What Happened To the Hope of Getting Over Racism?
Posted: Sunday, May 04, 2008
by Zarian Phipps
http://africanamericanpoliticalspot.blogspot.com/
The year 2008 started out so promising regarding healing racism in the United States. White voters in Iowa voted for Barack Obama and everything seemed as if it would be okay. White people thought that African-Americans would finally see that not all White people are racist and Black people felt as if White people were finally willing to look at African-Americans on an equal level where it mattered most. Black people finally felt included, we finally felt like real citizens of the United States, all of the opportunities that we had heard this country offers seemed finally open to us. All of this because of the rise of Barack Obama. A nation's hopes for getting over the biggest blemish on the history of the United States were seemingly going to be realized finally after centuries of oppression and hiding from the truth. The media seemed to be willing to help advance the issue of race positively in the beginning of this year as many political pundits openly acknowledged how important Barack Obama's candidacy was.
Things are definitely different on the public stage in the United States from earlier this year. Most of the changes have happened in the last month, since John Mc Cain pandered to Black people in Memphis. Now we have 24 hour news coverage of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright(Who the media knew about long before his "greatest hits" started playing on You Tube so if it was truly that important, why did they not expose him long ago?). The media now seems to be sitting in wait for some new thing Rev. Wright says so they can immediately insinuate that it means Barack Obama is some sort of racist.
Now we have Democratic Primary debates where basically the first hour is dedicated to badgering the African-American candidate on his ties and supposed ties with controversial figures such as the Rev. Wright, Louis Farrakhan and William Ayers, the latter of whom most Americans had never heard of. Nevermind the fact that it is seemingly inappropriate for White people to be questioning a Black man who personally lived through the horrors of the Civil Rights movement probably being physically abused and verbally assaulted in the name of racism. White people can never understand what it is like to be Black in a racist society and where they might have legitimate questions, if they truly wanted to heal the racial divide in this country they would step lightly over what they say. This is definitely not happening with the so called Rev. Wright controversy. They don't seem to care that this whole thing is leaving a very bad taste in the mouths of millions of African-Americans. If they don't care then why should we? Black people will not forget this just as White Americans don't want to forget about Rev. Wright!
Earlier in the year when the Clintons' played the race card against Barack Obama the media pounced on them for doing so and told it like it was even when some African-American pundits wouldn't forcefully condemn the Clintons for fear of a backlash from the White community against Obama. Some journalists even noted their dilemna and openly admitted the reason for Black people having to hold their tongues one journalist even said this about Barack Obama. It's not like that anymore. Now, some of those same journalists are backpeddling and insinuating that the Clintons' did not play the race card and they are simply employing hard political tactics(the media seems to be glorifying them for their gutter politics). Some of them are even entertaining Bill Clinton's ridiculous notion that the Obama campaign played the race card against him. It's both astonishing and perplexing, the way things have changed. So what happened?
The media and many American citizens seem to have reverted back to their desire for looking the other way when it comes to issues of race in this country. White America seems to be playing into irrational stereotypes about African-Americans. When the media sees that in some places Barack Obama is not winning poor White votes by huge margins, they don't say that these White people are wrong for displaying what seems like racist behavior, they instead blame Obama for "not being able to close the deal" which any fool should be able to see will make the divide with the voters worse. They don't give Hillary Clinton grief for not having the support of African-Americans anymore after having the Black electorate virtually in her pocket at the start of this election season. The media no longer points out that it is almost impossible for a Democrat to win the Presidency without the support of the Demcratic party's most loyal voting block, African-Americans. We are no longer embracing the politics of inclusion and hope, we are looking down on it. What happened?
Barack Obama gave a riveting and honest speech on race to combat the biased media firestorm over the Rev. Wright comments. At first, he was heralded as the orator of a new generation and he was praised for his honesty about race while running for President. All of those accolades went away when Rev. Wright decided to go on his media tour. The media now only talks about how hurt Barack Obama is by the comments that the media themselves made the number one news story. They are blaming him for their manipulations. They don't seem to care that African-Americans are becoming more and more disillusioned about not only this election, but also our place in American society. If the media is this biased against Barack Obama who is the posterchild for unity, then none of us have a chance. If they don't like him because of what his Black minister said, then it is over for all of us before we even start because surely most if not all African-Americans know people that do have angry beliefs and feelings about this country, and it's not just Black people. I would be surprised if Hillary Clinton doesn't have relationships with people who by some would be considered radical. But then again, she is white, so she is not going to be held to the same standard as an African-American. She can be judged on her own merits along with John Mc Cain who actively sought out the Rev. Hagee's endorsement after Rev. Hagee made deplorable comments condemning the Catholic Church and New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. What happened?
It is not too late for things to get back on track. The media can start to be more objective in their coverage of the presidential race. They can stop openly giving tips to Hillary Clinton on how to beat Barack Obama. That only leads to the electorate believing that she still has a chance to become the nominee without ripping the Democratic party in half and most experts say that is all but impossible. The American people can start rejecting the political game that is being played on them. Most importantly in relation to the Presidential race, they can vote for Barack Obama and end the destruction of the Democratic party in an election year where they are more than heavily favored to win. It is time to be realistic about our society. Together we can change this country to reflect the positive image that we think we have. It all begins with the individual!
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)Zarian this speaks to all the separation issues that this world is comprosed of. He said, she said, they said. They are, we're not. They did, we didn't, etc, etc, etc. Sadly race is an issue in this wolrd and color or origin has nothing to do with it. It comes in all races, sizes, religions, nations, social classes, ect, etc, etc. Sadly it gets down to professing means nothing, zero, nada, zilch and it gets down to good people are good people no matter who, what, where. To believe anything that is not substantiated by works and deeds only leads to what you are experiencing. It really gets down to equality and justice for all, a dream men, notice I said men, like Martin Luther, like Lovey Smith, Like Tony Dungy, men, put into use every single day. Good white men and good balck men, good men and woman of every race. To find fault, that we all can do, to work toward equality and love, well that is not with this bunch or many who are like them who profess with words but do not do can do.To end racism it must start with each of us burying our own fist, yes that plank in our own eye and mean it not just profess it. Yes Zarian in my opinion we all have a long way to go, black, white, red or yellow, sadly a long ay to go.
Zarian, I see it as a twofold issue: the press and the opposition finding any dirt they can dig up to slander and the fact that racism has not died out; it's merely not PC to be racist, so most are hush-hush on using the lingo or waiting in the wings to attack when the PC curtain has been weakened or lifted to some degree. Since racism rose from slavery and slavery has been a part of American history longer than it hasn't been, it's going to take much more time, effort, and creating of an awareness of the underpinnings of race hate that still exists. I've studied the issue of racism extensively in my college classes and personal research (my wife and many of our friends are Latino)--having talked to thousands of minority students. I speak to the issue of racism extensively in my article "Illegal Immigration is Not about Money or Laws Broken." Racism is not going away any time soon, and people need to be made aware of its existence and work at overcoming its foolish notion of human difference based on color, race, creed, or religion. All humans have the same desires, needs, and wants regardless of physical or worshiping difference. God help us to be more humane and human in our dealings with each other.
I still have no idea who Rev Wright is, and quite frankly, i don't want to know. How could anyone accuse an African American civil rights attorney of racism? however, i don't think Obama should acknowledge the ridiculous notion that is inevitably the result of the ugliness of competitive smear campaigning. i've never been more pro Obama than i am now. good article.
Excellent article. I must congratulate Barack Obama on his apparent nomination inspite of the overexposure, "prophetic wisdom" and bashing that occurred over the Rev. Wright issue! Blue collar whites have used this issue to justify their racial bias. They will continue to do so, but they will have to make a significant choice. Is racism more important than four more years of ruinous ecomomic and foreign policy under a Republican administration? When people pull the lever in November, they better remember what we have suffered under for eight years! Nice job. Instead of calling ourselves "one big happy family" we better acknowledge the racial divide in this country.
Someone should write an article on "reverse racism" - hasn't the threat been made that if Obama does not get the nomination there will be "riots in the street"? So we will select a black nominee who has no record to run on - and in 4 years we can meet back here to discuss the same problems we have been discussing today!
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