Controversy over healthcare bill was anticipated
We are barely into Barack Obama’s term as the president and he’s finally passed a controversial bill. I live in the one of the most rural towns in Utah and you can overhear, what can only be described as, hate speech. Could this possibly be just that they are anti-democrat and not because they have any racist thoughts?
This archived article was written by: Cassidy Scovill
We are barely into Barack Obama’s term as the president and he’s finally passed a controversial bill. I live in the one of the most rural towns in Utah and you can overhear, what can only be described as, hate speech. Could this possibly be just that they are anti-democrat and not because they have any racist thoughts?
I’ve already written about the Tea Baggers and their extreme conservatism and some of their racist banners and posters. Is racism something that happens solely in the Republican Party? Probably not, but no one can deny that the majority of racism is found in the Republican Party.
Carbon County is one of the more liberal counties in the state of Utah, so some of these racist comments against the president might occur, but never openly. In small rural communities racism seems to be its strongest and most active.
What is it that causes small towns to be so backward in their views to continue their racist ways? Is it that tradition is stronger there, or that that is such a lack in diversity that the never really know they people their racist toward?
I work in a grocery store in Orangeville. From my days there I have heard racist comments, threats of death against the president and people who are deathly afraid our government is going to take away their guns. The amount of hatred they hold for this one man, who succeeded as the first black president, is disgusting. Most of them will talk about it under their breath, but some of them talk openly about hoping the president dies.
I rarely see anyone stand up to these people, and if you disagree (like I do), you shut your mouth and change the subject.
Sadly, this racism isn’t just solely amongst the rural communities and people. This racism extends across multiple facets of media, whether they mean it or not doesn’t matter. Take, for example, the political cartoon in the New York Post of two cops gunning down a rabid chimpanzee and one cop tells the other, “They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.” The cartoon was based off of the chimp that went rabid and attacked its owner.
The outrage against this cartoon was that many racist statements are comparisons of black people to monkeys. The Rev. Al Sharpton later wrote the New York Post in hopes of having them to apologize. They not only did not apologize but, defended the cartoon and called Sharpton an opportunist. They don’t even make an attempt to see that the cartoon does have racial undertones.
Racism is something we protect under free speech and does it really compare to profanity? Why should we protect something that is so disgusting and misguided as to hate someone based on something they have no control over?
I would never willingly sacrifice more of our first amendment rights way, but I do not think the first amendment should protect this hate. It has no value and simply shows our country in a negative light.
Only when we diversify further as a nation will we truly get rid of this horrible ignorance known as racism.
