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PUBLISHER'S ANALYSIS: America Still Isn't Ready for a Black President
- By Roy Douglas Malonson
- Published 08/16/2009
- Editorial and Opinion
- Unrated
Roy Douglas Malonson
Roy D. Malonson is publisher of the African-American News&Issues.
View all articles by Roy Douglas Malonson
On a segment on MSNBC which aired Friday, Aug. 7, Monica Novotny issued a warning about the ever-increasing protests at health care town hall meetings across the country: “The town hall confrontations are turning violent ... Where is all of this heading? New fears for the safety of America’s first African-American president.”
Later, David Shuster asked Virginia Democratic Congressman Jim Moran, “We know that threats to President Obama are up by like something 400% compared to the Bush administration. Is this putting our president in some sort of danger because of some wacko that will see this stuff and say, ‘oh, yes, it’s fascism and the way we dealt with Adolf Hitler was to try to kill him, so therefore, let’s do this with our president.’”
Moran answered, “Well, you know, it only took – takes one person. It took one person to shoot Ronald Reagan, Jack Kennedy, and so on. But I think the Secret Service can be trusted to protect the President. But it does discredit those people who are using such extreme measures to achieve an objective which is really corporate profit.”
It only takes one person, but apparently this is lost on New Hampshire authorities. A few days after the MSNBC report, William Kostnic, in the great American cowboy tradition, stood on a the grounds of a church with a 9mm pistol on his side, with a sign referring to the blood of patriots as he waited for President Obama to make an appearance at a Portsmouth town hall meeting.
Of course nothing happened to Kostnic because it is legal to carry an unconcealed weapon in New Hampshire. I won’t say the police acted stupidly, but if there were 10 or 100 Obama-haters standing around the building, all with guns, what is the possibility of at least one being far enough off of his or her rocker to go down in history as the one who killed the first Black president in America? By the same token, legal or not, how many Black men do you think would be allowed to carry a gun in the presence of a president?
Lest you think threats on Obama’s life are new, and have only to do with his plan to rehaul the country’s healthcare plan, remember that he changed the rules for presidential candidates by being allowed protection by the Secret Service— before the primaries—an unprecedented move ever made by the Chief of Homeland Security in the agency’s 144-year history. This came about because of the number of threats on his life way back then. Ironically, the Secret Service was authorized by President Abraham Lincoln on the very day he was assassinated, becoming the first president to claim that dubious distinction.
Lincoln was killed by White people and the overwhelming threats on Obama’s life are by, you guessed it, White people. Just like he was threatened because they thought he might get the nomination, he is now being threatened because they think he might change the status quo.
I’m really not a betting man, and I don’t pursue conspiracy theories, but I’m certain that some disgruntled people are sitting in seedy, smoke-filled back rooms as I write this, trying to hatch a real plan to off Obama.
In 2007, University of California San Diego political scientist Zoltan Hajnal in answering the question, “Is American Ready for a Black President,” said nationwide, 94 percent of voters say they would vote for a qualified Black candidate. However, only 54 percent of White Americans say White voters will support a Black candidate, regardless of their qualifications.
Not to belittle the President’s accomplishments, but I can’t help but think about Jackie Robinson who broke the color line in Major League Baseball. Robinson who endured racial slurs and threats, never wanted to be remembered as a great Black baseball player, but simply as a great baseball player. He didn’t want his hall of fame plaque to make mention of race.
I think given the chance, Obama, although proud of his heritage, would probably want to play down race and let his legacy speak for itself. If only America will let him.
Later, David Shuster asked Virginia Democratic Congressman Jim Moran, “We know that threats to President Obama are up by like something 400% compared to the Bush administration. Is this putting our president in some sort of danger because of some wacko that will see this stuff and say, ‘oh, yes, it’s fascism and the way we dealt with Adolf Hitler was to try to kill him, so therefore, let’s do this with our president.’”
Moran answered, “Well, you know, it only took – takes one person. It took one person to shoot Ronald Reagan, Jack Kennedy, and so on. But I think the Secret Service can be trusted to protect the President. But it does discredit those people who are using such extreme measures to achieve an objective which is really corporate profit.”
It only takes one person, but apparently this is lost on New Hampshire authorities. A few days after the MSNBC report, William Kostnic, in the great American cowboy tradition, stood on a the grounds of a church with a 9mm pistol on his side, with a sign referring to the blood of patriots as he waited for President Obama to make an appearance at a Portsmouth town hall meeting.
Of course nothing happened to Kostnic because it is legal to carry an unconcealed weapon in New Hampshire. I won’t say the police acted stupidly, but if there were 10 or 100 Obama-haters standing around the building, all with guns, what is the possibility of at least one being far enough off of his or her rocker to go down in history as the one who killed the first Black president in America? By the same token, legal or not, how many Black men do you think would be allowed to carry a gun in the presence of a president?
Lest you think threats on Obama’s life are new, and have only to do with his plan to rehaul the country’s healthcare plan, remember that he changed the rules for presidential candidates by being allowed protection by the Secret Service— before the primaries—an unprecedented move ever made by the Chief of Homeland Security in the agency’s 144-year history. This came about because of the number of threats on his life way back then. Ironically, the Secret Service was authorized by President Abraham Lincoln on the very day he was assassinated, becoming the first president to claim that dubious distinction.
Lincoln was killed by White people and the overwhelming threats on Obama’s life are by, you guessed it, White people. Just like he was threatened because they thought he might get the nomination, he is now being threatened because they think he might change the status quo.
I’m really not a betting man, and I don’t pursue conspiracy theories, but I’m certain that some disgruntled people are sitting in seedy, smoke-filled back rooms as I write this, trying to hatch a real plan to off Obama.
In 2007, University of California San Diego political scientist Zoltan Hajnal in answering the question, “Is American Ready for a Black President,” said nationwide, 94 percent of voters say they would vote for a qualified Black candidate. However, only 54 percent of White Americans say White voters will support a Black candidate, regardless of their qualifications.
Not to belittle the President’s accomplishments, but I can’t help but think about Jackie Robinson who broke the color line in Major League Baseball. Robinson who endured racial slurs and threats, never wanted to be remembered as a great Black baseball player, but simply as a great baseball player. He didn’t want his hall of fame plaque to make mention of race.
I think given the chance, Obama, although proud of his heritage, would probably want to play down race and let his legacy speak for itself. If only America will let him.