The Look and Feel of Modern Racism

It's Black History Month. Jim Crow laws and slavery are long gone. Only one former leader of the Ku Klux Klan remains in the United States Senate.

Yet racism thrives. It just appears a bit different. Today's typical racist remarks are cloaked as compliments from people in power, often expressing surprise that minorities are talented, smart, attractive, and even "clean."

MSNBC's Chris Matthews loved President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech last week, and he complimented it to the hilt. Then he explained how it was so extraordinary that Obama no longer seemed black:

"I was trying to think about who he was tonight. And, uh, it's interesting. He is post-racial, by all appearances. You know, I forgot he was black tonight for an hour... Here he is, president of the United States, and we've completely forgotten that tonight. Completely forgotten it. I think it was in the scope of his discussion. It was so broad-ranging, so in tune with so many problems and aspects of American life that you don't think in terms of the old tribalism, the old ethnicity. It was astounding in that regard."

Black people — even Obama on ordinary days — apparently cause Matthews to think of tribesmen and "old ethnicity." When a black person speaks intelligently about a broad range of topics, Matthews gets giddy. How strange.

Like Matthews, Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was mesmerized by Obama's qualities. Behind the scenes, during the 2008 campaign, Reid described Obama as a "light-skinned African American with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."

Sen. Reid, the term "negro" is just so early 20th century.

Reid's words were reminiscent of Vice President Joseph Biden's. As a senator in 2007, Biden told the New York Observer: "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a story book, man."

What a nice thing to say.

Or is it? Actually, Obama's intelligence and cleanliness aren't remarkable — not in a racial context. Millions of black people are bright, clean, nice-looking and articulate.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor tried to compliment Latin American women during a 2001 speech that became famous last year after Obama nominated her for the Supreme Court: "I would hope that a wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences, would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

All adults of either sex, and all ethnic backgrounds, live lives of rich experiences. And yes, lots of white men have suffered. We should assess individuals on a basis of intelligence, character and accomplishment — never ethnicity.

In August, MSNBC commentators pandered to racists, under a guise of opposing racism, with their own racist reporting. A black man had peacefully protested a pro-Obama health care rally in Phoenix. He was lawfully armed with two guns. The network awkwardly cropped video of the man so tightly it was impossible to see his skin. MSNBC's Contessa Brewer said: "The reason we're talking about this, a lot of talk here gentlemen, is because people feel like yes, there are Second Amendment rights, for sure. But also there are questions about whether this has racial overtones. I mean, here you have a man of color in the presidency and white people showing up with guns strapped to their waists, or to their legs."

A colleague then explained how the armed man reflects "the anger over a black man becoming president."

In MSNBC's world, a black man with guns — who objects to one of the president's key agendas — might as well be white.

Old-fashioned racism, the type involving direct insults, isn't dead either. As Obama ran for office, a GOP women's group in California famously printed "Obama bucks." The bills featured Obama's face surrounded by fried chicken, watermelon and ribs. The group's newsletter said Obama's face would someday appear on food stamps, not currency.

As we celebrate black culture and heritage this month, keep in mind we have a long way to go before this country's odd obsession with race and ethnicity finally ends.

REPRINTED FROM THE COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE

DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM