When I began studying authoritarianism, I arranged to administer a survey to members of the National Socialist White People's Party in Arlington, Va.--otherwise known as the American Nazi Party. As part of the "arranging" I visited the group's headquarters, and while I was waiting to meet with a party official, I had a brief conversation with a young man wearing a swastika arm band who was serving as a receptionist. We talked about sports, and when he brought up the subject of race (he liked hockey because blacks hadn't "taken over" the sport), I asked him how he felt about the black athletes who dominated baseball, football, and basketball.
He said it made him sick to see them being praised and admired by white people. Then he focused on one superstar in particular, and said something like, "Every time I see him score, I just hate him. I can't stand it when he beats white guys. I want to kill him, I hate him so much."
I had grown up in St. Louis, and had acquired quite a lot of stereotypes about African-Americans during my youth, along with a lot of fear. But I had never encountered such raw hatred expressed so openly. And so unfairly, because the despised athlete's "sin" was that he was much better than any white man in his sport. And to this member of the National Socialist White People's Party, that was totally unacceptable, psychologically. So he hated in response.
Republican Representative Joseph Wilson reportedly shouted out, "You lie!" at Barack Obama during his speech to the Joint Session of Congress last night. The breaking of the traditional decorum in the setting, which means a lot to elected officials, shocked many.
According to news reports, Rep. Wilson quickly issued an apology, saying that "this evening I let my emotions get the best of me." An outsider does not know, of course, which emotions overpowered his better judgment, but they would seem to be very strong ones. He might say they included anger over the President's proposals, or fear of what the President was trying to do. I wonder if he would consider the possibility that hatred, akin to that of the receptionist I described above, also played a role.
I say this knowing nothing of Rep. Wilson, but having observed his party acting very strangely for the past ten months. As others have observed, many Republicans appear to have gone crazy. Now partly this is strategic. They have to discredit, de-legitimize Obama in the minds of their followers, who ordinarily have a strong inclination to submit to the established authorities. So Republican leaders (and various media personalities) have spread stories that Obama isn't a legitimate president because he was born in Kenya. And allegedly the Democrats only won last November because of massive voter fraud, and because the media was so biased. As well, Republicans have other reasons for spreading false stories concerning, for example, health care reform, stories which are tactically sound in the realm of politics if highly disturbing in the realm of morality.
But it's the intensity of the attacks that catches one's ear. The sources one used to rely on for alternate opinions and counterbalances against liberal perspectives aren't talking any more, they're screaming. And they are repeatedly screaming such preposterous things, such enormous untruths and such ridiculous conspiracy theories, that they have become extremists on the political scene. People watching this mahem may be wondering, "What on earth is wrong with these folks?" Some Republican leaders still participate in the world of ideas, but so many others seem to live in the world of vitriol.
Well, as Representative Wilson observed, strong emotions can make one act quite irrationally. And I would suggest that for some people, deep down inside, the idea of an African-American president offends them so much that it unleashes an intense hatred that makes them "lose it" when discussing issues and proposals. And what really tees them off is, "their side" hasn't got anyone nearly as personally accomplished and skilled as Barack Obama. Instead they've got Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, and so on. The black guy is better than any of the white guys, the racists conclude, and this stokes the darkest emotions in them. The Republican Party, whose supporters love to frame questions like, "Why does Obama hate America?" is becoming the party of hate in the United States, led by seriously irrational people.
I'm not saying that everyone who opposes the President is a racist. And I'm not even saying that those who are dyed-in-the-wool racists only oppose Barack Obama because of the color of his skin. But I am saying that when the opponents act like such complete nuts, you've got to wonder, "What the heck is really going on here?" And deeply-rooted racism may well be part of the answer.