Loading ...As Economic Crisis Worsens, is Racism a “Luxury” Whites Can No Longer Afford?
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As the economic crisis worsens (and the forecasts look pretty gloomy), some people are speculating that undecided racists may no longer be able to afford the “luxury” of racism (image source). Here’s a snippet from an email Ben Smith received at Politico.com:
“What’s crazy is this,” he writes. “I was blown away by the outright racism, but these folks are f***ing undecided. They would call him a n—-r and mention how they don’t know what to do because of the economy.”
And, the polls seem to indicate some support for this trend. Among voters for whom “the economy” is their first priority, Obama leads by a wide margin. This has given some writers cause for optimism, as Ta-Nehisi Coates writes (for The Atlantic):
“Call me crazy, or overly optimistic, but… [I think] … Racism is a luxury that, at this point, a lot of white voters can ill-afford. I think a crucial number of them know that.”
I wish I could share Coates’ (and others’) optimism. However, there’s lots of evidence that the McCain/Palin campaign is pandering to the lowest (racist) common denominator in ways that are both overt and intentional, as well as in ways that are practically subconscious they’re so automatic. For example, at last night’s presidential debate, John McCain referred to Barack Obama as “that one” and at the close of the debate refused to shake his hand (opens video link). I doubt seriously that McCain or his handlers planned either of these. Rather, McCain’s rhetorical choices and his body language suggest a deep disgust for Obama. This may be merely personal disdain and might have been directed at any political opponent of McCain’s, but one suspects that it reflects a deep well of racism (recall, McCain for years opposed the King holiday in Arizona and until very recently publicly used the term “gook” to refer to just about any one of Asian descent).
The verbal and non-verbal cues coming from McCain are easy-to-latch-on-to forms of symbolic racism for those inclined to interpret them in that way. And, once again, it’s clear that the campaign’s strategy is to leave the more overt signaling of this racism to Palin. For instance, witness the kinds of vocal responses from crowds at a recent Palin rally when supporters shouted “terrorist” and “kill him” at the mention of Obama’s name. This kind of irrationality is a powerful reminder that historically whites have voted (and acted) in ways that were not in their economic interest in order to maintain white privilege (and not only working-class whites). Choosing a political leader (indeed, choosing a team) based on who is best equipped to deal with the economic disaster at hand makes logical, rational sense. Unfortunately, for many whites, this may well be the last luxury they learn to do without.
Face it, McCain is the biggest p*ssy there is, trying desperately to race-bait Obama into a race row.
Fact is, McCain just created his own Macaca moment, like this guy rightly pointed out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWSRBQQCfUI
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Hey Jerry, I do agree there’s race-baiting going on, although I’d probably choose a less sexist term to describe McCain’s behavior. But, that’s just me.
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in the interest of fairness (i agree with everything you said), mccain did, in fact, shake obama’s hand at the end of the interview. andrew sullivan originally thought otherwise, but edited his blog once he watched it again on DVR. http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/10/mccain-wouldnt.html
a handshake, however, has nothing to do with the profoundly racist attacks that the mccain campaign has been engaging in over the last few days. the elements of the republican base that the mccain/palin ticket are appealing to are not only repugnant, but dangerous. the secret service is already investigating the dude that said, “kill him” at the palin rally on sunday. then there was the racial slur directed toward a black camerman. where does it end? i wonder if mccain and palin will take responsibility for their words if those words inspire physical violence….
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Hi Sarah, thanks for your comment. Yeah, the clamor to “kill him” (and, just as seamlessly, calling him a “terrorist”) is just bone-chilling. WRT to the handshake: I watched it as well and it looks like a dodge to me. But, as you note, others disagree. It’s a minor point, I think. The larger point that still remains is McCain’s individual racism and the campaign’s race-baiting tactics, both of which are well-documented.
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Saying white voters cannot afford the “luxury” of racism isn’t the right way to put it. The post from Stein seems to suggest more that the economy is souring them on McCain as a choice, not that it somehow makes any racist beliefs or feelings about Obama they hold weaker or makes them suspend those feelings. The commentators to Stein point more toward the likely possibility for these voters: that they stay home rather than vote for McCain, whom they would otherwise vote for, because they blame the Republicans (including McCain) for the economy.
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Hi M. – the post from Stein? I’m not sure I follow your point.
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It looks to me that McCain didn’t notice Obama’s hand so I assume he wasn’t aware of what he was doing. I wish I could easily assume the same thing about the “that one” statement. I read that the McCain campaign refers to Obama as “The One,” criticizing his “messianic tendencies.”
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/US_Elections_2008/0,,2-10-2339_2406658,00.html
However, I find it hard to believe this was just a one word slip up since he actually pointed to Obama when he said it.
It doesn’t surprise me at all that supporters at McCain’s rallies shout out racist comments without being reprimanded by McCain or Palin. Did you ever see the “How do we beat the b****?” video. McCain was talking to a certain group and an elderly woman asks, “So how do we beat the b****?” How does McCain react? He laughs…and comments that that was a good question. Its appalling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8XBlxvA7AA
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[...] As Economic Crisis Worsens, is Racism a “Luxury” Whites Can No Longer Afford? As the economic crisis worsens (and the forecasts look pretty gloomy), some people are speculating thatundecided racists may no longer be able to afford the “luxury” of racism (image source). [...]
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yeah, i watched the video, and i don’t really see the handshake….wonkette covered it pretty extensively from the c-span version, and they saw a clear dodge. i find the whole idea that we even have to have a discussion about whether or not a presidential candidate shook his opponent’s hand completely surreal. mccain wouldn’t act like that with an opponent who was white. he’s behaving as though he’s offended at the “uppityness” of obama….which is probably exactly what he thinks.
i think “luxury,” while a problematic word, is perhaps the correct one. it’s a luxury that white privilege affords one, because white people can choose whether or not to care about the oppression of non-white people. it’s a totally screwy idea, but one deserving attention i think.
nicole- i think you’re totally on point to bring up the “beat the b****” comment. it’s a measure of john mccain that he not only hasn’t spoken out against blatant sexism, but has also conducted himself in a completely misogynistic manner (calling his wife a “c-word,” telling rape jokes, etc.) he only cares about sexism or racism when he can use those in a disingenuous manner to make himself look compassionate. it’s disgusting.
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Explaining a bit more what I’m getting at in @5 (requested by @6):
Sorry, I meant the Smith post, not the Stein post.
Explaining the idea:
I think the idea that whites with some racist beliefs who vote for Obama are doing so because they cannot “afford the luxury of racism” is a very inaccurate description. For one thing, describing racism as a “luxury” makes it sound like whites lose economically by racist actions–thus it is a “luxury” that must be given up in hard times. But that’s contrary to the argument elsewhere on the website that racism upholds white privilege rather than that whites have to make a sacrifice to keep it going. For another, I don’t think whites are thinking “I’d rather vote for a white person but I need to vote for Obama to save the economy,” as this phrase implies. If anything, racist beliefs would make them think McCain would be more able at managing the economy. A more plausible description is that white people who are racist may not like Obama, but they also don’t like McCain because they connect our current economic failings with Republicans. Likely result: some whites with racist views choose not to vote (this last point is made in the comments to Smith’s blog post).
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McCain refers to his supporters as My fellow prisoners!
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“this is about hating a black man in the White House. This is racism straight up,” as Janeane Garofalo said the other night” only like 3 ppl were racists bastards at the protests… i wish it would have broken out in a riot!
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