Obama Bucks

On a recent afternoon I was subbing in for an older friend for some tennis doubles. It was Super Tuesday, and the talk turned to politics. Then one of the guys, who looked like a reasonable sort, came out with this.

“When Obama got elected, all the blacks were lining up for their Obama bucks. And boy, they got them, you know? Did they ever?!”

That’s pretty much verbatim. In 2016. In Woburn.

Now I didn’t have much in common politically with these guys, I knew that going in. If I had any remaining doubts, they were dispelled by the red “Make America Great Again” ball cap sported by the octogenarian captain of the court. But that much overt racism, spouted by a guy who seemed literate and otherwise reasonable, and whose behavior on the court was OK—that was a shock.

I’ve been hearing people on the radio, Trump supporters, say things like “I don’t agree with some of the things he says, but…” They find him genuine, he promises them good stuff, yada yada. I don’t buy it. I think the biggest reason people like him is for the vicious racism, the nasty scapegoating he indulges in. Finally, someone will legitimize their ugliest thoughts and prejudices. Whoopie! And it comes as no surprise that there are registered Democrats in our state who changed their enrollment to Independent so they could cast votes for the demagogue in the Republican primary.

I did challenge, in a nastier tone then maybe I could have, this racist turd the guy dropped. I can’t let that stuff go by. Andy I challenged Mr. Trump-cap later when he insisted that Obama had loaded his cabinet with Muslims. This was in response to his demeaning Republican leaders for meeting with Obama to discuss the nominating process, even though they continued to insist they would refuse to consider his nominee afterwards. I responded that Obama would most likely nominate a very moderate jurist, whereas the next president, if she is Democrat, would likely nominate someone more liberal. (I’m not sure I believe that. Bernie would have, but I’m afraid that dream is over now.)

Is it the Fox News effect? I think partly it is. But they didn’t invent racism and Jim Crow. Like the Nazis in Germany, these fascists will always be with us. I think it’s critical, though, that the rest of us confront them whenever they try to pop out of the shadow and peddle their slime. Let’s keep up the shaming, and try to make sure no demagogue can come along and legitimize this poison.

And when he wins the Republican nomination, as seems increasingly likely, we had better get our asses in gear to turn out the votes for Hilary, despite all her flaws. We don’t have to be excited about her to understand the urgent need to push back this looming shadow. We will have to try to harness as much of the youthful energy of Bernie’s campaign as we can. It sucks to have to build a campaign on a negative, but it’s critical. Get ready.