Racists Let Loose After Obama's Reelection

Computer screens are the new white hoods as folks take to the web to trash the president

Other phrases in the coded racism dictionary include: Paul Ryan’s “urban areas” (black neighborhoods), Bill O’Reilly’s “traditional America” (an America where the will of white men is the only one that matters) and Mike Huckabee’s “Christians” (Conservative whites).

[READ MORE: Pro vs Con: A Post-Racial Society?]

So I’m not even a little bit surprised at the vitriol that we’ve seen both in the media and online following last week’s election. From the woman who tweeted: “And another 4 years of the n-----. Maybe he will get assassinated this term..!!” to Karl Rove, who refused to admit that the president had won reelection even after his beloved Fox News called it, things have clearly descended to new lows.

Glowing computer and smart phone screens are the new white hoods, providing a tantalizing feeling of safety that makes racists as bold as a shot of Jäger. Social networking has given some folks a platform that is simultaneously public enough to draw attention, and private enough to provide a sense of security that leads to tragically ignorant posts like those on the White People Mourning Romney Tumblr, which include greatest hits like this: “To my friends and family members in facebook. You won’t be seeing me on here for a while after this, as I try to wrap my head around the fact that, for the first time in my life, I’m no longer proud to be an American. I wake up this morning to find I’m living in a country that values image over substance, sloth over hard work, and socialism over capitalism. I find myself now contemplating the idea finding another country in which to live, and letting the scum-sucking leaches and parasites, which now outnumber people like me who still value Liberty, Freedom, and an honest day’s work, have this once-great country. Texas, if you’re contemplating secession, count me in!” [sic]

He’s not the only one who wants to flee the scene. Residents in more than 40 states have filed and signed petitions to secede from the union on the White House’s We The People site in the days since the election, including 86,000+ in Texas, and nearly 8,000 in all-important Ohio.

[ALSO READ: President May Respond to Secession Requests]

Twitter is especially rife with hate. Cool site FloatingSheep.org created a map that plots the states where the largest concentration of hate tweets originated, and found that Alabama (where Romney won 60.7 percent of the vote) and Mississippi (55.5 percent) had the greatest number in the nation.

The one good thing about this vomiting of hate is that the media has moved on from telling this false post-racial narrative of an America where minorities have ascended to a favored status and white men are persecuted for their skin color. And perhaps once the right stops going on cable news shows perpetrating that lie as the reason they lost this election, we can have real discussions about how our leaders can meet the needs of all Americans.

Or maybe not.

Are you surprised by the outpouring of racism during this election cycle? Tell us in the comments.

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