Letters to the Editor
little lord baltimore
Published Letters: 189 Editor's Choice: 9
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Was it enough for what?
[Read the article: Was Obama's speech enough?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think it's important to note that while Joan asks if Obama's speech was enough, she never clarifies what his critics are accusing him of, or what's expected of him. No one in their right mind could listen to his speech today and any of his previous speeches, or look at his own personal and political history and suggest that Obama agrees with what Rev. Wright is saying in those grainy videos. No one in their right mind thinks that Obama is some kind of hate mongering afro-centric radical. No one. So what is it exactly that Obama has to prove? That he disagrees with his pastor? Does anyone who attends church or temple regularly always agree with their priest or rabbi?
The truth is that the past and the present of race in America is complicated. If anyone needs proof of this, look at Obama who has an African father and a white American mother and yet is constantly being held up as the first serious "black" candidate for president.
Furthermore, Joan, with all of your work on racism and poverty, I am surprised at how outraged you are by Wright's comments. They are of course incendiary. But they are meant to be. In those videos, Wright speaks from anger and frustration. He is also echoing back the anger and the frustration that are felt by many poor african americans in his congregation and in neighborhoods throughout the US. Of course there is no evidence to suggest that AIDS is a conspiracy to exterminate blacks. But I've heard that theory many many times before. The issue in the black community is not whether anyone actually believes it's factually true; the suggestion speaks to the fear and the discrimination that african americans are still struggling against. The suggestions of a conspiracy give voice to what many are feeling, but can't articulate: that it still is not a level playing field and that poor blacks have to work twice as hard to get half as far.
Joan, we agree that Obama is trying to move our national discussion of race beyond the black vs. white and good vs bad traps that we all still fall into. I'm also surprised though that you are unwilling to urge Hillary to do the same in regards to gender issues. There has been a lot of back and forth about who is playing "the race card" in this primary season. However, there has been no discussion about the gender card. From the beginning, from the Iowa primaries, prominent feminists like Gloria Steinem have been arguing that Hillary should be the Democratic party's nominee because women have it harder than black men. There has been so much talk about sexism in the media and how women owe Hillary their votes. Women who did not vote for Hillary were called brain washed slaves. Yet, Hillary has not been asked to clarify her candidacy in relation to the incendiary things that these feminists have said. She is comfortable with the vocal support of upper class white women who believe that they are in direct competition with and opposition to black men. Yet no one expects Hillary to explain how she sees herself in relation to these comments. No one is waiting for Hillary to explain how she will unite the country or even Democrats after she's all but encouraged what should be the unified Democratic base of black and women voters to tear each other apart.
Why is it enough for Hillary to do nothing but not enough for Obama to actually try?
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@Katetex: No
[Read the article: Was Obama's speech enough?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]No one on this thread is going to address the video you're talking about because:
1. IF the video exists and IF it shows what you say, you didn't post a link.
2. This thread is about Obama's speech today. Have you heard it or read it? Do you have any thoughts?
3. None of the Hillary supporters who claim that Obama is responsible for playing the race card have addressed how many many Hillary supporters like Gloria Steinem and Erica Jong insist that it is harder to be a rich white woman in America than it is to be a black man. Ms. Steinem and Ms. Jong gave their opinions before South Carolina. And Hillary has not been expected to clarify her candidacy in regards to these claims.
4. Hillary has never, ever given a speech as inspiring and moving as Obama's today. She has never tried or even tried and failed to elevate the political discourse beyond tired gender and racial stereotypes
5. You have never presented yourself as anything more than a devoted Hillary supporter. Why should we believe that you are asking the question to create anything more than another smear on Obama?