2008 Election Chance to Realize American Ideal
Never have the stakes in American politics been higher than during the current presidential election. Barack Obama is the first black man to be a true contender for a presidential nomination in either political party, and his energy and candor has reinvigorated American politics.
But some people have recently focused on his race, rather than his message. A week ago former vice presidential candidate Geraline Ferraro stated that Obama wouldn't be a force without the automatic support of the black electorate. Her insulting statement overlooked the extreme competence with which Obama has run his campaign and his gift for moving speech that stir blacks and whites. She also made it clear that any candidate who is not a white, protestant male had better realize that they'd be nowhere without their particular race, religion or gender.
Ferraro's comments, and those that are increasingly being heard from inside the Clinton campaign, could have disastrous consequences for race relations in America. They could create a no-win situation in which blacks and all minorities feel slighted if Obama loses. If he wins, there will be voices that say he won only by virtue of race and the supposedly automatic votes that come along with it. In either case, the country will become more racially divided and polarized than at any time since the height of the civil rights movement half a century ago.
This time, however, we'd be a nation clearly moving away from the ideal of equality, rather than bravely fighting toward it.
What happens if Obama wins on his qualifications? Then we can say that the United States has truly put its history of racism behind. The prospect of such a country excites me. A century and a half after the Civil War, we are on the verge of realizing the dream of equality that has for so long remained an ideal unfulfilled. Whether Obama wins or loses isn't really important here. What is important is that, finally, we play the game based on merit.
But some people have recently focused on his race, rather than his message. A week ago former vice presidential candidate Geraline Ferraro stated that Obama wouldn't be a force without the automatic support of the black electorate. Her insulting statement overlooked the extreme competence with which Obama has run his campaign and his gift for moving speech that stir blacks and whites. She also made it clear that any candidate who is not a white, protestant male had better realize that they'd be nowhere without their particular race, religion or gender.
Ferraro's comments, and those that are increasingly being heard from inside the Clinton campaign, could have disastrous consequences for race relations in America. They could create a no-win situation in which blacks and all minorities feel slighted if Obama loses. If he wins, there will be voices that say he won only by virtue of race and the supposedly automatic votes that come along with it. In either case, the country will become more racially divided and polarized than at any time since the height of the civil rights movement half a century ago.
This time, however, we'd be a nation clearly moving away from the ideal of equality, rather than bravely fighting toward it.
What happens if Obama wins on his qualifications? Then we can say that the United States has truly put its history of racism behind. The prospect of such a country excites me. A century and a half after the Civil War, we are on the verge of realizing the dream of equality that has for so long remained an ideal unfulfilled. Whether Obama wins or loses isn't really important here. What is important is that, finally, we play the game based on merit.
posted by CatZoo at 7:50 PM
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