Is an article in the Christian Science Monitor entitled, "After Obama's win, white backlash festers in US", a story of a few dead enders clinging to a deep seeded hatred or the warnings of a new eruption in the racial volcano of American culture? It's probably both. While racism will always exist, it has been gradually losing its influence over our culture and our politics. However those few true purveyors of racially pure America will not go quietly. And this final affront, the election of an African-American President, is only a reason to increase their efforts. So while we rejoice at the progress symbolized by our President elect, we ignore the ugliness of the reaction by some to these events at our peril. And as we consider ways to take advantage of Obama's vast volunteer network, we should keep this in mind.
Racial politics are the truly ugly side of our electoral experiment. All other nasty political tactics pale by comparison. For while they may seem despicable, they do not divide a nation. They damage the candidates not the country. And the Republican embrace of a Southern Strategy is the pinnacle of racial politics. And in conjunction with the culture wars, it has brought some short lived success to the Republican party over the last few decades. But that success has certainly come at a terrible price. Because you cannot finally dismantle the awful fabric that has eaten away at the soul of our nation since its founding, if you are using it to your own advantage.
Right wing talk radio and Fox News are the last nominally main stream agents who continue to profit from this lingering plague. Remember how willing Sean Hannity was to give anti semite Andy Martin a platform to spew his anti Obama rhetoric. Clearly this wing of the American media profits from racial and cultural polarization. Now much of the Republican party also continues to practice racial politics. We will certainly see this in any immigration reform debates. However, as the most recent election demonstrates, it is highly debatable whether they are any longer profitting from it. And that gives us hope, at least on a political level, that we will begin to see a dimunition of its practice.
But at a grass roots level, in the current climate, we can expect at least one more surge in effort by the community that lives off this bile. An ecommic meltdown and the election of an African American president will be used as an impetus to attempt to reinvigorate their campaign of hate. As we vaccinated children to eradicate smallpox, we need to find a way to help immunize children against this equally destructive force. The vigilance of organizations like The Southern Poverty Law Center is essential. As an aside, I believe they will be featured tonight on Nightline discussing a recent legal victory over the Klan. Make no mistake, as in so many instances, in this case, this election is only a beginning. And as we consider ways to employ the vast network of volunteers that has been assembled during this campaign, this should be high on the list. I'm sure The SPLC would appreciate an outreach.