I was called a racist for saying pretty much what Obama said recently.

[Skip Intro]

He found some of Rev. Wright's comments all but obscene.

So did I.

Especially the "Hate Hillary because she's White" sermon.

Barack never mentioned specific sermons he's objected to - first it was the "controversial" ones, in PA, now it's the remarks made in a certain recent performance. I think that is something to pay attention to.

But he did disown his former spiritual mentor, once and for all.

Will it be taken as a courageous move? Will it be taken as throwing a segment of the AA population under the bus, along with Wright? Will it be seen as a weak, late disownment? We'll see.

But the fact is I stated many of the things Obama did (kinda did), and I was called a racist, a bigot, somebody posted a pic of Archie Bunker in a reply to one of my criticisms of the good reverend.

And now Obama has disowned the guy.

So are Obama and myself both racists? Or what?

[2rth2pwr]

1. Reflex reaction of the Obama supporters to anything that may hurt him.

It's the default stance.

[xchrom]

2. indeed.

[papau]

8. Very True

[Skip Intro]

11. Yes. Sadly.

[mattclearing]

39. It goes both ways.

I try to be objective about it, but there are so many zealots on both sides lately.

[Maddy McCall]

3. Read this article...I think it may answer some of your questions...

And you aren't a racist.

I found this article to be very informative.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5747755&mesg_id=5747755

[rodeodance]

40. Thats Maddy--I will. missed it. but seems to worth the time to read just

by glancing at the headline.

[MADem]

4. The bigmouths who made those vicious comments are pretty silent, lately.

What, really, can they say? Obama's a racist, along with you?

Don't hold your breath waiting for an apology, though. They regard this shit as a contact sport, not a discussion forum.

They'll hide out, humiliated for a time, until they can come out again over something else, with their clubs a-swinging.

[Skip Intro]

13. No doubt.

The "Wright is the best American ever" threads seem to have gone away.

Those DUers seem stunned for a while, at least.

I'm sure they'll be back.

But what I've got to wonder is if this effect went far beyond DU, into the voting masses. There are only 5 days left until the NC and IN elections. Is it having a similar effect? And will they come back quickly enough? If they come back at all.

I think we may see some surprises next Tuesday.

[MADem]

19. DU is NOT a reflection of the real world. People here are well to the left of the average

mix we find in society. Moderates, centrists, social liberal/economic conservative types are underrepresented here. I'd be wary of extrapolating anything save the "well left of center" viewpoint, overall, from this website.

However, I do believe this situation is unhelpful to Obama, and may cause the fence sitters to eschew him, and the undecideds to lean to Clinton in the voting booth. I don't see how he can recover at this late stage, and if Wright pipes up again, well, that could be more trouble, still.

I actually think Clinton could come close in NC. And that's really all she needs, as that state was supposed to be a total blowout for BO. If she wins it, he's got Big Trouble.

[stillcool]

25. Humiliated?

Those who bashed and trashed the man should be humiliated. You do realize the man is a human being, don't you? What did he say that you find so horrific? And why would Obama's distancing himself from Reverend Wright be construed as "Racist"?

[MADem]

26. Which man?

And why are you hectoring me? I didn't start this thread.

[stillcool]

30. I responded to your post...

Is that somehow unacceptable? I don't know what "bigmouths" made what "vicious comments", but it seems that anyone who did not stomp all over Reverend Wright should be "humiliated" for a time.

The bigmouths who made those vicious comments are pretty silent, lately.
What, really, can they say? Obama's a racist, along with you?

Don't hold your breath waiting for an apology, though. They regard this shit as a contact sport, not a discussion forum.

They'll hide out, humiliated for a time, until they can come out again over something else, with their clubs a-swinging.

[Political Heretic]

5. "Hate Hillary because she's white" - well there's some bullshit if I ever heard it.

All one has to do is listen to the sermon to figure that out.

[Skip Intro]

6. Allow me to get a quote for you.

searching...

[Skip Intro]

9. Here: Hillary fits the mold.

JW: It just came to me within the past few week, y’all, why so many folk are hatin’ on Barack Obama. He doesn’t fit the model – he ain’t white, he ain’t rich, and he ain’t privileged. Hillary fits the mold. Europeans fit the mold. Giuliani fits the mold. Rich, white men fit the mold. Hillary never had a cab whiz past her and not pick her up, because her skin was the wrong color. Hillary never had to worry about being pulled over in her car as a black man driving in the wrong…I am sick of Negroes who just do not get it. Hillary was not a black boy raised in a single parent home. Barack was. Barack knows what it means to be a black man living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich, white people.

-----------------------------------------

Fuck that kind of racist fearmongering.

I don't give a fuck who I offend with that statement.

Evidently, assuming this is one of the unnamed "controversial" sermons that Barack disowned in PA a few weeks ago, Obama agrees with me.

What a predicament.

[tabasco]

12. How awful. Saying that many people hate Barack because he is black.

What an outlandish idea!

[Skip Intro]

15. Please, find a nice comfortable place to lie down.

Spinning like that can make someone dangerously dizzy.

[tabasco]

37. What is your interpretation of the statement?

It is you who is arguing with "spin" rather than facts.

I am particularly curious how Wright's statement can be characterized as fearmongering?

[Political Heretic]

16. That comment is dead on.

:shrug:

There's not a single sentence in that quote that isn't true.

[Skip Intro]

18. He ran down all the elite of the world that had oppressed blacks, and then held Hillary

up as an example of current oppresion.

He lumps her together with all the evil done to blacks throughout the ages.

And it's fucking bullshit.

If you can't see it, then I don't know what else to say.

Fuck that hatemongering.

[Political Heretic]

20. Like I said, there's not a sentence in that quote that isn't correct.

Now, if you want to past MORE context, then I'll comment on that.

:shrug:

[Skip Intro]

24. Lap it up to your heart's content.

I think Obama was right to disown him.

[Political Heretic]

31. Super. There's still nothing untrue in that quote.

[Skip Intro]

35. Hillary fits the mold of the white elite oppressors of blacks?

Fuck that and fuck him.

[rodeodance]

42. Beyond sad to see crap like that directed at Hillary.

[Freedom Train]

55. Obama sure doesn't think so

So why do you support him? Did it escape your mind already that Obama threw Wright overboard? Either you support Obama or you support Wright, you can't have it both ways. So what's it gonna be?

[stillcool]

28. Wow..unbelievable...

Do you mean Hillary is a black boy raised in a single parent home? Or are you finding offense with the fact that Hillary fits the mold of what a Presidential Candidate in this country should look like? Or do you think Hillary knows what it's like to have a cab whiz by her because she is black? Or has Hillary been pulled over for driving while black? I'm so confused.

[Skip Intro]

36. What would Obama say?

I do wonder.

[TahitiNut]

50. It's strange that the KKK also blames blacks for racism. Funny about that.

Strange company you're keeping.

[redqueen]

56. The fact that you read that as "Hate Hillary because she's white"

speaks volumes.

[jeffrey_X]

63. So how is that racist?

I don't understand the logic around here.

seriously

[berni_mccoy]

7. Gotta link? Because that's the only way people will be able to judge you as you are asking them to.

They will need to know exactly what you said.

[Skip Intro]

10. I'm sorry man, I've made comments here and there recently that were not kind, but honest

IMHO, about the good reverend. I'm not going to look all of those things up. DUers can if they like, I am being sincere.

Take the thread for what it's worth to you.

[JoFerret]

14. It is true - the turnaround has been quick and nasty

Truth is - JW is the same guy he was a month ago, three days ago. And probably 20 years ago.
Plenty to find major fault with. Plenty to agree with. Where are all the JW defense threads now?

It's all unfair. It's all understandable.

[Hoof Hearted]

17. So much confustion. It's hard for them to know what they know with BO-Polar disorder.

This time last week, R.Wright was a great scholar and and wise man who represented most of black America.

This week, ......... not so much.

[stillcool]

23. he is a great scholar..

and a wise man. I don't recall anyone stating that he represented Black America, except for some who wanted to fuse him with Senator Obama and make a scary black man to fear.

[The Night Owl]

41. Wright is a scholar? LOL!

[ellacott]

46. He has a Masters and a Doctorate degree

You can't take that away from him. Regardless of how offended you are with what he says he is a scholar.

It was also a scholar who came up with the Bell Curve.

[The Night Owl]

49. Wright has religious degrees. I am not impressed. Sorry. {EOM}

[ellacott]

52. His second Masters and his Doctorate are religious degrees

All of his degrees aren't religious degrees.

Doesn't matter whether you are impressed or not.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

54. "It was also a scholar who came up with the Bell Curve."

It was also a scholar who came up with the Bell Curve whose thesis Reverend Wright seemed to endorse when he said that the differences between races were inherent and immutable...

I agreeed with some of the things he said but that really irked me...

[The Night Owl]

60. Excellent observation. {EOM}

[NOLALady]

32. NO ONE

represents most of black America. Does anyone represent most of white America? Geez.

Jeremiah Wright was a wise man and a great scholar last week.

Jeremiah Wright is a wise man and a great scholar this week, IMHO.

[stillcool]

21. Well...My opinion...

though it is probably not welcome is that what the media did to Reverend Wright for 3 weeks straight, 24/7 was disgraceful. They, and many people here gleefully bashed him like he was a pinata. It was the most disgusting spectacle I have seen of mob mentality. Complete Condemnation without Any Investigation. And I found it frightening. I found nothing, nothing wrong with what Reverend Wright said, and I am sorry for the media circus that ensued from his attempt at defending himself. The entire thing was a charade, that resulted in humiliating an already castrated human being, that has been treated like a dog.
Barack said he objected to the selected clip the media played 24/7 or "God Damn America". Obama objected to Reverend Wright's statement that the black community supported Louis Farrakhan. Obama objected to the idea that the United States is a terrorist nation, that what we reap what we sow. Obama objected to the statement that the US Government treated black people as guinea pigs. I am sure that all of these things are true, just as I am sure that no black man, or white man for that matter, would ever get elected to dog catcher in the Delusional United States of America.

[JimGinPA]

22. Obama's Not...

The jury's still out on you.

[Skip Intro]

27. Well, allow me to address the jury:

Fuck anyone that wants to construe my criticism of Reverend Wright into something racist.

In other words, fuck this jury you speak of, I neither need nor want your verdict.

[thevoiceofreason]

29. And from my experience with juries, they'd say fuck you too.

[Skip Intro]

34. Why the fuck should I be before a jury? Metaphorically, who the hell are they to judge me?

Or you, for that matter.

[nichomachus]

33. Truth be told

Black people can say things about black people that white people can't -- just as women can say things about women that men can't, and gay people can say things about other gay people that straight people can't.

Just as I can say things about people in my family, but if you do, I'll punch you in the nose.

It's a fact of life.

Get over it.

[rodeodance]

38. Many BHO fans resort to vile name-calling (racist) when they have nothing else! Sorry you got

attached.

I do feel DU gd-f is a cesspool--it's anything goes on this board lately.



The mods do their best at controlling the vile-but it is overwhelming.

[jackson_dem]

43. "You are racist for opposing Obama" is Obamabots version of "You hate America for opposing Bush"

[hokies4ever]

44. Racist? I don't know. Idiot? Most definitely.

[cali]

47. Yeah? Well include me in the number who found Wright's comments

about Hillary and Bill in his sermons, revolting. And I also think his publically supporting the assinine concept that AIDS was invented by the gov to kill minorities, a huge disservice.

[cali]

45. I also found the Hillary comments by Wright offensive as hell and

said so. Same with his comments about Bill, Natalie Hollowell and AIDS. And I also want to say that I find how quickly many Obama supporters dropped their high praise of and love for Wright after Obama spoke out on Tuesday, pretty hypocritical.

Criticizing Wright for some of his disgusting comments doesn't make anyone a racist. He earned the criticism.

[SeaLyons]

48. Racists? Does anyone really believe that

there are racists on this board. I don't. The name calling from the Obama supporters has been terrible.

[TahitiNut]

51. "Who, Me??? How DARE you call me a racist!!"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5751295

[SeaLyons]

58. If you only knew what foolish statements you make...

hahah - really funny.

[TahitiNut]

59. More condescending, vacuous crap from a Hillbot.

Infantile.

[cali]

61. Does anyone really believe there are sexists on this board?

I do. And yes, there are racist too. It's just the way things are. And the name calling from Clinton supporters has also been bad.

[jonestonesusa]

62. It depends on what you mean by racist.

While I'll ignore your faux outrage over Obama supporters (as if no Clinton supporter has been negative on this board), I'd like to address your substantive point about whether or not there are racists on this board.

One way to measure racism and to consider how much of it is on DU is through survey data. I've been looking for that, and I haven't yet bought the Harvard University Press book _Racial Attitudes in America_ that has a compendium of survey information, but I'll mention two online sources that give some perspective.

According to a survey that was published in the 1990s (about 14 years ago) by the National Opinion Research Center, more than 40% of whites believe that blacks are less intelligent and a substantial number believe that blacks prefer welfare over work. The study was published during the Clinton administration, some time ago, and I do want to find more recent numbers. However, unless there's been significant and rapid change in the attitudes of whites toward blacks in this country during the last decade, change that did not occur in the wake the civil rights movement, there are still likely to be large segments of whites who believe in the intellectual inferiority of blacks, whether or not they are willing to say it (and they won't say it on DU for the most part).

See the opinion survey summary in this link:
http://www.diversityweb.org/Digest/W98/research2.html

It is also the case that American schools are experiencing a resegregation - greater numbers of students do not meet their peers across racial lines in a school setting. And given that a third of Americans are somewhat comfortable with the concept of separate but equal schools, according to recent survey data, one can easily conclude that this resegregation contributes to racial tensions and limits the prevalence and effectiveness anti-racist teaching and discourse. The info on the attitude toward separate but equal is at the following link: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-18-2006/0004399083&EDATE=

Here's a link to info on school resegregation: http://www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/deseg/reseg_schools99.php

Another way to measure racism is through achievement gaps - the cumulative results of our social institutions when it comes to the division of employment, wealth, health outcomes. If you are black in this country – compared to the national average, you are twice as likely to be unemployed, half as likely to complete college, three times more likely to live in poverty. You are likely to have 1/7 of the average wealth held by Americans and you are six times more likely to land in prison. How much do these statistics bother you? It's a measure of our attitudes toward race to consider how much these gaps are considered by individual people as business as usual, cause for episodic concern, or not only a serious cause for concern but a condition that impacts everyday life. Can we connect these outcomes with individual racism? Yes - and in fact, white privilege is one social and attitudinal factor that helps these trends continue and makes some whites irate whenever you bring these gaps up.

Finally, I connect the issue of racism with our knowledge of each other: how insightful are we in understanding the differences in cultural perspectives? Based on the MSM and HC treatments of the Rev. Wright situation, I do not see much insight among many DUers into black cultural perspectives, into the history of genocidal actions and secret operations that have affected black activists and general publics alike, into black religious perspectives, or into the longstanding political use of wedge issues to generate tension between white and black communities. The level of insight into these issues on DU that I have seen is very minimal - few sustained discussions of these issues, but lots of aggressive disinterest in even having the dialogue about them. For instance, as soon as Rev. Wright brings up the accusations of AIDS as a lab-generated disease, numerous white posters enter faux outrage mode. No one remembers the development of BZ by the American government as a possible crowd control agent. Few remember the syphilis or LSD experiments conducted on American citizens. No one seems to remember that biological agents used to be significant object of study for military operations. Instead, all we hear is "what a wing nut that Wright is," no giving credit to his own extensive military experience.

So you can go on believing that racism is no factor in the attitude of some DUers, especially HC supporters, toward Obama and Wright, and I am not here to judge anyone personally, anonymous posters on a political talk blog. But for a progressive board that is discussing the first nationally competitive African American candidate for president, I have been consistently surprised by the uninformed quality of much of the conversation about race, not to mention the unwillingness of so many even to engage in a dialogue about race.

[Mezzo]

53. so was Geraldine Ferraro. nt

[last1standing]

57. Are all the posters jumping to your defense without knowing what you said racist?

It does seem strange to just take your word for it and start insulting others without knowing what you're talking about.

But don't let that stop your self-righteous indignation. It's enlightening to see what lies just below the surface of many "Democrats".