Jimmy Carter: How dare you ! There are no racists here.

Yesterday, former President Jimmy Carter suggested that - gasp!- those who disagree with President Obama are racists who cannot accept the fact that we have a black president. While I don't agree with such a broad statement, there is a great deal of truth to this statement.

The old white people at the town hall meetings concerning Obama's health care plan are very confused. A five minute search on Google turned up the following things people were protesting at these meetings: abortion, taxes, federal deficit, health care, end of life care, big government, immigration, national socialism, Obama's birth certificate and capitalism. This is merely a partial listing. Now why would a meeting concerning the future of health care attract so many protesters for so many different issues? Why are these people so angry? Where were the protesters against big, expensive government when George Bush gave a sweetheart deal to the drug companies? Where were the truth seekers when Bush lied us into two wars? It seems to me that these protesters really don't know what they are so angry about about. Could it be that....it drives them crazy that their President is black? Heavens no, that couldn't be it. After all, Jimmy Carter is way off the mark when he suggests that racism is driving much of the criticism of this president, right?

The attempt to paint Obama as the "other" or outsider is clearly an attempt to delegitimize his presidency by pointing out how different he is from the rest of us "real" Americans. There is an element of racism here as well. The accusations include: Obama is not an American citizen, he was born in Kenya, he is a socialist, he is a fascist, he is a communist. Also, it doesn't help Obama that he is educated and intelligent. A certain segment of our society has always been suspicious of intellectuals and REALLY suspicious of a guy who happens to be a black intellectual! And the protesters think, "Now this uppity know-it-all is gonna tax my hard earned paycheck and give the money to immigrants and coloreds!"

If you doubt the presence of racism in the criticism of President Obama, just take a look at some of the anti-Obama protest signs and artwork. My favorite is the guy holding the sign that says
"I want America back". Back from who? Who took your country?