Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu stated that Obama has a tougher time being accepted in the South because of his race and went on to make the quote “the South has not always been the friendliest place for African-Americans. I think most Americans will say “D’uh!”. It’s a painful truth.
Conservatives, specifically Republicans, are lashing out. How dare she insult the South. Others accuse Democrats of race baiting. I guess reminding black voters how “well” the GOP has treated them over the past several years is race baiting.
A lot of people engage in racism and discrimination. Others prefer to ignore it. If you point it out then their argument is that that’s the real racism. They give that argument with a straight face.
Now the GOP has gotten pretty good at veiling their racism under the banner of economics and fairness. When they want to test welfare recipients for drugs who are they really aiming at (despite the drug testing program being a huge costly failure and one that punishes children receiving welfare much more than their parents). When they gerrymander districts who are they really trying to hurt? When the GOP pretends to care about voter IDs who are they really trying to block from voting? During the 2012 primaries GOP candidate Rick Santorum said “I don’t want to make black people’s lives better with taxpayer money.” Congratulations, Ricky. You haven’t made any black person’s life better.
But let’s look at the South’s history of being friendly to African-Americans: First off there’s slavery. There was the Ku Klux Klan. There was the entire Civil Right’s movement. There was segregation. If all that stuff didn’t put smiles on African-American’s faces then what’s wrong with them? In addition there was Nixon’s Southern Strategy to win the south by winning the hearts of segregationists. Reagan made a big speech in Philadelphia, Mississippi (site of the Civil Rights murders and a racist hot zone) about state rights. George H.W. Bush race baited his way to the White House on the Willie Horton ad. To this day the Confederate battle flag is part of the state flags of Georgia and Mississippi. South Carolina flies it over their capitol building and it’s not even a part of their state flag. They just love giving the finger to blacks. Please don’t start that lame defenseless argument about the flag being about heritage. You’re right. It is about heritage and that heritage is hate.
If you look at the polls in Louisiana only 17% of whites approve of the job Obama is doing while 76% of non-whites approve. Go figure.
I’m from Louisiana. I mostly grew up there. I also lived in Georgia and Mississippi. You’re going to have a hard time convincing me the South was friendly to blacks. Bad thing is, a lot of other people who grew up in the South refuse to see it.
Landrieu talks about how the white South doesn’t like Obama because he’s black. That goes farther than the South. Since Obama was elected (and before actually) he’s been accused of being a terrorist, a muslim and of being born in Kenya. Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal says Landrieu is living in a different century. No, Bobby. Racism still exists in this century. It exists this year, this month, this week….Hell, it’s going on today. Go ask Donald Sterling, Phil Robertson or Cliven Bundy.
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