Truth will out. First Obama wasn't black enough for the black community and now, as I've long suspected, he isn't white enough for the white community. In other words racism still has a stranglehold on the American public.An AP poll bears this out. In search of why the Presidential race is closer than it should be and if there is indeed latent racism among the voters, these words were tested regarding blacks. Boastful - 22% agreed, violent - 20%, lazy -13 %, irresponsible -11%. Those percentages may not seem high but lumped together with the one quarter of white Democrats who stated, "if only blacks would try harder, they could be just as well off as whites," it does not bode well.
I find a couple of things of interest here. The fact that the thousands of Black Americans who have achieved great success remain under the radar. And the fact that none of the above test words in any way begin to describe Obama, the individual. Until we as a people can get beyond this, all people of color, any color, will continue to wage an uphill battle. The squeaky wheels like Josh Howard of the Mavericks will continue to get the spot light while the exceptionally able like Barack Obama will continue to struggle. It is not an indication that we as a people are making much progress in over coming our prejudices.
The second point that interests me is how this applies to gender. Hillary Clinton broke through so many of those stereotypical barriers in her quest for the nomination, the pendulum named gender has swung the opposite direction. Her success opened the door for a woman who is minimally qualified for the office she has been offered the opportunity to attain.
I conclude from this that had Hillary been the Black, she'd have not even been in the race and had Obama been white it would be all over but the shouting.
What a sorry state of affairs this is!
6 comments:
All this does cause me to pause and wonder.
It is a very sad state of affairs, but subtle racism is alive and well in this country.
My brother-in-law is a black medical doctor in the Washington, DC area. He deals with this on a daily, regular basis. He drives a classic Mercedes convertible and is often stopped by the police for no apparent reason other than he is driving an "expensive" car and is darker skinned. (And he's in his 60s!)
As much as I don't want to think of it, I am fearful that if Obama is elected, a listener of hate radio will make an attempt on his life.
All the best...The president of America
holiday maker, I don't understand your comment. Would you care to enlighten me?
I do not understand Holiday Maker's comment either.
I agree with what you write. Sarah Palin is not only a joke, she is a pretty scary joke, once one learns her odd religious beliefs. If McCain gets into office, programs for the poor and middle class will be drastically cut because we "can't afford" them.
I am getting to the point where what I'd like to do is pool resources with a few other older, single, clean-living, quiet women in a reasonable nice home. Do a little truck farming. Perhaps share cars for economy. Have a few dogs around.
Very off-topic, but there you go.
Thank you for your extremely kind comment on my blog (Octogenarian). You've done a great job in massaging my geriatric ego. I will return the compliment. I find your blog an exceeding thoughtful and insightful (I can think of even more adjectives) commentary.
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