A Presidency dilemma: it’s definitely about race

There's no doubt that the election of Barack Obama last year led to a groundswell of enthusiasm and hope throughout America and the rest of the world. In some corners of our country, however, the election of the first Afric an American and non-white President stirred up a lot of old sentiment about the role of race and power in American politics.

It is never healthy to look at things through a racial lens, but it is hard not to do so when you see people holding up signs at a tea party protest that reads "end white slavery" and nationally recognized politicians — like former House Majority whip and U.S Senate candidate, Roy Blunt — making monkey jokes at the President's expense.

These incidences along with the healthcare debate, the "birther" movement and Joe Wilson's outburst during the President's address to congress are all examples of the ugly racial prejudices that the Obama Presidency has brought out in some people.

The majority of people protesting healthcare reform are there because they do have legitimate concerns about where the American healthcare system could be headed in the future.

But there is also a vocal minority that has used the healthcare debate as a prime opportunity to attack the President and members of congress racially. Representative Bobby Scott of Georgia, an African American, had his office in Smyrna, Georgia vandalized by four swastikas.

At the recent anti-healthcare reform march in Washington, D.C. someone held up a sign that read: "The zoo has an African (picture of a lion) and the White House has a lyin' African."

This past summer at a town hall in Missouri an elderly African American supporter of health care reform holding up a poster of Rosa Parks had her sign snatched from her hands by a white man and ripped in half. Lions, Africans and defaming Rosa Parks have nothing to do with healthcare reform but there are some out there who have effectively used this opportunity to attack the President not on the issues but on his race.

The "birther" movement which is based in pure fiction has too many elements of racism, religious intolerance and xenophobia to mention. Led by CA based dentist Orly Taitz the "birther" movement has dedicated itself to proving that the President was born in Kenya and his Hawaiian birth certificate was forged so he could run for President of the United States.

Despite the certificate of live birth issued by Hawaiian health officials and a 1961 birth announcement by the Honolulu Advertiser about Obama's birth, some people still choose to not believe that the President was born in the United States.

I do not recall anybody ever asking for President Bush, President Clinton or any of our previous 43 Presidents birth certificates. So why do they want President Obama's so badly? Because some people will simply not accept that the President of the United States is an African American.

Orly Taitz and the "birthers" continue their crusade despite threats from a federal judge to slap Taitz with a $10,000 fine for filing a frivolous lawsuit.

Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina has earned his place in history but for something he probably did not want to be remembered for. The now infamous Joe Wilson was the gentleman who yelled "you lie" during the President's healthcare address to congress.

I would dismiss Rep.Wilson as simply disrespectful or rude if he were not a member of the sons of confederate veterans — a group of people who favor secession and the reinstitution of slavery in the United States.

When he was a state senator he was only one of seven senators who voted to keep the Confederate flag flying over the statehouse. These instances lead me to believe that Joe Wilson wasn't simply breaking congressional protocol but being his good old racist self.

Charges of racism when someone doesn't agree with you is usually used as a cop out, but the sheer level of animosity against President Obama is simply unmatched amongst his predecessors. His historic victory has also led to a historic level of racial animosity and hatred unseen.

The 39th President, Jimmy Carter — a man born and raised in the deep south, who knows a thing or two about race relations — recently said that some of President Obama's foes are racists.

Former President Carter was quickly dismissed by some in the media and the White House as "wrong" and "crazy." Looking at how things have played out in the past nine months of the Obama Presidency, however, maybe Jimmy Carter isn't so wrong or crazy.