Earth to Rush Limbaugh: Barack Obama is no Black Panther

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Rush Limbaugh is at it again. In his perpetual quest to maintain high ratings for his radio show, Limbaugh recently claimed that President Obama has deliberately allowed unemployment to grow in the United States as payback for slavery and oppression. In addition to using the economy as one of his weapons of choice, Limbaugh argues that the Obama Administration has been less than fair when it comes to prosecuting African-Americans accused of voter intimidation, such as the New Black Panther Party in Philadelphia, PA.

A couple of easy points can be made to refute Limbaugh’s argument. The first is that no one person can control the entire economy, even the president of the United States. The economy was in a tailspin long before Obama took office, so even the most clever manipulation of the political blame game is simply not going to work. Limbaugh’s accusations are part of the standard political tactic of blaming your political opposition for anything and everything that’s wrong in America.

Secondly, during the Great Recession black unemployment has consistently been nearly twice as high as white unemployment, with African-American unemployment currently stuck at 15.4 percent. I would expect that in his broad conspiracy to maintain black superiority, President Obama might consider giving jobs to black people too. By making such an outlandish comment, Limbaugh is simply showing that he’s running out of things to discuss on his show.

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The case with Rush Limbaugh, the recovering drug addict who once talked tough about sending addicts to prison, is that he’s doing what any good radio show host is supposed to do: make incendiary comments to get the attention of those who have more power than he does. If you’ll notice, Glenn Beck usually makes a ridiculous comment about Obama every two weeks, and like clockwork, we get angry because of what he said. Then, his ratings go up, his books sell, and Fox News pays him another $10 million dollars. It’s all part of a beautiful and perfect entertainment plan.

One of the reasons that Limbaugh keeps such a strong following is that there are millions of white Americans who now feel disgruntled and disenfranchised. What Limbaugh describes as “payback” for racial inequality of the past might be more accurately defined as “pay up.” The truth is that there is a trillion dollar debt owed to the black community for what it’s suffered through for the past 400 years, and men like Limbaugh don’t want to admit to any responsibility for the massive wealth they’ve inherited as a result of this unethical behavior.

According to even the most conservative measures, black family wealth is roughly one fifth that of white Americans. Therefore, those who own America are not the only ones who fought, died and worked to build America. So yes, there is a process of paying the piper for sins that were committed but remain unresolved in the history of our country.

I also strongly suspect that Limbaugh’s remarks are a reflection of the guilt that some feel about the way African-Americans have been treated in the past, leading to paranoia that the we might want revenge for what happened to our ancestors. What Limbaugh fails to remember is that the forgiveness of black people can run deep, as long as there is a firm apology and some genuine effort to correct the inequities of the past. Men like Limbaugh, however, choose to remain stubborn, avoid personal responsibility and thus keep our nation divided.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and the initiator of the National Conversation on Race. For more information, please visit BoyceWatkins.com>