Thursday, February 21, 2008

Michelle Obama Hates America?

I know that this has been talked to death, so I won't add to the cacophony of voices screaming at the top of their lungs about what she said and what she meant. The exact quote is:
“For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country.”
I will assume this is a misspeak and that there was a point she was really trying to make.

However, after reading about the reactions and retorts and discussing it with a few people, I came up with a disturbing idea. I looked at it a few times over, then reread the quote and the reaction to it just to be sure. Because the idea, as a snap reaction, could be considered racist. And since I am not racist, I had to be sure about the following statement. So here goes:

Michelle Obama might be a racist.

Okay, before you start the WTF posts, hear me out and allow me to explain why this thought occurred. First of all, I believe she is not a racist, but the mindset that she holds is very similar to that of a real racist. And it is that similar mindset that made that thought occur.

The black racist views America as a land of intolerance, run by whites, and always oppressing the black man. The root of this is the sin of slavery, which was abolished 150 years ago. It then took another 120 years to eliminate codified white racism. This is definitely a serious black mark on our country, but we have mostly eliminated overt white racism from our culture. But the black racist holds on to this bitterness over past transgressions and nurses it into a general dislike of all that this country stands for.

Michelle's statement reflects this sense of bitterness at having gotten the short end of the stick for a portion of her life. And while it is understandable to have lingering bitterness if assholes have discriminated against you, it's also dangerous to harbor these feelings, as they can give the appearance of judgments based on race. I think that, more likely than racism, it is the "evil America" mindset of the embittered liberal that fuels her statement, but a large component of that for Michelle is possibly a racial component.

So in the end, she should do a little soul searching, as we all should when we say dumb things. But my point on this is that any mindset based on any group suffering disadvantages because of another group is dangerous and leads to an -ism. This corrodes the human soul. And if Michelle thinks this way, then perhaps Barack still, privately, thinks as his wife does. But that will be revealed over the next several months. After all, the election is still a long way off.

2 comments:

Dionne said...

As for your poll about voting in your primary, I've thought about this if I hadn't gotten to vote on Super Tuesday. #1--There is no way I would vote for Huckabee or McCain in the primary. Both are detestable and don't deserve my vote whether they are the only 2 left or not. #2--I would cast a vote for Rudy or Fred, whomever you felt stronger about. There is nothing to lose at this stage of the game. McCain will win no matter what and even if Huckabee had a chance he is just as bad.

Anyway, just my 2 cents. I'm just glad I got to vote while my vote still mattered although it was a little discouraging to see my candidate come in 3rd, but at least I had a say.

Patrick M said...

Actually, I thought about hopping over to the Dems and voting for Obama, just to keep Hillary out. But I'll probably just waste a vote.