| That's why Mr. Carter said, "I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity towards President Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he's African American...I've seen the rest of the country that shared the South's attitude towards minority groups at that time, particularly African Americans. That racism inclination still exists and I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of a 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. It's an abominable circumstance and grieves me and concerns me very deeply."
That's what I call telling it like it is. We should listen closely to that Baptist Sunday School teacher.
It was in 1989 that I - for the first time in my life - was so proud of my native Virginia. We, of all states in the South, had just elected the first black American as governor. Check it out! We picked Wilder! Gov. L. Douglas Wilder may have had a "Wilder effect" in the polls, but he won!
A neighbor of mine at the time said something that made me cringe. She said, "I can't believe that we have a governor who talks like that man." When I told her that Gov. Wilder talked like any other educated guy in Virginia, she let her true feelings show. "You know, he talks like those people."
Let me translate: "You know, he is a ni**er. How can a ni**er presume to rule over white people in Virginia?"
A friend of mine recently told me a story about what happened to her mother at Old Salem Days in 2009. In Salem Va, this day is the biggest celebration of the year, as thousands of people crowd the streets for a day of fun and food. Of course, such an event also draws politicians of both parties and their supporters.
As this not-young woman walked down the street with stickers for Creigh Deeds and Carter Turner (the young Democrat running against Del. Morgan Griffith), she was accosted by a man and a woman who screamed at her, "You must support that animal in Washington! You support that animal, don't you!"
While the aggressive anger they displayed frightened that Southern lady, we all know what the people were saying, don't we? Let me translate: "You must support that ni**er in Washington. You support that ni**er, don't you."
I'm fed up. I don't want to mince words any more. I want all of us to confront the "elephant" in the room. President Carter has articulated what many of us know in our hearts. The hatred being spewed out like vile, putrid garbage at the "tea bag" rallies and the "town hall meetings" is - pure and simple - frustrated racism.
By God, an African-American decisively won the election in 2008. We have an African-American president! I, for one, - a white Southern woman - am immensely proud of my country for that fact. I never thought I would live to see the day. (I still wonder if I will live to see a women elected president...Time is running out for me...But, that's another diary.)
As for the angry idiots who have been getting too much press lately, I have a couple of suggestions. "Shut Up!" Go home and get used to it. You lost. You have an African-American president who is light years better than that guy from Texas we finally got rid of. The only thing we have to do is not try to sweep the inchoate racism under the rug. It;s there...It's real...It must be confronted. |
