How Far Has Obama's Election Set Back Race Relations?

I've been thinking of writing this for a while, but something set me off today that caused me to put pen to keyboard.  This morning I heard a self proclaimed black woman in her '50s, a grandmother, on a radio talk show espousing to the white conservative host how she KNOWS for a fact that she is victimized by racism each and every day (Of course, she couldn't or wouldn't provide any specific examples.)  This lady didn't sound like some wild eyed Black Panther, or some race baiting kook like Sharpton.  She sounded like she was the type of person you could sit down and have a meal with and become friends with very easily - if she didn't start laying out her thoughts on race.

The election of Obama was supposed to heal race relations in this country, wasn't it?  Wasn't that, in fact, part of his election strategy - that he was the Great Uniter, the one who would bring all people of all races together in one big happy Socialist Commune?

I submit that race relations in this country are worse right now than they have been since the mid-60s.  It is not because America rejected the notion of a Black President.  It is not because everyone who opposes Obama's policies are racist.  It is because the Civil Rights Movement long ago stopped being a movement and became a way of life.  Many people of all races on the left, and many people in the black community have latched onto the Civil Rights Movement and do whatever they must to perpetuate it - for that movement provides their wealth, power, and ego satisfaction.  Any movement by America towards racial healing is a direct threat to those people and their way of life.

Obama has directly contributed to this.  You hear him in flowery speeches deriding racism, and putting forth the notion that we need racial healing.  He then turns around and makes other statements that directly inflame racial hatred.  "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon'.  The President of the United States said that before the facts about that kid's death were known, whipping up black hatred.  He could have called for calm and reason ... instead he threw gasoline onto the fire, as he has done on multiple other occasions.  When have you EVER heard him call for calm and reason in relation to an issue based on race?

The first black President could have done what he said he would during his campaign.  Race relations in this country could have been (and should have been) at the finest point in the history of our country.  In spite of his policies, his leadership on race could have moved us forward - to the point where having a black President would be no big deal.  He could have broken down that door and taken race out of the equation.  Instead, he has used his stature and captive audience to return us to a state where black vs. white dominates the news.

The tired old fallback of left wingers is that anyone who disagrees with Obama does so simply because he's black.  That makes them racists.  While I admit there are a few white people in the country who don't like him because he is black, and they ARE racists, the number of those idiots is small - much smaller than it would have been years ago.  What those same left wingers completely ignore is all the people who voted for Obama because he is black.  Vote for someone because of his skin color, vote against that same person because of his skin color - equally racist, isn't it?

In the eyes of many black folk, and many left wing white folk, I am a racist because I am a white conservative.  Because I am a registered Republican, I must be a racist.  I am guilty of racism each and every day in these folks minds, simply because of the color of my skin and my politics.  They don't know me, they don't know a thing about what I think.  Yet, there it is.  You don't even have to hear it from a black person directly.  Left wing media outlets, like CNN and MSNBC force feed that belief every single day.  Why?  Because it benefits the left politically.  Whip up minority hatred towards Republicans and you secure votes.  Doesn't matter if it is true or not. 

To the black person who thinks I am a racist because I am white and conservative - you are a closed minded bigot who is much more guilty of racism then I ever have been.

To the left wing a*hole who portrays me as a racist for those same reasons - you are a racist and a liar, someone who treats the black person as a simpleminded tool to be manipulated and used for your own political advantage. 

I hate Obama because of his policies, not the color of his skin.  His skin could be purple or green - it doesn't matter.  What does matter is what he is doing to our country.  I would have been perfectly happy with Condi Rice, or even Colin Powell as the first black President.  I am a big fan of Dr. Ben Carson.  (Of course, since they aren't left wingers, they aren't 'authentically black' for the race baiters.)  I could even have stomached Obama a little better if he had helped racial relations in this country, in spite of his policies, instead of capitalizing on his position to feed the fires.

How far has He set us back?  Decades?  Who knows.  One thing is certain - He is very happy with the success of his efforts.