However, you first reaction is that he is a racist is in my mind racist.
How does artandsoul's conclusion that someone defacing her Obama sign is racist, in turn make HER racist?
Here's the definition of racism:
rac·ism
–noun
1.
a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
2.
a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.
3.
hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.
How does that apply to artandsoul? I've heard this line of argument from many people (mostly conservatives) that any mention of race is racist or accusing someone of racism, is itself racism.
This argument does not comport with the definition of the word.
As for Obama calling himself Black: there is a long history in the United States of designating anyone with a Black parent as Black themselves. This was even codified as law in some places. I don't think there is anything remotely strange or militant about Obama considering himself Black. He was in all likelihood considered Black by everyone around him.
See the One Drop Rule:
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The one-drop rule is a historical colloquial term in the United States that holds that a person with any trace of African ancestry (however small or invisible) cannot be considered white[1] and so, unless the person has an alternative non-white ancestry that he or she can claim, such as Native American, Asian, Arab, Australian aboriginal, the person must be considered black.
. . .
Despite this holding, the one-drop theory is still influential in U.S. society. Multiracial individuals with visible mixed European and African and/or Native American ancestry are often still considered non-white, unless they explicitly declare themselves white or Anglo (this used to be called "passing"), and are typically identified instead as mixed-race, bi-racial, mulatto or mestizo, or Black or American Indian, for example. By contrast, these standards are widely rejected by America's Latino community, the majority of whom are of mixed ancestry (usually Amerindian and white, but for whom their Latino cultural heritage is more important to their ethnic identities than "race." The one-drop rule is not generally applied to Latinos of mixed origin or to Arab-Americans.
