Dearest neighbor,Please don't take this the wrong way, and don't react as if it is a public intervention, but a common friend has recommended that I reach out to you about a problem that you may be having but may not be aware of: Have you ever considered whether your ostentatious support for Senator Barack Obama is really a disguise that hides a deeply anchored form of racism towards Black-Americans?
Racism comes in many forms, and there is a significant possibility that your sponsorship of Senator Obama is really an obsessive compulsion to prove to yourself, and to others, that you are not a racist. Have you looked within yourself and examined your motives?
Much more after the jump (oh yeah, it gets better):
Sure, we can turn it all into a joke, like some have: an Obama lawn-sign is the yuppy status-symbol du jour; a hip and shiny accessory, this season's iPhone. "But dear, every Volvo in the Whole Foods parking lot has an Obama sticker on it!"-that's yet another parody of White property-owning affluence as described by stuffwhitepeoplelike.comHave you really considered why you are so fixated by Senator Obama? How important was the pigmentation of Obama's skin in spurring your interest? Do you really believe that he, or anyone else for that matter, is more qualified to run for the presidency than Senator Hillary Clinton? C'mon, let's be honest with ourselves; that's the first step in the healing process.
Isn't making a big deal out of Obama's skin color just another form of racism?
Unfortunately, Senator Obama and his team have approached this question in a very cynical way. Can anyone really brand former President Bill Clinton a racist? After all he had done for Black people? Well, the Obama campaign did. Can anyone accuse the Rev. Jesse Jackson of being a racist against Blacks? The Obama campaign almost did.
You should be absolutely certain that you are not being carried over to the voting booth upon a guilt trip. You should take this opportunity to look deeply within yourself and ask, "Why did I fall for Obama? Why am I, after all that we have accomplished on racial issues, still feeling guilty? Am I an unconscious racist? Am I any better than those who pretend not to stare at an inter-racial couple?"
I'm sorry to tell you that voting for Obama does not absolve you of racism, it may even confirm it. You may be besotted by Obama because he's the least-black, half-Black politician out there. Did you catch yourself thinking that Obama is remarkably "clean" and "articulate," as Senator Joe Biden condescendingly said?
I beg you to visit www.instituteforhealingracism.org, and allow the healing process to begin. Cleanse your soul of the last vestiges of racism, and come over to a better world of hope, understanding and self-awareness.
Sincerely and respectfully,
A Clarendon neighbor
If you do visit the website listed above, you'll find that they've denied having anything to do with this piece of crap. This may be the most pathetic attempt at voter suppression I've ever seen.
For one thing, how stupid is it to give this to people that have signs in their yard? These are, by and large, the most hardcore of Obama's supporters who would be the most offended by this.
And of course there's the blatant attempt to peel away Hillary Clinton supporters, which the right-wing has been aggressively pursuing for months.
This also made it into the comments section of a Pennsylvania political blog, Pennsylvania Ave., with the Clarendon reference taken out.
It's sad that some people don't understand humor, I've shown SWPL to people before and been called a racist against white people for propagating stereotypes. This "dear neighbor" letter is much worse, however.
If we are angry at eight years of disgraceful governance, then they say we have "BDR" (Bush derangement syndrome" and "should see a therapist. It's (the past 8 years) "our fault," or "Barack's fault," ya know. For them, it's not enough to attack our candidate unfairly). And so they denigrate us. They impugn our mental health, our patriotism, our character, our intelligence. This is not just a tactic, but a pervasive strategy. Turn everything into a character assassination against us. It's designed to silence opposition.
They have pitched the so-called Southern Strategy, in all its forms, most of my adult life, a not-really disguised attempt at racial divides. Every time they trot out the "not like us" stuff, it's a slur. And we know what they mean. (BTW who actually believes that McCain is "like them" anyway? (And who would want to be?) It's just bizarre. But what kind of a criterion is that? the average person on the street couldn't handle the presidency. So why would they want to clone "themselves"? But they'll take possibly the best candidate in a century and use that kind of innuendo to try to defeat him, it shows how shall they really are.
When Palin lords small-town pseudo-superiority over us (which not all small town residents buy into, btw), it is as if she and they honestly think that it is not obvious what they mean. We know that it means she is very small. Her universe encapsulated parochial smallness. It is just so ironic they they try to preach to us about racism.
But the real irony is: People like that letter writer are as bad as the Klan. They only think they are better.
PS this letter has the smell of Karl Rove, or perhaps his proteges.