So I've tried as much as possible not to blog about some of the more extreme stuff that is going on this election cycle. I think the three or four many readers of this blog can probably tell how committed I am to shedding light on how deeply race infects everything American, even stuff that people who don't believe they are "racist" like and support enthusiastically.
That said, specific posts about people trying to assassinate Obama, the endless racist paraphernalia, or the latest racist FOX News rant just don't, as incidents, interest me that much.
Why, you ask?
Because it's obvious. What interests me more is shedding a light on the darker corners of how race operates, by talking about White liberal racism and Black folks' own internalized racism, for instance. These things are far more prevalent, and far more insidious.
In keeping with this tradition, I will leave it to my favorite blogger, Ta-Nehisi Coates, to explain, in that beautiful way he always does when he addresses race head-on, just why the recent uptick in overtly racist behavior surrounding the McCain-Palin campaign is instructive:
The Muslim charge, the "Hussein" thing is nothing more than today's red-baiting, and it is what it was then–a cover for racists. You may say I'm overreacting, and I really hope you're right. 999,000 out [of] 1 million times we'll go on like normal and proceed to Election Day. But if some shit pops off, the thug and thug-mongers will not be able to throw up their hands and say "How could I have known?" Ignorance will not save them. Their stupidity is a scourge on us all.
Indeed.
UPDATE (12:12pm): Barack, classy muthafucka that he is, addresses this issue and Ayers on ABC News. Check out the video.
