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Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Barack Obama and race
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
During one of last week’s discussions about the Presidential candidates, the conversation turned to Barack Obama. the first-term U.S. Senator from Illinois, whose candidacy causes most of the camp-with-the-Democrats media to gush with the adoration of American Idol groupies. If we don’t very promptly annoint him President, it’s a sign of America’s lingering racism. On the Right, meanwhile, he’s seen as a defintion-lacking celebrity. Commentator Ann Coulter, who can turn a phrase, refers to him as “Jonathan Livingston Obama” and opined that “his speeches are a run-on string of embarrassing, sophomoric Hallmark bromides.”
In the discussion here, a contributor who posts as rarringt, offered insightful commentary on Obama and race. Here’s the relevant part of rarringt’s post:
“As an African-American, I don’t sense a whole lot of concern in our community about Obama being “black enough.” As you well know, it’s not a function of melanin content. “Blackness,” for lack of a better word, is about being able to relate to various common threads in our culture, having an understanding of our accomplishments and challenges, and exemplifying a willingness to work to leave things better than the way we found them.
“It’s not meant to be some obtuse, mysterious thing. Obama, and the vast majority of other people of color, fit well into that description, thus taking the question (as far as we are concerned) off the table.
“Besides, as a practical matter Obama’s not a stupid man, and won’t fall into that same “where do his real priorities lie” trap WASPs tried to set for a Catholic JFK.
“The real question, of course, is how white America feels about his ethnicity, and to what extent that will affect the choices of moderate America. I think they’ll like what they see. The dems have a very strong field this election, and there’s a sense of, given current affairs, this election is the most critical in the last 3 or 4 presidential cycles.”
Obama has been careful not to make his success or failure a referendum on race in America and in politics. Is it?
