A 2004 newsflash from Sen. Barack Obama: ‘There is not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America — there’s the United States of America.’ Fair enough. Sounds pretty good, actually.

Something changed, however, between then and now — as evidenced by a new book from reporter Kenneth Walsh. In ‘Family of Freedom: Presidents and African Americans in the White House,’ Walsh tells the story of Obama at a private White House dinner, during which the president points to race as ‘a key component in the rising opposition to his presidency from conservatives.’

Were this a rare instance of race baiting from Obama, it would not be so troubling. Far from an isolated event, however, racial politics have become the norm for the administration.

Although Obama presents himself as a post-racial president, expecting him to completely transcend the issue of race would be unrealistic — a monumental task indeed. But Obama and his supporters tread dangerously close to exploiting the issue.

Sometimes it seems as though Americans are helpless to oppose Obama’s policies without being labeled racist. There are certainly legitimate reasons to oppose socialized medicine, an explosion in the reach of government, trillion-dollar deficits and the entire laundry list of left-wing, domestic initiatives championed by the Obama administration.

Democracy is severely hampered if citizens must combat charges of racism when they offer reasonable grievances about the direction of the country. Americans should not have their motives questioned when they speak out on behalf of free enterprise and personal responsibility.

Of course I acknowledge there are racists in America who are none too pleased with a black man in the White House. But I wholeheartedly reject that race is at the root of the backlash against the Obama agenda.

Although it may be hard to believe up on the lofty, insulated hill at Syracuse University, America is a center-right country — one uneasy about the sharp left turn over the past two years. Why is this so hard to accept?

If the president were truly interested in unifying the country and living up to his lofty rhetoric, he would refrain from fueling the racial fire. Instead, Obama is content to play the race card for political gain.

Look no further than the demonization of the Tea Party. When the president tells Rolling Stone magazine, ‘There are probably some aspects of the Tea Party that are a little darker, that have to do with anti-immigrant sentiment or are troubled by what I represent as president,’ he completely undermines any hope for a reasonable policy discussion.

Both the president and his supporters should come to terms with the fact that such a radical agenda is going to create political opponents.

If the end goal is to transform the United States into a European-style social democracy, then so be it. Surely there will be some Americans who prefer a more traditional, limited government with an economy grounded in capitalism. These voices will be heard. Both sides should be free to argue the issues on merit without having the discourse dragged down into the mud.

Instead of throwing out unfounded accusations of racism, how about addressing Republican and Tea Party complaints head on? Let’s have a real discussion about spending, taxation, jobs and the role of the government without mindlessly denigrating other Americans who you have never met and may know nothing about.

Just as the ‘birthers’ (who question Obama’s citizenship) bring down the quality of debate, the president is equally guilty when he fingers racism as the trigger for an energized conservative movement.

Perhaps the president is not intentionally capitalizing on the issue of race. Obama may be so genuinely pleased with his own narrative that he honestly cannot comprehend how anyone could harbor substantive disagreement with his policies. I’m not sure that’s much better.

Jimmy Paul is a senior political science major. His column appears every Tuesday, and he can be reached at jdpaul01@syr.edu.

Published on March 6, 2011 at 12:00 pm