Obama and race.

[kv0925]

Here is some very interesting reading from a few modern historians about the "self-consciously historic" election of yesterday.

Choice quote:
As we congratulate ourselves for overcoming four centuries of racial oppression, we need to recognize the extent to which Barack Obama also stands outside of that history. Barack Obama stands tall as a symbol of black achievement but he does so as a man with no roots in those aspects of the black American experience that have poisoned American race relations. He has no roots in American slavery, the era of Jim Crow, or urban ghettos. Is it possible that the only African-American who could cross the fragile bridge across the racial divide was a man unassociated with the great crucibles of African-American life?

I think it's important that we recognize that while Barack Obama is a black man in terms of heritage and skin color, he's white in a lot of significant ways, which is undoubtedly why he was so palatable to so many voters. And even so, he only carried a minority of the total white voters. I really wonder how many McCain voters voted the way they did because they couldn't bring themselves to vote for a black man. How else can you explain the sign I saw in my own neighborhood, "Another Democrat For McCain"? What else can be significant enough a distinction to cause someone to support the party whose beliefs are counter to their own? It's not unlike the Hillary Clinton supporters (mostly women) who threatened to throw their support to McCain after Obama clinched the nomination--the very audience the McCain camp had in mind when they selected Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Anyway. It's going to be pretty interesting, I think, to see how the next 4 years pan out. Assuming Obama isn't assassinated by some fanatic who simply cannot stand to see a black man in the White House. I really hope that's a far-fetched possibility, but you just never know.

Comments

[evilangel-lib.livejournal.com]

I do kind of worry about that last far-fetched possibility. I want to have faith that mankind is better than that, though. =(

[sydelbow.livejournal.com]

I worried about it through the entire speech, which was QUITE LENGTHY.


And, Obama isn't technically black. He's mixed. My friend Chris, he's mixed but looks white. He's not white. He's light. Obama isn't black. He's dark-skinned mixed.

[cp.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I watched the speech the next day so I knew it was safe, but I'd have been pretty well on edge if I was watching it live too. There are just still too many crazies who DO NOT want a black man as President. It's still a backwards world in so many ways.

And as I said below, I think the fact that Obama isn't all that black in terms of skin tone, speech, or demeanor had a lot to do with why he was elected. We elected *this* black man, but that hardly means we're ready to elect *any* black man, or a truly black man, you know? I hate to say it because it sounds so racist, but that doesn't mean it's not true.

[cp.livejournal.com]

I think *most* of humanity is better than that, which is something we tend to forget because of the real screwballs out there who get an idea into their head and act on it even though it's a very bad idea. :)

[cp.livejournal.com]

I'm not saying he wasn't affected, and there's definitely something to applaud in having elected the first African-American President. But the fact is, as the article states, he's really not a prime example of what it is to be African-American. He struggled growing up in a single-parent household, and there's no doubt that he bucked the odds with his own determination and intelligence to get as far as he's come. I love and deeply respect the guy and I'm beyond thrilled that he carried the day, no question about that. But even so, I think the fact that he doesn't really and truly look or act or speak like most African Americans had much to do with Tuesday's results as well. My point was simply that even though we as a nation elected *this* black man, that doesn't mean that many other black men would have had a shot, because racism and white privelege are still alive and well, and were not at all defeated Tuesday.

[cp.livejournal.com]

Yes, me too. I'm happy because (in my opinion) the better man won, but I just think it's too early to be telling ourselves we really busted any race barrier. If we did, it's mainly because minorities voted in record numbers this time around!

[cp.livejournal.com]

Yeah, probably so, just because that would have been a horrible travesty of all that is good and pure in this country and even the world as a whole! :)