Annette John-Hall: Infected by racism, criticism of Obama obscures the issues

I'll be glad when President Obama signs a health-care bill.

Because I've been feeling a little sick lately.

I've had this sinking feeling in my stomach ever since South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson's "You lie!" outburst this month exploded all over the president of the United States.

Felt queasy again three days later when I watched coverage of the conservative Tea Party Express march on Washington and saw two particularly disturbing posters. One read "Impeach the Muslim Marxist," and the other depicted Obama as a witch doctor, complete with bone through nose.

And I couldn't stem a wave of nausea when I heard self-described American "patriots" shoot off phrases like "I want my country back!"

Have to wonder what they really meant, considering there wasn't a person of color to be found among them.

By then, I didn't need former President Jimmy Carter to diagnose what I already knew I had: Chronic Racism Fatigue Syndrome.

It's a recurring condition that the ongoing debasement of the president won't let me shake.

You would think electing our first African American president would go a long way toward a cure.

Instead, the racially tinged vitriol toward Obama has threatened to override the uniquely American right to protest.

And has made it almost impossible to weed out honest disagreement over policy from racist biases.

Nobody can say for sure why Wilson, that feisty fighter for the Confederate flag, chose to direct his unprecedented public outburst before the nation toward a black president.

Only he can say what's in his heart.

What we know for sure is that the gentleman from South Carolina has seen an increase in his campaign fund-raising. His smear in the House chambers has found its way onto a T-shirt slogan. Some folks are even lauding him as a hero.

For Charles A. Gallagher, sociology professor at La Salle University, it simply reinforces what research has already shown of some white attitudes about race.

"I find it hard to believe that this is about the health-care debate," Gallagher says. "I believe a number of white Americans believe that Obama has tainted the office of the presidency and shouldn't be there, and the fact that he's in office means they can bring race into the mix."

Which means that depicting Obama as a witch doctor is fair game?

"You look at that sign and it's impossible not to think of the imagery in terms of the racist history of America," says Gallagher, who, in case you're wondering, is white.

To say there is no racist connotation "is akin to putting a noose on the desk of a black coworker and saying you're just kidding."

Or publicly praying for Obama's death, as did Orange County minister Wiley Drake, who must be thrilled that death threats against the president have gone up 400 percent from the last administration.

Or calling the president an "Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug" and "a racist in chief," as Tea Party organizer Mark Williams did on his blog.

The same Williams who insists his movement is about fiscal responsibility.

Of course, anyone who calls them out gets accused of playing the race card.

It's hard to follow the president's lead and keep your eye on the prize when you're suffering from Chronic Racist Fatigue Syndrome.

But we should. Health insurance - quality, accessible care that doesn't get worse the sicker you get - is at stake.

You would think that good health care, of all things, would be a value all Americans could get behind.

And I believe the reasonable majority eventually will.

Let's face it: We're all intelligent enough to know there aren't going to be any "death panels" under Congress' plan. Except, of course, those witch-doctor-sign-waving sickos.

Let's just pray that ratcheting up the reckless rhetoric doesn't result in a political stalemate.

Or something dangerously worse.