Obama Says Race a Key Component in Tea Party Protests (in new book)

[pampango]

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2011/03/02/obama-says-race-a-key-component-in-tea-party-protests?PageNr=1

"As he began his second year in office, Obama's presidency was not going well. His legislation to overhaul the healthcare system was still bogged down in Congress. The unemployment rate, which polls showed was the top concern of most Americans, remained stubbornly high at about 10 percent, and much worse in many African-American communities. Obama's job-approval ratings had dropped markedly from the astronomical levels of his first few months to below 50 percent.

Republican pollster Bill McInturff said, "I don't think you can find a guy who's done more to try to put this issue off the table." But McInturff added, "I don't think the press really understands how difficult this guy's position is" because his support among whites was so "precarious." This was largely because the economy was in such distress, and most whites, except perhaps for young people, didn't have a close bond with Obama to begin with.

But Obama, in his most candid moments, acknowledged that race was still a problem. In May 2010, he told guests at a private White House dinner that race was probably a key component in the rising opposition to his presidency from conservatives, especially right-wing activists in the anti-incumbent "Tea Party" movement that was then surging across the country. Many middle-class and working-class whites felt aggrieved and resentful that the federal government was helping other groups, including bankers, automakers, irresponsible people who had defaulted on their mortgages, and the poor, but wasn't helping them nearly enough, he said.

A guest suggested that when Tea Party activists said they wanted to "take back" their country, their real motivation was to stir up anger and anxiety at having a black president, and Obama didn't dispute the idea. He agreed that there was a "subterranean agenda" in the anti-Obama movement—a racially biased one—that was unfortunate. But he sadly conceded that there was little he could do about it."

[Botany]

1. no kidding

[JackintheGreen]

2. At least he recognizes it.

Like Secretary Gates did this week (about a Libyan no-fly zone), he calls a spade a spade.

Wait, that isn't racist, too, is it?

[OHdem10]

3. If you need more examples, the GOP Pres. Candidates are

moving to the lowest common denominator: Haley Barbour
dredging up Welfare Queens now driving BMWs. Huckabee
giving this yarn about Obama growing up in Kenya, the
Maus Maus and all that tripe.

Why else would they speak of such things.

[global1]

4. And You Know What's Going To Happen Now........

the Rush's, Hannity's, Beck's and all the RW Crazies and talking heads are going to say that Obama is playing the race card. I bet they were just waiting for a quote by him to use. They are going to turn this around and use it on him.

[still_one]

5. Not only is it still a problem, it is alive and well. The group that supported wallace in 1968 has

resurfaced as the tea party, and the republicans have embraced it with open arms

What is the most disappointing is the timid response not only from the Democrats, but from the media. When you have haley barbour refusing to condemn a proposal honoring a Ku Klux Klan leader, where is the outrage?

It was not that long ago when Dr. King was killed that you had the likes of strom thurmond and john connally slamming him days after he was killed. That is why when lindsey graham was honoring thurmond on his birthday, and the "good ole" days was a direct attack at the civil rights movement

nixon was the most despicable piece of trash who created the southern strategy to not only divide the country, but give a resurgence to the racism that has permeated our heritage for so long

[Frustratedlady]

6. It's up to groups like DU and what little press we have on our side...

to call them on this crap as soon as it appears.

They will spew their nasties as long as they think no one is going to shame them publicly. Obama can't do it all by himself.

In all my years, and there are a lot of them, I have never seen the Republican party buried in such hate and vitriol...they should be ashamed of themselves. If they proclaim to be Christian, they should go back and read the 10 Commandments and hang their heads in shame, because they are no more Christian than my porch swing.

I swear the more they scream religion, the greater the sin.

[wiggs]

7. You can't do much about racists in the Tea Party. What is

more disappointing is how willing the gop was (and is) to use race and other smears to CREATE more racial anxiety. I'm talking about elected officials, party officials, and pundits who consciously manipulate the fears of their base to drum up votes and money. They will take the low road, whether it's homophobia, racism, sexism, guns, religion, smearing teachers, etc. The country has racists...and only time will change that and even then there will always be those who get off on being in a 'white' club and excluding those who are not white. But...for leaders, journalists, and pundits to deliberately play up our skin color to create fear and polarization...that's something that shouldn't happen and should be changed. The Southern Strategy worked and still works...but that doesn't mean it should be used. Disgusting.

Of course, Obama's statement in the book will be used as evidence he's not really one of 'us'.

[spanone]

8. i would say it's a major component