Is it racist to criticize the President?

[cali]

Of course not. So don't charge racism over criticism of policy.

[Puzzledtraveller]

1. I've seen some responses to various posts

that appear to suggest just that.

[frylock]

3. suggest? they flat out make accusations if you aren't in line.

[el_bryanto]

6. On DU? Against other DUers? And if so please provide the links? nt

[ProSense]

2. ?

Ooh, anti-Obama defensive straw man.

[cali]

4. no dear. you really need to learn what a strawman is

up your rhetoric game to 7th grade level.

[geek tragedy]

5. You're right. No 'policy' criticisms against Obama have a racial tinge,

while we're jousting against straw men

[cali]

9. of course some do. but when people here at DU start in

with a charge of racism over criticism of President Obama's policy, it's pretty much about trying to shut people down.

If you've seen any racism here directed toward the President and/or First Lady, I would hope that would be immediately alerted on.

[geek tragedy]

11. the problem is that a lot of racism finds its way into code words, especially

those regarding the president and his family being "snooty" or "angry"

[Puzzledtraveller]

18. Perhaps I'm naive but I don't get that

I saw some of the responses in this thread http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2951684

and a few made the similar claim your making. People use those terms to criticize and nitpick all the time.

[geek tragedy]

24. black people who do not "know their place" very often get disparaged

as "uppity" if they think themselves entitled to too much respect, and "angry or surly" if they are insufficiently gracious and deferential to white people.

There is a long, sordid history behind such usage.

[JustAnotherGen]

30. +1

[hughee99]

19. Exactly, like when Jesse Jackson said the President was "talking down to black people".

Rev. Jackson was just using the code words to mask his racism, right?

[geek tragedy]

26. is that the one where Jackson talked about this wish to castrate then-candidate Obama? nt

[hughee99]

37. Yes, a.k.a "open mic night" on Faux news. n/t

[geek tragedy]

38. certainly not the only example of Jackson saying something profoundly stupid

and offensive, especially since castration was a favored technique of Jim Crow lynch mobs to terrorize black men.

[hughee99]

41. Certainly not the only time,

but sometimes words are "code words" and sometimes they're not, depending on the motivation one wishes to presume about the speaker. I don't think Rev. Jackson was using "code words" in this case, but if a white repuke had said the same thing, I think people would see the "code words" in the statement.

[geek tragedy]

42. on the Internet, no way to tell who's what background nt

[Savannahmann]

7. Actually

I think the majority, or at least the DNC Trolls who run around shouting at us to keep in line, would argue that it is Racist to claim it isn't Racist.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. No. But, it's a convenient way of defending bad policy.

[cali]

10. and shutting down criticism- or at least attempting to do that.

[Puzzledtraveller]

22. Now it's about "code" words

I knew I had seen this in another thread. I posted the link in my response above.

[kiva]

12. Of course not

but it's easier than defending centrist policies...and bonus points for looking uber-liberal.

[marshall]

13. There will always be a whiff of racism

That is inevitable because of our culture.

[Cali_Democrat]

14. Who are you talking to?

[LanternWaste]

15. Racism, by its cowardly nature, often hides behind the veil of concern and criticism.

Racism, by its cowardly nature, often hides behind the veil of concern and criticism.

And I have no problems with seeing a racist called as such, regardless of the mechanism the racist may use to score points.

[Dreamer Tatum]

16. In other words, no concern or critique is ever valid when you can attribute it to racism.

Convenient.

[LanternWaste]

20. That may be your position,

That may be your position, yet certainly not what I stated-- at best, merely a "convenient" misinterpretation.

[Dreamer Tatum]

23. No, it's yours. You use weasel words like "often,"

which means you get to decide when someone is concerned, and when someone is racist.

Let me guess where you usually come down on that.

[LanternWaste]

28. I get to decide nothing outside of my immediate world

I get to decide nothing outside of my immediate world. As I do not get to decide who willfully misinterprets a benign statement.

However, it's rather convenient that you decided "often" is now a weasel word. I'm glad you get to decide that.

[cali]

17. Do you have a problem with people using the charge of racism to try and shut

down criticism of the President's policies?

[LanternWaste]

21. If I ever see it, I imagine I would.

If I ever see the charge leveled against one who is not a racist, I imagine I would have more than "a" problem.

[boilerbabe]

25. I can't believe all these clueless folks missed the" racist lesbian heckler"

thread. UNFUCKINGBELIEVABLE. "what posts" huh?" fucking disengenouos assholes.

[Puzzledtraveller]

34. I know, I swear this place has been the Twilight Zone this week.

I first noticed this garbage in this reply in a post yesterday.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2951919

[lapislzi]

27. No more than it is antisemitic to criticize Israel.

Oh, dear.

[JustAnotherGen]

31. Another +1

[hrmjustin]

29. No it is not racist to challenge the president!

[JustAnotherGen]

32. Unless it's Rush Limbaugh

Because he is known racist.

[hrmjustin]

35. The very act of challenging the president is not racist, but it would be true to say

many racists like Rush challenge the president.

[Wounded Bear]

33. Not in general.....but...

there are ways to express criticism that are racist.

But no, not all criticism is race based.

[CakeGrrl]

36. If one thinks that someone who interrupts and heckles the FLOTUS is rude and arrogant,

Does that mean one is anti-LGBT or is a suppressor of human rights if the heckler happens to be a member of the LGBT community?

I get the feeling that the recent dustup has much to do with these ancillary threads.

Don't charge homophobia over criticism of an individual's bad behavior. Sounds like a parallel.

And your original question has many answers. It's not simple, binary matter. Some criticism IS race-based, but people aren't going to run around in white hoods and sheets to make it easy to spot them. Racism is subtle and insidious, and easily couched in code words.

[Prism]

39. My thesaurus seems to be broken

According to some partisans, every adjective in there is a synonym for "uppity."

Is it possible to get a new thesaurus to reflect this change?

[bike man]

40. I would imagine that presidential policies/actions/etc have been criticized

ever since President 1. I would further imagine some/many of those criticizms came from non-whites, and that many/most were not racist in nature.

So, no it is not racist.