"Barack Hussein Obama and all of his talk will do nothing for our country. There is so much that people don't know about his upbringing in the Muslim world. His stepfather was a radical Muslim and the ranting of his minister against the white America, you can't convince me that some of that didn't rub off on him."No, I want a president that will salute our flag, and put their hand on the Bible when they take the oath of office."
On one hand this is a depressing article as it represents attitudes circa 1968. On the other hand, it is amazing article to see how the country has progressed to the point where Senator Obama will be the nominee for the Democratic Party.
10 comments:
The Mayor's reference to "the white America" hits hard, to be sure. But the letter, to Harrogate anyway, seems more an Islamophobic outburst than a racial incident.
At this point, with Obama virtually ensured the nomination, it might be useful to distinguish between racism and Islamophobia.
As we have (hopefully) known from the get-go. Obama and his those of us who hope he wins the White House will--thank Goodness!--experience the joy of encountering both of these for the next several months.
As a result, to some, distinctions between theese will appear unimportant. But still, they are no more the same than were the Germans and the Japanese during WWII.
One big difference. Islamophobia has Creds in the popular discourse. Racialized opposition does not.
I'm not so sure there is a significant difference between Islamophobia and racism, especially not among those who are both Islamophobic and racist.
But the point is, not all who harbor one, harbor both. Far from it.
For his part anyway, Harrogate harbors plenty of Islamophobia.
I picked this quote because the person in question is a public official. I would argue that the racism in the quote is subtle-- because Obama is not white, it is easy to challenge his authenticity as a Christian.
While there certainly is Islamophobia involved, it is intensified because of race. Other candidates would not need to deal with this.
solon,
So, if it were Harold Ford, Jr. Or John Lewis or Harvey Gantt or Sheila Jackson Leigh or even the erudite and infinitely wise Donna Brazille?
These would all be vulnerable to race-baiting attacks, of course. But the "Christian street creds" card would hardly be in play with any of these politicos.
At least, in Harrogate's opinion.
I have a real problem with saying that Islamophobia has credibility. Yes, people have real fear of Islamic extremists, but 40 years ago many white women would say that they had a real fear of African American men (I would actually venture to guess that today many white women would say the same thing). You could easily make the argument based on an analysis of crime committed by African American men against white women that this is a credible fear, but if any white woman you know, Harrogate, professed a fear of African American men, you would accuse her of racism. If we allow that Islamophobi is credible then we're not far from justifying racism.
m,
Harrogate admitted to harboring Islamophobia. This is not nearly the same as ascribing more or less credibility to the thing.
We quibble over whether or not there is a real distinction to be made, re the Mayor's quote, between racism and Islamophobia. Harrogate's position on that was made clear in the first post: yes, there is an important distinction to be made.
Now we turn to whether or not Islamophobia has "credibility." Okay. Your position on that is clear.
But hey, let's not burn it all at once. We've got months and months and months to listen to and read about and, if we wish, discuss such things. Yay.
Alas bigotry is bigotry and Islamphobia is religiously based and leads to racial profiling (airlines) and also breeds religious intolerance--think back to Pope Benedict words who was citing an early-modern statements relating to the Christina hatred towards Muslims (the period art if rife with such statements). But also, Islamophobic ideas are not purely focused on the Arab race because there are many derogatory names for Arabs that don't relate to religion.
The fact that the politico made no distinction between "radical Muslim"(religious hatred--funny we also forget Waco with extremists) and "the ranting...against the white America"(blatant racism) illustrates that sadly in this instance the two go hand and hand.
I don't want to be cynical but this election might get really nasty and an unpleasant because of the idiot extremist on each side that cannot be controlled. Lets face it, sadly the major new agencies are not going to be checking TRS for the real pulse of U.S., instead they are going to find the most racist and dumb individuals they can find to make these outlandish statements in order to make a spectacle of the whole thing for the sake of ratings. Hopefully in a good one way and not a negative way, this election may actually reveal that there is still along ways to go with regards to racism (and not to mention religious issues) in this country. So may be something good can come out of this discussion? Since, Katrina didn't, this might.
paperweight, as far as 'something good coming from this discussion,' don't you think that's a pretty pathetic bar when the goal needs to be winning the frigging election?
There is a caricature that says, while liberals sit around wanting to have 'discussions' and placate each other's identity politics, Republicans go about winning elections.
Cerainly the events of the last several months have done nothing to dispel this. But if McCain wins the election, then the truth will be that nothing good came of this campaign.
And Harrogate of course sees what you're saying about the value in distinguishing b/t radical Islam and Islam. But still, the Waco thang don't hold. Christian cultists like Koresh, clinic bombers like Eric Rudolph etc. are very much considered a fringe element among mainstream Christians in the United States and throughout the Western world.
There is something different with the state of Islam at present. Or-at least seems to be.
As for the 'things might get nasty this election' thing. Harrogate has another prediction for you. The sun will come up tomorrow.
;-)
P-duck found this discussion lively and intellectual, but is only taking away the song now stuck in her head - "The Sun will Come out Tomorrow."
Thanks Harrogate ; )
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