This is a great day for the States. Let's hear it for the voters of the United States and how they did two great things; one, they found a way to not let George Bush into office this year; and two, they managed to not just allow, but choose to have a half-black man in office. Sadly, this is not time for major celebration. I do not mean to say that this is a bad event or it means nothing, but much like the appointment of Sandra Day O'Connor to the Supreme Court, this does not show true progress. We all care too much about it right now. At the moment, by pointing out that Obama is black, not Obama (D, Illinois) or even Barak Obama, great American, it shows that we are still too hung up on race. It won't be until the black Ruth Bader Ginsberg (if you don't know who this is, then it proves my point) becomes president that the true progress shows. Now that this has happened, let's never ever ever ever mention Obama's race in any serious way. Until we do that, we are still racist.
Just a quick addition to this post, new ways of phrasing the media coverage that are explicitly racist:
"Obama was elected president of the United States, this is a great achievement, for a black man."
"After over 200 years of slavery, followed by over 100 years of oppression, African Americans finally have found someone good enough to be our president."
"Through thick and thin, this shows true progress for Americans, they have finally decided elect into the presidency a black man."
I voted for Obama because I thought he was the better candidate. His race played no part (at least consciously) in my voting for him. One thing I can say that makes me happy is how few people I know did vote for him based on race. (I bet there were a good chunk that didn't vote for him based on race though.) To be elected president as a non-white candidate, this shows true greatness of character. It is just a fact that white people don't have to work as hard. To sum up, I think people need to focus on these great qualities, not on his race.
(Sorry for the rambling blog, I just want to make sure I'm getting my point across without downplaying how amazing this event truly is.)
2 comments:
I think that focusing on his great qualities is exactly how we came to elect him. The media has to create stories to fill the air time so the commercial advertisers have channels on which to market their products, so most of the 'news cycle' is rehashing what has been said or done in 16 different ways. It's almost all "filler", so of course there are going to be stupid stories. But - and I'm sure I haven't watched a full range of what's being broadcast - but I think the feeling here has been that this choice was the right choice based on intelligent, rational reasons b/c we are in a shitload of bad situations right now, and, by the way, a barrier has been broken.
Well, as long as race is a social issue (and it always will be) then whenever someone of a racial minority gains access to a position of power, (particularly for the first time) then people will comment on it. Just the way it is.
The specific comments that you listed in your entry were pretty terrible compared to the stuff we were watching here. Tom Brokaw made some lovely remarks about how someone of Senator Obama's skin color would have been treated at the time our Founding Fathers did their Founding and how far we as a society have progressed that someone who would not have been seen as fully human is now our leader. (Mr. Brokaw said it much, much better than my flimsy sum-up)
Is society racist? Of course. Is that a bad thing? Meh. People hear "racist" and assume that what you mean is "someone who looks down on other people because of race". What if you just notice race? Is that any different than noticing, say, gender, or accent, or attire? People assume things about black people, but people also assume things about people who drive truck for a living.
Race is one of the factors in society that can impede/aid a person that has nothing to do with his or her character, decisions, beliefs, etc. Just is. So, yes, Senator Obama being elected to the presidency is a great step for African-Americans, because it shows them that one of their own can make it to a place of power formerly only held be people who were *not* them. It's also a great step for Americans because it shows all of us the same thing. But it means something different to people who are like him vs people who aren't.
Just the way it is, baby. :)
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