Chew on this,
Took me a little while to figure this out, but there are two debates going on in two different places, but they are being confused the same health care debate.
Obama’s town hall meetings and other media channels (except Fox- don’t get me started on their so-called “fact check” show last Sunday) are having a debate over health care. There’s another group of honest, Americans (with honest concerns stoked by fear-mongers and misinformation) who are having a different debate at the town all meetings of senators and representatives: the state of their place in “their” country.
When I heard phrases repeated like “I want my country back,” that’ we should follow the constitution and “take our country back.” And the other quotes that talk about defending our country at gunpoint, I couldn’t figure out what this had to do with health care. Not to mention the irony of people who are communicating that they might kill in order to stop others from staying healthy. Like I said, it’s not about health care.
Change is happening. What many of these people fear is their place in it. And in this case, I’m particularly talking about whites. More specifically, poorer, more rural whites. They were part of the Democratic Party that were reluctant, if not hostile, to voting for Obama in the Primaries. They are a strong block of the Republican Party strong holds in the south and more rural parts of even democratic leaning states.
Though they don’t live the life of those wealthier districts, they generally felt they had a bead on things and a life they could live with. But with business and other institutions failing, loans hard to get, the demographics of the country changing rapidly in months, for these people, “change” has already come. And they don’t like it. And now there’s a man who doesn’t look like other Presidents – and he’s talking about more change? Good or not. They are scared shitless. And that’s what you are honestly seeing at these local town halls.
All these changes have broken the unspoken covenant many of these rural whites felt they had with government. A covenant that helped them feel that they knew where they stood with government. They get to have a house and keep it. If I work hard, I get to keep my job. And now I see people who messed up the economy get rewarded…and the government’s giving the money or talking business away from people. What about me? I see black people and other minorities assuming more power. And they are going to hire their friends and more people like them. What about me? And for some, this is where racism comes in.
The phenomenon is actually a version of Richard Pryor’s joke: “It’s an epidemic. That means white people have it, too.” I think there’s been this unspoken covenant, that has allowed rural whites to live in conditions that didn’t uplift them to the level of richer whites because they could console themselves with the feeling that “at least we’re better off or better taken care of than other ethnic groups.” We have a place and our place is better than others. There is a very thought provoking article about this notion from The root.com. Read it here.
I’m arguing that it’s the real reason behind some of the animosity behind Barack “Hussein” Obama and judge “wise Latina” Sotormayor. Anyway, they see all the changes happening and the rise of more minorities representing people who won’t be looking out after the needs of white people and will break that covenant – if they haven’t already. In their minds Obama will elect Shaft, Huey Newton, Al Sharpton to every key political office and Sotomayor will rule to open up the border, letting all the Hispanics in so the take offer and reduction of white people to 2nd class status will be complete.
Conservatives, much more than Democrats hear the fear of these groups. Instead of belaying them, they play to them. Limbaugh, Fox has down a lot. But the person who is leading this charge is Glenn Beck. Beck fosters the idea that people are taking “your” country away. The president is a racist he says. Message: he doesn’t care about white people. Watch out. Beck says health care is about “reparations.” That’s code for blacks are coming to take stuff from you. This is about blacks wanting revenge from white people.
With this kind of fear and rhetoric being riled up. So are gun sales. And actions to “take back our country.” We should be having a debate on health care. And though it’s fair to pass off the town hall people as not a valid part of the health care debate. Their anger is a bomb that needs to be defused. Listen to their concerns. Let them shoot off their mouths before they shoot off their guns.
