Jack & Jill Politics

That’s the headline of the oped I wrote in today’s UK Independent newspaper. Here’s an excerpt, but obviously I think you should read the entire piece :)

To use a term recently repopularised by our President when referencing Kanye West’s antics at the MTV Video Music Awards, Congressman Joe Wilson is a jackass.

Part of what former President Carter said about outbursts like Wilson’s being “based on racism” is obviously true. America must still contend with the racist past and present. However, people will interpret Carter as saying Representative Wilson (pictured) is a racist, and that isn’t particularly useful. It will rally Wilson’s defenders with the typical claims that “he doesn’t have a racist bone in his body” (I’d love to see the X-rays) or “some of his best friends are black”. Calling Wilson a jackass is simply more accurate and provable. I say we go with the charge most likely to stick.

I also wanted to highlight an excerpt from blogger Malcolm Travers

I am not saying Joe Wilson is a bigot, Rather, the consistent branding of President Obama as “other” by his opponents has created a context within which it is perceived that Obama need not be treated as other presidents have been treated. The creation of that “otherness,” while possibly motivated by racial animosity, is certainly rendered more effective as a result of deeply held negative predispositions about African Americans.

And the inimitable Prof. Melissa Harris-Lacewell via Politico:

This does not mean that everyone who opposes the President is racist, nor does it mean that everyone who supports the President is a champion of racial equality. This does not mean that opponents should be silenced or public demonstrations halted. There are important, principled reasons to oppose President Obama. Those reasons are lost when the frame and tone of the opposition is so heavily infected by images and language of racial animus.

Any Democratic president who introduced health care reform was going to be met with vicious, organized opposition. The Clintons, who were white, were effectively shut down by organized business interests who framed reform as a threat to ordinary citizens. The tactics here are the same, President Obama is not being attacked because he is black, he is being attacked because he introduced health care reform that promises to end the profitable stranglehold insurance companies currently enjoy. His policies are the reason for the dissent, but the framing, strategies, language, and tone of the attacks are racialized and often racist.