I'm not sure what shit could've been given for that statement. Birtherism was the questioning of our first black president's heritage. And it was based on the grounds that he was black. Why else would people think he's a Muslim from Kenya? And the people who ran with it the hardest were clearly racists. No other major politician has faced such scrutiny that I'm aware of. The only person that's come close as far as I know is Ted Cruz, but that's only because WE KNOW he was born in Canada.
As Q-Tip and you have stated and I will agree, it's tough to have shitty people on your side. Because then a poster can come in here, show what is essentially someone else acting as your strawman, knock him down, and claim victory. LOOK! He's stupid and you are on his side so YOU'RE STUPID!
As far as I see it, both sides are well-meaning and have the best interests of the country at heart. But we vehemently disagree on those terms. There are plenty of liberal racists and well-meaning liberals who say and do racist shit whether they are really aware or not. I'd argue it happens on a wider scale with conservatives, but the kicker tends to be that liberals will be allies trying to make a show of their inclusiveness while undermining the progress of minorities.
Not to paint a broad brush on people here, but with a lot of older conservatives they give off this feel like racism ended with the Civil Rights Movement. And now that everyone is equal the hubbub over race relations is nonsense complaints. America is the land of the free and we have opportunity here so your failure to escape poverty is your problem. They tend to see the issue as black and white, as if racism can always be easily spotted, and anyone who decries it these days is just looking for something to complain about. But now I'm not sure what thread I should be in...
