“We Cannot Colorize” Obama’s Opposition

According to Patrick Lozes, president of CRAN, the hostility of anti-Obama discourse is more due to his politics than to the color of his skin.

Have you noticed an increase in racism in the United States since the election of the first black president to lead the country?

Careful, we’re talking about the United States here. This is a specific situation, which is not the same as in France. Obama was not elected by chance. The United States is not a racist country. There are a tremendous amount of elected blacks in the United States who are CEOs and heads of administrative councils, who are judges and political leaders.

The government program for the promotion of minorities – Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), created in 1969 by Nixon, a Republican, and which gives aid to businesses headed by minorities, is very important and also very efficient. Before the creation of the MBDA, there were only a few thousand businesses of this type in the United States. Now there are more than four million. The business of visible minorities is very strongly on the rise. In France we struggle to elect a black representative every five years. I am more concerned about the situation in France than in the United States.

Has the radicalization of discourse from some political opponents for the past year been echoed in the population?

The United States is making its way through a crisis without precedent. The Obama administration, attempting to lead the country out of crisis, is bringing about a return to government involvement in the economy. It is normal that this would cause public discord. The debate over health insurance reform is dividing the country, and opponents to the American president’s policies are taking advantage of this.

Because of this, the anti-Obama campaign is very hostile. It should not be forgotten that Republicans are supported by private insurance lobbies who do not want the system Obama wants to implement. The result is that a minority of very violent ultra-conservatives are finding resonance in the population. They are caricaturing Obama in a cynical way, as a communist and they accuse him of infringing on individual liberties, which is very serious in the United States. Some of these people are racists. For those, Obama is the devil, a cannibal, the anti-Christ. We have seen a good number caricatures on this theme; for example, Obama as an African witch doctor carrying a hammer and sickle.

This exists, it’s undeniable. But one should not exaggerate this. They are a minority, relayed through the ultra-conservative media, like Fox.

These groups aren’t dangerous? Not any more so than before. This minority has always existed. Again, the United States is not a racist country. On the other hand, the branch I was just describing is no doubt more violent than before, but this increase is more due to the country’s situation than the color of the president’s skin.

However, the anti-Obama campaign has become more hostile. Since the beginning of the Obama campaign, Republicans have played a very populist chord. They encouraged this during the campaign by letting things be said without condemning them and without excusing themselves immediately. It is not surprising that some people dig this up when opinion declines.

But this discourse does not resonate greatly among the public. Americans are always just as surprised by what they successfully accomplish. We are not in the ’60s. Some opponents of the president of the United States have changed, and when we see an elected Republican heckle Obama in the middle of a speech by calling him a “liar” or members of Congress reading their journals when they want to express themselves publicly, it is rare, but we can see racism in these incidents. Overall, political arguments prevail. One should not be tempted to read by color every time Obama has difficulties.