I find it deeply unnerving that so many voted for Romney. I just...do.

[tpsbmam]

21. I wish I could agree with you but I just can't

It's more subtle there much of the time, but it's there. I'm a NYC WASP. I a NYC'er by birth and most of my youth -- that was definitely a multicultural upbringing and I never heard it at home, even from Mom who came from a Southern family -- my grandparents were pretty good but had their limits. I had lots of African American friends and one evening was having a conversation with my grandfather (grandmother had died by then) and asked him if my close friendships, sleepovers, etc bothered him -- he said no. But I then asked him "what if I married a black man" -- "I'd never speak to you again," was the answer I got.

Anyway, as an adult I've lived in many different states. I'm now in NC and hear some of it, all of the subtle variety. But I heard more of it when I was living in Chicago, Springfield (MA) and a couple of other northern cities. I was horrified by some of what I heard when I was living in Chicago! The immediate area where I was living tended to be blue collar whites and frankly, I was astonished when some of the most racist things I'd ever heard came out of the mouths of neighbors (including the "n" word).

The same was true to a MUCH lesser degree in Springfield -- I had really nice neighbors but damn, as I got to know them their defenses slipped a little and I guess they thought they were in like company. Their racism was much more subtle but it was there nonetheless. That's been how I'd categorize some other Northern places I lived. (An exception was Madison, WI, which I loved and I never heard anything like that around there.)

The racism -- blatant, horrific and subtle varieties -- that's aired itself since Obama's first election has been horrifying. I mean, look at the work of the SPLC & NAACP on the surge of "patriot" groups and hate groups since Obama was first elected. Most of those are young and young-ish -- these aren't senior citizens doing this. As far as I'm concerned, most of the Obama hate comes from racism. Look at the Republican legislature -- to outright say their goal was to make Obama a one-term president and to block everything he tried to do? To yell out during a SOTU speech? All of the instances of blatant disrespect on the part of Republican "statesmen" is something I've never witnessed in my 57 years on earth. And I frankly don't think a lot of that would have happened if he were a white politician with whom they disagreed.

The good thing is that 40% of us who voted for Obama twice are white. That's where you see the difference. But Romney getting the huge majority of white votes is due to a number of factors, and a significant percentage of those votes are due to the simple fact that he's African American.

Yep, I sadly have to disagree with you. And it does make me incredibly sad that it's still so present & virulent.