The history of hatred for black people in this country is a long and tortured one. The very introduction of slavery is held by some historians to have occurred not because the colonists needed cheap labor, but because they needed people to sneer at.*
No matter. The first couple hundred years of racial hatred went relatively smoothly. Since you could own blacks, you could hate them if you wanted to. Who was going to stop you? If your neighbor objected, you could start hating his blacks, too. If the objects of your malice complained, you could whip them.
The first problems occurred when some white people up North decided that, while they certainly didn't like black people, they didn't deserve to be slaves. This resulted in a huge internal conflagration known as the Civil War. After the war the slaves were freed.
That increased their problem of being hated. Since they were no longer property, they didn't have to be whipped anymore, although that was still an option. Now they could be lynched without causing anybody a financial setback. Some blacks moved up North to escape this, but the white people up there decided they hated them, too. The whites agreed not to fight in the Army or play baseball with blacks.
Somebody noticed that blacks played baseball pretty well, though, and started putting them on their teams. Some white people started liking these black people. Other white people hated that.
Then came integration, interracial marriage and affirmative action. Suddenly you didn't hate black people anymore. You just hated integration, interracial marriage and affirmative action. White people who were getting uncomfortable with the idea of hating black people just because they were black were immensely relieved.
Black people cooperated by inventing rap music, bling, gigantic bass speakers for autos, elaborately choreographed touchdown celebrations and Favor Flave, things that white people could violently detest, without actually admitting black people were what they really hated.
Some white people still hated black people just out of pure racial animosity, of course. Now they had to look around before they could tell their jokes, though. Now they had to pretend that they hated a black guy just because he lost the Super Bowl or happened to be their son-in-law. There always had to be that 'because," and I'm sure it grated on their nerves.
Then came Obama.
You can always hate the President. It's one of the unwritten Amendments to the Constitution, like the one that says all Americans have the right to see only attractive people in TV commercials. Washington was the first President and, because the job was new, nobody knew that at least half or more of the nation was supposed to be appalled that he was in office. The next two Presidents, Adams and Jefferson, started the tradition by hating each other. Lincoln, usually held to be the greatest of Presidents, was far and away the most reviled, although admittedly George Bush II was a contender.
So when you say "I hate Obama," you don't have to say "because."
This is obviously cathartic for many Americans. You can't hang just any black man in effigy, because that brings back bad memories and your neighbors would look askance. But you can hang Obama in effigy. Thanks to Clint Eastwood, you can even hang an empty chair in effigy, and everybody knows you really mean a black guy.
It's just like the good old days.
*Not many historians, though.
No matter. The first couple hundred years of racial hatred went relatively smoothly. Since you could own blacks, you could hate them if you wanted to. Who was going to stop you? If your neighbor objected, you could start hating his blacks, too. If the objects of your malice complained, you could whip them.
The first problems occurred when some white people up North decided that, while they certainly didn't like black people, they didn't deserve to be slaves. This resulted in a huge internal conflagration known as the Civil War. After the war the slaves were freed.
That increased their problem of being hated. Since they were no longer property, they didn't have to be whipped anymore, although that was still an option. Now they could be lynched without causing anybody a financial setback. Some blacks moved up North to escape this, but the white people up there decided they hated them, too. The whites agreed not to fight in the Army or play baseball with blacks.
Somebody noticed that blacks played baseball pretty well, though, and started putting them on their teams. Some white people started liking these black people. Other white people hated that.
Then came integration, interracial marriage and affirmative action. Suddenly you didn't hate black people anymore. You just hated integration, interracial marriage and affirmative action. White people who were getting uncomfortable with the idea of hating black people just because they were black were immensely relieved.
Black people cooperated by inventing rap music, bling, gigantic bass speakers for autos, elaborately choreographed touchdown celebrations and Favor Flave, things that white people could violently detest, without actually admitting black people were what they really hated.
Some white people still hated black people just out of pure racial animosity, of course. Now they had to look around before they could tell their jokes, though. Now they had to pretend that they hated a black guy just because he lost the Super Bowl or happened to be their son-in-law. There always had to be that 'because," and I'm sure it grated on their nerves.
Then came Obama.
You can always hate the President. It's one of the unwritten Amendments to the Constitution, like the one that says all Americans have the right to see only attractive people in TV commercials. Washington was the first President and, because the job was new, nobody knew that at least half or more of the nation was supposed to be appalled that he was in office. The next two Presidents, Adams and Jefferson, started the tradition by hating each other. Lincoln, usually held to be the greatest of Presidents, was far and away the most reviled, although admittedly George Bush II was a contender.
So when you say "I hate Obama," you don't have to say "because."
This is obviously cathartic for many Americans. You can't hang just any black man in effigy, because that brings back bad memories and your neighbors would look askance. But you can hang Obama in effigy. Thanks to Clint Eastwood, you can even hang an empty chair in effigy, and everybody knows you really mean a black guy.
It's just like the good old days.
*Not many historians, though.
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