The tiresome topic

Then as now, Carter’s attempt to play Old Testament prophet fell flat.

The truth is that, more often than not, Carter’s social critique is on target, or close to it. Maybe it’s his timing that’s off, or his manner too passive; it’s hard to say.

Still, should we be surprised that some of the animosity against President Barack Obama and his policies has a racial component? We in the U.S. have seen remarkable progress in dealing with our history of racism, but the dragon remains alive, if normally asleep. What’s likely happening is that legitimate opposition to Obama’s policies gives vent to other, ignoble feelings.

We’re talking about human nature here, folks. Should any of us be so shocked when some of us — or we ourselves — behave like barbarians? Like Rep. Wilson’s (R-S.C.) wife, we all wondered, “Who’s the nut that hollered out” at the president? Well, Mrs. Wilson, it’s the nut that you’ve known for 43 years and with whom you’ve raised four Eagle Scouts.

None of us can peer into Joe Wilson’s heart and judge whether his uncivil outburst came from pent-up racism, but, from all that’s known of Rep. Wilson and his family, I strongly suspect not. The guy felt so deeply about Obama’s speech that he just lost it, pure and simple.

Regardless, many folks down here in South Carolina have been deeply shamed by Wilson’s behavior, and, even if he’s not willing to apologize to the House of Representatives, we’re still waiting for Wilson’s apology to us. His actions played into every stereotype that makes most white Southerners cringe: ignorance, hot-headedness, overweening pride, simmering racism.

Like it or not, white people in the South evidently still need to be kept in check by our past, much as modern Germans continue to have to avoid all appearance of anti-Semitism and hypermilitarism. This is not an argument for hypocrisy, but, rather, a sober acknowledgement that, by virtue of our history, we must choose to forfeit some of the freedom to speak or to act as we please.

Some of us had hoped that those days were over.