According to the 2010 U.S. Census (.pdf, p.24), there are 8.1 million blacks in this country who have no health insurance. That’s 20.8% of the black population, or slightly more than one out of every five American blacks. The first black president signed a law to change that situation dramatically. That’s because the law required states to put people on Medicaid up to the 133% poverty rate level and then offered a sliding scale of subsidies for anyone else who might struggle to afford health insurance. The bill also created high-risk pools for people with preexisting conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, and sickle-cell anemia. These reforms have the potential to almost completely wipe out the medical crisis in the black community.
But that’s not the only reason that Mitt Romney was lustily booed today at the NAACP when he promised to eliminate the Affordable Care Act. He chose to use the word “ObamaCare” to refer to the bill. In my experience, blacks are extremely sensitive about people showing the proper respect for the Office of the Presidency now that it is occupied by a black man. They don’t like it when people fail to refer to him as “President” or “Mr. President.” And they don’t like to see his name used in a derisive and demeaning way. Mitt Romney was booed primarily because of this lack of respect, which the audience experienced as a lack of respect for them.
To make matters worse, Romney then traveled to Montana for a private fundraiser tonight and, when asked about his experience at the NAACP, he said that “they (meaning blacks) need to be reminded if they want more free stuff from the government tell them to vote for the other guy. But don’t forget nothing is really free.”
I think that’s all the proof we need to know that the NAACP audience had interpreted Romney correctly and their voiced displeasure was entirely justified. Clearly, Romney thought he was booed because the people in the audience want free health insurance for themselves and don’t think anyone has to ultimately pay for it. First of all, most of the people who attend NAACP meetings are fairly well-to-do, relatively speaking, and the percentage of uninsured in the audience was probably quite low. Second, as already mentioned, the Affordable Care Act does a lot more than simply provide Medicaid and subsidies. It helps grandpa get dialysis without having to sell his house to pay for it. It helps grandma get blood pressure medication. It helps cousin get lifetime treatment for his anemia. It helps uncle see a doctor to try to keep that cancer in remission. It helps brother stay on parents’ health care plan until he’s through with graduate school.
There are countless reasons aside from wanting free stuff for blacks to boo anyone who wants to take away the reforms of the Affordable Care Act. To suggest that everyone at today’s NAACP meeting was just looking for a handout is racist on its face. It’s not even a dog whistle. Everyone can hear what Romney is saying.
He’s rapidly becoming the most famous asshole on the planet.
