Courtland Milloy is a Racist

RACISM: "1 : a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. 2 : racial prejudice or discrimination."

On Tuesday, a front-page story in the Washington Post had this lede:

Public confidence in President Obama has hit a new low, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll. Four months before midterm elections that will define the second half of his term, nearly six in 10 voters say they lack faith in the president to make the right decisions for the country, and a clear majority once again disapproves of how he is dealing with the economy.

Many paragraphs later, in the story's only reference to race, the Post reports:

The president's approval ratings reached a new low among whites, at 40 percent, with his positive marks dipping under 50 percent for the first time among white college-educated women.

The raw poll data released is incomplete, and does not include any data breaking down the sample or the responses by race.

In today's Washington Post, long-time columnist Courtland Milloy provides his take on this data, and there's no mistaking what he thinks: it's all about race; white voters are a vindictive and angry crowd. That's not my interpretation, that's Mr. Milloy's declarative sentence: "And yet, with midterm elections just a few months away, the so-called white vote looms large, an angry and vindictive political force." So for a white voter to "disapprove of" or "lack confidence in" the President, he must be angry, vindictive, and a racist. Once again, Mr. Milloy's words: "Does race have anything to do with it? You betcha."

Lest you miss his point, it's not only one's opinion of the President that establishes their bona fides as a racist:

Whites, for instance, are overwhelmingly in favor of Arizona's immigration law, according to most polls. And virtually none of the surveys has shown any concern for the rights of nonwhite Hispanics who would be subject to racial profiling and illegal search and seizures. These are the same people who like to wave copies of the U.S. Constitution and claim Obama is curtailing their freedoms.

Unlike Mr. Milloy, we think that not only "nonwhite Hispanics" should be free from "racial profiling" and illegal searches, we think everyone should be. We also think that the federal immigration laws ought to be enforced or repealed. Note also Mr. Milloy's unsupported presumption that those favoring the law have no concern for the rights of nonwhite Hispanics.

What it all comes down to is Mr. Milloy's view that the legitimacy and the seriousness of your views depend upon your race. If one is white, then your disapproval of the President, or your sympathy for the Arizona statute, are not serious opinions; they do not constitute serious discourse. Your views need not be addressed with data, logic, or argument; you're a racist, end of discussion.

Don't misunderstand -- Mr. Milloy is entitled to hold whatever opinion he'd like, whether based on thoughtful analysis or bigotry. If all racists were as forthright as he, it would be easier to know who can be profitably ignored.

But we've saved the best for last. The title of Mr. Milloy's column: "A vote for doing away with race-based politics."