate label for Mr. Obama, but it is not a racist label. Socialism was founded in Germany, gained most of its infamy in Russia and other Eastern European countries, and is currently in play in countries like Sweden and Nepal. It has also been tried in various places in central and south America, the Caribbean, Asia, et cetera. Therefore, socialism is not a racial concept. So no, while I think people who decry Obama as a socialist are dumb and uninformed (and might actually be racist), the argument itself is not racist (and therefore I cannot determine their racism from that accusation alone). I think most people get that.

Second of all, read this . Renee is far more learned on racial issues than I am, and she says what needs to be said there. Now, while I wish Obama’s election erased racism in America (and the world), centuries of oppression cannot be undone in one day. They certainly cannot be undone by people pretending they don’t exist anymore. Isn’t one of the Alcoholics Anonymous precepts "the first step is admitting you have a problem?" Yeah, well, (most) conservatives don’t want to admit we have a problem. Why? So we can’t fix it. More racial equality=less power for them. O’Brien doesn’t admit it in his column, but it’s the truth.

Also, about us Dems secretly wanting the poor and downtrodden to be poor and downtrodden? Come on, KO, you can’t have it both ways. We cannot be socialists who want to keep people stratified . It doesn’t work that way. I believe, and I have seen, that the people on my side truly do want to see people rise up past where they came from, and want to give them the ability to do so. There are people on my side who are themselves trying to do this. Obama did this . Hello?

Furthermore, my other bastard, whose words do prove Kevin wrong on the "we do not live in a racist country" front even further .

From your own newspaper, Mr. O’Brien, I present an article written by your co-worker Michael Heaton on how citizens of Hamilton, Ohio are reacting to Obama’s election. An article introducing to the world (or at least to Cleveland) my other weekly bastard, Angela Senters’ boyfriend.

""I knew he was going to win. What could you do about it?" said Angela Senters, a waitress at Ohio Lunch, a diner on the main drag in this 60,000-resident southwest Ohio town.
But other reaction in Hamilton on Wednesday to Obama’s win included unabashed racism,[…]
While Senters was philosophical about Obama’s win, she said her boyfriend had a different reaction to the election of the nation’s first black president.
"My boyfriend is so upset, he said he’s going to go over to Kentucky and join the Ku Klux Klan," Senters said. "My boyfriend said now the world is going to end in 2012 and that Obama is the antichrist."

Yeah. America is still a very racist nation, with people like this guy around. And yes, I know people’ve been saying they would do a whole bunch of things–but "move to Canada" isn’t a racist thing to say, nor is it practical for most. If someone tells me they’re moving to Canada because Obama was elected, my response will pretty much be: "okay, have fun, see how you like universal health care, send me some moose-related stuff." And then I’ll watch them not leave. But Kentucky isn’t a far drive for a Butlerian, nor is it one which involves passports or immigration services, and to me this sounds like a far more plausible threat.
It would be funny if it weren’t so plausible–look at the silly white man wanting no one else to have a chance at power! Look at how worked up he is! It’s like he’s on his own little hamster wheel, running and running and getting nowhere.
But he’s your average Joe Six-Pack there. He is the face of red America. And he is why Obama’s victory does not on its own mean racial equality in our nation. We still have a lot of work to do, a lot of people whose attitudes need adjusting. Hopefully the Obama presidency will do a lot of good here, but I think there are a lot of people, mainly white people, who do not recognize the basic humanity of those who look different than they do. ( "Don’t believe them for a moment/For a second, do not believe, my friend/When you are down, them are not coming/With a helping hand/Of course this is no us and them/But them they do not think the same/It’s them who do not think/They never step on spiritual path/They paint their faces so differently from ours/And if you listen closely/That war it never stops"–Gogol Bordello) And this has been the case for a while, never let it be said that my own ancestors didn’t face this in America–the Irish (hello, KO) were not treated well at first. Neither were the Germans. But because they had light skin, the WASPs who had been in power for so long granted them the same rights eventually–they needed to, to continually be in the majority, rather than being just one more minority. But regardless of how they were treated, they experienced nowhere near the cruelty the African slaves did upon being captured and brought to America. And while it took my ancestors years or decades to achieve equality, it is taking them centuries, due to this horrible legacy.
So Kevin, don’t say for a moment that racism is over when there are many who would forever wish to preserve it for their own ends.