Postscript to "I Voted For Obama Just Because He's Black"

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Yesterday I posted a blog concerning the outrageous statements made by Samuel L. Jackson.  Today I'd like to make just a couple of more points about my post.  When I first saw the statements, I had fully intended to ignore them.  I'm not a big fan of Samuel L. Jackson and I dismissed his remarks as the ranting of an angry black man. The only reason I posted a response is a couple of my more conservative friends posted links to the article on their Facebook pages along with comments along the lines of "I wish more of them would admit this.".  My blog post generated some good conversation on my Facebook page.  But, it caused me to examine exactly why this had gotten under my skin so much.  When I read the remarks initially they didn't bother me.

What I finally figured out bothered me so much was the fact that people were using this as just another way to de-legitimize this President.  It falls right in line with the claim that he's the "food stamp President" to me.  What I hear when people say Obama only got elected because of the black vote is that "black people didn't know any better and if they could only think for themselves, Obama would not be President". During the conversation, one friend sent a link to me showing the African-American turnout for Obama and the percentage of African-Americans who voted Democratic in the 2008 election versus in the previous election.

I don't recall similar analyses after President Bush won the election- how many people voted for him simply because he's from Texas or how many evangelicals voted for him simply because he is an evangelical.  Maybe it was there. Maybe I missed it.  But, I don't remember it.

Yeah, I'm thin skinned when it comes to President Obama. Attack his policies all you want.  Attack his record.  That's all fair game.  He's broken some promises (what politician hasn't?).  He's been President during the worse economic crises in most of our lifetimes'.  But, I am sick of the barrage of attacks on his legitimacy- the rumors he was born in Kenya. The claims that he's a secret Muslim- and at the same time some sort of radical disciple of Reverend Jeremiah Wright.  Pictures of him with his feet on the desk in the Oval Office with captions proclaiming his arrogance for putting his feet on "our desk" (after Bush had done the same thing).  Did race play a role in his election to the White House? Yeah.  Race, in spite of what some people would like to believe, plays far too big a role in most of lives everyday, including many of the attacks on the President today.  Too bad Samuel L. Jackson saw fit to throw fuel on the fire.