Is racism a subtext in all these attacks on Cory Booker?

[RZM]

16. No. Not at all

But there's a whole lot to talk about in your headline, even though it's completely wrong.

Booker made a positive statement about Bain and private equity in general. That's going to result in a temporary stay in the doghouse and a mark on his permanent record here on DU. Doesn't matter who says it - that's not going to be received well here.

What's interesting about your post is that it exposes the silly way in which race and racism is brought up nowadays. The most common way race is used on the left is as a bludgeoning instrument against one's opponents. Hence the constant attention to race with regards to the Tea Party (which is overdone, IMO). An accusation of racism carries with it profound social power. The damage it can inflict is substantial, but the potential blowback from false accusations is not - therefore, it pays to use it as much as possible. I'm not an expert in accounting/economics, but in politics, racism accusations might be characterized as having a good cost/benefit ratio. The potential gains far outweigh the potential risks.

What's funny is that you're insinuating a very thin charge of racism against the same people that do just that against their own opponents. So it does have a bit of that goose/gander thing to it. But in the end, it's still bullshit. I'd bet not a single DUer is hating on Booker because he's black. They are hating on him because he said something they don't like. While I don't think it's exactly accurate to say DU is colorblind, I think it is here. Anybody who said what Booker did would be pilloried here. Booker neither gets a pass for his race, nor does he get extra scorn because of it. He's being treated just as anybody else would be in the court of DU opinion. And therein lies the lesson. Because I've argued from day one that this is the same dynamic going on with the right. Most of them don't hate Obama because he's black . . . they hate him because he's a Democrat, just like they hated both Clintons, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, John Kerry, and every other white Democrat out there.