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Racism?

Here’s a letter that I sent on Wednesday to the Washington Post:

Speaking about Rep. Joe Wilson screaming “You lie” at Pres. Obama, Jimmy Carter said “I think it’s based on racism” (“Carter Blames Racism for Clamor Over Obama,” Sept. 16).  And your own Howard Kurtz detects racism in protesters’ opposition to Mr. Obama’s health-care plan (“A Black-and-White Question,” Sept. 15).

These accusations of racism – so easy and self-congratulatory to hurl – are becoming tiresome.  What sort of bigotry sparked Americans’ hostility to Hillarycare in 1994 – anti-Arkansasianism?  What prejudice blindly led Paul Krugman to oppose Pres. Bush’s plan to privatize Social Security – hatred of Texans?  Perhaps intolerance of peanut farmers is what prompts so many Americans to regard Mr. Carter’s presidency as being especially woeful.

Different people are differently motivated, but the only soul into which I can see is my own.  I assure you that my opposition to Mr. Obama’s policies has nothing to do with the color of his skin and everything to do with the content of the centralizing, market-suffocating designs he seems to have on the economy.

Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux

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