Former Republican Governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, pointing her finger in President Obama’s face. This is emblematic of the disrespect that many Republicans have for America’s first African-American President.

As a black American, I feel compelled to rebut this diary by Crashing Vor. While I believe the diarist is well-intentioned and makes a solid argument, I strongly disagree with his/her thesis that racism doesn’t underpin the unprecedented Republican hate against President Obama.

Here’s why I’m saying this:

It’s a given that Republicans will hate a Democratic president. It’s what Republicans do — hate is essentially a virtue on the right. We all saw how they went after Bill Clinton relentlessly, how they trash former President Jimmy Carter and so on. But, there is something significantly different about Republican animus towards Obama — it goes way beyond the regular partisan antagonism.

The difference here is that Republicans have crossed lines with Obama that they have never crossed — or would even entertain crossing — with previous Democratic Presidents (who were all white). From the get-go they rejected his legitimacy. In fact, even today they continue to challenge his legitimacy as President with their unjustifiable blockade of his Supreme Court Nominee.

We all remember Mitch McConnell’s infamous pledge to make him a one term President. The utter disrespect they showed him in his first term (and continue to show him today; though thankfully he doesn’t seem to give a fuck about earning their respect anymore). It’s indisputable that Republicans have treated this President differently than any previous President. It can’t be chalked up to their policy differences with him or the fact that he does his job well and it bothers the Republicans (as Crashing Vor theorizes). It goes much deeper than that — there is definitely something else at play.

To consider how unusual the Republican opposition to Obama, you needn’t look any further than the U.S. Congress. Nothing spells this out more than the debt ceiling fights which were a recurring theme over the last couple years. Raising the debt ceiling (which pays for the bills that Congress itself racked up) has historically been a routine and uncontroversial legislative event under previous Presidents. Suddenly, with the first black President in office, the Republican run Congress turned this routine event into an epic high stakes debacle with the very solvency of the United States and world economy in the balance — all this because they wanted to give Obama the middle finger.

The unconscionable stance of the Republicans in the debt ceiling fights showed the extent of their contempt towards our first African-American President. They were literally willing to destroy the United States just to spite Obama.

There were other unprecedented and equally disgusting acts by Congressional Republicans. Who can forget them actively working to undermine the President’s foreign policy by sending a treasonous letter to a foreign power and secretly inviting a foreign head of state to address Congress against the best interest of the United States?

It’s not a coincidence that no other President in history has had to put up with this type of intransigent obstructionism. It’s not a coincidence that no other President in history has had this happen at one of their State of the Union address to Congress:

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It’s not a coincidence that no other President has had this said about them on national television by a prominent member of the opposing party:

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Add this to the birther crap which they happily propagated at the start of his first term, the unbridled racism that has been directed towards him (and his wife) from the Republican base and you’ll see that race is definitely a factor in all this. To deny this is not only misguided but also unjust.

I know it’s nice to imagine that Republicans are really not the racists that we think they are; that their resentment of Obama is primarily rooted in their ideological differences with him, and the fact that Obama is a political genius who manages to get things done despite their obstruction. However, any fair observation of what has transpired over Obama’s two terms would reveal an undeniable racial component in the way Republicans have approached his presidency.

Racism certainly doesn’t account for all of the Republican opposition to Obama, but to downplay it is a mistake. There is a reason why African-Americans vote overwhelmingly Democratic without wavering. The bulk of the GOP base today are the descendants of the segregationists of yesteryear. I am convinced that Jim Crow would still be legal in America today in some shape or fashion if Republicans have their way. Just look on who they’re about to nominate as their standard bearer.