Opinion: A 'Post-Racial' Society? Not Even Close

(Feb. 16) -- A little more than two years ago, after Barack Obama won the Iowa caucuses and fared well in the New Hampshire primary, pundits were already declaring that a post-racial era had arrived in America. "The post-racial era, as embodied by Obama," said NPR commentator Daniel Schorr, "is the era where civil rights veterans of the past century are consigned to history and Americans begin to make race-free judgments on who should lead them."

Though it would be disingenuous to deny progress on race relations, it's hard to engage in a discussion about "post-racial" America without laughing.

Indeed, those who champion "post-racial" America the loudest tend to inadvertently prove its fallacy. Chris Matthews is the most recent example of this. When trying to say something profound about President Obama's historic State of the Union address, Matthews' comment that he "forgot he was black" displayed his own somewhat linear view of blacks, along with a reminder of how obsessed the media was with Obama's race throughout the campaign.

Of course, while Matthews meant no malice, there are still plenty out there who use racial politics to drum up support for movements expressing political discourse.

Look no further than the recent Tea Party convention, which kicked off with a rousing tribute to racism.

Rep. Tom Tancredo's opening speech at the convention included the statement: "People who could not even spell the word 'vote,' or say it in English, put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House. His name is Barack Hussein Obama." In one statement, Tancredo managed to use Jim Crow-like rhetoric formerly used against black people to assail Hispanics and Muslims. Has the baton of bigotry been passed?

Not completely, as white racial resentment toward blacks was still very much on display. One of the more popular signs spotted at the venue featured the president's face with the caption: "The Zoo Has an African Lion and the White House Has a Lyin' African!"

While the recent poll conducted by the liberal Web site Daily Kos was right to be met with skepticism because it seemed intended to make Republicans look as extreme as possible, it's hard to discount what we see with our own eyes. Like South Carolina lieutenant governor and Tea Party supporter Andre Bauer, who said people receiving government assistance are like "stray animals" because "they breed" and "don't know any better."

An equally loaded racial statement came from fellow South Carolinian and Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham, who in December argued his state deserves a fairer share of Medicaid money because the black population was high. White people actually receive more Medicaid coverage than black people do in South Carolina, and in 2008, 58 percent of South Carolina public school children overall were eligible for free or reduced-cost lunch.

How is this any different from the "welfare queen" stereotype Ronald Reagan coined back in 1976 to fuel white racial resentment for political points?

Then there is former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan, who, championing the election of Scott Brown, spoke about how Brown "looks like an American." Apparently, in some people's eyes, a real American can only be seen in the vision of a white alpha male. So much for the melting pot.

One problem with becoming a truly post-racial country is that there's a lot of self interest in perpetuating the status quo. And collectively, there's rampant arrogance and pomposity among us, which makes it difficult for many of us to embrace change and the unconventional faces that usher it in. That's why anyone or anything perceived as foreign is still susceptible to racially charged backlash.

So when it comes to the question of whether America will ever be "post-racial," the answer is unfortunately a resounding no.

Could that change one day? Possibly, but the political climate shows that as of now, we're not even close.