First A congratulations to Barack Obama my new President. I will withhold any judgements about him till I see what he does as President in his first term. Who knows this might be a great thing for the country, I have hopes anyways.
Now to adress the subject, in a few states like Virginia the black population voted for Obama as high as high as 90%, while blacks traditionally voted Democrat I don't think the numbers have ever been as high as this also the Latinos voted for Obama in huge numbers, Obama bled off enough White votes to slaughter McCain in his history making victory. But.... Does this show White folks how deep the resentment of minorities have?
I mean lets face it Obama has the least experience of any President-Elect in history, yet he blew away a much more experienced candidate, I do believe much of the voting was done not for the man, but for the color of his skin. Time will tell if this was a mistake or not.
I did NOT SAY HE WON BECAUSE HE IS BLACK, i SAID blacks voted for him because he is black.
Who said he won based on race? I didn't see a single person post that. If you honestly believe that a great many people didn't vote for him solely because he is black you have your head in the sand. No, that isn't why he won, but it is a fact just the same. I've heard far too many people say it, and know it to be true. I've seen people being interviewed who plainly stated that's why they voted for him.
Jackson is a bad example as there are a great many blacks who despise the man and are embarassed by him. But it is true that Obama wouldn't have won based solely upon the minority vote.
As for the economics issue, I'd suggest you go back and look up exactly who it was that started the sub-prime mortgages in the first place and who kept it going, unregulated, for all this time. Here's a hint, it wasn't Republicans.
I don't think there is any denying that race was a contributing factor in electing Obama; for some because of his race, for some in spiteof his race.
What's missing in the discussion is the underlying theme now that he has been elected and for some was a subconcious force born of the desire to see a black president.
That was the belief/feeling/hope that his election would somehow show that we, as a nation, had moved on from our racial past and were ready to embrace the color-blind society that so many have wanted and desired as far back as MLK if not further.
But the truth is that symbolism doesn't change the racial overtones and categorizations that we as Americans are bombarded with and more to the point indoctrinated with throughout our lives.
From Government mandates to Media to Business and, to some extent, even to Parents and Teachers, we are constantly reminded of the divisions of race in all areas from designating to which racial category one belongs on an employment/credit application or census form to which jobs, loans, or educational opportunities are to be alloted to each particular race and how many of each a particular school or employer may accept.
It is, IMO, due to this indoctrination that 40 some odd years after the recognition that all people should be 'treated according to the content of their character rather than the color of their skin' the election of Obama can only still be seen as a 'start'.
Only when we can get to a point where racial categorization is not a political and social way of life can we look at a media report the day after a Black President is elected and see the headline 'Best Man Won!' instead of 'Black Man Won!'.
I couldn't agree more.
Damn it Mason how many times have I asked you not to confuse LIBERALS with the truth?
This comment is worthy of an article on its own!!! wonderful insightful thinking!!!
I see once again we agree, Imagine that?
This seems just as vague as the 'hope and change' answer. In this election, 'hope and change' was little more than 'not George Bush,' despite the fact he wasn't running, and the subconscious desire to get the milestone of electing a black president over and done with (well described, Picto), to get rid of the racist label once and for all ('course, it won't happen). Mind you, this gestalt had to affect only 3-4% of voters to get him elected.
I may expound on this line of thought and do just that. Thanks, MM
let me say, when I came to the US from israel I had a very different view of what constituted a race...
It took five years of every government form asking if I am "white, asian, latino, or african" for me to see a person and think "he is black"... I did a double take the first time I thought that... it did not make sense, since black skin is just a characteristic, just like blue eyes or blond hair... sure some ethnic groups are more likely to have them, but overall it is a very poor way of seperating the MANY strains of humanity.
Overall the first step should be to end the brainwashing and remove the multiple choice race selection from government documents. At least ones given to people under 18.
I agree that race will never cease to be an issue until we at least stop officially quantifying it. It doesn't matter to the census whether your eyes are blue or green. Likewise, the color or your skin should have no impact on your opportunities. Those who wish to continue to collect this sort of information will insist that there is no other way to enforce anti-discrimination laws & regulations, but until we as a people start viewing race as no more a difference than gender, the collection of such information will continue to fuel the race industry. Perhaps, though I'm not holding my breath, BO's election will persuade 'rank & file' minority group members that such distinctions are no longer necessary, but those who owe their power, prestige & livelihood to the race industry will do everything they can to keep racism alive as a concept. The unspoken premise will be that whitey can't be trusted & will require perpetual policing.
"Who said he won based on race? I didn't see a single person post that. If you honestly believe that a great many people didn't vote for him solely because he is black you have your head in the sand. No, that isn't why he won, but it is a fact just the same. I've heard far too many people say it, and know it to be true. I've seen people being interviewed who plainly stated that's why they voted for him.
Jackson is a bad example as there are a great many blacks who despise the man and are embarassed by him. But it is true that Obama wouldn't have won based solely upon the minority vote."
That's exactly why he is the perfect example. People say a lot of things when being polled that are inaccurate about what they really believe. eg. They say they don't like violent TV being allowed, but it rates very well.
The fact is that they didn't vote for Obama just because he was black, and I know that shatters your cries of victimhood, but it simply doesn't wash. What they were inspired by was that a black man could be so inspiring, intelligent and competent sounding and be running for President. Jackson is the perfect example and proof that black people do not vote for just any idiot who fronts up with black skin. They waited for one who had a lot of great qualities. And while you may not feel he was the best candidate for the job, in most people's eyes in the US and around the world, we can say the following without any reference to race: Obama was the best person for the job.
I still don't agree with your economic arguments, and have heard Right wing economist after Right wing economist put far more convincing arguments than yours to disprove your idea. But that's not really the point. The whole economic crisis could be 100% Bill Clinton's fault and the point is that most Americans blame Bush for the current crisis (and while we're on the topic, we who are affected by the global economy feel much the same) and that was the number one factor in why they didn't vote for another Republican administrtion. Again, "change" sounds silly and like a jingle, but people wanted change from a set of policies that they disagree with. The slogan "No more Neo-Conservativism" doesn't have the same ring to it as "Chnge We Can Believe In"
The main difference between Jackson and Obama is Jackson did not win the Democratic nod for presidency so this part of your answer is a non sequitur
I watched the race fairly closely until I had my little break from reality, the only time the race card was played was from the Obama camp, he never got Jackson's and sharpton's support because they felt their power as race dividers slipping away.
I am Turkish and also my religion is Jewish, I been checking the "other" box far back as I remember. I think this is one item they should have done away with at least 50 years ago.
You are most welcome
Amen!
Who said he won because of the minority vote? where did you read this here? he won because he bled off enough WHITE votes to put him over the top, combined with an overwhelming turnout by minorities Blacks and Hispanics both. The good thing about it was enough Blacks voted in California to pass prop. 8 once again restoring and defining marriage as one man to one woman.
Exactly. Jackson couldn't even get his Party's nomination. That's how untrue it is that someone can win just from being black. May I remind you that the title of this article is "Obama Win Proves Racism Lives". It seems that your opinion is now instead simply "Obama Got Some Votes For Racist Reasons, But They Wouldn't Have Been Enough to Win Him The Election If It Hadn't Also Been For A Lot Of People Who Voted For Him For Other Reasons". And my contention is that people didn't vote for the colour of his skin, but they voted for someone with intelligence, a fresh youthful energy, confidence, rational thought and a bunch of policies that are different to neo-conservatism. Was it more inspiring to also know that you were electing the first black President? Sure. Some of that inspiration might have come from the idea that we've heard these sorts of ideas from plenty of old white guys before, but Obama is different enough to the status quo, that he might actually do something about America's problems.
But people are not as stupid as you would like to claim. "He's black" is not enough reason to line up for so many hours. Obama managed to make this campaign about who was the best for the job. He never played the race card. He focussed on policy and rhetoric. And in the end people decided he was the best for the job, not the only black one running.
the difference is that i have an argument. you have a feeling. You have a feeling that it was "bush's fails policies". Some abstract unnamed thing, no specific policies are named though.
I have a list of laws and legislators performing specific actions and counter actions that contributed or tried to prevent it.
That would be conservatives versus liberals. ANd a great demonstration of the difference.
NO Oboma did not have to His proxies did, time and time and time again. Although he did call his white grandmother a closet racist.
“They’re going to try to make you afraid of me. He’s young and inexperienced and he’s got a funny name. And did I mention he’s black?”
That would be the race card.
Not sure if it was the first, but it definitely came very early on in the process. I feel confident in stating the Media would have let us know if someone had already pointed out that Obama was black before that statement was made.
If a breath of air that vaguely sounded like Black came out of the rights mouth the MSM would have constructed gallows for the perpetrator. That's a fact.
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