I think the point you missed in the 60 mins interview was that it isn't Obama making his racial background an issue; it the media and people who pose the sophmoric question of "Is the country ready for a 'black' president?"
The fact is that Obama wants to talk about the issues, but all anyone on the right (and some on the left) seems to want to do is criticize him for "not being a real black American" (Coulter), call him a "halfrican" (KSFO), make fun of his ears (I don't even need to name names here), discuss how he lacks government experience (despite years as a community organizer, state legislator, and federal service comparable to Abraham Lincoln), point out that his name ‘sounds a lot like Osama’, that his middle name is Hussein, or any other number of personal/straw man attacks too varied and tired to mention.
And the truth is; I don’t even have Obamania. I think he will be vetted like all candidates in the primaries and we’ll see who stands the test. I do think that he brings a lot to the realm of politics people of both sides can appreciate in that he is energizing a generation of young people who find politics boring and inconsequential to their lives.
As far as your racism documentation challenge goes, I have no response conveyable by type. You can live in your world where ‘racism’ means separate drinking fountains and the like. You can think that as a minority we only ‘make up’ or ‘search out’ racism in the way we are treated. Hell, you can even think that we keep a running journal of the times our skin color is used by someone to pre-determine our intellect, culture, or motivation. I know there’s all sorts of ideas about blacks in America these days, I especially like the one that says we’d all vote for the same guy just because he’s the darkest running.
The truth remains that Obama isn’t playing the race card, but it is being continually dealt to him in every interview he gives and every time a cable news show has “experts” discuss his campaign. I thought he and his wife did his best to play-down misconceptions and hysterics surrounding his ethnicity.
And I’d like to point out how far out of context you put Obama’s responses. He wasn’t talking about being “black enough” to not catch a cab, as your wording implies; he had moved into talking about why it is he identifies himself as “black”, when he is in fact only half.
But could you imagine what type of media storm it would be if Obama claimed to be “white”? Do you think there would be anyone on either side who would just be like “oh, yeah, Obama? Totally white dude, totally.”
No. And that is what he was addressing. In this country; as his main point seemed perfectly obvious, we still live under 17th century colonial concepts of racial identification. Whiteness is defined as an absence of black/Hispanic/Asian/Middle Eastern or any other non-European minority, even Jewish, not the other way around. In our society, any discernable “exotic” feature automatically knocks you out of “white” and into the myriad of other ethnicities.
And before you accuse me of reverse-racism (if it isn’t already too late) let me point out to you that I’ve gone my whole life trying to prove this otherwise. The majority of my life I’ve been the only black-Korean within 100 miles and the only one raised by white parents I’ve ever known (North Idaho isn’t particularly known for its tolerance of minorities or government for that matter).
But for all the benefit of the doubt I’ve given, I’ve learned that no matter how “articulate” or “clean” or “safe” people see me as, I am still first and foremost “not white”. (I'll have to look back in my diary for the "Today I was so racially discriminated against/threatened", but those are in storage and not readily available at this time.)
It is true that as a minority you reach a certain numbness to being treated like a minority, but that doesn’t mean you don’t notice it. Obama was doing his best to rise above the race card and he made this clear when pressed about his being the first serious black president contender holding him back:
No. I think if I don't win this race, it will be because of other factors. It's going to be because I have not shown to the American people a vision for where the country needs to go that they can embrace.
Of course, I don’t expect you to affirm anything that a majority of your readers don’t expect already along the lines of Obama and the sensationalism of “the Race Card”, but it isn’t very genuine the way you tried to pass off the 60 Minutes interview as Obama being the one taking advantage of its obvious role at this stage of the campaign.
The "race card" here means that he dares to mention his race, apparently. And you've already got your knickers in a knot over it? Perhaps because you're looking at the prospects of flip-flopping former-liberal Romney, or thin-skinned still-a-liberal Rudy, both of whom have less experience than Obama, representing what's left of the Republican party after Bush has gotten through with it?
Better pray that the Dems are stupid enough to nominate Hillary so that the theocratic wing of the Republican party will have some reason to go to the polls.
Utilo,
Didn't read the linked articles, did you?
I think the point you missed in the 60 mins interview was that it isn't Obama making his racial background an issue; it the media and people who pose the sophmoric question of "Is the country ready for a 'black' president?"
The fact is that Obama wants to talk about the issues, but all anyone on the right (and some on the left) seems to want to do is criticize him for "not being a real black American" (Coulter), call him a "halfrican" (KSFO), make fun of his ears (I don't even need to name names here), discuss how he lacks government experience (despite years as a community organizer, state legislator, and federal service comparable to Abraham Lincoln), point out that his name ‘sounds a lot like Osama’, that his middle name is Hussein, or any other number of personal/straw man attacks too varied and tired to mention.
And the truth is; I don’t even have Obamania. I think he will be vetted like all candidates in the primaries and we’ll see who stands the test. I do think that he brings a lot to the realm of politics people of both sides can appreciate in that he is energizing a generation of young people who find politics boring and inconsequential to their lives.
As far as your racism documentation challenge goes, I have no response conveyable by type. You can live in your world where ‘racism’ means separate drinking fountains and the like. You can think that as a minority we only ‘make up’ or ‘search out’ racism in the way we are treated. Hell, you can even think that we keep a running journal of the times our skin color is used by someone to pre-determine our intellect, culture, or motivation. I know there’s all sorts of ideas about blacks in America these days, I especially like the one that says we’d all vote for the same guy just because he’s the darkest running.
The truth remains that Obama isn’t playing the race card, but it is being continually dealt to him in every interview he gives and every time a cable news show has “experts” discuss his campaign. I thought he and his wife did his best to play-down misconceptions and hysterics surrounding his ethnicity.
And I’d like to point out how far out of context you put Obama’s responses. He wasn’t talking about being “black enough” to not catch a cab, as your wording implies; he had moved into talking about why it is he identifies himself as “black”, when he is in fact only half.
But could you imagine what type of media storm it would be if Obama claimed to be “white”? Do you think there would be anyone on either side who would just be like “oh, yeah, Obama? Totally white dude, totally.”
No. And that is what he was addressing. In this country; as his main point seemed perfectly obvious, we still live under 17th century colonial concepts of racial identification. Whiteness is defined as an absence of black/Hispanic/Asian/Middle Eastern or any other non-European minority, even Jewish, not the other way around. In our society, any discernable “exotic” feature automatically knocks you out of “white” and into the myriad of other ethnicities.
And before you accuse me of reverse-racism (if it isn’t already too late) let me point out to you that I’ve gone my whole life trying to prove this otherwise. The majority of my life I’ve been the only black-Korean within 100 miles and the only one raised by white parents I’ve ever known (North Idaho isn’t particularly known for its tolerance of minorities or government for that matter).
But for all the benefit of the doubt I’ve given, I’ve learned that no matter how “articulate” or “clean” or “safe” people see me as, I am still first and foremost “not white”. (I'll have to look back in my diary for the "Today I was so racially discriminated against/threatened", but those are in storage and not readily available at this time.)
It is true that as a minority you reach a certain numbness to being treated like a minority, but that doesn’t mean you don’t notice it. Obama was doing his best to rise above the race card and he made this clear when pressed about his being the first serious black president contender holding him back:
No. I think if I don't win this race, it will be because of other factors. It's going to be because I have not shown to the American people a vision for where the country needs to go that they can embrace.
Of course, I don’t expect you to affirm anything that a majority of your readers don’t expect already along the lines of Obama and the sensationalism of “the Race Card”, but it isn’t very genuine the way you tried to pass off the 60 Minutes interview as Obama being the one taking advantage of its obvious role at this stage of the campaign.
Noonan, dude! Do us all a favor and instead of demanding that Mr. or Mrs. Obama produce proof, all you have to do is go to the US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics to see the details and particulars you seek regarding why a black man can get shot going to the gas station, walking down the street, mowing his lawn or looking funny at your wife. It's all right there at your fingertips.
Needing someone else to do the work for you! Tsk tsk! You Bush right-wing "majority" dudes are so lazy these days--it's disappointing! I mean, you're just like that George W president guy! He says anyone who doesn't agree with his policy in the Middle East is "obligated" to come up with an alternative. Dude! Nobody is obligated to do that! That's like saying if I don't like how much Laura Bush looks like Jack Nicholson as the Joker in Batman (1989), I'm obligated to come up with a substitute wife--the black Condi Rice, for instance--for George W! It's crazy! Crazy, crazy, crazy!
blood,
I don't want to know if a black man has trouble - I want to know if the fabulously well educated, upper class Mr. Obama from the 'burbs has trouble...I want names, dates, circumstances...
Anillo,
And I can get shot as I go to the gas station...and Obama's comments about having a black skin making you black (ergo, oppressed) in America is playing the race card...he's staking out the grounds where he can't be attacked.
Bloods,
You need to look more closely at those statistics yourself. Mark has it right. Blacks tend to be the victims of crimes committed, by blacks. And since most criminals live close to where they commit crimes if you look at the crime stats, it tends to be blacks being the victims of black criminals from the same neighborhood. And if you factor in poverty, the race issue goes away and it turns our to be poor people who tend to be the victims of other poor people from the same neighborhood. Most criminals don't go to nice neighborhoods to commit crimes, they steal the TV from the guy down the street because they know he's not supposed to be home.
And as far as hate crimes go, Jews are much more likely to be the target per their population than blacks. The idea that Obama is more likely to get shot at his corner gas station because he's black is a great misinterpretation of the stats. If this is a reason to vote for someone (which is absurd), we should elect someone who's Jewish.
Anillo,
Are you telling me that giving a good speech at a Presidential convention would be such an accomplishment were it not for the fact that he's black and the media has this idea that blacks aren't supposed to be able to do that? If you want to look for the racists, look at the media who made him a star not for giving a speech but for being an articulate, clean black man giving a speech. Ask any of them what he said, see if they can even remember. It is the media's engendered racism that made him a star. Look at the left's constant criticism of Giuliani. All he did was stand up on rubble and give a speech. So what makes it imply substance for Obama and mean nothing for Giuliani. We're not voting for public speakers.
Blacks tend to be the victims of crimes committed, by blacks.
From what I understand, over 90% of crimes committed on black victims are by black perpertrators. I believe that this statistic is true even for murder. This means that if you're black, the danger you face from other blacks is about 10 times the danger you face from the KKK, Neo-Nazis, racist cops, and all other whites combined.
Besides that, black-on-white interracial crime is about 8 times as common as white-on-black crime.
his name ‘sounds a lot like Osama’, that his middle name is Hussein, or any other number of personal/straw man attacks too varied and tired to mention.
As far as I'm concerned, these things don't (or at least shouldn't) matter, and are not legitimate reasons to vote against him. On a personal level, I would even sympathize with him because of the abuse he may have suffered (as I once did, because of my last name, of Slavic origin). I will not vote for Obama for the same reason I will not vote for Senator Clinton, which is that for me, they're both too far left.