I think we are all aware of the historical racial pressures that Irish-Catholic Americans felt before John F. Kennedy was elected. Once elected, a lot of those tensions began to evaporate. In our current social mores, we don’t consider the Irish to be a “minority” class or culture rewarded with special protection/attention. Hispanics, for example, are just a special type of white European that fits the Irish role today (poor Brazilians/Portuguese). I’ll try and paraphrase Wanda Sykes from Jay Leno: I’m not so sure if I want a black president [in reference to the popularity of Obama]. How can we blame the man when we are the man? This hints of the Bill Cosby theory on the main cause of current Black social problems. Could we see a true paradigm shift if Obama is elected? Could this be an immensely positive thing for the African-American psyche? Please don’t let this degenerate into Ferraro talk.
To an extent, Wanda Sykes is right. An Obama Presidency renders a lot of the racial identity politics rhetoric of the post civil rights movement era moot. A black president proves that America is capable of electing a black president, and officially marks the entrance of black America into the political mainstream, counterintuitively accompanied by conservative blacks peeling off into the Republican party in larger numbers. However, that doesn't mean racism is dead. Racism doesn't die until the racists do, and that's happening. If you go into any high school cafeteria nowdays, the tables areracially integrated now, which is not the case with corporate cafeterias, which is a pretty good guage of the difference. The difficul part (and why Obama is so threatening for white liberals over ~44 and identity politics in general) for the Democratic party is that our 1968-present coalition requires a patronage transaction to take place that validates a white liberal power structure as patrons of black people. An Obama presidency signals the beginning of the end of that system, and we can expect the people at the top of that system (both white and black) to go after him hammer and tong, because it's their meal ticket he's ******* with.
Wahoo- I agree to a certain extent, but you have to admit that a having black president makes it a lot tougher to argue this blanket oppression story in favor of racial token system that benefits the elitewhile leaving generations of poverty behind.
I think it help a little..there are those who will use it as motivation to achieve their own dreams. However, there are plenty of role models already, yet so many black kids fail to think outside of their comfort zone. I have already talked to several youngsters who assume that BO is selling out to the 'man.' So no matter what happens these types will always fall far short. It's just in their minds that they can't succeed. As far as black/white relations, I already see a major difference. Especially w/ my age(35) and younger.
That attitude (I hear it a lot too) ticks me off. All hail Bill Clinton from the southern white state of Arkansas who plays his saxophone on Arsenio Hall and sings in black churches which makes him the first black president. Obama is the sellout and Clinton isn’t? Clinton doing it is somehow legitimate and Obama is just being political? I really think this country is screwed up in the head. There is a HUGE problem here that a black man can’t be successful without selling out to the intellectually superior whitey, but whites like Clinton did it on their own.
Condi Rice has a very interesting and it a great story. unfortunately and sadly, she does not get the credit nor admiration she deserves from the black community or the media. Frankly, I think she would be a very interesting pick as a VP candidate for McCain. She has some baggage due to her service under the bush administration but she is very bright and can obviously handle herself well as shown during the congressional investigations....
I love the line about blacks peeling off into the red party, quick name 10 black right wing supporters: Condi Keys The Rock Powell the chick on CNN more? are there any more?
Obama could start by denouncing and rejecting the racist **** that his preacher is spewing. I remember when I caught my son on brownpride.com or some **** along those lines. He got a earful. Racist are anywhere you can find them.
In response to the OP, it will finally put racial relations and civil rights, and how we address those issues out in the open and on the table for discussion. Black/white racial relationships are treated like an 800 pound gorilla sitting in the living room -- ignored as a topic of discussion but always there. Add in the reaction to Hispanics, and the subtext of black/Hispanic relations, and you might actually have an honest dialogue on some of the feeling, stereotypes and impressions that underlie our discussions of entitlement programs and illegal immigration. We might dance around these issues on economic grounds, but the main, unspoken presence on these issues is race and ethnic identity. I defy anyone on this board to show me that race does not play a part in our debate on these issues.
