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If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman, he would not be in this position.
He happens to be very lucky to be who he is." -
Geraldine Ferraro
Barack Obama's political opposition wants to have its race cake and eat it, too.
While I'm not exactly an Obama supporter, he is the only one of the three candidates to whom I could give serious consideration in November. His politics are definitely to the right of my own, especially when it comes to issues like health care and Israel, but - and I've said this before - he's the closest thing to
a real person in the election. He advocates policies that could help the working class, the living-paycheck-to-paycheck people who hold America together, rather than an ideology that would do everything short of stomping them into the dirt.
But one thing I've never considered when pondering the idea of voting for Obama is the color of his skin. I'm not thinking of voting for him because he's black; I actually believe Dennis Kucinich to have been the best choice from the field of Democrats. I'm not reluctant to vote for him because he's black, either; I honestly wish
Dennis Haysbert would run for President. Is he qualified? I have no idea, but he's done a much better job of playing a Commander in Chief on television in the last decade than George W. Bush has done. That has to count for something.
But everyone who has a dog in the fight, every media personality, and every shallow, know-nothing citizen with a voter registration card has certainly thought about it. Bits and pieces are dropped here and there, and you end up with two totally different criticisms, both of which are rooted in the same brand of ignorance.
First is the idea that Barack Obama is a "black radical". You don't have to sell this to the most vehemently racist voters, because they weren't going to pull a lever for the man, anyway. But for those people who don't actually recognize their prejudices, the ones who lock their car doors when a black man walks by, clutch their purses a bit more tightly when black youths pass them on a sidewalk, or get nervous about being alone in an elevator with a man of color, this is just the kind of thing that's needed to scare them into voting for Whitey. This is crucial, too, because Obama is light-skinned enough to put the little minds of this segment at ease (and if you don't believe that's important, not just to White America, but to much of Black America, too, then you're incredibly naïve). And how is this notion, that Obama is a "black radical", being marketed? By quoting the man's pastor. Yes, in a country that has no problem putting armageddon-believing fundamentalists in charge of our weapons arsenal, it seems that Obama has chosen the
wrong church.
Some of the offending quotes are as follows:
Quote (source):
"We've got more black men in prison than there are in college," he began. "Racism is alive and well. Racism is how this country was founded and how this country is still run. No black man will ever be considered for president, no matter how hard you run Jesse [Jackson] and no black woman can ever be considered for anything outside what she can give with her body."
Mr. Wright thundered on: "America is still the No. 1 killer in the world. . . . We are deeply involved in the importing of drugs, the exporting of guns, and the training of professional killers . . . We bombed Cambodia, Iraq and Nicaragua, killing women and children while trying to get public opinion turned against Castro and Ghadhafi . . . We put [Nelson] Mandela in prison and supported apartheid the whole 27 years he was there. We believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God."
His voice rising, Mr. Wright said, "We supported Zionism shamelessly while ignoring the Palestinians and branding anybody who spoke out against it as being anti-Semitic. . . . We care nothing about human life if the end justifies the means. . . ."
Concluding, Mr. Wright said: "We started the AIDS virus . . . We are only able to maintain our level of living by making sure that Third World people live in grinding poverty. . . ."
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Quote (source):
"The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing God Bless America. No, no, no, God damn America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people," he said in a 2003 sermon which was aired by ABC television.
"God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme."
Obama has been a member of the congregation of Wright's Trinity United Church of Christ in the south side of Chicago for nearly 20 years.
The pastor's sermons are available for sale at the church and both ABC and Fox News broadcast the addresses.
In January, Wright spoke from the pulpit in praise of Obama's leadership, comparing his campaign to Jesus's struggles under the Romans, according to Fox television. "Barack knows what it means living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich white people," Wright said. "Hillary would never know that." He went on: "Hillary ain't never been called a nigger. Hillary has never had a people defined as a non-person."
Wright also took issue with the idea that Bill Clinton was a friend to African-Americans. "Hillary is married to Bill, and Bill has been good to us. No he ain't. Bill did us, just like he did Monica Lewinsky. He was riding dirty."
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Quote (source):
"We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye," Rev. Wright said in a sermon on Sept. 16, 2001.
"We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards. America's chickens are coming home to roost," he told his congregation.
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Okay, let's examine the points, one by one.
More black men in prison than in college? Check.
Racism alive and well? Check.
Racism was how America was founded? Check. Don't forget how it was
built, too.
How the country is still run? Check. Look no further than drug sentencing laws.
America the #1 killer in the world? Check.
Deeply involved in the importing of drugs? Check.
The exporting of guns? Check.
The training of professional killers? Check. (Blackwater, anyone?)
Bombed Cambodia, Iraq, and Nicaragua, killing women and children while trying to get public opinion turned against Castro and Ghadhafi? Check.
Put Mandela in prison and supported apartheid the whole 27 years he was there? Check.
Believe in white supremacy and black inferiority? Check.
Supported Zionism shamelessly while ignoring the Palestinians? Check.
Brand anybody who spoke out against it as being anti-Semitic? Check.
Responsible for starting the AIDS virus? Um, no.
Only able to maintain our level of living by making sure that Third World people live in grinding poverty? Check.
Government gives (blacks) the drugs? Check (and well-documented).
Builds bigger prisons? Check.
Passes three-strike laws? Check.
Treating our citizens as less than human? Check. You remember New Orleans, right?
Hillary Clinton has never been called a nigger? Check? I mean, I don't know that for a fact, but I think it's a safe assumption.
Bombed Hiroshima, bombed Nagasaki, and nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon? Check, check, and check. Even in recent history, tens of thousands more innocents have been killed by Americans in Afghanistan and Iraq than died on September 11, 2001.
Supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans? Check.
Indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards? Check.
Okay, so other than the AIDS thing, all I see is a guy who's not afraid to tell the truth, a man who's not afraid to be direct with his congregation. I don't see anything "radical" or "racist" in there. He's not telling anyone to go burn down a courthouse, blow up a federal building, or eat white children for breakfast. He's talking about, "being black in America," as someone who attends his church
put it. It's a reality plenty of people will deny until they're blue in the face, but a reality nonetheless. Portraying Obama as a "black radical", however, even without a shred of anything substantial that would support such nonsense, is an effective piece of Southern strategy on a national level.
But then there's the ugly flip side to the "black radical" coin, the question of, "Is Obama black enough?"
TIME even used this absurdity as the title of
an article. I mentioned above the fact that Obama, who was born to a white mother and a Kenyan father, is light-skinned could be important to parts of Black America, and this concept will be exploited by both the media and rival campaigns. Also at issue is that Obama isn't descended from African slaves, but an African who came to America for educational opportunities.
And what do they want? Should Obama appear at an event with 50 Cent to earn some
street cred? Give me a fucking break. The man is a United States Senator, and he's on the verge of being the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.
Not black enough? Last I looked, he's blacker than any of our other Presidents have been.
But is White America really so stupid as to believe that all of Black America will just fall in line and vote for a guy
solely because he's black? Yes, it would appear that White America really is that stupid. As Michael Nutter, mayor of Philadelphia, who has endorsed Hillary Clinton, put it, "This notion that somehow there is a monolithic black vote is just a myth." And of course it is, but for some reason, it is a very popular one.
And besides, haven't black citizens been casting votes for white candidates for... well, for as long as whites were kind enough to allow them to participate in the electoral process? Of course they have. The idea that a candidate has to pass some kind of Blackness Test in order to get support from Black America is preposterous. Some black people will support Clinton, and some black people will support Obama, just like
any other group and
any other candidate. There isn't one collective brain that's shared by every black person in this country; despite what some people seem to think, black people can think for themselves.
And Obama on how black he is?
Quote:
"If I'm outside your building trying to catch a cab," he told Charlie Rose, "they're not saying, 'Oh, there's a mixed race guy.'"
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So is black the new white? Of course not. I don't see anyone telling Hillary Clinton or John McCain they're too white, nor is anyone questioning whether they're white enough. So why the litmus test for blackness? Well, Obama faces not only opposition from Clinton and McCain, should he secure the nomination, but also from history. He's the first black candidate with a real shot at moving into the White House. Unfortunately, the media and his political rivals have used this fact to marginalize his ideas and goals, all in an attempt to reduce him to simply
The Black Guy, rather than the contender he has proven himself to be.
To Obama's credit, though, he has mostly remained above the fray. He has certainly been more forgiving about the level of discourse than I could have managed to be in his situation. Have a look at
this statement:
Quote:
"There has been a running thread through this campaign of both pundits and prognosticators asking first, was I black enough? Then, am I too black?" Obama told reporters. "I don't know what exactly the margin of the black vote is that is the optimal -- not too black but black enough. But that's not the approach that we've taken in this campaign."
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While people with just enough distance from Clinton for her to escape the blame try to plant the idea that Obama is only
The Black Guy, the far right attempts to portray him as a "black radical" who will bring White America to its knees, and the media, often accused of giving him a free pass (???), stops just short of calling him a house nigger or an Uncle Tom. And through it all, he is keeping his composure and conducting his campaign with more dignity than one can usually expect from any politician, never mind one facing these particular circumstances.
But the color of his skin is what's gotten him this far in the race, right?
Right.
Is Black The New White?
