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» babble   » walking the talk   » anti-racism news and initiatives   » What does the Obama victory mean for the future of "race" in America?

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Author Topic: What does the Obama victory mean for the future of "race" in America?
Star Spangled Canadian
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posted 06 November 2008 07:37 AM      Profile for Star Spangled Canadian     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
There have only been a few times in my life when I've really felt like I was witnessing "A Moment" - not just a news story of the day like msot previous elections ahve been but something that makes you really stop and think to yourself that you're witnessing History with a capital H and something that is going to profoundly change things. I had moments like this when I watched the Berlin Wall come down, I had one on September 11, 2001 when my mother called me and told me to turn on the TV. And I had one on Tuesday night when tens of thousands of people streamed into the main square in my city, danced on cars, drank champagne in the streets, hugged strangers and partied all night long, not over a sports victory or something fleeting and temporary but over an election.

And I think that the reason we all saw that significance, that sense that something special had occurred had everything to do with race. If Obama were white - even with the exact same ideas, intelligence, rhetorical skills, etc. - the victory would ahve been seen as welcome relief from the last 8 years but not much beyond that.

I live in a part of the country where racial tensions have been high from its founding. I live in a city where statues of Confederate generals are in our streets and parks and where it's not uncommon or particularly noteworthy to see a Confederate flag flying from someone's home or affixed to their car. A city with a tennis club that at one point would not allow one of the greatest players of all time, Arthur Ash to play on their courts because he was black. A city where older black people actually remember not being able to vote and who, on Tuesday, stood in line for a couple hours in some cases, took their kids to see how far things had progressed.

Standing there watching the results come in, there were black folks with tears running down their face. Others took their babies and were telling them that this now proves, once and for all, that race will not be a barrier anymore, that nothing can hold them back. There was a real sense that this barrier that had existed for so long had finally and permanently been shattered. Someone was saying that he likes that we'll no longer ahve to hear about "the first black president" or "the first black coach to win a super bowl." That they'll no longer be seen as historic or noteworthy, jsut a fact of life, no more significant than when a white guy is elected president or a white guy coaches a team to a super bowl victory.

And I have to say, I was caught up in the moment and really believed this. i guess what I'm wondering is if I'm being naive. HAS this proven that race is no longer a barrier? Is affirmative action really no longer necessary or justifiable when we jsut elected a black graduate of Columbia and harvard to the most powerful job in the world? Should Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton find a new line of work?

There will always be racism but mostly from the fringes. From angry, strange hateful people with no credibility to whom no one pays any attention or gives any respect. It's always been here and always will be. But in the broader, mainstream sense, have we now put race behind us? Have we finally overcome?

I hope so and I'd like to think so.

What do you guys think?


From: Originally from Ontario, now in Virginia | Registered: Sep 2008  |  IP: Logged
George Victor
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posted 06 November 2008 09:03 AM      Profile for George Victor        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:

There will always be racism but mostly from the fringes. From angry, strange hateful people with no credibility to whom no one pays any attention or gives any respect. It's always been here and always will be. But in the broader, mainstream sense, have we now put race behind us? Have we finally overcome?



I, too, want to believe, but the strange , angry, hateful people you list above make up a huge part of the American Heartland, and SArah the moose hunter turns them on.

Read Joe Bageant's Deer Hunting With Jesus. And evening's read. He is speaking out of Winchester, Virginia, his hometown. See if he has tagged the folks roundabout pretty accurately. He does not call them hateful, just sort of locked into their belief system.

He fails in not giving enough weight to education as central to solving the problem, although in calling them "dumb as a bag of hair", he certainly sees its importance in making those folk what they are. Along with a depressed and depressing state of being.

I'd personally give his take on things huge weight in trying to decide your question. And it's not to be read to inspire hope, necessarily.


From: Cambridge, ON | Registered: Oct 2007  |  IP: Logged
asterix
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posted 06 November 2008 09:15 AM      Profile for asterix     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I'd agree that progress has been made. And now that the barrier's been broken, it'll be that much easier for the next aspiring president who lacks the traditional advantage that comes with being a straight white male.

But I think the reality is that most people of colour still face systemic racism. While this will certainly help that fight, it doesn't magically eliminate racism overnight.

Barack and Michelle Obama are both Harvard-educated lawyers who've consequently managed to accumulate significant wealth -- but not every African American is so lucky. Many still live in communities stricken with poverty and crime; many still face an educational system that needs to be massively reorganized; many still live in states that voted for McCain on Tuesday.

And throughout the election campaign, we still saw race-based attacks on Obama -- the only difference being that because even the outright racists knew perfectly well that calling him an unfit president because of his skin colour wasn't going to fly, they coded it instead in concerns about his religion, his birthplace, his purported associations with counterculture radicals. We saw dominionist Christians whispering about whether he's the Antichrist. We saw people calling undue attention to the fact that his middle name happens to be Hussein. We saw at least one Republican politician in the Deep South call him "uppity"; we saw Ralph Nader call him "Uncle Tom". We saw people call attention to the insignificant fact that his surname happens to be only one letter different from "Osama". We saw a young woman invent a story about being assaulted by a big beefy black dude because she had a McCain sticker on her car. We saw ludicrous stories about Black Panthers -- because there are so many of those around in 2008 (*eyeroll*) -- threatening white voters. We saw unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud swirling around black voter registration efforts.

While it was heartening to see that a majority of voters repudiated those tactics, the fact remains that a lot of voters were still swayed by them, and a lot of politicians still thought they were acceptable in the first place.

Yes, progress has been made. A barrier has been shattered. The psychological benefit to people of colour in knowing that they really can now aspire to even the highest office in the land can't be underestimated. And that's all amazing and beautiful and long overdue.

But there does still exist the very real danger that people will point to Obama and claim that racism doesn't exist at all anymore, that America no longer need do anything to help the millions of African Americans who haven't been as fortunate. The danger exists that he'll unwittingly become the metaphorical rug under which people sweep the fact that racism is still a problem.

And as a wiser person than me said recently, we'll know that race has really been overcome when a black person doesn't have to be as compelling and exceptional as Obama to make it, but can still get on the ticket while being as mediocre, or even as woefully unfit for office, as a George W. Bush or Sarah Palin.

[ 06 November 2008: Message edited by: asterix ]


From: deep inside the caverns of my mind | Registered: Mar 2002  |  IP: Logged
M. Spector
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posted 06 November 2008 12:30 PM      Profile for M. Spector   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Did the election of Margaret Thatcher improve the position of women in the UK? How about Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan? Did the election of Alberto Fujimori improve things for the Asian population in Peru? What about Abel Muzorewa in Zimbabwe/Rhodesia? Barrow in Belize? Sir Lynden Pindling in the Bahamas?
From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
martin dufresne
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posted 06 November 2008 12:35 PM      Profile for martin dufresne   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I expect that it did, yes. Do you have evidence that it didn't?
From: "Words Matter" (Mackinnon) | Registered: Dec 2005  |  IP: Logged
M. Spector
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posted 06 November 2008 04:11 PM      Profile for M. Spector   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
You're asking for evidence of a negative? How about giving us some evidence of a positive?
From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
martin dufresne
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posted 06 November 2008 04:15 PM      Profile for martin dufresne   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I was asking you to provide evidence for what you suggested by framing these as rhetorical questions. Never mind.
From: "Words Matter" (Mackinnon) | Registered: Dec 2005  |  IP: Logged
George Victor
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posted 06 November 2008 05:13 PM      Profile for George Victor        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:

There will always be racism but mostly from the fringes. From angry, strange hateful people with no credibility to whom no one pays any attention or gives any respect. It's always been here and always will be. But in the broader, mainstream sense, have we now put race behind us? Have we finally overcome?



I believe it's going to depend on the ability of our productive systems to produce a satisfactory lifestyle for the majority. If the rednecks of the Heartland fall further behind - and they are numerous enough to fit your "mainstream" requirement - I would not bet the farm on anything, frankly.

I don't think we can talk in nebulous terms about any ONGOING situation - and certainly we cannot make any useful comparison with recent events around the world. The U.S. will have its own dynamics, and everywhere, they depend on a society's capacity to satisfy material needs.

And of course, there's always intermarriage at work.


From: Cambridge, ON | Registered: Oct 2007  |  IP: Logged
martin dufresne
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posted 06 November 2008 05:25 PM      Profile for martin dufresne   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
There will always be racism but mostly from the fringes. From angry, strange hateful people with no credibility to whom no one pays any attention or gives any respect.
Tell it to the Irakis, Afghans and other aliens faced with Pax Americana and see if they agree.

From: "Words Matter" (Mackinnon) | Registered: Dec 2005  |  IP: Logged

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