Although I agree with the sentiment you've expressed, I hasten to point out that the bar of racism was set extremely low when Obama was president. Even the slightest criticism of Obama's policies was often met with the charge of racism by people in the media when they couldn't defend, or didn't want to defend, said policies.
Karma bites ...
...and if you'll remember, I was quick to call them out for. (If you'll recall, you & I used to agree quite a bit back when Obama was in office
...as I'm sure we will again the next time a democrat is in... as people have hopefully noticed by now, my posting style is such where I spend most of my time critiquing what I feel at the flaws of the current president rather than singing their praises. I've been critical of W, Obama, and Trump in my 12 years here at CF.
C'mon now. The meeting was a mix of both. It's the way politics is played. Obama didn't invite Ted Cruz in for a discussion. He invited supporters in.
...But were they members of groups that were typically at odds with Obama? For instance, if Obama had found one or two members of the Tea Party or a Pro Life group (who bucked their own groups typical position and vocally supported Obama) to come in and meet with him...
I think where there's a disconnect is in when people here the word "token", they take as some sort of of derogatory attack against the person who's the "token"...as if it's to mean "this person is so gullible, they're not smart enough to realize they're being used by this other person as a pandering tool"...when in reality, that's not what it means at all.
So, when they hear other black people claim that "Kanye is the Token black guy for Trump's support base" that it's an attack against Kanye's intelligence for that sole reason. For the record, I think there are other reasons to question Kanye's knowledge of various affairs, but that's besides the point. Being a "token", alone, isn't an implication of gullibility, naivety, or stupidity.
I can provide an example from the other side of the fence.
When Obama nominated Francis Collins (a theist who's pro-life and self-identifies as a born again Christian) to be the head of the NIH, I do feel he was doing that, in part, to try to appeal to a group that didn't care for him all that much (that group being pro-life born again Christians). I feel that Francis Collins was the "token pro-life Christian" that Obama wanted to be able to prop up. But that, by no means, is a reflection of how I feel about Francis Collins. He's a brilliant scientist and can tout being the head of the Human Genome Project and is one of the few scientists who has tremendous respect among both atheists and theists alike. (Probably the only guy to both be close personal friends with Christopher Hitchens, and have a Papal appointment)
So, the non long-winded version of my response is: When one calls someone a "token <insert group here>", it's not a negative reflection on the person themselves, it's a reflection of how you feel another person or group is using them for their own public image.
