I must say - I still recall with clarity the feeling I and so many other Americans had when Obama was first elected. That America had finally transcended institutional racism and was on its way toward a much more inclusive society. How could I have known the reaction from the right. The opposite happened, and loudly. Now we know, and we are all so much smarter. Better, I think, to know thine enemy. We have a large segment of our populace that has no business participating in our democracy. Their ideas and attutudes and beliefs are toxic and dangerous, and are unmoored from reality.
I saw racism I first hand in Georgia in 1966. Then again in Mississippi in 1984. And then in Trump beginning in 2013. Obama did NOT push them into anything. It’s the same assholes I first saw in 1966 - they’ve been here all along but just got more into the limelight in the past 20 years.
Yup - went to high school in Columbus Georgia in the late '60's. Abject racism, everywhere. But I agree with Maggie that Obama's presidency made bigots' heads explode everywhere. I think they came out from under their rocks (the ones still under rocks that is), and joined forces to try to assure it never happens again. And that is the reaction that surprised me at the time. It will surprise me no more. These are not nice people, and there are way too many of them. I was also surprised at Rush Limbaugh's reaction - that he wished him to fail. At the time I had never heard such a visceral reaction. Reactions from the likes of McConnell and Gingrich and others were also shocking to me. I was naive - I underestimated the evil that exists in this country. It took 2016 for it to really sink in. And I am a changed citizen since then.
Don’t forget, eight years of Obama pushed these bigots and racists into a lot of their thinking…..
I must say - I still recall with clarity the feeling I and so many other Americans had when Obama was first elected. That America had finally transcended institutional racism and was on its way toward a much more inclusive society. How could I have known the reaction from the right. The opposite happened, and loudly. Now we know, and we are all so much smarter. Better, I think, to know thine enemy. We have a large segment of our populace that has no business participating in our democracy. Their ideas and attutudes and beliefs are toxic and dangerous, and are unmoored from reality.
I saw racism I first hand in Georgia in 1966. Then again in Mississippi in 1984. And then in Trump beginning in 2013. Obama did NOT push them into anything. It’s the same assholes I first saw in 1966 - they’ve been here all along but just got more into the limelight in the past 20 years.
Yup - went to high school in Columbus Georgia in the late '60's. Abject racism, everywhere. But I agree with Maggie that Obama's presidency made bigots' heads explode everywhere. I think they came out from under their rocks (the ones still under rocks that is), and joined forces to try to assure it never happens again. And that is the reaction that surprised me at the time. It will surprise me no more. These are not nice people, and there are way too many of them. I was also surprised at Rush Limbaugh's reaction - that he wished him to fail. At the time I had never heard such a visceral reaction. Reactions from the likes of McConnell and Gingrich and others were also shocking to me. I was naive - I underestimated the evil that exists in this country. It took 2016 for it to really sink in. And I am a changed citizen since then.