Oh, yes it is.

They may not perceive it, it may not be conscious, but it's about race. And it's racism.

No, I'm not talking about any and all criticism of President Obama. It's perfectly legitimate to criticize the President, if you disagree with his actions or his expressed policies. And it's possible to do so with acerbic wit and biting satire and hyperbolic rhetoric and yes, even with anger and outrage, and not tread on the ground of race and racism.

But, by and large, that is not what is happening in America. That kind of criticism is not what we saw in the hysterical, hyperventilating flap over the President of the United States telling school children to work hard and stay in school and make us all proud. That kind of criticism is certainly not what motivated a man elected to the U.S. House of Representatives--an adult who should know better--to make a complete assclown of himself on national television. That kind of criticism is not what motivated most of those tens of thousands who showed up to scream and wave signs picturing the President with a Hitler moustache or as the psychopathic villain from the last Batman film.

No. THAT criticism is all about race. And yes, it's based in racism.

I am old enough to remember the Civil Rights movement. I am old enough to remember the efforts to drive a stake through the heart of Jim Crow, and to give people of color equal access to the ballot box and the levers of political and economic power in this nation. I was there. And the eerie thing about this current ruckus is the way it's echoing the very tapes that were recorded in my memory back then.

For those of you too young to remember or too young to have lived through it, it might seem ludicrously unbelievable when I assert that yes, those are exactly the same things white people who opposed the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act were saying back then. Yes, seriously. And, just as they do today, they honestly believed that they were not being racist.

Yes, there were hard-core racists back then who were perfectly willing to admit that yes, it was about race, and yes, they were discriminating, and trying to protect institutionalized discrimination, against persons of color because they believed persons of color were somehow inferior. There's still a few of that creepy breed around today as well. But the majority of these wackjobs are entirely sincere in their assertion that it's NOT ABOUT RACE and they are NOT RACISTS!

They aren't being disingenuous when they claim this --they really believe it!

Because their definition of racism is an extremely narrow one:

It's only racism if I do something to actively discriminate against someone, or say something nasty about someone, explicitly because I want them to experience pain or suffering because they are a different race, and only if I know that's why I'm acting that way. Otherwise, it's not racism, you see.

They have had to narrow the definition of racism to this extent, because it is the only way to protect themselves from having to acknowledge some very unpleasant, negative things about themselves. By defining racism that narrowly, they can justify all their fear- and hate-based actions and utterances. It's not vile of me to speak or act thusly because I am not a racist.

In spite of the fact that my nasty, hate-based words or actions are rooted in a fear of Scary Brown People so visceral and so intrinsic to my own concept of self that I am not even aware of that fear, I cannot possibly be a racist. My reasons for vile speech and pusillanimous action are explainable by all kinds of other, entirely legitimate reasons.

But there is a perceptible difference between the kind of speech and actions that are rooted in rational conviction and manifested in passionate opposition, and the kind of speech and actions that are rooted in fear and manifested as hate. Each can use hyperbole. Each can use satire or mockery. Each can use emotional language. But the signature of hate is unmistakable, and the root of hate is fear.

It's not always fear of Scary Brown People. But it's invariably revealed in two words:

those people

As soon as you hear those two words or any reasonable facsimile thereof, you can be sure that the person uttering them has created an us/them construct in their mind. And when that us/them construct becomes integral to their concept of their self, and their sense of value and self-worth, 'them' becomes something to despise.

And as soon as what we despise starts to threaten us in any way, hate blossoms.

President Obama is a brown "them" for these white people. And they are being told that he threatens them. Threatens their wallets, threatens their religious beliefs, threatens their security. Worse! Because he IS a "them," he will inevitably enable OTHER brown "thems" to acquire illegitimate benefits that will increase the threat to an intolerable level.

No wonder they are hysterical with fear and hate. And yes, it is about race. And it is racist.

And I pity them. Living in hate and fear is not only incredibly tiring and unpleasant, it floods your body with stress hormones that damage your health and impair your ability to enjoy life.

They can deny that their hate is based on race by blaming it on the "threat." But that "threat" alone is not sufficient to send them into frothing convulsions of horror. Many of us felt a very real and very tangible threat under George W. Bush and his cabal of vicious and incompetent greedheads. We expressed ourselves strongly. We "hated" him, and some of us allowed ourselves to wallow in that hate to a degree that was probably unhealthy for us. But the threat he represented to us was not based in the color of his skin.

There are more people in the ranks of liberals who nourish a robust sense of humor, and more who have achieved a fairly good level of education and a broad view of history and society, than in the ranks of conservatives --this I believe. I don't assert it as a fact, but I'd stake quite a lot on that belief. And so we have an abundance of liberals who can communicate passionately and effectively, using tools like mockery and satire and hyperbole. It may sound like hate, but the visceral fear of a threatening "them" is not nearly as prevalent.

Remember: If "those people" hovers about the discourse, even off-stage, as it were --it's about race. And it's racism.

We need to be aware of that racism, based in fear, and how strong a motivator it is, and how effective a barrier against rational analysis and decision making. And we need to be aware of how sincerly these very racists believe that it's not about race, and it's not racism. No matter how clearly we point it out to them, no matter how cogently we draw the connection, they will not be brought to believe or acknowledge their own terror of the Scary Brown Other.

It's important to know this about them. Because unless we understand the terror that lurks unacknowledged at the base of their reptilian cortex, we can't parse their wild, irrational hatred.

They're doing an excellent job of exposing that hatred-- to the point where those who oppose President Obama's policies and actions for reasons other than racist terror are starting to draw back from them, and perceive the peril that lurks in alliance with them.

So much so that the most effective action we can take to counter their wild outbursts is to methodically and constantly pull out the reality checks. Apply them with humor and good nature, and yes, with a little passion as well-- but concentrate on getting the reality checks across, not on opposing the racist haters with a level of invective and fury to match their own.

And when they assert "It's not about race! It's not racism!!"-- shake our heads and politely disagree and, if we aspire to or have attained a sufficient level of spiritual growth, pity them.

Because it's about race. And yes, it's racism.

assertively,
Bright