Letters to the Editor
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The truth hurts
I think Obama has a lot of explaining to do about who he is, and what he believes in. His campaign up to now is mainly based on his personality and character, so he can not be surprised if those traits and the consequences thereof are challenged. Black voters will vote for him for the reasons many have stated. However, white voters are not bound by that imperative, he is not the first of them (white candidate) that rises to this potential, so they need more than platitudes, and a more thorough explanation of who he is. He has to many friends whose positions they find questionable.
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@Aycharaych
True. That's why I voted for Edwards (and I am black). I do see both as corporate (and I've said that in the past). I think we should be forcing them into positions that benefit ordinary people (and calling them BOTH on the carpet about NAFTA, credit card company skullduggery, banking misbehavior, protecting jobs, dealing with criminal employers, the whole energy policy thing, etc).
I really do see race and gender (along with abortion, prayer in schools, etc) as distractions from economic interests. They throw this at us to distract us from legislation that affects our bottom lines.
We need to register, vote, and voice our displeasure with the corporatism. All of them are bought and sold, and WE the people need to deal with that.
We are wasting valuable time on this when we should be pushing these candidates into representative positions.
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Excuses and Critiques
"...If this were someone else trying to push a view they just admitted was false, Joan would denounce the arrogant double talk. Why does she make excuses for the same behavior she critiques in others?..."
Because, I believe that Joan, like many female progressives, is bitterly disappointed that a woman candidate for the Presidency has been stymied by a neo-phyte coming out of nowhere. I don't think she can accept the fact that Hillary Clinton was just not ready enough for prime time and that the mistakes she and her campaign made have been made even more glaring by the mostly smooth efficiency of the campaign the "neo-phyte" has fashioned from the bottom up.
Furthermore, Joan should have seen this coming what with Hillary's War Authorisation vote. How on earth did Clinton and Walsh think the former was going to get that past the core of the Party?
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"I think in 2008 many people have more complex ways of categorizing ourselves than the way the government categorizes us."
Having looked at a fair amount of demographic data in my work, I can say that the above statement is probably right. The government is definitely lagging behind the culture in terms of accurate ethnic categorization.
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@dolores -- did you see the PBS frontline(?) on southern schools ... one of those 30-years-after specials?
I was listening as I worked but ..
After the civil rights bill was signed, pretty much all the white kids were moved into 'private' academies...
Thirty years after, in the community profiled, the school board is still headed by the segregationist school board president ... who lives in another county, who sent his kids to private school (30 years ago), and has no current children in the school system ... seniority, tenure, "election" process? I do not know ... the same old mangy foxes are guarding the hen houses.
My personal feeling is that "race relations" are worse than ever and a lot of that does have to do with class issues ... (defactor separation makes far too much of "race relations" a matter of speculation ... since there is so little, even diminishing genuine interaction for many segment of our society).
It would be nice to do away with racial or ethnicity check boxes ... but it wouldn't change the behavior of the more powerful when the less powerful walks through the door ... that's the nature of prejudice ...
Not all prejudice is negative ... unrealistic (hopeful) expectations can be as damagingly prejudicial as "self-fulfilling prophesy" negative expectations ... there is no abra-ca-dab-ra magic spell -- there's just us ...
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Can Democrats learn to talk about something else?
Swapping racial resentments doesn't seem to be working. Perhaps Democrats ought to talk about something else.
White working class voter: I'm talking to you. Obama is going to end this war and bring your sons home. Obama is going to lower your taxes, increase investments in your schools, and make it easier to get a college education for anyone who wants one. He's going to improve the economy and stimulate new job creation. You're going to be able to get better health insurance, and it's going to cost you less. He's going to get along with our allies, and he's not going to start any more dumb wars. That's good news for you, because after your sons come back from this dumb war, they probably won't be sent to fight another one. You, white working class voter, stand to gain as much as any other Democrat from an Obama presidency. The truth is, you're getting a better deal than some Democrats. Some Democrats - the arugula crowd - are going to pay a little more in taxes so you can pay less. They're OK with that. It's all good.
Is Obama's race getting in the way of any of this? I didn't think so.
Black working class voters: I'm talking to you. Everything I said before? Same deal. Plus he shoots hoops. Yeah, very cool.
If Democrats could get it together to elect these policies, it might not matter whether it is a black man or a white woman who signs the legislation. Discussing race might not be the best move here.
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@deloresflower...if it were that simple...you are naive or ignorant
I don't disagree with the general sentiment of your position-obviously these distinctions are social, but it doesn't get us very far in understanding. The problem is that it completely ignores history and issues of class. The problem with race in this country isn't that there are morons who are part of the Klan or good liberals who feel self-satisfied because they can look down on rednecks who say nigger or a presidential candidate who did or didn't say something.
It is incredibly unfortunate that this forum can only discuss the issue of whether Hilary might be a closet Klan member It let's ALL OF off the hook by letting us point fingers and be self-righteous. Instead of asking questions about the environment and carbon trading or how the middle class is defined we are worried about complete BS.
The question of school funding and how the middle class is defined is SO MUCH MORE IMPORTANT. Not to mention the criminal justice system.