The race… and race.
Posted by Blue Eyed Buddhist on October 10th, 2008
Whether we like it or not (personally, I do) the fact is that race is a part of the Presidential race. It brings up some interesting questions, points, and issues.
To start us off with a little food for thought, here’s a letter to the editor from a guy named Kelvin LaFond, of Fort Worth, Texas:
What if John McCain were a former president of the Harvard Law Review?
What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?What if McCain were still married to the first woman he said “I do” to?
What if Obama were the candidate who started dating a woman before he was separated from his first wife, and then left his crippled first wife after she no longer measured up to his standards?What if Michelle Obama were a wife who not only became addicted to pain killers, but acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?
What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?What if Obama were a member of the “Keating 5″?
What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker?If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?
This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.
Pow. Man, this is a fantastic letter. I don’t care who you are; the reality is that even the most ardent Republican, if they were honest, would have to admit that the campaign would be looking MUCH different if these shoes were on the other feet.
If Obama had all of McCain’s baggage, there’s no way he’d have won the nomination; if somehow he had, he certainly wouldn’t be winning the race. And you can just imagine what people would be saying about him; there’s people at McCain/Palin rallies right now saying “kill him!” and “off with his head!” over accusations that Obama happens to know a guy, William Ayers, who was a domestic terrorist… back when Obama was 8 years old.
And yet McCain has all of that nasty stuff in his past, and he not only won the nomination, but he’s going to get plenty of votes from people this year.
Race matters. Studies have shown that people, even non-racists, will unconsciously discriminate against blacks. They might not mean to, and if you pointed it out to them they’d be offended and upset that you’re calling them racist, but they do it without evil intent.
Does this mean that anyone who criticizes Obama is racist? Of course not. To be honest, I have some sympathy for the Republicans; if they go too far in criticizing Obama, they definitely run the risk of either being racist, or at least being accused of it.
But still… we do racist things whether we like it or not.
Did you see the bit during the most recent “town hall” style debate where McCain got a question from a young black guy, Oliver Clark? Here’s the video:
McCain, during his answer, said to Clark “I’ll bet you may never have heard of them before this crisis…” (talking about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the big mortgage companies).
Now, personally, I didn’t think anything of this at the time. But you know what? A lot of people did, and with fair reason. If it’d been a young WHITE guy, would McCain have said that? If it’d been an older white woman, would he have said it like that?
(For the record, Oliver Clark had heard of the two companies. In fact, he has a bachelor’s degree in political science, a master’s degree in legal studies, did a couple of years of law school but didn’t finish, and is now working on a master’s degree in public administration- which makes him, actually, better educated than both John McCain and Sarah Palin combined. Just so you know.)
Does this mean McCain is a racist? Of course not. I don’t believe, not for a second, that he is. But I do think that whether he likes it or not, he’s just like everyone else, including you and me; he makes certain assumptions about people merely from looking at them, and one of the factors that goes into that is race.
So what do we do about this stuff? How does one side fairly bring up an issue without making it some kind of “dog whistle” to the racists?
I think that the answer is that you have to ensure that instead of putting out a negative campaign that just makes you not like the opponent, you have to run a positive campaign that talks about the actual POLICIES that you support. You should be able to say why someone’s policies are bad without saying that the person themself is bad.
McCain isn’t doing that. His team is trying to get Americans to believe that Barack Obama, himself, is a bad, bad guy, potentially a terrorist, certainly an angry black man who hates America. Or so Team McCain would have us think.
I mean, in the past few days McCain/Palin supporters have called a black TV cameraman “nigger” and said “sit down, boy” to him; screamed “kill him” during a McCain speech talking about Obama; yelled “treason” in response to a Palin speech; and shouted that Obama is a “terrorist“.
Plainly, if McCain wants to run the high-minded campaign he used to talk about, he’s not doing it; he’s got racist idiots turning out for him and he’s not doing anything to scold them or stop them.
This is the biggest problem, in my opinion, with how McCain’s campaign has turned in the past week. Here’s a short video for you to watch, something McCain said some months back:
Click on the video, it’s only 13 seconds.
McCain says if all you run is negative attack ads, you must not have a vision for the future, or you can’t articulate it.
Yet McCain’s advertising for the week ending October 4th is… almost 100% negative.
The reality of the campaign is that McCain’s team has chosen to go all negative, all the time. That means saying nasty things about Obama, and whether they like it or not, that means they’re intentionally inflaming racial tensions and issues.
It’s a shame, because what it means is that if/when Obama wins, there’s going to be a bunch of people out there who are now all fired up about race… but they’re going to be on the losing side, and they’re going to equate this Presidential race with race for a long, long time.
Thanks to John McCain’s naked ambition to be President at any and all costs, we stand to lose a chance to really advance this nation when it comes to racial issues.
I personally think that Obama will be able to overcome and that we’ll move forward, but not as far as we could have, and that’s a shame.
Oh yeah, if you’re still thinking that race isn’t any big deal here… one last item of food for thought:
What if one of Obama’s daughters were 17, unmarried, and pregnant? How do you think people would be thinking and talking about that? What, if anything, would the Republicans and Fox News be saying about it?
October 10th, 2008 at 2:57 am
I would be ashamed to be a republican.
October 10th, 2008 at 4:56 am
I’m going to swipe a quote from a fun blog I read that lays out quite a few examples of Republican hyprocrisy:
————————-
“I was thinking about writing how Palin had been ripping off the taxpayers of Alaska by charging travel per diem on those nights that she was in her own home, and how you just know the Republicans would blow that into a major scandal if she was a Democrat.
I was also thinking about writing how outraged the Republicans would have been if Obama had a 17 year old daughter who was pregnant and who had posted photographs of herself holding a bottle of liquor, or if he had a son who had to flee into the Army to allegedly avoid criminal charges.
I was thinking how much fury would be coming from the Wingnuts if Joe Biden’s son was a director of a failing bank.
I remember how much scorn the Republicans heaped on John Kerry because he married a rich woman and how silent they are about McCain dumping his crippled first wife to marry a rich young heiress.
I remember how disdainful the Right was about Kerry’s all-too-frequent referrals to his military service, yet how they tolerate McCain’s references to his service every fifteen nanoseconds.
I could write about how George H.W. Bush asked people to volunteer with their communities and get involved with his “thousand points of light” while the `08 GOP convention heaped scorn on someone who did just that.
I was going to write about how McCain decries partisanship while his surrogates engage in a nasty series of slashing attacks.
I was going to use all that as the basis for a rant about Republican hypocrisy. But really, writing about how two-faced and dishonest the GOP has become is sort of like complaining about a dog’s shedding. It’s what they do, it’s who they are. And, at least for now, I am tired of it.”
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And one from myself: How can a person that was tortured by a foreign power be in favor of torture as a form of interrogation in violation of the Geneva Convention?
October 10th, 2008 at 4:58 am
George W. Bush’s two positive legacies as a President are speeding up the arrival of America’s first black President by decades, and disproving the myth of Ivy League superiority once and for all.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com
October 10th, 2008 at 5:32 am
Poppycock
October 10th, 2008 at 6:11 am
The other question that begs to be asked is, what if his name was Richard Williams instead of Barack Obama?
October 10th, 2008 at 6:12 am
one thing people fail to remember, Obama is just as much white as he is black.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:30 am
Brilliant Paul. Really excellent work.
Don Brown
October 10th, 2008 at 8:08 am
[...] be saying ? There’s more. Much more. I’m proud to say a fellow controller has it on his blog. The race…and race. I said it before, Hate & Fear. That is what the Republican Party has become — the party of [...]
October 10th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Hey….I’m white, I’m Republican, I’m a controller….and I’m voting for Obama. I’m not embarassed to be a republican…but I do know a better candidate when I see one. MCCain is an American hero….not a President…plain and simple. I hate the race card…perhaps the results of this election will finally atleast in some way put it to rest.
October 10th, 2008 at 9:11 am
I too am a republican who will vote for Obama, just as I voted AGAINST GWB both times…and I AM embarrassed to be a republican after the last 20 years of watching them evolve into the party of fear. I hate watching Mcsame’s election campaign sink lower and lower, do they think we are ALL stupid enough to buy their propaganda and hate?
October 10th, 2008 at 9:35 am
I’m in ‘chillenbythepool’s’ corner in that I consider myself middle of the road and used to vote split tickets. I voted for Reagan twice thinking he was going to balance the budget. I haven’t voted for a republican since. They have become the party of greed, not financial resposibility like they claim.
October 10th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
I am shocked it takes this sort of blog entry by BEB and no real Far right Wingers posting support for “That Old guy” in the face of it. I am still in Awe how stupid people are to not see what the republican party really stands for, Making businesses and the already rich more rich and more powerful at the cost of the rest of us peons. This is coming from yet another Conservative (Myself) that has voted Republican most of my life.
I used to think the conservative party held at least some of my ideals in life, yet I find many of the politicians do things I would never condone. (Both parties do actually) At least I can partially see how and why Marion Blakey lied with a straight (Albeit, BUTT UGLY) face to members of congress. Its what they all do and they get desensitized to it to the point that they ignore it when it is done back to them.
Chillenbythepool Says:
October 10th, 2008 at 9:11 am
“I hate watching Mcsame’s election campaign sink lower and lower, do they think we are ALL stupid enough to buy their propaganda and hate?”
My take on this is that the people that have already made up their mind are happy the Old guy is taking off the gloves. Nobody in their right mind believes this crap that is undecided. I most certainly won’t change the minds of people like myself that will vote for Obama. If the debates are any indication anybody that is undecided was TURNED off during any attacks on the other and wanted to hear SOLUTIONS not bickering. I can’t see how they would react any differently to Ads.
I think at least for me McCain Killed his campaign when he said “Guess who voted for (Whatever policy), THIS GUY” and the camera showed Obama in the background smiling it off and knowing in his mind he was going, YESSSSSS!
McCain came across as the jackass he is in that very moment. All I could think was, What a jerk. After all is said and done I bet that comes up after he loses as the nail in the coffin.
October 10th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
The “scared straight express” won’t be gettin my vote.
October 10th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
What if Obama was a Air Traffic Controller? 18 months of experience and still a developmental.
What if McCain was a Air Traffic Controller? 26 years experience and a senior controller.
Who do you want on position when it hits the fan.
October 10th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
“What if Obama was a Air Traffic Controller? 18 months of experience and still a developmental.
What if McCain was a Air Traffic Controller? 26 years experience and a senior controller.
Who do you want on position when it hits the fan.”
Rangemark,
If the 26 year experienced controller wandered aimlessly during discussions, said “my fellow prisoners” when speaking to people, talked down to people, and used the same air traffic control techniques that another controller used that killed hundreds of people, I’d take the inexperienced guy every day.
Oh, BTW, Obama and McCain aren’t controllers..they’re running for president…in case you were unaware.
October 10th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Rangemark said:
“who do you want on position when it hits the fan”.
I’ll take the one that’s calm, cool, and calculating. Not the gunslinging “maverick”.
Just my opinion.
October 10th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
By the way, I think “it might be hitting the fan” right now.
October 10th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Really! For president? Amazing!
October 10th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Was a Republican, now an Independent. Voted for Bush in 2000(Biggest mistake ever) Kerry in 2004 and now Obama in 2008. Palin just found to have abused her power as Gov.of Alaska. Obama WILL be a friend of air traffic controllers!
October 10th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
I don’t believe any of you guys are Republicans. No way, no how. But that’s fine with me.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Anybody see McCain’s townhall meeting today. You’ve got to be kidding me. I almost thought I heard someone say “get a rope”. Report just in, “Palin abused power…”in troopergate scandal. Unless you make more than 250,000 or have an IQ less than 75 how can you vote for these people.
No matter all you haters, McCain is done. He’ll finish out his term in the senate, then retire honorably. As for Sarah Palin, I can only hope her 15 minutes are almost over.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
McCain/Palin are running the lowest, most pathetic, desperate, campaign I have ever witnessed.
While we’re on the subject of the no-integrity liar, cheat, and thief, John McCain, here’s a nice 1989 article from his own state on his corrupt involvement with Charles Keating.
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1989-11-29/news/mccain-the-most-reprehensible-of-the-keating-five/1
October 11th, 2008 at 1:27 am
Rangemark
Controller McCain would have been forced to retire 16 years ago!
Nobama
Believe it, I am also a Republican that is voting for Obama.
October 11th, 2008 at 6:12 am
Bologna
October 11th, 2008 at 6:34 am
“over accusations that Obama happens to know a guy, William Ayers, who was a domestic terrorist… back when Obama was 8 years old.”
This Ayers guy still disparages America, as he was pictured 2 years ago stomping the american flag at a photo op.
Just happens to know a guy?…. He served on a board with this guy. Went to a half dozen speaking engagements with this guy. Had his coming out party for the state Senate at this guys house. Was hired by this guy to distribute educational funds (that never made it to any schools) from a grant.
Anyone that thinks Obama didn’t know his past is naive.
Obama scares me.
McCain scares me.
October 11th, 2008 at 6:49 am
I hope that when the Democrats win, all of this “why do you hate America” and “love it or leave it” bulls**t will end.
Saying “my country, right or wrong” is like saying “my mother, drunk or sober.” Yes, both are true, but it misses the point.
Obama could have made a lot more money as a Harvard-educated lawyer at or near the top of his class, working in a big Chicago firm, than he’s made in his years of community organizing, Illinois state politics, or even as a U.S. senator. No one’s ever going to say that his life has ever had anything like five years in Hanoi, but he loves this country just as much as you or me (lifelong Democrat, five years in the Air Force).
October 11th, 2008 at 6:54 am
Add me to the list of ex-Redumblicans that will vote for Obama. I voted for Bush in 2000(“thought” he was the best candidate) and voted for the moron again in 2004(just didn’t believe Kerry was the right guy for the job). I regret my 2004 vote. Bush will go down in history as one of, if not the worst President ever.
Nobama, you need to realize that there are more of us ex-Redumblicans all across the country. Just because you don’t believe it, doesn’t make it any less true.
As for ex-associations, we all have people in our past who might have done some despicable things in their twenties. It is more important to look at what they are now. Ayers is a university professor and was man of the year in Chicago a short time ago. Let it go already.
October 11th, 2008 at 7:46 am
Nobama
Keep your head deeply planted in the sand “my friend”!
October 11th, 2008 at 9:36 am
I grew up in a staunch republican family in the south. My mom worked for Reagan’s and the first Bush’s campaigns. I voted for Dubya in the last two elections. Primarily because I believed his lies about weapons of mass destruction, and I was (and still am) pissed about 9-11.
I’m now 29 and a new hire. I just got into ATC in the last 3 years since starting my degree at ERAU.
At this point, I don’t know how anyone could vote republican in the next election. This is coming from someone whose entire immediate family will probably vote for them again. It’s like they’re completely ignoring the last eight years in favor of at least another four years of the same failed policies.
George W. Bush has single-handedly cured this republican, and at the very least, made an independent out of me. I will vote for Barack Obama in this election, and I will do so with a big fat smile on my face.
October 11th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
You aren’t fooling anyone. No self-respecting Republican could ever support Obama. But that’s fine with me. Support whoever you like. Just be honest.
October 11th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Nobama,
Your mind is either closed or simple…or both.
I hope you are a person who has little or no influence with those around you.
October 11th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
[...] FAA News America’s airways ready for NextGen – ZDNetAmerican Law Firms File Claim Against the FAA and Seek Discovery … – MarketWatchGoodrich obtains FAA approval for new part – Press-Register – al.comGoodrich Receives FAA Approval on Innovative Fan Cowl for V2500 Engine – MarketWatchFAA teacher ‘raps’ up award – Florida Today « The race… and race. [...]
October 11th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Nobama
I have been a registered Rep. since 1980. I worked in Reagan’s and Bush Sr.’s campaigns.
How is that for honesty? I will be voting for Obama, and I just might send his campaign a donation in your honor!
My party has been taken over by the Neo-cons, and I am still devided on fighting to get my old party back, or jumping ship and register as an Indepentent.
October 12th, 2008 at 5:13 am
Yeah, right. Whatever.
October 13th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Nobama=Nobrains