Racism And The Powell Endorsement
October 20, 2008 by Alien Trucker
Retired General Colin Powell had barely uttered his endorsement on Meet The Press yesterday when the race card came out. Now I haven’t heard much in the national press about race with this endorsement but the hateful words have been flying. (Rush Limbaugh can hardly be called the press) Many folks who I have been in communication with from Baton Rouge, LA, Santa Cruz,CA and of course in this nasty little town I live in have had much to say about how race is the only reason the esteemed General gave the thumbs up to Obama.
The consensus with my right wing friends and aquaintances is black folks vote on the basis of color when there is a black person running for office. Here is a quote from a guy who goes by the handle Winston on a forum I visit regularly. I am using it without his express permission but its a public newspaper forum so I will assume the liberty of reprinting it here.The prose style is his and I just copied it to paste here.
“..I’m certainly no expert on these things
..but it seems to me
..that the underlying point here
..is the Colin is just one black guy
..voting for another black guy.
..Who can blame him?
..I wish there was an Irish guy on the ballot
..that I could vote for!
..This seems a bit overblown.
..Black guys vote for other black guys.
..Black guys will not vote to convict
..another black guy if they are on a jury.
..Brotherhood is tight.
..I wonder what percentage of ‘African Americans’
..will vote for Obama?
..95%???
..I guess that means there are no conservative
..’African Americans’
..or is there something I’m missing?
..Unstated but implied is the idea
..that Powell made his endorsement
..for other than the stated reasons.
..The obvious low hanging fruit here
..is that he did it because he is black
..(or half black)
..and Obama is black
..(or half black)”
I have been a member of this forum for quite awhile and I know from pictures and statements posted that Winston is a white middle class hard working American citizen. He loves dogs and lives in the redwood forest of the central California coast south of San Fransisco. His politics lean far right and he is an avid fan of the Rush O’Reilly type of “journalism”. In fact he spews their crap on a daily basis. No need to listen to Rush or Bill…just listen to Winston and he will recite their shows for you…in his unique poetic style. To me he is a great example of the right wing salt of the earth backwards thinking American. In issues he doesn’t agree with he usually bows to Rush. His spewings are similar to what I have heard from everyone who considers this endorsement a racial issue.
Its just wrong in my opinion to hear anyone degrade Colin Powell by saying it is about race. General Powell is a highly intelligent, well educated experienced man who isn’t likely to talk out the side of his mouth.
He abandoned the administration after they used him, through their lies and deceit, in the rush to war. He supported McCain at first but eventually saw the Republi-con attitude was completely taking over his campaign. When the McClone campaign tapped Sarah he was naturally skeptical. After a bit of research Powell, like all thinking Americans, felt she was scarier than anything Obama and his alleged terrorist friends could be. Realizing John may not be physically fit to last a full term he was put off by Palin.
He fears the Supreme Court that the McCain/Palin administration would seat in the case of a vacancy. He has seen the horrors the seated justices have brought on our country. He can see the future would be extremely bleak if the republi-con ideals continue with the support they have had for so long.
He sees the inteligence coming from the Obama campaign. He seems to understand that Barack has vision for the future. Knowing that everything Obama stands for isn’t necessarily the right way to go he also knows that the Democratic policies and ideals can, and will lead us into a brighter future. And we all know how far from the light we are under the current system. Powell wants things to get better for everyone not just for black Americans.
His endorsement came from his heart. A heart that is so American that he served our country as a military officer for 35 years. A soul of concern and caring that he did what he believed right for all Americans…and the world. And he continues to be a true American by looking forward to a better future. Knowing the same ol’ same ol’ isn’t best for anyone except the very rich.
So in the current racist environment we live in I think hes endorsement wasn’t a pro black endorsement as much as a pro American one.
Even for those who slam the candidate, and the endorser’s race.
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Agreed. As Mr. Powell argued, Senator Obama was black two, three, four, five months ago – forever in fact. Therefore, it seems to follow logically, if he were voting on race, he would have endorsed some time ago. As to those on the right: I heard Pat Buchannan at the same time laud Mr. Powell for his “full-throated” endorsement and challenge him for the underlying racial sentiment motivating the endorsement.
If I were Powell and looking for a reason to endorse Obama I would have to look no further than the crappy way that he was hung out to dry at the United Nations by the Bush Administration. They used Powell’s pristine reputation around the world to sell a lie.
That’s what the Republicans do for their own. Why would it necessarily be about the color of his skin?
I read some nasty remarks from trolls posting even dredged up the “n word”.
I figure they crawled out of their cave to growl , and hope they will go back into hibernation.
Just as Powell pointed out it is un-American to be hateful and prejudiced against Muslims, it is equally un-American to inject racism into Powell’s endorsement decision.
As he said- Obama is NOT a Muslim…. but it should not matter if he were.
On the flip side….. who among us could not cop to the fact that the White guys that have ben running the country, are some sick & f**ked up pieces of work.
Yes Obama is a black man. Yes it would be a historic first to have a black man as president. Yes, he is the clear and obvious qualified candidate.
No, I don;t think he walks on water. There are some proposals he has floated I don’t agree with (more troops in Afghanistan, Nuclear power plants). But I do think he has an open mind, and he keeps his cool, and he is versed in Constitutional law, and Political Science which means he has studied other cultures, government systems & does not have American blinders on.
I had no idea such a boiling cauldron of racism would show it;s ugly face in the 21st century. The stuff McCain is spewing is hate mongering, and stirring it up & bringing it out. The silver lining is the uglier McCain gets, the higher Obama’s numbers go.
I had a total stranger go off on a rant sayng ENOUGH re politics @ work, on the phone today. The racist, hate and innuendo McCain is circulating is driving people over the edge . He declared openly his campaign would go negative, but to the rest of the world, his campaign has gone hateful, and has crossed the line.
Now, he just appears desperate, and small, gasping & grasping for anything.
When it comes to racism & prejudice, McCain has earned, and fully deserves a dishonorable discharge from this presidential election.
The best retort to people saying Powell is “just one black guy voting for another black guy” is that there are just a lot of “white guys” voting for another white guy named McCain.
This is getting beyond ridiculous. One good thing about the highlight on race and racism is that we are finally talking about it and not sweeping it under the proverbial rug. I’ve read about polls that show how differently black and white Americans view racism in this country. It seems that white Americans perceive less racism than blacks and are incredulous when they hear that blacks perceive more racism.
Nobody wants to think of themselves as racists, yet what whites don’t realize is that, in general, they do not experience as much racism, overt or veiled, as do blacks. If a person is not exposed to racism, if their world does not include situations where they feel other’s prejudice against them, then how would they know what racism is and that it actually exists?
This does not excuse anyone from understanding that there are different lives and different experiences across America. We need to understand that everyone’s perceptions are as legitimate as our own, and not dismiss other’s realities just because it’s not ours.
Barack Obama profoundly appreciates our differences and especially our similarities, which makes him uniquely appropriate as president of our diverse nation.
Obama/Biden ‘08!!!