Posted on 08/05/2008 10:04:23 AM PDT by jitney
Is it Barack Obama's skin color, or something else?
By Christopher Cook
Juan Williams, author and FOX commentator, is a decent fellow. He's a liberal, of course, but he's sincere and thoughtful. He's also expressed some very sensible opinions on problems facing the black community—among them, the notion that personal responsibility is a necessary (and often lacking) element among too many. Though conservatives may disagree with a large percentage of what he has to say, this position, and his general sincerity, earn him a hearing—even if we end up largely disagreeing.
And so it was after reading his piece in the Wall Street Journal titled The Race Issue Isn't Going Away.
His contention therein, while admittedly nuanced, does boil down to this: there is a hidden racist vote among whites that threatens to undo Barack Obama's chances for the presidency.
To support this, he cites some compelling poll numbers:
In a Wall Street Journal poll last month, 8% of white voters said outright that race is the most important factor when it comes to looking at these two candidates -- a three percentage point increase since Mr. Obama claimed the Democratic nomination. An added 15% of white voters admit the candidates' race is a factor for them. Race is even more important to black voters: 20% say it is the top factor influencing their view of the candidates, and another 14% admit it is among the key factors that will determine their vote.
...
Consider also a recent Washington Post poll. Thirty percent of all voters admitted to racial prejudice, and more than a half of white voters categorized Mr. Obama as "risky" (two-thirds judged Mr. McCain the "safe" choice). Yet about 90% of whites said they would be "comfortable" with a black president. And about a third of white voters acknowledged they would not be "entirely comfortable" with an African-American president. Why the contradictory responses? My guess is that some whites are not telling the truth about their racial attitudes.
These numbers do seem, to some degree at least, to support Williams' contention. And yet...
What would the numbers have been on these same poll questions if asked BEFORE we started getting to know Barack Obama and his associations?
Remember, back at the beginning, how Obama seemed very "post-racial"? At first, the race issue didn't seem like it was a part of who he was or what he was saying. Whites saw this, and for a while, it seems that many more considered the possibility of voting for him, not as a black or a white man, but as a candidate sufficiently connected to the mainstream to be a president for all Americans.
This was not a racial calculation, but a cultural one.
American culture is, in part, a blending of cultures. It also has distinct sub-cultures. Most importantly, though, we've always had a "mainstream" culture. Whatever our ethnic, local, or religious sub-culture, most of us are also connected to the nation and our fellows through common cultural bonds. It should come as no surprise that, collectively, we expect our presidents to be a part of—and reflect—that culture. And for a while, it seemed that Barack Obama did.
And then...
...we met his wife.
...we met his pastor.
...we heard excerpts from his books.
...we met Michael Pfleger and James Meeks.
...we heard thugs praising him and threatening us.
... and we got to see and hear what might be in store for us if we don't elect him:
These disturbing discoveries don't make Obama less palatable among whites because of the color of his skin. They make him less palatable among whites because they put him out of the mainstream. Aggregated together, these various associations and statements aren't scary for racial reasons, they're scary for cultural reasons.
It is important at this juncture to point out that this is not "black culture." It does not represent all, or even a majority, of black Americans. Rather, it is a dysfunctional sub-culture—one that most Americans of all races finds disturbing and unfortunate. For the last half century, the left has attempted—with great success, unfortunately—to designate this sub-culture as being the only "authentic" black culture. This designation has influenced a great many people and institutions—with disastrous consequences.
Americans are not fond of elitism or bitterness, and when she speaks, Michelle Obama manages to express both. Americans are also not partial to separatism of any sort, and Michelle Obama has expressed some decidedly separatist attitudes in the past. As guilty as whites may feel for America's past sins, the average man on the street is not likely to be much more forgiving of black separatism than he is of white, brown, or any other kind.
Americans were seriously unimpressed by the racism, anti-Semitism, and conspiratorial ravings of the pastor to whom Barack Obama listened for two decades. Does Juan Williams—or anyone else—seriously wish to suggest that America's reaction to Wright was because of the color of his skin? Does anyone have the nerve to say that whites' reactions would have been the same had Obama's pastor been cut from the same cloth as a figure like Martin Luther King, Jr.? We disliked Wright—and it tarnished Obama—because Wright is a BAD man, not because Wright is a BLACK man.
When we found out that Barack Obama had written that "white folks’ greed runs a world in need” in one of his books, we were none-too-happy. All of a sudden, we heard Barack Obama, in his own voice (in the audio version of his book), engaging a form of blood guilt, with white people as the guilty party. Not a way to endear yourself to potential voters.
Few people among any group—white, black, or otherwise—believe that gangsta culture is a particularly good thing for anyone. And yet purveyors of this culture are increasingly showing their support for Obama—in some cases, with verbiage that includes veiled threats of violence if he doesn't win. Perhaps Obama cannot be entirely blamed for this support, but perceptions are perceptions, and since Kanye West is performing at the DNC this year, one can hardly fault people for having those perceptions.
Americans also value their own safety, and that of their families. Some are old enough to remember the riots of the 60s. Some remember the LA riots. No one relishes the idea of widespread violence for political or racial motives. And yet, there is a chilling undercurrent hinting at this very thing.
Obama and his surrogates are also calling all whites racists. By suggesting that Republicans are playing the race card—an allegation that may have had evidence to support it if leveled at the Clintons, by the way—he is suggesting that Republicans are racists seeking to capitalize on the racism of Democrats and independents.
In other words,the suggestion is that all white people are racists. Now, does that help his problem with white Americans, or does it hurt?
Similarly, does it help when the media—which is completely gaga over Obama anyway—makes the same allegations?
To put it bluntly, none of this is particularly helpful to Obama.
And, to put the question bluntly to people like Juan Williams and others—what on earth makes you think that this is about his skin color?
Conjure up, if you will, a hypothetical candidate. The candidate is white, and thus he "looks like" the majority of Americans. His ethnic descent is from the hypothetical European country of Crovakia. His wife is a barely closeted Crovakian separatist. He's been attending an militant Crovakian church for 20 years, pastored by an racist, anti-American conspiracy theorist. The candidate is making baseless allegations that opposition by any non-Crovakian is actually a racist attack against all Crovakians. A veiled threat of violence by a small but dangerous subset of Crovakians hovers in the air.
Does anyone seriously think that white Americans would vote for this guy just because he shares their skin color?
Please.
Now, since Williams' argument centers on race and race-related polling questions, we will, for the time being, ignore other reasons why people might not want to vote for him, like the fact that...
...he's incredibly arrogant
...his cult of personality thing is starting to seem more than a little creepy and Mussolini-esque;
...he's a gaffe machine
...he's the third fabulist in a row that the Democrats have nominated for president;
...he doesn't know history very well (imagine a Republican with knowledge this poor);
...he's the expressed choice of foreign terrorists and thugs;
...he has counted domestic leftist terrorists among his friends and political allies;
...his resume is incredibly short;
...his voting record puts him far to the left of anyone America has ever elected president;
...and on and on.
For the moment, we'll just focus on the issues of race and culture.
Moreover, let's forgo any value judgments on this reaction by white Americans and just acknowledge that it is REAL. Rightly or wrongly, what we've been learning about Obama is starting to give Americans pause.
But does it have anything to do with the color of his skin, really? Imagine a counterfactual scenario:
Let's say the first black candidate is Michael Steele.
How would things have been different if he had been the first, rather than Barack Obama?
Unfortunately, we will never know.
We will never get to see what would have happened with a candidate who had Barack Obama's skin color, but not all of this sub-cultural baggage. If Obama loses the election, people (especially people on the left) will make the unsophisticated—and often self-serving—judgment that it was all about Obama's race. They will ignore the possibility that Americans didn't reject Obama because of something as simple as skin color, but rather because of a complex set of realizations about cultural identity.
Instead of fostering—as a role model and visible figure—a vision of a black American as being in the "mainstream," Barack Obama is setting back the cause of racial harmony by giving more oxygen to the things that divide rather than unite us. He's calling us all racists, and it's turning whites—who might have otherwise wanted to vote for a black man (in part, to heal some of the past wounds)—the other direction. It's also raising the ugly possibility that whites may feel compelled, rightly or wrongly, to judge black America by these dysfunctional elements—something that could have been avoided had the first African American candidate been someone like Michael Steele.
Truly, we will never know, because there can never be another first.
Many have hoped that the candidacy of Barack Obama would help move the nation beyond the racial issues of the past. Unfortunately, the reverse may occur—his candidacy may actually set back the cause of racial harmony in this country. And that is truly tragic.
Best article I’ve seen on Obama. Ever.
Here; we can test that theory:
Michael Pfleger is another "pastor" who espouses essentially the same racist views as Jeremiah Wright - and Pfleger is white!
I find him just as abhorrent as Wright, don't you?
So it's not "race," it's stupidity we object to.
I have long thought that when a black person is elected to the presidency he or she will be a Republican for precisely the reasons given in this essay.
Many have hoped that the candidacy of Barack Obama would help move the nation beyond the racial issues of the past. Unfortunately, the reverse may occur—his candidacy may actually set back the cause of racial harmony in this country. And that is truly tragic.
::::::::
Yes, and liberals are the real tragedy. THEY are the racists. From their PROFESSIONAL racists like Jackson and Sharpton, the NAACP, etc. to the self-declared lazy “victims” of just being black, racism on the left from the majority of self-serving black African-Americans will not cease. They represent the MOST RACIST group in America, playing the race card at every chance. And Obama and his ilk, are no exception.
Maybe one day, real solid Americans will all stand up, of all ethnic backgrounds, and tell these political parasites to either become REAL AMERICANS first, stand up and be responsible Americans first, or just find another country to live in. Until our pols find Americanism more important than being PC and playing that liberal card, will this crap ever end in America.
mark
Hey, I’m white and I only hate the half white part of Obama, so I can’t be racist!
What Juan Williams has said about the disintegration of the black family was said long before by the much better known and more popular Bill Cosby - and he was denounced and traduced by the black “leadership” as though he had just joined the Klan. The indisputable fact is that blacks voted about 93 percent Democratic before Obama. Now the race motive has been added to their natural predilection for liberalism. Look for 99 percent in November!
I agree. It was a pleasure to read - which doesn't happen much these days.
I wish Juan Williams would read this because I'd like him to understand.
bump
I do not care that obama is 50% white or 50% black, I will not vote for him because he is 100% socialist liberal, when obama loses what the dems will have to come to grips with is he lost because DEMOCRATS would not vote for Obama
Yes, and these are the people voting for him.
This is the DNC; they are the race party.
If you are prepared to ignore race, if race isn't particularly important or interesting to you, if you would prefer to judge someone on the basis of their character and their policy positions, you are probably a Repub and you are probably shocked as all get-out that a guy with no qualifications is getting this close to the White House.
Of course, when you consider who he is running against, another Dem with no qualifications at all, you have to wonder what has come over these people. Are there no adults at all left in the DNC capable of mature leadership? What has happened that the two heaviest of heavy hitters are vanishingly lightweight, with no accomplishments to point to at all?
What does it mean when one of the major parties has made defeat and surrender the linchpin of its campaign platform and half of America can't wait to vote them into office?
What does it mean when a major political party responds to the highest energy prices ever by promising never ever to let anyone drill for oil?
What does it mean when a package is completely empty, and half of America wants only to look at the wrapper? And gets upset if you shake the box and point out that there is nothing at all inside?
marking for later reading
If there is a hidden contingent of white Americans who will choose based on race, then it makes sense that there is a hidden contingent of black Americans who will vote the other way for the same racist reasons. I have yet to see an article or hear a pundit mention the hidden black racists. Oh wait I get it, They aren’t being targeted for a guilt trip...
SECOND BEST.
‘THE JIHAD CANDIDATE’ IS THE BEST.
http://www.2sistersfromtheright.com/writings/Rich_Carroll/jihadcandidate.html
Rich Carroll nails him. Nothing is left out.
“Truly, we will never know, because there can never be another first.”
So the Republicans nominate Condi Rice.
First black WOMAN President!
A NEW first... (never happen, I know)
Excellent article. Thanks for posting.
Bump - because I want to see what it says too.
Bookmarked.
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