[DK GreenRoots] CI: The Criminalizing President Obama
Criminalizing President Obama
by Kay Whitlock
by Kay Whitlock
This year, opponents and harsh critics of President Obama, especially from the right, but also, regrettably, from some within libertarian and liberal/progressive/left ranks, will rely significantly on criminalizing narratives that tap deeply into this country's well of racist criminal archetypes. Beyond the presidential contest, these narratives will also be deployed to further polarize – and paralyze – other races for national and state office, voter initiatives, and more, not only by associating liberals, progressives, and leftists with criminal action and intent, but triggering waves of both conscious and unconscious racism.
Here, we briefly review the various kinds of anti-Obama criminalizing narratives that have been circulating for some time, anticipate their expansion and deepening, and analyze their meaning. All build on historical racist narratives; all of them embody snarling accusations of racial insubordination.
Among them:
President Obama as a welfare queen/thief/lazy black person
President Obama as a rapist/thug/violator of men, women, children, and the entire nation
President Obama as a deceptive, dishonest, secretive, untrustworthy "sleeper cell"
Kenyan/Muslim, bent on the destruction of this country.
Kenyan/Muslim, bent on the destruction of this country.
And we say clearly that it is critical for all of us to not only challenge these narratives and the larger Story they seek to tell, but also to understand why it is essential to the future of progressive politics to undermine all criminalizing narratives. In the run-up to the 2012 elections, CI will be alerting you to and commenting on varieties of criminalizing narratives being used to strategic purpose nationally and in the states.
Kay Whitlock is a co-author (with Joey L. Mogul and Andrea J. Ritchie) of Queer (In)Justice: The Criminalization of LGBT People in the United States and writes frequently about the systemic violence and injustice in public institutions.
Thanks -- hope you join the discussion! btw CMP is testing livefyre -- a new comment platform so those of you frustrated with Disqus may find it more user friendly..
nancy
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