“He Denied It Was Racist”

For the most part, I try to steer away from accusations of racism. I’m usually more interested in changing people’s minds, and that tends not to happen when I call them racists, since they suddenly feel the need to convince me that they are not, in fact, about to excuse themselves for a moment and reappear in Klan robes. It’s not conducive to genuine engagement.

Sometimes, however, it’s hard to see what other word would do the trick:

“A local newspaper columnist, in a spoof of Obama’s platform, wrote in one recent piece that the Democrat would hire the rapper Ludacris to paint the White House black (a reference to a pro-Obama song by Ludacris), and divert more foreign aid to Africa so “the Obama family there can skim enough to allow them to free their goats and live the American Dream.” He joked that Obama would replace the 50 stars on the U.S. flag “with a star and crescent logo,” an Islamic symbol, and that his policy on drugs would be to “raise taxes to pay for Obama’s inner-city political base.” The columnist, Bobby May, is also treasurer of the Buchanan County Republican Party and was listed in a July news release as the county’s representative on McCain’s Virginia leadership team, though he said his column reflected his views alone, and he denied it was racist.”

You can read the actual column here (pdf). (One note: the passage above says that it describes Obama’s position on drugs as “raise taxes to pay for Obama’s inner-city political base.” In fact, it’s “raise taxes to pay for free drugs for Obama’s inner-city political base.”) In addition to a bunch of standard slams against Democrats (“tax breaks for NAMBLA memberships”), and to the ‘free drugs’ and Ludacris passages above (the latter of which also includes the claim that Obama would pay for free paint for graffiti on the White House), it includes the following “planks” from

“Obama’s platform”:

* REPARATIONS TO BLACK COMMUNITY: Opposes before Election Day and supports after Election Day. * FREEDOM OF RELIGION: Mandatory Black Liberation Theology classes taught in all churches – raise taxes to pay for this mandate. … * FOREIGN RELATIONS: Appoint Al Sharpton as Secretary of State, Jesse Jackson as UN Representative … * NATIONAL ANTHEM: Change to the “Black National Anthem” by James Weldon Johnson. And raise taxes. * CURRENCY: Update photos to reflect U.S. diversity: include pictures of “great Americans” such as Oprah Winfrey, Ludacris, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and William Jefferson (Obama’s new Secretary of the Treasury…)

In some cases (Black Liberation Theology) I can see an actual connection to Obama. But Al Sharpton as Secretary of State? Free spray paint for graffiti on the White House? The Black National Anthem? I can’t see how this is different from “poking fun” at John McCain by saying that he wants to change the national anthem to the Horst Wessel Lied, appoint David Duke Ambassador to Israel, require that Christian Identity theology be taught in churches, pay for free meth and Oxycontin for his base, and commission Thomas Kinkade to cover the facades of the White House with his saccharine stylings.

I mean, McCain is white, right? Get it? Hahahahaha!!

It will be interesting to see whether Bobby May is asked to leave McCain’s Virginia Leadership Committee. He should be. Because even if he doesn’t think what he said was racist, it is.