White America's Shame

[somone]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-mitrovich/white-americas-shame_b_855244.html

White America's Shame
By George Mitrovich

On Wednesday the president of the United States was subjected to a humiliating moment that no president of the United States should ever be forced to experience, to prove he's an American citizen and therefore qualified to be president. Yes, other presidents have had their moments of public humiliation, not least Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton, but in Mr. Nixon's case and Mr. Clinton's their humiliation resulted from illegal and immoral conduct. Neither is true of Mr. Obama.

Barack Obama's humiliation was brought on by circumstance over which he has no control -- the color of his skin. The birther movement was born by Barack Obama's blackness. Those who lead the campaign questioning Mr. Obama's birthplace did so because they cannot accept that a black man is president of the United States. They will deny their racism because to acknowledge it carries legal, societal and political consequences; but there should be no confusion -- their hatred of President Obama is centered in the color of his black skin. And what the election of 2008 denied they have sought by other means to counter -- no matter how dishonest or despicable those means.

It is no small irony of our history that the political party that has sought to benefit from challenging the president's citizenship is the party of Abraham Lincoln, the man considered by most historians as America's greatest president.

But Republicans who signed on for the crusade to destroy Barack Obama's legitimacy as president have no shame, and being known as "The Party of Lincoln" is valued only to the degree it is useful against charges of racism. But their defense won't stand, because what's happened is racist at its core -- and the party of Lincoln stands in ruin. Ample opportunity has been given Republican leaders to denounce the birther movement, but almost always they answer in the language of evasion. Except, of course, for Donald Trump....

[Incitatus]

1. I think it's the birthers that were just humiliated. nt

[Mojeoux]

3. All the privelages of "whiteness" are ingrained in our lives,

if we are white. We forget or we are too young to remember.

My stomach turned when I saw "The Chump" question the education of the POTUS.

[my2sense]

2. K & R

[BlueCheese]

4. Not buying it.

Anyone who thinks Barack Obama was not born in the US is a hopeless case. End of story. I wouldn't trust that person to sit the right way on a toilet seat. But there's a difference between believing in loony conspiracy theories and being a racist.

People believe in stupid, obviously false things all the time. People hate politicians all the time. Just because some people think false things about a (half) black politician doesn't mean they're racist. Some of them, certainly. But that's a very serious charge to apply with such a broad brush.

If it really is just because Obama is black, then answer these questions:

Would Jesse Jackson have been challenged in the same way?
Why did so many people think Vince Foster was murdered?
Why did people look into whether Chester Arthur was born in Canada?
Why did Republicans look through Clinton's passport files to see if he had thought about renouncing his citizenship?
If a rumor had started that Michael Dukakis had been born in Greece, or John Kerry in France, do you think the Republicans wouldn't investigate?

[Solomon]

12. Why is it that people feel such need to deny racism?

There's always a crew ready and willing to jump in every time and tell us that something isn't racist. And if there's any possible other reason it could be, then by God that proves that it's not racism. Yada yada yada. We get it.

[proud patriot]

5. I wasn't silent

I called them out. I battled RW trolls on many boards.

[Trajan]

6. It isnt White America's shame

This kind of misdirection is ridiculous ...

The Birthers form a small part of the Republican party ....

Most people found this to be absurd from the start .... Most white people did as well ... '

And it wasnt a humiliation .. it was a knife blade up the ass of every lame birther who ever walked the earth ...

You play the victim very well, George .... lame editorial

[Maraya1969]

7. I am a white woman and I spoke to a couple black men in the past

because I wanted to know more.

Both of these men told me that to get to the same place as a white man they had to work twice as hard. They just accepted that was the way it was.

And now that you say this about President Obama a light just went off in my head that he has to work twice as hard to be president than a white man or women would have to. Making him show his birth certificate is indeed humiliating, unnecessary and doing what a white man would never have to do.

We have all heard the Republicans who have stated blatantly that their only job was to bring him down. They don't even pretend to care about the country. When has this happened before in history?

Fighting health care reform because if they could ruin it it would be the President's Waterloo. Nothing about making a better program. Nothing about helping the people of the United States get better health care. Just trying to put the black man who overstepped his boundary back in his place.

Now that I think of it that way it is amazing that he and the Democrats got what they did with the health care reform. The whole process was like pushing a large snow ball uphill.

I am so impressed with our President right now. And I am pissed that so many people would rather shoot themselves and our country in the foot rather than help him.

The Republicans are going by the old adage, "I loathe you so much I'm going to kill myself, (and take the country down with me)

[malaise]

11. So what about all the white males and females who fed this

rubbish in the media even though they knew he was born in Hawaii.

[kelly1mm]

8. I don't believe in collective guilt, just like I don't believe in collective punishment. nt

[Township75]

9. Fuck this loser. I didn't advocate the Pres showing his birth certificate, and I don't have any...

shame about it, or that some dumbasses felt the need to push the issue.

Is this one more writer with White guilt?

[Appenzell Wars]

10. This is no more "White Americas shame" than Dukes of Hazard reruns. nt