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Former President Jimmy Carter, several black lawmakers and untold millions of black Americans firmly believe that some of the vitriol aimed at President Barack Obama lately – from Rep. Joe Wilson’s “You lie!” outburst to the outcry over Obama's back-to-school speech – is deeply rooted in racism.
Obama’s White House, however, doesn’t think so. Administration officials on Wednesday said Obama doesn’t believe race is a factor in some of the anger, actions, or attitudes that have been on public display over the last few months.
“The president does not believe that – that the criticism comes based on the color of his skin,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters. “We understand that people have disagreements with some of the decisions that we’ve made, and some of the extraordinary actions that had to be undertaken by this administration and previous administrations to stabilize our financial system, to ensure viability of our domestic auto industry.”
Gibbs said he doesn’t believe that there’s a “large national conversation going on right now” about race and how Obama is treated.
“I think most people that see him understand that he’s an African-American,” Gibbs said. “So this whole notion that somehow people won’t see or notice that has, always, to me, been something of a peculiar line of questioning or reasoning. Look, I’m just saying I don’t – the president does not believe that … the majority of this is based on that (race). I just don’t subscribe to that.”
But a good many people do. They see Wilson’s verbal explosion towards Obama from the floor of the House of Representatives during a presidential address to a joint session of Congress, a conservative media-fueled protest of Obama’s address to the nation’s school children, Obama foes showing up armed outside presidential events, and “birther” claims that Obama isn’t a U.S. citizen and therefore cannot be president as part of a disturbing racial pattern that no other sitting president has experienced.
Carter, at a town hall meeting at his presidential center in Atlanta, said on Tuesday said Wilson’s outburst was “based on racism.”
“I think an overwhelming portion of the intensity demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, an African-American,” Carter told NBC News. “I live in the South, and I’ve seen the South come a long way, and I’ve seen the rest of the country that shares 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 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 it grieves me and concerns me deeply," Carter added.
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus shared Carter’s sentiments. Before they voted for a House resolution admonishing Wilson’s actions Tuesday, several CBC members said that what Obama’s experiencing would not happen to a white occupant of the Oval Office.
“There’s no question that if you look at some of the actions and comments being made, there’s a fringe element that has staked out a racial position toward African-Americans that never has been open for public display until now,” said Rep. Henry Johnson (D-GA.) Johnson believes Wilson’s shout-out, if left unpunished, would have provided a wink and a nod for those who have racial contempt towards Obama.
Carter’s thoughts and the opinions of CBC members were like fingernails on a blackboard to Republicans and many whites. Michael Steele, the first black chair of the Republican National Committee, said race plays no role in criticisms of Obama.
“President Carter is flat-out wrong,” Steele said in a written statement. “This isn’t about race. It’s about policy.”
Why do Steele and the White House seem to be on the same page? Some political analysts believe that the nation’s first black president doesn’t want to get bogged down by race now as he is trying to push through health care reform legislation, right the nation’s sour economy and figure out what to do about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Obama acknowledged as much in an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes” last Sunday. When asked if Wilson should be punished, Obama responded, “But see, this is part of what happens. I mean, it becomes a big circus instead of focusing on health care.”
But Obama’s tepidness on race is starting to wear thin on some black Americans. Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy went street on the president in print on Wednesday.
“Let’s face it: Our articulate and mild-mannered president doesn’t have the stomach for the kind of merciless ridicule that one uses to expose and embarrass political hypocrites and scoundrels,” Milloy wrote. “But if Obama is going to keep threatening to call people out – as if he were from the streets and not just someone who used to work in the streets – the least he can do is learn the fundamentals. Otherwise, he’s just selling wolf tickets – writing macho bad checks with his mouth and leaving others to cover the racial overdraft."
Katheryn Russell-Brown, director of the Study of Race and Race Relations at the University of Florida, said Obama appears hemmed in by race.
“If Obama acknowledges or suggest that race is a factor in the anti-Obama ‘movement,’ then he will be accused of playing the race card, playing the victim and/or avoiding the issues,” Russell-Brown told McClatchy Newspapers. “Obama’s ‘people’ however, and the public, and the media, can talk about race.”
“In my opinion, he needs to address the substantive attacks head on,” Russell-Brown added. “Obama or the Veep (Vice President Joe Biden) should have a ‘fact check’ press conference, everyday if needed.”
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