Racism simmers below surface on health care - It's no surprise that only black lawmakers were spit at

Racism simmers below surface on health care - It's no surprise that only black lawmakers were spit at
BY MARY MITCHELL
Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times
March 23, 2010
http://www.suntimes.com/news/mitchell/2117338,CST-NWS-mitch23.article


During the showdown over healthcare reform, some of the members of the Tea Party took off their masks.
Many African Americans had already suspected some of these people are more opposed to the skin color of the man in the White House than they were to the president's political ideology.

So blacks were not surprised that the health-care debate went from fear-mongering to blatant obstinacy.

But this is 2010.

We have a black first family.

It was frightening to see the racist behavior -- which we thought was buried -- resurrected during this contentious battle.

Before the critical vote, House Democrats were heckled, cursed and spit on by people who were opposed to the legislation that will reform the country's health system.

Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a civil rights icon, was called the "n" word. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), an openly gay congressman, was called the "f" word. And Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) was spit on and called the "n" word.

A white male was detained by a Capitol police officer for allegedly spitting.

After escorting Cleaver into the Capitol building, the officer went back and escorted the spitter to Capitol Police Headquarters.

"The congressman was asked to come in and identify the person which spat, but he did not choose to do so and did not want to press charges," said Danny Rotert, a spokesman for Cleaver.

Cleaver, who was the first black mayor of Kansas City, issued a statement pointing out that the three men who were abused have "struggled in the cause of equality."

"This is not the first time the congressman has been spat on because he worked in the SCLC [Southern Christian Leadership Conference], and has a history of being out front," Rotert said.

"He didn't want to draw attention to the whole thing. We did not want to make a big deal about it. The bigger issue that day was the health-care debate," he said.

Sorry, this is a big deal.

There are just far too many guns in the hands of far too many wackos to let this protester get away with such a public display of racial hatred.

A dangerous environment
When the man yelled a racial slur and spit on Cleaver, he crossed a line that was drawn in blood and tears.

To chant slurs at a gay person is another aggressive act of hate.

Interestingly enough, so far there haven't been any reports of angry Tea Party protesters shouting the "c" word at female lawmakers.

Nor have there been reports about these upset folks spitting on white male legislators who supported the health-care bill.

Given our history, this breakdown of civility creates a dangerous environment for the president and his family.

But most of us don't want to think about that.

It is as if by downplaying the overt racism, the bigotry will go away.

When asked about the incidents on "Meet The Press" on Sunday, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele characterized the people who engaged in this racist behavior as "idiots out there saying stupid things."

Yet, he knows there is a huge difference between stupid and racist.

Worse yet, "The Intelligence Report" that is published by the Southern Poverty Law Center reports that there are almost 1,000 active hate groups in the U.S.

Too many extremists, too many plots
In a recent article titled "Rage on the Right: The year in Hate and Extremism," Chip Berlet, an analyst of the American radical right, concluded:

"We see around us a series of overlapping social and political movements populated by people [who are] angry, resentful and full of anxiety. They are raging at the machinery of federal bureaucracy and liberal government including health care, reform of immigration and labor laws, abortion, and gay marriage."

These angry Americans have the right to protest.

But since the election of the nation's first black president, there's been too many extremists involved in too many alleged plots and actual shootings.

It is foolish for anyone, including the congressmen, to act as though extremists (and anyone who spits on an elected official is an extremist) are not a real threat to the president's safety.

Letting these radicals off the hook is letting them go much too far.