Black man shot by white racist for supporting Obama

The race crazies are on the march.

Nobody wants to talk about it because, after all, Obama has more than bent over backwards to avoid having his candidacy overshadowed – or handcuffed – by race. Some have even accused him of bending backwards a bit too far, saying that he’s trying so hard to dilute the significance of race and racism in America that he is possibly – albeit unintentionally -causing more problems for average everyday black folks than he perhaps realizes.

Personally, I don’t believe this is true. Time will tell, I suppose.

But in the meantime, while some of us prefer to be obsessed with waiting to see if Obama remembers us once he gets elected, we might want to pay a little bit of attention to the white crazies that are beginning to rear their head. I’m talking about those to whom the mere whiff of a possibility that a black man could become America’s elected leader is so threatening and repulsive that they are prepared to wreak maximum havoc wherever they can set a fire. If you are the enemy – meaning anyone who does not agree with them – then you are considered a kindred threat and therefore a target.

For example, there was this story recently reported in the London Daily Mail about a black man who was shot three times by a white man with a gun simply because he was wearing an Obama T-shirt. Yes. This happened in London. Obama isn’t even running for dog catcher in London, but the possibility of a black man becoming America’s leader has white supremacists frothing at the mouth overseas. Because black progress anywhere is considered a threat to white supremacy everywhere.

The beast is becoming restless -- REUTERS PHOTO BY JESSICA RINALDI

But of course there is never any need for an American to go overseas in search of racism. Because we Americans do racism better than anyone on the planet, buddy. Believe that. So perhaps you may have heard about the incident that occurred at a recent Sarah Palin rally in Clearwater, Florida where a black cameraman who was covering the event was called a nigger by an energetic McCain/Palin fan. This happened after Palin had whipped the crowd into a frenzy with her heart-rending tale of how she was abused by a pack of wild, hungry ‘gotchas’ during her recent interview with Katie Couric. Here’s a quote from that Oct. 7 story, reported by Dana Milbank of the Washington Post:

“Worse, Palin’s routine attacks on the media have begun to spill into ugliness. In Clearwater, arriving reporters were greeted with shouts and taunts by the crowd of about 3,000. Palin then went on to blame Katie Couric‘s questions for her “less-than-successful interview with kinda mainstream media.” At that, Palin supporters turned on reporters in the press area, waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse. Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, “Sit down, boy.”

Read full story here.

Even though Palin’s attack was on the Big Bad Media – not black folks – and how they have all conspired to traumatize her wee widdle brain, this hyped-up supporter automatically hurled the ‘N’ word at the black cameraman standing nearby  because he wasn’t just a member of the media, he was black. That fact alone meant the cameraman must have been an Obama supporter, which meant he was therefore an identifiable threat to the established order.

And that, of course, requires immediate termination in the eyes of the race crazies.

Now before I go any further with this, the obvious must nevertheless be stated loud and clear; this is NOT an attack on all McCain/Palin supporters, nor is it an attempt to characterize them all as white supremacist idiots. Indeed, I’m quite sure the overwhelming majority of these folks do not fall into that extremist category, although I still question their judgment. The majority of McCain/Palin supporters are most likely supporters either because that’s the choice their wonderful party stuck them with or because they really do believe these two have the better vision for America. Those beliefs may be hard to digest for most thinking people, but that doesn’t make the folks who hold those beliefs extremists.

Extremists are never the majority in any situation. They don’t have to be. Sept. 11, 2001 made that  glaringly clear. Extremists can be like sticks of dynamite stuffed into the cracks of a bridge. The bridge is far bigger, but if the dynamite is placed in the right spots, the whole damned bridge will come tumbling down. A sharp extremist already knows he/she is outnumbered, so he/she masters the art of timing and placement. They are also far more motivated to achieve their goals than your average Joe, which gives them a considerable advantage in certain situations.

So to those who would argue that we really don’t have to worry about those fringe race crazies, I would respond that numerically speaking? You’re right. Most of us Obama supporters aren’t likely to be shot in the face by a white supremacist simply for voting in favor of reason and sanity. Most of us will live our lives and be glad our guy got in. But I would also say it’s not a good strategy to wait until the crazies significantly grow their numbers before we address the situation.

Because hatred with a focus is a very dangerous thing.

SHAMELESS PLUG: REad my wife’s blogs @ The “D” Spot Redeux and BlackLiberalBoomer.

~ by Keith A. Owens on October 9, 2008.