Fear of a black president

Boston Globe ^ | January 13, 2008 | Joseph Williams

[forkinsocket]

IN 1980, THE year I ran for president, the country was mired in inflation, the malaise of the Carter administration was about to be overtaken by Ronald Reagan's Morning in America, and like a lot of the country, Ooltewah High School was swept up in disco fever.

Tucked next to White Oak Mountain, about 20 miles outside Chattanooga, my school had something else in common with America: a stark division between the white majority and the black minority. Alone among the three candidates for school president, I had a foot on both sides of that divide.

My father was in the Air Force, and my sisters and I were children of integration, among the handful of black kids tossed into overwhelmingly white schools on Air Force bases.

I watched "Soul Train" most Saturdays, pleaded with my sisters to perm my nappy hair into an Afro, and was a member in good standing at Ooltewah High's "black table," where the small group of African-American students ate lunch in the cafeteria. But I had much in common with Ooltewah's white kids, too - a suburban upbringing, a taste for Space Invaders, Monty Python, SCTV, and the Who. And when I talked, I sounded a lot like them.

Whenever pundits begin talking about Barack Obama's chances to win the presidency, and about race and politics, I think back to my run for office. It was years ago, and it was only high school, but even then it was clear that the question of whether a black man can be elected president was more complicated than just a vote count.

[forkinsocket]

My presidential run only heightened this anxiety. I look like a brother but sound like a white boy. White kids will see my black face and never vote for me. Black kids probably think I'm a sellout.

[inkling]

Fear of a Liberal President.

[the invisib1e hand]

fear of throwing up on my freaking laptop because there WAS NO BARF ALERT.

and fear nothing else.

[beaversmom]

Exactly what I was going to post. Give me a Thomas Sowell and I wouldn’t fear that at all.

[BenLurkin]

Exactly.

[dynachrome]

Dr. Thomas Sowell is 10 times darker than obama. Is it racist if the libs wouldn’t vote for him?

bunch of hypocrites.

[Candor7]

Fear of a Closet Fascist President.

How Obama and 1st paternal cousin Odinga Tried to Bring Kenya Under Sharia Law and Failed, The Dose

[dforest]

I am not afraid of a Black POTUS. I am afraid of a lib, socialist, communist president.

[Spok]

Who has Muslim ties.

[ml/nj]

IN 1980, THE year I ran for president, the country was mired in inflation, the malaise of the Carter administration was about to be overtaken saved by Ronald Reagan's Morning in America ...

Better.

ML/NJ

[VR-21]

I think the man doth protest too much.

I would be delighted to vote for a black man like Walter Williams or Thomas Sowell, or a woman like Maggie Thatcher or Jean Kirkpatrick, but I want no part of leftists of any demographic.

[toddlintown]

You bad, bad honkies.

[raybbr]

I didn't doubt that the black students would vote for me. Courting and winning over the white kids, the majority of the school, would be the key.

....

No one outwardly called me an Oreo - I had enough friendships and took enough stands to maintain my racial bona fides - but I felt as uncomfortable as I did with the white kids.

So, it's okay to assume the blacks will vote for blacks but to assume whites will vote for whites is a form of racism, right?

[tired1]

any pics out there of Shirley Chisholm?

[raybbr]

That meant I would have to use my white-boy voice...

Is that all this guy thinks about is race?

[raybbr]

In the decades since, when I've dusted off those memories, I've often wondered why Bobby Lollar, a genial, smart, but low-profile student, defeated me. Was I too black for the white students? Too inauthentic for my black classmates? Did I let the mask slip in some way?

Or, maybe they just realized you were a fool.

[LetsRok]

Vote for Pedro.

[healy61]

Joe Williams, don’t compare your high school class elections to the presidential races. It doesn’t work any better than the comparison of your home coming queen to Miss America; your cafeteria to a 4 star restaurant; or your high school assistant principal to the devil.

[COgamer]

Yes... anyone who doesn’t vote for Obama simply MUST be racist. There can’t be any other possible explanation. Why, with his numerous legislative accomplishments, his history of working well with other politicians, and his ability to reach across the aisle with astonishingly well-thought-out and non-controversial positions, he is clearly the best man for the job.

I’m starting to hope Obame IS the nominee... If his supporters keep accusing Hillary supporters/Republicans/Anyone who doesn’t like him of racism, there will be a backlash the likes of which has never been seen.

[luvadavi]

Judge Janice Brown too—the libs gave her a bad time when she was considered for the Supreme Court; Ward Connerly,and don*t forget what they did to Clarence Thomas. *Uncle Toms* all. I would happily vote for any conservative black or any other race.