Mainstream Media Promotes Racial and Class Disharmony on Obama and ‘Quiet Riots’

Here are a few quotes from recent news articles that demonstrate how the mainstream media are lying about a speech Obama gave recently and in turn are promoting racial disharmony and a lack of American unity to address issues of poverty.

“Sen. Barack Obama, often accused of failing to specifically target Black issues during his campaign trail, said Tuesday that President Bush had better start paying attention to a “quiet riot” among Blacks that is building up steam…The Illinois senator and Democratic presidential hopeful, pointing to the crisis in New Orleans with Black folks still displaced after almost two years, said the frustration and resentment could blow up”—BET.com

“Obama: Black Unrest Brewing” and “Barack Obama said yesterday that the Bush administration has done nothing to defuse a “quiet riot” among blacks that threatens to erupt” –Newsday.com

“Obama: Bush Has Neglected Looming Riot among Blacks”–The New York Sun

“Democratic Presidential hopeful Barack Obama stated that a “quiet riot’ among blacks are brewing and could end up becoming more than quiet.”–ECanadaNow

“Barack Obama says that blacks are pissed and there’s a “quiet riot” brewing in LA and the rest of the country.”–LAist

Liars, liars, pants on fires. That is not what he said in that speech. Read it or watch it for your self. The mainstream media could give a daggumed about the American people. They are working to divide us by race and class rather than to bring us together. These headlines are flat out lies and misrepresentative of the speech that Barack Obama gave.

It is shameful that the media are reporting that this speech was solely about blacks, when Obama specifically said the following in the speech: “People ask me whether I thought race was the reason the response was so slow. I said, “No. This Administration was colorblind in its incompetence.”

It is shameful that while Obama emphasized poverty in the speech, the media emphasized racial division. Obama’s message included poor whites and their plight. Were they not affected by the hurricane? So why can’t the mainstream media also be concerned about poor whites?

Now I am not saying race is not important. However, I’m saying that the mainstream media should not try to pigeonhole Obama when his message is much broader than that.

It is also shameful that the key theme in Obama’s speech is about the miracle of a baby born during the L.A. Riots who was delivered and is healthy despite having been shot by bullet in her mother’s womb during the riot. The speech emphasizes hope in the midst of negative circumstances. So why is the media emphasizing cynicism, hostility, and fear?

We as Americans have to come together and not allow the mainstream media to tear us apart by race and class. We have to keep a watchful eye to make sure that we look at what our candidates are actually saying rather than the lies the media are creating about what they actually said.

Barack Obama is a candidate who can bring us together and unify us so that we can work on the problems that plague all Americans–rich, poor, black, and white. I appreciate that he is able to handle and discuss events like Katrina and the L.A. Riots with such nuance, care, and focus on hope. I wish the mainstream media cared enough about improving our nation that they were able to do the same.