Rush Limbaugh: Black Children Taught to Hate America

Note: for those of you in the Chicago area, I'll be doing a book talk about The Most Dangerous Man in America: Rush Limbaugh's Assault on Reason today (Sat. May 14) at 2pm at the Evanston Public Library.

On Friday, Rush Limbaugh declared on his show that all black children are taught by their families to hate America. He was trying to explain why so many blacks vote for Democrats, while more Hispanics vote for Republicans: “We do not have institutionalized hatred of this country being taught in Hispanic households.”

The irony is that a few moments before Rush accused all blacks of hating America, he declared: “I do not look at people as members of groups.”

Exactly what does Rush mean when he says that black households teach their children “institutionalized hatred of this country”? Limbaugh frequently claims that Obama “hates this country." In part, it's a repeat of the old cry that anyone who criticizes conservative ideas is un-American.

Last week, Rush offered a defense against the accusation that he's racist for hating Obama: “I don't like his white side, either.”

It's true that Rush hates all liberals of all races. Rush would hate Obama no matter what color he was. But that doesn't make Rush innocent of the charge of racism. Rush expresses his hatred of Obama in racist ways.

And when Rush claims that black children are taught to hate America, it reflects a fundamentally racist view.

Crossposted at DailyKos.