Tuesday, March 18, 2008
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Wimping Out: Obama's Squandered Chance at Post-Racialism
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Posted by:
Mary Katharine Ham at
3:20 PM
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Look, there are things I like about Barack Obama. Until the most vitriolic of the Jeremiah Wright sermons surfaced, Obama's post-racial rhetoric was appealing to me. I believed that he believed it, and that his candidacy really did have the power to lift the nation and the Democratic Party, which has trafficked shamelessly in racial demagoguery for decades, above the "racial stalemate" he speaks of.
The new revelations of Rev. Wright and the fact that Obama chose him as a close spiritual adviser for 20 years makes it nearly impossible for me to buy what the Messiah is selling.
Today, his distancing speech was more a justification speech than anything else. Rev. Wright and other, older black citizens are understandably still angry about discrimination they experienced, he said, and those frustrations are given voice at dinner tables and in fiery sermons. This is all right, Barack posits, because white people are angry, too, for much less justified reasons, like affirmative action.
Barack Obama is uniquely positioned to talk about race in America in a new way. It would have served his post-racial aspirations to do so today. He did not take that opportunity.
He was more eloquent than most, and less overtly divisive than other black leaders would have been, but the message was the same. Black people are angry because they were mistreated, and hateful people like Rev. Wright are only guilty of not understanding that the country can change, and has changed. Obama gives Wright a pass on perpetuating the pernicious notion that the Man is keeping his parishioners down, despite the fact that one of those parishioners is quite conspicuously running for President of the United States of America and winning.
The truth is that the firm belief of preachers and leaders like Wright in the perpetual victimhood of the black community, the sheer audacity of their hopelessness, has arguably done more to injure the black community over the past 20 years than many other things, including white racism. How many young black men, pray tell, has the good Reverend convinced that the American dream is irredeemably corrupted by white racism, and therefore not worth pursuing?
Rising above all that racial resentment cannot be achieved by one politician taking the high road and covering over the sins of those who divided before him. If Obama were serious about post-racialism, he would have spent many of his words today on castigating men like Wright, who preach the very division he wishes to rise above.
But what does he ask in this speech and of whom does he ask it? How will we form a "more perfect union," according to Obama, and who needs to do the forming?
For the African-American community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. It means continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of American life. But it also means binding our particular grievances – for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs - to the larger aspirations of all Americans -- the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man whose been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family. And it means taking full responsibility for own lives – by demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny. I appreciate the nod to personal responsibility in the black community at the end of that paragraph, but it's overshadowed by the fact that Obama refuses to condemn those who have risen to power preaching the systematic abdication of exactly that responsibility. Note that while Obama conceded that not all of whites' race issues are entirely unjustified ("And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns – this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding."), he did not ask the black community to try to understand them.
But he did ask that of white Americans. In fact, that should be the white community's first priority:
In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds – by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper. In short: Black people, continue to ask more of this oppressive society in which you live without becoming victims of that oppression. White people, try to learn not to be so darn oppressive, huh?
The white "resentment" that Obama speaks of does not primarily come from direct effects of affirmative action or the welfare state. It comes from the societal message that the majority of white people, who have had no part in oppressing anyone, are asked again and again and again to take responsibility for ills they did not cause (and, in many cases have been caused by earlier attempts at assuaging white guilt, like paternalistic welfare). They are lectured about creating a healing "dialogue" in which they don't feel free to speak, lest they employ the wrong politically correct buzz word and confirm their "inherent prejudice." They must feel guilt for "institutional racism" when many of them have never been a part of any racist institution. They're flagellated for benefiting from "white privilege" when many of them don't feel terribly privileged at all.
And, despite engaging in this years-long culturally honored guilt-fest to atone for sins they did not commit, they know that they'd instantly become trogolodytic racists in the eyes of the world for one wrong word, while Jeremiah Wright is excused and even applauded in some quarters for a 20-year stream of hate.
As Shelby Steele explains it:
I call this white guilt not because it is a guilt of conscience but because people stigmatized with moral crimes--here racism and imperialism--lack moral authority and so act guiltily whether they feel guilt or not. They struggle, above all else, to dissociate themselves from the past sins they are stigmatized with. When they behave in ways that invoke the memory of those sins, they must labor to prove that they have not relapsed into their group's former sinfulness.
Obama asks white people to perform the same rites every leader before him has, atoning for the country's historic racism by understanding more fully and funding more heavily, and doing it without question. He asks little to nothing of anyone else.
Politically, it will likely work, because white guilt is a powerful thing indeed. Practically, it achieves none of the ascendancy Obama has promised. Philosophically, it's a cop out.
More than anything, Obama's promise of post-racialism depended on a popular, charismatic, biracial man, uniquely positioned to do so, taking the lead in a national conversation on race, inviting white people to participate in it, and taking demagoguery to task no matter what color its face. If Obama had had the courage to do that, his candidacy might indeed have yielded results as lofty as his rhetoric.
So much for that.
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The pig-in-a-poke has finally shown his true colors, a peek into who he really is: a "blame Whitey first, last, and always" demagogue. |
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& appaled when I heard Pastor Wright said but as time goes by, I have tried putting myself in his place. I know a couple of people who are racist & I like them for other qualities they possess. In my younger days, I would have told them off but now I just go ahead & say I like Obama & would vote for him if I was a liberal but I'm a moderate & a big supporter of McCain. If McCain loses, I want him to lose to Obama, not Hillary.
I'm disappointed in Foxnews, as they discuss this & show show the video of Wright over & over again. They seem to want to destroy him for something Wright said but not Obama. I realize that black people might think differently than the whites because they have had to live with racism. Yes, I do realize that some blacks are racist themselves. I think Obama is a good person & I'm sick to death of this issue as we have other news. |
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Guilt over what? Guilty because black against white violent crime rate is 6 times higher than white against black. Guilty because a white person is 4 time more likely to be robbed by a black person than white against black. Guilty because the black community has become so dependent on the government instead of self-determination. What about the racism of the black community against whites, Native Americans, hispanic communities. Black are not the only ones that have been disinfranchised in this country. Why is the black community not paying reparations to the American Indians when they as Union Soldiers attacked whole villages and killed and raped their women and children? Is the black community now afraid that the hispanics are now the minority race in America? |
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In my mind Barack got his pitch right in his zone and he wiffed...badly. The opportunity to address all these racial issues was a once in a life time event.His preacher had set the table for him to say to the country or at least his Democratic constituency that it is time to put all this whining behind us, time to man up, time to take the opportunities this country gives and not complain that the country hasn't given enough. He could have risen above every divisive black/white issue that this country has faced for 150 years. He could have spoken, not as a candidate, but as a leader. It wasn't an "I have a dream" speech as some have said, but it could have been. He got his pitch, he missed and proved he does not have the guts or talent to lead. JV talent not ready for the show. |
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from "brain dead", PC self loathing, white guilt, and therefore "Oblama Hussein" and Co. can go to hell!
I don't buy in to their "racist/commie/ whitey hating braying"! |
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MKH,
I noticed that Townhall had enough sense to take down Matt Lewis' offensive post from earlier today about new NY Governor Paterson where Pastor Matthew made a Keith Olbermann-like potshot about people with physical disabilities being able to "score chicks."
Is it any surprise that Matt admits to being such a big fan of the tacky Chris Matthews ?
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The problem with all you who treat politics as entertainment or a blood sport is that you all cannot conceive how the normal person views this.
Yawn.
This story will grow old in two weeks, tops.
I mean, let's be serious. If his fire-and-brimstone preacher is the worst dirt Obama has to face then he's in good shape.
Remember, Bill Clinton had Jennifer Flowers and he got elected.
Do you know what kind of preacher George Washington had? Thought not. Nuff said.
George Washington was a Free Mason. If you think Mormons are wierd, check out the Masons.
I think sometimes you all forget exactly how partisan politics is supposed to work.
Hamilton represented one end of the political spectrum, Jefferson the other. This country was forged, and is forged, out of compromising the extremes.
The American people are not going to give two-hoots and holler about this.
You all wonder why blacks continually vote Democratic? Well after reading Mary's long diatribe it is easy to see WHY.
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Thanks MKH, for an honest perspective on Obama's speech.
Personally, I found nothing overtly offensive about it.
What is offensive, is the predictable, drooling, mindless praise the media automatically gives Obama.
Chris Matthews is the worst.
According to Matthews and his guests: The speech should be required reading for first-graders; It's the greatest speech since "I Have a Dream"; It's right up there with classic literature; and on and on and on...
BARF!
The speech was OKAY, not great, not bad.
So, thanks again TH and MKH, my last resort for any honest critique on the presumptive Democratic nominee. |
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I understand the plight of the African American people of the past. Magic word PAST. This is 2008 and The Reverand could help his congregation heal the wounds of that past and encourage, especially the young people to rise above the hate and prejudice and still maintain pride in who they are. Instead he is helping hold them captive to hate and the past which complicates the problem even more. Borak Obama has not demonstrated much patriotism and he has been influenced by his spiritual advisor. You do not attend a church for 23 years and not adopt the same beliefs. |
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"I am child of God before I am human.
I am Human before I am Black.
I am Black before I am American.
I am American before I am Me."
I can't speak for others, but I NEVER have considered myself a white person first and an American second. I am an American child of God. No other distinction really matters to me, except maybe, the title of Conservative.
As long as people see themselves as black or white first and American second, we will always have problems like these.
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I thought that to be horrible as well. Anger ridden...chip on the shoulder.
Don't be fooled (baracked) by Barack,
This is from the Trinity United Church of Christ website...
ABOUT US...
We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian... Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent. We are an African people, and remain "true to our native land," the mother continent, the cradle of civilization. God has superintended our pilgrimage through the days of slavery, the days of segregation, and the long night of racism. It is God who gives us the strength and courage to continuously address injustice as a people, and as a congregation. We constantly affirm our trust in God through cultural expression of a Black worship service and ministries which address the Black Community.
MISSION...
The fortunate who are among us combine forces with the less fortunate to become agents of change for God who is not pleased with America’s economic mal-distribution!
This sounds angry to me... We've been Baracked (fooled) by his disengeneous excuses of not knowing RevWrights anti-American hate & bigotry.
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I am child of God before I am human.
I am Human before I am Black.
I am Black before I am American.
I am American before I am Me.
This is true individualism grounded in real associations not rhetoric or intellectual kung-fu.
my prayer is that all the writers who have tooken time out of their precious lifes to consider if they are treating others like they want to be treated. This is the true answer to racism.
I am guilty as with many of being energized to fight in the arena of ideals over issues that won't add an once to anyones character or content.
Please stop fighting with me and others to score points. This forum truly is the crab pot. lets stop fighting each other to get out of the pot and help each other to escape. |
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Let's look at Obama's past. Raised by a white mom and white grandparents in Hawaii. He attended an exclusive private high school in Honolulu, where he went by the name Barry. Friends who knew him then said he hung out with the white kids. Not exactly your average black-America mainland experience.
So how does he end up with the likes of Wright and his black liberation theology? Some have posited it was a political calculation designed to give him black street cred in his early elections.
Whatever his motivations, he seems to lack the political sensitivity to understand how his close association with Wright and his "social theology" would play outside the angry black community.
His candidacy does not transcend race as other black candidacies might. Obama's is mired in it. I'm a white women who has many conservations with friends of color. For so-called non-whites, race looms large in their lives. It seems to color (no pun intended) almost everything. Race, for the vast majority of whites, is a non-issue. We never think about it. We want a color-blind society where race is not an issue. Let's have equality under the law, live peacefully and equatably side by side and be done with it.
It's sad that the first credible black president had past associations which apparently make this impossible. I would not vote for Obama. I want a color-blind person as POTUS. Obama's willing association with the anti-white, pro-Marxist Wright does not convince me that he is.
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"I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe."-Barak Obama
Classy. Call your grandmother a racist to further your political career. It just keeps getting better.
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Obama is learning you can't totally hide from your past, even with liberal twirp journalists like Keith Olbermann kissing your butt 24-7. From what I've seen and heard, his #'s with white males are plummeting.
Maybe he should have addressed his 20 year relationship with Wright before it became a major liability to his presidential ambitions. |
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Nearly a year ago, Obama said that if anyone working for him had said about ANY ethnic group what Don Imus had said, they would no longer be working for him.
Apparently, that doesn't apply to him continuing to patronize a Pastor who speaks that way.
Read on....
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April 11, 2007
In an interview with ABC News Wednesday afternoon, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., called for the firing of talk radio host Don Imus. Obama said he would never again appear on Imus' show, which is broadcast on CBS Radio and MSNBC television.
"I understand MSNBC has suspended Mr. Imus," Obama told ABC News, "but I would also say that there's nobody on my staff who would still be working for me if they made a comment like that about anybody of any ethnic group. And I would hope that NBC ends up having that same attitude."
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It was a brilliant speech, perfect in every point, searing, nuanced, gut-wrenching, loyal, and deeply, deeply Christian.
Well done, President-elect Obama! |
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Welcome back, Hamster. You were missed.
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I guess it is cj's intention to spam every post on TownHall. |
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I wish I could say I was surprised, but I'm not. That message has been the overriding one too long.
Sticking to the squandered chances theme, my co-blogger at my main blog, Shoebox, put up a post yesterday that says that Obama is creating a "lost generation" in the form of Generation Y - http://norunnyeggs.com/2008/03/obama-creates-a-lost-genera tion/ |
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Is it your intention to paste your Obama commercial into every thread on this post...? |
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I am a white, 57 year old woman who was reared in Tioga County, PA. The same Tioga County that made the front page of the Wall Street Journal in the mid 80's for racial and bias acts. It is the same TIoga County that in the 70's ran a black man out of town for dating a white girl. It is a sportsman's paradise and with that it has roots with the KLAN. Residents are much less likely to be members, but faces of lawyers, doctors, accountants and businessmen from Philly or Jersey who have "clubs" in the region, are currently faces of this antiquated organization. They fly their helicopters or bring their Hummers to the region and exchange their angry rhetoric of race, religion and even education bias. They call the residents cattle who are just a breed to serve their needs. The KLAN is no longer an organization against the blacks, it has grown to include all poverty dwellers. It is now a class system. We need to start addressing the "truths" of our nation if ever we are going to overcome our weaknesses. I believe Obama sees this nation with a good heart and a gift of unity and hope. I was reared by a father who uttered the bitterness of a different era. If you walk into an elder care home, you can hear the bias of that generation. I know I hold far different views. I believe many of us have evolved. We can no longer close our eyes. We need to speak about the wrongs, bring them out into the open arena and find a cure for them. Our past does include secret laboratories and tainted history. But those tests were not limited to the blacks. They include Indians, poor whites and orientals. We can utilize this information to create a better tomorrow.
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If a person picks an angry racist advisor/mentor like Wright when he could have picked any other person, means he is okay with Wrights philosophy. His wife's comments further confirm these views. And, his bills in the senate putting African countries FIRST and not domestic issues, make him an man whose allegience is elsewhere other than the USA. Not fit for POTUS! |
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"... the fact that Obama chose [Wright] as a close spiritual adviser for 20 years makes it nearly impossible for me to buy what the Messiah is selling."
Which is why this stain on Obama's wholly un-stellar political career will NOT go unnoticed by the great, unwashed masses. |
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