Yesterday, Steve Benen at the Washington Monthly, commented on the fact that while Obama is making the rounds trying to talk about health care, the media is more interested in his answers to their questions about whether race is a factor in the opposition to his health care program, and everything else he tries to do, including telling kids to stay in school.
Obama is downplaying racism as a factor. As Benen points out:
Keep in mind, race is an issue the White House isn’t talking about, and would prefer to avoid. The talk is entirely the result of reporters’ questions, and this morning, it’s the angle news outlets have decided is the most important element of the debate.
One wonders whether any of those reporters are pointing out something that is painfully obvious, that Obama has no choice but to deny that race is a factor in the opposition. He is the first black president, and like Jackie Robinson, the first black ball player, he has no choice but to absorb the racism. In Robinson’s case it was an explicit part of the deal that he made with the Dodgers. He and they understood that he had no choice but to stand silent in the face of racism, both overt and covert. It wasn’t fair, but it was a practical reality.
Obama faces the same dilemma. If he were to acknowledge the obvious he would hamper his own ability to get anything done. The right would go crazy, as well at it’s lapdog media. So Obama and his official family must say what he knows to be untrue and absorb the racism. Just look what happened when he stepped ever so slightly over the line when Henry Louis Gates was arrested.
That doesn’t mean that folks on our side, like Jimmy Carter, can’t acknowledge the obvious. We have come this far at least, that racists no longer feel comfortable openly acknowledging their racism, so it sets the Limbaughs and Becks off when you point out the obvious. Everyone understands why Jackie Robinson maintained his silence, but we honor folks like Pee Wee Reese who came to his defense. As a practical matter, this is our fight, not Obama’s.
As for Obama, we’ll have to wait until he writes his memoirs to find out what he really thinks.
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