Is the GOP Really Playing the Race Card?

[russ_watters]

Tiger Woods, a sportsman, is not charged with having to fix the socio-political system.

Yeah, Gokul, he is. He's that big. Here's a 1997 article calling him the Jackie Robinson of golf: http://www.golf.com/golf/special/article/0,28136,1716690,00.html

Jackie Robinson was a real ambassador. He was a leader in changing the American cultural/political landscape. Tiger Woods was charged with the same responsibility - and by rejecting the charge, he actually pushed ahead two steps. Beyond race. No one talks about Tiger's race anymore because he convinced us race is irrelevant. Obama has that opportunity, and he's not taking it. He's taking us back to the '60s, not forward to the 21st century.

He can play his golf and not have a thing to do with the issue of race.

You must not have watched much of his early career. It was a very big deal.

Obama is a statesman and is charged with this responsibility.

But it is up to him to decide how to deal with it. In my opinion, the best way to deal with the problem is to be above it - beyond it. You should talk to a preschool teacher in an ethnicly diverse area. It's pretty amazing how the concept of race has no meaning whatsoever to those kids. Racism is something that is taught and you can't defeat it by labeling and separating people. The attitudes of the liberal side do not help get rid of it, they only stir the pot.

And you don't fix a problem by ignoring it.

Do you fix the problem by exploiting it?

 

[Gokul43201]

Yeah, Gokul, he is. He's that big. Here's a 1997 article calling him the Jackie Robinson of golf: http://www.golf.com/golf/special/article/0,28136,1716690,00.html You must not have watched much of his early career. It was a very big deal.

I did watch much of his early career and remember all the commentary about his race including those that said he wasn't "really a brother". But Woods can not pass legislation to help devastated communities. And his success is not even indirectly linked to whether or not people are racist. When you are a politician that is elected on the basis of people's opinions of things like your race, your success in your career is directly tied to your racial identity. There's a difference between being a sportsman and being an elected representative of the people.

Do you fix the problem by exploiting it?

No, you don't. But then, I don't think he can fix the problem until he becomes President (if that happens). Can you explain the nature of exploitation that Obama has practiced?

 

[B. Elliott]

Tiger Woods was charged with the same responsibility - and by rejecting the charge, he actually pushed ahead two steps. Beyond race. No one talks about Tiger's race anymore because he convinced us race is irrelevant. Obama has that opportunity, and he's not taking it. He's taking us back to the '60s, not forward to the 21st century. You must not have watched much of his early career. It was a very big deal. But it is up to him to decide how to deal with it. In my opinion, the best way to deal with the problem is to be above it - beyond it. You should talk to a preschool teacher in an ethnicly diverse area. It's pretty amazing how the concept of race has no meaning whatsoever to those kids. Racism is something that is taught and you can't defeat it by labeling and separating people. The attitudes of the liberal side do not help get rid of it, they only stir the pot. Do you fix the problem by exploiting it?

Very well said.