3 Fears on Obama
05/12/07 10:47
I
am one of those black folks about whom Village
pundits like Juan Williams whine. I am
Afro-American, yet I am not a rabid Obama
supporter. I have not yet picked a Democractic
candidate, and I admit that Obama raises fears in
me, and has a tendency to rub me the wrong way.
First fear: White reaction to Obama often disgusts me. There was a quote from one Iowa voter who supported him as a way of congratulating him for believing in whites -- that they would vote for a black man for President. We have Chris Matthews--the whitest white man alive--saying, "I don't think you can find a better opening-gate, starting-gate personality than Obama as a black candidate. I can't think of a better one. No history of Jim Crow, no history of anger, no history of slavery. All the bad stuff in our history ain't there with this guy."
This slice of white Americans, in their support for Obama, tacitly express contempt for those like me, those of Afro-American culture--the American descendants of African slaves. Because America's behavior toward us rightly discomfits them, they laud as savior a man of color who has no congenital connection to us. This allows them to maintain their levels discomfort and/or contempt, yet prove their freedom from racism.
I believe it is fair to say that Andrew Sullivan, champion of The Bell Curve and its eugenicist antecedents, holds such contempt. Yet, he pens a paeon in the Atlantic Monthly painting Obama as the second coming. You see, Obama is simply showing us that it's not so much our skin color that frightens and discomfits America, it's her treatment toward us--treatment that still perverts her image in her own mirror. America has not forgiven us for consistently reminding her of her past actions. (Our very existence and our attachment to our history suffice). Obama is, in this sense, just proof of that.
How whites perceive him is only partially under Obama's control. Thus far, he's simply ignored the distinction that's presented between him, a "good negro" and the "bad negroes" or Afro-Americans (American descendants of African slaves) who pale by comparison. Does he embrace this outlook, or is he willingly to tacitly accept it? I don't know.
Secondly: Obama has never run a campaign against a viable, well-financed, legitimate Republican candidate. He has never run, much less won state or national office against a white Republican. That means that he and his campaign machine have never been tested against the Republican machine. Say what you will about Edwards and Clinton, we know what the Right has to throw at them. We've seen the mud. It's been liberally flung (pun intended).
We don't know how Republicans will attempt to capitalize on Obama's color, his record, or his background. More importantly, we don't know how he'll handle it. I'm a marketing consultant, and I sincerely believe that I could devise ads that would make Obama look, in the eyes of many a mainstream white voter, like a spear carrying Mau Mau. If I could do it, so can Republicans. Will Obama's bi-racial background and skillful manipulation of the soothing Magic Negro role inure him to such attacks, or can the former be neutralized, forcing him to abandon the role to fight back? Can he remain a viable candidate outside that role?
These are all unanswered questions. Of course, anything can happen to any candidate, but considering Rovian Republican tactics, can Democratic voters afford this many unknowns in a Presidential candidate? They ate John Kerry alive for God's sake.
Finally, Obama himself gives me pause. His insistence that he can bring us all together is, of course, a major aspect of his candidacy. How, though, do you "bring together" a Republican congressional caucus with an ideological fixation on 1920s style laissez-faire economic policies, and a Democratic majority who believes that regulation is necessary to protect ordinary Americans? How do you "bring together" a vocal conservative Christian faction who insists that creationism be taught alongside the scientific principle of evolution? How do you bring together a Republican right who believes that the 4th Amendment needs shelving, and that any American can be locked up indefinitely, without charges, without trial? I don't know how that's done. I do know, however, that in order to try, you have to accept that there is merit in the aforementioned right wing positions. That's what his protection and embrace of the homophobic pastor Donnie McClurkin suggests. I do not believe there's validity in their positions--any more than they believe there's merit in mine. In a war of ideas, you can't fight on both sides.
First fear: White reaction to Obama often disgusts me. There was a quote from one Iowa voter who supported him as a way of congratulating him for believing in whites -- that they would vote for a black man for President. We have Chris Matthews--the whitest white man alive--saying, "I don't think you can find a better opening-gate, starting-gate personality than Obama as a black candidate. I can't think of a better one. No history of Jim Crow, no history of anger, no history of slavery. All the bad stuff in our history ain't there with this guy."
This slice of white Americans, in their support for Obama, tacitly express contempt for those like me, those of Afro-American culture--the American descendants of African slaves. Because America's behavior toward us rightly discomfits them, they laud as savior a man of color who has no congenital connection to us. This allows them to maintain their levels discomfort and/or contempt, yet prove their freedom from racism.
I believe it is fair to say that Andrew Sullivan, champion of The Bell Curve and its eugenicist antecedents, holds such contempt. Yet, he pens a paeon in the Atlantic Monthly painting Obama as the second coming. You see, Obama is simply showing us that it's not so much our skin color that frightens and discomfits America, it's her treatment toward us--treatment that still perverts her image in her own mirror. America has not forgiven us for consistently reminding her of her past actions. (Our very existence and our attachment to our history suffice). Obama is, in this sense, just proof of that.
How whites perceive him is only partially under Obama's control. Thus far, he's simply ignored the distinction that's presented between him, a "good negro" and the "bad negroes" or Afro-Americans (American descendants of African slaves) who pale by comparison. Does he embrace this outlook, or is he willingly to tacitly accept it? I don't know.
Secondly: Obama has never run a campaign against a viable, well-financed, legitimate Republican candidate. He has never run, much less won state or national office against a white Republican. That means that he and his campaign machine have never been tested against the Republican machine. Say what you will about Edwards and Clinton, we know what the Right has to throw at them. We've seen the mud. It's been liberally flung (pun intended).
We don't know how Republicans will attempt to capitalize on Obama's color, his record, or his background. More importantly, we don't know how he'll handle it. I'm a marketing consultant, and I sincerely believe that I could devise ads that would make Obama look, in the eyes of many a mainstream white voter, like a spear carrying Mau Mau. If I could do it, so can Republicans. Will Obama's bi-racial background and skillful manipulation of the soothing Magic Negro role inure him to such attacks, or can the former be neutralized, forcing him to abandon the role to fight back? Can he remain a viable candidate outside that role?
These are all unanswered questions. Of course, anything can happen to any candidate, but considering Rovian Republican tactics, can Democratic voters afford this many unknowns in a Presidential candidate? They ate John Kerry alive for God's sake.
Finally, Obama himself gives me pause. His insistence that he can bring us all together is, of course, a major aspect of his candidacy. How, though, do you "bring together" a Republican congressional caucus with an ideological fixation on 1920s style laissez-faire economic policies, and a Democratic majority who believes that regulation is necessary to protect ordinary Americans? How do you "bring together" a vocal conservative Christian faction who insists that creationism be taught alongside the scientific principle of evolution? How do you bring together a Republican right who believes that the 4th Amendment needs shelving, and that any American can be locked up indefinitely, without charges, without trial? I don't know how that's done. I do know, however, that in order to try, you have to accept that there is merit in the aforementioned right wing positions. That's what his protection and embrace of the homophobic pastor Donnie McClurkin suggests. I do not believe there's validity in their positions--any more than they believe there's merit in mine. In a war of ideas, you can't fight on both sides.